Chapter 7: Consequences Pt1
Bashira Takebayashi
BANG! The trail of smoke leaving the barrel is making my eyes water. My hands won't stay still as they continue to shake. The feint ringing in my ear replaces the once frantic cries of the now deceased Kenji Komota. The bullet hit him in his good eye while my pocket knife is still lodged in his left eye. At some point Minato's corpse finally stopped twitching. The remaining 6 men are all standing with their heads down.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn my head to see its Hideo. He puts his hand on the barrel and lowers my arms and gently takes away the gun. He doesn't say it out loud but he mouths to me "Don't. Cry". I try to stop, truly, but I couldn't get the tears to stop coming out. I'm more terrified of turning and facing my uncle than staring at the man whose life i just took. I knew Kenji, he was funny. I played cards with him once at a BBQ. He joked about how chicks with big tits had no balance. He watched anime from the 90's and said the new stuff was garbage. He drove an Acura. None of his shoes had laces because he hated tying up dress shoes so he only wore slip ons, he said the laces were too small and always came undone. He loved American football and his favorite singer was Mariah Carey. I knew this man, he was nice to me, and I just killed him.
I hear my uncle stand up and start walking towards me. I feel my shoulder tense up anticipating him to hit me, yell at me, discipline me for being weak. But instead he just stands beside me.
"Let this be a lesson for any who dare to tarnish the honor and reputation of our organization. Each of you will lose a finger for standing by and doing nothing while these pieces of shit harassed my niece" Uncle said as all the men gasped in unison.
"But sir we didn't do anything!" said the one who snitched on Kenji and Minato.
"Be grateful I'm only taking a finger and not your pathetic lives'" Uncle said as the man lowered his head.
"Alright let's get this over with" Hideo said as the men lined up like school kids. Uncle watched as Hideo chopped off all of their pinky fingers one by one. They all let out a small grunt and clenched their hands to stop the bleeding. Watching the fingers pile up on the small table as a small pool of blood began to form. The look of relief on all of their faces confused me at first. Why would you be happy to lose a finger, and then I was reminded of the alternative laying out on the floor before them. After the last finger was cut off, they all bowed and began making their way to the exit.
"And where the fuck do you all think you're going?" Uncle said as they all stopped by the door looking confused. "Clean this shit up before you leave. I want my office spotless by the time I get back" Uncle said as he kicked Minato's corpse in front of them.
We all went back to Hideo's place and didnt say a word the whole drive there. We pull up to the academy and see that the light upstairs is still on. Fuu was awake. We weren't best friends or anything but he's the only person I can talk to about organization issues like this. I wonder if he ever killed a man? I doubt it, Hideo wanted to protect me tonight, but even I got the message that it wasn't his place to do so.
"She should still be here if you want to speak with her" Hideo said to my uncle as he pulled out his keys for the front door.
"Yes. Tell your stray to bring her down" Uncle said as Hideo gave him a look before opening the door and letting us in.
"I'll get her myself. It's in the usual spot" Hideo said as he made his made his way to the stair case on the other side of the building.
What's in the usual spot? What was he talking about? Uncle walked in and I walked right behind him, unsure what we were even doing here. He walks in and goes to Hideo's desk and opens the bottom drawer and pulls out a very antique looking bottle. He pulls our 3 cups from the same drawer and sets it on the table.
"Sit down Bashira" Uncle said as he began pouring the special liquor into thecups. I make my way over to one of the seats in front of Hideo's desk and sit down. I feel like I'm in the principal's office for doing something wrong. "Today you took another mans life for the first time. I can't tell you how to feel but i can tell you how i felt when i experienced my first. It was horrifying. I was scared beyond belief. I wasn't able to sleep right for months. Nightmares plagued my dreams every time i closed my eyes. I say all that because if i had to do it again, i would Bashira. The first man i killed was also a member of our organization. A giant of a man named Taz, and like your man, he too was bringing dishonor to our organization. He raped 2 women. We found out because one of them had a brother who was a bartender at a restaurant we frequented. Long story short Bash, when the deed needed to be done my father put a gun in my hand and explained to me why I was tasked with his death. We aren't rapists Bashira. We don't kill for fun. We have a code. Are we upstanding citizens? No, but we have honor, and honor is all a man truly has. I asked a lot of you today nephew, but you rose to the occasion for the Kurai Yoru. You stood up for our values and disposed of this cancer inside our organization, and for that, I'm proud of you" Uncle said as he handed me a poured cup of alcohol.
"You guys starting without me?" Hideo said as he entered his office. "The girls outside whenever you're ready" Hideo said as he picked up the glass Uncle poured for him and rose it for us to cheers. I rose my glass shakily as i noticed the big smiles they both gave over to me. I was the center of attention and i couldn't figure out why in wasn't having a harder time accepting the praise.
"To my nephew and to the Kurai Yoru. May you find your brightest moments in the darkest of nights" Uncle said as we all clinked out glasses and threw back the strong liquor. They let out a small laugh as i made a face from the burning feeling in my throat. Hideo slapped me on the back and uncle put his hand on my shoulder. Was this how it felt to be one of them? Ever since I got here, I've been treated like shit. Like I wasn't wanted. My own mother gave me away to my uncle who let me know daily how much of a disappointment I was. This was the first time my uncle has ever said anything nice to me and all it took was killing a man?
"Go ahead and let her in" Akio said as he took a seat on Hideo's desk. Shortly after Hideo walked in with a pretty girl with brown hair covering her face. She was still wearing her school uniform and looked over at us nervously. She was looking us up and down like she was trying to remember every detail about us in case she had to give a description to a sketch artist. She stood close to Hideo, but not close enough that she touched him.
