[karasu]
SHADOW OF THE GHOST
by room101
Warning: contains nonexplicit character death
Ogata was dead, dead by a quick slash through the throat as he was studying the profit margins of his clubs. He died alone in his office with his bodyguards by the door, a mere ten feet away. No one spoke about the mysterious circumstances of his death, but the whispers going through his wake were telling. 'It was the White Ghost, that Shuusaku who did it,' one member said to another, but they abruptly shut up when Ogata's righthand man glared at them.
Shuusaku. Touya Akira did not believe the internet rumors about the silent assassin, but he had no doubt about the calligraphy on the ricepaper note affixed to his former leader's chest. The elegant brushstrokes of dried blood proclaimed the killer.
Shuusaku.
With Ogata's death one of the seven Houses of the Kantou district was left without a leader. Touya Akira knew the sort of politicking the election will now entail, since Ogata, thinking he would never be struck down by an assassin, had not assigned anyone to be next in line. Akira would be the logical choice, but he knew the elders thought he was still too young, though he had ambition, and knew the ins and outs of the Juudan family trade.
It didn't help his father was the Meijin, a man of legendary status. Everyone expected he would at least match some of his father's accomplishments, and he planned, oh he planned to surpass them.
His father drew him aside after the cremation, and said, "I accepted to become temporary head of the Juudan House, until a certain condition is met, Akira-kun."
Akira bowed, fists clenched at his sides. Not enough, he hadn't done enough to get the title, it seemed. "What was it, father?"
"An almost impossible challenge," the Meijin whispered softly. "Will you be up to the task?"
"Anything, father." Anything that I can use to begin my own legend, he thought.
The Meijin nodded, understanding. "The challenge for anyone who wants to become the new Juudan is to find Shuusaku. He does not need to be killed; it might be beyond the means of just one man. Just the identity of the assassin will be enough, and we will use our machinery to capture him. He has dealt us a heavy blow, striking dead a dozen of our best men within the past two years. His existence is undermining our authority. I expect the winner to be you, my son."
Akira smiled ferally behind his curtain of hair. When he looked up his face was a mask of a loyal henchman, all obedience and duty. "Consider it done, father."
***
Akira did not go into the Shuusaku hunt immediately. He had other matters to deal with - namely keeping the Juudan House operations running smoothly. But he thought about it carefully, making a few calls here and there, and on the first chance he was free he contacted his trusted people for a meeting.
He met them over dinner at the Ichigaya restaurant. The three were waiting for him in a private function room. Isumi Shinichiro sat between Ochi Kosuke and Yashiro Kiyoharu, looking trapped as the two were engaged in one of their usual arguments. They did stop once he arrived, gazing at him expectantly, and he spared no pleasantries over dinner.
"We are going after Shuusaku."
It was Yashiro who broke the silence. "You let the other groups have a three week start ahead of us. What else are we gonna find out that they didn't?"
"They're running around like headless chickens, I doubt they'd find anything new. But it's not like I wasn't looking for information in my own way. Ochi." Akira inclined his head, giving Ochi permission to speak.
"I checked online for anything on the man, and all I got was a bunch of urban myths and a couple of wannabes claiming to be the White Ghost, those obviously came to a dead end. But more interesting, I found a trail." Ochi dug out some papers from his computer bag. "It's very slim, but I did find out he's actually real, and he's just one person. I based it off traces of people trying to access our family files, and followed ip addresses and other things."
"Stop talking about the boring stuff, tell us where he is."
"I'm getting there." Ochi frowned. "I counterchecked addresses, blah-blah, and did find an address based off the details. You might find this interesting, Touya, but Shuusaku hangs around the same i-go server as you do. You might've played with him once or twice without knowing."
Akira waved that last part away. "Trivia. And the address?"
"High class apartment, yeah, I'm not going to talk anymore, here." Ochi huffed. "I also found some money trails, but I'm not done tracing the dummy accounts to the source."
Akira glanced at it. "We can go there after dinner. Let's pick up all we need at Ochi's then we head out. Did you have any plans tonight?"
Isumi shook his head. "We're at your hands, Touya."
"Good."
***
The apartment was high-class, without a doubt. It was also in the fifth floor, and the security was pretty tight for the area. Akira issues commands upon checking out the setup and they separated ways. He walked with Ochi, since Ochi, in spite of his brilliance, was weak with weaponry.
They used the parking lot entry, where only one guard was on duty. There was quiet ruthlessless in how Touya dealt with his targets. Ochi watched as Touya aimed his gun and shot a tranquilizer dart straight to the guard's neck. The man slid off the chair to the ground without a sound.
Ochi prodded the man with his foot. "That should keep him out for forty-five minutes."
"Exact estimates please."
Without glancing at his laptop with its set of formulations and dosage calculations Ochi said, "A one hundred seventy-five pound man and one shot of 6 milliliters. forty-seven minutes and fifty-seven, no fifty-four seconds."
Ochi's precision with poisons was one reason Akira hired him. Another reason was his skill at breaking security codes, which was exactly what he needed right now. That meant he had to live with some of his other idiosyncrasies but the incessant tapping in the bathroom during stress-filled research was merely a minor inconvenience.
"I'll give you ten minutes to disable the primary security grid. I don't want cameras catching us at work."
"Always asking for the impossible," Ochi clucked, but he had the laptop opened and had his security programs open even as he said so. Akira contacted Yashiro through his mobile. The Kansai man answered after the eleventh ring.
"Yo."
"Did they give you trouble?"
"Nah, this was easier than most things you asked me to do. Still doing lookout. Quiet."
"And Isumi?"
"I guess he did great, there's practically no security around. When you told him to create a distraction to draw most of the security away I didn't think he could do it. Worked like a charm."
"Keep watch." He turned off the phone, wanting to keep distractions to a minimum. Now that he was focused on Shuusaku even business related to the Juudan House was a distaction. He hated how conspicuous they were just outside of the apartment complex, but he could do nothing about it. Good thing there weren't anyone abroad at this time.
He couldn't help the feeling he was being watched though.
Akira heard beeps and muttered curses as Ochi multitasked and typed in his command line windows, but Ochi finally said, "Done."
Akira called Yashiro one more time. "We're going in."
