BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Yelled the alarm. Like a lasso, it tied around Anna's consciousness, dragging her from the twilight zone of deep sleep as if returning from a mission to an empty, dreamless realm and up towards the light...

"Ughhh.." She groaned, yawning as she stared up at the baby-blue ceiling. With only net curtains, the fiery light of the morning sun shone directly into her room and directly into her eyes. She sat up covering her eyes from the harsh shaft of light which flooded into her room.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm continued to yell. Anna groaned and slapped the top of her little apple shaped digital alarm clock. It fell soothingly silent. The time was 7:30 A.M, Friday.

'Oh, breakfast will be ready soon..' She thought before yawning and stretching her arms out to the air as if she were trying to touch the ceiling itself, the sleeves of her cow-patterned onesie riding down over her forearms as she clicked the joints in her wrist and fingers. Her long, brown hair was messed up and sticking all over the place, and she seriously considered taking Baki's advice from the night before for just a moment.

Anna's room was fairly simple. Not decorated too much, but surely indicative of herself. Soft beige carpets, baby blue painted ceiling and the wallpapers were a mixture of turquoise blue and celeste coloured tropical leaf decals, like a summer forest full of life. Adjacent to her bed was a chair tucked under a desk sprawled with a mess of papers and stationery arranged in a way only Anna could parse through. Above the desk was a little mirror hung on the wall above which was a printed photo of Shikoku STEM University, the skyline of Takamatsu behind it against the bright, cloud-streaked skies.

'A dream to be long, hard fought for.'

A chest of drawers dominated the far end, above which was the window from which the sun beamed through.

It was not a very large room, shaped like a rectangle, it was roughly eight feet wide and twelve feet long.

There was a sudden knock from her door. The cheery voice of Hyousuke came from the other side, making Anna jump slightly.

"Hey, Anna, you up? Breakfast's ready! Don't miss it!"

"Alright junior!" She called back tiredly. His footsteps faded away as he rumbled down the stairs.

Time to dress. Her uniform was folded at the end of the bed. Her knee clicked as she stood up out of bed. It was probably gonna be a long, boring day.

..

.

"What took you so long?" Chuckled Hyousuke as he slathered a spoonful of peanut butter onto his morning slice of toast. The two brothers were fully dressed in their uniforms also.

"I was getting dressed, Jr." Anna replied, carrying her freshly reorganized bookbag with both hands in front of herself, "and nothing that's your business." She added, jokingly, entering the kitchen from the stairs, where counters and appliances wrapped around a large table serving as an island in the center. Four people were gathered around this island. Yoshinori and Hyousuke were sat side-by-side, Yoshi was eating some cereal with diced fruit whilst Hyousuke wolfed down his toast and banana. Then there was the Okamoto adults; scruffy auburn-haired Chizuko and his blonde wife Sachiko. But to Anna, they'd always be 'Mama and Papa'. Papa was washing dishes at the sink, whistling a tune from the radio perched on the net-curtained windowsill as a few bamboos swayed gently in a golden morning breeze outside whilst Mama took her seat to the right hand side of the table, leaving three seats open. Anna took the seat at the closest end of the table to her, where a bowl of bran flake cereal lay waiting; alongside a banana, a glass of orange juice and a little porcelain pitcher of milk to pour.

"How'd you sleep, Anna?" Sachiko asked after a mouthful of jam on toast.

"Well, thank you. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow."

"You got home from your internship with Mr. Ahiru last night, Anna. Your dinner was getting cold."

Yoshinori paused, shooting daggers over at Anna as if to tell her 'Don't you have something to say?'

"Well, I wasn't interning the whole night.." Anna started. Chizuko looked back over his shoulder whilst wiping a mug clean with a dishcloth, suds and water dripping from his hands.

"So what were you doing?"

"I was tutoring someone for the algebra test next Wednesday.."

"Were you now? Someone from your class?"

"It was Baki Hanma, Papa."

Chizuko span around, his eyes widened.

"Oh, Anna honey, that Baki kid? He's a bit of a menace don't you think?" Sachiko exclaimed, with raised eyebrows, "Weren't you scared?"

"Please don't make a big deal guys, he's sweet."

"Ohhhh," Chizuko gasped, arms crossed, "you better not be falling in with this one, Miss Takeyama. I thought you were sensible."

"It's just a tutorship-"

"Anna, we just want to make sure you'll be okay.." Sachiko said, cupping her hand over anna's anxious clenched fist on the table, "and that you won't get into trouble."

"I'll be okay, you two, knock it off. His caretaker's one of the secretaries from the Akezawa Group, who said if I get him a passing grade on next week's test, he'll hire me."

"A tutoring job from the Akezawa Estate?" Chizuko exclaimed, "look at you, fancy girl."

