Chapter Ten #3
“Do you believe what you did was such a grave mistake, you’ll perform yubi-tsume? They took our weapons, there’s no knife,” she deadpans, not at all impressed by my sacrifice.
“I have teeth, don’t I?” I grind them and give her my most resolute look. I’ll do it if she orders.
“And you say it’s just meaningless fun.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Did you lie to Akira—?”
Gunfire blasts interrupt her question. One of her men quickly takes the kumicho into the corner away from the window and door, while I look outside.
The sound of firearms being discharged keeps going as I see at least twenty thugs, maybe more, shooting at Kumicho’s men. I recognize a couple of them, mercenaries that the Chinese mafia sometimes hires.
“I knew this was a trap.” I can’t see Masa and Soma. “Aki!” I had this nightmare before, where I’m only able to reach him when it’s already too late.
Did someone in the crew contact my brother? And did he follow my instructions?
“Ah!” Kumicho exclaims, looking pissed. “I knew it. We have a damn traitor in our midst.”
No shit! “Ishida-san.” This is his turf. This large number of thugs from another organization couldn’t step foot on his territory without him knowing. The fucker must have actually helped them.
She nods with a menacing smirk. She doesn’t seem surprised.
“How long have you known?”
“A while. Wasn’t a hundred percent sure, though. I needed some proof.” She tosses her cigarette on the floor and takes out of her small purse a tiny gun and a small knife.
That’s why she’s here today. That’s why she agreed to this insane meeting.
She’s a sly fox. “Ishida-san was the one suggesting Ling Wang as a candidate. The dickhead is aiming for my throne.”
That motherfucker. I’m going to peel his face, tear it in two, and then again and again until we have Ling Wang confetti.
“I was sick of waiting for him to kill me. Couldn’t resist the chance to fuck him back.” She shrugs.
How? By being sitting ducks with no weapons?
“So you did this intentionally? Coming here, using Aki as bait.” She is diabolical.
“I didn’t expect Ishida-san to be this bold.”
“Akira could be in danger.” I shouldn’t talk to my kumicho like this, but if something happens to Aki, I…
“He is the next in line to lead this organization. Are you telling me he can’t handle a little snag like this? He’ll eat them up and defecate their hearts.
The gunshots keep going, and I know the crew is fighting like hell outside. The door slides open and I see the two men in suits in the corridor. Kumicho orders them to stay put before the door is shut again.
I give another glance outside before a bullet goes through the window and hits the opposite wall. Fuck me! “Your men are getting killed like flies. There’s only a few standing that I can see.”
“How about Akira’s crew?” One of the men asks, while the kumicho lights up another smoke.
“I can’t see them. But we need to get ready. Wang’s men are probably already inside the building.”
A woman screaming reaches my ears as I hear running footsteps.
“Let them come!” The kumicho’s eyes gleam just like Aki’s before a fight.
I take off my coat and let it fall on the floor as I slide out my knife from inside my boot.
“Some of Leone’s men are going to be here in a few minutes.” Hopefully.
“Sebastiano Leone, the Italian mobster? Why would they come here?” Her gaze is laser-focused on me.
“Do we need to fight them too?” the other man asks.
“No. They are here to help. I think. I told my men that if something happens they should call my brother.”
“Your brother, who is in a romantic relationship with Leone’s right hand, Moretti?” She knew it already, of course.
She’s staring at me with an intense gaze I’ve rarely seen before, and never aimed at me.
“You’re full of surprises, gaijin,” she whispers loudly.
“Finish your smoke, Kumicho, and then we need to get out of here.” I roll up the sleeves of my shirt and tie my hair in a high ponytail.
I hear a loud thud just outside the door. Then another one.
One of the two men points at the door before slowly moving toward it. He slowly slides the wood open when bang! The bullet goes through his head, splattering part of his brain on the table before his body drops on the floor.
Fuck, they already found us.
More bullets fly inside the room. I push my back to the wall and slink toward the door, stopping near the edge, when I see the muzzle of a gun appearing from the corridor.
I shove it upward as I stab the man’s heart.