"We really should have another hacker come in," Ochi suggested as they took the freight elevator up. "Not that I mind going into the field with you, Touya, but really, I can't stand being around someone else."
"You'll just have to live with it. I know he'll say the same thing if I asked him."
"The apartment is under a Serizawa Niimi by the way, but that's obviously a decoy. He has a sense of humor, at least."
"You should develop one when it comes to Yashiro."
"I would have it if only he wouldn't leave his 'Whose line is it anyway?' dvds in my workroom. Just because the dvd player happens to be there - " The elevator reached the appropriate floor, and they checked out the hallways. There was no one around, so they headed to appartment 515.
Akira stood on one side of the door as Ochi wired his laptop to hack the security lock. In a few seconds the lock beeped and Ochi used a blank magnetic keycard to open it.
Behind the western door it was surprisingly traditional, with tatami mats and low-key furnishings. An empty pottery bowl gleamed in an alcove under an appropriate autumn scroll. He left Ochi in the main room, checking if anyone was hidden in ambush. The pre-furnished apartment was empty. There was no trace of anyone having lived there, and the only thing out of place was a message in familiar calligraphy left on the polished mahogany go board in the middle of the room.
'You have traced me this far. I am certain you can find me again, Kosuke Ochi."
A long pause. "I hate him," Ochi muttered, closing his laptop and stomping off. Akira pocketed the letter and looked around at the well-apointed home, checking for clues. The area was wide and each area led off to the next with all the shoji screens open, and gadgets were either not there or hidden. Shuusaku must be using a laptop to go online. He looked through the cupboards, the closet, the bathroom, and everything was empty.
They'd only planned to go tonight, so the assassin wouldn't have had much warning. Unless he'd planned for this scenario all along. A point for Shuusaku this time, but he planned to have their team even up the score soon enough.
"Done?" Ochi asked from outside. Akira nodded and closed the door, while Ochi locked it via computer. He removed all electronic traces of tampering, and they went down to meet up with the other two. They were already in the designated meeting spot, waiting at Isumi's van. Ochi quickly got in and raged in the back seat, and Yashiro settled down beside him, intent on ferreting out what put him in such a deep funk.
"Nothing?" Isumi asked, and he shrugged.
"It was empty, save for this." Akira pulled out the message, and Isumi read it.
"I guess the White Ghost lives up to his name. Are we going to do any other mission tonight, Touya?"
"No, you can all go home. I'll just check on a few other business and I'll contact you if we need to do a mission."
"We'll be going now then." Isumi got into the driver's seat, and started the van. When the van pulled away Akira saw that someone was lounging on the hood of his car, wearing extra large earphones connected to an ipod strapped at his waist. At Akira's approach he pulled them down and grinned.
"That looked like fun," the young man by his car said. "Let me do that too."
"Do what?"
"Breaking and entering a high-class apartment. I've never done that before, and your team looks like fun."
"What do you mean by that? We just visited someone we knew. It was all normal and perfectly legal."
The man wagged his finger. "Had it been legal you wouldn't have mentioned it was perfectly legal. I'm not gonna tell on you to the cops anyway, and I know all about the shady business you're actually running behind the legit ones, so I just wanna cut and try out the yakuza life."
Akira's earlier frown deepened. "We aren't what you think we are, and you're sitting on the hood of my car."
"So that's how it's going to be then? Fine, but if you do think you might need me, you can always find me here." He took out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and tossed it his way.
Akira caught the flyer before it fell on the ground. "We're not recruiting complete strangers off the street for our completely legitimate business," he insisted.
"If you say so. And you don't need to worry, I'm already on your payroll, sort of. Nice seeing you all out on a night like this, by the way. I'm gonna be late for the job you hired me to do, so I'll be going." He pushed off the car, and walked away.
Akira unfolded the flyer and murmured the text in Roman letters. "Go Go Spiral Rave: Manifestor of Mystery?" It was the exquisite grass script on the club's name that made him pause. "Club Tendai, is it?"
***
It didn't take Akira long to find out who the stranger was. A casual inquiry with Ichikawa-san, his father's secretary, pulled up information about one Shindou Hikaru, dj to the aforementioned club. A club he happened to have a controlling share in.
Akira swore to keep better track of his assets next time.
The dossier was short. Shindou Hikaru was as old as he was, itinerant dj, born in Tokyo, spent most of his childhood between Kyoto and Kantou. Parents divorced, no siblings. He also just happened to train in martial arts, specifically taekwondo and kendo, though his performance was mediocre at best. He first joined the club's dj roster two months ago, which might explain why Akira had not paid attention to his arrival. At that time he'd been busy smoothing relations between the Juudan and Honinbou houses before a fued could erupt.
Shindou's conversation with him that night rankled. He asked Ochi to trace the other man's life and where he stayed, and correlated it with the information they have about Shuusaku's assassinations. None matched, and except for the Ogata's death he had been in a different city at every assassination. Giving up, he decided to contact the other man again. And that meant going to Club Tendai.
He asked Yashiro to accompany him in this mission. He was the most appropriate companion; the other two would stand out in the crowd, since Isumi was too quiet for the club scene, and Ochi too abrasive. Yashiro's brand of street credibility and street smarts would gain them an advantage in case things get messy.
Club Tendai was situated in Roppongi Hills, and though the occasional devout buddhist looked askance at the gold-plated calligraphy on the door, it was the in club to be of the moment for the young and hip people.
Akira didn't know what he was doing there, dressed in a shiny purple shirt which sent Yashiro to peals of laughter. Considering their occupation, Akira never did go out clubbing with the family, and just chose what he thought were the most appropriate clubbing gear in his closet.
"Do you really want to go to the club in that?"
"What's wrong with my shirt?"
"No offense, Touya, but with your hair that shirt makes you look like a shiny eggplant."
He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it into the nearest trash bin. His black undershirt showed glimpses of the dragon tattoo through the collar and sleeves, but that was all right. His silver necklace and bracelet served as the only bright bits of his outfit. Yashiro nodded. "Much better."
Isumi drove them. They got off right in front of the club, where Akira's credentials got them past the long lines. He could hear the pounding dance rhythms even from the street, and knew that before the night would end he'll have a raging headache.