"It's nothing really. Do you think they'll pay me well?"

"Pay you well? There's billions and billions in the Akezawa name. They're so rich they don't even know what to do with it all. Everyone knows that." Sachiko replied as her husband took a seat at the end of the table, his hand bringing spoonfuls of rice pudding to his mouth before he even fully sat down. Sachiko reached over and gave him a light slap on the ear.

"Hey honey, I suppose we should trust Anna to do this, right? She hasn't let us down before, and I know she won't in the future." Chizuko smiled, winking towards Anna. The two brothers seemed stunned by the sheer amount of money just mentioned.

"Well alright, if that's what you think," Sachiko replied, eyes darting between Anna, her husband and her two sons, "as long as she doesn't get into his troubles and sticks only to tutoring the boy, I don't see much that can go wrong."

"Thank you Mama, Papa.." Anna replied.

"Itadakimasu!" Hyousuke exclaimed before continuing with his food.

The music on the radio crackled, fading out to the little jingle that always plays before the news segment each morning at exactly quarter past eight.

"Welcome to Gotanno Radio at 89.2 FM, broadcasting from Adachi Ward! Where the commute just whisks you away thanks to our favourite tracks that are played all day, every day thanks to the help of our sponsors over at the Tokyo Dome, and Central JR Group! Stay tuned for the news at eight sixteen A.M, with our friend Tokanna Takahashi!"

"I like Takahashi.." Chizuko remarked to a mouthful of rice porridge.

"You always like Takahashi." Sachiko muttered.

"It's a bright and sunny day with gentle south-southwest breeze filtering in from Tokyo bay, bringing a rainy front across the country which is predicted to pelt Tokyo next week! In other news, the boxing world of Tokyo is humming with anticipation for a long-awaited match between Adachi's own Yuhan Tiger, the current world Middleweight Champion against Mongolian-Russian Welterweight Champion Yuri Tchakovsky, who's challenging Tiger for his title next Tueeeesday Night in the ring at Kabukicho Martial Arts Center, in Shinjuku-ku! The bets are in, and I've personally put about a thousand Yen on Yuhan! Our Japanese spirit is sure to pull throug-"

With that, Chizuko switched the radio off, his brown eyes narrowing across the room.

"Alright, you kids should be finished with your breakfast and ready in the minivan in the next fifteen minutes, or I'll drive off to Nakano-ku without you."

"I'm already finished!" Hyousuke cheered, jumping up to his feet and joining Chizuko's side as he adjusted his tie, both leaving the room at the same time, Today, Yoshinori had his hair tied back from his face, exemplifying his sharp, slick features. His little black half-rectangle framed glasses perched on his nose, giving him an air of academic flame.

"Maybe Hanma should pursue boxing, like our friend Yuhan Tiger and Yuri Tchakovski.. A knuckle-headed profession for a knuckleheaded kid." He said, finishing the last of his breakfast.

"You're not much older than him, Yoshi. Only by two years."

"Still a kid to me, Anna, like you're my kid sister."

"And you're ALL kids to me," Sachiko said, smiling lightly as she picked at her salmon steak and sipped her jasmine tea, "you should think about getting in that minivan and getting to school on time."

"Alright, Mama." Yoshi replied.

Soon enough; Papa, Anna, Jr. and Yoshi were all bundled into the back of the van, clipped in and and buckled up, before without warning, Chizuko put the van into gear and sped away down the lane, the hum of the engine and the jostling of the van moving swiftly between the rows of houses all to familiar to Baki's charge from last night.

'He left on an odd note..' Anna thought, staring out the window as the piano chimes of "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson began to play over the radio, a background track to the monumentous skyline of Tokyo rolling past, whilst humbling colossus of Mount Fuji rose into the sky to the other side, its base hidden by the morning fog. It was a majestic kind of morning, a magic morning, 'Like he had to rush back home for something..'

...

..

.

The school was as busy as it always was. Students surged here and there, flowing across the courtyard and into the vestiges of academia, black uniformed boys and girls with white uniforms and blue skirts moving in united clumps.

"Have a good day, kids. It's the weekend tomorrow, so no slacking off!" Chizuko told his children before speeding off from the road in front of the Kita High School.

"Another day, another dime.." Hyousuke sighed.

"We're students, we don't get paid.. And if we did get paid, it'd be in Yen, not American money."

"It was a joke, Yoshi." Anna said.

"Well alright..." Yoshi frowned, obviously embarrassed, "but it wasn't very good."

"If you're the authority on what's a good joke, comedy really is dead!" Hyousuke exclaimed as the trio stepped into the main foyer of the school, almost to split in different directions for the different classes they must attend.

"See you late, Yoshi!"

