“Hey boss!” called Takayuki, leading the group on her left. They made it out of the library and around it before she even looked at them. Even then, none of them knew exactly what to make of it. “What’s wrong?” It was an all too familiar expression, but with no reason. ‘She’s left it all behind, so why is she looking like she’s going into a fight?’

Around the library, Miyako came to a stop facing five boys roughly looking to be about the same age range as them, so high school age. They were all gathered up on the street making it impossible for anyone to pass. Bystanders on the opposite side of the street mostly just ignored the scene, but glanced out of the corner of their eye, as was usual for those curious yet wanting to stay uninvolved. Unfortunately, being a fairly busy street it was hard for anyone on their side of the street to pass without becoming entangled in the conflict. Some just turned around looking for a different way, while others ended up frozen, not sure how to deal with the violence likely to come.

Takayuki immediately realized what had dragged her out of the library. He walked up to Miyako, standing a little in front of her. ‘Is she planning on fighting them? But why? She doesn’t want to be involved in these things anymore. She even just frightened those overstuffed punks back at her school, when she normally would have just painted the pavement in their blood in the past.’ Making the choice for her, he tried to approach, but was stopped by Miyako. “Boss?”

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that, Takayuki!” She walked up to the group. Four against one, hardly fair odds to say the least. However, it wasn’t the odds she cared about. She easily did twice that many at times. “What do you think you’re doing picking on someone that can’t even fight back?” she bellowed in a deep voice, that unnerved the normal bystanders expecting something different from a school girl.

One of them tilted their head back, surprised that anyone had the balls to interrupt them. “Eh?”

“Hey Junichi, focus man! Ignore the chick.”

“Yeah…” He crunched his knuckles to be winding up for another beating. “Lessons are important.” The unfortunately bullied boy nearly spread out over the sidewalk already had a bloodied and bruised appearance from all of their beatings. Junichi didn’t seem to be interested in stopping.

They just ignored her. That part bothered Miyako a little, but wasn’t the real reason. She stepped up stretching out her hand for Junichi, the large size of the boy didn’t even make her hesitate. Size never mattered at the end of the day. She could drop any one of them. Unfortunately, Takayuki stepped in between the two of them. “What the hell, Takayuki! What are you doing?”

He knew that look just like everyone else did. It was the one that you didn’t step in front of if you didn’t want to be visited upon by unearthly pain. The sight that made any of them turn blue with fear. It made their enemies flee when her name didn’t do the job alone. It was the reason they were so feared and well known among the gangs. And he stood in front of it.

Yet even though he knew all of that, he managed to hold himself together. ‘I’ve seen her like this too many times to know this is a bad idea. But I’m not afraid. Why? I don’t understand it, but I know what I have to do. We all want her back, but this just seems wrong… I’m a fool…’ Takayuki grabbed a hold of Miyako’s wrist that planned to start a fight on behalf of some stranger they knew nothing about for reasons they knew nothing about. “Boss.”

“Takayuki, do you know what you’re doing?”

The severity just jumped another level in her expression. It made him grind his teeth. He felt like he was trying to stop a bullet train with just a stick of bamboo. ‘I shouldn’t be stopping her. I know this, but I can’t…’ Facing down that look should have made him run in fear. Takayuki held his ground though, despite it all. “I should ask you the same thing, boss. Do you know what you’re doing? What this will mean?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m saying, this isn’t your place to be in anymore! You’re out of this life now! You can’t just step back in whenever you feel like you want. You’ve made your decision on the course you want!”

“Takayuki…out of the way when you don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“No. I do know! The boss I know isn’t so weak-willed as to give in when she’s made her decision!”

Miyako snapped out of her rage upon hearing his berating. ‘…damn…he’s right…I made a choice to leave all of this. If I do this I’ll just be dragging everything I’ve done through the mud. But I can’t just ignore this…’

He could see that he finally got through to her. This wasn’t her fight. Takayuki pushed her back, which surprised her as much as the rest of the gang. They had not really known him to be so bold. “Let us handle this, boss! I know what you’re thinking!”

“Us?” sounded off several of the group, a little confused by Takayuki’s declaration. They weren’t really sure what he was planning. It was nothing that involved them. They had no business getting involved, especially not associated with any gang anymore.

