The lights flickered on and off as Rakaia slowly tried to pick himself up, gasping for air as he managed to get to his hands and knees. His breathing was heavy; his eyes were big as he tried to calm his body down from the lack of oxygen.
"Not so tough now huh kid?" Kaitou peered down at him.
"All that talk and now look at you." Maitou quickly bent down and jerked Rakaia back up to his feet. "And the worst part about this is that we're just getting started," Maitou added as Kaitou walked up to Rakaia, smacking him in the face, smirking as he did.
Saitou walked up to Rakaia's defenseless body as Maitou held him tightly as Saitou leaned in closer towards him. "So what now runt?" Saitou taunted him. "Where has all that bravado gone?"
He asked again. "Is this it? Is this all you have?" Saitou continued on as he left up Rakaia's chin with his hand. "You put a better fight the last time I kicked your ass." Saitou laughed in his face as Kaitou and Maitou followed suit and laughed along with him. "You stood up to me earlier, but was that only because you had your little friends with you." Saitou tilted his head slightly and thought about it for a second. "Were you trying to play the hero or something?" He laughed as he shoved Rakaia's face away from him.
"Do you know where that gets you, kid?" Saitou stated as Rakaia could only glare at him as Maitou still held his arms captive behind him. "It gets little punks like you beat up and tossed on the side of the street like garbage." He continued to taunt him. "And you know what?" Saitou looked around the alley for a minute only for his eyes to land on a large dumpster, sitting in the back of the alley." I think that's what we're going to do. How about it kid, feeling like dumpster diver today?" Saitou laughed as both Kaitou and Maitou joined him again.
"I swear you talk too much," Rakaia responded back in their midst of laughter as Rakaia quickly snapped his head back, bashing Maitou in the face causing Maitou to scream out in pain as Rakaia quickly turned his attention towards Kaitou who barely had time to register what just happened as Rakaia quickly side kicked him away, knocking him against a few trash can bins that were stationed a few inches away from them. "Now it's your turn," Rakaia growled as Saitou remained surprised as Rakaia tried to lunge towards him, but Maitou quickly wrapped his arms around Rakaia and slammed him back on to the pavement. The force of Maitou's slam was noted as Rakaia's body felt pain once his side hit the pavement.
A loud scream could be heard as it escaped Rakaia's lips and was completed covered by the noise of rants and insults as the three brothers quickly rushed to stomp the life out of Rakaia.
"You stupid punk!" Kaitou could be heard shouting as he kicked Rakaia in the back. "This will teach you to mess with us!" Maitou joined with a few kicks and stomps of his own as Saitou remained silent, but kicked away at him as well. ⁶
The sound of Rakaia's grunts and painful groans could be heard throughout the streets, but it was nearly empty and no one could hear the sound of the attack occurring.
A few minutes away Luna was walking on the side walk, ignoring the few people she did see as she was trying to make it to her destination. She sighed for a bit and stretched her arms out. "I swear school is exhausting," She took a deep breath. "They weren't lying when they said I would have to readjust and get back into the swing of things; but jeez, having so many people throw themselves at you is nerve wrecking." She said to herself as she continued on the path in front of her. "That girl seemed nice enough though." She placed a finger on her chin and thought about her meeting with Cana. "Maybe I should have thought twice before I said we could have a friendly match or maybe I should tell her…"
"Is all that all you got? You're not so tough now are you?" The sounds of shouts and grunts caught Luna's attention as she quickly turned her head in the direction of the commotion. "Great. what now?" She quickly made a detour and followed the sound to the alleyway as she showed up just in time to see Rakaia's body up in the air, held by Maitou as he walked towards the dumpster.
"Hey!" Luna called out to them, her eyes glaring daggers at the Viper Brothers. "What do you think you're doing? Put him down now!" Luna shouted at them.
Saitou slowly turned his head back to see Luna standing there, her fist balled glaring at him. "Well, now look at who we have here if it the little fighting princess from earlier. I was hoping that you would show up." Saitou stated as both Kaitou and Maitou turned their heads as well, catching Luna in their eye sights with Rakaia still held over their heads. "Did you come here to save your little friend?" Saitou asked her as Luna continued to glare at him.
"Drop him, now," Luna demanded as Saitou looked at her for a moment before closing his eyes with a smug look on his face.
