Kengan liner

Kazuo stood in the main hall of the Kengan liner

Kazuo:*Back when I was still in school I saw a western movie. I remember being bored the whole time because of hot mediocre storyline. It was some romance movie placed on a luxury liner. I can't remember the title or any of the actors but there was one scene the left an impression on me.*

His jaw hung wide open as he looked around the massive and luxurious hall filled with people of various ages and nationalities all wearing expensive suits with their fighters mixed into the crowd

Kazuo:*it was the party scene on the ship. I was deeply amazed by how brilliant and dazzling it was. My youth must've made me think it would've been possible for me to get here. Now that decades have passed...I'd like to be able to tell myself... "your dream comes true..."*

His shoulders slumped forward as he started moping

Kazuo:* "BUT YOU'LL BE SWIMMING IN DEBT!"*

He sighed as he fixed his posture

Kazuo:this place really is like a whole 'nother world.

Someone beside him sneezed loudly which made Kazuo yelp

The elderly businessman saw his representative fighter (y/n) who wasn't dressed anywhere near nicely enough to be socially acceptable, he was in a long sleeve black shirt and black sweatpants with sandals

(Y/n):Kazuo Yamashita, when does the fighting start?

Kazuo started stammering

Kazuo:a-a-a-ah...I-I-I-

Suddenly Akiyama chopped the back of (y/n)'s head

(Y/n):...huh?

He turned around and saw Akiyama adjusting her glasses

Akiyama:following something like that you're supposed to say "excuse me". Your manners or lack there of, are very frustrating.

She blinked and saw (y/n) walking away while waving her off

(Y/n):I'm going to find food.

Akiyama punched the ridge of her nose in frustration as she took at deep breath

Kazuo:*well...I don't think letting him have his space could go too badly. I doubt anyone would want to fight after hearing he beat Jun Sekibayashi.*

He just smiled as his candidate disappeared in the crowd, this moment of calm was quickly ruined though by Lihito's constant attempts of flirting

Lihito:Oh I see! So your a new recruit for miss Soryuin!

The women he was hitting one was Shion Soryuin and Tomoko Matsuda

Tomoko nervously clutched to her bosses arm while she nonchalantly smoked a cigarette

Tomoko:d-do you know this man miss Soryuin?

Shion sighed

Shion:yeah, he's about the only guy who's ever hit on me at the Kengan Match venue. But don't worry.

She blankly looked at her secretary

Shion:he may be an idiot but he's harmless.

Male voice:excuse me.

Tomoko turned around sheepishly and saw Hatsumi standing behind her in a cheap suit holding an unlit cigarette

Hatsumi:I dropped my lighter somewhere, so you think you could give me a light? Oh what's this?

He leaned in closer as Tomoko started becoming visibly nervous as she now had Hatsumi flirting with her

Hatsumi:have we met somewhere before?

Tomoko:h-h-huuuhhh?

Hatsumi:yeah I'm sure we have. Hmm...where do I know you from though?

He pulled out his cellphone with a coy smile

Hatsumi:oh well, I'm sure it'll come to me if you give me your name and number.

Shion took out her lighter as she lit it and held it dangerously close to Hatsumi's face

Shion:here use this.

Hatsumi broke into a cold sweat hearing her voice.

Hatsumi:*d-damnit who's cock becoming me?!*

He turned around as Shion blew smoke into his face

Hatsumi:alright since you're kind enough to-...

He finally realized who he was talking to and went pale as a ghost as shion's expression remained as blank as ever

Shion:long time no see.

Hatsumi turned and tried to run away

Hatsumi:well I'd better be goin-!

Shion grabbed his tie and pulled him back over as the fighter started sweating profusely in the presence of a women who was much smaller compared to him

Shion:I see your as much of a sleaze bag as ever.

Hatsumi chucked nervously as he avoided her eyes

Hatsumi:aha...haha...n-no not at all...

Shion:you want me to crush your balls huh?

