Chapter 3: The First of Many Brawls
"Takemichi, man, think about what you're doing!"
The clear blue sky began to shift into its indigo with hues of evening orange, scattering its pink and gold. The streaks of clouds began to brighten when they caught the orange rays, and darken when they didn't. The moon began peaking out very slightly in anticipation. Shadows cast by the heavy stamping of Takemichi's feet were melting into the background.
They stood outside Asagaya Hospital, having only one car, as Akkun had driven Makoto and Kazushi. Takemichi stood on the passenger side of the car door, waiting impatiently for them all to get in. Every second wasted only made him remember Takuya's condition, and he only wanted to find Kiyomasa more and more.
"I've thought about everything, Akkun," Takemichi said. "And I've made up my mind. Now, either we can drive there together, or I'll get the location from Masaru and go alone."
"And what are you going to do? Kick his ass? He's twice your size!"
"He's still just a guy."
"A guy who eats guys like you for breakfast." Akkun placed both of his hands on Takemichi's shoulders, and the two locked gazes. "Takemichi, you know what he did to Takuya. He'll kill you."
"No, he won't," Takemichi insisted. "Because I won't lose. I've got a plan: aim for his dick."
Akkun groaned. "Be serious, man!"
"I am being serious!" Takemichi snapped. "This guy put our friend in a coma and you're telling me to leave it alone?! You think Takuya's the only one?! Who knows how many guys this prick has left hospitalized - or worse! He has to go down, Akkun!"
"And what are you going to do when he and his gang come after us seeking revenge?!"
"If that happens, we'll go to the police. They're thugs on motorcycles, not Yakuza."
Akkun let go. He turned around and shared a helpless look with Kazushi and Makoto, and when the two could not offer anything back other than grimaces and pained looks, he turned back around and sighed.
"You are right about one thing: Kiyomasa has to pay for what he did. Here," He fished a knife out of his pocket, "You probably won't beat him, so use this when you get a chance. He takes this and it's game over, so don't pull it out until you see an opportunity, okay?"
Takemichi stared at the knife in his hand with astonishment. "You want me to kill him?"
"No!" Akkun hurriedly blurted out, "But if you hold this up to his neck or his balls, I guarantee he'll back down."
The four of them climbed into Akkun's car. By the end of the drive, they were in Higashi district, and they had reached the outskirts of a neighborhood where several rows of long, tall apartments sat. They parked in a convenience store parking lot several blocks down.
"We're walking the rest of the way," Akkun said. "If I park the car too close, they'll either fuck it up or steal it."
Takemichi was leading the charge, storming ahead whilst Akkun tried to point out where to go and Makoto and Kazushi followed along.
"You don't have to go in with me," Takemichi said. "I can do this alone."
"And let you face Toman by yourself?" Kazushi sounded offended. "Even if we just get beat again, we'd never do that."
They approached what looked like a large warehouse or storage unit, and the closer they got, the more the muffled cheers and yelling aroused from the inside, letting Takemichi knew this was the spot. He felt a surge of anticipation shoot through him at the realization.
Takemichi bent down and lifted the shutter open, and immediately the muffled voices grew into loud shouts, as if they had been released from confinement.
The inside was much larger than it looked, yet as the dim lights above the room illuminated what lay ahead, it revealed that the place - which had clearly been cleaned out - was crammed full of shouting, angry men all gathered in a wide circle, turned around to focus on the center. The air was hot and heavy, filled with the nauseating smell of sweat. He could see, even with so little light, that the walls were covered in mold and looked rotted, and when he looked down, he saw the floor was caked in so much dirt and grime that Takemichi left footprints in it as he walked.
The men - most of whom, Takemichi saw, were clad in black Biker uniforms - pushed and shoved each other, cheering for the fight they were watching. There had to have been at least two dozen gang members, all pumped up and ready for violence. The sight of them was wearing down his resolve. What am I doing? Takemichi thought, feeling the fear finally begin to replace the anger. What was I thinking?
