Age 815: 15 years later
It wasn't the alarm clock that woke him up. It wasn't the chirping of birds or the pleasant smell of breakfast..it wasn't even the sun since it was only five in the morning. No, what woke up our slumbering hero from his beauty rest was the barking of voices outside, very familiar voices. At this early in the day the yelling match outside was unneeded for Raiyo, slamming his head against the folded flimsy pillow.
"Not today, why are they here so early?!" The young man, Raiyo, groans in indignation and drags himself from under the thin cover. There was hardly a feeling of difference between being under the cover and not, which didn't bother Raiyo too much, but it was more of the principle of the matter.
Raiyo shakes out the matted mess that was his hair, trying to disperse the bed head. This only succeeds in it springing back into the spiky, black mess it was naturally accustomed to. "Maybe one day I'll get this cut..but today is not that day." He spoke irritatedly, remembering the situation outside.
Raiyo quickly pulls on his standard day attire; an orange vest-jacket over a blue short sleeved shirt, black cargo pants with blue and green boots, and finally his orange and blue fingerless gloves. He ran out of his shared room as quickly as he could, down the stairs and out the door, not really sure what to prepare for.
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"Five guys this time, they're getting serious now." Raiyo comments to himself upon exiting the home, watching as his closest friend, an older girl named Terebi was yelling at the men. Terebi was a long time resident of the orphanage, same as Raiyo, however she was two years his senior and had even been around when Raiyo first showed up, though she barely remembers the day. The young woman was a lithe figure of five foot, four inches with a short, side cut of brown hair and an intimidating pair of hazel eyes. Living practically by her wits, she was a survivor, and didn't really put up with people that well. Terebi learned to fight from a young age, which was a necessary skill to have when you grow up basically alone on the streets. But unfortunately her big head was only matched by her big ego, and she would often fight when she was clearly outclassed or outnumbered, which seemed to be the case of the latter in this situation.
"I couldn't give a damn IF some nutjobs wandered around here! Your so-called 'protection' prices are absolute bull!" She berated to the men as she kept her fists balled. Her hair was just a mess, and she still had on that old t-shirt and short shorts she used as pajamas. She had clearly been woken early and had only enough thought to come outside and punch something.
"Look sweetheart, you can play pretend with your boyfriend over there," he said and gestures over to Raiyo once he got in their line of sight. "But let the actual men protect you and your dump of an orphanage, just as long as you pay the small fee. But I feel generous so I'll give you a discount, though I'll need a little something in exchange!" He said and began looking her up and down, not even hiding his attempts to undress her with his eyes.
This just made her angrier, but before she could do anything Raiyo placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him and saw the stone cold expression on his face. That made her calm down, if only slightly, just enough to know that she better back off. Terebi made the mistake of doubting the younger boy a long time ago, but now you'd have to be stupid to do so, and she was anything but stupid.
She moves away as Raiyo started talking to the five thugs. "Look, we don't want your protection and we have no intention of sharing our debt with you. If you don't get out of here I'll throw you out myself." He said in a harsh calm, a breath's width away from the edge. The leader of the group, however, was none the wiser, and started to push the matter. "You think you're going to scare me off? News flash punk, we're the top dogs working for Puma, and I don't get intimidated by twigs like you!" The man got in Raiyo's face, making the steely faced boy endure the smell of eggs and bacon on his breath.
"But I'm in a good mood today and feel a little generous. So go ahead, take a swing at me, but I hope you understand it will be the last thing you ever do!" He kept rambling while his cohorts were snickering amongst themselves. The man laughed and pointed at his chin, "Like I said, one free shot and then you're going to die!" He explained a second time in his annoying, comically accented voice. Raiyo didn't even change facial expressions as he lifted his knuckles and cracked them in anticipation. But he didn't throw the punch right away, instead he looked at the thug. "What's the matter kid, you thought your intimidation tricks would save your life again huh?" The man said with a smirk.
This time Raiyo actually did smile and started to chuckle rather evilly. This confused the guy and his underlings, who take a cautionary step backwards. "Hey, what's so funny?" One of the background dummies asks in a clueless voice.
"You shouldn't have given me a free shot!" Raiyo said rather cheekily.
