Chapter 4: Split Decision

Tatsumaki, for once, was at a loss for words. No pithy comebacks, no snide remarks. An uncomfortable feeling welled up in the pit of his stomach. A feeling he hadn't felt since he watched the trial of Norio Watsuki.

He strode toward Noroi purposefully, coming to a stop directly in front of the still kneeling boy.

"You," he seethed, unable to completely hold back his emotions. "You had the gall to stand at that diner and shit talk me to my face, and call my ability and my character into question, all while being the son of a murderer?! You have no right to talk to me or anyone like you did, you worthless piece of shit!" He accented the word 'shit' with a brutal kick to the side of Noroi's head, knocking him aside and completely dazing him.

"No, stop!" cried Emi, stepping forward only to be stopped by Enzo putting an arm out in front of her.

"You stay out of this!" yelled Tatsumaki, having fully succumbed to his anger. "This is between me and him!"

Tatsumaki rolled Noroi onto his back with his foot, then stomped on Ari's gut, pressing his full weight into his foot and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Oh, it hurts, huh?!" he shouted, pulling a small knife from his right pants pocket. "You don't know what pain is! Imagine how much it hurt to see my mom shot in front of me, to see her bullet-riddled body fall to the ground while your worthless shitstain of a father screamed about how she apparently 'made him do this' because she wouldn't 'appreciate his feelings' for her! You have no right to even be in the same room as me, let alone criticize my background or my ability, and if you don't keep my mom's name out of your mouth from now on, I will kill you where you stand! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Noroi barely managed to squeak out a pathetic 'yes'.

"Good." Tatsumaki lifted his foot, putting away the knife and walking away.

"What about your vote?" asked Enzo.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki, having not been paying much attention.

"Your vote. Earlier you said you'd still be willing to vote to let him join. Has that changed?"

"Oh, right. I don't know. I'm gonna have to think about it."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" asked Manda.

"No, just… I just need to be left alone for a bit, guys," replied Tatsumaki as he headed up the stairs. The uncomfortable tension in the air was exacerbated by the slow, rhythmic sound of his footsteps as he ascended.

Emi rushed to Noroi's side as he slowly got up, still coughing and gasping for air.

"Noroi, are you okay?" she asked, her tone full of worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine," coughed Noroi. "I've taken worse beatings than that."

"Good," Emi said, and slapped him across the face. "You dumbass! I've told you over and over again to watch that mouth of yours and be more careful what you say! You've mouthed off the wrong people before and paid for it, but this is the absolute worst!"

"I'm sorry, Emi. You're right. I just didn't realize who he was. I never thought I'd meet the son of the woman my stupid father gunned down."

"I didn't, either, but that's still no excuse for you mouthing off at him the way you did. Maybe if you would fucking think before you speak for once, you wouldn't have been put on the ground with his foot in your gut. I seriously thought he might kill you, especially when he pulled that knife out."

"What was a pretty boy like him doing with a knife anyways?" wondered Noroi.

"He intentionally came to the bad side of town intending to join a gang," pointed out Enzo. "Of course the kid would bring some way to defend himself; he'd be stupid not to. I'm honestly more surprised it wasn't a gun. They might be illegal here in Japan, but someone with his kind of money could probably get one anyways."

"Fair point," replied Noroi. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," said Emi. "I think you being around him is just gonna make him mad again. I'll go instead. Besides, I have a few things to say to him myself."

Noroi thought it over, then sighed. "You have a point. I'll stay here."

"I'll be right back. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Tatsumaki leaned over a broken window, staring out into the streets below. The evening air brought a chill with it. A few homeless folks were gathered around a fire they had lit inside an old oil drum, heating up cans of food to eat. No one would bother them; any potential muggers knew they had nothing worth stealing anyways. Not like him; he'd be a prime target if he were out there.

The black haired boy sighed. On one hand, maybe he was overly harsh on Noroi, but on the other, if he didn't want to get treated that way, he wouldn't mouth off like he does. Besides, his father was the one who killed his mom!

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Hey," said Emi cautiously. "Can I talk to you real quick?"

Tatsumaki looked her up and down. There was nervousness in her voice, but her body language told him everything he needed. Eyes focused, shoulders back, chest out, knees bent, right foot forward.

"I can tell by the way you're carrying yourself right now that you're not gonna leave until you do, so go ahead."

