Monsters

[Noriko Hashimura]

Adachi Ward, Tokyo - 2009.

"Hashimura! Don't think we don't see you!"

Noriko had been keeping her head down when she walked through the gates to the reform school, but not to cower from the jeering third-years. Instead she'd been hiding a black eye, the third she'd gotten in as many weeks at the school, a fact she didn't care on drawing any attention to.

But the implication of cowardice caused to burn with more shame than pity would have caused her. She stopped in the entrance, balling her hands into fists as she stared at the ground in front of her.

Within seconds, four pairs of platform boots had shuffled into her view. They'd brought one more girl since the last time, when Noriko had broken someone's nose.

"We're going to break your arms for what you did to Namie."

Noriko finally raised her eyes to stare at them. Four girls in short skirts and Burberry scarves sneered back at her, clenching their bandaged fists and shuffling closer. "That was a fair trade for a black eye."

"Then it's for my dad!" She'd heard several students hurrying through the gate from behind her, anxious to get to class and avoid the fight, but hadn't realized someone was sneaking up on her until the fifth girl had an arm around her throat and started squeezing. "Inspector Hashimura," she half-sang the syllables mockingly, "paid a visit to the bar. He put him in a bad way. We'll make yours worse!"

"Five of you... Are you scared...?" Noriko managed to gasp out, still struggling for air, but the insult was enough to earn her a hard slap across the face. She stomped on the nearest girl's foot, causing her to howl in pain, and got herself thrown to the concrete for it.

There was a confusing tangle of limbs converging around her, all kicking and stomping and pummeling as she punched back where she could, but it stopped for a precious moment when a voice rudely shouted,

"Oi teme!"

"Saori--" the girl in front of Noriko began, and a wild fist flew into the fray and hit her in the nose. Her head snapped back with a stream of blood, and Noriko grabbed her legs to roughly throw her off of her feet.

The surprising intervention and reversal of fortunes had bought enough time for Noriko to climb back to her feet and raise her fists. She wasn't sure why the Maeda girl was fighting on her side, but she wasn't going to ask now. She owed it to her to give her all to this fight, right now.

"Now it's a fair fight!" she yelled as she drew back a fist, lunging at the nearest girl.

* * * * *

Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo - Present day.

Crack! The katana fell from the man's grasp when Noriko struck him in the jaw, sliding away on the concrete floor of the dingy club entrance while its lacquered saya clattered at his feet. Somewhere below them, the crowd roared, but not for their violent display. The bouncer had been surprised by the attack, but shock quickly turned to rage. "Die...!" he growled as he reached for the small of his back.

At the same moment that she heard the metal settling out of a holster, her fingers had already closed around the saya, and the painted tiger on it flashed before her eyes as she swung it in a high arc at his temple. With a groan he went slumping back into the wall.

"Idiot," she muttered, and checked the doors ahead and behind her as she moved to retrieve his weapon. No one else had seen him yet, but her luck would last a minute longer at the most. She sheathed his sword halfway and stomped down hard to break it, then tucked it in against his side. She then braced his slumping, incoherent form against the wall as she rolled up his sleeve -- revealing a tattoo of a tiger biting down on a severed oni head.

"What does he mean by that? Does he think he's got Superman down there?"

A voice echoed down the stairs behind her. Noriko huffed an irritated breath and dug her phone out of her purse to snap a picture of the tattoo, then swapped it for a hand-painted flask, splashing liquor down the front of his shirt. She took a quick swig as she hurried away from him, slipping through the final door to the club and pulling it shut behind her.

She had to force herself to focus as she descended the stairs through a deafening roar of bloodlust. Flickering UV lights illuminated the narrow stairway, revealing hidden graffiti messages from various yakuza factions, as well as a warning:

A large splatter left behind by a bloodstain, with the words WIRES GET CUT painted in English. It was a new message, and it told her they knew information was getting out. She uttered a silent prayer that her contact would still be waiting for her at the bottom, but as she replaced her flask in her purse she let her hand linger, fingers settled around the reassuring shape of her USP.

She had to be ready for surprises.

"Sakura!" A familiar voice greeted her at the bottom, turning back from the surging wall of bodies to face her. His heartrate was higher than normal, but his pupils were steady and fixed on her. He was clearly excited about something, but he was not about to lie her.

At least not yet.

"So good to see you, Sota," she cooed, clutching his arm and kissing his cheek. Not far behind her, another man made his way down the stairs, chuckling to his friends about the "drunk idiot" at the door.

Sota let out a particularly boyish laugh and actually pulled on her arm, upsetting Noriko's balance in her high heels. "Come ringside, you have to see it! It's just like the old days!"

"It is? Who do they have here tonight?" she asked as she followed after him, pushing through the sea of bodies, past the unusually empty bar, up to where the crowd began to descend among the bleachers, revealing the massive cage ring in the center. The howling faces of the crowd and the fighters savaging each other were illuminated by the same hellish red lights.

"Not what -- who," Sota corrected her and grabbed her chin to direct her gaze. Her irritation at the needless gesture vanished at the sight of the two bodies in the ring, their mottled gray skin covered in scars and crude tattoos depicting a language she had never seen before. They bared their tusks at each other, then let out a roar that was quickly drowned out by the crowd's enthusiasm as they slammed into each other violently.

"Ogres."

((Character of Saori Maeda used with permission.))