Going a few moments back, Johan and Kiyoto silently follow the group of journeymen and suspicious individuals. The two successfully followed them back to their hideout, it was just a small storage house that looked abandoned.
"For a small lot to fit big groups such as that, there must be a way underground inside." Johan commented as they meld through a nearby shrub.
Unknown to them, the establishment where the shrub rests was also a hideout. As soon as the two felt more presence emerge from the said establishment, they became more vigilant.
Three people came out of the establishment which includes an individual who is wearing a midsized Eye Mask, with an ornamental design. Basically, glittery and fluffy.
'I have a bad feeling about this' Kiyoto thought to himself as the sun finally sets.
Not long after, a fight broke out from where the group of individuals entered. A single journeyman was thrown out of the establishment by a big man wearing a one horned helm. He grabbed the journeyman by his head and slammed him into the ground.
"Don't say you're not given a choice. You know we don't want to do this right? You just didn't give us a choice." Says the big man while putting up a grin.
Kiyoto nudged Johan. "Johan, he's gonna kill him."
Johan looks around. "Two of us against a group of unknown numbers, there might also be officers nearby. You're my responsibility, remember?"
It's not as if Johan was bothered with numbers. He is confident enough to take them on by himself, he just wants to hear Kiyoto out.
"But it will bother me more to leave him alone than to get beat up. He seems to be in that situation because he doesn't want to be involved with the Scythes. Besides, you're the ace right?" He gave a straightforward answer that Johan didn't really expect.
As a response, Johan chuckled and gave his immediate reply before the situation escalated even worse. "Hah. You have your way into talking things out aren't you. See that creepy eye mask, let's say he found us out."
Kiyoto agreed and braced himself. Johan on the other hand radioed in: "I'm sorry everyone, but looks like the two of us here have no choice but to engage."
As the big man was about to land a finishing blow to the poor journeyman, Johan emerged from the shrub and landed a punch at him, resulting for the big guy to slide away for at least a few meters. He got hurt but it didn't seem to do so much.
"Oh wow you're sturdy." Johan sarcastically commented.
"Who? Hey Pocchi! What the hell are those eyes for!? Someone has tailed us!" The big guy shouted at his ally who is currently being confronted by Kiyoto.
"Shut your stenching mouth for now Pho, I'm busy judging this person." He said while looking at Kiyoto from head to toe as if he's reviewing him.
The other goons meanwhile grouped up, but Pho does not want anyone to interrupt his fight with Johan. He bumped his fists together and welcomed Johan to continue his attack. That makes Kiyoto the only target for them.
"Mmm, your posture, your body structure, your hair, everything is elegant!" Pocchi inhaled deeply and produced a sharp stare. "Except that Mask!! It's inelegant! Unsophisticated! I already see that you started to destroy it, so why won't you continue to do so!?"
"Hah! He's just a fake user, get him!" A goon commented as they charged towards Kiyoto one by one.
Fortunately, the goons have no masks equipped. As his battle instincts kicked in, Kiyoto deflected the first attacker by pushing him to the side, he then took hold of the next attacker's arm and threw him to the first attacker.
Kiyoto blocked the next hit, turned the goon around and threw him to the next. Distracted, the fourth goon took a sample of Kiyoto's punch in the face making it the first knock down.
"Hey everyone, this dance is so inelegant! Can't you be a bit more refined while putting up a show!?" Pocchi commented while everyone was busy brawling. Noticing his rant, Kiyoto turned his attention to him.
"O-oh? I'm just a judge here, no need to pay attention to me my dear." Pocchi slightly backed off. Not buying his bull****, Kiyoto dashes towards him since he's someone with a mask.
"I-inelegant beast!" As soon as Kiyoto was about to grab Pocchi, he eluded him elegantly by doing a triple spin using only his toes. Though Kiyoto did not stop there and followed up with a sweep kick which Pocchi also managed to evade by doing an elegant backflip.
Consecutive hits from Kiyoto didn't land as Pocchi managed to evade every single one of his attacks. That makes the goons think that they can take him on.
"Haha let's get him now, I knew he was just a fake!" The goon rushed to Kiyoto but got immediately knocked out with a single punch.
"Hmp! No one can beat my elegant dance." Pocchi announced confidently. Kiyoto on the other hand frowned behind his mask, although he now has a faint idea about the tricks of his mask.
-On the other hand-
"You just surprised me back there, this time you won't be able to move me and I will destroy you in return!" Pho charged at Johan with an intention of a tackle.
In response, Johan clenched gets out of the way by jumping to his side and lands a series of succeeding normal punches as if to test his opponent out.
