"So, all I need to do is join your organization as your fighter, right?"
Hina asked with a tilted head and a poker smile as she was sitting on the bed with her legs folded.
Currently, all five were in Mitani's, one of several houses they use as a base for the yakuza, It was comfortable with the floor made of granite tiles, two sofas on the left and right facing each other, and in between those sofas, a wooden table, and just a few footsteps away, a two-person bed. Facing that bed is a huge home theater, and aside from that, there is a small fridge.
"I thought your family was going through monetary issues."
Ichika asked with a forced smile, as one of the few reasons why all three of them had planned to do this underground fight thing was because they had monetary issues, but this sight is just suggesting otherwise to her.
"This mansion was bought when my dad was leading the family; if I could afford a mansion like this, I would be helping out Nozomi!!"
"Thanks for politely calling me broke." Nozomi said it with a depressed smile.
"That isn't my intention!!" Mitani said, trying desperately not to look like a show-off.
Currently, Ichika and Mitani are sitting on the right side of the sofa, while Hiroki and Nozomi are sitting on the left side, and then there's Hina, who is just sitting comfortably on the bed.
Hiroki was just too surprised and speechless because of how grand the place was; he just didn't bother to speak.
"Hiroki, Hina. Me and others need to go outside to prepare for the organization's debut. If you guys need any help, I have stationed some of my men here, so feel free to ask them."
"Yeah, we have some work to do, so stay put here, you two."
"Yup, we will be back soon. I guess there is no guarantee on that, but stay put, okay?" Nozomi said with a smile.
After saying that, all three adults in that room left both Hina and Hiroki alone in the room.
Hiroki didn't ask anything since the situation is just progressing too fast for his own comprehension to comprehend what the fuck is happening, and now he's alone with a girl in a grand room like this.
'How am I supposed to start a conversation?!'
Hiroki screamed to himself inside his head. Meanwhile, Hina just wondered what he was thinking.
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Nozomi was driving the van this time, mostly because the van felt oddly comfy. Ichika just leaned onto the car door and looked outside the window.
Awkwardly silent.
Then Mitani was the first one to break that silence.
"Are you sure it is okay to leave those two alone, like after discovering what she is capable of? Don't you think it's too dangerous? If that girl wanted to do something, even my men wouldn't be able to stop her."
Hana started to talk and raised her reasonable concern as they were walking."Dangerous? No need to worry about that; from what I see, Hina only has interest in someone who actively provokes her, and if she lives up to said provocation plus Hiroki isn't dumb enough to do that, and Hina has only eyes on people who are capable of being on equal footing with her in fights."Nozomi said as she extended her hand to Ichika for a cigarette."Yeah, but dumb enough to run away instead of filing a police case over the bullfuckery they did. Lawyers can make easy money with a case like this."Ichika grumbled as she gave Nozomi a cigarette."You are being too harsh on a kid; his whole life got shattered by some random guy who just popped out of nowhere. You just think a normal kid who was raised in a good, normal life can think calmly with maturity and file a case? It isn't like he expected that; you are being too tough on a high school kid who knows nothing about life."Nozomi raised some points, supporting Hiroki over his supposed immature decision."Don't get me wrong; the intention is not to defend but to rather tell his point of view. You are being harsh on a kid who had a normal life for most of his lifetime. His life isn't anything like ours, and I would rather that his life doesn't become anything like ours."Nozomi told her, and as she lit the cigarette, Ichika gave and smoked."Gotta agree with that."Ichika grumbled in her breath."Ichika-san, did you investigate the situation over on his supposed family and friends'...?"Hana asked in a cold tone, seemingly protective and sympathetic to that kid."You think I am dumb enough to not investigate them after it was brought up? I sure did. I sent my men the information about this and... Heh, gotta say, I have lots of evidence. The situation is so hilariously fucked up.""That black guy is a foreign exchange student who is in the same high school as Hiroki; before he hooked up and cheated on Nao, this wicked bastard had actually moved to his mom! Goddamn, this guy is petty! And then the girlfriend, Nao... I investigated their nearby karaoke, and well, I