Chapter Nine
Beneath the Mask Part 2
The steaming hot ramen noodles and broth entered Akira's mouth and immediately made his eyes close and brought a smile to his face. His mother made some excellent ramen in her own right, but this was far beyond anything he had previously thought possible. The strong taste of the beef and vegetables in the broth mixed with the thin, soft noodles like a perfectly orchestrated symphony in his mouth, his trance only interrupted by Ann emitting a similar, yet more verbose reaction.
"Mmmmmm!" she crooned from across the table, her smile as bright and warm as the morning sun in Spring. "This might be the best ramen I've ever had!" Ann exclaimed. "God, I don't know what kind of seasoning or what quality beef they put in this, but it's just divine!"
Shiho, while more proper and quiet then her friend, let out a satisfied hum in her throat as well as she began eating. "This really is wonderful," she remarked with less gusto than Ann, but her satisfaction was apparent all the same. "This hotel must have one amazing kitchen staff."
Ryuji, on the other hand, let out some kind of moaning growl deep in his throat. "Every bite," he began before slurping down more noodles, "just gets better and better! I can't believe I haven't come here for dinner yet. This is incredible!"
Smacking her lips and slupring up more noodles, Ann added, "You know, this night may have been kinda shitty, at least compared to how Shiho and I planned it, but this totally makes up for at least a bit of it. Akira, you're an angel," she smiled at him playfully as she picked up a roll of sushi with her chopsticks.
"Uh, thanks, Ann," Akira replied with at least some confidence. "I'm glad you're all happy," he nodded and grinned.
"But then again," Ann continued, "how do you even live here? Sakura-san isn't your dad, so where are your parents?"
"I'm also curious about that," Shiho added. "I mean, this is an incredibly nice, and likely equally expensive apartment. You live in an expensive, exclusive hotel penthouse. How did you come to be here in the first place?"
"Would you believe that I'm the descendent of a shogun?" Akira deadpanned.
"Nope," replied Ann.
"Not at all," said Shiho.
"What the hell, man?" asked Ryuji after swallowing a large roll of sushi.
Akira nodded apathetically. "Yeah, that wasn't gonna fly." Akira finished his bowl of ramen and placed his chopsticks on the table. He wipe his mouth with a napkin and looked to the floor. "Well," he began, "I did promise that you'd hear after dinner was done. As long as Ryuji is up to it."
"They were gonna find out eventually," Ryuji ate another roll of sushi then shrugged, leaning back in his seat with one leg over the other. "Might as well."
"Find out what?" asked Ann with eyebrow raised.
Ryuji smirked. "You haven't already guessed?"
Ann paused for a long moment, smacking her lips and glaring at the floor. "I have," her eyes came back up to meet his, "but I didn't like it. I didn't want to believe you went down that path after getting kicked out of school."
Ryuji shook his head, his smirk disappearing. "It's not exactly what I had planned either, Takamaki. But I will say, how I got swept up in this mess is a hell of a lot less interesting than our mysterious friend over here," he pointed his thumb to Akira.
"Really just gonna make me start us off, huh?"
"Like I said, yours is more interesting." Ryuji turned back to the girls. Ann stared at him inquisitively while Shiho wiped her face with a napkin. "You're right about us, Ann," he began in a dry tone, but not one without a sharp undercurrent, like a rusty knife hidden under an elegant jacket. "We're yakuza."
Shiho's eyes went wide and Ann's gaze became darker, narrower, focused on Ryuji. A spark of nostalgia started within the blond young man as he saw Ann's expression. It was one he had received many times when they were young, growing up in middle and high school together. Ann would flash him a very similar expression whenever he said something off-color or stupid, which was frequent back then.
"I heard Kamoshida allude to something like that back at the club," she began, her voice stable, calm, but icy, "and had my suspicions given how you both were dressed, and especially when we got up to this freaking penthouse, but…" Her voice trailed off, and to Ryuji's complete surprised, her disapproving glare softened. The blond girl looked… sad.
Akira leaned forward in his seat, trying to read the situation as to garner whether or not Ann was about to run and hide or call the police or both. "Please, Ann," he said, "let us explain."
"Ryuji," her saddened eyes shot up to meet his, "I know we weren't, like, close or anything, back in school, but when you got expelled, I really was sad about it. I've always been sure you did something stupid, but I was also sure you did it for the right reasons."
"Uh, thanks?"
