Chapter 17:
The Electric Heart Club!
Authors note: It has been a really long time since the last author's note. I am writing this down as I am very excited to mention that we are in the last stretch of this story. The previous chapter was very much a transition into the final push of this section of the story. Given the constraints of words and time of the competition, it would be impossible for me to detail the entire journey I would love to take all these characters on. Thus, these past chapters, all the way till the final I will release, will be a look into the first arc of this world and its characters. Take it as a foundation for the story and the first arc you would see if the story gets given a future to continue. I thank you all so much for being on this journey for me and enjoy reading the penultimate chapter
Day: 6
Early Morning
Hiro POV
Ring
Ring
Ring
The person you are currently calling is not available...please leave a message after the tone...
Hiro sighed as the watch did not connect him with the person he was calling, and so he took a deep breath and decided to leave a voice message.
"Hey Kenzo...I am going off to the tournament today, just wanted to let you know that despite all our differences and shit...you are chill. We have our own stuff to deal with and all and I hope that we can do that after this tournament. I would like to apologise for leaving you alone with paying our drinks but take it as payback for pissing my sis off..."
A pause.
"I think the club you are doing can genuinely help people. Once we are done with this, and the word on the streets become permanent that the watches have been tampered with, your club will be something everybody needs. It would be a safe haven for everyone involved, including you."
Another pause.
"I am going to say this once so listen clearly...despite everything I am proud to be a part of your stupid club. We might not have started things yet but once we do, I think we both have the best interests of the people we care about in our heart...I think I also now know why you never talk about your partner. Must be because much like Naoko, you do not have a partner. Whatever goes down today or in the future, know that I got your back...One last request, call Kenji by his name."
He paused, letting the voice message save before getting prompted.
Was that all the message needed to be sent to the recipient?
Hiro clicked yes and started getting ready for the tournament.
*****
Day: 6
Morning
Hiro POV
"The turnout has been wild!" The announcer said as his eyes scanned the crowd, his eyes falling on the packed school gym as the walls of the gym were stacked with people interested to not only witness the karate tournament, but also to witness a clash between two gangs, one that would be the first since the inception of the delinquent system 25 years ago.
"It is amazing to see so many people invested in the karate club's tournament! I am the president of the club and I happily welcome you all to this week's event! A few things to clarify before we let all of our contestants start their preliminary rounds!"
At the centre of the gym was a lot of smaller karate mats, all spread along the side of a much larger mat taking centre focus.
All preliminary fights will be conducted simultaneously on the small mats (there was about 16 of them spread) before the quarter all the way till the finals will be held on the large mat.
"The tournament will be held like we always have done! We have an open invite to any combat ready person to take part in a 3-point contact match! Matches will progress from preliminary all the way to the finals! The first 64 that signed up will be allowed to compete! All of this will not effect the special fight we have in store later today!"
The crowd murmurs indicated that a lot of them were really here to witness the 'special fight' that was to take place.
"I know we have gotten a much larger audience this time around and we all are certain of why! Just to clarify! All members in the challenge that has put forward by our guest Epsilon, and that includes himself too, will need to at least pass the preliminaries to make it in the special 3v3 fight that has been scheduled to take place after the finals! The normal karate tournament will not be effected by this as they will have separate winners to the 3v3, neither will effect but we just need to make sure that all competitors are fit and thus need to pass preliminaries!"
The crowd was now electric, the promise of getting a full tournament while also being able to have a special 3v3 round matches after the finals is a promise of a good few hours of entertainment.
Hiro was in the changing rooms as he heard the shouts and yells of excitement from the other side of the wall, he was fitting himself into a karate gi as he was feeling the electric feeling vibrate in the air.
He took a sigh as he sat on a bench present as he calmed his nerves down.
He was not nervous that much, he had a good feeling being the protagonist that he was going to come out on top on this.
What made him slightly down was the fact that he tried calling Naoko and updating her about the whole fight situation, but it seemed like she was not responding at all.
He was not sure why she would be so preoccupied over the weekend, but it has definitely made him feel neglected by her.
That is never a good feeling, not that it will effect his performance today, but getting ghosted by your new girlfriend in the making is never the best feeling.
He shook off the mounting feeling as he remembered what his sister said.
He promised her that he will look out for himself and not let emotions get to him, no matter what Epsilon or this tournament throws at him.
With that, he stepped into the arena, seeing the spotlights and the crowd all trained on the mats as the participants were all almost on the spots they were assigned on the small mats.
He stepped onto one of the small mats, facing off his opponent and giving a curt bow to acknowledge them.
There was still a few seconds to let the crowd settle down so he let his eyes wander.
He saw Kenji warmed up and pouncing with energy, ready to fight some NPC.
Aoi was doing little stretches, facing her opponent on her mat.
