Chapter LV.

The following day, I noticed that Shunsui and Gōjun were watching me in a strange way. They wouldn't stop fixating me like on the previous day when we were in class after the incident at lunch, but this time, with much more insistence. And their silence was very much intense. It made me jittery. 

When the final bell rang, it was very awkwardly and nervously that I said goodbye to them. But very quickly, my mind drifted to Tetsuya Tsurugi and his men, and I couldn't help but shudder. 

I had only the sum of my three different pays to give him and I wondered for how long he would find it enough. And this, inevitably, led me to wonder if I should not… drop out of high school.

This idea made my heart clench. 

It was my mother's dream to see me study and go to university. It would ruin all her hopes for me. And how would I explain it to Ojii-san and Obā-san?! 

Do I have any other options?

The brown-haired young man didn't make any comments when I handed the money over to him and he had counted it. But I knew that it was only a matter of time before he would ask me for more money and it would not be possible for me to provide it.

What will I do at that moment?

Okā-san! Kami-sama! What do I do?

Should I really consider dropping out of high school to take on a full-time job?

I had parted with Tetsuya Tsurugi and his men and was making my way down the small alley to head for the supermarket when, suddenly- as I lifted my head up- I caught sight of Shunsui, who was coming into this direction. 

Instantly, I froze into place, my heart skipping a beat.

Shunsui! What is he doing here? 

He was too far away down the alley for me to tell if he had seen of me. Breaking into a panic, I flung around on the spot with the intention to run out of view before he could catch sight of me and ask me what I was doing there, only for me to bump into somebody's chest head-on; that somebody having showed up behind me out of nowhere.

As I looked up, I was stupefied to see that that person was none other than Gōjun!

'Gōjun!' I gasped, my heart skipping another beat.

He seized me by my wrists as I took an involuntary step backward, and I stared at him frantically. Had he not had a grip on me, I would have most certainly taken to my heels by now to avoid the look that Shunsui and he were giving me; the reddish-brown-haired young man having caught up with us by now. 

'So, Princess, you're hanging out with shady people?!' Gōjun declared, and my eyes went wide at him in shock, my heart shaking.

Have they seen me talking to Tetsuya Tsurugi just a minute ago? Have they been following me? I have no doubt about it!

'I- I don't see what you're talking about,' I stammered.

At this lie, their expression grew even more execrable, and Gōjun shoved me against the side wall to pin my hands there on either side of my shoulders, with his knees resting in-between my legs. The next fraction of the second, Shunsui- who had moved in closer- had slammed his hand over the surface of the wall by the side of my head angrily to bend into my face and snarl, 'Do you think we're stupid? We've seen you giving money to those guys only a few minutes ago! And yesterday, I have followed you after school to see you with these same guys! What's going on, Hime? Who are those freaks?!' 

My whole frame was shaking now, and I couldn't control my breathing anymore, tears coming to my eyes.

'Will you speak up, dammit?!' Gōjun shouted at me, tightening his grip on my hands. 'You'd better tell us everything if you don't want me to break your arm!' 

My eyes grew huge at him, my stomach twisting with dread.

Gōjun… 

He's not serious, is he?!

'Come on, spit it out!' Shunsui snapped at me, with a menacing glare. 'Or maybe, you want us to have a word with your grand-father and get you to talk in front of him?!'

It was my whole world that was shaking now.

Ojii-san! No! He should not learn about this!

'Please, no! I beg of you! Don't!' I pleaded, breaking into tears. 'I'm going to tell you everything!'

And without losing a second, I started to blurt out everything. 

When I was done, the two young men weren't breathing anymore. They stared at me, utterly petrified with shock. And when Gōjun released me, I fell to the ground- my legs having turned to jelly- and covering my face with both my hands, I sobbed uncontrollably, begging the two of them not to tell my grand-parents anything.

'How could you have been so stupid?' they breathed, and continued to stare at me for a whole moment, still very much petrified, before Shunsui looked at Gōjun's face to tell him, 'But say, don't you find something very strange in this whole story? I mean, what were the chances that Hime encounters that guy just the very day that fraud of a doctor has asked her such a huge sum of money!'

