The Yakuza

"Wait!" Chiaki's voice reached out to the young traveler, causing him to stop in his tracks at the main gate of the dojo, turning his head slightly as he held onto his belongings that were slung over his shoulder.

He said nothing, only showing the girl that he was listening through his gaze alone.

"Who are you!?" Chiaki asked him, she was far too intrigued by him to just let him leave. She needed to at least know his name.

"I am no one." Takuya told her, turning around and walking off of the property.

Chiaki ran after him, catching up to the young man as he strolled slowly down the dirt road in front of him. "You have to have a name." Chiaki told him, walking beside him as if she were journeying with him. "Please, I need to know so I can thank you properly."

Takuya exhaled air from his nose humorously, smiling beneath his red mask. "If you want to thank me, tell me where I can get some food around here." Takuya didn't know anything about the more rural parts of Kuinzu, since he practically lived in the forest. He'd usually only eat home-cooked meals.

"Allow me to pay for your meal then! As a thank you." Chiaki didn't really care to thank the boy as much as she was putting on, she just really wanted to learn more about him. He was so mysterious, almost as if he weren't human. It was like he was a ghost.

Having practically no money to his name, Takuya couldn't deny the girl's offer. "Why thank you, Miss Tsuki. Lead the way."

The two of them walked about a mile down the road until they wound up in front of an American cuisine-inspired restaurant. "American food?" Takuya whispered, automatically thinking of the worst of the worst. He'd never had American food, nor had he even heard of what that exactly entailed.

Based on what he'd heard about the people, however, he was hesitant.

"The sign says no weapons." Takuya told her, hoping to use this as an excuse to not have to go into such a place.

"I'm friends with the shop owner. Don't worry about it." Chiaki told him, to his dismay of course.

Regardless of his reluctance, Takuya and Chiaki walked into the restaurant. Takuya was immediately finding it completely bizarre. There were four-legged chairs and tables, rather than mats on the floor for eating. The employees were all wearing closed-toed shoes, and their outfits were definitely western inspired.

'What is this?' Takuya thought to himself before a young, blonde white woman with a strange accent approached him, glaring at him with gentle blue eyes and a smile.

"Howdy, y'all, welcome to Gwendoline's, my name is Gwendoline but y'all can call me Gwen." the owner of the restaurant spoke to both of them, smiling brightly and bowing to them respectfully. "But, Chiaki here and I are already well acquainted. Who might you be, dear? Got a name?" Gwen's gaze was locked onto Takuya, checking his getup up and down with intrigue in her eyes.

"I don't have one. Pleasure meeting you, Gwen." Takuya bowed to her, and as he did, Gwen extended her hand out to him and continued to smile.

Takuya stood still like a statue. 'What is she doing?' he thought to himself, thinking this gesture was strange.

"Shake her hand." Chiaki whispered.

Takuya extended his hand, allowing Gwen to grab it and move his hand up and down as they do in America. "Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Spider." Seeing the spider symbol on his armor, Gwen thought this would be an appropriate name for him.

"Table for two?" Gwen asked them both, receiving a head nod from Chiaki.

Gwen then led them both to an open table, allowing the two of them to sit down before handing them both menus with both English and Japanese written on them. "I'll get y'all some water, 'kay?" Gwen said, bowing and leaving the two to browse the menus.

"This is very bizarre..." Takuya muttered, feeling as if he was transferred to another planet.

"This is how it is in America, apparently. Gwen is from there." Chiaki told him as she continued reading the menu.

"How did an American end up here?" Takuya was puzzled by the fact that Gwen seemingly moved to Japan at such a young age. Traveling such a great distance was far from easy.

"Her mother died when she was young. I don't know the full story, but her father met her stepmother in America. She's Japanese. They fell in love and Gwen's father didn't want to see her go, so he came with her to Japan, bringing Gwen with him."

"That's very interesting, I guess. Does her father sound funny too?" Takuya asked.

"Be nice!" Chiaki scolded him like a mother. "They're good people."

Gwen came back with two cups of water, placing them on the table in front of both of them. "Here y'all go. Ready to order?"

'Damn it, I forgot to look at the menu.' Takuya thought. Before he could ask for more time, Chiaki began ordering for herself. "Beef and potatoes, please."

