Page 56 of Shifting Gears

I rolledinto the driveway of her place the next day, and I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t this. The buildings here were a mix of traditional and modern Japanese style.

She was waiting outside her front door, sitting on a bench by a small pond, when I parked. I got out and walked over as she tossed the rest of her handful of fish food into the pond, watching large-looking goldfish devour it on the water’s surface.

“I was wondering if you’d gotten lost,” she said as she turned toward me.

“Nah.”

She barely stared at me before sighing.

“My sister is home, but she’s been in her room all day. Please, keep your voice down. I don’t want to wake her up if she’s sleeping.” She walked over to the door and pushed it open.

I followed her inside. It was a damn big house. All open from the kitchen to the living room. She took a seat on the couch, and I chose a chair across from her.

“I’d offer you tea, but I don’t think you’re going to be here long enough to enjoy it. This is just a quick chat. I need to know we’re on the same page and that we’re going to work together to make sure Kaito gets what he deserves,” she said.

Getting right to the point. I can appreciate that.

“What’s your plan then?” I asked as I kicked my feet out in front of me, crossing my arms and my ankles.

“First, I want to know how far you’re willing to go,” she said, her eyes dark and serious.

I shrugged. “Almost anything that won’t land me with a life sentence.”

She contemplated for a minute before speaking again.

“All right then, I’m thinking we need to get Kaito’s attention for a fight, make enough noise where he will bet the deed of our estate on. I’m assuming you know the reason Raven was engaged to him in the first place?”

“Yeah, she told me a bit about it,” I said.

“Then that’s my first goal—get him to agree to new terms with a new match. You fight his fighter and win. He will get humiliated by losing to you. Then I’ll figure out how to have the police raid the place and arrest Kaito after you give him a good beating. They have been trying to track him down, but can never raid his home. He will lose the title of my home and be behind bars for a long time. It will be perfect,” she said each word with care.

I wasn’t sure if I believed it would go down exactly like she was telling me, but it wasn’t a bad plan, and I’d get to beat the shit out of him before he was arrested too.

“Works for me. You just tell me when to show up to the fight, and I’ll be there,” I said as I went to stand up, figuring this conversation was over.

“Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not going to hope that you show up. I also have no idea if you are really as good as you think you are or not. I expect you to come over and train with me,” she said as she stood up as well.

“Train with you?” I chuckled as I looked over her body.

She was fit—I’d give her that. But I still saw the curves of a woman who would be easy to pin on the mats repeatedly with little challenge.

She smiled back. “Don’t worry; I’ll be much more focused than I was yesterday. And I’ve trained every student at the dojo the past couple of years. If you think I’ll be an easy sparring partner, you’ll be in for a rude awakening when your ass ends up on the mat. We start in a week. See you then.”

She gestured over toward the door, and I chuckled and nodded.

“Just tell me when to show up.”

A week passed.

During that time, they’d buried Raven in their family cemetery. I went to the service, lurking in the background. Maybe I felt like I was keeping an eye out on her sisters. Maybe I wanted to pay my respects to her after everyone else left. There were more people here than I’d thought there would be.

Fighters, trainers, people from the shops she’d gone to her whole life. Raven was someone people would miss.

I’ll miss you too, baby.

I stood, leaning under the shade of a tree, too far to hear any of the words being said. The man she’d been engaged to never showed. Piece of shit couldn’t even pretend to care. Eventually, as the service ended, people left, leaving only her sisters standing next to her grave.

A few more minutes passed before they turned and started walking down to the entrance. I waited for them to be out ofsight before I walked over to her grave. There were flowers and something burning that smelled decent, as well as a photo of her. She looked so happy in it.

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