“You’re with Chobei?”
It seemed a stupid question, but it was all Jun could think to ask. The man laughed darkly and took another swig. He seemed pretty drunk already. But then, it had been a rough day for everyone. “Unfortunately. You guys hiring?”
“If we survive this. If you want to get on The Rock’s good side, saving his life would be a start.”
“Gotcha.” He took a last swig and put down the bottle. Then he held his gun out to Jun, handle-first. “Name’s Tamazaki.”
“Jun. No, thanks, got my own.”
“Of course. There were eleven of us. But I figure it’s down to seven. Six of them, without me.”
“Alright,” Jun said, removing his piece from his waistband. “Then let’s—”
He was interrupted by the sound of an explosion as a second blast rang out from above.
All sense of plot and strategy left him then, and suddenly Jun found himself leaping over the prone man and sprinting towards the source of the blast.
Towards the danger.
Towards Vasili and Kameko.
Satoshi pressed himself against the wall and shielded the side of his face facing the flames with one arm. Even then, the waves of heat radiating off the flaming island in the center of the room were almost unbearable. He put on his respirator and mask, but took them off right away when they fogged up.
“Satoshi! Come on out of there, buddy!” he could hear Masa yell through the roar of the flames.
If there was one saving grace, it was that it sounded like Masa had moved further away. Probably into the kitchen, where the counter would give him a semiprotected vantage point to fire from. So the good news was that he couldn’t hit Satoshi from that angle until Satoshi broke cover. The bad news was that the inferno behind him meant that he’d have to break cover real soon.
He glanced over at the fire. Flames were shooting out from the bar island now. They poured straight up until they reached the scorched ceiling, where they rolled out to either side. But even more pressing than the oven-like temperatures in the bar area was the river of fire that was making its way towards him. He could hear bottles exploding from the heat, their alcoholic contents mixing with the melting glass to form a stream of red-hot glass and burning liquor. It was flowing across the floor towards him at about an inch a second. He had several seconds to decide what to do about that.
He considered throwing one of the barstools out and making a break when Masa fired on it, but he’d never make it. He glanced back through the flames and saw there was no way back that way without getting scorched. So between certain death and a probable maiming, he chose the latter.
Pulling his overcoat up over his head, he tore through the flames back towards the staircase. The flames licked at him with hellacious heat as he sprinted past. In another moment, he was through, and he began climbing the staircase. His overcoat was still smoking as he let it fall back over his shoulders. Off in the distance, he heard another explosion. No time for that now. He’d see what was up once Masa was dead.
He situated himself at the top of the staircase and waited. Masa would have to come up the stairs on the opposite side of the main floor. He had the exit covered this way and could pick off Masa when he emerged. He was a better shot than Masa from long range, so this position favored him.
He took out his handgun and checked the magazine before sliding it back into place. When he looked up, he saw Masa sprinting for the bar against the back wall, then diving behind it for cover. Shit. There went his advantage.
“There’s no way you come out of this alive!” Satoshi yelled. “I’ve got the better position!”
“Hah! I’m used to working from worse positions than this! I practically live here.”
“You know me. You know what I can do. Do you really think I’d allow you to live after what you did to Hisoka?”
“Is it really any different than me and Sachiko?”
“How can you even compare the two? That was totally different.”
“Was it? Seems like we’ve both ended one another’s relationships. But, hey, shit happens between friends, right?”
Satoshi felt his blood boiling. He struggled to maintain his calm and keep the bar area covered in case Masa tried anything. Or slipped up.
“How long, Masa? How long are you going to play the victim?”
“Fuck you!”
“Yeah, you had it hard growing up. Don’t act like you’re the only one. Hell, you’re not the only one in this room. You don’t get special treatment. You don’t get to act the way you do, hurt people the way you do, kill the way you do.”
Masa laughed a harsh, mirthless laugh.
“Yeah, and who taught me to hurt people? Who taught me to fight? You did. You set me on the Path. You put me on this road. Turns out the Path isn’t a straight line, it’s a circle.”
“If I had known it would lead you here, I’d have killed you myself back then.”
“You don’t … you can’t …”
From the tone of Masa’s voice, he knew that had hit home. Good. Masa got himself under control quickly, though. He was always quick to recover.
“Maybe you should have killed me back then. But let’s face it, you could never pull the trigger. You were always soft, Satoshi. Always needed someone like me to do what you couldn’t. Even as you held your nose at what I had to do, you needed me to do it.”
“Enough with that.”
“No, it’s true. I fucked up too. I let you tell yourself these little lies. But you can’t anymore, can you? The veil has been lifted and you see things for what they really are now, don’t you?”
“I see you for what you are.”
“Then you know what I’m going to do next.”
“You’re going to die.”
“Ha, no. I’m sure by now you’ve got the stones to do it. But you’d still have to pull it off somehow. No, here’s what happens next. You’re going to die here. Then I’m going to head north to handle some unfinished business. After that, I’ll make it my personal mission to kill everyone you love. Everyone. You won’t be around to see it, but somehow you’ll know. And you’ll finally understand the cost of your cowardice.”