"This is Akio Takebayashi, he's Akira's father" Hideo said.
"And Fuutarou's boss" she said as she looked my uncle in the eye before bowing. "Hideo said you wanted to speak to me? Can i ask why?"
I couldn't hide the expression on my face. Questioning uncle like that? She truly has no idea who she's talking to.
"I was told that you had a... Rough day with some of my men today. First and foremost, I want to apologize for the disgusting actions my men did. They... no longer represent our organization and I can assure you no harm will ever come to you again so long as I draw breath. Your father was a good friend of mine from back in the day. I would do anything to protect his daughter. Please accept my sincerest apologies Ms. Nakano" Uncle said as he gave her a deep bow. I don't think I've ever seen my uncle bow, and to see him to do it to a teenage girl is pretty crazy.
She looked at him with no emotion. I couldn't tell if she was weird or had a really good poker face, but if she knew who this man was, I don't think this is how she would be handling this situation. "What do you mean by organization?..." she asked causing my uncle to smile. He didn't answer her, he just sat there looking at her.
She wasn't very talkative after that so Hideo took her home and Yoshin came shortly after to take uncle and I home. I got home and forced myself to go to sleep but just like uncle said happened to him, I woke up before my alarm in a cold sweated panic from a nightmare. I can't even remember what the dream was about, i just know that it was terrible. I look over at my phone on the night stand and see that its 2am. I have to be up in another hour for training with Fuu at 4. I know I need my sleep but if I'm being honest with myself, I'd rather deal with being tired than see what happens when I close my eyes.
I figured I'll just get a head start on my chores so i grab my laundry basket and head down to the laundry room to put my clothes in the washer. I open the lid to the washer and start throwing my clothes in. I stop when i pull out the shirt i was wearing when the deed was done and notice there's tiny speckles of blood on it. Without even feeling an emotion i start crying as i remember what i did. That it wasn't a dream. What i did was real and i have to live with this. Uncle warned me about the inevitability of these feelings but it didnt make this any easier. I put the clothes in the washer and slam the lid shut. I turn around and put my back to the washing machine as i slide to the floor. Feeling the washing machine vibrate on my back brought me some weird sense of relief. I sit there for the entirety of the wash cycle doing nothing but thinking about what could have been done differently. What if what she said happened was a lie? What if Kenji was telling the truth? What if it was all Minato? What if worm was just covering his own ass?
I shake off the thoughts in my head long enough for me to stand up and start putting my clothes in the dryer before leaving for training with Fuu. I pull out each piece of clothing until I get to the blood-spattered shirt. The majority of the blood was gone but the closer I looked I noticed a tiny little speck was still there. It was smaller than a grain of rice, but to me it was as big as a name tag that said "killer". Just like this fucking shirt, I can try and forget about what I did but it'll never be completely gone.
Ichika Nakano
She walked in the door and went straight to her room like she did nothing wrong. Yotsuba and Itsuki went after her while Nino kept applying makeup on my face trying to hide the bruising already forming around my nose and under my eyes.
"It looks terrible" I scoff as I close my little pocket mirror and throw it on the couch.
"Shouldn't have been talking shit" Nino said under her breath.
"don't tell me you're taking her side too?! What the fuck is up with all of you? I'm the victim here! She assaulted ME! She's trying to take MY man!" I yelled as I stood up standing over Nino who just rolled her eyes at me.
"Oh, he's your man now? I thought you said you guys were nothing? Actually I think your exact words were 'he's just someone I call when I'm bored. Nothing more nothing less'" Nino said reiterating my words from the other night to a T.
I could feel myself start to turn red from anger so I just turned around and started marching upstairs expecting Nino to come after me but instead I just hear the tv turn on behind me. Fuck her. Fuck all of them! They're only taking Miku's side because they feel bad for her. Sweet little Miku finally gets a boy to like her. 'Why don't you let her have this one Ichika'. Ugh, I can hear it already. Whatever, if she wants my sloppy seconds so bad she could have him.
I went to bed and skipped school the next day since my nose looked terrible. My manager was able to postpone my scenes for a little but let me know they weren't happy about it. I laid in bed all day thinking about what they did to me. Why was he so angry with me? He's doing this to get back at me but I need to know why. I think back to every night I spent with him. None of our talks were deep or anything but he was so funny. He would make me laugh all the time. He'd always come with flowers even though I told him I always let flowers die.
I look at the time and see that it's 4pm. The girls are probably just getting started with our lesson with Akira. i need to speak with him. I have to straighten things out between us. He can't pick Miku over me. I don't care what she says, I'm not blind. He never looked at me like that. I have to get him back, and if he won't give me another chance i have to tell him i won't allow their relationship.
I get up and order an uber before i touch up my makeup. Its not as bad as yesterday but you can still tell. I put on the lingerie he bought me and rush down stairs when i get the notification that my uber arrived. the driver told me he was surprised about the trip since he never gets people going to Ryzo from my building. I let out a fake laugh as i looked out the window hoping he would stop talking for the rest of the trip.
We pull up in front of the karate school he calls a home and i get out to see that theirs a class in session. I look through the windows to see its a kids class. Akira's uncle is showing some kids how to throw a kick while Fuutarou is in the back with another group of younger kids wrestling on the ground. All the kids are jumping on his back laughing as he stands up with them still attached to him. He pretends to roar like a monster as he collapses to the floor and starts laughing with all of them. Not the six pack, not the tough bad boy look he has going for him, but this. Playing with little kids like a big brother is making my heart race. I would have never guessed he was capable of such light heartedness.
