Chapter 5 - Family Reunion
At the airport about two hour's drive outside of Roanapur.
"so he lives here now?" he said in a disappointed tone as he surveyed the tropical scenery. He was a tall thin man, he was Japanese and you could tell from the way he carried himself and looked around he was a very successful person in some business world. He was wearing a khaki pants and a light blue button up shirt, he wore and expensive watch, which after just seeing the inside of the airport he considered hiding in his pocket. He looked to be about in his mid to late 50's he had dark brown hair that was laced with grey, he is faced was lined, but they were the lines of a hard worker. He carried a small suitcase behind him
"now now dear I'm sure he has a good reason, lets give him a chance after all he did ask us to come, its only fair. It is certainly nice and warm her " A woman said in a soft tone walking up to him and taking his hand. She was a few inches short of the man with a slim build, she had black hair cut short with the front slightly longer off to one side of her forehead, she looked about her early to mid 40's but was still attractive for her age, she had a kind face which seemed to smile often. She wore light blue jeans, and had a white button up shirt on over a light blue undershirt. She had a black backpack hanging on one shoulder, and in her hands she was holding a folded letter.
"well its time for him to finally come to his senses, why would he ask of the blue to come to,, this place, oh well time to bring him back home where he should be" said a third person standing next to the couple, they were in fact husband and wife, she spoke in a annoying tone like she was talking about a pet rather then a person they were looking for, she was tall and had long black hair, she wore jeans as well but had a well made dress black shirt and short sleeved light grey coat on. She looked around with a piercing gaze, clearly unimpressed by the surroundings, she was holding a small photo in her hands, it was a photo of a group of high school students around a bench, the miniature version of her was standing and was using another boys head as an arm rest while they posed for the photo.
They stood waiting for a taxi to come pick them up and take them into the city to then they would looking for the address on the letter.
They ended up having to wait nearly 40 minutes for a taxi which did not help the moods of certain members of the group.
Meanwhile at Phukhet beach around that time.
Rock was waking up slowly, he could feel a warm weight lying next to him. He opened his eyes to find quite a sight. Revy was sleeping peacefully in bed next to him, he then realized neither of them were any clothes, looking over his shoulder he saw them scattered around the room. His immediate thought was, oh shit we must hit a new record in drunk, and that Revy would be pissed when she woke up.
Then after a second he remembered what had happened last night, and relaxed. He thought back to when he first kissed Revy, then whey he was looking down at her naked before him. They had made love to each other. He still could not believe it, being with her had been amazing, he had never felt that kind of chemistry before. Without realizing it he had started to stroke her shoulder, until he heard her utter a soft moan in her sleep then she mumbled something in her sleep that sounded a lot like his name. He smiled softly and sat up leaning against the metal wall, it was cool but felt good. That had certainly been one of the best night's sleep he had, had in a while.
He was still softly stroking her shoulder following the swirling pattern of the tribal tattoo she had. Then he felt her stir, he looked down just as she slowly opened her eyes, that normally meant she had a good night as well, well this time he was sure of it.
Revy looked up and him and grinned "hey there stud" she said. Rock blushed at the her tone of voice. Revy chuckled "that was one hell of a night, never knew you had it in you Rocky baby" she said sitting up and stretching, "ahh man feels fucking fantastic to get a good nights sleep" she said in a Revy style cheerful tone. Rock could not help but grin "so I guess its official" he said. Revy looked and him with that devilish grin "you bet you ass baby, your mine now" she said pleasantly and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before climbing out of bed and began putting on her clothes. Again Rock could not help but smile, he then got out of bed as well and began putting his clothes back on himself. He had just gotten his pants on when there was a knock at the door, "hey Revy, you seen Rock anywhere by any chance" It was Dutch. Revy grinned as she opened the door "mourning boss" she said walking past him heading for the bathroom to get cleaned up. Meanwhile Dutch was left with his jaw hanging open when he saw Rock with only his pants on and also noticed the messy state of the room.
