He was thrown against a wall, hitting it hard, his breath escaping him in an audible hiss. He hung in place for a second then dropped to his hands and knees. Wrapping his arm around his broken ribs, he choked on his own blood as he glared defiantly at his opponent. He uttered one word through teeth clenched in pain.
“Traitor!”
His opponent sneered.
The two were brothers, twins in the slums of Tokyo. One a hero, the other a traitor. Raiden and Hikaro Shonashara. Born to the gang life, one bound by honor and family; the other bound to nothing but his all-consuming hatred of human life.
“So, Raiden.” Hikaro said, walking up to his brother, grabbing him by his shirt and slamming him against the wall.
“How does it feel to know that I’ve betrayed not only you or the team, but our family as well?”
Raiden just glared silently, not wanting to dignify his inquiry with a heated reply. Hikaro threw Raiden against the opposite wall, getting a satisfactory grunt of pain as he watched his brother crumple to the ground. Hikaro brushed a lock of ebony hair out of his dark brown, almost, black eyes and walked over to where his brother lay gasping for air. He grabbed his brother by his likewise black mane and slammed his head into the ground. Raiden struggled, but his brother was too strong. Hikaro leaned down and spoke in Raiden’s ear.
“The best part is, brother,” he hissed. “You watched it all happen and could do nothing.”
The alleyway was filled with Hikaro’s eerie laughter as his crazed visage met Raiden’s baleful glare. There was a flash of steel, a scream of agony, and Raiden knew no more.
“Rai? Rai? Wake up, man!”
Raiden opened his eyes and blinked as the room slowly came into focus. He found himself staring into the eyes of his second in command, Kai Shirahi. His concerned look melted into a smile when he saw his leader was coming to. Rai couldn’t see out of his left eye, and he reached his hand up to feel a bandage covering it. Kai smiled.
“It’s okay. The doctor said that your wound wouldn’t affect your eyesight at all.”
Rai sat up.
“He didn’t kill me.”
Kai blinked.
“What?”
“Hikaro. He didn’t kill me.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Rai pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.
“It seems like he just wants to humiliate me, but not kill me. Just so he can watch me suffer.”
Kai sat down in a chair next to him.
“Right.”
“How many gang members survived the raid?”
Kai looked down at the floor.
“Kai, how many?”
“Five.”
“So few…”
Rai then dropped his head into his knees.
“I’m sorry, Kai. I couldn’t protect them. I tried, but…”
Kai put his hand on Rai’s back.
“It was a surprise attack. Who could have guessed that your brother had deteriorated that far?”
“I couldn’t even protect him…”
“It could have happened to anyone.”
Rai lifted his head, tears streaming down his face.”
“I can’t protect anybody.”
Crack! Kai’s hand came across Rai’s face, as the second in command jumped up and shouted.
“Snap out of it! I know you feel bad about Hikaro and the others, but wallowing in self-pity isn’t going to solve anything! You say that Hikaro wants to humiliate you, then don’t let him! These things happen in the gang world, and you need to get over it! Move on!”
Rai was stunned for a second. Then he wiped his eyes and turned to Kai, smiling at his friend.
“You’re right, Kai. I’m sorry for being so stupid.”
Kai sighed and smiled, sitting down once again.
“Well, right now we need to focus on preventing this from happening again.”
“Right, but first we need to regroup to a secure location and heal a bit.”
“What do you think we’re doing?”
Rai chuckled.
“You always know what I want, don’t you?”
Kai stood up and smiled.
“It’s my job isn’t it? Come on. The guys will want to see you. I’m sure it’ll restore some of their morale to see their fearless leader up again.”
Kai led Raiden into an adjoining room where the remaining members of Raiden’s gang were getting medical attention. They all looked up as Rai walked in, and their faces lit up when they saw their fearless leader was finally awake. They were more of a family than anything else, made up mostly of orphans that would have been at the mercy of the streets if Raiden’s father hadn’t taken them in. The five strongest had made it, including the only girl in the group, Mae Shirahi, Kai’s sister and also Rai’s eyes and ears in the tumultuous gang-world. She was off on an assignment when the raid happened and so avoided it entirely. Kai and Mae were one-year apart but looked like twins with their reddish brown hair and slate gray eyes, though their personalities could not be more different. While Kai had a practical and easygoing way about him, Mae could be extremely irrational and high strung when roused. Even so, she could sneak up behind anyone and never be noticed, which helped her very much in her job. Both shared an uncanny intuition that made them an invaluable part of Raiden’s team.
