“Mura and some big guy with a mo-hawk, and 15 or so guys? Where the was this?”, Hiroshi asked as he puffed away on a cigarette.

“Okachimachi station”, Ken replied, “Apparently they were all armed with bats and stuff”.

The six members of Hitokiri were all asembled in the garage, chilling and half watching the small TV that hung on the wall. “

What was he doing there?”, Hiroshi asked. “Was Louis with him? Is he alright?”.

“Nah Louis wasn’t there. Apparently he was heading home after a date with Kaoru. She saw the whole thing too”, Ken replied, shaking his head. “Fucking thugs starting shit when his his girl was there”.

Ginji sprung up from the beanbag he had been chilling on, knocking over a bunch of empty coffee cans in the process. “Wait…. Kaoru. Not Kaoru Akiyama right?”.

Ken nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one”.

“Fucking what?!”, Ginji yelled. “Topknot was on a date with Kaoru Akiyama? She’s hot as fuck!”.

“Yeah, lucky bastard!”, Riku agreed.

Ken was bewildered by Ginji and Riku’s reactions. “That’s the main thing that you two idiots are concerned about by this news?” He said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Anyway, we need to decide what we’re gonna do about this.

CLANG! Shohei finished downing a drink then threw the empty can across the garage.

“What do you mean what are we gonna do about this? They’re probationary members, we don’t have to do shit, just chalk this up to bad luck.”.

“I kind of agree with Shohei”, Hiroshi added as he puffed a plume of smoke from his mouth.

Ken began to pace up and down the room. “Listen, I get what you guys are saying!”, “It’s true, if they’re not full members than we’re not obligated to do anything”.

“See, end of fucking discussion”, Shohei added.

Ken shot him a dirty look, he was getting tired of his attitude. “But”, he continued, “Hitokiri right now is seen as weak, hell I doubt that a lot of the other crews even know that we still exist. We’re only six members, easily the lowest membership of any generation”.

He stopped in his tracks, turning to face his men as if he was giving a grand speech.

“if we let some punks fuck with even probationary members of Hitokiri, then no one’s gonna take us seriously. Other gangs will hear that we’re weak, and they’ll try to wipe us out for good. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I love this gang. I take great pride in wearing the Hitokiri emblem and being the Eighth generation’s president. I want to help build Hitokiri back up, not be the president who was responsible for it’s demise.”

Ken took a deep breath as he finished his speech and looked around the room at his gang mates. Ginji and Riku looked like scolded little children, Shohei stared back at him coldly, and Hiroshi sat there in thought. Only Taka, seemed optimistic. He stood up from his seat with a bright beaming smile.

“Ken’s right!, We need to protect the honour of Hitokiri at all times, otherwise how can we even call ourselves delinquents?”, he said.

The pretty boy member of the gang, pointed his finger at Hiroshi. “Hiroshi, you’re the Vice President. Surely you must feel a sense of pride and love for Hitokri similar to Ken if you agreed to take on that position.

Hiroshi stood up, dropping his now finished cigarette onto the floor and stamping it out. “You’re right, we can’t let Mura of all people fuck with us. We’ll find these people and take revenge for Jamie”.

“That’s the spirit!”, Ken said as a smile crossed his face.

“We got any info on this mo-hawk guy that was with Mura?” Hiroshi asked.

“Oh yeah, I was just about to get to that”, said Ken. “Apparently he kept referring to Mura as cousin”

“I had no idea that piece of shit had a cousin”, Ginji chimed in.

Taka took his phone out as he headed for the garage door. “I gotta take off alright, but I’m gonna ask around, see if I can find out anything about this cousin of Mura’s. I’ll catch you guys later”.

Shohei stood up from his seat, follwing Taka’s lead. He slammed his fist on the metal door as he walked through the garage threshold. “This is fucking bullshit you know?”

“Don’t worry about him” Ken said turning back to the rest of the guys. “Hey, you reckon you three can do me a favour?”.

It was a nice temperature in Louis and Jamie's apartment that day. Louis had heard some of the neighbours complaining about the heat when he went to take the rubbish out, but being Australian, he was used to way warmer weather than this.

He stirred the curry in the pot. He was a pretty terrible cook, but he was trying his best to make him and Jamie something somewhat decent for lunch.

“You want some tea bro?”, he called out from the kitchen.

“Do you even have to ask?”, Jamie yelled back sarcastically. “Hey you gotta come check this show out. They're going to the airport and asking foreigners why they're visiting Japan. It sounds fucking dumb but it's actually pretty good!”

