Luna and her opponent continued to stare at each other as the store started to pile up with people as they began to pull out their phones and began to record what was about to happen. The commotion started to carry on outside the store as word was starting to spread around quickly that something was about to take place inside the supermarket.
The green-haired girl couldn't help but let a smirk slide across her face as she could feel the eyes bearing down on the two of them. Luna, on the other hand, didn't give her the same response. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued to glare at her.
"You ready for this princess?" The green-haired girl asked her as she pressed her fist into her open palm. Her yellow eyes sparred with Luna's Brown eyes. "You have a public audience, hasn't it been a while since you had a turnout like this?" She questioned her as Luna's eyes darkened a bit at the female's comment.
"So, what do you say?" The green-haired girl continued to smother her fist into her opened palm for emphasis. "Why don't you give these people a reminder of what the great Luna Kazahaya can do, come on. I want to see what you got." She stated as Luna's fist balled up as she gritted her teeth at the statement made.
"Are they going to fight?" What's going on? Move out of the way, I can't, see?" The words echoed throughout the store as people began to take pictures and record what was going on. "Look it's Luna! It's Luna! It's Luna Kazahaya!" The crowd continued to yell amongst themselves as Luna kept her eyes focused on the girl in front of her, but Cana, on the other hand, began to take notice of all the eyes that were on them.
"Luna...." Cana called her name, but Cana's words didn't reach her as Luna continued to stare at her green-haired opponent, her fist remained clenched as she continued to grit her teeth.
"It must really suck huh?" The green-haired girl spoke again. "How you were dismissed from XMA and how they treated you after the fact." She stated as Luna's eyes suddenly rose in surprise, but that only made the yellowed-eyed girl smirk even more as her eyes narrowed into slits and her tongue slithered out her mouth like a snake. "I know, I saw the interview." She stated as Luna's arm was about to raise, but Cana caught her hand just in time before Luna looked like she was about to strike.
"Luna no," Cana whispered to her as she brought her close to her. "She's trying to bait you into fighting; there are too many people here. It would be all over the internet." She told her as Luna finally began to take in everything around her.
Her eyes darted from one end to another as her vision was filled with nothing but people with their phones out. She silently cursed herself as the green-haired girl continued to smirk at her. "Come on Luna, what's taking you so long, or are you afraid that you might just get beat again?" She taunted her, but Cana kept a tight grip on Luna's arm as she pulled her away from the girl.
"Come on Luna, we have to go. We can't stay here." She told her as she continued to drag Luna until they made it out of the store, leaving the green-haired girl standing there smirking as people continued to take pictures and record, capturing the scene for everyone worldwide to see.
"Well, I guess that was a bust." She sighed as she kept her sights set on Luna as she exited the store. "And here was my chance to be famous, oh well; there goes that." She shrugged her shoulders as her phone began to ring. "Hmmm...." She took notice as she reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a green touchscreen phone, answering it in the process.
"Talk to me." She spoke calmly into her phone.
"Visha, we.... What is that in the background?" A voice sounded familiar to Visha as she quickly registered it as Saitou's. "Visha, what are you...."
"Oh, that? I'm at the supermarket; it seems that things just got a bit exciting around here." She licked her lips a bit as she turned her attention back to the phone. "So, what did you want my little garden snake?" She asked him. "I hope everything is alright, you know how I hate last-minute mix-ups." She told him on the phone, making Saitou sweat a bit.
"Well, something did come up, but...I have to tell you in person, we got to meet..." Saitou stated as he heard Visha give an unsatisfied sigh as she looked at the phone for a short moment before putting it back on her ear, and walking out of the store with one hand in her pocket.
"Saitou, if you had anything to do with this, you know what's going to happen right?" Visha told him as she could hear Saitou on the other end, rushing his words trying to tell her that he had nothing to do with what he had to tell her. "Yea, yea, yea, just meet me back at my favorite spot." Visha dismissed him as she hung up in his face, placing her phone back into her pocket. "Ugh, I swear; garden snakes are so useless." She lightly growled as she made her way back to her destination.
Meanwhile, Cana continued to drag Luna away from the store, finally getting away from the crowd as Cana managed to take a breath of relief as Luna remained a bit upset. "Damn, you can't even grocery shop around here anymore." Cana groaned as she slightly turned her head towards Luna. "What the hell was that girl's problem anyway, and who the hell was she?" She questioned as her eyes remained on Luna. "Luna, do you know her?" She asked as Luna quickly shook her head.
