Get of Fenris
Part Nine: Yugo's Disgrace





Uriko sighed while putting up a house of cards, she looked at the door constantly. It was almost as if Uriko was always waiting for someone who wasn't gonna return. She breathed too hard, causing the house to collapse. Uriko groaned and went to collect the cards when she saw a folder on the table. Picking it up, Uriko flipped through the pages.

"There's a letter in here." Uriko opened it up and read it. "'Dear Nurse Nonomura, you are most correct about the Spark manufacturer being in the Okotushi General Hospital. Although we, Hengeyokai are not close to finding who is supplying him with it, the Yakuza are doing all they can to stop the shipments from coming. Hopefully it'll stop in time. Also I am concerned about your safety. You have mentioned to Kenshirou that your life had been threatened a few times by unknown sources. They are most likely Pentex rough-housers trying to silence you. If you may, I can offer you protection by my most-trained pointmen. I look forward to our next information swap. Kodachi Tanaka.'"

Uriko flipped through the pages of the dossier and frowned, she recognized this man... in fact, all her friends would also. "Busuzima Hajime... he's the manufacturer of Spark."

Closing the folder, Uriko tucked it into her kitty binder and slung the backpack on her back. Running out the door, she got on her bike and pedalled for Yugo and Kenji's house. She got off the bike and pounded on the door, just her luck, the door opened. Kenji stood there in his business suit with a slice of toast sticking out of his mouth. "Uriko." He muffled.

"I got information on Alice's involvement in the whole Spark manufacturing scheme!"

"Come on in!" Kenji escorted her in and they sat at the table. Uriko handed the business-boy the letter from Tanaka and the dossier of the man in charge of the manufacturing and distribution of Spark.

"Busuzima?" Kenji asked, looking up at her.

"Yes." Uriko stole the second piece of toast. "That's not all, Shenlong said to Alice that Busuzima tried to get him and his lackeys to sell Spark in the Red Light District. Because Shen thought it smelled funny, he refused to be the drug dealer."

"We need to find this Tanaka fellow." Kenji pointed out as he stood up. "And you are eating my breakfast."

"Me sowwy." She smiled, then they both headed out for the city.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


"I am rather surprised that you two had taken bikes all the way from Shinagawa to Shinjuku." The handsome Tanaka smiled, allowing Kenji and Uriko to drink lots of water. "What brings you to Shinjuku anyway?"

Uriko unzipped her backpack and handed Tanaka the folder, the results caused Tanaka to go into work-mode. "I see."

"We have a theory." Kenji began, sitting down. "There was no real time period before, during or after the moot on Wolf Mountain for Alice to be injected with Spark. So we're gathering she was injected sometime before, when she was still in the hospital. But the results were dorment until we all went onto the mountain. Something there triggered the drug to begin working, thus Alice going insane and Fang killing her out of frenzy."

"Interesting point, Ohgami-san." Tanaka closed the folder and tucked it away in his desk. "I commend you for that. But if it is true that the drug was injected to silence her, then it was only a matter of time before me, my brother and his bird-spirit lover had the same fate. In my opinion the drug's effects activate upon the Veil."

"Veil?" Uriko asked.

"The Veil is a gift The Emerald Mother gave her shifter children. It causes a delirium in non-shifters, making them run in terror and then forgetting they ever saw what scared them. Maybe the drug doesn't activate right away, maybe the Veil is what activates it."

"There was a person there that shifted." Kenji remembered the attack on Brad.

"That could explain it."

"I saw no reason for that asshole's outburst." Uriko commented.

"But..." Tanaka's eyes narrowed. "...if that is the case... then was it possible that the shifter was in on it to begin with? I mean, ALL shifters know it is insane, dumb-witted and totally ludicrious to challenge the immense power of the Mage-Garou... especially in a no-holds-barred Klavaskar duel."

"And by focusing the Mage-Garou's attention on something else differently, no one could have suspected the drug in Alice's system taking effect."

"Hai." Tanaka nodded. "The shifter that challenged the Mage-Garou was a kamikaze... he knew he was going to die by challenging him, but the damage was done."

"..." Uriko sighed and hung her head down in anger. "The drug-induction was to keep her silence. What better way to die than by the hands of a frenzy-induced werewolf? Who would suspect?"

