Ch 65
V 1.0
Mandarin Oriental Bar
Nihonbashi, Chuo Ward,
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, late Monday night
Katsuo Kobayashi watched as Keitaro Urashima stirred his drink across the table. There was no real reason to do so; the rocks glass contained a double shot of single malt scotch, the same as him, with only a single ice cube. He was sure that most whiskey aficionados would be horrified at the thought of diluting top shelf booze like that, but his companion was apparently not much of a drinker, let alone someone who would appreciate the quality of his drink. The chances of him actually get intoxicated were actually rather low; unless he wanted to get drunk a chi user could burn off alcohol almost as fast as he could drink it shy of him chugging from the bottle. Although given the look on his former classmate's face, getting drunk may be on the agenda tonight.
After spinning the ice cube around for a few more moments, Keitaro finally placed the wooden stirrer aside and took a sip from the glass. Surprising him slightly he did not flinch or wince at the taste; in fact given the lack of reaction he could have been drinking from a glass of ice water. Placing the glass back on the table he looked up and across the table at him and Katsuo had no problem reading the question in his eyes.
"This wasn't my idea, Keitaro-kun. I'm as surprised as you were that you got those appointments." Keitaro kept gazing at him for a long moment, enough for him to start to feel uncomfortable, before the younger man sighed and looked back down again. "I did hear some talk going around the grapevine that may have had something to do with what happened today."
"Talk? What talk?" Keitaro had picked up the stirrer and was absently starting to twirl it between his fingers.
"That there was an enforcer going around overseas, one that didn't identify what group he was with." Keitaro's eyes rose to meet his own. "Someone that was at least a chi user. He was supposed to be a cut-out negotiator for a group here, throwing around a lot of money. One that managed to step on a lot of toes but got away unscathed." Katsuo fixed his gaze on him. "Sound familiar?"
"Somewhat." Keitaro had blanked the emotions on his face, which in Katsuo's line of work was about as subtle as a neon sign.
"The Council has need for people like that. It's one of the reasons why they have contacts with Yakuza groups. It's not like they can hire guys who come out of the JSDF, they have even less combat experience than a bosozoku streetfighter." Katsuo was referring to the Japanese Self Defense Force, the military forces that until recently had been constitutionally prohibited from deploying overseas or taking part in any actions that were non-defensive. Most of the time the non-special forces part of the military were training for humanitarian relief efforts after natural disasters. "We can't hire foreigners, most of the people they would deal with would not trust them or take them seriously, especially the high level martial artists. Kind of hard to say you are protecting Japanese interests and traditions if you have gaijin as muscle." Even now there was a certain level of xenophobia in Japan, even if it was not as bad as it was in past decades. "There is even some talk of paying for some of the bosozoku with clean criminal records to go join the French Foreign Legion and volunteer for combat service and then hire them at double pay when they are discharged to be street soldiers for us."
"So why not appoint someone like you then? You have the experience and skills, presumably." The stirrer in Keitaro's hand was now spinning between his fingers.
"Because my primary loyalty is to my family, because I'm involved in criminal activities." Katsuo paused as he took a sip of his drink. "Because I'm barely a chi level fighter with almost no real combat time." Lighter brown eyes fixed onto darker brown ones. "Because of my family's origins."
"I see." The Kobayashi family had worked as leather tanners and butchers in the feudal era and were therefore marked as unclean and tainted by death in both the Shinto and Buddhist faiths. Called burakumin, hamlet people, they were formerly known as eta: filth. Even in modern times they faced economic and social discrimination and many wound up in organized crime as a result. Katsuo's family had gone into the gambling part of the Yakuza at the beginning of the Meiji era and worked its way into having their own criminal family group based in what was now known as Hinata City. Even with all their current status and money, they would not be able to deal with certain higher levels of society.
"You, on the other hand, are the heir to a noteworthy noble clan that is one of the founding members of the Council, are at least at chi adept level and probably higher, and have more combat time than 90% of the criminal population." Katsuo watched as Keitaro looked down at his glass before lifting it and taking a larger drink.
"I don't have that much time. I was involved in a couple of fights in Thailand and then two or three more… elsewhere." Keitaro obviously did not want to say the name of where his more noteworthy exploits took place even though it was in the same country. Given how bad Roanapur had been, it was almost as though it was in a different dimension. "It was maybe a month and a half time, tops."
"You walked through the gates of hell and walked back out with what you had sought, someone you had no family loyalty to. Quit putting yourself down Keitaro-kun. Remember Orpheus, remember Izanagi? What you did was literally the stuff of legend. You did what even the gods failed to do." It was now Katsuo's turn to drink before Keitaro looked up again.
"So what do we do now? We didn't get much of a mission brief beside the basics." After Keitaro had gotten his appointments they had all had a four course French meal but to the guest of honor the gourmet dinner had the taste of sawdust. After everyone was done the two younger men were excused by the elders, so they made their way up to the bar and ordered drinks while sitting at a table next to one of the floor to ceiling windows looking out at the nighttime Tokyo skyline.
