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Disclaimer: In no way do I own or claim to own OHSHC. I am not selling this FanFiction and it is purely for personal use only.

Chapter 8 – Bijou to Yajū

Cries went out as in the stadium, echoing off the walls making the ambient noise louder. Spectators barking orders for blood and screaming obscenities with them. The men in Box 14 were likely the loudest but that may have been due to the level proximity. Only two were relatively silent in that whole stadium, and who but the keenest of eyes would notice?

It was the title fight and seven train stops away but the usual eleven Syndicate members wouldn't miss it if they could help it. Thanks to the strings their Ojō-sama pulled and the Kumicho giving them leave, calling in lower factions to guard the Syndicate House, they could be there. Even the Kumicho joined in on the festivities but Ritsu remained quiet and distant while Yuu felt out of place and awkward about Ritsu's silent-treatment. The tension between them a week ago had not lessened. Matsuo noticed her silence and shoved Katashi from his seat in front of her, starting a bit of a skirmish but in moments, Katashi gave up and took Matsuo's seat, "You're pretty dull back there, Ojō-sama. Liven'up, you're the one who set up this whole thing."

Yuu came back from her thoughts, "I'm sorry, Matsuo-san, I couldn't hear that." It was deafeningly loud in there so he spoke up, "I said Liven'up! You…aagh!"

She observed the tedium about her and tried to seem more interested, "So how does…this…work?" Matsuo snickered then turned to the ring of fighters pummeling each other, "Boxing is a game of strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes. One guy is trying to knock out the other guy by throwing fast, hard punches and lasting longer than his opponent. You see that guy in the brown shorts?"

Yuu looked over the rest of the heads and waving fists in the box to see a man well-toned in the upper body fighting another muscular man in a greyish green shorts. She nodded to Matsuo, "He's Ishida Ranma a rookie boxer. The other guy is Ryol Li Lee, better known as Returi Lee. He's only lost 4 out of 23 fights and drawn 2. They both take two completely different stances but they're both exactly the same."

"Then it seems pointless in fighting one another?" Matsuo let out a belch of a laugh, "Doesn't it?! Whew, now Ishida has this thing where he likes to feint a few times before he lands a hit. He switches up how many feints he uses and where he'll hit."

"That sound…weird." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion while he slapped his knee, "You'd think so but here's the secret; when you feint, you draw your opponent's defenses towards where you're hitting, leaving a solid opening for your other fist. But Retsuri's smarter than that. He likes to get his opponents used to his pattern. In a fight, you never want to get into a pattern. The other guy can read you like a book and strike as soon as you've thrown your punch but if you use that against someone…"

The green boxer kept throwing the same punches, luring the brown boxer in for a right hook when the green dodged, threw a feint to the brown's chin then the real punch his gut. The crowd roared as the brown stumbled just before the bell rang, "YOU SEE THAT?!"

Matsuo was having a blast and for a second, Yuu was able to forget her thoughts, "He used his own trick against him."

"Sure did! Isamu! Pay up, you rat bastard! Ha hah!"

After the fight, there was still a lot of time in the day. The guys wanted burgers to celebrate after a good fight despite their guy not winning. Hayato was getting irritable in this totally lax atmosphere where his men forget themselves and become too familiar so he straightened them out with a glare. Tetsuya was having trouble moving around as much as the guys but none of them noticed. Ritsu helped Tetsuya to a seat to rest, "Wakaa, I'm fine really. Just tired."

"You're not ok. You should have waited longer before traveling this much." Tetsuya sighed in relief as he finally sat down, "But then I would have wasted Wakamiya-san's ticket."

Ritsu flinched at the mention of her and Tetsuya noticed, "Why don't you go sit with her? She looks like she's being overwhelmed by the guys."

Ritsu thought about her sitting with his father instead but she's a touch tense around him so he reconsidered Tetsuya but he was already there so it would stand out to switch like that, "It's not like I'll make things any more comfortable. She's scared of me."

"Really? I didn't think so. I haven't seen her flinch at you in weeks." He had to admit that was true. Just as he did, he saw Yuu approaching their table, "May I sit here? The guys are a little exhausting."

Ritsu froze and looked at Tetsuya who only looked back at him, "Y-yeah. Go ahead." Yuu plopped down, a little less lady-like than her usual self. 'The boys must have really been tiring.' thought Tetsuya.

"Tetsuya-kun! Come help me with this a moment." Tetsuya's eye sharpened, "Yes, Kumicho-sama." leaving Ritsu alone with Yuu.

Hayato whispered low, "How's it coming between those two?"

"Still rocky but we're working on it."

"The boy's did a good job of chasing her away. I didn't think they could be this rowdy."

"This is just when they're sober."

"Has she noticed yet?"

