Today is Sunday. Makoto and Ryuji meet with Yamatachi to discuss further on their plans. The two students ride the elevator up to his penthouse. Ryuji casually browses on his phone while Makoto nervously glances around.
"You... Come here every day now?"
"Yeah? Why?"
"Isn't it jarring? I thought he was... You know. Stuck in that seedy club hideout."
"Right? The whole business is legit though. Still... You never know what to expect with this guy."
"Really? How so?"
"He's like a wild card!"
"I don't think I understand."
"It's a bit hard to describe but... It's like he just does shit and it works. Sometimes he'll just say something seemingly random and it'll just make sense. I don't know it's like he's every bit unnerving as he is reassuring."
Makoto isn't sure what to expect when the elevator doors open, but the luxurious penthouse with a scenic view of the city isn't it, let alone the reflective hardwood floor or various exotic furniture. An open kitchen on one end, a formal work desk just ahead in front of a large window, and a lobby area where Yamatachi stands doing stretches with a lot cigarette in his mouth.
"Yeesh, just walk in why don't you. No hey, or hello, not even a thanks for trusting me enough to come back sensei."
Makoto opens her mouth ready to apologize. Instead, Ryuji beats her to the punch as he throws his bag and phone to the side, rolling his arms as he barks at him.
"Hey! You told me to come here for breakfast! Where's my food?!"
"Ryuji..."
He turns to face them and notices Makoto. She gives him a wordless fingerwave that he awkwardly returns.
"... Why are you here? It's a Sunday. Don't you have friends to hang out with instead of a rich guy and his teenage punching bag?"
Ryuji shouts from afar at a clearing in large the room.
"I punch back!"
"Yeah, yeah, what did I say about the spacing of your feet?!"
Makoto speaks up with a sterner voice than she intended. The idea of being a third wheel did not sit well with her.
"I'm apart of this just as much as he is now. Don't I have a right to be here?"
Ryuji smiles at her knowing this to be true. He wishes it was under different circumstances, but Makoto has been less of a nuisance and more of a partner, he wouldn't be here today without her. Yamatachi rubs his neck groaning.
"Yeah... I hate the idea of putting you in more danger but you threw yourself into this. Don't blame me if you get ran over again."
Ryuji scowls waving his arms.
"Ain't ever gonna happen again! I'll make sure of it!"
Makoto rolls her eyes over to him.
"Just like I have to make sure you don't die in some alley from being beaten to death."
Yamatachi makes his way over to Ryuji.
"Both of you brats would be dead without me. Do me a favor Makoto and try to organize those documents on the desk for me? I was doing some easy morning research."
She quickly makes her way over and takes a desk is a mess littered in files for multiple people. Her attention is ripped from the papers as Ryuji flies across the room with a shout. He lands on his back against the hardwood floor. He stands rubbing his cheek before catching his phone that is thrown at him.
"Set the time. Thirty minutes should do."
Grumbling, he obeys his teacher, setting the alarm and placing his phone on the table. Twenty minutes pass of an intense sparring session. Ryuji tumbles to the ground after being kicked by Yamatachi, who had been sent down himself by a right hook, but countered using a rising handspring. Ryuji rubs his jaw as he stands up.
"The hell is that ninja kick you keep using, dude?! That hurts!"
"Stop falling for it every time you think I'm down!"
"I don't fall for it every time!"
Makoto glances up from Yamatachi's business desk. Her job in researching future assassins Yamatachi has information on has given her insight on the type of people involved. Documents on multiple people, some ordinary citizens now in professional sports or even in politics, others are as she suspected having a horrendous criminal past. Some paragraphs she reads through make her sick to her stomach. Others confuse her greatly.
"You have been hit by it four times in a row... By the way Yamatachi-san, how did you get these files, the police records don't even mention half the names here. I mean, who legally changes their name to Cobra?"
Yamatachi speaks through his cheek as he and Ryuji strike each other in a cross-counter.
"Try reading instead of skimming! A lot of those people come from overseas. They wouldn't have files here in Japan."
