Clear to cloudy

Target 14: Kotsu's first fight. Vs Yari

Reborn has just pushed the frail and terrified Kotsu forward forcing him to fight a well-known man who is known for his many spears: the one they call Yari.

"R-R-Reborn… you can't be serious! T-there's just no way! He LOOKS a million times stronger than me. There's no way I can match him in ANY capacity!" Kotsu tries, pleading for his life. However Reborn isn't even looking at him.

"He's coming," The hitman simply says as Yari comes flying at him, with a spear and Kotsu falls backwards making the man jam his spear right in between Kotsu's legs.

"So… you're my opponent. Not quite what I was expecting," He pulls it back out as Reborn goes off to the side to simply watch while Kotsu's heart is sitting in my throat, pounding away like he just ran a marathon. Yari pulls the spear back out. "Well then… let's get this over with. If I win will you leave?" He asks Reborn, who simply nods as an answer. Yari smirks and stabs at Kotsu some more as the young boy just crawls backwards for his life nearly getting impaled with every strike. However Yari's picking his nose while stabbing so it's pretty clear he's not trying.

"Man… this is actually pretty boring. You're just a kid…" Kotsu is pushed against the wall and Yari raises the spear when suddenly Kotsu hears the echoing voice of his teacher.

"KOTSUKIBA! Don't you want to save Fumie!?" He yells and right after Kotsu hears a gunshot, which moments later hits him right between the eyes. 'I'm… dying… parting with the world forever… If only I could've defeated this guy… then I could've saved Fumie… she's innocent… she has nothing to do with this…' He thinks as he slumps to the floor against the wall and Yari just looks at Reborn wondering if he's right in the head. However his eyes quickly snap back to Kotsu, as the boy's clothes burst off leaving him in his boxers and he rises to his feet with gritted teeth, as a large purple flame erupts on his forehead.

"RE… BOOOOOORNNN!" He yells off the top of his lungs looking very angry, his eyes much narrower than normal. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU WITH MY DYING WILL!" He yells and Yari takes a quick step back, before Kotsu takes a large step forward, to throw the first real punch of his life, taking Yari completely by surprise and Kotsu hits him straight in the stomach. Yari has the air punched out of him and is sent flying thanks to the dying will mode's removal of all Kotsu's physical limiters. Yari dropped his spear during the punch and so takes out the one with the red gem to stop himself with, by sticking it into the ground. Kotsu grabs the discarded spear and charges at Yari, not thinking of any potential dangers.

"Are you insane kid!?" He yells stabbing at Kotsu with the large drill-like spear and Kotsu uses his new spear like a bat, swinging it sideways to hit Yari's spear out of the way, using the momentum to spin around for a kick straight to Yari's side. However as soon as his spear is hit, Yari grabs another of his spears. This one green with two tips almost forming a diamond shape without touching. He uses the new spear to block Kotsu's kick. However as soon as Kotsu can't feel the strength on his kick anymore he stomps his raised foot down and headbutts at Yari, who once more blocks the strike with the drill spear's handle. He jumps back afterwards noting a dent in the long handle. "Yup… definitely insane," He says and suddenly swings both his spears upwards as Kotsu had tossed the spear he'd gotten from him and the motion blocked the flying spear sending it into the air. As Yari is concentrated on the flying spear Kotsu charges at him recklessly throwing a series of hard quick punches however Yari manages to block them all with relative ease using his two spears. The third spear comes falling down and Yari makes it land on his foot, in perfect balance and he swings it up again, switching it with one in his hand, stabbing down at Kotsu's relentless assault making Kotsu hit it instead and Yari can then stab at him with the spear he switched it for. A tricky maneuver which has clearly taken a lot of practice. However Kotsu's body has been hardened and the stab just bounces off him making Yari jump back with all three of his spears.

"You're pretty strong kid. But you can't beat me!" He says tossing the lightning spear into the air with his foot once more before kicking it with the same foot and it spins really fast like a wheel towards Kotsu. However the young boy just runs straight into it, with no consideration for anything and luckily it's the blunt end of the spear that slams him over the head, so he's unharmed, as Reborn is certain the other end would've sliced his head clean open. Kotsu grabs the spear angrily glaring at it. Yari looks curious for his next move. "ANNOYING!" Kotsu yells before slamming the spear down over his knee bending the metal into an almost 45 degree angle.