Dutch then finally spoke "so Rock have a good night" he said. Rock look embarrassed and scratched the back of his head, "ya thanks Dutch" he said putting on the rest of his clothes and picking his and Revy's holsters, "sorry about this" he said putting on his boots. Dutch then took out his pack of cigarettes and lit a couple up passing one to Rock "don't worry about it, I guess I didn't expect this so soon, anyway we can talk later" he said turning and heading for the control room. Rock followed behind him still feeling kind of awkward, "Miss Balalaika called a short while ago, she says for now the coast is clear and we can head back, she asked for you to stop at her office when we got back to Roanapur" he said as they climbed the ladder up to the control room.
"Me? Did she say why" He asked confused. Dutch got into the stair and started the engines "she said to say sorry but you'll understand when you go see her" he said in a calm tone, Rock guessed he was also eager to find out about the whole situation they had been dragged into, but he had learned being reckless caused more problems then it solved.
Rock picked up on what Dutch had been thinking "I'll make sure to hear everything she has to say on what's going on" he said. Dutch chuckled "owe I knew you would Rock" he said.
"what's going on" came Revy's voice, rock turned to see her and Benny coming up from the main cabin. She grinned when she caught Rock's eye. He handed over her guns an she thanked him.
"Were heading back to Roanapur, Balalaika's called Rock in for a meeting about something" Dutch said as he slowly backed the ship away from the sand and further into the water before he could turn around. Revy went an stood next to rock leaning back against the side of the ladder that to the upper deck "did Fry Face say what she wanted?" Revy asked. Rock could hear annoyance in her tone of voice, he guessed she was mad since she had something planned for today, "Sorry Revy can ya take a short rain check on that date of ours, I'll buy the first round when we get to the Flag later" he said. Revy perked up at that offer, she then grinned and lightly punched his shoulder "deal, but make sure to take your guns with you" she said in a low voice, he could heard the concern in it and nodded.
Rock then left to go get washed up in the bathroom.
Benny then turned to Dutch "so what's the plan for today?" he asked.
Dutch thought things over "We'll head back to the office hopefully the place isn't too wrecked after that shoot out Rock got into, then we'll wait till we find out what Balalaika has to say" he decided.
It took them a little bit over an hour for them to get back to port.
Revy jumped down from the boat as Rock was finishing up tying up. They all got into the car which thankfully for once was not shot or blown up this time, as usually happened to hit when they making an escape from some kind of cluster fuck.
Rock drove since he was gonna be headed to Balalaika's office in her territory of the city. He stopped first at their office to drop off the others, "hey you hurry your ass up we got plans today" Revy said leaning into the open window as Dutch and Benny headed inside. She also passed him a couple extra mag's for his guns, his were already reloaded "take these with you, ya never know when you might need them" she said. She then squeezed his hand, which was resting on the door, as wasn't really sure what else she could say, "I'll be back in a few Revy" he said smiling then leaned up and gave her a quick kiss before driving up the street into the city.
Revy watched the car go then she turned and headed inside.
She was up the stairs and inside the office in a couple minutes "so how fucked up does the place look?" she asked walking in the door. Looking around she saw it wasn't that bad, a couple stray bullets here and there one of them had hit the couch but overall no real damage, "huh well this isn't so bad they must had done all the shooting out in the hall" Dutch said as he went into their kitchen to get some coffee, something he hated missing in the mourning. Benny had headed off to his Room to check on the usual things such as orders he made for them from the computer and to beg forgiveness from Jane for being MIA for two days. Revy decided she would relax until Rock got back, so she set her guns down on the coffee table and started browsing through some magazines while laying back on the couch.
Meanwhile in a different part of the city the three tourist had just gotten dropped off inside the city. The taxi service was part of the airport meant to take people into the city but not to any specific address.
