Three Months Ago
"They were calling me by that name again, " said Tatewaki Kuno, masked vigilante of the lawless region known as the Nerima district of Tokyo. Although between his dark cowl, his black gloves and boots, his grey sweater and slacks, his black mask, his metal bat, and the two-horned helmet he was wearing, one could be forgiven for mistaking him for someone else. Such as a deranged psychopath.
"Indeed, sir, " replied Sasuke Sarugakure, short ninja sidekick of aforementioned vigilante. "If I may, I must admit that I find it to be a fitting name."
"But it is not the moniker that I have chosen to be known as, " replied Kuno, more than a little annoyed. "How am I supposed to properly terrify the members of the criminal underworld if they believe me to go by something as droll as 'The Bat Man'?!" he asked, waving the bat that had earned him said name.
"...Hit them harder?" suggested Sasuke.
"Hmm... I suppose that could work, " muttered Kuno. Pausing, he took a moment to look over the unconscious thugs laying on the warehouse floor in a rough circle around them. "Although I do believe that I have been hitting them fairly hard as is."
"And they seemed absolutely terrified of you once they realized you were here, " said Sasuke.
"Indeed, " affirmed Kuno, grasping his bat tightly in a gloved hand. "But were they terrified enough? I seek to reform these lowly criminals by making continuing their lives of crime a prospect too horrifying for them to consider. I ask you this: will we see these men again?"
"...Possibly, " admitted Sasuke. "Although I suspect that their injuries shall keep them off the streets for at least a few weeks." However, before he could continue, the sound of approaching sirens caught his attention. "I hear the cops coming. We need to get out of here."
"Indeed. Let us return to the mansion!" announced Kuno dramatically. "Whereupon we shall discuss ways to strike terror deeper into the hearts of the superstitious and cowardly lot that is the criminal underworld of Nerima!"
"...Oh joy..." grumbled Sasuke. Though he would never admit it to his master, he greatly preferred him to be known as 'The Bat Man' to Kuno's intended moniker. 'The Night Beater' just sounded far too inappropriate to be taken seriously.
0o0o0
Eleven Years Earlier
It had been a good day for six-year-old Tatewaki Kuno. He had played hero with his little sister, Kodachi, who had generously agreed to play the princess, while Sasuke, one of his family's servants, had agreed to be the evil ninja who had kidnapped said princess. He had painted a picture on his new easel. He'd had a delicious lunch at a new restaurant known as "McDonald's". He had managed to convince his parents to take him and his sister to the new Digimon movie. And he'd even gotten his parents to buy him and Kodachi some candy to eat during the movie. An unlikely start to what would soon become the worst day of his life.
As the Kuno family came out of the movie theater, young Tatewaki had the misfortune of spotting a man mugging a woman at knife-point in an alley across the street. Being young, stupid, recently inspired by a children's cartoon, and unaware of the cruelty of the world, he did the first thing that came to mind: he tried to stop the mugger. And being a small child, he tried to do it by yelling at him to stop.
Unfortunately, the world is not a fair place. Circumstances drive people to commit terrible acts, heroes do not always arrive to save the day, and things do not always turn out all right in the end. The man committing the mugging, startled by Tatewaki's shout, immediately turned his attention on the young boy. With a kick, he knocked the boy away. Had his parents stayed back, things might have turned out better. But they didn't.
With a cry of rage, Tatewaki's father leapt forward, attempting to tackle the mugger. While the two of them struggled, the original victim ran. Tatewaki's mother tried to pull the boy away from the alley, but before she was able to, his father gave a pained squeak and went limp. With a grunt of exertion, the mugger shoved him off, revealing his now bloody knife. Gasping, Tatewaki's mother dropped him on the sidewalk.
Groaning, Tatewaki sat back up, only to look at the bleeding form of his father. "...Dad?" asked Tatewaki, slowly realizing that something was wrong. Suddenly gripped by fear, he looked up at the mugger, who looked about as stunned as his mother did. Realizing that he'd just killed a man, however unintentionally, the would-be mugger-turned-murderer looked at his mother. Who he quickly realized was a witness.
Abruptly the man lunged forward, driving his knife into the neck of Tatewaki's mother. Pulling it free, he then turned to Tatewaki. Paralyzed with fear, the young boy could only watch in horror as the man that had just killed his parents took a step toward him. And then jerked back as his mother yanked on the killers leg, trying desperately to save her son in her final moments. And just like that, Tatewaki could move.
