Ryutaro looked at himself in the mirror. The black shirt suited him well. He tried to tie up his hair but it was quite short so there were stray strands at the sides. He smiled at himself. He never thought, he would really do this but then it would be fun.
His mind was already set up. He knew what to do. The door to his room opened. He looked at it. “Oy! Sachiko, next time, knock. What if I was here, what will we do?”
Sachiko’s eyebrows cocked up. “I’m not interested with your body.”
“Eh. That’s not right. You should say, ‘gomene, next time I’ll knock’. That’s the proper way.”
Sachiko stared blankly at him.
Ryutaro rolled his eyes. He pulled his shirt off and pretended to take off his pants.
Sachiko’s eyes grew in shock. She was about to scream when Ryutaro laughed and put on his shirt. “See, I told you.”
“Damn you! That’s way too stupid, Ryu-kun.” Sachiko commented angrily. “I brought you some noodles. My mom cooked a lot.” She said and stomped away.
Ryutaro jumped her and hugged her from the back. He gave her a kiss on the cheek which she was already used to. “I’m going out. So take care of everything, kei?” he said walking past her.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Secret.” He said smiling at her.
“Secret? What kind of place is that?!”
“Secret!” he exclaimed and shut the door at his back.
Sachiko pouted and sat on his couch.

Ryutaro stared at the abandoned building. He sighed. “I will be fine. I will be fine.” He kept on telling himself.
He took hold of his jacket and went in.
Inside, few men were there, about ten or so. “Welcome.” One of them said.
The man was one of the oldest guys there. He was wearing blue and black shirt and battered jeans. “You know the drill. Did you bring it?” the man asked.
Ryutaro smirked. He pulled out the watch.
The man smiled. “Kuketsu and Denebola would be happy.”
“When will I meet them?” Ryutaro asked.
“You must prove yourself first.” The man answered.
“I brought the watch, what’s next?” Ryutaro asked.
“You’ll see.” The man answered. “Let’s go, men.”
The other guys stood up and followed the leader. Ryutaro also followed.
They walked and ended up in an empty field.
“What are we doing here?” Ryutaro asked one of the guys.
The guy stared at him.
“You see, one of the goal of the fraternity is to eliminate other frats and become the sole fraternity in the city.” It was another guy who answered. Ryutaro nodded.
A group of guys wearing red shirts appeared from the East. Their number was greater than them.
“Hah. I knew you would come.” The leader of the other gang commented.
Their leader shrugged. “I guess we are already becoming popular that you can already guess our moves. That’s great.”
“If you think you can break us like what you did in the other territories, then you’re wrong. You can’t break us. You’ll bow down to us.” The leader of the red gang said.
The leader of the Benpatsu just smirked. He took off his jacket and tossed it in the air. It signaled the start of battle.
Ryutaro steadied himself and got ready. He smiled. He hadn’t done this for a while. He’d see if he still had his moves in him. He massaged his knuckles and let it land on the guy in red who was coming on him.
He kicked another one in the belly who was thrown by the impact. He was just starting.

Ryutaro patted his lips with the back of his hand. Blood oozed from his cut there. Sachiko would really get angry if she saw him looking this way. He stretched his back. He hadn’t been in any action lately that his body felt different.
It would really be aching the next morning. He groaned in frustration. He was not concerned with the aching muscles but he was sure to get scolded. He’d really get a good one.
Their leader stood in front of him. They were already inside the hide out. The territory was theirs already. The battle was quite long but the group succeeded.
“Nice one out there, new kid.” The leader commented. “Kunketsu and Denebola would hear about this. They would want to meet you, soon. Keep it up.” The leader said and patted him on the back.
Ryutaro smirked. He was already near his goal. “Yosh!” he exclaimed and punched the air. “Ouch!” he complained when the aching muscle of his arm acted up.

Yuri looked at the figure of Ryutaro sprawled on his bed.
“And she scolded me for almost two hours. When I fell asleep, she woke me up just to scold me again.” Ryutaro complained.
Yuri couldn’t stop himself. He laughed at Ryutaro’s litany.
Ryutaro moved up. “Stop laughing at me. It was not funny. If you could just see her face when I came in last night, you would really run away. I thought that she had already went home so I came in but she was there.”
Yuri stifled his laugh. “You are already being scolded up and she was not yet your girlfriend? What will happen if she became one?”
Ryutaro fell on the bed. “I don’t want to think about it.”
“I thought you really like Sachiko?”
“I do.”
“How about her?” Yuri asked.
“I know she cares a lot about me.” Ryutaro answered.
“By the way, when do you think you’ll be able to meet the leaders?” Yuri asked.
“Let’s wait and see.”
“Be careful with your face next time. Don’t let Sachiko catch you.” Yuri commented.
He got his things ready. He’ll be playing in the casino with Hikaru tonight.