"well this city is certainly, different" The man said in a tone that meant he was trying to sound polite as he looked around. His wife was standing next to him looking around with interest "I find it very colourful and interesting" she said with a cheery smile on her face, she was a person who while aware of negative things in life had a positive outlook on life. The third member of their group looked as though she wasn't pleased either with the 'charming' sight that Roanapur. They were told there weren't many taxi companies in the city, so they might have to walk to where they were going. They had given the address to the taxi driver and asked if he knew where it was, but he had not been to that part of town in a while so he could not help them, and still he got a very nice tip from the kind faced woman. He then told them that many of the locals knew the city fairly well and should be able to help them.
They then began walking into the busy part of the city. There were in actuality in the busy market in the uptown part of the city. They were not concerned about time since it was still mid-mourning, they began to ask around the busy market, people passing buy, vendors, or people who were huddled around either drinking gambling or just doing nothing. Normally people in Roanapur never gave a rat's ass about newcomers or tourist, which were rare for a good reason, and once the group mentioned the name of either the place they were looking for or the name of the person most people seemed to want nothing to do with them and said they couldn't help them.
"hmm that's odd some people here seem almost afraid to talk to us once we mention the address" the woman said as they stopped at small shop to get something to drink. The man frowned, "why wouldn't he have come to get us at the airport, unacceptable" he said displeased. The woman laughed "now dear remember he day say he was working for a very time demanding company" she said resting a hand on his arm. He seemed to soften up a little at her reassurance. The third member had not spoken much while they were looking "I wonder why I've never heard of this company, well it doesn't matter since he'll be coming back with us" she proclaimed. The couple in front chuckled slightly, at her tone.
They were currently walking down a street when the older woman spotted someone who might be of help to them, "excuse me Sister but were trying to find someone in this city would you happen to know where this address is?" she asked to a woman wearing a nun's habit. She turned around when she was addressed she had long blonde hair and pink sunglasses. It was Eda.
At first Eda was going to respond she was too busy running church errands and was ready to quote some obscure passage from the bible to her seem less selfish, but when she turned to see the obvious tourist in front of her she was surprised, she looks familiar or at least looks like someone I know, she decided for her good deed for the day, after looking at the address she raised an eyebrow, "its in the downtown part of the city near the water in fact. If you take this street to the end your hit one of the main roads just follow that down to the water front then head east and you'll find the street your looking for you can't miss it" she said. The woman smiled at her warmly it was a mother's smile "thank you sister, here please take this for the church collection plate" she said handing her a handsome fee for the directions. Eda was completely taken back "uh your welcome if your ever need anymore help come to the church ask for Sister Eda" she said giving a friendly smile. Eda then had to get going since she was done with the errands that Yolanda had sent her out for, she looked over her should and the trio walking away "could they have been?" she said to herself then started to laugh "I can't wait to hear how this plays out"
In a different part of the city within the territory of Hotel Moscow
Rock drove slowly up the road of where he had been told was where Balalaika's office was located. He soon found it, from the outside it looked like an actual Hotel, probably to go with the mafia name. He parked out front and found Boris waiting for him at the door, "welcome to out main office Rock" he said in his deep accented voice. Boris was Balalaika's second in command, he had been working long side her since their days in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he had short dark, and was tall with a muscular build, he was wearing his normal attire which was a dark tailored business suit, his most notable feature was the large scar the ran down his face starting on the at the right of his forehead down diagonally to his left cheek. He looked down and noticed the two guns Rock was wearing on the inside of his blue button up shirt, "ah I see you've taken quite nicely to your weapons, I heard about your performance yesterday, very impressive" He said giving a light smile, he was a stoic man but Rock knew he was also a good and loyal soldier, "thanks Mr. Boris umm I was told that Miss Balalaika wanted to see me" he said a little unsure of what to expect.
Boris nodded "of course the Kapitan has been waiting I'll take you to her office" he said turning and leading the way.
Rock was surprised by the inside of the building. The layout was still akin to that of Hotel but he could tell there had been a lot of modifications, "I see you noticed, this building was originally a Hotel when we arrived, Kapitan claimed at as her headquarters and since then it has been altered in various locations, tactically is also an ideal barracks for our numbers" he explained leading him past some other members of Hotel Moscow, some were in soldier attire but many were wearing more business style clothing, Rock recognized a few faces, he also noticed the Soldiers keeping an eye on him he felt a little surrounded but he knew it was just their instinct. Rock was currently thinking over the situation, why would she want to see me and not Dutch, all these soldiers look pretty serious and tense, guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.
