Bullet XXXII

After keeping them locked up for a while, Watsup finally got tired of having to take care of nine prisoners and decided to release almost all of them.

The brat who insisted on being someone important, but who Revy didn't know, not that she was interested in doing so either, and her bodyguards were actually happy to leave Roanapur.

Revy expected her to blurt out some kind of promise of revenge and such, but nothing of the sort happened.

Apparently, the girl suffered a great psychological blow when she found herself in so many chaotic situations in such a short period of time and was traumatized, so she would be out of action for some time. Although Boss Chang had mentioned that it probably wouldn't be the last time they would see her.

But that was all the same to Revy, because she didn't plan to get any more involved in his and that brat's affairs.

In any case, Watsup released 5 of his prisoners and continued with the others...with the exception of Chang. He would stay longer as an example to the other criminals who thought they were untouchable. Instead, his bodyguard, Biu who-knows-what, was released.

It was amusing and satisfying for Revy to watch that guy walk away without looking back, ignoring his boss's shouts of indignation.

As for Eda, Sister Yolanda herself went to rescue her from the police station. Without Eda to take care of the gun store, Yolanda could no longer sleep late after going on her usual drinking binges, which was detrimental to her health(?).

So right now, Watsup and Yolanda were reaching an agreement to free that bastard nun.

Then, with 6 prisoners out, 1 who wouldn't leave his cell even if it was the end of the world, and 1 more who would be out soon, it would finally be Revy's turn...

But with her pay suspended indefinitely because of the latest trouble she'd gotten into... What was the point of going back to work with Dutch and Benny?

She may have liked action and bloodshed, but her main motivation for doing so, to receive money, had vanished. And she didn't risk her life, or kill free, for anyone.

Maybe for Rock, but that was a different matter.

And although at first it was Revy who had most demanded her freedom back, she eventually got used to life in that small cell. She had a roof over her head and a bed to sleep in, as well as food and water from the police officers...without the need to move a muscle.

Of course, being in that poorly lit, piss-scented hole reminded her of some bad times in her past, but it was far from the worst place she had ever been.

So, with all that in mind, Revy made the decision to take over the detention room and make it her new lair. She would just have to wait for Watsup to come and free her and return her weapons.

"You're too calm and quiet, Two Hands.". -said Chang, from somewhere in that room. "And that just means you're up to something stupid and dangerous."

Revy chuckled. "How well you know me."

"So, girl, what are you planning?"

Revy hesitated whether she should reveal her new, crazy plan to him, as she planned to go it alone and didn't want to risk Chang betraying her to win Watsup's favor. But on the other hand, having an assistant would be ideal.

Eda would be her main choice since, although she doesn't let her guard down with her, Revy trusted that broad to a certain extent.

But since Yolanda had taken her away a long time ago and she had not returned, it was obvious that the lazy bitch was already free.

And Chang was the fucking Boss Chang. Revy hated to admit it, but the man far surpassed her in every way. If they joined forces, they would be unstoppable.

'And I don't think that bastard Watsup was going to forgive him just for screwing up my plans.' -Thought Revy, deciding to take a risk on Chang. What was the point of being alive if you didn't take risks, however small and annoying they might be?

"A Coup, Mr. Chang."

"Huh? But you'll be released soon!"

"That's the point. I don't want to leave, I want to stay. I'll take over the police station and make it my new lair, using the officers and that bastard Watsup as my slaves so I never have to work again."

"Your plan is weird..."

"Life is weird." -She replied. "So, are you in or not? Because once Watsup releases me, I'll make my move. If you want to get your ass out of here, this will be a good chance to do it."

There was a pause, and for a moment, Revy thought he would back out. But then, Chang let out a laugh. "Okay, baby, let's do it."

'Not a bad deal just to kill boredom.' -Thought Balalaika once Rock told her the details of his 'fun' plan.

In fact, it was quite simple; it consisted of kidnapping Kageyama, along with his closest partners, and then forcing them to give Balalaika a substantial amount of money. A typical cliché extortive kidnapping, as he had called it.

The plan also included stealing their former company's corporate records and basically anything of value they could get their hands on through extortion.

Balalaika had no reason to refuse to play along, since, besides relieving her own boredom, she would be making a good gain out of it all.

There were always buyers available for corporate secrets.

"I'm surprised you're willing to do something like this, Rock.". -She said. "I mean, what kind of villain kidnaps a group of people and then extorts them just for fun?"

"You do it, all the time.". -Rock replied, deadpan. "And don't call me a villain."

And yet, there he was, hiring her to take revenge on his former boss and screw up his life. Okay, the guy tried to kill him, but that didn't count as justification.

Not that it mattered to Balalaika either.

She was often hired to do much worse.