"No, that was the first time I've seen her in my life," Luna responded as Cana gave her a bit of a surprised look. "I don't know what she really wanted, but the only thing I know is, she really wanted an audience," Luna growled under her breath.
"More than that?" Cana added. "It looked like she wanted to get her 15 minutes of fame in, that's why she tried to get you to fight her," Cana told her as Luna only nodded her head in agreement.
"That's the problem with being a celebrity," Luna spoke lowly as Cana kept her eyes on her. "Everybody always wants to take a shot at you, especially if you're a fighter." Luna closed her eyes for a moment, before reopening them with a small smile stretching across her face as she looked at Cana. "Thanks, Cana, if you hadn't of stepped in, I would have been all over the news and that wouldn't be good," Luna stated as Cana nodded her head in return.
"Would have?" Cana repeated. "The way you were staring at her made it seem like you were about to go for the top story out there." Cana placed both of her hands on her hips as she turned toward Luna. "What happened back there, Luna?" She asked her. "How did you let her get under your skin like that?" She continued to question her. "She almost had you…."
"I just zoned out…." Luna cut her off, stopping Cana's words in her tracks. "It's not like I wanted to, but it was something she said that got to me." She walked over to Cana placing her hand on her shoulder. "But don't worry, I won't lose my head like that again, I'm ok." She told her as she was about to walk off, but Cana turned towards her, lightly glaring at her back.
"Is it what she said about what happened in XMA?" Cana asked her as Luna stopped in her tracks for a split second but decided to keep walking.
"Let's go Cana," Luna said back to her. "After all that, I still didn't get any groceries." She told her, ignoring her comment about her past in her pro days. "I guess, we'll have to go somewhere else." She sighed as Cana just watched as Luna began to take the lead, leaving Cana behind as she watched as Luna continued to walk down the street, opposite of the store they just come from.
"Luna…." Cana sighed as she slowly began to follow her.
-Later that day, near the docks-
"Are you sure about this Tsu?" Ikari asked him as she looked over at the docks as she, along with Eve and Tsu stood in a warehouse building across from the docks, watching it for any activity. "I mean, can we trust the Intel that we got? What if this is a trap or something?" Ikari threw out another question as Tsu leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and Eve sat in a chair by the wall with one leg crossed over the other.
Eve gave her a very irritated look while Tsu calmly opened his eyes, giving Ikari a calm gentle look. "And if it is?" Eve spoke up before Tsu had a chance to get a word out. "Are you going to run away and turn in your badge rookie?" Eve retorted as Ikari quickly whirled her head around toward Eve.
"I don't plan on running; I just want to know if we can actually trust our Intel, is that a problem with you?" Ikari asked her, shooting her a small glare as Eve crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
"Only if you get in the way and mess everything up, yea that is a problem with me," Eve replied as Tsu watched as both girls continued to build tension between one another. "Let's get one thing, straight rookie."
"It's Ikari…" Ikari growled back.
"Doesn't matter rookie." Eve stood up, making her way towards Ikari, standing in front of her, clearly showing who the taller girl between the two was. "We were given orders to break up this meeting and make sure we catch whatever contents are being handed over, if you can't handle that then I suggest you hand over your badge and sit at home, like a good little girl," Eve told her as Ikari was about to say something back, but Tsu intervened.
"Will you two knock it off?" Tsu stated, stepping in between the two, slightly glancing at both before his eyes settled on Eve. "Eve, Ikari's right, I don't know if we can trust the Intel that we've gotten, but we don't have a choice. Chief orders." Tsu turned to Ikari. "If it is a trap, we'll just have to be ready for it, simple as that. Don't get nervous though, we just have to hope everything goes smoothly and we all can go home safely and put this case behind us." He ended as he looked at the two of them again, giving them both a warm smile.
"So can you two cool it for now?" Tsu asked crossing his arms. "We don't need anything getting in the way, should something go wrong and that includes your egos," Tsu stated, making his words clear as he could as both Eve and Ikari looked at each other, giving one another a slight glare before turning their heads away from each other.
