by T L Brevis
Finally, after what seemed like eons of Saisho Waru basking in his own ego, he had finally reached the foot of the stairs. He was sure to emphasize his last step down as much as possible.
Saisho Waru was immediately swarmed by a large crowd and graciously greeted many as he slowly made his way across the massive room. A man followed directly behind him no matter where he went. The man smiled and laughed whenever the crowd did but stood out as he was following Waru so closely, the two might as well have been Siamese twins.
This continued for a few minutes, with Hiroshi and Makoto trailing behind the crowd at a close distance, but blending in best they could as well. They were waiting intently, hungrily for the moment they had planned for, and it finally came. A small window of opportunity that they had to take full advantage of.
Hiroshi and Makoto stepped up to Makoto’s parents who had been somewhat near to Saisho Waru’s current location. His parents had presumably arrived sometime after they had, as they had not been spotted by Hiroshi and Makoto until that very moment.
“Oh hello, Makoto, oh and Hiroshi too! I'm glad to see you two made it here alright,” said Makoto’s father as bombastically as even the likes of his brother in his current moment of glory.
“Glad to see you did too, mom and dad. I-I think we should go and find uncle and say hello to him now,” replied Makoto innocently, concealing his malicious intent much like Hiroshi was.
“Good plan Makoto,” replied his mother warmly. Hiroshi ended up being correct about her. She had light blonde hair and bright green eyes, the latter of which her son obviously inherited while getting his jet-black hair from his pompous father.
With that, the four began in the direction of Saisho Waru. It did not take long, and when they were about five meters away from the crowd that surrounded Waru, it was clear his enthusiasm did not waiver even the slightest bit from what it was minutes ago.
The four clung close to each other and made their way through the large crowd, yearning to reach the prize that lay in the middle. After about a minute of uncomfortably close contact with strangers and countless uses of the phrase “excuse me” the four were finally an arm's-length from Saisho Waru.
Saisho Waru’s eyes lit up as he laid eyes on the four of them, and without wasting a moment began speaking to them in his usual booming tone.
“Make way! Make way! My brother and his family have arrived, and oh, is that you Hiroshi? Feeling better after that incident young man?”
“Y-Yes. Thank you for asking sir,” replied Hiroshi timidly and courteously, while quickly switching his view from his feet to Waru’s slanted arch-shaped eyes.
“That is wonderful. Well, how do the rest of you do? I know you were thinking of opening that hotel in the south side brother, very good area I'm sur-”
Just then, Waru was cut off by the man who had remained behind him for all of this time, now digging a sharp, lengthy needle into Saisho Waru’s neck. Saisho Waru was stunned for a few seconds as the man stood there smirking, then a look of anger came over him and he began to shout at the man.
“Genichi?! What on earth is the meaning of this?!” shouted Waru. The man smiled and turned to escape, to no interference from the horde that blocked his path seconds before, but before the man could escape, he was stopped by a full squad of four security guards meters from the exit. He was tackled to the ground and he began to bluster that they unhand him immediately, but the muscular men did not flinch in the slightest.
However, back where Saisho Waru was standing proud and cheerful not even a minute prior, he was now sprawled across the floor, barely moving and breathing, eyes wide and terrified. Hiroshi looked down at the man with Makoto, both putting on shocked and horrified exteriors, but inside Hiroshi was overcome with ecstasy.
Within a few more seconds, the movement stopped and the light breathing followed suit. Saisho Waru was dead, and as for the reaction, pin-drop silence accompanied with jaws extending downward to their limits. All anyone could do was stand there, looking down with terror at Saisho Waru, without moving any more than he was, while Hiroshi hid a smile, staring down at the man with glee.
∞
“At long last that escapade is over. Waru was a terrible man, and what a disgusting man the other one was as well,” said Hiroshi.
“Oh, you mean the one that you had ‘kill’ Waru? I was wondering about what his crimes were, care to enlighten me?”
“He was one of Saisho Waru’s employees. He was leaking information to opposition, and ordinarily, I would be all for that seeing as it would only hurt the scum he was working for, but besides that, Makoto told me something else about him. He apparently got away with killing his sister when they were still children. He had mental health issues for most of his life, and so the court ruled in his favor. Murder of innocent people is inexcusable, and judging by his sly and disloyal behavior in present day, it looks like the mental illness truly wasn’t to blame after all.”
“Interesting. Oh, and where is that boy, Makoto? Does he not usually come to see you around this time on Tuesdays?” asked Kaito, sounding disinterested while his slouched posture and eyes being fixated on his laptop screen attested to that notion.
“Well, after our mission on Sunday, his parents have been forcing him to stay with them during the grieving process. He naturally will be playing the role of a heartbroken nephew during this time. Simple enough for someone like him, who has been faking his entire personality since the age of five,” responded Hiroshi coolly.
