Over the years that the ABB had become a stable power in the Bay, things were constantly changing within the upper echelons of the gang. Positions were emptied and filled, power was gained and lost, and plays for said were made.

And yet, despite the constant changing nature of the gang, things were mostly stable. At least they were until a few months ago. Until Kaito spoke out in the most foolish way possible and paid the price for it.

Since the man's death, Hiashi's workload had increased a tremendous amount. Where at one point he may have needed around ten hours to complete the day's work, the past few months had seen him staying in his office well into the night, leaving him thoroughly exhausted by the time he laid his head down for the night.

It had been especially busy for the past few weeks as he scrambled to get his operations in order in time for war with the Empire. Being in charge of their drug trade, Hiashi was responsible for ensuring that none of their supplies of stockpiles would be in danger during the conflict that was about to break out..

It was easier said than done, moving millions of dollars worth of drugs through their territory without anybody the wiser. The ABB may be the de facto presence within their little pocket of Brockton Bay, but the authorities still came around. Police that they hadn't paid off cracked down on storehouses the moment they received tips on them, heroes patrolled just as they did everywhere else and kept an eye out for any suspicious activity.

Thanks to the suddenness of Lung's decision, there was quite a bit of said suspicious activity in the territory lately. Hiashi had been fortunate enough that none of his bigger operations had been discovered, but there had been more than a few close calls. They would have to be more careful in the coming weeks.

"Tea, Yosei-sama?" Hiashi asked the woman sitting across from his desk, gesturing to the steaming pot that he had in front of him. The woman in question smiled, nodding her head gladly as he poured some into one of a pair of cups.

"Thank you." She said as he handed it to her, bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip. She hummed in pleasure and Hiashi smiled slightly, happy that it was to her tastes.

"This blend is one of my favorites." He said, pouring himself a cup, "It's a bit expensive to have it delivered here but it's well worth the cost."

"I'll say." Yosei nodded, "It's certainly not a common blend and even I don't have the chance to drink it often."
"Well considering the business we're about to discuss, I felt it would be best if we had something positive to keep us calm."

Yosei sighed, placing her cup on the desk, "I suppose we should get into the reason I'm here then. Have you finished calculating how much of our drug stockpile has been lost so far in the move?"

"Around six percent so far." Hiashi said, glancing at a nearby stack of papers, "Though I suspect that it will increase. A good portion of the losses could be attributed to thievery by the overseers. I have written up a list of suspects if you would like to review them."

Yosei frowned, "Possible traitors? Yes, send the list to my office and I'll review it the moment that I have the time."

Hiashi nodded, placing his own tea to the side for the moment, "Understood, Yosei-sama. Would you like a copy of our financials as well? The end of the month is coming up and thanks to this business with the Empire, this is likely the last time our revenue will be stable for quite a while."

Yosei thought for a moment before nodding slowly, "...Yes, go ahead and send those my way as well. Sadao has been falling slightly behind lately due to the sudden shift so it would be best to lend him a hand even in a small way. The man has been taking up too much work here recently."

"I'll prepare a copy as soon as I get the reports ready. I'm sure he'll be extremely thankful for your help." Hiashi said, writing a note of reminder for himself, "We could all use some help in the coming months."

"I assume things are not going so well?"

Hiashi took a sip of his tea, frowning into his cup, "No, they have not. Already we've begun seeing less returns from both our drug trades and if Aoi is to be believed, our recruitment is down quite a bit as well. It seems that word has gotten around that we're about to do something big and people want absolutely no part in it."

Yosei frowned lightly, "I see. That is unfortunate. We will need every available hand we can get in case this conflict goes on longer than predicted. Perhaps we could give more incentives to the recruiters to entice them to increase their efforts."

Hiashi frowned, "I'm not sure we currently have the resources to sustain that for any extended length of time. Truthfully, even if we do win this conflict with the Empire, it will take quite a while to recover from the damage it will doubtlessly do to our resources."

"It is what my father desires." Was all Yosei said in response to his words. Hiashi could tell that she wasn't exactly happy about the fact though and that was good. It meant that she might not just kill him outright for what he was about to say.

The reason that he had called the woman here was nothing as banal as simply discussing the reports that he was due to give by the end of the week recently. No, it was to suggest something so dangerous that it could easily end with his death if the woman took it in the wrong way.

Unfortunately, it needed to be said and so Hiashi placed his tea back on the desk and gathered all the courage available to him to do what he truly believed would be best for the gang.

"I am truly sorry for suggesting this but perhaps…" Hiashi could practically feel his heart beat in his chest and there was a lump in his throat that tried its best to prevent any words from escaping. He forced them out anyway, "Perhaps it is time for a shift in leadership."

Almost immediately after his words left his mouth, Yosei's entire demeanor turned ice cold. Her shoulders stiffened and the small smile that had been present on her face flattened into a line. She fixed Hiashi with an icy stare and he just barely managed to hold back the flinch of fear that her glare produced within him.

"Excuse me?" Just those two words sent shivers up his spine and his mind almost immediately went back to the day that Yosei's existence had been revealed to them all in the war room.

It had been a long time since he had felt fear in the woman's presence. Since his first, admittedly terrifying, experience with Yosei, Hiashi had long since come to realize just how wrong his first impression of the woman was. She wasn't a murderous psychopath hiding behind a veneer of civility as he had imagined. Instead she was a polite yet commanding woman who had nothing but the utmost respect for all of them, the type of person who commanded nearly as much respect as her father simply through her actions as well as her strength. A stabilizing presence in the ABB in the time that they needed it most.

