Gangster Cinderella

Chapter Forty: Goons

I'm speeding through the neon glow of Tokyo as I make my way towards the temple. Everything I've been worrying about quickly disappears as I concentrate on driving through the traffic. Some people meditate or do yoga to relax but riding my motorcycle is basically like meditation for me. There's only me and the road...or so I thought when I catch sight of two motorcycles following me. Having a lingering suspicion that they might be after me, I decide to test them for a bit. I start making random turns and even go on the highway for a bit; to my disappointment they were still tailing me. I go back to my usual route and decide to take a more direct approach.

I slow down a bit and allow them to catch up as we pull up to a red light. The two boys pull up on either side of me. One of them had short wavy blonde hair with a noticeable burn scar over the right side of his face and bright azure eyes. The other boy has black hair that's slightly buzzed on the side and calculating coal dark eyes.

"So what do you assholes want?" I ask after lifting the visor on my helmet.

"Our boss wants a rematch." The blonde boy explains.

"And he wants it immediately." The other menacingly chimes in.

"If your boss is too much of a scared little bitch to come ask me himself then I'm uninterested." I tell them flatly.

"Who the hell do you think you are to reject an order from the leader of the Black Dragons?!" The boy with black hair shouts.

"Cinderella." I answer.

"You think this is funny!?" The noisy boy shouts.

I feel a confident smirk spread across my lips, "How about this, if one of you beats me in a race to Musashi Shrine I'll race your loser boss. Is that fair?"

"You're on! Right Inupi!?" The black boy shouts at his quieter companion.

The blonde boy simply sighs, "Guess I have no choice, huh Koko?"

As soon as we look ahead the long red light instantly turns green and I'm gone. Quickly I lose the noisy boy with the side of his head buzzed, but the blonde is a bit more difficult to get rid of with my usual tricks. Inupi continues to closely tail me through out the barrage of cars, never missing a beat. My heart races and I feel an infectious smile; finally a challenge. As soon as I spot Mikey and his gang in the parking lot, I go at top speeds and screech to a stop in front of everyone. Inupi also stops as soon as he sees that I'm with Toman.

Mikey slowly approaches Inupi; his eyes are cold and near murderous. "Wanna fucking explain what you're doing chasing after my girl?" The stoic boy simply gives him a glance before looking back at me. But Mikey is taking none of it. He kicks the boy right off his bike. "Don't even look at her and fucking answer the question or was taking one of our vice captains not enough for you."

"She disrespected our boss and he wants to see her pay." He duly answers.

"Is that so..." he stomps on Inupi's head. "Your captain has been getting rather cocky lately. Taking a member is one thing but threatening the love of my life...now that's asking to be buried six feet under."

In seconds I'm on my feet running towards them. All I can think is that I don't want to see Mikey spiral further into the darkness. Then I'm in between Mikey and Inupi.

"Mikey let him go. You've proved your point." I tell him.

"Chieko...he threatened you, his damn boss threatened you too. He deserves to fucking die with his piece of shit boss." He's saying all of this in a deadly calm voice that makes my skin crawl. Was he always like this?

"I don't want you to kill someone in my name!" I practically plead as tears well up in my eyes. "Please..." I hug onto him, "Please don't go where I can't follow."

Slowly he wraps his arms around me and breathes in my scent. "Ok..." He speaks to the barely conscious blonde boy. "Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and remember that the only reason you're alive is because of her."

I hear a motorcycle peel out of the parking lot as we stay embracing each other in the cold. "Thank you..." 

His hand gently pats my head, "I'm sorry you saw that...I just can't stand the thought of you getting hurt."

I place both of my hands on his cheeks, "I know but I also can't stand the thought of you becoming a murderer."

His face contorts from brief shock to a softened look of bitter contentment, "I'll try." He pulls away and turns to his gang, "The ride is canceled tonight. I'm gonna be with my girl, and if anyone bothers us...well you saw what happened." 

And with that menacing declaration hanging in the air, we ride off towards his house. 

🍙🍙🍙🍵🍙🍙🍙

Once again we find ourselves tangled up in each other's arms. All I know right now is his heartbeat and warm body; in that moment it's all I need as well.

"So why was he following you?" Mikey finally asks.

"He said I raced his boss or something and that he wants a rematch. But I'm not going to since he didn't have the decency to ask himself."

"You won against Taiju?" His hands continue to feel up every inch of my body in our afterglow.

"Yeah...I think it was on that night I was racing in the rain. But I don't care who he is, I'm not going to race someone who can't ask me for that themselves. Besides I'm fucking Cinderella, I always get away." 

He laughs lowly; I can feel his chest move slightly. "Believe me I know. Just be careful and come to me if he starts harassing you again...he doesn't follow any code and he doesn't go easy on girls."

"Ok, I'll come to you but promise you won't go where I can't follow."

He kisses my forehead and whispers to me, "I promise."