"I hope you learn lots today, Yuudai. Anna." And with that and a curt bow, Yoshinori split off right and disappeared into the crowd, absorbed by the sound.

"C'mon, Anna, let's hope Ahiru is late again today."

"Alright, Jr."

Ahiru was not late that day. In fact, he was fairly early.

..

.

"Hello, class. Anna, Hyousuke.. I wouldn't take you two for being late, but even pigs fly.." Mr. Ahiru stalked the front of the classroom, wearing a pink polka dot tie and an unflattering button shirt made up of random black and white geometrical shapes. His overweight body seemed to threaten the balance shared between the threads of the shirt together with its buttons. He clapped his hands together, "as you all know, it is a Friday morning, which is great since I get to continue teaching you sporting little whippersnappers all about the history of the Heian Period and the exports of Kyoto!"

An audible grown spread throughout the classroom. Anna noticed that Baki hadn't arrived to class yet. It was only quarter past nine, granted, but Anna felt her stomach lurch with nerves.

'Come on, Anna, what're you doing with yourself?' She mentally asked herself, looking back at Baki's empty space in the classroom behind her..

"Miss Takeyama!" Ahiru barked from the front of the class, "I didn't take you for being inattentive either. I'm teaching a lesson over here."

Anna snapped back to the front of the lesson, appearing upright and alert. But her mind was anything but.

'Where is he... Where are you, Baki? We're meant to be in class...'

"Open your textbooks to page 127, and answer the Unit 5 questions about the Heian Era exports, whilst making notes in your History notebooks!"

Anna opened her textbook almost from impulse rather than out of a purposeful decision. The title and date of the lesson on the page pretty much wrote itself in her textbook.

'Was I wrong about Baki twice? With such blatant disregard for school rules, even to commit to truancy like this? Will he even read my algebra textbook, or will he use it as target practice? Oh no..'

Time passed by and soon she was aware the thin hand on the clock had span around nearly a third of the clock's circumference and the energy of the room had shifted to one of energy-drained boredom.

Anna looked up to the door across the room, suddenly swinging open, hoping against hope to see that boy's ginger head to poke through, but unfortunately it was just Mr. Ahiru coming back into the class, a snooty look on his face.

"Anna. Hallway." He ordered in a stern tone, as if she had done something wrong. It was Ahiru's unique way to spell trouble.

The entire class perked up immediately and suddenly Anna found twenty-nine beady eyes locked on her, each wide with curiosity and slight astonishment.

'THE Anna Takeyama? In trouble with Ahiru? That can't be true!'

Even Kitizawa, who spends his school time swinging on his chair at the back of the class was now sat upright, all four legs on the floor and hands on the desk as he stood out of his seat, his mouth an inch agape in disbelief.

Anna stepped outside into the cold, quiet hallway and shut the class out of her world. It was just her and Ahiru out here.

"Where's your little ... Student, Miss Takeyama?"

"Ahiru.. I.. I can explain-"

"Can you? Or are you making excuses?"

Anna felt herself physically deflate. This teacher was completely right. After all, she had no reason to make excuses for Baki's absence. She wasn't him. And it was his choice after last night whether to get serious or keep slacking..

"I thought he'd... At least come into school today..." Anna said, feeling her shoulders droop and her arms hanging by her sides, her fingers twitching as they fidgeted with the hem of her skirt once again.

"Anna, what's the matter? You went into it knowing he was probably gonna do something like this.. It was always gonna happen really. He's a delinquent who doesn't take school seriously."

"Mr. Ahiru," Anna began, slowly, "the thing is, I'd naturally agree with you totally. Heck, Baki himself even told me that he didn't think school was important.."

"What makes you think you know anything about becoming stronger!?" Baki had yelled at her the night before.

"But there's something behind the scenes, I'm sure of it! He's not just a slack off, I-"

"Anna, you don't have to defend him just because you're tutoring him, you know.."

"Mr. Ahiru, if you saw the horrible things the graffiti says all around his house, you'd understand..."

The teacher stood up straight and fiddled aimlessly with his tie, neither loosening it nor tightening it.

"Let's go back inside the classroom. Only time will tell if you will get him to pass our Algebra teaser-test next Wednesday," Mr. Ahiru said as he bumbled back inside, just about holding the door open for Anna as she followed, letting it go as she approached it so she'd more or less just have to open it herself anyway, "oh, I think it'd take nothing less than helping him cheat to get him past next Wednesday." He joked, waddling past his intern's desk to his main one where his coat was strewn over a conspicuous lump, obviously his pervy magazines.

"Mr. Ahiru!" Anna shouted across the classroom, "I am a Takeyama. I will not stoop to cheating. I'm angry you even mentioned that!"

And without a second word, she returned to her seat and clenched her hands around the corner of her desk, feeling the bubbles of anger simmer down inside of her chest..

