Chapter 29 : The Deal

Shino slowly opened his eyelids. His body felt heavy and his head spun a little. He expected to see his room but it was dark and colder than usual. He was laying on very hard surface. Everything smelt like a mix between rusty iron and mold. Shino blinked, trying to gather his thoughts on what had happened and where he was now. He tried to get up but fell back. The boy gasped as he noticed his hands were on his back. Moving his fingers, he realized thick rope was fastened on his small wrists. Shino blinked. He tried to memorize what had happened to him. Today he had been at Sousuke's place all day then they had prepared dinner together. His brother and Ao had been there too, at kitchen. Then..what? Yes, he had remembered about his promise to Shinobu. Ao had taken him to the restaurant...and...wait. He had not gone to that place because some people had...

He hitched on his breath. He was kidnapped. Panic raised on his thoughts. He frantically looked at his surroundings, figuring out where he was. The kidnappers probably had put him on small room or storage or somewhere that smelt like old iron. The smell was disgusting, making him wanted to puke. What would happen to him? What did they want? Money? Were they his father's political rivals? Or just some random criminals who had targeted him because he came from rich family? Shino head spun and he shivered from the cold. He thought he had fever.

Suddenly he heard clicking sound came from his right side, followed by heavy creaking which he guessed was a door being opened. Shino closed his eyes pretending to be unconscious. He had no idea what they wanted and was not ready to face his kidnappers. "I know you are awake, boy." A male voice. "Say something."

The boy gulped. A cold sweat drenched his palms. He was really afraid the man would hit or kick him out of the blue. He braced himself and prepared for such blow, but nothing happened. The man snorted then walked toward Shino. He kneeled beside him and forcefully lifted Shino's head up by grabbing the boy's hair. Shino yelled in pain. He screamed, struggled to get away, his body twisted. His legs and ankles were also tied, completely immobilized him. Shino whimpered as the man struck his cheek. The lack of light made him could not see properly. Everything went blur after second strike.

"Let me go!" Shino screamed. "Let me go, bastard!"

"Hmph, you and your boyfriend sure have bad mouth," snorted the man.

Shino's eyes widened. "W-what do you... Do you k-know Sou?" He stared at the man, narrowing his eyes which had adjusted with the darkness. Now he could see the man's bald head and average figure. "W-who are you?! Why are you doing this to me?!"

Seiran laughed. "Why? Did you just ask 'why'? Let's see..." The man let Shino's hair go then stroked the boy's cheek. Shino tried to back away but his tied body would not let him to. "Oh, boy, you have no idea? Those two bastard children took everything away from me. Their bitchy, filthy mother took father away. They took my mother's happiness. Then they took the position I should have had."

What bastard children? What position? Those sounded really delirious on his ears. "I...I don't..." Shino whimpered, his voice was barely above whisper.

Seiran laughed again, louder. "You don't know? Or you don't understand? No worries, boy. Just be a good kid and stay here for a while. If you're lucky, the twins will come to save you. I hope they live long enough to see your face, though." The man stood up, proceeding to doorway. "Oh, another thing. Do not ever try to do something funny. You don't want to witness your pretty big brother's face in blood, right?"

"No! What are you going to do with my brother?! Don't hurt him! Let me go, let me go!" Shino screamed on top of his lungs but it did not stop Seiran to close the door, leaving him in darkness and deadly silence. The boy began to sob.

.

Stopping his car on one basement, Ao gave a signal to a black Toyota car on his right side. As he had expected, Daikaku came out with other two men who wore dark suit. Ao got out of his broken car. He ordered one man to dispose the car far away from this town. "You." Ao pointed at another man who was standing behind Daikaku. "Go to my house and stay there, bring two more people." The man quickly obliged, obviously afraid of Ao's furious expression. "Daikaku, what do you have?" Ao turned to his right hand man.

