Kai knew better than to answer the door these days.
There was a knock at the door. Shave and a haircut, six bits. That was it. Over and over again. Kai wasn't going to answer it. He knew better than to answer for the man who knocked. When they came knocking at your door then you knew that it was over. You were going to end up with a bullet in the back of your head if you were lucky…
And Kai was not a lucky man.
He'd overused the supply of luck he'd been born with and now his time was over. Thirty years and this was all he had to show for it. This apartment, two hundred thousand yen stuffed in his mattress, and something that could be called a career in the arts of tattooing and drug dealing. He was lucky that he made it this far. His father had been the one to teach him both of his arts and, really, the old man wasn't very good. Kai had done better in his life than his father ever had…and now it was all over…
If Kai wound up seeing Shimazaki in hell then he'd make sure to remember to thank him.
Shimazaki Ryou. He was the cause of all of this. The man who didn't knock. The man who just teleported into his life even though he had been told so many times over the years to stay away. It really wasn't such a hard thing to remember. Stay the hell out of Tokyo and stay the hell away from the family. There. That was something that even Shimazaki could understand…though he had never been the best at following rules.
Even when they'd been kids.
They'd met back when they'd been eight and ten. Shimazaki had been…pretty much the same person he was now. He didn't listen. He didn't follow rules. He spent most of his day drunk and messing around with shit that he shouldn't have been messing around with…like that time with the swords…or the first time Kai had ever tried tattooing….or the first time Kai's father had ever kicked his ass. Don't stab each other with swords. Don't practice tattooing on Shimazaki-chan, he can't see what you're doing and anyway these instruments aren't toys. Don't talk back to me. Kai only needed to have the sense kicked out of him once before the lesson sank in.
Shimazaki….he was another story entirely.
This was all his fault! He had one rule to follow, stay the hell out of Tokyo, but he couldn't even do that. Sure he had to come back when his new boss did but, really, if he had just stayed near that Suzuki guy then none of this would have happened. Suzuki….everyone knew not to fuck with Boss Suzuki. That guy…he wasn't human. He didn't have to follow the natural laws…he could force choke you…he could turn you inside out….he could feed your body to gigantic carnivorous plants. Shimazaki had been safe with Suzuki but no, he had to go deep into territory that he knew not to go into and now there was a massive cleanup, the family was pretty much gone, and now Kai had someone knocking at his door in the middle of the day!
Shave and a haircut. Six bits.
That was how he knocked…whatever man was on the other side of that door. Some guy with a gun…or a knife…or a rag soaked in chloroform…or maybe just a sack to put over his head. He knew where he was headed, the river, this was what he got for being friends with Shimazaki….well he could tell him off in hell. The word on the street was that Shimazaki was messing around with Boss Suzuki's daughter now…his oldest daughter.
He had two daughters and the oldest was twelve.
So…at least not the younger boy that Shimazaki thought was his…so…yay? Of course he wouldn't mess with the littlest of Boss Suzuki's kids, he wasn't that much of a weirdo, but he was…shameless? That was a good word for it. Shameless. Kai…well sometimes high school girls looked older than they were…and of course he was ashamed of himself for looking…but there was no way in hell he ever would have thought anything about that girl. The one that Shimazaki was seeing. The one that he almost got killed. The one that Boss Suzuki was hunting down and slaughtering every single member of the family over…
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
The knocking wasn't stopping. Kai shrank down behind his couch. He had never heard anyone knocking like that before. Usually there was just a lot of pounding on the door before they broke it down….well that was low level thugs. A real hitman knew not to draw attention to himself. Kai wasn't a hitman and he didn't want to be, art ran through his veins not murder, but he knew how they worked…and if someone had sent a professional after him then they meant business…and he hadn't even done anything! Sure he still spoke to Shimazaki….well that was a lot now wasn't it?
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
So he had associated with a known traitor and someone who had not only been banished but super banished, which was a thing now thanks to Shimazaki specifically. That was…it wasn't like he was going out there sleeping with the boss's daughter, stealing drugs and money, and killing high ranking members of the family! He was just…he was just Kai and…and he didn't want to die…but he was going to die. He was going to die behind this couch….
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
It was dusty back here…and sticky. He moved his foot…a green puddle. At some point he'd managed to spill something green behind his couch….or maybe a can of something had just rolled under here. So this was the last place he would ever be, behind his couch, and this was how they'd find his body…if this was where he died. He hoped it was quick and clean. He didn't want to suffer…but that was what Boss Suzuki's people did, they made you suffer…especially since someone had made the mistake of shooting at his oldest daughter.