He then scanned the crowd and looked to see if he could see any familiar faces. He noticed there was few of his delinquent group members in the crowd, waving to show solidarity for thier boss to which he nodded back to show his appreciation.
But there was no Kenzo in the crowd.
No Rin either.
Odd, he was certain that after the small talk with his sister and the message he sent Kenzo that they would show up to support him, but it seems like they would probably miss out the first few fights if they are not here now.
Will they even show up?
The thought lingered in his head as the referees now were present to monitor each of the fights that will happen in the small mats. They held out a hand to let the competitors know that the matches were about to start and to be on standby.
"Andddd....Let the games begin!" The announcer yelled as it was met with a cacophony of the audience cheering as the referees let their hands down to signal the beginning of the matches.
Hiro shook his head to lock in, and he charged forward to his unsuspecting competitor.
With one stroke, he knocked his competitor out, with no sign they would get up.
A straight knockout.
He did not even need to do the 3 points for contact, he had finished the job in one punch.
There was a few cheers in the crowd for his win, and Hiro looked the crowd to smile at the few he imagined were his group members.
However, there was another murmur that caught his ears, something that made his blood go cold.
Is that not...the Elephant?
Holy crap, isn't that the guy who is sleeping around with multiple people?
He's such a aggressive guy, no wonder they challenged him, he seems to be a horrible person...
They were clearing his mat for his next opponent but the murmurs and whispers in the crowd were falling on his ears, the rumour.
Someone had spread the rumour to the crowd over here.
He looked around the gym, and his eyes locked with Epsilon, who had just finished his first match and won.
Their eyes locked, and Hiro saw Epsilon's face morph into a grin, mocking him.
It then dawned on Hiro.
Epsilon had made sure to drop the rumour to the crowd here, to have the crowd whisper it in between matches, to influence how they saw the matches.
How they saw the 'good' and the 'bad' guys.
Epsilon is going to force me to crumble from the mental image of being seen as the villain...
He let that thought linger, as he realised just how far Epsilon was going to go to try and win this challenge he set out.
I have to end this asshole and his goals in this tournament..no matter what.
*****
Kenji POV
Kenji just got off finishing his first opponent, beaming as it was a piece of cake.
He felt proud that he was able to represent his group with Hiro, to represent his club in the karate club, and to help his girlfriend in Aoi.
It was a good day and he felt confident in that they would as a trio be able to deliver the win they needed to stop the aggressive Metal Fangs from ruining what they have.
The format of the tournament was basically going to initially have 32 people face off in the 16 mats provided around the large mat. Once that is cleared, the next set of 32 people will face off before the winners between those two sets will face off again on the small mats, cutting the number down all the way from 64 to 16.
They would then pair off the 16 and reduce the number to 8 before pushing them onto the large mat and starting the quarter finals. Proceeding each match till the finals.
All the people are assigned randomly, but the judges have made sure to not have the competitors who are participating in the 3v3 to face off prematurely, of course if they do get disqualified (which Kenji thought would be impossible for any of the 6 of them) they will only face each other in the 3v3 format properly.
So Kenji needed to go through two more people to make it to the quarter finals and pass the preliminaries.
He massaged his head as he regained composure and focus and turned to face his next opponent on the mat, but then he heard it.
The word elephant being whispered amongst the crowd.
His eyes darted up to the crowd, looking for the source, his focus all over the place as he felt suddenly violated hearing that horrible nickname.
It then dawned to him that there was no source, since it was something they were all mentioning.
How did the rumour leak out so fast to the crowd like that?
"Ready!?" The referee on his mat yelled out.
Kenji snapped out of his daze and regained his focus on the opponent ahead of him who was already posing ready for the fight.
I will console Hiro after this, this is unexpected but if we are together we will be fine.
However, as the thought crossed his mind, he felt something else was off.
The opponent ahead of him was shivering nervously, even though he was posing for the fight. His face also looked like he was trying to hide back something.
His opponent was up to something but Kenji was not able to decipher what exactly it was.
Suddenly, just as the referee let his hand drop and the match started, the opponent rushed Kenji and made a flying drop kick onto Kenji's leg, an illegal kick.
The scream in pain reverberated across the gym walls.
The crowd went silent.
They watched in horror as Kenji was rolling on the floor, as the referee immediately called for his opponent to be disqualified and the on site medics to rush and tend to Kenji, to make sure he was alright.
The opponent being forced off the mat by staff was yelling apologies profusely, something along the lines of "shadow guy told me to do it!" but Kenji was out of it, his mind reeling from the pain and numbing all external noises.
He must've heard his girlfriend's worried voice near his ear and telling him it is going to be ok and other members of his club asking people to pause the matches as they try and take him to the sick bay.
Before he fell unconscious, he felt his body being carried out of the gym, him being taken away in a stretcher.
*****
20 minutes later...
Aoi POV
She was sitting beside Kenji in the sick bay.
