RP Log: Atobe Keigo and Kuwahara Jackal

[oresamada]

Date: Friday, Feb 9
Rating: R for Violence
Summary: Atobe does his rounds through his business and comes up with an opportunity to test Jackal.


Atobe Keigo was a busy man. He had been all over Tokyo so far that day and his last stop of the night was one of several pachinko parlors. Atobe usually saved the pachinko parlors for last. He had never been fond of them, but they managed to turn out quite a bit of money. Gambling was a costly addiction for many people, and Atobe had inherited a nice string of business to prove it.

Atobe entered the parlor through a side door, his bodyguards (plus the Agency man Jackal, whom Atobe wasn't sure what to do with) following behind him. The side door led to the administration portion of the parlor, and Atobe recognized many of the people there. A small man in garish and flamboyant clothes stepped forward and immediately led Atobe into a back room.

"Ah, Atobe-sama, we've been eager for your visit," the small Korean said in barely function Japanese. "We're always happy to see you here."

Atobe nodded politely. He was here to check the books and make sure the accounting was correct. He couldn't have them swindle the money is was rightfully swindling from he gamblers, now could he? Atobe waited for the man to finish fawning over him for as long as he could stand it.

"Ah, if you don't mind, Ore-sama is a busy man."

The man went serious immediately and went to fetch the books Atobe was there for. Atobe took the time to step forward and watch some of the security monitors. The labels were in Korean and Atobe had taken the time to learn a few choice words for better understanding. Everything looked to be in order. The man came back and waved Atobe into a room.

"Here we are, Atobe-sama," the man said. "I've set them all out here for you to look over." There was a small table with the books set out neatly.

"Thank you, you should go back to work," Atobe said. A moment later, one of his bodyguard nudged the Korean out of the room. Atobe moved to sit at the table. He turned to the bodyguards. "I want you to go snooping around the parlor for suspicious characters and keep an eye on the parlor boss. I don't want him trying anything funny while I'm holed up here."

The men nodded and exited. Now it was just Atobe and Jackal. Atobe leaned back in his chair and looked the other over. "Your training involve hacking at all?"

Jackal nodded.

"Informally, Atobe-sama." The honorific was still strange on his tongue. Jackal prided himself on feeling the equal of any man in Japan, but he was serious about his duty, and that included calling this man master. So he would call Atobe master for a little while. "I'm a bit of a geek," he concluded sheepishly.

It was true. All of Jackal's off-time was spent playing World of Warcraft. He'd already maxed out his levels and played in a guild. He also ran a yaoi porn server for an informal network of friends -- nothing that would get him in trouble with work, of course, all good clean fun.

"What can I do for you, principe -- er, sir?" He remembered, at the last minute, Atobe's dislike of his Portuguese.

"You can sit down at the computer over there and see if you can find any financial information this Korean didn't give me," Atobe said. Atobe's computer skills were minimal at best. He used on for his own accounting, and that was the extent of his experience. "This place looks like it should be making more than it's reporting."

Atobe glanced over the books. He hated being cheated. He didn't have to have proof to accuse the man of cheating him, he was his superior after all and could have him killed for less. But he didn't want to axe a man who may have connections elsewhere. Best not to get himself into more trouble than necessary.

Jackal nodded. He'd done tasks like this before -- part of how he put himself through college was by helping his shop-owner friends cook the books so that they could pay protection money to gangs and the mob...

Jackal went and sat at the computer, adjusting his rather flashy white suit jacket. He tended for better taste than this, as good as he could afford, but he was dressing the part of a low-class flunky. His eyes quickly scanned the files and noted a few interesting things.

"Atobe-sama, here and here..." He pointed. "Discrepancies. You're missing a chunk of money. I wouldn't say a lot, but the doudo is probably lining his own pockets. I bet," Jackal glanced up at Atobe, "he's got a girl who likes the bling. There's about as much gone as would pay for a pawnshop diamond."

Atobe sighed. "Well, at least it's nothing major. I can punish him without worrying about repercussions from someone high on the ladder." Silly politics.