Hatsumi:n-no please don't even suggest anything that horrible...

Hatsumi continued chuckling nervously as he dropped down getting her neck out of the tie and then running away at full speed

Shion scoffed and dropped the old tie on the floor

Shion:shit, he got away again.

Tomoko nervously walked up alongside her

Tomoko:do you know that man...too?

Shion blew smoke in Hatsumi's former direction

Shion:yeah. Long story short, he's my ex.

Lihito's jaw dropped

Lihito:SERIOUSLY?!

On the other side of the hall (y/n) was sitting on table with a plate with several types of meat on it

Male voice:Yo.

(Y/n):...hmm?

He looked to his left as he took a bite from a large turkey wing, Sekibayashi was walking over in a tight black t shirt and jeans

Sekibayashi:I see you've recovered well also.

(Y/n) didn't respond as he just kept chewing but didn't take his eyes off the pro wrestler who walked up alongside him

Sekibayashi:quite a crowd here. I can already see a few great fighters here.

(Y/n):...mm, I wouldn't know.

Sekibayashi:don't speak with food in your mouth., but have a look.

Sekibayashi pointed ahead

Sekibayashi:right there is Gensai Kuroki of the kaiwan style. A pretty famous assassin in the criminal underworld.

The man he was pointing at was a large imposing man who stood at 6'1 with a large amount of black hair on both his head and face drinking booze from a cheap looking bottle

Sekibayashi:and then there's the creepy short guy there.

He pointed at a very short man at 5'1 with a slight build yet well defined frame, he had extremely long unkept black hair that mostly covered his extremely pale face, he wore an all black lose fitting bodysuit

Sekibayashi:that's Ryo Inaba, heir to the Inaba style and another assassin. Killing aside, he's know for his eccentric behavior.

(Y/n) looked ahead at the second assassin and saw him crawling around on his hands and knees which left everyone around him looking unsettled

Sekibayashi:and let's not forget about one of the biggest names here. Our resident God of War.

(Y/n)'s ears perked up as he looked to where Sekibayashi was pointing, it was a Thai man standing at 6'2 with a heavy weight build with long straight hair tied into a ponytail hanging over his left shoulder

Sekibayashi:That's Gaolang Wongsawat. The Thai God of War. He's an honest to god monster who switched from Muay Thai to boxing and became the heavyweight champion of all four major organizations in just 4 years.

(Y/n) looked more disappointed seeing Gaolang then impressed however

After a moment of silence (y/n) pointed with what remained of his turkey let at Gensai

(Y/n):that one, he's strong.

Sekibayashi:don't point with your food.

(Y/n) looked at Inaba

(Y/n):I've heard of that style as well.

Sekibayashi chuckled as he crossed his arms

Sekibayashi:No siree bob, this tournament won't be a cakewalk at all. But then again...

His signature grin crossed his face

Sekibayashi:I've got no plan of losing.

He looked at (y/n) out of the corner of his eye

Sekibayashi:so don't go losing till our round, got that, kid?

(Y/n) smirked as he looked at the pro wrestler

(Y/n):heh...Hao.

He stood up from the table he was sitting on

(Y/n):I'm thirsty.

He started walking away from the pro wrestler nonchalantly without saying goodbye

Sekibayashi:heh, yeah this tournament is gonna be something. It's got mixes all the way from the underworld to public power houses.

He looked over to the far corner of the room, he saw Erioh Kure sitting at a table with Raian, Reiichi, Hollis and the small hooded Kure in the parka jacket, both Raian and the hooded Kure were watching the crowd like predators

Sekibayashi:*and then of course there's the Kure family clan of assassins. It's like we've got an all-star line up of a hitman team.*

Meanwhile (y/n) was working his way through the sparse crowd, as one of the tallest people in the room he was awarded with many lingering eyes

(Y/n):*damnit, all these people staring are annoying*

Someone shorter stepped out in front of him and bumped into (y/n) causing him to start falling over

(Y/n):*the hell?*

He put his hands out in front of him to stop himself but he was stopped before he even came close to hitting the ground

Male voice:sorry about that big guy, wasn't paying attention.

