Chapter 15: The Trap is Set
"Get ready kid." Raido said as they saw a single lone car drive towards the intersection. "The boss will be in the back with his security, make sure to take them out."
Eren took out his pistol and pulled the bolt back slightly, inspecting to make sure there was a round in the chamber. He let it ride forward and cocked the hammer back, so it was ready to fire. He had additional clips in his pocket in case he needed to reload.
Eren had potentially up to six targets with ten rounds before needing to reload so he'd need to take them out quick. Eren took a quick breath before walking out of the alley and ensuring his hood was up.
Raido told him that the lights were changed so that he could control them, so Raido was going to make it so that as they approached the light would turn red, effectively stopping them. Eren would use that chance to go up to them and shoot them before they could react. It would be effective in dealing with them before they can shoot back.
Eren walked up to the car right as they were stopping. Before they could do anything, Eren went to the back and when he was almost within arm's reach, he took out his pistol and fired a few rounds into the men in the back.
The loud sounds of his shots drowned out the yells of the men, who were trying to react as they were hit with not only his bullets, but also the shattered shards of glass from their windows.
Eren noticed that there were three men in the back and one in the passenger seat. Including the driver, that was five in total. He used all ten rounds of his pistol on the three men in the back, making sure that they were incapacitated. Many people can be shot and continue to fight, so he needed to ensure that they were unable to fight.
In moments, Eren reloaded a new clip as the passenger got out of the car and was in the process of drawing his own pistol.
Eren kicked him while he was getting out, causing the man to fall over before Eren executed him with a single shot to the head. The driver was fumbling with his own pistol before Eren pointed his pistol through the open door and fired a few more shots.
In probably less than five seconds, all the men were dead.
Eren turned around, ready to go to Raido in order to let him know the job was done, however he didn't get the chance.
Eren's eyes widened as he felt danger near him. He dove behind the front of the car as gunshots flew past him, barely missing him as he took cover. He heard the cracks as bullets flew over his head, but kept as much behind the car as he could.
"So you're the kid who killed my guys." Eren heard a broken English voice say in the distance.
Eren looked over the car for a moment and saw a group of well-armed men holding small two-handed guns. Sergei told him about those guns, Sub Machine Guns was it? Capable of firing in rapid succession like a water-cooled machine gun but only needing one person to use.
Eren looked at the guy in front. He was the target he was supposed to kill. The man was older, maybe in his thirties, but very skinny. He was dressed in a black suit pants, white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a black vest with a red tie that was very form fitting.
Eren was the one ambushed, not him.
"Come on kid, I'm going through the effort of speaking English, I'd appreciate a dialogue." He called over, holding what looked like some kind of gun with a cylinder over the trigger.
"What do you want?" Eren called over, trying to find a way to deal with them.
There were ten guys in the street, and with all those guns, Eren knew he would struggle with them.
"To talk." The boss said. "You killed some of my guys a little while ago, I'd like to get some payment."
"I didn't kill anyone." Eren said, not remembering ever killing anyone besides tonight.
"You were with the Russian a week or two ago, right?" The boss asked.
Sergei? Oh yea, his first job that ended in a couple of dead Yakuza thugs. He actually forgot about that.
"They tried to kill me." Eren said.
"And now they're dead, which is why I'm not going to be too upset." He said. "I also saw your little fight match, I'm impressed."
What is with the people here trying to manipulate him?
"Kanto is switching to a different gang soon, and I'll be the one taking over. Work for me, and I'll let you in on the benefits of playing for the winning side." He said.
So that's what this is, it's a war between two gangs. A new and smaller organization going against the larger and more established.
Eren cursed himself, he's fallen into a war that he has no interest in. Not only that, he's now known by the groups fighting, which means they'll be less likely to let him walk away. Eren didn't want this, he just wanted to find way to sustain himself until he found better work.
"Come on kid, I'd hate to have to tell my men to hit their target in the next attack." He laughed.
Eren didn't care to switch sides. He didn't feel like trading one boss for another, so he decided to stand and fight.
Eren jumped from the car and quickly took a few shots at the guys before running in an alley. He saw a few guys get hit but wasn't able to get the boss. He heard yelling as they shot at him and began to chase him into the alleyway.
