If I had time I'd probably tear through this story and fix it up, but I have so many chapters that are long as heck and I kinda just want to post it as is. I was in my late teens when I first wrote this story so I think it should be grammatically alright, though I can guarantee it will have a ton of silly cliches and such. Anyways, this manga was endearing and cute to read when I had and it's very niche so if you don't know it I recommend checking it out. It has its silly moments but I think that was the fun of it.
Without further ado please enjoy my Pika-Ichi Fanfiction!!
'There are two things I'm certain of about this world. The first being, don't trust anyone with anything that could bring you harm. And the second, when you find that one person who you can trust, don't ever let them go. Even if it kills you."
~
Of course Tarou couldn't help but remember that while compacted on hard cement in some back alley.
'Stupid'. He felt stupid. His weak and painful scoff scattered dust with a few short bursts. He could barely even comprehend what that phrase meant, it was something he'd been told many years ago. Maybe that was the problem, with burning nerves and numbing pain, he felt himself sucked back in time watching it all pass by in slow motion. It felt as though he would die right here. For a moment he let his eyes close and the silence of imminent nothing washed over him.
Tarou ached when his eyes opened again to the same blackness of night and some stray cat staring at him. He barely even moved and everywhere his body felt like it was shattering itself into tiny pieces. Death was knocking at his door and he'd been tempted to answer with the taste of blood in his mouth and the cold of the ground at his cheek. He contemplated how long he could lay here.
"Ah!" He groaned, rolling his body over, deciding he'd waited long enough and eventually the cold would catch up to him, unless it already had. The cat leapt away, maybe it had been debating Tarou as a meal. He grunted clenching his jaw so hard he felt he might shatter a tooth as he flopped over like a half cooked pancake.
The moment his back hit the ground it felt like the wind was rushed out of his lungs and he might not ever get more. Having to desperately cling to sanity he felt oddly relatable to a fish on land, clinging to life. Forcing his mind, he chose the one thing he could focus on without a distraction—the pain.
He isolated each point of pain, first his shoulder where he'd crashed into a door to get away. His escape route had garnered him little time when he'd managed to find the door locked and immovable without slamming his own body into it. His shoulder was probably dislocated at best.
'Escape,' he winced again, holding back a groan. 'Like a damn coward'. He'd been outnumbered and unarmed. Coming across a whole group of men was one thing, the second they pulled up pipes and the like he knew it would be his loss. Running had been his only option.
Tarou hated men who used both numbers and weapons, still he somehow managed to get around the damage they could have caused but the bat one wielded had connected a fair amount of times to his body making even slight movements more aggravating than ever. Blunt force weapons always hurt more than a knife or a gun wound, it was the mere fact blunt force tended to throb while cuts went numb after some time.
Tarou stewed for a bit too long in muddled thoughts of pain and regret, forgetting he was still lying in a dark alley on the cement with possible broken bones or internal bleeding.Though he wasn't really too eager to move, it was a bit too convenient for his mind to wander towards inconvenient topics. Topics like the unwelcomed change in the house he lived in.
The head man of the house was getting sicker by the minute which left their dwindling clan in the unwilling hands of his ill tempered wife. Tarou, abandoned as a toddler, was found and raised by that man and his wife. It wasn't until he was much older did he learn they were actually Yakuza.
She and Tarou never managed to get along growing up, barely managing a cordial relationship while living under the same roof for the past year. The don once jokingly told him it was because Tarou had all the makings of a good yakuza, his fighting, his street smarts, everything their first born son didn't.
Though Tarou had to admit their son was a lousy fighter he was always the smart one. Always the game maker able to outwit anyone he faced.
Stewing in self pity, eyes trained to the sky lacking stars, he wasn't entirely sure anyone would even come looking for him, much less have been sent by the wife. The old man was sick, he couldn't expect him to worry about a disappearing adopted child.
"Shit..."
