Chapter 61: My Hyung-nim's Hyung-nim
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61: My Hyung-nim's Hyung-nim
Goto Kazuya first told his subordinates to come in for a moment.
"Kazu~ who's here?"
"Ah, some friends just stopped by! They'll be gone soon!"
After giving his unsuspecting mother a vague excuse, he entered his room and locked the door.
Then, perching on his bed instead of a chair, he asked.
"What the hell is going on? Mito betrayed us?"
At that, his subordinates, their faces swollen and covered in bandages and wraps, spoke on the verge of tears.
"Hyung-nim, two weeks ago, you suddenly stepped down as leader and left the gang, passing the position to Mito, who was the vice-leader, right?"
"Yeah, I did."
"It turns out that bastard Mito was colluding with the Devil Riders. Thanks to him, we were led to the meeting place completely unaware, surrounded in an instant, and ganged up on and beaten. It must be a scheme by that bastard Maou, the leader of the Devil Riders!"
"That bastard Maou..."
Goto ground his teeth as he thought of Maou, who was once his arch-enemy.
"Hyung-nim! Please help us! If it's not you, there's no one left to protect our Byakkiyakou!"
"But... I'm already out of that life."
"If this goes on, the white special uniform, passed down since the first generation, will fall into that bastard Maou's hands! Are you just going to stand by and watch?!"
"..."
Goto was conflicted.
He had already washed his hands of that world.
A guy like him, showing his face again just two weeks after retiring?
Not only him, but the entire Byakkiyakou would become a laughingstock.
And there was his promise to his Hyung-nim.
That if he stuck with him for three days without giving up, he would be accepted as a disciple.
But he couldn't just give up on it, either. Byakkiyakou was a group filled with his youthful dreams and memories.
His juniors were still there, and he couldn't stomach the thought of letting the name Byakkiyakou die out.
As he agonized, the faces of his juniors staring at him with anxious expressions came into view, and he let out a short laugh. Hmph.
'Since when do I hesitate over things like this?'
Goto immediately opened his closet and pulled out his own black special uniform.
It was an outfit he had intended to seal away forever.
But it seemed he had to pull it out from his past just one last time.
Slipping on the uniform, he asked his former subordinates.
"Let's go. Where is that bastard Maou?"
*
Two in the afternoon, the time we'd agreed on this morning, had passed, but that Goto kid still hadn't shown up.
"...What's going on?"
He didn't seem like the type to lack grit.
Besides, today was the last day.
If he was going to give up, he would have done it long ago.
Considering the possibilities, it was clear something had happened to Goto.
Otherwise, there was no way he wouldn't have shown his face by now.
I regretted not asking for his phone number, thinking our connection would be brief.
If I'd at least gotten his number, I could have asked him why he wasn't coming.
But what good was regretting it now?
I decided to clear my head by helping around the shop.
After all, there was nothing I could do at the moment.
I could only wait for Goto to come find me.
I was thinking this as I wiped a table with a dry cloth.
Slide!
"Excuse me!"
"Welcome."
Thinking it was a customer, I turned around, only to flinch at the sight of a delinquent with bleached blond hair standing at the doorway.
He gave off the strong impression of being connected to that Goto kid.
And as if to prove my guess right, the blond delinquent awkwardly averted his gaze and spoke.
"Um... are you Kazu-hyung's hyung-nim?"
...What the hell is a 'hyung-nim's hyung-nim'?
It was a title that made my head spin just hearing it, and normally I would have flatly denied it, but right now I was curious why Goto hadn't come, so I gave a rough nod.
"That's me. Did Goto send you?"
"Yes. That is, Kazu... no, Goto-hyung asked me to pass on a message. It seems he won't be able to make it to the shop today."
"..."
Just as I thought, there had to be a reason.
A serious reason why the kid who'd so earnestly begged to become my disciple would suddenly fail to show up.
"Well then... I've delivered the message, so I'll be on my way."
The blond delinquent said, bowing his head, then hurriedly tried to leave the shop.
"Wait."
"Yes?"
Hearing my voice, the delinquent froze as if he'd turned to stone and looked back with a bewildered expression.
I said, untying my apron.
"Can you tell me the reason Goto isn't coming?"
The delinquent bit his lip and hesitated, then slowly nodded his head.
"I understand."
*
"So, you're saying that this guy Mito, the vice-leader of Byakkiyakou, was actually colluding behind the scenes with a guy named Maou from the Devil Riders, and as soon as Goto retired from the leader position and Mito took power, he tried to merge the gangs?"
