"Aren't you four a little old to be passing out naked in a bar?" A familiar voice asked half-amused, half-exasperatedly.
Ren's eyes immediately snapped open and found himself face to face with Shin. "Aniki!" He yelped.
Shin was pleased to note that Ren had not blushed, despite the obvious mortification in his voice. "Hmm, good job hiding the blush. We'll have to work on the yelping though. A Kuroda never gets caught in a compromising position. You should have just acted like it was absolutely normal to pass out from an orgy with three of your best friends and asked me to leave." Shin lectured sternly, although his eyes were twinkling with merriment.
Yamato, Hayato and Ryu, who were starting to gain consciousness; blushed in varying shades of red.
"You're a sadist." Ren grumbled.
"Then you're a masochist for keep coming back for more." Shin shot back.
"Touché." Ren conceded.
"Anyway, get dressed, Ren. There has been an attack." Shin threw him an Oedo clan kimono.
Ren leapt to his feet instantly, not noticing Yamato and Ryu's winces at being shoved aside so suddenly. "Shit! I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Aniki. Are you okay?" He ran his eyes over Shin in panic.
"Relax, Ren. Not on me. The Tenkai clan was attacked at dawn this morning. They've come to us and requested for assistance, protection and sanctuary. I've sent Divisions 3 and 4 to help defend their headquarters. I need you to help me coordinate the rest."
"Is Uncle Tenkai and Kenichi okay?" Ren asked as he dressed quickly, folding the layers and knotting the sashes with practised ease. Even a full ceremonial kimono was no longer a challenge for him. He could put on all 12 layers in his sleep.
"Kenichi is fine, just some minor cuts and scrapes. Uncle Tenkai is not looking so well. They've been brought to the Oedo house. I only had time to staunch the bleeding before I came looking for you. Kumiko is looking after him now. I was hoping Yamato could help." He glanced at the aforementioned person questioningly.
"Of course." Yamato began to search for his clothes among the messy pile on the floor.
"I suppose it's convenient that all of you are here." Shin commented wryly. "Hayato, I need you to go back to the company. We're going to need a lot of cash. Fast. At least 7-8 million yen if possible."
"Yes, sir." Hayato snapped into action.
Shin looked at the last member of the quartet. "No offence, Ryu; but I don't have a need for you. And I hope that I never will, not while you're at your current occupation."
"None taken." Ryu smiled understandingly as he caught the clothes that Hayato threw at him. He sincerely hoped so too. The only time Shin would need a criminal defence lawyer was if he was in jail.
"I've been planning to talk to you though." Shin told him seriously. "You can come along and hang around if you want, we need all the help we can get anyway; or I'll summon you some other day if you would rather not."
"I'll get changed and head over straight away." Ryu replied quickly. He needed to keep his mind off yesterday's events. At least until he can have a heart-to-heart talk with Ren.
"Alright. Ren, Yamato, the car is waiting downstairs. Let's go. Ryu, see you later. Hayato, thanks in advance."
As they made their way down to the main business area of the bar, Ren looked at the manager. "Clean up the place, and I do not want the staff breathing a single word about anything that happened last night."
"Yes, sir. Of course, sir." The manager bowed to both the Kumichou and the Wakagashira. All of them valued their lives too much to let their tongue slip. One thing for sure though, they would never be able to look at the Wakagashira without blushing ever again.
Shin chuckled. "You needn't have worried, Ren. They are very discreet. Even I had some problems trying to locate you this morning. It wasn't until I revealed that I'm the Kumichou himself that they told me where you were." He said in a low voice.
Ren nodded, impressed at their competence. Perhaps the manager deserved a raise.
The Oedo house was in total chaos. With the Tenkai clan seeking sanctuary, there were people in every corner of the house. Half of them were Tenkai members; while half of them were Oedo members on standby in case of another attack.
Yamato was quickly led into the guest room where Uncle Tenkai was laying. The man's breath was shallow and his eyes were unresponsive. Yamato directed a stethoscope to his heart. Uncle Tenkai's heartbeat was too fast for his liking.
"How did he get injured?" Yamato asked Kenichi.
"He got shot in the shoulder, back and hip, I think." Kenichi replied.
Yamato was confused. The man was suffering something much worse. He had checked the gunshot wound in the back as his first course of action, but it wasn't fatal. Nothing to warrant the gradual shutting down of his body.
"What treatment was he given?"
"Nothing much, we just carried him in here. Shin stopped the bleeding. Kumiko cleaned his body with a wet cloth, but she didn't go anywhere near the wounds. He has been unconscious since we got here." Kenichi said, getting a little worried at the doctor's expression.
"What's wrong, Yamato?" Shin asked.
Yamato looked at Shin and Kenichi. "I'm going to be honest, alright? His body is shutting down, and I'm not sure what is causing it. The bullet wounds are not severe enough to cause this kind of reaction."
"So what do you have to do?" Kenichi asked.
Yamato took a deep breath. "I can't do anything." He said softly. "Unless I can find out what's causing it."
