You see us comin'
And you all together run for cover.
"Cowboys From Hell" ~ Pantera
Chuu paced back and forth in his small apartment, his phone clutched tightly in his hand. He'd been trying to reach Baji, Chifuyu, and Ryusei for hours now, with no response. The silence gnawed at his gut, an insistent, icy dread. Even if they were in the middle of something, at least one of them would normally shoot back a quick reply, a simple "we're good" to ease his mind.
But now? Nothing.
His eyes darted to the calendar on the wall. Today was the day Hikari was supposed to come back from her trip. She'd probably be exhausted after such a long flight, and he hesitated, not wanting to bother her. But if anyone would know where Baji was, it'd be her.
With a deep breath, he scrolled to her number and hit "call," hoping she wouldn't kill him for waking her up.
Hikari was in the deepest sleep of her life, her body fully committed to making up for the endless hours spent cramped on an airplane. She hadn't even bothered to unpack, letting her suitcase sit by the closet as she collapsed onto her bed.
But then her phone rang, vibrating against the nightstand like an alarm. Groaning, she rolled over, her bleary eyes squinting at the screen. Chuu. Whatever it was, it better be earth-shatteringly important. With a sleepy sigh, she answered the call.
"Dude…" she slurred, her voice thick with exhaustion, "I'm sleepin'…"
"Sorry, Hikari," Chuu's voice crackled through the line, tinged with worry. "I know it's late and you're probably exhausted, but… have you heard from Baji?"
Even in her half-asleep state, Hikari's instincts kicked in. If Chuu was calling her to ask that, something was definitely going on. She pushed herself up, her mind swimming as she tried to shake off the drowsiness.
"Uh…" She glanced at her clock, blinking as her mind fought to wake up. "Yeah, he texted me as soon as I got home. Said he'd come by tomorrow and told me to get some sleep. Why? What's going on?"
Chuu's voice was tight on the other end, anxiety clear in every word. "I've been trying to reach him, Chifuyu, and Ryusei for hours. No one's answering. I even talked to some of the other guys, and they haven't heard from them either. Something's up."
The knot in Hikari's chest tightened. She pushed the covers off, her movements sluggish as if her bones were made of lead. Her body ached from hours of sitting cramped in an airplane seat, and even standing felt like a Herculean task. But the worry in Chuu's voice kept her moving, overriding the heaviness clinging to her muscles.
She moved to her window, glancing toward Keisuke's room next door. His window was dark. Her gaze shifted to Chifuyu's window three floors down—also dark.
Her pulse quickened. "Keisuke's light is off," she said quietly. "And so is Chifuyu's. They should both still be awake, though."
The silence on the other end of the line was heavy. Chuu let out a shaky breath. "This… this can't be good, Hikari."
Hikari rubbed her face, trying to piece it all together. Her instincts were screaming at her that something was happening, something that wasn't good. The calm she'd come home to felt like an illusion, a thin veil over the storm brewing underneath.
"No," she said softly, her voice firm. "It's not."
Despite her body screaming for rest, Hikari pulled on her Toman uniform, yawning as she stepped into her boots. Exhaustion clung to her like a heavy blanket, but it couldn't drown out the worry gnawing at her gut. Something was wrong—really wrong.
As she climbed down the fire escape, the air felt strangely thick, pressing down on her with each step. Hikari hugged her jacket tighter, glancing back at her apartment window to reassure herself she wasn't leaving something behind.
Chuu waited in the parking lot, pacing back and forth, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. His shoulders relaxed when he heard her footsteps, relief flashing across his face.
"Thanks for meeting me," he said, a hint of gratitude in his voice.
"Yeah, yeah," Hikari mumbled, adjusting her jacket as she stifled another yawn. She eyed his bike but paused, frowning. "Actually, we're stopping for an energy drink on the way. No point looking for them if I'm half-dead."
Chuu managed a small chuckle, nodding. "Fair enough."
It wasn't long before they were speeding through the dimly lit streets, the cool night air doing little to wake Hikari up. True to his word, they made a quick pit stop at a konbini, where she downed an energy drink faster than a college student polishing off a beer at a frat party. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tossed the empty can into the recycling.
But even the jolt of caffeine couldn't shake the pit of worry gnawing at her.
They'd gathered the rest of the First Division along the way, and now the group was en route to Yotsuya, hoping to find some trace of Baji, Ryusei, and Chifuyu. With every passing second, the knot of anxiety in her chest twisted tighter.
As they approached Yotsuya, Hikari tapped Chuu's shoulder, signaling for him to stop by a vending machine on the side of the road.
"Again?" Chuu asked, incredulous.
