Kazoku

by Tara A. Devlin

  Ren put the papers down on the table with a pen.

  “Just sign them and that’s it. We’ll be gone and we’ll never bother you or the boy again. I don’t give a shit about either of you. I really don’t. I just want you to sign. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “I can’t—”

  “Just sign them!”

  Ren’s sudden loud voice caused her to jump, but it also had the adverse effect of making her shut down. She didn’t respond well to threats. I’d seen people like that before. The more you threatened them, the more their bodies and minds shut down. Even if she wanted to sign the papers, she couldn’t. Not while she was trembling and terrified. But against my expectations, she looked up. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but she set her jaw and narrowed her eyes.

  “No.”

  “…No?”

  “I won’t sign them.”

  Ren turned to look at me, flabbergasted.

  “She won’t sign them.”

  “I heard.”

  “Get out of my house.”

  “Listen, ma’am—”

  “Get out!” she screamed, more insistent this time. Kame grinned and took a step forward, but Ren placed a hand across his chest.

  “C’mon, boss, let me handle this. Just a few minutes.”

  “Keep it in your pants, simpleton.” Ren picked up the tea cup from the table, downed its contents, and then placed it neatly back on the saucer.

  “Good tea. Real good tea. We’ll be back again tomorrow for some more.”

  He shoved Kame through to the kitchen and then down the hall. Toshiki and Eita ran after them, leaving me alone in the room with Haruko.

  “You really should just sign the papers. He won’t give up.”

  She shook her head. I looked around the room one last time and glanced at the altar. Nothing there. Nothing at all.

  “I’m sure your husband wouldn’t mind if you—”

  “Just go.” She cut me off. I lowered my head and followed the others out the door. Kame leaned against the wall, arms crossed and vein throbbing by his temple.

  “You’re gonna die of a heart attack by 30 if you don’t get that under control,” I said as I passed him. Everyone filed into the elevator as it arrived. He gave the apartment a lingering look as the doors closed and the elevator started to descend.

  “…What the hell is this?”

  The boy from the night before sat on a chair in the boss’s office the next day. Ren shrugged his shoulders while Kame grinned triumphantly.

  “I took matters into my own hands. She won’t sign the papers, well, we’ll make sure she’s got some incentive to.”

  I looked at Harada, dumbfounded. This was what we’d been reduced to? Kidnapping children?

  “You cannot be okay with this?”

  Harada continued writing, not even looking up from his desk. “I’m not fond of it, no, but if it works…”

  “If it works?” I stormed over to Kame and lifted him by the front of his shirt. His feet dangled helplessly beneath him. “You kidnapped a boy from his mother!”

  “From his school, actually…”

  “Yotchan, put him down.” Harada’s voice was calm and even. I shook Kame again for good measure. “Yotchan!” This time he put his pen down and looked up at us. “Unhand the man.”

  I let him go, and he dropped to the ground. It wasn’t enough to wipe that stupid smirk from his face.

  “This isn’t how we do things, sir. You can’t just—”

  “Yotchan.”

  I fell silent. The look on his face said there would be no arguing.

  “I understand you find this despicable. As do I. I greatly dislike separating a child from their parents. Why do you think I took all of you in?”

  Ren leaned against the wall in the corner, the only other person in the room. All of us lost our parents at a young age. Of all people, we were the ones who should have understood just how wrong this was.

  The boy, Rai, scribbled on some paper before him, seemingly unbothered by the situation. Just because he wasn’t, didn’t mean I had to be as well.

  “I’m taking him back to his mother. We can get her to sign the papers without resorting to kidnapping and blackmail. We—”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” Harada interrupted. “The boy is fine. I’ve no plans to harm him. In fact, I dare say by the look of him he’ll be better off here for a while. At least he’ll be fed.” Harada shook his head, as though lamenting the boy’s lack of nutrition and healthcare.

  “Sir, this isn’t—”

  “Enough!” His voice boomed, so loud that even the boy jumped. Kame’s shit-eating grin grew even larger.