"True."

"We need to see Yugo."

"...." Tanaka got that glint in his eyes, then he coughed to change the subject. "I need to get with my 'associates'."

"Well, have a nice day, Mr. Tanaka." Uriko smiled and they both left. "Did you notice that Tanaka looked at us funny when we mentioned Yugo's name?"

"Yeah." Kenji began as he pressed the lobby button. "He flinched."

"Yuppers." Uriko nodded, then the doors opened. "It's like he knew Yugo..."

"Possibly... but if that being the case, when someone flinches, it's not a good meeting."

"True."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Yugo tapped his pencil against the desk, the phone kept ringing and ringing. Finally he got through... to the answering machine. He sighed and spoke into the phone. "Fang.... it's me, Yugo. Look, let's talk, okay? I want to see you again if that's even possible anymore. Call me... bye." He hung up the phone and looked at the papers on his desk. One of them was a withdrawl from the Garou nation. Yugo sighed and rested his head in his hands.

"Jane was right..."

//"Your self-righteous ways is gonna be iritating to the wrong people. The irrational way of searching for the truth is going to get you into a heap of trouble... you're gonna make mortal enemies out of potential allies and good friends alike. I mean, look! You sabotaged in 5 minutes something the Hengeyokai AND the Yakuza, mind you, spent 8 years and millions of dollars of careful planning and plotting and infiltration. You didn't throw a stone in the hornet's nest, Yugo. You shot the fucker down with a beebee gun and now ALL us zoanthropes are going to pay for it!!"

"But they got to understand, Alice died by the hands of THEIR mortal enemies!! They should be jumping for joy that I'm getting to the bottom of this!!"

"You're only fooling yourself, mutt! If the Garou and the Yakuza decide that we're the threat, they are going to wipe us all out without problems. Look at what the Mage-Garou did to Uranus!! Uranus took most of us out before she was finally defeated by Xion, but it only took a half a second and one hit for the Mage-Garou to KILL her. And if they decide that they're gonna destroy us, there is NO stopping them because the Mage-Garou is totally immortal."//

"Fang was right also... as long as I keep thinking narrowly, I can't see the whole picture and that's costing me. But I can't.... help it. Alice died by something unnatural and as her former-boyfriend, I have to find out about it."

There was a knock on the double-doors, Yugo pressed a button and they opened. Long stepped in, carrying with him a boxed lunch, he set it in front of Yugo. "Do you wish to talk about it over sushi?"

"You can have it, I ain't hungry."

Long took the boxed lunch and sat down, opening it. He seasoned the sushi rolls and ate one. Yugo sighed and rested his head in his hands. "I really screwed up, Long."

"I've been told as much." Long nodded. "You need to work on rationality and diplomacy. That's your downfall."

"I know. But Alice is dead... and I want to find out why."

"The Spark incident is not only your priority, Yugo." The tiger-zoanthrope frowned, then ate another sushi roll. "The Garou Nation, the Bastet... the Hengeyokai and the Yakuza see this as a top priority if not the first on their list. Remember that not all people you encounter are mundane citizens and not all things appear as they seem."

"I know."

"I know you and Alice had a fight in Granar that ended your relationship. Maybe this is your way of telling Alice that you still care for her and this is your final respect to her. Maybe it's this way of thinking that's fueling your search, but also making you more irrational..."

"Yes, I know, Long... but I don't give a fuck about the Yaks or the Hengeyokai.... they're street trash anyway... I want Fang back."

"I cannot help you there." The tiger zoanthrope ate his sushi roll. "Fang refuses to leave Wolf Mountain in any given scenario. He's atoning for the rank he lost assisting you in your search by completely turning away from you."

"...."

"You're gonna have to stop and realize, the way Fang looks at it now... getting back what was lost to him and returning to his former glory is much more important than you. After all, it was you that he lost it anyway."

At this point, Yugo's eyes were watering. "...I know I fucked up a lot. I'm sorry, Fang."

"...it's too late for that now, Yugo. You lost the only person that had you in such high regards..." Long stood up and tossed the empty sushi plate in the trash and walked to the door. "Oh, another thing..."

"Yes?"

"The Hengeyokai and the Yakuza are not street trash... they are more than you imagine." Long left, leaving Yugo in the darkening office.




-continued-