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
Kai…he hadn't even done anything. He hadn't been a part of that group, the one Mi put together, and he couldn't have been even if he'd wanted to. He was an artist, not a fighter, and anyway he didn't want to get involved in whatever drama that was between Mi and Shimazaki. He just…he just wanted to tattoo, make some money, and dick around all day….and he had…so maybe this was a life well lived? A short life well lived….a very short….he didn't want to go out like this…..he hadn't ever thought about how he wanted to go out but he knew that he didn't want to leave the world in his pajamas hiding behind his couch.
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
He…he hadn't done much with his life….well he'd learned how to freehand just about anything and that was harder than it looked….but….but he hadn't saved the world or cured cancer or invented a diet soda that didn't taste like pure misery…and….and he hadn't done much with his life but that didn't mean that he had to go out like this. There was the old saying about facing death with dignity…and….and he could do that…
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
He got up. He may not have done much with his life but in death….well in death he wasn't going to be doing much either…but at least he could die on his own terms. He stepped over the sticky spot on the ground and made his way to the door. He really needed to clean….he had needed to clean…but….well it didn't matter now. He was never going to see this place again…he was never going to figure out how to do white outline tattoos….he was never going to clear out his watchlist….he was never going to find the other sock, the green one he'd lost, and…and he was never going to….he hadn't ever given much thought to getting married and having kids but….but now, with each knock, he thought about…about how he might have liked kids…about all the shots he missed…about how he was ultimately going to die alone…well people were born alone…not twins but…..but he wasn't a twin and….and he was going to die alone and-and-and-
Shave and a haircut. Six Bits.
"Do your worst!" said Kai. He closed his eyes and threw his arms back as he opened there door. There. A clear path to his heart…he waited for the shot…for the ringing in his ears…for the pain….but it didn't come. There was only silence and the oppressive heat of early fall. He opened his eyes…nobody was there…
He looked down.
"Uh…hi! I forgot your name…sorry…but my name is Shigeko. Suzuki Shigeko…but you can call me Mob. I mean if you forgot my name. I haven't seen you in a year and…and I figured that you might not remember me." Said Shigeko. She was…she was there…she was the one who had been knocking at his door. Taller….but not tall enough….she was still just a kid…
This was the most dangerous kid in Tokyo…maybe in all of Japan.
"Oh hell no! You need to leave, right now." Said Kai. That may not have been the best way to talk about the most bloodthirsty, and probably insane, man in Tokyo's daughter….but she needed to get the fuck out of here before the real man who knocked came!
"Ok, I shouldn't have just dropped in on you. I just didn't know your phone number and I didn't want to ask Shimazaki because then he would have asked why I needed to see you and it would have ruined the surprise-" said Shigeko
"Please, Suzuki-san, I say this with the most respect…get the hell out of my house." Said Kai. There. He was already marked for death and he may have sped it up…but he didn't want to die! He didn't want to face death with dignity, he wanted to run and hide like a coward…and he had to….he had to get out of here…and he had to get away from this kid…
This kid who just couldn't get a fucking clue already!
"Oh! Right! You're probably busy. When should I come back? I just need-" said Shigeko
"What? No, don't come back here. Ever." Said Kai. That was harsh. You did not talk to a boss's daughter like that….but he was a marked man already and it wasn't like he was going to get any more marked for being rude to her….not unless…unless she had planned this. She didn't even react. She was just looking at him…looking at him with those same eyes she'd always looked at him with….
"Why? Are you going out of business?" asked Shigeko simply. If she was upset with him it didn't show. Nothing showed.
"I…yeah, sure, let's go with that." Said Kai
"Oh….sorry about that." Said Shigeko. He had no idea if she meant that. He had no idea what game she was playing. He had no idea what she was even doing there….well she was looking to buy, obviously, but….but why him? There must have been thousands of dealers in this city, hundreds if you bought in the quantities she did, and anyone else would have been able to get her what she needed. Was this her way of telling him that he'd be spared? "Boss' could be cryptic like that…and so could their kids…
Even little ones like her.