Screaming, Tatewaki ran into the night. Moments later, the murderer followed him, having finished off his mother. And all alone stood a horrified Kodachi, forgotten in the commotion.
0o0o0
Tatewaki ran. His father was dead. His mother was dead. And he was going to be next. He didn't know where his sister was. All he knew was that the murderer was after him.
The murderer ran. He had just killed two people. He had let someone get away who had seen his face. He would have to hope they just didn't report him. But the kid had to be shut up before he told anyone or drew attention. He could go back for the bodies later. But he had to get the the kid first. If the cops came to investigate, he wouldn't have time to hide what he'd done. His life would be over. So he ran.
The boy was fast, but he wasn't faster than his pursuer. If he'd had time to think, he would have realized this. He might have tried to hide. He didn't. Instead, he ran as fast as he could. And he tripped.
With a cry of pain, Tatewaki Kuno landed on the concrete. Not having time to get back up, he curled into the fetal position and waited for the inevitable. And waited. After a few seconds of nothing happening, he fearfully turned back.
0o0o0
Sasuke Sarugakure, a ninja of the Sarugakure clan under the employ of the Kuno family, would never forget that day. He had been following the family during their entire outing. Being a ninja, he did his best to stay out of sight so as not to interrupt the Kuno family's enjoyment, but stayed close by enough to intervene if anything happened to them. Unfortunately, he neglected to use the bathroom before the outing. He probably could have used it during the movie without leaving the family in too much danger, but although he hated to admit it, he had been enjoying the movie. So, as the credits rolled, he had run for the bathroom. It was a stupid decision he would spend the rest of his life punishing himself for making.
When he had left the bathroom, the family was nowhere in sight. So Sasuke had rushed to catch up. What he had found was the bloody corpses of the two older Kunos, and a shocked, crying Kodachi Kuno. And no Tatewaki Kuno in sight. He'd immediately noticed the bloody footprints leading away from his dead masters and, grabbing Kodachi, took off after them. If there was even a chance of rescuing his young ward, he had to take it. He owed his dead masters that much.
Being a ninja, Sasuke was much faster than the newly minted murderer, and quickly caught up. With a swift strike to the base of the spine, Sasuke rendered the murderer unconscious before he had even noticed him. Looking up, he spotted Tatewaki Kuno laying on the ground, curled into a ball and crying. Apparently he'd arrived just in time to save the boy. ...No. He'd arrived far, far too late.
After collecting Tatewaki, he used a phone booth to contact the police. They arrested the man, and Sasuke never saw him again. He then went about making the funeral arrangements. And then he contacted his clan.
0o0o0
With their parents dead, Sasuke's contract was nullified. He should have immediately returned to his village to await his next mission. Instead, he stayed with the Kuno children, determined to keep them safe until their new guardians were appointed. Unfortunately, his plan ran into a problem: the Kunos had no surviving relatives outside of the children. If no guardians could be found, they would be placed into an orphanage.
Desperate to somehow make up for his failure, Sasuke accepted guardianship over the two newly orphaned Kunos.
0o0o0
Princess Kodachi was happy. She was a princess in a castle filled with servants who did everything she asked them to, and she went on adventures, and everyone loved her, and she got everything she wanted, and everything was perfect.
Sometimes it seemed like there was something else, but she couldn't remember what. Maybe it had something to do with why her brother Prince Tatewaki was sad. When she asked him about it, he wouldn't talk. And trying to remember what it was hurt, so she usually didn't. Instead, she spent her perfect days enjoying her perfect life. And since her life was perfect, she saw no reason to change it. After all, why change perfection?
0o0o0
Sasuke was worried. His new masters, Tatewaki and Kodachi, were not okay. Tatewaki seemed to be running on autopilot. He hadn't said much since his parents had died. He wouldn't talk at all unless he was made to. He didn't react emotionally. He didn't do anything unless he was prompted to do so by someone else. And as far as Sasuke knew, he hadn't played at all during that time.
Kodachi, on the other hand, wouldn't stop playing. She seemed to have become completely convinced that she was the princess of a magical land. She wouldn't refer to him as anything but Sir Knight Sasuke. She wouldn't refer to her brother as anything but Prince Tatewaki. And she wouldn't respond to anything but Princess Kodachi. It would be a relief compared to Tatewaki if it weren't for the fact that she seemed to be losing touch with reality.
Even when referring to her as Princess Kodachi, the young Kuno daughter wouldn't always respond. And when she did, it was always part of the fairy tail story she seemed to be living. With each passing day, Kodachi seemed to become less and less aware of her surroundings. The more he tried to reach out to her, the less she seemed to respond.