In downtown Roanapur.
"if the sister was correct then just up ahead should be the street the place were looking for should be just around this corner" said the woman with the kind face said as they were walking down a short street, the ocean was on their left, "the sea breeze is quite nice here I must say" she said. The man next to her nodded, they owned a small vacation house that they visited during the summer months it was on a beach overlooking an ocean. The woman behind them looked annoyed, she was in fact not fond of sea air and could not swim, and she found the salty breeze was ruining her hair, "well sooner we get back the better" she said. The man nodded, he was not overly fond of this city everyone was too shady and looked like trouble, he had also heard some rumours in the business world about this city and he figured this would be the kind of place that suited the person they were looking for.
They turned the corner and were on the right street now, they had to walk a short distance up the road before they saw the address they had been looking for all day, "hmm Black Lagoon Shipping company, an interesting name" the woman said, as they read the sign above the door. Her husband and the other woman simply looked at the building noticed some of it looked a little rundown. They saw another sign next to the door which was written in English, it said, Welcome to Lagoon company main office, Clients please Ring the buzzer before entering, office located on the second floor last door on the left.
" Well lets ring the bell to let them know were coming and then head for heir office" the Man said. His wife smiled then pushed the button they heard a muffled buzz from inside. They waited a moment for good manners and then walked in. The man and younger woman were not impressed with the state of the inside of the building, considering there had been a recent gun fight and they not had a chance to clean the place up, they reached the second floor soon enough.
**
They all heard the buzzer go off "looks like we got some walk-in clients" Dutch said as he was sitting in his favourite chair reading of one his books, he got up to put in back on the small bookshelf. "no rest for the weary" Benny said as he did a quick clean up of the coffee table, this was for in case they had anything with them concerning the job, Revy sat up from her spot on the couch and went to look out the window "no car parked, this better not be like the last fucking walk-in that sorry ass job cost more then what they paid us, waste of a day" she said in a bored tone.
They then heard the clients knock on the door, this was a little unusual few people in this city understood the concept of knocking on someone's door before entering, this got the attention as it might mean their client was not a bad one.
Benny opened the door for them "Welcome to the Lagoon Company, please come inside " he said in a friendly tone. Dutch, Benny and Revy were very surprised at who just walked in their door. There were three people a man and a woman both middle aged and younger woman behind them. They were all appeared to be Japanese, but what surprised them all was the couple in the front bore an strong resemblance to Rock. The man had a similar face, and the woman's hair was similar to his, they could all tell they were tourists to the city and did not look like clients.
They older couple both bowed their heads as was their custom, then the woman with a warm smile spoke "hello my name is Sarah Okajima, and this is my husband Hideki, were here to visit out son Rokuro" she said
At that the members of the Lagoon company were at a loss for words.
At that time back at Balalaika's office
Boris opened the door to Balalaika's parlour styled office and showed Rock in. Rock saw that Balalaika was currently in the phone leaning against her desk looking out the window.
As Rock was entering the room a soldier standing by the stood put an arm in his way to stop him and spoke a couple words in Russian "weapons, please" he said. Boris then turned and spoke "that will not be necessary his is a guest" he said. The soldier nodded and stepped back.
Rock walked and Boris closed the door behind him.
Balalaika then finished her call, "ah welcome Rock, thank you for coming so soon" she said walking towards him and offering her hand. Rock shook it. Balalaika eyes flickered to his chest an she chuckled "well this is a pleasant surprised only a few weeks after receiving those fine weapons and your wearing both of them it would appear I was right in calling you Two-hands Jr." she said laughing at the joke. Rock looked a little embarrassed "thank you but I'm still learning the ropes on this" he said. Balalaika shook her head then gestured for him to sit on one of the two couches "I wouldn't be so modest from the reports I have heard you've really shown promise in wielding a gun, I suppose Two-hands has certainly rubbed off on you. I must add your attempt to protect your comrades life was quite admirable" she said nodding to him. She lit up a new cigar then rock suspected it was time to get to business "unfortunately this meeting is to discuss the situation were are currently in. It would seem our enemies have dragged you and the others into this" she said. She then nodded to some of the documents on the table she had shown Chang the other night.