'Oh no! What's happening! Did I really just yell at a senior and a teacher? I couldn't have dreamed of it just a week ago.. But I was so insulted, since Baki's progress has been great! I couldn't believe that slimy teacher would even mention the word "cheating"...'

By time Anna got a good look down at her notebook sheet of vaguely scribbled answers, the clanging bell suddenly rang again.

"Alright class, little break. Now scram," He patted the coat over the stack of magazines, "I've got a new stack of textbooks to review, personally.."

Needless to say, it got everybody out of the room.

Anna and Hyousuke met up with Yoshinori in the halls outside, the three of them deciding to take a short walk out below the boughs of blossoming trees all around, watching as the pink petals covered the green leaves with a cloak of enchantment, slowly drifting to the ground in sporadic curtains between rays of shining golden light which shone between tiny gaps in the canopy above. The path below was covered in dead petals and gravel which crunched underfoot.

"Anna. You'll have to talk to us more about your session with Baki."

Anna was shook from her daydream as Yoshinori made his inquiry.

"Yeah, I gotta know what this guy's like outside the classroom. I see him, but I don't know what he's really like! ..Outside of what everyone says about him anyway.."

"I know that tall guy, what's his name? Anyway, I've heard that tall guy has a real big grudge against Hanma. Since he leads gangs of his own like some baby's first Yakuza boss, he's always using his brainless mooks to fight Baki with.."

"Kitizawa.. His name's Kitizawa" Anna replied, remembering witnessing the encounter of two delinquents from the night before.

"Ah, Kitizawa, that's right.. Anyway, that doesn't matter right now.."

"Yeah!" Hyousuke trotted ahead, "so what'd you do? Try and teach him?"

"Yes, Yuudai, a tutor tends to teach.." Anna ran her hand back through her unstyled brown hair, getting her long fringe from her eyes, "Baki did incredibly well last night. He didn't get it at first, but you'd be surprised at how much of a quick learner he is."

"A quick learner?" Yoshi asked, eyebrows raised high, "I almost don't believe you."

"I'm not lying, Yoshi.. He holds himself back so much.. And I still don't understand why."

"Nobody does. He's got a lotta troubles." Came a voice from next to one of the trees the trio passed to their right.

"It's a shame really. If only one of us had an insight, like whoever it was that just told us he's got a lot of troubles." Hyousuke lamented with a deep sigh.

Footsteps crunched in the grass directly behind the three. Yoshi was the first one to catch on. He span around.

"It's you! Speak of the devil!"

Anna and Jr. turned back, blinking a few times as they saw none other than Kitizawa himself stood behind them, arms shoved in his pockets and legs spread wide apart like a spindly spider.

"How long have you been following us?" Yoshi asked, slightly outraged.

"Just been at this tree, kid. Waitin' around. Ya know.. Then I heard you three Okamoto kids walkin' up the path and wanted to weigh in."

"What could you possibly add to the conversation?" Yoshi asked again, his glasses steaming up.

"You got a problem with me? Let's settle it right now!"

"Yeah!" Both Okamoto brothers exclaimed, stepping towards the tall delinquent.

"You're all three of you delinquents!" Anna yelled, teeth gritted, "Kitizawa here has something he wants to say, and since he's Baki's biggest rival, I'd imagine he knows the guy way better than any of us three!"

The Okamoto twins lowered their hands and glanced awkwardly at each other.

"I suppose that makes sense.. However do not discredit my right to self defence, sister."

"I'm sorry, Anna."

"It's me you should be apologizin' to, ya know, Yuudai!" Kitizawa complained with a big mouth as he leaned over towards Jr.

"Whatever.." The younger Okamoto replied deflectively.

"I'll walk with you guys." Kitizawa announced. Anna nodded and the two went together with Hyousuke.

"If we really have to..." Yoshinori complained, straggling along behind.

..

.

The four began to stroll around the the rear of the High School where the statue of the warrior on the rooftop was visible as well as the summit of Mount Fuji, which poked above the line of the trees. Kitizawa walked with his arms posted behind his head as he lumbered alongside.

"..so Baki and me have been fightin' each other since we were ten years old," He continued from his last sentence, "and he's been livin' alone the entire time."

"Really?" Anna gasped, her eyebrows raising in shock and concern, "I can't even begin to imagine what that's like.."

"It's tough for the guy.." Kitizawa replied, "if you're gonna keep tutoring him, you should know that he's got lots of troubles to work through."

"And why exactly are you giving advice all a sudden?" Yoshinori asked bluntly, "I don't see what you'd gain from it. I thought you hated Baki?"

"I don't actually hate Baki," Kitizawa replied with something akin to glumness, shame or guilt on his face, "but I give 'im the impression that I do, so he has someone to fight. Some kinda distraction from always tryin' to get stronger."

