Ch.88Double Dragon of Emoshita (1)

We first brought Sobu home and laid him down on the sofa.

Though he had suddenly fainted, his condition wasn’t serious. He had been beaten up pretty badly and collapsed from accumulated fatigue.

After a while, Sobu opened his eyes.

“Sister… I’m sorry… I lost the organization’s flag!!”

As soon as he woke up, Sobu performed a dogeza toward Taiga.

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

Taiga stared at Sobu as she spoke.

“Dead Angels… those bastards!! Our organization!!”

Sobu burst into tears.

“Dead Angels…..”

Taiga muttered.

Normally I wouldn’t know, but being a veteran player, I knew that organization well. They were a hostile group to the Breakers, the biker gang Taiga had established.

However, their scale was larger. They were the biggest biker gang in the Kanto region. Though they had somehow maintained an equal competition with the elite but small Breakers, that balance would collapse once Taiga joined the player’s party. From the beginning, the Breakers’ strength largely depended on Taiga alone.

The Breakers without Taiga were just like the Z Warriors without Goku. Weaklings, basically.

Anyway, when your relationship with Taiga reaches maximum, the Breakers get attacked by the Dead Angels. Moreover, some members are captured and tortured. Taiga, after receiving a threatening call from the Dead Angels, falls into anguish. She has the typical heroine mindset of not wanting to involve the player who lives in the “sunny side” of life.

Taiga, not wanting to ask the player for help, storms into the Dead Angels’ headquarters alone. Then getting captured as a hostage—classic heroine behavior.

In the end, the player rescues Taiga from the Dead Angels, and they confirm their love. That was the original plot.

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘Natsukawa Taiga will face misfortune.’

Blue Beard had said something like that. I understood that much. It was true that danger was approaching Taiga.

‘Don’t make a choice you’ll regret.’

But those words bothered me.

Don’t make a choice I’ll regret… what did that mean? That was the question. Was the story going to unfold differently from the original?

“Sobu. Tell me where those guys are right now. We’re going in.”

Taiga seemed angry that Sobu had been beaten to a pulp.

“Sister… I cannot allow that.”

Sobu stood up and looked straight at Taiga.

“Sobu… what nonsense are you spouting?!”

Taiga glared at Sobu.

“Sister… you’ve stepped into the world of light to find your happiness!! This is our problem!!! We must take responsibility and protect your happiness!!”

Sobu shouted.

“We’ll risk our lives to attack the Dead Angels and recover the flag!! Please enjoy your happy daily life with Brother Shota!”

Sobu stated firmly.

“I can’t allow that!! You’ll be in danger!!”

Taiga shouted.

“We’re risking our lives for you, Sister. That’s not a waste. They’re… desperately looking for you. If they find you, we can’t avoid all-out war. Please stay here.”

Sobu said resolutely.

“Sobu…..”

Taiga closed her mouth, moved by Sobu’s sincerity.

“Where are those guys?”

I asked. The Dead Angels were obstacles that needed to be removed anyway for a happy ending with Taiga. I wanted to eliminate them myself.

“SHOTA!! Don’t get involved!!”

Taiga shouted.

“This is… my problem!! I don’t want to involve you!! I… I used to be a biker… I can’t erase that past. I have to take responsibility.”

Taiga said, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Sister!! You mustn’t go!!”

Sobu blocked Taiga’s way.

What… should I do?

Originally, Taiga would just rush out and become the captured heroine. Then I would rescue her. Yes, it’s like a fairy tale. Classic and nice.

I could prevent Taiga from being kidnapped, but knowing her personality, she wouldn’t let me come along. In the end, I would have to intervene as cleanup.

Should I just let things flow according to the original story? That’s when I thought:

‘Is that… enough?’

A voice echoed in my head. I didn’t know whose voice it was, but it was persuasive. I felt certain that I should listen to that voice.

I felt like something would go wrong if I let things flow according to the original story.

Ring-ring!!

Just then, Sobu’s phone rang.

“What…”

Sobu immediately picked up the phone.

There was a video call from an unknown number.

“Hahaha!!! Sobutaku. We meet via video call.”

The face of an obvious bastard appeared. There was a muscular man covered in tattoos. It was Taka, the leader of the Dead Angels.

“You son of a bitch…!!”

Sobutaku’s eyes darted to the corner of the screen.

“Urgh… Leader!!”

All the bikers, beaten to a pulp, were writhing in pain.

“Damn it!!!! Everyone!!!”

Sobutaku shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“Hehehe. These friends, no matter how much we torture them, they won’t tell us where Natsukawa Taiga is. Wow, I have to admire their loyalty.”

Taka said with a smile.

