Chapter 7: Kiyoshi

It was a bright sunny morning, with birds chirping, and it smelled of spring. Yoshiro wished that only the days wouldn't go so fast. He could hear his son and his wife moving around the house. He got up and rolled his bed up. Leaving his room, he saw the sleeping form of his young daughter at far end of the room - Kiyoshi. She was blossoming into a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one who was noticing the changes in her. He remembered the last time Senpai had looked at her when he had come over to remind him of his unpaid debts. He touched the stub of his missing finger. They had extended his deadline, but it was coming to an end... very soon. He stepped into his living room and saw his wife setting the table for breakfast, and his son playing next to her. How could he do this to them? They shouldn't pay for his mistakes. He knew killing himself wouldn't achieve anything, because Yakuza would make them pay.

"Oba san, good morning" Kiyoshi crossed him and went to sit at the table. Yoshiro excused himself and went to the bathroom. He splashed some water on himself and thought about what Kazuki had told him that night.

He had finished bandaging his hand. "You know I think I might have a way out of this for you."

"Really? I'll do anything", Yoshiro asked, looking up.

"Kiyoshi might be the answer to your troubles."

"What do you mean?"

"You know Senpai has noticed her...could be your way out."

"Trust me Kazuki, if you weren't my brother-in-law and friend, I would shoot you right now", Yoshiro said, anger rising in his voice.

"Calm down Yoshiro, I was just suggesting a way out. Next time he won't just ask for your hand."

Yoshiro looked at his face in the bathroom mirror. It showed all signs of fatigue and depression. He wiped his face and stepped out of the bathroom. His wife was standing outside with a concerned look on her face. He just smiled at her.

"Don't worry... it's going to be alright."

Sam sipped his tea and watched as Yoshiro was talking to Kazuki, his brother-in-law. Sam had tipped one of the waiters to report their table´s conversation to him. So far, Sam had figured that Yoshiro was in debt of the Yakuza. Yoshiro owned a small transport company in the southern districts, where the impact of the Yakuza was not very far reaching yet. But the past few months his wife's health was failing and he had neglected the business to take care of her, and thus had run into debt. Kazuki, who seemed to be like some kind of aide to the boss, Nori sempai, was suggesting that maybe he should let the man have Yoshiro's daughter. Yoshiro looked like a very desperate man. He still didn't seem to agree with this idea. He was caught in a classic Yakuza trap. The girl was merely collateral, but what the Yakuza were really interested in was the access that his business offered them. They would use the transport company to peddle their merchandise to the south of the country.

Meanwhile, Nori sempai was an up and comer in the Yakuza ranks. In fact he was being touted to be promoted to Fuku-honbucho - assistant to the second in command. Edogawa was someone who wanted this place really bad... He had hatched this plan to pull down Nori, and put an end to his expansion plans. Obviously, there was a real fight going on for a position like that ... and Edo was a very ambitious man. Sam wondered how Dean fit into this whole scheme ... what position he had reached by now, if he was intent to make his way to the top like Edo. He couldn´t really see his brother climbing a hierarchy ladder...but then what did he know about him!

Sam saw that Yoshiro slowly nodded his head and then hung his head disappointedly, as though he had sold his soul to the devil. Kazuki padded his arm and left to make his call.

"Are you American?" Sam had not seen the boy who was now staring at him. He recognized the boy to be Yoshiro's son. Dammit, why did he bring his son?, he wondered.

"Check this out" Sam said, taking a flower from a flower pot on the table, and making it disappear between his hands.

"Where is it?" The boy looked utterly bewildered. Sam just raised his hand in mock ignorance. Then he started searching for it, padded his jacket, and produced it from one of its pockets. The boy giggled happily. Sam remembered the first time Dean had shown him this trick, when he was about the boy's age. He was so excited, and begged Dean to teach him the trick.

Yoshiro called out to the boy, and he ran away happily, yelping with the flower in his hands. This is going to be a difficult one, Sam thought to himself. The waiter came over with his bill - under the bill was the address of the hotel where Yoshiro was supposed to meet Nori Senpai.

