Lonely Boy XXI
A man in a dull grey business suit carrying two bags of groceries from the local supermarket nearby climbed the stairs to the seventh-floor apartment he shared with his current business associate. They weren't allowed to know each other real names, so they'd taken to calling each other Jules and Vincent from an American movie he barely remembered. As he pushed his way into the apartment, his partner glanced back from his position on overwatch.
"Finally, did you bring me a Royale?" Vincent asked.
Jules rolled his eyes tossing Vincent a pre-made burger from the same supermarket he'd bought the rest of their food. "It's not burger king, but you'll make do. Given what the bosses are paying us, be glad I was able to afford that."
Vincent merely gave his partner a huff of agreement before turning back to his binoculars. "Ah fuck…"
"What's… it's that damn cat again, isn't it?"
"I swear it knows we're here. It just sits, staring up at us. It's fucking creepy!"
"Calm down. The last Vincent got so spooked he quit the detail; I think they pulled his body from Tokyo Harbour last Wednesday."
"I bet it was that damn cat; it cursed him or something…" Vincent replied eyeing off the sniper rifle that was resting against a corner wall. "What do you think about me…"
Jules stirred the contents of his cup noodle that was fresh out of a nearby microwave. "I wouldn't do that either, the only thing Elvis cares more about than Barbie, Prom Queen, Madam Prosecutor and Cinnamon Roll is that damned cat. The bosses' orders stand, observe and wait."
"Wait, wait for what? Elvis to grow old and die? If that's the case, we've got a long fucking wait."
Jules shrugged as he dipped his chopsticks into the noddle broth and extracted a wad of noddles from the cup and slurped them into his mouth. Looking up from his meal he caught a glimpse of something over the window seal. "Hey, what's that?"
Vincent peered into the binoculars. "Elvis has left the building with Headphones, should we follow?"
Jules shook his head. "He'll have his shadows with him." Vincent glanced back giving the older man a questioning look. "Elvis has friends in the local Yakuza clan. He has guards on him twenty-four seven, that's why we're sitting up here and not down there. We don't want to locals sticking their noses into our business, again."
Vincent's only response was to shrug before turning back to the array of surveillance equipment before him. The rest of the day passed without incident. Eventually, the two men were replaced at around six o'clock, only to return at six the next morning. After Jules left and returned with breakfast, he turned his attention to studying the previous night's tape. Given he'd been on the surveillance detail the longest, he was able to identify the unkempt mop of raven hair sported by Elvis. Even as the footage was being scrubbed through at four times normal speed.
Jules face darkened as he turned to his partner after another hour of studying the surveillance footage. "Hey, Vincent, did Elvis ever return yesterday while we were here?"
Vincent took a moment to think. "No, I don't think so, why?"
"He's not in any of the footage from last night; Headphones returns with Barista but no sign of Elvis."
"Aww, are you worried about him?" Vincent asked mockingly.
"Fuck off, if we lose the target we're in deep shit, dumb ass."
"Relax, have you seen the women he hangs out with, fuck if I had the tail like hanging off me all day I'd spend most nights getting pussy," Vincent explained with a smirk.
Jules was about to respond with a snide comment when one of the audio monitors lit up. Both men scrambled for the window, where they caught the woman they'd identified as Barbie burst out of the café in tears. Seconds later Blondie and Student President ran out after her, chasing the young woman all the way to the train station.
Jules and Vincent glanced at each other before Jules spoke. "Well, shit."
Naito Eizo, known to Eriko Kurusu as Vincent-sama was lounging on the couch of his girlfriend's apartment as she brought him a beer. "Is that everything Vincent?"
"Yeah, sure. Keep your ass around, I may want it later," Vincent responded by taking a sip of the already open beer.
"Y-yes Vincent-sama," Eriko replied with a trace of hesitance in her voice. Eriko was immediately distracted from her conversation with him by a knock at the door. Eriko crossed the living room she answered the door.
"Yes?"
"Ma'am, are you Eriko Kurusu?" A man dressed in a suit and tie beneath a heavy winter coat.
"Yes I am, what is this about?"