His fists bumps against his pupil's. They use the same leg to kick, the same elbow to interrupt, even the same headbutt. They clash like shadows matching they who cast them. Ryuji steps back shaking his hands.
"Gah! Teach! Quit copying my attacks!"
"You're the predictable one. If I can mirror your movements, I'm all in your head, and I'll find your weakness soon... You have to constantly change up against the enemy! Adapt!"
Ryuji finds it hard to follow his target. His teacher moves in a completely unorthodox fashion he's never seen before. He jumps over Ryuji with a hand on his shoulder. A heel strikes the back of his head beford he can react. Ryuji stumbles back with a turn to see Yamatachi idly dancing in place.
"W-What style is that...?"
"Capoeira. It's a foreigner martial art using music and acrobatics. It's very difficult to apply in a real fight, but not impossible, and perfect for forcing you to change tactics!"
Makoto can't help but occasionally watch the sparring session. Ryuji's ill-refined thuggish technique has steadily evolved into his own unique style. Seeing him struggle yet progressively turn the tide of the fight in his favor is almost inspirational. Yamatachi's skill and experience displays his seemingly endless knowledge on form and technique, for every answer Ryuji has the master has a counter, and it makes it clear to her that Yamatachi truly is a terrifying ally. In truth she is hoping to find a file on him somewhere in the sea of information.
"What's this...?"
She gravitated towards a document of a child. Frizzy hair and pale skin with sunken eyes. Red eyes. A Japanese boy with no name. She heard of albinism but has never seen a case of it before. The oddest thing is the location of the boy, Ireland. She nearly begins reading until she jumps at the sound of Ryuji's timer go off.
"Ah-! Time's up you two!"
Ryuji slides across the floor and over by the desk with a deadpan. His head lightly bumps the side with a grunt.
"Great..."
Yamatachi adjusts his formal undershirt with a slight pant.
"You need to work on your defense. Dodge more, you're too aggressive and that leaves you open, do that and you may have done better against Takamata."
He helps the blonde up before pulling up two chairs. Ryuji sits in one but Makoto stares at the empty seat.
"Why aren't you sitting down?"
"Because you're in my chair."
She grows a faint blush before moving to her new chair. Yamatachi reclaims his affluent throne.
"Now then... You go to school tomorrow. Makoto. You got the files on our three nuisances?"
"They're right there."
She holds up the papers and begins to speak in a studious tone.
"Kun Woo Li is a Southern Korean orphan who joined the mafia at a young age and made his living by becoming a kickboxing champion. However, he was exposed running a successful human trafficking ring of young women, and lost everything. He attempted to assassinate the head of his organization but ultimately failed. He fled the country on a ship but it exploded before it could dock on Japanese shores. He was presumed dead with the rest of the crew..."
Yamatachi nods pulling out another cigarette to smoke.
"Yeah. Back in my fighting days with my old employer, we met in the ring, and I ended his long win streak. He didn't make it easy though. When I saw him with Sugimura there was no mistaking that face."
Ryuji and Makoto glance at each other clearly uncomfortable.
"The bastard has a sick past... No wonder he works for Sugimura and his dad."
"Human trafficking... He's not above murdering his own allies too. He's just the lowest of the low. There's the other two as well."
Makoto places the file down to read the next one.
"Kuma Kobayakawa had a family in Okinawa. He's the youngest son of a restaurant business that's now disclosed due to..."
She stops staring at the page and hands it to Ryuji. With a raised brow, he takes it from her and reads it to himself, eyes widening after each sentence. His family had been slaughtered by a cutthroat gang attempting to take control of the neighborhood. Kuma snapped due to the trauma and managed to kill them all. Considering his circumstances of the time regarding his age, and the fact the victims themselves were terrible criminals, Kuma had been admitted into a criminally insane asylum for therapy and rehabilitation. He was released after being deemed fit for society with constant visits from his uncle, who would take him into his home in Shibuya, and graduate from Shujin Academy. However, the now infamous assaults plaguing the city of intense violence started around that time, and has only steadily increased since.