Tsu looked down at the two and sighed in response. "This is going to be a long day." He thought to himself as he turned his head back towards a nearby window, that gave him a perfect view of the docks. "Still though…." His mind raced as he walked towards the window, standing in front of it; his eyes looking outward towards the open area as cargo ships pulled into the harbor. "Why now?" He questioned in his head as he placed his hand under his chin and began to think about the situation that they were in. "Why a shipment now, so suddenly? And where did this Intel come from?" He questioned.
"Hey Tsu...." Ikari walked up next to him as she took in the view that the window gave her.
Tsu, broken out of his train of thought turned his head towards his younger partner, seeing a face that a bit of concern plaguing it. "Yes, Ikari, what is it?" He asked her as Ikari didn't respond immediately, but instead; took a deep breath before she spoke.
"Do you ever get scared, when you go on these cases?" She asked him as she turned her head towards him slightly. Her green eyes are full of questions that appeared to be seeking answers.
Tsu couldn't help but return with a smile before he responded. "All the time..." He crossed his arms as Ikari looked up at him while he still wore a warm smile on his face. "Our cases are... Tough, Ikari, even our simplest cases have no safety guarantee." He continued to watch as citizens who worked on the dock came within his field of vision.
"It's hard Ikari, our jobs aren't easy, but we can't let that get in the way of what we have to do," Tsu told her as Ikari took a deep breath in response.
"Yea, I know...It's just... It's just, our last couple of cases." Ikari struggled as Tsu placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back up at him.
In the background, Eve continued to sit cross-armed as she watched the spectacle unfold in front of her eyes. "Hmph...." She uttered under her breath as she stood up, unnoticed by the two and walking out the room, without closing the door behind her.
"It's because of Eve, isn't it?" Tsu asked her as Ikari didn't move, but kept her eyes locked onto the scene of workers that unfolded in front of her.
Tsu couldn't help but release a small sigh as he turned his attention back towards the window as well. "Eve...Can be a handful." Tsu began. "She can be a bit headstrong with her views and her ways of doing things, but she's a good person," Tsu explained to her. "She just doesn't see justice like we do?" Tsu added as Ikari looked up at him again.
"What do you mean?" Ikari asked him as Tsu looked down at her and then returned his eyes back towards the view.
"That's going to be something you're going to have to ask her about." He replied to her. "Because I'm sure she'd kick my ass if I told you." He let out a small nervous laugh as Ikari just gave him a weird stare in return.
She sighed as she looked at him and then slumped her body on the window seal. "Why couldn't get paired up with better partners?" She groaned mentally as Tsu continued to laugh at her as if the answer was seriously funny.
-Later that night, At Noah's House-
Nightfall came, unnoticed by those who didn't realize that time had gotten away from them. Rakaia catching the wind of the night sky from the inside of Noah's house, sat up on the sofa, stretching his arms a bit before turning to Noah, who sat beside him on the couch. "Man, it's getting late, I got to head home," Rakaia spoke as Noah turned his head towards him a bit.
"I never really seen you worry about the time before Rakaia," Noah returned.
"Yeah, I got to be at school kind of early tomorrow," Rakaia replied, which caused Noah's expression to quickly change into a surprised one.
"What? You're going to school? Early?" Noah spoke out, completely taken off guard by Rakaia's previous comment. "You? Wait, hold on? Seriously?"
"Yea, I got training with Luna tomorrow," Rakaia responded back as he stuffed his hands in his pants pocket. "I only have one more day to train, so I have to work as hard as I can if I'm going to stand somewhat of a chance against him." Rakaia ended as Noah tilted his head a bit to look up at Rakaia.
"And Luna is training you?" Noah exclaimed as he quickly leaped off his sofa with excitement. "Rakaia! This is big! You're training with Luna! The Luna Kazahaya!" Noah continued as Rakaia just simply looked back at him, nodding his head.
He took a slight breath before answering. "Yea, it was after what happened when Saitou and his brothers jumped us," Rakaia told him. "After Mariko hauled you off to the infirmary Luna and I talked and she," Rakaia thought about the turn of events that happened between Luna and himself before she started training him. ", agreed to train me." He ended. "She is helping me get ready for this big fight in a few days, so yea; I got to meet her tomorrow." He finished.
"So, you're still going to fight him huh?" Noah asked him as Rakaia turned his head back towards Noah.
