16. Dawn of the Tournament

Day: 6

Morning

Kenji POV

The last day felt like a dream.

Having the little exercise date to get to know Aoi better was one of the best days he has ever had.

They had simple sparring sessions, trading moves while they talked about her ex and her experience with school so far, they also got into their hobbies and what they wanted to do in the future.

In that bubble of a few hours they spent, they felt like they were away from all the worries of the world, and that they could do anything.

This was much needed for Aoi. She felt like she was being super restricted in her happiness and her way of life, and finding the right person in Kenji helped alleviate all of those worries.

Especially after the date of sorts, while they have just gotten to know each other, it felt like they were both open to being a fully dating couple. 

How this would change the dynamics Kenji has with his friends or others, he is not sure, but he is happy of the results.

It felt really peaceful.

It felt like other than the usual of him being thrown around not knowing what to do with his life, he suddenly felt like he had someone he could rely on.

That was a beautiful feeling.

However this feeling was short lived as he was reminded of what was at stakes in today's tournament. He was fully aware that this karate tournament, what should have been just a chill weekend event, has now turned into some high stakes between the dynamics of the delinquent groups.

He knew that he needed to defend Aoi, and to defend his group.

Despite the amazing vibes yesterday had, he needed to lock in today. He needed to make sure to show up at the school gym early in the morning to make sure there was no hiccups to the arrangement of the karate mats and to mentally be prepared for what would be a high octane event.

He was ready, but he was worried for Aoi and Hiro.

Will they all come out ok?

*****

Day: 6

Morning

Shadow POV

Whenever people described how they saw him, they all said the same thing.

He is just a silhouette...I have no idea how he looks like 

This was by no means an exaggeration.

Shadow has lost all of his identifiable features when he was only a baby.

There was a severe accident in a lab near his house that had only effected him as everyone else were out either working or school.

He was home sick that day and it cost his entire appearance.

He now walks around like a shadow, with no identifiable feature, the only thing that gives him his identity is his voice.

He managed to rebuild his life during school by joining the Metal Fangs, they provided a safe haven from being orchestrated and seeing as different.

And his internship with the government is due to them promising to be able to find a cure that can reverse whatever it is that has happened to him.

They just need time and to make sure that he was near them so they could research as much as they can about his condition to be able to, according to them, to give him a cure.

His current task was to keep an eye on Daiki, as the government wanted to make sure to survey certain citizens for their sake. At least that was what he was told.

Right now he has lost his method of surveying Daiki, and so now he sits in the bleachers of the school gym, watching the karate club mumble to themselves as they set out the karate mats, waiting for Airi to show up.

Airi was a new member to the Metal Fang group, and Shadow was not sure he could trust her at all. He always kept his trust on Epsilon, who always seemed to have the best interest of the group at heart. He seems to trust Airi so if his boss trusted her, then he should trust her too.

To be fair though, recently, it was as if his boss was hiding something.

There had been rumours that his group had somehow hacked into the watches, playing matchmakers for people who wanted specific people.

Like that Aoi girl being paired with one of their members.

Shadow thought they were above petty stuff like this, so he believes all these rumours are hearsay. He is not sure why his boss was so invested in this tournament, ready to clear their name and to gain dominance in the delinquent system with a deal with another group.

This all feels sudden.

They were all not above doing some shit to get what they want, but this feels way too risky for any gain. This also feels like an extremely dramatic move for what was usually a system of "we do our own shit and you do yours" mentality the delinquent groups have had to each other.

In fact, Shadow felt it would have made sense if Aoi's ex was the one that paid the price and was stripped of his membership of the Metal Fang group.

However this is what Epsilon chose, and he will trust in his boss.

All he needs to do is beat the ass of whoever is going to take him on.

"Ahh...sorry are you alive?"

Shadow turned to face the dude who asked him that question, the movement had the dude shiver seeing shadow move. He would frown at the guy but it would be pointless.

"Woah sorry you just look like a person's shadow, just 3D printed. Sorry you go continue watching the set up for the tournament I just wanted to let you know that there will be a sign up desk where you can enter your group and name details! I will leave you be I will have to set up the board with the names of people once we get the signed up candidates!" The guy questioning him (must be a member of the karate club) decided to leave Shadow alone as he rushed off to tend to the things he said he would.

With that Shadow shifted to face the entrance, seeing the stream of people entering getting larger as the time for the tournament to start edged closer, and there entered Airi.