"You betcha! How about you, dear?" Gwen looked at Takuya, who was nothing more than lost at this point.

"I'll have the same thing..." Takuya spoke with uncertainty, however, Gwen's bubbly energy did not cease. "Alrighty, then. That's comin' right up for ya!" Gwen grabbed both menus and made her way back to the kitchen to prepare the meals. She was both the head chef and a waitress when things got busy.

Chiaki and Takuya spoke to each other as they waited, getting to know each other a bit more and sharing a lot about their pasts. However, Takuya was being very careful not to reveal too much about himself, remaining mysterious.

It wasn't long before Gwen returned with two plates of beef and potatoes, placing them on the table in front of her two customers, still smiling brightly at them. "Here ya go. Enjoy, now." Gwen said this as if she were going to leave, however, she stayed beside the table.

'He's going to take it off.' both girls thought simultaneously, referring to his mask.

Takuya looked down at his plate, his reluctant eyes hidden behind his mask. 'What is this?' he once again told himself in his own head, grabbing the strange four-pronged utensil and poking the potatoes with it.

He was so focused on his plate, he failed to notice the young ladies glaring at him intensely. Takuya gulped nervously, picking up some of the potatoes with his fork and grabbing a piece of beef before lifting it up toward his face.

With his other hand, he lifted up just a part of his mask, revealing his face from the mouth down. 'He's young!' both girls thought, seeing his near-perfect, youthful skin.

Slowly, he placed the fork in his mouth, removed the food from the fork, and began to chew. It took a few seconds for the flavors to process on his tongue, but when they did...

"THIS IS EXCEPTIONAL!" he proclaimed, swallowing that bite before stuffing himself with more food. As if he hadn't ever eaten anything in his life, the boy continued filling his mouth with the American dish until he was interrupted by a rude voice.

"Hey" the voice shouted, gathering everyone's attention in the restaurant."Where's Gwen?"

Takuya, staring at the man with a full mouth, already knew what type of guy he was. 'Yakuza.' he thought to himself, seeing the man's slicked-back hair and tattoos.

Takuya sighed, taking one last sip from his glass. However, before he could do anything else, Gwen marched over to what appeared to be an umbrella holder before pulling out a sword. Chiaki stood up as well, removing her blade from her sheath to defend her friend's business.

"I told you, I don't need your protection!" Gwen shouted, holding her sword in a ready stance.

"Yeah, now leave!" Chiaki added.

The man laughed, it was a confident and booming chuckle. This laugh almost acted as a signal, prompting several swordsmen to appear from the door behind him. Both ladies hesitated, starting to feel worried about their odds. They were more than capable, but there was no way they could defend themselves against that many men.

"Now listen here, little lady. If you don't want your restaurant gettin' burned to the ground, how about you pay up?" The leader told her, smiling like the piece of scum he was with his sword resting on his shoulder.

"Or." Takuya's voice was heard, as well as his wooden chair scraping against the ground as he abruptly stood up in his seat. "You can leave with your lives."

"And who the hell are you?" The leader asked him, knowing the kid wouldn't actually do anything to harm him.

"I am no one. Just a wanderer. I know you hooligans probably never learned to read, but the sign outside says no weapons allowed inside, and I suggest you do as it says and depart."

The Yakuza members all began to laugh amongst each other, they were hysterical. Some punk kid was talking all high and mighty in front of them, they truly thought it was nothing less than pure comedy.

Everyone in the restaurant began to clear out to the sides of the building, giving Takuya the space he needed to go all out. "Kill 'em!" the Yakuza leader yelled, pointing his blade at the boy as his minions began rushing toward him at full speed.

Like an acrobat, Takuya spun and dodged around the Yakuza's attacks, taunting them with each attack he'd avoided with ease thanks to his Spider-Sense. He would try his best to respect the rules of the house, using now weapons himself during this skirmish. Besides, most of the thugs looked young and dumb, just following their leader's lead, he didn't need his blade.

"Too slow."

"Almost."

"Careful, now."

As the young ronin continued to dodge and make fun of them with his soft, youthful voice, he heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching behind him. Without even looking behind him, Takuya lept in the air, causing the man behind him to topple over one of his own men.