The sick bay was empty besides the two of them, the nurse gave her some space to talk to her boyfriend.
The nurse told her that while it was too early to say, but from her expertise she assumed that worst case scenario he had either a broken tibia or fibula bone.
Repairing them would not be an issue with the machines they have at the hospital, but it would take him few days to recover and be fully healthy.
Which means he has to sit the tournament out.
"I am so sorry Aoi..."
"Don't you dare apologise for having to sit out the tournament!" Aoi told him sternly, her hands intertwined with his as she sat beside him on the sick bay bed.
He smiled at her concern before explaining.
"I made a promise to Hiro that I would have his back no matter what. Now that I am like this, there is only you and him for the challenge, and if no one else volunteers then we lose..."
"Forget this stupid competition, you are hurt that is all I care about right now..."
Kenji rubbed his thumb over her hand as he continued.
"I know you probably feel like ditching the competition and you want to be with me for the rest of the competition, but I need you out there. I am ok here, I am resting and they will tend to me. The guy who did this to me is disqualified and is probably looking at a suspension from school. All I need you to do is to do what you exactly promised, take care of yourself."
Aoi sighed but nodded, understanding what Kenji wanted her to do.
"Regardless of how the competition goes down, I know that you and Hiro are trying to stop these guys from ruining the community centre and that is perfect, but I want you to just focus on yourself. Let us celebrate regardless of the results after, and you can take me to a proper date next weekend, how does that sound?"
Kenji smiled as he nodded.
"That sounds great babe..."
Aoi leaned forward, and then lightly pressed her lips against his.
He was shocked but quickly reciprocated as they deepened the kiss, savouring each other's lips.
Aoi then slowly removed herself from him as she broke into a giggle and run a hand through his hair, her eyes zoned in on his as they both stared lovingly at each other.
"Take care of yourself babe, I will be back soon."
"thank you Aoi, do well out there and break a leg..."
The awkwardness of the phrase made him awkwardly chuckle and Aoi roll her eyes.
"Take care Kenji...see you soon."
She then got up to leave, and made her way out of the sick bay, only to come face to face with Hiro, who was standing outside the sick bay door, apparently patiently waiting to go see Kenji.
"Oh Hiro! Thanks for waiting on us, you can go ahead and speak with Kenji."
"I am so sorry about what happened with Kenji, I feel like I am letting all of you down..."
Aoi noticed that Hiro had a very sombre look on his face, and she realised that the situation must be getting onto Hiro.
His girlfriend apparently had not shown up, the crowd as she could make out was chanting swears at him and now his best friend was out of commission with a severe injury.
He was not having a good day.
"Look at me Hiro."
The boy turned to face her as she had a stern look on her face and made sure he was listening to her.
"You were the one that decided to protect your friends and others, even despite the fact you might be disliked by the people who hate you. Your motto has always been to push yourself for the sake of others, at least that is how Kenji has described you to me. What I know that Kenji wants is his boss to be confident in our ability and in our power to bring up a victory, no matter the circumstances. He would want to meet you, but with a smile on your face and with a winning attitude. Do not stress over things you cannot control, know that whatever happens, we are in this together."
Hiro listened to her intently before nodding his head to what she said, and switching to holding a smile.
"Thanks for helping out Aoi...and I forgot to properly congratulate you and Kenji, I want to say that you guys are perfect for each other and I am happy for the both of you."
Aoi smiled back at him, acknowledging his sincere compliment.
"let us try and win this competition for all of us, we will figure out who will take Kenji's place eventually but in the meantime, let us do our best and prepare for the 3v3."
Hiro nodded to what she said, before entering the sick bay to meet up with his friend while Aoi made her way to the stage.
****
"And with that we have completed the finals of the standard tournament! We will now take a 5 minute break before we transition into the 3v3 special!"
The crowd cheered, the one event they were all waiting for.
A special 3v3 3 round fight that has been designed specifically for settling beef between two delinquent groups.
Aoi and Hiro made it to the quarter finals, but decided they wanted to conserve their energy for the 3v3, the fight that actually mattered to them. Since they both passed the preliminaries, they both were in for the 3v3, they did this by throwing their matches by bowing to their opponent respectfully and intentionally leaving the mat.
The podium stand for the winners of the standard tournament had Epsilon and Shadow take 1st and 2nd place, with a karate club member take third.
"Show-offs..." Aoi muttered to herself.
There was no need for them pursue to get the top podium spots, but it was a smart tactic by them.
While they may be wasting energy on the tournament and not on the actual 3v3, it provided them favour amongst the crowd for keeping them entertained instead of bowing out the moment they qualified for the 3v3.
The crowd was clearly playing favourites, especially with the rumour now freely floating around in the gym, the current narrative amongst the crowd seems to be that Epsilon and his friends are working on getting rid of a sex crazed lunatic and his associates.