Yuri put on the eyeglasses. Hikaru swerved in the parking lot and parked the car. Hikaru took his attaché case while Yuri put on his back pack.
They walked towards the entrance.
One burly guard stopped them. Hikaru opened his attaché case and showed the bills to the guard. The man nodded and let them in.
Students younger the Yuri were also there. He couldn’t believe his eyes. This was really illegal.
They looked around. The place looked like a regular casino. There were roulettes here and there, card games, oozing beer and unlimited wine. The only difference was the age of the participants. It extends from sixteen onwards.
“Do the authorities knew that this kind of illegal casino exists?” Yuri whispered to Hikaru.
“I heard that there was a huge man behind it. That’s probably why the authorities kept silent about this.” Hikaru answered looking around.
They came to a place where a group of youngsters were having a bet.
“You go in.” Hikaru commanded Yuri.
Yuri nodded and opened the glass door. Nobody paid attention to him. They were all busy watching the activity in the center of the crowd.
Yuri squeezed himself in and peeked at the middle of the room. Two youngsters, one girl and one boy were in the center. They held domino pieces. It looked like a usual game of dominoes to Yuri. He observed what was happening.
The girl was smiling at the boy who seemed to be tense and sweating in the middle of the air conditioned room.
“Place your piece!” one kid shouted.
“Place your piece! Place your piece!” the others chanted.
The guy stared at his piece and slowly put it down.
Yuri saw why the guy was nervous. The girl had only one piece left. If he put the wrong piece, the victory will be towards the girl.
The piece was 3/2. The girl smiled at the boy who looked intently at him while slowly putting down her piece – 2/2.
The crowd cheered. The guy growled in frustration.
“Domino queen won!” One of the spectators announced.
“Your bet! Your bet! Your bet!” the crowd chanted.
The boy took his bag and pulled out a watch. It was the same watch that Yuri was investigating. The girl took it and put it in her pouch.
Yuri smiled, he already spotted the target. He e-mailed Hikaru giving him full details of the surrounding.
“Who’s next?” one from the audience asked.
The crowd looked at each other. No one dared to play the queen’s game.
Yuri stepped up. The girl looked at him intently. Now that he was in front of her, he could finally get a better view. She was pretty with a really prominent nose. She had small kissable lips which matched her small face. She was wearing a black off shoulder blouse and tight fitting jeans. She looked like sixteen to him. Her sweet tantalizing eyes were hidden in wide rimmed spectacles that made her look like a seductive genius.
The girl smiled at him. “You’re cute,” she commented.
“You, too.” He said.
She laughed at him. “Your bet?” she asked.
Yuri pulled the same watch from his bag and showed it to the girl. The girl smiled and pointed at the seat in front of her.
Yuri sat down and fixed his glasses. The casino girl in a magician’s hat came and spread out the dominoes. Yuri watched the girl magician’s every action. She allowed them to choose their own pieces which were spread backwards.
Yuri took his piece and arranged, studied and covered them by setting the engraved part facing the table.
The girl looked at him in amazement. “You should set it facing you or else, you won’t see the pieces,” she commented.
Yuri smiled at her. “I have a photographic memory.” He said.
He saw the girl’s eyebrows twitched. She smiled at him awkwardly. Yuri smiled.
“By the way, how will I address you?” Yuri asked.
“They call me Domino Queen,” she answered not looking at him. She then grasped and stared at the sound blocker behind him.
Yuri looked at her in inquiry. The Domino Queen smiled at him though he felt a sudden change in her aura. He smiled. He looked up and saw Hikaru came in. The newcomer smiled at him. Yuri smirked.
“Let’s start.” Yuri suggested.
The girl nodded and pointed at him. “The challenger usually starts the game,” the Queen said in a small voice.
Yuri put down his first piece. “By the way, if I win, you should buy me a drink.”
The Domino Queen looked at him, “Why?”
“Because it will be your first time to lose.” He answered.
The girl looked at him, “I will not lose.” She put her first piece.

Yuri sipped at his ice cold coke float. “So, how would I call you again?” he asked looking at the Domino Queen.
The girl pouted at him. “Umika.” She answered.
“Nice name, fits you.” Yuri commented. “When did you start being the Domino Queen.”
Umika stared at him. “It was just recently. I was not really the original one.”
Yuri nodded. “Who is the original one?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered and sipped at her iced tea.
“Ah, even in the name?”
Umika shook her head.
Yuri nodded. “How about the watch, what do you do with all of them?”
“What will I do with them?” Umika asked back.
Yuri shrugged, “Wear them.”
Umika laughed at him. “Of course, I give it my manager and then they convert it to money.”
“Somebody manages you?”
Umika smiled at his naivety. “Of course. Did you really expect me to become a Domino Queen in one night?” she asked sarcastically.
Yuri laughed at her. “So, who is this manager of yours?”
Umika became serious. “I am not allowed to talk about him.” She answered.
“Oh come on. I’m the only one who will know.” Yuri persuaded her.
Umika sighed, “no… no… no…” she answered.
“What do you think they do with it?” Yuri asked.
“I don’t really care.” She answered.
“Ok, if you say so.” Yuri commented. “Cheers!” he brought his glass in front of her. “For your first loss ever!” he said.
“Oh, shut up!” Umika brought her own glass to his.