(Y/n) looked up to see Horio Kure had grabbed his wrist and was holding him up with just one hand, Horio was in a nice suit and had sunglasses on which hid his eyes

(Y/n):*what? I weigh over 200 pounds but this...guy is holding onto me like I'm nothing.*

Horio pulled (y/n) back onto his feet and dusted off (y/n)'s sleeve

Horio:yeah sorry about that there.

(Y/n) looked at him with a blank expression before grunting and walking off again

Horio's nephew Hollis, walked up alongside his uncle

Hollis:what was that?

Horio:ah nothing, just bein' a bit of a clutz.

Hollis stayed quiet for a moment as he looked at (y/n)'s backside while Horio took a sip from a glass an alcoholic beverage

Hollis:wasn't that Jiang's student?

Horio's blew his drink out from his nose in shock as he started coughing and wiping the fluid from his face

Horio:wh-what?

Hollis pulled out his cellphone and pulled up a picture of (y/n) after his fight with Sekibayashi

Hollis:grandfather saw both his matches. Of the new coming fighters to the matches he's stirred up some dust.

Horio:whoa...

He leaned slightly closer to the phone

Horio:he's really sprouted up like a weed. Well...then again I suppose it has been ten years.

Meanwhile Kazuo was getting some food from the display when Ken came running towards him in a panic through the crowd

Ken:KAZU!!! Thank goodness I've found you! I've been looking all over!

Kazuo turned around both started and confused

Kazuo:k-Ken? Is something w-wrong?

Ken grabbed Kazuo's wrist and pulled him away

Ken:I'll explain later! How good are you at shogi?!

Watching the entire "conversation" unfold was Himuro who quietly chuckled to himself seeing his manager run off with Kazuo

Himuro:is he still trying to beat him?

Despite his size, Ken was quite fast as they reached a large group of people huddled around two people playing shogi

On the side of the board closest to them was a giant of a man, he was 6'5 and a wall of muscle and a buzz cut wearing a compression shirt and tight pants

Kazuo:TH-THAT'S THE CHAMPION O-OF ULTIMATE FIGHT! NAOYA OKUBO!!! WHY IS HE PLAYING SHOGI?!?!

Ken:o-oh uh no, that's not the guy I want you to beat heh.

Kazuo:h-huh?

He looked at his friend while clutching the sides of his head

Ken:it's his opponent I want you to take down.

Kazuo heard the click of a shogi piece being moved

Opponent:and that's checkmate.

Kazuo looked back to see Naoya lean back and slam the back of his head against the floor

Naoya:D-DAMNIT! WHY CAN'T I WIN?!

Kazuo looked at Naoya's opponent, he was a more average height at 5'7 with an unassuming appearance, he had straight black hair that was parted in the middle the fell to either side of his head, he kept his eyes closed and wore traditional Japanese clothing

Opponent:ah well, too bad for you heh.

He spoke quite politely despite having demolished his opponent Naoya completely

Opponent:I'll be waiting for you to challenge me again.

He looked at the crowd while keeping his eyes shut

Opponent:now then, is there anyone else who'd like to challenge me? My challengers fee is 10,000 yen. And I'll be offering a 100,000 yen prize to anyone who beats me.

Kazuo leaned over to Ken

Kazuo:is he betting on shogi in a place like this? Who is he?

Ken:Kaneda Suekichi, a friend of mine. And by the way, he's got no ties to the Kengan association.

Kazuo took a moment to process that last sentence

Kazuo:y-you brought an outsider here...? Why?

Ken:well here's the thing, I met him at the Shogi center yesterday. Then we got some drinks and I invited him in the spur of the moment.

