"Ren! I think Ichi is in trouble!" Kura's panicked voice came through the phone.
"What happened?" Ren asked hurriedly.
"I'm not sure. He didn't come to work today, so I went to his apartment after work, but he's not at home!"
Ren sighed. "That doesn't mean he's in trouble, Kura…"
"You know how he's like, Ren. Ichi would never disappear without notice; he has always been the most responsible one among us all!" Kura argued.
Ren had to agree with the sentiment. It was quite out of character for Ichi to pull a stunt like this. Ichi was a lot like him, calm and level-headed; while Kura was a lot like Yamato, violent and quick-tempered. "Well, you're the closest to Ichi nowadays, so you should know best. Did anything happen recently that would put him in danger?"
Kura thought for a while. "Not really, our work has been going okay… But I haven't seen him outside of work for quite some time…"
"Why? I thought you hung out with him most of the time?"
"Yeah, but Ichi's got a night job now. So he's busy most of the time."
Ren frowned. He didn't know that. "Really? When did this happen?"
"Just about 2 weeks ago. He's working as a bartender's apprentice, I believe." Kura said.
Ren couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. Since the inauguration ceremony a month ago, he had been preoccupied with the clan's activities. During the day, he would be busy practicing his combat skills; in addition to Yakuza law lessons three times a week. Then, from evening to late at night, he would be accompanying Shin making his rounds to each division to meet with the leaders, as well as to learn the ropes of the various businesses. Ren never knew that the Yakuza, or in this case the Oedo clan, controlled so many businesses until now. And more impressively, most of them were legal. Shin had told him that the Oedo clan's principle was to stick to legitimate businesses as much as possible.
"It's true that most of them are used for money laundering," Shin said. "That's a fact we cannot change. What we can control is how we launder that money. We can choose to bluff our way through; or we can choose to make an honest living out of it. It is these decisions that set us apart from the other clans."
Ren couldn't agree more. Seeing the Yakuza world through Shin's eyes was quite an eye-opening experience. In Shin's opinion, nothing was black or white; just different shades of grey. Everything was fair game, as long as you honoured the Code – Justice and Duty.
"Hello? Ren? Are you still there?" Kura's persistent voice jolted him back to the present.
"Ah, sorry. What were you saying? Oh yeah, Ichi's bartending job." Ren looked at his watch. "It's nearly 5 o' clock, maybe he left early for his night job?"
"Maybe…" Kura still sounded sceptical.
"Why don't I meet up with you, and we'll go visit him at work?" Ren suggested.
"Hmm. Alright then. I'll meet you at the Jigu town hall in an hour." Kura said, hanging up.
Ren frowned slightly at that last bit of knowledge. There was an ongoing turf war between them and the Kakita group in the Jigu area. He could only hope to God that nothing would go wrong.
'I should have known better.' Ren found himself thinking afterwards.
They had not been able to find Ichi at the bar either. The owner of the bar told them that 5 of his employees, including Ichi, had not turned up for work since yesterday evening. He suspected that it was the work of the Kakita group, since he had refused to pay protection fees to them last month.
"But I already paid the Oedo clan, I can't afford to pay both sides!"He confided to Ren, not knowing of Ren's affiliation with the aforementioned clan. Ren didn't deem it necessary to inform him either.
"Did you tell the Kakita group that?" Ren asked.
"Yes, but they refused to listen. If anything, I think it made them angrier." The owner said.
Kura was beside himself with worry. "Ren, what do we do now? The Kakita group is part of the Yakuza, we can't possibly face them!"
Ren was only half-listening. 'Those bastards. How can they drag the katagi into the turf war?' He seethed internally. 'This is going too far… But Aniki is not here… What do I do?'
"Come, Kura. I have a contact nearby; maybe he will have some information on Ichi." Ren said, leading the way to Crown, the neighbourhood cinema. Kura followed Ren as he strode purposefully through a cordoned off area and into the management office, all the while wondering why none of the security personnel had tried to stop them.
Ren walked straight into the Director's office without knocking on the door. Kura tugged at his shirt nervously. "Ren, are you sure it's okay to barge in like this?" He whispered.
Ren ignored him. He was raising an eyebrow at the sight of the Director busy making out with his secretary behind his desk. Turning to look in that direction, Kura let out a loud gasp; inadvertently alerting the Director to their presence.
The Director immediately sprang free from the woman and hurriedly tried to straighten his clothes.
"Shatei-san! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you would be dropping by!" He said, apologizing profusely to Ren.
Ren shot him an amused look. "No, I should be the one who's sorry. I've intruded your office without notice."
"No, no, not a problem at all. How can I help you today, Shatei-san?"
Ren took a glance at the woman. "You're dismissed." He said curtly. To Kura's surprise, she just bowed meekly and left without a word.
Ren turned his attention back to the Director. "Kawamura-san, how's the war going?"
Kawamura's expression turned grave. "Not good, I'm afraid. We're actually considering pulling out of it. Those rascals are starting to involve the katagi in the war, you see. They have been harassing katagi who are supporting us, or have paid protection fees to us."
Ren nodded. "I've heard. I'm afraid one of my friends may have been taken by them."
"Really? Those conniving mongrels! How can they do such a dishonourable thing? They have crossed the line this time. In that case, then we must fight! Don't worry, Shatei-san, we'll get the katagi and your friend back! Nishi," He barked into his intercom. "Ready the troops!"
"Wait," Ren said. Kawamura looked at him expectantly. "If you charge in now, the katagi will be in danger. We gotta get them out first."
"How do we do that without a confrontation, Shatei-san?" Kawamura asked curiously, although not rudely.