"It's not all the time that we kidnap people for the purpose of extortion. Most of the time, my men and I simply torture them to death."

"That's even worse!"

"Besides..." -Balalaika continued, smiling with amusement. "My men and I are ex-military who are sick in the head."

"I think it's pretty obvious that I'm a little sick in the head myself..."

Balalaika opened her mouth to answer him, but since what he said was true, in the end she just shrugged her shoulders. "So, is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Well, if you're the paranoid type, I can give you a long list of things that could go wrong." -Responded Rock, smiling at her blank stare.

"Other than that, no. That would be it. The details left to be polished and everything else I'll leave to you, since you're the expert on this kind of thing."

Balalaika nodded, satisfied by that answer. It was irritating enough having a Japonski hanging on her shoulders, questioning her decisions and meddling with her work, she didn't need another.

"Okay. But before I do anything, I have to make a few calls and contact the higher-ups at the Hotel Moscow to let them know I'll be deviating from my schedule a bit. Nothing important, just a heads up so they won't be a pain in the ass to me later."

Rock cocked his head to one side, a gesture he seemed to have mimicked from his brats. "I didn't know you had bosses. I thought you were the leader of the Hotel Moscow."

"In Roanapur, yes.". -Balalaika replied. "But the base there is only one cell, one of many around the world. And although I have great respect and reputation, I do not belong to the higher ups in the Hotel Moscow, nor do I wish to. That circle is full of useless people who, unlike me, don't know how to do their jobs."

"You mean there are more Russian psychopaths like you running around?"

"Not as psychopaths as me, nor necessarily Russians, but yes."

"Scary..." -Rock shivered. "Anyway, that was all I wanted to discuss with you. Now, if you don't mind, I'll get the kids and we'll go back to the hotel. It was fun hanging out in a Japanese bar after all this time, but my head's a little light from all that sake. Besides, Hansel and Gretel must be bored with nothing to do."

Balalaika snorted. "I heard rumors that the Japanese are good drinkers, but if that ant piss is enough to leave you dizzy, then it must be nothing more than an exaggerated rumor."

"...Sake is not like that jet fuel you call vodka, it takes a while to take effect. But I doubt you'll be able to feel it, because you've barely wet your tongue since we arrived." -Rock replied, looking away and waving his hand as if shooing away a mosquito. "If you dared to drink a few rounds, I'm sure you wouldn't even remember your name afterwards."

"Really?" -Balalaika jabbed her pointed finger into his chest, a little pissed off. Conscious or not, he had flipped her competitive switch. "Wanna bet that, raw fish lover?"

"…"

Rock believed that, as soon as he got out of bed, no matter what time it was, he would quickly seek out Balalaika to take back everything about his revenge plan and explain that it was nothing more than a joke, a delusion of a resentful ex-employee, fueled by his drunkenness.

But he hadn't sought her out, nor had he changed his mind about the plan.

Instead, Rock was having breakfast with the twins in the hotel cafeteria, drinking the strongest cup of coffee ever, having one of his usual stupid conversations with them.

"So, troublemaker...". -Said Gretel, sitting across from him at the table they both shared, looking at him with indifference and a slight dose of contempt. "What do you have to say about last night's incident?"

Rock let out a groan of pain. He had several wounds and bruises on his face, but the real cause of his suffering was his heavy hangover. "It wasn't my fault."

"Last night, you got drunk and got into a beating with Balalaika, unleashing a massive fight that destroyed an entire bar.". -Replied the girl, deadpan. "And when we got back to the hotel, with you a mess, you threw up all over my brother."

"It wasn't entirely my fault." -Corrected Rock. "What happened was, when we were going through the fifth round of our competition, Balalaika choked on her drink and it came out her nose. All of us who were there started laughing and...I think it was at that point that she got pissed off and started hitting all of us."

Thanks to the caffeine hitting his neurons, he was able to find some scenes from the night before. Some tables flying, screams of pain and unconscious people lying on the floor. Rock tried to remember the whole sequence, but his mind was still foggy from the effects of the alcohol.

Maybe the psychological trauma of being attacked by a pissed off, drunken ex-military woman had influenced his mental block...

"What about bathing my brother in vomit?"

"That wasn't my fault either. It was Hansel's for being an easy target." -After blurting out his little joke, he got a few kicks from the kid under the table "I'm sorry, throwing up on you wasn't on purpose, really."

Hansel looked up from his breakfast, a black tea with some doughnuts, to see him. "Never mind, but I'd rather you forgot about it." -He shot a frowning look at his sister. "Both of you."

She patted his head to calm him. "I'm afraid it's too late for that. I took some photographs last night and had them printed to immortalize that moment, they should be brought to me soon."

Hansel pulled his hand away, irritated. "You're an idiot?"

