“So what’s the name of the restaurant we’re going to, Katsuki?” Yuudai asks the red haired girl.

“Oh, it’s NiwaTora Grill!”

Akina perks up momentarily, which Yuudai notices. “You know it, Akina?” he asks.

“Shut up.”

“O-oh, okay.” Yuudai reels from Akina’s forcefulness. A few moments later, he turns to Katsuki to ask, “Soooo, where is this restaurant anyway?”

“It’s on the outskirts of Akihabara, just a few blocks more. It has a 4½ star rating on Gulp! And 6 stars on Dave’s Food Observer!” Katsuki continues to rattle off more and more reviews as they walk.

“Okay, but I thought we were just going to the restaurant to investigate it?” Yuudai asks.

“We have to pretend to be normal customers, right? That’s part of the investigation, too. It’s a stakeout!” Katsuki shoots her fist in the air, but is betrayed by her stomach growling.

“Is that all?” Yuudai says with a snicker.

“S-shut up.”

As they finally reach the restaurant, a kind looking older man greets them at the entrance. “How are you today, young mister and madams? A table for- Oh!” He looks a bit surprised as he looks over at Akina, immediately bowing to her. “Y-Young miss Gedou! I-it’s been ages since we’ve seen you here!”

Akina sighs. “Rise up, old man. We’re just here for some lunch.” As the greeter rises to lead them to their table, Katsuki and Yuudai look at Akina astonishedly.

“Your father didn’t let us know you’d be coming, or else we would have had the VIP section ready for you and your friends.” He says as he starts calling out to the other workers to prepare the special table.

Akina, though, calls him off. “Don’t bother, we don’t need anything fancy. And besides, I haven’t talked to father since mother died.” The greeter quickly calls everyone off, then leads the trio to a normal table. Due to the odd time of day they have no issues finding a table since there is only one other table occupied. The old man pulls out a chair for each of them and tries to help them sit.

“Cut the shit, old man. Just treat us like normal customers.” Akina says, glaring straight into his eyes.

“F-fine, then, young mi- er, miss customer. One of the wait staff will be right with you.” He says before walking back to his post.

Katsuki’s the first to speak up. “So, Akina, your father… does he come here often or something?”

“I’d assume so, since he now owns the place.” Akina responds cooly. “And before you ask, that does mean I’m a yakuza daughter. Now, Katsuki, how are we going to go about this investigation?”

Katsuki tries to shake off her shock, “I have so many questions… but that can wait. For now, uh... could you tell us anything about this place?”

“This place used to belong to a rival clan. A few years back, my father took over this turf and claimed many of the businesses here, this place included.”

“Eh? The staff seemed real friendly to me, I never would have guessed they’re yakuza.” Yuudai says.

He quickly shuts up as he spots the waiter coming back to the table with their refreshments. “Miss Gedou, as an esteemed guest, your drinks are provided free of charge today.” He sets out three drinks in front of the guests.

Katsuki stares at the glass in front of her. “You know we’re underage, right?”

The waiter smiles. “Don’t worry, it’s just complimentary tea. No alcohol involved.” He passes out the menus to the guests then sets out to tend to other business. “I’ll be right back to take your order.”

Akina also stares it down. Katsuki notices Akina’s glare and asks, “What’s wrong, Akina?”

Akina replies coldly. “One thing I was always taught is to not trust anything given for free.”

Yuudai, who is already preparing to take a drink, says “Pssh, really? You can always trust restaurant staff!” He then downs the entire cup as quick as he can, letting out a loud “Ahhhh!” to punctuate it. “See? It’s fine!”

The two girls give him a weird look. “How can you handle the heat so well?” Katsuki asks.

“My fear is less of spiked drinks and more of you scalding your throat now.” Akina says, picking up the cup. “I guess it’s cooled enough to not be a problem.” She then takes a big drink. “For a free drink, it’s not too bad. Perhaps they really are just showing respect.”

Katsuki shrugs, then proceeds to drink along with them, also remarking on it’s taste. “Wow, it is really- Eh? Yuudai?” She drops her cup as she sees the big guy plop face first on the table, the silverware jingling at the impact.