Eren went into one of the apartment buildings as thy rounded the corner and ran upstairs. He got to the top of the stairs before quickly turning around and waited a few moments. Right when a thug came to the bottom of the stairs, he shot him until he was dead. They weren't expecting him to turn around.
Eren went over to a door and slammed his shoulder into it, breaking through and running into the apartment. Eren noticed a young girl and boy were there, probably young teenagers, who screamed when they saw Eren.
Eren's moment of hesitation cost him as he was tackled from behind by the thug. His shoulder exploded in pain as he slammed into the ground with the thug's full weight slammed on top of him. The thug took out a pocketknife and tried to stab Eren. Eren stopped the knife before overpowering him and stabbing him in the neck.
The man stepped back as Eren kept the folding knife with him. He pointed his gun at a few more thugs who tried to shoot him, but he was faster and hit them first.
Eren got up as a man and woman ran out of their rooms, probably the kids parents. Eren ran to their open window and shot it to break it open. He ran outside and jumped from the second floor.
Eren felt his stomach drop as he fell down to the street. Eren tucked and rolled as he hit the ground, his years of experience with ODM gear making it so that he was able to easily absorb the impact.
Eren turned down another alley, easily able to avoid the men who were chasing him. He needed to get to where Sergei was doing his deal, if nothing else, it would be another gun for Eren to rely on.
Eren noticed his left shoulder wasn't moving and screamed in pain. He knew this feeling enough to remember that he just had his shoulder dislocated. Eren has dislocated his joints dozens of times, so he's not surprised it happened.
However, another curse of being a shifter is how new it is every time he gets injured. Joint dislocations typically aren't permanent injuries, and in most cases relocating it will fix it. But the first dislocation is always the most painful since your tendons are fighting to get it back into place.
As the tendons stretch, further dislocations are easier and less painful. Dislocations actually become easier overtime, as long as there is no serious tearing.
Unfortunately, as a Titan shifter with fast healing, every dislocation was new. Hopefully now that his powers were gone, this will be the last time this shoulder explodes with pain from a dislocation.
Eren ran down the alley, hearing as the thugs began to lose him after exiting the apartment complex. He still had the folded knife so he folded it and put the blood covered blade in his pocket. His shoulder was limp and could barely move, but he needed to get away before more showed up. They had surprise and numbers on their side so he had to make a quick getaway.
"Kid, over here." Raido said from a door leading into a building. "Police are on their way from the shots, we need to hide for a bit."
"What the hell happened?" Eren asked.
"Well, we confirmed what we were thinking." Raido said.
"Confirmed what?" Eren asked as he sat down against the wall inside the hallway. The building seemed mostly abandoned so there was little chance that anyone was nearby.
"We expected the ambush to go poorly." Raido admitted.
"And you still sent me in?" Eren asked.
"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it would only be fair if you knew." Raido said. "This was not only to confirm something, but a punishment for you."
"Punishment?" Eren asked.
"Yea, the boss got upset at your little act of rebellion, so he wanted to give you a punishment." Raido said, moving to Eren's side. "We need to get that shoulder back in its socket."
"Go ahead." Eren said as Radio kneeled down. "What was his plan? For me to die?"
"Kind of." Raido said as he took Eren's arm and moved it a bit. "He likes your skills, but he was upset. He figured you'd die and no longer be a problem, or live and still be useful."
"That bastard." Eren said angrily.
"Look, as far as the boss's anger, it's done." Raido said. "He'll consider it done and leave it be. I highly suggest you take the punishment and just keep doing what you're told. The boss is losing interest."
"He can go to hell." Eren said.
"This is going to hurt." Raido said.
"Just do it." Eren said.
Eren grunted in pain as his shoulder was forced back into its socket. The pain was minor compared to everything else he experienced, even as a Titan. Eren worked the shoulder a bit in order to ensure it was still able to move. Luckily, it didn't seem like there was any major tearing.
"What did this confirm?" Eren asked.
"There's a rat in our group." Raido said. "This ambush was meant to see if there was a rat who sold us out. To be honest, I was expecting the police to show up, not a rival gang."
"Who are they?" Eren asked.
"They're the Nakano-Kai, a small group based out of the Osaka Prefecture, up in the Kansai Region." He said.
"What do they want?" Eren asked.
