/Boss Ikari/
- lawless priest -
05 - the hunt
My name is Ayanami, Rei Ayanami, an assassin in the service of one Shinji Ikari, the son of the famed Yakuza boss Gendo Ikari, aka 'That bastard', you know the one. Every since my boss's 21st birthday, his father entrusted me with his son's safety as he began his path to take the reins of the family business. Things around here have become... extremely abnormal, especially after the fall of the Kodama Clan. But no matter, I take it in stride as just another day in this abnormal city known as Tokyo - 3
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"Remember, the item is extremely valuable, so treat it with care when you find it."
Those were Dr. Akagi's last words to us before the clan began our hunt. We didn't even know what the 'item' was, but here we were, with barely sufficient information out searching for something that the commander deemed important enough to send us combing the city for it. It was distressing, but when did I ever let such things concern me.
Currently we were at another popular mob hangout on the eastern side of the city, called the 'Hanging Man'. I don't know why it was called that. It seemed like too much of a depressing name for a hangout, which is supposed to be a place where a member of a crime syndicate could get away from the perils of the business and enjoy the atmosphere. None-the-less, we were there. I sat at a table with Ms. Horaki and Sohryu. The others had dispersed among the crowd when we entered, meeting old acquaintances and gathering what new news there was from the other patrons.
The sisters, or the sluts as Sohryu called them, were among their own, who happened to be there as well. All in all the mood was lax. Even if we were on the job, there was no reason that we could not enjoy ourselves. For me that consisted of sitting beside Ikari-kun and sipping occasionally from the wine in my glass and watching the others as the conversed.
If only the annoying individual, wearing too much cologne who kept trying to flirt with me, would leave, I could relax as well. But that did not seem to be the case.
"Come on baby, let's get out of here and we can hit the town, know what I mean?"
"No, I don't."
"Of course you do, we can go to any place you want. There's this nice place down on ..."
"Obviously you must have been mistaken." I interrupted. My patience had not run thin, but I was too tempted to kill the man out right rather than listen to any more of his foolishness.
"Mistaken?"
"Yes, you have somehow gained the impression that I care."
"Uh.." He tried to come up with some appropriate retort, but before he could.
"Hey you heard her, so get lost." Ikari to the rescue.
"Whatever, just stay out of ... wh-what are you doing?"
The gun I held to his face effectively put a halt to the annoying man's rants. It was amazingly pleasant to see just how fast his voice lost it's confidence.
"What does it look like, shooting you."
"Ah, I'm sorry to have bothered you miss. Please except my apologies."
After bowing profusely he made his escape. Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed, but I hid it well. 'If only he was a little more arrogant...'
"Um... wow, Ayanami. I didn't know you had it in you for that type of thing." Shinji was saying with a look of astonishment amusement on his face.
"And why is that, Ikari-kun?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that, I didn't think you knew how to express yourself, that's all."
"It has nothing to do with that. I just don't give a damn."
"Oh... "
"I was going to say 'smurf', but it would have been inappropriate."
"Oh, but 'damn' wasn't"
"Fuck off, Ikari."
"Sorry, sorry. Um... I'll just go check on Ken and Toji." he said before hurrying away.
Sigh...
Sometimes... I could hurt that man.
"Mein Gott, he can be such a Baka." Asuka called from where she was as she listened to our conversation.
"Indeed."
"Anyway, so... Hikari what's with you and the Stooge Lieutenant"Sohryu was asking our other table companion, Ms. Horaki. "I know you and he aren't, well you know, I'm not going to say it out loud. It's almost too gross to think about."
"N-no, it's nothing like that!" The blush that crept up the pig tailed woman's face gave away her lie.
"It better not be! You could do a lot better than that."
"He's not that bad Asuka. He's actually kinda sweet."
"Yeah as sweet as sweat!" the red head snorted, turning her nose up.
I had no reservations as to whether or not the taller Section 2 agent was either. I knew, in very vivid detail, just how 'sweet' he really was, but I wasn't going to tell Horaki that, and I knew Suzuhara wouldn't either. Blackmail is a very useful too.
The others must have caught my slight smile because they were giving me weird looks.
"See something you like ah, Rei?" was Sohryu's gibe.
"I don't know about her but I do." Megumi had snuck up on us while we weren't looking, it seemed.
"No one asked you Kodama."
"But I will ask you, tell me, where's our ...'Boss'.
The auburn haired women said boss like it was some delectable treat. I couldn't refute the claim, but that didn't mean I would let her get away with such insolence. Ikari-Kun was mine and no sex craved hussy was going to lay her filthy hands on him. I surmised that now would be the time to show the wench her place. All that I needed was the right phrase that would effectively end all thoughts of intimacy concerning Ikari-kun.
Turning toward my prey I noticed that Asuka seemed to be having similar thoughts and beat me to my chance.
"He went to go trade lies with the other perverts."
A sweat drop appeared on my brow, but no one noticed. 'That, Sohryu, was not what I had in mind. Note to self, never let the German take such matters out of my hands again. She will fail me every time.'
"I see, well I guess I'll just have to go and find him."
