[Wild fang project] Garouden I pure fighting action novel

by Unknown

  The wind blew strongly. It seemed that the coastal wind that came from the ocean had gotten a little stronger. Blowing over treetops without leaves, these haven't grown yet in this season, but, in the dark, the branches were making a faint wind noise in the atmosphere. Two shadows were emerging from the dark road. These were Bunshichi walking along Himekawa on his left side.

  [212]

  Both men, Bunshichi and Himekawa, were walking silently. Drawn into the darkness ahead, Bunshichi knew he was walking to the place where Kajiwara was waiting for him, but he sensed something different within him.

  His sense of excitement was overloaded. He loved to fight and there was nothing in this world that could excite him more than to face Kajiwara. But instead, there was a strange sense of mental fatigue. He felt that he used already the best of him.

  He wondered what else he would do if he were to win this fight...even though he didn't have the usual burning fighting spirit that brimmed in his body and launched him to battle. He didn't want to fight.

  “I was scared.” He remembered what Kajiwara told him. Wasn't that enough to satisfy him?

  He wondered about that himself, but he still couldn't come up with an answer, he didn't understand.

  When he met him, he could have shake his hand, invite him to a few drinks, laugh about a few stories about his pro-wrestling matches...If he did that....What would have been the insult of it, then? Why did they fight? Why do they have to fight for now? Bunshichi was trying to find the reason why they had to fight inside his head.

  He visualized the faces of the men he had been fighting so far until now. His eyes were as if they were questioning something within his hunger for fighting. The gruesome scene of his best friend defeated, the face of Saito covered in blood blurred by his own tears, floated in his mind. He remembered the scene when Saito was fighting very well. What was the name of the man that killed him? He could not remember that. It was “Kijima” but he already forgot that. He could only remember his face before and after being beaten up mercilessly by him.

  But then, Kajiwara's face would show up, unbeatable, angry, powerful. He could have destroyed him. He didn't, nobody knows why even today. His face kept showing up, never the loser, never the defeated.

  Better think in somebody else, who else was there? Ryoji Kubo, that kid that was so impressed that begged him to be his friend, his sharp eyes trying to crack the secret of Bunshichi's fighting ability, there was also Izumi Souichiro's face. A kind and wise person that accepted his reckless challenge. Faces, different faces, angry faces, sad faces. They wouldn't stop invading his mind and unloading a burden heavier than the last. They were tossing them at Bunshichi's back without caring if he was able to carry them all, at all.

  [213]

  He felt that his hands and legs were getting heavy.

  “What's wrong? Are you alright?” Himekawa asked a bit concerned.

  “It's nothing.” Bunshichi responded.

  “Your body can't feel the excitement, huh!?”

  “No, that's not it.” Bunshichi answered that, and within his mind, he answered to himself the same.

  “It all will come back, explode and burn once I see him.” that's what he thought.

  “It's truly a damn shame, isn't it?” Himekawa asked with a slightly pessimistic tone.

  “What!?”

  “I was looking forward to that, I thought I'd be the person who'll defeat you."

  “Are you saying that I'm going to lose against Kajiwara?”

  “Yes.”

  That can't be, Bunshichi thought to himself “what the hell this guy is talking about? I'm not the same guy that I was six years ago.”

  Bunshichi heard the sounds of the twigs being pushed gently by the wind. They kept walking at a relaxed pace until Himekawa stopped walking and stood right there. The trees in front of him blocked Bunshichi's view but about thirthy feet ahead of him, something was moving in the dark.

  The night city lights nearby illuminated a formidable figure of a strong man doing some push-ups.

  “Your friend is here, waiting for you.” Himekawa said.

  Kajiwara stopped moving at once, he rose up slowly while looking at Bunshichi. He moved forward and stopped a few meters before him. Kajiwara took on the same expression, raw ferocity, the first time he met Bunshichi at the Toyoo Pro-Wrestling Gym.

  [214]

  At that time, he came up from the shower room, at the moment he looked at Bunshichi's eyes; he thought he had the fight in his pocket because he was weak.

  “Hey!!” Kajiwara spoke with a low and raspy voice.

  If you were to stare into Kajiwara now, there is more in that “Hey” than any roar or scream uttered in the fighting streets of men and boys. A menacing look and a fierce sound, enough to shut anyone down, one would allow their muscles to release their suspended anxiety the moment he diverted his eyes, but it was followed by the loudest of silences. He was looking at Bunshichi now, it was the loudest sound.

  “Are you sick or something? What's wrong?” Kajiwara demanded an answer.

  “Nothing.” Bunshichi answered quietly.

  This is what he wanted all along. He made it all the way here. His graven soul was waiting for six years, the heaviest of hearts was what he was left with. Quitting was damn well out of the question.

  “Let's fight...” Bunshichi bellowed. He gave a deep breath, lowered his waist, the hesitation dissipated.

  He was ready.

  PART V: EVIL BEAST

  THE END.

