The Pit Fighter's Grave
Hayato's hand shot out and seized the man's throat. A chilling blue light gleamed in his eyes.
"Gack!"
"Do you know Tanaka Ryuhei?"
The man staring into those eyes froze rigid, trembling as if he'd come face-to-face with a predator. His face drained of color.
"You! Answer me!"
Hayato's grip tightened on the man's throat, as if he meant to snap it. Unable to watch any longer, Roque grabbed his arm.
"Enough."
At the word, Hayato's eyes snapped toward Roque. The fierce blue glow met his dark, depthless gaze. In that instant, Hayato felt himself being sucked into an abyssal void, dizzying him. His fingers loosened involuntarily.
Hayato spoke.
"Enough. I shall stop, senior."
As the strength ebbed from his hand, the man gulped down air again. He slumped to the floor, dazed, heaving ragged breaths. Roque turned his gaze and said,
"Let's take this inside the apartment. Too many eyes out here."
"...Understood."
Hayato replied with a now-calmer face. He seemed slightly bewildered at how easily he'd lost his composure.
Regardless, Roque grabbed the man's limp legs and dragged him into the apartment like a sack. The guy, half out of his mind from Hayato's killing intent, didn't even register he was being hauled, trailing bonelessly.
As Roque and Hayato pulled the man inside, Elizabeth silently closed the door and leaned against it. Hayato's expression flickered with unease again at the sight of her regulating her breathing with perfect composure, face blank.
She looked like a little girl, yet she showed no panic in a situation like this. It was uncanny. And Roque wasn't even her father—why was she tagging along?
"...Shouldn't the child be sent back to the car?"
"She knows what she needs to."
"Yeah. Elizabeth knows everything she needs to."
Hayato gaped, unsure how to respond to their casual answers. Ignoring him, Roque fetched a chair and plopped the man onto it.
Then he picked up a plastic fork rolling around the apartment floor and stabbed it deep into the man's thigh.
"Gaaah!"
The fork pierced deep into the flesh, and life returned to the man's previously vacant eyes. He clutched at Roque's hand pressing down on his thigh, thrashing wildly.
"Fuck! What the hell! Who are you people!"
Instead of answering, Roque twisted the fork. The plastic snapped with a crunch, shredding the thigh muscle. Just before the man's scream could erupt again, Roque said curtly,
"Quiet."
The man, about to bellow, clamped his mouth shut at Roque's serene face. The stifled scream turned his face purple.
Satisfied, Roque withdrew his hand from the thigh.
"Good."
"Kkhuh... guh..."
Tears streamed down the man's already blood-smeared face. Clutching his thigh where blood bubbled up, he began to sob quietly.
"Fuck... who the hell are you... why are you doing this..."
In mere moments, his nose had been broken, he'd faced an Aura Master's killing intent, and now blood poured from his thigh. Unable to cope with the whirlwind, he looked utterly pitiful.
Of course, Roque felt no pity. He reached for the man's waistband and drew the pistol tucked there—a customized automatic in yellow and purple, the kind gangs favored.
Seeing his own gun, the man's face went white again. He figured they'd shoot him with it to fake a suicide—a common gang trick.
"W-wait! What do you want? No, what do you want, sirs? Cops? Are you cops? I'll tell you everything...! Please spare me..."
Roque asked shortly.
"Name."
"Ryu, Liu Yan..."
"What were you doing here."
"Boss told me to check the place out..."
Hayato couldn't hold back any longer.
"You. You called me Tanaka."
Liu dropped his gaze, glancing warily.
"I... mistook you for someone else..."
Hayato's face hardened again. Before he could snap, Roque pressed the gun barrel to Liu's forehead.
"Eek! You just looked so much like someone I know!"
"Who."
"Ryuhei. Tanaka Ryuhei..."
Roque glanced at Hayato, who nodded confirmation—it was his brother.
"How do you know him."
"Uh, yeah? R-Ryuhei? Well... I made a killing betting on that guy..."
"Betting."
Hayato thrust his right hand forward. A katana hilt without a blade emerged from his sleeve, and from its tip, a blue light whooshed out.
Aimng the glowing blade at Liu's throat, Hayato barked,
"Explain properly! From the beginning!"
"H-hek..."
With a gun to his head and scorching heat at his neck, Liu half-lost his mind. Eyes unfocused, he babbled rapidly.
"The pit! There's a pit fight! Underground arena—no rules except no guns! Ryuhei was a fighter there about a year ago, and I bet on him! He won big, so I made bank too, boss was happy, that's it! Nothing more to tell!"
"Then what about 'still alive'!"
"Th-that...! Ryuhei lost a fight last month and died! Heart split in two!"
Hayato's face went rigid. No, his whole body turned to stone. The blue Aura Blade extension flickered and retracted. His entire form seemed to pale like marble.
Roque noted Hayato's state with a glance, then jammed the gun back to Liu's forehead.
"Then why'd you come here."
"B-boss said check if anyone's around..."
