A/N:
Update: It's been officially beta'd! Thanks a million to Miyanoai, who bails me out of my own writing faux-pas. Seriously girl, I am blind to many of my mistakes. You are a lifesaver!
Sorry that it took so long to get this posted. I'm in business school, I'm a retail manager and it's the holidays. It's been ridiculously busy for me. Plus, this chapter was hard to write. I knew what came before it, little parts of what happened in it, and what happened afterwards. The majority of it just happened as I wrote, and writing it down was like pulling teeth!
Chapter Nine:
Akihito threw his head back as he let out a frustrated howl. His escorts looked at him with concern, but no one started running towards him. They were getting used to his antics now, and they were probably just as tense as he was. They wanted to be where the action was, but instead, they were stuck at the hospital under the guise of securing it.
It was already secured. An entire ward had been emptied, save the skeleton medical staff. Reiko-sensei had called in his best surgical team, and they were on standby until Asami could bring Hisana. Men in suits regularly patrolled the empty hallways, muttering into their headsets. The general consensus was that they would have rather gone after the Asami heiress. Akihito could not stand their grumbling, because was exactly where he wanted to be.
Only Asami had sent him to the hospital instead.
"Matsuhara runs most of his business out of Kanagawa," Kirishima had snapped his phone shut. The man was a shipping tycoon, with eighty percent of his income revolving around the docks. He would have taken her to a location near the ports, because Matsuhara would feel like he was safe there, and in control.
"It's too big an area to search without alerting him to our presence," Suoh growled as his grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"But he went home to his wife!" protested Akihito. If the photographer closed his eyes, he could see the terrible film playback on his eyelids like some twisted movie theater. He could not fathom how his lover saw such gore every day.
"Factor in the hospital, and we have a search area," Kirishima surmised. The secretary had already given this a considerable amount of thought, his quick mind working in overdrive. On paper, it was an immense area. It would take days to sift through it thoroughly.
"Too large," Asami took a deep drag off his cigarette. Akihito's mind flashed back to Club Peek, and how all of this could have been avoided if the family didn't smoke. "We'd never get to her in time."
That left only one option.
"Get the money ready," Asami gruffly ordered. "Half in cash, half electronic."
The hard cash would give them some control over the situation. Sergei had no reason to hold up his end of the deal if he had his money. More than likely, if Asami paid the full sum, he would find Hisana's corpse, its throat slit and no sign of the Serbs.
"It's done," Kirishima informed him without ever touching his phone. The secretary had anticipated his decision and acted, knowing that every second was precious.
Asami should have been furious that Kirishima had acted presumptuously, but he was glad that it was done. One less thing to worry about. The ransom money would be waiting for them at the eastern warehouses.
Akihito had never seen so many people move so quickly. He counted seventeen goons dressed in black and Kevlar. Crates were stacked up to the ceiling, but a few had been torn open. Semiautomatics, big guns, hand guns, all types of guns frothed out. Packing peanuts squeaked when shoes crushed them. Men were putting extra magazine everywhere, tucking flash grenades and complicated looking equipment on their belts.
"Give Tatsuuma a ten percent return since his shipment will be late," Asami told Kirishima. Tatsuuma would understand. He was an old friend––as much as one could be. Asami had helped him out of many scandals, including a botched assassination attempt. The politician could wait an extra two days to extract his revenge on the family that ordered the hit.
"Yes, sir," Kirishima stepped away, phone to his ear.
"Suoh, get the address from our guest. They get half now, and the rest when I have Hisana."
Suoh, too, faded into the darkness. Suddenly, Asami was gripping Akihito's arm so tightly that the photographer could not stop his gasp of pain. The crime lord winced, but still threw Akihito into a small office. The door's slam reverberated in the concrete room.
Akihito's heart was in his throat. "Ryu, I––"
"Are you okay?" his lover grabbed both of his arms. His wild eyes flashed, half crazed as his ebon bangs fell in front of his face. "Is any of it yours?"
The blood. Benito's blood. Akihito had forgotten that he was covered in it. The stains on his shirt had dried into a flaky light brown, but the coppery musk still clung to hims like fog. "No," he shook his head quickly. "It's not mine. I'm fine."
Asami sighed in relief. Flat palms rubbed his eyes, pushing them deep back into his skull. "When I saw you outside the prison, you were so pale. I had thought––" Realizing that he was rambling, the fixer pulled away from the photographer. "You aren't going with us. Suoh is arranging to have men take you back to the safe house."
