Hey everyone, and welcome to this chapter. This will be a shorter chapter than usual because there wasn't much to get done, and it was mainly for wrapping up the loose ends of the last chapter. This will also be the chapter before a new arc starts, so it's going to be a chapter filled with dialogue.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena. Please support the official release.

"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

SEIKUKEN Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

The Shinzaki Alliance

—…

It was a day like any other at Koryuu High School, that is if you didn't count a particular empty classroom. Right now, Kenichi, Shirou, and Niijima were all inside a classroom where they stood. Niijima sat, and a flag with the Shinzaki Alliance name written on it was behind them.

"Niijima!" Kenichi banged his hands on the desk. "I want you to quit stalling and tell me exactly what it is you're up to?!"

Niijima was just sitting there digging through his ear. "What?"

Kenichi lost his temper and pointed to the flag. "What in the heck is that thing supposed to be?!"

"A flag… I guess?" Niijima told him flatly.

"Come on! That's not what I mean!" Kenichi cried out angrily.

Shirou groaned at them. "Why am I even here?"

Kenichi pointed to the flag again. "This-this-this gang! The Shinzaki Alliance or whatever you call it!? What's it about?!"

Niijima leaned back and crossed his arms. "Oh, come on, we covered this."

"Aaahhhh!" Kenichi howled as he climbed onto the desk and grabbed Niijima by his collar. "I'm not following around here! I want to know exactly what you're planning in that twisted mind of yours!"

"Just tell him already." Shirou advised him as he pulled Kenichi back like he was a dog that got out of its leash. "At this rate, he'll become a basket case if he doesn't get a straight answer."

"It's a part of my scheme to finally achieve my lifelong dream." Niijima answered bluntly, which made Kenichi pause. Niijima went on with a dark smile. "Haven't you worked it out yet? I am going to rule the world, but naturally, I'll need help from the two of you."

"Huh?" Now Kenichi was utterly lost.

"I want you to just listen to me for a minute." Niijima continued. "If we combined Shirou's brawn with my superior intelligence, we could become the strongest team in history! And Kenichi, with more strong fighters like you on our side, the world will be ours for the taking—" He was cut off when Kenichi slapped him across the face. "That hurt."

Kenichi continued to slap him rapidly, left and right. "Hello, Niijima~ Time to wake up and smell the coffee—" This time, he was slapped across the face by Shirou. "Ouch! Why'd you do that?"

"Take a good look at the other guy." Shirou pointed out.

Kenichi blinked and looked at Niijima. He then gasped when he realized that he had slapped him around so much that his cheeks were puffy and swollen. "Gah!"

"I thought I was going to pass out." Niijima grunted through his swollen face.

"I was trying to slap him lightly, but I have been having trouble controlling my strength these days." Kenichi stared at his hand with apologetic regret.

"Yeah, looks like Apachai's been rubbing off on you." Shirou didn't deny his thoughts.

"Well, at least one of you still has some control." Niijima rubbed his face to help the swelling go down. "Honestly, that's no way to treat a lifelong friend."

"You are not my friend, you freak." Kenichi contradicted him before he stopped and lowered his gaze. "But now that I think about it, I suppose you did come to save me from Ragnarok last night. I do owe you for that."

"Ha, don't be ridiculous. Of course, I saved you." Niijima placed a hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't let anything happen to such a valuable asset."

Kenichi shook him off and faced Shirou. "And you, now that I think about it, none of this has fazed you at all, and you've been acting like you've known about all this "Alliance" stuff the whole time?" He accused him. "What's going on here."

"I know because I confronted Niijima the day before the beating." Shirou told him that there was no reason to hide it. "He told about his plans to establish his own gang with us as the heads and how he planned on showing up during the fighting."

"You knew that all this was going to happen!?" Now Kenichi got in his face.

"Naturally, as the cofounder and assault commander of the Shinzaki Alliance, I had to make sure he was informed of our operations." Niijima said brashly.