Before the leader could even think to react, Raiyo hurls a right him that connects square with the thug's jaw, several crunching sounds following swiftly after. The guy wasn't only knocked down but he flew back a couple feet and landed hard on his back, winded, but only for a moment. He held his hands over his mouth and cried out in pain. Blood and saliva escaping through his fingers as he looks back at Raiyo, getting angry that this punk kid was just standing there, smiling! "Geth hib!" The brute tried to order his cronies, but the words were jumbled through busted teeth and blood.
The rest of the gang looked back at Raido with murderous expressions and pulled out a variety of knives. The stupid one of the group decided to attack solo and started off with up close stabs. Raido managed to avoid the first thrust and caught the guy by the wrist in a vice like grip, already causing his hand to discolor. His eyes went wide with fear as the grip forced him to drop the knife. In one swift motion Raiyo flipped the man on his back, knocking the wind from the poor guy. The other three, a lot smarter than their buddy or leader, apparently, came rushing all at once. They circled around the young fighter and began slashing in small, precise arcs so to deal the most damage without hurting each other.
'Huh, he wasn't kidding when he said they were the top dogs. I'm actually having to to try a little bit.' Raiyo thought to himself in a mildly impressed manner. He blocked, ducked, and dodged so not to deter his opponents from running so quickly. Eventually one got a hit on the boy, nicking his left bicep with the tip of the blade. Raido jumps back from his attackers, who all seemed pretty out of breath but trying hard to hide it. A couple of them went over to help their leader, leaving the last guy to keep an eye on their opponent. In this particular man's head, he couldn't help but wonder how this one kid was giving them so much trouble? Was he really why so many of the other members wouldn't go near this place?
Raiyo takes the moment to inspect the cut on his arm. It wasn't deep, didn't hit any veins, but was just bleeding like nobody's business. It hurt, but Raiyo can just patch it up later. He then turns back at the gang of thugs, the leader and the dumb one back on their feet. "You're gonna die now, kid!" The leader said with a much more clear vocabulary. He pulled out his own knife and a small handgun, something that Raido was hoping they'd do. The thug leader leveled his gun at Raido, "Die now, brat!" The man yells and fired the gun...
Only for Raido to disappear the second the trigger was pulled. "What?!?" The leader said once he saw Raido was gone. That shock was short lived as Raido then reappeared in front of the leader and rammed his fist into his midsection, causing him to cough up a small amount of blood. The leader couldn't even speak as he then sank back down to ground in pain. The other four then went on the attack and started slashing at Raido, but he had finally gotten irritated with humoring them. He sidesteps one of the thug's attack and uppercuts the guy, sending him sprawling backwards.
With movements faster than the eye, Raido kept striking at the thugs whether with kicks or punches. Not even a minute later and he stood in the middle of the five bloody, unconscious men who were supposed to 'intimidate' him...yeah right.
Raiyo was still admiring his handiwork when he hears a familiar set of feet making their way towards him, the last thing he was wanting to hear at the moment. The boy winces in knowing guilt as he turns slowly to look the newcomer in the eyes.
"I hope you're enjoying your morning exercises, Raiyo" Father Huel, the caretaker and owner of the orphanage, asks disappointedly, gesturing to the five men on the ground. The older man, well into his early sixties at this point, had woken up moments before when the sound of the gun went off from what appeared to be right in front of the orphanage building.
"I'm sorry, father, but they were sent by Puma! I couldn't just let them waltz in here like they own the place and-" but Raiyo was cut off by the priest. "Doesn't excuse your fighting conduct, I know I trained you better! That overconfidence of yours is going to be your undoing, Raiyo." Huel chastises the boy, who immediately looks down at the ground, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Well I don't know about you, father, but I'd say knives and a gun stack the odds a bit don't they?" Raiyo questions his caretaker, hoping to convince the man on the matter.
No such luck.
"Does it really? I'd wager for every bruise on your arm you broke one of their bones. Someday you've got to learn when to reel in that strength of yours!" Father Huel scolds Raiyo, who inadvertently flinches from the harsh words. Noting this, the priest let's out an exasperated sigh, letting himself calm down before speaking again. "However, I will admit that you handled the situation quite spectacularly, Raiyo. You're really starting to pick up my slack on that front." Huel tells the boy, who just nods and casually looks down at the ground, trying to hide the wide, grateful smile that had spread on his face.
"This is going to be one heck of a mess to clean up." Huel grumbles the last part and heads back inside. Raiyo groans awkwardly at the situation, which then turns into a deep yawn. The boy had forgotten what time it was, what with all that happened. He looks up at to sky, noticing the sun had finally risen.