“Damnit, I knew it… was… a trap…” Akina shortly follows him, and not even Katsuki’s panic can make her resist the drug’s effect.

The next thing Yuudai knows, he’s got a headache which isn’t being helped by the racket Akina is making. “Let us out! Damnit, let us out right now!” she says, causing Yuudai to look over at her. She’s shaking on some bars. “Let us out or I’ll gut you all after I turn this cell into rubble!”

“Don’t waste your strength, these bars are made of something that can’t be broken with human hands.” A mildly older voice says through the jail wall. “That and the noise you’re making hurts my ears.”

“W-who are you?” Katsuki rushes up to the edge of the cell to ask.

“I’m nobody important, that’s why I’ve been in here as long as I have. Just got grabbed and thrown in here one day with no explanation. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.”

“So you don’t even know why you’re locked up?” Katsuki asks.

“You could ask them.” His arm pokes through the bars so they can see it, pointing at some of the other cells in the room, filled with people in their mid-20s lying around listlessly. “But you won’t get much of an answer, whatever they’re doing to these people’s leaving them all like that. Hell, you three’re the first ones with any real energy to be in here.”

Yuudai shakes his sleepiness off as he looks around at the cages. “What the hell are they doing to cause people to get this beaten down?”

“You’re gonna find out real quick, son.” An older man in a suit walks by their cell, looking inside. He bends over to look Akina eye to eye. “I’ll look forward to robbing you all of that energy soon enough.”

“Put your face any closer and you’ll be walking away without a nose.” Akina says shortly before spitting in the man’s face.

He simply laughs as he wipes the loogie off his cheek. “You got spunk kid. Maybe if your father gives into our demands you’ll be able to keep that spirit up, Young Miss!” Akina starts attacking the bars again as he mentioned her father, causing him to laugh even more. “You can’t break these bars. We have ways of tempering metal so that they won’t break so easily.” He smirks condescendingly at her. “Unless you’re as strong as your father”.

Akina is only making guttural noises now as she’s irately grasping at the bars, pulling at them ferociously as the old man walks away with a continued laugh, leaving one of his men to stay behind as a guard. “Ah, screw this.” Akina finally relents. “We’ll just have to wait for them to take us out for their experiment or whatever. Then I’ll tear them apart.”

As she sits on the bed, Katsuki looks over the cage, seeing blood left on the bars where her hands were. “Hey, Akina, wait. Let me see your hands.”

“What do you want to see my hands for?” Akina asks, reaching them out in confused compliance.

“Hold on,” Katsuki says as she grabs them, turning the hands palm up. “Wow, you were grabbing those bars hard, weren’t you? You’re bleeding.”

“That asshole pissed me off so bad, that I-”

“No, no. It gives me an idea.” Katsuki says with a smile.

“If it gets me out of here and lets me drain the blood of that old guy, sure.” Akina says, the anger still in her voice.

Yuudai asks in a hushed voice. “What are you planning?”

Katsuki whispers back, “I can use her blood to knock the guard out, I think. Just need to get him distracted somehow. He’s taking too many glances up from his phone for him not to catch us in the act.”

“How do you need me to distract him?” Yuudai says.

“You’re a big guy, you can stand between us and him and block us.” Akina quickly replies.

“And we’ll give you a signal when we’re ready so you can duck out of the way.” Katsuki adds on.

“Well, I don’t really get it, but whatever it takes to get out of here. Alright, you ladies got it!” Yuudai says with a smile. He then gets up and walks to the bars, placing himself in the guard's line of sight. “Hey, guard, can we get a glass of water or something? I haven’t hydrated in a few hours, and a guy this big needs his liquid!”

“You ain’t gettin’ nothing to drink but a few of my knuckles if you don’t shut up, prisoner,” the guard replies.

“C’mon man, you can spare some water, can’t ya? I’m dyin’ of thirst here!” Yuudai calls.

As Yuudai distracts the guard, Katsuki begins to concentrate, Akina’s blood-collecting above her hands, floating in the air. Akina starts to ask why she’s using so much before realizing it’s best to not interrupt her while she’s concentrating. Slowly it begins to take the form of a small oblong ball, hardening in the air. She lets out a whisper to Akina. “When you’re ready, yell ‘now’ and I’ll fling it.”

