Kick Ass and Take Names

Kitsune found Akio at lunch time on Monday, his forehead kissing the desk like he was groveling for some miniscule of hope in his situation. Another few hours and Akio would be fair game with a target on his back upon the streets.

He had no option to hide like he normally did, not if he wanted to be the king of Yokohama’s streets. However, everything he did over the weekend to prepare himself felt like a waste.

He started off with brushing up his fighting skills by pulling up YesTube videos of his favorite boxing matches. After an hour of shadow boxing to feel a little more on his toes, a realization dawned on him.

He had no lackeys of his own.

There was no way in hell he’d be able to fight his way through dozens and dozens of gang members. The grunts would take him out way before he could make it to the leaders.

Even if he were somehow able to fight like Misaki, he didn’t have the same charisma, nor the same sense of craziness that drew people in and kept them in line. Asking for people to follow him into a battle for no other purpose than to prove himself was the dumbest sales pitch ever.

It was no wonder Tenryu smirked at him. The task was impossible to begin with!

“What ‘cha moping around here for? Don’t ‘cha have to get ready to rumble?”

Akio peeked out to his sometimes partner-in-crime.

“Rumble, my ass. How many thugs are there in this city? Hundreds? I can only be an anime character for all of a few minutes.”

“Heh, all you have to do is drum up some allies in a pinch like this. Draw up some of that shounen mojo so that you can go balls to the walls screaming fantasy attacks like you’ve been aura farming behind everyone’s backs.”

“Allies?! Who the hell are you talking to? The only one to have stood up for me is off limits. You think I can find anyone here that’ll stick their neck out for me? Sorry, but that kind of luck just doesn’t happen in reality.”

Kitsune smirked at him, giving him a tap on the chest with his fist.

“Yo, what about me? I’m not about to let the scoop of the century end his legend here. The Yankee Slayer needs to keep on giving the gift of ‘good anime’ for the sake of journalism.”

Akio stared for a moment at him, unsure what to say. But then, laughter tickled his side. He wrapped an arm around Kitsune and jostled him around as if checking to see if he was real and not a stand-in.

“Alright, alright. What’s one more crazy head into the mix? If you want to have so much faith in me, then I’m tickled enough to let you join in! Alright then, you conniving sonuvabitch, what’s the game plan? And don’t tell me we’ll kill them with bad food choices.”

Kitsune huddled in close, his thin eyes making it clear somehow that he couldn’t be estimated.

“What if I told you that rounding up some buddies is easier than you think? All they need is a little bit of school spirit, and a bit of courage on your part.”

v

Akio took a deep breath as he stared at a group of bikers loitering not far from the school gates. He was hiding at the corner, listening for the past five minutes of slander to his name. Insults of “Maidenless Wada” and “He Who Cowers Behind Thighs” were slowly giving him the fuel to go nuts.

It seemed like the news was already spreading around. By now, it was clear on the streets that Misaki was missing and the void needed to be filled. A sense of eagerness in capitalizing on beating up some ‘weaklings’ meant that they were ambitious yet foolhardy. Roughnecks that Akio could tell talked the talk but hid behind the rev of their bikes.

They were the same type that he ran away from before, cornered and beaten until Misaki came to save his ass. Tenryu had been right to doubt him.

“Not this time.”

He marched forward, a willing participant in this game that Crime Papa Haibara set up. If he thought about it, his life should have ended weeks ago, when he got himself in trouble the first time. If he died here, then it would have just been extra innings. But if he were to succeed instead…

“MISAKI LOVEEEEE!!!” erupted from his lips as he broke into a dash with his fists in a boxing stance.

The first thug barely turned around in time for a right cross to slam into his cheek. He went down like his strings had been cut. Try as he might to steady himself on his bike, both went down with a crash that sent a warning shot to the others.

Akio wasn’t going to hesitate this time. He had learned from his experiences dealing with Misaki.

Get ‘em before they have the chance to act!

Another fist rocketed into the stomach of the next thug. Akio got down low so his legs could push off the ground and add an extra oomph. He could feel the buckle of the man’s torso as he went backwards, flipping over his bike and tumbling headfirst into the ground.

The sound of boots moved at once. That was all the surprise attack that Akio could manage before his enemies’ shock thawed.

Akio dodged to the right, missing a thrust kick that aimed to stomp him down. He rolled and found another person wavering, his hand reaching for a nearby weapon.