After several long minutes of struggle, he was finally on his feet hunched over a dented metal garbage tin, some scary looking murk coating its insides. If the visual wasn't enough, the smell made his body lurch into a series of dry heaves, ribs screaming out in protest. He was almost certain something died in there and began to fester into something gross.
Swiping his dry lips doused with a little dry blood his head went to the clouds again. He needed a bath, well maybe a hospital first, but a bath was definitely at the top of his list. Imagining anything but the death reeking from the tin and his own stomach contents he held his breath and eyes to just get to his feet.
The last thing he needed was another pain induced body spasm.
~
"Hanako!!!"
The new wife of her father was a shrewd woman, never had anything out of place, much less a stray hair. Even after the first night after their marriage she'd come out looking completely composed as if nothing happened.
Hanako had begun to rebel against this woman's interests. She'd bleached her hair, got ridiculously long extensions, and traded her yukata for a set of dangerously short skirts.
"How far do you intend to disobey?"
Hanako didn't answer, raising her chin in absolute defiance. It was almost as if the sun were fighting the moon expecting the other to surrender its space in the earth's sky.
"You aren't a little brat, you're a woman to be married!"
"Who cares." She let that one slip and the angered woman's face contorted into an ugly sneer with eyes set for blood.
Hanako shuddered.
The woman was no fighter, she'd never lift a finger for something such as punching another person but her shrewd attitude was deadly. Hanako also wouldn't put it past the woman to poison her tea, if pushed far enough.
"Enough!"
The door slid open with a loud smack her father storming in. The woman sneering at her suddenly went docile, kneeling so gingerly while he took his spot at the head of the room.
Hanako couldn't blame her for that adoration her father emitted this energy, something similar to a samurai of old times whenever he entered any room. It was like a demand for respect before he ever even opened his mouth. The pristine plastic woman bowed politely, so elegantly Hanako was almost enamored by it.
Almost.
"This is the third time this week you've skipped a lesson. Hana-chan." He said it gently, something that always took her. While his very being demanded respect it was gentle and kind.
"I don't want to." She said blatantly. "I can fight, I don't need to learn a tea ceremony, or any of that." Her father never cared if she learned it or not. Not while her mother was still alive.
He always told her she was more like her mother, brazen, hot tempered. Of course her mother loved to dress up when her husband requested it, and Hanako had never seen such a beautiful person in all her life. He hadn't cared at all when it was her mother, in fact he loved watching her.
Not until she came along. Not until she ruined everything.
With only Hanako as an official heir everything could be taken by the thing growing inside the woman's belly. If Hanako were to marry, she'd lose everything her mother and father built.
"Hanako dear, it's only proper for a respectable marriage." The wretched woman spoke in a manner so carefully curated it irritated Hanako. Everything but her temper, which was possibly why she managed to become the wife of the head of her clan.
Hanako eyed her warily, she was pretty of course. Plenty. But even so the woman who sat next to her father could not hold a candle to the beauty of her mother who sat in that very spot less than two years ago.
"Don't care." She shot back icily. The woman twitched obviously close to losing her head, despite being in front of her husband. Hanako grinned, seeing the woman nearly show her true ugly face in front of her husband.
As a warning her father gave her a stern look, he was a weakness. Guilt welled in her gut when her father sighed, waving her to leave. She hated making him so stressed out, but she wouldn't lose the Suzuki name to anyone.
"Go for now Hanako. Please consider this properly." He pleaded, despite her disinterest.
How could she ever consider that woman's request to have her abandon her name so she couldn't take the Suzuki over. Ever since that woman set foot in their household everything had changed in Hanako's life. Everything about her mother was carefully masked in the new wife's vision. Covered up like some blemish on her perfect little face.
Hanako would do anything to protect the honour.
To protect her mother.
~
It hurt.
Tarou took his steps slowly, his left leg gone lame. It was the knee, the knee was in so much pain he could barely use it. By picking such a fight where numbers went the wrong way he paid dearly, it was a Dougen group working on claimed land. And a group of Dougens meant trouble no matter where they were. They were in the wrong territory, and far from any of their own checkpoints.