  “Getting soft in your old age, Yotchan?”

  I grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him forward.

  “Say it again.”

  “I said—”

  Ren stepped forward and placed a hand between us. “Alright children, I think that’s enough excitement for one day.” He pushed Kame back and turned to me. “We’ve got this covered, alright? The boy’s here, nothing we can do about that now. Once the mother realises, she’ll sign those papers and we hand the boy back, no harm, no foul. It’ll all work out and nobody needs to get hurt.”

  The look on Kame’s face begged otherwise.

  “Go take the afternoon off. Relax. Blow off some steam.” Ren wiped some imaginary dust off my shoulder. I shrugged him off and turned to Harada. There were so many things I wanted to say, and all of them boiled down to “this isn’t right.” Instead, I took my leave and stormed out of the room.

  They were right. It was done. Now it couldn’t be undone, and it would undoubtedly force the woman’s hand.

  But that didn’t mean that I had to like it.

  07

  Kazumi’s fingers drew lazy circles on my chest, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

  “I don’t like it,” I said.

  “Like what?” Her dark eyes looked up at me, threatening to swallow me whole.

  “Taking the boy to force his mother’s hand. I don’t like it.”

  Kazumi continued tracing imaginary figures on my chest. “So do something about it.”

  I scoffed. “What am I supposed to do? If I take the boy back to his mother, I’ll be a traitor. It’ll be my head instead.”

  “So then don’t take him back. Surely there are other ways to deal with it.”

  The farmers on the ukiyoe print opposite us seemed to be mocking me. The biggest problem they had was whether there would be enough rain to raise their crop, or too much rain that would destroy it. They didn’t have to worry about gang wars, individual relationships, extortion, kidnapping, bribery… They just had to worry about keeping their farm running each day. Sounded like a dream, to be honest.

  “What am I supposed to do, exactly? It’s done. I told them not to do it, and they did.” Well, not they, technically. Kame. That asshole. He did it because he knew I didn’t like it. I didn’t know what he had against me, but this time he’d gone too far. He’d brought an innocent child into the mix. The one low I swore I’d never stoop to. Now he’d forced our hand and the boss didn’t care. He just wanted the woman to sign that bloody contract. There were ways to go about it that didn’t involve kidnapping small children. That made us no better than the thugs that roamed the streets of Rakucho, the colour gangs, or any other punks out there.

  “Harada trusts you, doesn’t he?” It was strange to hear Kazumi speak his name so casually. I didn’t dare ask why she could say his name with such ease. They knew each other. Who cared how or why.

  “I don’t even know anymore.”

  “Just talk to him. He’s not an unreasonable man. Stubborn, yes, and maybe you won’t be able to do anything this time, but if anyone can get through to him, it’ll be you, Yotchan. His favourite son.”

  I raised an eyebrow at that.

  “What?”

  “…Favourite son?”

  She grinned. “I’m a woman. I know these things.”
<
br />   “Sure…” Even if that were so, how would that help me? This was a business matter, not a family matter. It wasn’t like I was asking him to come to my wedding on the same day his favourite wrestler was fighting. This was his business. Our business. The one last thing keeping him from achieving his goal.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Kazumi pushed herself off the couch and grabbed a familiar bottle of whiskey. She poured two glasses, handed me one, and sat down in front of her computer, naked as the day she was born.

  “Of course.”

  “What do you think about…” I trailed off. I didn’t even know Kame’s real name. The Harada clan wasn’t the biggest family around, but we were hardly small, either. Plenty of guys I only knew by face, and no doubt plenty more I’d never even met before. Not until they were unfortunate enough to cross paths with the boss for some reason.

  “About…?”

  “…The guy that came in here the other night. Kinda short and stocky. Small beady eyes and long neck.”

  “Daichi?”

  “That’s his name?”

  Kazumi glanced past her computer and smiled. Huh. Kame suited him better. Turtle bastard.

  “Why do you ask?” she continued.

  “He was the one who did it. I told him to leave it alone, and he didn’t.”

