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The mood was high as the Bofurin clan marched their way to the pointed meeting place: an abandoned factory. A little cliche choice if you'd ask them but they didn't mind. They were just excited to get to fight again.
It had been a while since the Bofurin clan had gotten any real action and some, Sakura, had gotten a little anxious while waiting to get to use their fists again. While it was nice that the town was a safe place and there weren't any real threats, Sakura was definitely aching for something to happen. He wasn't a natural shopping-for-the-elderly or helping-lost-kids-find-home kinda person. He was more like a just-try-and-mock-me-so-I-can-punch-you-to-the-moon type of a person.
"You're grinning like a kid at a candy store," Suo said behind his friend. He didn't even have to see Sakura's face to know he was grinning. It had been obvious to all the first years that their captain was aching to get some punching done. He had even taken extra patrol shifts in hopes of at least finding some pickpockets he could take down.
Sakura's face reddened as he tried to stutter out a defence.
"He's right, you know, I haven't seen you smile like this in a while," Nirei said in awe and leaned in to observe their red-faced captain.
"Yup! He's real in character today!" Umemiya yelled from the front and made the other students turn to see the first year captain trying to fake a pokerface.
"Don't worry, Sakura, you'll get your ass beaten real soon."
"Who-who says I'M the one to get MY ass beaten! I can fight them all on my own, you just sit down and watch!"
Kaji, who had been quiet so far, now stopped his walking to turn around and glare at the loud first year. "SHUT THE HELL UP! STOP ACTING LIKE SOME BIG BOSS WHEN THE LAST TIME YOU IDIOTS WENT TO FIGHT SOME OTHER CLAN WE HAD TO COME AND SAVE YOUR STUPID ASSES!" Kusimi and Enomoto snickered from beside him and pulled down his headphones. "We don't even know if they asked us here for a fight so you might not get a chance to put your money where your mouth is."
"That's true." Umemiya plunge in thought. "All the invitation said was to meet up. Maybe they want to just have a cup of coffee with us? Sorry to disappoint, Sakura."
Sakura gasped in horror. "THERE'S NO WAY-"
"SHUT UP!"
When the Bofurin clan finally got to the meet up place, they automatically got in formation with Umemiya at the front, Hiragi besides him, then the second years, and the first years in the back. Everyone could hear Sakura mumbling to himself: "it's a fight, it's gotta be a fight, there's no way it's not, it's a fight-"
Double doors at the other end of the bulding slowly opened and revealed a group consisting of men wearing black, long, hooded jackets. They marched out and in front of the Bofurin clan in a similar formation, excpet there was no clear sign of a leader.
It was quiet. The other clan didn't say a word, they didn't even seem to be looking at them but the ground between them.
Umemiya, with his ever positive attitude, started the dialogue. "Well hello there!" He grinned and received no answer. "I think we should start with introductions, I'm Umemiya and I'm so excited to meet you all!" Still no response.
The Bofurin clan members started glaring at the men standing in front of them. If they weren't there for a fight, then they should start talking pretty soon.
"Okaaaaay." Umemiya now scratched the back of his head, unsure of what he should do next. "It's not gonna be a much of a meet up if we're just gonna stand here."
The silent treatment was starting to get to Sakura, he marched to the front and stood an inch away from one of the other clan members."If you are here to fight, then let's fight! Come on, i'm ready! Come at me!"
The man in front of Sakura slowly raised his eyes from the ground and glared into the eyes of the first year. "To lose patience is to lose the battle and lost battle leads to death," was all he said before he brought his eyes back to the ground.
The Bofurin clan shared confused glances.
"What does that mean?" Nirei asked Suo.
"The first part is something Gandhi said but the last part isn't part of it. I think they are asking us to wait for something."
Umemiya nodded in understanding.
It was maybe 15 minutes later when the double doors opened again and a single man walked out of them. The sole presence of the man revealed that he was the leader. The rest of the clan members raised their eyes and each stared at the Bofurin member closest to them. The mood tensed immediately.
The singular man was wearing the same jacket the others were, except his hood was down, revealing his face. He was grinning. Unlike the others.
"I've been waiting for this for so long," he said in a bright voice and arms stretched, as if he had been expecting a hug. He seemed suprisingly lot like Umemiya except his eyes had this crazy glimmer in them that Umemiya lacked.
The leader made his way between the two clans, his grin steady. "Did they say our slogan? Did you like it? 'To lose patience is to lose the battle and lost battle leads to death'. Pretty cool, right? Gandhi, with my own ending."
The leader continued walking back and forth between the clans, continuing his speech. The Bofurin kept a close eye on him in case he tried somehting.
"He was right. Losing patience is losing the sight of the battle and that causes you to lose. I have always thought that. And I have always hated people with no patience." The leader's grin fainted to a sad smile. "You fight as a team but the second you lose your patience, you except your team to adjust to your bullshit. Then they get hurt. Because they couldn't focus on the enemy, because they had to look after you." He stopped his walk. "Isn't that right, little Ren?"
Hiragi turned his neck so fast it almost snapped. The leader was now standing in front of Kaji, his smile fully gone. "Kaji?" Hiragi asked in a whisper. He had known the younger for nearly ten years yet he had no idea who the man was that seemed to know Kaji.