Another guy comes behind him, the kumicho shoots at his hand, forcing him to drop the gun.
I flip the table upright and push it against the man, then I kick the glass surface.
It shatters into a million pieces as my leather boot goes through it and lands forcefully on his guts, making him stumble and fall on another guy entering the room.
I throw the table frame to the side. A piece of glass has cut my cheek; I wipe the blood away.
I hear a gunshot, the kumicho took care of another mercenary while her man is fighting against two others. Fuck, they’re like roaches. They don’t stop coming.
The kumicho throws the small empty gun at the next guy, hitting him right between the eyes. I grab his neck, and get a good hold of his belt, too, lift him up, and then shove him down, head first onto the floor, breaking his neck.
Aki would have declared this as the best kill of the day.
I don’t hear more footsteps, so I find the first man I killed. I pull the blade out of his body and grab his gun. I check the mag as the kumicho and her man do the same with the other dead fuckers’ weapons.
“We need to move!”
I lean toward the open door and look in the empty corridor, as soon as I step out, another mercenary comes from the left. I shoot him in the head, but he pulls the trigger, and the bullet grazes my shoulder. Fuck, it burns.
Kumicho’s man comes out, covering my back, while the big boss is between us. I grab the corpse and use him as a shield before two men appear in front of me. I slide my armed hand under the dead man’s armpit and pull the trigger, getting both of them.
I hear movement on my right. I turn, taking the corpse with me, and blaze away, hearing Kumicho near me emptying her gun on the three guys too. I’m dropping the dead man on the floor when I see Marco Moretti followed by four men entering, weapons in hand.
“So, now you think you can call me for help?” he delivers without emotion.
I don’t care. I’m just glad Joel convinced him to come.
“Isn’t family supposed to do that?” I retort, turning to look at the kumicho. Her man is down, blood on the front of his shirt, but still breathing.
“Family?” He huffs. “Your brother said the exact same thing.”
I smirk, proud of Joel. He saved my life.
“Moretti, I presume?” The kumicho has the ability to stare down at people much bigger and taller than her.
“Boss Hebikawa,” he respectfully addresses her. And I thought he didn’t have a smidge of politeness in him. “We took care of the ones outside. Two ninja girls are finishing the last ones.” He must be talking about Yuna and Karin.
Soma and Masa appear behind him. And everybody turns toward them with guns held high.
“You almost got shot,” the kumicho barks at them.
“Take the kumicho out of here! I’ll get Akira-san,” I order them as I move toward the counter to grab Aki’s katana and my gun.
“This place is huge. How are you going to find him?” Marco asks.
I look behind the counter, and the owner is on the floor, coughing blood. Motherfucker!
I round the wooden island and place my boot on the guy’s sternum. It goes easily down on his ribs, breaking one, two. He screams.
“Where is Akira-san? What room?” I growl, temporarily stopping my boot.
“You messed with my nephew and called down the wrath of his gaijin. Morons!” The kumicho is still here. Why didn’t she leave? Doesn’t she know she is a target?
“Room four,” he gasps out. I resume the pressing of my sole against his chest. “D-down that c-corridor, on th-the left and riiiiight, please stop. Stop! Ahhhh.”
The first shot hits him in the cheek, the second in the forehead. Smoke comes out of Kumicho’s gun.
“Nobody continues living after betraying me.” She turns her gaze toward me. “Get my nephew, River,” she says my name for the first time and then leaves.
The possessiveness I’ve been suppressing hard for so long flows out all at once. I can barely control myself. Must protect him, must protect what’s mine. The words keep echoing inside my head as I head down the corridor followed by Marco and four of his men.
“You don’t have to come.” As I voice my thoughts, Marco shoves me to the left. A flying knife cuts the air where I was standing a moment ago and gets stuck in the painting hanging on the wall.
Marco’s men quickly take down the guy who threw it.
“Fuck!” I curse.
“You’re welcome,” he clips, before moving forward. One of his men gets shot in the shoulder as we turn left, and I pull the trigger before the same fucker hits Marco as well.
“You’re welcome too,” I state.