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!. Louis was surprised to hear a knock on the door. They barely even knew anyone yet in Tokyo. He walked to the door opening it up.

“What's up kitty cat?”.

Louis stood confused as he stood face to face with Ginji, who was accompanied by Riku and Hiroshi.

“Kitty cat?” He asked.

“Yeah, you know, you said your nickname was the panther. Panther's are big cats”, Ginji replied.

Louis shook his head. “Fuck man, that's terrible", he said laughing.

“Anyway, Ken sent us over to check on your bro, see how he's doing", Ginji said as he pushed past Louis, walking into the apartment.

“huh, what? How do you even know where we live?” Louis muttered as Riku followed Ginji inside.

Hiroshi went to walk through the threshold, but Louis put his hand up, stopping him.

Sorry man, you're gonna have to put out the cig. Mum will fucking kill me if she smells even a hint of smoke in the place".

Hiroshi, dropped his cigarette to the floor outside and stamped it out with his foot before he entered the apartment. “When isn't this guy smoking?”, Louis thought to himself as he closed the door.

“Oi who is it?” Jamie yelled out from the lounge room.

“It's your best friends. We're here to check up on you topknot", Ginji yelled back as he ran to the lounge room.

“Stop fucking calling me that, You mask wearing prick!”, Jamie yelled back.

“You guys want any curry?” Louis asked, “I was just finishing up making lunch".

“Nah we ate on the way here", Riku replied, fixing up his bandana as he followed Ginji into the lounge room. “Smart move", Louis thought. He barely wanted to risk it with his food himself.

Jamie was resting on the sofa as the three Hitokiri members walked into the room.

“Got a few new bruises there man!”, Ginji noted.

“How ya holding up?”, Hiroshi asked.

“Oh I'm all good. My ribs are a bit sore, and the back of my head hurts a bit, but I'll be back to normal in no time. You should have seen what I did to some of them though. I tell ya, I can swing a baseball bat like nobody's business”. Jamie paused for a second to ponder. “Maybe I should join a team?".

Ginji quickly made himself at home in the apartment, browsing through the brother's game collection. “You got a lot of RPGs here man", he said.

“Yeah, that's more Louis' thing", Jamie replied.

Ginji excitedly pulled a game from the cabinet. “You got the latest one of this?” he yelled. “Wanna race me?”.

Jamie shrugged, “Alright, chuck it on".

Louis reappeared, walking into the lounge room, carefully balancing a tray with the curry and tea on it. He handed a plate to Jamie. “Careful, it's hot".

“Yeah, and probably shit", Jamie said laughing.

“Fuck you bro, make your own food next time!, Louis replied.

“So we heard Mura did this", Riku said.

“Nah that dick head didn't even touch me. He just stood next to some guy with a mohawk who barked orders at a group of other guys. Fucking pussies the lot of the both of em!”, Jamie growled, spitting out bits of rice onto the floor.

“Hey fucking watch it!, You're getting food all over me", Ginji yelled.

Hiroshi sat down on a smaller sofa in the room. “Listen you two, we gotta have a chat about this situation", he said addressing the twins. “As you both know, the 8th gen of Hitokiri only has six full members. Historically, only full members would get the benefit of help from the entire team when it came to dealing with issues such as this, but Ken's decided to make an exception".

“What exactly are you talking about", Jamie asked looking puzzled.

“We're in the process of finding out who these guys that were with Mura are, and we're going to teach them a lesson for fucking with one of our guys, even if he's not a full member".

“Fuck that noise, me and Lou can find these guys and take care of them ourselves”, Jamie said. “right bro?”.

Louis agreed, “Yeah, we'll find this prick with the mo-hawk and take care of him ourselves, you guys don't need to get involved”. He jumped up from the sofa in a burst of energy. “Plus, do you really think those guys would have stood a chance against Jamie if they weren't armed?” he boasted proudly.

A slight smile crossed Hiroshi's face. “I can respect that you two have pride and want to take care of this yourselves, but this is Ken's decision, and what the pres says goes".

BZZZZZZ! BZZZZZ! Hiroshi's phone started vibrating in his pocket and he quickly checked the screen.

“That's him now, I gotta take this. The delinquent brushed a hand through his slicked back hair as he hurried out of the room, answering his phone.

“Ken, what's up?.

Ken's deep voice was slightly muffled on the other end of the phone. “Just heard from Taka. He was able to find out the identity of the guy with the mo-hawk".

“Oh, yeah", Hiroshi replied.

“His name's Kouta Murakami. Apparently he’s the top dog over at Iruma High".