"This is a really good place, Touya. And you own it?" Yashiro shouted over the din. Akira was glad he chose Yashiro; under the erratic laser light display in the crowded room he stood head and shoulders above the crowd with his white hair.
"Sort of," he shouted back. "Is this supposed to be this loud?"
"Bar. Drink," came Yashiro's quick reply. "It might be better once you're fairly buzzed."
Yashiro's solution worked. After two shots of alcohol, the music was actually tolerable. He ordered another drink for courage, a mild heat burning in the pit of his stomach. Pleasantly buzzed and a bit flushed, Akira searched out Shindou. Yashiro was on the dance floor, enjoying the break.
He was lucky on his first try. Shindou was then taking a break between shifts by the bar. When he slipped on the barstool beside the dj Shindou looked shocked for a moment, before he extended a hand.
"Shindou Hikaru, a.k.a. Spiral Rave am I correct?"
"Touya Akira, next in line to be Meijin and Juudan, am I right?" The young man grinned cheekily. "What brings you here to join the madding crowd in your father's club?"
"It's not my father's club. It's mine."
Shindou paused. "You own this club. Hey, you didn't strike me to be the type to even know what to do in a hip club like this."
Even with the alcohol buzz Akira knew he should take offense, but couldn't think of an appropriate reply. Anyway, now that he was here, he might as well put his plan in action. "I only have one thing in mind when I came here."
"And what's that?"
"Be part of my team."
"Your what?"
"My select team, separate from the Juudan family house." His line of attack worked. Shindou was nonplussed at the direct offer. "You were the one who was asking to be part of it. I'll give you temporary status, to let you have a taste of the life. We always need cannon fodder sometimes."
Hikaru was angry, and his cheeks were stained with splotches of red. "I'm not going to be cannon fodder for your missions!" he raged.
"I was just being blunt there. I looked your bio over and it seemed standard for an initiate, but nothing special. You actually asked to get into my team of selected specialists. What can you offer them besides to be their shield?"
"I'll show you what I can do once you get me in, but with the way you're talking I don't want to anymore."
This time Akira was certain it was the alcohol talking. "Am I being too blunt? You were talking like this to me the other night. I thought you liked people to be as open as possible. So I'm gonna admit it: I don't know why I thought of hiring you. But they say keep your possible enemies close, and your friends closer, so I can use you to watch the rest of the team for me, make sure no one's going to betray my trust. If you can do that I'll not only pay you extra, I'll put in a good word for you when you finally want to go join any House in the Kantou region."
"You do know you're telling this to a complete stranger."
"Yes. I say, it must be the alcohol that's making me talk like this." His sentence ended with a small hiccough, and he glanced at Shindou, who was trying to stifle his laughter.
"I'm going to work for a yakuza boss with zero-alcohol tolerance. It might be interesting. Sign me up, Touya Akira. I'm going to be your rat."
***
Yashiro glanced down at the movie in Shindou's hand. "Not that yakuza crap again. What is it now, "Momoneko-san's Revenge Part III?"
Akira tried not to laugh as Shindou and Yashiro bickered over their Friday movie choice. It was a relaxing way to end the day after dealing with in-House politics and the random torture/interrogation. He should head straight home but a few hours with people his age wouldn't hurt.
Shindou fit right in with his team, which still surprised him. He'd have thought there would be more tension about the complete newbie, but here he was. He joked with Yashiro, talked about gadgets and mobile phones with Ochi, and liked cooking dinner with Isumi. And he'd been doing well with the missions Akira assigned hm. They were things someone else couldn't do because of previously assigned tasks, but Hikaru took up the slack and worked brilliantly with everyone.
Hikaru also didn't fear anything, it seemed.
Whereas Ochi would ask for a few minutes to calculate his odds in the bathroom, Isumi had to be left alone to meditate, and Yashiro would check up on his family before agreeing, Shindou always has a quick nod for any mission. No matter how rough and tumble or menial it was, Hikaru would attack it - that was the only word Akira could describe the whole-hearted, focused attention his teammate had on duty - and come out victorious.
But after each mission Hikaru would turn to him and ask, "What next, chief? What do you want me to do next?" And Akira is always left speechless. What else do you want to do, he wondered. They've maimed, and killed and plundered, but Hikaru still asked that question, with a tiny hint of expectation underlying it. Was Hikaru waiting for him to give a specific job? There was only one other job he hadn't assigned Hikaru into yet.
So the next time Hikaru asked "What next, chief?" right after interrogating a pimp, Akira cautiously replied, "It's time to find Shuusaku."
And instead of the manic grin Akira expected Hikaru's face blanked out, like a Noh mask. "Shuusaku, huh?"
Akira replied, "I have to take care of the House's operations as well. Don't expect me to give you clues about it, we have a lot of people tracking him down as it is."
"I'll hunt him down my own way, but don't ask me about my sources and methods, okay?"
"Fine." He didn't want to look too closely into Hikaru's methods anyway. His records were impeccable if disorganized. It was that very disorganization that made Akira curious though.
***
Hikaru didn't visit their unofficial headquarters for the next few weeks except for meetings Akira called. He was busy with things aside from his dj schedule, which Akira decided he shouldn't drop since it made a good cover. When he was finally done with whatever research he was doing he asked Isumi to come with him to a bar in Shibuya. As they drove there Hikaru was very quiet, his thoughts obviously far away.
The information broker's den could be found from the bar Pink Spider. Going to the bar and asking for the information broker there would lead nowhere; you had to know the trick to prove you got your sources correct.
"Is this the right way, Shindou?" Isumi asked, doubtful. They had snuck past the kitchen and were going out of the club to the back alley. It was a narrow area and the stench from the trash bins was overwhelming. Hikaru pointed to the fire escape ladder.
"I know it is, after all, my source happens to be one of the best! Now we have to climb up that ladder."
Isumi didn't bother asking Shindou anymore. The younger man rarely explained his actions or gave away his sources and Touya was okay with it, so that was that. He followed Shindou's lead up the fire escape to the third floor, where they entered an abandoned apartment and headed up another flight of stairs. It led to a door with a tiny sign Gyokusho hung up front. "You must be kidding me."
