Chapter 10: In God's Name 4
Mikhail Arbatov is a careful man. In his line of work, careful became his middle name. Upon his client's requests, he could kidnap just about anybody, depending on certain requests that would appeal to him and pays well; such as a certain request from the Kawaguchi family to kidnap a young man. Reason behind the client's requests never seem to bother him enough to find out, but one Takaba Akihito is enigma that simply intrigued him to no end. So he suit up and got the job done. The request was far from easy since it involves the kidnapping of a crime lord's lover, but he managed somehow. He hired men to tail the boy and they brought him over when given the chance. Sure enough, it took them weeks to move on with their plans. But he got too sidetracked with the boy. Thus, he's in a newfound predicament. To think the Asami Ryuichi in the flesh would show up to his base of operation for a mere mistress, that was not in the equation. He would love for his guests to entertain him, but they're surrounded. Mikhail's men draw their guns at the intruders, but they're being outnumbered at the moment. Asami has his gun grind against his right temple.
"Oh my, how scary. Mind if I ask, what are you doing here, Asami?" He asks, a bit too nonchalant about the whole ordeal.
"I need you to answer a few questions," he says coolly.
One moment, Mikhail was seated on the couch and fully enjoyed the taste of freshly-brewed coffee, simply taking in the view of their captive being chased by his men. Then Asami and his men barged in to disturb his peace. That aggravates him a bit. He examine the man before him when he noted his usual composure, but having known the man throughout the years of their involvement in the underworld, he knew better. Under the calm demeanor he displayed, Asami is furious. One wrong move would be the end of him. Mikhail sighs when dreaded boredom seeped in like poison. Some people are just too dramatic for his delicate taste buds.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about your lover boy. He's out there somewhere in that blizzard, y'know," he says.
"That's not your concern. Now, let's get to business."
"But what if I don't want to answer your questions? Would you kill me?" He asks playfully.
Asami prefers nothing more than to pull the trigger right there and then. But he won't let a mere taunt gets to him. He grind the barrel of his gun harder against Mikhail's temple. "I think you know the answer to that, Mikhail."
Mikhail laughs heartily. "Asami, you never changed, do you? Always so serious."
"Mikhail," he warns.
He raised both hands as a gesture of defeat. "Okay, okay, fine. What a party pooper. What do you want to know?"
"Who ordered you to take Akihito?"
Mikhail blinks a few times. "What do you mean? This is my idea-"
"Don't take me for a fool," he says darkly. "Who requested you?"
There goes another loss of profit. The blond merely sighs. "Why do you want to know anyway? It's not like it's of any importance."
"That is none of your concerns."
Mikhail shrugs at the Japanese's rude remark. "Fine, have it your way. It's the Kawaguchi. There, happy?"
Asami is more than pleased. Now they're one step closer to confirm Akihito's connection to the Kawaguchi. Kirishima is on stand-by mode and fully armed while he observe their boss with a side glance. The man may look as composed as a brick wall, but the dangerous glint in his eyes prove otherwise. Still, Mikhail just confirm that their hunch is not far off. Kirishima let out a small sigh.
"Who, specifically?" Asami asks.
Mikhail raised an eyebrow. "Look, I don't know, okay? All I know is a member of the Kawaguchi family is willing to pay US$12 million for the brat so I took the job. That was it."
Asami's mood darken. "A member of the branch families or the main house?"
"The main house. No one in the branch families has that much money."
"Do you know why they want him?"
Talk about annoying. Mikhail huff, "'why' you ask? Who knows. They never told me what their motives were. I never bother to ask because it's none of my concerns."
"Hn."
With that, Asami withdraw his gun from Mikhail and began to retreat. Kirishima cues for the rest of their men to do the same when Mikhail's men block their way. A few men is on standby by the exit, fully armed. The rest of them surrounds Asami and his men. Asami once again is armed and ready. He glares back at the Russian whose grin stick to his face like super glue.
"What is the meaning of this?" Asami says darkly.
Mikhail shrugs. "Why don't we play a bit? You came all the way to Macau to see me. How could I not entertain our guests?"
In other words, a rather polite threat full of underlying meaning. Kirishima has his gun on Mikhail, fully alert now that the Russian revealed his true intention. Asami let out a dark chuckle of his own that freaks out even his secretary.
"How scary. Don't be like that. You don't have to be so angry," he jokes.