Annoyed by the interruptions and unwelcome presence of strangers, Junichi turned around again. “Shut the he—“ He didn’t get a chance to finish before started to eat a fist. The weight of the punch stunned him, along with not expecting someone to go against him. But it didn’t bring him down, as Takayuki might have hoped.

Regardless of whether it was successful or not, Takayuki made his point and stand clear. The rest of his group could hardly stand back and do nothing. They moved quickly to support Takayuki, who was already starting to receive the vengeful gazes of the other three. “There’s the difference between making your point and just torturing someone! If you’re just looking for some blood, then we’ll be more than happy to take out a donation from your hides!”

While Junichi recovered himself and wiped away the blood from his lip, the other three stepped in taking up sides around him. “So we’ve got some would be heroes,” remarked one of them.

“Let’s show them, Jiro!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yeah, Yasuo. No one messes with Black Gate!”

“You got the one of the right Shigeru!”

“…guys…”

Chapter 303 – Hot Blooded Meetings

Finished, both parties called it after thirty minutes. Takayuki’s group came out the worse from the exchange, even though they did succeed in driving them off. They made it more trouble than they wanted to deal with.

Bruised and bloodied, Takayuki and the rest leaned up against the wall in an alley keeping the way clear. They had dragged most of it out from the broad daylight. Though noise came out from all of their fighting along with yelling and pain, life in the sun could resume to some degree.

Miyako helped them all up and walked them through the back alley to get them out of the area. If they stayed too long the police would probably show up. It sort of surprised her that no one called before, but they were probably too afraid of what sort of retribution would happen if they did. They just pretended it didn't happen. Miyako kept her fights out of the public, unlike that foursome, gang fights were supposed to be only be with gangs. Getting it to spill out into the light should never happen, not that others followed her personal code.

A few blocks away, they all stopped in a park. It gave them a place to rest. She knelt down to look at Takayuki, who looked the worst for taking on the brute named Junichi. ‘While he knows his way around a fight, he was never one to just take it straight head-on. Dumbass…’ Miyako ripped off her tie to try to tend to some of the blood. “What were you thinking? That I’m just some helpless girl now that needs other people to fight for her.”

Coughing a little, his body felt so much pain. It had been a while since he had been in such a rough fight. Miyako handled so much of their fighting that they never had to worry about a drag out fight. “You know why, boss. It was the same reason that you had.”

“Bastard…” she cursed, frustrated with herself. ‘I couldn’t do anything. They fought for me when that should have been me. No one would have been hurt other than those that should have been.’

Takayuki could see the stress building up in her eyes. She cared about all of them still even as much as she tried to throw them all off. “We’ve all made our choices, boss. This is your choice and you must follow it, no compromises. That isn’t who you are.”

Grinding her teeth together, she had trouble controlling the anger coursing through her muscles. “Damn you, you know me too well.”

Grinning a little, he knew it was how it needed to be. “You’ve chosen to stand in the light now boss. We will stay in the shade where we belong. You can’t step back, we’ll carry now what you’ve have for all this time.”

“This isn’t something you need to do, Takayuki.”

“Perhaps, but we want to. You’ve looked after all of us, boss. We can return the favor now.”

Miyako rammed her fist into the grass, frustrated with her own inability. ‘I wanted out of it all, because I realized that I needed something more than just blood and breaking bones. They call it a normal life, what you’re supposed to do. I just needed out from it all. All of the blood…but if it is going to be like this…’

“Don’t give up, boss.”

Lifting her head, she looked over at Takayuki, who seemed to pick up on her doubt. She wasn’t known for showing her emotions, other than anger, naturally. She hated weakness, but it was all she felt in such a situation. It surrounded her like an ocean. “Takayuki…”

“You can be better than us. Most of us never finished high school. We’re too dumb or just didn’t care. We made a choice, even if we didn’t think of it as one. Do what we can’t, because you’re better than us. Boss.”

It was difficult to counter what he said. She had made the choice to leave it all behind and now thought about breaking that promise she made to herself. ‘Only a week and I’m already having second thoughts. When did I get to be like this?’ Miyako clenched her fists up knowing the course she had set. It was the only thing she could do. “Since when did you start talking back to me, Takayuki? Who do you think you are?”