"Don't be. Just go and…and tell Shimazaki not to come looking for me no more. Tell him I'm out." Said Kai
"Ok, I can do that….but do you know someone else who sells coke and stuff? It's just…it's Ryou's birthday soon and-" said Shigeko
"You're calling him by his given name?" asked Kai. Well that was…weird…but Shimazaki was a weird guy. He didn't even call Shimazaki by his given name and they'd known each other since they were kids. Shimazaki…he must have been serious about this kid…which was somehow even worse. It was one thing to want to fuck someone her age but it was another to want her as your girlfriend…somehow that seemed even worse than if it had been a sex thing….and he kind of wished that this had been a sex thing…
"He wants me to…um….anyway, can you tell me someone else who sells the things you sell? I have money, see?" said Shigeko. She opened that little bleu purses she kept at her side and….it was just like every other time their paths had crossed. Big bills, a lot of very big bolls. Ten thousand yen notes…the kind of money that a girl her age should not have been walking around with…not that anyone would have fucked with her…not with what her father was doing on her behalf. He doubted that anyone would fuck with her…
But still….that was a lot of money for a little girl.
"You know what? I have some Molly, some weed, some mushrooms, I can sell it all to you for however much you have on you." Said Kai. He was taking advantage of her…but nowhere near whatever it was that Shimazaki had going on with her. She was one of those girls who had no idea what money was, the value of it. She didn't act like princesses usually did…actually she reminded him of those guys who grew up to do what Shimazaki did…cold and just…not all the way there….but not like she was slow…
Like she had one foot somewhere else.
Like she was sizing him up…him and the world around her. Like she had was planning something and she was already six steps ahead before he even realized what was going on. She was probably going to end up like Mi…and then the cycle would continue….but it could and would have to continue without him. He was out. If he had to go then he was going on his own terms. He wasn't going to hide here and wait for the man who knocked, no, he was going to take as much money as he could and running away with his tail between his legs. He had thought, when this all started, that he could ride it out. He hadn't had anything to do with the attempt on Princess Suzuki's life and even if the entire family got hunted and slaughtered he figured he could have just ridden it out and then sold his skills to another family….nobody ever came for the tattoo artist….but he wasn't going to risk that anymore. He was getting the fuck out of here…he didn't know where he was going to go or what he was going to do but he knew that he needed to get the fuck out.
Getting the fuck out took a lot of money….the kind that she had in that little blue purse of hers.
"Ok, here you go." Said Shigeko. He used his shirt as a basket and took as much money as she had…enough to get him out of the city…and out of the country, too, maybe. He really should have learned English or Chinese or…something. He didn't know where he would go or what he would do when he left…but he had to worry about the now.
He gave her everything.
He tossed the money on the table and gathered up what little he had left. This wasn't nearly enough for what she'd paid but she either didn't notice or didn't care. She was standing in his doorway just…watching him. She wasn't saying anything or doing anything. She didn't even come in. She was just watching him with her eyes…eyes that were both empty and all knowing. Like there was nothing happening back there and also plans that he couldn't even hope but comprehend. He had never met her father. He had never seen him, just the destruction he left in his wake, and…well he wondered how far the apple had fallen from the tree.
He wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out.
"Here you go, don't take it all at once." Said Kai as he handed her a backpack with enough in it that he'd get put away for life if someone caught her and managed to get her to talk. Not that he knew anyone who would have fucked with her. He had heard, before, that Boss Suzuki had the cops and even the government in his pocket. That family supposedly had more money than God…and he would have believed that. This little girl certainly did….
He wished that was what Shimazaki saw in her.
A sex thing. Trying to get ahead by giving head. Things that made sense…but he knew Shimazaki and he knew that if he was on a first name basis with the kid that she wasn't just…someone he was sleeping with. He'd met her when she'd been ten and…and at least she wasn't ten now. That was…he didn't need to make excuses for Shimazaki anymore. He didn't have to justify him. He was…he had been a good friend…but Kai was out…out….there was something freeing to it, being out….he could do whatever he wanted to do…he could be whatever he wanted to be…
And right now he wanted to be left alone.
"Thank you!" said Shigeko. He nodded and closed the door. He waited for her to knock…he had no idea why she would have been knocking but he waited for it. Her to knock and tell him that she knew that she'd been cheated…her to tell him that now she that she had the drugs he had no use for her, or even….hell! He half expected her to knock and tell him that there was a man with a gun looking for him…but she didn't.
He heard her leaving.
Her little footsteps echoed down the hallway. He pressed his ear to the door…and slumped to the floor when he heard her get to the stairs. She was gone…he never had to deal with her again…he never had to deal with any of this again. He had no idea what he was going to do now but….but he must have had a couple million yen…and in addition to the two hundred thousand he had in his mattress he could at least get the fuck out of Tokyo….out of Japan…
He'd never have to heard shave and a haircut, six bits, ever again.