The New Ajin

Chapter Four

The moment I walked into the large room, the crowd roared my name.

"Eri! Eri! Eri!" 

Hearing the crowd shouting my name raised my confidence in this fight. Nobody, and I meant nobody, was going to keep me from going to America and finding my mother. Not even Chika would get in the way of my current mission.

My opponent jumped up and down in the Ring. Chika slapped her legs and rolled her ankles. Sweat rolled off of her skin and her hair was already drenched.

I made my way to the Ring. Chika's eyes sent daggers at me, which I brush off, as I ducked under the rope.

The crowd was going crazy. They had been waiting for this fight. I took off my black sweats and my black sweat shirt.

I handed my clothes to Naoki.

A big man wearing all black walked to the center.

"Clap hands," he instructed us.

Neither Chika nor I made any advancement to move. The crowd hollered at our hostility towards each other. She had no chance against me.

I would destroy her.

I would show her no mercy.

The bell rang and we waited for the other to move. I raised my hands and lowered myself in my fighting stance. My knees were slightly bent and my left foot was leading over my right. We started circling each other. 

I had never been a fighter who just threw fists. All my attacks were calculated to make sure I wasted no energy. Chika seemed like a wild fighter. One who punched with all her power with every hit. To be honest, I was slightly surprised that she had not charged at me yet. 

We were closer to each other, about two arm lengths away.

All of a sudden, Chika sent a string of blows my way. I easily dodged every hit. 

I noticed that she started getting agitated by my dismissal of her jabs and started getting sloppy. She was going to break soon. 

As I predicted, she ran towards me, trying to tackle me to the ground. 

I smirked as I stepped aside and let her stumble on herself. I took advantage of her misfortune and kicked the back of her right knee. She instantly fell on the ground but spiraled back up.

She charged like a bull and wrapped her arms around my thighs with her head pressed against the side of my waist. I dug my hips into her, making her carry all of my weight. I raised my right elbow and brought it down hard on the top of her head. Her grip on me loosened and with this I grabbed her head and kneed her right on her face. She cried out in pain and held onto her nose which was now bleeding profoundly.

She glared at me and charged once more. Has she not learn? Her form was sloppy to begin with but now it was just disappointing. I raised my hands and stayed light on my feet. When she was near, I stepped out of the way and she stumbled in front of me once again. I grabbed onto her ponytail and pulled her head back. I threw her body on the floor and pounced on her. I straddled onto her waist, and like my last fight, I let my power flow into every hit to her face. I did not even know where on her face my fists are landing. All I knew was that there was a lot of blood, and none of it was mine.

She was still struggling underneath me, but after a few more hits, her body went limp. 

I did not stop however.

This girl thought she could stand up to me.

She thought she could beat me.

How dare she.

Large hands gripped my shoulder and pulled me off of her. I shrugged the person off of me but I did not attack Chika any more. The crowd's cheering filled my ears and I remembered where I was. Everything caught up to me.

I won.

I was going to America. 

I would find my biological mother. 

I looked to my corner and saw Naoki smiling. My body relaxed and I walked over to Naoki and he helped me out of the ring.

Naoki engulfed me in a bear hug and I took comfort in his smell. Oranges. 

I then realized, we going to America, together.

The crowd made an isle for us to walk through. Naoki picked me up bridal style and carried me through the crowd. People clapped at my legs, touched my hair, and grabbed my hands, anything to touch the undefeated champion. That, and I probably just won their bets, giving them a large amount of money. 

We made it to the other side. Naoki carried me until we were back at the lockers. He placed me down softly and handed me my clothes. I put back on my sweat pants and sweat shirt.

Ren came walking in the hallway and handed me a fat envelope.

"Congratulations," he smiled, "she didn't even stand a chance in there with you."

"Of course not," I replied. 

I took the envelope from him and opened my locker and pulled out my bag. I opened the envelope and counted ten thousand dollars. The prize money, however, was supposed to be three thousand. I looked up confused and Ren said, "there's a rumor going around that you are going to America to find your mother. I wanted to give you a gift before you left. You did make me a lot, and I mean a lot, of money tonight."

I was speechless, with this money, I would have no worries. Making it to America would be easy. 

I hugged Ren and thanked him a million times.

He hugged me back and chuckled, "I'm going to miss you, kid."

"I'm going to miss you, too. You've been, well, almost like a father to me," I hesitantly said.

He chuckled again, "don't go soft on me, Eri."

I laughed and nodded, I hugged him one last time before I walked down the hallway. 

Naoki walked at my side and grabbed my hand.

"I think I'm going to miss this place," I said as we left the abandoned factory.

"Maybe we'll be back," Naoki said.

"Maybe." 

We continued walking in the night, our only light coming from the full moon. It would be a while until we made it to his apartments.

 For the first time in a while, I felt...unsafe walking back from a fight. Maybe I was just being paranoid but I could have sworn that somebody was watching us.

"What is it, babe?" Naoki noticed the uneasy look that must have been on my face.

My heart fluttered at the word "babe" and for a split second I forgot my worries.

"You called me babe," I leaned my head on his shoulder. 

"Well, yeah," he smiled.

"How cute," a man's voice said behind us. 

I whipped my head around and saw a gang of men surrounding a beaten up Chika.

 Naoki cursed, let go of my hand, and stepped in between me and the gang.

"Hand over the money and we will let you live," one of the men said.

"Don't. Kill her," Chika spit at the ground, "I want her dead. Just look at what she did to my face."

"I won't let you kill her," Naoki replied coolly. He pulled out a hand gun from the waist of his jeans and pointed it at the men.

"Naoki get out of here," I pulled at the back of his shirt.

"I'm not going to leave you," he said through gritted teeth.

The men laughed and pulled out their own guns. There were five of them, not including Chika. With every circumstance I could think of, my death was the out come of all of them. But I could still protect Naoki. I rushed in front of Naoki, spread my arms and said, "just kill me."

I heard the gun go off, and before I could comprehend anything else, everything is black.