In a way, Kodachi's loss of touch with reality was like her brother's withdrawal from it. And despite Sasuke's best efforts at getting the two to interact with their surroundings, both of the Kuno siblings seemed trapped in their own worlds. But Sasuke hadn't become a ninja by being easily dissuaded. So he kept trying. He would succeed eventually. He just had to keep believing that.
0o0o0
Tatewaki was the first to start to recover. After two months of silence, he asked for something else for breakfast. Sasuke, relieved that Tatewaki had actually asked for something, was all too willing to throw out the breakfast he'd just spent the morning making.
Shortly after that, he began paying attention to his surroundings. And he concluded that his sister was crazy. While Sasuke was happy Tatewaki was talking again, he didn't particularly approve of his young ward's willingness to state his analysis of his sister's sanity to her face. A lot. Oddly enough, this was almost always enough to get through Kodachi's delusion long enough for the two of them to get into fights with each other.
Sasuke had never been happier to deal with two children behaving like horrible little brats.
0o0o0
The Present
Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High and secretly the vigilante that had been dubbed as "The Bat Man" by the criminal underworld of the Nerima district of Tokyo, was feeling rather pleased. In the six months since he'd taken up the mask, helmet, cloak, and baseball bat, local crime rates had fallen by almost 50%. Most of which had occurred in the past month. And that was good. He was doing good, and he was proud of it. And this drove him to train even harder than before. Crime didn't rest, so he had to be ever prepared for anything that he might come across.
The sound of a spit-take drew the Kuno heir's attention from his morning workout to his servant Sasuke, who was in the process of reading the morning paper. "Does something trouble you?"
Looking up to his young master, Sasuke jumped up and began waving the newspaper. "Master Kuno, look!" Handing the paper to Kuno, Sasuke gestured toward an article a few pages in. "Those guys from the drug deal we busted last month! They've all been released, and all the charges have been dropped!"
"What?!" snarled the senior Kuno, grasping the newspaper. "That's preposterous! We presented them to the police on a silver platter! We relieved them of their consciousness, verified their identities, confirmed the presence of the illegal substances with which they had been dealing, informed the authorities, and even stayed around long enough to verify the approach of the police before leaving." Throwing it down in disgust, he scowled. "This is absurd. Sasuke! Clearly this bears investigation! To the police station!"
0o0o0
Ten Years Earlier
Once he began speaking again, Tatewaki began demonstrating an interest in martial arts. Initially, this took the form of an interest in samurai and kung fu movies, but eventually he requested that Sasuke arrange kendo lessons for him. To the ninja's surprise, the young Kuno showed an aptitude for the sport that he had never seen in a newcomer before. That Sasuke had not actually seen anyone learn Kendo may have had something to do with it.
Once Tatewaki began learning kendo, he became extremely dedicated. It wasn't long before he began practicing outside of his lessons. He could often be seen in the front yard swinging his bokken. Consequently, it wasn't long before Kodachi redubbed him as Sir Knight Kuno. However, Tatewaki's continued refusal to participate in Kodachi's fantasy world resulted in him being re-redubbed at The Lazy Knight That Doesn't Do Anything.
Despite his training, Tatewaki was too young to compete in tournaments. Nor were there any local children trained in kendo. Kodachi had no interest in the sport. The sensei instructing the young Kuno heir was quite a bit taller than the seven year old, in addition to outmatching him significantly skill, speed, and strength-wise, making him an ill choice as a sparring partner. The only person with an even passing familiarity with the sport with a similar body size to Tatewaki was his servant/guardian Sasuke. And so it came to be that Sasuke Sarugakure became the sparring partner of Tatewaki Kuno.
0o0o0
The Present
Tatewaki Kuno, champion of the Furinkan High School Kendo Club, heir to the Kuno fortune, and secretly the vigilante known at "The Bat Man" (much to his chagrin), was displeased. It had come to his attention that the criminals he and his sidekick had spent the previous night rounding up had all been released from prison, in addition to the gang from the drug bust the month before. Apparently, all the deviants had been bailed by an anonymous source. Anonymous since the records of who bailed them had gone missing. Or perhaps never been filled out properly in the first place.