"You sure about that?" Saitou asked her. "You know, you really should watch it when you're trying to give somebody orders. "He warned her as he reopened his eyes. "Somebody could get hurt." He turned his attention back towards Maitou and nodded his head at him.
"Wait what are you…" Luna was cut off
"You heard the lady, Maitou. Drop him." Saitou instructed him as a wide mischievous smile crossed his lips.
"Well, out goes the trash!" Maitou stated as he threw Rakaia into the dumpster.
"Hey! Wait! Dammit!" Luna quickly narrowed her eyes at Maitou and quickly tried to rush him, but Saitou cut her off as Maitou slammed the lid shut .
"Hold on a second princess. Where do you think you're going?" Saitou smirked down at her. "Why don't you stick around and have some fun with us?" Saitou's smirk remained.
"Get out of my way!" She tried to rush passed him, but Saitou jumped in her way again.
"Oh, what's the matter? Your little friend is ok, he's doing what he's meant to do…Dumpster diving." Saitou laughed as Luna gritted her teeth.
"My boys wanted to see you again; you know to pay you back for roughing them up a bit last night. You don't mind do you?" Saitou asked as Kaitou and Maitou appeared on both sides of Luna as she took a step back and prepared herself.
"I guess you really don't know who I am, do you?" Luna answered back. "I'll go ahead and say that's a no if you think you three will be enough to take me down."
"What does it matter little girl? To be honest with you I don't give a damn who you are," Saitou answered her. "We just wanted a little fun with your friend here, that's all." Saitou looked back at the closed dumpster, still seeing the lid shut. "So, now that you're here; we can have some fun with you." Saitou snickered a bit as he took a step forward.
Luna tightened her fist as she glared up at Saitou. "I'm not your average girl, if I were you I'd back off before I'd get hurt." She suggested with a hint of a threat.
"Oh come on, what could you possibly do to hurt…" Saitou was cut off as Luna's White sneakered covered foot stopped within mere inches of his face. His eyes were glued to the sole of her shoe as her foot stopped just before it touched his face. Saitou made no moves though. He was not scared, a bit surprised but his expression reverted back to his smug thug look.
Luna held her leg up high with the other standing foot holding her in place. Her eyes never left Saitou as both Kaitou and Maitou looked back and forth between the two.
"Last warning," Luna told them. "I don't want to repeat myself." She added as the three brothers looked down at her for a moment before Saitou let a small smirk cross his face.
He slowly brought his hands up, his palms showing as he took a step back. "Alright, alright, we get it." Saitou began as he continued to step away from the prized fighter. "I think we've had enough fun here anyway, so we'll just be on our way." His voice was calm and collected as both Maitou and Kaitou looked at him for a second in confusion.
"But Saitou really? We're just going to leave, just…Like that?" Kaitou asked him.
"Come on Bro, she's just one girl. What can she possibly do to us?" Maitou followed suit. "Let's just bash her face in and…"
"Now, now Maitou." Saitou cut him off. "It's time we backed off, for now, there's nothing more we can do here. So let's let the little girl have her victory." He stated as he turned his back towards Luna and began to walk towards the exit of the alley way.
"Saitou…," Maitou called out before they both looked back at Luna, glaring at her as she placed her foot down as they both followed him out of the alleyway.
"Enjoy your win!" Saitou shouted as he continued to walk away. "Next time little girl, next time." He ended as the three boys disappeared from sight.
Luna took a deep breath. "This place has really gone downhill." She quickly turned her head towards the dumpster and ran to open the lid.
Quickly opening it she peered inside to see Rakaia slowly sitting up. "Hey are you ok?" she asked him as she tried to help Rakaia out of the dumpster, but he slapped her hand away and helped himself. "Well, that was rude." She crossed her arms as Rakaia landed on the ground, wiping himself off.
"I didn't ask for your help." He eyed her.
"You didn't need to; you clearly had everything under control." She replied sarcastically. "Getting thrown into a dumpster is exactly the same thing I would have done when getting jumped by three rag tagged guys who believe they can fight, yea great plan." She ended as Rakaia quickly glared at her for a bit before walking away.
"Stay out of my business alright; I don't need you popping up every time something happens." He breathed as Luna continued to stand there with her arms crossed.
"Don't worry; I don't do these things to save you. I just don't like seeing weak people getting picked on." Luna called him as Rakaia quickly turned around and lunged at her.