"They're probably trying to expand their influence into the Kanto Region." He said. "Their boss has been looking to make a name for himself for a while now. He already has influence in the surrounding Chubu and Chugoku Regions."
"Who is he?" Eren asked.
"Not too many people know." Raido said. "That's a question for Oyabun." He said.
"So, he wants to expand into the city?" Eren asked.
"Yes, but it's not easy." Raido said. "Few gangs have been able to expand into Tokyo, given how difficult it is. The largest family here is the Inagawa-Kai, that's us."
"I'm not interested in getting myself in a gang war." Eren said.
"Well, too late for that." Raido laughed as he patted Eren on his injured shoulder, causing Eren to wince. "You're more or less stuck now. One Oyabun wants you dead and the other one is just barely wanting you alive. You're stuck either way."
"I'm glad you find this amusing." Eren growled.
"It kind of is. What, you expected to do a few jobs with some gangs and expect it to be mansions and luxuries from there?" Aside from the wealth part, that is exactly what Eren thought.
"I made it clear I only wanted to do a few jobs." Eren said.
"And unfortunately, the Oyabun has different ideas." Raido said. "Anyway, it should be good to move now. They're likely gone, and the police will only have a few guys at the scene. So, we should leave before they close off the street and more guys show up."
"Wait." Eren said before he left. "My papers."
"Oh yea, sorry." He laughed. "Here you go." Raido handed him his payment and the papers for tonight's job. "I'm honestly glad you survived, otherwise I would have wasted my time on these."
Eren stood up, moving his sore shoulder to get it working again. He was pissed at the situation but decided to go meet up with Sergei so he could get a ride back to his apartment.
"Finally, done with the fried rice." Ai said happily as she carefully moved the very large pot of friend rice to the table where everyone sat.
Her small apartment was filled with all the girls and Miyako from B-Komachi. President Saitou was busy preparing the trip and getting the funding from Strawberry Productions, so he wasn't able to come. Miyako finished watching the kids so Ai could get the groceries and decided to stay for the food.
"It looks delicious Ai." Meimei smiled.
"Agreed, the food looks good." Nino offered her own commentary.
Since her table was small, many of the girls were either on the floor or on the couch and would simply hold the bowls so they could eat. Aqua and Ruby were at the table since they were kids and they didn't want them balancing the bowls while eating. It would be too much for young children and Ai didn't want to clean a mess.
"Can you sit next to me mama?" Ruby asked.
"Aw, but what about Aqua-Chan?" Ai said in a sad tone. "Shouldn't he sit with us too?"
"No!" Ruby yelled. "I want mama to myself." She said very possessively.
"Wow Ai, she's ordering you around." Meimei laughed.
"I know." Ai laughed. "I have such a needy daughter."
As they sat around and ate, all the girls gossiped and laughed about the past week. Much of it was some of the activities they did in between rehearsals and foods they tried out. Even a few close calls where one of them was almost recognized on the street.
Some of the conversations shifted over to Ai, much to her embarrassment. Meimei told them all about the trip to get her a swimsuit and the girls laughed at her expense.
"I really think you should have gone with the Sailor Fuku one." Watanabe laughed.
"Why would I go with a fetishized swimsuit." Ai grumbled as she glared at her coworker.
"Because he's a westerner." Watanabe laughed. "It would have worked so well."
"I told Meimei, Eren isn't like most westerners." Ai said. "He doesn't even like idols, one of the biggest things in Japan. I doubt he'd know what a Sailor Fuku even is."
"That is a shame." Nino asked. "I've tried flirting with a few westerners before. Some of them are more Otaku than Japanese Otaku's."
"We just need to find what Eren is interested in." Ari said.
"Yea, some kind of fun activity." Kyun agreed.
"Everyone has a hobby; we just need to find his." Meimei agreed.
"Weren't all you girls against Eren before?" Miyako asked from the couch.
"Well, yea, but that was before he saved Ai." Watanabe said.
"It was so romantic." Nino laughed.
Romantic... right. Ai did not think it was romantic in the slightest. She was grateful and could even say she found Eren defending her to be somewhat attractive, but she could hardly say it was romantic.
She remembered the rage on Eren's face. The complete bloodlust that overtook him. A rage that had to have been born from some kind of deep-seated trauma that he experienced. She had a good idea that it may have reminded him of his own mother's death, but the event itself was horrifying.