"And I hoped that you were going to end up doing something better!" she quickly exclaimed, to everyone's surprise.
"Ann, please," Shiho interjected, "try to calm down—"
"Calm down? I'm sorry, but this is really important, Shiho." She turned back to face Ryuji, who's feelings about the situation were imperceptible. "I don't know what exactly happened with Kamoshida, but I really hoped it could get you down a good path. Maybe go to a new school or something, get a good job! Not like… like this."
"Ann, please!" Shiho frantically added again.
"Wait, Shiho," Ryuji said. "Ann's fine, really. I honestly didn't think you'd care that much about how I ended up." Ryuji rubbed his face with his hand as if waking up from a deep sleep. "But you're right, it didn't take long for me to end up in this business after I left, but I'm not supposed to be the one telling the story. It's not as interesting as Akira's anyway. Don't you wanna know how we got set up in a swanky place like this, anyway?"
"You're just throwing me under the bus, you know that?" Akira remarked.
"Hey, I'm your senior in this biz'. Don't talk back to me, greenie."
Ann rolled her eyes at the boys. "Fine, we did say we'd let Akira talk, I guess." She folded her arms and sat back in her chair. "And… sorry for getting worked up, all of you," she added. "I think I'm still super stressed over the whole night."
"It's totally fine," Akira nodded.
Ryuji smirked at Ann. "And like I said, I appreciate it, Takamaki. Really."
Ann nodded and smiled faintly.
"Please, Akira," Shiho motioned to him, "tell us, uh, whatever it is that Sakamoto-kun has been so coy about."
Akira gave Ryuji a sideways glance, to which Ryuji responded with a nonchalant shrug. Akira clicked his tongue and shrugged in turn. "Alright, guess I'm gonna be the chatty one now," he conceded. "Truth be told, it isn't a very long story, just a shitty one."
"Worse than ours?" asked Ann jokingly.
"Yeah, uh, no, not really," Akira shook his head with an awkward smile. "Basically, I'm as new to this area as you girls are," Akira began. "And I'm not really a yakuza. I got caught up in a bad situation involving one of them last week, and got pulled out here against my will."
"How'd it happen?" asked Ann.
Akira's disposition darkened. "I was walking home last Tuesday from the pier by my neighborhood. Some of the kids from my high school were out there having a party, drinking on the beach and stuff. Not really my scene, but I stuck around for a little while mostly just watching the guys chat up the girls. When I left, it was pretty late so there was hardly anyone out and about, which made it easy to hear this lady screaming." Ann and Shiho listened more intently at that.
"Only a couple streets from my house, I saw a guy grab a girl's arm as she was trying to get away from him. He was drunk off his ass and just getting more aggressive. She called for help and I rushed over, telling the guy to piss off home. The woman got more frantic and the guy got more confrontational, eventually lashing out at me. I punched him right in the nose and he fell on his ass. That's when the cops showed up."
"God," muttered Ann. "Did they arrest you?"
"They did. Don't have a damn clue what the woman was thinking, but she defended the asshat that was assaulting her instead of me, even while she had just been hiding behind me in full view of the police. They took me into the station and held me there for the night. As the cops took me away, I saw the douchebag that was assaulting the woman talking to a couple cops on the side of the road about... something. I don't have any idea who he was or what he was talking about, but when I finally got sent home, it was only a few days before I got taken here."
"Taken?" asked Shiho. "That sounds foreboding."
"Probably even more foreboding when I add that I don't even remember most of it because I was fucking chloroformed."
"What the hell!?" Ann exclaimed, standing up from her seat. "You're staying in the house of the man who chloroformed you!?"
"Well," Ryuji interjected, "technically Sojiro wasn't the one that did it."
"That's beside the point!" Ann snapped at him. "You were kidnapped, Akira! What about your parents? What happened to them? Haven't they been searching for you?"
"I actually talked to my mom this morning." Akira paused, and his next words came out slowly, harshly, like he had to put all his strength into pulling them out of his throat. "She said that she knew the whole time, that she knows Sojiro… That she was once a yakuza too." Ann and Shiho had no response, save for Ann slowly sinking back into her chair. Ryuji watched Akira intently from the side. "She didn't give me much info beyond that, but she did say that she trusted Sojiro with her life, and that the same goes for me."