Weird how rumours morph.
Aoi knew she could not waste any time to pay it any attention, but she could tell it was rubbing off on Hiro, and the mental fatigue it was taking to block the bad thoughts was getting harder on him the longer they were spending in the gym.
The announcer has now returned, ready to set the rules of the 3v3.
"The rules for the 3v3 is simple! We will have three rounds, each round will have a fighter of choice from each side. That way, there will be an odd number of points and the overall group with 2 wins of the 3 rounds will be the winner of the challenge!"
The announcer took a breath before continuing.
"I am aware that the Hiro group is short one member so we will let them introduce a member even from the preliminaries if needed to fill in the gap! As they have yet to announce one member yet we will give them the duration of the first match to pick someone! With that we are to announce the first match up...it is Aoi from Hiro's group vs Airi from the Metal Fangs!"
Aoi saw Hiro visibly freeze up when he heard that name, and he made a pained expression as he came to a realisation on why that name sounded so familiar.
"Stupid Epsilon is playing every single mind game tactic right now...to use the other person on my watch..." He was muttering to himself, to which Aoi listened in and realised that Airi must be the second girl on his watch.
The two girls made it to the large stage in the middle of the gym, to which the crowd went deadly quiet, as tension was starting to build, the first phase of the 3 rounds was about to start.
"Hey rival!" Aoi called out to Airi, to catch her attention and to have some small talk before the fight, "Are you doing this to piss Hiro off?"
Airi now paying attention to Aoi, let out a chuckle. Her iconic deerstalker hat was not on her head anymore as she readjusted her gi before replying.
"What are you supposed to be? His third girl? Did not know the guy was some harem king. My goal is none of your business and the only info you are getting is when I knock you down."
Aoi was pretty surprised with how aggressive Airi was, a contrast to her much cuter appearance.
"Well I am wishing you luck Airi, I am glad I am fighting you rather than my ex all over again..."
To that Airi smirked.
"That is what we can both agree on, screw him."
The girls approached each other and did a tiny fist bump before returning to their positions and getting into their fighting positions.
"One final thing Airi, if I somehow get my hands on the Shadow guy on your team, lord knows I will not hold back. I know he is behind Kenji's leg..."
"You don't need my permission lover girl, I get that your boyfriend is in the sick bay because of him, that is between the two of you." Airi concluded their conversation and with that reassurance, there was a good display of sportsmanship going into the fight.
"Anddd let the brawl begin!"
The crowd cheered as they both sprinted at each other, with Aoi mounting an extremely aggressive approach, constantly throwing punches, to which Airi was evading.
While she was doing a decent job avoiding the onslaught of punches, it only took a minute of Aoi pressuring her to glaze Airi's chin, which sent her head flying backwards and her body collapsing on the mat.
A groan from the audience reverberated across the gym as the first point was given to Aoi for making the first contact.
All she now needed was another two points to win the fight.
They returned to their original positions and started the second phase of the fight, this time Airi now trying to mount a more aggressive attack, she needed to get a point to even out and keep them on the same playing field.
Aoi was actually suprised to see that Epsilon had decided to choose Airi as a fighter, beside the obvious mind games it does for Hiro, her fighting is pretty mediocre. Aoi felt that while she had enough skills to sustain herself to maybe a quarter final position, she was in no way near the ability she assumed her to be.
This would make this fight easy, Aoi thought to herself as she deflected a punch thrown her way before quickly switching hands and landing a clean knock on Airi's chest which had left her breathless as she fell to the floor, a second point conceded to Aoi.
The crowd was now murmuring, apparently on edge seeing the apparent 'villains' winning this first fight.
Hiro could not be happier, he was looking onto the fight and was watching with bated breath, hoping that Aoi could bring at least some good news from today's event by winning this match.
He was initially shocked to see the other name on his watch was working with Epsilon, but he thought that essentially this means that Naoko was meant to be his perfect choice since the beginning. With that thought he assured himself that whatever games Epsilon was playing, he will not fall into them.
Aoi returned to her original spot on the mat, getting herself ready and waiting for Airi to recover, when she noticed Epsilon standing near Airi outside the mat.
He was smiling.
What is he up to?
"You know Airi...the reason Aoi is so good at martial arts its because...her dad is a cop." Epsilon mentioned out loud while continuing to creepily grin.
"...what." was what Airi muttered, and suddenly there was a switch in her brain.
A sudden shift in emotions.
It was true that Aoi's dad was a cop, it was one of the reasons why she was so good at fighting since her dad taught her the police martial arts.
Aoi however was so confused why this statement was the switch that triggered Airi. She looked on confusingly at Airi's face, which was tired a few seconds ago, had now morphed into a face of determination.
Airi finally got up from the ground, having collected her breath and returned to her original spot on the mat, facing Aoi again.
This time however, she had a determined look on her face.
