Enemies approach (2)

The week that led to the fight felt like the longest week of Onitsuka’s entire life. He could barely focus on the school, and the tension in the gang was extremely noticeable. Together with Tomoya and Nakano, they set up a more organized plan for their upcoming clash. It was simple but should function well.

Nakano’s job was to help out those who he would notice struggling in the fights, while Tomoya had to make sure that no one would get in Makoto’s way to fight the Horde leader directly one-on-one. Other than that, they decided to put all gang members in groups of four so that each could have support when necessary. Only Yamada insisted on going solo. He was hyperfocused on fighting with his ex-best friend. The red-haired delinquent couldn’t blame him; if he wasn’t already occupied with the leader, he would love to slap some sense into the traitor himself. Also, he knew that Yamada needed to do it himself, and he respected that.

Before each big fight, the Yokai Gang had a tradition. An hour earlier, they gathered around in their usual meeting spot for Onitsuka to give the speech. And this time wasn’t any different.

“I know this may be the hardest battle we are going to face in the entire history of our gang’s generation,” he started slowly, looking forward at everyone who had gathered there, “and that is why if you are afraid, feel free to leave now. I don’t want you to get hurt by being uncertain.”

Makoto waited for a moment, but he was met with silence. He took a look at Nakano first, then at Tomoya. Both responded with confident smirks.

“But I see no cowards here!” the Red Oni shouted to boost the mood. “We will show those assholes from the Horde who is the strongest, am I right?”

“YEAH!”

Everyone around cheered, some patting each other on the backs to hype each other up, the others shaking with the amount of adrenaline that was going through their bodies.

“You know, Mako-chan, maybe you should ask Mami-chan to write you cooler speeches in the future. Next to what she comes up with now, you sound kinda lame,” Tomoya teased.

Oh, shut it.” The Red Oni turned away from his best friend, slightly embarrassed.
Now let's go kick some asses!”

The walk to the abandoned warehouse was quite long, considering it was set in an entirely different part of town than the meeting spot of the Yokai Gang. Though with all the excitement and a bit of nervousness, the distance wasn’t as perceptible.

Standing in front of it, it was no wonder for Makoto why this place was deemed haunted. He didn’t come to this part of town often, so he managed to forget a lot of details about it. The building had only half of the enormous doors still in tact, but the other part was lying abandoned on the ground nearby. Ivy covered some areas, while moss could be seen growing on others. None of the windows were in tact; all of them were more or less shattered, giving an even more ominous look to the warehouse.

Inside the building, the Herd members were already waiting for their opponents for the day. Now it was clear to Makoto why this exact place was chosen. Unlike the outside, it was much cleaner here, which meant that it was most probably their hideout. Fighting on your own turf always had advantages.

“We’re here, as you can see,” Onitsuka shouted out loud to gain attention but also to assert dominance and show that he was not scared to be spotted. “Now do I have to beat all of you up to get to your leader, or will they get their asses over here?”

The delinquents from the rival gang sneered at him. Half of the crowd started to move left, while the other did the exact opposite, creating an open line in the middle that revealed an occupied armchair put on a pedestal made out of some metal scraps.

“Hah, I guess there can be someone more impatient than me,” the feminine voice said from the person half sitting and half lying on the furniture in the center of the crowd. The figure suddenly got up, jumped down onto the floor, and started walking towards the Red Oni.

The closer the person got to him, the more detail was revealed about this supposed leader of the Herd. Makoto tends not to underestimate the enemy, but that didn’t mean that the appearance of this person came as a surprise.

The fearless boss of this gang was a short girl, probably barely reaching the scarlet-haired boy’s chest with her height. The first impression could fool you, though. Because the more Onitsuka looked at her, the easier it was for him to notice certain details. First of all, she was toned. Abs on her stomach were entirely uncovered, as she only wore something that Onitsuka would guess was something like a sport bra. Her arms were partially covered in bandages, while her face, which was partially hidden under the shade of her peaked cap with the wolf pin in the middle of it, had been scarred with two wounds. One was running across her nose from under the left eye until the right one, nearly symmetrical. The other one looked like a slash on the lower part of her left cheek. Her black hair reached halfway down her back and had barely visible white-ish highlights at the ends.

“I’m Honoka, the Herd leader you are so obsessed about,” she stated without feeling intimidated, despite being half the size of the Yokai gang’s leader.

“So what, ar-”

The small girl punched Makoto in the stomach unexpectedly, not letting him talk any longer.

“Quit yapping! You came here to fight, not for chit-chat!”

It was enough of a signal for both groups to start the fight. Suddenly, the quiet area has been filled with yells, groans, and the sounds of kicks and punches. Makoto gathered himself up and took a fighting stance.

Although it was not the best start for him, at least now he could more or less specify what the girl’s style was. The punch was heavy but not fast, which was perfect. That meant both of them fought similarly, and the only true advantage the girl had was her height. It may not have been so obvious, but hitting a smaller target could cause trouble for the Red Oni.

“For a moment, I forgot you guys play dirty. My bad.”

Makoto went to his knees to even out their height a bit, hoping it would help him hit his opponent easier. Honoka, on the other hand, didn’t wait for his move at all and once again ran up to him, ready to hit him once again with her clenched right fist. But the same attack done twice in a row never worked on Onitsuka. He evaded it with ease, mirroring the girl’s action. The punch was way less impactful than it could have been with his full power, but it was the speed that played the role here. There was too high a chance that the leader of the Herd could avoid or block his hit.

Just like he expected, Honoka has been forced to move back to lower the impact of the punch, but because of the loss of focus, Makoto now has a chance to attack more aggressively before she goes back to the proper stance.

“Don’t think I will go easy on you!”

“Saying that when you haven’t done any impressive shit yet,” the girl growled in response while trying to block all of the attacks sent her way.

It felt as if Onitsuka had taken the lead in a battle, but it was only a momentary thing, as Honoka didn’t want to stay on defense forever. While avoiding one of the punches, she raised her leg and high-kicked Makoto’s side, changing the roles of attacker and defender.

So she also uses her legs. That’s going to be more of an annoying fight, then.

The change in attack style didn’t throw off the Red Oni too much, though. He was ready to come up with yet another tactic. He had to have more experience than this girl fighting delinquents, who focused on different aspects of their abilities. Makoto was about to get back on track, but out of nowhere, he heard the sound of the bells jingling.

Bells..? But from where in this place?

At first, he thought that it was his mind playing tricks on him. Maybe the first punch already made him hear things he shouldn’t have. But for some unknown reason, he just couldn’t ignore it and instead did something that was unimaginable during the fight. He took his focus off of his opponent to take a look at the entrance of the warehouse.

And there she was. Watanabe was standing in front of the entrance, the wind sweeping her twin braids tied by hair ties with those damned bells.

“Oi, Mami, get the hell away from here! It’s dangerous!”

Makoto would have been more persistent, but he realized the mistake he had made by turning his back on an enemy, so he quickly turned around, only to be met by a look of raw rage.

“Hey, bastard! Why the hell do you know my sister, huh?”