"I can't let him get away with everything he's done Noah, yea I'm still going to fight him and I'm going to kick his ass." Rakaia bluntly told him as Noah continued to give Rakaia a look that showed that Noah wasn't impressed by Rakaia's bravado.
"Do you think you stand a chance against him?" Noah asked him as Rakaia paused for a second, thinking about Noah's question as he continued to look down at his friend. "I mean, you saw what happened the last time Saitou decided to show what he was made of..." Noah told him. "How he...."
"It doesn't matter...." Rakaia balled up his fist, gritting his teeth as his voice took on a darker tone, which caused Noah to let out a light gasp as Rakaia continued to stare at him. "It doesn't matter how strong he is Noah, I'm taking him down one way or another, and I'm not letting him get away with what he did you to you, Cana and Luna," Rakaia told him as he turned towards the door; walking but speaking as he did. "I'm knocking him out, simple as that." Rakaia finished as he got to the door and began to turn the knob before he heard a chuckle from behind him.
He turned back around to see Noah with a slight grin on his face. "Alright then, you know I'm going to be watching you. Go take that bastard down." He gave him a thumbs up while Rakaia nodded his head in agreement, walking out the door and closing it behind him as Noah picked up his phone, looking at it for a second as Rakaia left his house.
-Sometime later-
Not much time passed since Rakaia left Noah's house. The streetlights shined brightly as Rakaia made his way down the sidewalk, watching as people walked past him, ignoring him as he ignored them. His hands were in his pockets as he appeared to have something on his mind.
"Can I really beat him?" Rakaia thought to himself. "Am I really going to be ready in time to fight him?" He asked himself mentally as he thought about the words, he told Noah. "And I just told Noah, I was going to kick his ass." He sighed, now falling short in believing his own words.
He raised his head to look up at the night sky as he saw a few stars sitting on the dark blue wall that hovered over the city.
Letting loose another deep breath. "I guess time will tell, won't it?" He told himself as he brought his attention back to the direction that he was facing, his eyes narrowing at the sounds of footsteps walking towards him. "Speak of the damn devil…" He gritted his teeth as his eyes landed on not only the three Viper Brothers but Visha and a gang size amount of ordinary gang members, wearing the same outfit the Viper brothers were wearing.
Saitou was the first to catch a glimpse of Rakaia as the two sides came to a halt. Both Saitou and Rakaia with their hands in their pockets as they eyed each other, the tension between them picking up as they both continued to glare at each other.
"Well look at who it is?" Saitou was the first to speak between the two. "If it isn't the runt that's going to be beaten down in a few days, fancy running into you out here." He stated as Rakaia took a deep breath as he eyed Saitou, but not only him; the squadron he had behind him.
He kept his composure as he looked up at Saitou. "Just taking a walk, didn't think I would run into you and your tagalongs." Rakaia shot back. "Can you go anywhere by yourself?" Rakaia added an extra insult as Saitou lightly gritted his teeth at him.
"You got a lot of mouth for someone who's going to…." Saitou was about to say but was interrupted.
"Oh, is this the kid that you're fighting in a few days Saitou?" Visha spoke out with excitement that caught both Rakaia and Saitou off guard. She smiled seductively as she placed both of her hands behind her back and made her way over to him childishly, circling around him, sizing him up and down. "Oh, and he's a cute one." She gave him a creepy smile.
"Good features," She nodded her head in approval as she eyed him a few more times. "He looks promising enough," She began as she placed her hand on her chin. "He's a bit on the short side, but I don't know." She turned her back to her gang.
"Have you crossed arms with him yet Saitou?" She asked him as Saitou gave her a very quizzical look before returning his attention back towards Rakaia, who to; gave her the same look. "Can he fight? Is he going to be fun to play around with?" She asked him as Saitou couldn't help but close his eyes in sheer frustration at Visha's antics.
"Hmph, no answer huh? Garden snakes have no manners" Visha turned her head back towards Rakaia, her smile never fading as she eyed him. "Well don't worry about him; I'm sure you two will have lots of fun together when your little match comes up." She told him. "However, "Visha smile slightly turned into a smirk. "I really want to see what you can do if you can catch Saitou's attention. "Visha told him as she slithered her way up to Rakaia, invading his personal space as her hand slowly glided up his chest before Rakaia pulled away from her.