To be completely honest with himself he didn't even really pick the fight he just stumbled upon them after looking for a shortcut back home.
Tarou coughed, more like choked, making his way painfully along the wall. It was dark, and probably close to 3 am. Of course no one was out on the streets lined with shops of all sorts. Coughing again blood splattered over the pavement and dribbled down his chin. For a while now his head felt weird and spacey but if he concentrated he could keep walking without trouble. He'd practically given up on shaking his black bangs from his eyes, it was too much to focus on all at once.
"Are you ok?" His head spun after looking up so quickly, he couldn't even see who was there. He'd been counting his pace to keep himself focused somehow making it six blocks on sheer will power alone before he heard that voice and everything went black. He just had to hope and pray they weren't going to leave him for dead.
~
"Arghh!" Hanako kicked a can sending it into the side of a disgusting garbage tin. The smell was enough to end her walk through this alley sending her through the dark to the empty street.
After the argument she really did try to go sit in her room and do something. Restless as always she wound up here, wandering the deserted streets in the middle of the night. Several things bashed around in her head making her feel impossibly small. First, the fact that as her father aged his power slowly strained at the seams, especially with the no good Dougen clan ripping away at everything they could.
Second, Dougens were a new breed of yakuza, though it grated every nerve in Hanako's body to even consider them Yakuza. They dabbled in everything, even going so far as to enter politics. With cops on their payrolls, moles in every institution big enough for them to get greedy it made everything impossible.
Small clans wasted away and vanished all together if they couldn't find sanctuary somewhere or bring in money enough to pay out a protection pact from the Dougens. Only big names managed to survive, her father was maybe the largest standing next to the Dougens. Money wise though, they were way off the mark.
"Lookie here!!"
Hanako snapped out of her thoughts. Someone was watching her from the darkened alley, his eyes reflecting the mostly used cigarette. She had to squint to see but defiantly, they were watching her. Unfamiliar with her surroundings her eyes went everywhere. A street sign, a recognizable shop, anything would be of use.
'Anything to show me where to escape!'
"Hey! I know that jacket! You're a Suzuki huh?"
The hair on her neck stood on end, perhaps wearing her bright red jacket marked with nothing but Suzuki wasn't the best plan. She watched the burning end of the smoke arch from his fingers sparking once on impact with the pavement rolling to burn up sea in the empty space between them.
When the two stepped out into the sidewalk, finally revealing themselves under a street lamp, Hanako matched their advancing steps on guard in reverse. Quickly she searched their appearance, finding a similar crest on their clothing to her own. Yappa. Bad news.
They weren't even proper yakuza just a bunch of hoodlums who ruled the street ways with bikes and bad attitudes. But still Hanako was no match for two of them being a, female and b, alone on an empty unfamiliar street.
"She's not just any Suzuki? Look at her face!" The other said getting close. Going back further her foot hit something she deemed useable in the current situation.
"You morons, looking down on my name. Preying on women in the middle of the night!" She glared readying her stance for anything. The two men scoffed taking another few steps closer, just in range. She reeled back her foot before slamming it into the side of a garbage tin sending it flying making a break down the sidewalk. She didn't get too far easily tackled to the ground with a body way too light to be any problem for either of them.
"You little bitch!" He ground shoving her head into the hard surface. She gasped for air the sheer weight of his body making it nearly impossible to breathe. Increasingly more panicked her heel caught him hard sending him down where she attempted to scramble away from under the man, knees scraping the ground.
The sounds of curses and footsteps only caused her heart to hammer louder against her ribs. One of the men caught her long hair halting her head but not the rest. It was agony being dragged back by her skull. She wouldn't go down without a fight though, swinging her legs out wildly.
