𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - s. ᴍᴀɴᴊɪʀᴏ

𝟎𝟑𝟓: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

February 22nd, 2006. 10:13PM. At Yokohama Bay.

Izana on his own defeated the top gangs of Tokyo. Shinjuku's Onsoku Kizoku. Kichijoiji's SS. Ikebukuro's ICBM. Ueno's Night Dust. And many others. All with hoards of men, now on the ground. All leaders of the respective gangs bow down to Izana, admitting defeat.

You've been quiet ever since you arrived in Yokohama. Sitting on your knees with your hands behind your back. On top of the deck boxes near the bay. Not a word came out of you. Even with Hanma trying to pry some sort of reaction from you out of boredom. He was nothing but noise. Toman hasn't shown up and none of the members of Tenjiku were surprised. Most of the first-division were still beaten from their ambush in Shibuya. Mitsuya and Smiley were taken out, leaving the second and fourth divisions without a captain. And now Mikey and Draken are unable to fight, just recently suffering the loss of Emma.

They all conclude that Toman wasn't coming. You were fine with that. You were basically dead meat, even if you were untied. "So, we can kill her, right?" Izana comes up to the deck boxes after the defeated gangs left. "What good is fish bait if no fish bites?" Izana says, continuing to compare you to a lure. Not viewing you as a person at all.

Kisaki shakes his head, "That guy will definitely show up." He puts his finger in front of his mouth and shushes. The sounds of bike engines slowly come closer. Everyone was surprised Toman would show up at all. Izana was greatly amused.

Only a few Toman members arrived. About fifty men. You and Takemichi make eye contact. His eyes were determined as ever. You felt a sort of fire radiating his energy. Takemichi's gaze then turns to Kisaki, his eyes piercing right at his enemy. "[Y/N]!!" Chifuyu notices you. The blonde turns to the rest of the team, "Someone contact Mikey and inform him [Y/N] has been found!"

"Yes, sir!"

~

February 22nd, 2006. 2AM. At Musashi Shrine.

"Listen, we may not have all of our captains with us in this battle," Mikey raises his voice. The crowd of men stayed quiet to listen. "But I am here. So, we'll all be alright. We're gonna crush Tenjiku!"

"YEAH!!!"

The men cheer at their leader's words. Both motivated and determined to fight on his side. By his command. "Before the meeting ends, can I be selfish for a second?" Mikey sits down, catching everyone's attention. He hasn't sat at a Toman meeting since the one before their brawl with Valhalla.

Everyone stays quiet before he speaks. "I'm sure some of you already know of her. [Y/N], she's missing," Toman members begin to whisper around. Throwing titles like 'Mikey's girlfriend' and 'Umbrella Chick.' Draken yells, scolding them to be quiet. "I have a bad feeling that this is related to Tenjiku in some way. I'd like your help to search for her!"

Mikey gets up and takes a Polaroid picture out of his Toman jacket. "She looks like this! If you see her anywhere, please tell me immediately!"

Toman members shout in support, promising their leader that they'd find the girl in the photo. Mikey puts the photo away. "You keep that in your inner pocket?" Draken teases him quietly. Mikey smiles fondly, pressing his hand on his chest, where the pocket is. As well as his heart.

"It's where she stays. Always."

~

Yokohama Bay.

"I've been waiting for you... Hero."

Kisaki says. Looking down at the Toman members from the deck boxes he stood on. Izana goes down, joining the rest of Tenjiku that's on the ground. "400 members of Tenjiku versus 50 members of Toman," Izana proposes. The brawl has finally started.

"How will you handle this clear advantage? Do entertain us, Toman!" Izana concludes. Shion Madarame walks in first. Announcing he will be the forerunner. You mumble about what that meant and Hanma chuckles beside you. "It's how these oldies used to perform," he tells you, you turn to listen. "They save the brawl for later by starting it with a 1v1. Whoever wins the 1v1 will give the team some morale boost."

