Page 30 of Shifting Gears

I glanced behind me, and the man was gone. I looked around the space and couldn’t see him anywhere. It was like he had vanished on the spot.

“Looking for something, baby?” AJ’s voice was close.

I hadn’t realized he had walked back over. I grabbed his arm and quickly dragged him over into the corner, hoping Kaito was too busy celebrating his small victory to notice us.

“You can’t call me that here,” I said as we came to a stop. I brushed the hair out of my face and pulled it back into a ponytail. “I need to ask a favor of you.”

He rolled his shoulders back and tucked his hands into his hoodie pocket. “Who am I fighting?”

Was I really being that obvious?

“How did you guess?” I said as I waved the announcer over.

“Kinda figured you might need a guy after I just helped your fighter limp his ass out of here,” AJ said as the announcer reached us.

“And you’re sure? I can’t guarantee you won’t get hurt. Kaito’s men fight unfairly. And you owe me nothing. You could walk away tonight and save yourself. You don’t always have to jump in and save me, Hero.”

AJ chuckled and nodded. “Don’t worry; I’ve fought worse and lived to talk about it. Just sign me up.”

All I can do is trust him. Trust that he will save my family with this fight.

CHAPTER 11

AJ

I had two options.Walk away from Raven and live a boring life in Japan, or show this country exactly what a real champion fighter looked like.

And I had never been one to miss an opportunity to take some smug bastard down a peg or two. And looking at Kaito, the guy who ran this whole show, I thought he could be humbled.

I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders. I hadn’t expected to fight tonight, but I already felt the adrenaline pumping its way through my veins. It’d been too long since I’d had an actual fight.

I twisted my torso and stretched my back muscles as Kaito walked over to her.

She faced him, her arms folded in front of her body. “We need some additional time for my substitute fighter to warm up.”

Kaito’s eyes narrowed as his sneer grew. “Not happening. We have an agreed-upon time for this match to begin. Either your substitute is in the ring in two minutes or you forfeit. If he needs to warm up so badly, he can do it in the ring.”

“That’s not fair. You know that,” Raven said.

She was holding herself back from saying more. I could tell she wanted to lay into him. But seeing as how this guy was always surrounded by bodyguards, I got why she didn’t.

She glanced back at me, and I barely shook my head in acknowledgment. I kept my eyes on him, but the bastard never looked in my direction. He kept his dark, deadly eyes on her. I figured fucking with her mind was a favorite pastime of his.

“Fine,” Raven finally said as she turned to him again.

He walked away, laughing to himself, and I stepped up next to her.

“Don’t worry about it, baby girl. I don’t need to warm up to be on my A game. Just enjoy the show, and I’ll see you after I win,” I said as I stretched my arms in either direction before I walked over to the ring.

I stood by the doors on one side, where someone gestured for me to wait. I watched as the announcer, who had talked to Raven earlier, stepped out into the center of the ring with a mic, and the music level lowered.

He spoke loudly in Japanese, but I figured out what he was saying, more or less. It was his job to hype up the crowd leading up to a fight. And I only needed to listen for him to say one word. My name.

I watched as Raven walked up into the box withhim. She took a seat on his left side, and her eyes locked with mine. I gave her a nod, smirking under my mask. I wasn’t nervous about this fight. I was used to people trying underhanded methods to win since the first year I’d stepped into an arena. This was no different.

Then the announcer pointed at the doors opposite of mine and shouted a name. “Kaaanjirooou!”

And the gate swung open, and the fighter, whose name was Kanjirou, stepped into the ring. He stretched his arms out at thecrowd and did a slow circle as the room lit up with cheers and whistles. Then he stopped and bowed at Kaito.

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