[Fireworks festival]
The minute Tenzo decided to accompany Draken, everything went to shit.
He followed the taller Toman member to a clearing deep in the surrounding forest, where the thick leaves swallowed voices and kept light hidden from any sign of civilization.
"Don't you find it odd that we're meeting in a spot perfect for murder?" Tenzo scowls from behind Draken.
"Of course it's odd, but it's better than talking about gang activities near families enjoying Fireworks. " Draken responds.
"I guess..." Tenzo sighs, rolling his eyes at the skull-tattooed delinquent's reply.
As the shuffling of bushes prickles his ears, the moonlight dances on his coc-skin and his anxious grey irises observe the silhouettes of trees.
Draken stops by a circular clearing under moonlight.
Just a few metres in front of them is a short, stocky blonde-haired Toman wearing guy glaring at them and a lanky light blonde-haired male with an abnormally long neck next to him like a wannabe security guard gaurd
Pah-chin, Third Division captain and his vice-captain, Peh Yan.
"Yo, Draken. Who's the white-haired dude?" Pah-chin spoke in a rough voice tinged with distrust.
Draken points his thumb at Tenzo.
"This is the Vice-President of Brahman, Tenzo. Chill on him, Mikey likes the guy."
Peh Yan tilts his neck to a nauseating 45° angle.
"I don't like him." The other blonde blurts out.
Tenzo took no offence at his words
"Can we get this over with? I have two cherry blossom psychos waiting for me." Tenzo impatiently responds.
"Of course we can~"
Ruffles...Ruffles...
The sounds of bushes hissing hit their ears as Hanma came into the light, a devilish smirk on his face, backhand tattoos highlighted as he whistled a tune, taking a stroll.
More figures appear from the shadows, dressed in a beige tech jacket, with a black shirt underneath it, black pants and matching shade of combat boots. Valhalla came prepared for an ambush.
The sight of a bruised Osani left Tenzo suspicious.
Draken balls up his fist, his eyes tracking the 20 goons surrounding him and Tenzo.
"Pah-chin. Peh Yan what is this crap?" Draken growls accusingly.
"This is a gift from Valhalla to Toman." Hanma chuckles, his eyes holding back excitement.
Pah-chin looks at the grass to avoid Draken's scrutinising look.
"I'm sorry, Draken. That bastard deserves to pay for what he almost took from that innocent girl. We never involved civilians in our issues and as much as I respect Mikey, I can't agree with his decision to leave the matter of one of ours to another gang." Pah-chin explains.
"I see..." Draken rubs his temple, taking in a deep breath.
Tenzo's senses are flaring wildly, something about this situation seems too peaceful.
"Can't you beat him or something without circling us like wild animals?" Tenzo grits his teeth, body jumpy to respond.
Hanma giggles loudly, "This is where the plot twists come to light! We offered Osani's head on a platter in exchange for you Draken-Kun~" Hanma points out, looking at Tenzo, "You're just a bonus to the deal, I'm itching for a rematch. "
The Valhalla goons get closer to them, decreasing the circumference of the circle formation.
Tenzo presses his back against Draken's, "Last to ten bodies buys dinner. " He jokes.
"You're on." Draken smirks, pressing his back firmly against the Brahman member.
"Ohhh–you this was our only plan?" Hanma hums.
"Ran, Rindo," Hanma calls out.
—–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
[System Update!]
[New ability alert!]
[Hanagaki's tolerance]
°Withstand the Haitani brothers' torture for 30 minutes.
Rewards:
> 10 000 SP
> +5 Endurance
Pain senses nullify 50% of attacks.
Penalties:
> Dark Impulses will automatically activate.
> Draken's chance of dying rises to 80%!
> Emma at risk!
———————————————————
"You've got to be kidding me!?" Tenzo curses out loud at the mission alert.
The Haitani brothers stand menacingly next to Hanma.
Ran Haitani is tall for a Japanese man, easily over 5'10, with black hair and two long blonde-black braids at the curve of his neck.
Rindo Haitani is shorter than his brother by a few inches, still about average height, with blonde hair and turquoise streaks in a mop-like haircut. The younger Haitani brother has glasses on still not making his sickening smirk less intimidating.
"Hanma, is this the Draken fellow you said is strong?" Rin asked with a sinister grin.
Rindo looks at the two with a blank expression, "Can we fight now?"
"Of course." Hanma nods at them, "Gentlemen, capture them~" Hanma sings with pure glee.
Before Tenzo and Draken could make a move, the sound of a knife cutting air hit them.
A Valhalla goon has a pocket knife in his hand, 3 inches of sharp steel waiting to cut into skin.
"Draken, I think we should give up," Tenzo instructed.
"Huh!?" Draken snorts at the suggestion, "Are you serious?"
"Yes, we're completely outnumbered and are goner if that knife kisses our flesh. " Tenzo justifies his plan.
"Fine..." Draken lifts his hands above his head to signal his surrender.
Tenzo copies him as both decide to give up or risk bleeding out in the woods.
---
[20 minutes later]
Bang
Splatter....
The Valhalla gang is still loitering in the open area.
Bang
"Huck–" Tenzo gasps for air, his lungs stressed from the force of oxygen depletion.
"This guy is pretty tough." Ran chuckles, wiping blood off his knuckles.
Rindo delivers another kick to Tenzo's chest, hitting his sternum with vicious force.
"Ouff –" Tenzo groans, blood at the corners of his lips, face with purple bruises and barely breathing.