Almost like breaking me out of a hypnotized state, Hideo knocks on the window after catching me staring inside his building like a stalker. I look over at him as he laughs and points at the front door inviting me inside. I start walking over to the front door trying to regain my composure so I don't look how I feel. I get to the door and my scene begins.
"Heyyyy good afternoon! I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and say hello" I say with a big smile as Hideo holds the door open for me. A puzzled look crossed his face as i walked in as the smell of sweat assaulted my nostrils. We were in a small seating area that overlooked the matted area. Everything was of high quality even though we were in the middle of the slums. The chairs were all nice and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. Trophies and medals lined the wall with pictures of all the people who won them. There was a big shiny gold belt on the wall and underneath it was a picture of Fuutarou holding the belt on Hideo's shoulders.
"You were just... in the neighborhood huh?" Hideo said taking my focus away from the wall of accomplishments.
I stood there like a kid with their hand in the cookie jar. No point in trying to keep this lie going so I smiled and nodded over at Fuutarou. He hasn't noticed me yet because he was still rolling around with all the kids. They couldn't be older than 6-7 years old. They looked so adorable in their little karate outfits and my insides were jumping around with baby fever seeing him play with them so gently.
"Ah I see" he said with a chuckle. "And what happened here" he said as he pointed to his own nose.
"Oh that... I'm a clumsy mess. I woke up exhausted from night shoot and walked right into my door. I'm such a cluts" I say laughing. He's not saying he knows I'm lying but his face looks like he's saying 'am I really supposed to believe that'.
"Well, if you ever want to defend yourself from the door, we could show you a couple tricks here at the academy. You ever train before?" Hideo said
"I worked with a stunt man once when I had a scene where I had to punch a man but all he taught me was how to throw a fake punch that looked real" I said as we both started laughing. I kept glancing over at Fuutarou who still hasn't noticed me hoping he would by now.
Hideo noticed me looking at Fuutarou and said "we still have a pretty good chunk of class left but you're more than welcome to join us? Consider it an investment on your next big action block buster" he said with a smile as he walked back on the mat and called the class to attention. Before he lead them through some stretching exercises he introduced me to the class as a guest. Fuutarou looked surprised to see me but he ended up giving me a smile and a little wave before helping with warm ups. Hideo called me over to one of the punching bags and had Fuutarou hold the bag as he showed me how to throw a proper punch. How to keep my thumb on the outside instead of tucked in to prevent breaking it, how to twist my hips as i throw the punch, how to throw a proper 4 punch combo, before i knew it i was beginning to sweat, nothing at all like the sexy image i wanted to portray as i put on the sexy lingerie before coming here.
Hideo excused himself and went on to help some of the students with their drills leaving just me and Fuutarou alone in the back of the class.
"why are you here Ichika, is everything ok?" Fuutarou asked with a concerned look on his face. He wasn't annoyed That i was here, he was genuinely curious if i was ok.
"I just... really wanted to see you. I don't like how we left things last time i saw you. Can we talk after you finish up here?" I say as i stroke his arm.
He doesn't pull away, he just smiles and points to his duffle bag in the corner of the room. "My key is in the front pocket, go ahead and take it and wait for me upstairs"
My face lights up with excitement as I run over and grab the key. I wave at him and run to the door. I make sure to say goodbye to Hideo before leaving. I run upstairs and open the door to his apartment. Everything is to tidy and clean. Even the pillows on his couch and the remote on the table is laid out perfectly.
I know what he wants. I start taking off my clothes and lay down on his bed in nothing but the lingerie he bought for me last month. I was about to fall asleep from boredom before i hear keys jingle at the door. The door opens and i yell out "in here!"
"What happen the couch wasn't comfy enough..." Fuutarou said as he walked in the room shocked to see me half naked on his bed. "Ichika... what are you doing" he said standing at the door.
"What? You don't like the way i look in this?" I said tugging on my bra strap. "If you don't like it, maybe you should help me take it off..." I said as I slowly stood up and unclasped my bra. I walked towards him and saw his eyes widened. The bra dropped to the floor as i reached him. I see his eyes looking me up and down, loving what he sees.
"Ichika..." he said before i stole a kiss from him. I wasn't going to give him a chance to pull away like he did last time. My lips touched his long enough for me to wrap my arms around his neck. I stand on my tippy toes and feel his hands gently grab me by my waist before pushing me away. "Ichika we shouldn't. I don't want to give you the wrong impression..."
"And what impression is that?" I say as I throw his hands off of me and start kissing on his neck. I feel his legs buckle a little. This was always his weak spot. He pulls me off again but I just pull him towards me as i fall onto the bed. My hands are gripping his collar. I see a look of confliction on his face. I refuse to accept his bullshit reason for not wanting me anymore when its clear that he still wants me. Ill just have to remind him.
I pull him in close enough for me to wrap my legs around him. I let out a soft moan as i feel his hips press up against mine. I go in for another kiss. My lips touch his a couple time before he turns his head. Before he could get up i begin kissing his neck again. I feel him start to push on my thigh to get my legs off of him so i quickly grab his hand and bring it up between my legs once again causing me to let out another soft moan as i rocked my hips back and forth on the bulge growing in his pants.
"Ichika... Ichika... ICHIKA! ENOUGH!" Fuu said as he yanked himself away from me.
