#i kept misspelling stamina lol

[overdevelopedglasses]

Tojoctober Day 22 - Stamina

(So step on up to the plate)

Alt title is from “Time to Make History”, P4G's Battle Theme

A question is posed to the group: Who has the best stamina??? 

(No spoilers!)

—-------------------------------

“Alright then!” Majima stands up from his seat, slamming his drink onto the bar, drawing the attention of all of the occupants in the room. New Serena was a lot more packed than normal, and a cheery atmosphere was in the air.

“We’re really doing this, Majima-san?” Majima looks down at Kiryu, who was seated next to him at the bar. If anyone else was looking at the dragon, they’d think he’d be worried, but Majima knows the man better than most.

“We’re doing this, Kiryu-chan. Oi, you four!” Majima shouts, drawing the eyes of Saejima, Akiyama, and two others who Majima thinks he remembers the names of… Tanimura’s the one in the blue jacket, and Shinada is the scruffy guy… right?

“Who in here has the most stamina?”

“Well, it’s obviously me, brother.” Saejima laughs and takes a swig of his drink. “Have you seen me?” Saejima takes a moment to subtly flex, drawing a chuckle from his sworn brother.

“What about me?” Shinada pipes in, “I was a baseball player, you know. And I’ve kept up with my training all this time.”

“Well, it’s definitely not me!” Akiyama jokes, and everyone laughs.

“Why don’t we have a friendly competition?” Tanimura suggests. Everyone else nods in agreement. “But how do we test stamina?” Kiryu asks? “There are multiple uses for the skill, so how do we figure out rules for a competition?”

“I’d suggest a brothel, but I don’t think everyone here would be alright with that,” Akiyama says, with a bit of mischief coating his expression. “Besides, that’s a backwards use for stamina with this group.”

“Awww, c’mon!” Majima fake-whines, earning a jab in the ribs from Kiryu.

“Why don’t we do a footrace?” Saejima suggests. “We can use South Senryo Avenue, it’s pretty clear at this time of day.”

“But isn’t that a test of speed?” Kiryu inquires.

“Well, it could be, but what if we did the most amount of back and forth laps?” Tanimura answers, brow creased in though. “Whoever lasts the longest wins!”

“But that’s only one test of stamina. We've implied there are multiple uses for the shit.” Majima interjects. This was a harder question to answer than he initially thought. 

“What about the batting cages?” Shinada says, “Whoever lasts the longest in those wins?”

“Not a terrible idea, Shinada-san.” Akiyama replies, “Although I do feel like you have an advantage there…” “We’ll do the batting cages second then.” Kiryu says. 

“Alright. To Senryo Avenue?” Tanimura asks.

5 different pitches of agreement sound off, and all of the men rush out of the bar.

“Well, there’s already a problem.” Kiryu says, as they arrive at the entrance to the street, the Kamurocho sun providing some light, but not doing a lot to puncture the winter chill that had settled upon the group.

“Haw? What problem, Kiryu-chan?” Majima asks, giving the space a once over. The street’s pretty clear, as his brother had said. The ground is pretty smooth, too.

“The street isn’t wide enough, Majima-san” Akiyama saunters to Majima’s other side. “We can’t all go at once. We’ll have to race in 2 groups of 3. So… everyone partner up?”

The group splits apart, and pairs are quickly made. Majima decides to change it up from who he instinctually thinks of as a partner, and picks Tanimura. Saejima pairs up with Kiryu, which leaves Akiyama and Shinada together. The detective does make Majima a bit antsy, however he trusts in what Kiryu had told him earlier, that the detective wouldn’t sell out him or his brother.

“Alright, so… Kiryu, Shinada, and Tanimura, get ready. The rest of us, count how many single laps that your partner completes. When everyone’s done, we’ll swap and do the same thing.” Akiyama instructs.

Majima pulls his phone out, remembering it had a simple counter feature. He brings it up, and resets it to zero.

“Alright, gentlemen.” Majima walks out in front of all 3 of them. “Remember, yer racin for stamina, not speed. Get to the edge of Taihei Boulevard,” Majima points to the end of the road, “and then get yer asses back here, and on and on until ya can’t anymore. When ya think yer done…” Majima pauses, thinking for a second, “wave your arms in the air frantically until yer partner signals at you, and then get outta the way of the others.” Somehow, everyone agrees with what Majima is saying.

