Dai Sankyodai

The yakuza disarmed Mikoto and Takumi before tying the trio’s hands in front of them with thick pieces of rope. Afterwards Dai then strode over to Mikoto and held up her chin. He commented on her fine beauty before asking for the young lady’s name to which Mikoto responded by spitting on his face.

“Ah I like them feisty,” Dai grinned creepily as he wiped the spit from his face taking a moment to savour its taste. He then ordered his goons, “Hurry up you fucks…we ain’t got all night.” And with that directive everyone left the scene.

Meanwhile Kazuo and Officer Yamamoto were about to leave the Ishigami CBD when they met up with a tall muscular man in his early twenties wearing a dungaree with a grey scotch design and huge black boots. He had a spiky black Mohawk, short beard and held onto a katana on his back with both hands on either side in a manner resembling a crucifix.

“My, my I must say I am impressed,” he spoke in a deep tenor voice. “I’m the strongest in this whole country and I couldn’t even make it budge. When I was informed of what had occurred at the prison I knew I had to see it for myself.”

“D–D–Daichi!!” stammered Yamamoto.

“It is Lord Daichi to you officer,” he gave the keisatsu a stern look. Daichi then faced Kazuo who was wielding the national treasure, “and who might you be young man?”

“The name’s Kazuo Inazuma,” came the reply from the young man whose hands were itching to battle.

“Aha that makes total sense,” Daichi scratched his beard, “...the infamous great grandson of Lord Kazuro. You know there’s a huge bounty on your head and if I gave you up to Lord Kagero right now I’d be one of the richest men in Nihon.” He paused and laughed out loud, “Too bad I’ll send you to him in pieces because I’ll be taking that sword for myself.”

“How do you know my great grandpa?” Kazuo inquired.

“Every blacksmith and swordsman in Nihon has at least heard about the Legendary Sword Sage Kazuro,” said Daichi brandishing his own katana. “That sword was his peace treaty to the Earth country and even if you’re his great grandson you have no right taking it from us. So if you want to leave this place with it you’ll have to go through me first.”

Daichi leapt forward with his katana gripped tightly with a single hand over his head and swung at Kazuo. The difference in their height was visible as it looked as though a giant had jumped at the shorter Inazuma prince. A memory instantly flashed through Kazuo’s mind as he recalled his fight with his shadow. He raised the massive katana with its blade edge point upwards to block Daichi’s attack. An ear piercing clang echoed through the silent street as steel connected with steel. Daichi raised his katana for a second time and continuously attacked his opponent. He made use of the difference in their weight and height to overpower the young man.

“Hah…Hah...Hah!” Daichi grunted as his blade hit Kazuo’s nonstop. “Is blocking all that you know?”

He switched the direction and then swung at Kazuo from the side. Kazuo saw the katana coming quickly from the corner of his eye and immediately pierced the ground with the tip of his blade. Daichi’s katana clashed with the huge blade just as it connected with the earth. When Daichi was about to swing again from the side his opponent managed to veer backwards and removed himself from the katana’s path.

“Gotcha,” Kazuo grinned as he thought to himself.

Kazuo observed Daichi pass him and remain open for an attack so he swung his sword in a counterattack. Daichi had noticed this too so he swiftly altered the path of his katana to block the attack before he was sliced in two.

“Nice counter,” smiled Daichi.

The clash between the two resumed and this time around it had become more of a dance that was both give and take. To Yamamoto who’d been watching from a safe distance it looked as though Kazuo was getting accustomed to using his big sword and levelling the playing field. The fight continued for several minutes and all that could be heard was the clanging of metal. When Kazuo swung to the one side Daichi swung to the other and the two hits would almost cancel each other out. However it seemed as though Daichi had been holding back because when he gripped on his katana with both hands the odds began to turn in his favour.

In the meantime as Kazuo’s match carried on his captured friends had arrived at the royal palace. As they entered the huge building they saw that it was crawling with more yakuza than keisatsu. Mikoto was escorted to Dai’s room whilst the boys, Takumi and Kaito where brought to a man everyone seemed to refer to as Lord Daisuke. The man who looked like he was in his early twenties but younger than Daichi sat on a throne with one leg over the other and held his cheek with one hand that was on an arm rest. He had black messy hair with bangs that covered his eyes. He wore a black gakuran (uniform) and similar coloured boots to cover his feet.

“Oh my, an artisan…I see you must be the brain behind this,” he spoke to Takumi with a flamboyant alto voice. He had quickly summed that up from just looking at how the two boys were dressed. He then ordered one of his yakuza, “You can leave me with the artisan and as for this peasant boy…take him away.”