"I think she's picked up a few cues but I don't think she really sees it yet. It seems like something happened between them. Wakaa isolates himself from her often, apparently."

"Well, they better get over it fast before she runs out on him."

Ritsu and Yuu were sitting quietly until she couldn't stand it a minute longer, "You want to get out of here?

She was being strangely forward and very casual, "Y- what'd'ya have in mind?" Yuu stretched out her arm across the table and lay her head on it in pause. It was like a totally different person was sitting here. She tilted her head then answered, "Maybe the arcade? That looks like one across the street and your boys won't have to worry too much about security."

Ritsu didn't take her for that kind of girl, "A-are you o…" She didn't wait for him to finish and grabbed his wrist to go but stood there waiting for him, "You coming or what?"

Ritsu had seen one American girl years ago in a fast food restaurant. She had to be the loudest, most impolite and informal, and totally indifferent person he'd ever seen. Or at least that's what he remembered thinking. Was Yuu really born and raise Japanese?

Of course, some of the guys followed generally out of site to their best extent for safety reasons. Yuu was right, though; they didn't stick out like a sore thumb in here. Heck, they even played a few games themselves. Yuu seemed out of place because she took careful thought about which game she wanted to play first. The classic feel of graphics from a SEGA Genesis seemed to pique her interest more as she gave more attention to them. So her first was After Burner, a sample completely polar of what a girl would normally play. Her button action was horrible at first but she got gradually better. Ritsu stood confused while watching her work an old-style joy stick and mash red and white thumb-sized buttons.

Apparently she got bored when she crashed and when she turned around, she saw him standing there looking at her strange. She scanned the place for a second then took his hand and pulled him over to Virtual Fighter, "Play me."

That's all she said but was it really enough to get him to let down the tenseness? The guys watched her from a distance. They were happy she was getting so familiar around him but were confused as to what she was doing. There were noises from the game while Ritsu was staring at her, "You better focus on this game or I'll beat you. I'd think it'd be pretty sad if a Syndicate lord got beat by a girl in an arcade game."

Ritsu snapped attention to the game. She was right. She was winning by a good margin so he mashed buttons best he could to catch up but it was pointless. She won and it didn't seem to please her one bit as there was no show of arrogance about her. Suddenly, Ritsu had a moment about him that was equally out of character, "Best two out of three?"

She looked at him puzzled for a second then an evil grin crossed her face. That wasn't about to intimidate him so he mocked her with one of his own. From that moment on, any game they played was full on competitive, they were both going for the higher score, who could last longer, and Ritsu won most of them. He wanted to be smug about it, not caring if she sulked as they left to walk down the street. Her arms folded and her cheeks puffed, it was kind of cute to him and he couldn't help teasing her, "You're a surprisingly sore loser."

"And you're a surprisingly huge dick." Ritsu was used to that kind of talk and heard himself called it by many a rival syndicate but hearing that sort of language from this proper little lady caught him off guard so he changed subject, "So what was up back there?"

"Nani?"

"I mean, do you even go to arcades?" Yuu dropped her pout to go blank faced, "Not really. In fact, I never get to go out on my own a lot."

Remembering herself, she put her hood over her head, not realizing she had it off for hours. Ritsu saw and remembered that she's hiding from her fiancé and scanned the area just to be sure, "They wouldn't be all the way out here in Yokoami."

"I know, just trying not to stand out." Ritsu snickered, "I'm a tall scary guy with blazing red hair. We're being followed by the meanest looking crew that look like they'll scrap at the drop of a knife, and you're worried about standing out?"

Yuu giggled slightly, "Point taken." Ritsu scratched the back of his neck, "So what else to you want to do? We could go by the mall or crash a movie or…"

"Hang gliding into a roller coaster?" Ritsu stopped in his tracks but she kept going, tilting her head looking back to give an 'I-didn't-do-nothin' expression. Ritsu decided to play along, "So I guess riding giant paper clips down a snowy mountain side is off the list."

They both couldn't hold in the laughter. They had to stop, they sounded ridiculous. She held her stomach and he braced his knees, only moving their hands from position to wipe their tears. The conversation died a little but the atmosphere stayed pretty chill as they strolled. They didn't really have a destination and that was perfectly fine. Ritsu didn't want to ruin the moment but he really wanted to know and this seemed as good a time as any, "So…why did you come to us?"

"To confess…I don't really know? That night I couldn't sleep. I knew I'd be in trouble if I left again but…I just…felt like running. I didn't think, my body just moved. Somehow, I ended up in your neighborhood and got it in my head to go to your house. Again, I wasn't thinking. You scared me near to death though."

"I-…sorry 'bout that." Yuu shook her head, "I guess your place seemed like the only place that was untouchable. It was a self-assuring thought." The chillness of the atmosphere lessened but it didn't go away completely. Then she sighed and spoke again, "So what do you like to do with friends? The guys back there look like they could use some excitement."