"That part of why we're here now, so I can tell you what we currently know." Katsuo tossed down the rest of his drink before raising his glass. The female server had another drink poured and before him in less than thirty seconds while Keitaro waved off a refill.
Once the server had stepped away Katsuo started speaking again. "Normally most groups train some of their own in chi techniques if they show the ability for it while training in regular martial arts. The thing is that it usually taught along family lines because the aptitude tends to pass down through blood and there are very few genuine martial arts masters that will teach the techniques to criminals and piss off the Council. So most chi fighters have the strength and endurance but usually don't have the speed or the fancy techniques. That is starting to change now, because the teaching of martial arts is on the decline. Most students now learn for basic self-defense or for exercise. Not many people want to do what we did to learn our families' arts," Katsuo finished with a wry smile.
Keitaro silently nodded. It took him a long time to realize it – usually from the reactions regular people would have if he went into detail about what his granny's training had entailed – but most people would not voluntarily do what was involved to achieve chi and ki usage in martial arts. Doing pushups with a broken leg was one of the lesser painful training techniques he had gone through.
"Now there have been various rogue martial artists that have joined criminal groups when they have been thrown out of their original schools or families but those tended not to be high level fighters. The ones that did have more noticeable skills did not last for very long, since they would become a high priority target of rival groups, or were disciplined by the Council." Depending on how large a threat the rogue was to the public at large, 'discipline' could range from a permanent chi blocking seal to death if they were an immediate danger.
"What has us concerned now is that there is talk that a criminal group is pressuring legitimate martial arts families to join in the war," Katsuo continued. "Promises of money usually isn't enough to get them to dishonor themselves, but many family dojos have either closed or are close to it due to lack of students. The Nintendo generation doesn't want to sweat and bleed like we used to, they'd rather play video games and jerk off to anime." Keitaro's lips grimaced slightly in response; when he and Katsuo had been in school they had been the only two students that had been serious martial artists; even the participants in the kendo, judo, and karate clubs were doing it for competition and fitness purposes. And the competitors were the minority, as most young men these days were out of shape if not overweight even by normal standards.
"The most current rumor is what kicked this entire deal off. There is talk that a group is starting to use nasty tactics against the martial arts families. Threats, blackmail, digging for dirty laundry, that sort of thing. So far it hasn't worked in flipping a family, but if they are on this path, there's only one more step they can take, and that is direct pressure on a family member." Katsuo's eyes locked with Keitaro's. "There aren't that many people who will say 'no' if a yakuza group is holding a family member hostage."
Keitaro gazed at him steadily for a few moments before nodding. "Do you have proof of any of this?"
"We're not legal Keitaro-kun, it's not like we can present this in a court of law." Katsuo's smile appeared again. "A lot of this is drunken bragging in places with too many ears present. What we do is collate the information and sometimes send someone to follow up, usually around the edges. We can't directly ask the people involved, we're the combatants on the other side of the war that they are being dragged into. But there is someone who can ask them. A metsuke."
Keitaro nodded again. As a representative of the Council in the Shadows, which was officially neutral in most matters, a metsuke had the authority to investigate any issues that could threaten or endanger the martial arts in Japan. And this matter certainly qualified. "Do you have anything on paper about this I could go over?"
Katsuo almost snorted. "Stuff this sensitive? Are you kidding?" Keitaro's steady gaze answered his question. "Yeah, we have it written down. In code, on flash paper, in a booby-trapped safe. You're going to have to come to my place and look at it there, we can't let this get around, we treat it as black gossip." Black gossip was information so explosive and damaging in nature that merely repeating it publicly was enough to ruin someone's life or drive them to commit seppuku. "You want to do this tonight?"
Keitaro shook his head. Looking down at his wristwatch he saw that it was just past midnight. "It's too late for that now. This isn't an immediate or imminent issue, is it?"
"No, it can wait a couple of days, but we do have to get the ball rolling on this. Right now the tinder is smoldering, we don't want to wait for it to blaze up." Katsuo's lips twitched. "And what's with that watch, Kei-kun? It looks like it's been through a war or two."
"It probably has. It's a keepsake; I haven't had reason to buy a more expensive one." Keitaro was looking down at his Luminox watch with a trace of sadness on his face.
"You've got to wear the bling to look the part, man. Kobun and oyabun aren't going to take you seriously if you're wearing a beat up watch. You've got to wear something with flash, like this." Katsuo extended his arm, showing a thin silvery analog watch. "Patek Phillipe, platinum, five million yen retail!" he said with a grin. "I can hook you up with a better watch, ninety percent off!"