"What the fuck is your problem with me?! What did i even do to you? To US? Why don't you want me anymore?!" I scream as i sit up on his bed half naked. "it's fucking Miku, isn't it? One night away from me was all it took for you to say 'fuck me' and try and fuck my sister?! You fucking asshole!"
"Ichika stop, that isn't it..." Fuutarou said as he picked up my bra from the floor and handed it to me.
"then tell me! What did i do? Why are you leaving me?!" i scream as i snatch the bra from his hands.
"Ichika you never wanted to be together in the first place. Whenever we went out with the cast you always pulled away when i tried to kiss you, hold your hand, hug you, anything. So i just figured maybe you just didnt want to let your castmates know you hooked up with a nobody like me. Fine, its your career, maybe you didnt want to have that kind of reputation. But your own family? Were you so ashamed of me that you couldn't even tell your sisters about me? You had a chance to tell them you knew me at Akira's when i had a mental fucking breakdown, but once again you were too good to be associated with me. But you know what? It's fine Ichika, i get it. You don't wanna be seen with ghetto trash" Fuutarou said fuming. Like he's been holding this in since we met and he's finally letting it all out. I want to apologize but I can't let him know that everything he said was true.
"You're full of shit Fuutarou, you just wanna fuck my sister. You don't care about me, you just wanna be able to tell your friends you fucked a couple quintuplets!" I scream out. His reaction wasn't quite what i expected. He wasn't angry. He looked disappointed, and somehow i feel even worse.
"So thats what you think of me huh? The truth finally comes out" he says.
"Tell me I'm wrong? Tell me you don't have feelings for Miku! I see the way you look at her. The way you light up when you talk about your history nerd shit. You never spoke to me like that, and to do it right in my fucking face? How dare you!" I yell out as Istruggle to find the clasp on my bra strap.
"Listen to yourself Ichika. You're mad because i like to talk about history with your sister" Fuutarou said as i slowly started to realize how dumb i looked right now.
"W-well... why didn't you ever talk to me about It?!" I snap back.
"Well, it's a good thing I didn't because you just think it's 'history nerd shit'" he said snapping back at me before taking a long breath tying to relax himself. "Listen, we're not getting anywhere in this argument. You asked why I chose to take a step back and I answered you" he said in a much calmer, much colder tone than was using seconds ago. "And in regards to... this" he said pointing to my lingerie "I don't want to use you Ichika. You deserve better than that from someone you give your body to".
My heart sank. He didn't say a single thing that was wrong. I'm so fucking embarrassed by how desperate i look right now. Sitting here half naked with a fucked up nose all so i can just be rejected. Tears start rolling down my cheek as I start crying. It's real this time. I don't even know what to do right now. I have to call an Uber, I still have to get dressed, and make this walk of shame out of this apartment. Fuutarou gently wipes away a tear as he hands my my clothes off the floor.
I snatched my clothes from him and said "promise me you'll stay away from Miku!"
"Huh? Why?" Fuutarou said catching him off guard.
"You don't want to be with me? Fine, fuck you, but stay away from Miku. As a matter of fact, stay away from all of my sisters. You're not about to use my sisters as some trophy you show off to your gangster friends. It's the least you can do" i say sternly looking him in the eyes. He just stood there looking puzzled. Like it was actually something he had to think about. "What? I thought there was nothing between you two? If thats the case, why is it so hard for you to agree that she's off limits? You can't because you're lying to my face. You have feelings for her! You can't just jump from sister to sister you douchebag! Unless you really are ghetto trash from Ryzo" i said sharply, clearly hitting a soft spot. I didn't mean to add that last part but i just got so angry in the heat of the moment. I've never dealt with rejection before and it sucks. I just wanted him to feel just as hurt as me if not more.
He stood there without saying a single word. I went from fuming at the sight of him to slowly starting to curl up at the sight of him standing there with a angry look on his face. I wasn't thinking of the muscles and the criminal tattoo when i was yelling at him, but its all starting to come back to me now as his silence is speaking volumes. I go to open my mouth and nothing comes out as fear slowly begins to settle in.
"fine" he says i turn my head in confusion.
"wait I didn't mean that i..." i began saying.
"No. You're right. I'm wrong. I'm sorry. I'll stay away from you and your sisters Ichika" Fuutarou said. His words lacked the raw emotion he's had this whole conversation. Before i could even reply he said "you can wait here for your Uber so you don't have to wait outside. Just lock the door when you leave" and just like that he was gone and I'm sitting here feeling like the worst person on the planet right now. I sat in his bed and just cried. I don't know what I'm even feeling right now. Jealousy? Heart break? Pity? Anger? Everything is so raw to me right now that i can't pinpoint what's causing me to be so emotional. I don't know what's going to happen next, but i know i fucked up.
Bashira Takebayashi
"Bash... Bash...BASH!" Fuu yelled as i looked up at him from the curb i was sitting on.
"huh? What?" i muttered still gasping for air.
"Bro get up let's head back, I don't wanna be late for Hideo's class" Fuu said as he reached down to help me up. Today was cardio day so we were running 5 miles before class with Hideo. I've only been training with Fuu for a couple days and I'm still not used to this level of intensity. I can see why this guy was in phenomenal shape. He's barely broken a sweater and I'm practically dying over here and we still have another class before we go to school.
"Hey you good man? You've been acting weird all week. You know you can talk to me if somethings bothering you right? Family takes care of each other" Fuu said as he put a hand on my shoulder. I've lost track of time but it has been a couple days. Every day it's the same bullshit; I wake up from a nightmare then I'm forced to be up and training by 4am. I'm physically and mentally drained. I can barely keep my eyes open but I can't seem to close them as if that makes any fucking sense. I don't want to tell fuu anything because I just feel like it's pointless. What can he possibly do to make this better. Uncle said went through this too so if he can get through it alone, so can I.
