Passing the Baton

War Begins

Homura and Giichi had been training relentlessly since their previous fight with Han and Ryu. Homura was certain he was stronger than Ryu now, but he didn't understand why Giichi was training so hard when he'd outclassed Han so easily in their last fight.

"Sir if you don't mind answering. Why are you training so hard to fight someone so far beneath you?" Homura asked. While he knew that Han was out of his league he'd seen with his own eyes that Han was much weaker than Giichi.

"It's simple Homura. My opponent isn't going to be Han Tatsuya. My opponent will be the Dragon King who ruled Sotenbori a decade ago." Giichi said as he went through a familiar training regimen. It was a regimen taught to him by the man who helped remake Giichi into what he has become.

"Sir who trained you? I've fought many people, but I've never seen anyone who fights like you do." Homura asked Giichi. After the training they'd been doing together over the last few weeks he felt comfortable enough to ask more personal questions about the leader of the God Breakers.

"A man I hope you never meet. He's an assassin named Jo Amon. He's a truly deadly fighter who won't hesitate to kill anyone. It took a lot of convincing for him to train me." Giichi said as Homura nodded. It wasn't often Giichi told Homura to avoid fighting or meeting anyone, so when he did Homura knew to listen. The 2 men finished their warmup and got ready to face each other.

"Let's see if you've improved at all." Giichi said as Homura nodded before running towards Giichi, and attempting a jumping kick. Giichi sidestepped and punched Homura in the stomach.

"Too obvious. Ryu will dodge any attack that is that predictable." Giichi critiqued as He circled around Homura. Giichi was smirking at Homura's growth even as he critiqued him. Homura had grown physically since the fight outside the arcade, and the physical advantage was all Ryu had on Homura. There was no way Homura could lose to Ryu now with his technique and physical abilities outclassing Ryu's. Seeing Homura's growth reminded Giichi of when he'd first put his strength on display after starting training with Jo Amon.

10 years ago

A young Giichi was hunched over panting while a tall man in a black trench coat stood a few feet away. The man was Jo Amon an assassin and one of the most deadly fighters in the world.

"Stand up Giichi. Han would never crumble to this kind of training." Jo said as Giichi looked up with hatred in his eyes. Jo knew how to stoke the fire of Giichi's anger, and he was waiting for Giichi to get angry enough to snap.

"... I'm not Han." Giichi mumbled. He kept hearing Han's name everywhere he went. He'd tried to patch things up with Han, and go back to how they were before. Back to when they were essentially brothers, but he couldn't stop it. Everytime he was compared to Han it was always about how amazing Han was, and how average he was.

".... I'm not Han..... I'm not Han.... I'm not Han.... I'm not Han.... I'm not Han.... I'm not Han." Giichi kept repeating it over and over under his breath. He stood up shakily and Jo Amon was in slight shock. As Giichi stood up Jo could swear his green eyes were glowing and a golden aura emanated from him. Jo Amon entered a fighting stance, and prepared for Giichi to attack. Jo blinked and in that split second Giichi had moved towards him, and threw a punch. Jo got his guard up in time to block, but the force from the punch was too powerful and he was still knocked back.

"I'm not Han, so stop comparing me to him. He's stronger than I'll ever be." Giichi said mumbling the last part. Jo Amon couldn't believe it. He was right when he decided to train Giichi. Giichi had talent and plenty of it, and had he been born in any other time period or gone into a different career instead of the Yakuza he'd have been recognized as a prodigy. Unfortunately he'd met Han and though the 2 were close Giichi had seemingly formed some insecurities about himself, and being compared to someone like Han all his life only made it worse. Giichi is a prodigy who didn't know it because he'd been comparing himself to a monster all his life.