“Speaking of which, is someone like that truly to be trusted? He could be revealing your little ploy to his parents at this very moment,” said Kaito, this time turning to make eye contact with Hiroshi.
“No, he wouldn’t do that. Besides, if he did, he would also have to reveal his involvement in the mission if he intended to not leave the information terribly vague and unbelievable,” said Hiroshi, breaking the eye contact the second he began to speak, focusing his gaze on his clean bare feet.
“Well, what if his parents wanted Waru dead the whole time for inheritance money, life insurance, or something along those lines?”
Hiroshi gritted his teeth and began to clench his fists slightly before lashing out.
“He would not do that. He has given up everything for this mission to be a success, can’t you give him that much credit at least?!” yelled Hiroshi, shooting his head up to meet Kaito’s earnest expression, raising his tone significantly.
“Alright, alright. If you trust him, Hiroshi, I will do so as well. It is about time we make our numbers more even to Owari’s I suppose. There would be no harm in it either way. Anyway, just enjoy this victory for the time being. As previously made clear, do wait for a decent amount of time before taking on the next one.”
“I will. Also, thank you for getting us the poison we needed, and handing it to that man. It was a big part of our success after all,” said Hiroshi gratefully.
“Well, let this be the last time I provide you help for the remaining missions you have, before the hiatus at the very least.”
∞
“Has Kaito altered his training methods finally? Or has the boy caught on to something?” wondered Mugen Ito.
“Whatever the reason, Ito, it is yet another case that did not harm us, and yet again benefitted us. By now, I think you realize my excitement about putting all of the resources we have built up into our operation,” said Toyo Takahashi.
“You are correct, and yet again, the boy unknowingly aided us. If this goes on for longer, even if the authorities truly do not catch on, it would be of no harm to us. The boy is essentially working for us the same way we intended him to when we attempted to obtain him. How amusing?” said Mugen Ito.
“Yes, but this quick leap in attention to detail and competency is still quite disconcerting to me Ito. I think we were quite brash to label them a non-threat if they played into our hands once more. If my counterpart or Kaito at any point catch on that they are being of h
elp to us, that knowledge alone could be of concern to us,” said Naoto Watanabe.
“Perhaps you are correct Naoto. For a compromise, Suzuki, keep your eyes out for any deaths for the coming years. You are incredibly skilled at pinpointing exactly which ones could be Noromi related. So, do tell us, as per usual, who Kaito or his boy have killed. Just to be on the cautious side, however, we are not to act on any of these, and will not need to, since any coming deals will not be of significant importance to us for it to matter. So we do not particularly need anyone to live, as I stated previously. We will not make the same error as before,” said Mugen Ito.
“No problem Ito,” Sosa Suzuki replied simply, not even adjusting his gaze from his laptop screen, as per usual.
“Will that suffice, Naoto, and everyone else?”
“Yes Ito, thank you. At least keeping tabs on them will be well worth it in the long term,” said Naoto Watanabe.
“I agree,” pronounced Shoji Tanaka.
“Good, it seems all are in favor. In summary, we will now put our full focus towards the launch of our operation and keep tabs on who our counterparts are disposing of in the name of caution. That concludes this Owari meeting. Dismissed.”
∞
“Alright Makoto, now that your family has officially finished with the grieving process for that criminal, will you join me in future missions as you promised? You would be a great help to me if you accepted,” said Hiroshi with a tiny smile to his new-found ally, standing face to face with him in yet another dainty motel living room which Hiroshi and Kaito had just arrived at hours before.
“Of course, furthermore it is now summer vacation and as I said before, my parents are letting me stay with you, on the condition that they are able to meet Kaito and confirm a few things with him. They say that due to my uncle’s sudden death, I need to experience more things and really enjoy my childhood. Our plan to end that man seems to have killed two birds with one stone.”
“I see. Well, I'll make sure Kaito tells them that we are traveling across Japan frequently and make that an excuse for the constant change of motels. I suspect that will be a good enough excuse since they will most likely jump at the idea of you having even more experiences, am I accurate in that assumption?”
“Well, I think you’ve nailed my parents there,” Makoto said with a smile. “However, I would like to ask about something,” said Makoto returning his expression to a stern one.
“Do you have any other comrades besides Kaito? He does not seem to help you in these missions all too much and will just the two of us truly be nearly enough to complete the future ones?” asked Makoto, now in a worried tone.
“Don’t worry,” said Hiroshi, widening his smile and putting his hand on Makoto’s shoulder.
“We will be more than enough. If you’re worried about being found, Kaito’s coding and hacking abilities are unmatched and he constantly works on implementing his newest software onto all of our devices and programs we use for our missions. In regards to completing missions, I'm sure we will get more difficult ones from Kaito as time goes on. But I managed for the longest time alone, and with you, we can accomplish much more, and who knows, we might even get more comrades along the way, much like how I did you. Don’t get hung up on it. We will most definitely do just fine.”