"They're in color."

"You're an idiot!"

Satisfied with that reaction, Gretel returned her attention to Rock. "Anyway, that explains a lot. Now I understand why Balalaika also beat up her men and not just you. I must also admit it was cool to see her blowing up men twice her size and weight, I'd like to learn how to do that."

"Yeah... that won't be happening, you're scary enough without knowing how to do that kind of thing.". -Rock replied, then scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Although I may make the attempt and ask Balalaika to teach you and your brother some of her maneuvers...but only if you two stops blowing up her toilets."

Hansel let out a resigned sigh. "I see, then nothing can be done, it's a pity..."

"Stopping you isn't an option?"

Gretel interjected, holding up a finger. "It's impossible for him to stop, after all, toilets are my brother's sworn enemies."

"And why would an inorganic object be his enemy!?"

"Hey." -The male twin kicked his sister under the table, causing her to let out a whimper of pain. "Don't go telling everyone that stuff, it's embarrassing."

"So it was true!?"

"Wow, three replicas in a row!". -Gretel exclaimed, stroking the area of her leg that was hit by her brother. "You're in a good mood today, huh? I don't know whether to feel happy or worried, I mean, it took a fight and a destroyed bar to get your spirits back, Boss."

"Maybe it's the hangover.". -Hansel pointed out. "Or from the beating Ruskie gave him."

Rock rolled his eyes. "Why do your choices make me look like a masochist?"

"Why are you one?"

"Hell no! I'm not so sick in the head that I like being abused. Besides, Balalaika's blows are no game, it seriously hurts."

"So what's the reason for your good mood?" -Gretel insisted, giving him a questioning look, accompanied by a raised eyebrow. "Or are we to suppose that it's really because you took a beating, Mr. Masochist?"

Rock shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as much as he hated to admit it, they were right. All his emotions were in good shape, he was himself again.

But of course, that had nothing to do with the beating he received from Balalaika, but for his plans for revenge and for being able to get into trouble once again.

"Okay, I'll tell them about the new mess I got myself into.". -Said Rock. "Last night, before the fight, Balalaika and I had a talk-"

"About your masochism?"

"No, damn it, it's not that!" -Rock exclaimed. The brats started laughing, clearly amused. "Don't interrupt, this is serious business."

"Hold on a second." -Said Hansel, once Rock revealed his intentions to them. "If I remember correctly, that bipolar bitch you call Revy also tried to kill you on one or two occasions, right? But so far, at no time have you ever said or shown any intentions of wanting revenge on her."

Rock scratched his head at the boy's good point, he had never thought of it that way. Nor had it ever occurred to him to seek revenge against that brainless pirate.

"Uh, well, you're right. But Revy is the most feared gunwoman in all of Asia, on the other hand, Kageyama is just an idiot wearing an expensive suit."

Hansel looked at him blankly. "So what?"

"The difference in the danger level of the two is abysmal, it's common sense to side with the gunwoman and attack the idiot in the suit."

"Excuses and more excuses. I just see a lot of favoritism there."

"...I won't deny that."

"Wait, that's not the point here!". -Gretel exclaimed, banging the table several times with her little fist. "Why did you do that stupid thing so suddenly, if you just recently asked us to behave? Besides, you gave your word to Anego that you wouldn't get in trouble."

Rock shrugged. "Oops."

"Don't give me that shit!"

Unlike her brother's carefree attitude, Gretel was visibly upset. But far from worrying about it, Rock was delighted, as she rarely got pissed off and tended to keep her composure for much of the time.

Obviously, he wasn't planning to pass up the opportunity to mess with her some more. "I told Revy I wouldn't look for trouble with Balalaika and the Yakuzas, but this is a completely different and unrelated case."

"That's bullshit and you're a liar."

"It's not a lie, it's a loophole. You know, the fine print in the contract."

His efforts were proving effective, as one of Gretel's eyes began to twitch. "And how about I shove that contract up your ass?"

"Aww...that sounds like something Revy would say.". -Rock put a hand to his chest, pretending to be moved. "Say it again! And if you can, add a 'fuck-you!" too."

"Tsk! This motherfu-"

"You two, stop fighting over stupid things.". -Hansel interjected, his eyes rolling, cutting off the argument. "And take it easy, sister, Boss and the Ruskie are just going to kidnap a bunch of guys in suits and ties. No big deal."

"And what about the fact that he's flying straight into a shit storm?"

Hansel shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time. And like I said, it's no big deal, we've done worse. In fact, I think our kill count must be around three figures."

Rock grimaced as he remembered the twins' stormy past, what little he knew at least. They had no problem talking about the things they had done before they came to Roanapur, it was he who didn't have the stomach for the dark details, so he avoided bringing up that subject.

