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Takeda’s POV
Honestly the place didn’t look like much. Maybe in it’s hayday, it would have been a beautiful, traditional dojo. But looking at it now, Takeda could only see an old building full of creaky hinges, squeaky floor boards, and cracks in the walls. There were even rocks rolling around that looked more like rubble than landscaping.
But Dr. Koetsuji said there was something he wanted to show him, and he literally owed the man his left arm. So, Takeda continued to follow him deeper into the compound. Now that he’s more paying attention to where they’re going than looking around, Takeda thinks he hears something.
Takeda feels the hair on his arms stand up. That’s a fight he can hear, no doubt about it.
Sure enough, as they round the corner, he can see a fight going on. The closer they get, Takeda starts to realize he definitely recognizes the one at a disadvantage.
‘That’s Kenichi getting thrown around!’ Takeda thinks with a start.
“Is he going to be ok?!” Takeda desperately asks Dr. Koetsuji. As he gets an answer, Takeda can only look on as Kenichi continues to get thrown back.
Takeda can feel his instincts kick in and his muscles start to tense.
‘Go! I should help! But this is obviously training. But does it have to be so harsh?!?! Ugh!’ Takeda battles with his thoughts while watching on.
“You see,” Dr. Koetsuji starts to say, “he’s chosen to undertake this severe training regiment to learn how to be able to protect you”
Takeda feels like he just got the wind knocked out of him. ‘What did he just say!? Kenichi is taking this beating for ME!?!’
“Kenichi isn’t like you Takeda,” Koetsuji continues, “he has absolutely no natural aptitude for martial arts at all. But also unlike you, he does not give up or give in.”
‘Yeah, no kidding’, Takeda thinks, ‘on both counts.’, he can’t help but tense further as he watches Kenichi get thrown back again and again, his face and form taking more and more abuse. Eventually he can’t help but turn away, not being able to keep watching his friend and savior take such a beating.
“You’re not as alone as you might think. And as long as Kenichi is willing to go the distance, don’t you think you owe it to him to hang in there yourself?”Koetsuji asks.
It’s all Takeda can do to breathe through his anger, desperately tamping down the desire to jump in there and try to help Kenichi.
“You know, he’s an interesting guy, our young Kenichi,” Dr. Koetsiji muses, almost to himself, “he comes off as cowardly but then he’ll turn around and surprise you by doing something amazingly brave. He seems as timid as a mouse but suddenly he’ll decide to take a stand.”
At this, Takeda turns, while thinking he knows exactly what he’s talking about. Weeks of looking for him everywhere, only to have Kenichi turn up suddenly, with fire in his eyes, ready to fight.
“At first I didn’t know what to make of him but now I think I finally understand what makes him tick.”, says Koetsuji.
“And?”, asks Takeda, “Just what would that be?”
As Dr. Koetsuji continues, Takeda feels his muscles lock, at the same time his heart rate seems to almost double. “… Simply put, Kenichi Shirahama, will do anything, dare anything, even risk his life, to protect the lives of the people he cares about.” Koetsuji turns to Takeda, saying, “You are incredibly fortunate to be among that select group.”
Now Takeda can only stare, as he processes what was just said. ‘People he cares about?’. Takeda looks towards Kenichi. Fall, get up. Fall, get up. Fall. Get. Up.
After listening to Koetsuji, Takeda is seeing things a little differently. No matter how often he falls, he gets back up. Maybe not necessarily because he wants to, but because the people he cares about are pushing him forward. People he wants to protect.
‘That includes me now.’ Takeda thinks, this time blushing almost noticeably, even through his darker complexion.
After that, Takeda gets so wrapped up in watching Kenichi training, that he almost cheers aloud when he lands the move he’s been working on. ‘Yeah!’
This is how Takeda spends the next few hours, just watching Kenichi do his best, while never quite getting it until he suddenly does.
While he watches, Takeda starts to feel it again. That spark in his chest he felt when he and Kenichi first fought. When he told him off for thinking friendship was bullshit. That defiance, and drive, lit something in him he had been hesitant to name.
Looking at Kenichi now, it’s hard to deny.
‘Damnit’ Takeda thinks, ‘if I’m not careful, I’m gonna be in too deep to let this go soon.’
He says his goodbyes to Koetsuji and Miu, giving his regards to Kenichi through her, not sure he can talk to Kenichi face-to-face right now.
He almost makes a clean get-away too, until Kenichi stops him at the door, demanding his safety and number on speed-dial. Takeda is 90% sure he is blushing and nervous through most of it. He’s not even sure what all he says, too busy staring into those intense dark eyes, and (when he gets it back), Kenichi’s number on his phone screen.
‘I will not text him right away, like some love-struck middle schooler.’ Takeda tells himself.
Takeda makes his way home, Koetsuji’s words ringing in his ears the whole way.
‘You’re not as alone as you might think. And as long as Kenichi is willing to go the distance, don’t you think you owe it to him to hang in there yourself?’
Strength.
And something else.
‘… Simply put, Kenichi Shirahama will do anything, dare anything, even risk his life, to protect the lives of the people he cares about … You are incredibly fortunate to be among that select group’
Warmth. It feels warm in his chest.
