Beastial Territory
When Yukio opened his eyes the first thing he felt was a throbbing pain in his skull. He groaned as he sat up and took in his surroundings. Suddenly he remembered. Following Rin, stalking a drunkard, spying on strange people in a warehouse, and then he was struck in the head.
How familiar are you with these people, Nii-San? Yukio knew his brother had a lot to answer for and if he was involved with anything illegal he would get the lecture of his life.
Yukio jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see another unfamiliar face. It was a girl about fifteen or sixteen with dirty blonde hair up in two ponytails and blue-green eyes. She wore a violet long sleeved shirt, dark navy jeans, and black converses. Yukio had to admit, this girl was very pretty and she didn't seem dangerous at all.
"Easy." The girl warned. "You were hit in the head. I need to make sure you don't have a concussion."
"Who are you?" Yukio asked, letting the girl examine his head.
"I'm called Usagi." She said with a blank smile. "It's my gang name."
Gang? Yukio looked up at Usagi's face once more. She didn't look like the type who would run in a gang at all. She had an angelic face and her hands were so gentle. Yukio couldn't imagine this girl to get involved with a street life.
"The thing about our gang," Usagi started. "We have a choice. If we don't want anyone to know our real name then our leader would give us another. Hebi gave me my name when I joined."
"Okay...well, I'm-" Usagi cut Yukio off with a wave of her hand.
"Yukio Okumura. You're Akuma's brother." Usagi said, standing up to check on Suguro, who was sitting of the mattress next Yukio's. "Akuma, or Rin as you probably call him, is pretty pissed about you following him."
"He's pissed?!" Suguro exploded, standing up. "That damn monkey is once again lying to his friends about something that could get him killed!"
"Yeah. What's the deal with your gang?" Izumo demanded. "What is it that you guys do?"
Usagi sighed as she bandaged Shima's leg. The limb that had been bitten by the dog, Nikuya.
"We did whatever our leader, Hebi, told us to do." Usagi said. "Hebi made me his personal hacker. He didn't care what we did as long as we returned to him with at least fifty yen. We each had a different way of getting money."
"What did Rin do?" Shiemi asked, quietly. Usagi hated to tell them but she felt that she had to.
"He normally sold drugs but he was always sent to do 'dirty work'." She explained. "And by 'dirty work' it means that he had to kill someone."
The Exwires felt the room go deathly quiet and Usagi cleared her throat after a minute.
"Before you interrogate him, make sure you do it without attracting attention. When you feel up to walking, come downstairs. Don't worry about the others attacking you. Akuma has them on a chain right now."
Yukio tried to process what Usagi just told him as he and the Exwires followed the blonde downstairs. Rin. A gang member. He sold illegal materials and killed people. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw Rin sitting at a table with the three that attacked them. They were all playing a card game and eating teriyaki as if nothing happened. The black haired boy had removed his mask and he had steel gray eyes that looked like fine silver. Mikio was sitting on the couch and drinking from a bottle of wine as if he wasn't already drunk enough. Nikuya was sitting in between the red head and Konton. Rin suddenly smirked and put down his cards. The three attackers groaned.
"That's the hundredth time, Akuma!" The young man with the crimson hair complained as he and the others reached into their pockets.
"I'm going to be dirt poor again the next time I gamble with you." Konton exaggerated.
The three each gave Rin a handful of money, which he placed into his pocket.
"Hey, look who's up." The black haired boy that used to have a mask pointed to the Exwires. Konton sent a death glare at them before turning back to her teriyaki. The red head didn't acknowledge them as he started scratching Nikuya behind the ears. Rin looked at his brother and friends before sighing heavily and stood up.
"Looks like you know my dirty little secret now." He stated, blankly. "Welcome to my double life."
"In other words, welcome to Hell." The black haired boy said, spreading his arms in a welcoming gesture but his smile was cruel.
Rin sent a glare in the boy's way before turning to Konton. "What time do we go?"
"Around eleven." The red eyed girl said, swallowing her last bite of teriyaki. "I suggest you go find a buyer 'cause we're in serious need of that cash."
"Yeah, I'm on it." Rin said, grabbing a backpack from Konton's seat and gestured to the Exwires. "Keep an eye on them."
Suguro seemed to snap out of his stupor first and growled, stomping over to Rin and grabbed him by his collar. "You're not going anywhere, Okumura! Do you think that I'm gonna let you go out there and let you give away shit on the street like some damned rat?!"
"Let me go, Suguro." Rin said, calmly. His face was now a stone cold mask.
"Nii-San."
Rin heard the voice he dreaded the most. He didn't look at Yukio as he freed himself from Suguro's grasp.