"Uh uh, this is right." Shindou pushed the door open, leading to a surprisingly tasteful old-style bar. A fan stirred the air, and the master smiled at them, as if getting patrons at this out of the way place was common.
"So, what are you having, new patron?" The master lifted the glass he was polishing to the light, checking if it was clean.
"I want two beers, kirin please."
They were quickly served, and Shindou handed one to Isumi, while pushing the other to the bartender.
"It's not for me, it's for you, Kaga. Think of it as payment for some info."
"I think you got the wrong place, there's no one by the name of Kaga here."
"Ah, is that so." Hikaru shrugged. "Then maybe by the name of King?"
"Do you think this would be a place for a king?" The man lit up a cigarette, grinning. "No king would stay in such a wasteland."
"It's the shougi king I'm talking about."
"Fine. You seem to know the whole bit, so what are you here for?"
"Shuusaku."
"Shuusaku the White Ghost." Kaga blew a puff of smoke into the air, frowning. "No one knows what he looks like, and no one knows how he can slip in and out of locked and guarded rooms with no one the wiser."
"Old news, everyone knows that." Hikaru shrugged. "What I expect from the great data collector would be a bit of info I can use to track him down, not hearsay."
"Fine then." Kaga got an ashtray from the bottom of the bar and flicked his ash off the cigarette's end. "The White Ghost is not connected with any organization both from the underworld or the government, but he keeps close track of the actions of the Seven Houses. He doesn't kill anyone outside of the organizations. I wonder why that's so?"
"Still nothing new, Kaga. The White Ghost is a name given to the assassin that kills House members for several generations, but no one knows exactly how the name came to be. The theory goes that a witness to his killing saw him as a white-robed Heian gentleman, but that's plain speculation."
"The most we know about him is his name, or at least the name he pins to his murders. That's Shuusaku, the brilliant man who brought all of the Houses together." Kaga whistled. "Any man worth his salt would rather use their name ot build a reputation, it seems our assassin's pretty shy."
"Let's try a different tack, Kaga. You give me all you know on Shuusaku, and then I'll give you info you might want, and we do this trade."
"Fine." Kaga's smile was cunning. "I wonder what data you can give that will make me give what I know of Shuusaku?"
"Photographs." Hikaru took out an envelope of folio-size. "Something you might be interested in."
Kaga opened the envelope and riffled through the images. "And how did you get these?"
"The Minou traded it for me."
"Minou is back to get his claws clipped again." Kaga pushed them back in. "And you've got balls showing the work of another data collector at my door. Are you challenging the king?"
"Never. But you have to use what resources you've got to castle the king in." Hikaru leaned over the bar, every line of his body oozing confidence. "So, was that enough for data on Shuusaku?"
"Fine." Kaga pressed a few keys and his register popped open. He shuffled through a few of the bills, and came up with a tiny envelope. "This is all the info I ever got about Shuusaku."
"I thought you might've had at least a folder full of info. This is it?"
"Yeah. But you might want to look at the envelope when you're alone, Shindou Hikaru." Kaga nodded to Isumi. "That data there is only for your payment. Your friend here hasn't even bought a drink. He's not part of the Spiderweb."
"Fine." Hikaru took out the paper and polaroid. He opened the paper, and paused. He stared down at the words written on it, and pocketed the paper. "You're still the best, Kaga. No wonder you're king."
"You just have to know what to do when you want to be on top." Kaga tapped his pipe on the side of the bar. "But this won't get beyond this bar, so what you know now, I don't know."
"Great, that's just great." Hikaru motioned for Isumi to follow him out. "Well, this is good enough, so I'll be leaving you now."
"It was nice doing business with you." Kaga blew a puff of smoke their way. "Don't harass the helpers when you go out."
"Hey, Shindou." A bespectacled man was waiting outside the door, fidgeting.
Shindou paused. "There's no secrets in the Spiderweb is there?"
"No, well, Kaga already got that data even before I joined the lines, you know."
"He did?"
"I'll tell you more some other time."
"Great. Better get back, Tsutsui-san, or Kaga's gonna get me for keeping you out here."
"Are you still looking for that, Shindou?" Tsutsui asked, his voice low. Shindou nodded, and Tsutsui patted his shoulder before leaving them.
Isumi tapped Shindou on the shoulder as they left. "A childhood friend?"
"What childhood I had, that is."
***
"Home at last!" Shindou said when they finally got in. They'd passed by Akira's place and received news of a new mission. Shindou couldn't wait to tell the rest about it.
"I'm going to store these." Isumi indicare the last minute grocery they purchased on the way back. "Then I'm going to sleep."
Hikaru walked in just as Ochi threw a rag at the Kansai man. "Idiot, that's it. I'm not helping you with your weapons anymore."
"Hey what's up? Lovers' Quarrel?"
Ochi kneed him in the groin. Hikaru groaned, clutching at his injured body parts. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YASHIRO?!"
"Was it my fault my knuckles keep getting worn down?! It was inferior steel, obviously." Hikaru rolled his eyes.
"And you told him that? Man, you suck at PR."
"It was not inferior steel, you just thrash them all the time!"
"Hey stop fighting Touya's got us a job and everyone's going to be in this mission! I have an idea about how we're gonna call each other on the phone so let's talk about it before I tell you the details!"
"Like a code then?" Isumi came in just as Hikaru expounded on his idea.
"Yeah. Like, super secret hero names. I even came out with a list, see? Isumi can be Blue Dragon, Yashiro will be White Tiger, I'll take Red Phoenix, and Ochi here will be Green Turtle."
"What about Touya?" Yashiro asked, even as Ochi protested, "I am not going to called Green Turtle just because you said so!"
"Oh Touya, obviously he's the man in the middle and our secret weapon, so he's our Black Warrior! Just like in a super-sentai series!"
Isumi rubbed his forehead. "No code names, no sentai pretensions will be allowed durig this mission. We're doing this so the rest of the Juudan House will acknowledge our team, and if you insist on doing something as inane as that, Shindou, we're going to lose all credibility."
"Fine fine. You tell them what we're gonna do then."
"It's going to be totally different from anything we've done before. We're going to start a feud against the Ouza House. That's our mission."