'That's true! All this cannot be a mere coincidence!' the latter agreed. 'There is only one plausible explanation: they were in it together!'

'And my little finger tells me that there's a third person behind all of this, who is pulling the strings in the dark.'

I stared at the two of them, voicelessly.

I had never thought about that!

I had been so preoccupied at trying to find as much money as I could that it didn't occur to me that all of this couldn't be a coincidence!

When their eyes returned onto me, their expression became fierce again.

'Hime, I want you to send a text message to that guy- the one with the brown hair- to tell him that you want to meet him urgently,' Shunsui ordered, and Gōjun seconded, in the same commanding tone, 'Just tell him that you have more money to give him.'

But I didn't react and simply continued to stare at their faces.

What are they planning to do? No! I don't want either of them to get themselves involved into this!

'Shunsui… Gōjun...' I whispered. 'I-'

'That's enough!' Gōjun snarled, and snatching my bag up, he rummaged through it until he had found my cellphone, and taking it out, he demanded at me, with a threatening look, 'What's his name?! Tell me his name!'

I jumped, more than intimidated.

'Tetsuya! Tetsuya Tsurugi!' I croaked, and his fingers moved over the keyboard rapidly to type the message and send it.

'Come with us now!' Shunsui stated, and grabbing me by my upper-arm, he yanked me to my feet and started to drag me away with him. 'I'm taking you to my house. We'll wait for his reply there!'

***

For three long hours, we sat there on the sofa in the living room, silently fixating my cellphone- which was resting on the low table- waiting for Tetsuya Tsurugi's reply, a heavy atmosphere reigning in the room.

When the cellphone finally rang, Shunsui picked it up instantly to read the content of the message.

'He's asking you to meet him at the same location where he took you to introduce you to his Boss,' Shunsui informed me, and looking up at me, he demanded, 'Where is that?'

'Shunsui...' I murmured, hesitating to answer, my emotions in turmoil.

Gōjun jerked to his feet to make his way fiercely up to me to seize me by my arm and threaten me, 'Will you speak up?! I'm warning you! I'm really going to break your arm this time if you do not give us that damn address!'

My heart jumped to my throat.

Gōjun…!

'And if you think it's the only thing that we could do to you, you're wrong!' Shunsui seconded in the same tone. 'So, you'd better speak up!'

I shuddered at his words.

Clutching at the front of my shirt, I lowered my head and gave them the address.

'You're going to remain quietly here, while Gōjun and I will go and have a talk with him, understood? Don't you go anywhere!' Shunsui told me, and on these words, he started towards the corridor without any doubt to head for his bedroom, Gōjun following after him.

I stared after the two of them, fearfully.

What do they intend to do?

Kami-sama! Please, protect them!

***

Shunsui Shigeizumi knew exactly well where he had hidden it. Taking out the box from its hiding place, he opened the lid and took the gun out of it. 

'Are you taking it along with you?' Gōjun asked him, arriving behind him in the doorway of the room.

'Yes,' the reddish-brown-haired young man answered, and after having checked that the weapon had bullets in it, he slipped it behind his back under his shirt in the waistline of his trouser, declaring, 'Let's go!' 

As they walked through the living room again to head for the front door, the dark-haired girl jerked to her feet to watch them with an agitated look.

'Stay here and wait for our return!' Shunsui told her, in a severe tone, and on this, they both left the house, making sure to close the door and the gate properly behind them.

***

A short while later…

The moment they entered the billiard club, they instantly caught sight of the brown-haired young man. He was sitting at a small table in the middle of the room with three other males, playing cards. 

'Ah! I think the Goddess of Luck is on my side today! I feel like I'm going to win this round as well!' Tetsuya Tsurugi was stating, gloatingly. He didn't notice the two of them until they had approached him. 

A grimace came to the brown-haired young man's face as he lifted his head up to look at the two teenagers. 'Who are you?!' he demanded at them. 'I've never seen you here before!'

Certainly, he could not have expected the action that was about to follow.

Shunsui and Gōjun kicked the table in front of him violently with their feet, knocking it down, and Tetsuya Tsurugi- as well as the three other males who had been playing cards with him- sprang to the feet in shock, backing away a little. 

Every other people in the room had freeze to stare at the two teenagers. 

