Ch 74
V 1.0
Café Touch-And-Go!,
Private Living Quarters,
Akihabara District,
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, Saturday mid-morning
Note: Kotoko was first introduced way back in Ch 35.
As much as she was used to it, Kotoko Yamada did not like rising early in the morning. Even after several years of working in waitressing and service jobs (both the legit and semi-not-legal kinds) the short haired brunette had trouble waking up, and usually had to set up at least two alarms, one on her mobile phone next to her futon and another on an alarm clock on the other side of the room where she had to physically get up to shut it off. An alarm clock with a sustained ringer and *no* snooze button, because if she kept slapping the snooze button she would wind up arriving late to whatever job she had. In fact she had almost been fired from one of her earlier jobs because of her tardiness, if not for that fact that she had to give a 'favor' to the manager in the backroom later that day.
Right now all Kotoko knew was that a mobile phone was ringing on the low table next to her futon, but it was not her normal ring tone. After a couple more rings she realized whose phone it was, and why it was not being answered; the owner was in the shower at the moment.
Reaching over, she grabbed the phone and flipped it open (really, where was she able to find a clamshell phone in this day and age? Even the oba-sans had smartphones now!) bringing it to her face and with some effort sounded at least a little cheerful. "Moshi-moshi, Motoko-chan's phone, how can I help you?"
A female voice, sounding about her age or a little older, responded to her greeting, a slight hint of surprise in her voice. "Moshi-moshi, my name is Tsuruko, is my sister available to talk? And why do you have her mobile phone?"
"Motoko-chan is in the shower right now, I can pass a message to her once she comes out." Kotoko was blinking now, the fog of sleep clearing away from her mind, making her realize that her decision to answer the phone may have not been the wisest. "She was watching movies with me after work, and it got too late for her to go back to her place, so she spent the night here."
"I see." The tone of the voice coming from the phone put the lie to the statement. "Could you ask Motoko-han to call me when it is convenient? She is a day late in her normal call to me and I was starting to get concerned, especially since I could not leave a voice message on her phone."
"Ah yes, she mentioned that she accidentally responded to a spam call, and now they are bombarding her. She had her mobile company turn off her voice mail, so the only way to leave messages is with text." For some reason Motoko was not that conversant with spam callers, and even more annoying than getting calls she had no interest in answering was the callers' nasty habit of leaving automated voice mails when she refused the calls. The younger girl had seriously considered leaving her mobile phone off before she had suggested the current set up.
"I understand." A pause for a moment before speaking. "If I may ask who you are?"
"My name is Kotoko, I'm a friend of Motoko-chan, we met at the café I work at." Now that Kotoko was thinking clearer, she had decided that she would give as little information as possible to this unknown person. Even though Tsuruko had identified herself as Motoko's sister, the fact that she had not ever spoken of her family, as well as the hints she had dropped about her life before knowing her, made her a little wary.
"It's good to hear that Motoko-han is making new friends." The voice on the other end of the call paused for another long moment. "I shan't occupy you for much longer, please let my sister know I called. Thank you and have a good day, Kotoko- san."
"Thank you, you have a good day too Tsuruko-san. Good-bye." Kotoko waited until she heard the click of the call disconnecting before closing the phone, looking at it for a long moment before glancing up, seeing Motoko standing in the doorway leading to the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around her. Kotoko smiled, not that it was a very good one, before speaking. "Have a good shower, Motoko-chan? You didn't use up all the hot water, did you?"
"What did you do?! You were talking with my sister?!" Motoko looked like she was about to panic.
"Your phone was ringing, I thought it might be important." Except for the aforementioned spam calls, Motoko did not get calls on her mobile phone often. In fact, Kotoko may very well be the only one who called her regularly, especially once they got involved with each other.
"You were talking with my sister!" Motoko's legs slowly gave out on her, so within a few moments she was on her knees and sitting on her heels on the floor, the towel falling off revealing her damp nude body. Kotoko would have been more appreciative of that fact except for the horrified look on her face.
"She sounded like a nice lady…" Kotoko was starting to wonder where the nearest paper bag was when the younger girl slowly turned her face her.
"What did you say to my sister!?" Motoko's eyes were so wide that it was a wonder they had not fallen out.
"Not much. Just that we met at my place of work." Kotoko was now kneeling in front of her, hands on her shoulders. "That you spent the night here after watching movies."
"Why did you even say that I spent the night here?!" Motoko was breathing heavily she spoke.
"How else am I going to explain why you are at someone else's home at," Kotoko snuck a quick look at the watch she was wearing on the underside of her wrist, "8:30 in the morning?"
Watching as the other girl continued to almost hyperventilate, Kotoko though back about all she knew about her erstwhile girlfriend. Ever since their first time together on Christmas Eve, they had been spending more time together. At first a night together once in a while, Motoko was now spending the night whenever she had a full shift at the café on the weekends. Kotoko had actually invited her several times to move into her apartment, to save money if nothing else, but Motoko kept refusing, saying that she had to keep up appearances with her family.
Thinking more about her paramour's family Kotoko reviewed what she knew; that Motoko had come from a martial artist family that she had a disagreement with, and as a result she was living on her own at a boarding house, supported partially by an older sister. An older sister that she both respected and feared. Someone she had just spoken on the phone with no warning to Motoko. And a family where at least one older member was vehemently against same-sex relationships.
Looking at her face Kotoko could see that thoughts were going through Motoko's at a thousand kilometers per hour. Her breaths were still too rapid for her liking, so the brunette girl gave a mental shrug and leaned in to kiss her.
Motoko held still for a moment before slowly relaxing, letting her girlfriend take the lead like she normally did. After a minute of soft kisses, the older girl pulled away but stayed close, their foreheads pressed together.
"Motoko-chan, I know we haven't talked about it, but I have to ask." Kotoko could feel the other girl tense slightly under her hands. "How does your family feel about same-sex romantic relationships? How does your sister feel about it?"