To Be Continued
by room101
Warning: contains nonexplicit character death
Ogata was dead, dead by a quick slash through the throat as he was studying the profit margins of his clubs. He died alone in his office with his bodyguards by the door, a mere ten feet away. No one spoke about the mysterious circumstances of his death, but the whispers going through his wake were telling. 'It was the White Ghost, that Shuusaku who did it,' one member said to another, but they abruptly shut up when Ogata's righthand man glared at them.
Shuusaku. Touya Akira did not believe the internet rumors about the silent assassin, but he had no doubt about the calligraphy on the ricepaper note affixed to his former leader's chest. The elegant brushstrokes of dried blood proclaimed the killer.
Shuusaku.
With Ogata's death one of the seven Houses of the Kantou district was left without a leader. Touya Akira knew the sort of politicking the election will now entail, since Ogata, thinking he would never be struck down by an assassin, had not assigned anyone to be next in line. Akira would be the logical choice, but he knew the elders thought he was still too young, though he had ambition, and knew the ins and outs of the Juudan family trade.
It didn't help his father was the Meijin, a man of legendary status. Everyone expected he would at least match some of his father's accomplishments, and he planned, oh he planned to surpass them.
His father drew him aside after the cremation, and said, "I accepted to become temporary head of the Juudan House, until a certain condition is met, Akira-kun."
Akira bowed, fists clenched at his sides. Not enough, he hadn't done enough to get the title, it seemed. "What was it, father?"
"An almost impossible challenge," the Meijin whispered softly. "Will you be up to the task?"
"Anything, father." Anything that I can use to begin my own legend, he thought.
The Meijin nodded, understanding. "The challenge for anyone who wants to become the new Juudan is to find Shuusaku. He does not need to be killed; it might be beyond the means of just one man. Just the identity of the assassin will be enough, and we will use our machinery to capture him. He has dealt us a heavy blow, striking dead a dozen of our best men within the past two years. His existence is undermining our authority. I expect the winner to be you, my son."
Akira smiled ferally behind his curtain of hair. When he looked up his face was a mask of a loyal henchman, all obedience and duty. "Consider it done, father."
***
Akira did not go into the Shuusaku hunt immediately. He had other matters to deal with - namely keeping the Juudan House operations running smoothly. But he thought about it carefully, making a few calls here and there, and on the first chance he was free he contacted his trusted people for a meeting.
He met them over dinner at the Ichigaya restaurant. The three were waiting for him in a private function room. Isumi Shinichiro sat between Ochi Kosuke and Yashiro Kiyoharu, looking trapped as the two were engaged in one of their usual arguments. They did stop once he arrived, gazing at him expectantly, and he spared no pleasantries over dinner.
"We are going after Shuusaku."
It was Yashiro who broke the silence. "You let the other groups have a three week start ahead of us. What else are we gonna find out that they didn't?"
"They're running around like headless chickens, I doubt they'd find anything new. But it's not like I wasn't looking for information in my own way. Ochi." Akira inclined his head, giving Ochi permission to speak.
"I checked online for anything on the man, and all I got was a bunch of urban myths and a couple of wannabes claiming to be the White Ghost, those obviously came to a dead end. But more interesting, I found a trail." Ochi dug out some papers from his computer bag. "It's very slim, but I did find out he's actually real, and he's just one person. I based it off traces of people trying to access our family files, and followed ip addresses and other things."
"Stop talking about the boring stuff, tell us where he is."
"I'm getting there." Ochi frowned. "I counterchecked addresses, blah-blah, and did find an address based off the details. You might find this interesting, Touya, but Shuusaku hangs around the same i-go server as you do. You might've played with him once or twice without knowing."
Akira waved that last part away. "Trivia. And the address?"
"High class apartment, yeah, I'm not going to talk anymore, here." Ochi huffed. "I also found some money trails, but I'm not done tracing the dummy accounts to the source."
Akira glanced at it. "We can go there after dinner. Let's pick up all we need at Ochi's then we head out. Did you have any plans tonight?"
Isumi shook his head. "We're at your hands, Touya."
"Good."
***
The apartment was high-class, without a doubt. It was also in the fifth floor, and the security was pretty tight for the area. Akira issues commands upon checking out the setup and they separated ways. He walked with Ochi, since Ochi, in spite of his brilliance, was weak with weaponry.
They used the parking lot entry, where only one guard was on duty. There was quiet ruthlessless in how Touya dealt with his targets. Ochi watched as Touya aimed his gun and shot a tranquilizer dart straight to the guard's neck. The man slid off the chair to the ground without a sound.
Ochi prodded the man with his foot. "That should keep him out for forty-five minutes."
"Exact estimates please."
Without glancing at his laptop with its set of formulations and dosage calculations Ochi said, "A one hundred seventy-five pound man and one shot of 6 milliliters. forty-seven minutes and fifty-seven, no fifty-four seconds."
Ochi's precision with poisons was one reason Akira hired him. Another reason was his skill at breaking security codes, which was exactly what he needed right now. That meant he had to live with some of his other idiosyncrasies but the incessant tapping in the bathroom during stress-filled research was merely a minor inconvenience.
"I'll give you ten minutes to disable the primary security grid. I don't want cameras catching us at work."
"Always asking for the impossible," Ochi clucked, but he had the laptop opened and had his security programs open even as he said so. Akira contacted Yashiro through his mobile. The Kansai man answered after the eleventh ring.
"Yo."
"Did they give you trouble?"
"Nah, this was easier than most things you asked me to do. Still doing lookout. Quiet."
"And Isumi?"
"I guess he did great, there's practically no security around. When you told him to create a distraction to draw most of the security away I didn't think he could do it. Worked like a charm."
"Keep watch." He turned off the phone, wanting to keep distractions to a minimum. Now that he was focused on Shuusaku even business related to the Juudan House was a distaction. He hated how conspicuous they were just outside of the apartment complex, but he could do nothing about it. Good thing there weren't anyone abroad at this time.
He couldn't help the feeling he was being watched though.
Akira heard beeps and muttered curses as Ochi multitasked and typed in his command line windows, but Ochi finally said, "Done."
Akira called Yashiro one more time. "We're going in."
