Li was already outside, coming to the garage and walking through the bay doors. "Carlos, here." She reached and saw his hands dirty, shook her head and placed them in a clean spot on an uncluttered portion of a table in the garage.
He looked at Ramon and called after her. "Everything ok, Jefa?" Li nodded quickly. Gat was coming up after asking if anyone saw where she went.
Walking back through the open bay doors she needed to get home, she could feel Johnny close by, and sure enough one foot out of the open garage door she heard her name. "Go home Johnny." Li warned.
"No, not until you tell me what I did." He caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
Li looked at his hand reaching with her other and went to pinch his hand. Gat grabbed her wrist. "If you don't take your hands off of me, you will regret it." She glared at him.
"What the fuck happened?" The worried look on his face, the same pleading look the night he got shot for her.
Carlos tapped Ramon, and they both looked on. Ramon dropped the tool in his hand and inched closer in case he had to break it up. Gat was stronger than Li. Li looked like she didn't want to be bothered.
"You should know, let. Me . go." She did not want to be touched, and Gat held on.
"No, tell me!" Gat was confused, and now worried, because he needs to know if something really happened between them.
"I don't have to tell you shit! You been doing the same shit for years, and now you don't know what you did. No, what you do!" She wrenched away, but Gat had a grip on her.
It was hard for Li to breathe. She had felt her chest burn; she wrenched away again. He still wasn't letting her go.
"What did I do? Just tell me what the fuck happened!"
His worried face infuriated her. Li snarled and dropped to the ground. Bringing her leg up caught Johnny in his stomach, flipping him over onto his back with her on top of him. She quickly rolled out of the way.
"Aye Jefa you ok?" Ramon called out. Carlos was really confused. Ramon waved him back.
"Yes!" Li answered. Seeing Gat getting up, he was on his feet and coming to her.
"Mom and Dad are fighting?" Someone said within Carlos' earshot. Ramon shot a nasty glance that set them quiet.
" ¿Qué pasa, necesitas, mi ayuda? " Ramon asked.
Li shot back as Gat approached her. " No, sólo necesito darle una lección a esta perra."
Gat stopped for a second and looked at her. "When do you speak Spanish?"
Li rolled her eyes. " Amugeosdo mikkeuleojiji anhseubnikka? " Seeing he was now caught up, she turned to leave once again. " Jigeum jib-e gaya haeyo. "
Gat paused. "You understood me?" The realization that he majorly fucked up struck him.
" Dangsin-i malhan modeun geos-eun ihaehaessseubnida! " She spun right back to face him when she shouted at him in Korean. "Every fucking time." Ky pulled out her phone, heading to her destination once again as she dialed Aisha. "Ish, I'm gonna kill him. I cannot deal with his ass right now!"
~
"Fuck, is that supposed to mean Ky, huh? When the fuck did you speak Korean and Spanish?"
Aisha heard Johnny shouting on the other end.
"We'll be right there. We're on our way." Aisha hung up, she was stuck in traffic and she couldn't move if she wanted to, her and Ren were close.
~*~
Johnny wasn't going to let her go without answering him. Kyouki really wanted to hit him. "I heard and understood, from day one! And you knew I spoke Spanish. Oh, and you obviously don't know me well enough. Now go home!"
Gat paled, he thought back. He remembered he said some things, knowing, no thinking, she would never understand. "You lied to me!"
Li shook her head. "No, not telling you is not a lie. It was a need to know. You ain't need to know!" Screaming back at him.
"I think I had every right to know, as well as…" He stopped himself.
The distance that they had the gap was closing faster as Kyouki was now in his face. "Who? Troy? Dex or Julius? Who Johnathan, just who needed to know about me? I decide what you need to know, well guess what buddy you know now!"
"What else Li? Wait, Li isn't your real name, is it?"
"God, you are so gotdamn infuriating!" She screamed again. "GO HOME!" her voice echoing through the garage.
~
They crowded around them. Others went to get Shaundi and Pierce. When they had come outside to catch their bosses screaming at each other, Aisha finally pulls up with Ren, with Li and Gat still going at it.