I pull away from him and say "I'm fine. Let's just finish up"
He looks at me sympathetically like I'm a bitch and says "Bash, please bro I know somethings wrong with you. Let's figure this out together and..."
"I said I'm fucking fine!" I snapped at him. "Mind your fucking business. Uncle said you're my trainer not my therapist!" I know I'm wrong. I know he's just trying to help but every word out of his mouth just makes me angrier. Even with the physical exhaustion from sleeping 2 hours a night I still knew he didn't deserve that.
He just stood there and looked me in the eyes for a couple seconds. He can easily fuck me up. It wouldn't even be a fair fight honestly. It's not even like I got rank on him or anything to talk to him like this. If anything, he outranks me. I fully expected him to snap back at me or punch me in my mouth like I deserved. Instead, he just pats me on my back and starts running back for Hideo's. His pace back was much slower than our starting pace. He's giving me a much-needed break without saying anything. Even when i fall back, he just slows down without looking back or saying anything until i regain my stamina.
We get back to Hideo's just in time for warm ups. Fuu runs in and joins the fellas as they start doing high knee laps around the mats. I don't see his face but i see him look over and mouth something to Hideo. Hideo walks over to me and says "here Bash, keep time for me kid" and throws me the stop watch. Was he taking it easy on me? Why? Because his golden boy said I couldn't hang? Uncles words kept ringing in my head. 'This man stood here and called you weak. Called you a liability. And what did you do? Fucking nothing. Pathetic'. 'Once again you disappoint me with your weakness, just like your fucking mother'.
I look up at Hideo and throw the watch back at him and join the rest of the guys in warm ups. I pretend to ignore him looking at me but he's staring daggers at my skull right now. Maybe what Idid can be taken as disrespect but how else will I get him to respect me? How else will I get him to see me the same way he sees his protege? I'm not gonna sit by and let Fuutarou be hyped up when he hasn't done shit for the organization. I fucking killed a man for the Kurai Yoru, not him!
After warm ups Hideo runs us through some drills that have to do with stopping a take down by sprawling on your incoming opponent. He added some attacks from the back mount position and then we broke off into pairs. Fuu came up to me right away to try and pair up but i just pretended i didnt see him and went with someone else. The exercise consisted of us attempting single leg takedowns on each other while the other sprawls and takes your back to throw some strikes.
I make it through 3 training partners before Fuu finally catches me because I was too tired to run and find another partner. He throws the first takedown attempt and it's a weak shot that I'm easily able to sprawl out of. he's taking it easy on me on purpose? Fuck him. After sprawling and taking his back i throw everything i have left in the tank at him to the back of the head. I hear him wince but he doesn't say anything when the whistle blows and we switch positions. Once again he's taking it easy on me, his shots barely have any power behind them. They're like that of a little kid. I feel everyone's eyes looking at us. I feel them laughing at me. They're think I'm weak too.
We stand back up and fuu whispers over to me "hey bro take a little off, we're just drilling".
For some reason i can feel this fire in my chest go off. He's taunting me. He's belittling me. Does he know who the fuck i am? I'm a Takebayashi. I'm the nephew of our leader. I'm a killer for the Kurai Yoru!
Before Hideo even blows the whistle i shoot in for a takedown catching fuu off guard and take him down instead of giving him the opportunity to sprawl like the drill intended. I posture up while he's on his back looking up at me with a confused look on his face and i just start throwing down punches with everything i have. The last bit of power i have in my exhausted body is being used in my fist right now as i throw them at his face. I start screaming at the top of my lungs as every emotion I've kept bottled up all week since I killed kenji comes up. "I'M NOT A BITCH! I'M NOT A BITCH. IM NOT A FUCKING BITCH!" Each word was accompanied by a other than the first punch I was lucky enough to land, every other shot was blocked as Fuutarou shelled up.
"BASH! GOD DAMN IT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hideo said as he began to pull me off of Fuutarou. Who just laid there with this stupid look of confusion on his face. Hideo pulls me off and pins me to the wall. "Bash I'm not going to tell you again, relax!"
"Fuck him! Get off of me!" I scream out before hearing a loud ringing in my ears. It's weird, i heard the ringing before i felt the pain of the slap. My neck practically whipped 180 degrees before i realized what just happened.
"Let this be the last time you disrespect me and my academy. Akio's protege or not, I am the general of the Kurai Yoru and you WILL respect me. Am i understood?" Hideo said pinning me to the wall. I wanted to reply but his forearm was across my wind pipe and I couldn't breathe. I start clawing and pulling at his arm but he was as solid as a brick wall. Just as I started to see stars he let go and I dropped to the ground. "What the fuck are you all looking at? Did I call time? Now we do laps, everyone outside!" Hideo screamed out as all the guys groaned and made their way to the door. Fuutarou got up and started making his way outside.
After everyone was gone Hideo put his hand on my shoulder and said "listen kid, I dint wanna do that, but I can't let you disrespect me in front of the guys. I don't need to ask you what's wrong because we both know what it is. You don't have to talk about it now, but whenever you're ready, I'm here. You hear me Bash? I'm here for you kid. You don't have to go through this alone". I wanted to fall into his chest and start sobbing. I never had a dad. The only man i had in my life treated me like shit up until a couple of days ago and here Hideo is allowing me to be emotional. Allowing me to be weak. Allowing me to put this wall down. I didnt say anything, i just hugged him and cried quietly as he hugged me back. I know my problems didnt magically go away but for a couple seconds I finally felt like I wasn't alone for once.
