The Black Snow
By Icha
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: All heroes and heroines belong to DC Comics. All Japanese characters with the exceptions of Dr. Light II, Katana, Yasu and Imako are from my imagination. Thanks to Athena Phoenix and Kyoko Kasshu Minamino for beta readings, and to Lamont Mallory for the character of Capt. Kisagi, also for details about Dr. Light. Also many, many thanks to all readers who took the time to read this story. I truly appreciate your attentions (please leave your emails if you haven't done that, so I can contact you back to express my gratitude).
Chapter 6. Intercepting the Black SnowIt wasn't a weekend night in Ginza, but the intersection of Harumi-dori and Showa-dori Avenues was still packed with visitors. Most of them went into the many sushi restaurants and other food stalls for dinner, while occasionally some people in traditional clothes went in a hurry to the Kabukiza. A little girl in a kimono tangled her feet and dropped her dinner box at the pedestal. Her mother tried to calm her while she burst into tears, attracting the attention of other pedestrians.
Ignoring the cacophony, Batman kept monitoring his Bat PDA for signs of danger. Diana and Tatsu had entered Eiga Department Store a few minutes ago, and so far, nothing bad had happened. He smirked when the excited Calvin Klein girl sprayed Diana with a lot of Eternity Summer. She wouldn't like it. He saw Diana walking to the kimono section, and made a mental note upon hearing her sigh when she touched some kimono. Then he felt a soft breeze coming towards him.
"Dr. Light," he greeted Kimiyo Hoshi without turning to see her.
"Batman," the famous Japanese heroine greeted him similarly. "How are things going?"
"Katana and Wonder Woman have entered Eiga. How's your daughter?"
"Fine..." Kimiyo was a bit surprised about the question. She rarely worked with Batman. From the numerous rumors about the Dark Knight, she concluded that the hero was indeed the darkest light, never truly expressing his concerns about personal things. To her, Batman's concern for Imako was a bit out of character.
"Her temperature has decreased to a little bit above normal, and she's stopped coughing," she continued. "Then she started pushing me 'back to work', saying that she didn't want her mom to lose a battle because of her. So now I'm here."
"Good then," Batman commented, eyes still fixed on the PDA screen. But his small gesture had encouraged Kimiyo. At first, Kimiyo preferred that only she and Tatsu handle the Black Snow case, and resented the help of international heroes. But Batman was the world's greatest detective and hero Katana had known for a long time. If Katana could trust him, so could she. Plus, so far Batman had been balanced in sharing and updating information, and truly treated Katana and Dr. Light as his equal, not as sidekicks (otherwise, she would have kicked the Caped Crusader out of Japan immediately).
"Busy night, huh?" Dr. Light scanned the vicinity, then looked at the sky above. "Hmm...full moon. No wonder. They must have this special Kabuki show now."
Batman nodded. "Yes. And more people in the park, too," He gestured eastward to the Ginza Park two blocks away. "There's a festival going on."
"It's the monthly moon festival. It'll be hard to clear the area should anything happen," Dr. Light draped her cape to cover her chest. "Katana informed me that you are going to handle the shipping tonight. Shall we leave now?"
Batman nodded. "Let's go. I was planning to go alone, thinking that you wouldn't come. The sooner we deal with the shipping, the sooner we help Wonder Woman and Katana."
The nice retro-art decoration of the room seemed fail to cheer its inhabitants. All men in the room wore black clothes; kimono and hakama, or occidental attire. Not one of them smiled, particularly one man who kneeled down and shivered in fear.
The door opened and a tall, handsome young man entered the room. He wore a set of dark kimono and hakama, along with a jinbaori (Japanese sleeveless vest) with a mon (family crest) depicting a flying crow, the symbol of the Iwamura clan. Everybody except the kneeling man bowed to salute him.
"Suijiro-san, we've got him," one of the hakama-clad men approached, gesturing to the kneeling man.
Suijiro nodded. He was in his mid-thirties and had a strong jaw. There was a scar in his right cheek that made him even more attractivethan if his face had been flawless. His eyes were like an eagle's, sharp and drilling deep. Upon meeting him for the first time, one's first impression would be admiration. But anyone looking closely into his eyes would either tremble or resent him.
Suijiro's eyes were cold, full of arrogance, hubris, and vengeance. This man would never take 'no' as an answer, and he would severely punish any man who betrayed him – including the kneeling man, who crawled to him, pleading for mercy.