Had Kuno possessed a contact within the police department, he might have been able to review the security footage for a clue as to the identity of the mysterious bailer. Unfortunately, being a vigilante rumored to be a complete psychopath had its downsides, one being that the police tended to try to arrest him whenever he tried to talk to them while in costume. When they didn't just outright attack him for refusing to put down the bat. Nevertheless, Kuno refused to stoop to the level of a common crook by breaking into the police station just to check the security footage for a possible lead. That was what he had Sasuke for. Speaking of which...
"I see you have returned, " stated Kuno levelly. "Have you discovered the identity of our anonymous enemy?"
"Er, it might be a bit soon to label them as an enemy, " muttered Sasuke.
"Sasuke! This fiend has gone to great lengths to release dangerous criminals from their incarceration. What could they be but enemies of justice seeking to recover the members of their own criminal group? And enemies of justice are enemies of I, Tatewaki Kuno, defender of this fair district of Tokyo."
"...It could just be a relative?" asked Sasuke.
"Gasp!" said Kuno (as opposed to actually gasping). "Are you saying that all of the criminal fiends that we delivered into the hands of justice last night were related to one another?"
"No, " replied Sasuke. "Although I suppose they could be. I didn't actually check that."
"Then you most do so with utmost haste, " insisted Kuno. "After we review the footage of the fiend who released them, " he quickly added when Sasuke began to leave.
"Right, " said Sasuke.
The footage revealed something shocking: the criminals were released upon receiving a phone call. This anonymous bailor remained just that: anonymous.
"That fiend!" cried Tatewaki! "They've taken measures to conceal their identity! Now how shall we discover what schemes they seek to commit?"
"We could track down one of the criminals and find out from them, " suggested Sasuke.
"Brilliant, Sasuke! To the Beating Room!"
Sasuke suppressed a groan at the name. "Right away sir."
0o0o0
Nine Years Earlier
When Kodachi finally began to take an interest in something outside of her personal fantasy world, Sasuke was overjoyed. He encouraged the young Kuno heiress in pursuing her newfound hobby, and quickly convinced Tatewaki to do the same. The two of them did everything in their power to make it seem as appealing as possible to Kodachi, and went to great lengths to support her, even building a large greenhouse for her personal use. After all, what harm could an interest in botany bring?
It wasn't even a year before Kodachi discovered and began experimenting with organic toxins.
0o0o0
The Present
Upon the roof of a warehouse, Kuno and Sasuke waited. It was the same warehouse that they'd found out about the failed drug deal from. The warehouse itself was abandoned, but a group of local toughs going by the moniker 'The Big Toes' used the building across the street as their hideout. It was where the deal had been arranged in the first place, although not where it took place, and it had been quite thoroughly bugged by Sasuke. Unfortunately, at the moment, the dynamic duo upon the warehouse rooftop seemed to be the only people anywhere near the building.
"Sasuke, when was the last time that we found this facility entirely devoid of criminal activity?"
"I don't remember that ever being the case, Master Kuno."
"And yet the facility seems to be empty. If I did not know otherwise, I would assume it to be as abandoned as the structure upon which we currently stand."
"It seems... strange."
"Indeed it does, Sasuke. Indeed it does. This bears further investigation."
0o0o0
Eight Years Earlier
Tatewaki Kuno was tired of waiting. It wasn't fair that he wasn't allowed to compete in Kendo Tournaments. He had been training for longer than several of the people that actually did compete, and he was better than most of them. He knew it. He'd seen recordings of tournaments, and he knew he could do it to, if only Sasuke would let him. He wasn't just throwing a fit.
One day he'd convince Sasuke. He knew it. And then he would win the tournament and become famous for something other than being a rich orphan. But that day was not today.
0o0o0
The Present
As the crime-fighting duo approached the building, they were met only with silence. None of the lights were on, and there was no sign that anyone had been in the building the past few days. Quickly, the two snuck toward the window that they had broken the lock on months before. Somehow, it had never been noticed, and it was now their most frequent entrance into the building.
As they silently opened the window, the two looked around. The room still seemed to be empty. They entered into the building.
Further examination of the rest of the building resulted in more of the same. Every room of the building was empty. However, one room smelled strongly of an unfortunately familiar odor.
"Master! That's-"
"I know!" interrupted Kuno, already pulling a cloth over his face to filter the air. "It's one of Kodachi's favorites. It seems they set a trap for us." Pausing, Kuno took a moment to look around. "We may be in need of a new stakeout point, Sasuke. None but ourselves have approached this hideout for the past two hours, and the building looks like it's been empty for days."
"Do you think they realized that we bugged it?" asked Sasuke through his own filtration cloth.