"Why."
"Huh? I d-don't know exactly... just 'in case'..."
"The body."
Liu looked baffled at the out-of-context question. But Hayato snapped alert and grabbed Liu's shoulder with his left hand.
"Right, the body! Ryuhei's body!"
"D-don't know! Clinic docs probably chopped it up and sold the parts—!"
Hayato's fingers dug into the shoulder. Baring his teeth, he growled.
"Butchered my brother like a pig and sold him off?"
"Don't know! I really don't! Boss and the clinic handle dead fighters' bodies! I'm just a lowly errand boy!"
Hayato shoved the shoulder away and turned to Roque.
"Seems we must visit this pit, senior."
"And do what."
"Hold them accountable for my brother's death. And learn what they did with his body."
Flames blazed in his eyes—fueled by grief with nowhere to go. Meeting that gaze steadily, Roque nodded.
"Fine. Let's go."
"I hesitate to drag you into this, senior. There will be blood aplenty..."
"I've got questions too. Like why the pit boss sent this clown here today of all days."
"...What do you mean?"
Roque offered no further explanation despite Hayato's puzzled look, turning back to Liu. Now half-exhausted and limp, Liu's face filled with dread at the attention.
Roque hauled him up by the collar. Liu gasped as his body lifted.
"H-hek!"
Eye to eye, Roque said,
"That pit."
"...Yes?"
"Take us."
Liu's face crumpled into misery.
* * *
A hulking bald man sat on a small chair in the dim corridor's center, fiddling with a handheld terminal. Whatever was on the screen amused him; he chuckled to himself. A hefty iron door stood beside him—rusted but thick.
Then someone knocked: thud thud.
The bald giant rose, lumbering to the door. He slid open the small viewport. Liu's battered face peered back.
"Liu? Job go smooth? What happened to your face?"
"Uh, yeah. Tripped or something. Boss downstairs?"
"...Yeah. You know he don't go nowhere."
Liu forced a grin.
"Right. Open up then. Got a report for the boss."
"...Fine."
The bald man slammed the viewport shut, drew his waist pistol, and tapped at his terminal. His chuckling face had turned icy.
In that moment, a hiss sounded from the door's hinges as a gray beam protruded.
The beam sliced upward, shearing all the hinges. Molten metal dripped to the floor.
"What the..."
As the bald man muttered, a blue beam lanced from the lock mechanism. He watched it melt the locks before reacting, raising his pistol too late.
Bang—the door flew open, slamming him flat. No time for a scream.
Stepping over the fallen door came Roque and Hayato, with Liu trembling behind at the sight of the Aura Blade, recalling rumors of the "ronin."
Roque scanned the dim corridor, yanking the lagging Liu forward.
"Where."
"Th-this way..."
Liu staggered ahead without resistance, leading down the hall. Roque and Hayato followed.
A camera overhead captured their entry. It zoomed and panned, tracking the trio into the shadows.
As they vanished, a small figure hopped through the open door. The camera swiveled to her.
The girl looked right at it. Rings of light flashed in her eyes, and the feed dissolved into static zzzt.
* * *
Guided by Liu, Roque and Hayato passed dim corridors and stairs. Strangely, no one crossed their path. Hayato noticed.
"Something's off, senior. A trap perhaps..."
"Cameras everywhere. They're not idiots—they saw us coming."
Hayato blinked blankly.
"So we're walking into a trap of our own accord?"
"Boss'll be there too."
Liu panicked at their exchange.
"N-no! No trap, I swear! I didn't know!"
"Keep going."
Silenced by Roque's cold eyes, Liu trudged on, exhaustion dragging at his features.
As he pushed open a door, his eyes widened at the sight beyond.
"Gasp!"
A vast warehouse space, a tall ring in the center. A man atop it glared down, gang members crouched behind overturned tables, guns trained.
Before Liu could speak, muzzles flashed.
Bullets rained like hail, shredding Liu's body to rags. Overwhelmed, he staggered back through the door without falling.
The man on the ring bellowed,
"Cease fire!"
Only then did Liu topple, crashing limp. Staring at the rough concrete ceiling, he rasped his last words.
"Fuuuuck..."
Roque and Hayato, ducked by the doorframe, watched. Hayato wiped his nose, oddly pricked by the corpse.
The ring man yelled again.
"You corporate fuckwads! It's not my fault that freak went berserk! You took him gladly! And now one glitch and you come to wipe me out? You think I'll just roll over?!"
Hayato looked baffled at the outburst.
"...I haven't a clue what he's on about, senior. You?"
"No. But one thing's clear."
"What."
A gray Aura Blade ignited in Roque's hand against the wall. Meeting Hayato's eyes blankly, he said,
"Beat him down, and we'll find your brother. Alive or dead."
Roque spun and charged in. Gunfire, screams, curses, and the shwick of flesh parting under the blade erupted in chaos.
Hayato, stunned for a beat, rushed after.
The screams doubled.