"Yes, that's right."
The blond delinquent sitting next to me, like someone being interrogated, told me every last detail of the story.
After organizing the story in my head, I asked him casually.
"What do you think that Maou guy's goal is?"
"...Probably to make the Devil Riders the number one gang in Tokyo, right? Until now, with Goto-hyung and our Byakkiyakou around, they couldn't touch the Setagaya area, but if they merge, they'll instantly become the strongest force in Tokyo."
"So, even after retiring, that Goto kid got caught up in the motorcycle gangs' power struggles?"
"We feel sorry about that too. But if it's not Goto-hyung, who was famous as the 'Fighting Demon,' there's no one in Tokyo who can stop the Devil Riders and Maou. Besides, Maou always considered Goto-hyung his rival."
"...Alright, I get the situation."
Under those circumstances, that Goto kid probably couldn't help it.
He's a simple, foolish, hot-blooded type, so he probably couldn't refuse when his old subordinates asked for help.
I decided I'd let it slide for a day if he came to see me after everything was over. I turned to the blond delinquent, who was anxiously glancing at the clock.
"Why are you in such a hurry? You have somewhere to be?"
"No, it's just... the deadline that bastard Maou set is coming up. He said if Goto-hyung doesn't show up by then, he won't leave our comrades alone. We need all the help we can get, so I have to go too, right?"
"If that's the case, you should hurry. I've been holding you up."
"Yes! Thank you! Hyung-nim's hyung-nim!"
The blond delinquent kept bowing deeply to me until the very end, then dashed off.
Watching him go, I was thinking I should probably head out to train by myself when I remembered one thing I'd forgotten.
"Ah, the muscle soreness."
That Goto kid... he probably can't use anything but his legs right now, can he?
*
VROOOOOOOOM!
The place Goto Kazuya rode to on his beloved bike, along with thirty elite members of Byakkiyakou, was a construction site near Setagaya.
Construction had been halted there for two years due to the company's failure to pay wages. It was suitably dark and sheltered from the wind, making it the perfect place for runaway delinquents to use as a hideout.
As dozens of motorcycles entered the half-finished building, lights flashed on from all directions as if they had been waiting.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
"So you've finally come, Goto Kazuya."
The Devil Riders.
A new motorcycle gang founded about two years ago. Led by the strong leadership of Sakagami Maou, they were a team that dreamed of unifying all of Tokyo.
Among the bikers sporting wild mohawks, a man wearing a helmet with a red bull painted on it greeted Goto from atop his bike.
Dressed in his black special uniform and holding a wooden sword in his right hand, Goto pointed its tip at Maou and spoke.
"I heard you took care of my subordinates, Maou."
A suppressed laugh came from behind the helmet.
"Kukuk— Your subordinates? To be precise, they're your 'former' subordinates, aren't they?"
Maou, personally correcting Goto's words, placed a hand on the shoulder of Mito, the 4th leader of Byakkiyakou who had approached his side, and spoke tauntingly.
"Thanks to you voluntarily stepping down as leader, we were able to take over Byakkiyakou, Goto."
Hearing this, Goto ground his teeth so hard they audibly grated.
"...Bullshit. Byakkiyakou doesn't belong to anyone."
"Is that really so? Your subordinates don't seem to think that way."
Snap!
As Maou snapped his fingers, people with terrified expressions emerged from the dark corners of the building, clutching wooden planks and steel pipes.
"We're sorry... Goto-san..."
They were originally members of Byakkiyakou.
But it seemed they had been dragged here and beaten countless times; not a single one of their faces was unscathed.
"We have to do this to survive..."
Seeing this, Goto's eyes flipped with rage.
"Maou, you baaaaastaaaard!"
He revved his bike's accelerator and charged.
But the one who blocked his path was not Maou, but his former subordinate and the new 4th leader of Byakkiyakou, Mito.
"Move it, Mito! Before I turn you into mincemeat!"
"Don't call me by that nicknaaaaame!"
The two men's wooden swords clashed in mid-air.
The members of Byakkiyakou began to fight amongst themselves.
Watching their completely shattered friendship, Sakagami Maou laughed maniacally.
"Kwahahahahaha! Fight more! Fight more! Until one side is dead!"
It was at that very moment.
"So this is where you were."
Someone walked into the building, which was shrouded in deep darkness.