"That is indeed what I fear. It seems that we must once again rely on our seedy informant to obtain information on the happenings of the criminal underworld."
"Gosunkugi isn't that seedy, " replied Sasuke.
"He has the countenance of a zombie and the social graces of a malformed rat. If he is not seedy, I do not know the meaning of the word. But for now, let us escape from this facility. But maintain caution. More traps may yet lie in wait."
0o0o0
Seven Years Earlier
It had taken a long time, but Tatewaki Kuno had finally managed to convince Sasuke to enter him into a kendo tournament. It had required the pulling of a few strings, since Tatewaki's elementary school did not actually have a kendo team to enter into the tournament, but Sasuke managed to convince another school's team to accept Tatewaki as a replacement for a member that had come down with a sudden case of severe diarrhea. It had been either that, or to drop out of the tournament. It helped that Sasuke paid them off. And had been the one to slip the sick member the laxatives to begin with.
Every other person in the tournament was from high school. At ten years old, Tatewaki was the youngest person in the tournament by several years. It didn't matter. With his help, Tatewaki's team placed second in the tournament. It was Japan's first glimpse of Tatewaki Kuno, rising star of the Kendo World.
0o0o0
The Present
Hikaru Gosunkugi was not a particularly notable person. Which was odd, considering just how sickly he appeared. His skin was a pale gray, and his eyes were constantly surrounded by dark circles. On top of that, he was disturbingly scrawny. Yet somehow, he was able to go about almost completely unnoticed. It was a skill he used to great advantage.
Because he was almost never noticed, he was able to investigate even the most unsavory of locations without attracting attention to himself. This, in conjunction with his skill at hiding and his experience with a camera meant that he could find out pretty much anything that was going on within the district without placing himself in any real danger. Consequently, he made a great informant if you could convince him to tell you what he knew. Unfortunately, he usually didn't feel like sharing without some persuasion.
"Hikaru Gosunkugi!" announced Tatewaki Kuno as he crashed through a window, scaring the hell out of the aforementioned small, scrawny high schooler. "The Big Toes aren't at their hideout! What do you know?!"
"DON'T KILL ME!" cried the boy, bolting for the door, only to slide to a stop as Kuno cut him off.
"Talk!" said Kuno, raising his bat toward the seedy zombie lookalike in a threatening manner. "Before I lose my patience!"
"The Big Toes aren't around anymore, " he yelped, raising his hands in a defensive gesture. "They've been disappearing for the streets for a while now. First you put that lot in the hospital three months ago. Then there was that other group from last month. But that's not the end of it. Lots of them turned up in the hospital a few days ago. They'd been poisoned with some sort of paralyzing agent that left them bedridden. The rest of them were caught in the bust last night."
"Lies!" yelled Kuno, jabbing Gosunkugi in the stomach with his bat. "The ones that were incarcerated last night were released earlier today! What really happened?"
"I'm not lying, I swear!" cried Gosunkugi. Kuno pulled the bat back in preparation to swing it, at which point Gosunkugi threw himself onto the ground in the fetal position with his hands over his head. "They disappeared right after they were released. So did the ones in the hospital! Several of them have shown up dead since then! Nobody knows what happened to the rest. That's all I know, I swear!" When no bat came slamming down into him, Gosunkugi risked looking up, only to find that he was the only person in the room. The Bat Man was gone.
0o0o0
Six Years Earlier
Kodachi Kuno was jealous. Everybody was paying attention to her brother, just because he was good at sword fighting. They could have been paying attention to her, but they didn't. Instead, they looked at him while he beat up older kids, and they said good things about him, like "He's the best kendoist I've seen in years, and he's only eleven!" and "If he's this amazing now, think of how good he'll be after going through puberty. ...I'm talking about his kendo ability, I swear!"
It wasn't fair. She was an amazing botanist, and nobody paid attention to her for that. Just the other week, she'd bred a type of rose that produced toxic pollen that could be used as a sedative. That was way more impressive than beating someone up with a stick. But alas, it seemed that the neanderthals that most of the public consisted of cared more about sports and martial arts than they did about science. If Kodachi wanted people to look at her too, she would have to debase herself by pandering to the moronic masses. If they wanted martial arts sports, then she would give them martial arts sports!
Later that day, Kodachi asked Sasuke to enroll her in Rhythmic Gymnastics, having already picked out a place she wanted to go to. Sasuke immediately complied. Anything to distract her from her fascination with creating new and more poisonous breeds of plants to experiment with. And really, what harm could an interest in gymnastics bring?