"We really should have another hacker come in," Ochi suggested as they took the freight elevator up. "Not that I mind going into the field with you, Touya, but really, I can't stand being around someone else."
"You'll just have to live with it. I know he'll say the same thing if I asked him."
"The apartment is under a Serizawa Niimi by the way, but that's obviously a decoy. He has a sense of humor, at least."
"You should develop one when it comes to Yashiro."
"I would have it if only he wouldn't leave his 'Whose line is it anyway?' dvds in my workroom. Just because the dvd player happens to be there - " The elevator reached the appropriate floor, and they checked out the hallways. There was no one around, so they headed to appartment 515.
Akira stood on one side of the door as Ochi wired his laptop to hack the security lock. In a few seconds the lock beeped and Ochi used a blank magnetic keycard to open it.
Behind the western door it was surprisingly traditional, with tatami mats and low-key furnishings. An empty pottery bowl gleamed in an alcove under an appropriate autumn scroll. He left Ochi in the main room, checking if anyone was hidden in ambush. The pre-furnished apartment was empty. There was no trace of anyone having lived there, and the only thing out of place was a message in familiar calligraphy left on the polished mahogany go board in the middle of the room.
'You have traced me this far. I am certain you can find me again, Kosuke Ochi."
A long pause. "I hate him," Ochi muttered, closing his laptop and stomping off. Akira pocketed the letter and looked around at the well-apointed home, checking for clues. The area was wide and each area led off to the next with all the shoji screens open, and gadgets were either not there or hidden. Shuusaku must be using a laptop to go online. He looked through the cupboards, the closet, the bathroom, and everything was empty.
They'd only planned to go tonight, so the assassin wouldn't have had much warning. Unless he'd planned for this scenario all along. A point for Shuusaku this time, but he planned to have their team even up the score soon enough.
"Done?" Ochi asked from outside. Akira nodded and closed the door, while Ochi locked it via computer. He removed all electronic traces of tampering, and they went down to meet up with the other two. They were already in the designated meeting spot, waiting at Isumi's van. Ochi quickly got in and raged in the back seat, and Yashiro settled down beside him, intent on ferreting out what put him in such a deep funk.
"Nothing?" Isumi asked, and he shrugged.
"It was empty, save for this." Akira pulled out the message, and Isumi read it.
"I guess the White Ghost lives up to his name. Are we going to do any other mission tonight, Touya?"
"No, you can all go home. I'll just check on a few other business and I'll contact you if we need to do a mission."
"We'll be going now then." Isumi got into the driver's seat, and started the van. When the van pulled away Akira saw that someone was lounging on the hood of his car, wearing extra large earphones connected to an ipod strapped at his waist. At Akira's approach he pulled them down and grinned.
"That looked like fun," the young man by his car said. "Let me do that too."
"Do what?"
"Breaking and entering a high-class apartment. I've never done that before, and your team looks like fun."
"What do you mean by that? We just visited someone we knew. It was all normal and perfectly legal."
The man wagged his finger. "Had it been legal you wouldn't have mentioned it was perfectly legal. I'm not gonna tell on you to the cops anyway, and I know all about the shady business you're actually running behind the legit ones, so I just wanna cut and try out the yakuza life."
Akira's earlier frown deepened. "We aren't what you think we are, and you're sitting on the hood of my car."
"So that's how it's going to be then? Fine, but if you do think you might need me, you can always find me here." He took out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and tossed it his way.
Akira caught the flyer before it fell on the ground. "We're not recruiting complete strangers off the street for our completely legitimate business," he insisted.
"If you say so. And you don't need to worry, I'm already on your payroll, sort of. Nice seeing you all out on a night like this, by the way. I'm gonna be late for the job you hired me to do, so I'll be going." He pushed off the car, and walked away.
Akira unfolded the flyer and murmured the text in Roman letters. "Go Go Spiral Rave: Manifestor of Mystery?" It was the exquisite grass script on the club's name that made him pause. "Club Tendai, is it?"
***
It didn't take Akira long to find out who the stranger was. A casual inquiry with Ichikawa-san, his father's secretary, pulled up information about one Shindou Hikaru, dj to the aforementioned club. A club he happened to have a controlling share in.
Akira swore to keep better track of his assets next time.
The dossier was short. Shindou Hikaru was as old as he was, itinerant dj, born in Tokyo, spent most of his childhood between Kyoto and Kantou. Parents divorced, no siblings. He also just happened to train in martial arts, specifically taekwondo and kendo, though his performance was mediocre at best. He first joined the club's dj roster two months ago, which might explain why Akira had not paid attention to his arrival. At that time he'd been busy smoothing relations between the Juudan and Honinbou houses before a fued could erupt.
Shindou's conversation with him that night rankled. He asked Ochi to trace the other man's life and where he stayed, and correlated it with the information they have about Shuusaku's assassinations. None matched, and except for the Ogata's death he had been in a different city at every assassination. Giving up, he decided to contact the other man again. And that meant going to Club Tendai.
He asked Yashiro to accompany him in this mission. He was the most appropriate companion; the other two would stand out in the crowd, since Isumi was too quiet for the club scene, and Ochi too abrasive. Yashiro's brand of street credibility and street smarts would gain them an advantage in case things get messy.
Club Tendai was situated in Roppongi Hills, and though the occasional devout buddhist looked askance at the gold-plated calligraphy on the door, it was the in club to be of the moment for the young and hip people.
Akira didn't know what he was doing there, dressed in a shiny purple shirt which sent Yashiro to peals of laughter. Considering their occupation, Akira never did go out clubbing with the family, and just chose what he thought were the most appropriate clubbing gear in his closet.
"Do you really want to go to the club in that?"
"What's wrong with my shirt?"
"No offense, Touya, but with your hair that shirt makes you look like a shiny eggplant."
He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it into the nearest trash bin. His black undershirt showed glimpses of the dragon tattoo through the collar and sleeves, but that was all right. His silver necklace and bracelet served as the only bright bits of his outfit. Yashiro nodded. "Much better."
Isumi drove them. They got off right in front of the club, where Akira's credentials got them past the long lines. He could hear the pounding dance rhythms even from the street, and knew that before the night would end he'll have a raging headache.
