"I heard it was more of a cult than a gang."

"I heard you have to do a blood oath to get in."

A boy was sitting on the roof of the school with his friends while they enjoyed lunch together. They had this routine every day, it was always the same. Their conversations were always the same too; video games, comic books, and the latest gossip. Every day he would join in...

Except for this particular day.

He was oddly quiet, listening to his two friends while he ate his sandwich. He was attentive, focused, eager to hear what they had to say. "Blood oath?" He prompted, wanting to know more.

"Yeah, dude," his friend shifted his body to face him more, waving his hand as he explained, "They say they have you cut your hand as a symbol of sacrifice and pour it on something, making a red stain. That's where their name comes from."

The boy hummed to himself, thinking that over. It was interesting, but he wasn't convinced. "Who is 'they'?"

"It's just word on the street, man," his other friend waved him off. "We just heard it from people who heard it from other people."

"But where did it originate from?" He needed to know whether or not it was true.

"Who knows?" His friend was finished answering that line of questioning and took a large bite to occupy himself.

His other friend looked at him concerned. "Yasuo, you seem pretty interested in the Red Stains."

It might have been a harmless observation, but it made him suddenly tense. "Do I?" He wracked his brain while trying to remain calm. Forcing a smile he replied, "Well, it's just the talk of the city. I mean, they seem to be everywhere, and there's so many rumors that it's difficult to know what's true. It's like they're wrapped in a mystery." And that's what drew him to them.

He friend frowned, obviously not convinced, but his other friend spoke around the food in his mouth. "If you're so interested then just go ask Kawabata over there." He thumbed over his shoulder and Yasuo's gaze flickered over.

An upperclassman girl was sitting alone on a bench not far away, reading a book while she ate. She was slightly intimidating with her messy dyed blonde hair and cold-shoulder attitude, but what really made people steer clear was her reputation as a Red Stain.

Yasuo tensed at the sight of her, unable to look away. He was slightly afraid of her, he had to admit, but he always thought about approaching her. His other friend glanced from the older girl to him, and interrupted his thoughts with a wave of his arm. "Just forget it, Yasuo. It's just rumors. What's the fun in actually knowing if they're true or false, anyway?"

Yasuo forced a smile, "Yeah, you're right."

!

The final bell of the day rang. Kawabata stood along with everyone else in the class to the Class Representative's instruction and bowed to the teacher, giving thanks for their time. She then grabbed her bag and went to head out in a hurry. She needed to leave before one more person decided to tell her to do something.

She moved with the other students, careful not to touch anyone as they filtered through the door and down the hallway. "K-Kawabata!" She stopped, blinking at the sound of a young boy. She turned around to see a lowerclassmen approaching her. He looked nervous, having a tight grip on his shoulder bag strap and swallowing out of nervousness.

She narrowed her eyes and noticed sweat broke out on his temples. "Who'er you?"

Her rough and blunt voice caused him to jump. "M-My name is Enomoto Yasuo," he replied and quickly bowed to her.

"Alright, and what do you want?" She was already tired of this kid. Every one of the underclassmen acted the same way, quivering in fear at whatever rumor floated around about her. Her resting face was just blank, so she couldn't understand why everyone was so damn scared of her.

"Um..." Yasuo dared to stand upright. Keeping his head down, he peeked up at her and asked, "Is it true... that you're a member of the Red Stains?"

Her grey eyes widened. Some of the students passing by glanced over, overhearing the gang name, and she tensed. This little shit was an idiot. She moved towards him, causing him to cower, but grabbed his arm roughly and swiftly escorted him down the hall. "You can't talk about that shit here," she hissed and Yasuo blinked up at her, anxious and confused as to what he did wrong. "Just come with me outside."

Yasuo wanted to follow her, but she did a good enough job dragging him out by his bruised arm. He forced himself not to complain at the pain. If he was going to talk to a Red Stain member - a girl - then he knew he had to man up. Once Kawabata got him off of school property, and after taking him to a fairly secluded area, she released him, letting him stumble, and faced him with arms crossed. "Alright, you get five minutes. There's somewhere I have to be and I don't like beating around the bush."

