Chp 3
Day number two arrived and already, she wasn't in a mood to go to school. But in the end, go to school she did. After being held up by the morning traffic jam in the Tokyo Underground, she knew it was going to be a bad day.
Next time, I'm going to take the taxi, never mind the exorbitant charges.
"There the fuck you are!" A loud voice roared as a sluggish Sora slunk down into the school compound. Sora slammed her forehead with her hand. Damn her sixth sense. It never failed to be right.
She sighed and turned around, plastering a fake smile on her face, not that the thugs will be able to see it, thanks to her scarf. They were the same thugs as yesterday. "Good morning. Er... Can I help you with anything?"
She really wasn't in the mood...
"Yeah, you can help us by going to hell for leading us on a blind chase yesterday!" The leader – Pig face, she called him – threw a punch.
She wasn't so stupid to stay around and receive it, and it's not her fault they were so stupid and lost her so easily.
"It's too damn early for this!" She groaned as she once again tore through the school in her effort to outrun them. Seriously, can't they wait for the lunch break before going after her?
Apparently not...
"Look!" She yelled as she ran through a school corridor, ignoring the number of curious heads popping out from the class rooms. "Can't we discuss this peacefully like normal human beings?"
She really didn't want to fight. She was still sore from yesterday.
"We can discuss this over our fists!" Pig face roared.
Left with no choice, she leapt out a broken window, thanking the gods for her agility and training as she rolled to her feet. Those chasing after her tried to climb out the window but they weren't fast enough, and that bought her some time to deal with them.
The first few who made through the window lunged at her. She grabbed the arm of thug # 1 and twisted underneath. He flew over her and landed on his friend, easily knocking the wind out of both of them. Sora didn't have time to gloat. She dodged a punch, grabbed the arm of another guy and threw him over her shoulder. She kicked a third in the guts and threw a fourth.
Within moments, there was a heap of groaning males sprawled on the floor. Sora herself was panting, not so much from the fight as from the marathon through the school. Now that the adrenaline rush was over, her muscles ached even more, reminding her once again of her bad choice to fight. The moment she got her breath back, Sora straightened herself and hurried away from the courtyard. She was not waiting around for round 2, thank you very much!
"At last I've found you, you worthless scum." For a moment, she winced. Were they back again? So fast? Why are they being so persistent for?
Then she realised those words weren't directed at her. Rather, it was directed at Takiya Genji.
By a short, slightly plump man. She probably shouldn't say he's short as he's around her height. He was wearing a white coat, white slacks and matching white shirt with black print.
"Let me show you what happens when you mess with yakuza." The man continued as he threw a baseball bat over one shoulder and then another over the other shoulder as he approached Genji.
Somehow, it would be him who's in trouble instead of Genji. She just knew it.
The smaller man stared up into the younger's face. "You're dead, Serizawa."
Serizawa? Isn't his name Takiya Genji?
Genji blinked in confusion. "Me? I'm not."
But the yakuza wasn't backing down. "Don't give me that!"
He threw a wild punch, just as Sora let out a gagged warning. In a split second, Genji ducked and punched the man straight into the gut. The yakuza winced and crumbled slowly to the ground, groaning painfully.
"Hey, you all right?" She heard Genji ask the man as she approached the duo.
"He really isn't Serizawa." Sora said as she bent down to help the man up. "His name is Takiya Genji."
"I really got the wrong person?" The man said. "Damn."
With that, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted. As one, Genji and Sora looked at each other.
"Now what do we do?"
They made the decision to bring the Yakuza to a bar that Genji frequented, run by a man called Ushiyama. It had been easy to wake the man up - ice cold water work wonders. The man had woken up, spluttering and indignant.
The man – Ken is his name - agreed to help Genji take over Suzuran. Within seconds of their interaction, Sora officially branded that man a liar. His words and actions don't match. Obviously, he's bragging and most importantly, he's a Yakuza. Doesn't he have better things to do than to help a high school student take over a school?
Genji refused to believe her, to her exasperation. Maybe it's true that only fists and stones can get through that thick head of his.
However, against all odds, Ken-san's over-dramatic ploy worked. Genji managed to gain control over class 3E. And so, Sora shoved whatever scepticism she had regarding Ken-san's intentions to the back of her mind. He deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Now, sitting with the guys in a small quaint coffee house, Sora listened to Tamura Chuta go through the background of Suzuran. And based on Chuta's description of the power structure in Suzuran, It is easy to deduce that the man she had helped just now was Tatsukawa Tokio and therefore, the man whom she had seen before that was Serizawa Tamao, leader of the Serizawa Faction.