got the video where the boy's sister was getting raped by that guy.""Sheesh, just what does that guy have against Hiroki?Like, didn't he already beat Hiroki in a fight? ... Oh well, anyway, after this, the next victim is Ayumu, Hiroki's friend. We already know how that went; I doubt that boy would bother to lie about a fucked-up shit like that."As Ichika narrated all this dumb messed up with relative ease, Hana and Nozomi could feel disgust rising in their guts."Who looks the most redeemable in your eyes, Hana?"Nozomi turned to Hana, since arguably amongst the three, Hana was really pissed off and definitely would be willing to kill them if she got any more angry.As Nozomi asked, Hana was able to break off from the trance she was in due to anger. She took a deep breath and calmed down."The possibly redeemable ones are that girl, Ayumu, and his sister. That girl, Ayumu, doesn't seem to be aware of the locker incident. Although it seems she knows about the affair with Nao, I will be lenient and give her a chance. As for her sister, the behavior she's showing is a rather toxic way to cope with trauma through nonsensical reasoning. That's just sad. Plus, that boy at the very least deserves to have some of his family and friends."Hana spoke as her cold face slightly changed to a more sad and sympathetic one."Alright then, I will leave them out. So the ones who need to be screwed are that Nao girl, Kaede, and that black guy. Heh, that makes a lot of things easier. I will delete the original video of Ka-""No, you don't need to delete that; just cut out half of it and just show the part where she was actively resisting.""...Hahaha!! Mercy my ass, that's quite brutal of you, Hana! You do know her life is ruined regardless, right?""It's not that; sure, she has her reasons, but we need to use that against that faggot to put him behind bars or deport him back to where he belongs, plus we can use it for extra steps.""....Ah! I see what you are trying to get at. I love that idea! Since it's the head of the Jinguuji family herself asking, I will get it done."Hana and Ichika had that exchange. Nozomi was taking her cigarette and puffing the smoke."Hah, well, whether it's intentional or not, that kid is now part of our group. We've got to make sure she has a new normal life and an actual future, unlike us."Nozomi mumbled to herself with a sigh. Running an underground fight organization isn't enough. Now they have a boy to take care of."But gotta say... I don't feel bitter doing this; at least us three bums can actually fix his messed up life to our best. The rest is up to that boy."Nozomi thought to herself as she smoked. They are "loser bums'' and questionable people in the eyes of normal society. So even if prevention can't be done for Hiroki's life, they will at least do their best to mend that life. It just doesn't feel right to not help when they can help.-------------------------------------------------Meanwhile, with Hina and HirokiHiroki was wondering how to start up the conversation as Hina was eating a bucket of chicken."Want one?"Hina asked as she took out a fried chicken thigh and extended it to Hiroki. Even though Hiroki was a bit far away (basically 3 meters away in a straight line),Hiroki wanted to reject it, but then his stomach grumbled and revealed that he was hungry."Just take it already. There is no need to act tough and not eat."Hina said with a grin as she threw the chicken thigh, which Hiroki caught."O-oi! Don't throw around food like that."Hiroki tried to say it sternly but failed to do so, as he grabbed the chicken thigh and immediately ate it due to hunger and how it smelled really good."Anyways, why are you staying with us? You do know about me from Ichika-san, but I don't know a thing about you."Hina asked curiously with a tilted face, while Hiroki got slightly depressed, as he definitely didn't want to talk about that again."Are you sure you want to hear it? Like, it isn't that good of a reason.""It's fine, really. I wouldn't make fun of you."Hina told it with a reassuring smile. Hiroki took a deep breath and then narrated the painful story yet again."And after that, I ran away.""Wow, that, uh, that kind of sucks, actually.""Is my life awful enough to get sympathy from a girl who was raised by one of the most dangerous cults that Japan can offer?..."Hiroki thought to himself with somewhat of a deprecating realization, while Hina looked at him with sympathy."Anyways, let's forget about that sour thing. Do you practice karate and boxing?""Well, I di-wait, how do you know?!"Hiroki, who just answered and didn't bother about it, suddenly realized that she never told Hina about the karate and boxing parts."Hmm, it's simple; each fighter who pursues a martial art has a different center of gravity. Karate practitioners center of gravity is