"So why is he always trying to get stronger? It really confuses me, when he could be working hard, he spends his time training all the time."

"There's more ways to work hard than studying for a test, ya know.. And believe me, he's got a good reason to want to get stronger.." Kitizawa replied, "better than you know, so don't you prod him, Takeyama!"

"Teaching requires a little prod here and there."

"Not here, not this student. Trust me.."

It was years ago. Kitizawa was nine years old, it was his birthday, but his family suddenly didn't answer their locked doors to him - so he roamed the streets of Hachioji Ward for the day instead. The snow was wild and feverous on this frigid February morning. It piled up as he continued along his path, up to beyond his calves until he had to wade slowly through the drifts, shivering violently as the snow soaked and froze his pants around his legs. The wind whistled about his ears, biting beyond even the earflaps of his winter hat. He felt as if he could just stop and collapse into the freezing snow, never to move again. Blobs of white cascaded rapidly alongside whipping, whistling winds from the dark skies above, and the world was grey, white and silent. Then, Kitizawa turned past a corner, and saw something he should not have.

There was a long alleyway, long and thin. Houses with empty window lined both sides beyond tall, blank walls. At the end was a lone, tiny house, more like a shack than a house. Stood in front of this tiny house was a boy and his father who towered over him like a monster from myth and folklore. The man was made of bulking, defined muscles which melted the snow around him, he wore some kind of dark martial artist's uniform and his wild dark scarlet hair flowed wildly in the vicious winds icy grip. But this man, this man however much he was blown he did not shiver and he did not sway. He was gripping the smaller, ginger-haired boy by his shoulders as he cried out loud with all his heart. A ragefully calculated power was within this man's grip. Then, all of a sudden, this man turned as if he knew Kitizawa was there all along and his wine-red eyes burnt right through him. The cruelty of this man's face were all Kitizawa could see as he sprinted away, away, as far away as he could go..

"..And I didn't stop running until I got back home, and I was so cold and frightened that I didn't care everyone had left the house while I was gone, except my ma, of course.."

"That must've been.. Baki, with his dad." Anna whispered.

"He sounded mean." Jr. said, ruminating on the story told.

Then, the bell rang from within the school.

"Oh dear! I'll be late!" Yoshi exclaimed, sprinting away before anybody could catch him. The three from Ahiru's class turned around and began to walk towards the front of the school again.

"I don't think we'll need to rush.. D'ya reckon Mr. Duck's done inspecting those new textbooks he's got?"

"The only things on those textbooks, Kitizawa, is a whole lot of human biology." Anna retorted, to a loud and boisterous cackle emitted from the tall punker.

"Oh man, you're funny! Let's go!"

"...I didn't get the joke.." Hyousuke mumbled as he trudged along his sister and their strange companion in Kitizawa, all the way to the classroom where Ahiru opened up the doors fifteen minutes late.

...

..

.

Anna spent most of her Friday afternoon trying to imagine the image of this man, who had to have been Baki's father, in her mind. She imagined him wearing all black like a martial arts grim reaper, dyed red hair which flowed like a flame from his head. The way Kitizawa had described it.. It didn't sound like a man.

Yoshi met again with her and Hyousuke atop the roof at lunchtime again, usual spot beside the fence, just as yesterday. Sticky Teriyaki chicken and ramen noodles were on the menu this day, and Hyousuke had brought us plenty to share. But not equally, of course. The clouds in the sky were a gathering, gloomy grey and Anna feared rain might come soon, though it never did.

"English was pretty boring today.. Hyousuke said, "Ahiru tried to introduce us to a British book called 'Journey's End' about the 1914 war. But Kitizawa was snoring away in the back of the class."

"Of course he did." Yoshi said, fidgeting with the pages of his novel, whilst an obvious trouble seemed to haunt his face.

"You okay, bro?" Hyousuke asked after slurping a mouthful of noodle.

"Hrm.. I'm just thinking about that story Kitizawa told us before. I don't believe it."

"You don't?" Jr. exclaimed.

Anna tried to catch her younger brother's gaze from her spot knelt on the concrete. He gazed away into the distance.

"He was trying to mess with us. I mean, come on you two, melted the snow with his muscles!? It was a ghost story, not a memory."

"Yoshi, you do have to remember," Anna pointed out, "Kitizawa said he was nine years old in this story, so it makes sense he'd remember it being much more terrifying if he was just a kid with a kid's imagination."

"I suppose you're right Anna, but I sure don't want it to be right," Yoshi replied, "it'd be better if you stay away from Hanma's family as much as you possibly can, Anna. You'll be in danger."

"His dad sounded scary, I agree with Yoshi."

