Author's Note: Not feeling too hot recently, going to take a break from writing unless something changes.
Markus remained silent as he sat opposite to the man before him, Kashiwagi Osamu, a man of the Tojo Clan, a rather infamous group of Yakuza. What little Markus knew was that they were dangerous and according to Wu-Fei, Little Asia in Kamurochō was a victim of some scheme of whatever was going on in there. In fact, it was a reason why Wu-Fei was willing to have him on in their Chinese District, because Little Asia would have been destroyed apparently, had it not had its own protector in the form of a cop of some kind, whom Markus heard was the dirty sort.
Right now, though, he was sitting inside a car with a Patriarch, all so he can gain more Intel about the Synths that were trying to kill Ai, none of the Yakuza stuff going on mattered to him, only Ai here. And being tired of the silence on this drive, Markus elected to finally speak. "You spoke to me because you needed what I know." Markus spoke up as Kashiwagi turned to him. "Well here we are, and I like to think we're far enough from prying ears and that the car we're in is driven by a trusted man of yours." Markus said.
Kashiwagi simply raised an eyebrow at Markus before he decided to reply. "I suppose that is fair enough, very well then, I shall tell you exactly what is going on and why I am rather concerned about that man you fought with." Kashiwagi said before he took a deep breath and looked older and weary now. "Right now, the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance are gathering strength to their banners, and trying to recruit as many Yakuza Families into their hands." Kashiwagi started off as Markus raised an eyebrow before his eyes went wide. "Because both the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance are just about ready to square off against each other in an actual war." He revealed.
"Are you people mad?!" Markus nearly hissed out as he narrowed his eyes. "You do realize that the Police or the Government won't turn a blind eye to this, especially since there's talk about cracking down on the Yakuza influence in Japan from what rumors and gossip, I heard. If the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance goes to war then the Man will step in to crack down on the both of your factions." Markus pointed out to Kashiwagi.
"And you would be correct about that." Kashiwagi nodded. "However, the circumstances for the potential war are out of my hands and the Chairman's hands as well." Kashiwagi sighed out. "The seventh Chairman of the Omi Alliance is now terminal." He then revealed as Markus paused in genuine shock. "Meaning, even if we did not want to go to war, we have to prepare for war, because with the eventual death of Tsubasa Kurosawa all but guaranteed, that means there will be many Omi Officials that will seek to become the Eighth Chairman by any means necessary." Kashiwagi explained as Markus quickly figured out the logic.
"And what better way to earn prestige than being the one to defeat the Alliance's greatest enemy." Markus said calmly as Kashiwagi nodded at that as Markus scowled. "And it all comes down to who can get the most amount of power and the ones willing to shed the most amount of pointless blood and for what? To rule over ashes and the aftermath of two powers warring with each other?" Markus muttered, sounding unimpressed, and judging the way that Kashiwagi didn't say anything about it, also indicated to Markus, at least, that he had a similar opinion.
"At least you're someone intelligent enough who can see this madness for it is." Kashiwagi snorted as he didn't appreciate being in this situation. "If this war comes to pass, then no doubt other criminal factions would smell the blood in the water and start swimming for trouble. Foreign Criminal influences like the Triad, the Mafia, and so on will no doubt make a power play for influence." Kashiwagi said calmly. "And that's where our little common friend comes into play." He said as Markus was now paying attention to Kashiwagi much more carefully.
"And what do you mean by that?" Markus questioned.
"From what I managed to gather, this man is known simply as Nira, and no other name is known about him." Kashiwagi started off. "He's been noted by several of my subordinates to be a bit of an instigator and slowly but surely, while it took some time, I later learned that this man has been enflaming the passions of war between our two factions." Kashiwagi revealed to Markus's sharp look. "He belongs to neither Tojo or Omi, as such that leaves many questions about who Nira is, and where his loyalty truly lies." Kashiwagi said to Markus.