The smile that lit up her face was reminiscent of the sun, but it only made me sick. Too much UV rays were unhealthy. It would be a shame if that sun were to go Nova sometime in the near future. Yes... yes it would.
"Um, who are you looking for Ms. Megumi?" Only one man could ask such a question and sound so unsure of himself.
"Ikari-kun..." he never heard my greeting.
"Oh, Shinji-kun! I was looking for you, sir."
She called him by his name. How - dare - she! The ice in my mental voice cold have frozen the desert.
"Is something wrong Rei?"
I blinked a few times in brief shock. My eyes had been narrowed, it seemed, and Ikari-kun had been concerned. Inside I smiled, but outside... "No, there was something in my eye. It is gone now."
Attention adverted. It was time to leave.
"Shall we continue the search. There is only so much information that can be attained in this establishment."
"Right. I'll go get the others and you girls wait outside at the cars and we'll go from there." Ikari made good on his word and went about it. We wasted no time doing the same.
/BI/
"So, what's the plan, boss?" Suzuhara asked as he leaned on the side of his blue and white Lancer EVO. After we had gathered together outside we shared what information we had found and now it was up to Shinji to decide where we would start.
"Well, we have a few leads, but there are still some things that need to be done, so this is how it'll go down. Aida, Suzuhara you will search for the first lead, the guy we are looking for should be somewhere around North Eastern side of the city. That's the suburbs people and school is still in for some, so don't do anything crazy out there, alright."
The look he gave his two Lieutenants was clear enough to everyone present. The government was still looking down our backs because of that last incident and the clan did not need any more attention than it already had.
"Ms. Horaki, I want you and the Saito sisters to look into the second lead. You have the address, so contact us when you've found the guy." The sister's looked a bit disappointed that they wouldn't be going with us, but that was fine by me. They would only get in our way.
"Asuka, Rei," Shinji said to us. "You'll be with me. We're going to meet the new informant that Dr. Akagi told us about. Kaji supposedly set it up, so it should be safe..."He gave a pause before continuing. "And I know I don't have to tell you, but be on your guard."
His eyes conveyed the concern he had for us. The last time we had gone to meet one of our new informants... it would be wise to just say that the situation did not go appropriately.
Sohryu and I gave each other looks and a nod. We would be ready for whatever came.
"Alright then, Third. Lets get going. No point in waiting." Asuka always had to have the last word. This time was no different.
/BI/
"Well, isn't this just the perfect spot to get ambushed." Sohryu's sarcasm was unnecessary. We all felt the same about the place. We were standing next to the exit, on the roof of a closed down factory waiting for our contact to arrive. As it was, they were 12 minutes and 48 secs late. Some people believe that I act like a machine when I do things like that, but I just like being precise. That way, I say what I mean and there are no misunderstandings. It would be unfortunate if I had to a shoot a man, because he became over joyed when he thought that I said Excel Saga was more funnier than FLCL, or some such.
But seriously ES beat FLCL, or as Ikari would say, 'not bloody likely in this universe'.
During the wait, the German and I decided to waste time by sending each other text messages on our cell phones to pass time. I didn't spare my watch a glance, but I knew it was working.
'Why couldn't informants ever be reliable?'
It was a foolish question considering their nature and the situation. But as for our conversation, it went something like this.
/: entering text messaging / chat room mode - something like flashback mode... just without the flashback, obviously :/
bigRED: hey blue let's do that word game again... Saito
the-quiet-type: sisters
bigRED: sluts
the-quiet-type: whores
bigRED: Arschloch
the-quiet-type: ecchi
bigRED: hentai
the-quiet-type: useless annoying little...
bigRED: paled skinned Dummkopfs who..
the-quiet-type: better keep their hands off...
bigRED: my baka before I
"What do you mean yours?" I said to the red head, but I didn't shout. I never shouted. I wasn't exactly sure my voice could get that loud. I knew Ikari must have been giving us weird looks, but that was irrelevant.
"Well, who do you think was going to get him?"
Asuka was being selfishly arrogant again. I merely narrowed my eyes. We had been through this before and we were still paying off the damage done to the game room back at Shinji's Bar.
"Fine, ours, happy?"
"Extremely."
"Whatever." She tossed her hair to the side, knowing full well how much I hated it when she did that in front of me.
'Stupid long haired wench. Just because Ikari-kun likes women with long hair... I'll show her. Just wait until my hair grows out.'
"Well, I'm here." a voice called out, interrupting my grumbling. I could still hear Sohryu's mumbled "about time."
"Good for you, good for us." Was all Ikari said.
"Is it?" Our contact said with a smile.
"It had better be." That was from Asuka.
"I see."
"Do you?" I asked. This person was already on my 'I wish I had a bat so I can beat you with it' list, but of course, I would have just shot them. A bat takes too long. I had things to do.
"Well yeah..." The informant was a little confused now, but they had tried to confuse us, so it was only right that we did the same.
"Good, now let's get down to business." The boss said, his tone collected and cool, almost cold. He was in Commander mode,. That was the pet name that Sohryu and I gave him awhile back when he got like this, all manly. But we would never tell him that. He be likely to shoot us.
"You are late." I felt the need to point that out. Time was important in our line of work.
