Out of the Frying Pan... [Solo]

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The lights in the terminal begin to flicker erratically, a possible surge in the power lines? Saruyuki takes a risk as if though it were an opportunity being handed to him on a silver platter, sliding madly around another bend. "Get back here, asshole!" snarls the thuggish schoolboy hot on his tail, his band of bruised cronies not even a meter behind.[break][break]

The blond teenager spots a signpost leading to a staircase that descended further into the station. Using his hands as brakes, he slams into the wall in order to push himself down the flight, leaving a smear of blood in his wake. Consequently, this acts as a marker for his chasers, who barrel after Saruyuki like a pack of rabid mongooses without breaking stride. The halogen bulbs continue to flicker and and strobe in ferocious intervals, and the deeper they fled into Shibuya Terminal, the less crowded it became.[break][break]

But, Saruyuki was ultimately bound to run out of space, and it was only a matter of time before he came across a segment he had never seen before, forcing him into a noisy skid across the tile floor, which brought him to a full stop. In his desperation, he takes panicked glances all around him; there were no more stairs to run up or down, nor were there any other corridors or halls. For all intents and purposes, he had reached a dead end.[break][break]

Or had he? Craning his head leftward, Saruyuki found himself staring at what appeared to be a train with open doors – yet, for some reason, there was nobody to be found inside its cabins. Were it not for the situation at hand, he would have also considered it especially suspicious that the rest of this area seemed utterly devoid of life.[break][break]

But before he could make the decision to dip inside the liner and find a hiding spot, Saruyuki's ears picked up the sounds of approaching footsteps and haggard breathing, followed by an amused snicker. There they were, the bloodthirsty wolves in human skin. "Caught you, you goddamned monkey."[break][break]

The bruised and bloodied teenager spits a chunk of red at the floor upon hearing this remark, glaring daggers at his enemies. Right now, he wanted to tear his head off those shoulders and put it somewhere dark and moist, but charging in would have only exposed him to more punishment from their combined efforts. "Screw you..." Saruyuki scowls, "Pickin' on little kids don't make you or your goon platoon tough!"[break][break]

All six of the boys laugh, despite the beatings they took. "Says the guy who just got his ass kicked in a public bathroom," the leader of the gang jeers, as if reminding Saruyuki of what had transpired mere minutes ago. "Why, though? You could have just walked away, pretended like nothin' happened." His sneer fades into a menacing stare. "Why?"[break][break]

"It should've been obvious from the start," Saruyuki calls back, taking a deep breath of air while sweeping both of his arms in choreographed, circular movements, adjusting his posture into a low crouch upon assuming a graceful attacking stance. "Punks like you piss me off."[break][break]

"That's your excuse? Please. Don't act so sanctimonious, Takemitsu." A couple of mocking 'oohs' and 'aahs' came from the gaggle of gangers, followed by more deprecating laughter. "It's gotta be more personal than that, right?" The biggest influence in the group squints his eyes like a nearsighted optometrist. "Is it for approval? Friendship? Status, even? Or maybe... Maybe you wanted that little pipsqueak's money for yourself?"[break][break]

"Bait me all you want, this fish ain't takin' it," Saruyuki retorts, but this barely fazes his assailant or the helping hands at his disposal. Images of the sobbing child replayed in the back of his thoughts, the bullies' taunting and mockeries carved into his memories like a chef's knife to a stalk of bok choy.[break][break]

"That's what's wrong with you high-and-mighty types, though. You're always railin' on about 'wanting to make a difference' or 'being a good example for others'." The boisterous punk wipes a streak of blood from beneath a nostril, then licks the crimson substance off his thumb, only to spit it back out in contemptuous fashion. "It's a goddamned fantasy, a pipe dream that only stupid people think is worth following!"[break][break]

"Shut up, asshole!" Saruyuki snaps back at the verbally hostile youth, unable to sustain his composure any more than he was willing to put up with his insults.[break][break]

