The Yasuo brothers stood up slowly, their bodies wobbling like they were about to fall again. Their stance looked awkward, but their eyes still burned with a little fire.
"Hahahahaha!" Kazuki laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the dojo. "You guys grew stronger, huh? But you're still too weak to face me."
"Yukio!" Kazuki suddenly yelled, pointing his finger. "How many times have I told you not to rush at your opponent? You always leave a gap to get hit. But… you got faster. I can see you've improved."
"Hehehe…" Yukio scratched the back of his head, standing straight with both hands on his waist. His awkward chuckle filled the room.
"Yusuke!" Kazuki barked, his tone sharp like a whip.
Yusuke froze instantly, straightening his body like a soldier.
Kazuki's eyes narrowed. "You've improved too… but you're too slow."
"S-sorry…" Yusuke stammered. "Uhmm… do y-you w-want to… to s-sweep?" His words stumbled out like broken pieces.
Kazuki tilted his head, grinning. "No. I thought you boys wanted to kill me? Let's get on with it."
"Big brother, we don't want to kill you! We were just playing!" Yukio yelled in a half-crying voice.
"Nah, nah…" Kazuki smirked wider, his voice dropping. "Let's keep playing."
WHOOSH!
In a blink, Kazuki vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of Yusuke. Before Yusuke's eyes could even widen, Kazuki disappeared again this time behind him. Just as Kazuki raised his hand to strike, Yukio shot in with a flying kick.
"HYAAAH!"
Kazuki blocked with one hand BAM! The impact sent him flying back, his body tumbling, but he landed on his feet, panting.
WHOOSH!
Kazuki moved again, faking his step. He appeared in front of Yukio, then suddenly shifted to his side. CRACK! His kick smashed into Yukio's ribs, blasting him out of the dojo.
Behind him, Yusuke swung a heavy punch. Kazuki didn't dodge he moved in faster instead. His foot slammed on the floor like it was glued there. BAM! His elbow drove into Yusuke's stomach.
"GUHH!" Yusuke spat out air.
Before he could fall, Kazuki grabbed Yusuke's head mid-flight and SMASHED! him against the ground, rolling him out of the room like a ball.
Now the fight spilled outside. The three stood under the open night sky, their breaths steaming.
"Yukio!" Yusuke shouted. "On my mark, we move! Use all the strength you've got! Together we can win!"
"Yes, brother!" Yukio answered, determination flashing in his eyes. "We never lose together!"
…
[Flashback]
"Please, please! Let us go! We won't do it again!"
THUMP! THUMP!
"Hey, you two stop that!" Makoto's voice rang out.
Yusuke snarled, blood dripping from his nose. "And who the hell are you to order us around?"
Makoto's eyes narrowed. "So you're the brothers who've been beating up people? Hmph. You look too weak to be as tough as they say."
Yukio chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "No one can beat our teamwork. Brother, let's teach this bastard a lesson."
"Hell yeah," Yusuke grinned, fist-bumping Yukio.
WHOOSH!
They charged.
But Makoto didn't flinch. To him, their movements were slow and sloppy. Yukio lunged with a punch—right, left, then a kick. BLOCK! BLOCK! BLOCK! Makoto stopped everything with one hand like swatting flies.
He forgot about Yusuke.
Yusuke came in from below with an uppercut—SWISH!—but Makoto caught it easily with his left hand. His eyes hardened.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
His fist slammed Yusuke's face over and over, then KNEE! straight to the gut.
"GAAH!" Yusuke cried out.
Makoto grabbed his head, smashing it into the wall again and again.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Blood smeared the surface. Yusuke's eyes rolled white.
THUD!
He collapsed.
"B-brother…" Yukio muttered in shock. "W-what did you do to him?"
"Hmph," Makoto said flatly. "Nothing. Just put him to sleep."
"That's a weird way of putting someone to sleep!" Yukio roared, rushing in. His punch came faster this time, but Makoto dodged, kneed his chin, then swung him by the face
SLAM!
Straight into the ground.
Darkness took him.
Later, the brothers awoke inside a dojo. A boy older than them stood before them it was Kazuki. Beside him stood their master, Naoyuki, who welcomed them. From that day, they became part of the dojo, trained as family.
…
[The Present]
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Yukio's right kick flew out, followed by a sharp uppercut. Kazuki blocked the kick but the punch grazed his chin.
Behind him, Yusuke's knee slammed into Kazuki's back
BAM!
followed by a side kick.
The brothers moved like one body. Their teamwork clicked, their strikes sharper, faster.
POW! BAM! WHAM!
Blow after blow rained down. Kazuki staggered back slightly, but his grin never faded.
"Hehehe…" His smirk widened.
"BOOM! BOOM! BAM! POW!"
The brothers pressed harder, feeling the tide turn in their favor.
Then
"Hahahahaha!" Kazuki roared with laughter.
His face turned serious. He slammed his left foot into the ground, pinning it like stone.
Yukio charged with a punch
SWOOSH!
but Kazuki deflected it with his palm and BOOM! drove his fist into Yukio's stomach.
"GUAAH!" Yukio's body folded.
As always, Yusuke tried from behind. Kazuki spun fast, fist slamming his gut—WHAM!—and grabbed his arm.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Kazuki smashed Yusuke's body into the ground over and over like a ragdoll until his limbs went limp.
THUD!
Both brothers lay on the dirt, groaning, unable to rise.
Kazuki stood tall above them, chest heaving. For a moment he looked unstoppable then suddenly, his legs shook.
THUMP!
He collapsed to the ground.
The dojo grounds were silent, but they weren't alone. Other children had gathered around, watching everything.
To be continued…