Chapter 14 - Kenro and The Downers
Day 181 - 411 students remaining.
The morning approaches. Around midday, Shuji tells Maro Taro and Kanna about the events that occurred last night. Kanna is surprised by this.
“What?”
Shuji continues to speak.
“I’m going to go to the eastern part of the city today. I’m not going to leave until I find Ichika. I might not be back for a while.”
Maro Taro jumps in.
“You’re going into the eastern part of the city?! Are you insane?!”
Shuji looks down at the floor.
“It’s something I have to do. While I’m gone, I’ll need you guys to hold things down here. Can you do that for me?”
Kanna speaks softly.
“Shuji…”
Maro Taro speaks.
“Are you sure that you want to do this?”
Shuji nods his head.
“This is what I need to do.”
Shuji heads alone to the gate between the cities.
“Open the gate.”
The guards are confused about this until Shuji continues to speak.
“And shut it behind me.”
The guards are instantly in shock.
“Are you sure? Mikuni directed us to open the gate to anyone who wants to leave but I don’t think he would like this.”
Shuji turns to the guards with a blank expression.
“There’s something that I need to do. Hurry, please.”
The guards unlock and open the gate as Shuji walks through to the other side. The guards look at each other before shutting the gate and locking it once again, leaving Shuji stuck on the eastern side.
Shuji begins to walk through the eastern side of the city with a lot of people recognising him. Shuji starts to think to himself about the best course of action.
‘I still have time until I’m meeting with that woman at the gates. Walking around Kenro’s territory and intruding would be a completely terrible idea. It could go very very wrong.’
Unknown to Shuji, as he walks through the eastern part of the city, a mysterious figure follows him. It’s Kanna.
“I won’t let you do this alone Shuji. Maro Taro said that he can handle things while we’re gone.”
Shuji continues to walk through the eastern side of the city until he comes across a building. A massive abandoned factory with screams coming from the inside and music playing. Shuji notices all of the people outside wearing leather jackets with a logo on the back. The gang’s name is ‘The Downers.’
‘Downers. That’s the name of Kenro’s gang. This must be his hideout.’
Some of the members recognise Shuji.
“What the fuck.”
They begin to walk over to Shuji as he thinks to himself.
‘Instead of sneaking around, I should just tell Kenro I’m here. He knows I’m close to Mikuni, so I doubt he would risk a direct confrontation. But then again… Kenro is unpredictable. Coming face to face with him could mean a guarantee of my safety or a forfeit on my life. I just hope that I’ve caught him on a good day.’
The gang of bullies approach Shuji.
“What the fuck are you doing in our territory?”
Shuji turns to them.
“I’m here to see Kenro.”
The other bullies begin to cower slightly.
“Why should we let you see him? In fact, I think we should just beat you up and throw you in the prison.”
Another bully intervenes.
“Let’s force him to fight in the cage.”
They all start to laugh. Shuji starts to think to himself.
‘Even though they’re his underlings, it’s clear they’re afraid of Kenro. I could use this to my advantage.’
Shuji begins to speak.
“If that’s what you think is best, then go for it.”
The bullies stop laughing and look at Shuji in confusion. Shuji continues to speak.
“Which one of you is going to take responsibility? Because if I don’t see Kenro and he finds out that I wasn’t able to see him because of you, I’m sure he’ll want to know why.”
The bullies begin looking at each other as they wait for someone to take responsibility. Shuji smiles.
“I thought not.”
The bullies move to one side to allow Shuji entry into the gang hideout.
Shuji enters Kenro’s hideout. It’s full of rowdy gang members. In the centre of the old factory, there is a massive cage used for fighting. Two people currently fight inside as members of Kenro’s crew cheer them on.
Shuji walks past the commotion and begins to walk towards Kenro. Shuji looks at the man who must be Kenro. He is incredibly muscular and fearsome. Kenro notices. However, before they could interact, Ryota begins to point him out.
“Hey, boss. That’s Shuji. That piece of shit. I’m gonna beat his ass.”
Ryota begins to head towards Shuji but Kenro stops him.
“No.”
Shuji walks over to Kenro.
“I need to talk with you. Well, I need you to do something.”
Ryota begins to get angry at Shuji giving orders.
“You stupid bastard! I’m gonna kick your ass!”
Ryota begins to head towards Shuji with the intention to fight him. Kenro looks frustrated.
“I SAID NO.”
