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ILLUMINATED BY A COUPLE OF LIGHT BULBS dangling overhead, Chifuyu's eyes widened in shock. Rooted to the spot in the center of the room, with ten pairs of eyes fixed on him, he swallowed hard, staring at the gun in his hand.
"There a three choices you can make," Hoshino Ken went on to explain, circling the three teenagers.
He halted behind Baji's chair for a moment. "One. You shoot Baji and Akiko gets to live."
Moving on to Akiko, he placed a hand on her shoulder, making the girl shudder. "Two. You shoot Akiko and let Baji live."
And, towering over Chifuyu himself, he said, "Or three. You shoot yourself and both of them get to live."
He left the circle and stood between Kurayami and Itachi. "Whichever choice you make, one of you will never see the light of day again."
A drop of sweat trickled down the side of Chifuyu's face. He glanced between Baji and Akiko fast enough to give him whiplash. Either, he had to shoot the first person he had been nice to at twelve years old, putting aside his reputation as a delinquent to befriend the fierce and fearless Baji Keisuke. He considered the ravenette to be his best friend.
Or he had to shoot the girl he was in love with. The first girl to conquer his heart. It had only been about three weeks since their first meeting, but they had already been through ups and downs together and the attraction between them was something neither of them could ignore.
He had hit a dead end in his life.
Neither could he do any harm to Baji - that much had been clear when he failed to stop the raven-haired boy from running headfirst into a fight against Valhalla - nor could he hurt the girl he had sworn to protect.
In his heart, he knew there was only one possible choice he could make.
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BLOND HAIR WHIPPED IN HIS FACE as he rode on the back of his precious CB250T. Absolute fury had taken a hold of his heart, blinding him to the point his whole world appeared red. Hot on his tail were Draken as well as the captains and vice-captains of Toman.
Less than an hour ago, Seina had called Shinichiro, letting him know that she was safe and had met up with Fengari. She had also claimed to know Akiko's location. She had asked them to meet her on the outskirts of Tokyo, where some abandoned buildings were frequently used by Pandemonium to cover up their crimes.
Mikey had acted immediately, sending the location to every member of Toman. Shinichiro had followed up by notifying Inupi and the Black Dragons. And Kazutora was playing his part as the spy and raced ahead of them to warn Pandemonium of their arrival.
Perched on top of the roof as Toman and the Black Dragons approached, Yin and Yang were bubbling with excitement at the prospect of a brawl.
"Man, I haven't seen one of those up close in over a decade," reminisced Yin, sighing in content at the memories of his more youthful days. "I said I didn't want to get my hands dirty but them showing up in such large numbers really makes me want to roll up my sleeves and get going, ya know?"
Yang chuckled. "I do. But the brawl is only supposed to distract Sano Manjiro until Kenny has taken care of the problem. We can't have him interfere or else Kenny will never shut up about that little brat."
"Kenny this, Kenny that. It's always about him," Yin groaned in annoyance, falling onto his back, not caring about getting dirt on his fancy black suit with a white tie.
Yang sat cross-legged next to his brother, playing with the black tie contrasting his white suit. "He does act like he's the center of the universe. When in reality, he's just desperately clawing at the power Pandemonium gives him. Or else he wouldn't be making such a fuss about one silly little girl."
Mere moments after the joined forces of Toman and Black Dragons had arrived in front of the wearhouse, another large group approached from the opposite direction. At the front was none other than Hanma.
The tall brunette clapped his hands. "Mikey, you came! What a pleasure to see you here!"
Dismounting their bikes, the Sano brothers stood at the front of their gangs, facing Hanma with pure hatred in their black eyes.
"Your boss took something of ours," said Mikey. "We're here to take it back."
"Move out of the way or it won't end pretty for you," threatened Shinichiro, clenching his fists.
"Come and get it, boys!" Opening his arms as to welcome them, Hanma invited them to start the fight.
"Watch and learn, little bro," Smiley said to Angry, cracking his knuckles and he smirked at Hanma and the rest of them. "This is how you show love to someone you hate with a burning passion."
One shout later, the two fronts clashed.
Yin leaned forward, intruiged. "Look, there are twins!"
Yang look to where his brother was pointing and chuckled. "Don't they remind you of us, back in the day when everything was easier?"
"I like the one who's smiling while he's dealing out kicks and punches like there's no tomorrow," said Yin, pumping a fist in the air.
Soon, it was pure chaos. The sun had set completely, plunging Tokyo into darkness, with just a few street lamps illuminating the scene below.
The two fronts were pushing each other back and forth, none of them taking the lead for very long.
Until a third party sped toward the fight in dozens of black SUVs. They honked their horns, raising awareness of their presence. Clambering out of an SUV was none other than Hoshino Seina, with a superior grin on her face.
"Did someone call the cavalry?"
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UNMOVING, EYES GLUED TO THE GUN, he still gave no hint as to what decision he had made. Little over a minute had passed, yet Hoshino Ken's patience was wearing thin already. He could barely refrain himself from yelling at the boy.
