Dirty Dealings
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" resounded the voice of the ring announcer. "Your winner by knockout, with a time of one minute and thirty-eight seconds, and still undefeated, Bobby 'The Blur' Brewster!"
Bobby raised his arms in triumph as the audience roared cheers of approval. Danny beamed with pride at his older brother's accomplishments. After slapping a baseball cap onto his head that showed off several of Bobby's sponsors, Danny knelt down, wrapped his arms around Bobby's legs, and hoisted him into the air to aid in Bobby's celebration. Once he had played to the crowd enough, Danny brought Bobby back down to the canvas so that he could talk to the interviewer who was patiently waiting to talk to him.
Elsewhere, a TV turned off and Bobby's face disappeared just as he was about to give his post-match interview. A Japanese man in his early 50's, clean-cut, with slicked back short dark hair and dressed in what certainly appeared to be a very expensive gray suit slowly turned to face two young men sitting at the conference table across from him. The first young man was in his mid-20's. Though he was in a fine suit as well, he did not keep his overall appearance as proper as the older man across from him. His hair was long enough to reach to his shoulders, was slightly spiked on the top, and had a few blonde streaks going throughout. His face was free of facial hair and, despite his age, it made him resemble someone who was years younger than he actually was. In fact, he looked more like he belonged in a pop boyband than he did sitting at a business conference table. However, his eyes told another story. They told those around him that he was far from sweet and innocent. Next to him at the table was a handsome man also in his mid-20's, though he actually looked it. Unlike the first young man, his appearance was much more professional. He had no facial hair, and while his hair was similarly long to the first young man, it was much more professional-looking and lacked the blonde streaks. His attire showed him to be someone very concerned with appearances as it was immaculately kept. Two more people stood against the wall behind them. The first was a young man who appeared to be something of a combination of the two at the table. He was in the same age range as them, handsome and clean-cut with short neat hair, but he didn't bother with a suit like the other two. He merely had nice pants and a black silk button-down shirt with far too many of the buttons opened for it to be considered proper for a formal meeting. Around his neck was gold chain with a small pendant on it. Next to him was an older man, either in his late 30's or even early 40's. He had slicked back short black hair that was slightly longer on top and a mustache and goatee that was barely more than stubble. He was also quite tall and his very solid build gave one the impression that if he got into a head-on collision with a car that he'd not only survive it, but fare far better than then car would. To make the young man at his side look further out of place, he wore a black suit with a white shirt.
"(That is the man,)" said the businessman in Japanese. "(I, respectfully, ask that something be done about him.)"
"(Why?)" interrupted the third young man. "(Did he refuse to lose a fight for you?)"
The second young man said nothing, but merely turned his head and looked at the third young man with a subtle glare that made it perfectly clear that he shouldn't speak out of turn like that again. The third young man noticed the glare, stood up a bit straighter, pressed his back against the wall, and lowered his head to keep from making further eye contact. Once he was certain the third young man was properly put in his place, the second young man returned his gaze to the businessman. "(What is your reason for wanting this?)" he asked at last.
"(He has plans and intentions towards my daughter, Anna,)" responded the businessman quickly, as though he had anticipated having to answer this question. Though it was subtle, his words carried a bit of ire to them.
"(She's an exceptional beauty,)" said the first young man with a slightly lecherous tone. "(I don't blame him.)"
"(Why am I talking to you and not your father?)" responded the businessman to make it clear that he did not appreciate the comment about his daughter.
"(Because requests like this by people such as yourself are beneath the notice of my father,)" said the first young man, who now had a look on his face that appeared to be a combination of boredom and insolent anger. "(Therefore, if you still want this matter taken care of, you will deal with me.)"
"(Mr. Otani,)" said the second young man before the businessman could reply. "(I am sure that neither you, nor Hideo here meant any insult towards the other. Let's let calm heads prevail and come to an arrangement that we will both find mutually acceptable. Please?)"
Mr. Otani just gave Hideo a look of disdain before nodding his head in agreement at the second young man's statement. Hideo just smiled a look of smug satisfaction.
"(Excellent,)" said the second young man to maintain the return to business decorum. "(Then let's discuss and come up with a plan.)"
Hideo and the second young man watched Mr. Otani walk out the door. The third young man followed Mr. Otani to the door and closed it behind him. The large man remained where he was against the wall and behind Hideo.
"(Finally,)" said the third young man as he came back from the door. "(I can do a couple of lines now that that tired boring fuck is out of here.)"
"(Do you have to do that now, Moe?)" asked the second young man.
"(Yes I have to do it right now, Tada,)" replied Moe with a mocking tone. He then took out a small vial and poured some white powder on the table.
Tada looked at Hideo with a look of expectancy. When it became obvious that Hideo was not going to object or stop Moe from doing what he wanted, he just stood up and walked to the window. "(We should have avoided agreeing to this whole matter,)" Tada said as he stared out the window. "(It doesn't involve us. Mark my words, it will come back upon us.)"
"(You worry like my grandmother, Tada,)" said Moe right after snorting his first line of the white powder. "(The payoff down the line makes killing this guy more than worth it.)"
"(Moe's right, Tada,)" said Hideo. "(We just secured for ourselves, and my father, a very prosperous future. Additionally, I will get to spend some time with Mr. Otani's daughter. I think everybody except that dumb fuck we're about to kill just won. Relax and enjoy it.)"
Tada continued to stare out the window and allowed his head to touch the glass. "(You're probably right,)" he said in a low tone that still demonstrated his doubt. "(Still, we'll have to be careful. Something about this whole thing worries me and I can't place why.)"
"(That's why I like having you around, Tada,)" said Hideo as he stood up. "(You worry so that I don't have to. But before we do this, I want to meet him and see exactly who we're killing.)"
"(I love that idea!)" exclaimed Moe after finishing another line.
"(You would,)" retorted Tada as he turned to face Hideo and Moe. "(If Hideo said sucking your own cock was a good idea, you'd try to every day until either you succeeded or broke your neck in the attempt. Sycophant.)"
"(You know something?)" said Moe as he stood up to confront Tada. "(I'm really tired, and just a little pissed, at how you always run me down.)"
"(Then you should stop saying and doing dumb shit,)" replied Tada with a smug look of superiority.
Hideo rolled his eyes in exasperation at the sight of his two friends arguing. With his head cocked to one side and an exasperated look on his face, he turned and looked at the older man, who was still standing silently against the wall. The older man said nothing, but finally moved away from the wall and to the table, where he proceeded to pound his fist once on its surface. The sudden violent noise caused Tada and Moe to stop arguing and look at Hideo.
"(The Wall thinks that the two of you should stop bickering like an old married couple,)" said Hideo with a twisted smirk. "(And you both know that if you don't, then the Wall will become angry.)"
"(And nobody wants to see the Wall angry,)" said Tada and Moe at the same time with a roll of their eyes and the sarcasm so obvious in their voices that anyone who heard them speak would know that their reply was highly scripted.
"(Good,)" said Hideo. "(Now, let's get going. This place bores me. And you both know that I'm not pleasant to be around when I'm bored.)"
To be continued…