"Well, if you knew about all this, why didn't you tell me?!" Kenichi questioned profusely.

"There are a lot of things I don't talk to you about for many different reasons." Shirou informed him with half-lidded eyes as he made him back up. "In both cases, this is just one of them."

"This is a rise for both of us." Niijima proclaimed. "I can finally see now why you never joined a gang or never had any interest in taking over this school. Your strength helped me understand taking over one measly school is far beneath what we're capable of. No, we can aim for a much higher ambition!" Niijima stood on top of the desk and raised his arms up. "Instead of following someone else, we'll just take it all for ourselves and keep going until the whole world is in our hands!"

"You've got to do something. He's gone completely crazy!" Kenichi pointed at him while panicking.

"If you seriously think there's anything different about him, then you obviously haven't been paying attention." Shirou didn't react at all.

"Kenichi!" Izumi from the gardening club then rushed through the door with a terrified expression. "We've got trouble!"

"Izumi, what's wrong?" Kenichi asked as she stopped in front of him.

Izumi caught her breath after running so much and told him. "Please, I need your help. There's a guy in a Karate outfit hanging around the gardening club."

Kenichi immediately became worried when he heard that, as he remembered the last time when Daimonji and others trashed the gardening club.

"Do you think maybe the Karate club is going to trash the place again?" Izumi voiced her concerns.

"They wouldn't. Even they can't be stupid enough to try that again." Shirou pointed out the lack of reasoning. "And why now when they haven't even been provoked?"

"Well, whoever it is, we have to go and stop them!" Kenichi exclaimed as they took off.

At the gardening club's greenhouse, Kenichi rushed and slammed the door open as he yelled. "Stop!"

However, Kenichi was the one who stopped when he looked and saw the people there were Takeda and Ukita—In a Martial Arts training gi.

Takeda was reaching for one of the flowers when Kenichi burst in. "Woah, I'm not gonna pick them, honest. I just wanted to smell them, really."

Kenichi breathed out in relief as Shirou walked in behind him. "What a relief. It's just you two guys. This is a surprise, though, is something wrong."

"Nah, Ukita just wanted to thank you guys for everything you did for us the other day." Takeda informed him, causing Ukita to blush.

"You idiot! It was your idea to drag me all the way over here to say thank you!" Ukita yelled at him while flustered.

"You guys didn't have to thank us." Kenichi said with a smile.

"And you'll have to excuse the whole bursting in part. Just that the last time someone showed up uninvited, it caused a mess, so now the people here can be pretty gun-shy." Shirou informed them. "That said, I'm pretty surprised how fast the two of you healed up. After that massive beating, here you both are with nothing worse than a bandaid or two."

"Yeah, well, when you're in Ragnarok, being tough enough to walk off pounding like that is kind of a requirement." Takeda told him.

"Well, he's right, though. I'm glad you both look well. It's good that injuries weren't so bad." Kenichi added.

Ukita huffed up while still blushing. "I haven't sunk so low that I need you to worry about me, you punk."

Kenichi sweated a little while Takeda groaned. "Of course not."

Ukita then coughed. "Oh yeah, by the way, I thought I might come back to school and take up Judo again, you know, just to keep my hand in." He confessed. "I joined the club yesterday. They're mostly a bunch of wusses who couldn't throw my grandmother, but I figured that I could whip 'em into shape. Anyway, that's my story, later."

He tried to walk away after that, but Takeda grabbed him by the back of his collar and stopped him. "Uh-uh-uh, what was that supposed to be, the 6 o'clock news report? You were gonna say something else, weren't you, big guy?"

Ukita was really flustered now but buckled down and faced them determinedly, which made Kenichi jump. "I know I'm in your debt, and I promise I'll pay you back! And you can just like it, or you can lump it! Okay!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Wait, is that your idea of a thank you?" Takeda laughed.

"Hey! Why don't you shut up?!" Ukita snapped at him. "You blue-haired freak!"