"What's in the bag?" Yukio asked. Before Rin could respond, someone knocked on the door and a female's voice called out softly.
"It's Kagayaki. Someone open the door!"
Rin quickly walked over to the door and let the girl in. The Exwires stared at the girl, Kagayaki. She was very beautiful. She had curly auburn hair up in a bun and soft blue eyes that would make one think of the sky on a sunny day. She wore a kimono that gave a view of her cleavage and went to just above her thighs, giving a great view of her legs. Yukio immediately blushed and turned away. Suguro and Izumo looked disgusted while Shiemi and Konekomaru stayed behind the group in fear of the three who attacked them. Shima stared at the girl hungrily.
"Damn, the night I've had." Kagayaki yawned, stretching her arms. "I need a drink."
She went over to a small icebox in the corner of the room and picked out a bottle of sake before turning to look at the Exwires.
"What's this?" She asked, opening the bottle. "New recruits? Or are we having a party? Well, if that's the case then they still need to pay."
"No, they're just in the wrong place." Rin told the beauty, flatly before pointing to Mikio with his thumb. "Thanks to this idiot."
Kagayaki said nothing more and took a long swig of her sake. Shima somehow found his way next to her.
"Hello." He greeted, flirtatiously. Kagayaki didn't acknowledge him and downed more of her beverage.
"Sorry, if you want something from me you need to pay at least 150 yen." She said, chucking the empty bottle at Mikio, who was now snoring obnoxiously on the couch. "We don't like your kind around here so keep that in mind otherwise you'll be dead before sunrise."
"What do you mean 'our kind'? Izumo demanded, outraged. When Kagayaki just focused on drinking Konton answered for her.
"By 'your kind', we mean the bitches who don't dwell around this district." The red eyed girl glared at the Exwires. "In here, there are psychos who would kill you for kicks and don't even get me started on the sex sadists. The whores at the Blossom House are under our protection from those bastards."
"The Blossom House?" Shiemi pipped up curiously.
"It's a brothel." The red head cut in. Shiemi looked more confused now.
"What's a 'brothel'?
Izumo and the gang members groaned.
"Let me sum it up for you, Sunshine." Kagayaki was on the verge of being drunk now. "A brothel is a house of prostitution. And if you don't know what a prostitute is, it's a person who gets paid for having sex. That's my job. So much for being a sweet sixteen and never been kissed. I lost track of how many beds I've heated when I was fourteen."
Kagayaki was slurring now and the black haired boy escorted her to a seat at the table. Meanwhile, the Exwires were horrified. This beautiful girl was a prostitute? They almost dreaded to know how long Kagayaki had been streetwalking if she had been doing this at fourteen. Said girl was now taking out a pipe of some sort and started smoking a drug labeled 'Cocaine'. The worst possible poison.
"Sorry," Kagayaki suddenly said, smoke coming out of her nostrils. "Forgot to introduce myself. Name's Kagayaki."
"I suppose we should all introduce ourselves." The black haired boy said, taking a seat next to Kagayaki. "Since we know who you all are we should keep it fair for now. I'm Kitsune. Of course you also met Surasshu."
Kitsune pointed to the red head. Surasshu was lighting a cigarette but made no move to put the object to his lips. Instead, he burned the butt of the cigarette into Mikio's neck and the drunkard woke with a start.
"I'm on it! On it! Sir yes sir!" Mikio groaned, sitting up. Kitsune rolled his eyes.
"Obviously you know Mikio from stalking him." Kitsune then gestured to Konton. "This here's Konton. Best not get on her bad side 'cause she'll squash you like a bug."
"You best keep your mouths shut about us." Konton warned. "Or you'll be splattered all over the street like rain puddles and then I'm going to sell your remains to the organ traffickers. Understand?"
The Exwires immediately nodded and Konton started playing with a switchblade, flicking the knife in a fast pace. Kitsune laughed.
"That's our girl." He chuckled, tossing a beer bottle to the platinum blonde who caught it with ease while twirling her knife. The bottle made a hissing sound as Konton popped it open before taking a swig. "And you all met Usagi upstairs. She's a real brain. Sometimes I wonder if she might be a walking computer. And finally, we have our vicious guard dog, Nikuya."
The dog perked up at the mention of his name but remained seated next to Konton's chair. Yukio could feel the dark auras around each one of these people.
"How much today, Kagayaki?" Konton asked the barely dressed girl. Kagayaki appeared to be in a drunken haze.
"How much what?" She asked, setting the pipe down.
"Money!" Konton snapped.
