Saitou continued to stare down at the phone as the call ended. His eyes narrowed down with a small glare as he continued to focus his vision on the object in his hand. There was no name on the screen, nor was there a picture that was revealed to him. It was a simple call to someone whose contact was not saved and left mysterious as Saitou continued to think about what just transpired.
"Saitou," Maitou called out to him. "Saitou? Hello? Earth to Saitou?" Maitou knocked on his brother's skull. 'Is anyone there?" He asked snapping Saitou out of his intense state of mind, causing him to turn to his brothers, blinking in confusion for a moment.
"Huh?" Was the only response that escaped his lips as he continued to stare at his brothers.
"Yo, you alright Saitou?" Maitou asked him.
"Yea, you kind of zoned out on us for a bit." Kaitou followed up. "So how did it go?" He asked him. "Is everything still going as planned?" Kaitou inquired. His expression betrayed his question as if he was only asking to try and convince himself that he was ready for the answer, hoping it was the opposite of what he was about to get.
Saitou slowly nodded his head. "Yea, it's a go." Saitou slowly brought his attention down to his phone. "Tonight, at the docks." Saitou delivered the information as he received it. "At 9:00…" He told them as both Kaitou and Maitou turned their attention to one another, before looking back at the oldest.
"9:00?" Maitou repeated. "Isn't that...I don't know, a bit early?" He asked him.
"Yea, we normally don't do pick-ups until midnight," Kaitou added on. "What gives?" He questioned as Saitou could only shake his head lightly at both of their suspicions.
"I don't know," Saitou responded. "He said he has another client, so I'm guessing he wanted ours over and done with," Saitou replied, still bringing his eyes back down to his phone.
"Yea but," Kaitou lowered his gaze as well. "Do you think we can trust this? I mean it is just another shipment, but I don't know...Something doesn't feel right…" Kaitou looked over at Maitou before he returned his eyes back to his oldest brother, Saitou."
"Kaitou might be right Saitou?" Maitou turned his head to him as well. "I don't like this, another client?" Maitou spoke as Saitou turned his gaze towards him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, having multiple clients isn't unusual, but…" Saitou's gaze slightly narrowed at Maitou.
"Are you saying something may be wrong with our source?" He asked his brothers. They both looked at each other for a moment before returning their attention back to Saitou. "Or is this a way of saying that you're trying to back out of this deal?" He asked them, his voice stern.
Kaitou was the first one to speak out of the two. "Come on Saitou, don't think we're trying to leave you all by yourself with this, we just feel like something might be up." Kaitou tried to reason with his brother.
"Yea, don't you think it's funny that he switched times up all of a sudden?" Maitou stated. "Normally it might be 30 minutes short, but nothing this big of a time gap," Maitou added.
"So, you think it's a trap?" Saitou asked the middle oldest.
"It's hard to say, but something doesn't seem right about this." Maitou returned as Saitou looked back down at his phone, narrowing his gaze with the hint of a small glare forming in his eyes.
"It doesn't matter." Saitou's vision returned to his brothers. "We're doing it." He told them as both Kaitou and Maitou could do nothing but simply stare at him. "We're not backing out of this. If we do, we still have Visha to worry about." Saitou told them, "Regardless, we have to go through this and make sure we get the shipment off to her, if we don't do that, she'll hunt us down." He lowered his eyes. "One by one…." He mumbled under his breath as his brothers looked at each other and then back at him, lowering their gaze as well.
"Between a rock and a hard place huh?" Maitou voiced.
"Yea sure seems that way," Kaitou added. "But if everything goes right we could be done with this." He added cheerfully.
"Not could Kaitou," Saitou added. "We are done with this, we're up to our necks with problems right now and we must go it alone and do our own thing. We can't let Visha and everyone else keep ordering us around," He balled up his fist. "We're the Viper Brothers dammit..." He growled as he returned his eyes to his kin. "We're going to finish this last job and then we'll start our own gang, take control of the city and then we'll show people who we really are." A hard smirk crossed Saitou's lips. "And we're going to start with that runt I have to beat down." He put his fist out towards his brothers who returned the gesture, nodding in unison.