Satoshi felt his rage building, but he knew that was what Masa wanted. The second Satoshi let his rage control him, the battle was already lost.
Not getting his desired effect, Masa continued.
“I mean, look at you! You can’t even kill me yourself. That’s why you brought me here. Let your foster daddy do your killing for you!”
Satoshi kept watching from his position. Suddenly he saw motion from behind the bar. Masa made a break for it, and just as quickly, Satoshi aimed and fired at the whorl of movement. But when Masa went down, Satoshi realized it was just his jacket. Masa must have weighted it down and thrown it towards the exit. The three bullets Satoshi had put into it dead center probably told Masa everything he needed to know about Satoshi’s intentions.
“Huh. Maybe you do have the stones for it.”
“Step out into view and let me show you.”
“Naw. Because all I have to do is stall you. Chobei and his men are upstairs now, which means Vasili’s probably already dead. The time when weak men like you and Vasili could prosper are over. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but only sharks can survive in these dirty waters now.”
“Bullshit!”
Satoshi’s defiance didn’t last long. Just then, another explosion rattled the building.
“That sounded serious! I wonder if Vasili’s already dead, or just about to die? More blood on your hands, Satoshi. Seeing as how you were too busy trying to get revenge to do your duty.”
Satoshi heard screaming from up above now. A woman’s screams. Kameko.
He didn’t know anything that scared Kameko. Except maybe losing Vasili.
He stood there torn.
Masa could make this standoff last as long as he wanted. Long enough for whoever was upstairs to kill Vasili, then find them down here.
Hating himself with every fiber of his being, Satoshi made his decision.
Chapter Eighteen
Jun and Tamazaki snuck up the stairs. Jun didn’t like how much Tamazaki was swaying on his feet, but he figured he’d at least make a good target for Chobei’s men to draw their fire. Nothing personal, just pure, cold tactics.
He peered into the dance floor upstairs from the stairwell. Chobei and his men were all concentrating on setting up the next charge. Jun was about to slip into the room when one of the men ambled in front of the door. He had his back to the stairs and failed to see Jun and Tamazaki. Jun traded his gun for a knife and stabbed the man through the back of the neck. Whisper-quiet. Except for the gurgle of blood that came out of the man’s mouth. Jun dragged him into the stairwell.
“Alright. They’re distracted. I’ll slip in along the far wall and flank them, you stay here. When I’m in position, I’ll signal. Then we cut them down from beside and behind. Got it?”
Tamazaki nodded.
“Good.”
Jun slipped along the wall, staying low and moving fast. Before long, he was behind the speakers at the front of the room. He found a position behind a large amp on its side and was about to give the signal to Tamazaki.
But something stopped him. A sound coming from the far stairwell, by the door to Vasili’s office. Kameko.
One of Chobei’s men dragged her into view through the doorway, then threw her on the ground.
Fuck. They couldn’t fire now for fear of hitting her in the middle of it all. He held up his hand for Tamazaki to stand down. They’d have to pick their spot carefully.
Chobei grabbed Kameko by the hair and dragged her to her feet, holding a gun to the side of her head.
“Vasili! You fat motherfucker! You invasive, fucking … snakehead! We’ve got—what’s this bitch’s name?” he asked his men.
“Kameko,” someone said.
“We’ve got Kameko out here!”
No answer.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t care either if I were you! I think I’ll toss her to my men, let them have their way with her while you listen. Maybe you—”
No, don’t do it, Jun thought. Stay inside where you’re safe. I’ll figure something out. I won’t let them hurt her. I’ll …
It was no use. As these thoughts went through his head, Jun heard the mechanical ratchet of the door lock sliding open.
The door swung inward.
And Vasili Loginovski stepped out into the open.
“Let her go, Chobei. It’s me you want.”
Chobei smiled. A shit-eating grin if ever Vasili had seen one, but one of triumph.
“It is you I want. But I’ll kill her too. I’m surprised you came out. I figured you would have sent that mute little monkey of yours out with guns blazing.”
“He’s not in there.”
“We’ll see.”
Chobei motioned to two men by the door. They drew their weapons and walked into the office. A few moments later they returned, shaking their heads.
“There’s a vent or something in the far wall. Must have slipped out.”
“Well, we’ll find him. Check him.”
They patted Vasili down. “He’s clean.”
The room was starting to get hazy now, as smoke filtered up from the fire below.
“So anyway, picking up where we left off,” Chobei said brightly. “Now you’re going to watch as my men fuck this bitch to death, then I’m going to—”
“I don’t think so, Chobei. You’re going to die. Right here and now.”
Chobei smiled at that, then he began outright laughing as he drew his gun.
He looked around at his men, and they began chuckling too.
Then he looked back to Vasili and shot him in the gut.
Kameko screamed and struggled.
Vasili grunted, but stood his ground. A slick of red blood began seeping through his white shirt. He glanced down, then back up.
“No,”
Vasili said.
“No?”
Chobei asked.
“No.”
