Akira Fan Fiction ❯ Tough Love ❯ A New Member ( Chapter 1 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
Tough Love
Chapter #1
© Margarite Estella
Crystal Dragon, who's real name was Yuri Yamamoto, walked up the steps of 8th District Vocational School. For her, it was a brand-new start, and although it wasn't the best of beginnings for most, it was exactly what she wanted.
She had wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and become a biker, just as he had been when he was her age. In fact, in his youth, he had been the leader of the most famous biker gang in Tokyo. He was also Neo-Tokyo's current most famous gangster in the history of the city, right up there with some of the worst criminals. There was only one reason why he wasn't in jail at the moment, and that was because he had promised to stop if they would let him go free. Not that he intended to keep that promise, but he would have said anything and played any mind-game to get out of there. He and his best friend, Yamagata Otomo, father of the younger Yamagata, were as close as brothers, and decided to live in the same apartment complex. Crystal smiled at this thought. She admired her father, and, while they didn't always have the healthiest of relationships, you could not find any other parent and child that were closer. She inquired on whether or not he would teach her about the style of biking that he was used to. At first, he'd absolutely rejected the idea, telling her that it was foolish and dangerous, but when he saw that there was no talking her out of it, he brought his old gang together, schooled her in the art of biking, and bought a suit for her, along with another leather jacket, and a bike. For the final touch, he sent her to a school where she could find more people like her with her interest so that she could make more friends. Hopefully, she could find an acceptable gang there (at least, by her father's standards). He had faith that he'd schooled her well enough that she would demand the respect she deserved in such a way that she wouldn't piss anybody off. Little did she know how deep she would get into this, or what she would find there.
It was a sunny, yet windy day, and Crystal clutched at the sides of her jacket. She walked inside, and heard the doors close. At that moment, she could have sworn that she felt a breeze. Boys. She had completely forgotten that this school was all boys. Being a girl was not going to be easy in this school. She smiled at the challenge and walked on by. Besides, it wouldn't be that difficult, not with a certain boy that was going to be around.
She and Yamagata had grown up together, and she heard that he was going to be in 8th District Vocational. She would trust him with her life. All she had to do was call on him, and he'd be right there.
Crystal had one thing in mind when she walked into her first class: find Yamagata. As she looked around, she saw one group of students huddled together, students with the “Capsule” logo somewhere on their clothing. The Capsule Gang. That was the group of bikers that Yamagata was with. She looked around for the rising sun graffiti. When she found it, she walked straight up to Yamagata.
“Hey,” she sat down on the other side of him, “Remember me?”
Yamagata looked around to find Crystal staring straight at him. He gave a slight grin, and asked, “Where the Hell did you come from?”
“Got kicked out of my other school,” she explained, “so I decided to come here.”
“Well, there's not much you can do,” replied Yamagata, “What happen to your writing?”
“I still write, but I wanted to be a part of a biker gang, too,” she said, getting right down to the point, “Dad taught me how to ride, so I was wondering if you could put a good word in there for me when you talk to the Capsules.”
“I dunno,” said Yamagata, “I don't think they take girls.”
“But I'm not an ordinary girl,” she protested, then stopped. Acting like a child would get her nowhere fast. “Sorry,” she said, “I just wish that I could find people that are a little bit more like me. I'm not into the girly-girl thing, and I'm sick of trying to live up to society's standards. I wanna live dangerously, for once. You know how that feels, don't you?”
“Yeah, I know,” said Yamagata, “I'll talk to Kaneda about it. I can't make any guarantees, though. Understood?”
“Understood,” she answered back.
“Okay, I'll go talk to Kaneda,” said Yamagata, rising from his chair, “Stay right there, I'll be back in a minute.” Crystal nodded, and Yamagata left his seat.
Walking up to Kaneda, he tapped him on the shoulder, “Kaneda.”
“Yeah?” asked Kaneda in the same quiet voice.
“There's someone I gotta introduce to you.”
“Who?”
“There's this girl I know, her name is Crystal, and she's wondering if she can join the gang.”
“No,” said Kaneda flatly, “You know how girls are, Yama. She'd only slow us down, and she's probably high-maintenance, anyway. I'm not going to choose favorites. She'd only get in the way.”
“But she's not like that,” Yamagata continued to push the issue.
“How would you know?”
“I've known this girl all my life,” said Yamagata, “She can handle it, trust me.”
“Alright, we'll try her out,” said Kaneda, “Where is she right now?”
“Sitting next to me.”
Kaneda looked over at the girl in the biker jacket and whistled, “She's a cuty!”
Yamagata gave Kaneda a severe look, “Don't touch her.”
“Why not?” Kaneda looked confused.
“'Cause she's not a fuck-toy,” said Yamagata. The severe look melted into an apathetic one, “Well, if you don't want her, it's your loss. She's a damned good biker.”
“Okay, bring her over,” sighed Kaneda, clearly having lost the argument. He beckoned her to come sit by him, and she got up, taking a seat next to him and Yamagata. He started the conversation, “So, Yama says you're a good biker.” She nodded slowly, looking him straight in the eye, giving him a level look. “He also says you want to join the Capsules. Is that also true?”
“Yes,” she said, somewhat seriously.
“Tonight, you'll be riding with me on my bike,” said Kaneda, “We're going to see how much speed you can handle. If you can't handle it, you're going home. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Can you fight?”
“Didn't Yamagata tell you who my father is?”
“No,” said Kaneda almost irritably, “What does he have to do with it?”
“My father is Akira Yamamoto,” she explained, “He taught me everything he knows about biking and fighting. I think I can fair pretty well.”
“Whatever you say,” shrugged Kaneda, “We'll see tonight how good you are.”
***
That evening, as the gang was preparing, Kaneda waited on Crystal.
`What's she doing?' he thought, `Putting on make-up?'
At that moment, Crystal appeared. She didn't look made up at all.
“Finally!” he said, exasperated.
“Sorry you had to wait,” she said, “My Dad's going out of town for the week, and he needed to talk to me before he went.”
“Well, are you ready now?”
“Actually, yes,” said Crystal, “I've got my helmet, and I'm ready. Let's go.”
“Get on,” Kaneda ordered, pointing behind him. He started his engine, and looked back at Crystal, grinning, “Hang on.” Immediately, the bike went off, and jutted up to about 30 - maybe 35 - miles per hour. To Kaneda's surprise, Crystal was laughing, as if she were on an amusement ride and having the time of her life. Kaneda's grin became even bigger. He was going to like this girl. He sped up even faster, and Crystal still didn't seem to mind. In fact, it seemed as if she liked it even more. Kaneda looked his side-view mirror for a moment, and saw that, even though she was holding on tightly, for the moment, she had her head thrown back, enjoying the breeze. Then, she pulled forward again, and lay her head on his back, closing her eyes contently.
“Don't fall asleep back there,” said Kaneda.
“Faster,” she said plainly.
“What?”
“Faster,” she said, “I wanna go faster!”
Kaneda gunned the engine up a couple more notches. Same result. Nothing seemed to faze her. She seemed to be loving the thrill of literally living in the fast lane. Kaneda grinned. She was his kind of girl.