"Like you did in high school?" Keitaro asked with a raised eyebrow. Katsuo once pulled a scam in school where he sold high end watches… high end counterfeit watches. His sempai had sold watches to his classmates at about eighty percent off retail price, at about 20,000 yen each, and the quality was good enough that it took going to an authorized dealer repair location to confirm it was not a genuine luxury watch. However by that time Katsuo had graduated from school and was beyond his angry classmates' reach.
"I wouldn't cheat you Keitaro-kun, you're one of the few people that can kick my ass." Even though Katsuo was slightly older, Keitaro was the better fighter and that was before chi abilities came into play. Say what you will about Granny Hina's training methods, they were effective. "Seriously, I can get you a better watch at below wholesale price."
"How can you do that? It didn't fall off the back of a truck, did it?" There was a faint smile on Keitaro's lips now. "Or better yet, you don't know a guy who knows a guy who robbed a guy?"
Katsuo grinned in response. "No, this was collateral for a gambling debt, a businessman wound up forfeiting his luxury watch collection when he made one bad horse bet too many. These watches are clean, he signed them over legally." The young man could see his friend was at least considering it. "I'll show you what we have when you come over for the intel brief." After a long moment Keitaro nodded.
"All right then. Speaking of which, I have something to give you." Katsuo reached into his jacket and pulled out what looked to be a leather business card case. Flipping it open he pulled out a card and handed it to Keitaro. Looking down at it, he saw that it had the kanji ideograms for metsuke handwritten on the plain white card with black ink using a calligraphy brush and a red hanko stamp with the characters for Roju no Kage in the bottom right corner of the card.
"That card will open almost any door in the martial arts, business, and yakuza worlds." Keitaro looked up at Katsuo, who was not smiling anymore. "And this card will open the rest." Handing over another card, this one had the ideograms for Arashikage written on it along with the red hanko stamp. "The Arashikage card is only to be used in one of two circumstances; when you are given a judgment to carry out by the Council, which is pretty damn rare, or if something is about to happen which would expose either the Council or ki abilities to the general public." The Council was barely able to keep a lid on ki during the Cold War between the Soviets and NATO, now with the Internet and instant worldwide news it would be a disaster.
"These cards are treated chi paper." Katsuo explained, taking back the Arashikage card and handing him a blank one. Keitaro could feel a slight tingling sensation just from holding the card. "If you channel some chi into it…" Katsuo made a gesture and Keitaro did so, feeling the tingling increase for a few moments before the card abruptly crumbled into grey ash. "The delay varies according to the amount channeled. Enough chi to make your fingers tingle will cause it to fall apart in thirty minutes. More than that will cause it to disintegrate faster." Katsuo grinned suddenly. "And if you pump in enough to make the card glow it will explode loudly with a bright flash of light in five seconds."
Keitaro twitched his eyebrow up. "My own personal legal flashbang grenade."
Katsuo nodded. "There are six metsuke cards, three Arashikage cards, and three blanks for practice if you want to. And something that will make even more eyebrows go up than the Arashikage card…" He pulled another card from the case and handed it over. Keitaro frowned as he took it in hand; this was a black metal card with some heft to it. For a moment he thought it was supposed to be some kind of tool when he saw the laser etched numbers and the portrait of a Roman Centurion. "A Titanium credit/charge card."
Keitaro's eyes flicked up in surprise. Even he had heard of this credit card; made of actual black anodized titanium with an embedded EMV chip and magnetic strip, it was supposedly only offered to the richest individuals on the planet with a spending history of at least a quarter million US dollars a year and a personal net worth of twenty million dollars. Looking closer at the card, he paled when he saw the name etched on the metal surface: Hiroyuki Akira. His alias from Roanapur.
Seeing the question in his companion's eyes, Katsuo gave a shrug. "You don't want to use your real name in this business, Keitaro-kun. And that name has a certain history that could help now." The young yakuza then passed him another card, one that he immediately recognized as a Tokyo Prefecture state ID card, only this one had the Akira name on it as well as an address he did not recognize but what looked to be a photo that was a duplicate from that of his passport. "That ID is legit and the address is a mail drop. It also has several flags deliberately set in it, if anyone official runs the ID it will set off more alarms than a diplomatic passport. Needless to say try not to put yourself in a situation where it has to be run, and don't carry both sets of ID at the same time."
"I understand." Keitaro picked up his forgotten drink and tossed it down.
"The credit card is linked to a corporate account where you are an authorized user. It's only to be used in circumstances where showing the metsuke card isn't appropriate or enough get access to needed materials or services. I know you already know this, but you will be accountable for what you use it for. However you can use it for necessary expenses in the line of duty. I'm to tell you that you are pre-approved for several sets of clothing befitting your current status." Katsuo watched as Keitaro nodded hesitantly. "That being said, don't misplace this, or let anyone fiddle with it." Katsuo took the remaining cards and placed them back in the case before handing it to Keitaro. "Put your thumb and forefinger on the embossed seals on either side of the case and channel a bit of chi to them." Keitaro did so and the case glowed blue for a moment before fading to normal. "That case is now locked to you. Anyone tries to force or cut it open there is a fire seal inside that will burn hot enough to melt that titanium card." Keitaro nodded silently again, visibly thinking to himself as he tucked the card case in his jacket pocket.