Yasuo swallowed, gathering his courage, and stood at attention. "I... I want to join the Red Stains!"

Yasuo expected surprise, or laughter, or maybe a punch in the face. He wasn't entirely sure what he expected, but what he wasn't expecting was a sigh. "Alright, but as protocol I have to deter you from this decision."

He blinked. He expected that even less. "P-protocol...?"

Eyeing him she explained, "You look like an innocent kid. You'd probably get eaten alive if you were thrown in jail. It's one of the rules of the Red Stains that if someone claims they want to join, we have to try and deter them first."

"Wait, you have rules?" He was struggling to keep up with this new information.

"Yeah, we have a few." Her bluntness was shocking him into silence. "We have a rule to try and convince people not to join, like what I'm doing now, and a rule to not talk about Red Stain affairs on school grounds."

He furrowed his brows up confused. "Why?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Boss made 'em. We don't question them." She cocked an eyebrow at him, "So, you still want to join?"

He hesitated for only a moment. This was really happening, he thought to himself. His heart pounded with excitement. It was so easy! "Y-Yes!"

Kawabata sighed again. Great. "Alright, follow me," she said dully and led the way.

He remained where he stood, watching her surprised. "W-wait, right now?"

She paused and looked over her shoulder, "Why, got a curfew?"

"N-no, but..."

"Then quit wasting my time," she said in annoyance and continued on. "Follow me."

Heart pounding and stomach twisting, he hurried after her. He was both surprised and not surprised that she led him to an abandoned and rusted warehouse. He tried to keep his breathing controlled as Kawabata pounded on the large metal doors. One of the doors slid back to reveal a rather tall and menacing black man wearing a red t-shirt. Yasuo quickly realized that this wasn't a high school student. The man looked to Kawabata first and said, "Hey, Kawabata. You're a bit late." He then looked over to Yasuo and asked, "Who's the kid?"

Yasuo frowned, but pressed his lips together to keep silent. Kawabata was only a year older than him... He wouldn't consider himself a kid. "His name's Enomoto Yasuo," she replied dully. "He wants to join."

"Huh?" The man looked down at Yasuo surprised. "This little guy? Did you try and deter him?"

Yasuo frowned more. Little? He tried to stand up straighter, but Kawabata only glanced at him and replied, "Kid's persistent."

"Uh-huh, sure." He stepped aside and Kawabata let herself in, but when Yasuo tried to follow the man blocked his way. Crossing his- as Yasuo quickly noticed- very well muscled arms, he stared down at him and said, "My name's Kunda Ryan. Call me Ryan. And your name is?"

Yasuo blinked up at him, suddenly nervous and confused all over again. "Y-You already know my name..."

"But you haven't introduced yourself properly," Ryan replied. "Go on. Your name?"

"Uh..." If this is what it took to get in, Yasuo bowed and said, "My name is Enomoto Yasuo..."

"And what are you doing here?"

"I..." He stood upright and proudly declared, "I want to join the Red Stains."

"Well, you shouldn't." Yasuo felt as if he lost his footing. Ryan sighed and slid the door shut behind him. Turning back to Yasuo he said, "Listen, kid, this is a gang. Not a group of friends that sit around talking about manga and videogames. People here cause real trouble. Theft, vandalism, drug dealings..."

Yasuo's eyes widened at that . "You deal drugs?"

"Some of us," Ryan shrugged. "We have to make ends meet somehow, and for some of us dealing drugs is the only option we got. Some of us go to jail. A few of us are stuck in prison. Hell, we lost a member last week for getting into a fire fight."

The boy perked up at that. "You mean fighting fires?"