"What?" Akihito cried. "No! Ryu, I'm not going to let you go alone!" Asami's mind was quickly being consumed by the swirling vortex that was the abyss. Kirishima and Suoh could not protect him from himself. No, they would let him slip into the madness that he demanded.
"Yes, you are," Asami tried to keep his voice even. "It's going to be dangerous-––"
"I'm not afraid!" the boy shouted over his lover. His declaration sent Asami reeling back, gold eyes flashing in shock. Akihito snarled, "I won't let you––"
Asami pulled him to his chest. Pointy hips dug into the flesh of his Adonis belt. Rib cages collided, knocking the air out of his body, yet the photographer melted into his lover's arms. "I can't concentrate with you there, Akihito," the man was whispering fiercely. "I can only think about you."
Akihito choked on his own breath. "Ryu…"
Asami shook his head, and pressed tender kisses into his blonde hair. "If you come, I won't be able to save you both." He would lose everything.
But what about Asami? He was so caught up in the pain and the blood that he was slipping away. He would not save himself. Akihito needed the man that held him like he needed to breathe. If Asami died, he would too. "I can't lose you," he hissed as the tears started to slip through his clenched eyed. He feared that if he let Asami out of his sight, that the man would never return.
"You won't. We'll go to the abyss together."
Asami was already teetering on the edge of it. "Let me go to the hospital," Akihito pled. "She needs to be with family when she wakes up."
"Akihito––"
"I'll sit with her until you can make it," Akihito's smile was weak. Here was a way to force his lover to come home. "We all know you'll be late. You always are."
Asami kissed him roughly. It was not a soothing or reassuring kiss. Fire exploded between them as the ravaged each other. This was war. The fear was palpable and both were soaked in it. It was possible that the entire Asami family would be wiped out tonight. Then Akihito would be left alone, with only memories of his lover, as if were all just a dream.
He had to say it one last time. Jerking away, he gasped. A thin line of spit was strung between their lips. "I love you, Ryu," his chest heaved.
Asami grabbed his head and pressed another kiss to his lips Words were nothing to the fixer, trite and overused. Even Hisana rarely made the declaration. Hearing them come so honestly from Akihito was heady and humbling. His beautiful boy, so pure and giving, meant it. Asami trusted its veracity like he trusted Akihito's heart to keep beating.
"I love you, Akihito,' he whispered gently into his ears. "Always, I have loved you."
Akihito stilled his shoulders. Stepping back, he wiped his tears away. There wasn't time to cry or give Asami all the kisses in the world. The man he loved cared enough to tell him goodbye. Asami was not sure that he would come back unscathed from the assault, and gave Akihito the only goodbye he could ever say. "Then bring her home," Akihito would do his best to bring Asami back. "We'll have a have family celebration for your birthday. I promise,"
Asami nodded. He would bring her home. It was a promise. And then he too slipped into the darkness.
That was how Akihito ended up at the hospital. He was perfectly safe. All he could do was wander up and down the cold, empty corridors, waiting as he thought of his lover. It turned out, that after all of his doubt and trepidation, the love was there. It had always been there, but was never acknowledged. He was in love with Asami Ryuichi, and the crime lord cared for him just as fiercely. It was nice to know that they had gotten that mess straightened out, though they had plunged into a worse one. After that mutual epiphany, Akihito was liable to lose him.
***Sunshine***
The armored SUVS drove silently in the night. They were nearing the exchange site. Mastuhara had her several stories above ground, in a cheap brothel. Asami never would have looked there, preferring to do business in secluded locations rather than the attic of a whorehouse. The strung out prostitutes would think her shrikes were exaggerated cries of ecstasy. They were paid to stroke egos as much as they were to fuck, after all.
"We should haff called Sergei," Benito mumbled. He sat between Suoh and Al Madani, handcuffed to both men. "He won't know to haff her ready."
"I'm not play into any trap your boss has masterminded," Asami loaded his favorite gun. He chewed on his cigarette, rather than smoke it.
"He does not want to trap you," the Russian huffed. "He wants to go home. He has grand babies now." The sooner they got out of Japan, the better. Asami Ryuichi would hunt them down and take his revenge. They were much safer in their barracks, fighting their civil war. Hopefully, they could evade him for a few years.