"Please don't sound so proud of that."

"And my toilets killed must be around six figures."

"Why so many!?" -Rock exclaimed, unable to help himself at the sudden absurdity of the information.

"I want a Guinness record, Boss."

"Killing toilets!?"

"How long have you been planning this?" -Gretel asked, cutting off his string of retorts. Realizing that Rock was just messing with her, Gretel regained her composure. "Since we got to Japan? Was that why you were so insistent on getting involved with those Yakuzas in Roanapur?"

Rock shook his head. "Nah, I don't have the intelligence to prepare such a grand scheme. My intention that time was to keep you guys from fighting those guys and that psycho Matsuzaki. And as for Kageyama... the idea of getting revenge on that bastard has been in my head since the first moment he sent those mercenaries to kill me."

"I didn't think you were the spiteful type."

"Me neither, girl, me neither."

She and her brother exchanged glances for a moment, then, Gretel returned her attention to him. "So, are you sure? Balalaika will be very upset with you if you back out in the middle of the operation and say it was just a joke. At the very least, she'll beat the crap out of you and be totally justified."

"Have I ever teased you two?"

"Yes." -Responded the twins in unison, deadpan. "A lot of times."

"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't do it in something like this.". -Said Rock, looking at his darkened reflection in his coffee cup. "It's not like I plan on killing Kageyama either, or torturing him and stuff. My intention is just to give that bastard a good scare and take money from him, which won't even be for me. Balalaika will keep it and thus the debt you two owe for destroying her hotel-"

"Guh!"

"And the other damage that occurred after-"

"Ack!"

"Stop interrupting me to make weird noises!" -Rock exclaimed. But despite his scolding, he was amused by the kids' reactions to his accusations. "Anyway, I know it's not the best way to do it, and it will surely bring us trouble in the future, but it's a good opportunity to get rid of that debt once and for all, don't you think?"

The twins again exchanged glances, communicating telepathically(?). Then, Hansel shrugged his shoulders, apparently, leaving the final decision to his sister. She let out a sigh somewhere between tired and resigned.

"Okay, you seem like you're being serious and determined about this. And since you have that Russian psycho involved, success is guaranteed. So, even though I don't like it...I guess I can't argue anything against it."

"Thank you."

Gretel clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Don't thank me, you persuasive bastard. When we get back to Roanapur, I'm going to have a long talk with Anego about finding a way to keep that silver tongue of yours at bay. It's just as dangerous as a gun."

"So..." -Said Hansel this time. "When will you make your move?"

Rock shrugged his shoulders with apparent disinterest, but inside he was terribly relieved that they were not against his intentions. At least not completely. "When Balalaika gets clearance from her bosses, and when she finishes her business with Bando. So I guess that'll be a few days from now."

Hansel smiled. "Cool."

"...Stay away from the toilets, please."

Once Revy regained her freedom and had her two prized pistols in her possession, she proceeded to take hostage one of the officers Watsup sent to release her, forcing him to free Chang, under the threat of blowing his head off if he did not obey her orders.

Then, with Boss Chang free and their weapons ready for action, the two went on the attack, unleashing a real bullet storm throughout the police station.

Of course, they both restrained themselves enough not to kill anyone, only hurting and scaring the cops, since the intention was not to kill anyone, but to enslave those poor men.

The cops, being aware of how dangerous Chang and Revy were with guns and in combat, chose the option of surrendering, because no one in the station was crazy or stupid enough to start a fight to the death with the two most dangerous gunslingers in Roanapur.

Not with what Watsup was paying them.

Besides, Revy also took the key to the main entrance and the key to the armory from them, gaining full control of the building.

So, once they were both sure that the police station was conquered, Chang left the place to mind his own business, leaving Revy in charge to do as he pleased.

Watsup and his boys put up no resistance their ridiculous demands, as Revy had disarmed them during the initial assault and removed their access to the armory. They too thought that this stupid game would not last long and that she would leave when she got bored...

But they were wrong. The game had been going on for almost a week now and had no signs of ending any time soon.

In short, the Roanapur police station, the place most feared by all the criminals in the town, had become a kind of luxury hotel for Revy.

And the officers who worked there were now dedicated to bringing her food and drinks, as well as cleaning her cell from time to time.

"I think you've had enough fun.". -said Dutch, entering the detention room and being escorted by Watsup. Apparently, that fucker had called his ex-boss for him to intervene. "It's time to get back to action, baby. We've been out of work for days because you've been wasting your time here."

"Huh? Why would I have to get out of my comfortable cell and bust my ass for a living?". -Responded Revy, lying on her bed while reading one of the many magazines she had. "Impossible, I refuse."