"You worry that he's a pawn for a different power, one that is hoping to take advantage of the chaos with the increased tensions between the Omi and Tojo." Markus hummed out.
"The most difficult part is how little details there are on the man, we found nothing informative, and as a result it was akin to like chasing a ghost." Kashiwagi grimaced. "I can hardly get approval to spare more resources into looking into him, due to the increased tensions that are happening. And a number of Tojo Lieutenants think that he's simply a scavenger who won't be important in the grand scheme of things." He spoke.
"But you disagree though." Markus noted.
Kashiwagi nodded. "The fact that there is extreme trouble figuring out where he comes from, despite my own resources, is already concerning enough. Add in the fact that I had sent a few of my own men to investigate him, and none of them came back to me, clearly tells me that Nira has something to hide." Kashiwagi said to hm. "I do not like surprises like Nira, a wild card like him, especially in the current situation that I find myself in, is anything but pleasing."
"Which then led you to me." Markus deduced as Kashiwagi nodded at that.
"To be perfectly honest, we had no idea or clue on anything about what he wanted or had planned. But then we saw him, on the camera aiding that actor trying to gun down those two girls." Kashiwagi said, causing Markus to stiffen a bit. "And then he shows up to back him up, and despite the sheer damage you did, in which he should have been knocked out, his body vanished like it was nothing, every trace we had on him all led to nothing." Kashiwagi said calmly, but Markus can see the anger off the man.
"So, what do you want to know then?" Markus then asked Kashiwagi, getting into the meat of the talk.
"You are quite honestly, my only lead on Nira, I could have questioned the women with you due to Nira being allied to that man that tried to kill them." Kashiwagi said as Markus glared at him. "But I saw the way you were able to ignore being thrown around as hard as you were thrown, and I rather not get into any more unnecessary fights then I have to."
"…My first encounter with this Nira happened some time ago." Markus started off as Kashiwagi paid close attention. "I was walking down the street with a girl that was a student of the school you saw before, and saved some of her friends from being hit by a car." He said as Kashiwagi looked confused. "I was out and about walking when a thief was doing a snatch and grab and knocked her friends in the road to get clear, causing them to be put in danger." He clarified as Kashiwagi followed.
"That explains why your getaway car was extremely fancy." Kashiwagi muttered to himself as he looked at Markus sharply. "One of the girl's friends was the Shinomiya Heiress, wasn't she." Kashiwagi stated rather than questioned to Markus, who simply shrugged at the statement.
"Does it matter?" Markus replied sharply as Kashiwagi got the unspoken message behind it and elected to drop the matter as Markus continued talking. "At any rate, as I was walking with her, several vans showed up out of nowhere and swarmed the both of us, and despite my best effort at the time, I got captured along with the girl before I was taken to one of their warehouses." Markus explained. "As it turns out, they intended to ransom the girl to her family, and then after some time I woke up and started to work out an escape plan." He explained.
"I see." Kashiwagi nodded before he frowned. "While I am certainly no stranger to kidnapping, among the Yakuza, the kind of setup and manpower you mentioned, indicates at least a well prepped group of sorts. And to have a hideout ready, means they were likely planning this kidnapping for some time. The only true spanner in the works is you." He noted.
"I am more capable than I look." Markus said as Kashiwagi did not look surprised by that. "I pretended to be knocked out, then got out of my bonds, and I skulked around the place a bit for anything useful, then I took what I needed before I set off a sort of chemical gas attack in the warehouse." He said as Kashiwagi blinked in surprise at that as Markus smiled plainly. "Household chemicals when mixed together can create some nasty effects." He replied to a clearly worried Yakuza.
"I…see." Kashiwagi said slowly. "You don't seem to have many issues to take whatever action you feel is necessary then, I suppose." He noted.
"A few things I rather not do, but for me, anything goes in combat." Markus said before moving on. "Anyways, I escape with the girl, and next thing I knew, this Nira was there just as we were about to escape, we engaged in a shootout, I thought I killed him." He said as Kashiwagi blinked in surprise. "And before you ask, I shot him, in the throat, checked his pulse, and dumped his body into the waters." Markus said firmly.