  “And now you want to know if you’re justified in punching his lights out?”

  That wasn’t it, no, but it would be a nice bonus. Kazumi stood up from the desk, drained the rest of her drink, and got dressed.

  “I think,” she said, slipping her underwear on, “that like the rest of you, he is scared and looking for something to hold on to. Whatever it is. He seeks acceptance, but he’s scared. He wants friendship, but he’s angry. He needs a family, but he doesn’t know how to let them in.” She pulled her shirt over her head and sat down next to me on the couch again. “I think he’s a scared, angry man who’s willing to do things even he never dreamed of to feel like he’s part of a larger whole.”

  “…Are you talking about him or me?”

  “Who do you think?”

  I narrowed my eyes, and she leaned forward to kiss me. “You’re much more handsome than he is, though.” She smiled and closed the distance, planting a soft kiss on my lips before she stood up again. She threw my pants and shirt at me and I got dressed myself.

  “I think you should be more concerned about the mother right now,” Kazumi said, pouring another quick drink and slamming it down.

  “The mother?”

  “Uh huh. As soon as she realises her entire world is missing, there’s no telling what she might do. Yakuza or not, there’s nothing as fierce as a mother torn from her child. She’ll do whatever it takes to get him back, there’s no doubt about that. But it might not be what you’re expecting.”

  Her words didn’t make any sense. I wasn’t a mother, I wasn’t even a father; I couldn’t fathom the idea of bringing a child of my own into the world and trying to raise it. I was the last person who should be dealing with children.

  “Do you think we’re in trouble?”

  Kazumi laughed unexpectedly and shook her head. “Don’t underestimate the woman, is all I’m saying.”

  Don’t underestimate the woman. The vision of her sitting on the couch in her living room was fresh in my mind. Hands clenched tight around a handkerchief in her lap. Head drooped forward, eyes refusing to meet anyone. The shoulders of her frail frame slumped forward. The fire in her eyes when her boy stepped out of the room and Kame stepped towards him.

  The fire in her eyes.

  “Do what you feel is best, Yotchan.” Kazumi’s words brought me back from my thoughts. “I think you know what’s right and wrong here.”

  I did. But that didn’t make things easier.

  08

  Kame, Toshiki, and Ren waited outside Harada’s office when I arrived back at headquarters. The boss was dealing with an important client inside, but had made the summons for us to join him after.

  “Oh look, if it isn’t Pretty Boy. Must be nice to get through life on your looks, because it’s certainly not your business sense.”

  “Daichi, knock it off.” Ren cut him off in a no-nonsense tone. He leaned against the wall, a cigarette hanging from his lips and his eyes closed. A patented Ren power nap. He didn’t like those being disturbed.

  “Knock what off? I didn’t even say anything.”

  Just looking at him exhausted me. “Where’s the boy?”

  Toshiki pointed inside. Still in the boss’s office.

  “Why? Got a thing for children now?” Kame didn’t know when to stop. I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. He laughed, his shit-eating grin getting wider, not smaller.

  “Yotchan. Leave him be.”

  I slammed him into the wall again. “No. I’ve had enough of your shit.”

  “Why? Because you can’t push me around, big boy? How about using your words, huh? I know you have those. ‘Ugg ugg, me big. You puny. Woman, cave, now.’” His laugh pierced my ears like a shrill bird. I slammed him again, knocking the wind out of him. “Oh, no, my bad. It wasn’t women, was it? It was small boys. Yeah. That makes a lotta sense, actually.”

  I pressed my elbow into his throat, enjoying the choke that escaped. Ren opened his eyes and sighed.

  “Put him down, Yotchan. The boss is entertaining a guest. If he comes out here and finds you making a fuss, that’s all our asses.”

  “No,” I growled. “I’ve had enough of this fucker. I don’t know what your problem is, but you and me are gonna sort this out right here, right now.”