Daikaku cleared his throat. "I have found out some proofs that Seiran was involved in drug trading with Laos and Philippine. He also has a history on human trafficking for sex industry in South Asia and Southeast Asia using the name of our group, Sir. I have the list of people in Japan who back him up." He handed Ao a piece of paper. "He's suspiciously close with a group from Kansai. Based on our people in Chugoku, Seiran was also seen in Hiroshima."

"Another drug business?"

"Yes, Sir, and illegal pachinko with some Korean."

Ao glared at the names on the list. Some were people who had sworn their loyalty to his group. It was certain that after his father's death, people began doubting his group's power. No wonder they were easily provoked by Seiran's sweet, poisonous words. "What else do you have?" asked Ao.

This time, Daikaku looked hesitated.

"Well?" Ao snarled, "Do you expect me to wait for any more minute?"

Daikaku bowed deeply. "I'm sorry for being rude, Sir. We also...captured one of Seiran's man. He told me that Seiran ordered some people to follow the Satomi's brothers since the day you moved to new house."

"Fuck..." The dark-haired man cursed, "And I did not even notice... Fucking stupid." He knew there was no good to be involved with the Satomi family. He should have not gone too deep. He should have seen this were coming... Yet, he slept with Satomi Rio and dragged him into this mess. Ao felt guilty. He had let his guard down, thinking no one would harm Rio and Shino if they were under his protection. However, everything had gone really, really wrong. Ao exhaled to calm himself down. He continued, "And Seiran's whereabouts?"

"We have not found it yet, Sir," replied Daikaku, "He can be anywhere. I was about to ask if you happen to know whether Shino-san had his phone's GPS turned on."

"I expected you already tracked the GPS."

"We can't, Sir."

Ao frowned. "What do you mean? I believe we have advanced technology to track GPS!" His patience were running out. "It's only fucking GPS!"

"But a special one." An unrecognized voice cut through the air. Both Daikaku and Ao turned around. Daikaku took out his gun and pointed at a man who was slowly approaching them. "You don't want to be put in jail for illegal arm possession right? Put your gun down, Inumura Daikaku," said the man again.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Ao. His expression remained calm but he knew the man in front of him was not any ordinary person. The stranger had such confidence to face wakagashira of big yakuza group.

The man answered in serious tone, "I'm here to give you an offer."

"You don't belong to any group," Daikaku said. He still had his gun. "I haven't seen you anywhere before."

"I don't belong to your side, actually." The man shrugged off, loosening his necktie. "I belong to law enforcement."

Ao suddenly took out his own gun, aiming for the man's forehead. "I see. You are the detective who sniffs around our territory. What a dog."

"Oh, that's not me," he replied as calm as Ao, "That's not my task. I was assigned to follow your half brother, actually. Seiran is the legal son of your father, right? Too bad your father chose you to be the successor instead of him. He must be really angry at you two. Heard that his mother took suicide the day you twins were born. Or...was she killed by your father?"

"You know awfully a lot of a mere detective," Ao said, "You mentioned about an offer. What is it? Exchanging information with cops? No, thank you. I've had enough with them."

"Even though I know how to track Shino-kun's GPS?"

Ao gave the man a suspicious look. "Explain."

"You see, the Satomi family from generation to generation always been heavily guarded. They are easy target for kidnapping. Therefore, each of family members has custom-made GPS programmed on their device. The GPS is directly connected to a security company that has advanced system to protect the computer from any hacker. Only few people knew the confusing system and its equally complicated password list." The man smiled. "Besides, you need to access security camera around the town, right? Do you think you can access that easily in very limited time?"

"And you know how to break into the system?" asked the wakagashira.

The man nodded. "Yes, of course, that's why I am here to give you an offer. By the way, my name is Inukai Genpachi. Nice to meet you two."

.

Sousuke felt helpless. To tell he was not scared was a lie. He was scared. He was afraid something dangerous would happen to them, especially to Ao. Sousuke failed to protect his family. He had failed to see how Ao had been put under great pressure from their father's family side. It started the day of the twins' mom funeral. A representative from his father's family had come to fetch them, bringing the two to main house. There, they had been told that one of them must continue the family line. Sousuke had been the first choice since he was the older one, and of course Sousuke had declined immediately. First of all, he did not want to involve with yakuza world. Another reason was the twins did not even know what kind of man their late father had been.

