Akaza tried not to sound irritated when Muzans secretary, Nakime asked for a sitrep and he had to explain he had nothing. When she asked if he was having trouble he couldn't help but scrunch his face "no its not that! the staff are…"He eyes the trembling family whose patriarch he'd just knocked out, "...cooperative enough. But they had no clue about the bsl or anything of the sort, i mean i could threaten to break his–huh?!." He pulls away. "She fucking hung up, grr!" He wanted to throw his phone He was so pissed, the raid wasn't going according to plan and if he went back to muzan empty handed again it would be HIS ass. But when his phone rang again and he saw the name his irritation tripled, "nakime just called me, kaigaku" he griped.
This kaigaku guy was lucky he even answered the phone, the kid had already rubbed Akaza the wrong way on day 1. Despite never meeting eachother, he ordered akaza around like a dog for low-brow tasks like interrogating the staff at this stupid nail salon acting as a gambling front– an egregious misuse of his talents, almost as if to send the message akaza couldn't handle anything bigger.
It really pissed him off, he couldnt wait to meet this kaigaku face-to-face and assess if hes really worth keeping his nose to the grindstone over. For whatever reason kokushibo favors him and since muzan favors kokushibo akaza doesnt cuss him out whenever hes on an obvious powertrip.
"Hang on." he mutes his cell, turning to the females "which one of you knows the combination to the safe?" his translator echoes his question. But no one moves however he could tell by the glances who knew. "You" he points to the eldest daughter who looked to be about 15, "open it," he waves his hand. she stumbles, shaking profusely as he takes a seat on a table and continues his phone call.
"listen, I get why you hate gyutaro but what do you honestly expect me to do? Put him down? If you know his location We could use him he's a valuable asset with the right persuasion"
"Im saying drop him. Don't kill him. I want you to go down there because aside from kokushibo you're the only one that can muscle him." Why the fuck is this kaigaku kid telling me to go to gyutaros without a plan? Is he dumb? Is he trying to scapegoat me if it fails? Or does he really believe I'll be able to muscle dakis older brother into coming with us without any leverage? Akaza rubs his eyes.
"While I appreciate your faith in me I don't see how it helps to go without a plan, I'm telling you hes slippery." He pulls out his pocket watch flicking it open. This is why he hated the newbie, his hubris cant comprehend the risks of dealing with someone as conniving as Gyutaro. As the safe is opened revealing firearms, drugs, cash, and a series of keys but no sign of what he's looking for he sighs again putting his watch away.
"we have a lead, Akaza–"
"then Have kokushibo reach me. I'm done here. " he hangs up and hops off the table, "pay the man for the damages" he tells his crew member But the teenaged girl speaks up. At first he thought she was cursing him out but his translator explained, " she's saying don't pay".
"Why?"
"she says he isnt their father they were sold here to pay off debts," Akaza turns to what he thought was a crying family; a teen, a preteen and a woman who looked to be in her 40s. "She says if it's ok she wants to go home now." as she's speaking the others start talking all confessing the same thing; the man he clobbered was a pimp, that they were trafficked. Great... Akaza yanks the wallet from his translator and hands the cash to the women, "tell them we'll point them to the police station"
"uhh, mr akaza they ask what about the others?" His eyes widened, "others?" the teenage girl grabs the keys from the safe she opened, "she says there are more in the cellar." He rubs his eyebrows again at the headache that just wont go away. "how many more?"
"A dozen." That's it. He flips the table cursing. "argh you scumbag! Now i have to do something I really dont wanna do..." he growls, nut-checking the man on the floor hard with his dress shoes.
"Heyyyy! Rui! heard you've been doing great work out there!" the twins Karaku and Urogi say in unison as they elbow him, "Dont touch me. You two are a disgrace, mr Muzan should never have brought you back into the fray"
"Eh? That's not nice, you all have no problem keeping our worthless brother Aizetsu around." urogi slaps aizetsu hard on the back making him flinch, his eyes wincing in pain. "He's reliable," rui says flatly, "He fulfills his assignments without any... mishaps"
"Oh, boo-hoo," karaku whines, "So i fucked up my undercover assignment with that one chick, one time, i'd hardly call zoha a "mishap", asshole. Despite everyone's shit-talk I barely see the kid at all. Its the only reason I bothered coming" he says irritation in his voice. "Ditto" urogi chimes. "- not like we like seeing your ugly faces either" he crosses his arms looking away from rui,
"Oh!? but speaking of fuck ups! Heyyy look bro, its akaza! How nice it is to see you it's been a long time!" Karaku chimes with his twin brother close behind.
