Captain Matsuno & The Third Division

Ren closed his eyes, waiting for the strike to land, but it never came. He opened his eyes slowly to see a bald guy taking the hit square on his head. He was tall and muscular, his presence making the thugs hesitate in fear.

"Hey man, you helped a ton by being here," the bald guy thanked, blood dripping from his head onto his white jacket.

"A white jacket?, " Ren noticed their similar jackets, but there was something different about his.

"Matsuno.. "Fubuki's eyes widened with relief as she recognized the man in front of her. "What took you guys so long?" she breathed a sigh of relief.

Matsuno wiped the blood from his head, giving her a reassuring smile. "Fubuki-san, please don't tell you-know-who that you were in danger. "

He yanked the bat away from the man and elbowed him. "Hey brats, do you need an invitation to show up?" Matsuno yelled, and three more white-coat members appeared. They all looked intimidating and had smiles to match their intimidating presence.

"Whatttttt?," the first spoke.

"There's a lot less here than what I thought," the second added.

"Only two of us would have been more than enough," the third finished.

"It's Sakurakai's Captain Matsuno and his Third Division!" one of the thugs acknowledged.

Matsuno then faced the cowering thugs who were backing off slowly. "You guys do understand what swinging something like this around here gets you?"

"Who are these Sakurakai guys, and why are they helping me?" Ren wondered.

"Don't just stand there!" the thug leader, who had gotten to his feet, yelled. "There's only four of them and fifty of us, go!"

"Tatsuya, Reiji, Kenta, if you dare let them in one step further, I'll beat you all up!" Matsuno threatened.

"Olryt Captain! " they answered in unison.

"Hey man, you can rest easy," Matsuno ordered, noticing Ren still ready to go, his eyes never leaving the thugs. "We'll take it from here."

Ren, who had been struggling to stay on his feet, felt a wave of relief wash over him and fell to the ground, watching the group quickly subdue the thugs with their coordinated attacks.

Matsuno and his Third Division moved with precision and power, their every move calculated and devastating. The thugs, initially confident in their numbers, quickly found themselves outmatched by their vast superior skill. The Third Division fought with a ferocity and skill that left the thugs no chance to regroup or counterattack.

Ren watched in awe as Matsuno took down one thug with a single, well-placed punch. The other members of the Third Division followed suit, efficiently dispatching their opponents one by one.

Tatsuya tripped a thug with a leg sweep, Reiji and Kenta each delivered a powerful headbutt to their opponents. The town cheered them on as they fought.

"Go!, "

"We've been waiting! "

"Get 'em! "

"Beat them to a pulp, "

"Give em hell!, "

It wasn't long before the fifty thugs were reduced to a groaning, defeated mess on the ground.

"What's going on here?" Ren struggled to his feet, still in disbelief at what he had just witnessed.

Fubuki, noticing his confusion, explained, "I mentioned earlier how this town used to be really unsafe until recently, with fighting between various gangs and organizations."

"This town changed five years ago when a group of five delinquents—the rowdiest of the rowdy, those who didn't conform to the expected norm, and the wildest of the bunch—gathered together under the leadership of the eccentric Ryūhara Kaito, your older brother."

"They started off as a kind of school watchdogs, spreading their influence across the town. Before you knew it, the townsfolk had accepted them wholeheartedly, giving them a name:

[Those who fight to protect this town, ]

[The guardians of the neighborhood; ]

the Sakurakai! "

"The most violent town, hated by all the others... that was the reality here until five years ago. The fact that there is still fighting hasn't changed much, as you can see."

As Fubuki finished speaking, Ren watched the Third Division members, including the captain, swiftly and skillfully take down the remaining thugs who wouldn't lie down. The cheers of the townspeople echoed in his ears.

Ren noticed two of the thugs wriggle their away from the Third Division and rush at him simultaneously. Ren blocked the first one's bat with his forearm, feeling the whole impact but holding steady. He followed up with a rapid series of punches, each one precise and powerful, knocking the Leader back. The final attacker hesitated, fear flickering in his eyes.

Ren didn't give him a chance to recover. He closed the distance, delivering a sweeping kick that took the man's legs out from under him. As he fell, Ren finished with a punch that left him unconscious on the ground. The leader, now alone and visibly shaken, backed away slowly. "You… you guys are crazy!, "

Ren took a step forward towards the leader who equally moved back fear written throughout his face. "Get out of here. And don't you ever come back. "

The leader didn't need to be told twice. He turned around and fled, leaving his fallen comrades behind.

Once they were satisfied that all the thugs were gone and wouldn't cause anymore trouble, Matsuno walked towards Ren. "You did well, man. But next time, leave it to us. "

Ren nodded, still catching his breath. "Thanks, " he muttered, genuinely grateful for their timely intervention. Had they arrived a second later, he would have been seriously hurt or even worse; dead!.

Matsuno then gave him a nod before turning to face Fubuki, who had been resting by the wall, watching the fight. "Are you all right? Hope you're not hurt anywhere, Fubuki-san?"

"Looking down on me again, Matsu, eh? I'm a great fighter…" she replied, her ears turning into rabbit ears.

"You used to be," he cut her off, not wanting to hear any of her usual bragging.

"You've grown some nerve, you baldy. " Fubuki slapped his bald head.

The townfolks began to come down from their homes and their shops once the coast was clear, gathering around the Third Division fighters.

"Hey, Old Lady, you said there were a hundred guys here, but I counted only 50!" Tatsuya exclaimed.

"My old eyes have been getting pretty bad lately," she replied with a grin.

The crowd then turned towards Ren. "You were pretty amazing too. You really held your own at the beginning," one of the townspeople said.

"Young man, your leg is injured. You need to get that treated, or it'll get infected," an elderly woman advised, concern in her voice.

After he got it treated, Ren walked up to Fubuki, his expression softening. "I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. I was out of line."

Fubuki gave him a small smile. "It's all right. I understand. You're going through a lot."

Ren nodded, feeling a sense of relief.

As the night settled over Yugen City, the streets slowly returned to normal, the fight fading into memory. The Third Division left not long after Fubuki had prepared a tasty meal for them all, a gesture of gratitude for their help.

As Ren turned to leave, Fubuki called out to him. "I hope you'll visit again."

"Yeah, I'll definitely come back. Your omelette rice is the tastiest thing I've ever had," Ren responded with a genuine smile.

With a final wave, Ren headed home.