Yoshiro and Kiyoshi arrived at the Plaza, one of the really sophisticated places in Tokyo. Kiyoshi was all decked up from head to toe. Despite the makeup, the tears´ spots were inevitable. Her father refused to look at her. Her mother had to be taken to the hospital, and her brother was left at her aunt's place, after she´d listened to what Yoshiro had proposed. They came into the restaurant and were shown to their table.

"Honey... I'm so sorry." Before Yoshiro could continue, he saw Kazuki waving at him. Kazuki was getting them drinks and waited at the bar.

"Go fix yourself up" he said to her, and with this, Kiyoshi got up and left for the ladies´ room. The light was dimmed down, one single spot illuminated the stage, and the band began playing. Sam, who was sitting on the table facing Yoshiro, got up, went up to him, pulled his gun with a silencer fixed to it, and just shot him while passing his chair. Yoshiro looked down and saw a red spot appearing on his shirt. Sam began to walk away from him when Yoshiro caught his hand and said "Origato – thank you".

Sam straightened up and began moving towards the door. He knew the lights would come back once Kazuki reached the table with the drinks - and there would be panic. He walked out the front door, and was just about to head west to reach his car, when he stopped short. A Rolls Royce had pulled up in front of the restaurant, and a man wearing a black fedora hat and a long dark overcoat stepped out. As he looked up, Sam almost gasped. He had green eyes, a chiseled face and full lips.

Dean. Sam was 100% sure it was his brother ... the sole purpose of his visit, heck - the sole purpose he had moved on in his life. At least 10 other Yakuza members wearing similar clothes got out of two other cars around him. A shrill scream brought Sam back into the real world. A man pushed past him and went towards Dean. He whispered something into his ear, and Dean's face changed colors. He seemed to ponder somehing, got back into the car, and drove off while his men still were outside. Sam hid behind the pillar and left the building at the left side entrance. He walked about a block in a daze until he got to his car. As he was fumbling for his keys, someone pressed something into his back.

"Just drive!" It was a woman's voice...well, more like a girl´s. Sam could feel she was trembling.

"Please ... just drive me."

In the car, Sam sensed that the girl's hands were shaking ... he looked at her in the rearview mirror. She was wearing too much make-up in an attempt to look older. But Sam figured that she was no more than 17 or 18 years of age. She had the look of a deer caught in the headlights on her face. This was an unexpected development in his plan.

"Do you know what happened in there? Why were people screaming?" she asked, her voice shaking with fear.
It struck Sam now who this girl was ... she was Yoshiro's daughter. Sam felt a pang of guilt. All these years, whenever he had executed his job, he never had come face to face with the people he had affected by it. And now...Murakami first, and now this innocent girl, caught in mob politics.

"Uh...what are you talking about? I didn´t hear anything", Sam said, trying to sound surprised.

Sam thought she looked like a lost kid, and hated what he was about to do. He swerved the car abruptly, and took a sharp right turn. The girl fell onto her side, was actually slammed against the window; Sam stopped the car and checked the back seat. He saw that she had hit her head and passed out. Sam thought of pushing her out of the car ... but then his eyes fell on two men whom he knew from Edo's place. They had come to exchange the cars. Yakuza was cautious that way.

"Mr. Smith, congratulations. We're here to take your car as you had requested."

Sam thought of the girl in the backseat. They would probably kill her ... or worse. It might jeopardize Sam's position. As they came closer, he threw his overcoat over her unconscious form.

He waved at them. "Just go ahead. So far I have not been detected".

"Okay" both said, looking at each other confusedly.

Sam thanked his lucky stars that due to his reputation as 'the quiet and dangerous American', they did not ask any further questions.

"Eh...Smith San, the boss wants to see you tomorrow, at the teahouse in Kabukichō"
"I´ll be there", Sam said and sped off.