"This is a really good place, Touya. And you own it?" Yashiro shouted over the din. Akira was glad he chose Yashiro; under the erratic laser light display in the crowded room he stood head and shoulders above the crowd with his white hair.
"Sort of," he shouted back. "Is this supposed to be this loud?"
"Bar. Drink," came Yashiro's quick reply. "It might be better once you're fairly buzzed."
Yashiro's solution worked. After two shots of alcohol, the music was actually tolerable. He ordered another drink for courage, a mild heat burning in the pit of his stomach. Pleasantly buzzed and a bit flushed, Akira searched out Shindou. Yashiro was on the dance floor, enjoying the break.
He was lucky on his first try. Shindou was then taking a break between shifts by the bar. When he slipped on the barstool beside the dj Shindou looked shocked for a moment, before he extended a hand.
"Shindou Hikaru, a.k.a. Spiral Rave am I correct?"
"Touya Akira, next in line to be Meijin and Juudan, am I right?" The young man grinned cheekily. "What brings you here to join the madding crowd in your father's club?"
"It's not my father's club. It's mine."
Shindou paused. "You own this club. Hey, you didn't strike me to be the type to even know what to do in a hip club like this."
Even with the alcohol buzz Akira knew he should take offense, but couldn't think of an appropriate reply. Anyway, now that he was here, he might as well put his plan in action. "I only have one thing in mind when I came here."
"And what's that?"
"Be part of my team."
"Your what?"
"My select team, separate from the Juudan family house." His line of attack worked. Shindou was nonplussed at the direct offer. "You were the one who was asking to be part of it. I'll give you temporary status, to let you have a taste of the life. We always need cannon fodder sometimes."
Hikaru was angry, and his cheeks were stained with splotches of red. "I'm not going to be cannon fodder for your missions!" he raged.
"I was just being blunt there. I looked your bio over and it seemed standard for an initiate, but nothing special. You actually asked to get into my team of selected specialists. What can you offer them besides to be their shield?"
"I'll show you what I can do once you get me in, but with the way you're talking I don't want to anymore."
This time Akira was certain it was the alcohol talking. "Am I being too blunt? You were talking like this to me the other night. I thought you liked people to be as open as possible. So I'm gonna admit it: I don't know why I thought of hiring you. But they say keep your possible enemies close, and your friends closer, so I can use you to watch the rest of the team for me, make sure no one's going to betray my trust. If you can do that I'll not only pay you extra, I'll put in a good word for you when you finally want to go join any House in the Kantou region."
"You do know you're telling this to a complete stranger."
"Yes. I say, it must be the alcohol that's making me talk like this." His sentence ended with a small hiccough, and he glanced at Shindou, who was trying to stifle his laughter.
"I'm going to work for a yakuza boss with zero-alcohol tolerance. It might be interesting. Sign me up, Touya Akira. I'm going to be your rat."
***
Yashiro glanced down at the movie in Shindou's hand. "Not that yakuza crap again. What is it now, "Momoneko-san's Revenge Part III?"
Akira tried not to laugh as Shindou and Yashiro bickered over their Friday movie choice. It was a relaxing way to end the day after dealing with in-House politics and the random torture/interrogation. He should head straight home but a few hours with people his age wouldn't hurt.
Shindou fit right in with his team, which still surprised him. He'd have thought there would be more tension about the complete newbie, but here he was. He joked with Yashiro, talked about gadgets and mobile phones with Ochi, and liked cooking dinner with Isumi. And he'd been doing well with the missions Akira assigned hm. They were things someone else couldn't do because of previously assigned tasks, but Hikaru took up the slack and worked brilliantly with everyone.
Hikaru also didn't fear anything, it seemed.
Whereas Ochi would ask for a few minutes to calculate his odds in the bathroom, Isumi had to be left alone to meditate, and Yashiro would check up on his family before agreeing, Shindou always has a quick nod for any mission. No matter how rough and tumble or menial it was, Hikaru would attack it - that was the only word Akira could describe the whole-hearted, focused attention his teammate had on duty - and come out victorious.
But after each mission Hikaru would turn to him and ask, "What next, chief? What do you want me to do next?" And Akira is always left speechless. What else do you want to do, he wondered. They've maimed, and killed and plundered, but Hikaru still asked that question, with a tiny hint of expectation underlying it. Was Hikaru waiting for him to give a specific job? There was only one other job he hadn't assigned Hikaru into yet.
So the next time Hikaru asked "What next, chief?" right after interrogating a pimp, Akira cautiously replied, "It's time to find Shuusaku."
And instead of the manic grin Akira expected Hikaru's face blanked out, like a Noh mask. "Shuusaku, huh?"
Akira replied, "I have to take care of the House's operations as well. Don't expect me to give you clues about it, we have a lot of people tracking him down as it is."
"I'll hunt him down my own way, but don't ask me about my sources and methods, okay?"
"Fine." He didn't want to look too closely into Hikaru's methods anyway. His records were impeccable if disorganized. It was that very disorganization that made Akira curious though.
***
Hikaru didn't visit their unofficial headquarters for the next few weeks except for meetings Akira called. He was busy with things aside from his dj schedule, which Akira decided he shouldn't drop since it made a good cover. When he was finally done with whatever research he was doing he asked Isumi to come with him to a bar in Shibuya. As they drove there Hikaru was very quiet, his thoughts obviously far away.
The information broker's den could be found from the bar Pink Spider. Going to the bar and asking for the information broker there would lead nowhere; you had to know the trick to prove you got your sources correct.
"Is this the right way, Shindou?" Isumi asked, doubtful. They had snuck past the kitchen and were going out of the club to the back alley. It was a narrow area and the stench from the trash bins was overwhelming. Hikaru pointed to the fire escape ladder.
"I know it is, after all, my source happens to be one of the best! Now we have to climb up that ladder."
Isumi didn't bother asking Shindou anymore. The younger man rarely explained his actions or gave away his sources and Touya was okay with it, so that was that. He followed Shindou's lead up the fire escape to the third floor, where they entered an abandoned apartment and headed up another flight of stairs. It led to a door with a tiny sign Gyokusho hung up front. "You must be kidding me."