Hiroshi had forgotten that Mura was a nickname, being just a shortening of his family name. Come to think of it, he didn't even know what Mura's first name was.

“Are those guys really still trying to do that whole delinquent school thing?”, Hiroshi said laughing.

“Seems like it”, Ken replied. “Anyway, I gotta go grab some stuff for my mum. I'll catch you later okay".

Hiroshi strolled back into the lounge room, only to find Ginji basically interrogating Jamie. “So let me get this straight top knot. Are you, or are you not dating Kaoru?”.

“For the last fucking time, we were on a date, we're not dating, and if you call me topknot one more time I'm gonna throw you out the window!”

Riku was sitting in the corner, busy refolding his bandana. “So does that mean she's still available then?” he asked as he tied the bandana back around is head, pulling his hair back out of his face.

“Heh, like either of you two would have a shot", Jamie shot back.

“All of you shut up!”, said Hiroshi as he sat back down on the sofa. “Jamie, the mo-hawk guy goes by the name of Kouta Murakami. He's Mura's cousin".

“Yeah I figured as much by how he kept referring to Mura", said Jamie.

Hiroshi continued. “He's the head over at Iruma High in North Ueno".

Riku and Ginji burst into laughter. “Oh this is gonna be fun", Ginji exclaimed.

“What's Iruma High", Louis asked, unsure as to what the fuss was about.

“A high school full of wannabe tough guys", Riku replied. “We'll fucking crush them!”.

“It's gonna be fun to take them down a notch then”, Jamie said. He took a sip of tea and leant back on the sofa. “Alright you guys can help us out on one condition. I get dibs on Kouta".

“Make that two conditions", Louis added. “I get to beat the shit out of Mura for sicking his cousin on my brother".

“Alright you got yourselves a deal” Hiroshi said smirking. “We'll get out of your hair then. Come on you two!”.

The three Hitokiri members exited the lounge room, heading for the front door. “Seeya later topknot", Ginji said with a wave, ducking his head through the doorway just in time to dodge the pillow that Jamie pelted across the room at him.

The sun was starting to set, painting the sky a beautiful orange as Taka walked along next to the busy main road, heading home for the night. He was minding his own business, hands in his pockets, doing some window shopping, when some loud laughter from up ahead caught his attention.

He looked further up the road, to see that the loud of laughter was coming from three high school boys. Each of them wore sneakers and sagging pants with their distinct teal green school jackets. Taka had seen that horrible green colour before. As one of the boys turned in his direction, he caught a glimpse of the school crest on the front of the jacket. It was just as he had expected. Those three were from Iruma High.

He quickly pulled out his phone, dialing Ken.

“What’s up Taka?”, The Hitokiri president said as he answered.

“I’ve got three little pigs from Iruma High school in front of me. Mind if I take em out and send a message”.

Ken chuckled. “Go for it”, he replied. “Just try to not hurt them too badly so they can actually deliver the message”.

Taka hung up the phone. He followed the Iruma High boys as they turned left into a side street. About halfway down the street they noticed that Taka was following them. They stopped in their tracks, turning to face him.

“You got a problem pretty boy?”, The one in the middle said.

Taka didn’t reply. He headed straight for the three guys with, keeping his eyes locked on the one in the middle.

“What you think your hard cos you got some red in your hair?”, the middle Iruma high kid said, taking a dig at Taka’s red tipped undecut hairstyle.

Taka broke into a run, just before reaching the trio. He leapt into the air, spinning in around in an amzing show of acrobatics, landing a spinning kick right on the middle guy’s jaw.

The kid went down immediately. The other two stood there, staring wide eyed at Taka in disbelief.

“You two got any fight in you?” Taka beckoned.

One of them nervously ran towards the slim Hitokiri member, screaming and swinging his fists at him. Taka slammed his foot into the guy’s stomach sending him stumbling backwards. The poor guy had no time to recover before Taka hit him with a jumping knee strike right in the head, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The final guy backed away slowly, but in a flash Taka had closed the distance. He booted him into a brick wall outside a shop, knocking the wind out of him, then grabbed him by the hair and smashed his head into the same wall. The Iruma High delinquent slithered down the wall as he slowly collapsed.

The Mouthy Iruma high school delinquent that Taka had dropped first was slowly trying to stand up again, but Taka quickly put an end to that when he booted him in the face. He stood over the cowering green jacketed enemy, glaring down at him with fiery eyes.

“Go tell Kouta Murakami that he fucked with the wrong Gaijin. Hitokiri is coming for him!”.