"Then next time, tell Kaji to give better directions. Down town was a mess to get through."
"Irrelevant, who are you and what do you have for us?" It seems our boss wanted to get this over with, but our informant only smiled.
I had seen that smile before. It was the same smile that the Saito sisters gave Ikari when we met them at Ms. Misato's restaurant.
"My name is Mana," she said with a flourish. "and it seems that the JSSDF has taken an interest in your little item."
"And what could they want with it?" Sohryu's question struck a cord with me as well. Why would the Government want to get involved? Did they know what we were looking for?
"Mana, do you know why they have gotten into this?" Ikari asked calmly.
"No, but I'm working on that. I do know that another Yakuza gang is involved as well, but not exactly which one. But don't worry, I'm sure I can find out for you, Mr. Ikari."
She smiled again. I was starting to hate that smile and the face that went along with it. Her red, almost pink, close cut hair was annoying me as well. It was almost as if she had tried to copy my style. Originality was hard to come by in this city... and mine had been one of the most original. Only anime characters could top my particular fashion sense.
"Is that all, Mana?"
"Yes, Mr. Ikari. I'm afraid so, but you can get Kaji to contact me if you want to get more... 'informed'." The pink wench did it again.
"We'll see. Come on girls."
"Why is it that we always have to meet other girls. Were are the real men in the city."
"Out looking for real women." Was the boss's answer.
"Well, here we are damnit!
I sighed as I got into the car. It was going to be a long ride.
/BI/
Somewhere, along the way, Kensuke had called and told us that his lead led to nothing. Horaki had called not five minutes later and told us that they had located theirs and were awaiting orders. Ikari told them to wait up and that we would be their soon. We told Aida and Suzuhara to meet us there as well.
Considering how fast Ikari-kun drives, I was surprised that the black sun-glasses wearing duo had beat us to the spot. But then again, Ms. Misato had been head of Section 2 for sometime before Mr. Kaji took over, and her road skills was widely known to all in the Clan.
We were all in the parking lot of a church that seemed fairly new, with gleaming arches and fresh paint. A strange place to find six members of one of the must powerful Yakuza Crime Families in Tokyo 3. But such as it was, was irrelevant.
Ms. Horaki led us in and we walked over to where the Saito sisters were standing. I would have called them some vulgar term, at least in my mind, but I was rather fatigued. The day had been he tiring and I hoped that we would not have to meet some other less-than savory person. I was afraid that if they irritated me, I would be compelled to shoot them and save myself the annoyance. Well, I wasn't exactly afraid, I merely was not in the mood.
"So, is this the guy?" Ikari walked up to a middle aged man in a black attire.
"Yes, this is Father Lo." Sunja answered, pointing to the man.
"A priest? I see, well what does he know?"
"Apparently one of the men involved stopped by here. He didn't give a confession, so the priest is free to talk about it."
"You sure?"
"Yes, sir. The man did speak to another, who we haven't been able to identify, about the item and then they had a word with our holy man here." That was from Megumi. The two former Kodama's seemed to be acting respectful. It probably had something to do with being within the walls of a holy place.
"Sir, tell me, how would a man of god, like yourself, get involved in something like this?" Boss Ikari began, as he questioned the Father.
"Well, actually, I'm an atheist."
All movement stopped and every eye was on him.
"Wait, man?" Suzuhara was confused, as was the rest of us. "Aren't you a priest?"
"Yes, I am, young man."
"But you just said that you were an atheist." Aida tried to clarify. None of us still understanding the Father's reasoning.
"Yes I did."
"Ok, let's just start the introductions over, alright." Shinji said with a sigh... gathering himself for the foolishness to come. I sensed it as well.
"You are a priest, right?"
"Yes."
"You preach the word of god?'
"Yes, I do and I am told I am very good at it."
No one said anything for a few seconds, but then Ikari-kun continued with a small shake of his head in wonderment.
"Ok, and you teach children about the glory of god and all that, right?"
"Yes."
"And you're an atheist?"
"Yes."
He sighed in exasperation again.
"Ok... ok... let's try this. Do you know what an atheist means?"
"Yes. It means one doesn't believe in god."
"And you still chose to become a priest?" Sohryu asked the question that was on all of our minds.
"Yes, I did. I felt it was the right thing to do."
"Hey, Ikari, man, where are you going?" Suzuhara asked as the boss turned toward the exit.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the mental capacity to deal with this type of shit, right now. I'm out of here."
"Hey! You can't curse in a church!" Aida was saying. Getting up too. Ikari-kun was already at the door by then.
"Hell, you can't have a priest who doesn't believe in god either, but that doesn't seem to be stopping Mr. Un-Holy over there." He stopped and turned back toward the priest.
"But I have one more thing to ask." He looked at the Father for a long while and then leaned down so he was right in front of the mans face.
"Can I ask you a serious question.?"
Ikari's actions were starting to disturb the man, but who could blame him.
"Um.. sure."
"Have you been drinking? Because I think I need a sip of what you're having. My usual stuff is 'obviously' not strong enough."
I had always known life in Tokyo 3 was not normal, but apparently my assumptions were off. Way off.