Side-Step MA
"You're sure?" Orga asked.
"Yeah," Biscuit said. "It's one of Yan's places. There's cops going there now."
"Idiot." Orga ran a thumb along his jaw. "But we can use this."
"Yan won't like it."
"Only if he finds out about it too soon. You go, Biscuit."
Biscuit nodded, and Orga turned his eyes to the man and his wife.
They clung close to one another, hands entwined. The couple ran the grocery downstairs. They seemed nice, and they dressed nice. Their daughter, a girl about Biscuit's age stood behind them glaring at Orga. She made her displeasure at his presence obvious.
"Mika," Orga called.
Mikazuki took his eyes from the woman. "Hmm?"
He kept one hand in his coat, wrapped around his pistol. Orga wouldn't like it if she died, but if she attacked him he could probably just wound her.
"Go with Biscuit," Orga ordered, "just in case. I can handle this."
"You're sure?"
"Go."
Mikazuki nodded and turned toward the door. He kept his hand on his gun.
"What's going on?" the woman asked.
"The ABB is not one," Orga explained. "I'm going to seize an opportunity to squeeze another leader out."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "And how would you be any different."
"Because I won't steal from people and shoot them when they resist." Orga pushed the paper forward. "This is the contract I was talking about. Cameras. Alarms. On call investigators. People to keep dealers and hustlers away. Legitimate security, not rackets."
"Why?" the man asked.
"Because we want a place. A place of our own to belong. One that doesn't force us to fight and steal to survive. It's the same thing you want, isn't it?"
Mikazuki descended the stairs and joined Biscuit by the back door. Mikazuki took the lead, opening the door and checking the street before waving Biscuit out.
"You don't have to do that," Biscuit said. "I can handle myself."
"Bakuda would get mad," Mikazuki warned.
"No she won't."
He hadn't noticed then. Mikazuki decided not to say anything after a moment's thought. Best for them to figure it out on their own.
The streets between the Docks and the Trainyard stretched out for miles. Cars drove alongside the tracks, and a few semis. The only warehouses still active in Brockton Bay mostly lay near the Trainyard and the two still active lines.
The only living businesses occupied the same streets. Small sparks of life in a sea of rust. Not rich like the other parts of Brockton Bay to the south, but better than some other parts of the Docks or Captain's Hill. Not that many of them though, making for a quiet neighborhood.
Mikazuki liked the quiet of the area. Long lines of sight too, and not that many crowds. If he saw strangers wandering the street late at night, he knew them for an enemy.
"It's not far," Biscuit noted. "Five blocks south."
"Right," Mikazuki answered.
They saw the sirens from the distance, and the small crowd gathered on the other side of the police tape. Biscuit pulled his hat down to hide as much of his face as possible, and Mikazuki pulled the collar of his jacket up.
Biscuit started asking around. Mikazuki slipped through the ground. He'd always been small for his age. People overlooked him. Easy to get really close to the police cars and listen to their radios.
The paramedics rolled a body into an ambulance as he did. The police talked to a half dozenn people inside the tape, one of them taking notes as they spoke.
Mikazuki watched and listened, hand digging through his pocket. He popped one of the snacks into his mouth. A shadow in the corner of his eye moved.
Stepping back from the crowd, the small boy slipped into the mouth of the alley.
Mikazuki sat down by the man.
"Want one?" Mikazuki asked.
He held the snack out, pinched between his fingers. The man turned his head, looking at the morsel from several angles before taking it.
"Don't like intruders," he mumbled. "But you got food. You're okay."
"Hmm." Mikazuki reached into his pocket and popped another snack into his mouth. "What happened across the street?"
"Some of your squint buddies went in," the man grumbled. "Shot Martin."
"You knew him?"
"He gave me food on Fridays."
Mikazuki nodded. "Sounds nice."
"Yeah. Gonna miss um."
"Why'd they shoot?" Mikazuki asked. He held the snack out to the man.
"Martin pulled out his twelve gauge." He took the second offering. "Idiot."
"You saw?"
"I see everything. No one notices me." He looked down at Mikazuki. "You gonna do something about it?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Martin was good people."
"Which way did he go?" Mikazuki asked.
"That way." The man pointed.
"What did he wear."
"Cheap red suit."
Mikazuki nodded and rose to his feet. "Bye."
"Bye."
He found Biscuit in the crowd. "Ready?" Mikazuki asked.
"Hmm? Yeah. Let's go."
They got a few looks as they left. ABB stood out, even the ones who weren't really ABB.
"What did you find?" Biscuit asked.
"The owner got shot," Mikazuki said. "A guy in a red suit did it."
"Yan." Biscuit smiled nervously. "Orga is going to push this."
"Yeah."
Orga already had their territory on board. He'd swiped Tens' last week after some of his guys beat up some girl. If Yan murdered one of his own "customers" Orga could go to the others and sell his plan more easily.
"We need to be careful," Biscuit warned. "We got Tens pushed out fast, but Yan is more connected. If he goes to Lung—"
"Don't worry," Mikazuki said. "I'll take care of it."
