The Oyabun's Fingertips

- "What do you have to tell me, kobun?" the oyabun asked in a neutral voice. He merely looked at Yukemori, the slowly reddening bandage in his finger, the boy kneeling and touching the floor with his forehead as a greeting. The spirit folk beauty the boy had brought there looked passionate and impatient. Yukemori raised his head.

- "Oyabun-sama. I have disobeyed your orders, and for this I have paid the price. I wish you would hear me out, for I did it for a good reason, and we need your help." Yukemori could physically feel Mei's impatience, but knew she knew how to behave. She was a court woman, after all.

- "Go on." The oyabun merely said. He had trust in Yukemori, the young man had been very level-headed after learning his lesson about loving the gambling business too much yourself.

- "Since you charged me to find out what is happening in the Empire, I have made my enquiries. This woman is my friend Mei, and she is a court woman. However, she has had a reason to believe that the wu jen meeting in our gambling compound are plotting something that threatens the Two Gates Gang."

The old crime lord raised his hand slightly.

- "Kobun... did you take her word just like that? How could she know that they have been meeting here?"

Yukemori looked really anxious, trying to think of what to say, the oyabun's direct, blank gaze burning him.

- "Oyabun-sama," Mei said. "I am more than a court woman. I am a ninja, and I have spied on a person I found suspicious. I have seen him coming to the Black Water Hall."

The oyabun looked curiously at the woman.

- "A ninja," he said, a curious smile flashing on his lips. "You are gambling, girl. Takeshi?"

- "No Takeshi. No clan. It is just me, Mei," Mei replied. "What is going on here is more than Dojyu's politics. I have no time for pretenses, and, with respect, neither do you."

It was brazen talk to an old and respected man, but the oyabun was impressed by the woman's courage and bearing. He had a feeling she had something important to say. So he said nothing but let her continue.

- "The suspicious person is none other than the Emperor's highest arcane advisor, Giro," Mei continued. "I have been suspicious about him ever since the tsunami wiped out the few villages near Renkyu. So I convinced Yukemori to let me hide in the room when they had a meeting, to find out what he really is up to."

The crime lord's face didn't move, it was like a statue of smooth stone. Yukemori was chilled to the core, but his face also showed no sign or emotion, his eyes not flinching.

- "And indeed, I was right. Yukemori was right to let me," Mei hurried to explain. And so she let the story unfold, trying not to hurry too much to get to the final point. After she finished her recital, the oyabun didn't say anything for a few seconds.

- "I see," he said then. He took a long look at Yukemori and called for a servant.

- "Bring sake spiked with harimata powder ground in," he said. The few moments the servant was gone the old man seemed almost to be in a trance, his eyes closed, contemplating. The servant arrived again.

- "Serve it to Yukemori-kun," the old man said. He then looked Yukemori in the eye, a brief flash of warmth visiting his eyes. "It helps the pain."

For a short moment the oyabun, seemingly absentmindedly, spread his fingers on the table. Four of them had tips or more missing.

- "An important quality of a yakuza is to have good instincts about choosing your allies," he continued. "In this you have done well, Yukemori. The wu jen meeting in Black Water Hall belong to a secret society named Iridescent Peacock Society. They are wu jen with a shady reputation... who would have known that the Emperor's advisor is involved. But... something is off here. They are mercenary, sinister even... but not this sort of madmen."

- "Perhaps it is just a subsection of them?" Mei suggested. "There were not that many people."

- "Likely," the oyabun said. "We will not waste time trying to convince the emperor or the shogun. They might listen to me, for we have sort of a mutual agreement, but they also might suspect it to be a ruse of some sort in order to gain power over the other gangs.

- "What can we do, Oyabun-sama?" Yukemori asked.

- "I will make an offer to the leader of the Temple of the Starry Night. An offer he can't refuse. He owes me... he has a templeful of troops, a lot of shukenjas, and a library of texts on the oni and the rituals to fight them. We will leave immediately. Follow me, children."