He turned back to his friends, who all looked at him and seemed to understand what he wanted without him even having to say. Takemichi nodded, and they began to quietly move back towards the exit.
"Hey!" Takemichi felt his blood freeze and his skin prick with goosebumps, and he snapped back around, seeing a member of the crowd pointing at him. "Who the fuck are these guys?!"
First, the crowd paused, and all the noise in the room silenced immediately. Then, they all turned around in unison and stared at Takemichi and his friends. It was terrifying, and Takemichi could finally count that there were around 20 people in the room, all bigger, taller, and stronger-looking than he and his friends.
Can we run? Takemichi thought. Fuck, what am I saying? They'd just catch us and we'd be dead.
As the gang members began to approach him and his friends, his eyes quickly scanned the crowd before he saw one with the scar across his left eyebrow: Kiyomasa.
Once his eyes locked onto the culprit, it became like tunnel vision, and everyone else in the room no longer mattered. Takemichi raised his fingers and pointed, trying to shout loud enough to be heard over everyone else. "YOU!" The fear he had felt upon seeing he was outnumbered was once again drowned out by rage he felt when he learned of Takuya's coma.
I can't just threaten him in front of his goons! Takemichi thought. And then, when he realized where he was, he had an idea.
"You boys want a show, right?" Takemichi asked them. "I'll give you one, and it'll be the highlight of your fucking night: Me and your boss. Me and Kiyomasa."
They all jeered and yelled insults, but, thankfully, before they all pounded on him and ripped him apart, his target came to the front of the crowd.
"And who the fuck are you?" Kiyomasa asked.
"I'm someone who has a score to settle with you," Takemichi said. "You put my friend in a coma, and I'm here to make you pay."
"Your friend?" Kiyomasa grunted, scratching his temple, before his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh yeah, that little blond pussy that I taught a lesson the other day! Let me guess: you're pissed off because he was your friend." His laugh was mocking and rough. "Well, what the fuck are you going to do about it?"
"I'll show you what I'll fucking do!" Takemichi snapped. "So, let's get in the ring: me and you." Then, he trailed his eyes over the other bikers who were all eyeing him with various levels of disdain. "Unless, of course…. you're afraid?"
Now, everyone's eyes shifted towards their leader, and they were judging Kiyomasa, expecting him to correct this disrespect and put Takemichi in his place in the ring - just as he had intended.
Kiyomasa took a drag of a cigarette as his eyes trailed over Takemichi. He could not read the other man's mind, but he knew the gangster was likely measuring his strength based on his appearance. He likely decided that since Takemichi was half a foot shorter than him and skinny as a twig that he'd be an easy opponent to beat. There was no hesitation and no fear as he made his choice, only a long, deep drag of the cigarette before he stomped it onto the ground.
"Fine by me," Kiyomasa said. "Let's go, bitch."
The crowd parted like a gate, and Takemichi and Kiyomasa moved to the center. As they found their positions within their space and whipped around to face one another, his opponent was staring at him with the same look a frothing dog looks at a weak little squirrel. He put Takuya into a coma just for fun, Takemichi thought. If I lose this fight, he'll kill me.
Takemichi glanced behind him. Akkun was slouched over, as if he was waiting for an attack. Kazushi and Makoto looked on the brink of pissing themselves. The other gang members were glancing at his friends like they were bugs, but they were focused on the upcoming fight.
Don't let him get me down, he thought, If he gets on top of me, it's over. Takemichi squared up, hopping up and down off his feet. He balled his fists up and charged Kiyomasa. Jumping off his back foot, Takemichi launched himself forward with his right arm, scything it around, but it was easily sidestepped.
Kiyomasa stopped short on stiff legs and landed a right hook across Takemichi's face. "Plurgh!" He let out, but wiped the blood off his lips. "Don't give yourself too much credit," Takemichi huffed, smirking, "I already gave myself an injury there."
