Chapter 20

Haru walked leisurely to his home. He had a long day, working for an unemotional, sadistic, and just a downright dark human being was tiring. And that was coming from him. A gangster who is meant to be used to all that.

Things had changed since boss Megumi left for a better life with her man. Leaving her demented sister in charge. Well that was the rumor. That she had a few screws loose upstairs. Turned out she was. Her eyes were always blank, devoid of any time of emotion. Not at all like her younger sister. She had determination, and ruthlessness in there.

Sachi was like a robot. Like a ghost. It was chilling. The only time she laughed was when one of them got hurt, or openly mocked them for their everyday choices. It was a pastime and a hobby for her. But he had been loyal to them. And he was willing to endure the weird woman.

For the prestige.

For the money.

For the power.

As he approached his home, he felt hot. It wasn’t that hot around this time, so he didn’t get why it was hot.

His head had been in the clouds. Focusing ahead, he could see there were a lot of people. Not unusual. It was late, but they were all gathered, and seemed to have their attention on something big it seemed. He was human, so his curiosity was piqued.

He didn’t ponder too much on their distressed faces, he wanted to see what all the fuss was about. As he approached the front of the crowd, the heat had him looking up. His apartment building was on fire.

Literal fire.

He stood there for a while, not knowing what emotion to display right now. He should be happy that he was alive, that he wasn’t in there, but memories, his life, his wife and child.

“NO” he whispered taking a step forward. It couldn’t be. There was no way. He had seen them earlier in the day. He had texted her he was coming home, but she hadn’t seen it or replied. Had she already died by that time? He couldn’t believe it, even though the proof was right there.

He took another step.

“SIR!” a firefighter yelled. “You can’t go in there”.

He didn’t listen. He still kept walking. He needed to save them. The fire didn’t look so bad. It didn’t feel that bad as he got closer. He was held by one of them, and that was when he screamed, struggling against the men that held him.

“NO! NO! My family is in there!” he screamed hysterical. He could still save them. He knew he could. He was strong. He could do anything.

He was carried away from where he was, but he didn’t stop looking. He felt numb. He didn’t know when he was put in the back of an ambulance, and a warm blanket was placed over his shoulders. He was lost in his own feelings, not even the vibrations of his phone in his pocket could bring him back.

It was one of the paramedics shaking him that brought him back to the world.

He looked at the woman blankly, then reached for his phone. It could be Lady Sachi, and he didn’t….he just didn’t care right now. He accepted the call.

“Yes”.

“Honey?” came the unsure reply.

His eyes went wide. “Who is this?”

“Not funny Haru!” the female voice snapped.

“Janeru?” he was surprised.

“The one and only” she replied. “Or is there someone else? Is that why you asked who I was?!” she screamed.

“No” he clutched his phone relieved. “No not at all….it….” he looked to the building, the fire was being put out. “Just, where are you?”

“At my parent’s place. Why?” she was hesitant. “Did something happen?”

“Yes. Something did. Just stay there for a while, and take care of Hairi”.

“Haru! What do you mean? You know you’re scaring me! Tell me what happened!” she yelled begging.

“We’ll keep in touch” and he dropped the call.

He dropped the blanket, feeling a thousand times better. He pocketed his phone and stood up. He had been in this line of work for a long time, this just couldn’t be an accident. This was deliberate. In his field of work, paranoia kept him alive.

It looked like he had to go back to meet his boss.

VVVVV

“So your house exploded?” she asked bored.

“Yes it did” Haru replied, she was unbothered.

“And you bring that to me, why?” her eyes were on him. He really wanted to throw something over her head. She was alive for goodness sake.

“It was deliberate!” he clenched his feet.

Karou laughed long and hard. “Who are you and what have you done to have a hit put on you?” she laughed again. “Don’t flatter yourself”.

Sachi didn’t laugh. “Seriously, all of you are stupid. You’re dropping like flies and I find it…” she froze. “You have been doing just that”.

“What do you mean boss?” Karou stopped laughing, and was now serious.

“How many have we lost so far?” her fingers tapping against each other.

“Four” the woman furrowed her brows. “What are you implying?” she was lost.

“How did they die?” she asked, no longer donning that emotionless look.

