Chapter 9: Hard to Beat

“So you can go and report to the lord about this encounter? You boys now know too much and have got yourself into a mess that’s too big for your heads, I’m afraid I can’t let you leave until you answer more questions, and I will have my evidence for my lord even if I have to beat it out of you worthless scum!” Navarro tells us. 

 “I’d like to see you try!” Kyle screams as we all realize there is no choice but to fight our way through this trap if we wish to see tomorrow as Kyle reacts the fastest and knocks the gun out of Navarro’s hand with a kick as it rolls under a bin leading us to follow up, believe it or not we had the advantage thanks to our experience and we put it to work by focusing on one person each. This was our usual plan of action if we ever encountered a group of the same number looking for trouble as Kyle demonstrates his speed flying back from all of Guard #1’s fury of punches as he then connects kick after kick knocking one back whilst Nathan goes toe to toe with Guard #2. Kyle always knew just how to quickly execute a fight and ends up finishing in rapid fashion but hardly ever took it seriously or recognised his talent. 

 “Seize them at once” Navarro cries as an all-out street brawl commenced. “I’ve been in this situation plenty, this will be no different from the others I’ve beaten, just more people for my tally” as Nathan’s delivery blows prove to be harder than the guard’s backing up his statement forcing him back as Navarro layed directly in my eye sight as we clash fists forcing me to act quickly. “What is your family’s obsession with Sara?” I ask whilst dodging his punches attempting to connect my own until one connects with my lip causing me to bleed a little but not enough to throw me off my guard. “Why must you make me repeat myself, we know what we need to do, and you are all making it much harder than it needs to be, commoners like you shouldn’t meddle in the business of nobles!” Navarro replies as a rush of blood reaches his head after several attempts for my head were made giving me a lot of openings to counter and knock him to the floor. The connection of my punch into his jaw could be heard from afar even making the birds scatter. It felt strange as the seconds I started developing blood on my lip I grew some kind of intense prowess that allowed me to go further and beyond Navarro’s actions.

“Should we call for backup?” Guard #1 says bleeding from the head after Kyle’s kicks. “No, we need to devise that strategy properly, we’ve got what we came for so we can report back to Lord Kuragari with great news that will make him satisfied, we can’t afford to get too carried away” Navarro says in a voice so we cannot hear his next move as he begins to chuckle in a mad man fashion which was confusing as he’s just been embarrassed by three ‘commoners’. “Don’t think you’ve won lads, this is only the beginning, you best be ready soon, we’ll be seeing you again shortly!” Navarro says forcing back from the fray as they fade into a sea of black like they were never here.

However, the rain begins to pour heavy and Navarro now away from the scene is running as fast as he can without any sense of direction as his arms are bleeding from the collision from the scrap.

“Shit that was too close for comfort, just who the hell were those guys?! Spies?! Secret Assassins?! That boy who clashed with me, is he some sort of demon sent to bring destruction to our land?! With that sort of power not only will he crush the Ito family but the Okamato family without even realising!!” huffing and puffing through the streets hiding his blood stain and appearance. “I’m going to have to take extra precaution the next time we encounter but at least Lord Kuragari knows what to expect much to his expected dissatisfaction, I need to get back as soon as possible!”.

“I tell you what, I haven’t got a fucking clue why Hozumi would ever make a deal with people like that, seems no one’s taught them that no means no” Kyle says. “No kidding, I feel like Hozumi is unaware of their real intentions through this deal, Isaac, I know I said this could be trouble if we go too involved and quite frankly I still do, but now I think we can help them in a way by exposing their true colours, us three now know how big of a stuck up cunt he was and that was just a representative, we just need to open their eyes to it” Nathan says as he claims we should make way to the mansion as quickly as we can. “Well, I’ll make sure to bring it up to Hozumi when I see him later on, make sure to keep it all away from Sara but Kosuke would love to have this information for his work, make sure to grab that gun as well for some evidence and put it in your pockets so the fingerprints don’t fade” I say as we begin to pick up the pace.                                                                                      “By the way, for someone working with a wealthy family, they weren’t exactly strong, were they?” I say realising we finished up quite fast.                       “Were they fuck, little flies them lot, I’d be happy to kick fuck out of plenty of them!” Kyle replies.                                                                                                                  “Would be nice if one of them beat some intelligence into you” Nathan responds to Kyle as we arrive outside the mansion just on time after deciding to jog from our recent tussle with Navarro and are greeted by the butlers.

