Renegades: Battlegrounds.-Chapter 49: A Choice And A Path III

Ren’s hands started shaking again.

The photo.

Kaito smiling.

Three weeks ago, bleeding on the apartment floor.

"I don’t..." His voice cracked. "I don’t understand. If his way failed, why do you still use his system? Why the Five Virtues?"

"Because the name means something." Hasegawa pocketed the photo. "People in this district still remember what Sakuratei stood for five years ago. That legacy keeps us legitimate. Keeps the yakuza from crushing us. Keeps police from mass arrests."

He turned back to the city. "But the system? I rebuilt it. I made it practical. Kaito’s trials used to be tests of character. Mine are tests of survival."

"Trials?"

"You’ll learn about them soon enough." Hasegawa waved a hand dismissively. "The point is, we keep the symbols, lose the sentiment. That’s how you survive."

Ren’s chest felt tight.

"Did you know that until five years ago, Yugen was the most violent city in the tristate area?" Hasegawa asked, changing topics.

"No."

"Why do you think that changed?"

Ren thought carefully. "Crimson Dragons?"

"Among other reasons." Hasegawa nodded. "But yes. The Crimson Dragons. They consolidated power in Downtown, brought structure to chaos. Not peace—control. There’s a difference."

He looked at Ren. "We’ve been at war with them for the past six months. It’s gotten worse lately. Since your brother’s attack."

Ren went straight to the point. "Do you know who really put him in a coma?"

Hasegawa was quiet for a long moment.

"I don’t know," he finally said. "When Kaito came to me Four weeks ago, he was rambling. Kept talking about information he’d uncovered. Said someone was manipulating both sides. Playing Sakuratei and Crimson Dragons against each other."

"Who?" Ren demanded.

"He never got to tell me. He was ambushed soon after." Hasegawa’s voice went cold. "People in Crimson Dragons colors, but something felt off. It was too coordinated. Too deliberate. Like they knew exactly where he’d be."

He pulled out the photo again, staring at Kaito’s smiling face.

"Your brother was also talking about the Red Lotus Building. Said that’s where the evidence was."

Ren’s breath caught. "The Red Lotus—"

"Doesn’t exist yet," Hasegawa cut him off, eyes sharp. "I already checked. City planning documents show a mixed-use development proposal for that name, but construction won’t start for years. 2007 at the earliest."

He looked at Ren carefully. "Your brother was investigating something that hasn’t been built yet. Either he was delirious from blood loss... or he knew something we don’t."

Ren’s hand instinctively touched the bloodstained paper in his pocket.

"If you figure out what he meant," Hasegawa said quietly, "you tell me. Immediately."

Ren nodded slowly, mind racing.

"Kaito gave you that paper because he knew," Hasegawa continued. "If anything happened to him, you’d come looking. Blindly searching for the truth."

"So that’s why he sent you to me. Because he knew I’d be here."

Ren clutched the bloodstained paper tighter.

"Matsuno told me about the Kotekai," Hasegawa said, voice shifting. "About Aoi Kanzaki. You risked your life for someone you’d just met. That’s the kind of person Sakuratei needs."

"I didn’t do it for Sakuratei," Ren shot back. "I did it because it was the right thing to do."

Hasegawa smirked. "Exactly. You seem to still be under the impression that we’re just thugs. You know we protect this district. We keep the Crimson Dragons out. We stop biker gangs like Kotekai from terrorizing civilians."

"By extorting businesses?"

"Protection isn’t free. But we don’t take more than fair, and we deliver. Ask any shop owner who they’d rather have knocking at their door at the end of the month."

"Us? Crimson Dragons? Or bikers?"

Ren had no answer.

"You fight with heart, Ren. I saw it when you faced Yuto in the cafeteria." Hasegawa’s tone went clinical. "But it was raw. Desperate. All instinct."

"You fight like someone who learned in back alleys. Reactive, not strategic. You took a beating that would’ve killed most people, and you’re still shaking from it."

Ren looked down at his trembling hands. He tried to make them stop. He couldn’t.

"You only survived because I had Matsuno’s team watching you," Hasegawa said. "When we saw fourteen Kotekai mobilizing, we moved to intervene. You weren’t alone. You just didn’t know it."

The words hit like a physical blow.

"So you were—" Ren’s voice shook. "You were testing me? While I was—"

"Protecting my investment." Hasegawa cut him off, voice cold. "If you’re going to survive in this city, you need to understand what you’re walking into."