Takeda bowed ironically. "You'll have to excuse him. He was raised by wolves. Still, I tried."

Kenichi smiled. "No sweat."

Shirou approached him and faced Ukita. "Look, you don't have to make it too complicated." He held out his fist. "Guys like us, we just do this."

Ukita stared at his fist and held out his own as they fist-bumped. "I mean it, though. I'll pay you guys back for this." He insisted, much calmer now.

"And I'll remember those words." Shirou told him.

Later that day, at the rundown, abandoned building that served as Kisara's base. Her whole gang was still around the large room inside while being mindful of their leader.

Kisara herself was in the middle of training, but that was just a front to unleash her anger on whatever she could, and right now, that happened to be her sparring partner, who was covered in protective gear.

"That dumb blond!" Kisara swung a kick so strong that it sent her sparring partner flying across the room. "That stupid cow! She's going to pay!"

Kisara was seething. The memory of her defeat at the hands of Miu was still fresh on her mind, and it made her angry just thinking about it, especially how one-sided their fight was.

"Kisara's wound pretty tight, isn't she?" Koga commented casually and carelessly. "She should have listened. I told her that blondie was a monster."

The guy sitting next to him immediately became alert. "What? Koga, you idiot, keep your big mouth shut."

Sadly, his warning was in vain as Kisara heard him, and simply talking about Miu was enough to trigger her as she turned her fury onto Koga.

"Did you say something, you little weasel!?" Kisara yelled while she kicked him in the head, instantly knocking him out. After that, she stormed off. "I've had it with all of you."

Some of the others gathered around Koga's body to inspect the damage. "He's not real good at reading a woman's subtle signals, is he?"

Kisara walked up to Shiratori, who had a towel for her. "Kisara, I just got some orders from Hermit." He informed her as she took the towel. "He said we're supposed to lay off the Shinzaki Alliance for now."

Kisara was about to wipe off her sweat when those words registered in her ears, and she was taken aback by them. "He what? He can't be serious! I can clean up that group of amateurs by myself anytime—"

"Orders from above cannot be questioned." Shiratori reminded her as he cut her off.

Kisara narrowed her eyes. "Damn it. What is he thinking? First, he barges into the beating, and now this?" She sighed and turned away. "Whatever." She then thought of something else. "Okay, fine."

"Yes?" Shiratori responded.

"What if I just happened to bump into them on the street, and a fight broke out?" Kisara reasoned, looking for a loophole. "That be a problem?" Shiratori was surprised by her insinuation as she continued. "For instance, if I just happened to run into that dairy cow?"

"What? But that's…" Shiratori wanted to talk her out of it.

Kisara addressed the rest of her gang. "All right, losers, go find ninja girl and bring her back here for me."

[Y-Yes, ma'am!] They all sprung into action upon her command. "Let's go!"

With that, all of them cleared out and ran out of the room, leaving only the still-unconscious Koga behind. With them gone, Kisara went to her thoughts and replayed the images of the fight in her mind.

"With that cow's fighting ability and the fact that Hermit is sticking his nose into this, it makes me wonder?" Kisara stood in front of the windows and looked out at the sky. "Maybe this Shinzaki Alliance is a more powerful threat than I thought."

After school, they made their way to Ryozanpaku, and right now, everyone was gathered around the porch. The Masters were all in the training hall. Kenichi was warming up by the doors, Honoka was sitting by the edge, Shirou was standing on the ground, Haruto was sitting against the wall by the doors, and Hideki was standing against one of the wooden columns.

"So, you really beat all those gang members?" Honoka asked after hearing about what happened last night.

"Sure did." Kenichi said proudly while punching against the air. "I tore those lousy punks apart, a complete victory!" He then gave her a thumbs-up. "They were toast."

Kensei integrated while drinking tea. "A complete victory, is that so? As I recall, it was Miu who defeated their leader."

"She did? Really?" Honoka asked.

Kenichi then hung his head low in depression. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wanted to be able to say it once."

"Now, now, don't sulk." Honoka placated him.