Not to mention she almost died, and her children were in danger. Then there was hearing Ryosuke's muffled screams as his face was crushed and the knife in his chest was twisted. There was nothing romantic about that in anyway.
But the girls seemed to actually be supportive of Eren now, so she wasn't going to argue with them on this.
"I still think all you girls are crazy." Miyako said. "He's dangerous and if I was you Ai, I'd tell him to leave."
"It'll be ok Miyako-San." Meimei laughed. "We'll protect Ai if he ever gets violent."
"Yes, because you'll all be so intimidating to a fully grown and dangerous man." Miyako said sarcastically.
"Well, how about we watch some TV to pass the time." Ai said after finishing her own bowl. She moved over to the remote in order to turn on the TV. "I hope you guys don't mind watching a kid anime." Ai said, wanting to keep the show kid friendly while Aqua and Ruby were here.
"No problem, that'll be alright with us." Meimei said, causing the other girls to agree.
Ai picked up the remote and hit the power button, giving the smart TV a moment to boot up. When it did, it showed all the apps that were on the TV. Ai put on the cable app, which took it to the last channel that was open.
"We're still waiting on information as to what happened during the fight." A news anchor said as they played footage of a random street in the city.
"What the, why is it on the news?" Ai asked.
Ai knew for a fact that she never watched the news. She'd search it on her phone occasionally, but she never had it playing on the TV so that her kids wouldn't see it.
"Aqua-Chan." Au called out, slightly upset. "Were you watching adult shows while I wasn't looking?"
"Uh... no?" He lied, poorly.
"He was mama." Ruby snitched. "He always puts it on when I want to watch anime."
What a snitch, aqua thought. She'll do anything to one up him with Ai, especially rat him out to Ai so she can have more time with her.
"Aqua-Chan, what did I say about watching adult shows." Ai said.
"Wait, what is it talking about?" Meimei asked, paying attention to the news.
"We have confirmation that this is similar to the event that happened in the Toyama Prefecture, during a gang war between two Yakuza gangs." The reporter said. "CCTV cameras have also gotten a look at the ambush."
The CCTV footage showed a man in a hoodie move up to a car in the street, before systematically executing the Yakuza members inside. The footage was grainy and hard to see, but it looked like he used a silver gun.
"Eyewitness reports show that this was an assassination attempt that was foiled. This recent event has shown a general increase in Yakuza attacks in the past few weeks." The reporter said. "Additionally, Police have released some information showing an apparent gang war starting in Tokyo. Residents are advised to report suspicious activity and not to be alarmed as the Police are working on bringing the suspects to justice."
The camera switched over to a man in a formal police uniform giving a speech from a notecard he held. He seemed important but Ai couldn't guess who he was. She guessed he was in charge of the Police in the area, maybe a Captain or whatever the police used.
"So far, we have gathered information that there is a potential increase in gang activities, however I want to stress that reports have been overblown so far and I urge the public not to panic." He said. "At this time, I have inspectors and agents working to bring the culprits of these crimes to justice and I assure you, they will be. This is nothing more than disagreements between Yakuza groups that turned violent, and we suspect that public order will be returned quickly."
"However, we have also gotten reports of an unusual suspect. Reports came in of a western individual has been employed by the Inagawa-Kai Group and has been helping them traffic firearms as well as apparent assassination attempts. While I cannot confirm these reports at this time, we will be investigating these claims. We urge the people of Tokyo to please report any suspicious activities and please do not panic."
Once he was finished, the channel went back to the main news station and started to go over different topics for the night.
"Wow, that's scary." Meimei said.
"Yea, a gang war in Tokyo?" Nino asked.
"Come on girls, didn't you hear what they said? It's being overblown." Watanabe said.
"Still, apparently there is a western criminal helping them out." Kyun said.
"How do you think they know?" Ai asked her friends. "I mean, if they know who it is, shouldn't they arrest him?"
"Well, if they're saying it's unconfirmed, maybe they have an informant." She said. "Someone who's giving information to the police, so they don't have a lot of information yet."
"Still, that is scary." Ai said.
"Mama." Ruby called over. "Are those the criminals you were talking about before?" Ruby asked.
"Yes Ruby-Chan." Ai smiled, wanting her daughter to feel safe, even if everyone was scared. "But don't you worry, the police will find them and bring them to justice." She said.