"For once."

Anna clasped her hand to her forehead and grumbled.

"I'll just have to see this tutorship through. Maybe the guy, who's his real dad in Kitizawa's story, gave Baki up for adoption or something, and that secretary is his foster dad."

"Secretary?"

"For the Akezawa group, if I'm not mistaken.. I remember reading about 'em once." Yoshi explained, "it used to be owned by this guy called Eiichi, who mysteriously died one day. His entire estate was left to his wife, Emi Akezawa, who's the richest woman in Japan."

"We already know about that." Anna replied flatly, "but yeah, this secretary's name is Kuriyagawa, he's the chief secretary. He must be Baki's foster dad."

Yoshinori nodded slowly, his itch satisfied.

"Very well, that makes things a whole lot easier. You won't have to deal with his terrible real family if he's in a foster home."

"Kinda like me." Anna mused.

"Your parents are psychos, Anna," Hyousuke joked, "they make even the description of Baki's dad by Kitizawa sound like a gentle giant who likes to hit the gym sometimes." He shuddered.

Soon enough, the food was eaten and the questions were speculated on. Anna had now two things on her mind. A few choice words she'd save for Baki after getting back to his house to tutor him later that night, and her disdainful dread for a solid hour and a half of gym class that was coming up right around the safety buffer lunchtime break provided. Soon enough, the bell rang, the students flooded back down into the building and Anna followed as she did every Friday - with about as much skip in her step as if her shoes were glued to the ground.

..

.

Luckily for everyone involved, Ahiru wasn't the teacher for gym class. Boys and girls were separated. Boys played games like football, ran relays and worked out in the gym. The girl's class were watched over by a silent, short lady with inch-thick round glasses who oversaw their warmups, light calisthenics and games of hockey, all of which caused Anna a big deal of exhaustion. Sweat dripped down her face and her spare sports kit, which was probably about five sizes too big for her, flapped around her in the most annoying directions, more like a wizard's cloak than P.E uniform. She was glad to be rid of it, and she barely interacted with the other students.

Being back in her normal sized uniform was like a dream by time the end of the class came around. In the foyer, Yoshinori and Hyousuke were there waiting besides the front office hidden in the lefthand wall, Jr. was sat on the floor panting and rubbing his eyes with reddened hands in exhaustion whilst Yoshi took a draught from a bottle of water and handed it down to him.

"Drink." Anna heard him say. Jr. didn't take long to carry out the suggestion. "

"Hey guys." Anna greeted the two.

"Hey... Anna... How was gym class?"

Anna shrugged.

"I tried to get out of it by leaving my gym equipment at home. The instructor forced me to wear some boy's old lost property. I wore it the tightest it possibly could go and it was still too big.. shorts were like a dress, and the shirt was like a big sack."

"Maybe... it was mine!" Hyousuke said with a snort.

Anna held her bookbag in front of her, an anxious expression on her face.

"I can't really stay here for too long, you guys. My driver is probably waiting outside by now to drive me to Baki's.."

"What about Papa?" Yoshinori asked.

"Don't worry about it, my driver's name is Nayagi and he's lovely! You two can meet him before I go?"

The brothers glanced at each other, before looking back. Hyousuke, with a big grin, hauled himself eagerly to his feet, huffing a little.

"C'mon, let's go see your fancy new driver."

The three marched outside, bookbags in hand and Hyousuke's backpack over his shoulder. The sun above the bustling high school courtyard was desperately trying to break through the clouds, with limited success. A group of nosy students had begun to form a clump around a sleek, tasteful, black limousine parked just outside the school gates, causing quite a clamor. Even a few arm-banded members of the student council were there, trying to break up the crowd for the express purpose of getting a better look for themselves.

"Don't tell me.."

Anna nodded.

"A limousine, like that?" Yoshi gasped.

"Is Baki rich?" Jr. asked.

"He must have the Akezawa estate at his disposal..."

"You'd be surprised," Anna chuckled, "he lives in a total dive."

"You're joking."

"Let's not keep him waiting. Shall we?" Anna led the way, cutting roughly through the small of interested onlookers until reaching the doors of the limousine.

Nayagi, the chauffer dressed for business, stepped sleekly out from the limousine smiling as he gave light bows to each of the Okamoto brothers.

"You must be Miss Takeyama's...? "

"Brothers." Anna answered.

"The resemblance is shocking." Hyousuke giggled.

"Hardly so." Nayagi replied, "either way, it's good to meet the brothers of a future Akezawa group employee."

"Well," Yoshi said, "we must be going. Our Papa is picking us up soon enough. It was nice meeting you, Nayagi-san." He bowed deeply.

"Let's go, Miss Takeyama. Kuriyagawa called me to let me know Baki's at home training."