"And that completes tonight's briefing. You want another drink, Kei-kun?" Keitaro looked like he was seriously considering it before shaking his head. "Like you said it's already late, so if you want you can stay the night here and go back home in the morning. We already have rooms reserved for everyone that was here tonight. A hired car will drive you home whenever you want." Katsuo reached into his jacket again and pulled out a hotel door lock card, placing it in front his companion. Keitaro looked down for a long moment before reaching over to pick up the card but otherwise stayed silent. "And if you feel up to some company tonight that can be arranged as well."
Seeing the other man's eyes flick up to him, Katsuo tilted his head to the side. Tracking the movement, Keitaro looked over to the far side of the bar where there were four young women in their twenties sitting together at a table. Stylishly and expensively dressed, they looked more like models or actresses than anything. They ran the gamut from slender and slight to curvy and tall, with hair colors ranging from darkest black to light auburn. Seeing that he was looking over at them, they all smiled and giggled, with the busty girl giving a little wave toward him.
After a long glance in that direction, Keitaro looked back at his companion and after a moment finally spoke. "No thanks, Katsuo-kun," he said quietly. "Thank you for offering."
"Come on, Kei-kun, you won't have to pay, it'll be on the house." Katsuo grinned but it started to fade at the look his friend was giving him in return. "It's not like your girlfriends will know."
"I would know." Keitaro gazed at him for a moment longer before he pushed back in his chair and stood up. "I have to get going, it's been a long day."
"Call the front desk to schedule the car to take you home. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon to set up the meet for the intel brief, OK?" Katsuo came to his feet as well and was surprised to see his friend bow toward him; he returned it a moment later. "Keitaro-kun. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you got mixed up in this."
Keitaro gave a small nod. "I know. But our lives are not our own, are they?"
Katsuo twitched slightly at the phrase. 'Our lives are not our own' was a quote from a movie they had seen at school; Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future. Not exactly something a yakuza leader wanted to hear. But that was still better than the feudal interpretation of the same phrase: that their lives were dictated by fate and duty to others and not under their own control. "No, I guess not."
"Good night, Katsuo-kun." Giving a slight bow, Keitaro waited for his companion to return it before turning and walking out of the bar, leaving some disappointed girls and a thoughtful friend behind.
Hinata-sou Dormitory
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, early Tuesday morning
In spite of feeling tired to the bone, Keitaro had known that sleep would elude him that night. There wasn't a real reason for him to accept Katsuo's offered room besides delaying his return home. But from the time he sat down in the upholstered chair facing the floor to ceiling window and looked across the night skyline, he thought about his life up to this point. How he had spent most of his childhood and teenaged years studying and preparing for a promise and a dream girl he could hardly remember. How his intense studies in martial arts came to a near halt after the accident that nearly killed him. How he had struggled after that to reach some level of physical normality after most of his chi was sealed away in order to let him recover. How in spite of being bound he used his martial arts skills to protect the lives of his friends and loved ones and in turn spilled blood doing so. How to save one life he had taken the lives of dozens, maybe even hundreds of other people. How he thought he would be able to walk away and take up again his boring life as a Todai ronin. How he discovered tonight that he had failed miserably in concealing what he had done to some of the most powerful people in Japan. How he now knew that his grandmother was not only a part of that group, but that she was the enforcer and possibly the executioner for them.
Staring at the darkened skyline until it began to lighten, Keitaro finally stood from his chair. As much as he would want to stay and watch the outline of Mt. Fuji form in the morning sky, he had things he had to do today. And as much as his new duties to protect those endangered by ruthless criminals in a civil war, right now he had to help protect his own immediate family, the residents of the Hinata-sou.
As though waiting for him to rise, there was a discrete knock on his door. Making sure that his complementary yukata was properly closed, Keitaro opened the door to see a bellboy holding his newly pressed and laundered suit and dress shirt. Upon arriving in the room earlier and calling to arrange for the car to take him back him in the morning, he had asked if his clothes could be given a touch up. Not even ten minutes later a different bellboy had picked up his suit and promised it would be ready within an hour; Keitaro had asked for it to be delivered at six am instead.
After receiving the suit Keitaro took a quick shower before dressing. Using the provided luxurious toiletries he brushed his teeth, shaved and put a light amount of gel in his hair, enough to hold it in place. Looking at himself in the full length mirror he gave a minor nod; it was hard to believe that not so long ago he had been a geeky student. Now he looked like… well not a yakuza kobun but at least someone to not cross lightly.
Stepping over to the dresser, Keitaro picked up and pocketed the various items there. The next to last item was the leather card case; just holding it in his hand he could feel the tingle from the chi infused material. Given how much chi was stored in both the cards and the case itself it was the equivalent of a half kilo of C4 plastic explosive, not exactly something to feel comfortable about carrying in your breast jacket pocket.