About time...

*****

5 days ago

Airi POV

Airi was not interested at all in joining a group.

She saw an in, and things fell in to place.

It was the evening of Tuesday, when she was scouting the school grounds for any delinquent group activity when she came across two guys wearing bandanas on their foreheads harassing a girl.

They had their bandanas tied very obviously on their foreheads to indicate they were apparently a part of a 'gang'.

and the girl was looking very distraught.

This feels super bait...like this feels like a very fake set up with how cliché it looks, but I got to help her in case and let's see what goes down...

She could have used her words but she thought it would be safer to use her fists, in case all three of these people were playing a part for a trap.

Her instinct was right when after taking care of the two guys, the girl got into a defensive position.

"It is alright, we got that journalist's attention now..." a voice trailed from the shadows.

And that was how she met Epsilon for the first time, the man slinking out of wherever his hiding spot was, like a perfectly timed boss battle.

Epsilon grinned at her as the girl left the two of them to converse.

"Are you the leader of those three? How did you figure I will go and stop these two from harassing her?"

Epsilon smiled before making sure his people were away to give them privacy. He then laid out to her his plans, arrogantly, Airi would say.

"We have heard of someone going around sneaking and trying to find information on groups...I thought setting up a moral dilemma like this would attract a vigilante like yours attention and thankfully it worked out. Was not sure for how long this fake display could have gone on for but it was worth it to catch you and have a conversation. You would have avoided me otherwise..."

"What is it that you are here to talk about then?"

"No banter? Straight to the point?" Epsilon asked jokingly.

"I only feel like bantering when I am in the mood and right now seeing this rescue of mine was an apparent waste of my energy and time I just want to go home and watch my favourite show once you are done yapping, is that good enough?"

Epsilon smiled before he continued.

"I want you to work for me, keep the reason though a secret from the others in my group. Be my eyes and ears and investigate the other groups. I can give you links to them and you can easily find your way around and discover things about the delinquent system you seem very interested in discovering. It would be a slow process and you won't find much in the first week, but I can guarantee you would find way more than being independent."

"And what is it that you want from me?"

Epsilon smirked now that she seemed to be ok with the idea as long as he had a good enough response.

"To be loyal to my plan...I know that you are working for your own interests but my ears in my group seems to know that while you have your own drive, you are also working for one of the school's staff to figure out the delinquent system, am I not wrong?"

Piece of shit delinquent leader seems to have some hack into the lore or something, how does he even know this

"What does that matter to you?" Airi asks.

Epsilon kept grinning (He is not even intimidated by me, the asshole).

"I can offer that information to be kept secret as well, you see it does not matter who you are under as long as I can use your skills and when the time is right and some bullshit happens in the near future, I would like to use this opportunity to be able to call on you and you do what is needed, is that enough for now?"

Airi was not sure if she could even trust someone who looks like a comic book villain.

But this was one of the only leads she had on the delinquent system.

Her supervisor would be happy to know that there was at least some progress being done on her end too.

"Sure...but if your plan or whatever goes sideways you are finished, understood?"

Epsilon nodded and they shook on it.

This must be exactly how corrupt cops felt dealing with criminals...

"By the way, that martial arts you used, what is it called?"

Airi raised an eyebrow at the question.

"What does it matter to you?"

"Sheesh, are you going to ask that every time I ask you something? Well it just seemed very much like a reverse police martial arts, almost as if you trained yourself to fight against martial arts that are used by cops..."

Airi was surprised that Epsilon was able to make such an astute observation.

She decided she could let him in on her thing, if it helps with their partnership.

"Yes, I do have an agenda against the system for doing some shitty things. The delinquent system is basically a school version of the greater cop system we have. It is helpful to learn martial arts that can combat against the bad apples in the system."

Epsilon nodded hearing her explanation, before he let out a small smile.

"Seems like you will definitely be helpful."

*****

Day: 6

Morning

Present time

Airi POV 

"So how have you been holding up Shadow?"

Airi had approached the guy who seemed to be looking straight at her.

If he was mad or happy, she could not tell.

The blackness of his entire body was just...there.

It basically felt like she was staring into the depths of space, but in human form.

"What were you up to yesterday?" He asked, his distrust obvious.