Biscuit frowned. "Will it go that far?"
"Maybe."
Depended on how Orga wanted to play it.
Getting all the businesses they could to sign security contracts, and then actually providing the promised services meant going at odds with the rest of the ABB. Easy to paint that as internal struggles and turf fighting, so long as no one figured out what Orga was really doing. The other cells could turn very quickly if that happened, and get Lung involved. Yan got as high as he did in the first place manipulating Lung that way.
So Orga said. Mikazuki didn't really get it, but he didn't have to.
"I just do what Orga says. He gets it better than I do."
Biscuit pulled the front of his cap down. "Think it'll work?"
"Maybe."
Did they have anything to lose? Mikazuki didn't think so.
Orga said they needed a place of their own. A place where they didn't have to shoot guns, or sell drugs and run from police. A place where they could rebuild the lives they'd lost. The ABB brought them to America as thugs, but they didn't have to stay that way. Certainly, they didn't have to keep bleeding for someone like Lung.
Those who rule by fear are afraid, Orga said.
Mikazuki thought he agreed. He could almost smell it.
In the end, he didn't dislike the idea. He didn't know if Orga knew how to get there just yet, but he trusted Orga could find a way. Start by getting away from crime, become legitimate. Take it slow and steady so as not to rouse suspicion or make enemies. One day they'd be able to make their own choices, free of the ABB.
They only needed to hang on and seize the opportunities that came to them.
"I don't even know what I'd do if it did," Biscuit mumbled. "Maybe, go to school?"
"I'll help Orga." At least, for the moment, Mikazuki thought.
Orga stood outside when they arrived, the lights of the store behind him off.
"How did it go?" Biscuit asked.
"Well enough." Orga pulled the folded up papers from inside his jacket and handed them to Biscuit. "Just a few more and we can move. Tens' guys won't be able to stop us in time with Akihiro and Shino running interference. What about Yan?"
"He shot a store owner in his territory," Biscuit explained. "Police are looking for him."
Orga grinned. "And I'm sure they'll be grateful to find him."
"What do you want me to do?" Biscuit asked.
"Start poking round his territory, find out who might be interested in a change of management. Get some of his people on our side. At least one of the lieutenants."
Biscuit nodded. "Right."
"Mika." Mikazuki raised his head. Orga looked him in the eye. "When the time comes, we'll need to make sure the cops get Yan."
Mikazuki understood. He nodded. "Yeah, I'll make sure."
Orga nodded. "And lacking that?"
Mikazuki steadied his gaze. He knew what Orga meant. If he tried to get Yan arrested and it didn't work, Yan might figure it out. He'd go to Lung, or one of the other cells and turn them against Orga and the rest of the wharf rats. They'd die, so if Yan didn't end up where he needed to be...
Mikazuki repeated his answer.
"I'll make sure."
Orga closed his eyes. Biscuit frowned, but said nothing.
"We should go," Orga says. "Before we're noticed."
He turned and started walking. Mikazuki and Biscuit followed.
The streets deeper in ABB territory were tense. Small groups of men in colors moved back and forth. Calls passed from pay phones, to cell phones, to house phones. Businesses the gang used as fronts opened their back doors. Men entered with nothing and came back out with heavy bags.
Mikazuki watched it all quietly.
The smell of blood hung in the air. He knew it well.
The Merchants, Orga said.
Lung wanted their territory. Squealer lost her tank, and the smaller machines too. Skidmark and the tornado girl got caught by Newtype and the Protectorate. Lung probably smelled the blood too. Rumors said Oni Lee was back on his feet. Bakuda said she'd made something for him, so Mikazuki believed the rumor.
With Oni Lee back, Lung would go.
They all would.
The three young men came to a street corner and stopped. The large trucks passed slowly, making wide turns around the corner before turning again into a lot.
Across the street, one of the old warehouses stood alight. A tarp covered some parts of the building, and workers set up new fencing around the perimeter. A set of work trucks parked in the empty and decaying parking lot shined their lights over the street as groups of men moved long and tall boxes into the warehouse.
Mikazuki cocked his head as they worked, wondering when that started. New businesses did spring up from time to time. He didn't understand why. The ABB, the Empire, or the Merchants. Any one of the gangs turned on any new business. Some tried to tough it out. Others simply left. It happened time and time again, but every now and then someone tried opening something up.
Watching the equipment being moved, Mikazuki didn't recognize any of it. The trucks all bore the letters "BBDWU." He didn't know what the words themselves meant, but he knew the letters represented the Dockworker's Union. He'd seen them around plenty of times. They knew how to fight pretty well for normal people.
Maybe not a new business then, just the Dockworkers doing something?
"A factory," Mikazuki admitted.
"Hmm?" Biscuit asked.
Orga turned his head as well, but said nothing.
"I like working with my hands. Working in a factory might be nice."
"With your hands, huh?" Biscuit smiled. "Well, it's nice to know what you want."
"Yeah."