"If that friend of yours hadn't shown up, you'd have been dead meat." Kensei continued. "Now, Kenichi, don't get too cocky."

"Yes, sir!" Kenichi responded by softly banging his head against a wooden column. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"What a drama queen." Honoka commented.

"Nevertheless, Kensei is right, and you know it." Akisame joined in. "You caught a lucky break this time around, but you know you can't always count on that happening again. You have to focus on learning more techniques as quickly as possible."

Kenichi frowned at him. "It always comes back to that."

"You're thinking: It always comes back to that, aren't you?" Akisame accurately guessed.

Now, Kenichi looked at him in shock. "How does he do that?!"

"Would you guys give it a rest already?" Shirou complained to them. "You already made your point, and yet you just kept going. What do you get some kinda sick kick out of talking trash about others all the time?"

"We were just making sure he understands the situation." Akisame defended their responses.

"No, what you were doing was shitting every aspect of his character." Shirou shot back. "No matter what you say, he took out more guys than anyone last night, and that was a strength, not luck. Give credit where it's due; I say he's allowed to feel cocky this time."

"Shirou?" Kenichi looked at him, surprised, before he started to tear up. "Aaahhh, positive reinforcement feels so good!"

"He's right. It may seem like you're trying to make sure he keeps his head clear, but there are better ways than just knocking down his self-esteem and nitpicking at everything." Haruto added his thoughts. " One misstep doesn't overshadow a great performance."

"And even then, there's nothing wrong with needing help from a friend in battle; it happens to even the best of us, and it's an exaggeration to say he would have been dead meat." Hideki joined in. "Training is important, yes, but how you incorporate that training in the heat of battle is just as much so; you all should acknowledge that."

"Aaaahhh!" Now Kenichi had trouble stopping the overflow of emotions he felt after hearing all of their uplifting words. "Thanks so much! You guys are the beeeesssttt!"

But as Kenichi moved in closer, Shirou had to push him back so he couldn't invade his personal space. "Would you get a grip already?!"

Akisame let out a small sigh. "I suppose we can come off as a bit too strict sometimes."

"That's because while you might be an accomplished Martial Artist, your skills as teachers are so minuscule they're practically microscopic."

Akisame sweated a bit. "That was uncalled for."

At that point, Miu walked into the room. "At any rate, I think this Shinzaki Alliance or whatever it's called might turn out to be a good thing." She got Kenichi's attention. "Well, think about it; it could work as a detergent, and there's strength in numbers."

"No, it's no good!" Kenichi rejected the idea completely. "If we gather a big mob of people and start throwing our weight around, we'll be just like them. We'd be just as bad as Ragnarok is."

"I hadn't thought about it like that." Miu pondered it.

"Well, our Disciple is starting to think like a man." Hayato noted with pride.

"Big brother, you're so cool!" Honoka squealed at him.

"Yeah, I know." Kenichi smoothly rested his elbow against the wooden column while hoping to hide the fact that his legs were shaking.

"You know, when it all comes down to it, the only person you can really count on is yourself." Sakaki pointed out.

"That's true." Kensei agreed. "Take me, for example. Back in the day, I found myself fighting all alone against the Chinese Mafia."

"What, Chinese Mafia?" Kenichi repeated. "How'd you get into a situation like that?"

"That's not important. Just know that fighting requires three things." Kensei informed him.

Kenichi reacted right away and ran up to him. "What are they?! Please, tell me, Master!"

"You need your courage and faith and your fists!" He answered while raising his hand.

Kenichi then froze like a statue, as that answer didn't help him at all. Akisame then spoke again. "And now you're thinking: He's got to be kidding, right?"

Kenichi lowered his head. "Stop it."

"No offense, Kenichi, but I can't say I agree with you on this." Shirou spoke out to get his attention. "I'm all for the Alliance. That's why I agreed to be a part of it."

"What?" Kenichi was surprised at him. "You plan on going along with Niijima's scheme?"