Behind them, Yuto spoke up. "What he’s trying to say is you’re not ready."

Ren turned. The Mad Dog’s expression was serious, no trace of his usual manic energy.

"You fight with everything you have. I respect that. Against fourteen bikers, you should’ve died." Yuto paused. "Against me, you got lucky with one good hit."

He stepped forward, hands in pockets.

"But you didn’t quit. That counts for something."

Yuto’s eyes locked with Ren’s. "You still think I’m overrated?"

Ren thought back to the cafeteria. Fists. Blood. That manic grin. The overwhelming speed and power.

"No," Ren admitted quietly. "You’re the real deal."

Yuto’s grin returned sharper now, but not cruel. "Good. Then you’ll understand when I say you’re not ready to fight me again. Not yet."

He turned away. "But you will be. Eventually."

"Luck counts once," Kaede added, stepping forward. "Not twice. And not against someone better. Hasegawa doesn’t recruit people out of pity. If he’s offering, it’s because he sees something worth developing."

Her sharp eyes met Ren’s. "But potential means nothing if you die before realizing it. Right now? You look like you’re one bad night away from breaking."

Moriyama remained silent, but his gaze was clear: Prove you won’t shatter.

"Three days ago," Hasegawa said, "I offered you a choice. Tonight, I’m telling you the truth."

He gestured to the city below. "You fought fourteen men to protect someone. You took a beating that would’ve killed most people. You refused to run."

He looked at Ren directly.

"That wasn’t the choice I gave you. That’s the choice you made yourself."

Hasegawa’s voice dropped. "But on this I’m afraid you don’t have one."

"What do you mean?" Ren hit back.

"You still seem to be under this misconception that you still have a choice? Ren, the moment you stepped off that train into Hanasakura, the moment you threw yourself at Yuto in that cafeteria, the moment you stood between Aoi and fourteen bikers—you already chose."

He gestured to the city. "Kotekai knows your face. They talked before we got to them. Mentioned your name. Your connection to Kaito."

Ren’s stomach tightened.

"Crimson Dragons listen," Hasegawa continued coldly. "They have informants everywhere. By now, they know Kaito Ryūhara’s younger brother is in Hanasakura. They know you’re walking around asking questions."

He stepped closer.

"They’ll come for you. Not today, maybe not next week. But they will come."

Hasegawa’s eyes were hard. "You think you can just... go home? Transfer schools? Disappear? You’re already marked. Already involved. The question now is whether you understand what you chose."

Ren thought of Aoi’s blood on his hands. The bikers’ pounding fists and boots. The motorcycle bearing down.

His body hurt. His mind hurt. Everything hurt.

"I chose..." Ren’s voice broke. "I chose not to let someone die. Not again. Not like..."

He couldn’t finish. The image of Kaito bleeding on the apartment floor superimposed over Aoi in the alley.

"Your brother chose to carry everything himself," Hasegawa said, voice sharp. "Every fight. Every injury. Every failure. He thought that’s what leadership meant—bearing all the weight so others wouldn’t have to."

Hasegawa stepped closer. "It broke him. Not the violence. The isolation. He wouldn’t let anyone help him. He wouldn’t share the burden. And three weeks ago, someone put him in a coma for it."

"Then why..." Ren’s hands clenched. "Why do you want me to join? If his way failed..."

"Because you’re not him." Hasegawa’s eyes were hard.

"You threw yourself at fourteen bikers knowing you’d lose. That’s not martyrdom—that’s desperation. You realized you couldn’t win alone. Your brother never admitted that. Not until it was too late."

Hasegawa pulled out a white jacket from a bag at his feet—pristine, unmarked except for subtle cherry blossom stitching.

"Joining Sakuratei isn’t swearing loyalty to me. It’s swearing loyalty to every person wearing this jacket." He held the garment between them. "You fight for them. They fight for you. Not honor. Not virtue. Just survival."

Ren stared at the jacket. He thought of Kaito in that photo. Seventeen. Smiling.

Did those ideals kill him?

Ren looked up, tears at the edges of his vision. "If I join... I have conditions."

Hasegawa raised an eyebrow. "I’m listening."

"First: I find out who put Kaito in that coma. No secrets, no I’ll tell you later."

Hasegawa nodded. "Agreed. We investigate together."

"Second: No innocent people get hurt. If Sakuratei crosses that line, I walk."

"Third..." Ren took a breath. "When this is over... when Kaito wakes up and I have answers... I’m out. I finish school, live normally."