Over the next half hour she explained the situation, just like when she spoke with Chang, involving Yuri , the power struggle he was starting, the fact that the superiors were letting him have his run since it did not directly affect them. She also explained that he had convinced some members of the triads who wanted Chang out of the way for their own ambitions, as well as assistance from some rather irked members of the Verrocchio family in Italy. She also mentioned they had a very wealthy sponsor but would go into detail on that after explaining what happened a on that freighter they had been attacked on.
"The night you boarded that ship you encountered some troops under the command of Yuri, the package your were sent to retrieve was in fact something he had stolen from us which contained vital information for someone who wished to mount an attack. It was a cunning strategy he paid some outside men to steal the information and then hired you to steal it while sending that team to intercept you. The end result would have been either you retrieved the items and escaped or you would have been killed then he would claimed the information was leaked by me giving him justification in starting a war against me"
She paused for a moment then continued.
"since you succeeded in retrieving the information he sent me notice that you were working against me and he would be intercepting you. However a mole we had in his ranks warned us ahead of time, I attempted to contact you before you returned to Roanapur but you could not be reached" She paused again to let Rock explain how the radio had been damaged, she then resumed " Fortunately he did not manage to get the plans from you at the meeting in the warehouse, this will be a set back for him, and he still does not have enough resources to begin his little campaign".
Rock listened intently "and it's because of this wealthy sponsor that they are managing to stay below the radar" he said looking over some of the reports
Balalaika nodded "very astute Rock. Yes my guess is that this is simply about revenge or greed for some of the ring leaders, Yuri is after me but I believe his sponsor has you and perhaps the rest of Lagoon in his sights which is why he is assisting Yuri, there is another leader involved who is supplying weapons from the states Chang has a lead on that and is currently investigating since we have yet to establish ourselves in that part of the world. We do however have a possible lead as to where the money sponsor may be located" she said handing rock and envelope.
Rock opened it, inside it was the manifest of a plane that had arrived earlier this mourning. Rock skimmed down the list of named when he saw three certain ones that made him gasp.
He looked up at Balalaika with wide eyes "There here in Roanapur?" he asked. She nodded "do you think the three of them are involved?" he asked.
At this Balalaika raised an eyebrow "three? I was under the impression it was just your mother and father" she said looking at her own copy of the manifest.
Rock answered hurriedly but was still trying to keep his cool "yes but you see the name under theirs, she's someone else I know" he said.
Balalaika looked and the name in question it was.
** flash to the office**
"and this is a family friend Shino Matsuyama (mat-su-yama)" Sarah said continuing the introductions. Shino did not bow she just looked around with a uninterested look in her eyes.
Revy was leaning against the couch staring with wide eyes, Benny was standing next to the door in a similar state. Dutch fortunately managed to get his surprise quickly. He stood up and walked forward extending his hand and speaking in a polite voice "welcome my name is Dutch, I'm Roc- Rokuro's employer and owner of the Lagoon company" he said shaking hands first with Rock's dad the mom, when he offered his had to Shino she did not offer her own hand at first then shook his hand.
Benny and Revy realized that he was just trying to kill time until Rock got back to explain what was going on.
Revy looked at both Sarah and Hideki with interest as she thought about previous conversations with Rock where his family had come up.
Dutch then asked them to sit down. The others then introduced themselves "I'm Benny pleased to meet you" Benny said nodding and smiling taking on the opposite couch. Revy stay standing behind the couch and did not speak up right away until Rock's mom looked up at her "what's your name dear?" she asked in a warm voice. Revy was taken back by how kind she spoke to her "um I'm Revy, nice to meet you" she said. Dutch and Benny were surprised by how formal Revy was being but they figured she was doing it for Rock's sake.