Kazuo:*SP-SPUR OF THE MOMENT?!*

Kaneda spotted them and waved with a gentle smile

Kaneda:oh hey! Is that the man you were talking about?

Ken patted his friend on the back confidently

Ken:Yes! This is Mr.Yamashita! He's got 50 years of experience, you know.

Kaneda:oh-ho, 50 years? You're probably really good! I hope I don't have to ask you to take it easy on me.

Kaneda chuckled lightly with a poor attempt of a joke

Kazuo:*h-he's making light of me? This isn't a fight. This is shogi!*

He slowly took off his jacket as he sat down across from Kaneda

Kazuo:your about to see why they called me "Kazu of the raging rook"!

Less then 10 minutes later Kaneda had one word to say

Kaneda:checkmate.

Kazuo practically deflated after being beaten in a game he was very confident in his skills in

Kazuo:*D-DAMNIT! FIVE LOSES IN A ROW! WHY CAN'T I WIN?!*

Kaneda:no hard feelings, I hope. Your shogi skills are quite something you know.

Ken was dumbfounded standing behind his defeated friend

Ken:*he even beat Kazu...*

Naoya stood up behind Kaneda

Naoya:I WANT A REMATCH NOW!

Nearby (y/n) was leaned against a support beam and glanced at the crowd around the shogi board

Female voice:Yu.

(Y/n) turned his head to the left and saw Nogi and Akiyama approaching

Akiyama:are you alone? Where is Mr.Yamashita?

(Y/n) leaned his head back against the pillar and looked up blankly

(Y/n):...dunno.

Nogi walked out in front of Akiyama with his devilish grin

Nogi:well, long time no see, Yu. Congratulations on making it into the Kengan matches.

(Y/n) scoffed as he looked at Nogi out of the corner of his eye

(Y/n): tch, I won my spot in the tournament. It doesn't mean I plan on helping you.

One of The Bodyguards walked towards the center of the room

Bodyguard:Everyone may I have your attention please!

The room fell silent as the Bodyguard pointed towards the highest balcony of the hall, president Katahara stood alone leaned against the rail

Katahara:Thank you all for waiting everyone. Now...let's get started. I WILL NOW ANNOUNCE THE UPCOMING SCHEDULE!

Hatsumi rolled his eyes hearing the old man

Hatsumi:*so you've finally shown yourself, ghastly geezer.*

He turned his back and went to occupy himself elsewhere

Katahara:ABOUT 27 HOURS FROM NOW, THE SHIP WILL ARRIVE AT OUR FATED BATTLEGROUND!

(Y/n)'s expression changed to clear annoyance

(Y/n):what'd that geezer say?

Akiyama:it's still quite a voyage ahead of us.

Lihito walked up behind Akiyama and placed his hand on her shoulder

Lihito:are we going over seas?

Akiyama adjusted her glasses as she maintained her usual calm demeanor

Akiyama:kindly remove your hand now.

Katahara:upon arriving at our destination, all Kengan association members will register their fighters that shall enter the tournament.

Akiyama removed Lihito's hand personally and walked to the other side of (y/n) using the foreigner as a meat shield from Lihito

Katahara:the registration will officially enter them into the annihilation tournament.

Kaneda perked up as he made his next move against Kazuo

Kazuo:Th-This is it! I can win!

Naoya:YOU GOT IT! YOU GOT IT!!!

Katahara:and one more thing, any fights between fighters on board this ship is completely forbidden. Those who break this rule will suffer punitive measures from The Bodyguards. That is all, please continue to enjoy your voyage.

Kaneda smirked

Kaneda:*I see. This is just...*

He moved one of his pieces again without looking

Kaneda:*perfect.*

He stood up and politely bowed his head

Kaneda:pardon me, but I have some business I need to take care of. Feel free to use the board if you wish.

Naoya:wh-hey!

Kaneda was about to walk away when he looked over his shoulder

Kaneda:oh uh, right. By the way, checkmate.

