My Love Story With A Gangster

Chapter 4: The Battle Ends, For Now

It was now time for the two leaders to battle eachother. The entire area went dead silent as the tension rose, everyone was waiting to see who would throw the first punch. Chidori, Kanon, and Hina watched intently, not blinking an eye. Suddenly, the first to make a move is Ryu, he swung a punch right at Banri's face. Banri quickly blocked the punch, but the force of the hit made him stagger back. "Not bad Ryu, you actually made my hand tingle", said Banri with a smile as he shook his hand to relieve the pain after blocking Ryu's punch. Then, Banri rushed towards Ryu and the two began unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks at eachother. The fight got intense by the second as both held nothing back, they were giving it their all. "I will defeat you Banri! And I will become Katipunan High's top delinquent and save them from your reckless leadership!", Ryu managed to land an uppercut to Banri's chin, but Banri just shook it off like nothing and countered by slamming Ryu's head to the ground with a Roundhouse Kick. The entire crowd's eyes went wide as they saw Ryu's head ricochet off the ground with a thud. "W-woah", Chidori couldn't believe what she just witnessed, this level of brutality was nothing like what you see in the movies. "That's Banri for you, he's the type of guy to go for the head", Hina responds as she smiles at the sight of Banri's ruthlessness. Meanwhile back on the battlefield, Ryu barely managed to stand back up, rubbing his head after it hit the ground. "Still breathing, Ryu?", Banri stares down Ryu as he struggles to stand back up. Banri didn't hesitate to continue with his attack as he grabbed Ryu's hair and delivered a knee strike to his face, making Ryu fall back to the ground on his back. Blood began to drip down Ryu's nose as he recovers from the knee strike to his face. "You wanted this fight right, Ryu?", Banri grabs Ryu's jacket and lifts him back up to his feet then delivered a punch to Ryu's stomach, making the Thunder Wolves leader double over in pain as he fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. "From the beginning we already knew how this fight would go", said Hina as she continues to watch Banri's vicious onslaught on Ryu. "I-Is he always this brutal?", Chidori asks as he looks at Hina. "Pretty much, but unlike Raizo who prefers to take out his opponents as fast as possible, Banri likes to play with his opponents", Hina responds, looking back at Chidori. The Thunder Wolves quickly cheer their leader, hoping to motivate him to stand back up and fight back. But everytime that Ryu tries to stand up, Banri knocks him back down, showing no respect for his opponent. "Come on Ryu, you wanna become the number 1 delinquent of Katipunan High but you can't even beat me?", Banri mocks Ryu and laughs. Everyone was surprised to see this side of Banri, usually in school he is quite calm and collected. But in a fight he's a demon who shows no respect to his opponent, nor does he care if he kills them. "Hey now, Ryu, you won't reach the top if you stay on the ground", Banri stomps Ryu's stomach, making the Thunder Wolves Leader cough out blood. "P-Please... someone... stop him", Chidori muttered under her breath, not wanting to see any more of this brutal violence. Then, Banri grabs Ryu by the neck and lifts him back up to his feet. "You wanna be a peace-keeper, Ryu? How can you do that when you can't even save yourself from me?", Banri raises his fist and prepares to punch Ryu once again. "P-Please! That's enough!", Chidori couldn't contain herself as she shouted at Banri. Everyone then turned their attention to Chidori, so did Banri as he lets go of Ryu's collar, dropping him to the ground. "Hey, it's you", Banri said as he notices Chidori, his tone softening. "B-Banri... please stop", Chidori said, begging Banri to show mercy on Ryu. "Huh? Do you know, Ryu? Are you by any chance a friend of his?", Banri responds, confused why Chidori suddenly shouted for him to stop. "N-No... I don't know him... I've never even met him before, but... I know that beating him up like this... is wrong", Chidori responds, her body shaking, afraid that she might get in trouble for talking back at Banri like this. Banri couldn't help but laugh at what she said, "But Chidori they're the ones that started it." The entire crowd began to get curious about the conversation between the two, everyone has their attention set on Chidori and Banri. People were whispering to eachother, "Who's that girl?", "What's their relationship?", "why is Banri talking to her?" Suddenly, sounds of police siren were heard from beyond the abandoned junkyard. "What the hell?! The cops?!", a student said, afraid that they might get caught. Everyone then started running away as soon as the sirens got closer and closer. "Ah shit, looks like we'll have to do this another time", Banri said, annoyed that the fight was not only stopped by Chidori but also interrupted by the Police. "Alright Eclipse Outlaws! We're getting out!", Naoya shouted, ordering the Eclipse Outlaws to flee before the Police arrive. Sho did the same with the Thunder Wolves, not wanting to get caught by the Police and sent to Juvenile detention. "Chidori, let's get going too!", Said Kanon as she and Hina grabs Chidori's arm and the three of them run away. Banri looked at Chidori as she and the others run away, before looking back to his gang and ordering them to leave as fast as possible. Before leaving the area, Banri looked at Ryu as the Thunder Wolves were helping him and said, "We'll settle the score next time, Ryu Lee."