***Sunshine***
He kept pacing in the corridors. Ueda found him shortly after his arrival, and the man appointed himself as Akihito's shadow. He followed the photographer, always just out of sight, but his footfalls were loud.
Akihito slumped into a vinyl chair. His hand rubbed his face and he groaned. "How's…" he trailed off. He actually did not know Ear-Guy's name.
Ueda stood in the doorway of the waiting room. "Laghari is doing well. They were able to reattach his ear."
"Good," the photographer sighed. It gave him some hope for Hisana's ear. "And––"
"Musume-sama's ear has been preserved," Ueda reported. "Should Asami-sama bring her within the next few hours, it should be relatively easy to reattach."
Excellent. Asami would bring her, and the family would be whole. This would be nothing more than a nightmare.
***Sunshine***
They had the brothel surrounded. He heard the harsh breaths of his men echo in his earpiece. Felt the tense bodies coil tightly, and tasted the tension in the air as sweaty hands gripped cool guns. All exits were covered. His men had eyes on all windows, and even a sniper hovered overhead in a helicopter, noiseless in the loud night. Tachibana had taken care of the stationed bouncers moments before the motorcade arrived.
The brothel was in the seedy part of Kanagawa's red light district. Matsuhara did not own the Crimson Rose, according to Kirishima. It belonged to the local yakuza, Hashimoto Toshiro. On the surface, it did not look like the man was involved, but Asami knew he would be paying him a visit soon. It seemed impossible that this would happen under his nose with Hashimoto knowing nothing about it.
Suoh exhaled slowly, his fingers flexing. Brown eyes met gold, and Asami nodded. It was go time. Kicking down the door would have been satisfying but it would announce their presence. Even if Benito was telling the truth, Asami wanted to be in control. "We're going in," Suoh muttered into the mouthpiece before quietly opening the door.
"Money first, gentle––"
Suoh's shots were muffled by his silencer. The bouncer fell down dead. The blond behemoth stepped over the corpse, eyes searching for any threat. When he gave the all clear, Asami and Kirishima slunk in, flanked by their men. Benito was wedged between Akinawa and Oshiro. "Up the stairs," the Russian said softly. "She's in the attic."
"Kill anyone who sees us," Asami gave the order. They would deal with the ramifications later. Lives cost so little money.
They moved quickly and quietly. The staircases were in the center of the floor, creaking planks and a half wall. Thus the entire floor was open, letting security cameras see anyone that moved. If he leaned over the edge of the stairs, he could look up or down, finding Hashimoto's men. One door slid open, and a wide-eyed whore could barely gasped before Suoh put a bullet between her eyes. The man in the room, caught with his pants around his ankles, never even saw the woman drop or the gun point at his back.
Two flights up, a small child banged on the door to a room, screeching "Mommy!" loudly. Deep grunts echoed, as the sound of flesh slapping flesh drowned out the child's pleas. Fukijima had his gun drawn on the child, who turned to watch the men. Fat tears rolled down her gaunt cheeks, and she chewed on the dead ends of her matted hair. "Mommy," she whimpered.
"Lower your gun, Fukijima," Asami lowly ordered over his shoulder. Hisana had cried like that once, calling for him a storm surged in the night. He, too, was fucking as she wailed on the other side of his door.
Two caucasian men stood like sentinels on either side of the attic stairs. They stiffened as Asami approached, hands itching for their weapons.
"Boris! Zakof!" Benito called. His beaten face peered between the Japanese men, but it was enough to still their hands. A second longer and they would have opened fire.
"Benito!" Zakof exhaled.
"Sergei was expecting a phone call," Boris growled. He palmed his holstered glock. Benito had failed his mission, compromising security, the operation, and their lives. The fool.
"I don't answer to Sergei," Asami drawled crisply as he walked towards the men.
"Indeed," the thin man with a flat nose said suddenly from the top of the landing. "The great Asami Ryuichi answers to no one. Though, for your daughter's sake, I had hoped you would be reasonable."
"Sergei,"
It was the man who had promised Hisana's safety. He walked like a predator, his steps almost mechanical but measured, conserving energy until he was ready to attack. His face was pleasant yet emotionless, but Asami could sense his calculating intelligence. He had played the part of Al Madani, testing the water for circling sharks before attacking his prey. He refused to waste time on Hisana if she was not valuable to Asami, but he was sane enough to bargain.