The last item on the dresser was the gold Urashima crest pin that he had removed from his jacket when he sent it to be pressed. After a few moments thought and with some regret he took the pin and instead of putting it back on his lapel he pinned it to the inside breast pocket so he would not lose it but still stay out of sight. Given what his new duties were, it would not do to advertise his true identity.
Making sure that he had everything he needed Keitaro made a short phone call to confirm that the car he had arranged for was ready. Upon confirmation he walked out of the room toward the elevator and a few minutes later he had turned over his hotel key card and picked up an item he had requested for the concierge to purchase for him, which was nowhere near the most difficult or unusual request they had received, even at one in the morning.
Opening the rectangular box, Keitaro pulled out a pair of black framed red tinted Wayfarer sunglasses. He looked at them for a long moment before putting them on, the shades fitting him perfectly. Given that the Wayfarers had been part of his Akira persona back in Roanapur he had decided to get a replacement to complete his new look.
Handing the empty box to the desk clerk and asking her to dispose of it, Keitaro dropped the soft case in his jacket pocket. Giving a minor bow to the surprised clerk and receiving a deeper one in return, he turned and walked to the front door, arriving in time to see his car pull up. The doorman on duty instantly opened the rear passenger door and Keitaro entered the car almost without pausing. After checking that the driver had the correct address he leaned back in the plush upholstered seat and watched the world go by as the car drove through the streets and highways of Tokyo, making its way south to Yokohama and eventually Hinata City.
Just as the car entered the city limits Keitaro made a phone call; as it was now passing seven am it was as early as he felt like he could get away with and still be close to polite… or at least not rude. But the person on the other end of the call sounded wide awake, not that it was too surprising considering the man ran a business.
After a five minute detour at the tailor shop to pick up the clothes and phone he had left there the night before along with a new item of clothing he continued on to the Hinata-sou, the car moving up the hilly driveway almost silently. Once the sedan had reached the top of the hill Keitaro opened the door himself and stepped out. The hired vehicle had been put at his disposal for the day if he needed it, which coincided with the plans he had made the day before; only this time they could be carried out with a bit more convenience and style.
Unlocking the front door, Keitaro walked through the living room to the kitchen, the soft padding of his footsteps covered by the sounds of utensils clinking against plates and the conversations of the residents as they ate. Looking down at his poor battered watch he saw that it was now a quarter after seven, just before the time the younger residents would leave for school.
Pausing in the kitchen doorway, Keitaro saw that almost all the residents of the Sou were sitting around the table eating, even Haruka and Kanako. The only person not sitting was Shinobu, as she was still on her feet next to the counter, eating off a plate there as she occasionally refilled a plate or a mug. The dorm manager had occasionally tried to insist that the part-time cook actually sit down to eat but had been unsuccessful.
Since Shinobu was on her feet facing the doorway, she was the first to see him standing there; with a loud 'Eeep' she dropped her fork onto her plate with a clatter. Every other resident of the Inn immediately looked at the blunette to see what caused the loud noise, then tracked where her wide eyes were fixed on and turned to look for themselves.
The gasps and cries were understandable if unexpected.
The muffled shriek of fear from one of residents was a surprise though.
As much as Sarah was reluctant to say, Japanese food was starting to grow on her.
There was no way in hell she was ever going to eat natto by choice (seriously, fermented gooey beans? WTF!?), or takoyaki (diced and fried octopus balls on a stick?!), or unagi (eel!?). Even the topping and condiments they used were weird - mayonnaise might be ok to dip French fries in if it was dusted with garlic, but as a topping on okonomiyaki (fried pancakes made of flour, cabbage and other ingredients including meat) or pizza? Um, no thanks.
The girl pretty much grew up eating standard American fare such as cereal, toast and eggs with bacon as breakfast food, but now to her surprise she was loading her plate up with rice, grilled fish and vegetables. Miso was also another staple in her diet now, especially since Shinobu made her version of the broth with the actual powder and fresh onions and tofu rather than the horrible version that was paste from a tube added to water and then boiled. But the one thing that still stayed in her diet was coffee and toast, especially buttered with fruit jam.
Sarah had just finished preparing one last slice of toast when she heard the distinctive sound of a fork falling onto a porcelain plate. Her eyes flicked up to see that Shinobu had been the one to drop the utensil and that she was staring in shock and fear at something behind where the blonde was sitting at the table.
Twisting around to look behind herself she gave a sudden flinch. Standing in the kitchen doorway was a man in a dark blue suit with a black knee length coat over it wearing sunglasses with dark red lenses. The outfit was creepy enough, but the guy had walked into the Inn and was standing less than two meters behind her before he was noticed, which was enough to give anyone a bad start.