"Typical." Anna scoffed as she waved her brothers off.

...

..

.

The car ride was fairly silent. Somehow, Nayagi managed to find the most correct routes to avoid the Friday traffic at quarter past four in the afternoon and soon enough the car found itself rolling over the highway bridge, the silver of the canal water flowing far, far below.

'The same highway Baki had carried me across last night... But the other bank must be at least twenty feet below the barrier!'

The swaying flowers below were barely recognizable as Nayagi continued to roll along the lane, dipping back into the rows of modern houses of Hachioji-ku. Anna felt the need to start some kind of conversation with Nayagi-san, but did not want to disrupt his driving. Instead, she cracked open the little cooler between the seats, withdrew a bottle of water and a rather solid Baumkuchen cake, before slapping the door shut and enjoying her bounties.

Soon enough, the sun had given up trying to break the overcast clouds in the sky and Nayagi had arrived once again to the opening of the alleyway where Baki's house lay at the end of it. The graffiti was a stark, ugly mass of lingering scars. Impossible to get used to. Some stranger was stood beside the wall outside Baki's house, too far for Anna to make out any other difference other than their short stature and the wisp of cigarette smoke which rose into the air from the stranger.

"Thank you, Nayagi-san. Have a nice evening.. You will come and pick me up again at half six, won't you, please?"

"Thank you, Miss Takeyama. And - consider it done. That's what I'm here for, after all! Good luck with Hanma."

Anna stepped out of the limo and Nayagi sped away, leaving silence and dust in his wake.

"OK. Let's just ignore this guy..." Anna muttered to herself, her hands shivering and her stomach lurching with sickly butterflies as she marched forward, eyes ever locked onto the stranger up ahead. It was a man, that's for sure. And he was short, barely a head taller than Anna it seemed. He was wearing a long trench coat and a tucked in shirt with a tie smoking silently leaning up against the wall, several cigarette butts lay scattered about the floor. His hair was somewhere between onyx and light grey and his age-worn face was filled with an air of contemplation. His brown eyes watched Anna with interest, but she did what she thought was most sensible - and that was simply to ignore the man completely and walk right past him towards the shoji at Baki's house. She announced herself clearly, so as to not repeat the shock of last night.

"Baki! It's me, Takeyama! Let me in!"

There was a sharp, sudden clatter from inside, followed by quiet swearing. The short man chuckled softly behind Anna, coughing and silencing himself when she snapped around to glare at him.

Baki answered the door, immediately looking straight past Anna to the short man, intensity in his eyes.

"Pick up your cigarette butts, will you?" He barked at the middling man.

"Baki," the trenchcoated man replied, immediately stooping and plucking some of the butts from the floor, "who's your lady friend?"

"She's my tutor.. none of your business." Baki replied.

"Don't mind him," The man tells Anna, "he's just a little wound up.. I'm Special Detective Kido, by the way.. It's nice to see the kid making some friends these days."

Anna bowed deeply to the old detective.

"It's nice to meet you, Kido-san."

"Please," Kido chuckled, "just call me Kido, kid. Now go an have fun." He smiled warmly.

Anna nodded, turned away and went with Baki into his house.

"He's always hanging around here. It's nice to talk to an old geezer like him, so I let him do whatever he likes."

"Uh-huh." Anna nodded, the shoji closed behind her.

.

She stood in the middle of Baki's main room for a while, bookbag placed on the floor and hands on her hips as her shoe tapped away impatience on the wooden floorboards. Somewhere near the wall, a heavy dumbbell had splintered the wood, and it was deeply embedded into the floor.

Baki was sat down at the table, resting his cheek on his knuckles as he stared out to space, those deep and firey eyes flickering back up at Anna questioningly every now and then, whilst she leered intense daggers down at him. But even with all the obvious hints, he still hadn't figured out anything was the matter!

"Well?" Anna asked impatiently.

"...Well what?" Baki replied, eyebrow raised.

"Do I have to spell it out..." Anna sighed, "where were you all day today? I was waiting for you!" Her icy blue gaze looked him up and down. He was wearing his yellow training shorts from the other day, only now he also donned a plain, orange tank top, stained in a few places but otherwise in good condition. A few beads of sweat from exhaustion twinkled on his face from the lamp's light above. "So you decided to come back here and pump some iron."

"Yep. That's right.."

There was a period of silence. Baki twiddled his thumbs, his position less relaxed and careless.

"I just had important stuff to do today."

"Like what?"

"Welll," Baki deliberated, "I couldn't go in because I was training.. And.."

"Go on."

"I was trying to read this little book you gave me. It's like gibberish to me. Like a whole other language.."

"Oh, Baki.." Anna's stature softened immediately and she crouched across the table from him, "it is like another language, so you're kinda right there. Isn't there a glossary in the book?"