When class was dismissed, I pulled Fuutarou to the side and apologized. He just smiled, told me not to worry about it, and that he would see me in school. He wasn't being sarcastic either. He was genuine just like Hideo. Fuu really does take after him. He did tell me to meet up with him after school though because we had a pick up at some guy named Goro's. I've heard the name before but never actually met him.
In between classes i bumped into Akira talking to that Miku girl outside their classroom. I pretended like i didnt know her but just seeing her got my head all fucked up. I told Akira I couldn't talk long before Fuu showed up. Miku's face lit up as she tried saying hi to him but he kind of just brushed her off and walked into class. She looked like someone kicked her puppy or something.
It was none of my business so i just said my goodbyes and went on to class. If theres one thing i picked up from Fuu, it's minding my damn business. Other people's problems are not my own. I got enough on my plate, I don't need theirs too. Just as i turned around i saw her sister with the super short hair looking at us with eagle eyes before turning away and speed walking away when she saw me look at her. That was weird.
After a couple periods fighting to keep my eyes open so I wouldn't get detention, I decide to take a quick power nap somewhere private. I ask to go to the nurse and make my way to the roof. Just as i get to the top of the steps i look out the door window and see Fuutarou sitting with Miku on the roof top balcony. I don't get it; they're over here laughing and being all buddy buddy but he basically ghosted her not even an hour ago? If he's so friendly with her, why wasn't he there when we were dealing with Kenji and Minato? Why wouldn't he wanna be there to defend this girls honor?
I step out onto the rooftop and say hi to Fuutarou. "Yo Bash! Whats up man? What you doing up here?" Fuutarou said in a cheerful tone. Miku's smile disappeared when she saw me. Did i do something to her? I didnt even say anything to her when she met uncle and I.
"I could ask you the same thing. Whats up Miku?" i say nodding over to her.
"Oh you too know each other?" Fuu asked cheerfully looking over at Miku who looked nervous as hell. I couldn't hide the confusion on my face. I honestly didnt know why she was being weird right now.
"u-um yeah... Akira introduced us" she said cautiously giving me a look to go along with her lie.
I was confused as to why she was lying in the first place but i was so drained i didnt wanna waste what little energy i had left on this and just nodded my head. I ended up wasting this little break i was looking forward too because we just spoke on the roof a little before the bell rang.
"Hey Miku can you wait for me at the door I gotta tell Bash something real quick about work" Fuutarou said with a gentle smile as Miku walked away. "we got a pickup today at Goro's. Be at my car right after class, we cant be late today" Fuu said in a surprisingly serious tone. We've done pickups before but this would be my first time at Goro's which is probably why he's trying to be a little more stern right now. I've heard the rumors but I've never been there myself.
I ended up skipping last period and falling asleep in the bathroom. It wasn't much but a 10 percent battery is better than 2 percent. I grab my stuff out my locker and head out to the parking lot. I see Yoshin out there waiting for Akira and walk over to say whats up before heading over to Fuutarou's car. He was already there waiting for me when i walked up.
"Hideo really lets you use his cars whenever you want?" I say as I walk around and admire the beautiful Lexus LFA casually parked in a high school parking lot next to an old 99 Camry.
"Hideo says when I'm out doing business, I represent him and I have to look the part" Fuu said laughing as he pulled on the lapel of his black Armani Suit jacket. I overhear the little whispers from a group of girls walking by. Fuutarou smiles and waves at them as they all blush and scatter away like they're little 4th grade school girls. He looks back over to me and the smile disappears as he tells me to get in. We drive off and the sound coming from this engine is insane. This is easily over 200 thousand dollars and this teenager just drove it school like its normal while I have to walk to school.
"Alright listen Bash. When we walk in there just keep all your comments to yourself. if you're spoken to, keep your answers short. Goro is a weird mother fucker, so he's gonna say some shit to get you out of character. Don't overthink it, I'll try my best to keep his attention on me so we can hurry up and get the fuck out of there" Fuutarou said as he pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned factory. I nod in understanding as we get out of the car and start heading inside.
Fuutarou and I get patted down at the door before walking in. Loud music is playing and people are gathered around a cage with a bunch of guys fighting each other. the place was surprisingly packed for being 4pm on a weekday. I slow down to see what's going on and Ifeel Fuutarou's hand grip my arm tight as fuck like a father scolding his son for doing something bad. "Don't. Fucking. Stop" he whispered to me.
We head upstairs and get patted down again, but this time even more aggressively as they check every single pocket. These assholes even checked my socks. they give us a nod and radio someone to let them know there was 2 of us coming in. After getting the 'ok' from whoever was on the other end of the radio we were allowed into Goro's office. A bunch of people were in there overlooking the fight pit screaming over who was winning. There was a couple hot women on the couch taking selfies and a group of people by the bar, Goro being one of them.
"Fuutarou my boy! It is so good to see you darling!" Goro said as his fat ass skipped over to greet us. "we've missed you around here big boy! Oh and who is your delicious friend?" he said as he eyed me up and down with a finger in his mouth.
"Delicious?" i said confused as Fuutarou interrupted my train of thought.
"This is Bashira Takebeyashi. Protege and nephew to our leader Akio Takebeyashi" Fuu said emphasizing my last name. It made no difference because Goro wouldn't stop checking me out. I was so fucking uncomfortable having this greaseball in daisy dukes eye me up and down like this. "we're here for a pickup. Is it ready for us?" Fuu said trying to change the subject.