"Enough bullshit, your skills are going to get rusty if you keep slacking off every day. I have a few jobs that pay well and will surely be to your liking. "

Revy's response was to roll over in her bed and turn her back to him.

"Hey."

"I'm going to get this straight, Dutch, why do you think I was hanging out with you and that moron Benny? Well, to make money. But since you decided to cut my pay, there's no reason for me to put up with you two anymore. What I mean is, I don't work for you anymore. Besides, where's the problem if I decide to stay here and do nothing? I'm not bothering anyone."

"Are you kidding me? You took an entire police station hostage and turned them into your slaves." -Dutch replied. "Look how you left poor Boss Watsup."

She put aside her magazine for a moment and turned to look. Next to Dutch, a defeated Watsup was on his knees in front of her cell. You could tell the chief had aged several years in these few days, a product of being exposed to such a complicated and stressful situation...at least for him and his boys.

Revy was having a wonderful time.

"Please." -Said Watsup. "Please go away from here."

"Oi, boss, I want today's lunch to be rice and have chicken in it.". -Said Revy, ignoring his plea and giving him a new order. "I'm tired of eating noodles and meat."

He looked at her, hopeful. "If I bring you lunch, will you get out of here?"

Revy again ignored him and waved her hand, as if shooing away a dog. "Get off that fat ass of yours and go get my lunch. And make it quick, officer, or you'll be the one who has to clean my toilet."

Dutch watched as the police boss left to carry out the order, then shook his head and focused his attention back on her.

"Revy, what I said the other time about cutting your pay was a joke, of course I'm going to pay you if you work with me and Benny. What's more, I promise to give you a pay raise if you come back to us."

"If you think you're going to convince me with those lazy words, you're wrong." -Replied Revy, deadpan. "You want me to come back to work with you? Then I want a fucking contract, bitch. No suspending my pay and blaming me for any future problems that are going to come our way. Besides, I want one of your kidneys in case one of mine fails."

"But you already have one of Benny's."

"Yeah, but it never hurts to make a backup."

Dutch clicked his tongue and began to grumble. "This bastard...she's always an idiot, but just now she gets the idea to be witty."

She raised her fist by way of threat. "Hey, repeat that out loud if you dare!"

Dutch pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, trying to muster patience. "All right, I'll meet your terms and you'll get your damn contract. Just get your ass out of here and get back to work, will you?"

Revy scratched her head. While it was true that her current lifestyle was very comfortable for her, she was also starting to get bored with it. So, after letting out a sigh, she nodded. "All right, all right, I'll do it. I'll leave these morons alone and go back to Lagoon Company."

"Good, because like I said, I've got a few jobs to-"

"Tomorrow." -She again lay down on the bed and resumed her reading. "I already have plans for today; after lunch, I plan to drink until I get a little dizzy and sleep until the afternoon. Then, after dark, I'm going to Rowan's club to watch his babes dance."

"...That's as much as I'll get from you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, don't push me. Now get out of here, I'll be back to work tomorrow."

After receiving constant attacks and severe damages to his group by the Russian soldiers, the Kousa leader finally had enough and asked for a truce with the Washimine, so Bando went into action and took care of that matter at the moment.

Thanks to that, Balalaika had more free time to finally start the new business, after receiving the authorization from his bosses, which required a mobilization of most of his soldiers to another district of Tokyo, change of hotel, etc.

Of course, she left Sergeant Boris behind along with a handful of her Vysotnikis in case any incidents occurred with Bando and the Kousa, as well as keeping her informed.

Once everything was ready, Balalaika initiated the first phase of the plan; she sent her Vysotnikis to capture a list of people Rock had provided her with, which included Kageyama and his boss, the director of Asahi Industry.

Since Rock knew the location of his former boss's home, Kageyama was the first to be captured.

Balalaika's men arrived in the early hours of the morning, breaking into his home and dragging him out of his bed, forcing him into a car and then bringing him to the new hotel. Once they arrived at their destination, Balalaika's men took him up to the top floor of the building and, with a few rough pushes, the Russian soldiers shoved Kageyama in there and locked him in a room.

Rock thought that any normal person would have been reduced to a quivering mass if his home was suddenly invaded by a bunch of serious, sinister-looking men... besides being kidnapped along with his entire family.

But according to the Russian soldiers, Kageyama, while he had been confused and upset, remained calm throughout and did not put up any kind of resistance.

Then Rock remembered that his former boss and his partners also did business with the mafia, with some Yakuza group, so they were probably used to this kind of thing, however sudden and strange it was.

Still, it was a bit disappointing for him, as he couldn't appreciate the fear or panic on that bastard's face.

Rock heard footsteps and turned to see Balalaika coming slowly towards him, chin lowered, looking at him disapprovingly. "Are you regretting it already, Japonski? You knew what we came here to do."