Takemichi swung another right arm, but this time, it made contact with Kiyomasa's arm as he blocked it. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Takemichi stepped forward, and planted his foot onto Kiyomasa's.
He whipped his head upwards at the giant, headbutting his chin, forcing himself to bite his own tongue. Takemichi then swiftly whirled up a kick with his other leg into his dick, resulting in an, "ough!" As he fell to the ground, momentarily holding his crotch.
Takemichi sent some kicks while the man was down, but Kiyomasa caught one, tearing the fabric of Takemichi's pants and sent him tumbling down next to him. He crashed an elbow into Takemichi's face, then spun him over and locked his knees.
Takemichi could feel the breath being stolen from his body. Just before he could force Takemichi to pass out, he felt a sudden pain sent through his body. He had been kicked in the nuts again.
He stood up both frustrated and panting, wiping sweat off his face. Like a screwdriver, Kiyomasa swarmed through the air at Takemichi and uppercutted his stomach. Takemichi put his knee up in response, sinking it into Kiyomasa's gut.
Then, Kiyomasa lunged at him, but barely missed, his momentum causing him to continue going forward and crash into the dirt, spraying dust into the air.
Takemichi seized the chance to climb onto Kiyomasa's torso, crashing down with all his weight. Kiyomasa, who was under him bucking and writhing and pulling and hitting every part of Takemichi's body, painfully. His face is wide open! Takemichi thought.
He landed a blow in Kiyomasa's nose, and in response, he felt arms wrap around his throat and begin to squeeze.
Can't… breathe…. He couldn't think clearly. Takemichi tried to pull the hands off his neck, but when he could not do that, he instead decided to desperately rain blow after blow on Kiyomasa's face. He bashed and bashed and bashed until his lip was split and bleeding, and his eyes were turning black and swollen.
Yet still, the hands on his throat remain, and he could feel dizziness in his vision, and see the spots blink in his eyes. And so, Takemichi sank his teeth as hard as he could into Kiyomasa's wrist, gnawing through the skin.
It worked, and Kiyomasa let him go with a cry of pain. But this also gave him the opening he needed to throw Takemichi off of him with a kick to the chest that made him wheeze and spit out what little air he had left like a deflating balloon.
"Fuck!" Kiyomasa cried. "You little shit, you fucking bit me!"
"Serves… you right…." Takemichi slurred. "Fuck… you…."
He couldn't take much more of this. He could barely stand, could barely breathe, could barely see. Takemichi needed to end this fight now. He could no longer afford to brawl, he had to do whatever it took to win. The knife, Takemichi thought. Should I use the knife?
Rather than punch his face, Kitomasa swung his fist into Takemichi's temple, and it throttled his head and made it spin. Dazed, he staggered and nearly face planted into the ground.
Confident the next blow would land, Kiyomasa threw his entire arm into the next one. However, Takemichi was able to summon all his strength to move, and the punch only hit his shoulder. The pain was immense - a direct hit to the collarbone that might have broken something - but it wasn't enough to end the fight yet. And thus, Takemichi was given an opportunity to strike at Kiyomasa's already-bruised nose, and punch it directly, as hard as he could.
There was the light crack of the bone, and Kiyomasa staggered back, howling in pain, holding his mangled, bleeding nose.
Takemichi seized the opportunity and copied Kiyomasa's move: he used all of his strength to swing into the man's temple. If this move failed, Takemichi would lose balance and fall into the dirt, and it would be game over. But he was able to stay upright, and his fist connected; Kiyomasa slumped into the ground, done.
Oh fuck, Takemichi thought as he stared at the man. Did I do it?
When it became clear the man would not be getting up, he slumped to the ground, panting, wheezing, rubbing his throat. I did it. I fucking did it. A cynical part of him came through; he should be more concerned with avenging Takuya than winning. This isn't even half of what that scumbag gave him. Still…. winning feels really fucking good.