"I never had to tell you anything. Also, I didn't ask for this. I was happy, but then you go telling me how horrible Troy is. Why couldn't you just leave it, me alone?"
Aisha put her hands on Li's shoulders and tried to back her up to push her to the apartment. "No, this it's my fault for coming to save your ass!"
"Kyouki, you don't mean that." Aisha said worriedly, their beef needed to be squashed.
Gat hated hearing Tory's name. He hated Troy so much that if he didn't want to remain on Li's bad side, or end up back in jail, he had to bite this bullet. "Because… Thank you and Fuck Him!"
"Real mature dipshit, I should have let you fry!" Li patted Aisha's hand, she looked at her friend, apologetically, she then looking at Ren she rolled her eyes to Gat, staring at him, tilted her face higher in defiance, " {Ni zhidao ni qian laoban de weizhi Xiuying?} "
Gat ground his teeth. How much more did he not know, and she was looking at him challenging him, Aisha was pleading with her eyes to just let Li vent. That would not be good enough, not for Johnny Gat. He needed answers.
Ren looked at her and answered politely. "Yes, he is..."
Li raised a finger, stopping the girl. "{ Xiàng nǐ māmā jiào nǐ dì nàyàng shuō. }"
"{ Shì de, fēi ěr mò ěr de dōngběi tǎ. }" Ren nodded.
Li listened to the girl while she glared at Gat. Least she found out where the Ronin leader, Shogo, is living.
Gat and everyone around them didn't know what to say. Aisha was stunned as well. Li swallowed thickly. This wasn't how this should have gone. She needed not to be angry, mad at herself for getting that angry. Allowing Gat to get under her skin was not what she needed going into this. Turning, she left them all; they watching her back as she well away from Johnny.
They all looked at Gat. It mortified him. All these years, just who was Kyouki Li, their Boss, the Leader of The Saints?
Ramon watched Li walking away as he approached Gat. "You good?" He called to the man.
Aisha had held his arm, petting him to soothe him and bring his focus to her. Hoping to calm him down. She felt his muscles tighten beneath her fingers. Veins rose to the surface. Johnny's fist balled as he jerked from Aisha's hands, then ran after Li.
Everyone was screaming for him to stop. He reached Li; she heard screaming and turned around. Seeing Gat charging after her, she stood her ground. When he was close, she took a deep breath. Grabbing him by his wrist and stepping out of the way, Kyouki reached and pushed the center of his wide back, sending him stumbling into the wall.
Li backed up, and the others parted. This was happening right now.
Aisha was pulling Li back. "Ish, I suggest you move. Protect Ren."
Gat came charging again. Li took off running, clearing people out of her way, leapfrogging over others. She shifted her weight, countering Gat, swinging him into the open garage. "Shit!" people were scrambling out of the way.
"JEFA NOT THE CARS!" Ramon shouted. Gat landed on the hood of her Hayate.
"YOU FUCKER!" Ky screamed, charging after him, grabbing him by his shirt collar, pulling him down with her, and she tossed him back out onto the pavement. She ran back out, raising her heel as she aimed to bring it down on his head.
Dazed for a second, he rolled out of the way and grabbed her ankle, thinking he would bring her to the hard ground. She landed in a split and swept her free leg around, kicking Johnny near his head when she twisted to her stomach. He grunted, kicking him with her heel as he let her go when she caught him in the cheek.
Getting to her feet, she panted. Johnny checked his jaw, opening his mouth, tasted blood and spit it out. Li waited for him to get up, with tears in her eyes. She was angry, and she meant only some of what she said to him. He came after her again.
Li kicked out quickly, and several pointed out her stance. Looked like something out of a fighting game. She was coming towards him with a flurry of kicks, backing him up. Gat couldn't get close, and he was furious. Li raised her hands above her head and exhaled, switching stances once more to back him up and away from her.
The Saints cheered and oh'd and pointed, the Lieutenants they were confused, and no one dared to try to get in the middle of that. Aisha was holding onto Ren, Aisha knew and she couldn't do anything. She's not a fighter. Gat and Li were airing out their differences, so to speak.