"No, that's not it, I was just thinking how easy this was.". -Said Rock, which was partly true. "I mean, you just kidnapped them and that's it. I thought you'd need to set up surveillance or something for Kageyama and the director before you did that."

"Not really, after all, we're a sizable organization.". -Balalaika replied. "It was just a matter of dividing my men into a few squads. Of course, we couldn't find them all right away, but it's only a matter of time until I can catch 'em all."

"This is going to be a really sinister Pokedex."

Balalaika frowned, uncomprehending. "What?"

"Nothing, just another one of my bullshit. Although..." -Now it was his turn to look at her disapprovingly. "Kidnapping relatives of these guys was not included in the plan."

She shrugged off his accusation, downplaying it. "Kidnapping the relatives of a person you plan to extort money from is a basic rule. A good incentive to get a man to cooperate is to show him his daughter's severed fingers."

Rock didn't know if she was joking or not. "I'm worried about your hobbies, Balalaika."

"Although sticking a stapler in someone's mouth and stapling the inside of their cheek also serves to make them cooperate."

"I don't think any of these guys are half-vampires, and you're not Tsundere enough to carry a stapler, so I'm afraid that suggestion must also be rejected."

"...I didn't get half of what you said, but it's irritating that you always have an answer for everything, even if it's usually a stupid answer."

"Pissing people off is my favorite pastime."

Balalaika snorted in annoyance and Rock smiled with amusement. He had guessed right, and in the process had won a small victory, Balalaika was just messing with him... in her own twisted way. It seemed she had relaxed her attitude towards him enough to exchange jokes, which would have been unthinkable before.

"Anyway." -Continued Balalaika, apparently giving up on the idea of bothering him. "He was about to go to Kageyama and his boss-"

"He's called Tadakatsu.". -interrupted Rock. "Honda Tadakatsu."

"Oh, that's good to know. It's kind of annoying to refer to him as a director." -She shook her head. "Makes me feel like I'm a damn schoolgirl again."

Involuntarily, Rock had a vision of what she would look like as a teenager and dressed in a high school uniform. He found her a little cute and not so sinister.

Although for his taste, the adult Balalaika was better. She looked good in the role of a stern teacher, with a slightly unbuttoned white shirt, a tight skirt and black stockings wrapping her long, shapely legs...

"No, I'm not, I'm just kidding.". -He said, trying to erase that weird and particularly sexy image from his head. "But don't you think that name doesn't sound cool?"

"...Are you looking for me to hit you, bastard?"

'Ohh, slippery floor.' -thought Rock, with a slight hint of panic.

Since Ginji and Revy were currently unavailable, and the twins were pretty hard to piss off, it was now Balalaika's turn to be the new target of his bullshit. But since Rock was just getting started with the fun and dangerous game, he didn't know how far he could push her without running the risk of earning himself another beating.

The last one had been particularly painful and, no matter how much the twins insisted otherwise, he had no desire to repeat that experience.

"So..." -Rock said, playing dumb and trying to get back to the main point. "What was it you were saying?"

Fortunately, Balalaika seemed to regain her composure. "As I said, I was about to talk to the director of your company to explain the situation. But since your former boss is also there..." -She smiled mischievously. "I thought you might like to talk to him alone."

Rock couldn't help but let his eyes wander for a moment down the hotel hallway, which led to the room where his former boss was locked up.

Then, he returned his attention to Balalaika. "All right, I'll talk to Kageyama."

"Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a suggestion loaded with bad intentions."

"Did you really need to add that clarification?" -Rock resisted the urge to roll his eyes and maintained his seriousness. "Anyway, I want to do this. I want to see the look on that guy's stupid face when he sees that I came back from the dead to fuck up his life."

Balalaika chuckled. "Good answer. Come on, they're waiting for us."

After a short walk down a hallway, the two entered where Kageyama and his boss were holed up. Balalaika had asked the employees of the new hotel for them to prepare the largest room available so they could have a few meetings there, so the room had a large table, chairs and a few armchairs.

Kageyama, dressed only in pajamas, sat stiffly in one of the chairs, his fingers drumming on the table in a gesture of impatience or irritation. He turned to look at them as they both entered.

On the other hand, his boss was dressed in his typical work clothes, since, unlike Kageyama, he was caught on his way to work and not in the middle of the night. The director was watching the city through the window and also turned to look at them.

He was about to say something, but Kageyama interrupted him by standing up and being the first to speak.

"I'm surprised to see you again, Miss Balalaika."

"Oh, I'm glad you remember me.". -She said, smiling. "That saves me a lot of time."

Kageyama grimaced. "You have a face that's hard to forget."

Balalaika absently ran a finger over one of her burn scars. "Yeah, so I've been told."