After that, Chidori, Hina, and Kanon decided to head back home so that they would avoid any more trouble. As she walks down the street, she couldn't help but think back to her conversation with Banri back at the abandoned junkyard. "G-gangsters really are s-scary", she thought to herself, recalling the brutality of the fight between Banri and Ryu. Suddenly, a voice behind her called out to her, "Hey, hold on." Chidori gets startled and turns around, to her surprise, it was Banri. "Sorry about what you saw back there", Banri said, his voice calm and gentle, unlike back at the abandoned junkyard. Chidori didn't know how to respond, she was afraid of him now, especially after what she witnessed earlier. She backed away from him, not wanting to get hurt. "P-please... don't hurt me", Chidori shakes as she continues to back away from Banri. "Hey calm down, I won't hurt you", Banri responds, trying to calm Chidori. "Y-you promise?", Chidori looks into Banri's eyes, looking for closure in his words. "Yes, I promise, I don't hurt girls", Banri smiles gently, even slowly backing away to give Chidori some space. Chidori takes a deep breath and manages to calm herself, "O-okay." Banri composes himself and speaks in a gentle tone, "I'm sorry about what you saw back there, It got out of hand." Chidori, although still wary of Banri, gives him a soft smile, "I-It's okay, sorry that I interrupted your fight." Banri looks at her, feeling disappointed with himself, "No, you didn't do anything wrong, I should be thanking you because you stopped me from going too far", Banri looks down on the ground, thinking back to how he would have gotten in big trouble if Chidori hadn't stopped him. "You know, you're actually the first person to snap me out when I'm in that state", Banri looks back up and smiles at Chidori, feeling grateful that she stopped him. "R-really? What about your friends?", Chidori responds, curious about the fact that no one has tried to stop Banri when he goes too far. "They're too afraid of me, they don't wanna get in my way when I'm like that, so the fact that you managed to stop me was a surprise, you're quite interesting", Banri leans against a wall and looks up at the sky. Chidori suddenly felt her heart skip a beat when she heard his words, "I-Interesting?", she said as she notices her cheeks going red. Chidori has never once experience someone call her interesting, let alone a boy, most of the time people just ignore her. "W-was that a... joke?", Chidori looks at Banri, wondering if he was just playing with her since she believes that most gangsters are total playboys. Banri looks at her with a soft smile, "Nope, it's true, you're quite interesting, Chidori." Chidori felt like the world suddenly stopped, in this moment, she felt something that she has never felt before. Banri then gets off of the wall and walks towards Chidori, a gentle demeanor on his face, "I didn't come by just to tell you that of course, I wanted to personally thank you." Chidori couldn't help but smile back, "I-it was nothing, I'm glad I could help." The two share a moment, smiling at eachother, it was like in this very moment, nothing else mattered. "Anyway, I'd better get going, sorry I bothered you", Banri turns around and prepares to leave. But before he completely leaves, he turns back one last time, "You still have my number right? The next time you need help, I'll be there." Chidori looks on as Banri leaves, her heart still beating, her cheeks still red. The sound of the winds, the chirping of the birds, she couldn't hear them, the only thing she could hear, were Banri's footsteps getting fainter, and her own heartbeat getting louder.

A few minutes later, Chidori went home. She noticed that her parents were out at work and her little brother was not yet home. She decided to go up to her room and think about the events of the day, the thought of Banri's words still on her mind. "I-I'm interesting?", she thought to herself, recalling the words that Banri said to her. She felt her face getting redder by the second and her heart beating loudly as if it was going to burst through her chest. She then looks at her bag and remembers that she put the paper with Banri's contact number on it, inside. She picks it up and searches for it, eventually finding it buried underneath her notebooks. She holds it in her hand and looks at it, "Call me if you need help huh?, That's what he said", Chidori thought to herself as she looks at the piece of paper. "I guess it couldn't hurt to add it to my contacts", Chidori opens up her phone and types the number on her keyboard, adding it to her contact list. "I guess he's on my contact list now", Chidori giggles, this was the first time she ever had a boy's phone number on her contact list. "Banri de la Vega, what kind of person are you? I'm... curious", she said as she lies her head on her desk and continues to stare at the piece of paper. She recalls her small interactions with him, when he first saved her, and now that he thanked her for stopping him. Chidori slowly started to fall asleep on her desk, her head resting on her forearms as she still holds the piece of paper in her hands. "B-Banri", she mutters under her breath as she sleeps.