"E-Eugh... So he was always a nutcase..."
Yamatachi nods as Ryuji passes the file to him.
"Kuma was the strongest boy in that part of Japan. The gang wanted him as their muscle, but he wanted a family, not an organization. He'll kill a man for fun but consider... He managed to get through high school without incident. On his official record his occupation is a warehouse worker."
Makoto gasps as she recollects her encounter with him.
"He's such a brainless oaf! If he was able to get past his exams, and even obtain a decent job, then there's hope for Ryuji yet! Ow-!"
Ryuji glares at her as he pulls at her cheek with a devious smile.
"Guys aren't gonna find you constantly putting them down attractive, you know? Ack-!"
Makoto retaliates by pulling on his ear.
"Girls hardly find a bruised beaten boy like you any good either!"
They growl and pull away at each other as they exchange glares. Both of them let out a whine from Yamatachi crushing their noses by pinching them both.
"Behave. Kuma is a loose cannon through and through, but he's a family man, so he'll at least listen to his uncle... Sometimes. I bet the principal has had to cover him multiple times during Kuma's school years. Makoto, next file."
Ryuji groans as he's released while Makoto shrinks back rubbing her nose.
"F-Fujiyabashi Takamata was a well respected doctor and successful surgeon. He had multiple degrees in other fields, an all around genius, and cheap with his services made him constantly busy. He was caught killing a politician who had come to him for a stomach pump regarding food poisoning. After that numerous assassinations were revealed to have occurred by his hands in the guise of failed operations. He lost his medical license and... Is supposed to be incarcerated as of this moment!"
Ryuji shakes his head in disbelief.
"Wait, what!? I mean he's dead now but, he was very much a free man, even if he... Kept his face hidden."
Yamatachi looks out the window huffing out a puff of smoke.
"I bet he managed to get some blackmail on the doctor he's partnered with... His story is the one I've got little to no idea about after all. Guess we'll never know now."
Makoto rubs her arm thinking on the scene. In fact the more they talk about it the heavier her chest feels. Ryuji can notice the growing unease on her face. He pats her shoulder giving an apologetic smile.
"Hey... It wasn't your fault."
"But I still took a life... I... I never thought I'd do something like that."
"It was him or me! What else could you do? I owe you everything..."
Yamatachi nods and stands from his seat as Makoto puts down the last file.
"The kid is right. He was going to kill you both on the spot. Even legally speaking, it was self-defense, and his fault for how his life turned out. He made his choices."
Makoto stares ahead at empty space in thought until she looks at Ryuji's hand on her shoulder. She smiles as her hand finds itself over his.
"I guess there's no point in moping about it now, huh? What's next?"
Both of them look to Yamatachi who makes his way to the kitchen.
"Ryuji is cooking us breakfast, and since you're Miss Student Council President, you can help me get his dumbass nose into the books. Studying is important."
Ryuji mutters a curse under his breath. Makoto however grows highlights in her eyes with a stellar gaze directed at the delinquent.
"Funny!~ I have trouble just getting him to do decent in class! See Ryuji? Even Yamatachi is telling you to take school seriously!"
Ryuji knew this would happen. He just knew Yamatachi would make his Sunday borderline unbearable. Bad enough he has to cook his own meal after an arduous work out, but now Makoto is in overdrive with her nagging, he wants to tell her Yamatachi hasn't had him study once but it was too late. It isn't all bad though. Yamatachi helps plenty with the meal, Makoto cleans the dishes, and throughout it all there's always an air of levity and laughter. It fills him with elation, but also determination, he has to live This ordeal through. Not just for himself now, but for others, his mother and his friends. Yet, his smile falters as more harrowing thoughts begin to mute his two friends, disturbing correlations. Yamatachi calls him out of his vacant mental descent.
"Hey. Kid? What's the matter? You were giggling stupid just a second ago."
"... I was just thinking. Those guys all had something happened to them, like a moment where life made them snap, y'know?"
Makoto and Yamatachi glance at each other with concern. They let Ryuji continue.