"You know...after how I was treated as a kid by cops, I made it a mission to bring justice...to make pigs like those pay for their crimes...and that includes delinquent groups like yours truly." Airi stated, taking a now peculiar pose.
Oh crap...she must have faced against some police injustice as a kid...
Before Aoi could even figure out her next thought, Airi rushed at her with a new spring to her step. Aoi was ready to block any fists she threw at her.
The contact did not come as a fist, it in fact came from an very unique flying kick.
Aoi was groaning and on the ground when the announcer yelled that Airi had gotten her first point, and the crowd cheered.
Her first contact.
How?
"You might be wondering how I suddenly was able to overpower you Aoi. No hard feelings of course since I think your dad might be one of the good ones, seeing how you behave he must've raised you right...but I have studied a very particular type of martial arts that is only effective against police martial arts..."
It dawned on Aoi just as Airi was monologuing why Airi was so bad earlier.
She only vigorously studied anti police martial arts, a responsive martial arts that only works against those who are fluent in police martial arts. Her form also only works if she is conscious of her opponent's martial arts.
Basically, I am screwed...
And screwed she was, as the next two successive points was easy for Airi to get, downing Aoi another two times.
And with that the first round was over with a 1-0 lead in favour of the Metal Fangs.
*****
Hiro POV
He was watching the winner be declared for Metal Fangs, his eyes wide with disbelief.
What is happening?
He was so sure they had this entire challenge in the bag, they had discussed terms and they had three really strong fighters on their side.
This was now spiralling out of control.
His second in command was in the sick bay, and his third fighter had just lost.
He had no evidence that they sabotaged the fight with Kenji, so he could not call for their disqualification, and the fight with Aoi and Airi went fair and square.
He took a breath as a solemn Aoi approached him.
"Sorry I lost, I didn't expect her to be...like that."
"Don't worry about it Aoi, rest up...I will go in second and then, while fighting, will figure out who can replace our missing third place...Just rest up Aoi."
Aoi nodded listening to Hiro, before making her way to a bench nearby and sitting on it, resting herself and nursing her pain from the fight.
Hiro felt like he was stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm, with the wind and rain all around him with nowhere to go for a clear view.
No matter which way he looks there was no way he could at this rate win this.
The crowd was now murmuring again, and Hiro stuck his fingers in his ears, blocking the negative vibes.
So much shit was happening...
"Do you give up Elephant?"
Hiro angrily looked to his side, to see Epsilon smirking as he stalked right beside him.
Hiro turned to face him, his anger almost at a boiling point.
Epsilon chuckled seeing the visible anger on Hiro's face.
"I wanted to make sure we win...there was nothing you could do Elephant."
"Why? Why are you doing this? There is no gain in blackmailing the local community centre or reining over the system or fighting other groups...you are being an asshole and a villain but for what goddamn reason? if I lose today...just tell me what is so important to make this entire bullshit challenge?"
Epsilon shook his head, he was not going to answer that.
"As pathetic as you sound right now, it will not be enough for me to tell you my shit. You win, you get that privilege. Remember, the only reason we all functioned as a delinquent system is because we honour deals..."
"Like your second in command did by putting mine in the sick bay! Why should I even bother." Hiro snarled at Epsilon, any further provocation and he was going to be losing it.
Epsilon sighed.
"I did not ask him to do that, and I will make sure that we repay you your loss once we win, but a deal is a deal, and accidents can happen. You do what you need to do right now and find a 3rd member to fight for you in the next few minutes or you forfeit the 3rd match right now and we win...it is your choice."
With that Epsilon slinked back to his side of the gym, congratulating Airi on her win as she was currently talking animatedly with the rest of the Metal Fangs, probably insanely excited by her win.
It was all over.
Hiro had no one he knew from the preliminaries or from his group that he could ask that could hold a candle to the skills of Shadow or Epsilon.
I think I might have to give up and let them win, let them do what they want...
Just as that thought popped in his head, a random guy tapped him on his shoulder.
Hiro turned around to face a very clearly deranged looking guy around his age.
The very messy white hair was not helping.
"Who are you?"
The guy smiled, his eyes bloodshot, probably from the lack of sleep.
"My name is Daiki, I have been sent on behalf of your girlfriend and I am ready to take on the offer to fight as your third fighter, Mr Hiro."
Hiro stared at the guy in front of him.
"Who?"
*****
Day: 6
Early Morning
Daiki POV
"Hey Daiki..."
Daiki stirred from his sleep at the mention of his name. His eyes wandered the room he was in.
He still was in the meeting room of Naoko's house, where he dropped the massive lore onto her.
He must have dozed off after finishing his explanation to Naoko, it seemed that Naoko decided to not disturb him so as to let him rest.
Naoko was staring at him, she was standing a few feet away from him with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to get up.
He slowly got off the chair he dozed off of in, and stretched, yawning.