Gat once more charged her, Li blocked his fist, and he was hurting her forearms. She blocked her head, and he was backing her up. Johnny reared back and Li had him.
Grabbing his forearms, she twisted his arm, turning her back to him, gracefully flipping him once more onto his back. She put her fist to his throat. "Stay down, joesonghabnida ." Her voice wavered. She was dripping sweat, her eyes wet, tears dripping onto his face. Li quickly backed away, walked her way through everyone, heading to her small apartment.
Sitting up panting, none of them could see Gat burning a hole in the back of Kyouki's head. Aisha went to him and placed her small hands on his shoulder. "Johnny?" he jerked away, ignoring her as he pushed past everyone. He needed to think.
~*~
Everyone dispersed, speaking of the chaos they witnessed. Aisha followed Kyouki's path, going after her, with Ren right behind her. Looking up the street, seeing Ky stop talking to someone in a black sedan just as Kyouki was about to get in. "Ky wait!" Hurrying to catch up. Li looked to see Aisha was calling her.
"Give me a minute. Park there." Gesturing to the vacant spot by the driveway she came from.
"Ky, what happened?" Aisha looked her over. "Your hand." reaching seeing her knuckles bloody and her hand swollen.
Li pulled her hand back. "I'm fine. I'm about to go get it looked at… I'm fine." Li gently placed a hand on Aisha's.
"No, you're not, and if you were, neither of you would bleed or fighting."
Li looked at the car, holding up one finger. She breathed deeply. "Listen. I'm mentally not in a great place. It's not your job to fix a grown man who throws temper tantrums and goes drinking and coming to another woman's home unannounced in the dead of night ranting about the Venom." Her brows knitted, she went to say something, then stopped.
Aisha agreed silently, "It's not your job either. Nor is it the reason you're so hostile. Talk to me." Ish pleaded.
Li swallowed. "Gat just… I was happy Ish… even with him lying to me, I went to work and I was blissfully ignorant.." her eyes felt wet as she confessed. Li just sighed, shaking her head. There's no time now for her to be normal.
It confused Ren as she listened on; she thought that they were tight, and who was she referring to? The girl wasn't sure if she should say anything, but her curiosity got the better of her when hearing her speaking her Mother's language. Excusing herself, she prodded. "You speak Mandarin, cause that's bitchin'!"
Li smiled softly. "Yes. Among others, but no time for stories now." Turning back to Aisha, shrugging. "I don't know which pissed him off more. Maybe finding out everything he had ever said, I understood, or he thought maybe he'd get away with it." Aisha agreed, looking at Li's hand every so often, causing the woman to hide her hand that rubbed on the fabric of her jeans was causing her pain.
"I'm not sorry for some things I said. I meant them. And you're right, I didn't really mean letting him get the chair would have been a good idea. I would miss him." Li flinched. Her left hand was throbbing.
Aisha couldn't say anything, nodding she took and held Li's right hand, giving it a firm squeeze, taking her to the car waiting for her. "I will still stand by what I said. I will see you later. Come over?"
Li shook her head. "I'll call you. I cannot be around Oshiri right now. Got other shit I still have to deal with too soon. I'll be by."
Ish pursed her lips. "You have to 'work' together. You cannot avoid him forever. I'll talk to him, though." Aisha opened the car door helping Li in. "You take care of her, or she'll kick your ass." Ky laughed that sounded more like a sob when she slid into the passenger's seat. Aisha leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Call me when you get home."
Li nodded. "I will… see you two later." Ramon pulled off with Li, heading to the clinic.
Watching the car pull off, Aisha and Ren headed to Purgatory. "I thought you all were friends." Ren questioned, hearing the stories that were told about the three of them, seeing firsthand the fighting. It was unsettling.
"Good friends fight, honey, but this is something different. And not for me to tell." Aisha entered the mission house, they cleaned it up some, much better from what it used to be. Li was back at it with the big plans to set Stilwater right. They wove through the building to the underground hotel that served as the Headquarters of The Saints.