Karou stood straighter. She was efficient, and handled every task with pride. No matter the content. This was her job. This was her life. To serve the gang, no matter who sat on the top.

“Chikashi was the first to go. Five, almost six months ago. Cause of death was asphyxiation”.

Sachi just nodded, now she was tapping her fingers against the desk.

“Second was Fumiaki. Three months ago. Cause of death was blunt trauma”.

“Witnesses said that a mug just came out of nowhere” Haru supplied.

Karou showed her teeth. Clearly portraying that she didn’t appreciate his input. Typical of a street rat. To know everything that happened on the street. If he wasn’t so important, he wouldn’t be here.

“Isamu was just barely a month ago. He choked. On a coin” Karou shrugged.

“They really do get to do stupid things in their free time” she laughed. Just once. That was how she laughed. She’d go “Hah” and that was it.

“And Kenshin was just two weeks ago. He drowned”.

“And now me!” the man in the room cut in. “My gut doesn’t lie”.

“Like I said….” Karou turned to him.

“Light bulb” Sachi said cutting her off.

“Pardon?” she was confused. “You want me to turn the light off?”

“No” she said dismissively. “A realization” she pushed her chair back from the table.

“Someone is actually taking us out, but did it in a way that wouldn’t get our attention. Until now” she finalized.

“So this is deliberate” Karou stated.

“I knew it!” Haru announced, vindicated.

Both women gave him a dry look. “The failed attempt has gotten our attention. Either it was deliberate, or Haru’s just lucky”.

Said man smiled at that. Technically it was a compliment.

“Asphyxia, blunt trauma, choking, drowning, and now….”

“Explosion” Haru finished.

Sachi’s eyes went wide. That was out of character for her. Nothing fazed the woman before him, but now she looked worried. Nervous even. “This is bad” she murmured.

“What’s wrong?” Karou was by her side.

“They’re in alphabetical order” was her only reply.

“That is kind of weird” Haru decided. He wasn’t going to focus on that. “So you think this could be the work of an assassin?”

“It is” the boss replied gravely, turning to face the window. She was visibly tense. Like she would lose it any moment. “This is bad” she whispered.

“It isn’t going to be so bad, as when I get my hands on them. They tried to kill my family!”

“Well what were you expecting?” Karou turned back to him. “When you get involved in this type of business, you don’t go around getting girls pregnant”.

“She’s my wife!” he barked.

“A wife is just a girl you can get pregnant without facing consequences” she waved her hand. “Point is, when you go around having relations with strings attached, those people become expendable. Moving targets” she said coolly. Nonchalant.

“So you’re saying you haven’t experienced love?” he asked serious.

“There’s no love in this business” she spoke.

“What about Ms. Megumi?” he teased crudely.

“That’s why you no longer see her here” Sachi spoke up. “Watch how you speak about your superiors”.

She didn’t need to show she was warning him. The woman gave out punishments. She could hold him at gunpoint and shoot him without flinching. That would be better than what she out the others through. He shivered in disgust.

“Get out” she said sitting back on her chair. He turned to leave.

“Haru” she called, just before he stepped out. “Find out what’s happening, and stay low”.

Was that an advice?

“You don’t know what you’re up against”.

He stepped out of the room.

Whatever they must be up against must be really big to make boss Sachi react that way. But that wouldn’t stop him. An attempt was made on the life of his family today. And he didn’t know if it would stop there. How long would he have to stay away to keep them safe?

His wife. His little girl. He’d kill whoever was responsible.

VVVVV

“I’m guessing there’s a whole story here” Karou began. Making the conversation light.

“Yes there is” she didn’t explain further.

“Would you like to tell me?” she asked.

“All those deaths were pointless” she sighed looking at the tip of her shoes. “I have his attention now, and that’s what he wanted”.

“He?” Karou questioned. “You know the assassin?!”

“He’s calling me out and I’m going to answer”.

“Just like that?!” Karou was outraged.

“You have no idea what we’re all in now. You need to do what I told Haru. Stay low. That’s the only thing that’ll keep you alive” she said gravely.

“Who is he?” she wanted to know badly.

“Someone I know” he replied. “I need to get in touch with her” she said standing up. “Ring her”.

