Author's Note:
Phew, taking a break here once more to bring you guys another chapter of the story! Before I delve into what struck Amato and his friends in the restaurant, did any of you find it strange when Kiera rejected the offer to go out with Amato? Even though the Boss's safety is above all else? This chapter takes place right after that, as we find out exactly what she planned to do!
Chapter 47: The Search For The Feather
Inner Feelings.
When the footsteps could no longer be heard, a tinge of worry was accompanied with the beat of my heart, my I could only push it away. I leaned against the back of the door, its fine sculpted wooden surface cool and strong, from thee, the rays of the sun, so warm and bright, was glaring as it shone into my room. For a moment, I found myself fidgeting the studded wristband I worn over my wrist, and contemplated whether my decision was the right one. When the thought of Lord Luciano and the Famiglia came into mind, I knew it had to be done. I only hoped nothing dangerous would struck Lord Amato today.
Adjusting my hooded robe in front of the mirror, making sure my shield was properly concealed, I pulled out from my pocket a picture. On it depicts the object we came to Japan for, a jewel, no wider than three inches, emblazoned with design, attached to chains and fashioned as a necklace or a pendant. Right, though we might just be acting on a hunch, it was all the lead we ever got.
When ready, my hands pushed the doors wide open, and upon stepping out of the room, Dante and Vito appeared from theirs as well. Armed and ready, I met up with the two of them in the corridor, a serious glint in all of our eyes. I'm glad they understand the importance of the mission for today.
"All right, here's the all the information we currently have on hand about the object. We need to track it down and find out where it is currently residing." My command was clear as I passed on to the two of them a folder each, containing notes and pictures of said item. Suddenly, Vito's eyes droop with a sudden sense of boredom and annoyance.
"I don't get it, why can't we get everyone to do this? The Boss and that greenhorn should not be frolicking around Akihabara, enjoying the sights!" The Angel Of Life whined in cynical sense, clearly annoyed and frustrated at today's turn of events. Perhaps he thought it unfair that I was pushing all the work onto the three of us.
"... It's because other than this vision Lord Amato had been getting, we have no real evidence that the object is still present here in Japan. I cannot put Lord Amato up to the task until we have more definite answer as to where the object currently is." I explained with a stern look in my eyes, the the words sounded selfish in their own rights. As Vito listened, his irritation rose ever so slightly, to the extent of pulling out his combat dagger and swinging it around to vent his emotions.
"So we are to search high and low in the Field of Autumn Leaves based on information derived from a vision birthed from the dreams of the Boss?" Dante calmly questioned, and despite how ridiculous the words sounded, his asking of the question felt extremely genuine. Perhaps he only wanted to confirm his thoughts.
"... Yes." I calmly replied, as there was no point in lies. Only the truth will have to suffice.
"Please, Vito. I require your assistance for such a task. I know the object is here, and I have full confidence that the three of us will find it." I asked out pleading, my eyes staring at Vito with an intent look, hoping for his approval. Whatever it takes, we must secure the object, or at the very least, find information on its location, who currently holds it in their hands. It is vital to the Zanna Famiglia. Vito looked at me for a good amount of time, before giving out a big sigh, dropping his shoulders.
"All right, Kiera, but you owe me for this one. We better find something by the end of the day, I would hate to see this turn into some wild goose chase." He proclaimed as a small smile stretched across my face. With our objective decided, our goal clear we made our way towards the elevator leading to the lobby. As I walked at Vito's side, the smile I had on my face was difficult to remove, and it bothered Vito whenever he saw it, even as much as to make him say if he knew I would smile like that just because of what he said, he would have outright declined. Dante accompanied us with a slight chuckle from his side.
All in all, I was relieved that Vito didn't refuse the mission, and excited to get started, considering the vast city we had to cover.
When my steps brought me to the bustling streets of Akihabara itself, I was flustered. Never had I seen a city so filled with life, the laughter and chatter of people drowned out everything else, and the sea of bodies walking around produced the monotonous feel where one gets overwhelmed. Calmly I took one step after another, my hood down and gently supported by the wind. It felt strange, traversing the roads out of my usual maid uniform. It took seconds before my features captured the sight and curiosity of many guys that once had their eyes glued to the stores and product from the sides of the street.
Some of them were hit with surprise, and left with an impressed look in their eyes, while others scoffed and turned around the moment they caught sight of me. Indeed, I have heard of the prejudice the Japanese would give to foreigners when they see them, though the reports had said that such behaviors had died down dramatically over the years. Perhaps I should have Vito and Dante by my side when I came here.
"Whoa! Look at her, is she one of the cosplayers? Her blond hair looks stunning!" A random guy from the streets cried out in excitement, and I could feel heat welling up to my cheeks from the praises he gave me. Realizing such attention could hinder me, I tried to push them away while I continued my way through the streets.
We had separated, the usual tactic to divide and conquer. We each decided to cover a part of Akihabara in order to meet the goal of covering every person as well as every one of the buildings that filled the city. Looking up to the sky at the central district, the the two huge rows of buildings that pushed out to the horizons indeed matched the description of which Lord Amato described his dreams. A city of this magnitude did bring a hint of doubt or two when I heard his description of a huge blaze that razed the area.