“Allllright then! On yer marks…”

The three men who are ready to race assume starting positions.

“Get set……”

Majima wishes he had some sort of starting gun with him. He’d shoot it at Kiryu to make him jump. As a prank… as you do.

“GOOOOOOOOOOO!”

With Majima’s shout, the three men were off. Majima has to jump out of the way quickly, as Kiryu almost barrels into him.

Majima takes his place between Akiyama and Saejima, phone with the counter in hand, as he watches Tanimura sprint to the end of the road, Kiryu and Shinada not far behind.

“Tanimura-san does realize he’s running for stamina, right?” Akiyama asks, as Tanimura is already running back towards them.

“I’m not sure. He’s really hoofin’ it though.” Saejima replies, as Majima inputs another tick on the counter.

Akiyama’s prediction was right, as Tanimura comes up to Majima shortly after, waving his arms in the air frantically. 

“Alright, alright, I get it, detective boy. Go take a breather.”

Tanimura pats him on the shoulder, then slumps against the building. “I… feel like… I did that wrong.” he puffs out, taking off his jacket to assist with oxygen intake. Majima almost opens his mouth to say that it won’t help, but shuts it when Tanimura immediately shivers and puts it back on.

“How are the others doing?” he asks, hands now crossed in front of his chest.

“Kiryu-san is on lap 5. Still going strong from the looks of things,” Saejima says. 

“That’s Kiryu-chan for you,” Majima says, smirking.

“Shinada-san is at lap 7,” Akiyama pipes in. “Can’t tell his condition from here though.” Majima sees the baseball player at the end of the street, who quickly turns to run back to the group. 

“How many laps did I get, Majima-san?” Tanimura asks, finally having regained his breath.

Majima looks down at his phone, “8. Not bad, but…”

“Fuck.” Tanimura breaths out, back slumping against the wall. The others laugh in response.

“Could do good at the batting cages though, Tanimura.” Saejima says, in an attempt at comfort.

“Yeah, if I’m this winded? I'll be surprised if I even hit a ball.”

"Don't have such a pessimistic attitude, Tanimura-san!" Akiyama replies. 

"I'm being realistic, Akiyama-san." Tanimura shoots back, standing upright.

"That borders on pessimism." Majima counters, and the two men bicker for a bit until Majima sees Kiryu begin to wave his arms in the air.

"Kiryu's done." Saejima said, showing the others his counter, which reads 16.

"16???" Tanimura exclaims. "Well, shit."

"That's our Kiryu-chan." Majima says with pride, as he rejoins the others.

"Phew… that takes a lot out of you." Kiryu says, hands on his knees, breathing heavily. 

"Ya need some water?" Majima asks with a touch of concern. He pulls a water bottle out of his coat, which Kiryu accepts happily.

"You didn't ask me if I needed water!?" Tanimura shouts.

"Yer a detective, I figured ya had some!" Majima counters.

Saejima laughs, "He also relentlessly dotes on Kiryu-san, so don't be surprised."

"HEY!" Majima shouts, smacking his brother in the shoulder, causing him to laugh even harder. Kiryu joins in the laughter.

"I always appreciate it, Majima-san," Kiryu says, "Tanimura, do you want some of my water?"

"Fuck you." Tanimura replies, sitting back down on the ground.

"Don't take it out on him!" Majima shouts, trying desperately to mask his anger.

"See what I mean?" Saejima says, laughing.

Shinada finally arrives, tapping out. Akiyama inputs his final lap.

"20! Nice work, Shinada."

Shinada crouches next to Tanimura, who gapes at the baseball star. “I guess you’re just built differently.”

“I mean, is anyone else here a former athlete?”

“I don’t think so. Nice job, Shinada-san.” Saejima says. “But, I guess it’s our turn.”

The pairs swap roles, with Akiyama, Saejima, and Majima all lined up at the start. Kiryu stands in front of them.

“Alright. Same deal as with us. You know how to get yourself tagged out of the laps. Just do the best you can.”

All 3 men nod.

“Ready…”

Saejima and Akiyama take their stances. Majima tosses his sheathed tanto to the side, causing Tanimura to jump slightly.