“Is it so serious to warrant the Mistress’ presence?” she was excited.

Sachi didn’t answer. She just glared.

“Just tell me what’s happening. I’m your right-hand, aren’t I?”

“Guilt trip won’t work” she pointed out. “And the less you know, the better. None of you are important in this. You’re all just walking targets to get to us” she said truthfully.

“When you’re ready” she smiled.

“This is a family affair” was all she said. “Ring her up” and Sachi walked out of the room.

She was lucky she had Karou. Smart Karou to tell her things, and lucky Haru to always get his butt saved. It was smart, wasn’t it? Killing her members one after the other, calculating the time so there would be no suspicion.

He was smart. Very smart.

She and her sister excelled in their field, but they could admit when they were both out of their element. This wasn’t someone they could just walk up to and shoot. And they needed to be quick, to avoid more countless deaths. The more they ignored him, the more members would die.

Because he was dangerous.

He was a god when it came to this.

She smiled ruefully.

There was no time to waste when the alphabet assassin wanted you dead.

VVVVV

The guard looked at the man on the other side of the door. There had been a noise complaint, and it had come from this apartment.

“Is everything okay Takashi?” the man asked. “There were multiple complaints coming from this apartment”.

Takashi smiled sheepishly. “That’s my mistake. I was watching TV too loud. I’m sorry for the noise”.

“It must have been pretty loud” the man said, not convinced.

“I got a new sound system” he said excited.

“Uh-really?” he had not been expecting that.

“Yes. It’s just like you’re in a movie, with excellent surround sound. Can you tell them I’ll turn it down?” he pleaded.

“Sure. You do that” and the man left. Takashi closed his door, and just as it did, he lost his smile. He really didn’t remember being nice his entire life. Being nice, had you walked all over. Had you used. And he had been naïve, not necessarily nice, but still. In this life, your niceness was traded for thick skin.

And he had to be strong. His being nice had got him involved in a whole lot of shit. And it seemed like he was still paying for that for him to be on someone’s hit list. He held his hair that had slipped out of the tie, then tied it again.

He looked to the bound man on the chair by the end of the room.

He was still paying for his niceness and naivety. Well he had to for them to send a hitman. A shitty one.

He had come to kill him, without a silencer. That’s why he didn’t do guns. So noisy, so messy. That’s why he used poison. Easy and clean, when he wanted it to be. He came in here and made a lot of noise. Obviously he wasn’t armed because he was home, but he had learned self-defense. He had been with lunatics, and after what Takahiro did to him, he had to.

“Who sent you?” he questioned.

“Eat shit and die” the bound man grinned. He still had the mouth on him in his less that preferable position. He was still cocky. He would never get hitmen. He exhaled, and dropped his bare foot between the man’s legs. Directly on his balls.

The man howled in pain, but Kakashi covered it. “Tell me before I castrate you” he said calmly.

He laughed. “You’ve crossed really dangerous people. That’s all I’ll say”.

“Really?” he raised his feet threateningly.

“You know them” he supplied, his legs quaking.

Takashi scowled. “I know a lot of people” and he stepped behind the man.

He continued to cackle. He was pretty happy for someone who was about to die. He went to the kitchen, opened a secret compartment and got a syringe. Something simple, but really painful.

“You’re going to die” he whispered.

“I might” he shrugged. “But….” he leaned down. “You’re the one dying now”.

He pressed it into his neck, a little but hard. It wasn’t his fault. He was angry. It’s like Megumi wasn’t really going to give up. After so long. But if this guy didn’t get back to her, she wouldn’t know.

“What did you give me?” he croaked.

“No need. You won’t need to know. There’s nothing you can do to stop it” Takashi got around to getting supplied. It wasn’t too late to go for a jog. Or the gym.

He ignored the pained noises and the coughs. He got a body bag, then he got a duffle bag. He had been working out, so he could carry him for a while. He couldn’t start getting rid of bodies in this place. People would get an inkling he wasn’t a normal, typical guy.

He had stopped making noise, but blood still seeped out of his mouth. It was just like a human, ingesting too much salt. Not like food being overly salty, but actually taking something like half a cup. It was time to clean up, he’d get to what the man told him later in the day.

Just when he thought his past was behind him.

A price to pay for being talented.