It took nearly six months for Sasuke to realize that the place he'd enrolled Kodachi into actually taught Rhythmic Gymnastics-based martial arts. And by then she had already mastered it.
0o0o0
The Present
Curses, thought Tatewaki Kuno, rising star of the Kendo world and secretly the vigilante that had been dubbed "The Bat Man" by the citizens of Nerima (much to his dismay). It seems that somebody is collecting members of the local gangs, likely for some insidious ploy. It was true. After he'd found out about the disappearance of almost the entirety of the gang known as 'The Big Toes', Kuno had investigated the happenings of several other local gangs. And just like The Big Toes, they had been suffering from sudden disappearances of large numbers of their members. Especially frustrating was the realization that this was probably what had actually been behind the drop in crime rates. But who could be behind this? And to what nefarious end? Unfortunately, he had no idea. Information gathering was not Kuno's forte, and his sister had been keeping Sasuke too busy to help out in the investigation since they returned the night before. Speaking of which...
"Oh, brother dear, " drawled Kodachi, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm afraid that I shall be engaged in gymnastics-related activities this evening, and late into the night. As such, you shall have to feed Midorigame this evening. Furthermore, I may not be present when you return from... whatever it is that you have been doing late at night these past few months."
"Very well, " replied Kuno, flatly. "I shall see to it personally that Sasuke takes care of it."
"See that you do, " replied Kodachi. "My darling just can't go without his regular meals. And you know how he gets when he isn't fed properly."
Kuno shivered. He did indeed know how Kodachi's pet crocodile, Midorigame, was when not properly fed. He would have to take care to remember this time.
As Kodachi left the room, Kuno attempted to pick up his thoughts, but quickly decided that wondering over what was going on was pointless. He just didn't have enough information. And since it seemed that Kodachi had finished with Sasuke, it was time to find his servant. He had an investigation to request of him.
0o0o0
It didn't take Kuno long to find Sasuke. Unfortunately, he was sleeping underneath the house. The Kuno family's personal ninja seemed utterly exhausted. Between staying up late on a stakeout with Kuno the night before and attending to Kodachi all morning, he was in no shape to be out investigating anything. As such, it was with much frustration that Kuno left him to sleep it off. He would have to turn to other sources. And, at the moment, there was only one source he could think of left. Nabiki.
0o0o0
Seven Months Ago
Tatewaki Kuno dropped the phone in shock. Fortunately, Sasuke managed to catch it before it hit the floor. "Master?" the ninja asked. "Are you alright?"
"No, Sasuke, I do not believe that I am, " replied the stunned Kendoist. Sasuke waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Instead, he continued staring blankly ahead. His curiousity getting the better of him, Sasuke raised the phone to his ear. "Hello? This is the kuno family servant Sasuke Sarugakure speaking."
"Finally! God damn! The fuck is wrong with you people?! Who the fuck gives the phone to someone else unannounced during a ransom demand?!"
"WHAT!?" yelped Sasuke.
"You heard me!" replied the unnamed man on the other end of the line. "We've got Kodachi Kuno tied up down on... Well, you don't get to know unless you agree to pay us. And we are getting paid. If you don't, this little lady isn't gonna be around much longer."
"I'm listening, " said Sasuke.
"Right. You're gonna deliver 10, 000, 000 yen to the park. It's gonna be in an unlabeled suitcase, and the suitcase is gonna be blue."
Sasuke paused for a moment. "...Is the color that important?"
"DAMN RIGHT IT IS! JUST FOR THAT, THE PRICE HAS GONE UP TO 50, 000!"
Sasuke decided not to comment on the price lowering. "Alright. You'll get your suitcase of money. Is there any particular time you want it delivered at?"
"What, you think I'm stupid or something? You've got two days to deliver it. If it don't show up, you don't get Kodachi back." At that point, the ransomer hung up.
"Master! We've got to-" Sasuke started to say, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Hello?" he asked.
"It's me again. I forgot to say this before, but no cops! If the fuzz shows up, Kodachi gonna join her parents in the graveyard!" The ransomer hung up again.
Sasuke lowered the phone. "Master! We've got to-" Yet again, he was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Hello?"
"Me again, " replied the ransomer. "Kodachi says her parents were cremated, not buried. Well, if you don't pay up, she's gonna be cremated alive!" The ransomer hung up.
Sasuke waited a few seconds, but no phone call came. "Master, we've got to do something!"
"We will pay the ransom, " replied Kuno.
"...That does seem like the most reasonable decision in this situation. Very well. I shall prepare it immediately."
