I know that the whole Mafia twist on Ouran isn't exactly new, but I wanted to write one anyway. Hopefully, the plot is different. Reviews are appreciated. This is an AU fic. Ratings may rise.
Thank you for reading!
Who is he?
Nobody has ever quite caught a glimpse of this mysterious figure.
We only know him by the name "Shadow King." His spokesman, Suoh Tamaki, is a prominent public figure for this reputed Mafia chief, but he has never revealed any details on this enigmatic person.
One detail that is known, however, is that he is also a businessman. Unfortunately, there are an unrecorded number of Tokyo businessmen, and the real Shadow King has never been found.
He controls the gambling unions and docks of Tokyo and many other regions in Japan. From what we know, he is very shrewd and secretive.
He could be walking amongst us in the streets, but we will never know.
Just recently, this Mafia chief came up in the news when two gangsters from his organization were charged with the murder of a policeman.
The lawyer for the police is–
"Fujioka!" the man called to her. "Why are you reading the article? You already know everything about it, right?"
"I do," Fujioka Haruhi replied. "But it's also good to read the papers to see their perspective so I know how they think."
Suzuki scratched his head. "That's true, I guess. But then again, I'm not a lawyer."
"Is there something you need?"
"What?" Suzuki looked a bit sheepish. "Well, actually…oh! I'll ask you some questions about the case."
"Why?"
"Aw, just humor me, Fujioka," he pleaded. Then he asked at rapid speed, "Who are the accused?"
"Names are Ukyo and Sakyo."
"Do they have a record?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"Some petty crimes here and there."
"Were they ever sentenced?"
"Sentences were suspended and they walked."
"Do you want to go out with me?"
"No." she said without batting an eyelash. "Is that it?"
He considered begging with her. "Why not, Fujioka?"
"I'm not interested."
"I thought I could trick you into it."
"It's not much of a trick if you've tried it a thousand times."
"Have I really?"
"I don't know."
"Well, then," he shuffled his feet, "I hope you win."
"Thanks." She was reading the paper again, only half listening to him.
"So, I was wondering, if you win, I'll treat you to dinner."
"Thanks, but no thanks."
Suzuki was rather disheartened for the rest of the day.
It never failed to amuse her just how corrupt the world was. It was one of the greatest changes she underwent since becoming a lawyer. Part of the reason why she had become a lawyer in the first place was because of her mother, but another reason was because she believed in the law, believed in the system of justice.
Never had it occurred to her that this system, this system of justice, was flawed.
It all began when she graduated from law school, and she was in need of a job. The only position that she found acceptable was an internship with the judicial police department.
She had imagined it to be over in an instant, that she would go to a law firm at the first opportunity she saw.
She soon realized that it wasn't that easy.
She, Fujioka Haruhi, like many others, had had a blind faith in the law. The law is what brought criminals to justice, what brought people freedom from oppression.
After working with the police, she realized the dark side of the law.
People were corrupt.
They didn't mind getting bribed. They didn't mind "forgetting" about that corner of the city where it was heavily reputed to have gambling chains. People used themselves in a way that was too shameful for her to think of.
And these were people in the police department!
The faith in this system of justice was gone in a matter of four months.
As the newbie, Haruhi was forced to start out as a janitor. Being a janitor did not mean cleaning a bathroom until it was squeaky clean; it was the name for the person who did all of the dirty work.
She covered up the trails of cops who had records. She bribed the bookies in the precincts to prevent them from leaking information. She did all of this with indifference because she believed that she would leave in only a matter of time. It was also because she had no choice but to listen to the higher-ups.
This would be her first case after working for a year as a "janitor." It called for her to defend the police against a reputed Mafia chief in the Tokyo area. This Mafia lord, or Shadow King, was also supposedly a big shot businessman.
Haruhi had wondered if that was even possible.
The case was simple. Two Mafia gangsters had been involved in the killing of a police officer. The evidence was obvious, but there was no body. Without the body, the police could not make an argument.
It would be Haruhi's job to find a body and to take care of it.
"We will be counting on you to defend this for us," the police chief proclaimed. "We've got to show those Mafia that justice will always prevail!"
The police chief alone had a record with six DUIs, a gambling problem, and a scandal involving two young women. Haruhi decided not to say anything about it. She had been the one to cover up that scandal, and it had not been pretty.
No matter how bad the case seemed, however, she decided that it would be a rather welcomed change from her growingly repetitious life.
Her first task had been to research the Mafia. It was led by a young man, whose name she could not find, in his late twenties. To Haruhi, that seemed to be a young age for controlling a Mafia organization.
The spokesperson for the mysterious leader was also young. His name was Suoh Tamaki, and she recognized his picture from the papers. He was constantly in the news because of his big mouth, and there were once allegations of him being the Mafia chief.
Seeing that this was not the case, Haruhi had deduced that the real chief must have been a person who didn't like the limelight.