"I'm surprised you two were even invited considering how bad you are" Akaza says disparagingly. Urogi snides at the remark "You're one to talk, akaza youve been here how long now? You act like youre so much nobler than us. Yet you cant find any leads. Not on gyutaro, daki or the spider lily, so what good is that noble shit if it doesn't produce results?"
"Ha! i heard he tried his hand at interrogating!" His brother laughs, high and boastful, "whose idea was it to have the dumb musclehead in charge of gyutaros job again? What good are you at this point?"
Akaza was pissed, these clowns got kicked out for botching assignments yet think they can lecture him? "how stupid are you two?" he retorts, "If I am as dumb and as strong as you claim, why piss me off? You want me to rip your faces off and staple them to the other's body? You are twins after all I'm sure no one would notice the difference," he said flexing his fists at his sides, cracking them in the process.
"What is it, be bitchy day?" The twins asked eachother shrugging in mock-confusion. "Muzan should've thrown you out after sleeping with a target, you're the most despicable one here karaku."
"Nah that'd be you… and Gramps," he elbowed urogi playfully not caring in the slightest at his dirty laundry being aired. "guess your memory's just as fucked as your performance these days " karaku sneers at him again before the door to the main hall is opened,"all of you gather in the great hall. the last few members have arrived" says a younand rather handsome man interrupting their spat as if they were bickering old women. He had deep-set green eyes, black short hair and thick eyebrows, he was also very attractive in the face with a muscular build to match similar to Akaza's. It certainly didnt strengthen Akaza's feelings of camaraderie at all however. He knew instantly who it was. who else speaks with an air of arrogance, looking down his nose at Muzan's top performers without having proven himself first?
" who the hell is this?" urogi asks no one in particular, mirroring Akaza's disdain. "Who are you?" Karaku asks more precisely pointing at the young man. "Kaigaku" he replies, " im the new informant and interrogator,"
"youre taking up the roles of both Daki and Gyutaro?" karaku says in disbelief. Urogi chuckles "still better than akaza" he throws his arm over his brother while laughing. "and who recruited you? Was it Rui?"
"It was me '' Kokushibo enters along with Nakime, his baritone echoing in the halls catching everyone's attention. " Muzan has arrived" Nakime informs hanging up her cell, signifying the end of all discussions as everyone enters the main hall.
The room was fairly large and empty, a podium with a mike was placed in the center along with large screens and tables to sit, though nobody wanted to sit with anybody. The upper echelons of the kizuki were a morose and petty group,everyone hated each other. But as muzan entered, in a very expensive Black Alexander Amosu Vanquish II Bespoke they all showed their respects, hanging their rivalry at the door.
"Thank you all for coming. I know for some of you it's been quite a long time." he nodded to the twins who had their arms crossed. "Some of you in here admire me, some of you despise me, some of you have been rejected by society and wish to pursue your goals without worrying about the law on your backs. Though your reasons may vary, you all have earned your seat at this meeting because we have exciting news to bring, the time has finally come- rui, kaigaku!" each perks up at his name being called, standing a bit taller, "Excellent work, finding the siblings location and detaining this new lead, now all we need is to extract the information," now Muzan directs his attention to elswhere, "akaza why didn't you detain gyutaro, like kaigaku directed?" "well sir, I was–"
He holdsup his hand, "stop with the excuses, you disappointment."His face fell, he wouldve scowled if his boss wasn't directly in front of him, "From now on if kaigaku orders you to do something consider it a directive from me, do you understand?"
"I understand." He flexes his knuckles at the snickering from the idiot-brothers, he knew the moment he gave that sitrep at the nail salon that this would be a bitch session. Muzan turns his attention back to Kaigaku. "Everyone this is our newest member who will be working under Kokushibo's tutelage. Kaigaku works with the police, hes an extremely valuable asset and will be taking over both Gyutaro and daki's positions."
Murmurs followed particularly from Sekido,"sir, this man is going to take up both roles as informant and hunter? Shouldn't it be divided?".
