Oh my god... I did it! Hey guys, so glad to be back after so long. Hope you all are doing well, and you enjoy the chapter!
The car pulled up to the storage unit with the number that Dorenzo had specified. Another car was parked there waiting. Kirishima stepped out and walked around to the other side to open Asami's door as the second guard stepped out. The Suoh look-a-like stayed in the driver's seat and waited for further instructions.
Asami stood there for a moment wearing his usual nonchalant expression, almost as if he were bored. Though he was anything but. Inside his rage was simmering just below the surface. This man thought he could go toe to toe with him and come out on top of all this. The audacity was near comical. He may be handing over the ownership of the mines and the lands he held in Italy, but it was only temporary. If there was one thing that hadn't changed about him over the years was that he didn't allow anyone to touch what was his and get away with it.
And for Dorenzo it would be tenfold when you included the fact that he had kidnapped his son. Yes, he would get his vengeance and it would cripple the other man. And when he had nothing left, Asami would take great pleasure in hearing his screams for mercy.
Asami mentally shook himself. He needed to focus on the here and now. First, he needed to get his son back and reunite his small family. And once the dust had settled and all eyes were dry, then and only then would Asami build his plan to destroy his enemy with Akihito and later his son by his side.
Asami's focus was brought to the car across from him as the driver's door opened. A man who Asami assumed worked for Dorenzo stepped out before walking back to the passenger side back seat. He opened the door and stood aside waiting for whoever was inside to step out.
Dorenzo took his sweet time as he stepped out and perused his audience. He had an air of superiority, as if the war was already over. Little did he know that it hadn't even begun. Akihito's relation to a snake really was accurate.
Dorenzo's man closed the door as soon as he was clear of it and followed a step behind Dorenzo as he walked toward Asami. Asami also began to walk closer with Kirishima following until they were ten feet from each other. For a moment, they sized each other up. Dorenzo had his hands in his pants pockets and acted as if he owned the ground he walked on. At the moment it seemed as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Asami made sure to be careful so that Dorenzo only saw what he wanted him to. As far as Dorenzo was concerned, Asami looked frustrated and had an air of reluctant defeat. But truly, a cold fury burned inside. This snake before him had the balls to touch what was his, his blood, and he thought he was going to get away with it. It was almost enough to say to hell with making this pathetic man suffer and just put a bullet between his eyes. But if Asami was nothing else, he was patient.
So once again, Asami waited for Dorenzo to make the first move, "I'll assume that everything I need is in that little folder your friend there is holding?" Dorenzo gestured to Kirishima who was in fact holding a folder.
Everything remained quiet for a moment until Asami broke the silence, "Where is my son?"
"Straight to the point again. You know, you've got quite the one-track mind," Dorenzo chuckled, but Asami remained silent. After a moment Dorenzo sighed, "Well, at least it can't be said I didn't try to lighten the mood."
Dorenzo turned back to the car and made a hand motion. A beat later, the back car door open and the man who had been in the video call with Ryu stepped out. He then reached back inside and pulled out Ryu. For a split second, Asami forgot how to breathe. He son was being led to him by the arm and seemed to be alright. His face was neutral and he wasn't resisting. He was the very picture of calm. As soon as he remembered to breath, all he could feel was pride.
Turning back to Asami, Dorenzo spoke again, "There, you see? He is here and in one piece. Now, here's how this will go. Your friend with the folder and Marco here," he gestured to the man next to him, "will meet between us and glasses will hand over the folder. Once Marco has taken a look and is satisfied with the documents, your son will be released to return to you. Then once you have your son, Marco will return to me. Fair enough for you?"
Asami ran the scenario through his head before looking back to Kirishima. Seeing no objection from him, Asami turned back to Dorenzo, "Done."
With a look from Dorenzo, Marco began to walk forward as Kirishima passed Asami. Once they were within arms length of one another, Kirishima silently handed the folder over to Marco. He didn't waste any time opening the folder and looking through the documents.