Kaji didn't seem to have any idea himself. He glared at the giant of a man before taking out a lollipop he'd been sucking on. "And should I know you?" he asked with a deadpan expression.
The man smirked at the bratty kid's response. "You do, even if you were pretty young at the time, so maybe my face has chanced from the last time we saw each other. But you definitely do know me." He took a step closer, almost face to face with Kaji. "Okada Tanji."
Kaji's entire frame tensed yet he managed to keep his deadpan expression. But it was enough to get a satisfied laugh from the leader, Okada.
"See? You do know me. And I'm sure you know what I'm going to do next."
Hiragi and Umemiya were quick to get in between the two. Hiragi hid Kaji behind his back while Umemiya faced Okada.
"What?! You invited all of us here becasue you have some beef with the lollipop addict over there?" Sakura pushed through, trying to get to other team's leader but got stopped by their own. His eyes did all the talking. I got this, they said.
Umemiya spoke. "I don't know what past you two share but today you invited our entire clan here and that means whatever happens here, involves us all. And if you think about attacking one of us, you'll get the rest of us after you as well."
Okada grinned almost sadistically. "Oh, I'm sure. And we are ready to take you on if that's how this ends. But that depends on little Ren over there." Okada peeked over Umemiya and Sakura to look at Kaji. "So what's it going to be? You and me on a fair one on one or will you hide behind your brother's back... again."
Hiragi could feel his stomach starting to ache as he realized where the situation would most likely go to.
The rules were clear. No one but Kaji and Okada would be allowed to fight and the entire fight would be held in a circle formed by the remaining clan memebrs. If the circle would be broken, by either of the fighters or the other clan members, the fair fight would be concidered over and a carnage would take place instead. Other than that, the fight would go on until one of the fighters either yielded or passed out.
Hiragi was worried of Kaji. It was obvious that Okada was planning on trying to aggravate the younger and he was worried that he might just be able to do that. He was opposed to the fight from the start but Kaji didn't listen, he was already starting to get worked up. Which wasn't a good sign.
"Don't worry. You heard Okada, it's meant to be a fair fight." Umemiya had immediately taken a notice of Hiragi's anxiety. He had situated himself next to his friend just in case he might get the feeling Hiragi might jump in the fight. Umemiya himself knew of Kaji's tendency to lose himself and Hiragi's protectiveness over the second year, so he knew the possibility of Hiragi trying to stop the fight, which would lead to an unfair carnage between the clans. It would be better to keep it fair.
"I don't trust him," Hiragi said, never taking his eyes off Kaji, reading his movements carefully.
"Okada or Kaji?"
Hiragi didn't answer. As much as he wanted to believe that Kaji would be able to contain himself, he just couldn't shake off the bad feeling.
The fight had started out well. Both had managed to get in couple of good hits, both being equally bruised. But it seemed that it was time for Okada to make his move.
"You know," Okada begun, "you might have grown since the last time I saw you, but I can tell you are still the same."
Kaji was clearly trying to tune out his opponent and never stopped attacking.
"I wonder what he would say if he could see you now."
The second year growled and tried to kick Okada's face in but instead got thrown to the ground. He was lucky he liked to wear thick hoodies as it might have softened the blow a little bit.
"Do you think he would be proud?"
Okada went to kick Kaji's collapsed form but he quickly jumped up using his hands and managing this time to land a kick to Okada's smirking face. But it didn't really do much, only made the older smile more. "I see you still prefer kicking over punches. You did always have weak little arms."
The fight went on like that. Okada taunting Kaji while the younger kept trying to ignore him. But it was clear that the words were heard as Kaji's hits were starting to lose precision and he was punching air more than the man. It was almost painful to watch.
Kusimi and Enomoto kept glancing over to Hiragi, silently asking if he knew when it was getting too far. After all, he knew best of Kaji's self-control.
Sakura, on the other hand, didn't know about it that well and was mainly confused of why the fight seemed so hard for his senior. He had seen Kaji take down men bigger than himself before, with ease, but for some reason his fighting style had seemed different. Like he was holding back.
"Come on, what are you doing?!" Sakura yelled out. "That's just one man, what's the problem here?!"
Hiragi was trying to get Sakura to shut up by glaring at him but the first year wasn't even looking in his direction.
Okada seemed to enjoy the little yeller. "He's right, Ren. I don't think you have truly been yourself yet. So what are you waiting for?"
Kaji was quietly cursing the damn brat. He didn't need another annoying voice over everything.
"It's not like you to hold back in a fight. I would know. And so would Shu."
There it was. The name Kaji had been waiting to hear the entire fight. He could feel the familiar heat rising from his chest, the sharp tingle under his skin, and then––– he saw white.
"Shit!" Hiragi yelled.
Sakura was taken aback as he heard Kaji let out an almost animalistic growl that was loud enough to echo in the entire building and jumped at Okada who was now grinning widely enough to scar his own face.
"It's happening," Nirei whispered to no one in particular but Suo nodded regardless.
"Yeah."