"Looks like this new you, breaking free of your parents, means you sleep wherever you want without asking huh?" Naoko asked, her brows raised at him.
Daiki chuckled before responding "Normally I'd apologise a lot but I guess you would not mind, especially given the fact I look like a mental patient..."
Naoko gave a little smirk at his response and he smiled, seeing he did a successful response.
This...is banter.
"So I hope the stuff I said helped, and I thank you for letting me sleep in..."
"Actually I wanted to talk about something with you. While you were sleeping I was working on some research and figuring out things for you to work on, and I would be down to continue helping but I also want you to do something for me..."
Daiki stood at attention as he focused on what Naoko wanted him to do for her.
It is the least he can do after she agreed to be working with him to research their family ties to the government and what that entails for everyone.
"My boyfriend had tried contacting me yesterday and today and I missed out on the messages and being able to respond. He has a very important tournament but currently my parents will not approve of me sneaking out the house during the weekends and they would know. I could have responded but I have been unfortunately too busy researching the stuff you revealed to me, so the next best thing I can do is to send you on my behalf and offer to help him in anyway possible."
Daiki blinked a few times before responding.
"I don't know how to fight..."
Naoko smirked as she made eye contact before raising her watch in his direction.
"Well do not worry, I have an idea for that..."
*****
Present time
Daiki POV
"So she sent me to apologise, she promises to make it up to you after the match and she wants me to help out in any way possible."
Hiro was not sure at his proposal. This guy...wait
"Did you even compete at the preliminaries?"
"I lost the first round..."
Hiro felt like facepalming.
This guy was not going to be of any use at all.
"Don't start weighing your options yet bro, your girlfriend did not leave me empty handed. Just trust her..."
Well it was not like Hiro had any other choice.
He nodded his head and Daiki took that as his approval.
Daiki waved at the announcer and the announcer took that as a signal for him to continue.
"Looks like replacing Kenji we have Daiki! A participant who has lost in the very first round!"
"That is unnecessary"
"...Against our second in command for the Metal Fangs, give it up for Shadow!"
Daiki sighed as he made his way on stage, Hiro patting him on the back to show some support.
The audience were all intently focused, ready to watch a massacre, a clear one sided match.
The lights were trained on them as the two of them stood, facing each other off on the big mat.
*****
"So you are the Shadow huh? It's a cool emo look you got."
Hiro raised his eyebrows.
Was that...a taunt? By the guy who clearly was outclassed?
Hiro was just praying things went well.
Shadow on the other hand was not impressed.
Well he did find the guy who he was looking for. To think he was going to be fighting this fool is something he could have not predicted.
"Why are you even here Daiki, none of this concerns you."
"Well I made a promise. I plan on helping a friend in need, from assholes like you."
Shadow seemed to notice that Daiki did not recognise how he knew Daiki.
Well according to Shadow, this will be a piece of cake.
"Begin!"
Shadow immediately rushed right in, he wanted to go for a clear knockout, to win this all in one punch.
To cement the victory of the Metal Fangs.
The crowd gasped as a loud smack reverberated across the gym walls.
It was however, Shadow who was on the floor.
Everyone was watching, their mouths hanging as they just witnessed Daiki take down the Shadow and earn the first point.
How
Hiro was on the edge of the mat, ready to call out moves for Daiki to use in case Daiki needed help, but he stood shocked too.
Daiki chuckled as he went back to his original position, his smile not giving away how he managed to pull that off.
A ding from Hiro's watch snapped him from the display as he went to check what it said.
It was a message from Naoko.
Dear Hiro,
I suspect this message might have come late but I do want to apologise for not being able to make it to your tournament. I realise it is a big deal for you and I got carried way with a side project. I do want to tell you the plan I have told this Daiki guy on how to help you guys out.
Daiki is basically a friend who is helping me out with a project, I wanted him to help pay back me missing out by helping you fight. While I assume you guys might be busy I told him to find someone he can trust and link up his fake eye with their watch. They can tell him what to do by displaying the action he needs to do using a hologram only he can see using his eye. All the other person will do is see his vision through his eye and command him to do the next move.
Daiki himself is not a martial artist at all but he is good at listening, I hope that while you probably would not need is help at all, he can come of some use.
Hope this is not cheating, and good luck!
Signed,
Your girlfriend
Hiro looked up from the message with now a smile on his face.
If Metal Fang will fight dirty, they can fight back too.
Shadow was now on the defensive, his arms up in the air as he was waiting to anticipate a strike from Daiki.
Daiki just smirked as his vision was outlining the moves he would have to make to get Shadow to switch to an offensive before he could strike him back.
It seemed to be quite the dirty trick, but not sticking by the rules is Daiki's new motto.
Him and Naoko quickly hatched the plan and tweaked the fake eye before he arrived at the venue. He went ahead and tried participating without initially using it but he got his ass handed to him in the first round.