"…I have many questions, and normally I would have questioned your sanity and your memory as well, but you hardly struck me as the kind of man to simply lie." Kashiwagi started off before he continued on. "Besides, I saw that strange weapon that the actor used, and that is certainly no gun model that I have ever seen before, aside from something out of old sci-fi movies or games. As such, there much that I cannot ignore." Kashiwagi finished as Markus nodded at that, which means one less person that he would have to work to convince.
"After that, I got away, imagine to my surprise later that the warehouse I doused in chemicals turned out to have been burned down without a trace with very few bodies around." Markus said. "Then circumstances led to the event that you saw on camera, those two girls I was with, were being chased, I tried to hold him off, and imagine to my surprise despite being shot at, he was okay, which he took advantage of, and next thing I knew I found myself rushing him and to my even greater surprise, Nira being there, very much alive." Marku said as he finished.
"…And that is all you know or willing to tell me." Kashiwagi deduced as Markus remained silent. "You know that there's more to Nira and the actor that he was with, more than we do at least." Kashiwagi said. "And you're not going to tell us no matter what unless circumstances change. Which means, that there is something to this Nira that worries you, or you believe or think that it is something that we cannot handle, or you don't want us to handle for whatever reasons you have going on in your head." He said to Markus.
Markus's own silence was rather telling on its own before he decided to speak up again. "The question that I have to ask you is this, do you wish to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, or would you be perfectly content to stay where you are with the world remaining exactly how you understand it to be?" Markus questioned Kashiwagi, who raised an eyebrow at the question. "It's a relevant matter and depending on what you answer, you will find that some things are not always as it seems to be, something better or worse than you might expect." Markus explained.
Kashiwagi was silent, he knew that there was something off about Nira, that other man coming in with an extremely lethal looking weapon was proof enough. That made it a type of high-end weapon that only extremely well-connected people can get their hands on. Which by logic, also means that Nira was working for someone or a group of people either very powerful or very rich. It was the kind of connection that made Kashiwagi pause, but he couldn't afford to stop here, not now. His decision was made.
"If you do not mind Markus, please enlighten me as to how far the rabbit hole goes." He requested as Markus looked solemn at that.
"So be it." He said to Kashiwagi, before explaining everything relevant.
Ai kept her silence on the entire car ride as she stared at the Yakuza driving her, Nino, and her children with a weary look on her face. Then when they got close enough to Markus's Chinese District, she elected to speak up now, if only so the Yakuza do not get to close to any of the residents. There's no telling how the residents would react to them coming out of a Yakuza owned car. "Driver please stop around here." She spoke up, politely yet firmly.
The man turned back to her with raised eyebrows. "Are you sure? It's not that far and I am sworn to drop you off wherever you want to drive." He explained to Ai, but she had already made up her mind and nodded while keeping her eyes on him. The man sighed a bit and decided to pull in and then park and then unlocked the door. "Well here you are, take it easy now." He waved them off as Ai and Nino quickly nodded and got Aqua and Ruby out as fast as possible and waited for the Yakuza to drive off and were out of sight and soon Ai let out a sigh of relief as did Nino.
"As comfortable as the car ride was, I really do not want to go through that again." Nino said as she turned to Ai and she spoke up with an exasperated tone. "Of all the guys you had to make friends with, you find the craziest exception among exceptions to know." She said in mirth as Ai pouted at her.
"It's not my fault you know?" She said as she then carried Ruby in her arms and Nino carried Aqua in her arms. "And as much as I like to say you're wrong, I don't think we should linger." She said wearily looking around as Nino nodded and the two young adult women quickly made their way into the Chinese District, and met Wu-Fei along the way, who helped them get back into Markus's apartment.
