Bullet XVI
Normally, at this time of year, it was cold in Japan. But the temperature in Roanapur was quite the opposite, making Ginji Matsuzaki a little uncomfortable. But only a little. Ginji would get used to it, he would only need a couple more days and the heat would no longer be a problem. However, his partner wasn't taking it so well.
"This city is a fucking oven."
Ginji didn't respond, he just kept walking.
His exploration partner was Chaka, a vulgar and violent man with a short fuse, which Ginji didn't like in the least. In fact, if he had the chance, he would rather kill him. But since he didn't know English, and Chaka being the only one in the Whashimine Group who could speak that language, Ginji had to put up with it, as their boss ordered the two of them to explore the city a bit.
The Whashimine Group had not made the long journey from Japan to Roanapur for sightseeing.
It had been barely a year since the death of their previous leader, but now, the Whasimine Group began to have serious difficulties in maintaining their domain. While there was no serious and direct confrontation with the other Yakuza groups in Japan, there was a certain amount of pressure on the Whasimine. Especially from the Kousa Group, their biggest rivals.
For this reason, the current leader, Tsugio Bando, had decided to travel to Roanapur to make an alliance with the other Yakuza groups in the city.
These Yakuzas were independent groups, with no loyalties or ties to the other major groups in Japan. To Ginji, they were nothing more than trash that their former leader wouldn't even bother to look at, but Bando believed they could be useful.
Bando's idea was a risky one; to take these independent groups under his command. Ginji had suggested simply going in and eliminating the main heads leading these groups to disperse them and absorb the members. But Bando rejected the idea, believing it was better to recruit them all formally and without the need for a bloodbath.
That way, Bando thought, if all went well, the Whasimine could gain an important force to counter their enemies if necessary. In addition to gaining a new territory in which to gain new business and expand.
Even though he thought it was a waste of time, Ginji had to go too. Since he was the underboss, as well as functioning as Bando's bodyguard when recruiting... and protecting him in case the recruitment failed.
Chaka stopped suddenly, and punched him on his arm. Ginji looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, let's go get a beer.". -Chaka pointed his thumb at a bar. "Look, it's called Yellow Flag, that's ideal bar for the Japanese."
"Those weren't the boss's orders, we're not going to a bar."
"Oh, so you can talk after all, big guy. Relax, the boss will understand if we take a little detour to rest. We're not going to be able to explore much if we pass out in the middle of the street and die of thirst."
"I said we're not going to a bar, do I have to repeat myself a third time?"
He and Chaka stared at each other in silence, and Ginji could tell how the other man discreetly brought his hand toward his gun he had dangling at his waist. He really hoped that he would, that Chaka would draw his gun, so he could kill him once and for all and get rid of that parasite. But suddenly, Chaka smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, okay, , but would you at least let me have some cold drink? We're not all as tough as you, big guy." -Ginji nodded silently. Chaka walked over to a tent nearby, muttering something perfectly audible. "Tsk, you fucking ass-licker."
Ginji ignored him and took the opportunity to inspect the area a bit.
Though he looked around carefully, he couldn't place where exactly that annoying feeling of being watched was coming from, but he figured it must not be anything serious. It was probably just some pickpocket or other ordinary criminal, nothing he and Chaka wouldn't be able to handle.
Although he preferred to avoid a fight, Ginji was ready to take on anyone who came looking for trouble.
He had heard stories of Roanapur; a place where crimes that were considered heinous in other countries and cities, there were everyday occurrences, without the need for political alliances, false courtesies, deception and cunning plans. A place where the law was only in name, a mere screen that barely covered the corruption and perversity of the city.
A place where violence and brute force were the only laws. Ginji was conflicted by that, because he liked the sound of it, but he also hated it for the same reasons.
'Roanapur, the real criminal paradise.' -Ginji thought, watching as Chaka returned with a can of beer in his hand. 'What a horrible, wonderful place to live.'
"All set?" -He asked.
Chaka nodded. "That's right, now let's keep moving our asses. I want to go to the red-light district, assuming this shithole has one, and see if we can find any whorehouses."
They both left the place, not realizing that someone was watching them, hidden, some distance from them and with a camera in his hands.
"So..." -Said Balalaika, looking at the photographs handed to him by his sergeant, Boris." Who the hell are these guys?"
The first one showed a group of men getting off a ship at the city docks. In a second, the same group was entering a hotel. In the third, the group was apparently having lunch at a restaurant. In the fourth and final photograph, two of the men were walking through the streets.
