A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on march 22nd, 2025 @ 9:06pm

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝚁,
𝓕𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙱𝙾𝙽𝙳𝚂.   

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ICHIROU WAS WITH KOKONOI AND INUI as Taiju was apparently meeting with Mitsuya Takashi and Hakkai.

Ichirou knew it would most likely end up bad. To him, Taiju was unpredictable.

"It's nice to meet you, Taiju-kun." Mitsuya greeted, sitting in front of Taiju.

"So, you're that Mitsuya who's beguiled my brother all these years." Taiju accused.

"That's a hell of an accusation."

"I'll kill you, you bastard."

Hakkai, Chifuyu, and Takemichi were standing behind Mitsuya while Kokonoi, Inui, and Ichirou were standing behind Taiju.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" Taiju questioned. "Keep it short."

"I'll let Hakkai join BLACK DRAGON and never get involved with him again." Mitsuya claimed, shocking Taiju.

"What? Mitsuya-kun, that's not what you promised!" Takemichi argued as Taiju chuckled.

"Now, that's hilarious. I thought you came here to keep that from happening." He said, tilting his head up.

"In exchange, release Yuzuha." Mitsuya said, shocking everyone.

"What?"

"Taka-chan! Why are you asking for that?" Hakkai asked. 

"Taiju-kun, you're forcing Yuzuha to do something for you, aren't you?" Mitsuya questioned. "Hakkai has always protected his sister... from your abuse."

"What?" Takemichi said.

"That's a rich joke." Taiju claimed.

"Hakkai, sit down." Mitsuya instructed.

"What?"

Hakkai began to breathe heavily as he looked at Taiju. "S-Sure." Hakkai said, sitting down next to Mitsuya. Taiju moved his legs, making a noise as Hakkai flinched.

"Hakkai's not leaving Toman because he's afraid of you. He's doing it to protect Yuzuha." Mitsuya claimed.

Taiju suddenly sprinted forward and sent a punch towards Mitsuya's face, causing Takemichi to gasp.

"Mitsuya-kun!" Chifuyu shouted.

Ichirou fought back a sigh. "Yeah, I saw that coming from a mile away..." He thought.

Mitsuya had blocked Taiju's punch while Hakkai continued hyperventilating.

"Hey... You're pretty good." Taiju complimented as he stood up from the couch.

"I'll say it once more." Mitsuya repeated, standing up from his spot. "We'll let Hakkai join BLACK DRAGON, but you release Yuzuha. If you accept these conditions, Toman won't fight BLACK DRAGON."

"And if I refuse?" Taiju challenged.

"It's all-out war." Mitsuya countered as the room went silent.

"I like it." Taiju finally agreed, grabbing Mitsuya's hand. "We've got a truce."

Both Taiju and Mitsuya shook hands. "Though I've never abused her, I'll keep my promise. I'll never hit Yuzuha again." Taiju promised.

"In the end, Hakkai ended up going to BLACK DRAGON." Chifuyu spoke once they were outside the Shiba household.

"Yeah. But I did learn one thing. That Hakkai is going to kill Taiju for Yuzuha's sake." Takemichi stated.

"Taka-chan, thank you." Hakkai thanked him. "I..."

"Hakkai." Mitsuya turned to look at him. "No matter how tough things get, use your strength to protect others."

"Taka-chan..." Hakkai thought.

"Don't curse the life you're born into, Hakkai."

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KARAOKE SYSTEM.
KARAOKE PHANTOM.

Takemichi, Chifuyu, Kisaki, and Hanma were meeting up with an informant as 10,000 yen was in an envelope and placed on the table.

"You'll make sure they don't find out, right? If they do, I'm dead."

"This is the informant." Takemichi noted.

"Don't you worry. Nobody here's ever going to rat on you." Kisaki reassured. "So, did you get the info?"

"Yeah, about the boss's movements, right?"

"Taiju's movements?" Chifuyu questioned.

"Yeah. If we're going to crush BLACK DRAGON, we got to know about Taiju." Kisaki responded. "What's he doing on a typical day? If we know what he's always doing, we'll know what we're dealing with. Knowing your enemy makes them easy to defeat."

"Oh, I get it." Takemichi commented.