"Ohh. You need to borrow some change?" The prostitute slurred. "Thing is, Konton...I'm kinda short right now so-"
"Fuck's sake." Konton muttered. "How much money did you make while 'working' today?"
"Oh! Yeah, got seven clients today. Here's the yen." Kagayaki handed Konton a small coin purse. Konton peeked inside and placed the money on the table.
"Fine. You can watch our little guests while we head out." The platinum blonde took another swig of beer before continuing. "The Rift-Rafts challenged us to a brawl. We'll go once Akuma returns."
Yukio immediately scanned the room and to his surprise, Rin was gone. No one had seen him leave. It was like he disappeared as a phantom. The younger Okumura twin felt dread welling up in his stomach and he sprinted towards the door. He was immediately yanked back by his jacket and thrown to the floor. Yukio looked up to see Surasshu glaring down at him.
"Where do you think you're going?" The red head demanded. Yukio quickly stood up.
"Where's my brother going?" He demanded. Konton laughed.
"Akuma's got better stealth than Kitsune sometimes." She said, causing Kitsune to send her a mock glare. "In fact, he's the best in the whole gang. It still appalls me that he's never lost a fight. Not once!"
"Yeah. Remember the Seekers?" Surasshu cut in. "Damn, what a mess."
"What the hell are you all talking about?" Bon suddenly shouted, being sick of letting everyone throw nonsense around. "I've had enough of sitting around doing nothing while you damned junkies go around doing shit and poisoning yourselves! None of you look like you're out of your teens and you go around drinking and doing drugs! You say that Okumura has been doing 'dirty work' for your gang and you won't say anything. Don't you know that you could be locked up for life for this? Someone better tell me what's going on or I'm going to put you all through a personal hell!"
Bon was met with glares from the gang members before Konkon chuckled which eventually turned into a hysterical laughter. The girl doubled over in laughter as Kitsune and Surasshu kept their stone cold posture as if daring anyone to make a move. Kagayaki was oblivious to what was happening around her as she continued to smoke crack. Mikio looked as if he were dreaming with his eyes open, still too drunk to process what was going on. Usagi, who had been forgotten due to being silent the whole time, was typing something on her laptop but she had been listening to everything.
"You! Put us through our own personal hell?!" Konton's eye twitched when she recovered from her laughing fit. "Newsflash buddy, we're already there. You may live in a goody-goody world outside this town but in here, your first mistake could be your last. Akuma joined Hebi's crew because he had to. Just like the rest of us."
"What do you mean Rin 'had to'." Yukio interrupted. "He would never get involved with drugs and fights without good reason! We grew up in a monastery! My brother may not be smart but he's not stupid enough to sell drugs on the street like a common criminal!"
"Yeah well, it's not my place to say this but screw it." Konton seethed. "Obviously, you're ignorant of your brother's true loyalties so let me sum it up for you. Akuma has been in this gang for years. He sold drugs, he's stolen from people, he aided us in blackmailing the cops to keep their mouths shut, and he fought in freaking gang wars. Akuma killed people. And there's nothing any of you can do about it."
Shiemi took it the hardest. She broke down and ran back upstairs. The other Exwires were in shock of what Konton just told them. Usagi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as if trying to prevent an upcoming headache.
"That's enough, Konton." Usagi said, firmly. She stood up and grabbed her laptop before heading upstairs to where Shiemi ran off but paused to look at the strongest female of their group.
"This isn't our place to tell a fellow gang member's friends and family the truth. Leave that to Akuma. If I were in their place," Usagi gestured to Yukio and the Exwires. "I would demand answers too but they don't completely understand what goes on around here. I'm not saying you should break it to them gently but don't just give away information like that. As you said, your first mistake could be your last."
With that, the blonde jogged upstairs and disappeared from view.
xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx
Rin ran across the rooftops with Konton's bag strapped to his shoulder. Inside the bag contained several boxes of DMT. The deadliest and most illegal drug in the world. How Konton managed to get this, Rin didn't know and to be frank, he didn't want to know either.
Rin jumped onto the next building when his destination came into view. It was a tavern called the King Crab. It was pretty popular in this district. Rin had been here a couple times in the past when he worked for Hebi. His boss would have been pissed if he found out where he had been a little over a year before his death. To Hebi, demons were as real as the possibility of a fictional novel coming to life and eating the whole planet. If he knew Rin was training to be an exorcist...well, some blood will be shed. Yep, Hebi would have killed him.
Rin landed on a railing and slid down on his feet. He made his way into the tavern and searched for his target. He caught sight of a man who looked to be in his sixties. He looked as though he hadn't bathed in a year and Rin could smell him from across the room. Immediately, Rin straightened up and made his way over to the man.