"Kun Woo Li probably lost his head when you beat him, Teach. Kuma lost it when his family was taken from him. Takamata... I want to say he was always crazy, but something about him tells me he just wasn't, that he had the most sense out if three until... Whatever happened to him."
Yamatachi narrows his eyes at his student.
"What're you getting at, kid?"
"What'll happens if I snap? Will I end up like them?"
Makoto keeps quiet in her own thoughts. As far as she is aware she saw a glimpse into the future. Ryuji's reckless and wrathful abandon as he near killed Kun Woo Li. She looks to her now empty plate before giggling.
"Not on your life. They were all twisted before they became the men we know today. Selfish and violent. You're only retaliating. Besides, unlike them, you fight for more than yourself. You fight for Haru, for Shujin, even for me."
Ryuji looks at her perplexed at her laughter, how it manages to put his mind storming with dismal ideas to ease, he smiles and leans back to balance the chair off it's back legs.
"Yeah... You're right. There are still others out there that'll come for me but, if I can stay alive through it all, I can damn well keep you guys safe too. Thanks Makoto."
They beam at each other with Yamatachi smiling to himself. Happy with the progress being made, he and Ryuji continue their training for some hours with breaks in between of Makoto forcing him to study from their school books, eventually the evening arrives. Yamatachi stops them on their way out.
"Remember. You're both going to school tomorrow. Try and get some rest."
They nod before taking their leave from Yamatachi's penthouse. As they leave the building for the streets, Ryuji pulls out his phone expectantly, sighing as he receives the mysterious texts again.
"Yeah, yeah... Hey, Makoto? You want me to walk you home?"
"I don't think there's any need for that. Will you be okay though?"
She looks to him and deadpans at the bandana he wraps around his face. It's a different color with a different design yet same skeletal smile.
"Yeah, I got this. Just be careful."
"You shouldn't just put it on when people are actively looking for you..."
"I got a different one!"
"That's not the issue! I'll see you tomorrow!"
She storms off leaving Ryuji in a state of confusion. He looks back down at his phone groaning at the incoming messages.
"Hello."
"Yo."
"Someone doesn't look happy to see me."
"I ain't seeing you, I'm reading you, who are you anyways?"
"Asking so bluntly won't get you anywhere."
"You said you needed me to do something, right?"
"Consider it a sidequest. Optional, but I'll reward you for a job well done, if you accept."
"A reward? From you?"
"Not exactly. I'll guide you to the location."
Ryuji rolls his eyes as he follows Alibaba's messages. He wouldn't get there without issue. Chased by police, fending off the occasional thug or mobster, he reaches a train and rides all the way to Akihabara. Once out of sight, he removed his mask, and follows further directions in.
"Alright I'm here. What now?"
"Enter the Yellow Submarine. Look for a game under the title, Dragon Question 6: The Exodus of Moro."
"... Wait... Why would you need me to buy you such an newgame?"
"You've already made it this far. You're almost done."
"My budget is tight..."
"It shouldn't be any higher than thirty thousand yen."
Ryuji checks his wallet. He grimaces at the results. Just enough. He has a card he uses strictly for trains, but he prays the game is cheaper than his current allowance, groaning as he responds.
"I'll see what I can do."
"Don't disappoint me."
He puts his phone away after reaching the store. The variety in games and numerous selection nearly overwhelms him. Every wall and counter is full of items. From cartridges to discs, spanning from selections in the past and to the present, with advertisement for future titles strewn about the cashier counter. To no one's surprise, it's busy, and so he begins his search. The game is nowhere to be found. That is until he hears a shouting. He approaches the counter to find a mother arguing with an employee as her son silently holds onto a game. The very game he has been searching for.
"I-I'm telling you ma'amyou have to pay the full amount."
"You said this was the last one in stock! If we leave and come back, it's gone for good, and then we'll have to wait even longer! I can't do that!"
"Ma'am, please, you're disturbing the other customers."
"I don't care about them! What about my son? Day in and until closing he's been in here getting the money forbthe damn thing and you raise the price at the last minute?!"