"I don't know." Feeling the older girl pulling up slightly on her chin and seeing the incredulous look on her face, Motoko explained. "I never spoke with my sister about sexual matters, and my mother did not go into detail about it once she was told that Aunt Naoko had instructed me."
"So the only things you know about romance and sex came from your spinster aunt?" Kotoko had a disbelieving look as she spoke. Seeing the other girl nod with a blush, she gave a sigh and dropped her head forward, their foreheads connecting with a soft thud but not hard enough to hurt. "They really did a number on you didn't they Mo-chan? Were they expecting you to be some nun? Even in Japan they don't expect nuns to be virginal!" She was referring to the trope in anime and manga where Christian nuns were depicted as sexualized voluptuous young women either in scandalous brief outfits or doing panty flashing for fan service. Shinto shrine maidens in their red and white hakama and kosode did not get the same amount of fetishized exposure that Western nuns did.
"Look, I know you're not eager to come out publically about our relationship, but you have to realize that eventually you have to tell your family something. Sooner or later they are going to ask about you getting a boyfriend, or when you are going to produce a grandchild for the family." She could feel Motoko tense under her hands again from her words. "It's up to you, but it's something you need to start thinking about."
"I know." The words were faint but audible. "Just not today." Surprising her, Motoko leaned forward and kissed her. Kotoko gave another mental shrug and went with it, feeling her girlfriend press her nude body against her own t-shirt clad chest.
"Could you lay with me? Just for a little while?" Motoko was not one to initiate sex, but she did have a tendency to cuddle, even if she did not like to acknowledge it. For her to ask was very unusual, and not something Kotoko was going to refuse.
"Okay." Stepping back, Kotoko pulled her t-shirt over her head, leaving her only in her panties, which with the shirt was all she wore to sleep. Dropping into her futon, she got under the comforter, which Motoko immediately got under as well.
Feeling the younger girl pressing into her and her head against her shoulder, Kotoko reached out with one hand and grabbed her mobile phone. Setting the alarm to go off in an hour when she could not put off getting up and ready for work, she laid it down and then with her hand started stroking Motoko's short dark hair. She could have sworn the other girl purred, but she then dismissed the thought, instead closing her own eyes and trying not to think on her lover's troubles.
At the same time, across the street a young woman in business attire with long black hair and a long narrow nylon case slung across her back stared up at the living quarters above the café. Tapping her finger against her mobile phone's screen and closing the tracker app that had led her to her sister's phone's location, after a moment she tucked it into her suit jacket pocket before turning and walking away toward a taxi stand she had seen earlier.
Wine Cellar Dining Room
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Nihonbashi, Chuo Ward,
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, 10:55 AM Saturday morning
"So we are agreed on what it is we are to do?" asked Toshiro Maeda, watching as the other three men nodded.
Not that many people would think otherwise, but the Roju no Kage prepared beforehand when making major decisions. It was not like making a single plan and hoping that it would work out, they came up with a minimum of three plans that depended on how circumstances evolved. Even though Toshiro was the only one present old enough to remember the war and what had happened in their country during it, all of the men present had lived through the aftermath, where words and concepts like honor and duty were thrown to the wayside to ensure success and riches, let alone survival.
What Keitaro Urashima had done in public, on live television no less, was the stuff of nightmares to them. Their duty was to protect the martial arts in Japan and martial artists who practiced it, because there were those out there that would use those abilities and their practitioners for evil intentions. The history of their country was written in the blood of those who were spent like pachinko balls in order to gain power and gold, by those whose power were not gained by muscle and training, but by guile and betrayal. About the only good thing that could be said about the last century and a half was the Meiji Restoration with its fetish for switching to Western culture and technology, with traditional martial arts and weapons being looked down upon in favor of firearms and powered mechanical vehicles, bleeding over literally into the Pacific War seventy years later, combining the worst parts of the samurai ethos and racism into a genocidal campaign throughout Asia that had almost resulted in the destruction of their nation, if not by incendiary bombings and atomic fire then by slow starvation.
The madmen in charge of their nation were planning to fight the upcoming invasion of their home islands by using all their people, including women and children, in suicide attacks with body bombs and crude sharpened bamboo spears. The Allies were expecting over one million deaths of their own troops, and the near total annihilation of the Japanese people. Toshiro was reminded of a quote he had read in a book about the attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath. The aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet, the main target of the Japanese attack, has not been in the harbor but one managed to return the next day. William Halsey, the task force commander and future fleet admiral, had been on the bridge of the USS Enterprise viewing the still burning base and ships and stated with grim certainty "Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell." Given what Toshiro had seen during and after the end of the war in Japan, they had come very close to that.
Glancing over to the guard standing next to the door, the elder made a gesture to the young man, who left to bring in the two men they were going to speak with. While that happened, Toshiro looked down at the table before him, and out of the corner of his eye looked at the empty seat to his left.
Even in modern Japan there was very little room in the upper hierarchy for women, especially interacting with older and elderly men. Hinata Urashima was a very noticeable exception to that tradition, especially with their august council. Hina was not afraid to tell the other members that she remembered when she wiped the snot from their noses and fed their families while they were starving in the ashes of their post-war country. The only people that were even tempted to disrespect her were gang leaders from other clans, and the last time that had happened she had grabbed the miscreant by the hair and yanked his head down and smashed his face into her knee. One bloody brawl later had left her the only person standing in a group of a half dozen gangsters, and the offender who had insulted her and started the fight had wound up having to offer two fingers as an apology, one to Hina and another to his own father, the head of the criminal group.
Surprising no one who knew her, Hina had sat on the other side of the table stone-faced as the young oyabun had cut off the little and ring fingers of his dominant right hand off with a tanto knife, forever publicly branding him as a criminal. And even though the yakuza was within two meters of her with a weapon, everyone knew that any attempt on her life would result in a continued life worse than death.