"I mean getting gunned down by the police." Yasuo's eyes widened even more, sweat building on his forehead again. Ryan placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped slightly. "You seem like a nice kid, Yasuo. And in there are some bed people. Not all of them, but if you step through those doors," he thumbed behind himself and Yasuo was forced to look over. "Then you will get sucked into the underworld of Ikebukuro, and it's not a pretty place. Plus it's not all freedom," he added in a lighter tone, releasing his shoulder. "We have rules and regulations that if you don't follow, you get beat. Bad. So... Still want to go in there?"

Yasuo stared passed Ryan, a roaring sound flooding his ears. He was both anxious and excited. This was it, the big choice. He could either walk away, or... "I want to go in."

Ryan sighed in disappointment. "I thought so." Yasuo blinked, hearing the sad tone, and then looked up at him seeing the sorrowful expression. "You have that glint in your eye that told me so. Well," he reached back and dragged the door open, "it's your funeral."

Without wasting another moment he went inside. He stopped short, standing in shock and awe at the overwhelming amount of people inside. Some of them were up in the catwalks, on the second landing overlooking below- which was packed. There were ages ranging from junior high to graduates, all of them wearing something red. Ryan closed the door behind them and Yasuo looked around for Kawabata, her being the only person he knew in this crowd, but in his search his eyes landed on the opposite side of the room.

Though there were a lot of people, the crowd parted slightly from the front of the room. There was an upper platform with an empty chair, and below that, sitting on the ledge a few feet above the ground and holding an orange stained metal pipe, was Mikajima Hana.

He didn't know her personally, just by reputation. Yet as he stared at her from across the room, he could feel the power that she commanded over all these delinquents. Leader of the Red Stains... Yasuo was in awe of her angry looking face and bright red jacket. That metal pipe, he realized, was her legendary weapon! There were a few rumors floating around about that metal pipe alone! With his new knowledge of the Red Stains, he was inclined to believe a few of them...

He blinked, realizing that Ryan was across the room and approaching a man that stood a couple feet away from Hana. He looked pretty intimidating, like a personal bodyguard or something. Yasuo thought he was maybe in his twenties, it was hard to tell with the shades. He wore a black suit and tie with a red button down and messy black hair. Ryan spoke to him and Hana looked over, listening to them over the collective chatter of the warehouse. "Hey, Kiba, Kawabata showed up," Ryan said, "and she brought a kid that wants to join."

The man Kiba asked, "How old?"

"Looks about sixteen," he shrugged, "wearing the same uniform as her."

"Did you try to dissuade him?"

"Yeah," Ryan sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Kid's persistent, though. He has that look in his eye, you know?"

"Yeah." Hana looked away from them to across the room. She zeroed in on the kid fairly easily. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Making eye contact, the kid froze up, clutching onto the strap of his bag for dear life.

Hana closed her eyes. "Kiba," her second-in-command looked over at her. "Call for the meeting."

Kiba nodded and hopped up onto the platform. "All right," he hollered, his voice overpowering the crowd to a silence. "Listen up! The meeting is going to start now! So shut up and whoever is contributing to this meeting step forward!"

Hana watched as the crowd backed away from the center of the room leaving a large circular space. She also counted as twenty people stepped forward into that space, standing a bit away from each other. Kiba looked down at her, waiting for her next order. Twenty? This meeting was going to be long, and she had to get home to start dinner for Saki. "Kiba, is one of them Kawabata?" When her gang first started out she knew some names. At this point is was pointless in trying to know them all.

"Yes," he replied. He knew names far better than she did. One of the reasons he was appointed as second-in-command. He assigned himself to know each and every member when he learned that she did not. "Should I call her forward?" She nodded. Kiba faced the twenty and said, "Kawabata Kazue, you will start us off."

The blonde girl in the school uniform stepped forward looking bored. "I brought someone who wants to join." She then looked over and waved the kid forward. Yasuo froze up like a deer in headlights, becoming even more sweaty as all eyes turned to him. Kazue frowned at him, "You said you wanted to join, so quit making me look stupid and come up here." Yasuo hurried forward, hearing a lot of them laughing and giggling. The other nineteen members stepped back to give them space as Yasuo joined her side. She then nudged him, "Tell her who you are, and be loud enough for everyone to hear, or we'll make you repeat yourself."