"I am surprised that you came back here without Markus." Wu-Fei noted. "But I suppose he must be busy with something." He said to Ai.
"Yeah, you can say that." Ai said nervously as they got into the elevator. "Thanks for the help." She said gratefully as Wu-Fei waved them off and went back to his place.
The moment they got back inside, that's when all of them were truly relieved. Today was rather stressing for Ai and Nino, especially with what happened, but for Ai, she couldn't help but feel giddy as she was now finally together with Markus after all this time. Albeit dampened by fact that she now had a group of robots in disguise going after her for being a very serious threat to their secrecy.
Thankfully, for Ai's own peace of mind, Ruby and Aqua did not know anything, better to keep it that way, since Ai had no doubt that hearing that she was being targeted was going to worry their little hearts out. Not to mention she can't share what she learned about Markus with them either, they were kids and might accidentally let it out. Well, the chances were that they would believe it and adults would think that the kids were having fun, but better safe than sorry, especially the current situation right now.
"Ai." Nino spoke up, distracting Ai from her thoughts. "I think we should get some tea to drink now, don't you think? After everything today, I think I am a bit in shock." Nino said with a smile, though it looked kind of shaky, and it occurred to Ai that Nino's been through a lot today, and had to learn everything, Nino has been a good friend and she hadn't thanked her yet for sticking by her side throughout all of today in this endless chain of one crazy event after the other.
"That is fair, but thank you again Nino for putting up with all the madness that was going on." Ai said thankfully as Nino waved her off like it was nothing. And remembering what Nino asked for, due to being familiar enough with Markus's home. Ai started rummaging through Markus's cupboard for teabags while Nino turned on the tv for the kids to watch. After finding the tea, Ai prepped some tea and soon enough, brought it to Nino for them to enjoy with the two women enjoying the silence for now. "So, Nino." Ai spoke up, turning Nino to her. "How badly do you think this will affect our chances of hitting the Tokyo Dome?" She asked.
Nino was silent thinking about the answer when she finally gave her own response. "I think that we should have a good chance to reach the Tokyo Dome." She started off before she looked kind of hesitant. "Though I am worried about how the other ones will start to act to get rid of you, beforehand." She said as Ai looked down at that. "Though I am surprised that you're still able to think about the Tokyo Dome at a time like this, Ai." Nino noted in surprise at her.
"To be perfectly honest." Ai smiled at her in such a way that Nino can easily tell that Ai was anything but feeling good. "I really wanted to distract my mind in any way that I can. Even after knowing what Markus has gone through, I am absolutely terrified of what those Tojo Yakuza might do to Markus. For all I know, they may have been working on trying to screw him over and there's absolutely literally nothing I can do about it. I am beyond worried and I am desperately trying to maintain my calm in any way possible." She said to Nino.
Nino simply stared at her before she nodded. "It seems that being in love can truly change just about anyone." She hummed out as Ai smiled a bit at that before she swapped to a different topic, one that was more Nino's interest. "So, you and Markus huh?" She said with a smile as Ai couldn't help but turn a bit red. "You know, when you two met all those months ago, I never expected that you two would end up falling for each other." Nino said as Ai turned a bit red as she remembered their first meeting with one another and how weird it was.
"I honestly didn't think it would go like that as well, but the way Markus is, from the moment I met Markus, I always got the feeling that he was different." Ai revealed to Nino as she simply looked confused at what Ai said. "Markus was not very…I don't know exactly, but I felt like he moved at his own pace?" She tried to explain.
"Well Markus is very opinionated about his beliefs." Nino admitted before she snorted. "Still, I didn't expect the two of you to start arguing about the merits of music right then and there, just because Markus didn't care about Idol music." She giggled at Ai, who simply pouted at her. "Oh, come on Ai, you have to admit, that was extremely hilarious. I never saw you so invested in trying to convince someone that Idol music was valuable." Nino giggled out.