“Y-Yea, I guess I should have more confidence in us. I'm sure we’ll manage decently at the very least, and make those police investigators you mentioned not connect the dots on our missions,” said Makoto, now with a wide smile on his face, looking thankfully at Hiroshi’s equally bright expression.
“Alright. I don’t really have much more to talk to you about regarding serious matters. Kaito and I were meant to go out for dinner around this time though, would you like to join us? If I've picked one thing up from all of this, all work and no play is not an ideal combination in the least, and furthermore, you should get to know us more if we’re to work together in the future regardless.”
“Yea, sure. My parents are not expecting me back for a few more hours so why not.”
“Alright, perfect timing, I was just going to suggest the same thing,” said Kaito who had just appeared at the edge of the corridor leading to the living room.
“Alright, that settles it then,” said Hiroshi, hopeful for the future with these two.
Chapter 14
“Lord Ito, here is your next assignment,” said a man dressed in all black while handing Mugen Ito a few sheets of A4 sized paper, kneeling on one leg and bowing his head.
“Thank you as always, Kyuso. Ah, the sophisticated and simplistic art of hand-written word seems to have gone obsolete in recent years. I suppose I am quite old-fashioned myself for preferring to accept jobs in this manner. I have been for decades after all. Notwithstanding, I do seem to be quite loquacious at the moment. You may leave, Kyuso. As per usual, have my next task ready for me at the designated time,” Mugen Ito finished.
The man stood from his kneeled position, only to fall back to the same level by bowing down to his waist towards the man now already swiftly stepping away in the opposite direction, out of the dimly-lit black room.
∞
“Oh? So the Yataro family of the Yakuza have hired me to assassinate their competition, and to get them a little bit of a bonus in the process. Very interesting indeed, they do seem to be quite the recurring customers,” Mugen Ito muttered with a smile after setting down the sheets of paper he had thoroughly gone through multiple times.
Mugen Ito reached forward to his black desk to grab his cellphone, an old model under an old brand hardly anyone used those days. He dialed numbers on it in rapid succession, as if he knew the number through and through like it was part of his muscle memory, then held the phone up to his ear when he was finished. Ringing began, but did not last for more than two seconds before Mugen Ito got an answer.
“Hello Ito,” said Sosa Suzuki disinterestedly into the phone, not different from his usual tone of speaking.
“Suzuki, please dial the head of the Yataro family for me and connect him to my phone line.”
“Will do Ito.”
The sound of ringing re-entered Mugen Ito’s ears once more as he waited patiently for a response, and although the process of receiving one was longer, eventually, he got what he desired.
“Hello, Tanimoto Yataro,” Mugen Ito said immediately after the ringing ceased, not giving his client any time to open the conversation.
“Hello. Oh, looks as though the voice changer has altered your tone once again. I suppose that and not providing your organization’s name, or even yours is quite necessary for this kind of work.”
“I’m glad we understand each other. Allow me to fully confirm what it is you are asking of me.”
“Please proceed.”
“Well, it looks as though you would like me to assassinate the second in command of the Matsu family, your fellow Yakuza branch. This man also happens to be the son of the leader of this family. Interesting. Intelligent move, the leader is old and has been grooming his only son to inherit the family. And if his son dies, with the geezer expiring soon after, that family will be all but finished, not just because of the bloodline ending, but because of the fact that there are quite literally no other options that could take control quickly and effectively enough.
“However, you also want their vast amounts of resources, something you would have to compete with the other families to obtain if the Matsu family did go into disarray after the old man’s death, with his son not being around to inherit it. So you somehow wish to obtain all of those resources without having to sacrifice much of your own in the aforementioned inevitable bloodbath that would ensue if the Matsu family crumbled.
“In summary, you wish for the Matsu family to be destroyed, and for you to reap all of the benefits from it, without sacrificing much yourself, and without causing more conflict within the Yakuza families.
“Luckily for you Mr. Yataro, I have quite the solution to your
issue, something well within my reach and simple enough to achieve. I simply need you to list out all of the families you are neutral with, despise, and are allied with, of course including your affiliations with the Matsu family. From there, I will take care of the rest, with you only having to follow my instructions for how to clean up.”
“Do give me a few days for completion as a certain upcoming arrangement I have is quite pivotal to complete this assignment.”
∞
“Hello Mr. Yataro!” exclaimed Mugen Ito jovially.
“Good morning Ito, cheerful as ever I see,” Tanimoto Yataro responded.
“Well yes sir. Anyway, let’s get right into business already!”
“As impatient and excited as ever as well. I still always wonder why you choose to spring these deals on all of us so randomly. Good god, you’ve been doing it ever since my father ran the family, haven’t you? How does a man like yourself manage to remain so spontaneous for over a decade on end?”