There was a small group of advisors for the Mafia chief; in total, there were four. Their names, too, could not be found. The organization was decidedly very smart in covering up its tracks.
The two gangsters who were accused of killing the police officer were considered foot soldiers in the ladder of Mafia organization. It was the bottom rung of the ladder, and Haruhi quickly found their records: each had been sentenced twice, but in both cases the sentence was suspended.
This had only strengthened Haruhi's growing distrust in the legal system. The evidence was overwhelming; the gangsters had been seen at the scene of the crime. Their faces were clearly seen by witnesses. Even the getaway car's license plate number was easily caught, and it was a real license plate, too.
Haruhi had learned that gangsters often used stolen license plates to create confusion.
The only piece of evidence missing was, however, the body. Without the body, she could not make the case against the Mafia. It would all be in futility, and Haruhi would go back to being a janitor.
So it was in this state of mind that led Haruhi to do the unthinkable: she made an appointment to meet the Mafia chief. People usually do not meet with a Mafia boss because a) they might get killed or b) they might get heavily mutilated and then killed. But Haruhi was desperate for a lead, and she decided that risk was better than nothing.
The meeting was arranged through the spokesman, Suoh Tamaki, over the phone. As the reports had claimed, Suoh was very charming, even over the phone. He geniunely seemed interested in meeting her, especially when he realized that she was of the female gender. The meeting was set in three days' time.
Maybe it was a tactic used to distract the people so the Mafia could kill them easily, Haruhi thought. But she shook herself of her morbid thoughts because what would the Mafia have to gain from killing her, a janitor?
A car was arranged to pick her up a posh coffeehouse twenty minutes from her workplace. The car would be there at six thirty, Suoh had said.
Haruhi was there at six fifteen, unusually early for her standards. It was the middle of January, still cold, and she paced around in her long coat hoping to keep warm.
Parked in front of the coffeehouse was a black sedan. The driver had been instructed to follow Haruhi when she left. She hadn't liked the idea, but let it pass, since it had been the police chief who'd ordered it.
The car was there on time. The back door opened up, and a voice, young and cheery, called out for her.
Temporarily stunned by this out of place voice, it took Haruhi a moment to register the fact that the car had arrived, and she slowly made her way to the car. As the car left, the black sedan slyly followed.
There were four people in the car, all of whom were men. It was very toasty inside, and she breathed a sigh of relief at its warmth.
The cheery voice belonged to a young man called Haninozuka. "Call me Hunny," he called from the front.
"So you're the famous Fujioka Haruhi," the voice besides her drawled. He was also young, with vibrant red hair. He held out his hand. "Hitachiin Hikaru. Next to me over here is my brother, Kaoru."
The man called Kaoru leaned over his brother to shake her hand as well. With a smile, he said, "Pleased to meet you, Fujioka-san. You can call me Kaoru."
"Yes…of course. Pleased to meet you as well," she said, shaking his hand back. They were a lot kinder than the people in the police, she thought. And why was she famous?
"And this," Hunny said, pointing to the driver, "is Takashi! Call him Mori." He patted the man, who must have been at least six foot, and added, "He's my cousin!"
"So you must be the four advisors," she said.
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed that you found out that much."
"I didn't know your names, but I guess I do now," Haruhi responded.
"Most people don't even know that we exist," Kaoru explained. "This is a first."
"Do you usually meet with people like this?" she asked.
"No," Hikaru said with a small smile. "Usually we just kill them."
Haruhi gave a shudder. "How wonderful."
She began talking about the case, but she soon realized that nobody really seemed to care.
"Um…I'm sorry, is there something wrong?" she asked with uncertainty.
"We agreed to let you meet us because of the case," Hikaru said. "But really, there is nothing to talk about."
"What do you mean?" she demanded. "A cop has been killed and two of your men have been–"
"What he's trying to say is that the two men are not the killers," Kaoru gently said. "Ukyo and Sakyo did not kill that policeman nor did they did not rob him. In fact, on that day, they had been training at our private grounds. It's impossible."
"But the evidence! It's all there," she sputtered out. "The faces! The witnesses – WOAH!"
The car had suddenly swerved. Mori, with great audacity, turned the car one hundred eighty to turn from the one lane onto the returning side of the road with no accident.
The other cars were stunned, but moved on.
"That was really good, Takashi!" Hunny exclaimed, giving his cousin a pat on the back.
The man grunted his thanks.
Looking over his shoulder, Hikaru said, "Looks like we got rid of it."
"Good job, Mori," Kaoru. "We'll be sure to mention it to him."
'Him,' Haruhi guessed, could only be this Mafia chief. "What was that for?" she asked, having gotten over the shock.
"Silly girl," Hikaru said. "You thought you could put a tail on us?"
"You didn't think that we'd be looking for a move like that?" Kaoru said. He reached into his pocket, implying he had a gun in his pocket. Haruhi's heartbeat raced. But he only said, "Be thankful that we've got orders to not harm you. We're not cold-blooded killers after all."