Lord Amato described the cries and screams of those victims in pain so clearly, I could hear them bellow in suffering when he retold his vision to me back then.
"All right, let's begin." I declared before I stepped into the first shop of the area.
Throughout the day, I went from one stranger to another, bringing the picture to their eyes. Most shrugged at the sight of the the picture, some even remarked that such and item could never exist outside the real of imagination, for which I was slightly annoyed. Nevertheless, I gave my gratitude with courtesy, bowing down politely for their willingness and effort to even stop and indulge me with their answers. Though I moved with fleeting steps, I made sure poise and grace were still present in my movement, the sight of myself looking desperate never showing its ugly face.
Till the sun sat atop the skies I continued my search, with little to no progress at all. Most replied with blank faces and confused looks, and as time passed, I found my confidence waning. Perhaps it really was just a dream Lord Amato conjured within his mind, and at that thought the light of hope within my heart flickered, at the risk of being snuffed out. Though my efforts never waned, I despised the doubt so easily formed within me, and the fact that I was jumping to conclusions before the end of the search.
"Status report." I gave out the order as I met up with Dante and Vito in the nearby park. They both appeared to have gone through a similar experience with mine, the slight annoyance in their eyes told me how little progress they have had.
"Nothing in the Museum, nothing but one bones and broken stuff they found in the dirt." Vito gave out in a sarcastic tone, emphasizing on the fact that the results should have been obvious.
"Nothing within the Police Department." Dante's report was quick and concise, or perhaps he really had little else to say. Needless to say, the search was really turning into a wild goose chase, and the lack of results left the three of us stunned with blank look to our eyes as we stood in the park.
My eyes observed the swaying of the leafless trees in the winter cold, with howling of the wind dying down with each breath. I was surprised we were able to catch sight of cherry-blossoms in Okinawa before. My conclusion was that the climate change are quicker to appear at certain areas of the country. Soon, the empty field I observe would be filled with a sea of gentle pink hue. The serene peace from the silence of the scene was utterly broken by the growling of our stomach, though.
"How about we go for some lunch before resuming the search?" I asked out to the two guys whose acts of concealing their hunger looked to drive them mad, and was quickly replied with nods of agreement. Together, we paced ourselves out of the deserted park. As I walked past the gates, my only concern was hoping we could actually find a restaurant in this relatively stranger before our strength was completely torn away from our grasp.
When we entered through the door, a whiff of seafood immersed my sense of smell. I took my steps in with curiosity and passion, the interest slowly rising within me. It was just as people would describe, the conveyors belts so prevalent in the stories is nowhere to be seen, there's just a counter, with burly, well built man standing behind a table of ingredients that was placed at his arms reach. Staring with wide eyes as I tried to name every single ingredient I could see in front of the chef, the three of us made our way to the seats. The chef of the sushi restaurant stood across the table, readying his knives for our order.
"All righty, then. What would you have? Always happy to see tourists coming to this glorious country of ours!" The big man proclaimed with a deep and booming voice behind the counter, reminding me slightly of Papa. As he handles the food with precision and speed, I could not help but watch in awe as a fellow cook myself. The man beamed a smile towards so bright we could not help but feel welcome.
"Spicy tuna!" Vito cried out as the influence of his hunger takes over. Soon, the three of us were ordering as if it was the most natural action in the world.
"Sea urchin eggs." Dante, with his calm demeanor never fading, slowly gave out his order after a quick examination of the dishes available. Each order was done not one minute after the order was made, the chef's knives sliced and diced so quickly, yet the attention to detail was astounding, as I could see the slicing of fillet and cuts precisely made.
"Shrimp, please!" Breaking out of character for a second, I placed my order with a huge smile stretching across my face, extremely excited to be watching the skills of a professional. Four shrimps was tossed into the air, and in a series of cuts, the shell was pried off before it landed on top of the wooden board placed in front of the masterful chef. In a swift arc, the rice and sauce was formed, seemingly out of thin air, and the shrimp gently merging with it to form a beautiful piece of culinary wonder. When the observation left me with awe, I had a very powerful urge to learn those skills to improve my own cooking.
"Hm, could all of this really be nothing but a fruitless chase brought forth from misled dream?" Playing my fingers and sliding them over my studded wristband, I chomp down another piece of delicious sushi as I laid out all the information I could gather from the Zanna mansion in front of me. There were notes and pictures all scattered over the table. Not giving up, I picked up a small picture, one of the few we had of the object we were looking for, and studied it with intent.
The picture was stained by the yellow mark of time, even the more modern pictures I composed from the ancient one we had carried with them a haze that blurred out most parts of the picture. But from what could be perceived, it only made it more difficult to believe. A glowing orb, crystal and stone, shone with rays of light in the middle of the picture, with the whole pendant itself engulfed in flames, looking very much like a fireball than something to be worn around your neck. Other more indiscernible parts includes a chain of gold and a metal shine of light besides the usual glare from the jewel center.