"The hell did you say!?" Rakaia yelled as he tried to deliver a hard haymaker to Luna, but she easily sidestepped it and stuck out her right foot to trip Rakaia, causing him to trip over it and fall face first into the ground.
"Bad judgment," Luna spoke as Rakaia quickly got up to his feet, turning around to glare at the pro fighter that stood before him.
"Why you son of a!" Rakaia charged at Luna and tried everything from kicks to punches, but Luna just dodged them with ease. Rakaia began to tire himself out as Luna continued to maneuver around Rakaia like it was second nature. "Stay still and let me hit you!" Rakaia delivered a hard swing towards Luna's head, but she back stepped out of the way.
"No direction." She spoke. "How you ever managed to hold your own up to this point is beyond me, you have no discipline." Luna pointed out.
"Shut up!" Rakaia was letting his emotions get the best of him as he swung again and missed.
"Your emotions are clouding your mind, making it easier to read your every move," Luna told him as she dodged another one of Rakaia's punches.
"You're not even looking at who you're fighting; you're just swinging like some kid throwing a tantrum." Rakaia tried to kick her, but Luna leaned back away from his attempt and retaliated with a punch to his stomach, causing Rakaia to drop to his knees instantly. "End result every time." She stood in front of him as he coughed a bit, holding his stomach as he tried to catch his breath. "Lay off those guys, you'll never be able to beat them fighting like that." Luna ended as she stood in front of a Rakaia for a few more seconds.
"What do you know?" Rakaia muttered, gaining a narrow glance from Luna as she stood over him. "What? Just because you're a pro fighter you think you can just waltz in here and give me a one on one session, screw you!" Rakaia looked up, an angry glare shooting towards Luna. "I don't need your help, I don't need you here!" Rakaia quickly leaped up, grabbing Luna by the arm catching her off guard as he slung her over his shoulder and down on to the ground.
Taken by surprised, Rakaia's attempt was successful and he ended on top of Luna, breathing heavily as he held both of her hands down and cradled himself on top of her. "You let your guard down…" He gave a proud but fatigue smile as Luna just looked up at him. Her eyes narrowing as she returned the glare that Rakaia gave her.
"One." She quickly pushed her body up, causing Rakaia's body to lift in the air, giving her enough room to bend both of her knees and push her legs up, hitting Rakaia in the face, causing him to release her as she hopped back to her feet. "Two." Luna quickly charged in towards Rakaia. Her facial expression showing how serious she was as Rakaia didn't even have time to follow her with his eyes. She got in close and delivered a hand full of shots to Rakaia's stomach and face mixed with a barrage of Kicks and punches, knocking him against the wall. "Three" She quickly charged in again, using one leg to spin directly in front of him as she brought her right leg up in the same fashion she did with Saitou, catching Rakaia off guard again.
A silent moment passed as Rakaia realized he was caught and suddenly Luna kicked him in the thigh and quickly brought her foot up and kicked him in the chest only for her to bring it up again and kicked him in the face, then right back down to his chest as she held him there, his body slumped over. "Consider that me going easy on you, the next time I can't promise I won't hurt you." She removed her foot from his chest as his body slid down the wall, leaving him in a sitting position.
She just stared down at him as Rakaia sat there, defeated by the very person that came to his rescue. She moved a bit of her hair from her face and saw that he was taking his beating pretty badly and decided to leave him with that.
"Stupid…I'm so stupid…I lost…I lost to you of all people…How could I be so…" He uttered to himself as he gritted his teeth. "Dammit." His fist bashed the concrete as Luna just stared at him before she turned her back and walked away.
She exited the alley, leaving Rakaia alone to his mourning as she resumed her walk down the street. Her mind raced as the thoughts of the transpiring events entered her mind as she stopped in her tracks, glancing back at the alley that she left Rakaia in. "Maybe I went a bit too far." Her mind raced as an image of Rakaia's beaten body appeared in her head. "Well…" She shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind. "It's his own fault." She ended as she went back to walking to her destination.
Hours passed as Rakaia made his way home. His body was hurting all over and his mind was not in the best place after being beaten up twice in one day. He pulled a Red phone from his pocket, checking the messages; seeing that he had a couple of misses texts and calls from Cana, Noah, and his mother. Not bothering to read through them all Rakaia put his phone up and walked into the house, bruised and beaten.