  “‘You and I’,” Kame choked. “It’s ‘you and I’.” His grin grew wider and my hands found their way around his neck of their own accord, squeezing tightly. I slammed him into the wall again, the grunt of pain as his head banged into it fuelling my anger further.

  The door to Harada’s office opened. Toshiki stood ramrod straight and Ren seemed to transport himself instantaneously from his spot behind us to in front of us, creating a human wall with Toshiki to block my hands around Kame’s neck. A man in a business suit bowed deeply and exited in the other direction, not once even turning to acknowledge us.

  “Yotchan. Unhand him,” Harada said, his tone neutral. He was unbothered by the sight before him. “And all of you, get inside. Now.”

  The boy sat on a different couch, drawing in a new book and munching on a sandwich.

  “Sir, I still think—”

  “No-one is paying you to think right now, Yotchan, so shut it.” Kame’s laughter next to me set my blood on fire. “And you too, Daichi. I’ve had enough of this childishness. You’re here to get a job done, nothing else. Whatever your personal spat is, get the fuck over it.”

  “Sir, he was the one who—”

  “I said enough!” His voice boomed throughout the spacious room. The boy, Rai, jumped on the couch. Harada grinned apologetically at him. “See. The boy is fine. He’s been very well looked after. Far better than his mother ever did, I dare say…”

  I clenched my jaw to stop the words threatening to spill forth from my mouth. That wasn’t the point, and he knew it. This was a slippery slope. We did things differently here. That was why I respected Harada in the first place. No drugs. No prostitution. No kidnapping. Nothing that directly harmed people. Business espionage. Protection racketeering. Bribery. All of that I could deal with. But stealing a young boy from his mother to get the deed to her apartment so we could build a new entertainment complex was just the start of a very slippery slope, and once we were all on that slide, there would be no getting off. I didn’t like where it was heading, and I didn’t want to get on it to begin with.

  “Alright, now that you children have your dicks back in your pants, I want you to listen carefully. This is dirty business. I get it. It’s not what I wanted either,” he stopped to look at Kame, standing there with a stupid grin on his face, “but it’s where we’ve ended up. Nothing we can do about t
hat now, but it has given us the advantage. I received a call from the mother.”

  Kame turned to look at me, as if to say, “Told you so.”

  “She was most distraught, but she has agreed to our terms. Ren, I want you and Daichi to remain here with the boy. Remember, no harm is to come to him, but the woman is in a fragile state right now. We need to make sure she correctly signs everything before we hand him back over.”

  Ren nodded silently and cast a glance at me.

  “Yotchan, I want you and… What’s your name, son?”

  “T-Toshiki.”

  “Right, you and Toshiki go and get the woman and bring her back here. She will sign the papers in front of us, we’ll seal the deal, she gets her boy back unharmed, everyone wins.”

  Sounded like the only person winning here was Harada.

  “Now go on, hurry up. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can send the happy family on their way. Go on. Get.”

  Toshiki stepped outside, and I followed him. Ren fiddled with his loose pants, hiking them up as he went to sit next to the boy. Kame’s eyes narrowed in on the gun jutting out the back of his belt.

  A bad feeling swept over me like a storm. Dark clouds had already brewed and could no longer be stopped. All we could do was attempt to withstand what they threw at us, and not everyone was going to get out unscathed.

  “Come on,” I said to Toshiki. “Let’s go get the woman. The sooner this is over with, the better.”

  09

  The mother, Haruko, trembled in the back seat of the car.

  “So, uh, what do you do?” Toshiki trembled beside me. His attempts at conversation went ignored. He swallowed and laughed nervously. “Hey, look, it’s the Tengoku Building! I sure would love to go up to the lookout one day, I hear they have great views!”

  Silence filled the car. We drove through the outskirts of Rakucho towards HQ, and Toshiki’s valiant attempts to kill the awkward air surrounding us did nothing but make it worse. Anger filled the woman, but also fear. I could damn well near smell it when she opened the door for us. Like a haze hanging over her entire apartment, seeping into her skin the longer she sat there. She wanted her boy back. That was it. Nothing else mattered.