The guard gets up and gets in Yuudai’s face. “Last warning, pal. Sit down and shut up or-” His sentence is interrupted by Akina yelling “Now!”

Yuudai quickly ducks as Katsuki flings the ball at the guard, hitting him square in the forehead, covering his face in Akina’s blood. He instantly falls to the floor unconscious.

“Well, that worked great!” Yuudai exclaims, before realizing a flaw with Katsuki’s plan. “Wait, how do we get the keys now?”

“Do you think you and Akina together could bend the bars?” Katsuki asks.

“The hell? Akina couldn’t do it, why do you think I’d be able to help?” Yuudai asks incredulously.

“That old guy said you needed to be as strong as her father to break those bars, right? Maybe the two of you together might match that power?” Katsuki replies.

Akina and Yuudai look at each other for a moment, then Akina shrugs. “It’s worth a shot.” Yuudai agrees and they both move to work on the same two bars Akina had attacked earlier. A creaking sound comes out of the bars, groaning as they slowly bend under the will of the two strong teens. As soon as the gap is wide enough, Akina tells Yuudai to hold tight so Katsuki can slip out between the newly-created gap.

Katsuki grabs the keys from the unconscious guard and quickly unlocks the cell door, letting Yuudai and Katsuki out. “C’mon, let’s go find that old bastard,” Akina says as she starts moving.

“Awwright!” Yuudai pumps his fist, surprised and emboldened by their success.

“Hey, girl, what about me?” The man who was their temporary neighbor asks.

“I don’t help people who aren’t my friends.” Akina says without stopping, “You’ll have to ask for one of them to do it.”

Katsuki turns around and unlocks his cage. “We gotta catch up with her, could you free the rest of the captives?” she asks as she hands him the keys.

“Sure thing, redhead. Not sure what the hell just happened, but if you can do that again you might be able to take those guys. Be careful.” He replies before grabbing the key and moving to another cell, allowing Katsuki and Yuudai to chase after their fiery-tempered friend.

Before long, Akina busts through a door that opens up into what appears to be the main storage space of the warehouse. On the other side of the room awaits the old man from earlier surrounded by several thuggish looking younger guys. “Hey, dead man! You ready for a beatdown?”

The old man and his cronies quickly turn their heads to her just as Yuudai and Katsuki catch up behind her. “W-what the hell? How did you get out!?” He asks, the shock on his face evident.

“Remember you said we had to be as strong as Akina’s dad to break those bars? Turns out WE were.” Yuudai says with a smirk on his face.

“Well, maybe we should have drained you while you were out.” He smirks and twirls the stick in his hand. “I should have known his only child would be as tough as him, but you’re too late. With this machine, I’ll be as powerful as him and you’ll stand no chance. Boys, keep them busy while I get this thing working.” He waves his hand as to emphasize his words, launching his men into action.

The six or so men begin to descend upon the three, but Akina takes a big step forward and quickly dispatches the first of the opponents to reach her with a single blow. She makes quick work of the rest as she continues to approach the elder.

Any trace of confidence left on his face vanished as quickly as his army did. “You’re just like your father…” The old man then smirks and activates his stun baton. “Good thing I came prepared this time!” He rushes at Akina with his bloodlust evident.

“Oh, watch out! That looks dangerous!” Yuudai yells after Akina.

“No, I am dangerous. He just has a toy.” She says, starting to rush at him as well. He takes a strong swipe at Akina, but she easily dodges and counters with a punch, which he blocks with the baton. He quickly strikes her with the baton across the face, laughing maniacally as he does. “I’m not going to lose again! And especially not to some inferior knockoff!” He activates the electrical charge, sending voltage through Akina’s body.

She yells in pain as she’s brought to her knees by the charge. “Akina!” Yuudai yells as he runs in front of her, standing between her and the old man.

“I must have been giving you too much praise. You’re making other people fight for you, you’re nothing like your father!” He rushes towards the machine and sticks his arm into a hole in the side. “With this machine, I’ll gain power you couldn’t believe and completely crush you!” With the push of a button, the machine whirrs to life, sending a needle into his forearm.