She hurried up to the rooftop – the last place she had been.
"Where is it? Where, where, where, where, where?" She chanted softly as she searched the grounds near the exit. She got to hurry up. Genji and Chuta are still waiting for her. "Got it!"
She grabbed her cell phone from a dark corner and shoved it into her pocket. Footsteps shuffled behind her and she whirled around, to come face to face with a typical Japanese yankee.
She froze, staring at the brown haired yankee. His long dark hair was swept back from his face and he had the beginnings of a goatee. He was a few centimetres taller than her but he made up for his average height with a more powerful built. Despite his short height, he has a very dominating presence. Sora recognised a fighter when she saw one. This man standing in front of her contained raw power - loads of it.
The yankee was glaring at her broodingly. "What are you doing up here?"
"Oh." Sora found her voice. "I dropped my cell phone and came back to find it."
"Che." The man glared at her before moving away, and Sora relaxed. She hadn't been aware that she had tensed up so badly. What was he doing up here at this late hour, anyway?
Feeling curious, Sora walked over past the small roof shack, where the man had came from. As she turned past the rooftop exit, she saw a tall strapping young man squatting down onto the floor, clutching his head in agony.
"Hey!" She hurriedly helped the man up onto the small ventilator. "Are you alright?"
He continued to hold his head, too much in pain to even acknowledge her presence. Sora pressed a hand to his forehead before drawing it back, pursing her lips as she hesitated slightly. She hovered nervously around him. "I...I'll get your friend."
She moved to leave and his hand lashed out, one hand grabbing her upper arm in a vice-like grip. She winced slightly. For a person in pain, he sure has a strong grip.
"Don't tell Tamao!" The man cried out harshly.
Grimacing at the pain in her upper arm, Sora bend down slightly. "But in your condition..."
"NO! Don't you dare tell him!" He said, snarling. He groaned again in pain, the other hand clutching his head.
"Alright, alright... As you wish..." Sora said soothingly. The guy still has yet to let go of her. Not knowing what else to do, she knelt down and rubbed him on his shoulder in a soothing manner.
She was completely unprepared for what happened next. The man collapsed heavily against her, so hard that she nearly fall backwards. His head leant against her shoulder, and his breath came out in short sharp bursts. She moved slightly to accommodate his weight and to prevent him from feeling certain... important parts.
After a while, his breathing regulated and his grip on her hand loosened.
"Are you feeling better?" Sora asked. It was getting awkward. Theoretically, he's the only guy but since she's here as a guy, it would seem gay-ish for both of them to be in this position. And since he's not moving away, she better make the first move. Her words seem to jerk him back to reality and he move away from her. His previous anguished expression had smoothened into one of relief and exhaustion.
"Y..yeah." he croaked. Sweat glistened on his brow. Seeing he was ok enough to answer her, she moved back, away from him.
"You don't look OK." She pointed out. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here."
He hesitated and then took the bottle, drinking thirstily.
"I'm really fine now. Thank you." He gave a crooked smile. "I haven't seen you around before." He said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's your name?"
"Asamori Sora." She answered. "I'm new here."
"I see." Tokio said, dark eyes lit warmly. "Pleased to meet you, then. Sora. I'm Tatsukawa Tokio."
"What was all that about?" She asked cautiously.
His eyes darken slightly and he looked away from her. "Nothing."
Nothing? Nothing wouldn't have him falling and clutching his head like that. But oh well, it wasn't any of her business to pry.
"If you say so..." Sora answered, tucking her hands in her pockets.
"Yeah... "
"Well, since you're sure you're all right, then I'll be going now." Sora shifted back onto her heels and stood up. "Guess I'll see you around."
Tokio nodded lightly before his smile faded. "Hey, uh... Don't tell anyone about what happened, alright? Promise?"
His dark brown eyes besceeched her.
"Who am I going to tell?" Sora asked dryly.
Oh... The irony of her words back then... If only she had known earlier that the Tatsukawa Tokio she met is the right hand man of Serizawa Tamao, she probably wouldn't have been so quick to agree to keep his secret for him.
And what was that about Tatsukawa just now? Sora wondered briefly.