"Uh uh, this is right." Shindou pushed the door open, leading to a surprisingly tasteful old-style bar. A fan stirred the air, and the master smiled at them, as if getting patrons at this out of the way place was common.
"So, what are you having, new patron?" The master lifted the glass he was polishing to the light, checking if it was clean.
"I want two beers, kirin please."
They were quickly served, and Shindou handed one to Isumi, while pushing the other to the bartender.
"It's not for me, it's for you, Kaga. Think of it as payment for some info."
"I think you got the wrong place, there's no one by the name of Kaga here."
"Ah, is that so." Hikaru shrugged. "Then maybe by the name of King?"
"Do you think this would be a place for a king?" The man lit up a cigarette, grinning. "No king would stay in such a wasteland."
"It's the shougi king I'm talking about."
"Fine. You seem to know the whole bit, so what are you here for?"
"Shuusaku."
"Shuusaku the White Ghost." Kaga blew a puff of smoke into the air, frowning. "No one knows what he looks like, and no one knows how he can slip in and out of locked and guarded rooms with no one the wiser."
"Old news, everyone knows that." Hikaru shrugged. "What I expect from the great data collector would be a bit of info I can use to track him down, not hearsay."
"Fine then." Kaga got an ashtray from the bottom of the bar and flicked his ash off the cigarette's end. "The White Ghost is not connected with any organization both from the underworld or the government, but he keeps close track of the actions of the Seven Houses. He doesn't kill anyone outside of the organizations. I wonder why that's so?"
"Still nothing new, Kaga. The White Ghost is a name given to the assassin that kills House members for several generations, but no one knows exactly how the name came to be. The theory goes that a witness to his killing saw him as a white-robed Heian gentleman, but that's plain speculation."
"The most we know about him is his name, or at least the name he pins to his murders. That's Shuusaku, the brilliant man who brought all of the Houses together." Kaga whistled. "Any man worth his salt would rather use their name ot build a reputation, it seems our assassin's pretty shy."
"Let's try a different tack, Kaga. You give me all you know on Shuusaku, and then I'll give you info you might want, and we do this trade."
"Fine." Kaga's smile was cunning. "I wonder what data you can give that will make me give what I know of Shuusaku?"
"Photographs." Hikaru took out an envelope of folio-size. "Something you might be interested in."
Kaga opened the envelope and riffled through the images. "And how did you get these?"
"The Minou traded it for me."
"Minou is back to get his claws clipped again." Kaga pushed them back in. "And you've got balls showing the work of another data collector at my door. Are you challenging the king?"
"Never. But you have to use what resources you've got to castle the king in." Hikaru leaned over the bar, every line of his body oozing confidence. "So, was that enough for data on Shuusaku?"
"Fine." Kaga pressed a few keys and his register popped open. He shuffled through a few of the bills, and came up with a tiny envelope. "This is all the info I ever got about Shuusaku."
"I thought you might've had at least a folder full of info. This is it?"
"Yeah. But you might want to look at the envelope when you're alone, Shindou Hikaru." Kaga nodded to Isumi. "That data there is only for your payment. Your friend here hasn't even bought a drink. He's not part of the Spiderweb."
"Fine." Hikaru took out the paper and polaroid. He opened the paper, and paused. He stared down at the words written on it, and pocketed the paper. "You're still the best, Kaga. No wonder you're king."
"You just have to know what to do when you want to be on top." Kaga tapped his pipe on the side of the bar. "But this won't get beyond this bar, so what you know now, I don't know."
"Great, that's just great." Hikaru motioned for Isumi to follow him out. "Well, this is good enough, so I'll be leaving you now."
"It was nice doing business with you." Kaga blew a puff of smoke their way. "Don't harass the helpers when you go out."
"Hey, Shindou." A bespectacled man was waiting outside the door, fidgeting.
Shindou paused. "There's no secrets in the Spiderweb is there?"
"No, well, Kaga already got that data even before I joined the lines, you know."
"He did?"
"I'll tell you more some other time."
"Great. Better get back, Tsutsui-san, or Kaga's gonna get me for keeping you out here."
"Are you still looking for that, Shindou?" Tsutsui asked, his voice low. Shindou nodded, and Tsutsui patted his shoulder before leaving them.
Isumi tapped Shindou on the shoulder as they left. "A childhood friend?"
"What childhood I had, that is."
***
"Home at last!" Shindou said when they finally got in. They'd passed by Akira's place and received news of a new mission. Shindou couldn't wait to tell the rest about it.
"I'm going to store these." Isumi indicare the last minute grocery they purchased on the way back. "Then I'm going to sleep."
Hikaru walked in just as Ochi threw a rag at the Kansai man. "Idiot, that's it. I'm not helping you with your weapons anymore."
"Hey what's up? Lovers' Quarrel?"
Ochi kneed him in the groin. Hikaru groaned, clutching at his injured body parts. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YASHIRO?!"
"Was it my fault my knuckles keep getting worn down?! It was inferior steel, obviously." Hikaru rolled his eyes.
"And you told him that? Man, you suck at PR."
"It was not inferior steel, you just thrash them all the time!"
"Hey stop fighting Touya's got us a job and everyone's going to be in this mission! I have an idea about how we're gonna call each other on the phone so let's talk about it before I tell you the details!"
"Like a code then?" Isumi came in just as Hikaru expounded on his idea.
"Yeah. Like, super secret hero names. I even came out with a list, see? Isumi can be Blue Dragon, Yashiro will be White Tiger, I'll take Red Phoenix, and Ochi here will be Green Turtle."
"What about Touya?" Yashiro asked, even as Ochi protested, "I am not going to called Green Turtle just because you said so!"
"Oh Touya, obviously he's the man in the middle and our secret weapon, so he's our Black Warrior! Just like in a super-sentai series!"
Isumi rubbed his forehead. "No code names, no sentai pretensions will be allowed durig this mission. We're doing this so the rest of the Juudan House will acknowledge our team, and if you insist on doing something as inane as that, Shindou, we're going to lose all credibility."
"Fine fine. You tell them what we're gonna do then."
"It's going to be totally different from anything we've done before. We're going to start a feud against the Ouza House. That's our mission."
To Be Continued