"Oh?" Visha mouthed at Rakaia's sudden reaction. "What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?" She asked him as Rakaia gave her a weird but cautioned look as his eyes fell on her.
"Who? Who are you?" Rakaia asked her as Visha didn't hesitate to flip her hair to the side as she placed one hand on her hip, her smirk remaining as she kept Rakaia in her view.
"Who am I?" Visha placed her other hand on her chest, overacting as she was about to present herself, but she slightly turned her head over to Saitou. "I'm surprised, your boxing buddy didn't even mention me to you, Garden Snakes are so…Useless." She gave him a slight glare causing Saitou to turn his head away from her gaze.
"Saitou…" Rakaia quickly snapped his eyes over to Saitou to see him avoiding Visha's gaze and slowly turned his head back to lock eyes with her.
"Well since he was so rude not to introduce me to you, I guess I'll just have to do the honors myself." She told Rakaia. "The name's Visha, Queen of the Poisonous Snakes, and these…" She gestured with her hand indicating to her gang, including Saitou and his brothers. "Are my little pets," she told him as Rakaia looked at her for a moment before narrowing his eyes at her.
"Pets?" Rakaia repeated.
"Oh? I see why Saitou likes you." Visha replied. "You can hear well." She added. "Yes, they're my pets, my gang. The Poisonous Snakes, the most feared gang in Kofu Japan," She announced as the gang members all either gritted their teeth or cracked their knuckles as they glared at Rakaia. "All except Saitou who grew even more frustrated by the turn of events.
Rakaia continued to stare at Visha, but slowly directed his attention back to Saitou. "So, Noah was right?" Rakaia replied.
"Excuse me?" Visha responded with a confused look on her face.
"Saitou…" Rakaia called his name, gaining his attention. "We have two days left and you bring out an army of people to jump me, I didn't know you were that desperate." Rakaia taunted him.
"Huh? You got it all wrong runt." Saitou replied as he stepped forward towards Rakaia. "I don't need a gang of people to wipe the floor with you," Saitou responded.
"Could have fooled me." Rakaia shot back.
"Oh, he's got a bit of a mouth on him too." Visha hissed a bit, but Rakaia focused on Saitou.
"Make no mistake runt." Saitou began. "I would make you eat the pavement right now, but I don't have time for that." He told him. "I have something more important to do and beating you up isn't a part of that, so do yourself a favor and move out the way before you get hurt, this is your only warning," Saitou told him as Rakaia looked up at him and then his eyes traveled towards the people that stood behind him.
"Something more important?" Rakaia repeated as he looked back at the people that stood behind Saitou. "It's the first time I've seen you with anyone else besides your brothers." He told him as he brought his gaze back towards Saitou. "It's a bad look for you," Rakaia told him as he crossed his arms.
"What?" Saitou gritted his teeth as his fist began to ball up. "What did you say?" He growled.
"The whole time we've run into each other, you've had your brothers back you up at every twist and turn. You are never by yourself and even now you say you're about to head off with a gang of people." Rakaia crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing at Saitou as he made sure to stare at him and him alone. "What's really going on here?" His curiosity peaked as he kept his eyes maintained on his future opponent.
Saitou slightly gritted his teeth a bit, but Kaitou stepped forward. "It's none of your business kid," He spat.
"Yea, so move aside and be happy you're not catching a beating today," Maitou added as Rakaia kept his arms crossed, his eyes slowly moving from Saitou to his brothers and even catching a glimpse of Visha as she continued to smile at him.
He ignored her and turned his head back to Saitou. "You're really starting to piss me off runt?" Saitou growled under his breath as he slowly began to ball up his fists. "I won't say it again, move out of the way or I promise you won't have to worry about our fight in a few days." Saitou glared at him as Rakaia uncrossed his arms, balling up his fist as well.
A small smirk appeared on his face as Saitou saw the smug look that Rakaia carried on his face. "Well boys, I don't know about you." Visha spoke up, her voice still soft and calm, but I think we have some time to kill before we get going," Her smile darkened as she licked her lips and eyed Rakaia. "I want to see what this little guy can do." She ended as the thugs behind her started pounding their fists and making violent rants as they got ready to rush Rakaia, who kept his eyes on Saitou before turning them towards Visha.
"Just say when…" He glared at them.