Ann and Shiho looked to each other, confused and flabbergasted by what they had heard. There was an awkward silence over the room, as if a thick fog had descended on the dining room. Akira felt a tightness in his chest and gut as he watched the girls' reaction to his story. The recounting of the last week's events left him feeling clammy, agitated, morose. The story sounded even more ridiculous to him when said aloud.
"I guess," Ann began slowly, "that if anyone's judgment can be trusted regarding people, it's your own mom. If she trusts Sojiro, especially with her life like she said, then there could be some truth in it."
Shiho then said, "He did not seem like an evil man. But then again, we have been wrong before…"
"This ain't anything like that," Ryuji immediately replied, his tone stern and harsh. "The Boss is letting him live here now. If he wanted to do something to Akira, he would have just had one of the Family men take care of it."
"The fact that you're so quick to say that is scary, Ryuji," Ann muttered.
Ryuji was about to snap back at her, but refrained quickly, shaking his head. "You got a point, Takamaki," he admitted. "But there's just some things about the situation you wouldn't understand. Trust us though, you're safe here. Nothing remotely bad is gonna happen to ya anytime soon with any of our guys."
Ann glowered at him before responding. "How can you be so sure? You're criminals, for God's sakes!"
"And we've got more rules than you can imagine."
"Oh, wonderful!" Ann rolled her eyes. "At least you've got some kind of code of conduct."
"Hey," said the silky smooth voice of Sojiro from behind them, causing Ann to yelp, "something wrong, guys?" Sojiro asked before letting out a long yawn. "You sound like you're having an argument down here."
Ann whirled around in her chair, shaking her hands in front of her as her heart pounded in her chest like the drums of a metal song, with Shiho and Akira feeling the same as they watched. "Oh, w-we were having no t-trouble, sir!" she sputtered. "Just a, uh, lively discussion, that's all! I am so, so sorry if we kept you up," she bowed.
"Oh no, not at all," replied Sojiro nonchalantly. "I won't be going to bed for a while. But you kids sounded like you were getting pretty heated, so I came down to make sure nothing was up."
"Just a bit of a disagreement," Akira said. "Nothing serious to worry about, we're sorry for bothering you."
Sojiro chuckled deep in his throat. He raised an eyebrow and smirked at the young man. "Nothing serious, huh? You being chloroformed and taken here isn't serious to you?" The four young adults did not respond, only stared as if they had been caught with elicit magazines or drugs. "Oh, come on, kid, did you think I hadn't heard any of your arguing or story time? These old ears aren't completely gone yet, you know."
"Sir," Ryuji stood to his feet and bowed, "please do not be offended by us. We're all tired and tonight has been very, uh, complicated."
"Hoo boy, don't I know it, Sakamoto," Sojiro sighed. "But stop bowing, dammit. You're not at risk of getting grounded or something. Sit down, kid, and finish your meal." Awkwardly, with an embarrassed blush, Ryuji did as he was told. Sojiro sighed again. "Girls, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about any of this. I assure you, you're both completely safe here, as is Akira. And yes, I've known his mother for, god, her whole life basically. I'd trust her with my life, and she'd do the same for me."
"They're just words without proof," Ann muttered.
"Ann!" Akira glared at her.
"No, no, kid, it's okay," said Sojiro. "She's completely right, it's just hearsay to them, and they have every right to be suspicious. However, there was something I wanted to discuss with four of you before you went off to bed."
"Huh?" Shiho asked, bewildered. "What do you need us for? We're not yak—uh, your employees."
Sojiro smirked at Shiho. "It's okay, Miss, you can say it. I won't get too offended, promise." Seeing Shiho and Ann only appear more anxious at that, he added, "That was a joke." The girls both nodded awkwardly, with Ann letting out a sigh of relief.
Akira felt only more confused. "You said earlier that there was something you need to talk about with Ryuji and I. Is this related to that?"
"It is, yeah. But, it has to do with the girls as well, so I figured they might as well hear it too. And before you say anything," he looked to Ann and Shiho, "no, you're not in any kind of trouble with me."
"With you?" Ann asked. "Are we in trouble with someone else?"
Sojiro paused, looking over the four young adults, then turned around and walked to the counter, taking out a bottle of wine and pouring a glass for himself. "In all honesty, Miss, uh…"
"Takamaki," Ann said, "Ann Takamaki, uh, sir."
"Takamaki-san, gotcha," Sojiro nodded before taking a sip of the deep red wine. "And you, Miss?" he looked to Shiho.
"Shiho Suzui, sir," Shiho bowed respectfully.