Standing up fast enough to throw the chair she was sitting on away from her Sarah backed away from the guy with her hands coming up into a defensive position in front of her. She was not the only one to come to her feet; Naru had jumped up with her hands at a boxer's ready with an angry snarl on her face and Kanako had come to her feet with a deep scowl as well. Mutsumi had her habitual whimsical smile, Nyamo and Su were blank-faced and sitting still, but the glimpse of Kitsune that Sarah caught out of the corner of her eye would have drawn her full attention if she had not been focusing on the intruder. The fox-eyed girl's complexion had gone ashen matching her hair, and there was a horrified look on her face behind her upraised hands.
"Who the hell are you!? How did you get in here?!" Naru was the first one to shout, beating Kanako to the punch, figuratively if not literally, since the younger Urashima girl was the closest to the intruder and was starting to advance toward him.
"EVERYONE STOP!" Haruka's yell froze everybody in place, especially Naru and Kanako. Once she saw that no one was moving the older Urashima continued speaking, although in a normal tone of voice. "That's a really snazzy suit Keitaro-kun, I hope you got a good deal on it. The shades are probably overkill though."
The residents' eyes all flicked to Haruka, who was still sitting casually at the table with a coffee mug up and ready for a sip. In unison everyone's eyes moved back to the unknown man, only to see him slowly raise his hand up to his sunglasses and remove them from his face before folding and tucking them in his outside jacket breast pocket. Since he was not wearing his regular squared off glasses it took a moment to match his features with those of their dorm manager.
"Bloody hell dork, you trying to look like a mafia hit man!?" Sarah cried out, her shoulders slumping in relief. Around her all the other residents slowly relaxed as they realized that he was not a stranger or intruder. "Or have you been watching too many Hong Kong shoot-em-ups?" It was not the way that Keitaro was dressed that was affecting her, it's that he got so close to her and she was not able to immediately identify him as a friendly or non-hostile that had badly startled her.
"I'm sorry that I did not announce myself and surprised everyone." Keitaro's voice and apology confirmed more than his appearance who he was; the bow he performed proved it. "My meeting in the city ran late and I stayed overnight. I just got back."
"And the Chow Yun-Fat get-up? Seriously, all you need is the dual wield pistols and a freaking scarf and you'd be a dead ringer." Sarah was not about to say it out loud, but her sensei looked damn good in that suit, especially with his hair gelled and slicked back slightly. The fact that his lack of glasses made his face look slightly thinner helped a lot too. Glancing around she could see that she was not the only one thinking this; Naru, Mutsumi, and even Kanako (ew!) had slowly growing admiring looks on their faces, while Kitsune's expression had relaxed from the fearful look from earlier.
"Yeah, Keitaros! You look like secret policeman from back home." Su had her normal carefree expression on her face again. "The ones that everyone all scared of."
"You have secret police in your country, Su-chan? Are they the ones that protect your family?" Naru was the one to ask this question as she and Kanako slowly slid back into their seats. It took a moment for Sarah to do the same, as she had to upright and slide her chair back into place after knocking it away.
"Yeppers! They don't protect family, have special unit of womens bodyguards to do that, led by Rebecca. Secret police job to find spies from other countries and big companies who try to steal national secrets from country, also peoples who threat to citizens or royal family." Su's smile slid off partially. "SAD all dress in suits and sunglasses, never laugh or smile, name fit.
"Your secret police is called SAD?" Naru asked incredulously.
"Letters stand for Social Affairs Department, part of national police force. They wear light color suits though, too hot for dark clothing on MolMol," replied Su. "Mr. Patel different, he wear dark suits here in Japan."
"Mr. Patel? That's the guy that checks up on you from the MolMol embassy, right?" Haruka sipped at her coffee after asking her question.
"Yep, he in charge of embassy security." Su had been peeling a banana while talking; breaking off a chunk she tossed it her mouth and chewed for a moment. "Work in military when young, then hurt knee and transferred to SAD, do desk work."
At that moment a mobile phone rang. Everyone looked at their own phone to confirm it was not them before Keitaro finally raised his own phone to his ear and spoke into it for a few moments. Ending the call he looked back at the residents, focusing on the younger ones.
"There's been a change in plans for today. Sarah-kun, you're going to be out of school today as well, there's something we have to do together," stated Keitaro. "The rest of you need to get going or you're going to be late."
As all the younger residents stood and started picking up their plates and cups to take to the sink, Sarah looked down at her gakuran uniform. "Give me a few minutes to change clothes, want to tell me what the occasion is Keitaro-san?"
Her guardian looked over at her for a moment, his lips quirking in a smile. "Actually, leave the uniform on. What you should do is go get your cloak, you'll probably need it."
"You want me to wear my Sith cloak?" Sarah asked incredulously. "In public?"
"Sure, it will go nicely with your uniform." The smile on Keitaro's face got wider, almost reaching the panty-melting stage. "You might want to bring along that computer tablet that Su-chan loaned you, you'll probably need it as well."