After a short struggle her foot jumped out and nailed the first guy between the legs. Using momentum with new ground contact she bashed the other man in the nose with her head. Again Hanako ran a short distance before being practically thrown against a glass surface. She hit with a resounding thump before her vision blurred. It was truly amazing how hard glass could be.
"Get off my property-"
As she slumped down the side of the building all she thought was: 'so this is how I lose the Suzuki name.'
'I die.'
~
"...hello!!!"
Tarou shot straight upright before gurgling in copious amounts of pain. He nearly blacked out. When the icy hot pain subsided and he could see he noticed in front of him, rather close, was a blonde man with an annoyed look in his eyes.
"You're an idiot aren't you?"
The man shoved him back down by his head with a gentle push into the soft pillow. Nothing but pain rattled inside his head for awhile, clouding his thoughts.
"Where am I?" Tarou finally asked, more like gasped out.
His voice was weaker than he'd anticipated and his throat burned, probably because if the garbage tin incident. He was getting a slight bearing on his surroundings noting he was in fact alive, first and foremost and second had no clue where he was. When Tarou got through the pain he'd noticed he was staring at a tiled ceiling with some stranger seated next to him. That's about as far as he got in his train of thought.
"Murase."
The man was hovered over him again, rather close, his weight shifting the mattress a little. He had a sort of, arrogant grin on his face while Tarou gained his thoughts.
"Ah! You're a doctor." The man once again looked peeved.
"You and that goldilocks sure are slow..." He moved away again to a desk in the corner of the room. Tarou finally figured it out, he was a rogue medical professional who had outright refused to work under the name of Dougen. Many different institutes worked for Dougen and they had several professionals under their name they kept as private workers. Doctors, teachers, professors even chefs and bakers were all scooped up by their money.
"You keep staring like that I'm going to drug you." He said plainly without looking back. "Your guardians know you're here, maybe next time you deal with Yappa try not to almost die."
"They're despicable." Tarou faced the ceiling glaring. "But they weren't Yappa." He said irked. If it had been Yappa, Tarou may have stood a better chance.
The man turned abruptly sitting, once again, obnoxiously close on his bed arm extended to rest on the opposite side of Tarou's body. 'What the hell is this doctor playing at?'
"Dougen?" Tarou nodded still curious as to why this Doctor needed to be so close to talk to him. The man looked at him some weird form of frustration knitting his brows closer together. "Yappa was running around chasing goldilocks. To think Dougen would come around these parts too." The man mumbled before falling next to Tarou face flat into the mattress his arm still casually slung over his body.
"Um...is this a thing you do?" He asked flatly though the other man didn't respond. It was rather unnerving for a man to be so touchy with Tarou upon first meeting, he wasn't fond of it.
~
"good mornin-" Murase crumpled to the floor grasping his nose. She'd sat up so fast he didn't have time to move. Her forehead collided with his face and threatened to break his nose. Keeping it at a 45 degree angle he made sure she didn't actually break it glad when there was no blood. Composing himself while she silently gripped her head from the collision he tapped a foot in annoyance.
Worried when she didn't respond he stupidly leaned in to check her head when her eyes flew open. "Kya!! Get away!!" He once again worried if she'd broken his nose when her hands smashed into his face. She herself almost flopped backwards off the bed had he not gripped her arm a dark glare rendering her speechless.
"...who? Who are you?"
He slowly pulled her back onto the bed so she wasn't leaning in such a dangerous way. Also because he was two seconds away from snapping and just letting her drop.
"Murase." Her eyes lit up. So she knew him. Murase forced himself to calm down before damaging a patient that was already hurt. Sure she was probably a huge imbecile but she was still an injured imbecile.
"Ah! Rogue Doctor! You helped my father" He stifled several glares. "Did you save me?" Her wit was outstanding. He noted her eyes paused on the drawn curtain.
"In all my life, a lone Suzuki roaming at night in their colours doesn't sit on my top ten list of smart things to do." Of course he knew who she was, who could miss a face like that. "Sit tight I have another patient here who seems to be just as oblivious as goldilocks."