He closed the door, still bummed out about what happened to him. He came in like he normally did and fell face first on the couch, his clothes dirty and body aching from the abuse that he took and a mental headache from the reality of everything that just happened.
"Rakaia is that you?" His mom stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands with a small towel as she saw her son lying face first on the couch again. "You know I'm not going to allow you to continue this bad habit of yours Rakaia." She told him as she crossed her arms a bit.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rakaia muffled from the sofa.
"I'm serious Rakaia; this is the second time this week you came home late." She replied. "Cana's called looking for you and my thoughts are, if you're not with Cana then where could you be?" She added.
"I'm not a kid anymore mom, I don't need a babysitter," Rakaia mumbled again. "I don't have to be around Cana all the time you know." He added.
"That's not the point Rakaia." His mom retaliated. "She seemed a bit worried that you weren't home yet and so was I." She told him as she walked over to the couch and sat by her son as he refused to look at her and show her his bruises.
"So where were you?" She asked him.
"I was just walking…No big deal." He answered; his face still plummeted in the contents of the couch.
"Not a good answer." She replied. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." She demanded as Rakaia kept his face buried. "Rakaia! Rakaia I'm serious! Rakaia Meiyo!" His mom quickly jerked his face up from frustration as she caught a good look at her son bruised features. A gasp escaped her lips as her son turned his head away to try and hide the shame that he felt as his mom eyed him.
"Rakaia….What on….What the hell happened to you?" She quickly knelt down grabbing Rakaia's face with both hands moving it around to analyze it. "Who did this to you?" She questioned him as she surveyed the minor cuts and bruises on his upper body and arms. "Did you get into another fight?" She brought her light brown eyes up to meet his, but he turned away from her sadly.
"Don't worry mom…I can handle it." He replied softly.
"Handle it…" Rakaia's mom stood up. "Handle it!" She repeated. "Rakaia this is the second time you've come home like this, what's going on?" She asked him, her stern expression displaying seriousness but only through the emotion she was feeling for her son. "Are you in a gang or something?" She asked him.
"No mom that's not it…I." Rakaia turned his head to answer her.
"Then what is it! Do I have to call your father and get him involved?" She asked him.
"What do I need him for?" Rakaia stood up and yelled, his blood boiling at the mention of his father. "What can he even do? Sit there and have one his "I'm your father talks." Rakaia said back in anger.
"He's your father Rakaia; he can help you if you just let him." His mom replied. "You can't keep holding a grudge forever." His mom tried to reason with him. "If you need help, then just ask and I will…"
"Don't you dare bring him into my business!" Rakaia shouted. "I don't need some guy who's always gone to come and try to tell me how to handle my problems." He interjected.
"Your father has responsibilities!" She shouted him.
"Why are you sticking up for him?" Rakaia mouthed back, catching her off guard.
Silence settled between the two as Rakaia saw the hurt look on his mother's face as they both knew when Rakaia's father was always a heavy discussion. "I'm just trying to keep this family together as best I can. I can't do it alone and I can't do it if you keep battling your father every step of the way." His mother spoke truthfully.
Rakaia sighed a bit as his mother continued to speak. "I know it's rough Rakaia, but your father is doing the best he can to fix everything. I know he is." She finished as Rakaia closed his eyes for a second and a vague scream from his memory played through his mind.
He reopened his eyes a hurtful expression on his face as well. "Mom, he abandoned us…There is no fixing that, especially for Rhea." Rakaia finished as he walked passed his mother, leaving the same look on her face as well. As he did she grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt, stopping him in his steps.
"If you come home again, bruised up, I'm going to have him look into the issue." Rakaia kept silent as his mother spoke to him, her voice stern and serious as she turned to eye her son. "I'm not going to allow what happened to Rhea to happen to you, If you won't tell me what's going on, then I'll find out myself one way or another, do I make myself clear." She asked him as Rakaia could only nod his head as his mother released her grip from him and he made his way towards his room.
She heard the door closed as she sighed heavily, leaning against the wall as she began to rub her temple with her right hand. "You better find her." She mumbled. "You better find her." She ended as she glared at the picture sitting on the nightstand, with a glare blocking the man that was in it as she walked back into the kitchen, not uttering another word.