"I'm the boss's gopher, so I know most of what he does."

Footsteps pounded on the floor from outside.

"First, the boss—"

The door suddenly opened, revealing Ichirou with a lollipop hanging from his mouth as he leaned on the door frame. "What a disgusting room. It smells of a rat." He claimed.

"Imaushi-kun..."

"Tch!" Kisaki muttered under his breath in irritation.

"They've already found out." Chifuyu said.

"Yep." Hanma commented.

"Things ended up badly for the last rat we had. He couldn't handle it, so he killed himself." Ichirou stated, narrowing his eyes.

"You've got it all wrong, Imaushi-kun! I didn't betray you guys! I'm just—"

Takemichi yelped as Ichirou grabbed the informant by the collar of his shirt and sent him crashing to the ground in an instant.

"I know you're not hard up for money. I only know of one person like that and he agitates me to the bone." Ichirou claimed. "I'm gonna have fun torturing you until you plead for mercy."

Ichirou looks at the two Black Dragon members that had entered the room.

"Get this filth out of my sight." He ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

"Can't you overlook this? I didn't do anything! Please!"

"The hell you didn't do anything!"

"Don't!"

"You're dead meat, scumbag!"

Ichirou turned to them. "So... what do you want to do?" He questioned.

"We don't intend to fight you." Kisaki told him.

"Of course not. You'd lose in an instant anyway." Ichirou hummed, making Kisaki narrow his eyes.

Ichirou spotted the 10,000 yen on the table, making him sigh. "I can't believe I'm doing this... Hajime, your ass better thank me later." He thinks to himself.

"100,000." Ichirou spoke up.

"What?" Takemichi questioned.

"I'll tell you what you want for 100,000. To be honest, I'd tell you with no charge... The money is for a friend." Ichirou replied. "And don't get the wrong idea. I'm only doing it because of him."

Ichirou pointed to Takemichi, who was taken aback. "Me?" He asked.

"During our first encounter, you addressed me with such familiarity. It pissed me off. We've met before, haven't we?" Ichirou questioned, making both Takemichi and Chifuyu flinch. "Sorry if I forgot. I'm forgetful as shit."

"W-Well..." Takemichi trailed off. "Technically, we did meet. In the future, that is."

Kisaki then walks up and hands Ichirou the cash.

"We want to know when Taiju will be alone." Kisaki said. Ichirou didn't reply for a few moments, staring at the wad of cash in his hand.

"The boss is never alone." Ichirou finally replied, taking the cash from Kisaki. "He's always got five men with him. Except on one day."

"And when's that?" Kisaki questioned.

"December 25th. Christmas." Ichirou responded. "He may not look it, but the boss is a devoted Christian. Every year on Christmas night, he goes to church to worship. In the dead of night, and always alone."

"Got it." Kisaki said.

"Anything else you want to know?" Ichirou asked.

"That's plenty." Kisaki answered.

Ichirou turns to leave. "Even alone, the boss is still tough. I doubt the four of you could defeat him." He taunted. "I can hardly wait for Christmas."

"Why are you betraying Taiju-kun?" Takemichi suddenly asked as Ichirou turned to face him.

"I see. So you don't know who I'm related to. How interesting." Ichirou smirked, confusing Takemichi. "If you want to know more, get me another 100,000."

Ichirou soon left the room.

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"Yahoo! Hajime!"

Kokonoi looked over to see that Ichirou was walking up to him. "Got a gift for you." He said, slamming the wad of cash against Kokonoi's chest. "Before you ask, it's 100,000. Double counted it myself."

"Where did you get this?" Kokonoi questioned, pocketing the cash in his pocket.

"Some Toman fucks came by and wanted to know the boss's movements. So I told them."

"What?"

"Not even a thank you, Hajime? Yeesh, talk about ungrateful! I was going to give them the information for no charge but I thought you'd appreciate the money! That's the last time I'm doing anything nice for you!"

"Okay, okay. I get it." Kokonoi said as him and Ichirou began walking. "So, why did they want to know the boss's movements?"

"Who knows? I think they're planning on attacking him during his worship, though." Ichirou answered as he grinned.

"It seems my birthday will actually be interesting this year!"

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1348 words.