He stared at her until she laid back, the painkiller he gave her would knock her out soon.
~
"In either case you are both under my care until I deem you able to leave."
Tarou strained to look down from his horizontal position at the doctor who was sharing his bed, where had that statement come from? He couldn't see much of the man except his hair, and shoulders. It was displeasing he wouldn't get up from such a weird position. Tarou almost missed an important word in that sentence.
"Both?" The man lifted his head obvious irritation on his features Tarou couldn't help it he'd been distracted at first by the weird habits. Doctor Murase suddenly yanked the side curtain open and Tarou turned to look.
A girl, judging by her blond died hair she was goldilocks, was staring straight back at him. Neither said a word for some time before the doctor finally cleared his throat.
"I rest my case, you are both rather idiotic." The doctor was firm on that belief of stupidity, though Tarou wasn't sure why. Silently they listened to the grown man leave them and return to his desk. "I'm almost certain you've both met."
Tarou followed her in rising to sit, despite the pain pulsing over him. 'Where would we have met?' Wouldn't he remember such a girl.
"What happened to you?" The girl asked noticing just how many bandages Tarou was covered in. He glanced down at his bare torso a wrap around his ribs, it was the first time he noticed there was several things wrong. Doom loomed over his head while he recalled the events that lead to his battered body. "Ah, I'm Hanako Suzuki. The daughter of the Suzuki family." Noticing the red jacket he felt foolish.
"I'm a confidant of the Misono house hold. Tarou." He stated simply bowing his head. He was definitely lower ranked given the Suzuki household were very powerful before the arrival of the Dougens. On top of that she was a legitimate child of the late Suzuki wife.
He'd only ever heard of the wife twice, when she'd apparently burst into their household and demanded they take up arms to fight of a rival gang. The second when she'd died of an apparent medical illness one day suddenly. "Did you...study at Aidane?"
That was it. Of course every gangsters kid went through Aidane, once a Misono run high school it was sold to someone who then lost it to Dougen.
"You look...different." Tacky was on his mind, but life was also a thing he liked.
"The same for you...?"
That was true he'd been rather plain at school seeming more invisible than anything but he was now sitting here wrapped in bandages with messy unkempt hair and six different tattoos. She sort of laughed fiddling with an earring, they'd obviously been something she'd done herself. They were spaced slightly further apart than normal. She looked rather deep in thought over that small motion of fiddling.
"I guess that just goes without saying..." Tarou felt odd deciding to pull on the shirt that was folded neatly beside the bed on the little table. Even his clothes were washed, he'd have to worry about the doctors weird habit after thanking him.
"You two definitely need more sleep." Murase cut into their small conversation. "I'll send you home after I deem you fit to leave." He said moving to her drip bag with a needle before moving to Tarou's.
Drawing the curtain Tarou heard soft chatter next to him. The doctor was probably doing a basic check on her since she didn't seem to be as beat up as he was. Staring at the ceiling tiles he slowly slipped away into a deep sleep.
~
Tarou was left in the care of Doctor Murase for another few days after Hanako left home. She'd left the next morning after their small and awkward meeting. Now bored in the quiet clinic, Tarou was idly playing with a leaf from the plant on the doctors windowsill, the large front window that overlooked the street. The clinic was actually a lot bigger than he'd expected after finally able to move around. Taken off of the drip and so long as he was careful he was free while the knee healed up. For two days he just slept, ate and then slept again.
With another heavy sigh Tarou looked back at the Doctor. There were two doors behind his counter one to an examination room the other was locked. A shady doctor was bound to have secrets, like why the storage was upstairs when there was no way to exit from the back of the building. Another being his ability to gather heaps of information on house visits.
Apparently Yappa had hit a school in the area lighting one of the gyms on fire. The most interesting part of this rumour was that supposedly Yappa was under a Dougen. If that were really the case then Dougens reach was getting way more uncontrollable than anyone thought.
