Chapter 18 - Junkyard Jun
Day 185 - 407 students remaining.
The morning comes and Shuji sits in Jun’s shack with Jun and Ichika. As he sits there, he wonders about Kanna.
At Kenro’s base, Kanna sits on some boxes looking depressed. Kenro throws a table across the room as a report comes in about yesterday’s prison riot.
“What the fuck! Over half of them escaped! Bring Jiro to me, right fucking now!”
Kanna thinks to herself.
‘I hope you understand, Shuji. You understand, don’t you?’
Kanna thinks back to the day after she first arrived at Kenro’s base. After breakfast, she notices that the downers are suspiciously nice to her. She begins to put the pieces together.
‘Kenro can’t be trusted. It’s likely that Kenro is going to backstab Shuji and use me as leverage. Shuji will give up his life to protect me. I need to think of a way I can protect myself. Wait. I got it.’
Kanna walks over to Kenro.
“So, who’s fighting in the cage today?”
Kenro smiles.
“First off, we have a few girls who don’t know how to do as they’re told.”
Kanna looks at Kenro menacingly.
“Let me fight one of them. I insist.”
Kenro looks sinisterly as he nods his head.
“I like you a lot better than Shuji. You understand how things are done around here.”
Kanna prepares to head into the ring.
‘I need to trick them. I need them to think I’ll betray Shuji.’
During the next day, Kanna had a conversation with Kenro. Kenro is curious.
“What do you plan to do when you’re back on the western side of the wall?”
Kanna chuckles.
“I don’t think I want to go back. I’m having a lot of fun here. Tell me something. How many fights do I have to win in the cage to become a downer?”
Kenro smiles sinisterly.
Back in the present day, at the junkyard, Shuji and Ichika are outside. Jun has just come back from a walk.
“You’ve really pissed Kenro off, Shuji.”
Shuji is confused.
“Huh?”
Jun begins to elaborate.
“That prison riot you caused. Over half of the prisoners escaped. The rebels have already begun to launch surprise attacks on unsuspecting people in Kenro’s crew. That’ll be a big thorn in his side.”
Shuji begins to put all of the pieces together.
“Maybe we can join forces. We all want to defeat Kenro.”
Jun puts his arms in the air.
“I never said that. I have no intention of fighting anybody unless they attack me directly. As far as I’m concerned, this is your fight, not mine.”
Ichika steps in.
“I’ll stand by you, Shuji. We need to atone for what we did.”
Shuji nods his head. Ichika continues to speak.
“I want to join them.”
Shuji is surprised by this.
“What do you mean? Join the rebels? It’s far too dangerous.”
Ichika is unwilling to listen to Shuji.
“Nobody knows the layout of the city better than me. We both know that much.”
Shuji struggles to disagree. Jun then steps in.
“Lucky you. They’re on their way to the junkyard right now.”
Shuji looks at Jun with confusion.
“What? Why?”
Jun begins to elaborate.
“I saw them earlier. I told them that they could use my junkyard for storage. It’s the perfect location to hide things from Kenro, after all.”
Ichika has an aura filled with determination.
“Then we wait.”
After a few hours pass by, the rebels arrive. Jun greets them.
“So, this is the little army, huh?”
One of the rebels gets slightly annoyed.
“Please don’t call us that.”
Ichika quickly runs over and expresses her desire to join the rebels but is quickly shut down.
“Not a chance. We only need people who can fight.”
Ichika begins to get annoyed.
“I need to atone.”
Shuji intervenes.
“Please let her join. She knows the city better than anyone.”
Ichika begins to get filled with hope, knowing that Shuji has her back. The rebel leader begins to question Shuji.
“Explain yourself.”
Shuji walks up to the rebel leader.
“Ichika was the one who drew the original city maps. She led the escape team during our first days. She knows every nook and cranny of this city.”
The rebel leader begins to contemplate. He finally reaches a decision.
“Very well. She may join us. Will you be coming with us also?”
Shuji shakes his head.
“No. But when the day comes when you confront Kenro, let me know and I’ll do everything I can to help.”
The rebel leader hesitates to let Shuji know his plan.
“I’m only telling you this because that man over there says that you’re the one who freed us from prison. We can’t wait to get captured again. We are going to strategize and disrupt Kenro as much as possible whilst gaining allies. In exactly 35 days, we’ll begin our assault on Kenro’s base.”
Shuji nods his head.
“In 35 days then. I’ll be waiting.”
The rebels begin to walk away with Ichika. Ichika waves goodbye as she leaves with them. Shuji waves back. Jun begins to walk back to his shack. Before he could head back inside, Shuji stops him.
“Wait.”
Jun stops.
“What is it, Shuji?”
Shuji clenches his fists as he thinks about Kenro’s raw power.
“Have you seen how strong Kenro is?”
Jun turns around and faces Shuji.
“I have. I would say that he’s the strongest person in here.”
Shuji smiles.
“But you could beat him, right?”
Jun begins to believe that he understands what Shuji is saying.
“I told you already. I have no interest in fighting Kenro.”
Shuji intervenes.
“No. That’s not what I meant. I need to beat Kenro myself.”
Jun nods his head and begins to walk away again.
“Then I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding.”
Shuji once again stops Jun.
“Wait!”
Jun turns around again. Shuji begins to express his desire.
“I want you to teach me Defendu. Learning it is my only hope of beating Kenro in combat. Nobody else in the city will stand a chance against him. Please, teach me.”
Silence lurks over the junkyard as Jun looks at Shuji with a serious expression.
“You do know what this means, don’t you. Asking me to divulge the secrets of my training while we’re trapped in this city. How do I know that I can trust you?”
Shuji begins to speak.
“Because I just want to fight for justice. Justice and order must be upheld.”
Jun’s eyes widen as he recalls a moment of his past. He is in a large wooden shed. His grandfather is sitting down, pouring whiskey into a glass. Jun begins to question his grandfather.
“Can you teach me your cool martial art moves?”
His grandfather takes a swig of whiskey before speaking.
“It isn’t a martial art. There’s nothing artistic about it. Its just a method of protecting yourself. There was no art in the war, just chaos.”
Jun begins to get curious about his grandfather’s past.
“Why did you fight in the war?”
His grandfather puts his drink down.
“Because, justice and order had to be upheld. When, and only when, you understand that, will I teach you Defendu.”
Back in the present day, Jun smiles.
“Ok, Shuji. I’ll teach you what I can. 35 days might not be enough to memorise everything I know but I’m sure I can teach you a thing or two.”
Shuji smiles. Jun continues to speak.
“Are you ready for 35 days of intense training. I won’t go easy on you.”
Shuji nods his head.
“I won’t give up.”