-Meanwhile-
Rakaia walked silently down a busy sidewalk, ignoring the city occupants as they walked past him, chatting away with the people in their group or on their cellular devices. Rakaia carried a problematic look on his face. He seemed deep in thought as he mindlessly walked past civilians.
His mind couldn't help but flashback to the events that had taken place inside of the school walls.
-Flashback-
"Aww come on." Saitou taunted him. "Is that all you got?" He asked his unwilling opponent as he barely managed to stand up. "All that information you had on me, and this is the best you can do," Saitou spoke as he delivered a hard punch to the stomach of Noah, who coughed up spit as Saitou left his hand buried in Noah's midsection. "They say a fighter should have brains and brawns, but it looks like you are lacking in the brawns department, huh runt?" Saitou taunted him a bit more as he began to lift Noah up a bit with his fist. "Here, let's see if we can toughen you up!" He pushed Noah off his fist and used his other hand to connect with the side of Noah's jaw, sending the non-fighter, sprawling to the ground.
-Flashback Ended-
Rakaia slightly gritted his teeth at the thought of what happened. "Dammit," He cursed mentally. "If I hadn't been so careless…" His eyes narrowed a bit as he walked with his hands stuffed in his pocket, stopping at a nearby crosswalk along with a couple of other people, waiting for the light to change. "If I wasn't so careless, Noah wouldn't have gotten hurt." He mentally told himself.
He sighed depressingly as the light changed, allowing him to walk the path. "You tried to warn me, Noah." Rakaia thought to himself as his mind brought him back to the times when Noah tried to tell Rakaia how dangerous Saitou and his brothers were.
-2nd Flashback -
"Rakaia!" He heard another male voice calling from behind him, stopping him in his tracks as he turned to face the source." Rakaia!" Noah showed himself as he rushed towards Rakaia, stopping in front of him as he tried to catch his breath. "Rakaia, is it true? Are you really…Going to…Fight Saitou in one week?" Noah asked him in-between breaths.
"Yea, that's the plan," Rakaia told him, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he turned to face Noah.
"What! Are you crazy?" Noah shot back at him. "Do you even know what you're getting yourself into?" Noah asked him, clearly overly ecstatic about Rakaia's decision.
-2nd Flashback ended-
Rakaia sighed depressingly as he found himself walking through a quiet neighborhood. "Truth is, I didn't know what I was getting myself into." He spoke to himself. "I thought that this was just going to be another one-on-one fight and that's it, exchange a couple of blows and that would be the end of it, just another fight in the neighborhood." Rakaia breathed. "I couldn't have been more wrong…" He added as he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.
His brown eyes fell upon a blue ponytail-haired boy sitting on the front porch with a few bandages around his head, reading a book. He seemed transfixed in it as his body was clothed with a pair of cargo pants that were almost identical to Rakaia's and a blue and white striped polo shirt.
"Noah…" Rakaia called his name as the blue-haired slowly turned his attention towards him, giving him a small smile.
"Yo Rakaia, what's up." Noah's smile didn't falter as he waved over to Rakaia, who could only stare at him for a second as he simply nodded and made his way towards the boy, sitting down next to him. "Hey Rakaia, long time no see." Noah jokingly spoke as Rakaia kept staring at him, giving him a bit of a perplexing feeling as he slightly raised his eyebrow at him. "Um, Rakaia are you ok? You're staring at me. Pretty hard actually, could you stop…." Noah told him as Rakaia blinked a bit, realizing what he was doing.
"Oh, um, sorry…It's just...It's just that I haven't seen you since…."
"Saitou and his brothers jumped us." Noah cut him off as Rakaia could only slowly nod his head at Noah's correct statement. "Rakaia that was a couple of days ago." Noah smiled at him as he returned his attention back to his book.