"Fine. Have it your way."
Mikhail barely has time to jump in joy and glee when Asami and his men began to open fire at him. On reflex, he jump behind the couch to dodge the onslaught of bullets. The couch no longer deem to be a safe hiding spot when the bullets shot through the thick cushion. The couch is now full of holes. Mikhail draw his gun and is on full alert. His men open fire at the opposing party, injuring a few of Asami's men here and there. That doesn't mean his men suffer any less damage though. The Russian is satisfied by Asami's decision (not willingly) to indulge him in the little game he concocted last minutes, only a bit though. His boredom is cured by a few percentage to say the least. The glass windows began to shatter from the sea of bullets being fired back and forth by both parties. Once-polished furnitures in the room that looks to be worth thousands of dollars are reduced to being toys. That doesn't bother Mikhail much though. He could always replace them whenever. Kirishima urge Asami to stand beside a thick bookshelf in a corner and attack from there while he and the rest of the men defend their boss. Despite the man's initial refusal, they stand in a semicircle around him. Mikhail could barely contain his snickers when he found a small opening, but an opening nonetheless. He peek from behind the couch to see that the men has already forgotten about him in the presence of the attacks from his men. He quickly dash from his hiding spot and open fire at a few of Asami's men straight in the shoulders. They double over. Kirishima and rest seem to noticed him and quickly aim for him. Though, Mikhail's men intervened and they couldn't help but defend themselves too. Kirishima is the only one that noticed this so he settle for a kick. Mikhail catch his foot easily and twist it a bit. Kirishima let his guard down and Mikhail use it as an opportunity to circle one arm around his neck and place a gun at his temple. He couldn't get to Asami, but his secretary would work too. Now, all eyes are on him and his new captive.
Mikhail let out a mischievous grin. "Looks like I win, Asami."
"Not really," he says, a bit too calming.
"Huh?"
Asami almost smirk, but instead he pull out a gun from the inside pocket of his suit. He toss it to Mikhail's foot. He was confused at first, but with one look he recognized the gun anywhere.
"That's Yuri's gun. What did you do to him?" His tone dark.
"Nothing at the moment. Release my secretary and we will do him no harm," Asami says coolly. He, too, is a very careful man. He made sure to hold a hostage when he ventured into an enemy's territory. He let a smirk loose when he sees Mikhail release his subordinate.
"Tch."
"I'll send him back to you in one piece. Don't worry, I keep my promise."
And with that, Asami walks out with Kirishima a few feet behind him. The rest of men follow, the injured ones lag behind.
"Say, how did you find me, anyway?" He heard Mikhail asks.
"I have my sources."
"Secretive as always," he says.
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Akihito wakes up to a warm soft bed. He wasn't sure where he is, but he remembered someone help him from a bunch of hungry foxes. He noticed the wet towel on his forehead and his hands and feet were bandaged up. Looks like he's in a cabin somewhere. There's a fireplace. It's pretty much cozy. Akihito decide to gets up and throw the blanket off. He wince when pain shot up at every little movement he made. That's when the door open.
"Don't get up," a gruff voice says.
Akihito looks up to see a man with unusual red hair with a suit on and a bunch of cut up blocks of woods in hand. The man drop the woods and walk over to where Akihito is. He went over to dip the towel in a bucket of water and went to bed place it on top of Akihito's head, but his hand was slapped away.
"Don't touch me," the blond says in a hissing manner. He back up against the wall beside the bed to create a safe distance from the stranger. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"I am one of Asami-sama's bodyguards, Rei. I was sent to rescue you," he says.
Akihito perks up at Asami's name, but stare at Rei with suspicions. "Really? You're not one of Mikhail's men?"
"No."
"I still don't trust you," he says.
"You don't have to. I'm only here to keep you out of harm's way until the boss picks you up," he says. Rei retreat to the pile of woods. He picks it up and neatly stacked it by the fireplace. Then he grab a few blocks and toss them into the fire.
"So you're not lying?" Akihito asks.
"No."
"Then how long have you work for Asami?" Akihito tested.
"6 years."
Akihito study the redhead. From this distance, he could tell he really says the truth, but how could he trust the man? He's a good liar, that's for sure. He would, but he's still in an enemy's territory so he can't just blindly trust a stranger, even if the man claims to be Asami's subordinate. He needs to make sure. Akihito observe the cabin they're in. One door and one window. That means he have two ways of escape. He needs to make sure in case the man end up being an enemy. He was so in his thoughts he didn't notice Rei walks over and thrust a bowl before him.