"Ma'am my name is Hachiro Kurosawa, I am a detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department…" Kurosawa began. As his words drifted inside Eizo lent forward in his seat reaching for the small calibre pistol he had in an ankle holster inside his boot.
"W-what can I help you with, Detective?"
"I regret to report that your son, Akira Kurusu, was killed in a hit and run yesterday. According to eyewitness reports, he threw a young red-headed woman, the daughter of the man he was living with, clear but was unable to jump clear before he was hit."
Both Eriko and Eizo were shaking but for different reasons. Eriko stood gripping the door for support as the idea of her son being dead sunk in. Meanwhile, Eizo was shaking with laughter at the irony of the situation. His extensive plans to kill Akira Kurusu had come to nought and yet a hit, and run driver had taken care of his problem for him. If they ever found the person responsible, Eizo decided that the least he could do is buy him a thank you gift.
"T-thank you o-officer, y-you can g-go," Eriko replied shutting the door on the Detective before he could respond. As soon as the door was closed, Eriko collapsed to her knees wailing at the top of her lungs. Eizo immediately got off the couch and carried Eriko into the living room before retrieving a bottle of whiskey from the alcohol cabinet. As he watched Eriko down almost half a bottle in a matter of minutes, he almost felt bad for what had happened to Akira, almost.
A few days later Naito Eizo lent against the railing of the apartment building; he was staring out over the horizon as he took a drag of his cigarette. As he relaxed, his mind worked over the problems in front of him now that Akira was dead. He knew he'd have to deal with his allies in the Phantom Thieves; he hoped he wouldn't have to kill all of them. Sae and Makoto Nijima, and Ann Takamaki would be worth far more to him alive than dead, and Haru Okumura gave him access to the Okumura foods fortune which was a shortcut back into the political world. All he had to do was dump the mental shutdown mess on Shido and his idiot son Akechi. Eizo knew Haru wouldn't cooperate willingly, but then the little red-head and her foster father were soft targets, ripe to be exploited.
Eizo paused watching a van pull up and two men exit. They were dressed in matching blue overalls and caps. They crossed the car park carrying boxes of tools and entered the landlord's office. A seven minutes later the two exited the office and began climbing the stairs. Eizo glanced back as they emerged onto his floor, he watched as the two men stopped. The brown-eyed blonde's brow was furrowed as he studied the work order in his hand while his blue-haired grey-eyed partner waited patiently as the blonde glanced back and forth. Eventually, the blonde led his partner down the passage towards Eizo before stopping in front of the door to Eizo's apartment.
"Can I help you?" Eizo asked.
"Oh, uh, is this your place?" The blonde asked.
"If it is?"
The blonde handed Eizo the work order. "The rental company hired us to fix the problem with your heating. I gather it's gotten pretty damn cold recently."
Eizo huffed. "I stopped sleeping in the apartment if you could get it fixed today I'd appreciate it."
"Sure, no problem."
"I'll leave you to it," Eizo replied, he was about to walk away but paused glancing back at the blonde. He was turning away to speak to his partner when Eizo grabbed him by the arm.
"Uh, something wrong?"
Eizo stared into the eyes of the blonde for a long moment before he let go of his arm. "No, it's nothing."
"Right, well, we'll leave word with the landlord when we're finished."
Naito Eizo tossed and turned in bed; he awoke in a shock almost ripping the bedclothes from his body as he ran around the bed to tear open his bedroom window. Clawing at the fly screen, he cried out in fear. "Let me out, let me out of here!"
"Eizo…" A voice whispered causing the said man to whip around; he paled as his eyes adjusted to the moonlight, he could now make out the outline of a figure standing in the shadows.
"You, you're not real, you're DEAD!" Eizo yelled diving back to his bed, shoving a hand under his pillow he felt the cold steel of his pistol slide into his grip. Eizo whipped around he catching himself in time to stop from pulling the trigger. The figure had disappeared, leaving Naito Eizo alone in his apartment.
