Not so Calm Before the Storm

"So, you think that's why the Kusakabe have been so agitated lately", Daitan mulled.

"It only makes sense", Shiro pointed out, the rest of Daitan's former gang mates giving assent, "He's supposedly the younger brother of some bigshot yakuza guy. Not sure how valid those rumors are though, plenty of people could have that last name."

"He probably just wanted people to pay attention to him for once", someone else piped up, "Talk about pathetic."

The player's chuckling bounced around the locker room, before Shiro redirected them, "But back to the point. He probably spread those rumors around so he could attract one of the local gangs, which is probably why we've seen the Kusakabe's showing their ugly faces around. Getting assigned as Haruoka's tutor", Shiro gestured at said girl, "Was a stroke of dumb luck and now he's trying to find a way to exploit her.

While the rest of the gang was busy voicing their distaste and cursing Benjiro's name and existence, Daitan stared at the wall, nibbling her thumbnail while wondering, 'But if he's trying to find a way to bring me down, why go so far as to teach me all that stuff about English? Is that girl Yamanaka in on it too?'

Before Daitan could voice her concerns about certain facts that didn't add up, a pounding was heard on the locker room door, "Oi, Haruoka and her band of failures, you gonna answer the door or just hole up there and hide like the scared little b*tches you are."

Daitan's gang went dead silent, their disgust replaced by cold, emotionless looks. Haruoka nodded at one of her girls that unlocked the door and offered a greeting of grabbing and shoving the visitor into the midst. Unaffected by the hard looks he was receiving, the stocky boy gave an amused sweeping gaze, "Boy, I haven't been in a place like this since I got with a chick at that all-girls school."

If Daitan's gaze had power, the room would've dropped ten degrees, "Judging by your complete lack of any redeeming qualities, I'm guessing your someone from the Kusakabe gang, am I right?"

"You'd be correct. Judging by your lack of any girlishness, I'm guessing you're Haruoka. And no need to tell me, I know I'm right."

Narrowing her eyes at his rude behavior but keeping her voice cool, Daitan rose from the bench keeping one hand behind her back, "What does Kusakabe want with us? I thought we settled our score months ago."

"The boss decided he wasn't exactly...satisfied", the stocky boy replied with a lecherous grin, making all the girl's skin crawl, "He want to see you again for a little second chance."

'Ugh, doesn't that bastard know when to give up', Daitan privately growled, raking a hand through her short hair.

"And what if I decide to tell him to just go to hell and find a different girl that he can kill by making herself laugh to death when they see him with no pants?"

The squat troll's grin only grew more grotesque, "Well then, I suppose your new boyfriend is going to be disappointed when you don't show up to be humiliated."

It wasn't necessarily that the room grew quiet but the room could've gone from cold to boiling. Daitan's mouth closed slowly, her eyes widened ever so subtly and her pupils were visibly constricting to the point where they were hardly visible. Daitan steadily approached the heavyset gangster as his smile faltered for a split second while the urge to run screamed in his mind.

"Where. Is. He", Daitan quietly demanded

The Kusakabe kid swallowed to try and moisten his throat, "The boss has him at an abandoned bar, The Stomping Ground. He says that if you come, he won't hurt the poor bastard."

Daitan let out a breath and took a half step backwards, making the shorter boy let out his own breath. He wanted to reach up and loosen his collar, but before he could everything went black. Standing over the unconscious boy with the shot put ball in the hand she kept behind her back, Daitan ordered her gang members, "Alright Fearless, we're going to The Stomping Ground and we're going to give that place a reason to earn it's name. We don't leave until every last one of those Kusakabe bastards ends up in the hospital or the afterlife. Do you understand me?!"

"Roger", they all called back.

...

The weasel looking boy and the goon squad led Benjiro and Saori through a series of dark side streets and back alleys. It wasn't long before they came to what looked like an old, run down bar. The shattered windows were boarded up and the gray cinder blocks were covered in graffiti. If there were any place that looked like it would be the opportune location for a serial killer to set up shop, this was the place. All that was missing was a few storm clouds and a wolf howling.

The inside wasn't any better looking than the outside. The wooden floors were grimy, splintery and littered with holes. The only sign that someone was inhabiting it was an upright table with the only chairs that weren't in pieces. Sitting at the table was an average sized guy who looked in his early twenties. The lower half of his face was covered with a mask that had skeleton mandibles smiling at them. Looking up, what they could only assume was a sinister grin crossed his dark eyes, making the two captives shiver, "Took you guys long enough. I thought I told you all to get them here by six thirty at the latest."