"Personally, I'd rather see them all fight to the death~♡" Hanma says with amusement, "It's way less dull to watch."

Peh-yan steps forward. Madarame seemed impatient. He began taunting them, bluffing that he could finish Toman by himself if he wanted. Peh-yan takes him out with only one punch, shocking everyone in Tenjiku and Takemichi.

Hanma was right. With Peh-yan's victory from the 1v1, Toman's morale did go up. Yours too. It made you realize that you've never watched Toman fight as a team in full. You didn't pay attention to them when they fought with Moebius. And the only person you saw fight Black Dragons was Mikey. But 50 versus 400? They were greatly disadvantaged.

"Kisaki!" Takemichi yells out, "This long battle... Let's end it here!"

Both Toman and Tenjiku charge at each other. Chifuyu makes a strong kick to someone's jaw. "I'll clear the path for you to get to Kisaki and [Y/N]!" He tells his friend. You watch as Takemichi charges forward. You were amazed by him. After everything he's been through, everything he's witnessed. He still had the will to fight.

Izana challenges Peh-yan, interrupting Peh's frenzy with the other Tenjiku members. As Peh-yan charges at Izana, he kicks him in the jaw. The movement was fast. The only thing you saw was when Peh-yan hit the ground. He must've gone really easy on me... You thought, remembering when he apprehended you in your own home. He comes back up on the deck boxes and sits beside you. Crossing his legs, observing everyone.

Chifuyu takes on Mochi. To buy time for Takemichi to get to Kisaki. Also to have a rematch for himself. Second-division vice-captain, Hakkai and fourth-division vice-captain, Angry are against the Haitani brothers. As Takemichi gets closer, Kakucho challenges him. Then Koko was up against Inui, you wonder how that would play out.

Izana looks over at you, observing the fight. "The 'Generation of Brutality,' the S62 Generation," Izana says, you look at him from the side. "We formed at the juvenile center when we were all 13," he continues to speak to you. "Mochi, over there," Izana points. Chifuyu gets drawn back, blocking Mochi's strong punch. The large man cracks his knuckles. "His crime was 'obstructing the execution of public duty.' He beat up a cop who was trying to stop a fight," he smiles, "Blood-lusty, isn't he?"

What is he trying to do? Is he bored? Is he trying to impress me? You didn't understand why he was talking to you all of a sudden. And telling you about the previous gang he led, especially. You didn't respond, not wanting to engage.

"Mucho's crime was 'assault'," he points at the tall man. Inui was now against him instead of Koko. "That's pretty mild, compared to Mochi," Hanma chimed in. You hated that he joined. All he's doing is humouring Izana. "He broke the spinal cord of his opponent and paralyzed their lower body," Izana explained. Hanma jokes, rhetorically asking if he hit his opponent with a car. Izana tells him all Mucho did was throw him onto the concrete.

As Izana said that, Inui attempted to land a punch on Mucho. Mucho takes Inui's arm and swings him over his shoulder, throwing him on the ground. A move used in Judo. Hakkai and Angry were back to back against the Haitainis.

"The Haitani brothers' crime was 'inflicting injury causing death.' They were up against Roppongi's Kyogoku. Rindou locked the vice captain's joints while Ran brutally beat his face in. When they took the guy to the hospital, his skull was fractured and his face caved in. He didn't make it!"

It was disturbing listening to him list and detail their crimes so casually. Like it was normal. Even worse, he kept that eerie smile on as he told you. As if he was proud of what his team achieved.

They don't call them the 'Generation of Brutality' for nothing, you thought. The fact that you even tried to escape and fight Tenjiku on your own... You were lucky the 'Heavenly Kings' weren't the first to get to you. The Haitanis only let you live on Izana's command.

"The 'Generation of Brutality' is what forms Tenjiku," Izana continues. "No matter how much Toman tries, it's useless. The victor has already been decided from the start..."

"This battle belongs to Tenjiku!"

Chapter thirty-five, end.