"Yea, but…." Rakaia paused for a second. "I guess…." Rakaia had trouble getting out the words to come out of his mouth. This didn't go unnoticed by Noah as he simply turned his head towards Rakaia.
"Something on your mind," Noah asked him as Rakaia's eyes slowly lowered to the ground in front of him.
Rakaia took a deep breath as he made sure to keep his eyes planted on the ground. "Noah," Rakaia began. "You were right?" Rakaia admitted causing Noah's eyes to slightly rise at Rakaia. "I should have listened to you and taken your word seriously," Rakaia added as he sat up a bit. "You tried to tell me how dangerous Saitou and his brothers were, but I didn't listen and... Well if I had taken them seriously...You wouldn't have got caught up in all this and…." Rakaia struggled a bit as Noah let out a slight laugh causing Rakaia to turn his head towards him.
"Huh?" Rakaia blinked a bit.
"Are you seriously laughing at me?" He growled, raising his fist up at Noah for a second. "I'm over here trying to apologize to you and you're laughing at me." He gritted his teeth playfully as Noah continued to laugh.
"Of course, I'm laughing at you." He confirmed as he slowly came to a stop, resuming the conversation between them. "I figured you'd probably beat yourself up for what happened back there," Noah told him as he put his book down and leaned back on his hands.
"Yea, I was," Rakaia responded. "Why wouldn't I?" Rakaia leaned back as well." I let my best friend get attacked by my opponent, that's got to be low in the books somewhere, right?" Rakaia turned his head towards him as Noah shook his head.
"Rakaia, there was nothing you could have done," Noah told him, smiling as he looked back down at his book. "It was just an unfortunate circumstance that we were placed in, we were both screwed." Noah looked back over at him as Rakaia couldn't help but give him a smile in return.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Rakaia leaned back again, his mind running through the things that Mariko told him about Noah's injuries. He slightly glanced over at him with a questionable look. "What did the doctors say about your injuries?" He asked him.
Noah looked over at him for a second before speaking. "Injuries," He paused for a second as if he was thinking. "Surprisingly, they weren't as bad as I thought they were," Noah replied honestly. "A few bumps and bruises, a slight concussion, and that is about it." He answered him. "They told me that I just need to rest for a few days and then I could go back to school lucky right?" He asked Rakaia as he turned his look back towards him. Rakaia couldn't help but nod his head as a reply.
"Yea, who knew that you could take a beating like that and come out with a few scratches?" Rakaia joked. "Are you sure you aren't a fighter?" He followed up, causing Noah to laugh a bit.
Noah shook his head as his laughter died down. "If I was then I wouldn't have let Saitou get as far as he did," Noah answered him as he leaned back with a drawn-out breath escaping his lips. "I think I'll leave the fighting up to you and Cana," Noah told him. "I'm just not cut out for it," Noah added as Rakaia lowered his gaze a bit.
"Don't you think training would help?" Rakaia asked him. "If you put as much effort into fighting as you do your studies, you'd be a hard person to deal with," Rakaia stated.
Noah returned Rakaia's statement with a chuckle. "Yea, I'd be unstoppable huh? Noah the genius fighter." Noah continued to chuckle as Rakaia added a chuckle of his own. "I don't think anybody would be ready for me if I was to do that." He ended.
"Except for me." Rakaia spoke confidently, "I'll be the only one that can match you." Rakaia assured him as Noah looked over at him.
"Is that so?" Noah playfully challenged him. "So, you're saying, if I was the fighter that we're talking about, that only you would be able to take me down?" Noah returned the statement as if he was intrigued by Rakaia's previous comeback.
"No doubt about it," Rakaia replied confidently.
"Wow, you're pretty sure of yourself," Noah told him. "I guess we all have to be bold sometimes, right?" Noah joked with him as Rakaia could only stare at him as Noah stood up. "Well, it's not like we'll get to find out right? I'm not a fighter; I'm more of a bookworm. I have a passion for knowledge, not fighting." Noah spoke proudly as he leaned forward a bit. "So don't worry, you already got me in the fighting department, I wouldn't be a match for you anyway." He ended as he began to walk towards the front door, but not before turning around to get one last look at Rakaia. "You want to come in for a bit?" He asked him.