Toshiro had been present on that day, and had watched as the man had cut off his finger, sweat pouring from his grimacing face, his emotionless kumicho father sitting beside him. The father was the real impetus to this event; he had woken up one morning three days after the fight in his heavily guarded home in the countryside to find a Molotov cocktail and a tanto on the table beside his bed, a not subtle warning of what could result from his son's actions. The son had wound up using that same knife to perform yubitsume two days later.
After the ceremony was over, and an agreement was confirmed that this was the end of any conflict the son, practically unconscious from shock and blood loss, was almost dragged out of the room by his compatriots, his father wordlessly following him. Once the opposing yakuza had left Hina had silently stood and walked out of the building, Toshiro and his attendants following behind her. Pausing for a moment in the yard, to everyone else's shock Hina had produced a ki ball in one hand and used it to ignite the small cloth wrapped bundle containing the severed finger in her other hand before dropping it in a metal trash drum, then walking off alone into the street. Toshiro had quickly ordered one of his men to recover the bundle, but the intensity of the fire had already burned it to ash, the sickly smell of burning flesh resulting in an overwhelming feeling of nausea in Toshiro. He was able to control himself long enough to make it to the privacy of his car before finally giving into dry heaves, the smell bringing back the memories of the fire-bombings of the war.
Looking away from the empty seat beside him, Toshiro looked back toward the door leading to the stairway leading to the bar one floor above them through which Keitaro Urashima and Katsuo Kobayashi would be entering. He was concerned about the upcoming meeting, but not to a great extent. A lot had to do with what he and the other council members had decided beforehand; they were in no position to severely punish the two men for two reasons. First, while Keitaro and Katsuo were obligated to protect and keep the secrets of martial arts as practitioners, they were not sworn to obey the orders and commands of the Roju no Kage. It was an oversight that came back to haunt them since they had appointed Keitaro as metsuke and Arashikage without making him swear obedience to the Council. Second, Keitaro was the grandson of the previous enforcer of the Council. Even if they had done much more than what was recorded on video, the specter of Hinata Urashima hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles. A Greek myth that the elder completely understood now.
Seeing the guard re-enter the room, Toshiro watched as he stepped to the side of the doorway to retake his post, a pale look on his face. He was just starting to wonder about that when suddenly he could feel the temperature of the meeting room, already cool due to the building air conditioning, begin to noticeably drop. Upon seeing the two men in suits entering the room with five guards behind them, he immediately realized why.
Front Driveway,
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Nihonbashi, Chuo Ward,
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, 10:50 AM Saturday morning
Katsuo Kobayashi would normally have been sweating bullets at this point and time, but the atmosphere inside the car he was in was preventing that.
Not that he wasn't sweating last night when they had gotten word that the Council in the Shadows wanted to speak with them today. Keitaro and Kanako had almost gotten into a fight as a result, with Haruka standing off to the side not saying anything and Sarah looking almost as scared as he felt.
Kanako had demanded that she go along with them to the meeting, with Keitaro flat out refusing, saying that it was not her affair and that he did not need her protection. The younger sister had almost lost it, screaming that she was going to protect his life with her own whether he liked it or not as she started to radiate fire ki. But the louder and more histrionic Kanako got the quieter and more softly spoken Keitaro became, cold ki starting to emit from him as well. It finally got to the point where he stepped right into her personal space and without saying a word poked her in the chest with a finger in a specific location.
Kanako's face, which had been flushed red from all her shouting, immediately went pale and she swayed on her feet, all fire chi fading away. She would have fallen to the floor but Keitaro's hand had moved to her shoulder and held her steady. Looking at her straight in the eyes, in a soft voice he told her that she was going to give him her word right then and there that she would not try to go along with him or interfere with the meeting, and that if she refused he would knock her out, leave her chi-locked and have Haruka literally sit on her.
Leaning in so that he was only a breath's distance from her face, in a voice so soft that the other occupants in the room could barely hear, Keitaro told her that if she gave her word and for any reason broke it, justified or not, he would have her leave the Hinata-sou and send her home permanently. The already pale Kanako became ashen at that point, understanding what that meant. After a painfully long moment, Kanako made the promise. At that point Keitaro poked at her chest at a couple of other locations and after waiting a few moments for her to recover, looked over at Haruka. The older woman stayed silent but gave a terse nod.
Looking over at Sarah, who still had the scared look on her face, Keitaro turned to Katsuo but before saying anything there was a rap on the doorframe. Everyone turned to see a kobun standing there with a garment bag slung over his arm. Taking the bag Keitaro gave a polite head nod, while the kobun practically fell over as he bowed deeply. Walking into the en suite washroom and leaving everyone in an uncomfortable silence, the young man walked out a few minutes later wearing blue jeans and a black polo shirt, a blue wind breaker jacket on top. Keitaro spoke briefly with Katsuo, setting a time for a pick up the next day at a tailor shop before they would travel to the hotel where they were going to meet with the Roju.
After watching the Urashima (and his student) leave for home on their motorcycles, Katsuo turned toward the conference room table and the bottle of soju and glasses that sat on top of it. Fighting the temptation to finish off the bottle – there were about two shots left of liquor, but he had already drank too much considering what was going to happen the next day – instead he grabbed his dress coat and walked out of the office, his kobun immediately falling in behind him as he walked to his 'official business/work' Town Car sedan to be driven home to his apartment. Given what had happened today and what could happen tomorrow, the last thing he wanted to be pulled over while driving himself in his sport car and arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Spending a restless night trying and failing to sleep, Katsuo got up earlier than planned. Showering and shaving, he made himself a light breakfast – an empty stomach did not help in dealing with stress. After thinking about it, he prepared some coffee with lots of milk and buttered toast instead of his normal black tea and miso soup and spent a few minutes meditating to calm himself down. Not that it did him much good; he mostly thought about talking with his ailing father the night before. Since talking about business on the phone was absolutely forbidden, even before Keitaro had instilled his newfound paranoia about communications security in him, he could only speak in generalities. His father had seen what had happened on TV of course, so they did not need to go into detail. In the end his father told him to have faith and trust in Keitaro, the same as when the elder Kobayashi dealt with Hinata Urashima, and that things would turn out well.