"That's enough!" A voice cut through the crowd, loud and stern. "Back the fuck off, all of you!"
The crowd, previously snarling, spitting, and stomping as they prepared to give Takemichi hell and tear him apart suddenly stopped, as they clearly recognized the voice. The yelling and threatening had been silenced; their faces, once wild, were now taut with fear, and none of them dared move a muscle. Takemichi could observe the aggression that had been a part of this crowd had disappeared, and he wondered who could possibly have the power to leash a group of dogs as wild as this one.
A young man who could not be older than 30 stepped forward, clad in the same uniform that the other gang members were wearing. His authority could be seen in the way he carried himself: back straight, shoulders loose, standing at full height, and moving slowly towards the crowd with his hands in his pocket. As he got closer, the man's most noticeable features - green eyes and undercut-style blond hair - became visible, as he stepped into the fray without any panic on his face.
"Let the man go!" the blond guy ordered. "Anyone who lays a hand on him is next, only this time I'll be the one fighting."
"But sir," one of them pleaded, "look what that guy did to Kiyomasa!"
"Kiyomasa's lucky to still be alive after the shit he pulled. Yeah, I know about that!" The blond guy - who was clearly in charge - spat. "If that small guy had died, we'd be at the center of a fucking murder investigation! And for what? He was a spectator who hadn't done anything wrong! Well, listen closely: Kiyomasa's out. He's done, and we'll be dealing with him for causing this mess very soon. The captain's already made his decision. And unless the rest of you want to follow suit, fuck off!"
Like mice, they scattered until the storage unit was empty enough for the moonlight to begin to shine through.
Once the five of them were all that remained, the blond guy then stepped forward towards Takemichi and his group. Makoto shrunk, Kazushi gasped, and Akkun stood in the front, ready to protect them if necessary. Takemichi staggered as he tried to rise to his feet, but fell on his ass instead.
"You beat Kiyomasa." The blond guy sounded impressed rather than angry. "What's your name?"
I shouldn't tell him that, Takemichi thought. Akkun came to his side, lifting him up off of the ground and hosting one arm over his shoulder, giving him the support he needed for his dizzy head and shaking legs. Tasting iron on his tongue, he spat red onto the ground. "Miyamoru." He could barely wheeze out the lie.
He couldn't tell if the lie worked, but the blond guy nodded nonetheless. "I'm the vice-captain of Toman's First Division, the name's-"
"-You're Chifuyu!" Kazushi babbled. "I've heard about you!" Kazushi Yamagsihi was the most well-informed on motorcycle gangs and crime syndicates out of all of Takemichi's friends.
Chifuyu blinked at the interruption. "Yeah, ok." He shook his head. "Listen, Kiyomasa may not have been the best, but he was no slouch either. The fact that a civilian managed to beat him…. You must be something special, Miyamoru."
Takemichi looked down at the unconscious Kiyomasa. He could feel the warm blood trickling down his head, and feel the aching of his damaged throat. "What're you gonna do about him? He put Takuya into a coma."
"I won't do anything," Chifuyu said. "That's for my Captain to decide, and trust me, he'll make sure that there is…. restitution. This guy here," he pointed at Kiyomasa, "is a fucking disgrace."
"Why should I believe you?" Takemichi scoffed. "How do I know you aren't going to just protect him?"
"Look, I won't pretend we're saints, but we don't start fights unless the assholes deserve it. This dumb fuck disobeyed orders to keep this place police-free when he nearly killed an innocent guy in front of witnesses. So, even if punishing him wasn't the right thing to do, it's the smart thing."
"If you kick him out, he'll just come after us for revenge."
Chifuyu grinned. "How's he gonna do that without working legs?"
"Fair enough," Takemichi huffed, and then he turned to the friend on his shoulder, "Let's go."
"Nice meeting you, Miyamoru," Chifuyu said.
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MrGoldStar
MrGoldStar This chapter was co-authored by my friend, Nitrous.
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