Frozen Rose (Langa x reader)

Chapter 67

(Y/n)'s POV

The group stilled under Cherry's menacing glare, drawing sharp breaths when he scowled at the 'leader' for letting out a small chuckle. Joe raised an eyebrow at the boy's nonchalance, crossing his arms as if he was getting extremely impatient.

"It's simple. Her body is weaker than his, and he's a body builder so of course she'd get hurt," exclaimed the blond.
"And why exactly did he coincidentally crash into her from the side of a ramp?" Joe questioned.
"Oh, did he do that? I wasn't looking so I don't know."
"Oi-"

Other members of his group had forcibly wrenched me from Reki's grasp, punching him in the stomach to prevent him from fighting back. I screamed as they kicked him a few times for good measure, flailing like a fish about to lose its life but the guy who had grabbed me was as strong as steel.

"Damn you! Let me go!"
"Calm down unless you want me to punch a hole through your stomach," threatened the guy holding me captive.
"Let her go," Langa said, both his voice and gaze devoid of any warmth.
"No."

I gritted my teeth as he pressed down on my bruise, refusing to scream. He pinched harder before I spat in his face, undoubtedly angering him as he readied his fist for a punch. All the colour drained from Langa's face as he yelled at my captivator to stop.

Disregarding the pain, I twisted and swung my body to avoid the hit and jumped onto the guy's shoulders. He grabbed my legs but I pressed into his eyes. A gasp left my lips as he fell back and crashed into the ground.

He rolled off my body and immediately had me back in his grasp. Joe was already coming towards us, stopping his fist just before it hit my face as my prisoner had moved my bruised body in front of him.

"Go on, hit me," he taunted.
"You better let her go. Right. Now."
"Whoa, everyone calm down," said the blond.
"What do you want?" Yuu asked.
"Money. You're a rich boy, aren't you?"
"I'll give you everything I have so please-"
"Slow down, little buddy. I did say money and I would honestly leave you guys alone if you gave it to us. I don't like resorting to violence...but our princess wants something more. Isn't that right, Megumi?"

The girl who had touched Langa stalked forward, smiling a smile full of sweet poison. I grimaced as she pinched my side, giggling loudly as her fingers dug into my skin. Sweat pooled on my forehead as the pain blurred my mind.

Langa stepped forward, only for her to dig deeper until she drew blood. I let out a soft scream, immediately biting down to prevent the satisfaction from reaching her cruel heart. He looked on the verge of personally orchestrating her murder.

"Nah, stop right there, pretty boy," she purred.
"What the hell do you want?" Joe growled.
"Him. Seeing as how he ignored me earlier, I figured I needed to take this slut out of the question," she said cheerily.
"So there you have it. What's it gonna be? Give us your friend and your money or leave her behind for us to play with?" asked the blond.
"We challenge you to a beef. If we win, you'll release her and never come back here again. If you win, you can have Langa, all our money, and (Y/n)," Cherry exclaimed.
"Oh?"
"Oi, what the hell are you doing?!" Joe hissed.

Cherry cut off Joe's protests by opening a fan in his face. The blond tossed a stone in the air, continuously repeating the motion as he pondered Cherry's proposal. My mind immediately sharpened as Megumi squeezed my side.

"Stop," Langa whispered shakily.
"Oi! You weakass idiot! Why don't you pick on someone who's actually on the same level as you? You know (Y/n)'s stronger so you can only hurt her when she's all beaten up!" Reki shouted as he was held back by her friends.
"Hmph, you know nothing about me," she replied and once again, dug her nails into my skin.
"What's in it for me? We currently have the advantage," the blond was saying.
"Didn't you hear me? I did all our money. Right now, you've only negotiated for her brother's money and he'll gladly give you everything he has. Do you even know who I am? I can give you much more."
"Or we could just torture her."

Cherry pointedly stared at me. Damn slave driver. Seeing as how the guy was suspending me from my wrists, I began swaying my body until I had gained enough momentum to fling my legs at the girl.

She unfortunately dodged the attack but I simply focused on the guy holding me captive. I flipped onto his shoulders, gritting my teeth against the pain threatening to make me collapse, wrenching my hands from his grasp.

I hit the back of his head before he immediately crashed to the ground, unconscious. Pain struck the bruises scattered across my skin as I staggered to my feet, wiping sweat from my brow.

"Any more of you wanna fight?"
"Or she could just escape," said Cherry.

My hands were suddenly bound from behind. The fight left my body as my legs lost feeling and I slipped to the ground. The guy grunted in annoyance, seeing as how my collapsing had caused him to lose grasp of my hands.

A sharp yell left my throat as my arms were twisted to an odd angle. I curled into a ball as he kicked me to the side before strong arms lifted me into their embrace not a second later. My eyelids were heavy with exhaustion, fatigue whispering sweet ramblings into my ear.

"(Y/n), wake up. (Y/n), come on. I'm here."
"...your voice is annoying, Kojiro. Let me rest."
"Thank god-"
"Let the girl go," threatened the guy who had bound me.

He had a knife readied, pointed at Joe's throat. I tapped his arm, gesturing for him to go see what was going on with Cherry. He didn't budge a bit. The knife had now made a minuscule incision into his skin.

"I won't do anything so let me stay with her," Joe exclaimed.
"No."
"I-"
"One of the kids."

Yuu rushed over before he was even finished with his sentence. I bit back a wince as Joe helped me lean against Yuu's side. My brother's hand was immediately in mine, both our fingers clenched so tightly in fear that the world was trying to pull us apart.

"Hinata, we found out their identities," said a young boy running towards the blond.
"I already know that he's the famous AI calligrapher-"
"No, that's Cherry Blossom and Joe! You know, the founders of S! And the girl we have hostage is Rose!"

The blond sported a smirk.

"This is getting interesting. Alright then, Cherry Blossom, I accept your challenge."