Standing up after finishing off his coffee and putting the dishes in the sink for the cleaning lady, Katsuo then got dressed in his best black business suit, crisp white shirt, narrow black tie and dress coat, and gleaming black dress shoes. Looking at himself in the hallway mirror to make sure his slicked back hair was in order, he finally put on his black sunglasses before walking out the door, the kobun already standing there bowing and softly greeting him before following him to the elevator, down to the lobby, and out the front door to the waiting Town Car.
Driving to the tailor shop did not take long due to it being mid-morning on a Saturday. The car came to a halt at the curb, and the kobun riding in the front passenger seat had barely opened the car door to exit when the front door of the shop opened, and upon seeing who walked out, Katsuo's heart leapt up into his throat.
Katsuo fully expected Keitaro to be wearing a suit. He would have guessed it would be black like his own, since this was a very formal occasion. What he was not expecting was that he would be wearing a different dress coat on top of it, although it should not have surprised him, given that his earlier coat had bullet holes in it. But the coat that he was wearing now was of a completely different color, one that had two particular meanings in Japanese society in general and in the criminal underworld in particular. White, the color of purity and truth, and of death.
Keitaro Urashima was wearing an unbuttoned knee-length white dress coat over a black suit and tie with a white shirt. Given that he was wearing his grey knit scarf around his neck and face, albeit looser than the day before, and his Rayban Wayfarer sunglasses, the young man looked like a modern version of the spirits that gathered and escorted souls after death. All he needed to complete the image would be a sword… oh gods, he didn't have a sword under his coat, did he?
The kobun was frozen in place even as Keitaro walked up to the car and came to a halt. It still took a few moments for the kobun to come to and almost frantically open the car door. The Urashima just nodded politely and before ducking into the car handed over the until this point unseen garment bag over his arm to the young soldier, who after closing the door rapidly moved to the rear of the car to put the bag in the trunk before moving back to the front seat and getting in and the car driving off.
"Ohayo, Katsuo-kun," Keitaro greeted his friend as he settled into the plush leather sear, pulling on the edges of his coat to make sure it would not be wrinkled as he sat on it.
"Ohayo? Ohayo?!" Katsuo's voice was incredulous. "You look like a fucking shinigami and you're just saying ohayo?!" His voice was rising as he finished speaking.
"Well, I could say ohayo gozaimasu, but for some reason people get nervous when I do that." Keitaro's voice in turn became flatter as he spoke and gave a head bow, causing a shiver to go through the other man's body at the emotionless tone that resulted.
"What's with the white coat, you know what you look like wearing that?" Katsuo's tone dropped as he spoke but it was still disbelieving.
"Couldn't help it, my other coat was too damaged to wear again." Keitaro's lips quirked in a slight smile.
"And your tailor didn't have a long black leather coat instead?!" Somehow Katsuo kept his voice steady even through its sarcasm.
"Apparently they are on two weeks backorder. And those are the off-the-rack versions, the custom jobs take about a month and a detailed fitting." Keitaro's smile got slightly wider as he spoke.
"Gods," Katsuo almost moaned as he let his head fall back against the seat. "Please tell me you don't have any weapons under that thing."
"Do you really think I need to carry weapons for something like this?" Humor was now apparent on Keitaro's face. "If it gets to that point I'll just take one from the other people there." He watched as the young oyabun started to beat the back of his head against the seat, but given the soft leather covered cushioning it did no injury. "I would say that you need to relax, but that is a little too much. Just follow my lead, and we'll do fine."
"And if it doesn't turn out 'fine'?" You could almost hear the air quotes on the last word.
"Then it will probably get a little exciting. Not as much as yesterday, there'll probably be less automatic weapons there." Katsuo rolled his head over to glare at Keitaro, but even though both men were wearing dark glasses it was easy to see the exasperation on the older man's face.
"Too bad we don't have time to stop at a shrine, I have an overwhelming urge to make a large offering now." Katsuo let his head fall back again against the seat, and Keitaro smiled at his friend before starting to speak again, detailing what different things could happen at the meeting and how they would react to it.
Even with the distance they had to drive, it did not take long for them to arrive at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Pulling into the driveway, the car came to a halt in front of the double glass doors, the kobun in the front seat immediately jumping out to open the rear passenger door.
Katsuo watched as Keitaro finished checking a text pager that he clipped back onto his belt before glancing over him. Murmuring the word 'showtime' to the other man's dismay he performed a few hand signs and the temperature in the car immediately dropped ten degrees before Keitaro turned in the seat and stood up and out of the car, taking a couple of steps forward before stopping. Katsuo scrabbled over the seat and got out of the car as well, watching as his compatriot finished straightening his long white coat.
Seeing his friend beside him and ready, Keitaro started to walk toward the doors with a deliberate step, his friend to his left and one pace behind him. The double row of bellboys lining the walkway stayed standing straight and wide-eyed, almost literally frozen in place in the increasing cold wind instead of bowing deeply as was their custom.
Arriving at the sliding glass doors, the pair came to an abrupt halt as the automatic door failed to open. Standing there for a few moments, slowly Keitaro and Katsuo looked up at the infrared sensor above the door before the later realizing what the problem was. Katsuo took a step forward and waved in front of the sensor, finally triggering it with the warmth of his hand and opening the doors.