But she was still dangerous and most importantly, fiercely loyal to her father. If he did this wrong, he easily could end up just like Kaito.

As such Hiashi chose his words carefully, "I mean no disrespect. To you or Lung-sama, but with how things have been going recently, it seems to me that he cares less about leading and managing the ABB and more about proving his superiority to others, hence this conflict with the Empire."

Yosei's eyes narrowed at his words but the woman didn't say anything which Hiashi took as a signal that he was free to continue.

"Nobody can deny that Lung-sama is our leader." Hiashi said, trying to keep his heartbeat calm as Yosei stared him down, "He is the one who brought the chaotic, warring gangs together under one banner, saving the Bay possible years of future bloodshed as we fought among ourselves. I was a member of the Black Dragons before they were forced underneath his banner, and even I could see the change that was brought by his leadership."

"The Black Dragons?" Yosei's cold demeanor gave way to slight surprise, "If I recall correctly, that was one of the violent gangs that my father subsumed. You were a member?"

"It was, and I was." Hiashi confessed, "I did many things I'm not proud of as a member of that gang, if you could even call it that. We were less of an organized crime syndicate and more a group of murderers and thieves that were better than most at hiding. When Lung-sama appeared, I was actually preparing to abandon the group and flee back to Japan. I am eternally thankful that I didn't have to. There was a reason I left, after all."

Yosei shifted on her chair, "You show an odd amount of respect to a man you are blatantly speaking to me about betraying, Hiashi. Speak plainly. What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by telling me this"

Hiashi swallowed, "Yes well, while Lung-sama may be our leader, he has very little to do with the gang when it comes to actually managing it. He allows the Faces to do as we wish, leaving the specifics of the gang up to us rather than dealing with them himself. This is a recipe for insubordination and betrayal as Kaito showed when he attempted to defy Lung, believing himself to have some sort of sway over the man."

At the word betrayal, Yosei's shoulders stiffened minutely, the woman no doubt thinking back to that day and what she had done. Hiashi continued, "In recent weeks, the majority of my own reports have gone to you instead of your father and if Aoi was telling the truth, he is much the same. Since you joined the gang, things have improved around the board. Funds have been allocated properly and any issue that pops up is dealt with swiftly, as opposed to how it would be if you weren't here."

He paused, taking a deep breath for what he was about to say, "What I am thinking, is that you should step into the role of leader in your father's place, taking command of the ABB and managing things from now on."

He froze as Yosei's lips suddenly pulled back in a snarl. Her canines had lengthened and sharpened to razor-sharp points, and she had trouble controlling the anger in her voice as she spoke slowly, "Hiashi… You had best rethink your foolish ideas before I divest you of your ability to do so. You are asking me to betray my father? Have you lost all sense?!"

"No!" Hiashi shocked himself with the volume and amount of conviction in his voice and even Yosei's eyes widened slightly, "No. I am not asking you to betray Lung-sama. I would never even think of doing such a thing, nor is it truly necessary. All I am asking is that you take a more direct position in leading the ABB. Perhaps ask your father to create the management position that you have already taken up in all but name, allowing you to lead the gang in his stead. He will still be at the top, as is natural, but he wouldn't need to truly step in for anything but the most important matters. He will be able to do as he has been without issue while the gang itself will prosper underneath your leadership."

"Ah, so a betrayal in all but name." Yosei sneered, "You would ask me to relieve my father of all that he had built and reduce him to a mere figurehead! Like some sort of puppet king!"

"I just do not wish to see everything that we have built come crumbling down around our ears due to ill-management!" Hiashi urged, "You do not understand how things were before you arrived! Before you took up your mantle as Lung's right hand, the ABB was held together by nothing but strings and tissue paper. When you began your duties, things improved massively! Under your leadership, the ABB could become the glorious thing that was imagined when I joined! Before we all lost sight of what it was supposed to be!"

There was a long silence in the room after he finished. Yosei just sat there, staring at him with enraged eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped just before she did, instead closing her eyes and taking calming breaths. Hiashi could feel sweat slip down his neck both from his outburst as well as the suspense of what she would say, knowing that it would dictate his future or even if he had one at all.

Luckily, when she finally spoke, her voice was much calmer than it had been moments before, though he could still detect the anger hidden behind her words, "What you are suggesting is nothing short of treason. By all means, I should kill you for it." Hiashi flinched slightly as her eyes flashed a bright green underneath her mask, "Be thankful that I respect both your position, as well as the incredible work you have done since you obtained it. But heed my words, if you do not cease this line of thinking immediately, my father will catch wind of it, and he will not be nearly as merciful."

She stood from her chair before he had a chance to speak, staring down at him imperiously, "I myself will hear no more of this and if I do, your position will be in need of immediate refilling. Am I understood?"

Hiashi swallowed roughly, his hands feeling clammy as he was faced with the woman's cold gaze, "...Yes, Yosei-sama. It will not happen again. Forgive me I… I'm not sure what I was thinking."

She stared at him for a long moment before abruptly turning on her heel and moving to the door, "Nor am I."

The door slammed shut behind her with enough force to shake the room he was in. Her tea, forgotten and cold, couldn't handle the tremors and tipped over, spilling its contents all over Hiashi's desk and soiling his papers. He couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment though, too concerned with his uneven breathing and the way his heart was beating in his chest.

His hands shaking just slightly, Hiashi reached down below his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out the bottle found there. With slight difficulty, he pulled off the cap and immediately began pouring it into the cup that had once held his tea.

He had been saving this bottle of particularly high quality rice wine for after this war with the Empire was over but after everything that had just happened and the magnificent failure he had just experienced, he felt he was due a little relief.

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