Hikari rubbed her tired eyes. "I'm still a zombie, yeah. I need coffee."
With a resigned sigh, Chuu pulled over. Hikari quickly made her way to the vending machine, tapping the buttons with more force than necessary. The can clunked down into the tray, and she popped it open, taking a long sip of the sweet, creamy liquid. Then another, and another.
Then she heard it—voices drifting from a nearby alley. Not just any voices, but the unmistakable, cocky tones of Yotsuya Kaidan. Her hand froze, her ears straining to catch their words.
"…yeah, those Toman idiots didn't even see it coming," one of them sneered, laughter following. "Fucking Ryusei, that Chifuyu guy… even their captain, Baji. They walked right into it. They're screwed."
Hikari crushed the empty can of coffee in her hand and storm clouds gathered in her eyes. The words hit her like a slap in the face. Ambushed. They were ambushed.
Her pulse thundered in her ears as rage swelled inside her, instantly burning away the exhaustion. These bastards—these smug, pathetic assholes—thought they could ambush her family and get away with it?
Not a fucking chance.
Her eyes blazed and she tossed the mangled remains of the coffee can into the recycling without breaking her gaze from the thugs. Her voice dropped to a dangerous, deadly calm. "What's this I hear about an ambush?"
They stopped laughing, their gazes snapping toward her in the unmistakable black uniform of Toman. Recognition flickered in their eyes, and their cocky grins faltered. Toman's princess.
Hikari took a slow, deliberate step toward them, moving with the predatory grace of a lioness. Her posture screamed power, and the thugs realized too late that they were the herd of gazelles.
They were screwed. And they knew it.
In a mostly useless act of bravado, although he had no idea just how useless it would turn out to be, one of them lifted his chin and asked, "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I'm Todawa Fucking Hikari, you dipshit," she spat, her voice dripping with contempt. "First Division Toman." She took another step forward, ready to conjure the shit storm of the century and rain down fiery hell upon their sorry asses.
As she took another step, Chuu and the rest of the First Division rounded the corner, their presence towering behind her looming like a storm cloud.
Hikari's fists clenched, the rage simmering beneath her calm exterior. "Now," she said, her voice dangerously soft as she tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. "You're going to tell me exactly where they are… or I'm going to make sure you regret ever being born."
The Yotsuya Kaidan members paled, glancing at each other in panic. They could tell there was no getting out of this. Not with Toman's princess standing before them like some vengeful deity, backed by Toman's entire attack division.
One of them, the apparent leader of the group, swallowed hard, his bravado completely shattered. "W-we didn't mean anything by it!" he stammered, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "We were just… just…"
"Where. Are. They?" Hikari's voice dropped to a near-growl, and the Yotsuya punks stumbled over themselves, eager to give up the information.
"Th-they're in the abandoned factory," the leader blurted out. "I swear! That's all I know!"
Hikari's cold, piercing gaze lingered on him for a moment longer, as if weighing whether or not to let them off easy. As much as she wanted to mop the floor with these ass-hats, time was a luxury she couldn't afford to waste on them. Finally, she gave a curt nod, her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Good," she said icily. "Now, fuck off. Before I change my mind."
The Yotsuya thugs didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled, running off as fast as they could, their earlier cockiness completely shattered.
As soon as they were gone, Hikari turned to Chuu, her adrenaline still pumping, but her focus laser-sharp. "Let's go. We're getting them back."
The factory was a dark, crumbling husk of what it once had been, filled with the sound of fists hitting flesh, grunts of pain, and the rustling of footsteps over broken glass. Kensho stood tall in the center of the chaos, watching as Baji and Ryusei struggled to get back to their feet, both battered and bruised.
"Your precious Toman is going down," Kensho sneered, his eyes glinting with malicious satisfaction. "Kazutora was right—Mikey doesn't care about any of you."
Baji, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, narrowed his eyes but didn't bother wasting energy on a response. His body ached, every muscle screaming in protest as he tried to get back up. Ryusei wasn't faring much better, slumped against a pile of debris and wincing with each shallow breath.
"Kazutora told me everything. Mikey, Toman—how you all betrayed him," Kensho continued, his words filled with venom. "And now, I'm going to destroy what's left of you."
Kensho raised his fist again, ready to strike, when the rolling thunder of approaching motorcycles broke through the tension, growing louder with each passing second.
On the factory roof, Blue Pine heard it, too. A smug grin spread across his face as he leaned into Chifuyu, down on the ground, barely managing to hold himself up. "Hear that, Toman? My guys are here. This is over."
Chifuyu gritted his teeth, his vision blurred, his muscles trembling from exhaustion. The fight had been brutal, and Blue Pine had him cornered, a twisted sense of victory gleaming in his eyes—until a voice cut through the noise, strong and clear as a bell.