Rakaia only looked back at him, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't have anything better to do." Rakaia retorted playfully as he followed Noah into the house.
-Meanwhile in the city district-
Luna and Cana walked the city streets, surrounded by shopping marts and a crowd of people that made their way towards their destinations. There were food marts on every corner as well as a few clothing department stores stationed by the food marts, creating a huge tourist attraction for those who were not familiar with the city.
Luna couldn't help but get caught up looking at the people that walked around her. She was used to seeing a crowd of people, but normally in the stands surrounding the ring that she would fight in. "Wow, the cities really changed since I last saw it." Luna mouthed to herself, but loud enough for Cana to hear her.
"How long has it been since you left?" Cana asked her, knocking Luna out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh…A few years I guess." Luna answered her, unsure herself of how long it's been. "It's been long enough…" She added as she turned her head back to the new shops that were put up in her absence. "There are so many stores now…" A small smile appeared on her face.
"Yea," Cana spoke up as she took in the sight along with Luna. "The district has really picked up since the academies were built." She added as Luna slowly looked over at her.
"The academies?" She repeated as Cana only nodded her head in confirmation.
"The academies aren't that old, in fact; they're fairly new, 5 years actually," Cana told her. "Before the city was filled with nothing but gangs, drugs, and low-income living," Cana explained as the two continued to walk along the concrete path, passing by people and the marts that occupied them. "There were a lot of gang wars and wars with the police going around; it really made it hard for anyone to do anything around here." Cana continued as Luna nodded her head as well.
"Yea, I remember that" Luna replied back. "Back then, it was an everyday thing." Luna took a breath before she continued to speak. "No one was safe," She began. "It was easy to get caught up in something that you weren't prepared for if you kept your guard down." Her eyes narrowed as she thought back to her time living in the city before she left to join the famous sport, XMA.
A small snippet of flashbacks started to occur in Luna's mind as she thought about her time before she left the city. In her mind, she saw a younger version of her running as fast as she could with another female friend that appeared to be equal in height, their body type identical. The difference between the two was their hairstyle, as the girl that ran next to her had a head full of orange hair that stopped a bit past her shoulders with a single braid hanging down on the side of her face.
The scene quickly changed as it showed the two being cornered with fearful expressions on their faces with a flashlight shining upon them as they looked for a way to escape.
"Luna...Luna..." Cana called her name.
"Huh?" Luna answered, snapping out of her state of mind she blinked a bit as she turned her attention to Cana.
"We're here," Cana pointed up at the average-sized supermarket.
"Oh, yea sorry; I zoned out for a bit," Luna stated adding a slightly nervous laugh at the end of her statement.
"Yea, you did; come on," Cana told her as she grabbed ahold of her arm. "You did say you needed to do some shopping right?" Cana asked her as she pulled her into the shopping cart as the automatic doors opened, allowing them access to the store.
The two did their shopping; grabbing a variety of food items off the shelf as they happily conversed about the different items they saw. "Hey Luna," Cana turned towards Luna as she grabbed a bag of Bento boxes off a nearby cart as she turned towards Cana. "Did XMA keep you guys on some kind of diet or something; I mean you guys had to watch what you ate right?" Cana asked out of curiosity.
Luna nodded as she placed the item in her hand basket. "You have no idea," Luna returned with a slight laugh. "The rules and restrictions we had set on us when we first started." Luna began to explain as she went to pick up another food item from the shelf.
"We all had to watch what we ate." Luna started. "To how long we exercised on a daily basis, all the way down to how many hours of sleep we had to get to make sure we were ready when it was time to get in the ring." She told.