Ryuji honestly could care less, but he notices the other employees getting worried, if things kept going like this then police would get involved. He quickly walks up to the cashier.
"Hey, lady. How much is the game?"
The mother glares daggers at him and shoves a finger in his face as the cashier meekly speaks.
"You ugly bastard! My Shinya got it first! Go to the back of the line!"
"I-It's thirty thousand yen."
Ryuji pulls his wallet out and hands it to the irate woman.
"I'll pay for it. The kid seems pretty attached to it already so it shouldn't be too much of a problem if he takes care of it."
"... Huh?"
"I was just window shopping anyways. Games are for kids instead of my age. It's better this way."
"You... Trying to look down on us or something?"
"Quit acting like there's a catch already! I just hate seeing kids cry! Plus your shrieking hurts my ears! Just hurry and pay for it!"
The woman is taken aback but takes the money grumbling as the cashier hands her the receipt. As she and her son leave, Ryuji looks to his phone, sighing as he prepares to be chastised.
"Sorry. I couldn't get it."
"Why not?"
"They ran out of copies"
"I thought you said you did."
"I said I would see what I could do."
"Well there are other games I want."
"I lost all my money."
"How did you do that? Are you an idiot?"
"Sorry."
"You failed the quest..."
He tries to respond but the message doesn't send. He's disconnected again. He rolls his eyes and begins to make his way home until he hears the same woman shout outside. Thugs he knows all too well hold the game he had bought for them.
"Yo! Score! I was just about to get this!"
"I heard that was last in stock too! You're lucky dude!"
"Hehehe! I can't believe it! Just like that?"
"I'm telling you man, Boss Jin has the cops elsewhere, we're free to do what we want!"
The mother shouts them down as she holds her son who is on the ground.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Taking something from a boy! You oughta be ashamed of yourselves!"
The leader, holding the game as he laughs behind his wall of cronies, sneers at the woman.
"Blame society! No one ever taught us any better! We're just as much as victims as you are!"
He feels something grab him by his shoulder.
"Hey, shithead."
Ryuji, now wearing his mask, turns the man around having been behind the group, and gut punches the leader. He takes the game back before the thug falls over without any breath. He tosses the game over the group and at the mother.
"I hate seeing kids cry and I hate hearing loud women shriek. I don't know much else to do but I know kicking your ass will make me feel good."
The gang jump him at once, in the eyes of the boy it is a spectacle to behold, watching bullies twice his size be toppled and abused for once in their lives. It's like something straight out of a comic book. Ryuji wipes his hands together before looking to the boy and his mother. He gives an awkwardly slow wave.
"Uh... Enjoy the game! Bye!"
Then turns running befire anymore trouble can happen. As he hastily gets on the train home, mask now in his pocket, he looks to his phone at a surprise message.
"That was the game I wanted."
"Did you want me to take it from them?"
"No. Did you get them that game? Is that why you had no money?"
"Does it really matter?"
"..."
"Hello?"
"You're a nice guy. An idiot still, but a nice one. I'll give you a reward for that. Come to this location."
He's growing agitated but he's got nothing to do for the rest of his Sunday. Ryuji leaves the train and ends up in a homely congested part of town. Yongen-Jaya. He reads the address given and passes a building rich with the smell of coffee. Behind it, after a convenient store and theater, he turns and finds a small house. There's a package just behind the front gate.
"Is this really the right place...?"
He receives a text from Alibaba then.
"It's right there. Now hurry and get it."
"Is this your house?"
"What makes you think I would lead you to my home?"
"It's just a box with no stamps or address on it. It's also behind the front gate. Plus the mail is way past delivered by now. Someone had to put it here manually."
"... Aren't you supposed to be an idiot?"
"So I'm right!"
He doesn't get a response. Ryuji shakes his head and finds the gate unlocked. To him that's only further proof. He grabs the box but looks up from the sound of the door creaking open. The interior is dark but he can vaguely see an eye watching him. Disturbed by his own imagination running rampant, and a chill trickling down his spine, he makes his way home. The box is small and when he's alone, he opens it, his eyes widen as he mutters a curse under his breath.