"Ah why yes of course suga!" Goro said as he snapped his fingers. Shortly after a girl with short blonde hair came over to us and handed Fuutarou the package but for some reason held onto it when Fuu tried taking it from her.
"When am Igetting my rematch pretty boy?" she said with a slick smile on her face.
"Why does it always have to be a fight with you Sasha? Why can't you just ask for a date like every other girl in Tokyo?" Fuutarou said with a wink that clearly pissed her off. I let out a small chuckle that caused her to glare over at me.
Just as she was about to say something, Goro chimed in. "Ah, to be young and full of love... or is it lust? Ah whatever, I can't keep up with you love birds. Sasha, please play nice with my future son in law you hear?" Goro said before Sasha growled and marched away in anger.
"Please stay for the festivities! Maybe even partake? I think i may have an opponent that would make it worthwhile for you sugar bear!" Goro said as Fuu and I looked at him in confusion. He turned around and pointed over to a table in the back of his office where worm and 2 other guys from Kenji's crew were doing lines of cocaine.
Worms eyes shot wide open as he picked his head off the table. He walked over to us and wiped his nose before screaming out "YOU FUCKING PUSSY!" I couldn't hide the look of embarrassment on my face. Everyone in the room turned around to look at us. "You don't have your big bad uncle and his bitch butler to defend you now PUSSY!" he said as he walked up to my face. The other guys were right behind him now. Fuu walked in between us and put a hand on his chest stopping him from coming any closer.
"Worm, what the fuck are you doing? You know that's Akio's protege. Stop now before word gets out..." Fuu began saying before Worm spit in his face. Everyone around us gasped and started laughing while they egged him on.
"Fuck Akio, Fuck Hideo, and Fuck Y.." he started saying before I punched him square in the mouth. All i could hear was my uncles words in the back of my mind from a couple nights ago. 'You should've punched him right in his mouth for disrespecting you!'
Fuutarou immediately grabbed me and pulled me back. "DAMN IT BASH NOT HERE! YOU CAN'T DO THAT HERE!"
Before I could ask what the big deal is we were surrounded by men with their weapons drawn on us. Goro began laughing as he wrapped his arms around worm who was wiping away the blood coming from his nose. "oh my. I think we've come across quite the dilemma young man. It seems you just broke the peace treaty our organizations had between each other"
"Goro we shouldn't have disrespected your home like this. And for that, we apologize, but we haven't broken the treaty. We didnt attack one of your men, worm is one of us, he's Kurai Yoru" Fuutarou said as he walked in front of me, shielding me from potential danger.
"Oh? Worm baby, if your Kurai Yoru, where is that pretty tattoo all of you have?" Goro said as he grabbed Wormshead and turned it to reveal a burn scar behind his ear. He looked at Fuutarou with a disgusting smile from ear to ear.
Worm and the guys started laughing as he said "I don't serve the moon anymore Goro san. We only serve you now". Goro's laugh just became louder and more obnoxious.
"Well, you heard this beautiful cut of meat. Him and his 9 fingered friends work for me now, and Akio's boy here just drew first blood on MY turf nonetheless. How exactly am I supposed to respond Fuu darling?" Goro said as worm and the guys started begging him to let them fight us. To let them take us outside. To shoot us where we stood. I look over at Fuutarou and his face hasn't changed this entire time while I'm over here freaking out. I had no idea about a peace treaty between the 2 organizations. I didnt think at all.
"Oh relax. Such stress on that pretty face of yours doesn't suit you. I'm not an unreasonable man. I'm willing to forget all about this little debacle and let you walk out of here safe and sound if you do something for me first" Goro said as he picked up a stool and placed it front of Fuutarou. He stood on it and was eye level with him inches from his face. "pretty sure my daughter has been asking for a rematch for quite some time now. Would you be a good son in law and oblige her?"
"Goro San, Ibeg of you, give me the kid to fuck up!" worm said as he got on his hands and knees with his face on the ground. "He killed my best friend, let me serve you and allow me to get revenge!" my heart got stuck in my throat. I've seen worm fight. He wasn't anything special but he sure as fuck was better than me and he knew it.
"Deal. Thank you for allowing us to right our wrong" Fuu said as he took a step back and bowed.
"OH GOODY! We have a fight my little miscreants!" Goro said as he jumped off the stool like a fairy and start riling everyone up.
Fuu came and grabbed me and pulled me out the office. We started making our way to the cage down stairs and stopped in the staircase where no one was around.
"Fuu I'm so sorry, I had no idea..." i said stuttering.
"Apologize later. Right now i need you to get your head in the game" he said sternly as i nodded. "last time i fought Sasha she came out the gate hot. I expect her to do the same this time. Im going to take care of her as fast as i can so i can help you out. Worm is fast but he's weak as fuck. Ima need you to keep your guard up and stall until i finish Sasha. After that he doesn't stand a chance against the 2 of us".
All i could do was nod my head like going over a 2v2 fight gameplan was normal. Just as i was about to turn around and go downstairs, Fuu grabbed my shoulder.
"is what he said true? Did you really kill his boy?" Fuutarou asked in a serious tone.
"I had too... Uncle told me to. I had no choice" i responded.
"why? What did he even do? Kenji was cool. What made your uncle make the call?" he asked again in a serious tone.
"Ask your girlfriend" i said as i tried to turn around but fuutarou grabbed me by my shoulder again and turned me around. This time more aggressive.
