#chicksdigsaurs

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She pulled her hair back out of her face in a high ponytail, then attempted to shake out her nerves. “Okay. I’m ready. Start attacking me.”

Kiryu laughed softly, which went unheard over Majima’s protests. “This ain’t the construction site where we taught ya to run away. This is beatin’ the shit outta people! ‘M not just gonna start attacking you.”

Haruka’s shoulders slumped. “What… do I do first, then?”

Kiryu moved through the sand to be behind her, fixing her stance. “The most important thing to remember is a person’s vulnerable spots,” he told her. Kiryu moved her arms to point at Majima. “Eyes.” He moved them with each body part. “Nose. Throat. Groin.”

“The boingloings,” Majima grinned. 

Kiryu only sighed. 

Majima took her from Kiryu and spun her around. “Don’t bother with the chest.” He moved Haruka’s arms to hit him. “Yer daddy’s got pecs of steel, but it’s not gonna work on most others either. Now tell me the weak spots again.”

“Eyes, nose, throat, boingloings,” Haruka repeated dutifully. 

Majima laughed and kissed her temple while Kiryu’s eyes were rolling into the back of his head. “Good job, scamp,” Majima said affectionately. “Ya gotta remember that, alright?”

Haruka was going to move to Sotenbori with Majima in a matter of days so she could take dance and voice lessons. Majima had promised Kiryu that he’d teach her how to fight to ease not just Kiryu’s mind, but Majima’s as well. Deciding it would be a good bonding activity, Majima insisted Kiryu help him with a first lesson on Okinawa’s shore. 

Majima stepped back. “Show me a stable stance, Haruka-chan.”

She steeled herself, attempting to look tough.

“Your arms are too close to you,” commented Kiryu. “Plant your feet on the ground.”

Haruka fixed her stance. 

Majima took the same stance next to her. “How can ya get the boingloings like this, scamp?”

“Uh, kick?”

“Yeah!” he praised. “Kick ‘em in the boingloings!”

“Majima no nii-san, please stop saying ‘boingloings,’” Kiryu groaned. 

“Kick ‘em in the dingleberries!”

“God. Go back to the first one. What is wrong with you.” 

Majima kicked the air fiercely, then looked to Haruka. She mirrored him. 

“More force,” said Kiryu. Haruka did, then stumbled back, falling onto the sand.

“Sorry,” she giggled.

“It’s okay,” Kiryu smiled, extending his hand. “If they are too close to you, use your knee, okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically, brushing sand off her pants. 

“Ooh! Another one!” Majima tugged on Kiryu. He pointed to his palm. Flexing his wrist, he pretended to jab Kiryu underneath his chin. He did it once more, this time aiming at Kiryu’s nostrils. 

Haruka rolled her wrists, then mimicked Majima’s pose, jabbing her hand upward.

“Good. Use Kiryu-chan as a test dummy.”

She lightly tapped his chin.

“You’ll do that harder if you are in danger, right?” said Kiryu. 

“I don’t want to hurt you!”

“I’d like to see you try,” commented Majima. “It’d be funny.” 

“If you do it hard, they should stumble back,” Kiryu continued. 

“What if they grab me?” Haruka said apprehensively. 

Kiryu looked to Majima and nodded. “Who are you comfortable with touching you?” asked Majima.

“Either of you.”

“Nii-san, you grab her,” Kiryu ordered. Majima hesitated, but hugged her stomach from behind. Haruka quickly squeezed his arms as if it were a real hug. Kiryu got close in front of her. “You want to focus on getting yourself low. You’re going to bend forward to stretch his arms out first. It’s harder to pick you up that way.”

Haruka nodded, doing as she was told. 

“Now you’d hit his face as hard as you can with your elbows. As many times as it takes for you to get free.”

“Like this?” She slowly turned and aligned her elbows to his jaw.

“Like that. You want to try to turn out of his grip.”

“Hit me, little lady; I can take it!” Majima encouraged. 

“No! I don’t want to hurt you either!” Haruka protested. 

“It’s part of your trainin’,” he insisted. “Hit me!”

“You can hit him,” shrugged Kiryu. “Just a little.”

She exhaled, then hit Majima square in the jaw twice, then turned out of his grip. 

“Good job, scamp!” He screeched gleefully. He picked her up by the waist, spinning her around as she squealed. “We’ll get ya to beat the shit outta me in no time!” 

“Majima-san,” snapped Kiryu. Both Haruka and Majima flinched. “Can you take this a little more seriously?! This is her safety we are dealing with!”

Majima placed her back down on the sand. “Kiryu-chan, I’m just trying to… to make it less scary.”

“It is scary,” he continued. “There’s no dancing around that. She’s going to be in Sotenbori and she is not going to be with you all the time. Yakuza are pigs, and if they know Haruka is connected to me…” 

“Hey,” Majima coaxed, rushing over to him. He placed his hands on Kiryu’s arms. “I’m sorry, Kiryu-chan. I know it’s daunting. You wanna back out? She can stay here. With you.”

He shook his head. “That’s not fair to her.” 

“You know she’s tough. You raised her. She’s smart, too.”

“I know you’ll protect her,” Kiryu murmured. “I just… worry. This is the first time she will be away from me in a long time.”

“I get it. You’ll still see her and get to talk to her. That’s what this is all about. Her not going with those teenage idol cash cows and gettin’ to be your daughter.” 

Haruka bounced to their sides. “Yeah, Uncle Kaz. You’ll hear from me and I’ll visit all the time with Uncle Goro.” 

“You’ll remember everything Majima teaches you, right?” said Kiryu.

She nodded. 

“You have to. I trust him with your life.”

Majima blinked. He’s said it before, but it still shocked him every time. Wrapping his arms around him, he squeezed Kiryu tight. After a moment he pulled Haruka in, hugging both of them at once. 

“I’ll be okay, Uncle Kaz,” Haruka assured. 

“I know,” he mumbled. “I’m just going to miss you so much. Both of you.”