"Brass knuckles...?! Holy shit... You could mess someone up with these. What the hell is that guy thinking?"
He shakes his head and hides them best he can. The next morning, Ryuji walks to school on time, mostly because of Makoto constantly pestering him to wake up through texts. His school uniform on and head held high with a victorious smile on as he approaches the school gates. Kamoshida happily greets students, but as Ryuji arrives he prepares for their usual glare off, omly to be visibly taken aback by a genuine smile and wave.
"Yo, Kamoshida."
"Sakamoto... Back from your family emergency?"
"I gotta study for exams some time, don't I?"
He walks past the coach to meet Makoto at the stairway to the school building. She leans on a single crutch due to her injury.
"I was worried you were going to be late."
"I was worried you were gonna hit me again. You're going to be okay with just one crutch?"
"I'd prefer none at all, but our resident banker told me I wouldn't heal effectively without it, so here we are."
"What do you say when someone asks you about it?"
"I fell down the stairs of my apartment building..."
"Pffft! You're an awful liar."
She punches him in his side with a giggle before they go their own ways. He gets to his classroom and sits in his old seat. The room steadily fills with students. Idle chatter among them since the teacher hasn't arrived.
"You hear about the car accident the other day?"
"Yeah, the pile up was crazy!"
"You don't think it had anything to do with that vigilante guy, huh?"
"No way! That guy fights bad guys not cause traffic crimes! I bet he's out there beating on some criminals now!"
"Sounds like we got a fan boy of a criminal ourselves. You don't really think him a hero, do you?"
"Akechi-san made a lot of sense when he explained it!"
"Well..."
"Oh, is that Sakamoto? When did he get back here?"
"I'm surprised he didn't take his time off to just drop out of school. Maybe he likes to live in futility."
"Hey... Where's the teacher, Usami-sensei?"
The doors open to a stranger entering the room. Well groomed and radiating with a seductive aura, every inch of him debonair and yet professional, frizzy hair with silver frame spectacles. Ryuji watches him saunter to the desk and write down a name. Something familiar about him strikes odd. It all came to him as the young man speaks.
"Good morning class!~ Usami-sensei decided to take a vacation for the rest of the school year. I'll be taking the spot until the return! My name is, Akira Kurusu! Why don't you all tell me your names? We'll start you, young miss."
Ryuji's eyes nearly fly out of his head. It takes all of the mental and disciplinary training he's undergone to not just scream. As class goes on, he watches his new teacher carefully, waiting for him to draw near so he can whisper at him.
"Yes, Sakamoto-kun?"
"You sonuva bitch... What're you doing here, Yamatachi?! Don't you have a bank to run!?"
"I have a business partner I can trust to do that for me."
"W-When you said you'd watch over us I wasn't expecting this kind of bullshit!"
"Unfortunate. I said they should be approaching you for a deal from now on. However, we did talk about how they'll potentially reach out, find others to take care of you. If that happens I'll be here to aid you."
Ryuji gulps before nodding. He's sure now he could defeat the Korean mobster, and maybe he could outwit Kuma should the oaf come after him, but if someone likr Takamata comes along he's screwed. He just knows it.
"Okay... But why change your name?!"
"Why not? You live the life I live long enough, sometimes you just gotta change who you are, just like with Kun Woo Li."
Ryuji tilts his head until he remembers his encounter at the café.
"Right... I guess that makes sense."
"Oh! One more thing?"
He leans down after taking Ryuji's pen and corrects a mistake on his paper.
"The cold light emitted from fireflies isn't literally called "cold light", it's luciferin, the easiest way to think about it for me is like an RPG item drop from a monster."
"... Huh."
Ryuji has to admit it. He was learning more in school that period than he cared to learn for most of his first year. Yamatachi began sweet talking and charming the class at the start, but like magic, he managed to find a way to teach everyone in a way they enjoyed. Still, Ryuji frowns, he isn't sure if he's ever seen the real side of his mysterious ally. It is as if he could be anybody and nobody at the same time... Lunchtime soon arrives and Ryuji decides to wander the school.