lowered to provide stability and power in strikes while staying agile and reflexive, plus your hands do look slightly bruised up. I presume you tried to do gloveless boxing.""Did you get all of that from just watching me?...""Bingo!"Hina told Hiroki cheerfully, while Hiroki was shocked but remembered that this girl, although she may be just a year older than her, was raised very differently and had combat drilled into her since childhood."Although, I gotta say, your center of gravity is okay, but...""B-but?..."Hiroki asked with a confused look as Hina got up from the sofa and walked to him, and Hiroki got up too. As her eyes went up and down, she was analyzing Hiroki."I presume you have difficulty executing heavy moves that pack a punch in karate and boxing, even though you put all of your energy into it.""Y-yeah!"Hiroki confirmed the statement that Hina made."Well, I am sure you know, but it has to do with both your height and weight. While you do have good stability and can move easily,. Since you don't have much on your body frame, it will be difficult to reach, especially when you are even shorter than me, even though our difference of age is like,1 year.""Plus, since you lack some muscle, some of the more heavy-hitting moves of karate will have less impact when you execute them.Hina shared what issues she could see in Hiroki so far."I know. It's just, you know. Since mom is the one who earns for both me and my sister, we cannot just afford food with high protein. We go with ramen or anything that comes at a cheap price.""Hmm, yeah, I understand."Hina told me with a poker face."That face is making me doubt that."Hiroki thought."Well, however, now that you are my friend, I can help you out with that!""H-huh? W-wait how?""Ah, it's awfully simple. You see, before I made my way out of the cult, I nabbed myself some chemical weapons and extra products along with it. One of the few products I got is Chem products, which are used to deal with the same issue of lack of weight and height."As Hina started to tell, Hiroki definitely felt an awful chill climb up his spine to his head. Needless to say, he was able to muster enough of his sanity to not show that paranoia outward."Is that so?" Hiroki asked with a fake smile."Yup, even though I got it injected, it did hurt for a few days since, along with it, our regiment had to do some hellish exercise and eat like crazy since the drug alone wouldn't be enough, but it did give fruition."Hina said with a smile as she flexed her leg, and to Hiroki's shock, her leg had some bodybuilder-level muscle with veins popping."Ah, don't be so surprised; some level of muscle control can hide this pretty well.""No, I am sure that's not how it works."Hiroki thought, slowly losing his sanity to this nonsense, while Hina told with a smile like it's a normal one."Most importantly, do you have the conviction to go through that? Like you know, I can help you out, but I can't do much unless you put the effort into it.""Well, I have nothing to lose, so I will take any help, even if it's from the devil.""Aww, you're too harsh, literally comparing a poor girl like me to the devil.""A-ah, I..."Hina spoke with a sulky voice, which immediately worked on Hiroki, as he was kind of clueless about how to talk since he didn't feel like he was lying.But Hina then giggled. Seeing this, Hiroki was rightfully confused and realized she was messing with him."You are so mean! Stop messing with me!""Hehe, come on, let me have my fair share of fun.""Y-you!..."After which, some time passed while Hiroki was chasing behind Hina, as Hina was amused and having fun with him.-------------------------------------------------After a few hours had passed,"We are back, guys, How did your day go?"As Nozomi and others entered the house, they saw Hina and Hiroki sleeping on the couch opposite each other, literally butting their heads onto each other."Sheesh kids these days, can't they at least sleep properly?"Ichika grumbled as she went and took a bedsheet, then laid the bedsheets on them."You are acting like their mom, Ichika san.""S-shut up! The last thing I want is for this boy to get a cold now! It would be a pain to take care of him if he got sick."As they had their friendly banter, Nozomi just smiled. The group felt oddly lively and somewhat childish. It has been a long, long time since she felt like this. like the last time she felt it was during Middle School..."Well, better enjoy this atmosphere today very well, because tomorrow is our organization's inaugural."Nozomi told herself this as she took some liquor from the fridge and drank it with all the vigor she has."N-nozomi! You already drank enough for today!!""Yeah! Give me some of that!"Ichika and Hana rushed to her. Hana wanted to stop her from drinking, while Ichika wanted to join in the drinking fest.