"It's more than just a scheme. It's the natural next step." Shirou explained. "Up until now, all I've been doing is fighting against other gangs, but in the world of Delinquents, there are limits to what you can accomplish no matter how strong you are. Your rep and the influence you hold is based on more than just individual fighting ability, and in order to become a power that stands above Ragnarok, I need to be in a group that can overtake them." He reasoned. "Naturally, having my own is a hundred times better than joining someone else's, so that's what I did."

"Are you serious? You're getting involved in all this for a reason like that?" Kenichi couldn't comprehend it.

"What do you mean "a reason like that?"" Shirou narrowed his eyes at him. "You only say that because you don't understand what's at stake right now. Think of the alternative."

"What do you mean?" Kenichi asked.

"In the end, the one who instigated all this is Niijima, and he has my name on his flag. Even if I didn't agree to join him, do you really believe he isn't above just going around telling everyone that we're partners and that I'm backing his group?" Shirou pointed out. Kenichi couldn't deny that reasoning, as Niijima had already done things like that in the past. "So you get it? If I actually am part of the group, I can be directly involved in whatever he does and make sure he doesn't go overboard."

"I guess that makes sense." Kenichi reluctantly agreed. "But I still don't like it."

"Either way." Shirou turned to leave. "I'm heading out."

"Where are you going?" Miu asked.

"There's somewhere I need to be." That was all he said.

"Wait, Shirou." Kenichi called out, and he stopped. "Even if I get why you're doing this, I still think it's a bad idea. If you start a gang and go around making others fear you, you'll be doing the same thing as Ragnarok. You'll be just like them."

"Just like them… That's an interesting choice of words. Tell me something?" Shirou turned and gave him a smirk while parts of his face were shadowed out. "When did I ever say that I wasn't like them?"

Kenichi stopped and felt a chill when he heard Shirou say those words, and with that expression, some of the others felt something as well.

"Don't forget what I already told you. I'm a Delinquent." Shirou turned around and started to walk away again. "Just a punk ass Delinquent."

Kenichi watched him go and had an upset look on his face. "Shirou."

Miu also looked upset. Some of the Masters appeared a bit concerned about the way his demeanor darkened like that, while Haruto and Hideki didn't react at all, as though it was nothing even to be concerned about.

Later that day, as the sun set and the sky turned orange, Niijima and his soldiers of the Shinzaki Alliance were marching down the street in the middle of town with Niijima in the lead, acting as though he was on top of the world right now.

"Yeah, there's nothing better than walking the city streets showing these people whose boss with my gang at my back!" Niijima proclaimed arrogantly. "Hey, everybody! How do you like all the respect we're getting these people on the streets, huh?"

"Are you kidding me? This is totally cool!" One of the members in a red shirt answered excitedly.

Niijima laughed loudly. "Ah yeah, it never gets old!"

"By the way, sir, where's your co-commander, general Tsukiharu?" The one always carrying the flag asked. "Is he feeling all right?"

"Huh, oh yeah, don't worry about Shirou. He'll be meeting us in a little while." Niijima informed him.

"Man, he really was amazing in the way he fought last night. General Tsukiharu is really an incredible fighter." He added in awe.

Niijima laughed again. "Well, of course, he is! I always knew he'd be going places!"

After walking for a while, the gang arrived at the front of a bridge that went over a riverbank. They stopped when they noticed a person standing in the middle of the bridge and blocking their path. Niijima froze in horror when he saw who it was—It was Hermit.

"Who are you?" One of the members in a student uniform questioned him. "Speak up!"

"Wait, I remember." One of the members who wore a cap spoke. "He's the guy that general Tsukiharu fought with last night."

"The Shinzaki Alliance is coming through, so get out of the way, Ragnarok!" The one in the red shirt demanded.

"Ah… Wait just a second, guys." Niijima whispered nervously, being the only one aware of the danger they were in. "Ah, man, this is worse than I thought. That guy, he's Ragnarok's Sixth Fist—Hermit."