Walking into the gleaming glass lobby of the luxury hotel, Katsuo was struck by how quiet it was; it was so silent they could hear the faint clicking sounds of their leather shoe heels against the shining stone floor. Everyone in the lobby, guests in sofas and chairs, bellboys pushing carts loaded with luggage, the clerks behind the counters, everyone was still and watching as the pair walked to the elevator, its operator as wide-eyed as everyone else.
Entering the elevator car they turned and faced forward, Keitaro finally speaking. "The Mandarin Bar, please." The operator gave a jerky nod before working the controls and the doors sliding shut and the car rising in the shaft.
A long minute later the elevator came to a halt at the correct floor. As the doors opened Katsuo's heart went into his throat again as it revealed over a half dozen men waiting for them, all in suits and sunglasses. Even as the oyabun's heart rate increased without pause Keitaro stepped out of the elevator and into their midst, causing most of them to take a half step back.
"Keitaro Urashima and Katsuo Kobayashi, we are expected." Keitaro's voice was soft and pleasant, totally at odds with his appearance.
One of the men, silver haired and craggy faced, took a step forward after glancing at a mobile phone in his hand, comparing their appearances to pictures on the device. "If you can take off your sunglasses and uncover your faces, please?" After a moment Keitaro took off his Wayfarers and pulled down his scarf, tucking the glasses into his coat, Katsuo following suit with his sunglasses and medical mask. Instead of reassuring the men before him removing the dark glasses had the opposite effect; it revealed that Keitaro's eyes were still visibly bloodshot, although not as much as the night before. The older man then spoke again. "We need to pat you down before entry."
Keitaro said nothing as he raised his arms so they were parallel to the floor and the palms of his hands facing upward, his white coat falling open, revealing his buttoned shut single breasted black suit. Even as he did this the temperature of the elevator lobby noticeably dropped a few degrees. After the senior guard jerked his head two of the other men approached them, and slowly but carefully did a through pat-down on Keitaro and Katsuo. It did not get to the point where they had to empty their pockets, but every point on their limbs and waistband where a weapon could be concealed was checked.
After they were done the two guards backed away and at that point two other guards standing at the rear of the room became fully visible. Instead of standing with their hands at their sides, these two men had their hands in their dress coat pockets, the coats themselves hanging open. Katsuo immediately realized that their hands were very probably sticking through the pass-thru slits in the pockets and were holding guns, and cold beads of sweat started rolling down his back.
If Keitaro had noticed this he gave no sign. After glancing at his red and blue Rolex he was looking steadily at the senior guard. "If we are done here? I don't wish to be late." Meanwhile to Katsuo's rising horror he could see that his friend's fingers were twitching as they rested at his sides, the temperature continuing to drop.
"We're done here." The senior guard turned and started walking toward the doorway leading to the bar. As Katsuo's heart started to slam into his chest and Keitaro's fingers started to form into hand signs he continued speaking. "If you gentlemen will follow me." The other guards backed away and let the pair walk between them into the bar before falling in behind them as they walked toward the spiral stairway leading into the dining room where the Council was waiting.
Wine Cellar Dining Room
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Nihonbashi, Chuo Ward,
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, 10:59 AM Saturday morning
Toshiro watched as the two men walked into the room before coming to a halt halfway between the door they had entered through and the table the Council members were sitting behind. The pair gave a deep bow, although not parallel to the floor, with their eyes fixed downwards. "Our greetings to the august Council in the Shadows," they intoned in unison. "We are here to answer your summons." Upon finishing speaking the two men straightened up and stood in a relaxed yet not casual stance, their hands clasped in front of them.
"Oh gods above…" Toshiro moaned in his head. Keitaro and Katsuo were pulling the book on them by acting in a formal manner. While it was not the Council's intention to deal with them that way, shown by the fact that the elders were dressed in business attire and not traditional clothing, this was leaving them on the back foot since both sides knew of their status and relationship to the Council. One that was emphasized by how they introduced themselves.
Looking behind the bowing pair, the oldest elder saw the guards that even now were looking nervous, and the pair in the open long coats in particular. Toshiro gave a huff of annoyance; while it was normal for the council members to have attendants and guards to protect them, there was no real point in having them at this moment in time. The Urashima and Kobayashi were not enemies, and having obviously heavily armed guards could be seen as a provocation.
"Except for Seiji-san, everyone else is dismissed." All eyes immediately focused on Toshiro but stayed still. "Now." His voice had barely risen but everyone twitched as they turned and filed out of the door. The older silver haired guard closed it and stepped to the side to stand beside it, his hands clasped in front of his buttoned shut suit coat.
"Gentlemen, if you would take a seat." Toshiro nodded at the two chairs placed in front of their table, and slowly if not reluctantly, the pair sat down. "We are here to discuss what happened yesterday in Chiba Prefecture. The intention of this meeting is not to affix blame, rather it is to determine what happened and why, and hopefully to prevent a major incident like this from happening again." The elder could see that Katsuo flinched slightly as he finished speaking, but Keitaro instead was looking at him steadily. Given that he knew the cause for the bloodstained eyes, Toshiro would have almost preferred to have the younger man to be wearing his dark glasses. "Keitaro-san, if you would start with your account of what happened?"
After a long moment Keitaro gave a slight nod. "Yesterday morning Katsuo-san and I went to visit some of the various martial artist families that were being pressured by yakuza factions to join them in fighting in their civil war…"
It took about twenty five minutes for the explanations to finish. Keitaro spoke for ten minutes, Katsuo having not been involved in the fight spoke for about five minutes, then Seiji-san pulled in a cart that had a TV, a DVD player and a remote control and they watched the entire fight, occasionally pausing the video to ask a question. Katsuo would have thought it was a project presentation from when they were back in high school, only instead of their classmates this was being reviewed by a group of unamused old men.
"Now that we have seen and you have explained what happened yesterday, we have some questions for you." Toshiro looked over from the poker faced duo in front of him to his grim-looking fellow council members. "First, why did you feel it necessary to use ki abilities in public Keitaro-san?"