Kenro grabs Ryota by the back of the head and lifts him up then proceeds to slam him through a nearby table.
The other members of Kenro’s gang notice and begin to get nervous as the room begins to fill with silence.
“So, you’re Shuji. You’ve reached the end of the line. After all the shit you caused, this will be your final resting place.”
Kenro begins to get in Shuji’s face. Shuji can recognise that this is an attempt by Kenro to see how fearful or fearless he is.
“Don’t I scare you, boy.”
Though Shuji may feel scared, he thinks about the pain that Ichika is likely enduring. Shuji hides his fears and emits an expression of blankness. Kenro looks at Shuji as a vision of the past flashes through his eyes. Kenro once spoke to Juro Yamazaki who wore the same expression of fearlessness on his face that Shuji wears currently.
“You have the expression that he had. This is interesting.”
Kenro starts to torment Shuji.
“Is the city getting to you? Making you a little crazy perhaps?”
Kenro begins to grin.
“Maybe you’ve decided you want to be a downer like us.”
Shuji responds.
“No. Actually, I just wanted to let you know something.”
Kenro looks interested as Shuji prepares to continue. Before Shuji could speak further, Kenro notices that a lot of his members are looking his way as the area is still quiet.
“Did I say to stop the cage fight?! Mind your own fucking business!”
The fighting in the cage continues as people once again turn their attention to the cage. The screams and jeers continue. Shuji then continues to speak.
“I don’t want any hostilities. I’m going to be staying in the eastern side of the city for a while. I just wanted to let you know that it has nothing to do with you.”
Kenro gets close to Shuji.
“Why should I believe you?”
Before Shuji could respond, someone calls Kenro’s name.
“Kenro!”
The call was followed by the sound of a girl screaming.
“Get off of me!”
Shuji instantly recognises the voice and turns around to see two of the downers bringing Kanna towards them.
“Kanna!”
Kenro glances at Shuji and smiles a sinister smile as he realises that Shuji knows her.
“Bring her here.”
Kanna is brought before Kenro. Kenro then talks to Shuji.
“Well Shuji, I have good news. I won’t cause you any harm when you’re in my territory.”
Kenro grins.
“But there’s a catch…”
Shuji stops for a moment and begins to sweat. The fearlessness he had when entering Kenro’s lair is beginning to crumble. Kenro continues to speak.
“I need insurance that you’re not plotting against me. Your friend here will be staying in my base until your business in my side of the city is finished.”
Shuji begins to get angry.
“No. That’s outrageous!”
Kanna enters into the conversation.
“I’ll do it.”
Kenro smiles as he talks to Shuji.
“Don’t worry. Not a single one of my men will lay a finger on her. She’ll be well fed and have everything she needs.”
Shuji grinds his teeth.
“You…”
Kanna puts her arm on Shuji’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him.
“Please Shuji, let me be helpful.”
Shuji stops for a moment and begins to calm down before agreeing.
“Fine. But if he harms you in any way, I’ll end him.”
Kenro continues to look on in a sinister manner.
“I’m a man of my word, don’t worry.”
Shuji reluctantly leaves Kenro’s base and heads to the gate and meets up with the girl from last night who has information about Ichika. Shuji begins to speak.
“I’ll help find Ichika. But I need to know everything that you know.”
The girl nods her head.
“We were living in a place south-east of here. I was called the Hayashi House. It’s supposed to be a safe place for people who’ve just been sent to eastern side of the city. But, in the night, some people came. At least, that’s what I heard. In the morning, a group of girls had disappeared.”
Shuji stops for a moment and thinks to himself.
‘I haven’t dealt with a kidnapping case since we took out Juro Yamazaki. The eastern side of the city must have more troubles than I thought.’
Shuji faces the girl and begins to speak to her.
“Thank you for the help. I promise I’ll get Ichika back.”
Shuji begins to walk away as he begins to think about his next step.
‘For now, I need to make my own home in this part of the city. Tomorrow, I’ll investigate the Hayashi House.’
Night approaches. Back in the western side of the city, Mikuni stands looking outside of his window. The elevator comes up to his office.
“Hmm?”
Mikuni turns back as one of his subordinates come to him with news.
“I have news about Shuji.”
The city is empty as the subordinate explains that Shuji has gone on a rescue mission and has been spotted entering Kenro’s base. Mikuni finds this amusing.
“So, Shuji has walked directly into the viper’s nest. I wonder how this will play out.”
