Chapter 7
Weeks passed.
The time for a make up concert came. As luck would have it, the young fan named Yang had won tickets, front row to the whole thing! He was allow to bring two others along with him, so he brought his little brother, and asked a girl he liked to come along. She was more than happy to go. Soo was more than happy to go along with him.
She also has a thing for Ryomen Sukuna.
He had worked hard during the weeks before, he was going to be certain his younger brother had the time of his life, and perhaps get a girlfriend out of it!
Just as promised, they were provided transportation to the venue, tickets and they also have a ride home after the show. Thing were going well as they decided to take in Tokyo before the event. Yang lives in a rural area, far from the city. Being in a place like Tokyo was a lot to take in, not just for him but also for his little brother and guest.
It wasn't long until they ran into other fans, in fact, a small group chatted them up the moment they stepped out of the car that brought them to the city. "HEY! You're here for the concert huh? Great! So are we!"
Yang smiled nervously, he saw the looks on their faces and didn't like them the least bit. His little brother on the other hand wasn't afraid to talk. "Yeah! Big brother won tickets! We get to see them LIVE! I've never been up close to the stage before!" he said with great excitement.
"Big brother also promised to get me my first concert t-shirt too!"
"Cool your jets little bro, we just got here," he said as gently as he could.
But something was wrong, the strangers were whispering to each other oddly. Soo caught wind of it as well. "Let's go get some lunch," she said discreetly.
"We got a great place to go to, you wanna join us?" one of the girls asked.
He politely declined. "Thanks anyways, I think we will do some sight seeing first before then."
He gently scooped his brother from the back, bringing him in closer as they tried to walk away from the group. But they didn't leave. They began to follow him and still talk aloud. "Hey, why be like that? We can show you around!"
Soo was getting nervous. Yang paused as he turned once more. "No thank you, please. Leave us alone." Yet before his back could be turned, he was sucker punched.
Stumbling forward he hit the ground hard yet pushed Soo and his brother out of harm's way. Yet the strangers gathered around him. "Look here, we're short three tickets for this event, and you happen to have three. So… how about you be a good big brother and give them up so all my friends can go?" one asked in a slimy tone.
"No, I promised my little brother…"
"Oh? This one?"
He froze, one of the girls was brazen enough to pull a pocket knife and took aim at his young sibling. "Eiko!" he shouted.
"Yang… I'm scared…" his brother was trembling.
He swallowed his pride and reached into his pocket, he sacrificed the tickets, but it wasn't enough for them. "Your money too, I want a new t-shirt."
They picked him clean, leaving him with nothing left. The moment they were gone, he grabbed his brother and Soo. "Everyone…. Everyone okay?" he asked in a trembled voice.
They nodded, but now, they were trapped in Tokyo. The punks even took their return ride voucher to get home. Yang wanted to break down then and there, he failed as an older brother…
"Are you okay?"
He paused as an oddly gentle voice came from behind him. He turned to see a man with long black hair, and yet he looked oddly pale. If he didn't know any better, he could have been a member of the death paintings himself! "Uh… I suppose you could say that… but…" Yang paused, he never liked showing weakness in front of his brother. "I… I messed up."
"It wasn't your fault! There was too many of them and they had a knife!" Soo protested.
"I let my brother down, I let you down, I promised you a fun time, and…" he broke down. Yet oddly enough a gently hand came on his shoulder. The stranger merely smiled to him. "I'm sorry sir, you see, I was going to take my brother and friend to the big concert here… you probably don't know them but, my little brother is a HUGE fan of the Death Paintings…"
'Grumble!'
The conversation came to a shop as Eiko's stomach growled. "Big brother, I'm hungry…" he said meekly.
He was nearly brought to tears again, until the stranger leaded down. "Would you care to join my brothers and I for a meal?" he asked. "I have a lot of them, but we wouldn't mind the company. How about it?"
At this point, he couldn't refuse the offer. This man must know he has nothing left to take, so there was no point in robbing him. Yang nodded to the offer. "Please, sir, if you don't mind. I'm Yang, this is Eiko my little brother, and my friend Soo."
He smiled warmly once more. "It's a pleasure, come with me."
There was just something odd about him, but he turned his head and said. "By the way, my name, is Choso."
#
Choso was silent as he led Yang along. Yang was worried that perhaps they were getting set up again to be jumped. Yet, Choso came to pause at a restaurant that was closed for a private event. "You work here?" Yang asked.
He snickered. "No, this is where we will be eating, come," they went in through the back. Choso was greeted by security but they allowed him through along with Yang and company. The place was high end!
Yet it was weird to see it empty for the time being. "Have a seat, my brothers will be here soon," he said gently once more.
They nervously sat down and waited. Yang was second guessing this offer until the front door ripped open.
"LET'S GET SOME GRUB!"
He froze to the voice. Suddenly he snapped out of his chair and stood face to face with Ryomen Sukuna and the Death Paintings!
"No… way…" he whispered.
"Ah, you must be the company big bro spoke of, nice to meet you." Ryomen's hand went out, Yang gladly shook it and was thrilled to know they would be dining with his favorite band. Even if they miss the concert, they at least have this experience!
They served a buffet of food. He was stunned as to how much Ryomen could put away, but Kechizu peered over. "So, big bro said you got robbed of your tickets, did you get a good look of them?"
Soo nodded as she took out her cell phone. "I… have pictures." She said meekly.
Kechizu peered at the phone but paused. "You kidding me?" he muttered.
Ryomen just gulped what was in his mouth. "Let me guess, friends of yours?" he asked.
He snorted a laugh. "Needless to say, I tend to keep running into these idiots."
"Wait, you know them?" Yang asked.
He smirked. "I went to high school with them, but… they have no idea as to what I am doing now. I got picked on for liking weird horror movies…" suddenly his voice trailed off.
There came a devious look from Ryomen. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Kechizu returned the grin. "Oh yeah, wanna call D'angelo…" he then paused and peered over to him once more. "Yang is it?" he asked suddenly.
He nodded politely. "Do you have the confirmation email you got? I want to see the number. If anything, we're going to lure these assholes into a trap!"
"But, their friends got other people's tickets I think…"
"Not likely," Ryomen said offhandedly. "We keep track as to who has what, everyone has to register the tickets they have, luckily for us, you didn't do that just yet, so we are doing to use it to our advantage!"
There was just something odd about his smile, it's wicked and yet at the same time, he couldn't help but feel there was a sense of evil behind it all.