Now sticking to the ceiling above them with his feet, Takuya shot one rope from one of the rope shooters on his wrist, impaling a thug with their sharpened, metallic ends, and yanking them into the air. Using the ceiling as a springboard, Takuya lunged toward him, delivering a powerful kick that sent the thug crashing through a table.

"Die!" a voice shouted, approaching the boy from the side while attempting to slice the ronin's feet. However, Takuya hopped in the air before landing on the man's blade with both feet, pinning it down.

Stupidly, the thug attempted to pull his blade away, rather than letting it go, allowing Takuya to elbow his arm, breaking it. As the man cried out in agony, Takuya socked him in the jaw, rendering him unconscious instantly as this thug too broke through a table and a few chairs.

"He's so fast!" one of the Yakuza uttered as Takuya began sprinting on the wall toward a duo of thugs and jumping high into the air. One of the thugs placed his blade above him, attempting to block the oncoming attack from the ronin, only for Takuya's blade to slice through his blade due to his overwhelming strength.

The thug's eyes widened upon seeing his weapon sliced in half before Takuya's knee met his face, sending him crashing through the window behind him, breaking through the screen covering it.

The other thug raised his sword high above his head, preparing for an attack, only for Takuya to deliver a powerful kick to the man's jaw, destroying it and kicking the man so high, his head nearly hit the ceiling before he crashed back onto the ground.

"We gotta get outta here!" one of the gang members shouted, sprinting straight for the entrance as he dropped his sword to the ground. However, Takuya kicked a table in his direction, using it to block the entrance and stop the man in his tracks.

However, Takuya would not attack this eloper as he noticed a few of the stragglers began taking hostages as both the leader and one of his lackeys were holding Gwen and Chiaki with their blades at their necks.

"Don't fucking move or we'll kill 'em both!" The leader shouted, this time speaking with fear in both his voice and his eyes. "Drop your sword!" he ordered the boy, causing Takuya to sigh.

"Alright, fine." Takuya muttered, unsheathing and dropping the sword on the ground before putting both hands above his head. "Now what?" Takuya asked, waiting for the man to begin speaking.

"Now I want-"

𝘛𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘱!

Before the man could finish his sentence, one of Takuya's hooks from his rope shooters impaled him in the shoulder while Takuya's other rope shooter struck his lackey in the chest. Takuya then yanked him toward himself before hitting both of them with a clothesline, sending them crashing onto their backs on the ground.

Takuya exhaled, picking his blade up off the ground before speaking to everyone in the building calmly. "Everyone alright?" he asked, not even looking up as he tended to his sword until he placed it back in its rightful place on his back.

"My word... he's amazing." Gwen whispered.

"He's spectacular." Chiaki added as both of them admired the boy from afar, though Chiaki's eyes would widen as she noticed the Yakuza leader had not been beaten. "Look out!" she cried out as the Yakuza leader held a sword high above his head behind Takuya, though this would prove to be a fruitless endeavor as Takuya instantly unsheathed his sword and impaled him through the heart without even doing so much as looking at him, collecting his soul into his blade.

Both girls looked on in awe as Takuya cleaned his blade, feeling no remorse after giving him a second chance.

However, Gwen's expression soon turned into horror upon realizing what had just happened. "My restaurant! My tables! My chairs! The carpet!" Gwen began panicking as she looked at the blood-stained wreckage before her.

Takuya didn't notice until then, but he'd completely destroyed the place.

"Oh... sorry about that." Takuya rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, realizing that he should have probably held back.

"You! You better help me with this!" Gwen screamed at him, pointing her finger viscously at the boy. Her restaurant was her pride and joy. Of course, she was thankful that he'd saved her and everything, but she was reasonably furious about the damages.

"I'm sorry, I'll help clean up." he told her, however, this wouldn't be good enough.

"You're gonna do more than clean. You're going to work to repay me for everything you broke!" Gwen was almost red with anger. Takuya could have easily run away, however, he took accountability for his actions.

'I guess I won't be wandering anytime soon...' he thought to himself, finding himself stuck in the city of Kuinzu for the time being.