"Did I?" Everyone blinked at the response. "Use ki I mean. What can you point at shows that I used ki? Was anything glowing? Was there any excessive damage or destruction?" Almost everyone was open-mouthed now, especially Katsuo who had turned his head to look at Keitaro with wide eyes. "Well, beside the propane tank on the truck exploding of course, I wasn't responsible for that."
"You used wind ki to deflect the explosion!" Katsuo was a little too stressed to try and recall the elder's name, so he mentally nicknamed him 'Old Man #1', given that all of the elders had more than a passing resemblance to temple statues. The only one he was not tempted to do this with was with the senior elder as Toshiro Maeda, even as the oldest of the men present and nominally not involved in crime, had enough power and influence to give a yakuza oyabun pause.
"Really? Perhaps you can show us on the video where there are signs of that?" Keitaro nodded at the remote control in front of Toshiro. "I heard the propane tank tearing under the pressure and heat of the fire, and I yelled for everyone to get down to the ground just in time. The blast and flames went over our heads." The elder's jaw worked for a moment but no words were spoken.
"You used wind to turn aside those bullets." The next elder was frowning as he spoke.
"If I may?" Keitaro gestured toward the remote, and after Toshiro nodded his ascent, the younger man picked it up and in a few moments cued up the part of the video where he and Katsuo were walking toward the crashed car and burning truck. On the monitor tracer rounds could seen flickering around the two men. "I am not making gestures or hand signs. Unless you are saying that I am such a ki adept that I can do advanced level techniques without moving my arms or hands." Glancing at the second elder Keitaro cocked an eyebrow before speeding up the video to where the gangsters had emerged from behind their car and were firing at him. "And like I mentioned before, most criminals are very poor shots with firearms. Sometimes the safest place when facing a criminal with a gun is right in front of them." The corner of Keitaro's mouth twitched slightly. "Seeing where the gun is aimed does give you a much better chance of moving away from the probably path."
"The fight you had with the criminal with the chain weapon? Most people cannot jump almost two meters into the air standing still." The first elder spoke again.
"Most regular people can't, yes, but it is not unheard of," replied Keitaro readily. "Especially by people with martial arts training."
"Enough of this." Everyone tensed slightly as Toshiro spoke. "The fighting and the deflecting and dodging is one thing, but the two remaining items are the most important. You used killing intent in public, and you spoke to that reporter on live TV." The disgust was evident in his voice. "What do you have to say about that? And denial is not acceptable."
"It is not denial. I am not saying that it did not happen, just that it can't be proven." Seeing Toshiro's head tilt slightly in an 'oh, really?' motion Keitaro continued speaking. "If, and I am not confirming anything here by saying this, IF I used killing intent in that fight, all that can be seen on the video is that I am standing out in the open with my arms at my sides and my hands empty. I am not making hand signs or gestures, I am not using any form of technology that is known to replicate some of killing intent's effects. I am just a man standing still on an open street when an unusual phenomena occurred."
"An unusual phenomena that caused severe electronic disruptions." Toshiro's voice was as dry as a desert. While watching the video of the fight there were considerable bursts of static that blurred out the image at certain time, but nothing that could be described as sound. "A localized solar flare, perhaps."
"Perhaps." Keitaro's lips twitched in a smile for a moment again. "And as to the TV reporter interviewing me, she called me by a certain name so I could not just walk away, that would make things worse. That name and appearance is known among certain circles, it is one of the reasons I was asked to assist in this matter. So walking away without saying anything would have made things worse."
"So why did that reporter call you by that name? It would have made things simpler if she did not know it." The second elder asked what was probably the most awkward question so far, even as Katsuo flushed slightly.
"Because we were maintaining cover. It's not like we can use our real names in public when doing things of questionable legality." Keitaro gave a look at the elder that asked the question. "Keep in mind, we are doing things that other people asked us to because it would raise questions if they became involved themselves, and the person that normally has that duty is not present at this time." It was now the elder's turn to flush slightly. "And I said nothing that can track back to this Council, at least publicly. There are only two groups of people that might be able to figure it out, and one is not in a position to react to it."
"Two groups?" The last elder finally spoke up.
"The yakuza themselves know that we are trying to protect the martial artist families, that is the reason why I am going out speaking to them. They have to know, there is no other way short of violence that will prevent things from getting out of hand. And we are very well on the edge of that happening." Everyone tensed at that statement. "Bosozoku affiliates of a yakuza faction used foreign military style weapons to attack someone who refused recruitment. It was not bikers throwing a beating, it was not a firebombing, it was gangsters trying to make a point in public. Several points, actually. One, refusing them has consequences, two, they are not playing by the accepted rules anymore, and three, they are growing less afraid of the police… and of you." Almost every person winced at the last statement. "Given the weapons they had on hand, those gangsters could have burst through any hasty police roadblock after doing the drive-by shooting they were intending. That is not a sign of criminals respecting and fearing the police as before. And speaking of which, the second group that would figure things out about the fight is the government, the PSIA and Public Safety Section 9 for certain, although they probably want to keep things quiet as much as this council." Seeing the question in their eyes he explained. "I had dealings with agents of Special Circumstances before I was called to assist this Council."
"You said that refusing the gangsters had consequences." The last elder to remain silent finally spoke up. "What did you mean by that?"
"The shop that was the target of the attack is owned by the family I was on my way to speak to." The room, as quiet as it was before, went totally silent and motionless before Keitaro spoke again. "What, you thought that these were gangsters shaking down a business for protection money? Like I said before, these criminals were trying to make a point, and I'm willing to wager that they already tried to get physical with them and failed. Why else would they risk life and limb and long terms in prison by using highly illegal firearms? They just had the bad luck of doing so while I was approaching. Double bad luck, actually." Seeing the curiosity on their faces he explained. "Someone in the shop had a firearm and returned fire, trapping them in place. That is when I got involved. And that is something that has slipped everyone's mind, isn't it? One of the families under our protection and jurisdiction was deliberately attacked. That has to have consequences, one way or the other."