Shino then spoke "is Rokuro here" she said in a somewhat rude tone, she did not appear interested in the others, with the exception of glancing at Revy's clothes, and tattoo, she did not seem impressed. Hideki rolled his eyes after she had spoken "please forgive her forwardness she is just eager to see our son again" he said speaking to Dutch.
"why is that?" Dutch asked politely.
"I'm his old girlfriend I came along as well because he needs to come to his senses about leaving me, do you happen to know where he is?" Shino asked again.
Revy did not say anything but something flickered across her eyes.
Dutch noticed that and shared a glance with Benny, oh shit this place just became ground zero, Rock you better get back before Whitman get's loose, was his first thought his next was he was glad Revy's guns were under the couch for now.
**back to Rock**
"She's an old friend, and I guess you could say a old girlfriend" he said explaining Shino to Balalaika. At his somewhat odd explanation she raised an eyebrow "oh?" she said. Rock understood what she was talking about "well that was her impression of things not mine I left her a few months before meeting you all" he said.
Balalaika nodded "I understand. To answer your earlier question I do not believe your family are directly associated with this. I believe they are being used as bait for a trap concerning you. Since they are your family I decided to not interfere and let you handle the situation, hopefully this will give us some clue as to who the sponsor may be. I am willing to bet they have a some people watching them. That was why I called only you here since if they have done any background checking they would just assume your running errands as usual, it would have looked suspicious if I had called you all here" she explained.
Rock nodded "umm would you happen to know where they are at the moment" he said. Balalaika chuckled "don't worry Rock they are fine, according to rumours some of my collectors have heard they were looking for the address of your office" she said. Then was surprised when Rock's eyes widened in shock "is something troubling you?" she asked curiously.
"well I know Shino is quite abrasive and doesn't think much of others. I have a feeling I'm gonna be walking to my own funeral now. I'm also worried how Revy will take to her" he deadpanned
Balalaika' lips curved into a slight smile as she realized the unintended meaning behind rock's words, well, well it would appear you owe me a dinner now Chang,
"so you want me to get back to you when I meet up with them?" he asked
Balalaika nodded "Yes. I don't think they will know anything though, as I said they may be just bait, but for what exactly I am not certain of. Please bring Dutch and the others up to speed on the matter, I would also recommend that you all continue on as normal, since Yuri is going to need time before he or his accomplices can do anything they won't risk any confrontation until then, so I believe you are not in any danger for now. However you should be cautious of the jobs Dutch takes. Anything involving Japan could be a trap" she said.
Rock nodded "I'll make sure to explain all of this to Dutch and the others" he said
This ended the meeting, Rock then realized what was ahead of him "oh by the way could you do me one favour Balalaika?" he ask.
Balalaika looked up "oh what would that be Rock?"
"well instead of me having to go back to office, could you direct me to a gunfight I could get in the middle of" he deadpanned.
Balalaika burst out laughing "I'm sorry Rock no such luck for you, I must say though your sense of humour never ceases to amaze".
Rock got up to leave "oh one more thing Rock" she said as she walked over to her desk an pass him a note, "have Dutch call this number for your compensation on that job, seeing as how you prevented them from taking the information with them its only fair I repay your hard work. It will a wire transfer as usual" she said.
Rock nodded then turned to leave he nodded to Boris as he exited the room and was escorted back to the car by a soldier
**
Back at the office Dutch and Benny were currently wondering how to keep Revy from turning into a live grenade, or at least somehow get out of the blast radius.
"Rokuro is currently out running a few errands but he should be back shortly, you can wait here if you like" he said. They all nodded, Shino was more of going with the majority vote.
Revy meanwhile had been acting fairly calm. Dutch again hoped she was avoid going ballistic on Shino since Rock's parents were in the room.
Hideki then struck up conversation " Our son mentioned to us in the letter he wrote that you are all a shipping company tell me about it?" he asked in a business like tone.