He could see how much this would mean to Kenzo and his other friends if Hiro won.
So Daiki was all in on making sure he could catch this win.
Daiki wish he could see the face Shadow on right now. All he was looking at was a silhouette, posing for his next move.
And now for the fun monologue part.
"So Shadow...heard you are in the spying business for the government...may I ask who your subject is?" Daiki asked rhetorically, his smile widening noticing Shadow's emotions flare up as he got into a more aggressive pose.
Shadow was then clued in that Daiki knew.
"How the hell do you know?" Shadow barked, charging at the same time and trying to land several hits, all of which Daiki evaded.
"Well...I approached your last winner before the whole 3v3 debacle, and she was happy to trade for information if I hand her over some candy!"
Shadow stopped in his tracks and quickly glared at Airi outside the mat, who was happily sucking on a lollipop and waved at Shadow, unfazed by the current situation.
Shadow then realised she had just played her part according to Epsilon and she knew that, she had no stakes in this fight and it was his job to win for the Metal Fangs.
"So what? You took this opportunity for revenge on me spying on you?"
"Close! But not just for me!"
With that Daiki pounced on Shadow, who managed to grab Daiki but not soon enough.
A fist connected with Shadow's chin, making the second contact and giving the second point to Daiki.
"Dammit!" Shrieked out Shadow as he marched off angrily to his starting point, but not before hearing Daiki laughing and yelling back.
"You can say I was a bit busy before the 3v3 as I not only approached your teammate, I managed to find a good teacher in Kenji!"
It then dawned on Shadow what was happening.
Shadow's eyes (not visible) made direct contact with Daiki's fake eye.
Daiki smirked as Shadow caught on.
"This is for the bastard who got me put here, give him hell Daiki." Kenji's voice crackled through the watch on Daiki, his fake eye now displaying once again future moves as advised by Kenji, who was sitting in the sick bay and communicating with his watch through it.
"You cannot do that! That's..." Shadow trailed off.
"What? Illegal? Let us see how that road goes down if you bring that up." Daiki retorted back as he got into his finishing pose, ready to end it here.
"Screw you! It ends here! For the both of you!"
"Slide, evade, block and then..." The moves were running through Daiki's eye as he followed them to the T.
Then the opening came.
"Beat his ass!" Yelled Kenji as Daiki smirked and brought his fist right into the perfect opportunity.
"Light's out...Shadow."
The punch connected and the match was won by Daiki, levelling the overall score between the two groups.
It was now 1-1 with one round left.
All that was left now was Hiro vs Epsilon.
*****
Hiro POV
The crowd all yelled and cheered at the extremely exciting performance.
Hiro was amongst the crowd and for the first time he was celebrating alongside them.
Daiki was a heaven sent and he was so happy this has happened.
He knew Shadow was not going to challenge the apparent cheating because it would bring up the Kenji situation, which would then disqualify the both of them and they would need to call it a draw for the deal.
So when Daiki clambered down from the mat, he was enveloped with a hug from Hiro and Aoi.
"Thank you so much Denji! You did an amazing job and we thank you so much for your help!" said Aoi, her eyes wide with disbelief with what just went down.
"It is Daiki..."
"I have to thank you so much Daiki for what you have contributed!" interrupted Hiro, patting the guy in the back and giving him a large genuine smile.
It was the first good thing to have happened today.
But it was so worth it.
Daiki just shrugged and looked downcast, his face blushing as he was not too used to anyone other than Kenzo praising him genuinely.
"Who was your little bird?" Hiro asked, smirking as he was sure Daiki would know what he was asking about.
Daiki smiled as he told Hiro.
"I approached Kenji right before the 3v3 and gave him the breakdown. He was happy to agree!"
Hiro chuckled.
Looks like you got your fight after all Kenji.
"Well thanks so much for your help, I will go up there and bring our win home, you all take some rest."
Daiki nodded vigorously and Aoi winked at Hiro and wished him luck as he made his way up.
He was now on the centre mat, face to face with Epsilon, who had an amused look on his face.
"An amazing recovery, you have caught me off guard, and that is something that rarely happens to me." Epsilon mentioned, his visible eye glistening with interest.
"It all ends here Epsilon..."
Epsilon chuckled as he waved his arms to the crowd.
"They don't think so."
Hiro suddenly was able to make out the chants from the crowd after Epsilon directed his attention to the crowds again.
They were whispering, gossiping, insulting once again.
The waves of voices felt like quicksand, the moment his brain is able to register the negative things they were saying, it felt like it was dragging the mental strength he had.
"Begin!"
Hiro snapped out of his trance, but it was too late.
Epsilon chuckled as he swiftly was able to get into Hiro's personal space, and sucker punch him right in the nose.
The drop was followed by cheers as Hiro's body hit the ground.