Two days later Naito Eizo stood outside his apartment, it was only ten am, but he was into his fifth cigarette of the day. Eizo was about to butt out and re-enter the apartment when he caught movement out the corner of his eye. It was Akira Kurusu dressed in his Shujin Academy uniform. He disappeared around the corner and down the stairs as Eizo watched.
Eizo dropped his cigarette and tore after the teen; he paused at the top of the stairs peering over the side to see if he could spot Kurusu. He could see someone in a jacket with black sleeves walking down the stairs to the lower level. Scrambling to keep up Eizo dropped onto the landing below as the man, with dark hair and a black jacket turned to follow the next set of stairs down.
Eizo took the stairs two at a time to try and catch up with his prey. Leaping over the last three steps Eizo grabbed his quarry by the arm shoving the man back against the wall of the apartment building. It was only when a female voice screamed in fright, and someone yelled his cover name that Eizo came to his senses. Standing in front of him was a man in his twenties, he had straight black hair and was dressed in a black business suit. The woman who he'd been walking with had screamed backing away from the confrontation as Eriko Kurusu rounded the corner.
"Vincent, what are you doing?" Eriko demanded.
Eizo backed away a couple of steps from the man who was dusting himself off. Eizo looked at the man, his partner and Eriko and then the empty stairs nearby. "I… I thought, n-never mind… I'm sorry, I thought, I don't know what I thought…"
"Clearly," The man said giving Eizo a condescending look before departing.
"Vincent, what's wrong, you've been acting strangely recently.
Eizo shrugged her off approaching the stairs peering up and down again. "It's nothing… fuck off and leave me alone."
It had been a week since the incident in the stairwell and Eizo looked it as he paced the roof of his apartment building. The thick bags under his eyes were a testament to lack of sleep he'd been getting because of the night terrors and the feeling of someone rattling around his apartment in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure who it was, he was sure it wasn't Eriko, he'd gotten that out of her at gunpoint. Eizo visibly flinched as the door to the roof burst open, and one of his operatives appeared.
"You wanted to see me, boss?"
"Is Akira Kurusu dead?"
The operative paused. "Sir?"
"Is Kurusu dead?"
"The police reports…" The operative began before Eizo stormed over.
"I don't give a fuck what the police reports say, is he dead, did you see the body?" Eizo demanded grabbing the man's suit jacket, billowing cigarette smoke into his face.
"N-no! I just trusted them…" The man coughed out before being thrown towards the low wall overlooking the edge of the roof.
"Fucking useless!" Eizo declared grabbing the man by the jacket again dragging him back towards the door to the roof.
"Go back to Tokyo and make sure you don't return until you see the fucking body!"
"Boss! The body, it's got to have been cremated by now! There won't be anything left!"
"Then that's just fucking bad luck for you because if you return without evidence that Akira Kurusu is dead, there's going to be nothing left of you to identify!" Eizo yelled before he threw his subordinate down the stairs.
Landing with his back against the corridor wall the man looked between the two guards Eizo had assigned himself. "He's going fucking mad. Shido had his faults, but at least he was stable, at least, until the end."
The two guards said nothing as their colleague scurried away, but a shared glance confirmed the other was thinking the same thing. Naito Eizo was crumbling.
Over the next three days, most of the residents of the apartment block were convinced to take an extended vacation. In their place were as many heavily armed mercenaries as he could afford. Unfortunately, without the support of his former backers, Eizo had to resort to the money he'd stolen throughout his career in the Japanese public service, which was quickly running out. Using the last of his funds, Eizo was able to hire ten mercs to cover three floors of the building. The mercs were spread over three levels, one above and below the floor Eizo resided.
Eizo sat in the middle of his apartment, the furniture having been moved to the edges of the room and two fully equipped mercs sat opposite. Eizo maintained a death grip on the 9-millimetre pistol as he stared stubbornly at a point on the opposite wall. Feeling drowsiness beginning to overtake him once again, Eizo reached out for the medicine bottle that sat on the small table beside him, injecting another three pills with some water.
"I think you might be overdoing it with those pills," One of the mercs offered.
Eizo glared at the man, closing his fist as he tried to hide the shakes caused by the pills. "I'm not paying you fucking think."