"Come," he jerked his chin. "She is waiting for you." Asami and his men exchanged glances. Kirishima kept his gun drawn, covering his boss when he started up the stairs. "She's both fearless and foolhardy," Sergei was saying. "She's killed three already. Four if Alec passes."
Asami was aware of the men at Club Peek, and Renichi. More must have transpired after the video was sent.
"I ordered her to be restrained," Sergei gestured into the wide room. "For her protection as well as ours."
"It says little of your men if they were taken out by a forty kilogram girl," Asami replied scathingly.
Sergei smirked. "I told you, my men deliberately do not hurt innocents."
Hisana sat on a mattress in the corner of the room. Her hands were cuffed behind her, but thankfully Sergei had given her a man's shirt. It swallowed her, but hid her injuries and protected the little modesty she had left. Red lips curled over pointy teeth as she snarled and screeched. Gold eyes widened in alarm when she saw him. Rather than taking comfort in his presence, she looked furious. Head thrown back, Hisana let out a preternatural wail and jerked on the metal restraints in frustration. Asami could imagine Kirishima rolling his eyes at her dramatics, but he could only feel the knotted coil of dread that rolled around in his gut as it released. She was bloodied and enraged, but she was alive.
Soon, she would be safe.
Behind him, Mahdi gasped wetly. Her eyes flitted to him as he whispered, "Al Hamdulilah."
Hisana's head slumped forward, her thick hair falling around her face like a curtain. Her arms were still taunt, straining the chain links that kept her bound.
"I received five million already," Sergei drawled. "I took that as your agreement to my terms."
"Or I've come to kill you," Asami threatened. "Five million euros is nothing to me."
"I do not presume to know you, but a deal was struck. I am an honorable man. I have kept my end of the bargain. She is unharmed by my men––even after killing some of them."
"I told you I could chew through a muzzle," Hisana sneered. "You should have pulled my teeth out!"
"Foolhardy and fearless," repeated Sergei with a soft smile. The look he directed at Hisana was almost fond. She was a daughter that would make any criminal proud.
"Akinawa, give him his man and his money."
The remaining euros were in a duffle bag that had been slung over Benito's shoulder. The exchange would be quick. Hisana needed medical attention more than Asami needed his revenge on the foreigners. Sergei's face remained stony, reacting neither to the money or his beaten man. "Release her," he ordered in English. In Japanese, he added, "When do you want Matsuhara?"
"Immediately." He needed to know who planned this, and who to punish. Asami smelled conspiracy. They were in Hashimoto's brothel, and Matsuhara was not the kind to look for foreign hit men. No, there was a mastermind using the bereaved father as a scapegoat.
"Daddy," Hisana walked towards him, rubbing her raw wrists.
He wanted to pull her into his arms. Check her body for injuries. Brush her hair as he did whens he was a young child. A smart father would pull her into his shadow until she was completely obscured by him, and invisible to the world. Al Madani was not enough of a threat to keep her safe, and sharks were circling around her. Her eyes glinted with appreciation and malice. "I want in."
Of course she did. She was his child, his exact image, and neither would let this night go unpunished.
Asami wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pressed a quick kiss into her hair before passing her off to Al Madani. He pulled her into his tight embrace. Asami still bristled at the sight but redirected his ire. He would kill Al Madani later. "Gather your men," he instructed Sergei. Now was the time to strike, while they still had the element of surprise. "We're going for Matushara now."
They descended the stairs much like they climbed them. Al Madani clutched Hisana's hand, his gun out as he shielded her with his body. All the Emirate men seemed to form a barricade around her. They were almost to the bottom when the shouts started to surround them.
"Hey you!"
"What the hell?!"
"Stop!"
Men in tight shirts rushed out of the hallways. They had guns and knives, all as tense as tigers. Hashimoto's security for the whorehouse. They must have found the bodies.
"Open fire!"
Asami reflexively lifted his gun and squeezed the trigger. Bullets flew. His men leaned into the staircase, using the wall for cover as the bullets rained down. Hashimoto's men had no idea who they were, and they were untrained security, hired for brute force. Still, their onslaught was relentless.
The cheap plaster peeled way in paper thin rivulets, mixing with the black bullets. Asami could hear shouts and feel the heat from the guns as they fired. Kirishima and Suoh were close to him, shooting their own weapons. The fixer squinted, looking up the faceless men. In a gunfight, the ones on the high ground had the advantage.