Kentaro raced through the city as fast as traffic would allow. Even with a siren it could be painfully slow to navigate the congested streets of Tokyo. But now it was pure torture. Mei was almost ready to start offering money to the people whizzing by on motorbikes until she found one to take her. The two of them didn’t exchange any words—only the occasional worried glance.
When they finally drew up near the AJX Building, they found the streets around it clogged with people. They looked like office workers milling about, talking worriedly and pointing up at the building. As Mei got out of the car and looked skyward, she saw why.
The building was on fire up towards the top. Third floor from the roof. Club Hyperion.
“It’s on fire,” Kentaro said, a look of sick concern on his face. “I can’t even …”
“Let’s go.”
Mei grabbed his wrist and began dragging him through the crowd. She glanced up to see flames billowing behind the melting glass from the forty-fourth floor. Smoke was starting to pour out.
After frantically shouldering their way through the crowd, they finally arrived at a cordon set up around the building.
“Everyone stay back! Get as far back as you can!” shouted a fireman by the barrier. He held up a hand when they approached. “Everyone back!”
“We’re police,” Mei said, showing him her badge. “Let us through!”
“That’s a fire,” he said. “Which means we’ve got jurisdiction. And it’s not safe to go up there.”
“Just let us—”
“We’re handling it. Step back, ma’am.”
“Did you get the people out of there?”
“Everyone’s been evacuated from the building.”
“From the club?”
He looked at her for a moment, then spoke into his radio.
“Hey, did you find anyone up in the club?”
“Forty-sixth floor,” Kentaro said.
“What about the forty-sixth floor?” he said into the radio. “Do you know for sure that someone’s up there?” he asked Mei.
“At least three that we know of. Probably more.”
“At least three,” he said into his radio. “Okay, they’ll check it out,” he told Mei. “I have to ask you to stay here.”
Mei looked up anxiously.
The roof she had stood on just this morning was going up in flames.
Jun glanced to Tamazaki to get his attention but saw him whispering to someone in the hallway. Had Jun been tricked?
This thought was playing out in his head when he saw the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun emerge from the stairwell. It was followed by Satoshi. Jun smiled. Satoshi pumped it to chamber the shell and aimed it at Chobei. One of Chobei’s men took aim at Satoshi, but Tamazaki emerged next and aimed straight for him.
“Tama? What the fuck, man?”
“Not doing this anymore. Not with this lunatic.”
Chobei’s other man was raising his weapon when Jun stepped out into the open and took aim at him. Noticing the motion, he turned to face Jun.
The only people who didn’t seem to notice the standoff all around them were Vasili and Chobei. They were already locked in a standoff of their own.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“You don’t get to kill me.”
Chobei smiled, then shot him again in the gut.
Vasili took that bullet too but didn’t flinch. He began walking forward.
“You are an unworthy embarrassment, a burden and a failure. I am The Rock.”
Chobei fired. Higher this time. Vasili grunted, but kept moving, gaining momentum.
“You are nothing. You don’t kill me.”
Vasili was almost on him now. Growing panicked, Chobei aimed for Vasili’s head. But Vasili was too close. He pushed Chobei’s arm away and the bullet went wide. Vasili snapped his arm
like a twig. Chobei wailed and let go of Kameko with his other hand. She fell to the ground.
“I kill you!”
With that, Vasili drove his thumbs into Chobei’s eyes and picked him up like a shrieking rag doll. Vasili shook him until he was able to get a good hold, then snapped Chobei’s neck. He tossed the limp body to the floor, then collapsed to one knee.
Kameko crawled over to him. Vasili would have pitched forward, but she caught him and eased him to the ground as best she could.
One of Chobei’s men surveyed the damage done to his boss.
“Holy fu—”
he started to say, before he was interrupted by a bullet to the throat. With Kameko and Vasili out of the line of fire, the others opened up on Chobei’s remaining men. They were cut to pieces where they stood.
They converged around Vasili on the ground. Kameko had been able to roll him onto his back, and he was now staring up as they gathered around him.
“Hey, Satoshi … you made it,” he said, then began coughing.
Satoshi nodded. “I did. I brought Masa. But he got away.”
“Shit …” Vasili coughed up blood. “Happens.”
His shirt was sopping wet now. The puddle of blood around him indicated a level of blood loss that would kill a normal man. He needed medical attention immediately.
“Don’t try to talk,” Jun said. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“We’ve got to hurry,” Kameko said. “Before the fire reaches the second floor.”
It took the four of them to lift the big man up. Satoshi and Jun working together were able to dead-lift him and begin lurching towards the stairwell. They haltingly moved him down the stairs as smoke stung their eyes and burned their throats.
They were able to get downstairs. Fortunately, the fire hadn’t cut them off from the elevator yet. They were about to enter the curtains by the entrance when a figure emerged. It was a firefighter with a full mask on, wheeling a stretcher out.
The smoke was too thick to talk now, so they wordlessly lifted Vasili onto the stretcher and pushed him to the elevator. As the doors closed, Vasili weakly raised his head to see his perch on the top of the world go up in flames. He closed his eyes and soundlessly mouthed something.
Tokyo Noir: The Complete First Season Page 77