“Just try laying a hand on them!! I’ll call the police!!!”

Sobutaku shouted.

“Police? A biker gang relying on law enforcement? Wow, you’ve really become pathetic.”

Taka looked at Sobutaku.

“Do you think we’re afraid of cops?”

Taka said.

“What……”

“I’ll say this once. Call Natsukawa Taiga. Otherwise, your friends will never be able to ride motorcycles again.”

Taka said with a smile.

“You bastard!!!!”

As Sobu shouted, the call ended.

“I have to go. Everyone… they’re in danger.”

Taiga immediately tried to grab her baseball bat.

“Sister!! You can’t!! You’ve finally stepped into the light… I can’t let you get involved with the police again!!!! Besides… if that guy gets his hands on you…”

Sobu blocked Taiga.

“Move before I hit you.”

Taiga said.

“I won’t!!”

Sobu shouted resolutely.

“MOVE!!!!”

“NO!!!!”

As they were arguing, I clapped my hands.

Clap-!!!!

With my clap, everyone’s attention turned to me.

“Let’s simplify this. You all care too much about each other, right?”

I said with a smile.

“That’s……”

“What are you suddenly saying……”

“Taiga, you have good comrades. They’re willing to risk their lives to protect you.”

At my words, Sobu’s face turned red.

“W-well… Sister has already retired, so…”

Sobu mumbled. This guy. Is he embarrassed?

“And Taiga, you want to protect these guys, so you’re willing to take risks. You’re all on the same page.”

After saying that, I grabbed my beloved sword, Tomato.

Click-!

I felt the cool touch of Tomato.

“Shota… don’t get involved in this. I don’t want to cause you trouble!”

Taiga shouted loudly.

“But… I have something I want to protect too. Taiga, I want to protect your smile. And the smiles of all your biker family members.”

“…!”

At those words, both Taiga and Sobu opened their eyes wide.

“So let’s all storm in together. To protect what we want to protect.”

I stated firmly.

Yes. From the beginning, we should have all joined forces. This was the right answer. Taiga… isn’t just a captured heroine. I felt certain I would regret it if I let her become a captured heroine as in the original story. Through good times and bad, together. That was my resolve.

At that moment, Umi and Eri began to move.

“Really… Shota is always getting into dangerous situations.”

Umi chuckled and picked up the stone staff she used for monster hunting. She couldn’t bring out her psycho-robot during the day, but she could use it as a weapon. It was incredibly sturdy after all.

“I’ll go too.”

Eri also spoke with determination as she picked up a spare bamboo sword. Being a kendo practitioner myself, I had more than three spare bamboo swords. They break quite easily. Eri seemed to have chosen one of them as her weapon.

“You guys… it’s dangerous.”

I looked at Umi and Eri.

“Honestly… while I’m against Shota maintaining his harem… I think of Taiga as family since we live together. A rival with good intentions. I’ll help.”

Umi said.

“This is Taiga’s problem. I’ve grown fond of her living together. I don’t want to just look the other way.”

Eri also said with a smile.

Really… my girlfriends were such amazing women. Too good for me.

“Everyone……”

Taiga’s eyes became slightly moist. She’s quite susceptible to emotional moments.

“Let’s all go raise some hell together!!!”

I shouted loudly.

“Yeah!!!!!”

Taiga finally regained her usual expression. With that expression, I was certain. Somehow… it seemed like we had avoided the depressing event that would have differed from the original story.

As everyone was preparing to raise hell, Sobutaku approached me.

“Brother Shota.”

“Why ‘brother’? We’re the same age.”

That’s really burdensome.

“No. Regardless of age… I will call you brother.”

Sobutaku said seriously.

“Brother… you are a samurai with a warrior’s spirit, rare in today’s world!!! You’ve become the man I admire!!”

Somehow… my stock seemed to have risen in Sobutaku’s eyes.

“That’s creepy…”

“I’ll follow you for life!!!!”

Sobutaku continued to look at me with shining eyes. No… this is really uncomfortable.

A little later, Taiga, Umi, and Eri came down the stairs. They were armed with inline skating helmets from who knows where.

Everyone seemed to have finished their preparations. And made up their minds too.

We immediately headed outside.

In front of our house, there was a man leaning against the wall. He was standing with his back against the wall, legs crossed—a pose straight out of a manga.

“Hey. Didn’t you forget someone?”

Sasitsu said with a smile.

“SASITSUUUU!!!!!!!”

Honestly, it was a bit of a poser stance, but it had style. This was one of Sasitsu’s most stylish showoffs ever!!!! You’ve grown, Sasitsu!!!!

“Ah… I called him. Just in case. He said he’d come.”

Umi said with a grin.

Umi. Nice assist.