"What did you do to my beautiful spear!?" Yari yells angrily, but Kotsu doesn't listen and just keeps repeating the same progress until the spear breaks in two due to the heat from being bent making it softer. Kotsu tosses the two pieces aside before charging forward screaming angrily again. "ANNOYANCE ELIMINATED!" He yells and Yari grits his teeth.

"That was MINE! No one touches my spears!" He yells taking out two more, now having four in total. He holds both under his arms and he starts spinning really quickly. "FOUR SPEARS: VIOLENT TWISTER!" He declares and as Kotsu gets close he feels himself get a slight cut on the cheek and as such jumps back. But he instantly charges again, when Yari starts moving towards him swinging the spears around himself with the spinning move. Kotsu jumps to get over the spear assault as it only seems to be around him and not over him. Kotsu punches down at him, but Yari stops spinning suddenly, jabbing upwards, using all the spinning momentum to further his speed. Kotsu twists his body, barely dodging the stab and he grabs the spear pulling it down they're both holding onto it. Kotsu pulls on it and headbutts Yari at the same time making him stumble backwards a little letting go of the second spear. Kotsu snaps it in two as the handle on this one is made of wood and he starts attacking with the two halves, just mindlessly swinging them at Yari. Even for an experienced gangster, Kotsu's seemingly infinite stamina, durable body and incredible strength is almost too much to handle.

As the fight goes on Reborn takes off his hat, looking inside he has Leon safely tucked away, still a glowing ball. Reborn looks at him for a few seconds, as the glow has intensified quite a lot. "Soon…" He says taking Leon out and sticking him to his hat having him hang down on the side like a cocoon on a leaf.

Yari jumps back after Kotsu overwhelms him with his strength. "You little… How can a kid like you be so strong?" He asks himself and as Kotsu attacks Yari tosses four of his spears into the air, holding just the two that're left. As Kotsu attacks again, Yari starts almost juggling his spears striking once with each, before tossing it into the air, in perfect rhythm and Kotsu can't get close to him, like this. Too many spears everywhere. He's pushed back and the flame on his forehead starts slowly fading. Kotsu grits his teeth and jumps into the air, grabbing all four of Yari's spears out of the air. "HERE'S 'MY' SPECIAL MOVE!" He yells as Yari grits his teeth. No one's ever done such a thing to him before such as grabbing four violently spinning spears out of the air at once before. He holds the two spears in his hands together. "TWO SPEARS: THUNDER JAB!" Kotsu holds all four spears in a giant bundle. "QUADRUPLE SPEAR BAT…!" He yells slamming all four spears down like a bat crashing them against Yari's attack. The older boy is overpowered by the sheer strength of four spears against his own two and all of the six remaining spears are flung to the side and Kotsu comes down with a winded back fist.

"Wait… I can't lose like this! He's just in his boxers!" Yari declares almost mad at that fact. "…HOMERUN!" Kotsu finishes the attack name from before punching Yari straight in the head sending him flying straight into the ground at his own feet cracking the concrete under him.

Kotsu lands right next to him and screams off the top of his lungs. "VICTORYYYYYYYY!" He starts before the flame disappears completely and Kotsu looks at his dirty hands looking at the unconscious Yari at his feet. "What… happened…?" He says to himself mostly, but his 'Oh so helpful' tutor gets up walking past Yari.

"You defeated a fierce opponent. Congratulations Kotsu," He says and Kotsu now notes the state of his clothes. The lack there of at least.

"M-My clothes!? Did I fight that guy like THIS!?" Upon seeing Reborn's nod he blushes furiously. "But wasn't it supposed to be cool or something!?" He says to himself and Reborn just shrugs before tossing some clothes at him.

"I brought some extra. Get dressed," Kotsu puts on the dark-blue t-shirt and long green jeans, which actually seems to go rather well together.

The two of them go to the chair with Fumie in it and Kotsu is almost crying, but holds it in. "We came to get you… Fumie-san… are you alright?" He says taking off the bag, but it's not Fumie… it's a doll with one of their school uniforms on, to make them think it was her.

Reborn nods slowly. "I figured as much. Then the real question becomes where Fumie actually is," Just as he finishes his sentence Ren comes with Tsugemora no longer over his arm, but running beside him.