"So, what's this all about? I thought we were done with our business after that time."

"Yeah, well, actually this is about another business." -Balalaika draped one of her arms over Rock's shoulders and forced him to step forward. Only there he realized how stiff his legs were, he had stood still when he entered the room. "But you'll discuss that with this guy. Me and the director of unknown name will talk somewhere else."

"Yukimura." -Said the director, deadpan. "I am Yukiruma Sa-"

"That'll do." -He was interrupted by Rock, finally reacting, shaking his hand in a gesture of irritation. "The names of the secondary characters are irrelevant. You won't have a big part in this, or you'll die later, so your name doesn't matter."

"Excuse me?"

"Walk, director, or some unfriendly Russian soldiers will come and drag you out."

The director exchanged glances with his subordinate, but the latter merely shrugged his shoulders. Then, accompanied by a weary sigh, he obeyed the order. Before leaving the room, Balalaika patted Rock on the shoulder.

"Have fun."

Once she was gone, Rock and Kageyama were left alone.

Rock thought he would be happy to finally be face to face once again with the bastard of his ex-boss. However, all he felt right now was a nervousness running through his entire body, along with the uncomfortable sensation of something squeezing his chest.

"Nice pajamas." -Rock said, pointing at him. "Where can I get one just like it?"

True to his habit, he couldn't help but say something stupid to try to clear the tense atmosphere, obviously failing. But the good thing was that his voice didn't betray him. It didn't come out high-pitched or shaky, it was normal.

Kageyama, folding his arms, watched him dispassionately, with his classic poker face, as if he were watching an insect crawling on his desk. "Who the hell are you?"

"...Are you kidding me? I know it's been a while, but it wasn't that long either."

"I seldom joke.". -Kageyama replied. "I also have a lot of important things to deal with day in and day out, so I can't remember all the insignificant people I come across. So who the hell are you?"

So...while he had never forgotten the day he was discarded like garbage, that bastard didn't even remember it. His disbelief was quickly swept away by a surge of anger at that despicable, backstabbing man.

But Rock quickly controlled his emotions, dismissing the tempting idea of jumping on him and beating him up.

Violence, while a few times necessary, was never his style or taste. No, the humiliation Kageyama suffered by being kidnapped and forced to wear only pajamas was far more satisfying.

That and he would soon be subjected to Balalaika's exacting demands.

Rock walked to the table and sat on the edge as his former boss stared at him. He looked at him too, making an effort to challenge the other's gaze, to dare to defeat it. Kageyama broke the stalemate, his eyes the first to turn away.

Rock began to relax and feel better.

"I'm Okajima Rokuro, the one you assigned the task of transporting a disk full of your illegal shit. And who you then wanted to kill by using some mercenaries to destroy that fucking disk. Does that jog your memory, or do I have to smash a chair over your head to make you remember?"

"Ah... Okajima." -Kageyama nodded absently, not caring about the threat. "Yeah, right, I remember now. The idiot who let himself be kidnapped and damaged the reputation and image Asahi Industries."

"That's the one." -Rock offered her a lopsided grin. "Bet you never expected me to come back to kick your ass."

Kageyama put his hands in his pockets in a casual gesture, trying to look nonchalant...but the effect was rather diminished by his sour face and the fact that he was wearing pajamas. Rock couldn't help but chuckle at the absurd image, irritating his former boss.

"What's this all about, Okajima?"

For a moment, he thought about telling her in detail about Balalaika's plans, but then changed his mind and gave it to her straight. "This is a clichéd extortive kidnapping."

"...Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry to tell you no." -Said Rock, with a tone of voice that indicated quite the opposite. "Your partners will soon also be kidnapped and then, together with you and your boss, will have to make a nice investment to the Hotel Moscow. And if you don't obey Balalaika's demands, then all of you will have to eat your relatives' severed fingers for lunch."

Kageyama kept his face expressionless, but his forehead was covered by a light layer of sweat. If he felt fear or panic at the realization of his plight, Rock thought that bastard knew how to hide it very well.

Then, Rock felt a sudden pang of guilt.

Involving the family of this man, nor the others, was never in the original plan, but since Balalaika already had them in her possession, there was no sense in arguing with her about it.

She wasn't going to release them no matter how much he asked her to, besides, as she had mentioned before, Balalaika wanted to use them as incentives to get Kageyama and the others to cooperate. Rock just hoped that wouldn't be necessary.

He didn't want that blood on his hands.

"How ridiculous." -Said Kageyama finally, shaking his head in disapproval. "What did that woman promise you, a share of all the gains? She'll kill you as soon as she gets what she wants."

"For only having talked to her a few times, you sure know her well." -Rock replied. "But that's not the case... probably, since I have no interest in your money. She's the one who's going to keep all the loot, I'm participating in this simply because I wanted to fuck your life up, just like you did mine."