A heavy silence fell, and extended for almost a minute before Toshiro spoke. "Keitaro-san, Katsuo-san, the Council needs to speak about these matters before we make a decision. So if you would wait upstairs in the bar?"
The two younger men stood from their chairs but before Katsuo could bow Keitaro spoke. "I have a question Maeda-sama, and perhaps a follow-up."
Toshiro sighed internally at the honorific before speaking. "Go ahead."
"What is being done about the family from the shop that was attacked? They are currently in police custody." Keitaro's eyes drifted across the faces of the older men before him.
"That is something that this Council has yet to determine." The second elder was the one to respond, the frown back on his face.
"Very well. Just know that the Urashima is already involved." Everyone's eyes went wide. "Yesterday I called certain contacts and told them that the Urashima Clan had an interest in this matter and would not look favorably on… questionable methods… used in this case." Keitaro looked at everyone's expressions again before finally focusing on the pained look on Toshiro's face. "So I am going to be involved in this matter in one of two ways, either as Hiroyuki Akira, metsuke of the Roju no Kage, or as Keitaro Urashima, heir of the Urashima Clan." And grandson of Hinata Urashima, remained unspoken but still echoing in the silent room. "And one last thing. You are going to decide if I did the wrong thing by involving myself in the fight with the gangsters. But if you decide that I did the wrong thing, you are in effect saying that I should have let that woman shot in the leg bleed out and die, and have let that mother and daughter burn to death while trapped in their car." Keitaro's eyes swept across the Council's faces again, the coldness in them a physical sensation, finally ending on Toshiro's face, which had a complex un-interpretable look on it.
Finally Keitaro stood straight before giving a brisk 45 degree bow, Katsuo following suit a moment later. Waiting until Toshiro gave a head bow in reply, the two younger men turned in place and walked past the emotionless guard beside the door out of the room.
Mandarin Bar,
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Nihonbashi, Chuo Ward,
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, 11:40 AM Saturday morning
Keitaro watched as Katsuo struggled not to slam the drink he held in his hand. As soon as the two men had reached the almost empty hotel bar on the floor above the dining room, they had walked over to a table at a far corner and sat down at a table next to the glass wall overlooking the city. A waitress immediately appeared at their side, and after a pointed glance from Keitaro, the other man ordered a single malt scotch and a glass of ice water alongside. Keitaro murmured the same order, and the four glasses were before them two minutes later.
Waiting until the other man had drank half of the liquor in front of him and taken a large sip of water, Keitaro finally spoke. "Feel better now?"
"A little." Katsuo sipped the scotch again. "I still can't believe your whole defense was built around 'prove I did something wrong'.
"It's true enough. Nothing that happened yesterday can be used to prove the existence of ki, at least beyond what is already known to the various governments." Keitaro watched as Katsuo raised an eyebrow at him. "NPA and PSIA already know about killing intent, as well as most technologically advanced countries, that is where their sound based antipersonnel weaponry comes from. They even used an example of it in that Green Hulk movie with the sonic weapons they used against him."
"Incredible Hulk," corrected Katsuo absently. He could remember the scene in question, where vehicle-mounted sonic cannons were used to try and knock out the green rage monster or hold him back. It lasted only as long as it took the Hulk to throw a large piece of debris at one cannon and destroy it before jumping at the other and wreaking it.
"The point being I did not use anything in the open that was visibly a ki technique in that fight, or anything that cannot be explained as martial arts training." It was now Keitaro's turn to sip from his water glass.
"Like jumping two meters into the air?" Katsuo raised both eyebrows with the question.
"I was thinking more like jumping four meters onto a fire escape or throwing a couple of grown men across an alley from one building to another." It was now Keitaro's turn to raise an eyebrow, causing Katsuo to fake laughing for a moment.
"Hah ha ha, baka, thanks for reminding me." Katsuo took another large sip from his scotch. That had been another part of their defense they had agreed upon before the start of the meeting, not saying what chi and ki techniques had been used. For example, they had merely said that when the propane tank had ruptured and then exploded they had dropped down to the ground and the blast had gone over then, not that Keitaro had formed a wind shield to protect them from the flames. "Maybe you should be my lawyer the next time the cops drag me in for questioning."
"Perhaps. I'm not so good in criminal matters though, plus I haven't had the most pleasant experiences with some of them." Seeing the curiosity on his friend's face and knowing that he had previously heard about some of this, Keitaro continued speaking. "You remember what happened with Kanako-chan and the gang members last year?" Katsuo nodded, recalling hearing about the attempted kidnapping of the younger girl and the injured and dead criminals that resulted. "After the fight the police took me into custody for questioning. This was before they realized my relationship with Granny Hina, and things got unpleasant."
Katsuo winced. If the Japanese police thought they could get away with it, they would hold a criminal suspect incommunicado for up to three weeks and get physically abusive to force a confession. Given that the public was not sympathetic toward criminal suspects regardless of perceived guilt or innocence, and that the criminal justice system had a 98% conviction rate based mostly on confessions, the police had a lot of leeway, unless the suspect had high-powered expensive lawyers to make lots of noise and trouble, or the suspect or their family had large amounts of political power and pull. Like Hinata Urashima.
Keitaro watched the emotions cross his friend's face before sighing. "Granny Hina got me out the next day, and the two investigators got busted and one fired. So there are some elements of the police that don't like us. There isn't much that can be done about that," he sighed before sipping at his drink again.
"And then you went and hooked up with those two police women after that?" Katsuo was amused to see Keitaro blush slightly in response to his question.