Sakura looked around and saw the faces of horror. He had heard of the rumors but until that very moment, he hadn't believed them. Kaji Ren truly was an animal.
"That's it! Show them who you are! Show them the beast that got his own brother killed!"
Kaji was lost. He didn't see anything but white. He coudn't hear anythig but a tinnitus-like ringing. But for some reason he could still feel the anger and he could feel the tearing of the skin on his fists. He didn't know how to get back. Maybe he didn't even want to. Hiragi would be disappointed in him. The first years would be scared of him. He had showed them his dark side and he could never undo that. Maybe if he was lucky he would be killed in that state, then he wouldn't have to face them afterwards.
Kaji wanted to laugh at the thought. Killed? Him? He should be. After what he did to Shu. His own brother. Okada was right, he was a beast, he was no human, he didn't deserve to live. He had killed his own brother.
The memory of the day, the memory he had so hard tried to erase, was now clearly in front of him.
Little Ren fighting bunch of older kids until his brother had arrived with Okada. The two tried to protect him but he wouldn't let them, he wanted to fight. So he fought. And lost control. And it was up to Shu to bring him back.
Shu had tried so hard to calm Ren down, so hard that he was distracted from the older kids. And the older kids had found a bat.
Shu had managed to push Ren back and took the hit himself. And another one. And another.
Maybe it was the sight of his brother laying in his own blood, eyes fixated on him, but Ren had managed to free himself from the hold of his own anger. He stared at Shu like an idiot. He couldn't move. All he could do was watch. He kept his eyes on Shu until his eyes weren't looking back anymore. Ren could hear a distant scream from Okada and maybe sirens but he wasn't sure. He felt like he was in a dream. He wasn't awake, right? When he would wake up Shu would be standing there, scolding him for letting the older kids aggravate him. Then he would clean his bruises and give him those stupid frog bandaids he always carried around for him.
Yeah, that's right, all he needed to do was wake up. It would be okay. Shu would be okay.
Kaji wasn't sure why but he could feel himself floating. He tried to blink until all the whiteness was gone and he noticed that he indeed was in the air. Held up in a choke hold by Okada. Oh, that's why, he thought.
Okada seemed to be talking to him but Kaji couldn't hear a word. He tired to look around and saw a fight going on.
Why were they fighting? It was supposed to be between him and Okada. Why would the others be fighting?
Even Kusumi, who usually preferd to stay in defence, was throwing punches at the hooded guys.
Kaji glanced to his left and saw Hiragi being held down by two guys. He was yelling. But it didn't look like he was yelling at the guys on top of him, it looked more like he was yelling at Kaji. Why would he be yelling at him?
He didn't have time to think much of it, though, since he could feel himself losing air. He tried to grip the arm that was holding him up but he felt too weak. Or maybe his arm was broken. Huh, when did that happen?
Okada forces Kaji to face him with his free hand. "I'm not going to kill you," he said with a sad voice, "I'm not a killer, like you." He drops Kaji's body and the second year immediately curls into himself and starts coughing violently while also trying to catch his breath. It was painful.
Kaji could see the other walk to him and expect him to land one last hit on him, but instead he pulls something from his pocket, crumples it, and drops it on the ground besides Kaji. "I'm just going to leave you a reminder of the pain you've caused. I hope you never forget."
Kaji weakly picks up the piece of paper in front of him and looks at it. He lets out a broken sob and crumples the paper again.
Okada doesn't say anyhting more to him and leaves the younger to lay on the ground as he walks away.
"Let's go!"
And just like that, the fight ends. The hooded clan members quickly leave their opponents, pick up their fallen teammates, and follow their leader.
Hiragi was the first in Bofurin to react. "Kaji!" he yellad and quickly ran to the younger who was clearly shaking on the ground. He tried to get a good look at Kaji's injuries but instead gets a weak sove from him.
"Get off!" Kaji yelled, although it came out more as a whisper from his sore throat.
The beaten up second year somehow managed to stand up and wobble away from the cirlce that had formed around him. He kept shaking and his movements were clearly painful but that didn't stop him.
Kusumi and Enomoto tried to go after him but Umemiya stopped them. "Leave him for now. He won't get far with those injuries, we'll get him when he passes out." The two second years fell to the ground. They felt so useless but they also knew that Kaji didn't need them for the moment, so they let him go.
Hiragi, who was still dumbfounded by the other's reaction, sat on the ground while holding the piece of paper Okada had left behind. He could feel his heart shattering as he saw what was on it. A picture of young Kaji with a youner version of Okada and another boy that indeed shared Kaji's features. Until then Hiragi wasn't sure if he had believed of what Okada had kept yelling about, but now he did. Kaji had a brother. And he had no idea.
Umemiya sat next to Hiragi, ready to leand his ear.
"Ten years." Hiragi whispered. "I've known him for nearly ten years and he never told me."
The leader placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "He's not the type to talk about himself."
Before Hiragi could answer, they all heard a thud from the outside.
Umemiya sighed. "Let's go get him." He stood up and pulled Hiragi with him. "You two can talk when he's better." He turned to Kusumi and Enomoto as well. "You too. He might not realize it himself, but he's going to need his friends after this."