"Tenzo... Just tell them..." Draken groans next to Tenzo.
Tenzo and Draken are tied up to trees, completely at the mercy of the Valhalla members.
Hanma squats next to Tenzo, caressing the man's chin with the care of a mother instead of a psychopath.
"Don't hurt him too bad, Rindo, I still want to fight him later." Hanma licks his lips, pinching Tenzo's cheek.
"You're a sick f#ck! Tenzo snaps at Hanma, nearly biting the man's fingers.
"Feisty~"
Bang
Hanma rocks him across his jaw, Tenzo's lip splits open at the punch.
For the last 20 minutes after their surrender, Tenzo and Draken have been subjected to continuous torture at the hands of the Haitani brothers, Ran and Rindo, who took pleasure at slow inflicting pain, their groans only furthering their sick pleasures.
The majority of their attacks were aimed at their faces, chest and vulnerable areas, such as the kneecaps.
Ran enjoys elbows thrust to the jaw, he likes the sting of bones colliding.
Rindo was menacingly calculated, he would kick hard at their chest, pull joints to near dislocation and the worst punishment is the knee kicks to either of their skulls.
"You guys are crazy! " Hanma clapped in approval.
Behind Hanma, Osani was getting his own punishment from Pah-chin and Peh Yan, the latter of whom was bashing Osani's face in.
The two didn't bother to glance back at Draken's painful yells, clouded by anger and a need to relieve their frustrations.
"This is boring..." Ran clicks his tongue, wiping Tenzo's blood on the lad's white locks, purely out of banter.
"Fuck you..." Tenzo breaths out, the swelling of his busted lip is tingling his nerves, and a swollen left eye that needs medical attention and the mental battle of staying conscious is taking a toll on his endurance.
[ 6 minutes remaining]
"You're really interesting Tenzo? Not one squeal for mercy or tear from you–truly amazing ~" Hanma praises, tilting Tenzo's head to expose his jugular.
The Valhalla member, traces his fingers down the sensitive region of his breathing.
To onlookers, the intimacy of Hanma's touch might be seen as odd but to the demented teen, he thrives in the fragility of life.
"You think if I slammed my knee against his throat, he'd choke on his blood or suffocate first?" Hanma excitedly asked his Valhalla members.
An uncomfortable silence passed between them. The goons, who usually enjoy torturing people were appalled by his question. "
Ran and Rindo glance at each other, and a silent message travels between the brothers.
Ran's smirk widened, an evil glint in his eyes under the moonlight.
"I have a great idea. Let's play a little game no? "
Rindo's eyes shone with recognition, "Ohhh –we are playing that game..."
"What game?" Hanma joins in, still exposing Tenzo's throat.
"Well, it's quite simple. We blindfold them and punch them in their faces and they have to guess who did it." Ran casually explains his idea.
"For every wrong guess, they get hit by the person they accused. " Rindo adds.
"Oh-Kami, this is going to be fun!" Hanma let go of Tenzo's head, walking over to the Haitani.
Draken clenches his jaw at the three maniacs.
"Pah-chin, was it worth it?"
Pah-chin keeps his back to Draken, too ashamed to face his friend.
Peh Yan stomps on Osani's hip, and the blonde assaulter screams in agony.
"Now then–let's begin."
---
[Food truck]
Back at the festival, the night is still warming up to the eventual fireworks.
While Tenzo and Draken are suffering in the shadows of the forest, the food truck atmosphere becomes cold.
Expressions range from frustration to worry.
Hinata clutches her kimono sleeves, the cold wind tickles her flushed skin and her building anger over Tenzo's disappearance.
"Where is he?" Tachibana pouts.
Senju stands next to her holding their food neatly placed in a takeout bag.
"If he left to go make out with the tall dragon tattoo fucker, I swear–"
"Hey! That's my boyfriend you're talking about! Emma interrupts Senju's rant.
"Pfft–you daof te guys with skull tattoos!?"
"You date guys with another girl!?" Emma snaps back.
"...say that again?" Senju steps closer to Emma.
"Girls –" Mikey steps betweof en the two ladies.
Hinata looks at them with exhaustion in her eyes.
"Tenzo..."
"Hinata?"
Tachibana's body wentbut stiff at the familiar voice calling her name.
Before she could respond, her bodof of y was already turning to face the person she had seen countless timbut but es.
"K-Kisaki..." She whispers out, her choral eyes meet his golden gaze.
"What are you doing here?" The question slips out her tongue, her mind is still on Tenzo's whereabouts.
Kisaki hid his hands behind his back, the practiced smile she hates was plastered on his face.
"Mikey told me he and a few of the guys would be here. " He chuckles awkwardly.
Hinata bites her lip, eyes searching for a glimpse of a Coco-skinned boy.
Kisaki eye twitches at her lack of attention.
"Hinata. You came here with somebody?"
The cherry blossom-haired girl was brought out of her thoughts by his question.
"Yeah..."
"Oh–" Kisaki bites his lip, looking down at the ground with uncharacteristic shyness.
"I know we haven't spoken since the breakup, but... I got you these. " He moves his hands from his back to reveal a bouquet of tulips. The light pink flowers sparkle under the lantern lights.
"Kisaki –"
"I know it's a lot but I want you to have them."
Hinata reluctantly takes the flowers, placing the delicate blooms against her chest.
Senju stopped her back and forth with Emma, her eyes glaring at him.
"Hinata–who is he?"