Both men swallowed in silence. "How long does he have?"
"About 4-6 hours. Maybe up to 48 hours if I intubate him and hook him up to an IV drip."
"Dear god…" Kenichi slumped onto the floor. Shin went to support his cousin.
"Do what you can, Yamato. Make him as comfortable as possible." Shin whispered as he led his distraught cousin out of the room.
"Yamato. How are you?" Ren's voice floated through the dim room.
Yamato started awake from the chair next to Uncle Tenkai's bed. "Uh. I'm okay."
"Come on, you need to rest too."
"I can't, Ren. He's dying and there's absolutely nothing I can do. I can't just leave him."
Ren crossed the room and pulled Yamato into an embrace. "These things happen, Yamato. You've tried your best. All of us know that. Uncle Tenkai knows that too."
Yamato sat back down on the chair. "I'm missing something, Ren. There has to be a reason why his body is shutting down. The problem is I still can't figure it out."
"Well, you can think about it in the living room, Yamato. You're going to hurt your back if you continue to sit in this chair. You need to eat too, Minami made hotpot for everyone…"
"What did you say?" Yamato interrupted suddenly.
"I said, Minami made hotpot… The one you said was delicious the last time, remember?"
"No, no. Something about a chair."
"I said you're going to hurt your back."
"Oh my god. Can it be?" Yamato rushed passed Ren and ran to the main living room.
"Kenichi," He asked urgently. "Did your father fall at any stage?"
Kenichi looked startled. "Umm… Yeah, he did. He fell and rolled halfway down a ditch when he got shot in the hip. I retrieved him, propped him up against my shoulder and we escaped. Is that related?"
"Did he hit his back or neck against anything?"
Kenichi frowned. "Yeah, a tree stopped him from rolling all the way down. I supposed it's possible that he hit his back on the tree trunk first. I'm not sure."
Yamato's head was spinning as he tried to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. Pre-existing injury to the back, followed by a subsequent impact, made worse by forced prolonged exertion, resulting in unconsciousness, lack of response to stimulus… "Yes! It fits!" He shouted excitedly. "Thank you, Kenichi!"
"It's a spinal injury." Shin said aloud, arriving at the same conclusion as Yamato.
"Yes!" Yamato looked over to Shin. "Get Minami to bring a full spinal support kit and the highest permitted dosage of methylprednisolone." His face fell after he uttered the last part. "Shit, how long has it been since the injury?"
"About 5 hours."
"Shit. The methylprednisolone needs to be administered within 6 hours."
"It's okay, Yamato. Just try your best. I'll call Minami up now."
Both Yamato and Minami worked feverishly on Uncle Tenkai for more than 6 hours. There was so much to do. First they worked on administering the drugs, then correcting the spinal injury, followed by mending the damage to the hip bone, ending with removing the bullet wounds in the shoulder and back.
Yamato cut the last stitch and heaved a deep breath. This time, he was satisfied that he had tried his best. He wasn't an expert with regard to mending bones, but he did the best he could under the circumstances.
"You did as well as you could, Yamato. I'm sure they understand that." Minami told him gently.
Yamato nodded. He knew Shin and Ren wouldn't blame him, but he wasn't sure how Kenichi and the rest of the Tenkai clan would react. There was a high chance of some form of nerve damage, which they would not be able to determine until Uncle Tenkai woke up. The resulting effect could range anywhere between a temporary minor backache to a permanent full-body paralysis. The delay in treatment also meant that he would walk with a permanent limp, even if he managed to recover enough to get out of bed.
Miraculously, Kenichi did not blame Yamato one bit; instead he was apologizing profusely for failing to inform the surgeon about the fall. Yamato and Shin had to keep reassuring him that it wasn't his fault. Not many people would have thought that it was significant either, they told him repeatedly.
After a few hours, Kenichi finally recovered from his guilt attack.
"Kenichi," Shin started slowly. "You will have to take over."
Kenichi looked at Shin in pure panic. "I can't, Shin. I'm not ready! I'm not like you!"
Shin gripped Kenichi's arms tightly. "Yes, you are; Tenkai Kenichi. This is your call for duty, and you will not be running away from it! You have dedicated your entire life in anticipation of this day. Do not sully all that effort due to fear!"
"What do I do, Shin?"
Shin stared back at him blankly. "What do you think, Kenichi?"
"I suppose I have to inform my Shatei…" Kenichi trailed off uncertainly.
Shin nodded. "That's always a good start."
"What if there's an uprising?" Kenichi asked desperately, as if it just occurred to him.
"What would you do if there was an uprising; assuming that you had ascended the leadership position in a normal way?"
"Rally the Family and send them out to talk to the men." Kenichi answered automatically.
"And if an internal fight breaks out?" Shin asked.
"We relocate to the Oedo clan headquarters with the leadership seal and set up our fighting base there." He recited studiously.
"And where are you now?" Shin raised an eyebrow.
Kenichi blushed slightly. "I'll summon my Shatei immediately."
