I'm the Yakuza Here
- "No, no, no, no, NO! Absolutely not! I will not allow you to do that!" Mei's eyes flashed with fury and a stray curl whipped out of her loose bun.
- "Mei, we have no time for this. They may act any time, or may already have done so for all we know. We have to act now," Yukemori said patiently. He didn't raise his voice, but his jaw was determined.
- "I quite agree!" Mei shouted back, gesturing angrily. "So we go and tell your Oyabun. What ever in the name of the First Oni would you do such a foolish thing for?"
- "Mei. This is how the yakuza sometimes do when they have done something wrong, and want to show that they are regretful. It is a peace offering, or a self-punishment..."
- "I know that, bakayarou! I have been around in Dojyu's night longer than you have. But you have done nothing wrong!" Mei shouted.
- "Keep your voice down," Yukemori said, still calmly but with the first hint of anger in his voice. "With all due respect, I am the yakuza here, and you should trust me to choose the approach. As for not doing anything wrong - that is certainly a loose definition. I let a ninja in to spy on a meeting our client had paid us to host without fear of intruders or undue attention. People have been killed for less."
- "But what you did it for was g..."
- "It is not important, Mei! I will show the Oyabun that I am ready to pay the price. I will regain my face that way in his eyes, and we will have more credibility."
Mei inhaled a few times.
- "Fine! Cut your fingertip off then if you must!" she spat. "Do you want to borrow my ninja-to? It is very sharp."
- "This will do fine," Yukemori said grimly as he rummaged behind the bar and produced a heavy meat cleaver. Without much ceremony he spread his fingers on the table next to Mei and hacked the tip of the middle on off. He screamed shortly as the cleaver hit the surface of the table and the tip fell off. There was a few seconds of silence as both of them stared at the red tip that started to drip blood.
- "It hurt surprisingly little," Yukemori said.
- "It will start hurting plenty as soon as the shock wears off," Mei said, a small amount of vindictive pleasure in her dark voice. "It will hurt like hell for a long time. And you will have to treat it too so that it won't get infected."
She grabbed a clean napkin and wrapped the finger in it.
- "Hold that," she commanded and cracked a chopstick. She then produced a bit of string out of her sash and tied the chopstick tightly around Yukemori's finger.
- "That will help with the bleeding. And now off we go. Lead the way."
The slightly pale and nauseous Yukemori led Mei through the long underground passageway leading to the Oyabun's private garden. Neither of them spoke, and their expressions were grim. Yukemori could feel that Mei was still angry with him, from the stiff way she walked. Partly he suspected it was because she knew he was right, partly because her free-spirited heart so uncommon in this Empire of customs could not accept this one. She regarded it an unnecessary, cruel and stupid thing, and nothing Yukemori could say could make her think otherwise. He also noticed that the girl had been right about one thing - the finger really started hurting like hell after a while. Still, he swallowed all urge to whine or moan. He would not give Mei that pleasure, and in front of Oyabun-sama it was out of the question.
Yukemori knew the other guardsman. Mashigi. They nodded warily at each other - when you guarded the house of the Oyabun you wanted to be formal. Also, all those at such high-level guard duty outranked Yukemori. The guards took a long, pointed look at the bandaged finger.
- "Oto-san, I wish to talk to Oyabun-sama," Yukemori said, bowing his head in respect.
- "Oyabun-sama is sleeping," said the guard he did not know, "and not only that, you have brought an outsider to his house."
- "Look, this is very important!" Mei cut in.
- "Hold your tongue, beppin," said Mashigi irritably, and Yukemori cringed inwards, hoping that she for once would. "Explain your actions, kobun."
- "It is about life and death. More than that. I must speak to him. I will give my own life away should he not deem the information worth waking up," Yukemori quickly said.
- "I am sure that Yukemori has his reasons, as well as a reason to take this outsider with him. Go wait then, I will wake him up."
The other guard seemed displeased but let them pass. Yukemori knelt before the sliding door leading to the old crime lord's audience room. He folded his hands into his lap and bowed his head, as a young man like him was expected to do and sit waiting until the older man would call them in and pay them attention. Unsure what to do, Mei followed suit. This kind of thing always made her impatient and also felt a bit humiliating, but now it was perhaps best to play the game the old way.
oyabun - 'father', yakuza boss
bakayarou - idiot
oto - 'brother', a fellow yakuza member
beppin - a pretty girl
kobun - 'child', a yakuza member of lower station