"What's your problem, man?! Are you deaf or what?!" The one in the red shirt yelled before he charged at him.

"No! Kamioka, get back here right now!" Niijima cried out desperately.

But his warning was unheard as Kamioka closed in on Hermit and swung his fist at him. "You bastard!"

Hermit merely raised his arms and caught Kamioka's arm in his forearm before he threw him in the air like a rag doll. Kamioka was launched over the edge of the bridge and landed in the riverbank back, where he started to float away unconsciously. This horrified the others, especially Niijima.

Hermit completely dismissed his victim and looked directly at Niijima. "If you answer my question, I may just let you live a little longer."

"Oh crap, it figures we'd run into this guy when Shirou or even Kenichi isn't here to fight him. Now what?" Niijima wracked his brain, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

"Kamioka! Are you all right?!" The one in the student uniform called out over the edge.

"Damn, he'll be sorry he did that." The one wearing a cap glared.

"Well, are you going to answer my question or not?" Hermit asked again, threatening.

Niijima looked really nervous as he couldn't think of a plan just yet.

"Back off, Hermit."

Niijima sprung up as he, Hermit, and everyone else were caught off guard by a familiar voice. The members of the Shinzaki Alliance parted to the sides as Shirou arrived behind them and walked forward until he was in front of Niijima.

"If you wanna ask about something, then talk to me about it." Shirou narrowed his eyes at Hermit.

"General Tsukiharu!" The one carrying the flag cried in joy.

"Welcome, sir. Glad you're here." The one in the cap greeted him respectfully.

All of Niijima's nerves were replaced with glee and utter joy. "He couldn't have picked a more perfect time to show up. We're saved. Fortune really is smiling down on me."

"Fine by me." Hermit responded to Shirou's words. "You're the one I was looking for in the first place."

Shirou turned his head slightly and faced the others who were behind him. "Head back, you guys, Niijima, and I will handle this."

"But, sir." The one carrying the flag tried to protest.

"Don't argue, you guys." Niijima shouted at them. "He's right; we can handle this. We'll get Kamioka and take out this clown. You just go back to the base. Now get out of here! Move! Move! Move!" He then thought. "Shirou has the right idea. The best course of action is to give off the impression that everything is under control and avoid panic. We can do that better with them gone."

"You're the boss, general." One of them said as they all took off and left the scene.

Now, it was just the three of them as Shirou walked onto the bridge and approached Hermit until they were face-to-face. Niijima stayed behind in order to observe.

"What do you want?" Shirou asked him.

"Just answer my question." Hermit began. "So, you and the one called Kenichi Shirahama, where did the two of you acquire your Martial Arts training?"

Both Shirou and Niijima were caught off guard by that question.

"That's all he wants?" Niijima thought. "Why would he confront us about that?"

Shirou was wondering the same thing. "Why do you care about that?"

"Just answer." Hermit demanded.

Shirou sighed for a moment before he turned around and addressed Niijima without looking at him. "Niijima, go scoop up Kamioka."

"I'm on it!" Niijima responded immediately and jumped in the air, seemingly just happy to have an excuse to flee.

He jumped over the edge of the bridge and landed on the riverbank with a loud splash. After that, he swam the forward crawl through the river water.

"People don't call me the slippery sneak for nothing!" Niijima exclaimed while he swam. "This filthy drainage ditch is like my own backyard." He then spotted Kamioka drifting in the water and swam toward him. "Ah, there's my missing lackey ahead."

He grabbed him and fled inside a large open sewage pipe. With that taken care of, Shirou and Hermit were now alone on the bridge.

"I won't ask you again." Hermit warned him.

"Fine, there's no reason to hide it anyway." Shirou shrugged. "We both train at the same dojo and under the same Martial Arts Masters, that's all."

"And among those Masters, is one of them a Chinese Kung Fu Master?" Hermit questioned further. "And if so, is his name Sogetsu Ma?"