  [215]

  FINAL PART

  EPILOGUE: CHAPTER I

  "Damn, shit, fuck!! Pisses me off!!" These words were repeating over and over in Ryoji's head. He was having a really hard time containing his anger. The fact that Bunshichi abandoned him after such an important fight felt like a betrayal and there were no immediate options or alternate plans to ease his frustration.

  He started wandering hopelessly around the hotel and finally decided to walk around Chinatown. Once he arrived there, he started searching for dark streets and hidden corners but the only shady street he found was a very unpleasant narrow alley filled with suspicious men loitering, drinking, laughing. One guy was circling his arm around a woman

  and you could tell he wasn't doing it for free . Another was vomiting behind a post. The tobacco and cheap booze smell reeked around the area. With all the lights and questionable businesses that cater to the night life, Yokohama appeared to be like a giant, intimidating maze. There was even a small dark river that wasn't smelling much better either.

  For the second time, the Toukai Kankou hotel received a phone call asking if Kajiwara had returned and it was answered with the same words as the first. “He wasn't returned yet, sir.”

  Sick of wandering the streets, Ryoji returned to the hotel with the small hope that Tanba would be there but he wasn't.

  He was loitering in the bar and in the lobby and after a short while, he was back in the street.

  “What the fuck, I don't wanna start crying for this.” Ryoji was feeling desperate and in his brisk walking, he started bumping into some people several times. They insulted him with harsh words and pushed him away but he cared little for what they said or do, only spitting in the ground in response. The desperation was getting the best of him.

  He kept advancing until he bumped head on into someone that was big and burly. Ryoji fell on the floor but the tall figure didn't move and just kept looking at him.

  [216]

  “The fuck is your problem, dude!!?” Ryoji screamed to the tall man that had shiny eyes and a perplexed look.

  But before standing up, he noticed something familiar about this man. He knew him. His tone of voice changed immediately.

  “Ohh!! You're the mighty Ox, Ushio Date.” he said while standing up and dusting himself a little.

  “ I knew it was you right away, what other kid would have the balls to bump into me like that?”

  “ Mr. Date, would you happen to know where my old bro c
ould be right now?”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “My old bro...”

  “You mean Bunshichi Tanba?”

  “Yes sir. The asshole went ahead and left me behind.”

  “Wait, do you mean Bunshichi came all the way to Yokohama?”

  “He came here to fight Kajiwara, That's why he left me behind. Probably he thought I would get in the way.”

  “Tanba came to Yokohama....to fight Kajiwara?...” His voice thickened. “Do you know any places he could be right now?”

  “I have no idea, even Kajiwara hasn't returned to his hotel yet, I called there a few times.” When Ryoji mentioned that, Date groaned as if he was expecting a bad outcome.

  “That man sure is packing bad intentions within his hands. He's quite aggressive” Date said shaking his head with a small grin on his face.

  “I don't know what to say, I really don't know this place.” Ryoji mentioned sounding a little bit defeated.

  After a brief moment, Date seemed to remember something.

  “ I was wondering if Tanba maybe is planning to ambush him in Yamashita park.”

  “Isn't that place quite far from where Kajiwara is staying?”

  “Kajiwara is an idiot. He loves to jog from there to the hotel after a performance. He did that in his opening night too. It just makes him happy to run from all the way from there, I guess.”

  “Where's Yamashita park!!?” Ryoji started walking fast, away from Date, even though he didn't know where it was.

  “This way, Follow me!!” Date started running and he was quickly followed by Ryoji.

  “That idiot!! Wait until I find him!!”

  [217]

  Ryoji's resentment and anger were growing as he ran. He was never good at managing his emotions.

  EPILOGUE: CHAPTER II

  Bunshichi could hear the wind wafting through a cherry tree branch that was on top of his head, it was coming directly from the ocean. There was a salty scent in the air. Maybe it was the smell of the tide mixed with other vegetation from the landscape. But it was an intense, warm salty air that was reaching Bunshichi's nose.

  He noticed something strange in the ocean smell this time, for some reason it felt...Human?

  Suddenly he realized that it was his own sweat, not from the earlier fight definitely. It was fresh sweat pouring since he started the fight against Kajiwara. Kajiwara was standing about fifteen feet away from him and he still hadn't made a fighting stance yet, but his eyes were following him much like a serpent.

  Bunshichi also had not made a fighting stance yet. He simply lowered his waist and said “Let's fight...”

  But nobody had made a significant move yet since he mentioned those words. In Bunshichi's head there were two questions running in his head. “What kind of position will he use?” “Which move will he use to start the fight?”

  He was trying desperately to figure out the answer to start the fight with a counter rather than a first blood attack.

  “Damn!! Is he going to kick!!? Maybe a feint low kick? I'm sure he'll try to grapple me in some way”

  Pro wrestlers have this particular stance when they're trying to kick, but their kicks aren't really that powerful. If they want to launch a serious kick, they need to have a proper stance, order of movement and balance to achieve it.

  “No, he's not going for it.” Bunshichi thought.