He began to contemplate his current situation. He could not just put the girl anywhere, since Nori´s – or Dean's ? - men would try to set an example with her, for her father's default on the loan, or even if they did not, then Edo would do it himself in order to create more confusion. He thought of going to Castiel with her ... but then was reminded she was probably marked and it would blow his and Castiel's cover. So he drove on and finally came to his hideout. It was located on a boat; Bobby really knew a lot of people. He pulled the car up a mile away from the place, opened the passenger door and picked up the gun and her purse. He finally pulled her out and put her on one side of his shoulder, walking down the narrow path which allowed only one person to pass at a time. This made controlling enemy movements much easier... Sam entered the house boat. On the outside, it looked very similar to all the others standing next to her, but inside, Sam had managed to set up his office and living quarters. He put the girl on the narrow bedding in a niche next to the window. Removing the coat, he revealed the very young and beautiful, delicate form of Kiyoshi. She had heavy makeup on and wore a lovely red dress that went to her knees, enwrapping her lean figure tightly.

She looked peaceful and pure.

Sam turned around and buried his head in his hands, thinking about his day. He could not believe that he´d actually seen Dean ... He remembered that familiar sting in his eyes, the moment when his heart seemed to falter, his breathing stopped. He thought how badly he wanted to go see him properly, hug him tightly. But alas - that would not be happening any time soon, as here they were on the opposite sides of a war they never started, both soldiers for an unknown captain. Soldiers ...no, they were thugs, working to implement anarchy in a world which was trying to rebuild itself from ashes.
He heard some rustling behind him and turned around to see that the girl behind him pushed towards the edge of the bed, trying to reach a rod. He jumped on her and caught her hands.

"Let me go, please!", she screamed.

Sam put his hand on her mouth and quieted her. "Shhhh…"

She began to cry and Sam said angrily, "Be quiet!".

She nodded, and he removed his hand from her mouth. Stretching his hand, he switched on the radio and turned up the volume. As soon as Sam got up and released her hand, she screamed again. Sam slapped her hard across the face. She passed out once again. Sam knew he had a problem on his hands.

Castiel could not wait to see Sam, having some very good news for him. He ordered a bottle of sake for himself. Castiel thought about his day in the office after the death of Mr. Simmons at the docks ... there was increased pressure on the US -Japanese relations. The new boss, Mr. Alistair, was one of the people who are practically wedded to their job. Cas was called in, and was chosen to be the main translator for the ambassy. In fact he was asked to be the unofficial eyes and ears of the new boss. He was given a box filled with several folders. "These are the files on all the transport companies who are attending."

Alistair came over to him and pulled out one thin folder, giving it to him.

"You know what - forget about the others. This is the guy you need to focus on. He is the big shot. The group is going to follow him like a flock."

Castiel took the folder and opened it. "He's white..." - and in a flash he understood who it was.

"Yeah that remains a mystery even to our intelligence unit, but then so far, that has not stopped him or slowed him down. He´s high up already for so young a man."

Castiel tried to control his excitement over the fact that he might have just found Sam's brother, and merely nodded and left his office. He just sent Sam a quick telegram asking him to meet at a small, quiet hotel two blocks away from his office.
Sam was running late, which was odd for him. Castiel looked at his watch again. Then he saw Sam cross the street in the pouring rain. His tall figure was bent under a newspaper. Castiel waved him to the table in a corner seat, well hidden behind a pillar. Castiel was glad he had chosen an American hotel rather than a Japanese teahouse, since Sam always stood out there. He came over and sat down in front of Cas... he wanted to stretch over the table and kiss Sam, but he knew that would more than turn heads here. He saw Sam had a bruise over his lips. "Are you okay?"

Sam looked at him confusedly. Castiel pointed to his own lip.

"Oh that's nothing. What's this information that you had?"

So business like, Castiel thought to himself, removing the folder from his leather bag, and placed it in front of him.

Sam smiled at him and opened it. Castiel just saw the expression change from being calm and composed to amazement, and then a glint of sorrow. He regained his composure and looked up at Castiel.