'Damn you!' Tetsuya Tsurugi shouted at them, provoked. 'What the hell-'

But he was not allowed to finish. Even before he could have completed his sentence, Gōjun and Shunsui had fisted him by the front of his shirt to shove him against the side wall, and without missing a beat, the reddish-brown-haired young man had taken out his gun to point it at the older male's temple, menacing him with the weapon.

All the other people in the room stampeded outside, while Tetsuya Tsurugi stared at the two teenagers frantically, perspiring cold, his face as white as a sheet.

'Whoa! Wh- What's going on? What do you want? Who are you? Is this a r-real gun?!'

'It's as real as it could be!' Shunsui stated, and letting go of him for a minute, he cocked the weapon and shoot at the back wall, before he fisted the young man again by his shirt to return the hot muzzle of the gun to onto his temple to threaten him with it, while demanding, 'Can we have a talk now?!'

'Who are you?' Tetsuya Tsurugi demanded at them, even more frantic than before. 'You're friends with that girl, Hime Kirigakure, aren't you?!

'Yes,' Gōjun hissed at him. 'And we want to know who has sent you! There's forcibly someone behind all of this!'

'Look! Don't hurt me, please! I'm going to tell you everything!' he told them, his teeth clattering with fear. 'It's a girl named Hiyori Miyatsu who sent me to your friend!'

Their breath caught.

Not even once had they thought that it could be Hiyori Miyatsu's doing. The latter has already left the country, but apparently, not without having devised one last, terrible plot.

'The b****!' they roared.

'I didn't know her. She came to see me and paid me a lot of money, asking me to approach your friend! And the doctor, he was in it too. Apparently, she had discovered a few things about him that could have sent him to jail, and she used it to convince him. It was a win-win situation for him. Not only did it avoid him a prison sentence, but she also paid him a little fortune. Not to forget that all the money that your friend has taken from my Boss has gone to him! When I think about it, I can't believe that her plan has worked so well! Your friend is so naive!'

He smiled twistedly as he said this last part. 

Riled, Gōjun punched him once in the face, breaking his nose.

The brown-haired young man was disoriented by the blow for a minute. 

'Ow! It hurts! Why- You-'

'Listen up, you fu***** as*****!' Shunsui snarled at him, with a murderous look, crushing his throat with his arm. 'I want you to call your boss immediately and tell him that I want to meet him. If you refuse to co-operate, I swear that you won't see the sun rising tomorrow morning!'

'You don't know who my boss is! He's someone very powerful!' the older male stated, almost defiantly. 'Do you see the tattoo on my collarbone?'

The two teenagers exchanged a look with each other, before they lowered his collar to look at the said-tattoo. Their heart skipped a beat. It was the emblem of the Douji gang! It was far worse than they had thought! The dark-haired girl was not dealing with some small thugs, but a real gang! She has really got herself into a terrible mess! But this was not what was going to intimidate them.

'We don't give a damn about who your boss is! You're going to do as I'm telling you and call him up!' Shunsui roared at him, after having exchanged another look with Gōjun. The latter started to search the brown-haired young man's pockets until he had found his cellphone, and taking it out, he asked him the number and dialed it for him, putting the call on speaker. 

Casting a terrified look at the gun Shunsui was pointing more prominently at him, Tetsuya Tsurugi complied with their demand.

A few minutes later, the two teenagers came out of the building with the older male as their captive.

'I'll go and meet him,' Shunsui declared to Gōjun. 'You go back and stay with Hime until I come back! She could be in danger!'

'Shunsui, are you sure?' the latter asked him, his eyes widening at him in alarm. 'You should not go there all alone!'

'It's alright. I have this!' the reddish-brown-haired young man assured him, giving him a reassuring smile, while making a small sign with the gun.

***

Several hours later...

Shunsui Shigeizumi arrived at the appointed place some thirty minutes in advance. The night had already fallen by now. The place was completely desert, but the streets were well-lit. They were at the extreme end of the city, near a store-house.

When the time arrived, he saw a car pull up on the alley across of the one where he had stationed himself. Stubbing his cigarette and grabbing the large bag of money on the backseat on his car, he asked Tetsuya Tsurugi- who was sitting in the passenger seat- to get down from the car now. The latter didn't have to be told twice. Getting off the vehicle, he ran to meet up with the men who has come down from the vehicle which had arrived. 