0o0o0
And so, Sasuke did. He stuck to the agreement, and left the blue suitcase of 50, 000 yen in the park. But a half hour later...
"THE FUCK IS THIS!?" yelled the ransomer over the phone.
"What do you mean?" asked Sasuke. Kuno had yet to move from the spot he had initially heard about the kidnapping at, yet hadn't answered the phone when it had rung. So Sasuke had. "I did everything as you asked."
"The hell you did! I said 50, 000, 000 yen! This isn't even enough to pay for everyone's lunch!"
"I'm sorry, but you said 50, 000 yen, " replied Sasuke, attempting to sound calm.
"FUCK THIS SHIT! YOU'VE GOT TWO HOURS TO GET ME 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 YEN!" The ransomer slammed the phone down.
Sasuke lowered the phone. He took a deep breath. "MASTER! THEY'RE GOING TO KILL KODACHI!" They only had two hours to deliver more money than was in the Kuno family fortune to kidnappers if they wanted Kodachi to live.
0o0o0
The ransomer grinned. There was the little man that served the Kuno family now. He'd seen him the first time he dropped off the suitcase. Like last time, he had a blue suitcase with him, although this one was significantly bigger than the first. It was so big, in fact, that he wasn't carrying it. He was rolling it on a set of wheels. Like before, he took it to the middle of the park, then left it.
Huh, thought the ransomer. That is a very big suitcase. Needless to say, he was not the brains of the operation. In truth, he was the fall guy. He'd been part of the group that ambushed Kodachi, he was the one who made the call, and he was the one who obtained the money. If the money wasn't delivered, he would be the one to off Kodachi. And if the cops did get involved, he was expected to take the fall for the sake of the group. If things went bad, it would be a rather raw deal for him. However, if the cops didn't get involved, he would get the second largest share of the money, and he would be promoted within his gang. And for that, he was willing to risk being the fall guy.
After waiting for the midget servant of the Kunos to leave, the man approached the suitcase. Holy crap this is heavy, he thought as he attempted to pick up the case. Quickly giving up, he began dragging the suitcase toward the base. He was tempted to open it to verify that the money was inside, but the Kuno family had been cooperative so far, and if the suitcase was as heavy as it was, it was likely that opening the suitcase would just cause the money to spill everywhere. And in the middle of a public park, that was likely to draw attention he didn't want.
Several blocks later, the man finally heaved the heavy case into the doorway of the base. "Holy crap that sucked!" he announced to the rest of the gang. "You guys won't believe how much this thing weighs!"
"Well, you asked for a trillion yen, " replied his boss over the sound of the rest of the gang congratulating him. "I can't believe that they actually paid you that."
"Why not?" replied another member. "They paid the 50, 000."
"That was 50, 000 yen, " interjected yet another. "That might seem like a decent amount to you, but it's pocket change for the Kunos. A trillion yen is practically their whole fortune."
"Damn!" replied the man.
"Yeah. Damn. Looks like you're going to be counting for a while."
"What!" yelped the man. "Boss, you can't let him do this! Make him count it!"
"You stole it, you count it, " replied the gang leader.
"Dammit, " grumbled the man. With a groan, he opened the stupidly huge suitcase. Amazingly, inside was not a loose pile of cash like with the previous suitcase. Instead, the bills were tightly bound together in stacks, which were in turn bound together into what appeared to be a large block of money.
One of the gang members whistled. "Fuck, man. You gonna be here all night." This prompted another groan from the man.
Standing up, he walked over to the yen block. Picking up one of the stacks of bills, he began counting. He was roughly halfway through when the block shifted.
"Huh?" he muttered. The block shifted again. And then the money block suddenly burst open, revealing it to be a large box with stacks of yen attached to the outside of it. And out burst a man with a bandanna tied around his mouth.
"I STRIKE!" announced Tatewaki Kuno, slamming his bokken down onto the head of the confused gang member who had been counting yen. Before the conked criminal even had time to crumple to the ground, Kuno had already found his next target. Lunging forward, he landed a second blow to the side of a second gang member, launching him across the room. Spinning around, he took in the rest of the room.
Nearly two dozen other thugs had been milling around the room before Kuno's surprise attack. However, the surprise was wearing off, and several of them were going for weapons. At the far end of the room was Kodachi, who was bound to a chair with several ropes and gagged with duct tape. She was, however, conscious. "GET THE GIRL!" yelled the gang leader, prompting half a dozen of the gang members to turn toward her.