We make another turn and finally reach the room. There’s a man on the threshold. I impale him on the sword and shove him inside the room.
The earth calms just before a devastating Tsunami envelops me.
It washes over me, drenching me in unquenchable rage.
My body and heart freeze at the sight in front of me.
Aki is on the floor with Ling Wang on top of him, his pants’ zipper is down, boxers too, while Aki’s shirt has been torn open. There’s blood and a knife.
A roar booms inside the room as I storm inside, grab the back of the motherfucker’s shirt and throw him against the opposite wall. I stalk after him, heaving like a horse ready to use his hooves to do a lot of damage.
I lift him from the floor by his gelled hair and pin him against the wall, impaling his shoulder on Aki’s sword.
He has blood on the side of his face and chest already.
I want to see more. I punch his liver first, block his left hook, and counter with a cross to his guts.
Catch his pathetic swinging hand, and twist until the bones in his wrist crack, grab the other, and break that as well.
It’s not enough. His screams are not enough.
I can still see the redness around Aki’s nipple, the bruise on his cheek.
The blade still lodged in his shoulder keeps him stuck to the wall as I weaken his jaw with my elbow again and again until blood and teeth spill out his mouth.
His dick is not hard anymore but dangling down.
I raise my boot and squash it slowly under the hard sole, enjoying the atrocious pain I’m inflicting to the son of a bitch who dared touch my Aki.
Looking straight into his fearful eyes, I sever his carotid, shooting both hands straight out, and as he gurgles, struggling to take in his last breath, I bare my teeth and snarl, “Hell is waiting.”
“Fucking shit,” I hear someone say. That’s when I remember Marco and his men are here, too.
I walk back to Aki, who hasn’t moved and is still lying on the tatami. He’s shivering in an almost broken state. His skin feels cold to the touch. His pupils are dilated like he was…
“He looks high,” I hear Marco say. “Check the dead man’s pockets.” One of his men follows his order straight away.
“I feel dizzy,” Aki whispers just as I hear Marco stating, “From the look of it, it’s roofie.” He’s holding a little square plastic bag containing some pills.
Rohypnol? The date rape drug? It has a very strong effect on him, if I remember correctly. He’s going to lose consciousness soon.
“Don’t touch me! You wanna die?” he hisses at me, trying to hold up his bloodied knife. He doesn’t seem wounded. Only bruised. He must have fought like the Mad Dog he is. His pants are still fucking on, thank Christ.
His eyes are flickering around, unable to focus on my face. I hate to see how exposed his most vulnerable self is right now.
“So I can touch you if I’m ready to die? Kill me if you want, I’d give you my life a hundred times over,” I whisper.
His trembling hands suddenly grab my shirt, and his eyes fall on my face. He grins so fucking happily at me. In a ragged breath he murmurs, “Bunny? You are alive! Am I hallucinating?”
I can feel him relaxing, as he completely gives himself over to me.
“I’m here, Aki.” I grab his hand and give the puffed knuckles a kiss. A ball of emotions gets caught inside my throat, and I can’t add more to it.
“We have been slow burning for a long time, eh, bunny? Until we finally caught fire, and do you want to know a secret?” He giggles while a tear falls from the corner of his eye. “It’s butt-clenching, toe-curling, rib-tickling…wrist-tying good.”
I delicately cup his cheek, and he turns his face, pressing it tighter against my palm. Another tear rolls down as he declares, “You’ll never leave me.”
“Never,” I confess.
“Good.” His eyelids slide down. “I’m okay. Really. No more sugar, Doris, only matcha. Keep the change.” He slurs nonsense just before he passes out.
I quickly check his pulse, and when I feel it strong under my finger, I let out a relieved sigh.
How did I ever think I could leave him? Even if he marries someone else, I’ll still remain by his side so that nothing like today will happen again.
Taking off my vest, I place it on top of him before lifting him in my arms.
“Stay behind me,” Marco tells me, as he yanks Aki’s sword from the wall, letting the corpse drop on the floor. Then with his men he leads the way out of the room and the restaurant.