"He was saying that our life's work was worthless and was forgettable." Ai protested to Nino. "I wasn't going to let him say that about us, not after all the hard work that we put into become the greatest idol group in all of Japan." She stated with a huff, even if it was a while, it still riled her at times to know that Markus honestly thought they weren't going to make it big.
"To be fair Ai, Markus is entitled to his own opinion." Nino pointed out. "And to be perfectly frank, while we are good, we're not exactly internationally well known like some of the names he mentioned too." She also added in, which Ai had to concede. "Besides." She said with a triumphant smirk on her face. "Wouldn't it be a lot more satisfying to wipe the smug look off his face?" She questioned and instantly Ai found that the idea appealed a lot more to her.
"That does sound pretty good." Ai smiled at such an idea as Nino smiled back at her, and then she remembered something. "Aside from that though, now that Markus and I are dating, do you have any dating advice?" She asked as she suddenly swapped from one topic to another like it was nothing, leaving Nino to blink owlishly, causing Ai to repeat her question. "Markus and I have done a lot of activities together as friends but now that we are dating, I want to try some new locations for us to go to for dating activities and events." She explained to her.
"…Ai, you do know that I am an Idol like you right?" Nino started off as Ai nodded in confusion like that. "Considering our job and our contract, do you think that I would have a boyfriend right about now, or would have dated recently in the past, considering I am also a member of the founders of B-Komachi like you as well?" Nino then pointed out as Ai blinked at that detail, as understanding flooded her mind. "Yeah, sorry Ai. I don't think I will be of any help to you there." She deadpanned at her.
"Oh yeah." Ai nodded at that before she raised her fist and bumped it playfully on her head while winking and sticking out her tongue cutely. "Tee-hee~"
"Ai, I am not one of your fans, nor am I going to be affected by such a display." Nino said in a deadpanned tone as she stared down Ai for a moment before her expression broke and she started snorting and chuckling at her in amusement. "But I will say that was rather hilarious." She giggled out.
"Well of course I can make you laugh; I am the perfect genius idol." Ai said before she blinked a bit. "That bit." She said to herself as she suddenly pulled out the paper sheets and began looking over it and started writing stuff down at a rapid pace. "I got it." She said with a smile. "I got the workings for my own song!" She said in excitement at Nino who was blinking in surprise. "Come on and help me!" She squealed as Nino rushed over and soon looked over the additions that Ai had made to the song that she had shown to the rest of them.
And as the two worked on Ai's song, Ai couldn't help but feel that the song that she was working on and almost done with. Was exactly the kind of song that she felt, perfectly describe her very being and her life, all the way to the moment that she had finally confessed that she not only loved her babies, but finally admitted her love for Markus.
A song fitting for the greatest idol that all of Japan knew and a song that Ai, deep down, believed would change Markus's opinion.
Markus was silent as Kashiwagi was silent as they sat in the car ride, the major difference was that Markus looked composed and calm, while Kashiwagi was blinking incredulously at him like he was some kind alien lifeform, which is kind of true, if Markus had told him. Eventually Kashiwagi gave and started off by sighing while rubbing his forehead. "You really like to make this difficult for the both of us, don't you?" He nearly growled out at Markus. "This madness you told me, you expect me to believe that it is true?"
"You wanted to know how deep the rabbit hole goes, I warned you." Markus retorted as he crossed his legs at him. "I have not once lied to you during this entire car ride. Hide things from you? Left some details out? Of course I did, you're Yakuza, and at your core, you're still criminal elements, despite how honorable you may be, I can't bring myself to fully trust you, but not once have I lied to you about the reality of what Nira and Hikaru are." Markus said as he narrowed his eyes.
"And for that matter, you expect me to believe that they're organic on the outside but metal on the inside?" Kashiwagi said to Markus in disbelief before he shook his head. "But even my own imagination has its limits, I saw the weapon in action in the recording and you have it with you, and it's clearly a weapon unlike anything else." He grumbled. "In all my years as a member of the Tojo Clan, I never expected that my biggest challenge yet would be a bunch of machines with designs for the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance." He said as he looked older than he has since Markus saw him.