"Good," she said with a sigh of relief. "I was ready to argue with you, so thanks for making it easier for me."

"I've done enough yelling for one day," replied Tatsumaki. "Not really in the mood. So what's on your mind? Pretty sure I can guess, but tell me anyway."

Emi approached slowly, taking a spot next to him at the window. "I know Noroi can be an idiot and shoot off his mouth when he really shouldn't, and I don't blame you if you hold that against him. God knows I do a lot of the time. But you shouldn't hold his father's actions against him. I know losing your mom must have been really hard, especially since it sounds like it happened right in front of you. But Noroi isn't his father, despite how similar their names sound."

"I get that, and on some level, I agree," conceded Tatsumaki. "But I don't see myself being able to work with him. When he told me who his father was, it was like I was right back there again. Back at the arena when she died."

"Do you wanna talk about it? I completely understand if you don't."

"No, it's fine. I've told the story enough times now that I can handle it."

"I remember seeing it live on the TV but there's no way the footage compares to having been there."

"My mom had just won another Duel against a seasoned pro, and was moving on to

Grand Finals for the World Championship. As soon as she left and went backstage, I went back there, too. I was so proud of her. She'd been theorycrafting and practicing so hard to get there, and now she was on Winner's Side of Grand Finals, after having been eliminated in Top 8 the last three years prior. I hugged her and told her that I just knew she'd win and become the World Champion, and that I loved her so much. Before she could say it back to me, Norio walked in and asked her to go out with him. I'd never seen him before, but apparently this wasn't the first time, because she knew him by name immediately and said that he needed to stop trying because she wasn't interested. Then, he just flipped out. I tried to get in between them, but she pushed me aside to protect me. Before I could even get back to my feet, the first gunshot came. Then the second. Then the third. The blood… there was so much of it. Mom fell backwards, and I can still remember how it sounded when the back of her head cracked against the floor. The blood splatter got all over my clothes, my hands, my face. All the while that… that… bastard, was babbling on and on about how he had no choice and he didn't want to kill her. He said that if he couldn't have her then no one would. And… I snapped. I ran straight at him, fueled by nothing but pure hate and rage. Everything seemed to slow down around me, and even as I could see him lining up his gun to shoot me too, I couldn't think about anything other than how much I wanted to kill him…"

"So, what happened next?"

"Well, obviously we didn't end up killing each other. Before anything else could happen, the police stormed in. One of them tackled me to the ground, and another tased him before he could pull the trigger. I still remember looking up and seeing tears running down his face, as if he somehow had the right to cry over her. He shot her right in front of me… AND THAT SON OF A BITCH HAD THE AUDACITY TO FEEL SAD ABOUT IT!"

"Holy shit, I… I'm so sorry," said Emi as she reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. She was obviously struggling to find anything to say.

"You know, I think it would have been easier if he had just owned what he did. If he had just reveled in the kill like those serial killers you see on TV shows. But no, that waste of fucking oxygen wanted to play the victim, act like he was so heartbroken that it drove him mad. And even if that's true, even if that is the case, I don't care. He killed my mom. Anything bad that happens to him from now on is still better than what he deserves."

"I'm not gonna say you shouldn't feel that way," said Emi. "Honestly, I've never experienced loss like that, so I can't really make any statements on how you should feel. I've been on my own from the very beginning. My mom abandoned me at the doorsteps of an orphanage in Tokyo, so I've never met my parents."

"Is that how you ended up meeting that angry asshole downstairs?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Sort of. Eventually, my grandpa on my dad's side found me and took me in. He'd been searching for me ever since he found out I'd been left. He never told me why my parents gave me away, and eventually I stopped caring. Grandpa wasn't well off, but we managed to scrape by. I met Noroi in school when we were kids, and we've been thick as thieves ever since, even going so far as becoming actual thieves to get by. A little while after that, my grandpa came down with cancer. Eventually, it got the better of him. I would've ended up on the streets if Noroi and his mom hadn't taken me in. But his mom had drug problems, bad. Eventually she got busted for possession and got sentenced, and Noroi's dad was deemed unfit for parenthood. We would have ended up in the foster system, so we decided to run away together instead, and we've been on the streets together ever since. It's like he said; we've had to lie, cheat, steal, and duel just to get by. Our clothes are dirty and tattered, our Duel Disks are stolen and on their last legs, and we only get the chance to bathe whenever we can somehow scrape together enough money for a cheap hotel room. We've even rented out rooms at love hotels for an hour just for the chance to use the shower."