They were four men at all. Three of them were body-guards. They were clothed as such. While the fourth one was most definitely the Boss. He was a man clothed in Chinese clothings. This was not very surprising, since the gang had its origin in Shanghai. Shunsui was sure that the man's body-guards were armed, contrarily to his underling. He was ready to pull his own gun out if ever things were to turn out badly.

'Ah! And so, you are Shunsui Shigeizumi?!' the Boss declared, as the reddish-brown-haired young came towards him. 'I've heard about the Shigeizumi. But I would never have thought that you're friends with that girl- the dwarf!' 

Stopping at a safe distance away from the dark-haired male and his body-guards, Shunsui threw the bag of money in his possession on the ground between them.

'There is more money in this bag than what she owes you. Take it and forget her!' he stated, in a firm tone. 'If you've heard about the Shigeizumi, then you must also know about the Minamoto gang. If I were you, I wouldn't mess with me!'

In terms of power, resources and effectives, the Minamoto gang out-passed the Douji gang by far. In fact, there was no possible comparison. If there was to be a war between the two gangs, the Douji gang would not survive it, and Shunsui was sure that the man was perfectly aware of this. Not that he believed that the man would want to take the risk of starting a war between gangs to begin with. 

Putting his hands up in front of himself pacifically, the dark-haired male told him, with an almost nervous smile, 'My! My! I don't want to have any problems! Those high school disputes between students do not interest me! I was unsure about accepting to give your friend money in the first place!'

He gestured at his underling- Tetsuya Tsurugi- to pick the bag of money up, and the latter put himself to execution on the spot.

'I'll tell my men to stop bothering your friend. We have a deal. They won't try to get into contact with her ever again. And I'm going back to China tonight anyway. You won't have me around anymore.'

'That's good!' Shunsui asserted.

After having had the brown-haired young man check the money, the man climbed back into his car, and Shunsui watched them drive away until they were completely out of sight.

Only then, did he turn around to place his hand over his palpitating heart, feeling like he could finally breathe again.

***

Gōjun and I waited for Shunsui's return in complete silence. 

My stomach was twisting with dread.

Kami-sama, please, protect him! If anything happens to him...

When we finally heard the gate open, we both looked at each other for a second, before we rushed outside of the house to meet up with the reddish-brown-haired young man. I almost sighed in relief at his sight. He seemed perfectly alright.

Kami-sama, thank you for sending him back to us safely!

'Shunsui, how did it go on?' Gōjun demanded, as we caught up with him.

'I've taken care of everything,' he answered, in a grave tone, looking into my direction while he continued to make towards of the house. 'They won't bother her anymore.'

My eyes widened at him.

How- How did he convince them? 

'Shunsui-' I began, my heart stirring with several different emotions, but he cut me off immediately, by flinging around and snapping at me, furiously, 'Shut up! I don't want to hear a single word from you!'

Shunsui…

'Do you even realize what you've done?!' he demanded at me, drawing in closer to me. 'When that doctor asked you for money, instead of approaching me, Gōjun, or my mother, you sought the help of a perfect stranger!'

I clutched at the front of my shirt, my eyes stinging with tears, overwhelmed with guilt and shame.

He shook his head at me.

'You know what? I don't want to see your face ever again! Just get out of here!'

At this, my heart shook.

Shunsui! Please, no!

Flinging back around, he started to make for door of the house again and disappeared through the doorway. 

Oh Shunsui…

My tears had started to fall now. I looked at Gōjun. 

'I guess that this shows what you think of us!' the latter muttered at me. 'How could you even have believed that Kenren would have put into place such a protocol to begin with?!'

Gōjun…

Shaking his head at me too, he headed indoors as well, closing the front door behind him in a loud bang.

At that particular moment, a flash of lightening flashed across of the sky and it was accompanied by a long, terrible roar of thunder. And in less than two, it started to rain heavily. It was almost, as if, the sky was angry against me too.

Hugging myself, I stood there under the pouring rain, staring at the closed door with anguish, crying to myself.

Shunsui… Gōjun...

Thank you for reading!