"Eat," he says.
Akihito looks down to see a bowl of piping hot soup. Then his stomach growl in pleasure of real food and he blush. But he didn't take it right away. He's still suspicious of the content. What if there's poison or sleeping pills in there? Rei sigh and take a spoon of his own and take a spoonful of the soup and slurp.
"See? No poison. Now eat." He thrust the bowl into Akihito's hand.
Akihito eats ever so slowly. The taste of the warm soup seep into his cold body. Then he is tired of all the silence. He was grateful though.
"Rei-san-"
"Rei is fine."
"Okay, Rei then. Why am I all bandaged up?" He asks as he looks at his feet and hands.
"Mild frost bites. You passed out for two days. I put on some healing salve so that your wounds would heal a lot faster. The boss would like to see you not half-dead," he says without looking at Akihito as he continue to toss woods into the fireplace.
"For two whole days?"
Rei nods.
"Thanks, Rei," he mutter.
Rei nods again.
Akihito looks around the room a bit more. "Where am I? Are we still in Russia?"
"Yes, we're on the outskirts of a small town," he says.
"Then where is Asami?" He asks, hopeful.
Rei looks up at him, as if to assess him. Then he says, "Boss have me come to fetch you first while he attend to some other business. He'll come for you later."
"Can I call him?" He pleads.
"Finish your food first."
And Akihito complies. He chow down on his soup like there's no tomorrow and brought the bowl to his lips and slurp the rest of the remaining broth.
"There. Can I call him now?"
"Yes, you may."
Rei quickly dial the number on his phone and hands it over to Akihito. The blond take it and put it to his ears. The ringing made him anxious in more than one way. Then the phone of the other line picks up.
"Asami," he says.
Akihito couldn't believe it. It's really Asami. After a week of not hearing his lover's voice, he couldn't help but want to cry. He suck it up. It's no time to be a baby. Rei watch at the sight of the blond trying to be tough. He had heard a lot of story of their boss's lover, but no matter what, he's just a kid. He can pretend to be strong all he wants.
Akihito let his voice tremble when he says, "A-Asami."
"Akihito?"
Oh how he missed his voice. The voice that constantly is in his dreams. "Asami," he says again. He hope this isn't a dream.
"What is it, Akihito?" His lover's voice is soft and gentle and he couldn't help but let a tear fell to his cheek.
"Asami, how are you?"
He heard the man chuckles on the other line. "I should ask you that, Akihito."
"I-I'm fine. Rei has been treating me well. He help me a lot. He gave me this super delicious soup and bandaged my wounds. There were foxes chasing after me and I was almost eaten, y'know. A-Anyway-"
"Akihito, calm down," he says.
Akihito was quiet for a minute. "I am calm," he says in a small voice.
"Don't worry. I'm coming to get you."
That was all it take to calm his nerve and his anxiety. Asami might've not noticed, but to Akihito, that is a promise. Asami will come for him no matter what. He was so happy he couldn't help but cry.
"I'll be waiting for you," he says quietly.
(Hours later)
Akihito was sitting in bed and staring out the window thoughtfully. A knock on the door and Rei draw his gun. Slowly he open the door to reveal the one and only Asami. Akihito didn't care if his wounds hurt, but he threw his blanket to the side and scramble on his feet. Though he didn't get far and trip over nothing. He wince a bit. Then Asami kneel down on one knee in front of him and offer a hand. Akihito looks up to see the person he had been wanting to see the entire time. He couldn't help, but slap Asami's hands away. Instead, he throw himself into his arms and snake arms of his own around the man's broad shoulder and brought their lips in a tight lock. So he know this is real. Asami smirk into the kiss and snake his arms around Akihito's waist. Akihito continue to graze kisses all over his lips again and again. He clings onto Asami for dear life. This is his reality and he's back in the arms that love him.
"I'm back," Asami says.
Akihito didn't bother to say anything. He shower kisses all over Asami's face and a tear that escaped his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Asami. His men watch in silent awe as their boss is being shower with kisses. The image before then is just heartwarming, even for a bunch of mafias. Asami grab a coat from Rei who offered it and put it on Akihito. He pick the boy up bridal style and walks out to the car.
"We're going home," he says.