"We don't know yet, Kapitana.". -Responded Boris. "They arrived this morning and since then, they have limited themselves to staying at the hotel where they are staying. We tapped their phones, but since they are Japanese, we couldn't understand anything they were saying..." -He shrugged. "Or maybe they are Chinese or Korean, I don't know, they all talk and look the same."
Balalaika ignored his sergeant's racism. "Other Japonskis, huh?" -She turned her attention to the last photograph. That man was huge, and he had a very unfriendly look on his face. "They don't look like tourists."
"Although they're not members of the Yakuza groups around town either, none of them is a familiar face. It's possible they're new members or a new Yakuza group."
"Doing what?"
"We don't know yet, but we have people ready to investigate their activities once they start moving."
"...I don't like this at all, Sergeant."
"Neither do I, Kapitana."
Balalaika made a low rumbling sound in her throat, as if she were an animal. Was it possible that, due to her low activity during these days, those raw fish lovers thought she was no longer operating in the city and now there was a new position open? Or perhaps it was the Roanapur Yakuzas themselves bringing in more of their own?
In either case, they were in for a bloody little surprise. But Balalaika restrained her bloodlust, there was no need to start a small scale war without proof that these Japonskis were planning to settle in her city.
"Alright, for the time being I want to know everything about them.". -Said Balalaika finally. "I want to know their names and what they do for a living. If they go to the bathroom, I want to know if they wash their hands."
Boris grimaced. "...That's disgusting."
"I didn't mean it literally, you idiot. I meant keep them under strict surveillance."
"Oh, yes, of course."
"And I also want you to send someone to get Rock, it's time to put him to work paying off his debt, his help will come in handy so we can communicate with our new friends." -Boris said nothing and shifted uncomfortably in his place, causing Balalaika to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
"Um, well, the thing is... we don't know where to find Rock."
"...What?"
"Well, we know he returned to Roanapur recently, but we can't get a hold of his location."
Balalaika looked at him blankly. "We have agents who are capable of tapping phones, surveilling and investigating practically anyone in this fucking city, but we're not able to find a Japanese guy and two brats who dress strangely?"
"Yeah, I mean, we've been hanging around town and asking a lot of people about it, but nobody knows where he lives." -Boris explained. "In fact... I suspect they don't want to tell us because of fear."
"Tsk. Fear, but of what? If that man is incapable of swatting a fly, I can't imagine Rock threatening people not to divulge where he lives."
"I never said they were afraid of him." -Boris replied, suddenly turning a little pale. "And our men won't be too keen on the idea of looking for Rock either."
Then, Balalaika understood. Surely it was the work of those brats, Hansel and Gretel, they must have made sure that the location of them and Rock was a mystery. She felt annoyed, both for the people and for her men, but she couldn't blame them for fearing those disaster-creating brats.
Balalaika sighed wearily, she would have to sort out her men's trauma towards the twins before that became an even bigger problem. "Right, in that case, you go find him. I seem to remember he works at Bao's vulgar bar, Yellow Flag. If Rock isn't there, Bao should know where to find him."
"...I don't want to go looking for them either, though."
"Yeah, I don't care what you want."
"But-!"
"Nobody cares what you want, sergeant. Now play your supporting character role and go find Rock."
Rock was happy to get back to work. It had been only a day since the Black Lagoon returned to Roanapur, and after taking another day to rest, Rock finally returned to The Yellow Flag.
He was relieved to be able to detach himself from all those crazy life and death situations he was involved in during these days, Taiwan was too intense an experience for him. Besides, Revy's words, what she said to him moments before attacking the freighter, still echoed in his mind.
And how right she was scared Rock a little. Yes, he decided that it was best to separate himself from all the madness and try to maintain a more or less quiet lifestyle...
'Easier said than done, though.' -Rock thought, not worrying that a beer bottle would brush past his face and end up smashing against the wall behind him, shattering into little pieces that he would later have to clean up.
A group of drunks had started arguing over something silly and the argument quickly escalated into a fight between them. Another customer thought it was a good idea to intervene to stop the brawl, but he did so by smashing a chair into the back of one of them.
And almost as if on cue, at least six more people began to lash out, knocking over chairs, tables and anything else in their path. Bao, horrified, ran out to try to stop them by shouting. He had a loaded gun, and that would surely work as a tool to deter a fight much better than shouting...