"We waited at the usual location but they-"

The weasel boy's words were cut off when Lone Ranger threw a broken chair leg at him, "Shut the hell up, Amamiya", he said in a loud, drawling voice, "I don't give a damn about excuses. I just want to see the look on Crazy B*tch's face when she sees this."

Bending down he grabbed Weasel by the scruff of his neck hairs, "Where's Zaraki? Did he deliver the message like he was supposed to?"

Weasel's eyes were watering heavily, "He texted me on the way over here", he choked out, "He should be here soon enough."

Despite his fear, Benjiro couldn't help but feel awkward. While he didn't particularly care that the leader just gave his subordinate a head wound, he felt like a stranger seeing an arguing couple while out on a walk. Skeleton Mask walked past Weasel Face, who was clutching his bleeding forehead, got right into Benjiro's face and sneered, "I don't see what Crazy is thinking. This guy is average at best, but I guess, take what you can get", he turned his gaze over to Saori whose cheery demeanor was reduced to fright, "Now this one, I wouldn't mind having a few late night wrestling matches with her."

Both of the captives felt their throats constrict with such a blatant innuendo, "But, as much as that would be nice, I need to keep my mind prepared for this", Ghost Recon Reject stood up to crack his knuckles as well as flex and stretch his fingers.

"Wh-What do y-you w-want with us", Benjiro stammered worse than normal.

The masked guys' eyes shut halfway in annoyance, "Speak clearly, twink."

Saori decided to act as interpreter, "He asked why are we here and what do you want with us?"

Skeletor's face changed again, his forehead crinkling and his eyes narrowing, "It's nothing personal", he said curtly, "We are the Kusakabe gang, named after yours truly, Hachirou Kusakabe. And we've got a long running rivalry with Haruoka's gang called Fearless. You're only here because you conveniently happen to have a connection to Crazy B*tch, and I've been wanting a piece of her for a while."

'So this rejected Call of Valor character wants to have a grudge match with Haruoka', Inei speculated, 'I know her captain said she used to get into a lot of trouble, but I never thought she attracted this much unwanted attention.'

'Considering how other people described how angry she acts on default, how are you surprised', Benjiro returned, 'Yamanaka here said that it wasn't uncommon for Haruoka to beat the piss out of someone for mildly annoying her before she joined the soccer team.'

The gang waited for Haruoka to show up for what felt like an eternity but was only about a half hour. Despite the situation they were in, Benjiro found himself being less afraid and more bored than anything. Taking a sweeping look at the ruined bar, it had that look of a place that used to be really upscale before running out of money.

"Nojiri, are you thinking of something", Saori whispered.

"Mm, yeah."

"Is it about how to get out of here?"

"Actually, I w-was thinking that w-with some r-renovations, this place could look pretty good. Just c-completely gut the place and g-give it a new inside and it w-would make for a nice jazz cabaret."

Yamanaka had a look of disbelief cross her face.

'Do you also want to tell her that you imagined her singing a sultry song while wearing a black cocktail dress as you played the piano', asked Inei, 'I think she'd probably get a kick out of that.'

'You mean she'd probably kick me', Benjiro responded.

'Exactly.'

'F*ck you, Inei.'

With nothing else to do, Benjiro began drumming his fingers against the wooden floor and began bobbing his head to the beat and humming the sultry nonexistent song about a nonexistent love that he just pictured Yamanaka singing. The Kusakabe gang was getting more impatient with every minute, but they kind of appreciated the background noise.

At first Kusakabe sat with his back straight, patiently waiting, but then he progressively hunched and tapped his foot as the seconds ticked by. Finally he decided he had enough and stomped his way over to the two captives and picked Benjiro up by his hair. His head kept drifting in between feeling numb and being painful enough to make his eyes water. Between the pain, his chest pounding and silent hyperventilating the lanky boy felt like he was suffocating and Kusakabe's leaking mask breath wasn't helping matters.

"I'm getting bored of waiting", the masked guy said in an annoyed tone, "But, you'll do to relieve some of that until Daitan arrives."

Kusakabe dragged and threw a yelling Benjiro against the edge of the bar, making his already upset stomach spasm. Despite not being all that big, the masked guy strong. Through his watering eyes, Benjiro saw the bar from a distance, then suddenly up close as his head smashed into the counter. His head hurt so much that the dizziness felt almost welcome.

In his head, Benjiro began echoing a silent cry he often made as a child, 'Someone. Anyone. Please. Help us. I'm afraid.'