“Set…”

Majima takes his starting stance.

“GO!!!!!!”

The three men blast off from the starting line, and begin running up and down the street. Majima becomes keenly aware of the burning in his legs, but continues to push on. He does notice Akiyama tag out after 6 laps. Lightweight. Majima thinks.

“How ya doin', brother?” Majima shouts as he passes by Saejima on his 9th lap.

“Doin' alright. What about you?” Saejima responds as they pass each other again in the next lap.

“I can easily keep goin'!” Majima shouts on Lap 11.

“Don’t push yerself!” Saejima pushes Majima in the shoulder lightly, and then watches Saejima tag himself out. It’s just him.

Majima takes stock of his physical condition. His lungs now burn as well, and while Saejima just said he shouldn’t push himself, he’s on lap 14 now, and if he can get over 20 laps, he wins this section.

Well, at least him running all over Kamurocho a bunch since 2005 was now paying its dividends. 

He counts the laps in his head, and while he thinks he's at 20, he doesn’t want to run more laps to make it certain. He jogs back on what he thinks is Lap 22. 

“What’s my count, Tanimura? I’m pooped.” Majima slumps against a building, accepting the offered water bottle from Kiryu.

“24! Majima wins this round.”

“Fuck yeah.” Majima says, weakly putting a fist into the air.

The batting cage round essentially goes the same. Tanimura did predict his performance, as he taps out very quickly. Almost everyone also predicted Shinada winning the baseball round, but Majima came in a close second.

“Well, now we have an issue. Who has more stamina, Majima or Shinada?”

“Well, we needa third round, then.” Majima says. “We can’t pick it, though.” he gestures to Shinada and himself.

“I have an idea…” Kiryu says, and Majima sees a rare sight: Kiryu’s face is the one creased with mischief.

That’s because of course, he drags everyone to Karaokekan, pays for a room, and they all now sit around the screen, with Shinada and Majima holding two mics.

“So, who's up first?” Kiryu asks, Majima noticing the excitement beginning to glimmer in his eyes.

“I’ll go.” Majima stands up, and picks Get to The Top, singing in his own crazy way. While he visualizes a multitude of dance moves, he just focuses on the vocalization. The room cheers once he’s finished.

“Alright, Shinada-san. What do you have?” Akiyama pipes in as Majima takes a seat.

Shinada stands up, and belts out a pretty great rendition of Machine Gun Kiss, sitting down to another round of cheering.

“Alright, from here on, it’s a judge of quality as well. If we think you can’t do it, you’re out. We’ll be as impartial and fair as we can.” Kiryu instructs, and the other 4 men agree. “So, Majima, you’re up next.”

The quality judge is a harsh one. He can’t just pick random songs and scream anymore.

That means…

Majima scrolls over to the 80s hits, and picks the one he knows.

“Wait, Majima-san, you know that song!?” Tanimura asks with wonder in his voice.

“What’s that suppose ta mean?” Majima snaps, but not as harshly as he has before. Tanimura doesn't snap back, the song starts, and Majima almost slips into his 80s mindset with the song, but he resists. He finishes with a flourish, to uproarious applause.

“I think that passes, right everyone?” Tanimura shouts.

3 voices of agreement, and Majima sits with a smile.

“Shinada, you’re up.” Kiryu gives Shinada the mic that works. Shinada, not to be outdone, pulls up a song the gentlemen are pretty familiar with. Shinada also does a couple idol poses, giving the boys a good laugh. He passes the quality check, and Majima is up again.

“Ya have another one in ya, brother?”

“Course I do!” Majima says with a bit of an exasperated huff, and scrolls over to Pride From Despair.

“You sure you know this one, Majima-san?” Kiryu asks with a bit of concern.

“Ya don’t know all of my tricks, Kiryu-chan.”

Turns out, Majima had also learned the actual lyrics to the song, in the time since he and Kiryu had done this together. Kiryu watches in awe, as the other men, minus Shinada, shouted along. Majima ended, passed, and sat back down.

“Well, Shinada-san? You have one in you?” Akiyama asks.

Shinada sits for a second, and ponders for a bit, finally letting out a huge breath of defeat.

“Nah… Majima wins.”