But Bao feared shooting into the air and that the fight would turn into a gunfight, and that gunfight would somehow end up destroying his bar. To Rock that seemed the most sensible thing he could hear out of Bao's mouth since he'd started working there."
Rock had at first been terrified when these sudden incidents occurred, but he had gotten used to it over time. And after everything he'd had to go through so far, happy hour at Yellow Flag didn't seem so scary to him anymore.
He listened as Revy let out a laugh, clearly she was enjoying that rampage. She had arrived a little before the fight broke out, just so Rock could confirm that she was a real trouble magnet. He just hoped that would be the only trouble Revy caused today.
"Ahh~, I missed this shit.". -Said Revy, after calming down, but with a big grin on her face. "Aren't you going to intervene?"
Rock looked up just to see a man fall to the ground only to have another man immediately afterwards climb on top of him and insistently try to shove an empty jar of peanuts into his mouth.
The fight now moved to the entrance of the bar. Bao had changed tactics and now went from trying to stop the fight, to encouraging it. And, surprisingly, Bao was slowly getting the drunks to come out into the street to solve their problem, preventing the fight from spreading everywhere.
"Nope." -Said Rock, returning to his task of cleaning the bar, ignoring the shouting and banging noises. "Bao pays me for just serving drinks, not stopping drunken fights."
Although Bao also made him clean the place, wash and dry glasses, and any other chores that normally fell to him. But Rock didn't complain, except when it was his turn to clean the bathroom, because that gave him something to do, plus, he was getting paid.
But getting into a drunken brawl and risking getting shot, or stabbed, was out of the question. Rock had been adamant about it, getting Bao to grudgingly go along with it...and the bar owner to call him a pussy.
"Man, what a bore you are. ". -Said Revy, tapping his finger on his empty glass, indicating his desire for another round. "Where did that maniacal guy who blew up a fucking prison and a freighter ship stay?"
"He stayed in Taiwan, and frankly, I hope he doesn't come back." -Responded Rock, as he poured her aged whiskey. Revy always ordered the strongest and cheapest beer, but now that he had money to spare, she wasn't being stingy at all. "I prefer my lifestyle boring and quiet."
"Why? You're not going to tell me you like spending all fucking day here, watching drunks fight, and being Bao's slave."
"Not really, but it's a job, the only decent job I could find in this town that wasn't crime related. Though after all I've done, I kind of don't care about that right now."
"About that..." -Revy drained her glass again in one gulp. She shook her head, the drink was delicious but fiery. "I've been thinking about it the whole trip back and... well..."
Rock raised an eyebrow, it wasn't like her to hesitate so long to say something. "Spit it out, Revy."
"You want to work with us at the Black Lagoon?"
"By 'work' you mean...?"
"Being an official member of us, you know, not just passing through like last time." -Said Revy, earnestly inspecting the bottom of her empty glass. "Pay depends on the work we do, but we usually do big business. Dutch will give you a bed, food and a good dose of adventures... for your kids too, it's a good deal."
Rock didn't respond, just stared at him, as his brain processed the information. He hadn't really expected that, but it sounded good. Really good. And for a long moment, Rock was very tempted to agree. But then, Rock thought about all the unnecessary, and stupid, risks he took in Taiwan.
Rock thought about how he almost ended up dragging the twins to their deaths...
When he was supposed to help them find a place that wasn't surrounded by darkness, blood and bullets. That had been the main reason the twins were now with him, and now he couldn't just forget about it just because he found the idea of becoming an adventuring pirate fun.
Across from him, Revy stirred uneasily in her seat. "Well?"
"I-It's an attractive offer." -Said Rock finally, unable to help but stutter a little.
"...I sense a 'but' coming."
"But I must refuse it." -Revy still wouldn't look at him, her eyes still riveted on her empty glass. Now she pressed her lips together to form a thin, unhappy line on her face. "I'm sorry, Revy, I find the life of a pirate really cool and exciting... but it's not for me."
"Tsk." -She seemed genuinely disappointed, and it hurt Rock to see her like that, but Revy recovered quickly. "Fine, whatever. But if you ever change your mind, the offer still stands."
"And if you ever need a translator to spout bullshit, I'm not hard to find." -Rock smiled and held out his hand.
Revy looked at him for a moment, then nodded and shook his hand. "Deal."
"...You sure have some small hands, huh? I wonder how the hell you manage to kill people using these little things."
"Let go of my hand, asshole.". -Responded Revy, but without turning away.