Ren thought for a while. "Do you know where they might be holding them?"
"No, but I may be able to find out." Kawamura answered. He pressed his intercom. "Suki, track Hyuuga down and ask him to come see me immediately."
"Yes, boss." Suki answered. Both Ren and Kura recognised Suki's voice as the woman who had just left the office a few minutes ago.
"Who's that?" Ren asked. "Hyuuga, I mean."
"Just an informant. He's not involved with us in any way, but he tends to get really useful information because of his job."
"How does he come across so much information?" Ren asked.
"He works as a helper at the hostess club next to the Kakita Group headquarters. Helps the hostesses with their clothes and make-up and stuff you see – lucky guy – so he gets to listen to all the gossip and bitching about their clients, who are mostly from the Kakita Group."
"Why is he helping us then?" Ren asked suspiciously.
"He's one of Ojou's former students, I think. Ojou asked us to keep an eye out for him when he first started work, because he was being targeted by some gangsters hired by his previous employer who was bent on revenge. Eventually we became friends, and he would pass us snippets of information he overhears at work. Dead useful, I tell you."
'Yankumi's student.' Ren realised with a small grin. That was a very valuable spy indeed.
Suki was back on the intercom. "Boss, Hyuuga is here." Kawamura gave Ren a questioning look, as if seeking for consent. Ren gave a brief nod.
"Alright, send him in." Kawamura ordered.
A young man in his twenties entered the room. "Kawamura-san." He greeted politely.
Kawamura waved him forward. "This is our underboss, Kuroda Ren. You can address him as Shatei-san."
Kura, who had been quietly observing the exchange so far, stifled a gasp. From the conversation earlier, he had suspected that Ren was somehow involved with the Yakuza, but to hear that he was the underboss came as an immense shock. And since when did he change his name?!
"Shatei-san." Hyuuga gave a slight bow in greeting.
"Just call me Ren, since you're not part of the clan, and my senpai to boot." Ren said lightly.
"Oh, are you from Kurogin?" There was a weary tone in Hyuuga's voice. Ren assumed that Hyuuga didn't like his former school very much.
Ren shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm from Akadou. But we shared the same homeroom teacher, so I believe you qualify as my senpai. Since she's probably the only person who had taught us anything useful, the name of the school doesn't really matter."
Hyuuga nodded in agreement, his expression less guarded this time. "You are right, Ren. So how can I help you guys today?"
"Hyuuga, have you heard the rumours?" Kawamura asked.
"About them detaining civilians? Yes, I am afraid I have. In fact, I was on my way to see you when Suki called me. I believe there's a total of 12 people in their hold now." Hyuuga answered worriedly.
"12!" Ren gasped. 12 was a big number. It would not be easy to get them all to safety without being noticed.
"Yes. One of the guys was boasting to a hostess about it." Disgust was clearly etched on his face.
"Do you know where they are held?" Ren asked.
"Not exactly, but I know that it must be quite near our place; because one guy came in and complained loudly about how it had took him 15 minutes just to get to our place because of the 'stupid road blocks'." Hyuuga explained. "By normal standards, 15 minutes is not that long of a travel time to be upset about; so it probably means that the journey usually would have taken much less than that. My best guess is within a 3-5 minutes radius."
"Shatei-san," Kawamura interjected. "If it's so close to the hostess club, then it's most likely Warehouse 13. It's the only place that has been left empty in that vicinity."
Ren looked at Kawamura. "Are you sure about this?"
Kawamura nodded. "That's the centre of the red-light district. Properties are in high demand at all times, so any property that is out of business or appears to be unused will immediately attract plenty of inquiries. No one in their right mind would fathom keeping illegal captives there. Warehouse 13 is an exception because of its rather dark history as well as its unlucky number – it has been long since been abandoned."
Ren nodded slowly, deep in thought. "Kawamura-san, how strong is this division's connection to the local police force?"
"Not very strong. Because of the constant tug-of-war between us and Kakita group, we have not been able to establish a secure base here." Kawamura said regretfully.
"Any favours you can call in?" Ren was grasping at straws now.
"None that I can recall off the top of my head, Shatei-san. I'm sorry."
Ren cursed internally. His plan wouldn't work then.
"Ano…" Hyuuga spoke up. "Ren, I know a friend who works in the police force, but he's just a rookie."
"Doesn't matter. Can you convince him to help us?" Ren asked.
"If you don't mind, can you tell me what you are you planning to have him do?" Hyuuga asked timidly.
Ren exhaled sharply. Hyuuga was testing his patience, but he understood his concern. After all, he was Yankumi's student as well. She had taught them to always protect their friends.
"Nothing dangerous, I assure you. Since you mentioned that there's already a road block ongoing, I was hoping to extend it to right in front of Warehouse 13, just to irritate them. You see, if my men approached them directly for a confrontation, they would surely use the captives as hostages; but if they thought that they were just going to scare off some rookie police, they would not bring the captives out, as that might attract even more trouble." Ren explained. "If that works, then hopefully the captives will be left unguarded, or at least with less men guarding them."
Hyuuga nodded in response. "Alright, let me make a call." He took out his cell phone. "Hey Ryu, listen, I need a favour… No, no, I'm fine… Apparently one of Yankumi's students is in trouble… No, you don't have to get involved, just act as a decoy… Yes, I know you need to lay low, but this is important… No, Yankumi isn't here, but another student of hers is here… Alright, alright, thanks bro, I owe you one." Hyuuga concluded his conversation.
"My friend says that he will help."
A/N: Anyone excited about Ryu's appearance? I know I am! Hehehehehe :)