"Yea, there's nothing to worry about." Meimei said in the same tone.
Aqua didn't really care much about the situation. It was nice to know about that, but the odds of being caught up in any of those clashes was astronomically rare. Occasionally Yakuza groups clashed, he even had a few come through the hospital with various wounds before being arrested.
After all, it was just random crime. It's not the same as someone who is specifically targeting Ai.
After switching to a more kid appropriate show, the girls all huddled around the TV to watch it with Ruby.
Aqua noticed that the anime was actually something that Sarina would used to watch, and Ruby seemed to be just as invested. It's not too surprising, since Ruby was probably young and would have similar interests.
Once it got late, everyone left the apartment and Ai got her Futon out in order to put them all to bed.
"You look like shit." Sergei said as Eren came into the abandoned garage. Inside, Sergei already had a few weapons crates ready to deliver to the buyer.
"Did you do your deal yet?" Eren said, ignoring the man.
"No, buyer never showed up. How did job go?" He asked.
"They wanted me to kill a rival gang boss, it ended up being a trap for me." Eren said.
"You escaped?" Sergei asked.
"Yea, though not without injury." Eren said, his shoulder still sore from the encounter. "They were the same bastards who tried to kill us on that first job."
"I kind of figured, you're already on news." Sergei said.
"News?" Eren asked.
Sergei took out his moveable phone and showed Eren the screen, showing the video that recently played and explaining that not only was there an increase in violence, but also that he was helping the Yakuza.
"How do they know?" Eren asked.
"Probably rat or undercover cop feeding information." Sergei explained. "Best watch out."
"Damn it!" Eren slammed his fist into the wall.
"Calm down." Sergei said.
"This is getting out of control." Eren said through gritted teeth. "I don't want to get mixed up in a damn war, and not only that, but the son of a bitch also has a grudge against me for killing his men."
"You mean other boss?" Sergei asked.
"Yea, the bastard taunted me. Now I'm stuck between two bosses and their damn feud."
Eren was frustrated. He never expected things to snowball so unexpectedly. Now, he's caught the attention of the authorities and they're going to try and find a way to hunt him down. He never intended to do more than a few jobs for Sergei or the Yakuza. He needed resources until he could find more legitimate work, but now he was stuck in another war with no way out other than fighting.
And if it came down to it, Eren would fight.
"I'm just fumbling around in the dark. I know nothing of this place and can't even read. I can't learn anything about the world and all this technology is insane." He said in frustration.
"You truly know nothing?" Sergei asked. "How is it that you know next to nothing?"
"Because I'm not from this world Sergei." Eren admitted, more out of frustration than anything. "I'm from another world with a different written language and geography. We're also at least a century behind in technology, so I know nothing."
Sergei stared at Eren as he stared back. Eren maintained eye contact the whole time with Sergei, making Sergei honestly believe him. Eren didn't care anymore if Sergei knew, he was too frustrated with the situation.
Suddenly, Sergei laughed. He laughed so hard that he started to hold his stomach from the cramping of his diaphragm. Sergei almost cried with how much he laughed.
"You should be actor, you actually convinced me." Sergei laughed. "I honestly believed you with how seriously you delivered that. It was good joke."
No surprise there, he didn't believe Eren. Who would. Even Eren wouldn't believe someone if they came to Paradis and said they were from another world.
"Come, let's take you home." He said.
Sergei and Eren loaded up the guns that were still not sold into Sergei's car. Sergei got in and started his way back to Eren's apartment, making sure to avoid the scene where Eren ambushed the car.
Eren was silent the entire time. He felt completely hopeless and alone. No one would ever believe his situation and no one could help him in the way that he needed. Ai did kind of help, but even then Eren still had to be careful about what he said so he didn't sound suspicious to her.
"You got papers, da?" Sergei asked.
"Right here." Eren showed him the ID and Passport.
"Ukraine, glad they went with my idea." Sergei said. "How much of area in Ukraine do you know?"
"Only the names Ukraine and Crimea." Eren said.
"You don't know about surrounding countries?" He asked.
"I already told you that I know nothing Sergei." Eren said. "That's not a lie."
"I believe that part." Sergei said. "You grew up in isolated community, right?"