Markus shrugged, since he was obviously not that well informed into the workings of either the Tojo Clan or Omi Alliance. "Well now that you know what I know about Nira, is this where our meeting ends or did you have something else that you wanted or needed to tell me about?" He questioned the Yakuza Gangster, sounding a bit more rudely than he probably should have for his own good.
"…There is a lot more than I need to talk to others first, but I do not think this will be our last meeting." Kashiwagi said as he focused on Markus. "Simply put, there is too many factors that are going on, that trying to resolve this meeting in one go is nothing but an exercise in futility. Furthermore, you're a clear target of those two and whatever manpower that they can scrounge up. You are one man going against a small army at the least." Kashiwagi pointed out to Markus.
"Yes, I know that much, trying to deal with them is going to be nothing short of agonizing since I am a simple civilian, albeit with some useful skills. But a civilian nonetheless." Markus said in some measure of annoyance. He could theoretically do more, but he was dealing with a complete unknown and now that the field is layered with innocent collateral, he couldn't afford to be reckless or put any of them at risk. He would never be able to live with himself or be able to look Ai in the eyes ever again. "But I work with what I have."
"But what if you didn't have to work by yourself?" Kashiwagi pointed out as Markus narrowed his eyes. "They may be machine underneath as you put it, but given enough manpower, they can be defeated as your clear defeat over the two of them when you rescued the two proved. But if they decided to bring in numbers, it would be smart and practical for you to have numbers of your own as well." Kashiwagi pointed out to Markus.
"Kashiwagi…are you suggesting that I join the Tojo Clan, or become part of its many Crime Families within the Clan?" Markus questioned with annoyance tinged in his voice. "Because if so, I will tell you here right now, that I have no interest in becoming part of the criminal underworld and find myself entangled with crimes and actions against my own code, nor am I interested in getting on the bad side of the law." Markus stated firmly to him.
Kashiwagi simply chuckled at that. "Of course not, there would be many issues that would happen if I tried to take in a random stranger like you into either my Family or requested to join another Family, but most importantly, it wouldn't resolve the issue that plagues us both. So instead, I shall offer you an alternative." Kashiwagi said before he offered a hand. "Form an alliance with me." Kashiwagi offered up, his suggestion causing Markus to blink in surprise.
"What?" Markus questioned in surprise. "You want to have an alliance with me?"
"Right now, we're currently dealing with this crisis on our own, and if we do not do anything about it, then the situation will escalate. I do not want war with the Omi Alliance Markus." Kashiwagi said before his face gained a more nostalgic look. "Besides, your attitude and force of personality reminds me quite well of another man that I once knew before he left the Yakuza." He said as Markus raised an eyebrow. "You remind me of the best parts of him, and I know that I can trust you, because ultimately, you're a man that seeks peace, not bloodshed." Kashiwagi finished.
Markus was silent, on one hand, this was a boss of a criminal clan and it was something that he absolutely wanted nothing to do with. On the other hand, he has worked with the likes of Cachino before it meant accomplishing a bigger and more important goal. Another point was that Ai can still be very much in danger and he was only one person, all it takes is simply some bad luck on his part and good luck for the others for Ai to lose her life.
And Markus was not going to risk losing Ai, or risk turning Aqua and Ruby into orphans. And the practical answer was that he was going to need help, and he was going to need every advantage he can get his hands on. He did not know Tokyo or this world like the back of his hand or had access to every weapon or tool possible for him to use. He needed to be smart and practical about this.
As such, there was only one answer that Markus can really give.
"I have conditions that must be filled out before I agree to an alliance with you." Markus said as Kashiwagi smirked.
"Well then Markus, I looked forward to this partnership." He said as Markus took his hand shook it, and Markus could not help but feel like he was agreeing to a deal with the devil, as Markus listed out his conditions for his cooperation.