"The clock is ticking, boy," he urged, tapping his foot against the cement floor. "Make your decision or I will make it for you."
Finally, Chifuyu lifted his eyes to look at Baji, then at Akiko. He inhaled deeply, raising his face toward the ceiling.
"I'm sorry."
With a shaking hand, he pressed the cold barrel of the gun against his temple.
"Please, don't!" Akiko begged, her sight blurring with tears. "Chifuyu, please! Don't do it!"
Baji growled, a deep rumble in his chest. "If you pull that trigger I will drag your ass out of hell to kill you all over again!"
Chifuyu gave a teary-eyed smile. "How do you know I'm going to hell?"
Casting a sideways glanced at Akiko, Chifuyu swallowed.
'No, I can't take the easy way out and leave them to suffer. That's not the kind of person my mother raised me to be. I made a promise and I intend to keep it,' he thought to himself.
In one swift movement, he turned to face Hoshino, pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
The gun wasn't loaded.
It had all been a mind game.
With an angry yell, Chifuyu smashed the gun into the ground, stomping his boot on it. Then, he charged at Ken with his fist raised.
Before the blonde had reached the man, Kurayami blocked his path and gave a blow to his face. Chifuyu stumbled backward, landing on his behind as black dots danced around his vision. He clutched the side of his head where Kurayami's fist had hit him and suppressed a groan.
"Did you really think I would hand you a loaded gun?" Hoshino chuckled and kneeled down in front of Chifuyu. "Though I must admit, you have courage. It was a stupid move but courageous nonetheless. We could use someone like you in Pandemonium."
"Over my dead body," Chifuyu spat.
A dark shadow loomed over Hoshino's face. "That can be arranged."
Suddenly, the door burst open and Seina stormed into the room, closely followed by Shinichiro and Mikey. Instantly, Akiko sighed in relief as though they had been saved. The sight of her family coming to their rescues lifted a weight off her shoulders. Though they weren't safe just yet.
"You've had your fun," Seina hissed at the man in charge. "Now let them go."
Hoshino shook his head. "You disappoint me, Seina. I always thought you had great potential. It pains me to see you waste it on such scum."
Seina huffed angrily. "You never cared about me. You only craved for more power. But it'll end tonight."
"You took something from me," Mikey spoke up and took a step forward, his black eyes void of emotion, face blank, sending shivers down Akiko's spine as she had never seen him like this. It scared her.
"Oh, really?" Ken chuckled and waved Kurayami over. "You should start looking for a replacement then."
Kurayami seemed eager to have another go with Mikey. "Oi, shrimpy! You won't win this time. The last time was sheer luck, but tonight I wi- "
WOOSH!
BAM!
Akiko inhaled sharply as a boot collided with Kurayami's head. All it took was one of Mikey's kicks to knock Kurayami out. The man was lying flat on his stomach, eyes turned to the back of his head, barely conscious. He twitched some more before he passed out.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," commented Ken. "Too bad I'll have to kill you all."
This time, he pulled out a real gun, but Seina was already in front of him, kicked the weapon out of his hand and engaged him in a fight. She whistled once and at least a dozen young men and women stormed into the building, attacking the remaining men.
Shinichiro took his chance to rush toward Akiko and cut the ropes that bound her to the chair. "Are you okay?"
"Get Chifuyu and Baji out of here," she said, eyes searching for a tall blonde in the chaos, and she found him already making his way toward her. "There's something I need to take care of."
After a moment's hesitation and a pointed look from Akiko, Shinichiro sighed and got to work on Baji's ropes. Chifuyu struggled against Shinichiro's grip when the older boy dragged him toward the door, whereas Baji immediately ran off to join the fight.
"Kiko!" he shouted over the noise.
"Just leave! I'll be fine," she shouted back, then turned to face Itachi.
"How could you do this to me?" she asked, feeling her heart break a little more.
Itachi shook his head. "I did it for you, Akiko. I'm not the kind of person you think I am."
But Akiko refused to believe a single word that came out of his mouth. "Don't try to manipulate me. It won't work."
"How do you think Seina and the others knew where to find you?" he questioned, his eyes desperately begging Akiko to believe him. "Only a select few knew about this. And Hanemiya Kazutora was not one of them."
She mustered up all the courage to charge at Itachi and hit his chest repeatedly. He let it happen, taking it as part of his punishment.
"For years you made me feel like a worthless piece of shit! You kept pushing me around like a piece of trash! And now you want me to believe that you're some sort of savior?!"
"Please, chibi-Aki."
She shook her head, jaw clenched. "You don't get to call me that."
"When I was twelve, I saw my father hitting Mayu and threatening to kill you if she didn't obey him," Itachi told her. "And it wasn't the last time. Every time, I wanted to stop him but I could never will myself to move because I was too scared of the consequences. That's why I decided to take a different route."
"What you're saying is that you've always been a coward," Akiko spat and punched him again, only for Itachi to catch her wrist and pull her closer.
"What I'm saying is that I gathered intel on Pandemonium and their crimes for the past two years, and now I have enough evidence to send them all to rot in jail for all eternity."