"Ah, that will make things easier now," he took another sip of wine. "As I was saying, ladies, in all honesty, you may well be in trouble with someone. After you four left the Asylum, I had a sit down myself with Nakano-san, and he filled me in on all the trouble you got yourself and your friends into, Ryuji." Akira expected Ryuji to apologize and bow to the Boss, but instead he glared at him, then averted his gaze shamefully. "Nakano even had security camera footage of the whole scene between you and that 'Kamoshida' gentleman, as you called him among all the swearing."
"Gentleman?" Ryuji asked, his voice and mannerisms growing harsher by the second. "You call that guy a gentleman?"
"Let me finish," Sojiro said with a commanding voice that allayed any other response Ann and Shiho had for Kamoshida being referred to so respectfully. "I was going to say that causing a scene with the man turned out to be something of a good thing, Ryuji."
"For real?" asked Ryuji, completely baffled.
"Yup," Sojiro nodded, taking another drink of wine. "Nakano told you boys about the suspected kidnappings around the club, right? Well, turns out the guys who were with Kamoshida matched the descriptions given to him by some of the hostesses at the club. Nakano said that they'd received a couple reports about girls being aggressively hit on outside the club, even being followed around, and those guys looked exactly like how some of these men were described."
"'Some' of the guys?" Ann asked. "You mean there are more?"
"More have been reported, yeah. But the most important detail Ryuji inadvertently got for us was that one of the men with Kamoshida happened to match the description of one of the men said to be involved in the most recent kidnapping, almost down to the detail. He had a different haircut, but his face and build were exactly alike." Sojiro finished the glass of wine with a long gulp. "The night of the kidnapping, two girls reported being harassed by a man exactly like one of Kamoshida's buddies, and then they claimed to be followed by the same man, who had a buddy with him at the time. That night, one of the girls went missing, never showing up at her hotel."
"Oh my god," Ann said under her breath.
"That's terrifying!" Shiho exclaimed, feeling a slight sweat start to accumulate on her face.
"It's not easy to admit," said Sojiro in a dark tone, "but if you girls have history with this Kamoshida man, it seems that you may have been in more danger tonight than you had thought. We can't say for certain yet, but it looks like Kamoshida may be involved with these scumbags. I've already began an investigation to get them the hell out of my city," Sojiro said, nearly growling the last few words. He glared down at his nose, though not at any of his four guests. He took the bottle of wine in hand again and refilled his glass.
Ann shook her head disapprovingly after a moment. "You really care that much?" she asked vindictively. "You're a criminal too, aren't you? What does it matter to someone like you what a bunch of creeps are doing around town?"
Ryuji slammed a fist on the table. "The hell, Takamaki!? You really think we're all like Kamoshida!?"
"Quiet," Sojiro commanded. "As a matter of fact, Takamaki-san, I care about it quite a bit. I'll make this clear for all four of you: I know the kind of gruesome business men like them are into with an m.o. like this. I know what they do, what they're capable of." Until now Sojiro had spoken as calmly and cool as he had the whole rest of the conversation, but his tone then turned far more stern. "And I will not tolerate that kind of sadistic shit anywhere in my city."
"What do you mean?" asked Akira. "Do you know what they're all up to?"
"Not for certain, no, but there's not a lot of possible explanations when it comes to stalking and kidnapping beautiful young women. I've already assigned new security around the Asylum, and tomorrow the investigation begins. These men will be dealt with quickly, I assure you. But for now, we can't say for certain if the streets will be safe for you girls this time of night, so I've already gotten a room ready for you one floor down."
Ann had half a mind to protest, but she could not deny to herself that Sojiro had a point, and that she was already terrified of going back onto the streets again. She was still thinking over her answer when Shiho bowed her head and said, "Thank you very much for the hospitality, sir. Can you tell us what it will cost?"
"Not a damn thing, of course," Sojiro smirked. "You're taking shelter here, so I can cover one night free of charge for you. Your luggage is already being moved from your previous hotel and will be here within the hour. It'll be moved to your room for you, of course."
"Oh, that's far too much," Shiho insisted. "We have to pay you at least some."
Sojiro let out another deep chuckle. "It's already taken care of, so no you don't. It's on the house, and that's all there is to it."