"You're only proving my point, though!" the pugnacious teenager continues taunting Saruyuki without pity or remorse, "That you're even bothering to give a shit means you know I'm right!"[break][break]

"I said shut up!" Open palms transform into balled fists. Anger continues to boil even hotter, sizzling to the surface, ready to erupt without warning.[break][break]

"Or what? You gonna tell on me? Run back to daddy?"[break][break]

Saruyuki snaps. Instantly, he lets loose a bloody howl and sprints at the boys like angry Spanish bull. Although the disparaging fellow had anticipated this, what he didn't count on was a flying tackle delivered straight into his abdomen, which not only sends him and his blond counterpart crashing to the floor, but leaves him prone enough to allow Saruyuki several violent, blood-soaked jabs to the bridge of his nose, all of them issued with the intent to push it straight into the depths of his skull.[break][break]

The five other delinquent youths take it upon themselves to lay into Saruyuki as they had done in the bathroom, one of them forcefully kicking the teenager off their accomplice hard enough to free him from the savage assault, while three others follow suit with stomps and punts of their own. All this does is enrage Saruyuki even more, and in a single dramatic motion he brings his entire body into a clockwise spin, throwing his own legs upward just far enough to smack a foot or two into their faces, sending them staggering back a few feet.[break][break]

The other two boys rush forward to take their place as soon as Saruyuki regains his posture, while a broken-nosed vagabond, newly empowered by his own fury, rises up and joins the melee with his fists swinging. The blond boy ducks and weaves, but finds himself receiving more blows than he is able to dish out, each strike whittling at his endurance like a sculptor's chisel into clay. A foot sweeps him off his feet, but instincts force Saruyuki to grab one of his attacker's wrists, pulling him to the ground as well, all while another free hand runs effortlessly into his victim's abdomen to great effect.[break][break]

The lights fizzle and strobe as the onslaught continues, blood practically smeared and caked along the empty terminal docks as the sounds of violence echo throughout.[break][break]

Saruyuki rolls the one boy off his body, and he vomits from the pain in his stomach. A second tries to attack from his blind spot, but the tenacious blond fighter uses his own weight against him and employs another judo throw to send him face-first into a nearby trash bin. But a foot strikes his chin from below outside of his periphery, sending his lower jaw cracking into the upper with an agonizing crunch and throwing Saruyuki back to the floor.[break][break]

As the leader tries to close in for the coup de grâce, Saruyuki winces with clenched teeth and forcefully rams the heel of his shoe into the groin of his encroaching assailant, pulling a startled yelp of agony from the burly boy's throat, who clutches between his legs with both hands and falls to both knees, allowing Saruyuki another opportunity to use both feet in a nasty double kick, thrusting them into the thug's nose and pushing him to the ground with staggering effect.[break][break]

Four of the delinquents gather their bearings and decide that enough is enough, resorting to the use of their surroundings to get the one-over on their victim, who was proving himself to be far more troublesome than they had initially believed he would be. Taking the trash can that one of them had been surreptitiously shoved into, one of the schoolyard punks slams it into Saruyuki, who barely lifts his arms high enough to avoid getting it into his face. Another punts his ribs, which knocks the wind out of him, allowing a third to stomp on an upper thigh so that he might disable its respective leg from flailing about, while the fourth miscreant strikes Saruyuki's face with his own foot, leaving a nasty welt over his right eye in the process.[break][break]

The more Saruyuki struggled to fight back, however, the weaker his body became; there were too many of them to fend off on his own, and without help, he was all but completely defenseless. Not even his surprise crotch attack was able to keep the battered bruiser down for long, who furiously motioned for his lackey to surrender his use of the trash can over to him.[break][break]

In a volcanic mix of blood and spittle, the boy lifts the receptacle on high and brings it down over Saruyuki's face with the last ounce of strength he had left.[break][break]

Then, all goes black.

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