“It’s good to see you boys again, please leave your coats with the gentlemen and help yourself to a drink” Hozumi says as he gets set up in his office, you’d think after a long and gruelling fight in the alleyway against a member of the Ito foundation I could go for a drink but strangely I was feeling rather calm and hydrated, not even sweaty or tired, Nathan treated himself to some water whilst Kyle made himself a brew but took about 10 years to make it. We decided to inform Hozumi about our recent affair with Navarro, whether it would benefit us or not, we would soon find out but it had to be brought hope. “I’m glad the message I gave to Kosuke reached you boys as I hoped we could chat, firstly I wish to apologise for my attitude from the other night Isaac, I was merely caught up in the heat of the moment and the whole situation is really getting the better of me” Hozumi opens up with.

“If it helps you then you don’t have to speak about it if it can put you at ease Mr Okamato, all three of us are all caught up on what’s happening at the moment and there’s really no need to apologise, believe me we’ve seen worse back at home with our carers” I tell him as his facial expression develops a smile despite Navarro’s gun being placed on his desk. “While that is reassuring Isaac, unfortunately due to the circumstances at hand it’s the only thing I am able to speak about as this is more than just a big deal, this can potentially shake the fabrics of this town if something goes amiss, as you may not know but because of your relationship with my daughter, I made sure to postpone the deal to a week for her sake because I believe you deserve a chance to make her happy, I am not afraid to cut ties with the Ito family should we reach a final decision, I’m more worried about how they will respond to it, what actions they may take, plus from what my wife told me, she said she had a blast with Nathan and Kyle and to now hear you were ambushed by somebody linked to them and even threatened with a weapon, it tells me they aren’t taking it too well and it’ll only be a matter of time until they expect a response from us which I will be forced to give” Hozumi says as Kyle is still making the brew.

“How long does it take you to make a brew Kyle?” Nathan says. “I can’t find the fucking sugar that’s why!” Kyle responds. “Anyway, not only did I wish to make amends with you all but Ena came to me earlier and she was rather impressed with you boys’ fighting style and I wanted to see it for myself so I made sure to invite you boys down again as soon as I could”. Hozumi says towards us three. “I guess Ena must’ve seen our sparring session at lunch Kyle, haha she must’ve been very impressed with me beating you again” Nathan full of himself says to Kyle. “WHERE’S THE SUGAR!!” Kyle becoming frustrated says. “Just have it without it you mong” Nathan responds. “In the meantime, Isaac, whilst you are together with my daughter, I will allow you full access to our exclusive gymnasium and I’ll allow you to shadow our martial arts training in full tonight if you wish, who knows we might even want you to show us your skills, something good could work from this so I’m just as excited as you may be” Hozumi offers to us. “That would be mint!” Kyle says spilling his brew in excitement. “Excellent, I’ll have Kosuke show you around the halls” Hozumi says as merely seconds later Kosuke rushes in with a towel over his privates indicating he’s just got out the shower showing off his speed. “Is it important because I’m in the middle of something” Kosuke says. “Yeah, no kidding” Kyle says amazed at his sweaty muscles. “The boys will be watching you lead the session today” Hozumi demands. “Sounds good, I’ll be ready in 5” Kosuke says slamming the door behind him. “Are we not going to talk about how quick this lad is?” Nathan exclaims genuinely concerned at Kosuke’s speed.

Time went by and Kosuke has just finished showing us all the places we haven’t yet seen of the mansion including the gymnasium Hozumi mentioned along with many fascinating structures such as their library, the little garden where Sara’s tree lies on the hill and for some reason all the rooms in the mansion including where the girls were staying, giving Kyle the chance to cause some mayhem inside just to get back at Ena, until we finally reached the back garden which hosted the training at night with many of the foundation members warming up for the intense and gruesome session ahead, it’s to be understood because they work for Hozumi, as we are in awe from the strength, power and command from the members in front of us, I immediately thought how we were ever going to match this until Kosuke takes us down the stairs and tells us; “You’re welcome to watch from the side to get an idea of how we operate things here then if you wish to participate, we can find you all a partner to spar” as he puts the warmup to a halt.

“Attention!” Kosuke cries out like a commander lead by the members bowing in respect to the heir. “There are a few things I wish to address before we begin tonight, first off we have Lady Sara watching over the session tonight so I expect your best at minimum” as in shock I look up to see my girl with one arm leaning on the rail smiling down on me. “Secondly, as some of you are aware we have chosen to postpone the contract until further notice so while my father deals with the matters, I will be leading the future sessions, finally we have some distinctive guests in tonight and this is Isaac White who has become one with Sara alongside with his two friends and will become the key to saving not only my sister’s future but our family’s, now let us begin!” Kosuke screams followed by massive roars of cheer as we were about to witness something on a whole other level.