I mean, I did just join their ranks and have been treated very special so soon, it makes sense for Shadow and the others to distrust me

"I was shaking down a friend of The Elephant, he gave in instantly after I paid for his lunch bills so I have a person who I can count on getting me settled and talking with The Elephant apparently." She answered, not wanting to banter and antagonise the guy further.

"Also is your name actually just Shadow?"

"Of course it is not, but its a nickname and I do not want people like you calling me by my first name anyways..."

People like me...definitely does not trust me...

"Listen before the competition gets ahead and all, I want you to do me a favour too. As second in command I would need your assistance in tracking down this kid called Daiki. His family works for the government and are one of the big companies funding the government. See if you can give me a way of keeping eyes on him." Shadow threw out his request, his tone not  indicating that she has a choice.

"Uhh why is that Shadow?"

"If you do this, I will say good things for the boss for you, if you do not...I will have the power to ruin your name at school...not that a girl with a goofy cap like that would even need me to do anything since it seems you are doing a pretty good job yourself..." Shadow said, his tone definitely held malice in it.

"Ok focus here, both of you."

Before Airi could respond, Epsilon was beside them.

How the hell does he do this Batman appearing shit, I cannot detect him sneaking up on us.

Epsilon though seemed energetic and ready for whatever the day was going to throw at them. A contrast to the gloomy Shadow.

"I feel like there is some bad blood vibes going down here and all I want you all to do...make me proud. Beat the ass of The Elephant and his friends and we can go back to doing what we were doing before this, just on a much bigger scale. Winning this would get rid of a whole gang and keep us on top...is that not what you want Shadow? for us on top? And you Airi? One less gang is a giant leap for mankind..."

Airi was having none of his pep talk, but he could tell that it was not directed at her.

Epsilon was trying to cheer up his second in command.

Well whatever happens, all she needed to do was perform her best and whatever fallout happens, she would be ready to use this as an opportunity to learn and research more on how to tackle the entire system.

Whatever it is, bring it on.

*****

Day: 6

Morning

Hiro POV

Hiro made sure to make his way about 5 minutes before the start.

He was somewhat aware of the weekend karate tournaments held for the sake of keeping the competition spirit alive, though of course this time was different.

He scanned the gym as he entered, and saw it was filled to the brim with people. Not only could he see most of the karate club members and the participating competitors, he saw tons of people not only from the delinquent system but also from the casual student body.

Seems like word got out on how big of a deal this particular weekend duel was going to be.

Hiro sighed himself, Aoi and Kenji as the members in the 3v3 before making his way through the crowd to find them.

Aoi and Kenji were already at the starting mats, all dressed up in karate gis as they were giggling to each other.

It put a smile on Hiro's face, his quest on making people feel less like NPCs was slowly working, the happiness on his friend's face warmed his heart.

"Hey boss! Here is Aoi! I don't know if you guys officially met!"

Hiro acknowledged Kenji and nodded his head in Aoi's direction before putting on a stern face, while the mood was light between them, he wanted to let them know one final time what was on the line.

"Would love to sit and talk about how lovely you guys are, but as I am sure you guys are aware of the severity of the situation. Epsilon has updated his requirements and if we do not meet or fail this competition, who knows what extreme forfeit he has in mind. He is off the deep end. There is something that is really important to him, and he is creating this entire scenario for us to participate in to challenge him for this thing. We need to make sure we win this. We might be some of the best fighters the school has to offer, so I cannot deny we have a strong advantage. However, do not underestimate them. Epsilon and his second in command are well known fighters, and this Airi is a mystery. Be on your guard. End of the day, all I want you guys to know, is that I trust in your abilities and I am ready to fight alongside you two. Do your best and make the rest of us in my group proud..."

They both nodded with vigour in his direction and Hiro takes a breath as the announcer lets the gym quiet down and the gym lights flood the main stage.

"Welcome you all to a very special karate tournament! the rules are to the same as expected! We have preliminary fights before we advance to the quarter, semi and finals! 3 points contact and winner moves up! However this week we have some special guests! These guests are known to be ferocious fighters themselves but they will not be given any advantage! They will work their way through the fights as usual and if they make it to the finals, we will grant them the special request of a 3v3 match! Everyone please tuck in as we prepare for the best karate event we could have asked for!"

Hiro nodded as he took this all in.

He had no doubts the 3 of them, as well as Epsilon's 3 will have no issue clearing till the finals.

What matters is what goes down then, like every stereotypical martial arts story.

Let's take this win home....