"Suijiro-san, I beg you! Don't do this to me! My wife is pregnant, and she would suffer if I die. No one will take care of her and my child. Please!"
Disgusted, Suijiro abruptly stepped a few paces away from the man. "Why would I forgive you, you little worm! You have sold my name to the police, and nearly sent me to jail. And now you want forgiveness? Screw you!"
"Please, if you don't spare me, at least spare my wife... Don't come after her, please..."
Suijiro sniffed. "Why, Shindo - old friend, you have just given me a very good idea. Why don't I just use her the way you tricked me? A pregnant chick is always fun to play with!"
Shindo's face paled a few degrees. "Please...no...no...please... don't touch her, please... her condition is unstable now... any stress will hurt her and the baby..."
"That is exactly what I want!" Suijiro's eyes glowing with hate, causing even his men to step back in fear. He grabbed Shindo's shirt, forcing the poor man to look into his hate-filled eyes, and whispered, "- To teach you not to play games with me!"
He pushed away the man, turned back to sit in a big black leather chair – apparently his 'throne' – and gave an order, "Bring his wife to me in one hour. In my chamber."
But before his men confirmed the command, suddenly Shindo jumped forward with a war cry and attacked Suijiro barehanded. His leap had pushed the chair back upside down along with the young godfather.
"You animal! Your father was a godfather too, but he never touched the wives of his men! You taint his memory! I'll kill you now, I swear!"
Not stopping there, he threw several punches at Suijiro and even tried to choke him. But the godfather was no match for Shindo. A few seconds later, Suijiro managed to throw his attacker across the room, slamming Shindo against the wall of displayed weapons. Anger at his betrayer mastered the young godfather as he grabbed the nearest katana out of the hands of his guard and charged Shindo in a more fearsome war cry. At about the same time, Shindo stood up and seized the nearest weapons – a black bokken (wooden sword) and a naginata (the Japanese equivalent of halberd or glaive) – steadying himself against his opponent.
Although made of wood, the bokken was a classic example of how 'soft' weapons such as wooden swords excelled above 'hard' weapons like true iron katana or naginata. More than four hundred years ago, the legendary Miyamoto Musashi used a similar black bokken as his faithful weapon along his journey to master his Way of the Sword. He even made a bokken out of a used wooden oar to defeat his archenemy, Sasaki Kojiro, whose 'Clothing Rod' (the name of Kojiro's nodachi or long two-handed sword) had taken the life of many talented samurai. It wasn't the wooden oar that made the weapon powerful; it was Musashi himself, the Man behind the Sword. In his skillful hands, a used oar was transformed into a deadly weapon.
However, Shindo wasn't nearly half as good as Musashi was. He usually used guns to fight, and occasionally katana. Grabbing a wooden sword was actually his last choice for any fight, but under such circumstances, he could only grab the black bokken, the nearest weapon he got. And the bokken in his hand just became a wooden sword. Nothing more, nothing less.
CRAAACKKKK!
Shindo's bokken was neatly cut into two. Pale-faced, he jumped a few steps back, shoved his naginata with both hands, and charged again, aiming at Suijiro's heart. Suijiro smirked and, still running, swung his katana to parry the naginata.
CLAAAANGG!
Shindo's arms were shaking miserably as the result of the two weapons' momentum. Striving to steady himself, he shifted the end of the naginata to his body in order to directly swing it to cleanly cut through his enemy. Bad move. A split second later, it was his own body that was cut clean by Suijiro's katana.
The whole room was silent. Suijiro remained in his aftermath attack position, strong legs, body crouching, both arms still firmly holding his katana. There was almost no blood tainting his katana, a sign that his cut was clean. He could feel the katana shivering into his body, bringing him a sense of pleasure, a feeling he always found after killing anyone. Especially with katana or other classical weapons. Not with guns – they were almost barbaric weapons to his eyes – although he was also a top gunfighter.
Four seconds later he heard a 'thud' and a 'clang'. Without turning to look, Suijiro knew that it was the sound of Shindo's upper body and the naginata falling. He smiled grimly. The longer the body fell, the better his cut was. Suijiro always took pride on his quality and precision of Iaido (the art of wielding a katana and cutting with the same motion, as quickly as possible). To him, there was no better moment of evidence than killing his opponent in a one-to-one sword fight, something that was almost never done in the last century, even among the Yakuza. Yet his father Masahiro had brought back the tradition, and now it was his turn to keep the tradition alive. He was very pleased with the 'duty'.
