The First Decree

The decision hung in the air of the luxurious condo, heavy with unspoken significance. "Alright. Let's build your fortress."

It was a quiet acceptance, but to the three people listening, it was a cataclysmic shift. The passive, reactive force of nature had just agreed to become an active, directing will.

Akari's mind, a supercomputer of strategy, immediately kicked into high gear. Rina's grin was sharp and predatory, her battlelust now having a clear, sanctioned purpose. Maruyama stood straighter, his role as a shield for a man now solidifying into the role of a Royal Guard for a King.

"Excellent," Akari said, her voice crisp and business-like, the previous night's emotional vulnerability now locked away. "The first step in building any structure is to clear and secure the foundation. Our foundation is Seiryu High. It is currently fractured and leaderless. We must consolidate our power there, immediately and unequivocally."

"You mean beat up anyone who doesn't fall in line?" Rina asked, cracking her knuckles with relish.

"Subtlety, Sato-san," Akari chided, though without her usual bite. "But yes, that is the general principle. We need to unify the school's power players under a single banner: ours. Yamata's 'Executioners' are scattered. The club captains are acting independently. We need to absorb them or eliminate them as threats."

Kenji, who had been listening patiently, interjected. "That approach is inefficient. It will lead to protracted, small-scale conflicts. It wastes time and creates instability. There is a more direct method."

The three of them looked at him, their attention absolute.

"We will not hunt down the leaders," Kenji stated. "We will summon them. You," he looked at Akari, "will call a school-wide assembly. Mandatory attendance for all club captains and known faction leaders. Tomorrow. In the main auditorium."

Akari's eyes widened. A mandatory assembly of the school's entire delinquent power structure was unprecedented. It would require her to pull every string she had. "Consider it done."

"You," he turned to Rina, "will be my messenger to the world outside the school. The other Heavenly Kings of the district's high schools. The remnants of the biker gangs. I want their leaders to know what happened to the Kurokami Wolf Pack. I want them to know that Seiryu is now under new management. They will not test our borders."

Rina's grin was so wide it looked like it might split her face. "A diplomatic mission. I like it. My kind of diplomacy involves a few broken bones to make sure the message is 'read' clearly."

"And you," Kenji looked at Maruyama. "You will be at my side. You are the symbol of my first victory. Your presence will speak for itself."

"Yes, Senpai!" Maruyama boomed, his chest swelling with pride.

Kenji then looked out the window again, his gaze distant. "The foundation must not only be secured. It must be clean. The Inagawa-kai... Mr. Tanaka. He understands the new rules. But his underlings, the men who carried out the order... they do not."

A chill went down the spines of his three followers.

"Send a message to Mr. Tanaka," Kenji said to Akari. "Tell him the ten men from the dojo... I want them. Not their lives. I want them expelled from his organization and banished from this city. Permanently. It is my first and only request. If he complies, our business is concluded. If he does not..." Kenji left the threat hanging in the air, its weight more terrifying than any explicit promise of violence.

It was the first decree of the Thug King. Not a request for territory or money, but a demand for justice. A cleansing of the rot that had threatened his peace.

The next day, Seiryu High was a hornet's nest of tension. An official summons had been issued by the Student Council President herself. Every significant student with a reputation for fighting was ordered to the auditorium after last period. No reason was given, but everyone knew.

The King was holding his first court.

In the auditorium, the atmosphere was thick with bravado and fear. The captains of the Kendo, Karate, and Boxing clubs sat with their lieutenants. The scattered remnants of Yamata's crew huddled together, looking lost and resentful. Dozens of smaller gang leaders and floor bosses filled the seats, all whispering, all posturing.

The doors at the back of the auditorium opened.

First, Akari Ishikawa walked in, her expression like ice, clipboard in hand. Then came Maruyama Jiro, a walking mountain who scanned the crowd with a possessive, warning glare. Then came Rina Sato, an uninvited but undeniably powerful presence, leaning against the doorframe with a predatory smirk.

And finally, Kenji Tanaka walked in.

He wore his simple school uniform. He looked as plain as ever. But today, no one saw a sheep. They saw the dragon he had revealed himself to be. A dead silence fell over the entire auditorium.

Kenji didn't go to the stage. He simply stood in the center aisle.

"I have gathered you here for a simple purpose," he began, his voice calm but resonating with the phantom pressure they all remembered. "This school has been in a state of chaos. This chaos is inefficient. It is disruptive to the learning environment. This will now end."

He paused, letting his words sink in.

"From this day forward, there is only one authority at Seiryu High. There are no factions. There are no rival clubs. There is only us." He gestured slightly to include Akari, Rina, and Maruyama.

"You have two choices," he continued, his eyes sweeping over the crowd. "Choice one: you dissolve your independent factions and integrate. You follow our rules. You maintain the peace. In return, you will have our protection. You will be a part of the strongest organization this city has ever seen."

He let that offer hang in the air, the offer of security and belonging.

"Choice two," he said, his voice dropping slightly, becoming colder. "You refuse. You maintain your independence. You challenge our authority. If you choose this path..."

He looked directly at the captain of the Boxing Club, "Iron Fist" Honda, whose arm was still in a sling, his face a mask of defiant rage.

"...I will personally, and permanently, dismantle you and everything you have built. I will break you so completely that you will not be a leader, you will not be a fighter, you will not even be a memory. You will simply be... gone."

The threat was so absolute, so devoid of emotion, that it felt like a law of physics.

"This is not a negotiation," Kenji concluded. "This is a notification. You have until tomorrow morning to make your choice. The assembly is over."

He turned and walked out, his court following him, leaving behind an auditorium filled with over a hundred of the school's toughest students, all silenced by the sheer weight of their new king's first decree. The choice was simple: bend the knee, or be erased. The Kingless Kingdom was no more. The reign of the Thug King had officially begun.