In reality, Raiden’s group was a team of insiders that acted as vigilantes to try and subdue the violence of the gang world in Tokyo. Raiden’s brother had served as their bloodhound and worked alongside Mae to sniff out info on gang hideouts and whatever plans the gang lords might be making. It was on one such assignment that Hikaro was found out and almost fatally injured by a gang lord named Hakaija Tashakawa. The wounds he received healed eventually, but his mind was shattered. One day he went missing and was gone for a year before he returned with his own group to attack his former comrades. Raiden’s father was the first to fall, but Hikaro wasn’t finished. His hatred was so consuming that he razed the team’s hideout to the ground, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodied corpses behind. As Raiden looked into the eyes of his team members, he could see that this raid had taken a toll on their morale.
The last four boys were a group of cousins that were the last of the Takai family, whose heritage was that of the ninja. There were Yoshi and Siiju, twin brothers with silvery gray hair, reddish brown eyes and a mostly jovial air about them; Kohl, a telepath with jet black hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a dark, brooding demeanor; and lastly, Chason, a spirited, hot-headed youth with flaming red hair and emerald green eyes. With Kai as their leader, they made up the Amaryllis Unit of Raiden’s team, in charge of home security. As the only survivors of the team, they knew what was expected of them now. Kohl stood up shakily, Rai could tell that he was still suffering from the fatigue caused by using his power. He must have been awake for days trying to pick up the scattered remnants of the Amaryllis Unit and searching for any other survivors of the raid. Rai put his hand on Kohl’s shoulder and pushed him back down.
“Sit back down, Kohl. Have you found anything?”
Kohl sat back down and sighed. He was the oldest of the Takai’s and the oldest team member at the age of 25, but he had been the youngest under Rai’s father, Shonen. Shonen had shown Kohl kindness when his parents were killed, and Kohl, then 15, turned out to be a tenacious and loyal older brother to Raiden and Hikaro, who were 12 at the time. He fit right in with the family, and Rai understood that Hikaro’s betrayal hurt Kohl just as much as it hurt him. Kohl closed his eyes in concentration for a minute then opened them, turning to Rai.
“Nothing.” His voice wavered as he made his report.
Rai tightened his grip slightly on Kohl’s shoulder to reassure his friend.
“It’s okay, Kohl. You did everything you could. Rest for now. You have done well.” Rai then turned to the rest of the team. “That goes for the rest of you, rest up. Next time Hikaro comes we’ll be ready for him.”
The Takai boys nodded in unison and moved out of the room into separate dorms adjacent to it. The only ones left were Kai, Mae, and Rai. Rai met Mae’s gaze and held it for a few moments before speaking her mind.
“It’s okay, Mae. I’m fine now.” Rai chuckled ruefully and looked away. “It seems that I’ve been saying it’s okay a lot lately. But I know it’s not…Hikaro…he’s…” Rai stopped as Mae put her hand over his mouth and brought his face around to look at her.
“That is the past, right now the only thing that matters is that you’re alive. You know that we are loyal and we will follow you anywhere you lead. Just trust us to do our jobs and you do yours. No matter what he was before, Hikaro is our enemy now and you must not let the past stop you from doing what’s needed. Understand?”
Rai smiled, pulled Mae close, and hugged her, holding her as if she were going to blow away.
“I missed you, Mae. Thank you for being there for me in this trying time.”
Mae hugged him back and cried silently.
“I thought that…” She sobbed. Rai pushed her away and looked into her tear-streaked face.
“None of that matters now. I’m here now. You said so yourself. Everything will be fine.”
Mae smirked.
“Just don’t let it happen again, you rascal.” She then wiped away her tears and went to pull away, but Rai pulled her closer and kissed her.
Rai and Mae’s story was a complicated one. He had found her and her brother running for their lives from a bunch of Hakaija’s gang members. He, Hikaro, and Kohl swooped in just in time and saved the siblings and afterwards, encouraged them to join the team. As the years passed, Mae and Rai’s attraction for each other grew until a year prior to Hikaro’s accident when Rai proposed and Mae accepted. They were planning their wedding when Hikaro’s accident happened, and Hikaro blamed Rai for it. Worse now was that Rai blamed himself for not allowing Mae to go with Hikaro. Their wedding plans halted and turned into a prolonged engagement. Mae was ready to move on, but Rai was still tied up in the past, the incident being too close for the wound to have fully healed.
The kiss ended with Mae breaking into laughter. Rai gave her a puzzled look.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that, I’m so relieved that you’re alright.” She then looked at him.
“You know, I’m still waiting for you to marry me.”
Kai, who was still in the room and starting to feel uncomfortable, cleared his throat.
Rai and Mae turned to him and Rai remembered himself and apologized.
“Sorry, Kai. I was just…caught up in the moment.” He said, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck.
Kai chuckled.
“It’s okay, but I think we should rest with the others.” He said, walking over and putting his hand on both of their shoulders. He smiled. “ ‘Kay guys?”
Mae and Rai exchanged glances and nodded. Rai then went back to his room, watching Mae and Kai walk into their own rooms from his doorway before walking over to his bed. He sighed, tumbled into bed, and soon fell asleep.
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