"Hey Ken." Rin greeted, blankly. The man turned to Rin and chuckled.
"Hey there, Akuma." Ken's voice was raw like someone shoved a frog down his throat. "I heard your boss got popped. Are you here to say that the deal's off or to kill me?"
Rin opened Konton's bag and handed one of the small packages to Ken. Said man took the package and peeked inside.
"Looks like you're still in business. For now." Ken handed Rin a one thousand yen bill. "Thought I'd let you know. The Carnage Kings are still hunting you all down. Whatever Hebi's done, he really pissed them off."
Rin just gave a firm nod and handed the last two boxes to Ken before heading back outside. At night, the city is usually swarming with lights but not the slums past Shinjuku. Many areas in Japan have low crime rates but no one ever dared to enter the forbidden Yoru Street, which lead to the danger zone of Jarichiku. Where Hebi grew up and where Rin worked ever since he was eight. When Rin first joined Hebi's crew, the monastery was struggling to pay the bills. The church wasn't always very popular and due to Father Fujimoto's religion, they only accepted charity given by the people. When Shiro told Rin and Yukio not to worry, Rin could always see the lie behind the silly smile. During his time at the park, Rin would watch families walking down the street with happy smiles on their faces and at school, rich kids would brag about their perfect home life. Rin had always hated the people around him as he grew up. He didn't want a life of wealth and luxury. He only wanted Yukio to live a simple life. He didn't want his younger twin near any of the lowlifes and slums. Never.
Suddenly, Rin felt a familiar chill going up his spine. He knew that feeling anywhere. It meant only one thing. He was being followed.
Rin picked up the pace but he heard footsteps coming closer to him. Being in a gang for years taught Rin not to look behind him when he was being stalked. He remembered Hebi's advice in these situations. If you're followed, lead them elsewhere. And NEVER let them get away.
Rin broke into a run and sprinted towards a street that everyone in Jarichiku called Desurou. What irony. It was a popular area for fights to take place. Rin stopped in his tracks when he came face to face with a dead end. He heard quiet chuckling behind him and turned to face the stalker. It was a tall man with a muscular build. He wore a wife beater, torn jeans, and hiking boots. He had a bandana around his shaved head and snake fang piercings on his lower lip. Rin also noticed that with his right hand, the man was hiding something behind his back.
"Are 'ya Akuma?" The man asked, smiling with yellowing teeth that looked as though they hadn't been cared for in years.
"Who wants to know?" Rin asked, monotonously. The man laughed again. Seriously, this guy was obviously a psychopath.
"I'll take that as a yes." The psycho moved his hand into view to reveal a large bowie knife, sharpened to perfection. The steel seemed to glow in the moonlight in a deadly manner. "Gotta say, I don't know why CK wants you put down so badly. They say 'ya killed ten guys without breakin' a sweat. I was expecting a brute but turns out you're just a scrawny little rat. Guess 'ya learn somethin' everyday, dontcha?"
CK. Carnage Kings. Rin's heart turned to ice at that. He hasn't been in this cesspool of a town for a day and someone's already trying to kill him. Welcome to Jarichiku after being gone for almost a year, Akuma.
"Name's Fang." The man said, spinning his knife. "And I hope 'ya made peace with God 'cause 'yer about to meet 'im."
That was when the man lunged, knife posed and aimed for Rin's heart but Rin saw it coming. The half demon grabbed Fang's wrist and twisted it back. A loud crack was heard through the alleyway and Fang howled in pain. His grip had also loosened on the knife and Rin easily wrestled the blade out of his hand. Rin had grabbed the knife by the blade but he could barely feel the cold metal sinking into his flesh as he yanked the knife away. There would be a nasty cut on his hand but Rin was too focused on his attacker to care and drove the knife into Fang's collarbone. Fang screamed in both pain and rage as he tried to fight back but due to Rin's demonic strength, he didn't stand a chance. Rin yanked the knife out and started stabbing Fang in the chest. Rin was in a frenzy as he repeatedly stabbed the man, blood was flowing like a river onto the pavement and it was also spraying across Rin's clothes and face. Once Fang was completely still, Rin pulled the knife out of the corpse for the final time and stood up, shakily. He wiped the blood from the knife with his hoodie and placed it in his sweatshirt pocket before looting Fang's body. Rin found a small box of cigarettes, a lighter, and thirty yen in the dead man's jeans. Surasshu would be grateful for the cigarettes and Konton would be pleased with a little extra cash. With that, Rin stood up and made his way back to Warehouse 31.
