Goyona Shi-Shi Kai by /bara/hmoma/ writefrien

A busy Asian market, bustling with the usual activity
It's a Friday so everyone's out after work, looking to pick up dinner or whatever they find
Suddenly the cacophony of people trying to hawk their wares starts to die down.
It becomes a tense murmur as people part to let a shadowy group pass through the crowd
It's the Yakuza
And much to the terror of everyone there, it was the goyona shi-shi kai
A.K.A the "Audacious Lions"
The group was known for being made up almost entirely of younger males, with the eldest and strongest taking the role of boss
They were also known for remaining turbulent and small, as the leadership was constantly infighting for the crown
That being said, this left every surviving member an extremely keen killer. Truly earning the title of audacity
Many larger and more wealthy groups had tried to muscle in on the goyona, seeing their constant infighting as weakness
In every instance, they were given a black eye as they experienced massive losses, and were forced to pull out. The lions losses were always minimal.
Supposedly the group had gone quiet recently, rumours spread that the pride was under new management again.
The original boss, Jiro, was one of the toughest, meanest bastards alive, so whoever took the title from him had to be terrifying.
Except...
Jiro was walking with the others, like it was any other day.
Notably, he had earned quite a few new scars, and was no longer walking at the front.
He was flanking the new boss, and seemed quite proud of it.
There were a couple audible gasps as people caught sight of the new leader.
They expected a lion, naturally...
But it was a human!?
Not only that, it was a fairly normal looking one at that, what the hell happened?
A sake vendor made the fatal mistake of snickering at the sight of a soft human leading a pride of lions
There was a blur of golden fur, and Jiro was suddenly on him, pinning him to a wall
"SOMETHIN' FUNNY ASSHOLE?!"
People scurried away from the scene, the lion was certainly not impressed with the sake vendor's attitude
The lion kept pressing the man for a response, but it's not like he could say much with his windpipe being crushed
"Jiro, that's enough"
The human just gave Jiro an order!
THE Jiro!
Looking like a scolded pre-schooler, the lion reluctantly released the man, and returned to the boss' side
The human then strode forward, and picked the sake vendor off the ground, dusting him off.
"Apologies for that Mr. Tanaka"
The human casually produced a cigarette from his breast pocket "Oh, that reminds me, today's collection day!"
The lions began pulling, pushing and shoving each other, before one finally broke away and made a dash to the boss' side
"Annnd it looks like you owe us for your weekly 'insurance' fee" The lion produced a lighter, beaming at the appreciative nod the boss gave him
"Would you happen to have it on hand?" The human's words were casual and formal on the surface, but his eyes...
They were like an apex predator's
For some reason Mr. Tanaka, a grizzled tiger in his 40's, easily twice the height and weight of this human, felt an instinctual fear.
He'd short changed some of the younger punks in the group before, and they didn't dare question him on it. Sometime he felt like he could give even Jiro a run for his money if it came down to it.
Right now that same bravado was nowhere to be found, the human was just standing there, trying to get his smoke to light, but Tanaka felt like he had a gun to his head.
Before the human could finish taking a single drag of his smoke, the sake vendor produced a wad of cash, with a generous tip for his earlier infraction
The human thanked the vendor for his business, and went on his way.
With that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As for the lions, their breath felt a little short, and their cheeks a little warm after watching their new boss at work.>The gang continued on their way, most of the shopkeeps were more than willing to give the new boss tribute after that display
The syndicate had turned record profits on "insurance" today. And the guys seemed to be in a pretty good mood
Jiro was quite literally drooling at the fat wad of cash you had in your hand.
"Heyyy boss, I know a nice little spot in town we can visit to celebrate, you've been full on since you took over, watcha think?"
The ghost of a grimace flashed over the boss' face "What kind of spot? that last strip club we hit up was a little...Seedy"
The boss remembered the floors being particularly covered in seed.
"Nothin' like that! I was thinking the opposite! C'mon the boys'll love it!"
The boss considered it for a bit, Jiro seemed like a totally different guy after the two of them met
He was still a violent thug, but without the pressure of leadership he seemed to be chilling out a little.
Less that two months ago you two were basically fighting to the death, a small altercation in a bar had turned into an all out blood feud.
The most notable memory for the boss was still watching the rain trickling down Jiro's chest and forming a little waterfall between his pecs
Oof, okay back to the issue at hand
The Boss had tried to order them to take days off, but their stupid macho lion brains would only interpret that as a sign they looked tired, and by extension, weak.
Glancing around they did all seem a little worn out, if you relaxed then they'd relax with you
"Alright, where are we going?"
Like a group of schoolboys, they all cheered, herding you towards wherever they had planned.
Jeez...
Boss ends up (Reluctantly) following the gang to whatever activity they had planned
Seriously, why were they so insistent that he tagged along, most people weren't this chummy with their boss
Especially considering this was a criminal outfit...
Eventually the rowdy gang make their way up to a surprisingly nice part of town
Up until this point their ideas had ranged from seedy to outright hobotastic
You finally arrived at the..."Happy Capybara indoor hot spring and spa"
This did not bode well

"I'M THE SECOND LEUTENANT I GET TO DO IT"
"PISS OFF I'M THE ADMIN CHEIF, I OUTRANK YOU"
Both lions, making an absolute scene over who gets to help boss wash his back
"Guys I can reach my own b-"
"EHHH!? ARE YOU NEW TO THE YAKUZA OR SOMETHING YOU STUPID FUCK!? ADMIN'S A SECONDARY BRANCH WE DON'T NEED YOUR PENCIL PUSHING ASS!"
"I'VE PUT MORE GUYS IN THE GROUND THEN YOU MOTHERF-"
Just as First lieutenant Jiro is about to gut the two of them for daring to speak over their boss, there's a rush of air next to him and suddenly both of the arguing lions are skipping across the water like pebbles before crashing spectacularly into a wall.
Stunned, the lions didn't even have time to register what happened.
In the middle of the hazy, gigantic bath, the boss stood
He had moved from a relaxed sitting position, through thick splashing water, and taken out two fully grown made-men so fast that the others took a second to register it.
As the two lions sheepishly picked themselves up, clearly still dazed. the boss spoke.
"You're bothering the other patrons, and me, with your arguing. Quiet down"
"Also don't talk over people, it's rude"
As the human silently took his seat in the now-settling yuzu water. The offending kissed their foreheads to the floor in apology before slinking back into the bath.
The yakuza in the bath trembled, but not entirely in fear
That wasn't just terrifying, it was also really cool! Boss was crazy strong!
The scolded pair were thrown by the wrist, so boss (technically) held their hand!
Externally, this was a scene of hardened killers trembling in fear before an inhuman boss
Internally, they were closer to high school girls who had just met their idol
The lions eventually returned to chatting with a semblance of civility again, and the boss had managed to unwind just a little
"...H-hey Jiro"
"What's up boss?"
"There's a spot on my back I can't reach. Do you mind?"
The lion quietly thanked god