He answered Sam's glance. "He's the delegation leader for the transport and shipping industry negotiations. My new boss wants me to be there as a translator. "
"That's just perfect ... you could be..." Sam suddenly went quiet.

"What's the matter?"
"Castiel - this is my fight, and it's going to get dangerous from here on. I don't think you should be a part of this. I mean - I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. I've already lost people I care for" he said, staring into the distance.

"Hmmm... And here I was thinking that you considered me a friend."
"Castiel, that's exactly the reason I don't want you to participate in this. I cannot assure you that you might make it till the end"
Cas huffed. "Sam, for the first time my life actually means something. I never stood up for Takemi and I lost him. This time it's going to be different. I cannot live with the guilt of losing you too". He stretched his hand over the table, pressing Sam's hand. Sam squeezed back. Castiel saw a bruise on his hand, "I thought everything went smoothly with Yoshiro."
"Yes, kind of."
"What do you mean? "
"Well ... the hit went properly, just as planned, but then when I was just leaving, I ...I saw Dean stepping out of the car."
"Oh dear God, did he see you? Does he know about you and Edo?"
"Castiel, calm down... He didn't see me, and the fact that I'm still alive shows that he does not know about me, right?"
"Oh wow, that must have been emotionally straining for you."

Sam looked down to stop himself from feeling all that confusion and longing again.

Once again Castiel felt like he should reach out and hug Sam, but controlled himself, waiting for Sam to gain control of his feelings again.

"I want you to get close to him, as close as possible. I want to know everything about him, who his bosses are, and just how deep his roots go inside the organization."

Castiel nodded.

He looked at Sam, wondering if Sam was finished talking. "This still does not explain your split lip."

Sam let out a little laugh and said "eh... Let's just say I'm carrying some baggage from the last job with me."
Castiel looked at him quizzically "I don't understand."
"I have Yoshiro's daughter. She slipped into my car somehow". Castiel's eyes grew big in what was a mix of wonder and fear.

"Sam ...I hope you're not planning to 'dispose' of her. Please. I mean - how old is she? "
"Castiel, relax... I do not intend on doing any such thing. Though I'm really wondering where else I can keep her safe."
"I can take her off your hands" Castiel said, a little too eagerly. It was funny to Sam seeing Castiel was so worried for this girl unknown to him. Somehow Castiel realized what was going on in Sam's head.

"Sam, don't think that I have some other ulterior motive. It's just that I'm worried for your soul. I just don't want you to lose yourself in this journey through hell. Remember that getting Dean out is only half the plan. You will need to make him your brother again. You will need your soul for it. "
Sam was speechless. Since Murakami's death this was the first time that Sam had felt warmth for some other human being.

"Thanks, Castiel. I'll keep that in mind" With this, Sam for the first time stretched over his hand towards Castiel and squeezed his hand.

After their meeting was over, Sam crossed the street. As he was making his way towards his car, another vehicle drove up to him. It stopped right in front of him, and the window rolled down. "Get in", said the driver. Sam smiled a slanted smile, opened the passenger door and got in. When they arrived at the famous Kabuchiko district, the car stopped in front of a hotel / parlor.

"Go on, the boss wants to see you. Straight ahead." Sam nodded and went inside. He followed the narrow stairs up, and then turned left, where the tough looking bodyguard let him inside. Unlike his boss, Edo preferred to conduct his business behind closed doors. The room had a very Japanese feel to it. There was a waiting room, heavily wooded with sliding paper doors. Another of Edo's men was posted outside, who informed Sam to wait. A pretty loud discussion was going on. Sam heard the word Junko in the conversation, repeatedly. He looked around to see that the man who´d left the room was now talking to the guard at the door. He moved a little closer to the door. "Takeshi, all you have to do is - get him away from the shrine. He´ll need proof he can trust you. I'll handle the rest."
There was some rustling and Sam pretended to read a paper outside. "Ah, Vincent Smith San, come in, come in", Edo said, opening his door. "Hey, Kazama, get the sake in and call Suzuki in too." Edo truned to Sam, a cold smile plastered on his face.
"That was ...how you people say...excellent, such a clean kill. Nobody even knows where or who you were". Sam merely smiled at this. "There's chaos right now and Amaya, the Big Boss, isn't very happy".