"You're half right. We do have a Chinese Martial Artist, but his name is Kensei Ma." Shirou corrected him. "What made you think you knew him."

"Sogetsu Ma is the name of my Master." Hermit confessed, surprising Shirou. "When I saw the way Shirahama fought last night and the fact that you knew a technique like the Fa Jin, I thought I saw the teachings of my Master behind them."

"Interesting. China is a big place, so it's not unusual for strangers to have the same name, but in this case." Shirou pondered on it. "Two Martial Artists with eerily similar styles and share the same last name, that doesn't sound like a coincidence."

"You may be right, but that's not what I'm concerned about." Hermit retorted.

"So, did you get the answers you wanted?" Shirou asked him casually.

"Just one more question." Hermit raised a finger. "Fighting, what does it mean to you?"

"What's that mean?" Shirou narrowed his eyes.

"I want to know why you fight." Hermit reiterated. "What motivates you, and for what reason?"

Shirou didn't know why he would care about something like that but decided to answer nonetheless. "It's something that allows me to be myself."

"And what does that mean?" Hermit questioned further.

"I fight because I am a fighter. It's who I am, right down to my DNA." Shirou answered in simple terms. "Fighters fight. We don't need a deeper reason than that. And as for a motive—Mine is simple. It's to gain power."

"How do you define power?" Hermit asked even more.

"The ability to enforce my will upon situations and circumstances in life." Shirou answered without having to think about it. "Power to me is a means to rule over the direction my life travels in and crush anything that tries to manipulate that path. Even if it means making the world surrender to me."

Hermit didn't ask further. He merely stood there as though he was waiting, talking in everything he was told while the wind blew his cloak around. "…I see."

Hermit then moved and turned his back to Shirou. "Where are you going?"

"I've gotten what I came here for. I see now that you are a true Martial Artist worthy of my attention. That's a good thing. If you had turned out to be nothing but a cutthroat brawler who fought mindlessly…" Hermit gave him a cold stare. "I would have killed you where you stand."

"So you're not gonna fight me?" Shirou assumed that was the reason he was here in the first place. "I thought you said we'd settle this?"

"Make no mistake, I do plan on settling things, but not yet." Hermit then started to walk away. "You'll know when the time comes, and it'll be sooner than you expect."

Shirou watched him leave and clicked his tongue in irritation at not being able to fight. After he was gone, Shirou looked over the edge of the bridge and saw the sewage pipe Niijima escaped into.

After getting away from Hermit, Niijima walked along the underground sewage system that reached up to his ankles while carrying Kamioka over his shoulder.

"Here we are, safe and sound." Niijima said to himself as he walked. "Too bad for you, mister high and mighty Hermit. I memorized a map of this city's sewer system a long time ago for emergencies like this."

Kamioka coughed and began to wake up as he opened his eyes. "General Niijima."

"I'm so glad that you're all right, Kamioka." Niijima addressed him earnestly.

"You mean you risked your life and jumped into this nasty sewer just to save me?" Kamioka asked in disbelief.

"Well, of course I did." Niijima answered, completely serious.

Kamioka became so touched he looked ready to cry before he remembered. "What about that guy?"

"Ha, Shirou showed up and beat him to a bloody pulp with his own hands!" Niijima answered loudly and wildly.

"You guys are… Amazing!" Kamioka became utterly emotional. "The Shinzaki Alliance is the greatest. I'm so glad I joined up with this group. Any other gang would have just left me to drown in this sewer. I don't know how I can ever repay you. To think the general himself would risk his life for me!"

Unfortunately for Kamioka, his tearful emotional breakthrough was being entirely ignored by Niijima. "You know, Hermit was right. Kenichi and Shirou's skills keep improving, but I don't know where they're training or who their Sensei is. I better start looking into it."

"I'd give my life for you, general Niijima!" Kamioka cried out sincerely. "I swear it!"

Once again, Niijima ignored him. "I'll ask him about it first thing tomorrow morning."