Handing over the katana to his guard, Suijiro straightened up. He actually regretted not using his own katana and wakizashi for the fight, but it was an emergency. There was no greater pleasure than killing with his own sword. Next time, I'll make sure I always carry them with me.
"Looks like we don't need to punish him again, then," the guard who stood next to him spoke up. I mean, can we spare his wife now? He didn't speak of that, though. He didn't dare, as he knew how bad Suijiro's temper was.
Suijiro glared at his guard. "If you mean you don't have to get your hands dirty by killing him, yeah – I've done the dirty job for you. But next time –" he turned his whole body to face the guard, "- don't ever, and I mean EVER, let an assault like that happen again. Or you will face the consequences. Is that clear?"
His guard nodded nervously.
"Good," Suijiro smirked, then remembered something else. "Oh, yeah. About his wife, just send her my deepest sympathy. Tell her that Shindo fought the Hayada clan bravely. She should be proud of him," he smiled again wickedly. "I also heard that she is...not so attractive. You can have her if you want, Uchida."
Uchida the guard bowed. "I shall take care of this business properly." But I will not touch his wife. He betrayed us, but he had paid for his sins.
"Very good," Suijiro turned to his other guard to ask about something else. At that time his cell phone rang. Cursing, he reached for his phone inside his pocket (still intact after the fight with Shindo), pushed the talk button, and barked, "What's up!"
"Suijiro-san! Forgive me, but I think I should let you know about this. There are two women here who wanted to check on the Black Snow supply. They went to Eiga and gave the correct code, 'Lady Miyako's kimono'. All identities are clear, and now Tadaki is with them."
"I thought I made it clear that this buyer service is Tadaki's business, not mine. Why are you telling me this?"
"Yes, but their names are not on the potential buyers' list. Tadaki –"
"WHAT!" Suijiro cried almost as loud as when he attacked Shindo. "Why in hell's name did you let them in!"
There was silence on the other end. Suijiro felt increasingly annoyed because of his men's recklessness. "Why don't you speak? Cat got your tongue?"
"Er... Suijiro-san... they sounded so impressive when they gave the code. They even showed us a large amount of cash in their bag, in dollars, Sir! All real dollars!"
"That doesn't say that they're clean!" Now Suijiro was angry. "What if they are cops, you idiot!"
"I...uh...we think...uh...they are clean. No wires at all, Sir." The tone of his man on the opposite side wasn't so sure anymore.
"Morons! No wires don'tmean that they are not spies! Hold them, talk nicely to them. Tell them I'm on my way there to see them personally. I don't want them to be suspicious - we don't want cops here on the shipping night!" Suijiro turned off his phone and gestured to his men to go with him.
"Bring my swords, I might need them again. And clean up the mess here. I have a party this weekend; I don't want any blood remaining."
Tokyo Narita International Airport was busy as usual. The summer holiday had started, and the airport was full with domestic and international tourists. Currentlythe United Airlines ticketing officers at the fourth floor of North Wing International Terminal 1 were busy servicing people checking in for the Gotham City flight via Singapore that would leave more than two hours later.
From the top of the North Wing roof, Batman could see all the activities on the fourth floor clearly with his x-ray binoculars. He detected no suspicious movements there as well as in the baggage handling section in Gate 43, where the passengers for Singapore and Gotham were going to depart from. But Dr. Light had informed him that the shipping would be done tonight at this terminal and gate. He had double-checked the information with his informant in Narita, an elderly officer who had had an eye on the possible underground movement using Narita as their launching point for the drug trade. It was the most recent trend of drug ring, using any international airports as 'docking point' for drugs sent or arrived in certain countries. The method was smuggling the drugs inside passengers' bags after the bags were scanned inside the terminal building. As the plane (and the bags) arrived in the destination city, arranged personnel would unload the drugs from passengers' bags before the immigration officers scanned them. This operation had put several innocent lives in danger as the drug dealers failed to retrieve (or purposely chose to ignore) the package before the incoming bags were scanned; thus the bag owners were arrested for smuggling drugs.
The Outsiders had encountered a similar case in the John F. Kennedy New York International Airport as a pair of young travelers from Japan was caught under similar accusation of smuggling the Black Snow, ten days before Batman left for Japan. Nightwing's rapid approach to the NYPD and New York District Attorney had halted the further publicity and resolution of the case, while Katana and Batman tracked back the possible route of the drugs. The link connected neatly with the Black Snow chain in Japan and further convinced Batman that he and Katana had to go to Japan to solve this enigma.
