Chapter 52: Kazoku pt2

Unknown-Tokyo, Japan

In a building not far from the city, a young man in his mid-teens was whimpering while struggling to get loose. He was in a chair, his arms was tied together behind his seat…his legs was chained to the floor. He had a cloth bag over his head, so it was dark with only a few specks of light emanating from the gaps in the cloth. His name was Hayate Sanada, son of Hiroshi Sanada, just your average teenager…well as average as you could be being a member of the Sanada family. One day he was coming home from school and the thing he knew, he was somewhere he didn't recognize with people he didn't know.

Hayate stopped his struggle, it was futile to escape and he was getting exhausted. In the room next to his, he could hear people, his captors, talking…it was muffled but it was somewhat clear to make out. "It's been three days" Three days…it had been that long? It was hard to keep track of time when you were in a room with nowhere to go. "You think he went to the authorities?"

"I doubt it, he knows what we'll do to his son if he goes to the authorities" Hayate gulped, these were not nice people he was with. They kidnapped him because they wanted something from his father. The Sanada name was a big in Japan, next to the Sakai of who he was related to, responsible for jobs in Tokyo and outside. Having that name meant that from the moment he was born doors were open to him, but it was also a burden…he had no real friends, just leeches that only talked to him because of his money and status. And apparently it also made him a target, so they could get at his father, but they didn't know his father very well…he wasn't the type to beg, instead he made other people beg to him. "Besides, I doubt he wants the police and the Alliance poking around his dirty laundry"

"So what do we do?"

"We'll give him one more day, if we don't get the ransom…you can do as you please with him" Hayate could hear footsteps coming towards his room, the door opened and something was placed on the floor. The bag was removed from his head, the light was blinding to him…when his sight returned he could see food on the floor in front of him. To his side was a guard carrying an assault rifle, he went to Hayate and freed his arms.

"Eat, try anything and you die" Hayate cautiously picked up the food, there wasn't much of it since most of it was splattered on the floor. He had a bite to eat, and reeled at the taste…after having his food done by five-star chiefs, any other food was liable to be disgusting. As he was eating, Hayate taught about his father…if he didn't go to the authorities, then what did he have planned under his sleeves?


Sanada Estate-Tokyo, Japan

Shepherd was walking around the mansion it was huge, and it had everything you could need to live in the lap of luxury. However there was no sense of enjoyment since they arrived, things have been tense between Kasumi and her father. Everyone could sense it, which was why the servants stayed out both of their way, including Shepherd…usually he was very good at fixing things but this was a volatile as they come. If it wasn't the tension, it was Shepherd getting dirty looks from Hiroshi…the man really did not like his father of which he closely resembled. After twenty years the rejection by Shepherd's mother still wounded his pride…still other than the looks he hadn't said anything, but then again he wouldn't dare most people aren't stupid enough to provoke him intentionally. The servants bowed to him; he tilted his head in confusion before bowing back.

His knowledge of Japanese etiquette was nearly non-existent, he remembered his mom trying to teach him when he was young but to no avail, he just wanted to go outside and play. His mom was trying to get her children in touch with half of their heritage, but it was also for herself…after she eloped with Shepherd's father and when Shepherd was born, her father disowned her, she could never go home again but she never regretted her choice. Still, there was times when she was homesick, which were the reason for the lessons…Shepherd regretted not paying attention more. His thoughts were broken when one of the servants spoke up, it was a young maid barely out of high school.

"Do you need anything Mr. Shepherd?" she asked.

"Ah no, and please just call me Shepherd…Mr. makes me feel old" The maid giggled a little at his joke. "So where is Kasumi?"

"Ms. Chie went to her father's study"

"Oh boy, lets the hope the talk is short, otherwise Kasumi is liable to kill the man" Shepherd said grimly.


Hiroshi's study

Kasumi walked into her father's study, she saw her father in his chair talking with a business associate. For someone whose son has been kidnapped, he seemed awfully calm…then again he was calm when Kasumi's mother was dying. The memory of that day filled her with anger, but she kept it under wraps for Hayate's sake. Hiroshi saw the thief come in and closed the channel to face her. "Chie…"

Kasumi crossed her arms. "That's not my name"

"Ah, yes…you go by 'Kasumi Goto' now, don't you?" he said. "Interesting choice of name…"

"Thank you, it was your stepmother's name" she said.

"I hated that hag" Hiroshi said.

Kasumi gave a wicked smirk. "I know" she said spitefully. "So what happened to Saki?"

"We are separated, irreparable differences…I'm afraid" he said.

Kasumi snorted. "More like she got greedy and you cut her loose; you know how to pick them, don't you?" She said. There was no expression on his face, he didn't care…Saki was just a means to an end, just like her and her mother. Kasumi wondered if Hayate knew what kind of man their father was. "What happened to Hayate? You said his life was in danger"

"The Yakuza happened" he said.