"Okay…" Sarah turned to walk out of the room before glancing back at him. "Do I need to take my bokken too?"
"This isn't that kind of meeting, Sarah-kun." The smile on Keitaro's face stayed until the younger residents had left the kitchen before turning toward the older girls, his expression becoming more serious. "Naru-san, Mutsumi-chan, Kanako-chan, you need to get ready as well." His eyes flicked at Haruka, who understood his unspoken request and stayed put at the table sipping her coffee. "Kitsune-san, if you have a moment?" Seeing the ash blonde girl nod reluctantly he continued speaking. "Follow me please."
Ignoring the curious looks on the other girls' faces Keitaro walked out the door to the back yard, the fox girl and his aunt following. They walked for a few meters before they were out of easy earshot of the house before Keitaro turned and faced the two women.
"Kitsune-san, there is no way to politely ask about this, so I'm going to ask you directly. Your reaction to me this morning was nowhere near normal, especially considering what I look like." The expressions on Keitaro's and Haruka's faces were dead serious, while there was a fearful look in Kitsune's eyes. "There is only one reason I can think of for you to react that way. So tell me the truth, did you have interactions with the Yakuza?" Keitaro asked.
Kitsune nodded jerkily. "Yeah, through my sports betting."
"Did you get into debt with them?" Keitaro's face was starting to go blank. "How much?"
Kitsune visibly did not want to answer, but after a few moments she finally did. "Half a million yen."
"And did you pay it off?" This was a serious question; if Kitsune was running from a debt it would explain a lot about her reaction.
"Yeah, I paid it off." Kitsune answered shortly, obviously not wanting to say more.
Unfortunately Keitaro had to ask. "How did you get the money to pay it off?" Given her low-paying jobs there was no way for the fox girl to scrape together that kind of money quickly. Which brought to mind various unsavory ways for her to do so. Kitsune stayed silent until Keitaro looked her straight in the eyes. "I personally don't care what you did unless you or your actions are a danger to the residents of this dormitory. But I need know," he stated in an even voice.
Kitsune shivered at the look in his eyes. "I… I was given a week to make good on the debt before they would have taken me as the payment to work it off. They even offered to extend some credit to make some more bets to pay it that way, but I knew it would make things worse." Keitaro and Haruka nodded in agreement but stayed silent. "There were times I had scammed guys for drinks, so I took it to the next level. I managed to get my hands on a bottle of sleeping pills and I would let creepy guys with money pick me up and take me to love hotels. I would slip a pill in their drinks and after they got knocked out I would take their cash and jewelry and run. I did it a half dozen times at different bars before I finally had enough money to pay the debt, but then the collectors had kinda figured what I had done and they wanted me to keep doing it and split the loot with them. So I grabbed my stuff from where I was living and ran. I spent about a week bouncing around scamming more guys for money to live on at night and spending days in capsule hotels until I finally was able to find a place to hide for good."
"The Hinata Inn." Haruka was the one to speak this time.
"Yeah." Kitsune answered reluctantly. "There was nowhere else to for to go, my family had disowned me before all this, I barely had my name to keep, otherwise I would have probably wound up working in a soapland. I figured being on the other side of Tokyo and keeping a low profile would be enough."
"Did Naru-san know about this? Did Granny Hina?" Haruka asked pointedly.
"Naru-chan, no. Granny Hina, I don't know. I never told her, but I have the feeling that she figured it out on her own." Kitsune replied nervously.
"And it never got beyond rolling men?" Haruka's inquiry still asked the obvious question without saying the words.
"No. I had to do a strip tease down to my panties in a hotel room once waiting for the pill to kick in but nothing beyond that." Kitsune looked ashamed but proud at admitting this.
"Where did all this take place?" Seeing the confusion on her face, Keitaro clarified his question. "What Yakuza territory?"
"The Kousa Council, in Chiba." Kitsune watched in some confusion in as Keitaro gave a slight sigh of relief. "Does that mean something to you?"
"The Kousa Council was one of the families destroyed in the civil war going on among the Yakuza about a year ago. Their territory was taken over by a foreign group. If there hasn't been any trouble up until now there probably won't ever be," the young man replied.
"How do you know about that?" Kitsune asked in wonder, only to cringe at the look he gave her. "Nevermind, nevermind!"
"You're not betting anymore, are you?" Keitaro asked.
"Not much." Kitsune flinched at his expression. "I just bet cash, not credit! And I've laid off the horse betting, I've been too busy working at Haruka's tea shop!"
Keitaro looked at the fox girl for a long moment, enough to make her start sweating, then glanced at his aunt who gave a minute nod before he looked back at her and spoke. "I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, but if I hear of you doing anything like this again…" His voice trailed off but there was no mistaking his intent.
"I won't, I won't! You scared me enough today that I don't want to bet again for a long time!" Kitsune looked both afraid and relieved at the same time.