Switching his binoculars into infrared mode, Batman lurked in the darker corner of the terminal roof, his eyes fixed on Gate 43 where a few meters away a big Boeing 777-200 was being prepared for its transatlantic journey. If he and Dr. Light succeeded in intercepting the shipment tonight, they might be able to save the Japanese couple from jail, and also save many more lives from death because of the Black Snow. If not, the Iwamura clan would be extra careful, and the heroes' attempts to save both countries from the drug would be harder.
A subtle 'thud' behind him indicated that Dr. Light had returned from her rapid patrol.
"The police are standing by, some of them dressed as civilians inside the building," Dr. Light informed the Batman. "Two of them even disguised themselves as passengers going to Gotham, with very easy bags to open. Perhaps the suckers will take the bait."
"I hope so." Batman continued scanning the vicinity for any signs of smuggling. Dr. Light had a good relationship with the Tokyo Police Department, so it was easier to request backups if required. Nonetheless, he still asked Dr. Light to warn the police not to make any unnecessary moves to avoid scaring the smugglers away. His mind flew back to Ginza where Diana and Tatsu were still playing rich buyers of the Black Snow. Any wrong movements here would endanger them. The last time he checked five minutes ago, they were already in the sub terrain of Ginza, welcomed by the Iwamura clan. He remembered being a little tense when Diana and Tatsu were examined by both Yakuza women, and sighed in relief when apparently they found nothing suspicious. Relax, both of them are skillful martial artists; they are going to be okay. Even if Diana doesn't wear her vambraces now, she'll be fine. Relax!
"Nothing yet?" Dr. Light asked, sweeping the surroundings with her own x-ray visions. She and Batman had arrived almost thirty minutes ago (Dr. Light flying while Batman flew the Batwing), ten minutes before the early check-in passengers for the 11:10 pm Singapore-Gotham routes arrived. The Tokyo police had placed personnel near the outer baggage band to detect any smuggling, but so far he hadn't seen anything. They were also planning to watch Gate 30, as there would be a flight going to San Francisco at 2 am the next day. The smuggling should happen at this point outside Gate 43, while the bags were already cleared out of baggage checks, and before they were loaded into the plane. Batman and Dr. Light arrived before the Tokyo-Singapore-Gotham counter opened and the first bags were checked in, so they shouldn't have missed the shipment.
"Just keep looking. It's still early passengers who checked in, we still have a chance," he responded. And after a thought, he added. "And if it happens, stop them from contacting Ginza. We don't want double trouble here."
Dr. Light nodded and prepared to fly away again. When she turned to prepare for take-off, she caught a glimpse of a movement in the farthest corner of the baggage deck, near a big trolley full of bags. The trolley was badly positioned behind another full trolley, so she would've missed that if she didn't shift her position. Dr. Light tensed. "Batman, there!"
The Greatest Detective already registered Dr. Light's posture change a few seconds back, and now focused his binoculars on the mentioned corner as well. He saw a man leaning over two bags to open it, and inserted a few plastic packages into each bag. Batman zoomed in his binoculars (that also functioned as a digital camera) and pressed several times to take evidential pictures.
"He's mine," he turned to Dr. Light. "He might still have friends here, so we have to be careful. I will go slow, trying not to warn him. You scan for his comrades and alarm the police." Batman shot his grapple gun and swung away.
Dr. Light reached for her communicator and pressed a button to speak to Captain Kisagi of the Tokyo Police Department.
"Captain, Dr. Light here. We have movement at Gate 43. Batman is going there. I suggest you and your men stand by, see if this guy has any friends nearby."
A clear voice replied from the other end. "Copy that, Dr. Light. Looks like this is going to be the night, then!"
"I wouldn'tpour the sake now, Captain. Not yet. Got to go. See you in a sec." With that, Dr. Light dovesilently towards the airstrip ground. Her bright white cape might hinder her stealth operation, so she stayed in the darkest areas. Her movement was suddenly halted when she saw another man dressed in a technician suit approaching another trolley, a few meters away from the first trolley, beginning the same operation his comrade did a while ago. Kimiyo smirked. Kisagi's right. This IS the night!
Meanwhile, the first 'technician' had already done his 'baggage handling' and was ready to leave. Casually he turned away from the trolley, walked a few paces, and bumped into a tall dark figure in front of him.