Before he answered Benny asked if anyone would care for drinks, his hope was liquor might help Revy. Thankfully they all agreed to some refreshment. As Benny went to find some glass's Dutch answered the earlier question "we take on job request from various clients to transport cargo to its required destination, we usually stick to operating out on the sea routes" he explained, he neglected to mention the part about sometimes bending to rules to put food on the table for Rock's sake.
Sarah accepted a glass of bourbon with a warm smile for Benny then spoke "and your company consists of a crew of four, my that is impressive" she said.
Dutch smiled and nodded "yes ma'am. It's not overly difficult. I handle the job request an negotiations on fee's, Benny is our expert computer technician and handles the equipment on our boat, and Rokuro handles the financials for running the company and also handles the in-job business transactions with cargo" he explained, its was more of less the truth about what each of them did
"what is it you do?" Shino asked looking at Revy, who was having a glass of Bacardi. Revy looked back and did not answer immediately, "I'm Rock's partner" she said in an almost fuck you tone.
Sarah looked up at Revy "Rock?" she said not understanding what Revy meant. Dutch saw Revy was still staring at Shino and figured he should divert attention, "it's a little nickname Rokuro picked up when he started working here" he explained, he was glad he didn't have to use Rock's old name anymore, they all knew Rock hated it as well.
Sarah then stood up to go stand next to Revy "well I am glad to see my son is still hard at work a shame he wasn't able to get into the same line of work as his older brother but he tries" she said quietly to Revy.
This woman seemed very kind, but her tone reminded her of what Rock had told her once, how he had failed the entrance exams his first year and his family did not expect to much of him. Dutch and Benny were right about her wish to shoot Shino, but now she began to observe all of them, pretty fucking obvious the bitch thinks he's property and dad over there probably didn't want to come, can tell just by looking, mommy here seems nice but she acts with a kind pity treatment, she thought. She was also wondering what they were taking about getting a letter from Rock, also going to have a word with Rock about this girlfriend bullshit, she thought. The parents she might leave alone but she would certainly like a chance to take that up tight bitch down a few notches.
Revy, Dutch and Benny then heard the sound of an engine approaching. Cars occasionally, however they recognized the sound of their Pontiac GTO.
"sounds like Rock is back" Revy said turning to look out the window next to the couch. She saw him getting out of the car, she could tell by looking at him that there was something on his mind.
Soon enough they heard someone coming down the hall. Then the door opened "I'm back" said as he walked in the door. He's then stopped dead when he realizes it isn't just his friends in the room.
Oh shit, is his first thought as his eyes quickly go to Revy who is leaning against the wall with the window, he notices she has the brooding look in her but since she doesn't have her cutlass out he takes that as a good sign.
"Rock some guests arrived while you were out" Dutch said to help break his shock. Thankfully it worked and he regained most of his composure "hi Mom, Dad, Shino, umm this may sound weird but how come your are all here?" he asked. Revy noticed he had buttoned up his shirt at the middle to hide his gun's, the holsters were designed not to be noticed under clothing if necessary.
His father stood up "mind your manners son" he said clearly not pleased. Sarah then walked forward "you sent us a letter son telling us about the company have been working for and wanted your father and I to visit you" she said handing him a folded letter she had in her pocket.
Rock took the letter and skimmed through it. After just a few lines it was easy to see he never wrote this never, it was written by someone who wasn't familiar with writing in English. He was fluent in speaking and writing in several languages. The one thing that concerned him the most was in the letter he mentioned how he was considering returning home, this must be what Balalaika was talking about but why go back in Japan.
He then looked up at his parents then at the other person with them "did you come with them Shino?" he asked. The others could tell he was not happy that she was hear.
Shino however seemed oblivious to his mood, "yes I am currently in an executive position along with your father in his company, he mentioned the letter you had sent asking for them to come, and I figured I would come along to take you back to Japan where we can get things back to normal before your left me" she spoke in a tone that at first sounded like she was showing off to sell herself, then it became sort of commanding.