His men were dropping like flies. Bodies littered the floor, blocking doors and spraying blood everywhere. He had been wrong. These were not untrained muscle. But neither were Asami's men. They were all superb marksmen. They should not have been so overwhelmed, even on the low ground.
"We have to get out of here!" Kirishima shouted to Asami's men. "Move! Down the stairs!"
Suoh grabbed Asami's coat and hauled him to his feet. The giant covered the boss with his own body, his head twisting so he could see where he pointed his gun. Asami fired randomly, but did not––could not look.
Where was Hisana?
Al Madani was shouting at his men. In Arabic, Asami thought, but he could not be sure over the din. Hisana was clutching his hand tightly, and her other arm was raised protectively over her head as Al Madani drug her down the stairs. A red dot trailed over Hisana's raised arm. Asami's warm blood went cold. A sight. Hashimoto's men were using sights. And now a gun was perfectly aimed at her temporal lobe.
Al Madani saw it, too. Arm outstretched, he leapt and pushed her out of the way. Asami could not tell which gunshot it was––there was so many––but the Arab's body crumpled from the powerful bullet. Two more shots rapidly followed and he could only watch as the man's chest bucked with each direct hit.
"Mahdi!" his daughter screamed at the top of her lungs.
She lunged for her lover but another guard shoved her aside. A small hole blossomed between his eyes. He dropped to the floor, his legs catching around her feet. She stumbled, but momentum pushed her back. Jutting hips hit the half wall, and arms flailing in circles, Hisana toppled over the edge. The ground was three stories below.
"Hisana!" he screamed.
"Move!" Kirishima ordered their few remaining men. Hugging the wall as much as possible, they moved down the remaining steps, dodging bullets. Two more bodies fell when the projectiles sunk into weak tissue.
"Hisana!"
His daughter was lying supine on the wooden floor. Blood trickled out of her nose as parted lips struggled to breathe. "Dah…"
He could see the disjointed body, her bulging hip and flaccid leg. She could not stand, let alone walk. Her pelvis had been blown out from the impact. "Mahdi!" she gasped deeply. "Where's––"
Asami lifted her gently yet still, she screamed when he touched her dislocated hip. "Hisana," he whispered but the limp girl had already blacked out. Asami ran from the building. The remaining men, some Japanese, some Serbian, followed. Sergei was barking orders, the bullets still flying. He stepped over the child, her small body littered with holes. Tears still wet her face as she called for her mother with her dying breath. Yes, once Hisana had called for him like that child. He had been sleeping with a man he could not remember. Yet much like tonight, Asami had sent him away and swept his child into his arms. He could never fail her.
The night air was warm, untainted by blood and bullets. "Burn the building," Asami ordered as he loaded Hisana into the med-evac SUV. "Kill them all!"
Sirens echoed in the air. The police and medical services would be there soon. And they would want blood.
"Yes, Asami-sama," Nakano nodded before emptying his gun into a gas line. The building exploded with a raw heat, singeing his entire body. Burnt flesh and agonized screams swirled around them, as the whores and their clients were burned alive.
"Ryuichi, we need to go!" Kirishima's firm hand pushed him into a car. They both ducked as wood debris started to fall.
"You've got one more!" Boris shouted to the evacuation car. The Serb was carrying Al Madani. "I found him on the stairs. He was looking for the girl!"
"Hurry! Hurry!" Akinawa pulled both men inside. They had to vamoose pronto. Slamming the door shut, the tires screeching as they pulled away. The building burned like hellfire behind them, but Asami could only look as his unconscious daughter in the back on a gurney. Her limp arm swung with every turn, attached to her body by sinew and willpower.
A/N:
We are starting to wind down, with roughly three chapters to go! It has been so much fun writing this story, so I am both sorry and excited to have it begin to end––does that even make sense?
We are definitely going to have gore and violence in the next chapter. While I look to the ever epic Business as Usual for inspiration, I don't know how in depth I am going to go. Having never written gore and horror before, it could be a major flop. I am going to focus on finishing this before I return to Hyacinthus Bloomed. A new chapter of that will come soon, but this one will definitely be updated first.
Thank you all so much for your reviews, favs, follows, kudos, bookmarks and support in general! I love writing, but it feels amazing to know that other people are enjoying it, too!