On top of a close warehouse, Akihito was all but having a melt down. He laid on his stomach looking through the scope of the sniper watching the whole thing while Suoh sat silently next to him watching everything. He had been fine until he watched Ryu being dragged out of the car Dorenzo had previously vacated. He had quickly tensed and was tempted to hold his breath until it was all over. He hadn't even realized that he had been shaking until Suoh laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.
In that moment Suoh grounded him and he did his best to calm himself. Now was not the time to give into hysterics. His family was down there and the last thing that needed to happen was for them to need him and him not being focused enough to have their backs. He had to believe that everything was going to be just fine.
Looking back through the scope, Akihito kept an eye on the exchange. If the man that Kirishima was with so much as twitched the wrong way, he would pull the trigger. After what felt like a century but was probably barely a minute, the other man turned to Dorenzo and nodded. With that Akihito's focus shifted back to Dorenzo. He seemed satisfied and motioned back to man holding Ryu. Ryu's captor let go of his arm and steadily he began to walk to Asami.
More tension left Akihito as he watched in relief as Ryu walked to Asami. In that moment, Akihito couldn't have been more proud. Ryu didn't start to cry and run to Asami, he merely kept calm and steadily walked to his father. Suddenly all Akihito could think about was holding Ryu in his arms and telling him just how well he had done. How amazing he was and how much he loved him. Tears brimmed his eyes and he sniffled.
Akihito was so lost in his thoughts, that he almost missed it. Akihito had his scope set so he could see the whole area now and through his tears, he saw something that nearly made his heart stop. With everyone focused on Ryu, Dorenzo had turned to the man who had been holding Ryu and made some kind of motion that no one else could see.
In the next second Akihito felt his blood run cold as the man who had been holding Ryu raised his gun and took aim at the back of his son. Akihito immediately turned the rifle crosshairs in the mans direction, but he was a split second too late. He had pulled the trigger.
He had fucked up. Asami had been so focused on Ryu that he had been distracted and had missed it. He had barely seen movement behind Ryu and only had enough time to look up and watch as the trigger was pulled. There were few times in his life that Asami would flinch, but this turned out to be one of those moments.
Only... nothing happened. There was no loud bang, there was no smoke from the discharged barrel. Just a harmless click and dead silence all around them.
Until Dorenzo broke it, "You imbecile! Take off the safety!"
"Sir, it is off!"
Asami moved in a flash. He was running to Ryu where he stood watching the drama play out and pulling out his own weapon. Kirishima was engaged in a physical altercation with Marco. As soon as they had realized that the deal had gone wrong, Marco had thrown the folder on the ground behind him and attacked Kirishima before he could pull his gun. He was now doing his best to trap the other in a headlock.
As soon as Asami had Ryu wrapped In his arms, he swung him around so that he was behind him and aimed. He was going to kill Dorenzo here and now. Fuck being patient and making the man suffer. He had planned to kill Ryu from the start and he was going to do it right in front of him. As a father, he would have been crippled. Even Asami knew that if he had lost his son, he would never truly recover. And Akihito, Asami had no doubt that he would have lost him too as a result. His worst nightmares would have been realized and it would have been all his fault.
This was no time to plan retribution, it was time to put an end to all of it. Asami had Dorenzo at the other end of his gun, he was only a second away from pulling the trigger. Dorenzo was finished.
A trigger was pulled... only it wasn't his.
The loud crack through the air startled them all, and in the next moment, the man who had been expected to kill Ryu dropped dead. From where Asami stood, he could see a single bullet hole between his eyes. Barely a heart beat later, another bang was heard and Marco dropped next.
Asami and Kirishima looked at one another and then looked back to the car. The Suoh look-a-like had gotten out of the car at some point and had pulled his weapon along with their extra security, but from a glance it was clear that neither had been the one to fire. Asami didn't need any further examination. It was clear to him what had happened and he knew he would be having words with Suoh. For now, he decided to go with the situation.
"It's over Dorenzo."
Dorenzo was looking back and forth between his now dead men before he looked back to Asami with fury in his eyes, "You never planned to go through with this. I should have expected no less from foreign scum!"
Another crack rang out, only this time the bullet hit the asphalt in front of Dorenzo and he jumped back with a cry. Asami smirked, "As can already tell, my marksmen doesn't miss." He gestured to the dead bodies on the ground. "Do not see letting you go as a sign of mercy. I do not forgive those who cross me."