How reassuring, she thought. "I'll have you know that it wasn't my idea," she said. "It was insisted upon by the police."
"It's okay," Kaoru said. "You don't have to cover up yourself with an excuse like that."
Seeing that they weren't going to believe her, Haruhi stayed put. She said nothing, and the others did not bother to instigate on Kaoru's previous claims of the gangsters' innocence.
She decided to use this time to think. If she were to assume that Kaoru was telling the truth, which she couldn't be sure of, then who were the people behind this? And why?
And how would she explain the faces and witnesses and other evidence? And the body. What had really happened?
Hunny broke the silence. He turned around from the front seat and said, "Fujioka-san, you're a good person."
The comment caught her off guard. "Excuse me?"
"You're a good person," he repeated. "Why are you doing this?"
"Excuse me, but this is my job and–"
"We're here," Mori announced.
"Oh, finally," Hikaru complained. "My back is seriously killing me."
"What about my back?" Kaoru asked. The two got off the car. Haruhi followed them out. In the front, Hunny jumped out, and Mori was right behind him.
She didn't recognize the neighborhood that they were in. It was getting darker now. Shivering, she pulled up the collar of her coat.
She followed the men into a small building. It was a bar, and it must have been one that the men frequently went to because all they did was wave at the proprietor before getting ushered into a corner of the room where no one could eavesdrop on them.
"Do you come here often?" she asked Hikaru. She was beginning to tell the two twins apart.
"We own the place," he replied. "And just so you know, we're not here to have dinner and all that nice stuff. It's strictly business."
"As I expected," she said, taking off her coat.
They were seated at a round table. The room was dim, and Haruhi adjusted her eyes. Through the darkness, she vaguely saw the expensive décor and fancy furniture. "This is pretty high class," she muttered.
After drinks were served, Kaoru began talking. "I know that you thought you were here to talk about the case, but that's not what's going to happen."
"We can't convince you of Ukyo and Sakyo's innocence, but we will show you something else," Hikaru finished. She began to notice that the two brothers often spoke one after another, as if they knew what to say.
Figures, she thought, since they're twins and all.
"Okay, I'll keep an open mind about it, but don't forget who I'm defending here," she said.
Hunny shook his head. "You're missing the point. Don't you see? You may be defending the police, but what does that really mean? Are you doing good by defending corrupt people?"
"Are you saying that you aren't corrupt?"
"Okay, okay," Kaoru broke in, "we don't want an argument here over corruption. Save it for another time."
"Another time?" she asked.
He shrugged. "We'll be seeing each other a lot more in the near future."
Sitting in her bare apartment, Haruhi mulled over the conversations she had. To her disappointment, she had not been able to meet the mysterious Mafia chief, nor his spokesman.
Kaoru explained that the two were on a business meeting concerning the dealings of a new product. He had failed to elaborate on the subject, but Haruhi had quickly learned to let things go.
From what they told her, Ukyo and Sakyo were innocent. It was a set-up by the police to try to lure the Mafia out. The Mafia was not that stupid, Hikaru retorted, who did the police think they were going up against?
That was why she had been assigned the case. A rookie, she would have not had the experience to win, and the police knew this. Public humiliation would forever demote her to being a janitor, and the police would continue its corrupt ways.
"Why should I believe you?" she had asked. "There's a good chance that you're lying. Besides, what do you expect me to do? I have to defend them."
"We know about you," Hunny had replied. "We know that you're very talented and waiting for a break-through. We know that you're unhappy with the position that you're at."
Haruhi decided not to ask how they knew all of this.
"What does that mean? You want me to betray them?" she had asked.
"No," he said. "But we are offering you a job. Personal lawyer to the Family. Better than being a janitor, right?"
She shook her head. This was too much. She was given another drink, which she gulped down. The liquor calmed her nerves.
She was in a state of uncertainty right now. The window of her apartment was open, and it was nearing midnight, but she didn't bother to close it. Somehow, the chilling air refreshed her mind.
She was thinking about what they wanted her to do. Make the case, but show that this was the work of corrupt police. Not real cops. We have people in the newspaper, Hikaru had said, and we can supply the information to them about the truth.
About the truth.
It was what she had sought for the better part of her life. What she had wanted by being a lawyer, but could only watch as it was utterly destroyed.
It was chance to live her dream, she thought. What her life was right now was only an illusion.
And then it hit her: she would be joining the Mafia.
Would she be one of those people on the wanted list? Would she be hunted down by her former colleagues, the police?
But they weren't really the police. The Mafia, as scary as it may sound, were better people. Would she be willing to take that risk?
Or was this all a ploy?
She fell onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. There were too many thoughts right now.
Before she fell asleep, she wondered: had this all been planned? Had this Mafia chief thought everything out, even her current frustration? If so, he was pretty damn smart.