"Hey Raiyo, whatcha' looking at?" Terebi had always been great at sneaking up on most people, and Raiyo was no different. She had somehow gotten up right behind the boy and talked loudly right into his ear. Raiyo jumps, whirling around with a startled expression, which just causes Terebi to crack up with laughter.
Once he realizes that his life wasn't in danger, Raiyo calms down a little, though he looked rather miffed. "I'm case it wasn't obvious, I'm looking at the sun rise, something that I don't usually see since I'm asleep." He tells Terebi, turning around to walk back to the orphanage. He's stopped by one her hands grabbing his shoulder.
Raiyo turned to look at the older girl, only to see her laughter having stopped rather abruptly, a startlingly serious expression on her face. She was clutching a piece of paper in her hands, where she was keeping that Raiyo couldn't imagine.
"Look Raiyo, I'm not gonna beat around the bush about this anymore. I've seen what you can do, fighting off those guys like that. You're freakin' unstoppable!" She praises a little too forwardly, which causes Raiyo to grow a little suspicious.
"Yeah, what of it?" Raiyo says cautiously, hoping that this conversation wasn't going that way.
"Look I know I sound like a broken record but I think-" There it was, she was finally coming out to ask Raiyo straight up.
"No."
"But do you realize how much money-"
"I don't care."
"Are you really that stuck in your ways that you won't even help the orphanage?!?"
"Fighting isn't helping, and the World Martial Arts tournament is a huge gamble not only for that but for my life!" Raiyo tells Terebi in exasperation, trying to help himself quiet so Father Huel wouldn't overhear them. Terebi had been bringing up the tournament for the past two years in hopes of getting Raiyo to enter, but he was less than inclined to do so. "Do you realize just how much money you get at the end of the tournament? The Briefs family is personally funding the tournament this year and I hear it's a boatload of cash, over five hundred million zeni I would wager!" Seida kept telling Raiyo in hopes of sweetening the deal.
This got his attention, the promise of this enormous amount of money, which they all could use right about now. Raiyo was all for helping out the orphanage, one of the only places and people who raised him! Of course he wanted to enter..but not entirely for the orphanage.
Ever since his first fight Raiyo had been training not only with Father Huel, but he often snuck into the local karate dojo after work to watch the sensei teach his late night class. Doing this gave him valuable skills to not only defend himself but he eventually created his own street marital art that is his go to weapon against anyone. But Father Huel had made it clear that his skills should be kept only for extreme emergencies and should never be used to hurt anyone. So far he had obeyed that rule..until two weeks ago when he found out something truly horrifying.
*Flashback*
Raiyo was tiptoeing down the stairs, trying with all his worth not to wake anyone. The draft in his room made it difficult to actually get any sleep so he decided to get himself an extra cover from downstairs. Once on the ground floor he noticed that the kitchen light was still on. Thinking that one of the new kids must have done it he went in only to find Father Huel passed out on the table over a pile of letters. Raiyo walks over to the priest, noticing that he had been crying when he passed out. Raiyo looked down and noticed one of the letters was written in a foreboding red ink.
Grabbing the letter and lifting it out of under the old priest, Raiyo began reading it, well more so skimming over the excessive legal jargon. Only a few words managed to stand out from the page
This was an eviction notice, saying that they had until the end of the year to either pay their debt or leave.
*End of Flashback*
Ever since that night Raiyo had been pulling every extra job and overtime he could get his hands on, but nothing seemed to be good enough to help them all out. He remembered the words of Father Huel, one of the only father figures in his life, the one who taught him restraint and obedience. "I shall give you asylum in this orphanage, but I only have two rules for you to follow. First, you will not steal for money, even if we're desperate. Second, you will not fight for money. The moment I see you break one of these rules you will be immediately evicted from these halls, understood?"
Raiyo followed these rules like they were scripture, and he had to watch as other kids were kicked out when they broke those rules. He knew the consequences, but he also considered the low chances of him being found out if he were to do this. "Terebi..I hope I don't have to regret trusting you. If we're going to go this I'm going to need a disguise so nobody recognizes me, can you do that?" Raiyo asked hesitantly. Terebi smirks, an evil glint coming to her eye, which only made her new business partner nervous.
"Of course I can..."