Really, only one game came to mind and he was a little embarrassed that. It was all he usually fell back on when picking a group activity, "Kankari?"

Yuu gave him a confused look and he instantly regretted saying anything. But the more she thought about it, the more funny it sounded and the more fun she thought it would be, "Interesting choice. Okay, there should be a park near here. Hey Guys! Come play Kankari with us!"

Ritsu blushed since people were staring in their direction now, 'JUST like an American.' Yuu didn't seem to care, instead she shoved his arm and ran, looking back at him, "Either a race or tag! Either way, you'll never catch me!"

Ritsu smiled casually then pulled out that competitive side he never knew he had until today to chase her. Yuu looked back to see him starting to run just as she rounded a corner and hit something hard and fell forward, "Ah!"

Finding the ground under one of her hands and something round and soft under the other, she lifted herself up to find she ran into someone. She quickly moved her hand when she noticed that she was unwittingly using his arm as a prop, "Sumimasen deshita! Daijoubu desu ka?!"

Yuu stood quickly and offered her hand to help him up but he smacked it away, "Teme! Keep your scrawny hand, bozu!"

"Where do you get around running into people like that?"

"Someone could get hurt."

"Look, I broke something. How do you plan on compensating for it?" It was then that she realized he wasn't alone, he had at least three other guys with him. Make that five counting the two running toward them. Not going to lie to herself; she was intimidated by the numbers and the type of crowd they appeared to be but she wasn't raised to buckle under pressure and took a defensive stance, "Look, I said I'm sorry so walk it off."

"Looks like this boy doesn't get the situation he's in." The man she ran into used the arm he just said was broken and threw a full punch to her left cheek. She felt dizzy trying to stand or even sit up. Then the one who punched her stooped down over her to grab the shoulder of her hoody with that 'bad arm' and pull her to him, "Now you see what we have to resort t-…holy shit. Hey guys, check this out. It's a babe."

Yuu's hood was barely gripping her head exposing her hair just enough. He snatched off the rest of her hoody to gawk just as Ritsu rounded the corner. He stood stunned for a second then saw Yuu on her side, with blood coming out of her mouth and a man over her with her hoody in his grip. His second thought never came, only a swing of his foot into the man's face to get him off of her. They guy nearly came off the ground with that one, "Wakamiya-san! Daijoubu desu ka?! Shikari shiro!"

The wave of vertigo hadn't left. The guy jugged her pretty hard, but she managed a nod. Ritsu had never been one for violence but a wave of something was coming over him. He didn't care about their cheesy, faulty logic of justification, or how badly they outnumbered him, or that one of them was the first to recognize his description – red hair and scary mug – he just started throwing punches. Needless to say, that didn't go over too well. He got in a few really good hits before was completely overwhelmed by their quantitative advantage. They had him in a full Nelson and the rest was fists, knees, and kicks to his gut and face. They didn't get that many licks in before the guys got there, "WAKAA!"

"IT'S THOSE DAMN MIOJI'S!"

"BASTARDS!"

"GET 'EM!"

"CALL THE BOYS! PROTECT WAKAA AND OJŌ-SAMA!"

In no time at all, Ritsu was dropped and Yuu was at his side, having regained enough of her bearings to move around. Ryouto helped both of them up but mostly Ritsu as he was hurting quite a bit, "Wakaa! Take Ojō-sama and run!"

Ritsu could register his words but only Yuu had the present physical ability to carry it out. She took him by the arm arm and pulled him up then pulled him away, gradually running fast as Ritsu seized his orientations. At first Yuu led then he grabbed the top of her hand and pulled her the rest of the way. He didn't know which way to go, only that they couldn't stop. When they heard a screech of wheels behind them, Ritsu took a skinny alleyway and a few turns in between so as to avoid running into that car on the next street over. Not long after, he heard a few extra sets of feet behind them. He was already pulling her faster than her legs could go making her pray she'd not trip them up. It didn't matter though. When they came out of the alley, it led into a forested park behind an engineering garage. Yuu didn't realize her clip had come out and some of her hair was escaping her hoody. One of the Mioji's snatched hold of it and yanked her back, her hand whipping from Ritsu's grasp as she fell. Ritsu spun around fast to throw a punch to make him let go. He missed the first but hit the second. He pulled Yuu up fast and shoved her past him, "RUN!"

She did. Ran off looking back a few times before disappearing into the trees. The men circled him, "Boy, when Red called us to say the Kasanoda brat was in town, you could imagine our excitement. But just picture how happy the boss will be if we bring him back one of your arms."