"Boo," the dark figure only whispered, but the technician's whole body suddenly shook in fear.
"What-what do you want? Stopscaring me like that!" He then attempted to compose himself and establish control over the situation, but his voice came out in a squeak. "You don't have any authority here. Leave now, or I'll call security!"
"Sure you will. Do that, and I will gladly accept their help," his opponent answered in flawless Japanese, but the technician had the impression that he was a foreigner. Moreover, he got this annoying feeling that this dark figure was more fearful than a Kappa (water demon), Tengu (mountain spirit) or other Japanese demons that used to haunt him in his childhood dreams. He swallowed hard and started to step backwards.
"Get away! Who are you? Get away from me!"
"I will. After you show me what you did to the bags," the figure walked ahead, becoming taller and more frightening than he thought possible.
"W-wh-what b-b-bags! I don't know what you're talking about!" he squeaked again.
The figure's white eyes suddenly narrowed grimly. The 'technician' helplessly felt his body being lifted, dragged to the trolley, and pushed to one of the bags he opened before.
"Open it, and say that you don't know anything about its content!" The deep baritone voice was so scary, he was almost certain it was Oni (Japanese demonic ogre) that would drag him to hell where the creature lived and ate his meat. He nodded in fear and opened the bag hastily. There were a few plastic bags inside, all containing white powder.
"I...I don't know what it is..." he chirped with very low confidence.
"Liar!" the figure hissed, then shoved something in front of his face; a pair of binoculars with a screen on the side, showing pictures of him inserting the plastic packages into the bags.
"I...I...don't... please don't tell them that I failed? They will punish me severely! Please!"
Batman narrowed his eyes. "The Iwamura clan?"
The technician nodded nervously. "Yes – yes! Them! Please don't tell them I screwed up! They'll kill me!"
Before Batman could answer, he heard another cry and shooting from inside the building. He turned to see another man in a technician's uniform run between his and Dr. Light's positions, chased by some Tokyo cops who kept yelling and shooting. From his appearance, this running man was the supervisor of the man Batman held in captivity now. The Dark Knight clenched his jaw. He had to stop the man before he had a chance to warn the Iwamura.
He looked back at his captive. "Stay here, be nice!" Then he punched him (not hard enough to break any bones, but enough to make him collapse), and ran to stop the running man.
"Matte! Stop there!" He ordered. No secrecy anymore – the gunshot already ended their stealth work. Ignoring the gunshots and Batman's order, the man kept running. Worse, Batman saw the man's hand on his ear, seemingly talking to someone. Bad. This is BAD! He took out his batarang and threw it at his target. With one shot, the running man was down.
Batman kept running to check his opponent. A few seconds after he arrived there, Dr. Light landed next to him. A few policemen ran towards them as well.
"I caught another man, also smuggling some packages into the bags. Black Snow, I'm sure. Kisagi has him now, also your captive. What happened to this guy?"
Batman still squatted, examining the man (moaning in pain as his head had been introduced to a batarang). "Apparently he was the field supervisor for this section. I think Kisagi's man noticed him, and tried to catch him."
"And he ran, but not for long," Dr. Light gestured to the fallen man. "Good shot. He will have severe bumps for a few days."
"I should give him more than that," Batman responded grimly. He rose, showing Dr. Light a Nokia cell phone with a big screen. "He made a video-phone call to the Iwamura while running. The phone fell when I hit him. When I picked up the phone just now, it was still active. They saw me."
Dr. Light stiffened. "By the black holes! It means that they know now!"
"And that Diana and Tatsu are in danger," Batman added, punching a button in his own Bat PDA, calling the Batwing. "I have to go now."
Dr. Light nodded. "I'll stay here and help the police catch the rest of the crew. There must be more than three people in this airport. Kisagi will have to close Narita for a moment."
"Do that, and meet me ASAP in Ginza," Batman fired his grapple gun to the Batwing, lifted himself, and flew away swallowed by the night.
Author's note:
Though I also took a deep pleasure in writing previous chapters, I truly enjoy this chapter as I had a chance to mention rather in detail about Miyamoto Musashi, my favorite swordsman from the Shogun era. And as I mentioned earlier, Kisagi was a Tokyo policeman created by Lamont Mallory for his fanfiction 'Dr. Light Ongoing Series'. Lamont also confirmed me about Kimiyo's x-ray ability.