'How did they come up with the money to pay for all of the deals and buy outs they had? Were they involved in something even greater like a Chinese or an American trade?' Tarou continuously thought of these things hopelessly. It wasn't like he could change anything.
He sighed once more jumping when the doctor slammed down his pen. "Dammit you keep sighing like the worlds ending." He growled crossing his arms. Tarou sat up eyes attentive to the outburst. The Doctor pinched his nose bridge, and the boy felt bad. Though still he couldn't help irritating him like this. He was after all, just sitting in the window playing with a leaf.
"I'm bored..." Tarou stated. He hadn't been home in a few days, despite being cared for so diligently he was missing the life at home. Even if being at home meant he was yelled at or called disgusting. At least when the Don called him he was kind. At least he couldn't just sit and ponder over hopeless things like the Dougens owning the whole damn country.
The doctor looked him over, obvious contempt written on his slender face. With a heavy sigh the Doctor scribbled something furiously before handing Tarou the piece of paper and several large bills.
"Eh?"
"Go on an errand for me, you know the streets right? Pick up these things and please don't get yourself beat up in the process." Murase said turning away from him once he'd taken the note and money.
'A chance!' A chance to go outside and breathe in the smog of city life! Something to ease his brain and quell his inner monologue.
"I'll do my best." Tarou stated brightly nearly skipping out the door.
Once he stepped outside he stretched happily arms raised way over his head. His knee was wrapped in a brace and the cuts and scrapes were mostly healed. The bruises had finally stopped throbbing with each movement but he could still feel the discomfort and they were tender to the touch. He was happy to be of use, happy to be alive.
~
"A rebellious daughter of the Suzuki clan and a confidant of the Misono house huh?" Murase leaned casually on his palm flipping over some new documents. "Red light district...she's new." The red light district was his biggest clientele. Because hospitals tended to complicate regular visits of those who worked the night, his workload was up to his ears.
Taking a quick peek at the clock Muraseetched. Dragging his feet into the back his stomach growled, expecting to eat the pizza Tarou ordered earlier before leaving.
"Doctor Murase?"
Pizza in mouth Murase returned to the front where the Goldilocks entered. She looked well dressed up with her insanely short skirt and eyelashes near ready to kill. She was something out of a pop culture magazine. Or Harajuku street.
"You ever heard of knocking?" He swallowed his mouthful plopping in his chair once again. She casually took over Tarou's seat and he sort of half glared at her. She was way too open and naive around men she barely knew, it was even surprising the young princess was so eager to fight Yappa. Ogling at her legs it was clear why she wasn't dead, and why the Yappa boys were so messed up.
~
"Oi! Oi kid!" Murase caught the boy he watched passing his window looking like a train wreck. It only took a glance to tell it took everything the kid had just to stay on his feet. The code of medical ethics forced him to go out and at least see if he was going to be OK, though Murase figured he would have walked until death. Somewhat admirable.
The kid was way heavier than expected, only making it to the counter for a basic overlook that wasn't pretty. Barely two minutes went by before a loud thump against the window drew attention. It was a girl, perhaps a friend of the kid lying on the counter of his clinic. Pissed the doctor threw open the door to spot Yappa boys in a sad state.
"Get off my property you little fucking shit bags!" He didn't even give them time to run or do anything just kicked them both on their asses. Obvious contempt turned to realization which turned to something else. They were afraid while his temper visibly rose, this was the third time Yappa got caught beating random people up in front of his clinic. With the worst behaviour and the worst attitude they jabbed his every button.
"Shit it's the fucking mad Doctor!"
The two made a desperate scramble into the cover of empty street darkness, leaving a half ground Barbie doll on his front step. Mad doctor was one description he could handle. He was a mad Doctor, yet they still had the audacity to leave him gifts like this. Murase let out his breath angrily through his nose before hefting the girl up. Her skirt was way too short and her body was way too light for such a bold image. To each their own, he figured bringing her inside.