Laughing, Takayuki was pleased to see her looking more resolved. “I was your right hand.”

“Yeah…”

* * *

The next day after school, Miyako exited with the expectation to find Takayuki and the rest of the crew with him waiting on her. They were nowhere to be seen. She looked around feeling a little lonely, surprisingly, without them stalking her. It was what she wanted. ‘I’m glad…the way Takayuki was talking back to me. They can stand on their own now. They don’t need me. I can focus on my path…’ A melancholic smile came across her face as she walked to the library.

However, she only made it halfway there before some strangers looking for a fight blocked her path. Unlike the cocky boys that didn’t know better, these had hardened looks in their faces. They knew the life better than those wannabes. She didn’t miss a step despite their gazes at her. ‘They have nothing to do with me. I’m out…’

Out or not, they didn’t seem to know. They grabbed her by the shoulder and squeezed tightly pressing muscle to bone as she came in range. “You the leader of those weaklings?” the older teen asked, trying to confirm something.

She didn’t even flinch when they invaded her space and tried to strong-arm her. ‘If I just give them the standard death stare, that should make them back off. I don’t need a fight.’ Miyako put everything she had in it, knowing how battle hardened they looked. Just her usual stare wasn’t going to be enough. It didn't always work for her in a fight, but it usually did enough to unnerve those that didn’t piss themselves on the spot.

Her patented death stare seemed to have no effect on them. In fact, it actually seemed to make things worse as they knew that she was willing for a fight. “Yeah, that’s the look. She’s no normal school girl.” He worked to try to crush her collarbone from his oversized hand. “As the leader of those weaklings, you’ve got to pay for the responsibility of them.”

Miyako flashed a little confusion in, not getting to the point that they were trying to make. However, her mind quickly reached the natural conclusion. “Your members from the Black Gate. Come to pay for your boys, is that it?”

“You catch on fast, girlie. We’ve already taken out our full payment your men earned for their boldness yesterday. Now you—“

‘Full payment…’ The death stare in Miyako suddenly flipped. Cold emptiness replaced it. The bruiser trying to play at intimidation flipped on his back in an instant before he finished his sentence. Miyako stared them all down. “Now you’ve earned my wrath!”

She finished all five of them off so fast that there was hardly even a scene. Anyone passing by just thought that she laid down self-defense on a group of boys trying to assault her. It only took her another few seconds to get the weak one in the group to spill where they attacked Takayuki’s group.

‘Dammit!’ she cursed, as she ran through the blocks to try to reach them. It was already too late to stop it, but they didn’t look like the sort to just leave them a little beaten. She didn’t know how far they would go and feared for it too.

Miyako slid around the corner of the final turn and came to their former base, an abandoned construction site. She slowly walked in looking everyone for any signs of her men. ‘They’re here somewhere…just don’t be…’

Eventually, she found blood dried and soaked into the earth. Following it, the signs only got worse. More blood and trash thrown about everywhere. The whole place had been ripped apart. And then she found them. Most of them looked passed out, she hoped, they didn’t seem to be moving or making a sound. Blood covered them along with knife wounds. “…dammit!” Rage boiled up in her chest at the sight.

One of the boys coughed, signaling that they were still awake. Miyako rushed over to them trying to check on them. He looked up into her eyes. “…sorry…boss…”

“It’s fine! Don’t talk. I’ll call—“

“Takayuki, he fought them for all of us…but he…”

“That’s enough!” Miyako tried to keep them from talking, but they seemed to have only managed enough to report to her before falling over. She hung her head thinking about all of them. Her body felt on fire.

Standing up, she looked around to find everyone, but she still didn’t see Takayuki. He wasn’t anywhere outside. Miyako found the only completed room, which they used for their command room. Blood was all over the door and over the floor. She looked in to find two that she didn’t recognize just left behind.

And then she found Takayuki. Mounted to the wall with stray pipes through his arm and chest. She had trouble looking at him. “…Takayuki…those bastards…they did this…” Miyako couldn’t contain her anger anymore. “I will make them all PAY for this!”