Ann still felt incredibly apprehensive regarding staying in a hotel owned by yakuza, but she had to admit that this man seemed to wish them no ill will, and Akira and Ryuji seemed comfortable with him. Perhaps there was some truth to his words after all. "Alright," Ann nodded, "we'll stay the night." She stood up from her seat and bowed. "Thank you for everything," she said, "and I am very sorry if I offended you in any way."
"Heh, I'm too old and jaded to be put off by a few words. You're completely fine, Takamaki-san. Now, why don't you girls wrap anything you need with these guys and go check out your room, huh? Room 472 one floor down; the maid will let you in once you get down there and give you a key."
Ann brought a friendly smile to her face. It was forced, yes, but only slightly. "Thank you again, Sakura-san. We'll be on our way in a minute."
"Yes, thank you very much," added Shiho.
"Not a problem, kids. Now finish up here and get some rest, all of you. Ryuji, you can stay here tonight too if you like."
"Yeah, thanks, Boss," smiled Ryuji, seeming a bit more relaxed than he had been.
Sojiro nodded before yawning again, then took his glass of wine back upstairs, heading to his bedroom and leaving the four young adults alone again.
"Well," Akira remarked, "that went well… I think."
"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Ann held her head in hand, looking almost dazed. "We're staying with yakuza, Shiho! This is completely insane, to say the least!" She paused at that, her expression turning from angry and agitated to downcast, uncertain. "It's hard to believe this is all actually happening, and… that…"
"Kamoshida is back," Shiho finished for her, her eyes blank, her gaze unfocused. "I know… I really thought we were through with him."
"Hey, girls," Akira spoke up as sympathetically as he could muster, "I don't think this is a good time to be thinking about that, you know? It's been a long night for all of us, so we should try to go to sleep with clear heads, right?"
Ann and Shiho glanced at him, both appearing upset which caused Akira to regret trying to pep them up for a moment. But then their heads fell again, looking to the floor. Shiho sighed, Ann nodded. "You're right," the blond muttered slowly, "we really need some rest." Ann let out a small sniffle and then rubbed her eyes. "Come on, Shiho," she turned to her friend, "let's hit the hay."
Shiho stood up slowly, awkwardly, unbalanced. "Okay," she whispered. "I hope our stuff gets here soon. I'm beat."
"Me too, sister," Ann put a hand on her shoulder, "me too."
Akira and Ryuji stood up to walk them to the elevator. It was only about ten feet from the dining room but both young men felt a strong sense of sympathy for the girls, and with that came a desire to support them anyway they could.
"You girls gonna be okay tonight?" Ryuji asked in an uncharacteristically soft and somber tone.
Both girls turned around to face them after Ann called the elevator. Their eyes were already misty and red; it made Akira's heart hurt for them, and it only hurt more knowing that he had no idea how they really felt. "Normally," Ann began with a sigh, "I would make some kind of joke to deflect the tension, or just try to pump Shiho and myself up, you know? But… I know that I'd just be lying to you guys if I tried to act like we were totally okay. And frankly," Ann covered her mouth and let out a long yawn, two stray tears falling from her eyes, "I'm too tired to even try."
"I'm just as exhausted," added Shiho. "But thank you again for everything, guys. It really means more than you know."
"Yeah, for real," said Ann. "You've been great, so you two deserve some rest too."
"Thanks for that," Akira smiled and nodded.
"Don't think a damn thing of it," Ryuji smirked confidently, putting a hand on his hip. "We're happy to help, really."
Neither Ann nor Shiho could help but smile at their companions, giggling lightly to themselves. "We really appreciate it," said Ann with a wide, sunny grin.
The elevator dinged behind them and the door slid open. The four companions said their goodnights and the girls stepped into the elevator. With a final wave, the door closed, leaving Akira and Ryuji alone in the entryway.
Ryuji awkwardly whistled and shrugged his shoulders. "That almost got really rough, man."
"Yeah, I thought Ann was gonna beat up Sojiro immediately. Probably would have put a dent in the nice dinner atmosphere we had going."
"Yeah, no shit." With a tired slouch, Ryuji walked over to one of the seats in the foyer and sat down hard on it, sighing in relief as he made contact. "I think I'll just crash out here tonight, dude," Ryuji said as he folded his legs, practically melting into the chair. "No need to get all up in your space, I can just sleep on the couch over there or something."
"You sure? It doesn't look too comfy to me."
"As long as it's not the hard floor, I'm good." Ryuji closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Arms crossed and legs stretched out in front of him, he looked as if he was quickly drifting to sleep, until a familiar voice interrupted them again.