"He's skinnier than I pictured him. Won't put up much of a fight." They laughed. Ritsu did his best to keep an eye on all of them, in his inexperienced ready stance waiting for an attack, 'Five? No. Four. One has a knife. They've cut me off from the trees. Likely more will come from the alley. Get it together, Ritsu. This is life or death. Fight your way out. Hope she's safe.'

The first rushed him from behind so he swung his elbow into their jaw and punched at the rest coming in from the front. He was fine the first few minutes but one good kick to the gut and he was down. Just as they were about to throw another kick, Ritsu heard a short clang. More like a 'bink'. Then a few more. That kick he was expecting to smash his face in never came. When he moved his hair out the way – some of it sticking to the blood from his nose – he saw Yuu hitting them with a metal rod. Probably from the garage's back yard. There was a variety of metal things there ranging from small rods like the one Yuu had to structural beams. A man came at her swinging in a rhythm making Yuu remember what Matsuo said. She kept dodging and hit him clear in the face right after his third punch. The next one didn't have such coordination so she took him out easy. The third grabbed her from behind in a sleeper hold. The flow of circulation to her brain was being cut off making her head buzz and breathing was difficult. Ritsu came behind him and cracked a good kick to his lower back making him let go. Yuu gasped for air and followed up with a swing of the rod to his left ear. He was the last one so she dropped the rod and took Ritsu's hand rather sloppily to be pulled away into the trees.

A sure distance away, they stopped to catch their breath, "What Was that back there?! How did it blow up so quickly?! And who are the Mioji's?!" Ritsu tried to compose himself, "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it' he says. Several days ago, you had a grenade go off IN YOUR ROOM! And before that, you were about to be a 2D splatter to add color to the pavement. I suppose an intentional hit-and-run is just cause not to worry too, hm?!"

"I SAID DON'T WORRY 'BOUT IT! IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Ritsu was Not in the right mind to handle this and it scared Yuu into flinching, "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell like that. I just…don't want to get you involved."

Yuu stood there loosely then pulled out a blue bandana from her cargo pants and approached him. She lifted her arm to his head but he caught her arm. She snatched it and went for the cut over his eye. Her face showed she was pissed but then it softened, "My father's company is going under from stocks covertly corrupted by my fiancé. In exchange for a merger, Hiroshi Ienari wanted me. I'm taking refuge at your compound waiting for certain business dealings to go through so I can reverse all this before he can do something about it."

Ritsu was quiet so she continued, "I've shared my story. And I'm not afraid to get involved in yours."

Ritsu caught a knot in his mouth then let out a sigh, "Fine. But I better call the boys first. They'll be looking for us."

(A/N) Ok so here's the thing. I have NO EARTHLY IDEA what's going on with Yuu. I did not plan any of this, she's acting of her own accord. I had a plot set out but she doesn't want to follow it until she decided she wanted to run. I don't know where her formalities went or why she decided now to drop them….but I LOVE it. I thought she was too bland and sweet and perfect. Now she just sounds like a guy with a beer gut that just got home, threw the suit off, sat down sloppily on the couch, and turned the TV on while sipping a beer, not bothering to care if this is what people saw when he'd answer the door. She thought up the arcade, not me. I just went with it and by god did it work. But then I had to go to my PS2 to play my arcade games from the 90s (like Pacman and Digdug to be authentic. Yes, I have one of those) and throw in a few games I've seen around. Maybe something snapped in her. Maybe she's tired on Ritsu giving her the cold shoulder and changing it up? Maybe she just doesn't give a fuck anymore? I Don't KNOW. Make up your own ideas because anyone's guess is as good as mine. I called this chapter 'Beauty and the Beast' but BOY did she put her own spin on it.

Hope you enjoyed and sorry for the wait. I'm actually supposed to be doing a take-home test for Precalc II right now and WAY too much else but I was just dying to get this posted. Well, until next time.

Here's the translations:

Bijou to yajū – Beauty & the Beast

Kumicho – family head

Ojō-sama – Young Lady, Miss, Ma'am [formal]

Wakka – Young Lord

Nani – What

Sumimasen deshita – an apology when not speaking to superiors but still polite. Deshita makes the apology for something done.

Daijoubu desu ka – Are you alright/hurt?

Teme – You [very rude], used when you're looking for trouble.

Bozu – Kid [informal, rude]; similar to "Hey squirt"

Shikari shiro – the imperative form of "pull yourself together".

***Check out a picture I did of Wakamiya Yuu and Kasanoda Ritsu at Xai16 on deviantArt if you haven't already (I got lazy and used a base and substitute Photoshop tools but it came out great for someone who has NO IDEA how to use Photoshop)***

The link is below: copy and paste, delete the space, and don't forget the dot-com. And Enjoy.

xai16. deviantart

/art/Kasanoda-Ritsu-X-Wakamiya-Yuu-312704544