By then, Kazama had brought sake with him with two glasses. He filled the glass with some salt and fish scales and then filled one glass to the brim wit wine, while the other was just filled half. Then he placed the full glass in front of Edo and the half filled glass in front of Sam. "Now drink, my friend, but only a little", Edo said, raising his glass. Both drank very small sips from the already small glasses. After this, they exchanged their cups and drank from them once more. As soon as Sam put his glass down, two more men came in and congratulated Sam and Edo.

"Welcome to the Family, Vincent Smith"

After his meeting with Edo, Sam was relieved that his plan was on track. Castiel was going to get close to Dean from the outside while he was inching closer to him through the organization. For the first time in so many years he felt hopeful. Sam looked at his reflection in the shop window as he was passing by. He saw the small scratch on his face and was reminded of the little glitch in his plan, Kiyoshi. He had to do something about her. He was reminded of Castiel's words about his soul. This was going to be much more difficult than he´d thought.

He came back to his boathouse. Kiyoshi was still tied up and fast asleep on the bed, just as he had left her. Sam went over to check on her. He saw that she had a small bruise near her lips. She stirred a little and slowly opened her eyes. She smiled at Sam and then, as her mind slowly gained consciousness, her smile subsided. The fear was back in her eyes. Sam bent over her and she turned her face to the other side. Only then she realized that Sam was opening the ropes on her hands. Sam placed his hand on his lips. She nodded meekly and he removed her gag. He kept the ropes on her legs though. For a moment Sam lingered on top of her and then got up towards the kitchen.

"I've got dinner for you" he said in Japanese.

"Why are you doing this? I don't know anything. I want to go home" Kiyoshi pleaded. "I won't tell anyone about this place" she said, holding Sam's arm as he placed the bowl of noodles in front of her.

"Okay - I'll think about it. Now eat" he said, smiling at her.

Kiyoshi was taken by surprise by this. She began to eat and it was then that she realized how hungry she was. She could not believe that Sam was going to let her go.

"Are you serious?" she asked disbelievingly.

Sam merely nodded and smiled sadly at her. He removed the newspaper and casually put it on the table in front of Kiyoshi. As he turned his back to her he saw her pick it up and read.

"NO!" she screamed. Sam turned around to see Kiyoshi was huddled up in the corner of the bed. "It cannot be true" she said, staring horrified at the newspaper on the bed.

"Unfortunately it's true. I didn't want to tell you last night."
"They killed my father... THEY KILLED HIM!", she screamed again.

For the first time in many years Sam saw such a display of grief. Suddenly he remembered that dark snowy night when he had run halfway across the city to the mental asylum. He was dashing through the dimly lit hallway, coming to a halt where some doctors and nurses had gathered outside a room. Some hands held him as he tried to get into the room. He could see the police were inside, taking pictures.

Bobby came out and saw Sam. He frowned, his eyes tired and weary.

"Boy, why are you here?"
"Is it Dad? Bobby? What happened?"
"I'm sorry, kid", Bobby murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sam pushed Bobby aside and went in. 'I'm sorry' the wall read, streams of blood flowing down. Sam just stood there, frozen; he looked down at the bloodied body of his father. Officers were scurrying around him picking up samples and clicking pictures of his father's corpse for evidence ... files and pictures they would neatly stash away in an evidence box to never open it again.

His father had lost the battle against Yakuza.

Sam had lost everything.

Everyone.

He was all alone in this world through no fault of his own. An officer came to him and tried pushing him out of the room. Sam jerked his hand off and looked at him with white hot rage blazing in his eyes. The officer backed out and Bobby came in, asking everyone to move out. Soon Sam found himself alone in the room. He dropped to his knees and took his father's lifeless bloody hand in his, staring into his father's empty eyes. He felt something wet streaming down his face and only then realized he was crying. Sam broke down and screamed, biting down on his arm, until Bobby came running back into the room, and took him into his arms, rocking him back and forth, murmuring soothing syllables.