"So this is about some stupid, childish revenge, huh? And I guess that Russian whore agreed to collaborate with you to benefit."

"That's right, smart guy." -Rock smiled coldly. "In a nutshell...you're fucked, bitch."

"That went well." -Said Balalaika, stretching a bit after sitting for so long once she emerged from her hostages' temporary cell, accompanied by Rock.

Throughout the day, more and more Vysotnikis kept showing up at the hotel, escorting the confused, frightened, and even angry, Kageyama partners tagged by Rock.

The room that functioned as a cell gradually filled up, and, by the time lunchtime rolled around, all the targets were captured.

So after handing them food, and feeling great satisfaction at seeing how many of them searched the contents of their meals to see if they could find human fingers, Balalaika proceeded to explain to her hostages the reasons why they had been kidnapped.

And since most of these guys only spoke Japanese, Rock had to be present to translate everything.

The meeting was perhaps a bit long for their liking, as Kageyama, his boss and his partners asked for a few minutes to discuss in private and such. But after debating for a while, that group agreed to Balalaika's demands and agreed to meet them after she gave them a 'reasonable' figure.

It's not like they had the option to refuse, though.

"Maybe." -Commented Rock, escorting her down the long hallway of the hotel. "But considering the time lag that the shitstorms I'm involved in tend to have, that part where everything suddenly and absurdly gets worse, we still can't relax."

"I guess you're right."

Rock nodded. "Yes. We can't rule out the possibility of a missile hitting this building and blowing us out of the sky."

Balalaika rolled her eyes. "Now you're just talking bullshit."

However, remembering the man's terrible track record of getting into trouble, she couldn't help but pause to walk over to a window and take a look at the sky.

There was no threat in sight and her men guarding the entrance to the building had reported nothing suspicious in the vicinity...but it didn't hurt to assign more security to the building.

Just in case.

Realizing his paranoia, Rock chuckled. "Just kidding, the missile thing only happened once."

"The fact that it actually did happen worries me." -Balalaika replied, turning around to look at him, deadpan.

"It was by accident."

"Now I'm more worried." -She folded her arms and leaned back against the wall. "But putting that aside, now that we've got those guys well and truly grabbed by their balls... are you satisfied?"

"Like I've never been.". -admitted Rock, however, looking more incredulous than amused. "Kageyama and those guys reacted as if you had asked them for blood instead of money."

Balalaika smiled at the description, he wasn't entirely wrong "Although I was hoping you would have beaten up your boss or something, you settle for very little, Rock. You lack ambition."

"I came very close to beating him up when you left us alone."

"You still have time to do it." -She insisted. "In fact, I offer you something much better; I can order my men to go to Kageyama, cut off different parts of his body and use those pieces to make soup."

He grimaced. "Okay...that was too descriptive."

"Then, we'd force him to eat that soup-"

"Aahh! I don't know, I don't hear anything!" -Rock exclaimed, interrupting her and covering his ears. "The story tag is humor, don't go changing the category so lightly!"

Satisfied with watching him panic, Balalaika returned to the original point. "In any case, the next phase is going to be much worse for them, and the best part is that they don't even have any idea what's going to happen."

"I can't imagine anything worse than being mutilated and turned into soup." -Rock pointed out, regaining his composure and uncovering his ears. "But I guess you mean stealing Asahi Industries' corporate records from them. Although it was included in the plan, the truth is I haven't the slightest idea how to do something like that."

"Don't worry, as I am aware of your uselessness-"

"Hey."

"-And that none of my soldiers are hackers, when I informed my bosses about my plans, I also asked them to provide me with someone who is capable of... doing whatever it is that hackers do with computers. The point is, a hacker will be arriving at this hotel in a few hours."

Who?"

"I haven't the slightest idea."

Rock stared at him. "You hire a hacker to get information worth a lot of money... And you don't even know who he is? But what kind of Kapitana are you supposed to be?"

"One who likes to kidnap people and turn them into soup."

"That's not what I mean!" -Rock replied, pointing accusingly at her. "And don't change the subject! How can you be so meticulous about some things and so careless about others!?"

Balalaika shrugged, playing it down. "Bah, relax, what's the worst that could happen?"

Ahh... it's good to be back.

My previous pc died for good and won't be coming back unless I send it in for repair, so I cried for a few days. But I can't repair it because it costs a good amount of money that I don't have right now, so again I cried again.

Now I have an old pc that I haven't used for years, and although it works perfect...I couldn't recover everything that was in the hard disk of the other pc, that included all this chapter that had to be rewritten from 0, so I cried once again.

Yeah...I cried a lot of times these days.

Anyway, that would be all. Thanks for reading.