"Yes." Eren said, which was true since the island was isolated from the world.
"When did you become Soldier?" Sergei asked.
"When I was twelve." Eren answered.
"So, you're child Soldier then." Sergei said, though had a bit of a sad tone. "I've met many child Soldiers before. I'll help you to learn about geography, and then you can come up with backstory from there to fit new ID."
Sergei gave a long and in-depth explanation of the political situation in Europe and the Middle East. He started with general politics from World War One and moved on from there. He explained the Defensive Pacts that lead to the starting of the war and the defeat of the Germany. He also explained the rise of the Soviet Union, his own country, and the brutal dictatorship it experienced under Joseph Stalin.
From there he went into an in-depth explanation of World War Two, which amazed Eren. Eren never had a concept of an entire world at war aside from the Rumbling, though that was far from a war. Sergei went on to talk about the rise of the Nazi party as well as the invasion of Poland which started the war. He talked about how the USSR fought back and with the help of the allies, they defeated Nazi Germany.
However, this caused the former free Eastern European Countries to become subjugated by the USSR, which eventually lead to their independence after an almost forty year standoff between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
This was largely why Crimea was occupied, since the current Russian regime wants to try to re-establish its former power and create a buffer zone from NATO, as well as controlling shipping in the Black Sea.
"That's very bare bones, and honestly really simplifies a complex issue." Sergei admitted. "But at least you can build yourself a false identity from this."
Lastly, he went into the history of the Middle East, from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Global War on Terror which was spearheaded by the United States. How after the US withdrew from Iraq in 2011, a splinter group of Al Qaeda called ISIS rose to power and now currently controls large portions of Syria and northern Iraq.
"The US is currently spearheading an effort with the Iraqi Army to retake Mosul, the largest city in the Nineva Province." Sergei said. "It's expected that the US will control it by the end of the year, though they'll have a hard push to Ar Raqqa, but the Russian Army has been there for the past year conducting their own operations against Syrian Rebels and ISIS fighters."
Based on Sergeis information, Eren knew now that this Middle East was almost exactly the same in terms of culture and geography as his own Mid East Region in his world. This meant that Eren would be able to come up with a somewhat believable backstory.
"Now you have information to make believable backstory." Sergei said.
"Thanks Sergei." Eren said honestly.
"Don't worry kid." He replied.
"What I don't get is," Eren began. "Why help me with this? Isn't it suspicious that I know nothing about this?"
"Without a doubt." Sergei said. "But what do I care? You're good with gun and I'm criminal. As long as you keep up good work, I don't care if you told me you're from Mars." Eren didn't know what that was. "I get that there are things people don't want to talk about, especially if you were child Soldier."
There was that word again. Eren really didn't have a concept of child Soldiers in this world. Sure, the minimum age for the Cadet Corp was twelve, but even in Marley, Eldian conscripts could be expected to join the armed forces as young as ten. After all, they weren't children, they were devils.
Eren scoffed at the thought.
"So, what will you do now?" Sergei asked.
"I don't know." Eren said in a defeated tone. "I'm stuck between two gangs that both want me dead."
"Meaning you may have to pick a side." Sergei said. "The boss you have now is strong, but this new rival can be dangerous."
"I know." Eren said. "But this new guy wants me dead, and he'll do whatever he can to kill me. Especially after that ambush."
"I'm surprised you struggled." Sergei said.
"They caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting those small machine-guns." Eren said. "If Captain Levi saw me now, he'd kick me in the face for failing to anticipate that." Eren let a smirk grace his lips. "It won't happen again."
"So you'll keep working for original boss?" Sergei asked.
"Yes, but on my terms." Eren said.
"How so?" Sergei asked.
"Hold up." Eren said, his phone was ringing. "It's the boss." He said.
"Go ahead." Sergei said.
Eren answered the call and put it up to his ear.
"Heard about the job." The boss said. "It's a shame you couldn't get him, but no one could expect that ambush."
"That's a lie." Eren said.
"Excuse me?" The boss said.
Sergei motioned for Eren to shut up, to just take the answer he was given at face value and not call the boss out for trying to get him killed.
"You were using me as bait in order to get me killed and confirm that you have a rat." Eren said angrily.
"Sometimes, my people have to be disciplined." The boss said in an angry voice.
