Renegades: Battlegrounds.-Chapter 34: The Protection Racket

Side Street Off Neon Alley,

10:24 AM.

The side street was quieter the moment Ren stepped into it almost like a different world from Neon Alley’s blinding lights and noise. The buildings here were older and more residential.A laundromat with humming machines visible through its windows, a tiny tobacco shop, a grocery store with vegetables stacked in wooden crates, and an old ramen shop with a weathered sign.

"Ramen Tatsumi – Since 1987. "

Fewer people. Fewer neon signs. Less noise.

Ren could actually hear himself think.

He walked slowly, hands in pockets, observing the neighborhood dynamics.

This was the underbelly of Downtown. Not the flashy main streets designed for tourists and entertainment. This was where actual people lived.

Where families ran small businesses. Where the reality of Crimson Dragons’ control became visible.

An elderly woman swept the entrance to her grocery store.

A salaryman in rumpled clothes stumbled out of what looked like a cheap apartment building, probably heading home after a night shift. A middle-aged man arranged fresh fish in a display case, preparing for lunch customers.

Ren was about to turn back toward the main street when voices, loud, sharp, aggressive cut through the quiet.

He paused and looked ahead. Three figures approached from the other end of the narrow street.

Crimson Dragons. Older students probably seventeen or eighteen Ren could deduce. Two wore Hanami Academy uniforms with red armbands clearly visible. The third wore a red leather jacket with a dragon emblem on the back.

They walked with that same swagger Ren had noticed before. Owning the space, making others move out of their way.

And they were heading toward the ramen shop.

Ren stepped into the shadows of a closed storefront and pressed himself back, watching.

The shop owner, a thin man in his sixties with an apron tied around his waist, was sweeping when the three Crimson Dragons arrived.

The moment he looked up, something in his expression changed to one of resignation mixed with barely concealed frustration.

"Afternoon. " He greeted, cautiously.

The leader of the boys—the one in the red leather jacket, tall with bleached hair, a scar carved through his left eyebrow grinned. The kind of grin that pretended friendliness but promised harm.

"Afternoon, old man. Beautiful day, isn’t it?"

"It was. " The shop owner replied tightly.

"Don’t be like that." The boy stepped closer. "We’re just here for a friendly visit." He spread his hands innocently. "You know what day it is, right?"

The broom handle creaked under the shop owner’s tightening grip. "...Collection day."

"Smart man. That’s why I like you, Tatsumi-san. Always so cooperative."

He held out his palm, waiting.

The shop owner set down his broom, reached into his apron pocket and pulled out an envelope but he didn’t hand it over immediately.

"I already paid this month. Three days ago. You came by Thursday. " The shop owner said with frustration.

The leader tilted his head with a mocking confusion. "Did we? Huh. Must’ve slipped my mind."

The other two Crimson Dragons snickered behind him.

"But you know how it is," the leader continued. "Prices went up. Inflation. Cost of doing business. Territory maintenance fees has increased again. "

"That’s not... you can’t just... " the shop owner began.

"Can’t what?" the leader interrupted sharply, all his pretense gone.

The old man’s jaw tightened, anger and helplessness showed on his face before he finally slipped into defeat. He handed over the envelope.

"Here."

The leader took it, didn’t even bother checking the contents. He just pocketed it casually, like it was nothing.

"See? That wasn’t so hard. Pleasure doing business with you, Tatsumi-san." He tapped the old man’s shoulder too hard, making him stumble slightly.

"We’ll see you next month. Maybe prices will go up again. Who knows? Economy’s crazy these days."

They walked away laughing, passing so close to Ren he could smell cigarette smoke on their jackets.

"Did you see his face?" one snickered. "Like he was gonna cry."

"Old bastard should be grateful we protect him. Without us, yakuza would take everything. "

"Damn right. We are providing a service."

More laughter as they turned the corner, disappearing back toward Neon Alley.

Ren stayed in the shadows, his fists clenched inside his pockets until his knuckles throbbed.

"Extortion. " He thought. "Plain and simple. They are bleeding that old man dry. "

He waited until he was certain the Crimson Dragons were gone, then he stepped out from the darkness.

The shop owner stood outside his ramen shop, shoulders slumped. He looked smaller now, older, defeated.

He picked up his broom again, resumed sweeping again but his movements were slow and heavy.

Ren approached him cautiously not to scare him out of his wits. "Excuse me."

The shop owner looked up, startled. When he saw Ren was just a teenager in a hoodie, his expression softened slightly.

"We’re not open yet. " He said. "Lunch starts at eleven."

"I’m not here for food. " Ren replied. "Are you okay?"

Suspicion flickered in the old man’s eyes. "I’m fine, boy it’s just business."

"That wasn’t business. That was extortion."

The shop owner’s face hardened immediately, gaze darting around nervously.

"You should go. You don’t know what you’re talking about."

"I know what I saw.. "

"You saw nothing." His voice sharpened. "And even if you did, there’s nothing you can do."

He leaned on his broom. The simple motion made him very old and very tired.

"This is how it works in Downtown. Crimson Dragons run protection. We pay them. They keep other gangs away. It’s the system. "

"But they’re bleeding you dry. " Ren said quietly.

The man let out a bitter laugh. "Maybe. But without them? Worse gangs come. Biker gangs. Yakuza affiliates. Drug ealers who’d use my shop as a front."

He met Ren’s eyes. "At least with Crimson Dragons, I know the price. I know the rules.They take their cut, but they also keep real criminals away. That’s the deal. "

"That’s not a deal," Ren said. "That’s a hostage situation."

The shop owner sighed, turned back toward his shop entrance.

"You’re young. You still think the world should be fair. But it’s not. This is reality. " He paused at the door.

"Now go home, kid. Before someone sees you asking questions and decides you’re a problem. "

He went inside, sliding the door shut behind him with a definitive thunk.

Ren stood there alone on the narrow street. His hands were still clenched in his hoodie pockets, his knuckles aching. "This is reality. "

Shiinchiro had told him Sakuratei did the same thing. Protection rackets. Taking money from businesses.

But he’d never seen it. Never witnessed the collection.

But this felt... different.

More threatening. More like theft disguised as protection.

"Is Hasegawa’s Sakuratei the same? Or is there actually a difference? " He thought but he didn’t have an answer.

Ren wandered for another twenty minutes, observing. More protection rackets witnessed from a distance.

More Crimson Dragons patrolling in groups. More businesses with subtle red emblems in their windows marking them as "protected."

The whole district felt like it was under occupation.

Despite the extortion, despite the gang presence people still lived.

Restaurants served food. Shops sold goods. People laughed, argued, lived their lives. Children played in small parks. Elderly couples walked hand-in-hand.

The gangs were a parasitic layer on top of normal society. Taking their cut. Asserting dominance. But underneath, humanity persisted.

"This is what Kaito was trying to fight. "He thought. "This system."

"But how do you fight something this big? "

He turned a corner and spotted a sign ahead:

Hanami Park — 500m →

"A neutral territory, a break from all this. "

Ren headed toward it.