"Then why are you letting me go? Why not just get it over with!?" Dorenzo spat back.
A feral grin made its way across Asami's lips, "Because I plan to hunt you down like the snake you are, and I am going to enjoy knowing that you will be looking over your shoulder, not knowing when exactly I'm going to catch up to you."
Dorenzo's face paled as if he had seen a ghost. Asami wasn't hiding anything now, and Dorenzo could see his fury plain as day in his eyes. He had finally realized that he had fucked up the moment he decided to try to take anything from this man. Asami was not a man that anyone should think they could take advantage of. He wasn't the kind of Kingpin who ruled his empire from a distance. No, he was right there with everything he did and he made sure that those who thought they could get away with anything would be dealt with by his own hand. Dorenzo was well and truly screwed.
"I'd suggest you go, before someone gets impatient. I know for a fact they have quite the temper." Dorenzo only hesitated for a second before he was tripping over himself to get back to the car. Just as he was reaching for the driver side door, the tires were blown out by a few more well aimed bullets. Let it not be said that Akihito wasn't petty.
Dorenzo landed on his ass before scrambling to his feet and running off further into the warehouses. He didn't look back and just kept running.
As soon as the snake was out of his sights, Asami turned around and scooped Ryu into his arms. Just as he had with Akihito hours before, he squeezed his son to his chest. Small arms wrapped around his neck and Ryu nuzzled into his shoulder. If it weren't for the faint trembling that he felt coming from his son, Asami would think the whole affair hadn't effected him.
Asami wasn't sure if there truly was a God, but in that moment he sent a vow to who ever was listening. He would never again take something as simple as a hug from his son for granted. Every moment would be treasured and he would never again allow his family to be targeted. Never again will they have to look over their shoulders. He would make a world where they would be safe and happy; protected and cherished.
By the time Asami was able to pull himself together, Kirishima had retrieved the folder and was waiting by the car with the security detail. Walking by, all three of them bowed as he entered the car with his son and Kirishima closed the door once he had entered as well. The two others got into the front seats and once the car started, they headed to the entrance.
Ryu stayed close to his side as Asami wrapped his arm around him. They talked quietly, and Asami asked him if he was alright or if he had been hurt. For all the grief they had gone through, it seemed as if Ryu was fine. Dorenzo hadn't gone out of his way to terrorize him and Ryu had behaved himself. Asami knew they had been very lucky this time and he was going to make sure there wouldn't be a next time.
The only thing that seemed to have Ryu all but bouncing in his seat was Akihito. He wanted to see him and didn't seem capable of containing himself. Not that Asami could blame him; he wanted to see him too, but for other reasons. Like to question him on when exactly he learned how to shoot like that!
The car that Akihito was supposed to be waiting in came into view just as Akihito and Suoh came sprinting around the corner of a warehouse close to it. He was carrying a carry bag that probably held the rifle and Asami could just make out the holsters for the guns and knives he carried. Needless to say, he was honestly impressed. If there was anything that could be said about Akihito, it was he knew how to prepare for any situation.
The car pulled to a stop and Kirishima stepped out before helping Ryu out, followed by Asami. He watched as Akihito cried out to Ryu and dropped the carry bag. The two ran to each other until they were close enough for Akihito to drop to his knees and hug his son. Asami watched as they embraced, crying and laughing. He didn't waste another moment before he was on his knees with them, holding them both in he arms.
His family was together again and safe. Their warmth seeped into his own skin, and he had to clench his jaw to keep his own tears at bay. There was a lot of work that needed to be done and a lot of changes that needed to be made, but for now he would focus on his little family. For now, he would bask in Ryu's laughter and cherish the look of absolute love shining in Akihito's eyes in that moment. For now, this was all he needed.
So that was emotional. I still can't believe it's taken me this long just to write this chapter. I really don't know why I do this to myself and you guys. Anyway, I am doing well, and I hope you all are too. I finally was able to get back into things and I plan to strike while the iron is hot. Thank you to everyone who still follows this fic and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully I'll be back soon! Caio!