"Yakuza? Please…I know they're a rather large criminal organization here, but with your company and your connections they're small fries" Kasumi said.

"The chaos of the war has caused an uptick in criminal activity, since law enforcement is too weak to keep them in check" Hiroshi said. "It's like that around the world, but it worse here since the Yakuza are so established"

"What did they want?"

Hiroshi scoffed. "They were trying to shake me down, they said they would release incriminating info to the public if I didn't pay them" he said. "When I called their bluff, they turned their attention to Hayate"

Kasumi had heard enough began to walk out of the room. "I'll get him back"

"I should hope so, this will become a PR nightmare if you don't" Kasumi looked back and glared at him, the safety of his son was on the line and all he could think about was how this was going make him look bad. She was really wanted to say something, but she had a life to save. She went downstairs to meet with Shepherd.

"Let's go"

Shepherd nodded. "Got it" he said. "Something the matter, cuz?"

"I'm fine, let's get out of here…"


Old Shinjuku

"So where are we going?" Shepherd asked.

"We're meeting with Fujimoto" Kasumi said. "If there's anyone that knows the ins and out of the Yakuza it's him"

"Who's Fujimoto?" Shepherd asked. Jiro Fujimoto was at one point a member of one of the big families until he found that being an information broker gave him more freedom and more money. He was known for playing both sides when it suits him, whether it is giving information to the police on criminal activity happening within the city or giving information to rivals gangs. Needless to say, he's a man that doesn't have too many friends as there have been attempts on his life before. The shuttle stopped in an alleyway, it was dark with the only lights being the sunlight through the gaps in between the buildings above. The area they were in had a 20th-21st century aesthetic and was also old and crumbling with plants growing here and there. They got out and Shepherd looked around.

"Where are we?" Shepherd asked.

"Old Shinjuku…as you might have noticed, Tokyo don't exactly have the room to spread out so they built up" Kasumi explained. "However as they built up, they forgot the areas below and it became run down…it's a good place if you want to hide from somebody" They walked down the alley where were lots of people standing around giving them looks of suspicion. Old Shinjuku is a pretty lawless area and the people there frown upon law enforcement. They ignored the looks and went to an apartment complex; they took the stairs up and headed to the door at the end. Shepherd reached for the knob until Kasumi stopped him.

"Hold it, Wayne" Kasumi said opening her omni-tool. She waved her arm around the door until her omni-tool beeped. "Explosives…this should only take a moment…" Kasumi worked on her omni-tool and placed her hand near the door. A buzzing and then a sizzling sound could be heard from the other side as well as smoke. She gave the signal and Shepherd got out his pistol and opened the door. They stepped inside cautiously; if Fujimoto was paranoid enough to plant explosives on his door…he might have other booby traps set up also. They took another step and heard another click below their feet.

"Shit…" Shepherd said looking down. A panel opened from the wall and ceiling and turrets appeared and opened fired. Shepherd and Kasumi scattered for cover, the spectre kicked a table to its side and went behind it. Kasumi went into the next room taking cover against the wall, the room was choked with debris and dust as everything was getting shot up. Shepherd overloaded the ceiling turrets shields giving Kasumi a shot at the turret. While she was aiming for the ceiling turrets, the wall turrets were taking aim at the thief…Shepherd formed a small biotic dome around the turret blocking the shot and then crushed it by imploding the dome. When the turrets were destroyed, Kasumi could feel heat at the back of her neck and looked back to see a flamethrower turret.

"Oh come on!" she complained as she ducked. "Wayne!" Shepherd ran to the room and bioticly threw a table the turret. Kasumi rolled out of the room and joined with Shepherd…and into another trap, the room erupted into red lights as the duo was surrounded by a laser grid. "Crap…" One false move and the laser grid would slice them to pieces. "Okay Fujimoto, you made your point…you don't like company"

They could hear a voice from somewhere…likely an intercom. "Who sent you…the Yamaguchi-gumi, the Inagawa-kai" Fujimoto said. "Or was it those crooks from the Kanto Police Department, they've wanted to get rid of me for years"

"Neither, we came here on our own…we need your help" Shepherd said. "We're trying to find Hayate Sanada and we think the Yakuza might have kidnapped him" A good five minutes had passed before the power grid shut off letting Shepherd and Kasumi move again. The sound of machinery could be heard at the wall in front of them. Out came a middle aged man, dressed in an dirty old suit and covered in lots of tattoos from his years in the Yakuza. His appearance wasn't the best, he smelled to high heaven and he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep thanks to his paranoia. He looked between Shepherd and Kasumi, still not quite believing this wasn't a trap by people who wanted him dead.

"I'm here, so let's talk…"

Next Time! As always Review and Comment!