"Hey, Chifuyu! You're not giving up, are ya?"
Chifuyu's head snapped up, his heart skipping a beat. Hikari?
Sure enough, from the ground below, Hikari stood there with the First Division at her back, her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing with determination. Chifuyu could see her smirk even from where he was standing.
"Come on, champ!" she called out, her voice ringing through the night. "Kick his ass and meet us inside!"
Chifuyu felt a surge of energy flow through him, renewed by the sight of his friends—his family—rallying together. With a battle cry, he pushed himself off the ground, fists clenched, and went straight at Blue Pine with everything he had left.
While Chifuyu fought his way to victory on the roof, Hikari and the First Division stormed the factory with the kind of intensity that only Toman could muster. They barreled through the Yotsuya Kaidan members guarding the entrance like a tsunami, leaving nothing but groaning bodies in their wake.
Inside, Kensho stood over Baji and Ryusei, his knuckles bruised from the beating he had already handed out. He sneered as the door burst open, and Hikari appeared, flanked by the First Division like an unstoppable force of nature.
Baji looked up, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of her. His Hikari, looking like a goddess of war who'd descended from the heavens with the entire division at her back. But his awe quickly turned to dread.
"Hikari, no!" he shouted, his voice rough with urgency. He could see the fire in her eyes, the way her body was tense and ready to fight, but Kensho was no ordinary thug. He was a monster in a fight, and Baji knew she was in way over her head.
But Hikari, fueled by rage, exhaustion, and energy drinks, shook her head, her jaw clenched in determination. "Hikari, yes," she muttered under her breath, her eyes locked onto Kensho.
She took a step forward, her hands balling into fists. "I am one cranky-ass, jet-lagged bitch who's hopped up on caffeine. And I'm in no mood for bullshit."
Kensho sized her up, his smug expression shifting to one of annoyance. "Another Toman brat?" he spat. "You really think you can take me down?"
"Maybe not alone," she said, her voice calm but laced with defiance. "But I don't need to."
With that, Hikari rushed forward, throwing herself at him. Kensho moved to block her, but the First Division was already on him, swarming like a pack of wolves. Baji, despite his injuries, pushed himself up, joining the fray as Ryusei limped after him.
Kensho fought viciously, swinging wildly as Toman closed in around him, but he couldn't keep up with their numbers. It was a brutal, chaotic mess of fists and flying kicks, Hikari darting in and out of the chaos, landing blows where she could.
Kensho grabbed her by the arm, yanking her forward. Her heart skipped, but instinct took over. The pro wrestling match with her cousin Josh flooded her mind. She twisted, slipping free, her body moving on autopilot as she leapt onto his shoulders.
With a sharp twist of her hips, she flipped backward, locking her legs around his neck in a headscissors takedown. In a single, fluid motion, she flipped him head-over-heels, slamming him into the ground.
The impact knocked the wind out of Kensho, his head hitting the concrete with a sickening thud. The room seemed to freeze as shock rippled through the First Division, watching the move with awe.
Baji, leaning against the wall for support, stared at her with wide eyes, barely believing what he had just seen.
Hikari, panting heavily, stumbled back, adrenaline still buzzing through her veins. "Like I said," she muttered, running a hand through her tangled hair, "I'm not in the mood for bullshit."
Kensho groaned, his body limp on the floor, completely dazed by the takedown.
Hikari leaned against a stack of crates, catching her breath. Keisuke limped over, his face pale and bruised, but grinning widely.
"I can't believe you just pulled off that move," he said, his voice filled with admiration.
Hikari shrugged, a small smirk on her lips. "What can I say? Wrestling's cheesy, but it's useful."
He chuckled, his gaze softening as he looked her over, making sure she was okay. "You're insane, you know that?"
Hikari shot him a grin, her exhaustion finally catching up. "Yeah, well… you love me for it."
Baji's smile widened, and despite the chaos of the night, for a brief moment, everything felt right.
Toman's First Division stood victorious, their enemies scattered and unconscious on the floor of the abandoned factory. Kensho, once a looming threat, now lay limp, dazed by the takedown Hikari had landed on him and the combined strength of Toman.
Hikari wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, finally letting herself catch her breath. She felt the adrenaline wearing off. Her limbs were heavy, and her mind was a little foggy, but a sense of satisfaction thrummed through her.
She had pulled through—they had pulled through. Nobody messed with Toman's First Division and got away with it.
With everything wrapped up, the group quietly left the factory, leaving Yotsuya Kaidan in their rearview mirrors. Their job was done, and everyone was heading home in one piece.