"Excuse me, young boy! May have a moment of your time?"
"Huh? Do I know you?"
Ryuji turns to the voice frowning. It turns to a sickly pale fearful grimace. Kuma Kobayakawa smiles down at him wearing loose swear shirt and pants with tennis shoes. No one really bats an eye at the man save for noticing his height.
"My!~ Young boy! You're looking so ill! You should see the nurse! Before you go, I have to ask you a question, super simple too!"
"... T-That's all...? What is it?"
"Do you know where the roof is? I would hate to make a mess for my uncle!"
"You... You really gonna try and do me in here?"
"Hehehehe!~"
Ryuji shoves the hand off of him and gestures for the larger man to follow. Ann notices them immediately. She looks at Ryuji's desperate yet determined scowl. She recognized the man behind him from the story the other night and knows the oncoming danger.
"Oh no... Ryuji what are you doing?"
Mishima and Shiho walk together in the halls before moving out of the two fighters way.
"Sakamoto...?"
"Who is that big guy?"
He ignores them continuing on in silence. He notices Makoto ahead speaking with Kawakami. Makoto glances in their direction as the teacher speaks.
"Are you sure you'll be okay with those papers?"
"I'll be fine, Kawakami-sensei I... I.."
"Niijima-san?"
"I... I need to meet with Kurusu-sensei. Please!"
Makoto's blood runs cold as she watches Ryuji and Kuma traverse up the stairs to the roof. Ryuji curses his luck as he finds Haru tending to her own private garden. He had heard all about it in their calls and texts.
"Oi! Haru! Get outta here!"
"Hm? Ryuji? Wh-Who is that...?!"
"Just leave! Now!"
Before he can shout any louder at her, Kuma kicks him in the back forcing him to his knees and hands, he's then lifted off the ground by his neck by one hand.
"Sorry! I wanted a rematch with you so bad that I can't wait any longer!"
Kuma spikes Ryuji into the ground with a slight tremble shaking the area. Haru stumbles in shock from the force with her hands over her mouth. Unable to scream as Kuma stands over Ryuji's body with a foot raised to stomp him into the stone.
"I'm not going to hold back for you this time. I'm going to rip your arms off!"
He pins Ryuji down forcing a small spurt of blood from the blonde. Haru finally let's out a scream.
"Stop it! Don't you hurt him! Why are you doing this!?"
Her heart seizes in motionless fear as Kuma stares at her with a vacant look.
"Hey. Be quiet will you? I'll kill you too if you don't shut up..."
He raises his foot and begins to repeatedly stomp down on Ryuji. The building shakes and trembled with each consecutive stomp. He smiles and revels in Ryuji's desperate cries and incoherent pleadings.
"You think you can get away with what you did? Laying a hand on my uncle? Killing my friend!? I'll crush you! Even if I crush the school with you! Die! Die! Scream for mercy and die!"
"Agh! Augh! Aah! Ahh!"
Kuma steps back with a hiss as his eyes begin to sting. Haru sprayed perfume in his eyes before grabbing an idle chair from one of the stray few desks sitting on the roof. She grunts loudly as she swings the chair at him. It breaks as he punches back in retaliation.
"N-No...!"
"You're the Okumura girl... All of this is because of you! I'll crush you into paste!"
She stumbles back but his reach is long. He ensnares her throat with a terrible grip that immediately cuts off oxygen. Her face pales with lips turning blue as she kicks her legs helplessly in the air. Kuma is about to give the final squeeze to snap her neck, but releases her with a pained groan, his hands removed from her throat and move to his groin where Ryuji kicked him from behind. The delinquent then takes his neck into a choke hold doing the same unto him.
"We're not done... Shit head...! Who do you think you are... Touching her like that, huh?!"
Kuma grabs at his arms to pull off of him. They don't budge. If anything, they tighten considerably, the human bear begins to gag for air.
"I'm not letting you go. Not until you're on the ground unconscious, again. What's our record at now? One in and one out, right? I'll make it two this time... With no more rematches."