He must have an illness, it wasn't hard to deduce that, and since Chuta made no mention about such an important fact, she can assume they don't know. And obviously from Tatsukawa's behaviour just now, Serizawa doesn't know, and this would mean Tatsukawa was keeping his illness a secret from everyone.
A reasonable move, since something like this could weaken the Faction... Serizawa might be demoralised if he knew of his partner's illness... Speaking of him, is he in a particularly bad mood just now or does he looks like that all the time? Heh...
On his side, Serizawa has a cunning strategist, a middle school national judo champion and a pair of twins who can synchronise their fighting moves like clockwork.
On our side? We have a Yakuza trying to act cool, a girl masquerading as a guy, and a simple minded blockhead. She thought sourly. The only good thing we can have on our side to even up the odds is that I know Tatsukawa Tokio is down with a yet unknown illness, and Serizawa doesn't know about it.
And thereby lies the problem. Should she or should she not break her promise to Tokio? Should she or should she not tell?
The angel says, you shouldn't break your promise, no matter which side the promisee is on.
The devil says, I can help Genji oh so much with this juicy bit of info, and in so doing, repay the help he provided.
And the angel argues: one should not take advantage of another's ill health as a weakness. It's not morally right.
With the devil's retaliation: Tatsukawa Tokio is currently the weakest link in their gang and with Seriazawa unaware of this weakness...
A sudden thought whacked Sora hard in her head and she choked on her mocha frappe.
"You OK?" Genji called across her, looking at her in askance. She nodded absently, fitting all the bits and pieces in her mind.
Serizawa knows, despite Tatsukawa not telling him. It made perfect sense why he appeared so pissed off just now. Something must have happened. She bet her loft suite Serizawa must have tried to weasel an admission out of Tatsukawa but failed.
"Sora... Sora... Sora!"
"I heard you." Sora said irritatedly. "Do you have to be so loud?"
"You spacing out!" Chuta said. "Did you even hear what we said?"
"Yes. You said to get Makise Takashi a girl." Sora snapped. "I heard."
Thank god for multitasking abilities.
"So how to get him a girl?" Genji asked.
"A Goukon." Sora answered, half sarcastically and half humorously. "Get some girls and go on a group date."
The 3 guys looked at each other, seriously considering the idea and Sora's smirk faded. "That was a joke, really."
"Yosh!" Ken exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "That's what we'll do!"
"Count me out." Sora muttered, continuing to sip on her mocha frappe. This plan of theirs isn't a good plan but it is a plan nonetheless... So, she'll keep quiet about Tatsukawa's illness... for now.
They bailed out of school the next day, Genji and Chuta. They invited her along but she declined. No way will she help in a hopeless case of getting girls. Maybe Genji, He's good looking enough but Chuta and Ken? No way. The girl will have to be blind and drunk, and even then, she highly doubt it possible.
Added to the fact that she's a girl herself and she don't see girls THAT way. She's straight.
No, thank you, she'd rather stay in school. She can use the time to catch up with a certain trio that has gained infamy for being among the best fighters in the freshmen year. (How come she's not included?)
"Yo!" She called out and smacked her hand down onto Pon's (she's still trying to get used to their nicknames) back, jerking him hard enough for him to drop his book. Mako and Hiromi whirled around from their spots in front, fists clenched and ready to attack.
"Asamori!" Pon called out in annoyance, bending down to pick up his book.
"Did I scare you?" she asked innocently though there could be no mistaking the glint of amusement in her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Hiromi asked disinterestedly, relaxing his stance and tucking his hands into his pockets.
"Can't I come find my fellow school mates?" Sora asked. "And I really don't have the interest to conquer Suzuran, so Hiromi can stop looking at me like I'm a rival or something."
Kirishima turned away, but Sora could detect a slight relaxing of his shoulders. She finished her chocolate milk and dumped the empty box into the rubbish bin. Apparently, she was the only one who even bothered to use the rubbish bin. As they walked past a corridor, however, she was intrigued to find a small gang gathering in a wide corridor, centred around a small guy with bleached blonde hair.
"Who's that?" She asked the 3 of them.
"That's Washio Gota." Pon answered derisively. "Second year. Arrogant as hell with what little fighting ability he has. He's aiming to go after Serizawa to be the head of Suzuran."
"No way can he do it. Serizawa's too strong to be felled by a young punk like him." Kirishima sneered.
"For all we know, he may be able to do it." She pointed out, feeling a need to be the devil's advocate.