From the moment when he had learned the fact that his little brother had accepted the position as wakagashira, his life had changed completely. He understood why Ao had not pleased with his relationship with Shino. Nothing good would come from relationship with yakuza family members, except if you were yakuza yourself. However, he and Ao decided to take a risk. It was so funny to think the silly 'love can conquer anything' phrase could be quite true. Sousuke stared at his smart phone screen, waiting for any news from Ao. He sighed in defeat after another ten minutes silence then glanced at Rio who was sitting on armchair.

The blonde had not said anything since half an hour ago. Sousuke had tried to make conversation but Rio had ignored him completely. Even Shinobu could not do anything. Sousuke dragged his feet to kitchen where Shinobu was standing before the stove. Noticing Sousuke's presence, the boy turned around. "I hope you won't mind if I help myself around kitchen."

Sousuke almost thought it was Shino who was talking to him. Shinobu had a similar build with his boyfriend even though the blond boy was a slight bit taller. "I'm sorry for ruining your dinner with Shino," said Sousuke.

"You should have not said sorry, Inukawa-san," Shinobu replied, "However, I do wonder why you have not called the cops yet."

The man was bewildered by the question. He completely forgot that Shinobu did not know anything about Ao's status. "It is...rather complicated." Sousuke tried to find good words to describe the situation but sentences were jumbling inside his mind.

"I'll be here until Shino come back safely," Shinobu continued. Before Sousuke could protest, Shinobu raised his hand. "Don't worry. I told my dad I have sleepover at Shino's place. Now, Inukawa-san, would you like to tell me the truth?"

"Excuse me?"

"The motive behind the kidnapping, of course."

Sousuke gulped. No doubt the boy in front of him was smart. He had sharp observation. "Shinobu-kun, I know you might be surprised by my explanation. Actually, me and my twin..."

They were interrupted by Rio. He leaned on doorframe, saying with weary face, "Sousuke, you better go to the entrance. I think Ao send some people here."

Shinobu narrowed his eyes. "People? Not cops?"

"Sousuke-san, we were sent by Ao-san to guard the house." A tall man with ear piercings and grey shirt showed up.

Then Shinobu groaned. "Oh, yes, great. Yakuza. How could I miss it."

.

Typing fast on keyboard, Genpachi glanced at the wall clock on the pent house's living room. His laptop had been working for almost an hour now. With one hand, he opened the latest e-mail from Nachi. His friend had confirmed that Genpachi could access all public security camera in Tokyo. Now Nachi was trying to access into cameras in cities around Tokyo, including Yokohama and Kamakura. Genpachi smiled in satisfaction when his laptop showed a series of numbers and letters in three long rows.

"Yes, baby, show papa the password..." Genpachi whispered as he pressed the 'enter'. The numbers and letters were reduced to only one row. The the screen turned into blue color for several seconds before showing a map with several red dots. "I got it," said Genpachi go spinning around on his seat. Ao was standing behind him with relieved expression. "Shino is in Yokohama, port area," he continued, "I suggest we move now."

Ao growled, "We?"

"The deal, Inukawa-san." Genpachi smiled again. "I help you find the boy and you give me Seiran and information of drug trafficking."

"You can't come with me," Ao replied, "I will catch Seiran then send him to you."

"Alive?"

Ao gave him a look.

The detective shook his head. "I want him alive so I need to come along to ensure you will not kill him."

"Let me ask you something, Inukai-san. You are not working for Tokyo MPD, are you? And I doubt NPA has authority to assign you. Is it the cabinet? Or the minister himself?" Ao asked, "Or are you doing this independently?"

Genpachi stared at the younger man for a moment. Placing his hand under his chin, Genpachi answered, "You can find out about me later since you have many resources. Why don't we move from here before your boyfriend's little brother get hurt?"

"Fair enough." Ao finally nodded and grabbed his gun.

.

.

tbc

*NPA is National Police Agency