The next day, at school, Shirou and Niijima met in the same empty classroom as yesterday. Shirou had just finished explaining to him where he and Kenichi acquired their martial arts training.

"I see, so you both go to a scary dojo like that? And to think that Miu is the owner's granddaughter." Niijima processed all this information. "I guess that explains why she's so strong herself."

"Well, now you know, satisfied?" Shirou asked.

"Not quite; there's another reason I called you here." Niijima took out his PDA. "It seems that Kisara has stopped coming to school entirely."

"What difference does that make?" Shirou questioned. "She hardly shows her face here anyways."

"This is different. She may not have been a regular face, but people still knew she went here, but now she's distanced herself from the school entirely." Niijima began to explain. "My sources tell me she's hard at training and preparing for a fight. Better watch out 'cause she might be coming for you before long."

Shirou paused as he leaned against the desk. "No… It's not me she's after. It's gotta be Miu. Kisara is not only strong, but she also has a lot of pride. No doubt she's super pissed at how Miu thrashed her before." Shirou reasoned. "No doubt, the only thing on her mind is payback."

"Interesting, so it seems her attention has diverted from you to Miu." Niijima noted.

"That's fine. It's the same for me. I've shifted my attention to someone else as well." Shirou admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I still want to fight Kisara, but what I'm really interested in is fighting the strongest threat we're currently facing—Hermit."

"Believe me, I'd like nothing more for you to defeat Hermit, but I think we need to focus on the more immediate situation." Niijima told him as he continued typing on his PDA. "Now that Kisara has stopped coming to school, all kinds of Delinquent groups are coming out of the woodwork, so our school is now in the midst of a civil war."

"The same thing as always, when the big bad goes dark, every chump comes out of hiding and thinks they can take the top." Shirou wasn't surprised. "It won't stop until Kisara returns to refill the power vacuum."

"But that's just it. Why wait for her?" Niijima grinned evilly. "Instead, let's take advantage of this rare opportunity."

"What are you getting at?" Shirou already had an idea, though."

"Just think about it. Now that Kisara's gone and everyone out there is trying to fill the vacuum of power left in her wake, this is the perfect time for the Shinzaki Alliance to make its move." Niijima proclaimed confidently. "We could establish ourselves as the new dominant power that reigns over this school."

"So, you're saying you want me to be the new big bad?" Shirou questioned him.

"The Shinzaki Alliance is still new. What we need now is to build our reputation and present ourselves as a powerful group. How can we if our general and strongest fighter wants to keep his head down during a fight for the throne?" Niijima pointed out. "Besides, they'll come for us one way or another, so why not take the fight to them?"

Shirou knew that Niijima was just trying to get into his head and use him, but he didn't let that bother him. From the beginning, they had different goals but worked together because their interests aligned, and personally, he was in agreement with the idea that he didn't want to just do nothing during this hectic time.

Shirou let out a sigh and got up. "Fine then; let's get started right away." He walked toward the door. "I'm guessing you already know who the first target is. Take me to them."

Niijima gladly opened the door, still with an evil expression as they walked out the door, and he led him down the hallway. "Sure, just follow me."

—…

And that's the chapter.

First of all, as I said, this chapter was heavily focused on dialogue. I wanted everything to be established before moving forward. To start, unlike Kenichi, Shirou isn't against the idea of having their own gang. Kenichi comes around to it eventually in the canon, and I didn't want to waste time trying to win him over in a decision he mainly had no control over.

Plus, Shirou informs him or, rather, reminds him of the differences in their nature. As this chapter demonstrates, Shirou has no problem doing things that others can perceive as bad and has no interest in playing the role of a virtuous Martial Artist. While he might be fighting against Ragnarok, that doesn't mean he completely rejects everything they represent.

Also, the confrontation between him and Hermit. Like with all his other rivals, Shirou's rivalry with Hermit will be more prominent in this story. They have more in common and have more of a desire to fight each other, so I plan on giving their interactions more attention.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you liked the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.