"Not so fast!" yelled Kuno. "You neanderthals have made a grave mistake in spiriting away one of the only two surviving heirs to the Kuno legacy, " he growled. "And it shan't go unpunished!" At that, Kuno threw a black rose across the room. As it landed in the center, it burst into hundreds of petals, which scattered across the room. "Taste the poison fostered by the very person you hold captive!"
The gang leader, who had been nearest to the exit, managed to slip out the back door. However, he was the only one to do so. Immediately, thugs began dropping to the ground. A few of them did manage to get their shirts over their faces in time to filter out the poisonous spores. However, it was only a few.
Kuno dashed toward the first one. And zigzagged past him. He then made a beeline toward his captive sister, his bokken raised. Tatewaki Kuno, rising star of the kendo world, was more than capable of swinging his bokken fast enough to use it as if it were an actual sword. With a swift slash, he severed the ropes keeping Kodachi bound. The few remaining
Silently, Kuno offered Kodachi a second bandanna. She waved it away. Instead, she pulled the tape that had been covering her mouth off. She then took a deep breath. "OHOHOHOHOHO!" laughed Kodachi. "It seems that you foolish apes have bitten off quite a bit more than you could chew!" Grabbing the very chair she had been tied to, the Kuno heiress lifted it above her head, then smashed it into the ground, breaking it apart. Raising two of the chair-legs, Kodachi pointed one at the gang members. "It seems you morons need to be properly educated in the consequences of attacking a Kuno. Brother dear, would you mind joining me in a demonstration."
"Very well, Sister, " replied Kuno. Of course she would be immune to her own poisons, he thought with a grin concealed beneath the bandanna wrapped around his face. "Shall we make a game of it? The one who defeats the most foes shall be acknowledged as victor." Turning back toward the thugs, Kuno realized that they were running.
"It seems that I win, " said Kodachi smugly.
"What?! That's preposterous!" replied Kuno. "You didn't even fight!"
"And yet it was the toxins of my roses that rendered the vast majority of these lowlifes unconscious."
"Grr, " growled Kuno. "Very well. Let us depart. Sasuke should be outside waiting for us."
"Very well." said Kodachi. "Although it chagrins me that these fools shall have no proper comeuppance delivered upon them. They have done much to earn my enmity."
Just then, the sound of police sirens cut through the air. Kodachi smiled. "Let us be off!"
0o0o0
Kuno stared into the night. After the kidnapper had called, Sasuke had devised the entire plan. The money box was to ensure that whoever picked up the suitcase didn't find him if he stopped to make sure there actually was money in the case. Inside the box, Kuno had waited, along with two bandannas, one of Kodachi's poisonous roses, and a tracking device that he activated just before jumping out of the box. Afterwards, Sasuke called the cops, giving them the address that the box had been taken to. And everything had worked perfectly. And for the first time in a long time, he felt truly content.
"Does something trouble you, Master Kuno?" asked Sasuke.
"No. Quite the opposite." He paused for a moment. However, just before Sasuke could ask for clarification, he began talking again. "It was amazing, Sasuke. We saved Kodachi, defeated the kidnapper, and brought an entire gang to justice. We were heroes tonight, Sasuke."
Sasuke hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Kuno maintained the silence. "Does this have something to do with your parents?" he guessed. Kuno stiffened.
"If only someone had been there to help, " Kuno finally replied. "Perhaps they would still be alive today."
Sasuke shifted guiltily. That had been his job, and Kuno knew it. He wasn't sure if the jab was intentional or not.
"I want to do it again, " said Kuno.
"Pardon?" asked Sasuke.
"I wish to continue opposing crime directly, " repeated Kuno. "I cannot revive my parents, Sasuke. They are no longer here. But I can prevent the deaths of the parents of others."
"Master, what are you talking about!?"
"Crime-fighting, Sasuke! Do you know how high the crime rates of Tokyo are? Of the Nerima district in particular? They're ludicrous, Sasuke! Ludicrous! If there weren't so many criminals, there wouldn't be so much crime!"
"Master, you can't go about murdering people! What of the Kuno family reputation!?"
"You misunderstand me, Sasuke, " replied Kuno. "I have no intention of murdering anyone. What I wish to do is defeat them and present them to the police for incarceration. I have the abilities necessary to bring these villains to justice. Is it not right for me to make use of them?"
Sasuke suppressed a groan. He could tell he wasn't going to be able to talk the Kuno heir out of this. And he just knew it wasn't going to end well.