You’re next.

Pouncing from his roll, Akio shot up with a fist raised in the air. It caught the man with his guard down and his chin out. A jolt of teeth smashing together popped the head back, the rest of the body flailing like he had been beheaded.

Slowly, Akio turned and eyed the rest of the field, ignoring the thump of a body falling. There were four left in the group, three rendered out of commission.

“Yo, that’s not fair! Getting the jump on us!” one of them said while gripping an iron pipe.

“Fair? 4 on 1 is fair? Weapons against my bare fists is fair? Bitch, stop complaining.”

Akio walked over to the bike of a downed foe, cranking the start key and revving the engine. He kicked loose the stand and hit the gas, sending the bike coasting right into the group.

They instantly scattered, trying to avoid the speeding vehicle. One unlucky dodger came right into the path of a punch to the liver, a body blow meant to cut off escape. An iron pipe clanked on the ground. Arms clutched sides.

Akio looked right at the teary-eyed face of the thug, mouthing mercy up towards him. And then, he sidestepped.

A bat came crashing right on top of the guy’s head, friendly fire from a pissed off fellow thug who was trying for an ambush. The sheer lack of camaraderie disgusted Akio, causing him to react with a backhand to the batter’s throat.

A choking cry of pain gushed from the blow, and with it a stumble that left him completely open. But before Akio could rush in for an assault, he was tackled to the side.

The pavement scratched against his elbows. He felt the back of his shirt tear as pebbles dug into his back, but the arms that tried to hold him down felt weak.

Akio gripped the forearms of his attacker, digging his nails into the flesh. The pain gave them space as he felt a tug of escape in response, but Akio wouldn’t let him go. He brought a foot up and kicked, rolling back at the same time. When he felt the person take flight, he finally let go, ejecting a wailing body right into a wall.

A push off the ground with his arms, and Akio completed a backward somersault, landing on his feet. Not letting any bit of momentum come to waste, he threw an elbow behind him, colliding with the chest for an additional strike. He felt a shudder, a hack, and then nothing.

And now, two were left.

The pair looked at each other, their eyes shifting back and forth between Akio and themselves. Hands were then thrown up, not at him, but to each other. They started tugging and pushing the other person forward, a human shield against Akio walking toward them.

Akio spit on the ground. A speck of blood dyed it. He felt his cheek to find it tender. At some point he had been clocked in the face, but he didn’t remember how. Probably as he fell.

Regardless, he raised his arms before him, every intention to knock both of them out. Sensing that, the pair got desperate in their cowardice. Eventually, one of them lost the duel and was pushed forward, right into a clothesline waiting for him.

Before the remaining one could flinch, he saw stars sparkling in the clear blue sky, his head rotating back until it met the ground. Only darkness came for him after that.

“That’s what you get for being chicken shit,” Akio sneered at him. He turned back to see a wide-eyed thug with his hand waving for no more violence. He was the one that was clotheslined gently.

Crouching down, Akio huffed at him, like a dragon blowing air before prey.

“You still want a piece of me?”

The reply he got was a set of doe eyes and trembling lips.

Akio gripped him by the hair and made his best angry face.

“Maidenless coward who’s just an easy target, heh? Not saying that anymore now that your friends are all eating asphalt!”

He could tell that there was no fight in him left, but that was all the more reason he had to lean in and make his point clear.

“Akio Wada is going to rule the streets! There’s a reason Misaki Haibara is my bitch! And if any of you think you have what it takes to fuck with that, then get your asses to Shiomizu High School! You ain’t messing with my turf, got that!”

Akio pulled him to his feet before sending a side kick into the stomach. Hard enough to drive his point across but soft enough to be a mercy. The last thug made for his bike and sped away, abandoning his crew to relay the message through the streets.

Seeing that his first fight was a success, Akio exhaled everything in his lungs before dropping to his knees. He was not built to be this imposing.

A hand patted him on the shoulder, and he looked up at Kitsune, who had been watching around the corner.

“Very nice, Commander. The spark of war has now been set.”

“What now, War General? How do I scale up the victory from a street fight to an all-out turf war with only us?”

Kitsune laughed. He pulled out his phone dramatically and started to aggressively swipe at it. After he hit the button to send, he struck a heroic pose like he was summoning some monster from the great beyond.

“Only us? Not when you have the power of rumors at your command. We’ll get the whole school in on it. And you know what? We’ll win.”