"What's a glossary?" Baki asked, blinking cluelessly a couple times.

Anna was shocked.

"Did you never learn any of this at Middle School?"

"I didn't go to Middle School, Anna. Started at High School, so I guess you can say I started ahead." He smiled to himself.

"That's nothing to smile about! That's terrible!.." She looked over at him with worry etched in her eyes, but he met hers with a calm, gentle knowing, as if he didn't think he missed out on anything at all, "Baki, were you really trying to read this book instead of coming to school today?"

Baki's cheeks tinged red and he groaned in frustration while avoiding her eye contact, deigning to stare at the workout equipment throughout the room instead.

"Yeah, I guess. I need to do it on my own though, to show that I can learn it."

"Baki, that's not true at all. 'Do it alone', what are you talking about?"

"Huh?" He shook his head and blinked in confusion.

"I'm your tutor," she reached her hand across the table, he went to draw his away, but his calloused knuckles stilled as he let Anna give a comforting hand atop his, "I'm here to help you pass this test, and you're gonna need my help. Everyone needs some help sometimes, even if they learn to beat up a hundred guys all on their own!"

Baki nodded curtly. He gave a swaggering grin and his eyes met hers once more, with a youthful energy.

"Alright! I believe you."

"Great," Anna smiled warmly in return, slipping her purple glasses from her pocket and sliding them over her nose, enhancing her sight for reading text, "now where'd you put the algebra book? We'll complete a full page of questions by time Nayagi-san comes to pick me up at six-thirty!"

"A whole page..?" Baki asked, deflatedly as he rose from his place, disappearing briefly into his bedroom before returning with the little textbook of Algebra she had gifted him the night before - complete with a brand new tea stain on the front cover.

"What happened to warriors never backing down?" Anna said with a teasing grin.

"You're right... Now, let's learn something!"

...

..

.

The bars stank of smoke and spilled, cheap booze. Drunk salarymen with less hopes than firing synapses lie half awake at bustling bars between groups of drunkards singing in discordant choirs and sleazy jacketed fellows whispering to each other below the booming music. So many people, so little space. It was a rough pub right on the border between the Hachioji and Hino Wards of Tokyo, named NAGARU. A local indie band played music that was a little too amateur, a little too loud on a podium across the main floor of the establishment.

It was Kitizawa's stalking grounds. He considered the area his turf, but it was often disputed. He daren't even step foot in Hino, however. In fact, he's so terrified of intruding on the spoils of Hino Ward, he saw that the lines between the two cities of Tokyo split NAGARU perfectly in half, effectively barring Kitizawa from not only sixteen seats, two booths and the jukebox; but the bathrooms as well. It was rumoured, and rumoured well, that Hino Ward was under the tight grip of a feared Yakuza clan.. Yakuza.. A name whispered in fear by everyone in Tokyo. The name of the Hanayama family.

Luckily, tonight of all nights, the podium was completely Kitizawa gang's turf. And he was getting all too tired of these idiots playing ugly noise for people who aren't even listening.

'I'll give 'em a REAL song to dance to..' Kitizawa cackled to himself as he pushed the lead singer of this subpar three-piece sharply across the room, where he crashed into the Hanayama territory jukebox. Now, Kitizawa had control of the mic, and he'd been in too many fights with Baki to worry about the guitarist or drummer triangles.

"AHEM." He coughed, the sting of the microphone filling the total, soothing silence that had come from the absence of the band's racket, then he continued, "gentlemen! You've all come here for a good time! And how about I personally invite you all to a little party I'm setting up tomorrow?"

This got their attention.

"How many invites, dude?" Called out one young lad, hardly sixteen, from the bar.

"One hundred! And who's the name of the birthday boy, you might ask?" He paused, no questions, "it's none other than Baki Hanma.."

"That Hanma kid? This a hundred man fight?" The bartender yelled.

"Of course, of course it is. And there's money on the table."

"How much?" Asked the drummer from behind Kitizawa.

He paused, relishing in keeping these people just a word's length away from the edge of their seats. His next declaration would decide whether this crowd cheers and roars, or if they'll beat him half to death and throw him out..

"One, MILLION Yen!"

The cheers filled the bar entirely, rumbling the ground, people stamped their feet at an excuse to come together and fight the feared Baki Hanma. A hundred on one, the kid would NEVER stand a chance!

As the drunkards rushed from the bar in their fever, Kitizawa noticed a stranger stood beside the jukebox, wearing a smart looking suit whilst a pin Kitizawa couldn't make out gleamed on his lapel. Then - the suited man disappeared towards the bathrooms.

The hundred man fight is upon us. Follow this story to follow the adventure of : Baki, The Grappler!

TO BE CONTINUED.