She then stepped back and he nearly panicked. He had enough trouble standing up in class! Before he gave his panic a chance to take over, he quickly bowed and said loudly, "M-my name is Enomoto Yasuo! I'm sixteen and- uh- a-a first year student and Ra-Raira Academy!" Quit stuttering you idiot!

"And you want to join the Red Stains?"

Yasuo gasped and snapped his head up. Hana spoke! And to him! He swallowed and replied, "Y-Yes, ma'am."

"And have Kawabata and Kunda informed you of what we do here?"

"Yes... Well, some of it, at least... I-I know more than I did before, but I still want to join."

Hana stared at him for a moment. He felt little under her grey gaze. Wh-why was she looking at him angrily? Was she mad? Hana moved, causing his heart to lurch, and she handed Kiba her metal pipe. He took it and she jumped off the platform. She tucked her hands into her loose jean pockets as she approached. Yasuo's heart pounded harder as she came closer. His grip tightened on his bag strap, but he refused to back down. She reached him and stood over him, staring down at him with her face slightly washed out by the hanging lights, making him a bit frightened.

Hana stared down at the obviously frightened high school boy and did nothing to help her resting bitch face. She looked deep into his determined brown eyes. He put on a brave face, but she already understood him without much effort. She knew that glint in his eyes. He was curious. He was drawn in by the mystery, the danger, the idea of fitting into a crowd that could possibly understand him. He felt detached in his life. He felt a separation from his friends and family, and felt like he didn't belong. His life wasn't tough, though. It was just in his head. Hana had no doubt that he had good parents, good friends, a simple and clean life with peaceful nights.

He wasn't here because he didn't belong elsewhere. He was here because he was bored and looking for a thrill.

A sigh slipped through her nose as she closed her eyes. She knew she was the appointed leader of the gang, but she had no right to tell people how to live their lives. She only put her foot down with certain junior high students and people who were far too old. She had to draw a line somewhere as leader, since no one else would, but she couldn't outright deny this kid. He was innocent, he still had plenty of options, and she wouldn't condemn him. She turned her back and walked away, both confusing and alarming the boy. "I will not initiate him."

She didn't say it very loudly, but she didn't have to. A wave of whispers reached the upper landing and Yasuo felt his heart sink. That was it...? He was rejected so easily? He was sad, disappointed, and angry, and it took all of his will power not to cry.

Hana continued more loudly, "If anyone wishes to claim him then step forward now." That surprised him enough to keep the tears away. Claim him? Hana stopped and turned around to face him again, "Otherwise, Enomoto Yasuo, you will go home. And you will never come back."

Yasuo swallowed and quickly looked around, searching for somebody to help. He wasn't entirely sure what 'claiming him' meant, but he knew it was his only shot. He made eye contact with Kazue, but she pointedly closed her eyes and stepped back into the crowd. But- she was the only one he knew! Who would help? Anyone!? He looked around, desperately searching strangers' eyes.

Then a voice spoke up. "I'll claim him." Yasuo's head whipped around, searching for the source of the young male voice, and spotting a boy walking forward from the crowd. He looked to be about the same age as himself to his slight relief. He definitely seemed to be a delinquent though, with some facial pricings and a red beanie. He held his hand up as he walked towards Yasuo, looking to Hana. "I'm Sawamura Bunta, and I'll claim Enomoto Yasuo."

Yasuo relaxed, but still had conflicting feelings. What did this mean for him? He looked over to Hana, seeing her staring at Bunta for a moment. She then spoke up, "Very well. Sawamura Bunta, give him the initiation." She then walked away back to her spot on the platform.

While Yasuo watched her walk away, he blinked when Bunta suddenly appeared in his vision. He looked a bit sympathetic, "Sorry about this, but it has to be done."