“Where are my manners? My name is Daisuke Hasegawa,” said Daisuke when it was just him and Takumi who remained. “And what do they call you?”

“Takumi,” came the response with his usual indifferent demeanor. He however felt the urge to showcase his own intelligence gathering skills and said, “If I were to guess I’d say you’re the true daimyo of this country.”

“The throne is an instant giveaway isn’t it?” laughed Daisuke.

“It’s not just it,” Takumi retorted before explaining, “I heard about Daichi who is the eldest, strongest and possibly the face of the three given the majority of the people believe he’s the leader. I also got the chance to see your younger brother Dai who honestly seems to be the dumbest and although your henchmen refer to you all as Lord…the way address you is far different from the way they address Dai. And most importantly from all I’ve surmised you’re the wisest of the three.”

“I see you’ve figured out the Hasegawa Dai Sankyōdai (Three Dai Brothers). You’re quite the intelligent artisan aren’t you Takumi?” Daisuke commended. “However unlike the other two I’m not that big on physical combat.”

Takumi resonated with the daimyo as he pondered about how in the trio of him, Mikoto and Kazuo he too wasn’t intrigued with getting his fists dirty in any hand to hand combat.

“I could’ve guessed you feel the same way right?” said Daisuke as he scrutinized the young man who stood in front of him. “Very well then, how about a battle of the minds as you enlighten me as to why you blew up my warehouse?”

“What did you have in mind?” Takumi inquired maintaining his cool and levelheadedness.

Daisuke clasped his hands together and clapped twice as if order for a meal. “Bring the board,” he instructed a royal servant who’d been standing close to the door.

When the item requested was brought in together with a table Daisuke faced his opponent and asked, “How about a game of Shōgi?”

“Sure,” replied Takumi. “And when I win what do I get?”

“If you do win,” Daisuke made sure to stress the ‘if’ before saying, “I’ll see to it that you and your friends walk out of here unharmed. And if you lose they will die.”

With the stakes set the battle of the minds began. Takumi who moved up the board and made the first move was black and his opponent white. Twenty minutes into the match Daisuke was down a Bishop and four out of his nine pawns. The artisan on the other hand had sacrificed a single Knight out of his two in order to take down the daimyo’s Bishop. He had observed that Daisuke relied on it heavily. As for pawns black had only lost three of them to white. The heated showdown went on as each side brought forward their A game and for each piece that Takumi lost he had to explain his reasons for blowing up the Hasegawa warehouse.

In the meantime Mikoto had been detained in Dai’s room for close to thirty minutes when he suddenly entered carrying skewed dango on one hand and beef cutlets on another. He also held a red rose with his mouth and he closed the door after himself with his leg.

“Sorry for being late,” he said passing the sweet dumplings over to Mikoto. He then took the rose with the free hand and proclaimed, “Mikoto-chan I may not look it but I’m a hopeless romantic. That whole tough act before was just a show for the boys.”

Mikoto held onto her favourite food with her hands still bound together. Her mouth was watery as she got tempted to take a bite out of one of the dumplings but quickly jolted back to her senses when she realized Dai knew her name when she hadn’t told him.

“W–wait how’d you know my name?” she brought her eyebrows close together.

“That friend of yours…the peasant boy from the Soil squealed out everything like a pig,” cackled Dai. “And we didn’t even have to lay a finger on him.”

“Let Kaito go!” pleaded Mikoto, “he doesn’t have to be a part of any of this.”

“That can be arranged as long your other friend is found…we’ll free the peasant.”

“I hope Kazuo’s alright.”

“Why aren’t you eating your dango Mikoto-chan? They’re your favourite aren’t they?”

“How sure am I that this isn’t poisoned,” Mikoto carefully examined the dumplings.

“I can have a bite if you like…”

“Okay then close your eyes and say ah.”

Dai didn’t need any further convincing. He did as instructed and shortened the distance between the two of them keeping his eyes wide shut and mouth open. Before he could taste the dango he felt Mikoto’s fists as they made contact with his nose. As Dai jolted backwards she jumped towards him and brought her knees together midair in a crouching position before connecting a double horse kick to his chest which sent him flying through the closed door. The youngest Hasegawa was stopped by the opposite wall as it hit his back so hard a cracking sound was heard. After the kick Mikoto as fell to the ground on her side with a thud. Both parties weren’t getting up any time soon.