"correct. He will also soon be our new interrogator. Unfortunately thanks to akaza thinking he understands the big picture better than kokushibo or cant act until we bring gyutaro back one last time to extract this new lead for Intel."
"Sir, 'One last time'?" Sekido asks again.
"Yes after this gyutaro will no longer be needed or sought after anymore, Since Kaigaku works for the police he's our 'in-the-know" we'll know exactly how much progress they'll have in their investigation. DO NOT blow his cover. DO NOT contact him directly. Any new information you acquire will be funneled through kokushibo and he will deem it worthy of pursuing or not." he glares down his nose at akaza again.
"Now that we know the siblings' location they won't be a threat unless provoked. However, they are of no further use to us with the police at our disposal. I will have several moles infiltrate alongside Kaigaku. Which brings me to the topic of tonight" he gestures for Kokushibo to take over.
Nakime opens a laptop putting it on the table to show the room, "courtesy of kaigaku, According to a police interrogated witness these shops contain descriptions of the drug we're looking for, all located in chinatown and surrounding areas, keep in mind the drug still hasnt been approved, so it may go by different names but phoenix seems to be a reoccurring euphemism for it. We pulled this newest lead based off this information so we'll need Gyutaro again while Kaigaku goes with police escorts to snoop the area. Keeping the police spread out will take a massive amount of coordination. Then rui you will send all your recruits after the police are done and Kaigaku has relayed what he's learned. The shopowners may be apprehensive but if they are hiding something, they should speak with the right... pressure" he nods to Akaza for that one.
"All of you will get the details after this meeting" Urogi smacks Karaku with the back of his hand, "This is why they called us he whispered, They dont have enough manpower. Guess it's for real this time, the spider lily has to be circulating again"
Muzan walks up leaning his hands over the table, "this is it, do not mess this up. No more foul-ups will be tolerated. Rui make preparations to scramble the recruits. when the time comes well need all hands on deck." He looks back towards the large set of doors where his secretary was, "Nakime bring him in" The long haired woman disappears behind the large wooden door re-emerging again with a large man, with cornrows, his eyes dyed purple who had a huge grin on his face, "This is Managi Gyokko, most of you know him as Bowser, though we've had our differences in the past, hes decided to ally himself with us in this push for the spider lily. He will be directing his own members not ours, and hes already been briefed"
He laughs, "truly you honor me Muzan. but eli and I are interested in one thing in particular,seeing as that brat Gyutaro lied about her being one of yours. Our biggest desire is to hunt him down if that's all right with you."
"no. he says flatly, "Gyutaro is dangerous. Regardless of our unfortunate falling out he will not go down unless we have his sister… or a witness of similar value. But even then Hell only bog you down and give you the slip; it's what hes best at." Muzan shuffles papers in his hands, "I need your influence in Lorelai's gang to find this drug, after that you can do whatever you want with him" Bowser's grin slowly dropped but was understanding,"have patience," kokushibo says before he turns to enmu, "you will go retrieve gyutaro,"
"Oh, Me? not akaza?" He gleams his face rosy at being acknowledged.
"nope, i told your boss here how we can nab him without risking your best muscle or even needing his sister." Bowser's grin slowly grows as his eyes glistened, "Theres a Pretty girl, should be about his age, my guys said they saw him leave her house, she has long strawberry blonde hair… And a huge rack" he laughs gesturing with his hands, "she's a bombshell trust me,you can't miss her. I think she's valuable to him, my men mistook her for daki, but despite the oversight he saved her. I believe she holds a debt over him, or maybe shes someone's rich daughter and hes blackmailing her for money, or maybe she handles his finances. Regardless the chick's loaded we thought we had him cornered but he popped up with damn near 10Gs on the table 2 days after we released her."
Enmu puts a finger to his lip, "hm? What kind of pact is that? How could he have found someone like that willing to handle his debts?"
Bowser laughs "well, at first he said she's his gardener, we weren't sure if that meant a hooker he cleaned up to pose as his actual gardener… or his actual gardener, but then he changed his story and said she was one of your accountants. Which clearly isnt true either, huh big guy?" he turns to kokushibo, " so who knows at this point?" Bowser shrugs "he seemed to hold a lot of animosity towards her so I'd rule out her being his intimate partner, so my guess is she holds a debt over him, plus lets be honest it's gyutaro were talking about–
"-Sir if enmu captures this girl whatre we supposed to do?" Akaza interjects with a scowl, "kill her alongside him?"