"Yes I did. A lot of it had to do that they are street cops on traffic detail, it's not like they are detectives or investigators." A trace of sadness crossed his face. "I haven't seen them that much lately, all of us have been rather busy lately."
"Don't you dare fuck that up Urashima." Keitaro looked up to see Katsuo fake scowling at him. "I'm going to have to take your manhood card if you screw up your threesome relationship with two hot women."
"Ha hah hah." It was now Keitaro's turn to fake laugh before he could feel someone approaching their table. Turning his head, he could see Seiji-san walking toward them before coming to a halt and bowing slightly.
"Urashima-san, Kobayashi-san, the Council is ready to see you." The two men nodded in response, and after Keitaro finished his water and Katsuo his scotch, they both stood and walked toward the spiral stairway leading to the dining room below, the older man following behind him.
It only took a couple of minutes for the three men to walk down the spiral stairs and into the dining room, with Keitaro and Katsuo taking their seats opposite the four elders and Seiji-san taking his place beside the door again. After everyone got settled it took a few moments before Toshiro Maeda started to speak.
"Given that the incident in question where Keitaro Urashima and Katsuo Kobayshi became involved in a fight against criminals who were endangering the public at large and had already injured innocents, and they used their martial arts skills to protect them and themselves, we find no fault. However, we do find fault with the fact that high level martial arts, chi and ki techniques, was used in the open and broadcast on live television and online." Katsuo blinked hard and Keitaro remained motionless.
Toshiro paused for a moment and sighed before continuing. "Given also that these techniques were used to save lives in immediate danger in the best tradition of the martial arts we study and protect, it have been determined that no punishment or reprimand will be issued for this incident." Katsuo relaxed slightly. "However, we do reprimand Kobayashi-san for almost breaking Urashima-san's cover and resulting in the news reporter's interview. As punishment," the blood in Katsuo's veins suddenly ran cold, "Urashima-san is directed to take Kobayashi-san under his direct training and mentorship until Kobayashi-san rises one dan rank in either a hand-to-hand discipline or in kenjitsu. He will have no more than six months to complete this training and be tested by a master agreed upon by both Urashima-san and this Council." Toshiro looked at Keitaro's blanked face. "Urashima-san, will you take on this responsibility?"
Keitaro stared at Toshiro for a long moment, so long that everyone thought he was going to refuse. Finally he replied. "So long as Katsuo-san agrees, so will I."
"Kobayashi-san, do you accept this punishment?" asked Toshiro as Katsuo thought furiously. There was no real choice here; if he refused the Council in the Shadows would refuse to deal with him in any public or business manner, and very probably with do the same with his clan and yakuza group. In the middle of the yakuza civil war, it could very well spell the death of his family, both figuratively and literally.
"I accept this punishment." Katsuo bowed his head deeply as he stayed sitting in his chair. Keitaro stayed staring at Toshiro, an unhappy look on his face.
"If there is nothing else…" Toshiro was cut off as Keitaro raised his hand.
"You need to specify if I still have my assignment as metsuke of this Council." Keitaro's face had gone blank again as he spoke. "And if so what I am authorized to do about that family in police custody."
"You are still metsuke and Arashikage of the Roju no Kage, you will continue in protecting those in need." Dark brown blood shot eyes locked with nearly black aged eyes across the table from them. "Use your best judgement. Just try not to do so in public."
After another long moment Keitaro blinked and gave a head bow. "As you say, elder."
"If there is nothing else…" Toshiro said again, only this time there was no interruption, "this meeting is concluded." Keitaro and Katsuo came to their feet and in unison gave a deep bow, only Keitaro immediately came up while Katsuo held his bow until Toshiro returned it. Both men then turned and walked out of the door, not seeing the tired look that formed on the senior elder's face as they left.
A/N: It's getting to be something of a tradition that I post a new chapter just before Christmas and New Years. What I should do is post a new chapter every month. Granted this is Chapter 74 and I never expected the story to run that long, but it's been eleven and a half years since I started writing it as well. I really do need to buckle down. Good news is that I found a new place I can go to with my laptop to do my writing and eat dinner at the same time and not have to go to a Starbucks.
It's been almost forty chapters but Kotoko and Motoko have made a reappearance in the story. While Motoko-chan is probably happier now, she is still feeling stress about her family, and apparently Tsuruko is a lot closer to certain facts than Motoko would be comfortable with. I am also planning for Motoko to make an appearance at the high school since she is still attending there, and chances are she's going to run into the Hinata Girls every once in a while. It will give her a chance to be introduced to Sarah and Nyamo as well.
I have some stale virtual Christmas cookies that can go to whoever figures out where the phrase 'showtime' comes from (one of my favorite shows, but decidedly not one of my favorite characters). I also have some See's Candies lollypops for those who figure out what Keitaro did to Kanako when she lost her temper during their argument (technique and show it's from, from the first anime/manga I started following, besides Robotech of course).
Bringing back the Most Unusual Places Reading My Story, the winner this month is Ukraine, which has the most reads of any country in Europe. Runner up is Poland, which had one hearty soul read the entire story (literally – one user, 74 chapter reads). And here is a new award – Saddest Stat goes to Japan, with one user and one chapter read (sad trumpet sounds). And surprisingly/not surprisingly, there are still people favoriting/following this story recently, at least two new people this month. I am curious as to how they came across it; were they looking for a Love Hina story, did they came across a recommendation for it, or did they read some of my other work (I have some BtVS stories out there that are kinda popular, I guess).
As 19Dec22 this story has 497K Words, 1192K Views, 1169 Reviews (need more reviews people!), 1848 Favorites and 1655 Alerts. Thanks to all the people who have been reading and following this story for all these years.
As always, many thanks to my beta readers AZ Mark II, PCH, and WalkerofDarkness.
Merry Christmas to all, have a Happy New Year, and best wishes and good health to everyone.