"Only if you do it first."
"What are you, a fucking five-year-old?"
"I don't see you letting go of my hand..."
At that moment, the entire bar was suddenly silent. The two of them turned to look, curious, and found Sergeant Boris standing at the entrance to the bar. The fight had ended immediately when he appeared.
"Rock." -Boris said, his voice perfectly audible throughout the bar. "The Kapitana requests your services."
"A full two-day streak without incident...two days!" -Rock complained, folding his arms in an almost childish manner. "I knew this would happen. When I saw you walk into the bar I said 'Oh shit, here we go again' And I wasn't wrong, the shit storm magnet strikes again."
"Fuck you, Rock." -Replied Revy. "This time the shit storm came straight at you, I had nothing to do with it."
"And how do you explain that, during the two days you weren't around me, I wasn't involved in any trouble until now?" -Rock looked at her with a raised eyebrow. " Baby, you walked into the bar and literally started a fight."
"...That happens all the time, and don't call me baby."
The five of them, Rock, her, Sergeant Boris and the twins, were heading towards the Moscow Hotel in Benny's car. She was the one driving, while Rock rode in the passenger seat. Boris had to ride in the back seat, flanked by the twins. Hansel was on the right side and Gretel on the left.
And neither of them said a word, both simply watched the sergeant in silence, their heads cocked slightly to one side. Boris kept his eyes straight ahead, hands planted firmly in his lap, in an attempt to ignore the twins. To Revy that situation reminded her of when a cat appraises its prey before killing it casually.
She felt a little sorry for the poor guy. The good point, though, was that the Moscow Hotel wasn't too far from the bar... Although she may have taken the long way around and made a few unnecessary turns to get there, but Boris didn't need to know that.
That jerk deserved it for showing up suddenly, and interrupting her and Rock when they were both... Doing what exactly? Revy didn't know, though she had more or less a vague idea in mind, but that...
"So, what's this all about, Sarge?" -Rvy asked, to get that out of his head. "What the fuck does Sis want with Rock's asshole?"
"That's classified information." -Responded Boris, expressionless. "In fact, only Rock and the twins should be heading to the Moscow Hotel right now, not you."
Revy grinned mischievously. "Really? Kind of made me want to take yet another long drive..."
"W-Wait, please, I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" -Boris snapped instantly. He wouldn't be able to stand the crushing, silent stares of the children any longer. "Today a group of unknown raw fish lovers arrived-"
"Raw fish lovers?" -interrupted Rock, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell...?"
"The Kapitana calls all Japonskis that...besides also calling them Japonskis, of course."
"Oh. Does that mean she calls me that too?"
"Yes."
Rock frowned and returned his gaze forward. "That bitch."
"As I was saying, a new and unknown group of raw fish lovers arrived today. We don't know who they are or what they're up to, since they're raw fish lovers and we can't understand anything they say, but the Kapitana is very suspicious of them and wants to get information from them before she does anything."
"Stop saying 'raw fish lovers', damn it! We Japanese don't eat raw fish!"
"But what about sushi?" -Boris replied.
"...Most sushi dishes are not raw fish."
"Ah, but then you do admit that the Japanese eat their fish fucking raw, don't you?" -insisted the sergeant, he had suddenly become talkative.
"W-well, that-!"
"In a nutshell..." -Said Revy, interrupting the conversation about whether or not sushi was raw fish. "Sis planning on using this asshole to find out who the fuck those guys are before he goes on the attack?"
"Something like that. Rock's job will just be to translate what they say, we'll already take care of tapping and recording all their conversations on the phone. And maybe also the Kapitana will use Rock to communicate with them if necessary."
"Ha, just like in fucking Taiwan."
Rock took out a cigarette and lit it, he had gotten a little nervous from his earlier discussion with the sergeant. "Yeah, just like fucking Taiwan."
"What happened in Taiwan?" -Boris asked curiously.
"Nothing important. I just went to work as a translator, and ended up crawling through some shit-filled sewers, blowing up a prison and also blowing up a freighter." -Responded Rock. "You know, the usual."
"Dude, what the hell...?" -The sergeant was clearly surprised. "In any case, this job won't be anything like that... Probably."
Rock was clearly not happy with Boris' dubious statement. However, Revy couldn't help but smile. She was never going to admit it out loud, let alone in front of him, but she was a little excited to see what other craziness Rock would get into this time. 'This is going to be exciting.'