He gasped and violently shivered once his body made contact with the ground. He felt like closing his eyes and immediately going to sleep, the pain enormous.
But he knew he could not give in.
He slowly brought his way up to a standing position, dragging whatever energy he had to place himself in the original position on the mat, blood trickling down his nose.
He let out a shaky breath and stared at Epsilon, who was grinning at the display of weakness from Hiro.
"You are mentally broken Hiro, you cannot win against me..."
The referee dropped his hand again and again, Epsilon rushed Hiro.
Hiro could hear the few faint shouts of support from his group, from Daiki and from Aoi.
It gave him enough strength to block the first few punches.
But it was still not enough.
The fourth punch connected with his stomach, which had him kneeling on the ground, the crowd celebrating the 2 point lead Epsilon now had.
Hiro was breathing, trying to calm himself down.
His face was facing the floor as he was on his knees, trying to recover from the blows.
He was breathing in and out, reminding himself what was at stake.
He fought for the people, no matter what they thought of him.
Fight for yourself.
"Fight for yourself!"
Wait that last one he did not imagine it, someone yelled that...but it sounded like...
He turned to face the crowd and there, near the mat on his corner and waving at him, was his sister.
Rin.
And the smartass Kenzo was beside her, he was beaming from ear to ear.
"Listen to your sister Hiro, fight for yourself!" Kenzo repeated as he pumped a fist in the air.
Why did it take so long for you all to come here?
"I know exactly the question that is buzzing through your head...so let us show you why it took us so long!" Kenzo exclaimed, raising his hand as the gym doors flew open.
As if he was summoning his minions, Kenzo was posing with his hands high in the air as a crowd of people made their way in, quickly filling up all the remaining empty spots in the gym and the crowd all started murmuring with the huge new influx of visitors.
"Woah something dramatic is happening, let us wait for this finish to see what the payoff is right here!" The announcer yelled into the mic, clearly excited by the sudden dramatic entrance by all these new people.
"We knew how important this was for you bro, so Rin used her connection with Sakura and with my awesome persuasive skills we brought over the community centre guys over here! We told them how you are defending them from the Metal Fangs and they are all here to show their appreciation!" Kenzo continued, yelling to at this point everyone in the gym, excited by what they are doing.
"They know who you really are, not whatever the rumours are calling you. Who is Hiro to you all?" Kenzo posed the question to the new crowd, and they all unanimously shouted.
"A hero!"
"A what?"
"A hero!"
"A whattttt!?"
"A herooo!"
Hiro sighed happily as the dark energy of the gym had now completely shifted with the help of his sister and Kenzo.
Kenzo was running around, waving his arms and asking people to yell out 'hero' as they crowd's insulting chants were now replaced with a much louder group of people chanting that he was their hero.
After going around the gym once, Kenzo once again faced Hiro.
"You are the hero of your story, you are a member of my heart club, and you are my friend...Sorry I did not respond to your messages in the morning, but I really appreciate your sentiment...and we all here have your back to."
Hiro made eye contact with Kenzo, as Kenzo was able to say the one final push he needed.
"You are no longer fighting alone, being the only main character in a story. We all are in this together...now go beat that villain's ass, guy's got an eyepatch like a villain too."
Hiro nodded and gave a smile of appreciation to Kenzo before he turned around to face Epsilon, who now held an amused face.
"You ready Hiro?"
Hiro then took his fighting pose, locked in.
"Begin!"
The loud cheers from the community centre people enveloped Hiro with warm energy as it helped him focus on the moves he needed to do.
After a trading and blocking a few moves from Epsilon, he managed to find an opening and slid a punch into Epsilon's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of the guy and gaining his first point.
The crowd now erupted in cheers, finally seemingly on his side.
They returned to their original positions, the energy electric.
Epsilon now had a huge smile on his face as they got ready for their next exchange of fists.
"This is what a real fight feels like, give me more Hiro!"
He charged, grinning like crazy as Hiro braced, blocking his furry of fists before sneaking around and managing to land a kick that connected with Epsilon's chin, gaining his second point.
"The final point everyone! It all comes down to this!" The announcer yelled, and the crowd went silent.
Epsilon chuckled, and spat out a bit of blood that accumulated in his mouth.
He now turned to face Hiro as the two of them posed in their original spots, ready to throw down one final time.
"It was a fun time Hiro, let me know what you want to know after this."
In that moment, Hiro knew he won.
A final charge, the crowd held their breath.
A body dropped, and the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
It was an eventful day, but it has all finally come to a close.
Hiro sighed as he sat on the large mat, the trophy handed to him by the announcer was the least of his concerns as he sat and collected his breath.
As he was rushed by all the people present who were supporting him, their happy yells and screams crowding him, he at that moment had only one thought in his head, the nickname that was being chanted by the crowd.
He was not just the Elephant to the crowd right now, he was now a hero.
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