Indeed, it was difficult to believe such an item is a treasure to the Zanna Famiglia. It was difficult to believe it even exists, but I knew better. As far as classified, this treasure, as with many others, were indestructible, and was left scattered, now floating from one end of the world to another, their position unknown. If only we could just find them...
"Huh, that looks mighty familiar..." A stranger's voice snapped me out of the drifting thoughts I was having. Turning around to face him, an astonished look was flashed out from my face. Did he just say he knew of this object, the one we were searching for all day? The man was one of lean build with a thick pair of glasses over his eyes. Unkempt hair and a backpack behind him, with a sleek camera around his neck led me to the conclusion that his profession is as a photographer. Seemingly not noticing the surprise that had appeared on all of our faces, he made his way to the table a few feet away from us and started ordering sushi as well.
"Dude!" Vito cried out with a annoyed glint in his eyes, slamming his hand down on the table beside the man. Whether it was ignorance or not, the stranger looked towards us with confusion, but he did not look necessarily afraid or even intimidated.
"Can I help you?" His words, the question he gave out, carried with them a cheerful tone. It seemed he was not very affected by Vito's actions.
"Please sir, we need you to tell me where exactly you saw the object in the picture." I asked out in a polite tone, making up for Vito poor performance. This news, catching us completely off guard, brought us up to our feet as we stood beside the stranger, eager for an answer.
"Oh, it belongs to none other than the one who owns most of the shares around this city, the Princess of Akihabara herself, Y-" Suddenly, right at the most crucial point, he cut off his words, an uncertain look appearing in his eyes. A second was taken to make a decision within his mind before he continued. "Well, I suppose most would know her by another name..."
A wave of sound seemed to drown out everything else upon hearing the answer, leaving the three of us shocked and greatly surprised. It was unbelievable. It felt very much like fate played its hand, offering us assistance. When I asked the man again and again to confirm his words, he backed up behind his statements with full confidence.
"Yes, she always wear it around her neck, no matter where she goes." The helpful stranger declared one last time before paying for his meal, giving the proper goodbye in Japanese, and walked out through the door.
Truly, I did not know to see it as luck or not. The heavy impact of those few words left us locked to where we stood, invoking a myriad of emotions ranging from happiness to worry. I could see Dante and Vito looking to me for orders, but nothing decisive came into my mind. The atmosphere in the restaurant went stiff, going a complete turn from the peaceful, welcoming feel that was so prevalent before. Even the knives of the chef stopped, asking out what was wrong as he got worried about the three of us. Being the one quickest to calm, Dante politely assured the chef that his worries were not required.
"So, what now, Valkyrie?" Dante calmly asks out to me while the confusion was still sweeping over my mind. Even Vito's interest was piqued, his eyes burning with desire and interest in a somewhat excited fashion.
"Rrriiinnnggg!"
Just when I would confess my own inability to think of any answer and was about tell them to observe as things progress, a familiar ring-tone sounded off. Bringing a pause to everything else, I brought my cell to my ears, and Sergio's voice came busting from the small contraption.
"Kiera! We have a situation! Amato's been taken!"
His yelling was hoarse, his voice full of despair. In between words I could hear panting and the loss of breath, which meant Sergio was up on his feet and chasing. I could hear a good number of voices at his side, so I assumed the rest of them were safe. But his few words were enough to rile me up to a panic, having to push back the shock to calm myself and think straight. Certainly, we had to move!
"Changing current mission to sub-directive! Dante, Vito, we have an emergency!" My orders were clear, a harsh tone to my words. Perhaps anger had gotten to me, or perhaps I was just upset. Heading to the counter, I quickly paid the chef for what we owed in due. With a bow, I quickly push my way out of the restaurant with Dante and Vito behind my steps, a sharp glare in their eyes as I explained what the emergency is.
"Sergio, did you get a visual on the enemy, do you have their co-ordinates?" I yelled out back to him through the phone, our steps already running up to a sprint. The plan was to have both groups meet up, and to that end I listened in to my small cellphone, awaiting his answers. wetness filled my touch, as well as the chill from the cold, winter wind, but none of that matters. My mind was already berating myself for allowing this to happen, of my own foolishness to put faith to luck.
"We're currently on their tail, and from the looks of it, we're heading right for the eighth district! Hooded figures covered in a cloth of black cloth with blue stripes, they were too much for me and Johann to handle!" Sergio screamed out through the phone, barely able to keep his voice clear enough. I listened on as our steps went from hitting against the roads to the rooftops themselves. "Whether its true or not, I heard the public mumbling out a name when they made their appearance before us..."
"They called them the Kaijin Palm!"
I am truly sorry if you guys were expecting something more than a name, but this side of the story is crucial to the arc itself! Here, we get a chance to see the stronger members of the Zanna Famiglia, and how their interaction is like! I have been thinking, do you guys want more frequent updates in chapters? If you want a faster story than my usual weekly pace or not, tell it to me in your reviews!