Cana stared at her in amazement for a moment as Luna continued. "What wasn't the hard part," Luna picked up. "Training was unbelievable, learning how to hone your skill, perfecting your craft day in and day out." Luna ended as Cana continued to stare at her. Luna grabbed a few vegetables and placed them in her bin.
"Wow…" That was all Cana could say. "That sounds like…. That sounds like…"
"A lot of work? Yea, I know. Trust me, it is." Luna told her as she continued with her explanation.
"When we first started the rules were taking from the ideas of another fighting industry," she told her as they both began to walk down another aisle with Cana picking up a few things as well. "But as time went on, things started changing and the higher-ups wanted to be different than their competition, something that would draw more attention." She told her as Cana continued to listen to her.
"Something more..." Luna thought about her words carefully. "Appealing to the audience..." She told her, but in her mind, the word she was looking for was a lot more revealing than what she said.
"That's when XMA became what it is today?" Cana asked her as she grabbed a few boxes from the shelf.
"Yea, something like that," Luna replied.
"Because the way you guys fight is brutal," Cana added on as she turned her head towards Luna. "When Rakaia first had me watch it, I had to turn my head away a couple of times," she added.
Luna sighed deeply at Cana's statement. "...Yea, it's gotten seriously dangerous," Luna muttered under her breath.
Cana saw the slightly depressed look on Luna's face as she figured it was time to drop the conversation. She quickly turned her head and saw a sale of her favorite fruit
"Yes! They have it!" Cana shouted, snapping Luna out of her thoughts once again Luna gave Cana a puzzled look as she watched as Cana ran over towards a cart full of gold apples. "I can't believe they have these on sale!" Cana exclaimed with excitement as Luna gave her a confused but weird look as she watched as Cana's body darted all over the bin full of apples.
"You really like apples don't you." She placed her hand on her hip as she smiled at her.
Cana was completely ecstatic as she was about to reach and grab one, but a body figure bumped into her with a harsh attitude, almost pushing her out the way, "Move it..." A female voice was heard as Cana was forcefully pushed to the side.
Cana's body was caught by Luna as they both glared at the green-haired female with a fitted hat on her head that was turned backward. "Hey what's your problem?" Cana narrowed her eyes as Luna glared at her as well. "You didn't have to push me like that." Cana jumped up from Luna's grasp, getting in the girl's face as she chewed a piece of gum looking down at Cana with a blank expression on her face. "The word please does exist you know," Cana growled at her.
The girl couldn't help but smile down at her, but it was more of a smirk that slid across her lips. "I'm sorry short stuff; I didn't want to step on you on my way to grab one of these." She slowly grabbed an apple from the bin, holding it to her lips, taking a bite in front of the two girls and anyone who was curious enough to watch. "Not bad," Her teeth chewed the apples to pieces. The sound of every crunch slightly echoed as people stared in silence and low gasped. "Sorry short stuff, you were just too slow, maybe move aside for the taller people next time." She stated.
Cana growled at her as the girl looked over at Luna and her smirk widened even further. "Oh, your face looks familiar." She stated as she brought a finger to her chin as her eyes looked Luna up and down, walking up to her, standing in front of her with Cana by her side. "Yeah, I know who you are." The smirk stretched on her face as Luna narrowed her eyes at her. "You're Luna Kazahaya, aren't you?" The green-haired female asked her.
"What of it?" Luna replied with her guard up and a glare directed toward the girl.
"Oh, it's nothing, I just heard rumors that you were here and I thought I'd check you out for myself, and seeing that you're standing right in front of me." Her golden eyes narrowed at Luna.
"You're going to fight me in front of all these people?" Luna questioned her.
"That's not a problem for you, is it?" She replied as she and Luna stood glaring at one another as people slowly began to surround them.
The crowd slowly started to gather around the three as both Luna and the girl, who wore a wide smirk on her face continued to stare at each other down. Slight gasp and whispers could be heard throughout the crowd.
"You ready for this princess." The green-haired girl began to crack her knuckles as Luna remained silent, still ready to stand her ground should she have to.