"Don't pass out yet, kid," Sojiro said from the top of the stairs, instantly stirring Ryuji to a proper sitting position. "We got some more business to discuss."
"Geez," Akira muttered, "are you just always eavesdropping on us, Sojiro?"
"Nope, just have good timing," replied the old man as he descended the staircase. "You can take a seat as well, Akira, as long as you don't fall asleep like your friend."
"I didn't fall asleep, Boss," Ryuji replied with a tired groan, "just was working out where to crash for the night is all."
"Uh huh," muttered Sojiro. To the left of Ryuji's seat was a two-person couch. Sojiro sat himself down on it and Akira followed suit awkwardly. He was barely used to being near the man, so sharing a couch with him was still uncomfortable.
Ryuji pulled out his pack of cigarettes from his inside pocket and put one in his mouth. As he grabbed for the lighter, he stopped himself and asked Sojiro, "Oh, you mind, boss?"
"Do you smoke any of the cheap shit?"
"Of course not. 'Old Cedar' premier line, sir. Never leave home without it."
Sojiro shrugged and sat back in his seat. "Fine, I'll let that brand slide. Just don't want to smoke up my home with peasant crap."
"I hear ya, Boss." Ryuji lit the cigarette he held in his mouth and took a long breath of it before blowing out a large, foggy puff.
"So," Akira interjected impatiently, "what more do you need to tell us right now, Sojiro? I thought you were ushering us off to bed."
"I'll be ushering you off to take out the hotel garbage if you don't watch your tongue, boy," Sojiro glanced at him dismissively. Akira did indeed watch his tongue. "I wanted to speak to you two about what we discussed earlier with your Kamoshida… acquaintance."
"Oh great," Ryuji groaned, "more about this asshole. Well, there goes my pleasant sleep tonight."
"Sorry if this puts you out of some rest, Sakamoto, but this is very important, trust me."
Akira and Ryuji looked to each other, feeling both confused and apprehensive. Akira sighed and leaned back in the surprisingly comfy seat. "Okay, I'll bite, Sojiro," he said. "What's up with this guy now?"
"One of the main reasons I'm investigating him thoroughly is what." Sojiro paused, his face darkening. This was the first time he appeared to be… uncomfortable to Akira. Little did he know, but Ryuji felt the same way. He had never seen any kind of discomfort from the Boss, and it only unnerved him more. "Hoo boy," he continued, "I wanted to make sure the girls were gone before we discussed this. Didn't need anything else weighing on their minds tonight."
"That's ominous," said Ryuji.
"I know about you guys being followed," Sojiro said, to both young men's surprise. "After my meeting with Nakano-san, I had Iwai and a couple Family men scope out the area around Asylum, and their investigation turned fruitful. Apparently, you guys were seen at the Don Quixote store up the street from Asylum, something about Ryuji here throwing a wad of cash into the air for no good reason."
"To lose the guys that were tailing us," Ryuji corrected with a self-satisfied grin.
Sojiro chuckled to himself. "An old trick, but you can't beat the classics, I guess. Anyway, it caused enough of a stir that people were still talking about it a half hour later, and Iwai just happened to have a talk with the clerk that saw you guys, and the two men that were tailing you."
"What did he say?" asked Akira.
"Iwai just asked for a physical description, nothing more. He paid the store manager for some pictures from the security footage, apparently he and Iwai were already acquainted, and the three of them went looking for the men. That's when I headed back here to let them take care of it."
"Did they find 'em?" asked Ryuji, now seeming fully awake.
"Iwai called me while you kids were getting dinner and told me that, yes, they did find one of them."
"Holy shit," remarked Akira. "How did they find him?"
"Apparently, they followed the angry cries of a young woman and found some rat bastard in sunglasses at night accosting her. Iwai dragged him into an alleyway and started asking questions. Who he was, what he was doing, the usual. Then he got to asking if he knew Kamoshida." Akira and Ryuji leaned forward in their seats. "The guy denied it, of course, which led to Iwai kicking in a couple of his teeth and having his men search all his belongings. They took his wallet, pocketed the obscene amount of cash they found, and then found the real interesting bit." Sojiro paused, his gaze falling to the floor. "A business card, for something called Castle Dungeon Films."
"Yeesh," said Ryuji, "sounds like some god-awful porn company."
"That's what I thought myself, but Iwai had… another theory."
"Ah shit," muttered Akira.