Yasuo furrowed his brows up worried. "Do- do I have to cut my hand?" Bunta blinked at him confused while a wave of laughter rolled through the warehouse. Yasuo became less certain as he continued, holding his hand up to show his palm. "I-I heard that the Red Stains got their name from new members having to cut their hands and spill blood."

The audience laughed and giggled more. Bunta's shoulders sagged as he looked at him disappointed. "We're not a cult, dude, we're a gang." Yasuo's face heated up from embarrassment. "We're not gonna cut your hand. But it is going to be painful and there might be blood." He pointed down and Yasuo followed his aim.

His eyes widened, and then he stepped back with a gasp. "Wait, is that...?" The concrete floor was littered with rust colored stains. "Is that blood?"

"Yep." Yasuo looked around the cleared area, seeing the stains reached out to the edge of the crowd. "There's a lot of people that joined. Have you been in a fight before?"

"What?" Yasuo looked up at him concerned. "No, why? Do I have to fight you?"

Bunta looked at him with pity. This kid was going to be eaten alive. "Nope, just go ahead and stand there," he replied and readied his fists. Yasuo blinked, but before he could ask why, Bunta swung his fist and it snapped against Yasuo's face.

His head snapped back with a grunt, blood flying from his nose as he fell back. Some of the blood splattered on the floor and he hit the ground hard, unmoving. Bunta was alarmed at the lack of resistance, and was pretty sure he broke his nose. "Hey, kid?" He quickly knelt next to him and checked his vitals. Looking up at Hana he said with uncertainty, "I think he's out cold."

Hana closed her eyes as the members broke into laughter. Of course he was. One of the female members hurried forward and helped Bunta pick him up, dragging him off to the side as the nineteen remaining members stepped forward again. As the laughter died down she opened her eyes again to see them all. Her eyes then widened slightly at a lanky guy in school clothes, looking to be a third year high school student. She then asked Kiba, "Is that Toyama?"

Kiba quickly scanned the faces and landed on his. He was a beaten and roughed up mess. "Yes ma'am, Toyama Haruto."

"Haruto," Hana called firmly, bringing the warehouse to a hush. "Step forward." She didn't know him very well, but enough to remember his name.

Haruto glanced at the others, seeing a few nod to him before he stepped forward. "Ma'am, I'd like to address this new gang business," he said plainly.

Hana's expression was unchanged as she glanced at the other eighteen members. "Do you all have the same topic issue?" They all nodded. She frowned slightly, looking back to Haruto. She didn't have to ask if the other gang did that to him. "What happened," she asked in a flat tone.

Haruto held his arms out and spun around for all the members to see. "I was walking home from the convenience store late last night when a few of them jumped me." Looking back to Hana he dropped his arms. "I couldn't see their faces because they were wearing shark masks, and they called themselves the Blue Squares." Hana narrowed her eyes slightly. The Blue Squares...

The first sighting of the Blue Squares was over a month ago. Several of the Red Stain members reported to her that there were groups of people wearing blue. They were obviously a new color gang, and most of the members were worried about what their presence would do. Hana had been surprised over the large concern of these Blue Square members invading their 'turfs'. She wasn't aware that they had claimed any territory, and found the notion stupid. Over the month the sightings had grown, and the Red Stains only became more tense, but followed her strict orders not to do anything rash. She made it very clear that if anyone threw the first punch then she would personally break their hands.

Hana didn't need this sort of drama. She was only here because there was nowhere else for her to go. If a gang war started then news would certainly reach her aunt and uncle, and she couldn't have Saki taken away from her now. "Why did they jump you?"

Haruto knit his brows together. "What?"

"I asked you why did they jump you," she repeated. Her gaze beat down on him hard. "The Blue Squares have never attacked us before. If all of you have followed my rules then we haven't given them any reason to start now. Were you alone?"

Haruto only became angry and questioned, "Do you think I broke your rules!?"