Bowser laughs his signature smokers laugh, "hell No we dont kill her, behind that huge rack and ass there's a use for her I'm sure. We recruit her to the team... she has a skillset, and if I'm wrong maybe we can ransom her if she's rich." Bowser took pause at that. "but first, I'd like to pay a visit to her-"
"What part of find the blue spider lily do you not understand? We don't need to focus on Gyutaro or his affiliates at the moment. Or your disgusting habits" Akaza growls again.
Kokushibo interjects, "Akaza we understand your concerns regarding the girl, that's why we'll have Enmu go." he turns, "Enmu, find this girl, do not harm her... but use her to retrieve gyutaro. If Managi is correct he'll bite. Akaza you will remain with the witness at the designated location until enmu returns with them"
"I say we Leave her alone '' Kaigaku says sternly drawing everyones attention including Muzan, "this certainly doesnt warrant side-tracking from getting the BSL drug, we've already wasted several days and what if she isnt valuable to him? We know for a fact his sister is si i say focus on the sister, not this new person"
But Kokushibo shuts it down, "No. What Managi said is credible. We capture the girl, find out explicitly who she is. If shes compliant we recruit her, if not we'll still hold her hostage until we figure out what to do with her. Do not kill or harm her until we get the intel…" he gaves Enmu a particularly sharp look.
"That is my recommendation Mr Kibutsuji, it will take a lot of coordination to keep the police spread out, as of right now, kaigaku isnt ready to take on this interrogation"
"I leave this to you Kokushibo." Muzan says walking off as Nakime provides more information.
After the meeting, Kokushibo taps Kaigaku on the back. "If you wish to keep her safe I suggest you dont make a scene and let me handle it with Muzan behind closed doors. you've done everything in your power to help Marin Kitagawa, but if she refuses to move away there isnt much else to do."
"I know that but…"
"Kaigaku." Kokushibo's voice spoke with authority, this time clearly displeased with his underling's antics, "you already risked exposing yourself getting the police involved with that little vandalism stunt,"he all but hissed in fury, Kaigaku clicks his heels together in anxiety, "i told you, the siblings are exceptionally adept at deception and theyre highly coordinated, they have secret ways of communicating and gathering information that you dont know, thats why i explicitly said not to have your girlfriend nowa involved, Jim." kaigakus chest instantly began pounding in his ears as he gulped nervously.
"Sir, that fucking gyutaro ran away with his tail between his legs like a coward, his sister was only as confident as her proximity to him, if it werent for nowa i would've clobbered him, i swear. I keep telling Marin to stay away from those two siblings but she just wont listen. Now Nowa's depressed and reconsidering our relationship…"
"Stop with teh excuses! She's involved, Kaigaku, so unless you have a plan of action, she'll more than likely get caught in the crossfire. You need to accept that, muzan isnt tolerating anymre foul ups, if he made it clear to akaza the same applies to you"
"I do have one more idea. how difficult would it be for you to falsify reports? specifically the one about Marin's boyfriend?"
'I'd rather not. if framing them is your objective You'll still run into the problem of her verifying it with the siblings."
"What if we dont falsify the entire report then, but only a few details, just enough to cast doubt? '' Kokushibo contemplates this, "That... can be done. But are you sure? she didn't believe your vandalism accusations, do you really want to frame the siblings again? it can easily backfire."
Kaigaku clenched his teeth, "youre absolutely sure you sealed my name, sir? Is there any way those demon siblings could figure out who I am?"
"I'm more concerned about whether your conscience can handle it. Ive already bailed you out for that car accident, it took an exorbitant amount of convincing muzan not to have your brother zenitsu silenced in prison, I've falsified and sealed a ton of your records, including your name, and all for what? So you can risk it all for a girl who doesn't like or even care for you, haven't you lied enough?"
He places a hand on his protege's shoulder, " remember everyone in the kizuki has a past that can easily be dug up with the right prodding. Sealed records can always be unveiled kaigaku, but if you still wish to go through with it," he releases his hand from his shoulder, "then you know where to find me." He walks off
-Chapter end-—-