"Very well, that's all we have to say about this. Just don't let it happen again." Keitaro and Haruka watched as Kitsune nodded furiously. "Get going." The fox girl took off at almost a run back into the house, with the two Urashima following behind her.
When the pair entered the kitchen, they saw that Kanako was there alone with an expectant look on her face. Keitaro knew she was curious as to what had happened, both the night before and in the back yard just now so he decided to get it out of the way. "Kana-chan, Haru-chan can tell you what happened with Kitsune-san, and I'll tell you both later today what happened last night, but Sarah-kun and I have a meeting we have to get to so we can't delay," Keitaro explained.
Kanako did not look happy at the statement. "At least tell me you haven't joined the Yakuza," she snarked, her gaze going up and down the suit he was wearing. "You look like a promising young oyabun," She used the term for a Yakuza boss.
"No, not the Yakuza." Keitaro paused for a moment only to see both women focus harder on him. "Or any other criminal group."
"We're not going to be happy to hear this, are we?" Haruka asked, tapping out a cigarette from a pack and putting it between her lips unlit.
"Probably not. I'm not happy about this either," Keitaro replied. Seeing they were still curious, he decided to say something to reassure them. "It's something Granny Hina has been involved in for years, but I can't talk about it now. I'll tell you about it tonight. Trust me." He smiled at them and while Kanako relaxed a little, Haruka frowned slightly. "I have to get going, so I'll see you both later."
Walking into the living room, Keitaro saw that Sarah was standing there wearing her black cloak over her uniform but with the hood down. She had been looking out the opened front door at the hired car that was sitting there, the driver patiently standing beside it. "Is that our ride, dork-san?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes it is, gaki. Don't get too used to it." Keitaro smiled at her. "That reminds me, let me get something and we'll get going." A couple minutes later the pair was in the car and driving down the hill into Hinata City and beyond.
A/N – More exposition. More Keitaro. Some time in the spotlight for Kitsune (not that she enjoyed it). No complaints anymore about the story concentrating on the blonde gaki. I guess everyone's happier, right? :)
I'm kind of surprised that no one has made the link from the name Arashikage to it's previous usage, and what the literal translation of the name is, but pretty much everyone who had commented on it realizes what the position entails. Of course I went into more detail in this chapter about what the Arashikage does, but it is not being the executioner of the Roju no Kage… at least not often. It would take a full five council member vote to decide something like that, something they don't have right now. In a way this is the Council poking at Granny Hina, since she is incommunicado and not responding to messages, and they are not planning on Keitaro carrying out an order like that. But you know what is said about the plans of mice and men…
I've mentioned before that I have just gotten into Sword Art Online, mostly from reading fan fiction. Then I made a semi-serious mistake and started watching SAO AMVs (anime music videos) on YouTube… Oh my god, the feels…! :D If anything, it has cemented my opinion that Kirito and Asuna are the best anime romantic couple out there (not just in the action category), and Asuna is the best action female character, period. A lot of this has to do that Asuna doesn't think that the best way to a guy's heart is by literally punching her way into it. The one time she punched Kirito he kinda did deserve it (the scene after he had asked to spend the night with her after they almost died at the hands of a Laughing Coffin infiltrator and they kiss for the first time). They have dinner, then Asuna undresses down to her underwear before asking Kirito to do the same. He then protests that he meant literally sleeping with her and not having sex. Asuna got a little upset after that… :)
Anyways, there are some AMVs I am going to recommend here, just enter the following words in the YT search window to pull them up – beware of the feels though… Romantic Type (Kirito & Asuna AMV You And Me Lifehouse) (Sword Art Online Its Not Over heartsdf), Action Type (Till I Collapse Eminem Sword Art Online AMV) (Sword Art Online Ariana Grande Love Me Harder) (Sword Art Online Blow Me Away Craig Johnstone). Oh and if you want to see the scene where Asuna and Kirito have their misunderstanding, look up (Asuna Gets The Wrong Idea TJ Hoopzar). :D
Since no one has given an answer to what Arashikage means and where it was originally used (without doing an internet search) the brownie point offer is still open. A new brownie point offer is also open as to what Keitaro can do with his new metsuke/Arashikage cards and what it might inspire to do with other cards, which apparently can be done in Real Life. And double points to whomever knows what Katsuo was referring to when he spoke of Orpheus and Izanagi (without a search, naturally).
Winner of the Most Unusual Place Reading My Story This Month prize goes to Jersey (the island, not the American state). Runner Up goes to Afghanistan. BTW, I gave the Runner Up prize to Hong Kong twice in a row last time (dope-slaps self).
Thanks as always to my beta readers AZ MII and PCH, and my FFN beta reader WalkerOfDarkness.
As of 0100 PST 31Jul17 this story has 407K Words, 867K Views, 1033 Reviews, 1454 Favorites and 1327 Story Alerts.
And thanks again to all my readers. *victory sign*