"I think there's more to the story than just a jumping." Her gaze became more intense, causing her neutral expression to seem more angry than normal. "Answer my questions, Toyama. Were you alone?"

"No," he replied stubbornly, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "I was with a couple of friends. We went to get snacks from the convenience store and were heading back to my place to play games."

"And were your friends Red Stain members?"

"Of course they were."

"And did you fight back," she asked finally.

"Of course we did!" He replied and threw his hand out. "You really think we're just gonna let some guys beat the crap outta us!? We had to defend ourselves!"

"And how many were there?"

"There were four of them."

"And how many of you were there?"

"Just three!" He shouted, becoming annoyed and insulted at the interrogation. "It was me, Akito, and Chuichi, go ahead and interrogate them. You'll see their bruises, too!" He grinded his teeth. "We were passing them on the sidewalk and we kept our head down, avoiding eye contact like you told us to. Then as we passed by, they suddenly spun around and jumped on us! They beat the shit out of us and when we fought back we still lost."

Kiba then spoke up and asked, "Did they leave anything with you? A message or an item?"

"No," he replied, calming down a bit. "Chuichi just asked who the hell they were and they replied they were the Blue Squares and ran off."

Hana was silent, listening as whispers went through the warehouse. This didn't make sense. For the past month they had literally done nothing, and now they jump them? And without any reason by the sound of it. Haruto's passion and obvious broken pride led Hana to believe he was telling the truth. She stood up on the platform, causing the warehouse to go silent again, and called out, "Whoever has information on the Blue Squares' leader step forward!"

Haruto and the other members looked around. "I do!" Wiggling her way through the crowd was a young woman about Hana's age with long dark brown hair in a red bandana. She hurried to the center of the room and stood a bit in front of Haruto to address Hana. "Tsuruga Maria," she introduced with a bow, a bit polite for the punk she appeared to be. "From what I've gathered, the Blue Squares was started by a kid in Junior High. There were significantly more student members for the first couple weeks, but then rapidly gained more adult members ranging from twenties to thirties. They outnumber the students at this point."

Hana's brows knit together at that. Typically there would be more members closer to the leader's age. Why would that change so suddenly and so drastically? Hana's eyes wandered to the ground as she thought hard. It was difficult enough keeping a tight leash on this many people with a knack for trouble. If her grip slacked even a bit all Hell would break loose, she was sure. She held her hand out for her weapon and Kiba handed it to her. She slammed it against the edge of the metal platform demanding attention. "Listen well, all of you!"

She would have to become a leader for this. Her eyes scanned over the crowd, looking members in the eye as she spoke. "The Red Stains weren't formed by choice. I did not choose to make a gang, and I did not choose to become leader! I was just a junior high student feeling lost and alone and with a talent to get into trouble. I found comfort in others like me, and the numbers grew to what it is today. This not a gang, this is a family! And most of you seem to have forgotten that! We hold no territories besides our homes. We have no goals besides trying to find our places in this fucked up world.

Getting into a gang war with the Blue Squares will tear this city apart. Innocents with actual life purposes will get caught in the crossfire. They'll get beaten bloody, but you all will get beaten and broken, too. And I'll be damned if I just let my family get sucked into that chaos. We will not engage the Blue Squares. We will not antagonize them or give them reason to fight us. If they have claimed territories, then fine. Let them play that stupid game. None of us even deserve to be here; we are nothing but outcasts and lowlifes, so why the hell would we defend some crappy piece of this fucked up city and claim it as our own."

Then a voice called out from above, "But what if they claim a territory that we live in?"

Looking up she shouted, "Then take off your damn color. If you don't wear red then you're virtually nothing to them." Addressing the crowd in front of her again she said, "If another jump happens again, then let me know. Do not take matters into your own hands. You're not a hero, and you don't stand for shit. We're not fighting the Blue Squares and that is final. Meeting dismissed." With that she jumped off the stage and headed for the doors, the crowd parting easily for her as she went.

That was Hana's first mistake.