Revy saw that Rock was getting angry with the bitch's tone of voice, but he seemed to be holding it in. This made her feel better about her being here, but she wondered what was going on nonetheless.
Rock meanwhile was deciding what to do about the 'guests'. He needed to get them out of here and try and find out why they had come. He noticed the glasses of liquor on the table and got an idea "hey how about we go somewhere and get caught up, I know a place" he said.
Sarah nodded "ok son sounds like fun" she said. Hideki and Shino mumbled their ok's. Rock then grinned "great um I need to have a quick word with my friends thought, why don't you all go wait in the car out front I'll be down in a minute" he said.
Thankfully they agreed and headed out the door. Soon as they were gone Rock let out a sign of exasperation, "Fuck this is ridiculous" he said clearly in a bad mood.
"Rock?" Revy said, normally she would be pissed but she was confused about what was going on.
He then looked up at his friends, "sorry guys I can't explain all right now, but I didn't invite them here that letter was sent to them as part of some kind of trap, I'm gonna take them down to the Yellow Flag and try and find something out when I get back I'll tell you everything Balalaika told me" he said trying to take charge of the situation.
Revy grinned at the bit of news "want me to come along Rock?" she asked. Rock looked at her and his eyes softened "Sorry Revy, there's a chance that they are being watched and I think this trap involves them trying to get me to go back to Japan. Balalaika warned me that someone working with that Yuri guy might have me or all of us in his sights" he said explaining as fast as he could
Dutch had been listening quietly then he spoke "if that's the case wouldn't it be wiser to not go alone?" he asked.
Rock shook his head then passed him the letter "whoever wrote this makes me sound like I wanna go back to Japan, they aren't actually part of this trap just being used, if I go alone it would look more like their plan is working an maybe I can get some information" he said.
Revy was surprised she had reading the letter of his shoulder and gave him a light punch on the shoulder "not bad Rock your getting better at this" she said thankfully her mood was a lot better now.
Dutch thought things over a little bit "alright you go ahead Rock, but if you start to smell trouble get back here right away, you've got your own weapons now but your not good enough yet to handle something big" he said.
Rock nodded "right I'll be careful. Oh Balalaika wanted me to give this to you, call that number so we can get out compensation for that set up job" he said, pulling the piece of paper from his shirt pocket
Just then they heard the sound of their car's horn blaring.
Rock let out another sigh, then he grabbed the bottle of Bacardi that had been sitting on the table and in a very comical fashion took a long drink. Revy nearly burst out laughing at the sight.
He set the bottle down and the horn honked again "well at least I can look forward to telling Shino to fuck off, maybe I'll take them down to the water to see the boat" he said
"why?" Benny asked.
Rock ginned evilly "Shino can't swim" he said, this caused Revy to chuckle at his dark joke.
Rock then headed out the door. While he walking down the hall he heard the door open behind him "hey Rock hold up" it was Revy. Rock turned to see her walking towards him, "just wanted to say watch your back out there alright" she said looking a little embarrassed. Rock smiled then leaned in to kiss her quickly "don't worry I'll make it up to you promise" he said. From his tone Revy guessed what he was talking about and blushed a little.
Rock then turned and headed down the stairs he sighed again "well this is not going to be a fun evening" he deadpanned.
Soon enough he walked out of the building into the street, he saw the sun was starting to go down. Looking to his left he saw his parents and Shino sitting in the car.
Rock was unaware that he was actually being watched. The were two people watching him. One was up the street wearing ragged clothing and slumped on the sidewalk like a drunk bum, the other was sitting in the shadows of one of the abandoned rooms in the building across the street, their orders were to observe only but they had suspicions already about their target.
They saw their target get into the car and drive away, they would follow him.
A/N: wow I'm really hurting my sleeping time, but can't really stop. I am certainly being evil to Rock, have no fear they will be gone by the next chapter and that Shino will be brought down a peg or two. Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions I will try to keep them in mind to further improve the chapters hope you all enjoy this chapter. Stay tuned : )