Kuma's eyes widen as he comes to understand. With what little breath he has, he forces himself onto his feet, and charges backwards into the wall. Ryuji grunts loudly as his body is sandwiched between solid pavement and Kuma's body. The wall cracks each time he's slammed until he falls to his knees. Kuma gasps and turns to Ryuji who rolls onto his back. He lifts his foot back up high.
"You stupid dummy... I'm just gonna stomp you all over again! This time! Into a stain!"
Ryuji counters by recovering with a handspring from the ground, kicking the offending foot back, the larger man stumbles back with a yelp before falling on his own back. Ryuji tears out from his pockets a pair of brass knuckles, wearing them at once before he straddles Kuma, pummeling into the dazed psychopath with all his might. He's sent off of him with a counter punch. Ryuji recovers quick after landing while Kuma struggles to stand.
"You... You're... A lot stronger... Than before... In such a short time!"
Blood spills from his face as he covers his eyes. The kids grazed from the edges of the weapons. Ryuji simply holds his hands up in a stance.
"I didn't have a choice... With freaks like you, it's do or die, and I can't afford death right now."
"I can hardly see... But if I can't see you... I can't beat you..."
Kuma sneers and points in a random direction.
"That what you thinking? Right?"
Kuma stands and approaches Ryuji.
"Wanna test that?"
The blonde glances to Haru. The soft spoken girl coughs with a deep bruise over her neck and throat. The feeling he had when Makoto had been hit. When Takamata attempted to take her life. When these three men entered his life in that alley under the false guise of friendship. All the way back to when Kamoshida ruined his life and lambasted his mother in front of the entire faculty. The burning rage that has his blood boil at the intense feeling of being useless fuels his body with energy. As Kuma throws a punch, Ryuji meets it with his own, mirroring his attack. Time and time again their fists meet. Kuma frowns as his hands begin to bleed.
"W-What are you doing?"
"Isn't this what you're good at? Wearing your opponent down?! C'mon! You're bigger than me! You should crush me easily! RIGHT!?"
Instinct leads him into this strategy. Something he can't seem to understand tells him to continue this foolish game of bloody knuckles. Despite all odds, as Ryuji's gifted weapons are shattered against the giant's massive fists, it's that very giant who finds his fingers and knuckles break soon. Stubbornness and pride keep him going, but the pain grows unbearable, and soon he falters with a step back. He looks down at his hands to find the finger bending awkwardly with little feeling in some.
"W-What...?! Why can't I feel my hands... How come... I don't want to fight anymore?"
"It's called fear. It's something you've put in the people around you. It's only fair that you have a taste for yourself!"
"A-Aie!"
Ryuji kicks Kuma's knee. As the lumbering man leans to one side, the blonde strikes him in the stomach forcing him to lower further, his head now reachable for the climax! The heat of this battle has reached it's peak! With everything he can muster, Ryuji unleashes a single hook that catches Kuma by his jaw, a punch that drags his head to the ground with an indent. The impact of it all resembles a thunderclap. Kuma let's out a moan as Ryuji stands over his body with a thumb on his chest.
"Don't you ever forget this moment! You can fuck me up as much you want! You ever lay a damn finger on Haru Okumura, or any student of Shujin Academy, I'll break every goddamn bone in your body!"
Kuma's eyes roll to the back of his head as he loses consciousness. With adrenaline leaving him, he stumbles towards Haru, the girl in awe of Ryuji's victory with tinge of fear. Blood leaks from his nose and mouth with his uniform a mess from the stomping. His hands, though whole and unbroken, suffer from cuts and swollen bruising. His face however displays the same goofy bright smile she was greeted with when they met.
"Hey... You okay?"
She stands before taking him into a hug. Nodding as she trembles holding onto him.
"Don't die... Please don't die...!"
"... I told you. I keep my promises. I'm supposed to help you with your garden, ain't I?"
She scoffs past shuddering sobs. Of course he would say something like that. It still fills her heart with elation as she feels his body go limp with soft breathing. She'll wait until he wakes up. That's her promise to him.