Both Kazuo and Naoya shrieked as they saw he'd beaten them yet again

Naoya:D-DAMN! I LOST 80,000 YEN!

While both them grieved their loses, Nogi was approached by Shion and Tomoko

Shion:Nogi.

Nogi turned to greet his fellow merchant

Nogi:oh, ms.Suryuin. It's been quite some time.

Shion lit another cigarette

Shion:let's cut the pleasantry's. Nogi, what do you think of the chairman's directions?

Nogi grinned

Nogi:oh? You noticed too?

Shion:you think things will start stirring?

Nogi crossed his arms

Nogi:heh, who knows. There are many ambitious people in the association.

(Y/n) turned his head toward Nogi

(Y/n):ambitious? You mean people like you, the shady kind.

Shion tilted her head to look past Nogi

Shion:ohhh, well you must by (y/n).

Tomoko's cheeks turned slightly red seeing the foreigner

Tomoko:*wow he's really tall...*

Shion approached the massive fighter unfazed

Shion:I'll say, you're quite dashing in person.

(Y/n) looked down at her with a dismissive gaze

(Y/n):I don't know you.

Shion:No, but I believe you've met my competitor, Kiryu ring any bells?

(Y/n):...kiryu?

He looked up as he tried recalling

Setsuna:if that's your decision, I have no reason to stay here. I'll see you at the tournament.

(Y/n) reached out and grabbed shion's collar with his right arm and lifted her up off the ground like she weight nothing which exposed her red bra and sizable chest

(Y/n):just so you know, I'll crush your boy toy. So be ready to cry.

Tomoko:m-Miss Suryuin!

She tried to run forward when Shion raised her hand for her to stop, she wasn't panicked at all

Shion:My, so assertive. Don't go making promises you can't keep, I can't stand when men do that.

Akiyama placed her hand on tomoko's shoulder

Akiyama:don't worry, I doubt he's the type who'd try to hurt someone much weaker than himself.

(Y/n):you've got an awful lot of confidence in someone so weak.

He leaned in slightly and shion hadn't flinched once the entire time he was holding her up

Shion:well we'll just have to see, now won't we?

She playfully blew a small puff of her cigarette smoke in his face which made (y/n) scoff

(Y/n):tch, disgusting.

He proceeded to put her back on her feet as shion adjusted her top

Shion:I can't say how your fight may go, but I can say Kiryu is incredibly strong. If you want to fight him, be ready for anything.

(Y/n) stayed quiet for a moment

(Y/n):heh, then I'll hope I was wrong about him and that he's not some other weakling.

Lihito's jaw dropped

Lihito:*what?! I've been trying to talk with her all night but she went right to him?! Mr.Loom and Gloom?!*

(Y/n) saw Lihito slack jawed and sulking but didn't realize it was because the girls he was trying to talk to were all directing their attention at him

(Y/n):Oi, Rihito, what's wrong did you eat something raw?

Lihito:WHA-IT'S LIHITO YOU JERK!!!

Akiyama adjusted her glasses

Akiyama:frankly I'm surprised he even remembers that.

On the outside of the ship, standing next to the railing overlooking the sea was a tall man at 6'7 in a suit, he was extremely muscular even through the suit, he had no eyebrows and his hair was slicked back

This man...was the fabled Fang, or by his real name, Agito Kanoh

Agito had his left hand resting on the cold metal rail as footsteps started approaching him from behind

Female voice:well well, if it isn't Agi.

Agito slowly inhaled and exhaled as the gentle crashing of the waves hit the ships hull

Agito:I was beginning to suspect you'd avoided this tournament.

A cold breeze swept across the deck as Agito turned around to see a woman standing at 5'4 with short black hair styled that barely reached her neck and bangs that covered her temples , she was wearing a white Chinese martial arts Gi as well

Agito:Jiang.

A devilish grin spread across Jiang's face as her pupils vanished leaving her eyes totally white

Jiang:of course. I wouldn't miss this for the world.

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To be continued

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