Yuudai calls out, getting into a fighting pose. “You jerkwad, I’m not gonna let you-”

“Yuudai, get the HECK out of the way!” Katsuki yells, giving him barely enough time to jump out of the way before Akina rushes past him, charging into the elder man and knocking him to the floor before mounting him.

She lets her fists fly in tempo with her talking. “I! Am NOTHING! Like my FATHER! That piece of SHIT! Has NOTHING! On ME!”

“Akina! Akina! Stop, you’re gonna kill him!” Yuudai runs forward, restraining Akina’s fist.

“Look, if you kill him, it’ll just bring you more trouble than it will help anyone. Plus we still don’t know what these yaks are up to.”

“Y-yes! I’ll explain everything, just don’t kill me!” The old man says with a cough, holding his hands in front of his face. “I don’t.... this was supposed to make me stronger.”

Akina pauses, looks up at Yuudai, then back to the guy. “You have ten seconds, then I’ll finish turning your face into raw meat.”

“We were using that piece of junk to check people for any supernatural power and transfer it to us! It’s got-” He’s cut off by Akina jumping off him, grabbing his baton, and whaling on the machine. “W-wait! Don’t break it! We don’t know what could happen, it could explode and kill us all!”

Akina pauses, looks at the old man, then turns back to the machine. “I don’t care, I’m breaking your toy, the consequence means nothing to me. “ She hits it again, and again until it’s a smoldering heap. “There, it is finished.”

Katsuki thinks out loud. “Surely they don’t actually understand how these powers work, do they?”

Akina shakes her head, her body swaying a little as she does. “There’s no way these goons could.”

Yuudai turns to ask Katsuki, “So, what do we do with these guys?”

Before Akina can continue, she falls to the ground, unconscious. Yuudai and Katsuki rush to her side, trying to pick her up. “Oh no, her face is so pale. How much blood did you take, Katsuki?”

“S-she was fine afterward! It must be because she was fighting so hard for so long so soon afterward…” Katsuki puts her ear to Akina’s chest. “S-she’s still breathing, thank goodness…”

“Watch out, we need to get her to safety!” Yuudai says before picking up Akina’s limp body into a bridal carry. “C’mon, Katsuki!” The two rush out towards the door outside.

“Where are we gonna take her?” Katsuki asks as they run.

“To the hospital, where else?!” Yuudai replies “C’mon, we’re almost-”

Akina’s hand weaky reaches up to grab Yuudai’s shirt lapel. “Don’t,” the now-conscious Akina says sternly.

“E-eh? You’re awake? B-but you’re still-”

Her grip tightens, still weak, yet with a firmness to it. “I’m a yakuza’s daughter. I can’t go to a civilian hospital.”

“I thought you weren’t a part of that life anymore?” Yuudai says, standing still in the doorway.

“I’m not, but you can’t escape your name as easily. Besides, I’ll be fine.”

Yuudai looks back at Katsuki, who is as concerned and confused as he is. “We can just give a fake name, it’ll be o-”

Akina glares at Katsuki past Yuudai’s arm. “Do you think that is the only way people know me? Or do you plan to mess up my face beforehand?”

Katsuki sighs then looks at Yuudai. “I guess we don’t have a lot of options, so we just need to trust her.”

“Alright. But I’ll carry you until we get to the meeting place, you need to build yourself back up.”

Akina grumbles. “If I had the strength I’d knock you out for carrying me like this in the first place... but it can’t be helped now.”

Yuudai motions to the thugs on the ground. “Hey, Katsuki. Don’t forget to call the cops on those bastards. They’re all incapacitated, so now’s the time.”

“Got it!” Katsuki says, grabbing a phone off one of the thugs and calling the police as they head towards the exit.

The three find themselves in an alleyway between the warehouse and the restaurant. Katsuki checks the sun as they leave the building. “At least we still have enough time to get to the meet-up spot.”

Yuudai tries to put on his usual smile. “Let’s get going then, don’t want to make everyone worry about us by being late.”