Pho seemed to just shrug it off and went for a side punch which Johan easily blocked with his hands, showing that he can block blows from him and not just dodge.
"You're sturdy enough to shrug off my punches but weak enough to move someone smaller than you." Johan mockingly gave his review of him while dusting his shoulders. "It feels imbalanced you know, looks like your helm only allows you to enhance your sturdiness but not your hits despite that body."
Pho of course took it personally, he looks like someone that can be easily ticked off after all. "Huh!? You think my blows are weak, you haven't seen a lot of them yet!"
Pho bumped his fists repeatedly. "Prepare to be crushed flat!" He then sprinted towards Johan who had no intention of dodging, instead he shielded himself with both of his arms. Pho cannot land a punch to his vulnerable parts, but his consecutive hits made him confident that his arms will wear out soon.
"Hahaha! Stop pretending to be fine, it's alright to confess. I will go easy on you if you do so!" Pho joined his hands and raised it upwards, he then slammed it to the shielding Johan, creating quite an impact but not enough to faze the tough Johan.
Johan pulled back his arms and stretched. "So you are only able to strengthen your endurance in taking hits but not the hits you're releasing. Such a waste for your build, should've picked a better mask."
"Grrr enough of you!"
"I agree"
Johan takes out his mask that is just hanging in his shirt. He wore it and clenched his fist, causing a minor shockwave to be released.
"That- that's your mask!?" Pho asked while pointing at him.
Why is Pho surprised and why is it that despite the mask just hanging around, no one noticed it? Basically, Johan's mask looks like a pair of sunglasses.
Johan trudges towards Pho while fixing his sunglass mask.
"Let me teach you – how to properly do a hit."
"Tch!"
Pho braced himself as he felt an attack that is soon to come. He does not believe that he can elude him so he has no choice but to take it, though he is pretty confident with his strength. After all, his helm allows him to double the endurance of the hit thresholds that his body can take.
Johan didn't do any flamboyant display, but just went for a straight punch. It was a decisive blow if we're talking about a person with no defensive mask equipped got hit.
"Gwuegh!"
Pho just experienced a concentrated pressure of a shockwave pushing his lower body to the point that his defenses were useless. He got blown away, hitting the establishment in the process. The building would then collapse upon Pho's collision with it.
The wild shockwave affected the whole battlefield as Kiyoto and Pocchi felt it in their skins.
"What the-"
Kiyoto didn't let up and tried to catch Pocchi while he's reacting , although he dodged him again by a hair's breadth.
"You animal, attacking while- he–hey!"
Kiyoto doesn't stop. He kept on doing consecutive follow up grabs and attacks. With every action he took, he became quicker and quicker until Pocchi's eyes couldn't seem to follow his movements as much as before.
Pocchi, unlike Pho, only focuses on exhausting his opponent by eluding them. His eye mask allows him to clearly see his opponents attack patterns even if he only just met them. But this time, it looks like Kiyoto's the one exhausting his senses.
"Curse you! Are you not getting tired!?" Pocchi angrily inquired as he dodged yet another attack by a hair's breadth, his elegance in dodging is gone.
"Hey, aren't you being inelegant lately with those dodges?" Kiyoto asked with a hint of sarcasm. But of course, this would spark a flare against the ostentatious Pocchi.
"You dare talk to me about inelegance!?-" Kiyoto does a sweep kick as Pocchi speaks. He dodged it with yet another backflip showing an elegant pose.
As said back then, Kiyoto is getting quicker every time he attacks. Now that he baited Pocchi in doing a delayed dodge that also makes him airborne, it's easy to land a few. Realizing this, Pocchi's face stiffened. Losing its elegance.
"W-wait!"
Without wasting the chance, Kiyoto grabbed Pocchi by the collar of his shirt.
"D-don't you–!"
Kiyoto then gave him a headbutt with enough force that knocked the elegance out of him.
-Asakura, Yamato's Team-
A man wearing business attire underneath a [Scythes] vest confronted Yamato's team.
"We're sorry but we don't accept breach of privacy in our estate. I must forcefully ask all of you to erase any memory of yours regarding this property."
Fudo stepped forward and drew one cudgel that was sheathed behind her. It's as if saying that she'll voluntarily take this man on.
Yamato and Chizue sensed yet another presence approaching them. It was heavy and an intimidating one.
"Heh, no Kiyoto? Boring."
Upon hearing Kiyoto's name, the three turned their gazes to the man at the same time. He greeted them with an evil grin.
"Well, I haven't had any action after that day so I'm getting thirsty. Might as well get some exercise before our rematch."
Juzo and his Nikushimi no Rensa have joined the fray.