"So the two of you aren't dating?"

"Hell no! Don't get me wrong, Noroi is my best friend, and I do love him, but it's not a romantic love. Besides, he's way too angry for me to ever want to be with him like that. I couldn't handle it."

"No arguments about him being angry," laughed Tatsumaki. "Even so, sounds like he's had your back ever since you were little."

"We've both had each other's backs. He's really a good person at his core, he's just been through a lot and he has enough chips on his shoulder to sell by the bag at gas stations."

"Yeah, I get ya," laughed Tatsumaki. "If he's stuck by you all this time, then that's a testament to his loyalty to his friends, is that about the gist of it?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up, I guess. He's been there for me no matter what, ever since we were little."

"Well, that is a nice quality to have. And I gotta admit, he does have talent as a Duelist. I was ahead on resources almost the entire Duel, but he stuck in there and nearly came back from behind for the win. He never gave up, even when I had him against the wall. As much as I don't care for his personality and his attitude, I do have to respect that."

"Glad to hear that," replied Emi with a smile. "I understand if you don't want him in the Breakers with you, and I won't hold it against you if that's the case. But I'm always gonna have his back because he's always had mine."

Emi turned and left the room so Tatsumaki could think things through on his own. As she descended the stairs, Enzo and Noroi walked towards her.

"How is he?" asked Enzo.

"He's fine, just a little shaken up after everything."

"How are you?" asked Noroi.

"I'm okay. He told me about the day his mom died, and I told him about how you and I met and grew up together."

"What did he say about all that?" asked Noroi.

"I'll let him tell you when he gets down. I don't think it's really my place to say," replied Emi.

"Fair enough. Any idea when he'll be down?"

"Nope. I left him to think things over."

"I just met the kid today, so I don't know him too well yet," said Enzo. "But I don't think he's normally the type to get that mad like that. I hope he's okay."

"Aren't you a gang leader?" asked Emi. "Worrying about kids doesn't seem very 'street' of you."

"Just 'cause we're criminals doesn't mean we're heartless," said Enzo indignantly. "Besides, he's a Breaker now, and we look after our own."

"Fair point," admitted Emi. The three took seats on the old lounge chairs that had been left behind in the lobby.

A few minutes later, Tatsumaki descended the stairs, striding directly towards Noroi.

"After thinking it over, I've decided to cast my vote in favor of you joining, under two conditions."

"What condition is that?" asked Noroi nervously.

"For one, if you're going to be one of us, you're going to have to drop the attitude. You've got a smart ass mouth and you're way too quick to anger, and I can't in good conscience support the idea of you joining us if that's going to be a source of conflict within our own ranks."

"And the second?" asked Emi.

"You will never, ever speak of what happened between our parents again. I understand that you're not your father, and I shouldn't hold you to account for his crimes. That being said, as far as I'm concerned, you still have no right to speak of her. Don't mouth off at your fellow members and keep my mom's name out of your mouth, and I'll be willing to overlook everything you've said and done up to this point. Do we have an understanding?"

"I understand," said Noroi. "I'm sorry for how I treated you before. I've always been bad about letting my anger get the better of me, and I need to do better."

"Good. Let's shake on it and then get to the voting." Tatsumaki and Noroi shook hands, and then the voting process began.

"Alright, then," began Enzo. "All in favor of Noroi joining the Breakers say 'aye'. Those not in favor say 'nay'."

"Aye," said Tatsumaki.

"Aye," said Emi.

"Aye," said Manda.

"Nay," said Ryo.

"Aye," said Jo.

"Nay," said Taza.

"Nay," said Kiri.

"Four to three, eh?" said Enzo. "As the leader, my vote takes precedence in the event of a tie, so I guess it comes down to me." He looked Noroi up and down. He could see genuine remorse on the kid's face and in the way his shoulders drooped.

"What the hell, we already have two teenagers, so what's one more? Aye. Welcome to the Breakers, kid."

Noroi released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Thank you, everyone," he said, standing up to properly address the entire room. "I'm sorry for letting my anger get the better of me, and I understand why some of you voted against me joining. I hope to prove to everyone that letting me into the Breakers was the right decision."

"Well, now that that's all taken care of," said Tatsumaki. "Let's go to my place. If we're gonna ever make our way into the big leagues, I can't be the only one who's well dressed and groomed."