A cup near the bed had crashed down and brought Sam back to reality. Kiyoshi was crying silently. Sam went over to her and wondered for a moment as to what he should do. What's the right thing to say when your father is dead? , he wondered. Nothing... there isn't anything that you can say which will help lessen the pain. He did what Bobby had done for him, placing a hand on the back of her head, and began stroking her hair. He was gently patting her back when she raised her head from the pillow and looked at him with her tear stained face.

"Was it me?", she asked. „Is it my fault?"
"No..." he replied instantly, which surprised himself as well.

She got up and almost crashed on Sam holding him tightly and sobbing violently. At first Sam did not know what to do, but then he just held her close till she quieted down.

The evening shadows were creeping on and Kiyoshi was finally quiet and gone off to sleep on Sam's shoulder. He laid her on the narrow bed next to him. She looked so vulnerable and small... Sam felt a pang of guilt in his heart as he realized that he was the reason she had no father and was trapped in this situation. He knew that now she could not go back to normal ever again - both the Yakuza clan would be searching for her, and her family would never accept her back since she had brought shame on the family. She was tainted, no matter if anyone had touched her or not. That's the funny thing about people - the facts never matter to them.
On his way back to the boat house he had managed to see Kiyoshi's mother who was now living with her uncle and his family. It was the same uncle who had suggested that Kiyoshi should be pimped out in order to buy time for her father to pay off the loan.

Sam picked up the bowl and took it to the sink. He washed it carefully and found himself a small bottle of bourbon, taking a glass out of the cupboard, and poured himself some, putting some ice in it. He took the file that Castiel had given to him and climbed the few steps. Outside, the deck of the boat had a small bulb hanging over a table. The night sky of Tokyo was lighted in the distance... It was unlike New York or Chicago, but it was steadily growing. He looked at the file of Dean in front of him. There was the official part Castiel had talked about... and then there was one more page, reading „confidential" stamped on the top. According to it, Dean was supposedly known as Junko and was heading the Yakuza operations in Kabuicho unit. A hand written not at the page´s side read „not confirmed, no evidence whatsoever yet". Dean was well educated, even had a business degree, and was known for being a ruthless and sharp business man. He was – supposedly - closely associated to Tatsuya Amaya, head of a conglomerate of companies and businesses in Tokyo.. "Amaya" ... Sam said the name loudly. Why did it sound so familiar? Sam went inside to get his father's diary. He found it and began browsing through the well worn pages. From the corner of his eye he saw that Kiyoshi was no longer in the bed. He got up, and went down the steps inside the boat, pondering the information he´d gotten.

Tatsuya Amaya was the same man that his father had been hunting in Chicago and New York. He was the liaison officer of Yakuza and was working with the main mafia gangs in New York. The opium route from Asia to the US was mostly handled by Yakuza now... and the Japanese also needed a lot of things in exchange for the drugs, mostly arms... A lot of things were contrabbanded by the current government. From the corner of his eye, Sam noticed Kiyoshi standing to his left, looking at the calendar on the wall. She was staring at a color photograph of a Japanese woman in some modern dress. Sam realized she was wearing one of his sweaters, way too large for her tiny frame.

"Sanja Matsuri has already started….have you seen the festival yet?", she asked, still looking at the picture.

"No…I´ll go see the main procession though", Sam answered. She realized that Sam was staring at her and lowered her head."Sorry… is it okay if I wear your sweater? That dress was too tight, and too…too…"
"I understand", Sam smiled at her, and she blushed, looking down at her feet. Sam realized that she was not wearing make-up anymore. She had beautiful almond shaped eyes and a tiny nose .. her lips were really pink. She looked much younger, and Sam felt a pit growing in his stomach. What had he done in his pursuit for revenge? He had endangered this girl's life. He sighed inwardly.

"You should get some sleep", he said to her in a harsh tone.