"what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he said with a bit of anger in his voice.
"That Miku girl you were with on the roof today? Kenji and Minato were about to rape her before she name dropped you. Hideo found out and made the call. He took out Minato and uncle tasked me with killing Kenji. The rest of them lost a finger for not doing anything" I said as I pulled away from him. "C'mon Fuu, I can hear them announcing us".
He just stood there for a couple seconds taking in what i just told him. Clearly she didnt tell him but thats not my problem. My only problem right now is getting out of here alive and i need Fuutarou to do that.
We get downstairs and walk in the cage. Worm and Sasha were already in there when we were being announced by Goro. Worm was jumping up and down hyping up the crowd while Sasha was talking shit to Fuu. Fuu acted like she didnt even exist because he wasn't taking his eyes off of worm. He was locked onto him. Eyes were cold and void of emotion. His hands were in a tight fist making his knuckles look white.
"WHORES AND SCUMBAGS! DO I HAVE A SPECIAL ONE FOR YOU TODAY! WE GOT THE MUCH ANTICIPATED REMATCH BETWEEN HIDEO JUNIOR AND MY DAUGHTER, AND WE GOT NEW BLOOD MAKING THEIR DEBUT!" Goro said standing on his seat screaming into an old karaoke machine.
I look over at Fuu one more time and he's still locked in on Worm. Sasha must have notice too because she got even louder with her shit talking. "eyes on me pretty boy!" she screamed out.
Without looking at me Fuutarou asked "was he there?" as he nodded over at Worm.
"yup" I say back
The bell rang and just like Fuutarou said, Sasha came at him full speed with a flying knee. It all happened so fast. Fuu ran at her just as fast and beat her to the punch with a superman punch knocking her out of the air. She landed on the back of her head hard and was squirming around on the floor in pain. The crowd went absolutely silent. The only thing you could hear was Goro's disgusting high pitched chuckle from his throne. Worm hadn't even moved yet. Fuu just stared into his soul and started walking towards him. I figured i should move in to back him up but he just put out a hand waving me off. He put his fists up as he approached Worm who did the same.
The first punch thrown was by worm and it was a sloppy overhand right. A power shot off rip from distance is such a rookie move, I'm surprised he thought was going to land. Fuutarou just bobbed and weaved and delivered a solid uppercut to the chin once he got in close causing worm to stumble back in shock. I've seen them spar before but Fuutarou never went all out before, Fuutarou is out for blood right now and worm knows it. In a panic, worm starts throwing sloppy jabs that all miss as Fuutarou keeps marching forward until worms back is against the cage and Fuutarou immediately capitalizes and starts teeing off on him like he's beating up a heavy bag throwing combination after combination. Going upstairs with the heavy shots, body shots to drop the guard. Fuu was putting on a clinic. He couldn't take much more and started falling to the floor with his hands still up blocking. That's it, just a little more and we're done!
Just as i thought the match was going to be called i see Sasha getting up and making her way to Fuutarou. i run and try tackling her and she just does some weird judo throw on me and uses my own momentum against me causing me to fall to the floor.
"Fuutarou look out!" I scream as Sasha throws a round house kick at his face. Fuutarou catches it and holds it as he sweeps the leg she's standing on and delivers the fastest 1-2 straight to her face knocking her out cold this time. He turns back around and looks at worm who's scrambling to stand up and delivers a knee to the face of his grounded opponent . Worms body goes limp as he continues to pound his face before the guy 'reffing' the fight came in the ring and pulled Fuutarou off of him.
"Ah. Never a dull moment with you Fuu darling!" Goro yelled as he got up from his seat and waddled into the cage. He grabbed Fuutarou and I's hands and raised them in the air in victory to a half assed applause. "As promised you two are free to go and all is forgotten. But don't be a stranger now, you can always visit your father-in-law whenever you want".
We snatched our hands away and walked out of that disgusting factory. People stood in our way but ultimately moved aside when we passed by. Each of them giving us dirty looks and talking shit every step of the way. We make it outside and get in the car. We drive in complete silence all the way home.
A/N
Anddddddd we're back! So sorry for the long delay. Works been hectic and mix that with the holiday and binge watching arcane every weekend on my time lol. With that being said, this chapter was actually significantly longer and I decided to break it up into 2 parts, which is another reason why this chapter took so long to put out. The next part is almost done just gotta put the finishing touches on it because it's gonna be emotional af. But back to this story, I really wanted to show the mental battle Bashira is having and his growing animosity towards Fuutarou. Bash finally gets treated like how Hideo treat Fuutarou but he can't handle what it took to get it. When I was writing Ichika's pov I really wanted to do 2 things. 1- make her unlikeable, which I think I accomplished lol and 2- show that she ISN'T in the wrong here. Fuutarou lied to her when she confronted him about having feelings for Miku. He lied about staying away from her when we see Bash catch Fuu and Miku together on the roof. The only thing he was truthful about was why he stepped away from the relationship they had. It's funny because I get comments about how we're happy Ichika got punched in the face but technically speaking... she really is the victim here lol. I know this time at Goro's wasn't as in depth as the previous time but it will have significance in the next chapter. Sasha being embarrassed again and worm betraying the organization. Lastly, I really wanna give a huge shout out to everyone who's been leaving comments hyping me up. I swear that whenever i was in a rut with writing, someone would leave a comment telling me they enjoyed my story and that really lit a fire in me to get this chapter done so big thank you to , rollingcarboardbox, bobzilla, and thewatcher1828! Thank you all for sticking around!