The image of Kenichi, fighting for his loved ones, fills Takeda with strength and warmth.
“Alright then!” Takeda says to the empty alleyway he’s in right now, “I can’t give in, not while he's working so hard for me!”, he almost yells, raising his fist, getting pumped.
“Aaaww,” a voice says from behind Takeda, “Sounds like someone’s in love.”
‘Shit!’ Takeda turns to see Koga and Kisara, smirking down at him. “Hey Gorgeous! Long time no see!” he yells up at her, fake smile firmly in place.
“So tell me, Takeda the puncher,” Koga sneers down at him, while Kisara mutters under her breath, “Who’s the lucky guy?”
Takeda flinches, like taking the first hit from a distance already.
Kisara’s face falters, “Wait, did I just hear you right?” she asks, turning to Koga.
“That’s right! Hahaha!” Koga says with his obnoxious ass laugh, “The great Takeda is as gay as the day is long! Hahahaha!” Koga cackles, while pointing. “What a loser! Come on guys, let’s get him.”
“Hold on.” says Ukita, as he steps in front of Koga, coming towards Takeda, with his signature death glare locked on.
“Ukita,” Takeda says on an exhale, “so that’s how it is?” Takeda starts setting his bag down, knowing already that he doesn’t have the nerve to call Kenichi right now.
‘Sorry Kenichi. I think I like you too much to drag you into this.’ Takeda thinks as he tosses his stuff down, not noticing that the speed dial activates as it falls, the screen flashing one word: ‘Kenichi’
**** *****
Kenichi POV.
After Takeda’s phone call, Miu and Kenichi were trying their damndest to outrun trains and cars to get to him as soon as possible. But still Kenichi couldn’t help but think, ‘Not fast enough! I’m not finding him fast enough!’
Kenichi took the ground level searching while Miu went up high for a better vantage. Kenichi couldn’t hear much besides the pounding in his ears, so his eyes were frantically scanning, looking for any sign of the blue-nette.
‘Please hang in there. Please be alright. Please, I can’t live with myself if you get hurt again.’ Kenichi kept repeating in his head.
After knowing Takeda only a short while, Kenichi couldn’t exactly explain why he was so overly concerned for the guy, but he did know that he would do anything to stop Takeda from being hurt in the way he was hurt before.
‘I can’t let him down, no matter what. I’m coming, Takeda!’
*** ***
Takeda POV
‘OK, everything hurts’ which wasn’t a surprise. Now, Ukita switching sides, and helping him, that had felt like a surprise. Maybe it shouldn’t have been, they were friends after all, but it had been a welcome surprise, nonetheless.
What was not welcome was how badly they were hurt right now. Kisara and her goons had done a real number on them. And now, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. Everything looked fuzzy, and everything was starting to sound far away. Gods, what was that ringing?! Damn. He couldn’t stop. Not here. Not when he had promised himself he would do his best to keep up with Kenichi.
He could vaguely make out Koga’s annoying ass voice, saying something. What were they doing to Ukita? It looked like they were holding him up. For what? Why was Koga climbing the wall again? Something about it made his stomach drop. Because whatever they were doing, was not going to end well for his friend.
‘Fuck! Get up Takeda! Come on!’ he kept shouting at himself, but could only manage to shake his head a bit to clear it. By the time his eyes could focus again, he thought they were playing tricks on him.
A shadow. Whatever it had been, it had thrown Koga so fast, it only looked like a shadow from here.
When it jumped the fence, his eyes finally vaguely recognized the shape.
‘Is that, Kenichi?’ he pondered. It certainly didn’t look like him.
A dark figure, eyes burning so intensely, they were practically glowing. Seeing them, Takeda felt a shiver go down his spine.
‘A demon, that’s a demon straight from hell’, Takeda thought, almost not joking at all.
“You bastards”, he heard Kenichi mutter, along with muttering something else, “You are all GONNA PAY!” he finished with a yell.
If he wasn’t almost catatonic from his numerous injuries, Takeda would have been bowled over from how hard he fell for Kenichi in that moment.
‘That look in his eyes, that can’t be for me. God, I wish it was for me.’, Takeda thought to himself.
*** ***
Kenichi POV
Kenichi was seeing RED.
He would show these punks just what happens when someone messes with his precious friend.
Speaking of Takeda, he wasn’t looking too hot. Kenichi was so consumed with his own group fight, he had neglected to watch him directly. And now there were a couple of guys who had gone back to wailing on him.
‘Not on my watch’, Kenichi said to himself.
After Kenichi handled the ones beating on Tekda and Ukita, he got himself stuck in a fence.
‘Well damn, lotta good I was’ he thought to himself, frustrated that he couldn’t do more. He turned as he heard a shout, a guy with a knife coming at him. ‘Can things get any worse?!’ he thought to himself, as he yanked harder on his hand.
THUD. Suddenly the punk with the knife drops like dead weight.
“Yo, yo ma brotha, how’s it going?” Kenichi hears in a far too familiar voice.
His stomach drops, “No freaking way” Kenichi says in disbelief.
And so the ShinPaku Alliance was begun.