  In this kind of place, a simple wrestler can be really dangerous by taking advantage of his usual throwing and slamming techniques. Wrestlers don't train just for the sake of getting back on their feet after they've been slammed with a back-drop or a body-slam. They also trained for the purpose of minimizing the impact of such techniques used on the ring.

  [218]

  The elasticity of the mat always absorbed the damage of the impact. For example, if a wrestler is challenged and this fight happens on concrete or the floor of a Karate Dojo, The victory most likely would be settled as soon as somebody received the first body slam. If it was the case of somebody landing with the back of their head due to a back-drop, the fight would have been over in an instant. Kajiwara only had that particular advantage in this fight.

  Kajiwara started to sink his waist slowly. Gently lifting up his arms, his hands were wide open. Leaving a big gap between his hands and the center of his body. Moving his arms back and forth , It was the traditional pro wrestler stance.

  Bunshichi felt a cold shiver at the base of his spine making ripples in his back. He held his fists and slowly moved closer to him while catching the rhythm with his elbows. His focus was clear and he felt confident in his condition and abilities but, for some reason, he felt a void inside his heart.

  All that rage and hatred towards Kajiwara was now gone but no, that was not accurate. The hatred was still burning inside of him but it wasn't for Kajiwara. That void in his chest was rolling down like a boulder inside his body.

  For the last six years he has been hungry for fighting, eagerly waiting to settle this fight.

  “Could it be that...?” Bunshichi thought to himself.

  “ If the opponent wasn't Kajiwara, I wouldn't have felt this void in my chest. The cells in my body would have been happy and I would have been feeling goosebumps to stand in front of my opponent and enjoy the throw down.”

  The distance towards Kajiwara had become much smaller. His body gave a sensitive reaction toward his opponent movements.

  [219]

  Kajiwara was protecting his chin and the left side of his face with the back of his right hand and trying to create some distance because he knew about Bunshichi's high kick and he was being cautious about it.

  He lightly moved his left hand forward with an open palm. The distance kept decreasing.

  “Shuuh!!” Bunshichi let out a sharp breath while launching a low kick aiming at Kajiwara's left leg while it was drawing a short arc. Kajiwara received the blow with his left knee and he did it accurately. Right when Kajiwara lifted his knee, he could see Bunshichi telegraphing his movements. He started laughing about it.

  Aiming at that laugh, Bunshichi hit him with a right punch which Kajiwara blocked it beautifully with his left arm.

  Following that attack, Bunshichi kept launching low and medium kicks with both legs. He wasn't aiming at any particular point. He just wanted a chance to let some good attacks land on his opponent.

  His head, shoulder, abdomen, the legs, the knees....

  Bunchishi kept attacking every single part of the human body possible but Kajiwara was able to block every single attack masterfully. He even got surprised when Kajiwara dared to let one of his mid-high kicks land on his back on purpose without much effect.

  “Heahhhhh” Kajiwara let out a sound that much resembled a serpent. Kicking the ground hard, he launched an attack that had Bunchishi stepping back and cramping his back for a moment.

  [220]

  With his free foot, Kajiwara aimed at Bunshichi's abdomen like a serpent and after landing that, that slick serpent goose-neck was searching to smash Bunshichi's nose. That was a very intense kick. To be honest, that was the kind of blow that you would shatter somebody's jaw easily. Not too long ago he had used that fast kick on some unlucky sap in the ring and the result was inevitable.

  Usually, the pro-wrestler kick cannot be compared in power to superior kicks like the Karatekas or Muay Thai boxers. They are nowhere near as powerful. For starters, they don't lift high enough. Compared to their opponent stances, you can't possibly kick their heads if you are a pro wrestler. Unfortunately, for Tanba, Kajiwara was different from the rest.

  He had such a gift for kicks that if he launched a front high kick to an opponent, most likely the impact would reach to the back of his head.

  “Talk about prolific...” Bunchishi thought to himself. With a kick of such caliber, Kajiwara could leave a burning smell in the air. Let alone getting hit by it.

  The chance opened itself for him. Bunshichi was aiming for Kajiwara's left foot and kicked him with all his might. Tha
t's when Kajiwara upper body started shaking. With the same kick, Bunshichi was aiming for Kajiwara's head and continued the attack. However, that kick didn't land on Kajiwara's head. Kajiwara lifted his left arm and blocked that blow. Then, he trapped Bunshichi's right foot in his left armpit.

  This time, the target was Bunshichi's pivotal leg. Before that, Bunshichi jumped with his right foot and kicked Kajiwara's right side of the head with his left foot. Sinking his head, Kajiwara avoided that attack and left Bunshichi kicking air. Then, he put the weight on Bunshichi's leg that he was holding all along. Bunshichi slammed the ground with his right shoulder first.

  [221]

  Had he slammed the ground with his right hand, the damage would have been considerable and the broken bones would have left him exposed and defeated. At this moment, it was obvious that Kajiwara was aiming to damage Bunshichi's right Achilles tendon, but, in between that momentum, Bunshichi recovered from the slam and tried to kick Kajiwara's head while on the ground, However, Kajiwara was able to block with his right hand. Somehow, Kajiwara's strength had become slightly loose.