The merc snorted a laugh. "We haven't been paid anything yet."
Eizo was about to retort when the lights went out. The three men rose from their seats as the TV behind Eizo sputtered to life. As Eizo spun around, he could see Akira Kurusu's sneering face peering at him through the snow. His face morphed from sneering to laughing before Eizo unleashed three rounds into the TV.
"Hey! Take it fucking ea…" The merc began before Eizo pumped two rounds into his neck, the room lit in the sparks emanating from the TV.
"Don't fucking tell me to do anything! I'm Naito FUCKING EIZO I TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO!" Eizo yelled rounding on the man's partner putting a single round in his face before the man could pull the trigger on his gun.
Eizo almost ripped the door of his apartment off its hinges as he ran out onto the balcony. Eizo put his hands over his ears trying to block out the laughter that was increasing in volume with every step he took. Suddenly the laughter stopped, and the lights on the balcony flickered to life. A moment later the strains of a familiar guitar riff, Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix started playing a full blast over the speakers usually reserved for warning of an impending natural disaster.
As the guitar riff fed into the accompanying drums, a figure climbed the stairs at the opposite end of the building from Eizo. As Hendrix began to sing, the figure stepped into the light.
Eizo paled stumbling back towards the stairs behind him. He raised his gun and let off three rounds that the man before him ignored walking forward towards Eizo. Naito Eizo stumbled over himself as the music continued to play and the guitar wailed over the speakers, Eizo tried to climb up to the next level only to be stopped by two women, one dressed in a red catsuit, the other covered in navy coloured battle gear complete with shoulder spikes.
Forced to descend, Eizo turned to try and escape towards Eriko Kurusu's apartment only to be stopped short by two more. One dressed like a punk in black leather the other was dressed in a black high collared, puff-sleeved jumpsuit with a white fox tail attached to a sash belt across his hips. Eizo backed away again not even aware of the unconscious men laying behind the two men in the passage.
The five individuals followed Eizo as he descended to ground level. As he tried to escape to the street he saw a small black cat with piercing blue eyes; it was flanked by an orange haired woman in a skin-tight black bodysuit with glowing neon green highlights and a pair of black goggles with orange lens on her face. The other young woman beside the cat was dressed in a dark purple cavalier hat with a feather plume tucked into a royal purple hatband, a long sleeved pale pink blouse with a white neck jabot held by a red gem pin, a black corset vest with gold buttons, royal purple bloomers with black pantyhose and lace-up pumps.
Eizo back away from the three who joined the other five. In desperation, Eizo fled into a nearby alley where he collided with a high chain-link fence. Sliding down to the ground Eizo rounded on the eight attempting to let off the last of the rounds in his gun only to have it knocked away by the leader. He was tall draped in an ankle length black tailcoat, a high necked waistcoat with gold accents, black joggers pants, brown winkle-pickers and red gloves.
Eizo glared in horror at the man above him. "Impossible, you're dead."
Joker smirked leaning down towards his target as police lights lit up the mouth of the ally. "I was dead Naito Eizo, you killed me, but I did what any good thief does…"
"What's that?"
"I stole my life back."
To Be Continued…
Yeah, ok, bad author, naughty, I should have posted something before now instead of making all of you wait. Sorry, life stuff got in the way. Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait and I didn't throw anyone too severely by the sudden shift in perspective. As you can probably tell, this is almost over, two maybe three chapters left.
Thanks to the following reviewers:
Zamrok
Version15
Review Responses:
Super Kamehameha: I understand your point of view, but that's a word that makes me uncomfortable, even writing it makes me uncomfortable. I'm no prude, but I am my mother's son.
Novice4129: Your advice was a great help, it just cleared the cobwebs and got my muse back working again. *Looks behind him to see his muse running on a hamster wheel* He's working right now.
Muse: GET ME OFF THIS THING!
No.
ArtistGamerMage: I'll be honest, this isn't the worst review I've had for this story. I'm sorry you found it too depressing. I mean… I could do worse. *Evil Grin* I've had ideas for even darker stories than this and Exit Wounds, but that's a story for another time.