"I'm not one of your people." Eren said. "But if you want to do that, then you might as well give me something better."
"What?" The boss asked.
"You give me a target, and it will die." Eren said. "I don't give a damn if it's a suicide mission. I'll kill them and that's all."
"Really?" He wondered. "You said you're upset at being sent to your death and now you want to rush into an even worse situation?"
"I told you, I won't be a slave to you." Eren said. "But if you want to see what I'm really capable of, I'll show you. But I'm doing it on my terms, not yours. I won't let you control me, but I'll show you how dangerous I can be."
There was a long silence over the phone. The boss was really considering Eren's proposal.
"If you want an early death, I'll give it to you." He said. "We know where one of their safe houses are, it's very well defended and armed. It's suicide even for a group of fighters to go. So, if you want an early death, there it is."
"Where?" Eren asked.
"I'll give you the details next week. Good luck kid. Try to at least kill a few before you die." He hung up.
"Are you insane?" Sergei asked.
"It won't be an issue." Eren said. "I'll show that bastard that I am not to be taken lightly."
"Who do you think you are?" Sergei asked. "Do you have any idea how impossible it is for one man to clear an entire building? You'll be killed. And for what? Pride?"
"I live my own way Sergei." Eren said. "If I win, I live. It's that simple."
Sergei reached over and hit Eren in his bad shoulder, eliciting a yell from the young man.
"Damn it!" Eren cursed.
"You think you're big shot? You think you can do whatever? You think it's just your life? What about single mother? Don't you care what she thinks?" Sergei said angrily.
"Who gives a damn what she thinks!?" Eren yelled. "I was on borrowed time anyway. I'm not even supposed to be alive anyway!"
"You're fucking fool, you know that!?" Sergei yelled back.
"I don't need to be lectured." Eren growled.
"If you want to go to your death, fine. This Sunday, you come with me."
"For what?" Eren asked.
"I'll see what you can do. See how good you are at fight in close quarters." He said.
"I already proved myself." Eren said.
"Not indoor fight. Either do it, or I stop employing you." He made an ultimatum.
"Fine." Eren said. "Have it your way."
The rest of the ride was silent.
The doorbell woke Ai up and she got out of the Futon to go see who it was. She looked at eh time and saw that it was morning, at least a few minutes before her alarm was set to go off. She quickly shut the alarm off since she was awake anyway.
Ai was careful not to disturb Ruby, who was still asleep. Curiously, Aqua was already awake and heading out of the room. He didn't seem like he just woke up, more like he was awake for a while.
Ai was worried about his sleeping lately. Normally, Aqua would sleep any chance he got, and it was hard to wake him up. Now though, he was falling asleep after her and waking up before her. She was worried that he would get exhausted from the lack of sleep. After all, it was bad for not only your skin, but your mind as well.
Miyako told her it was normal, since they were attacked. He was just having trouble sleeping and was likely defensive about anything going on. It broke her heart to see her son acting so paranoid, but she let it go since Miyako said he just needed time to get over what happened.
"Hey Aqua-Chan, let mama get the door." She said, not letting him answer the door.
She was still paranoid about letting him near the front door alone after what happened. She was lucky he was just a hostage and not the target, otherwise there would have been nothing she could have done.
"I got it Ai." He said.
There he goes being a grown up again.
"No Aqua-Chan, you go watch some TV. I'll see who it is and get breakfast ready." She said.
Ai went up to the door, which was not only locked, but had a heavy duty stop lock attached to the door. President Saitou used his own money for it, so she could carack it open and if anyone forced their way in, it would be stopped. It's similar to the chain that a lot of hotels use, but much stronger. Ai had her phone with her as well, just in case she needed to call the police.
Ai cracked open the door.
"Hello, can I-" Ai froze in surprise.
"Hey Ai-Chan, long time no see." The man smiled through the cracked door. "Can I come in?" He asked.
"H-Hikaru?" Ai asked.
And now for another cliff hanger.
Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I'll admit, I am not fully feeling the dialogue here, but I think it's serviceable. If this was a real story, I think I'd rewrite it a few times. Oh well, more lessons learned lol.
So now the Yakuza plot line is starting to get more complicated and starting to meld with the Ai plotline. Obviously, the two plots will meet eventually, but things will start to pick up on that front.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.