"He told me that he had heard of this company before, but only as an urban legend. He says they're into the real sick shit, the kind that would put their men on death row, or in the chair."
Ryuji was only getting more agitated, angry, and admittedly, frightened as Sojiro spoke. "Fuckin' hell, could that be the reason for the kidnappings?"
"That's our theory. Iwai, uh, detained the suspect and took him to a secure location. Says that it's a little adult entertainment business on the East side and that the man could be held there for the night while the manager… investigates the business card."
Akira shook his head, the thought of what would have happened to them if they had gotten caught was terrifying, unnerving, and anxiety inducing. But amidst all the fear, there was a part of him that wanted to talk to this degenerate for himself. "Can we go tomorrow?" he asked Sojiro.
Ryuji shot up in seat. "You want to go and talk to the guy?!"
"Don't act like you don't, Ryuji," Akira snapped back.
"I mean, hell yeah, I do, but you're just a newbie, only just had your first day!"
"That's true, Ryuji," Sojiro said, "but I agree with Akira. Hell, I was just thinking the same thing."
"Boss!"
"You're serious?" asked Akira.
"I am, I was just going to ask you two if you wanted to go with him tomorrow. It'll be early in the morning to avoid any kind of attention, though. You both gotta be out the door at five a.m. sharp."
Ryuji was about to protest again but held his tongue. It was not like Akira could not help stand up for himself or anything. If he were feeling really honest, he would admit that Akira was about as good a fighter as he was. "Fine," he nodded, "we'll both head down tomorrow morning."
"Of course you will," Sojiro stood to his feet. "Now, on that happy note, get some rest, it's already going on midnight. If you get the jitters either of the night, either of you, just shake it off and be up and dressed by five, got it?"
"How comforting," Akira snided, standing up to stretch his arms. "We got it, Sojiro, five a.m."
"Good." Sojiro stepped back onto the staircase. "Iwai will pick you up, and he won't be late. Just follow his lead and do as he says, those are your only orders."
"Yes, Boss," Ryuji replied.
"Sure," said Akira less respectfully. Sojiro did not reply, his only response being the shutting of his bedroom door. "Well," Akira continued, "guess we're really in it now, huh?"
"I guess so. I've heard about this adult store on the East side, though I've never been there. Sin Bin, I think it's called. Cheesy as all hell, but I hear they live up to their name with the kind of shit they stock. If anyone knows what the hell Castle Dungeon is, it's probably the manager there."
"Sounds charming." Akira stretched his arms again and started walking to his bedroom. "See ya in five hours, I guess."
"Yeah, you too," Ryuji sat down on the couch. "Hey, Akira?" he called after him.
"Wassup?" Akira turned around.
Ryuji paused for a moment before responding. "Keep a cool head, man," he said. "We'll be just fine, really."
Akira did not feel very receptive to such positivity, but he did appreciate the gesture. He nodded and replied, "Yeah, thanks, man. You too. Uh, sleep well."
"Heard that." Ryuji laid down onto his back and closed his eyes, and Akira closed the bedroom door behind him, locking out the rest of the world.
It was then that, amidst the chaotic storm of fear, doubt and anger that was whirling inside his head, he remembered the little box he'd been given by Ma. He went to the side of his bed and picked it up off the floor, still unwrapped and perfectly tied with a bow. The way Ma had described it, he expected it to be a good luck charm or something of that nature, and felt that was exactly what he needed at the moment. He undid the blue bow and opened the lid of the box, revealing a small, jade statue of a Japanese serpentine dragon inside. It was about the size of his palm in width, and the craftsmanship was undeniably excellent. He put the box down and picked up the statue. Examining it, he felt etchings on the underside of it immediately. He turned it over, and in the dim light of his room, could barely make out some Japanese characters. "ドラゴンの心臓 " it read.
"'Heart of the dragon'," Akira read it aloud. Did he know what it meant? No, not at all. Did he have any idea why Ma gave it to him? None all the same. But, there was something special, something elusively alluring about it. It felt royal to him, but also exuded some sort of sentimental value as well. He placed it beside his bed and lay down, for a moment almost forgetting the horrifying implications that awaited him the next day, but whether it be from pure exhaustion, the relaxing warmth of the ramen, or the influence of the gods above transferred through the little dragon statue, sleep soon took Akira into its cool embrace.
His sleep was dreamless, but it was a far better alternative to the nightmares he had anticipated.