"Reborn-san… Murphy-san is stuck in one of the tunnels… He needs help," the younger boy says with concern and Reborn.

"Very well… Kotsu. You take Tsugemora and Ren and head for the main platform. Platform A. If I know a bit about Geraldino that is where he'll be at. And where he is your friend is likely to be located there too," He says before going past Ren and Tsugemora. Right before he goes in the tunnel he turns and tosses something. "Kotsu… take this with you," Kotsu frantically catches one of the blue pills he always swallows to turn into that insane dying will mode. Before Kotsu can thank him he's already gone.

Tsugemora sees Yari on the floor. "Nii-san!? You defeated him?! That's so cool!" He says with sparkling eyes and Kotsu laughs a bit nervously not actually remembering much of the fight, only little glimpses here and there.

"Y-yeah… I guess I did…" He says and Ren looks at the tunnel going in the other direction. It has a sign saying platform A on it.

"I guess we're going that way correct?" he says still thinking of this at a game and as such is not mad that Kotsu knocked out Yari thinking the latter is just pretending.

-NII-

Kotsu, Ren, and Tsugemora continue making their way through the tunnel and after not so long their reach a very large opening. It's a much larger platform than the others with multiple tracks running through it.

On the opposite side of the track they spot person standing with Fumie in a chair next to him. Without a bag this time so there's no mistaking that it's actually her this time. The boy is much older than all of them with short black hair that just lays messily down his head, only just short enough to not get in his eyes. He's wearing a sleeveless black west that's open with a tight-fitting white tank-top underneath showing his abs quite clearly. And he's ripped. He also has a lip-ring in his lower lip and two piercings in his left eyebrow. As well as a tattoo on his strong-looking arm of the ice wolves gang sign, but much cooler-looking. It's clear this tattoo was what made the inspiration for the logo. The wolf's cyan eyes also seem to mimic Geraldino's own eyes as they're the same piercing shade of cyan. On his back, he has a sheathe for a katana, which he is currently holding. Tsugemora freezes completely as the boy smirks at him with a cold icy gaze only enhanced by his cyan eyes.

"Hello there Tsugemora… long time no see," He says but looking over the group he almost looks… disappointed. "Dammit… Reborn-senpai isn't with them…" He whispers to himself and Fumie starts crying happy tears when she sees Kotsu, Ren, and Tsugemora.

"L-Let me at him Nii-san… I will defeat him… for you," he says sounding quite scared of the older boy, as he slowly takes out his wire, but Kotsu quickly grabs hold of him and gently guides him to sit down.

"Nonononono Tsugemora… you stay right here. You've been poisoned by lord knows how much… you can't fight," He argues and Tsugemora tries still getting up again.

"But Nii-san… if I can't be your shield then what good am I as a bodyguard?" He asks and Kotsu claps him on the head a bit hard, though Tsugemora can't really feel it.

"You are not my bodyguard Tsugemora. You're my friend. Now just… stay here with Ren. I will try to get Fumie back…" He says standing back up and he looks towards Geraldino who smirks at him confidence oozing off his strong body.

"What's that determined look for? You think you stand a chance against me? I saw you when Yari attacked you. You only won because of Reborn-senpai," He whispers the last part and Kotsu swears he hears some kind of admiration for the hitman in Geraldino's voice. "You were so terrified before he helped! You could barely even move!" He says and laughs loudly. Kotsu grits his teeth.

"I don't want to hurt people if I can avoid it! That's what Ren taught me!" He says and Ren smiles still sitting and taking care of Tsugemora, happy to hear that his 'teachings' are being followed. Kotsu holds out the blue pill Reborn gave him between his index and middle finger. "But this time is different! You kidnapped my friend and made her scared for her life and made her worry about me and everyone else! That's unacceptable!" He swallows the pill and right as he does a train drives by at incredible speed making Geraldino lose sight of him.

As the train disappears from sight Geraldino sees Kotsu jumping at him with an angry look on his face and the purple flame on his forehead, however, his clothes are still intact somehow. He winds his fist back for a hard punch and Geraldino blocks it with his sword.

"I WILL DEFEAT YOU AND RESCUE FUMIE WITH MY DYING WILL!" Kotsu yells off the top of his lungs.