"Wanna bet on that?" Kirishima's eyes glinted with a challenge and he smirked widely. "One thousand yen. Here he comes now."
"No bets." She hurriedly back down and turned to watch the confrontation that is going to occur..
"Yo Serizawa, Let's get it on!" Mr Bleach Blonde yelled cockily.
"That's Serizawa Tamao," Kirishima lowered his voice as he said to Sora, "Monster of Suzuran and self-styled Head of Suzuran."
"Who're the rest?" She asked curiously, wincing as Serizawa knocked the wind out of the freshman with just one kick. "I know that one is Tatsukawa Tokio."
"The guy with the slicked back hair is Tokaji Yuuji." That one she heard Chuuta speak about – the strategic brains of the gang. "The twins are the Mikami Brothers. They lead Class 3B. ."
Ah...
"Not so fast, Shorty!" The guy yelled, throwing down his cigarette and standing back up from where he had been kicked to.
Tamao faced him and kicked him in the stomach, causing the guy to fly back.
A strange shiver went down Sora's spine as she witnessed the fight, if it could be called a fight. Tamao used merely half of his strength, and the guy was defeated. Sure, he was still standing now, after suffering 2 hits from Tamao but that, Sora surmised, was because Tamao held back. From just the 2 moves, Sora could see how much power he could control. Somehow, Genji's quest to unite the school had just seemed so much harder.
Tamao and his gang turned away from the guy, who slumped immediately to the floor. As one, the quartet backed into the classroom, allowing the group to pass them by.
"So that's Serizawa Faction?" She remarked as they settled into chairs deeper in the empty classroom. "Wait, Isn't there one missing?"
"Tsutsumoto Shoji?" Pon answered. "Who's knows where he'd gone?"
Sora nodded slowly, feeling slightly disappointed. She had heard about Tsutsumoto Shoji from Chuuta and had wanted to see what he was like. After all, they were both fellow judokas - practitioners of Judo.
"Hey…" Kirishima began suddenly. "What's your purpose for being here if you aren't aiming to be at the top of Suzuran?"
"I'm here searching for my family."
"Har? Family? As in Yakuza family?" Kirishima obviously misinterpreted Sora's words and his face twisted into a dumbfounded expression. "How the hell are you going to join Yakuza while still in high school?"
"It's not impossible." Pon corrected. "Most who graduated from Suzuran join Yakuza. They value the fighting skills Suzuran grads have."
Wow, that's something she hadn't heard in all the ridiculous rumours flying around about Suzuran, although it was not very surprising, she supposed, but that's not the point. How did they manage to link families to Yakuza?
"No, morons!" Sora rolled her eyes. "Real family! I'm searching for my real family here in Japan."
"How did you get separated from your family?" Strangely, it was Mako who asked, looking up from his impeccably prepared lunch box.
She froze, hands still in the middle of peeling open another chocolate bar. Sora chewed her chocolate bar slowly, attempting to buy time with her actions. To tell or not to tell, that is the question.
"I don't know the details..." she admitted. "I only found out recently that my mum had family here in Japan. So I came to find them..."
"Here in Japan...? You mean you..." Hiromi began.
Sora responded by removing her glasses, revealing large brown eyes heavily rimmed with long black eyelashes. She held her hands to her eyes. When they moved away, they saw one brown eye had changed into a striking grey-blue one - the reason for her tinted glasses. They definitely weren't asian eyes.
"Contacts. I'm half-Japanese." She said, putting her contact back in place and slipping her glasses back onto her nose. "Due to some unknown reason, Mum had broken all contact with her family here in Japan. I'm here to find out why."
"Why come here to Suzuran?" Pon asked, furrowing his brows.
"Social Services couldn't manage to trace any relatives of my mum's, and mum absolutely never spoke of having family here in Japan. The only thing she spoke about her past is Suzuran and that's not even to me." Sora was still being sour about the fact that her mum never even confided something so important in her.
"Dude, you're not making sense." Kirishima snorted. "Why not just confront your mum instead of going such a big round!"
Kirishima immediately regretted his actions when a dark expression crossed her features.
"They're died in a car accident two months ago." She said quietly.
A/N: My apologies for the sudden abrupt ending and the delay in updating. I was having exams. While they are over now, I still have to focus on other aspects of life so updating may not be so frequent. Additionally, this chapter is not particularly interesting, I admit that, but it's needed as a connector. It's not written well enough so can I get more reviews and criticism especially in areas of writing? Anyone?