Atobe pondered what kind of punishments he could get away with. Normally he wouldn't be concerned, but he didn't have an Agent with him before. He didn't know how much Jackal would report to his superiors. He had to act like a yakuza, but he probably wouldn't break the law more than he had to.

Unless he ordered Jackal to do the punishment. Jackal wouldn't be able to refuse, and he might worry about whether or not it would look good for him if he reported it. He glanced at Jackal and pondered if he'd be easily manipulated.

Jackal saw Atobe glance at him and raised his eyebrow.

"Yes, boss?" He glanced down at the white suit. "Too much?"

Atobe shook his head. "No, just wondering how you're going to hinder me."

They might as well try to be honest with each other after all.

"I wonder that too," Jackal said slowly. He pondered his assignment. He'd been chosen because of his roots -- not in spite of them -- and could only imagine it meant what he thought it meant.

"I was told to make sure that you are safe. I don't think that anything else is my business."

Jackal gazed steadily into Atobe's eyes as he said this, trying to convey more than face meaning. He didn't want to disclose his own past, how he'd managed to work his way up...but not everything he did had been within the law.

Atobe arched an eyebrow. "I imagine your loyalty is going to lie with the agency. However. . . ."

Atobe let his eyes drop to the book. "As a member of the yakuza, some of my work is going to be dirty. I'm sure your superiors expect as much. I was promised some leeway with my actions because of it. But nowhere was there an agreement on just how much leeway I'm going to have. I'm afraid you're going to be keeping a tally."

"You understand that I have to punish this man, correct? If I don't, others will think I've gone soft and attempt the same."

Jackal sucked in his breath, staring. In a second, Atobe had gone from overworked businessman to dangerous, deadly and...sexy as a tempestade no mar elevado.

He tore his eyes away before they could travel anywhere else, looked down with respect.

"Did you get my dossier? I got yours. I've done some things that the Agency might have found difficult to forgive me for had I not joined their side, principe, er...boss."

Atobe had looked Jackal's dossier over. He would have sent his own men out to find out more, but that would give away Jackal's presence as being more than a flunky. Atobe had thought it looked rather spotted for an active agent. Perhaps that's why Jackal had been assigned to him.

"Would you object to me testing your loyalty to me?" The question itself was a test. If Jackal said no, then it would mean he'd have to put blinders up around the other. He'll have to hire more flunkies to take care of things he would have done in person.

Jackal's mind went hentai as quickly as it could, and it took Jackal a moment to reign it back in. His first thought was his year working as a dockside prostitute, earning cash for his ticket to Japan. He was thirteen at the time, and quickly got good at putting condoms on with his lips -- for men nowhere near as attractive as this one.

But that wasn't the kind of loyalty Atobe meant. Jackal knew what that would be.

"Test me, boss." Jackal cast Atobe a slightly ironic glance. "I don't have anything on me to cut with, though. Your men took my knives this morning."

"I'll arm you if you prove yourself," Atobe said. "Step outside and round my men back up. Then go to the parlor boss and tell that little Korean to get in here. Be polite about it though. We don't want to set up an alert. He might have some loyal men of his own."

Jackal nodded and stood. Hesitating a moment, he removed his white jacket. Underneath, he wore a simple black button-down that was unbuttoned to the fourth button, revealing several heavy gold chains. He took one of the chains off and wrapped it around his fist several times, swinging the little metal ball-shaped lighter that served as a pendant.

"I'll be back, boss."

Jackal felt his blood start to sing in his veins, as it always did before action. He stepped into the hall, casting a glance up and down the men.

They'd been surly to him earlier, none of them trusting this new member of the "court" at all. This would be the day Jackal would show them his stripes.

He stepped out with a swagger born of years in rough places.

"Follow. We get the owner, but boss wants it quiet." How the hell would it be quiet with all these guys around? But apparently they'd been well trained. They exchanged glances, and then melted into the crowd playing the noisy games; but Jackal could see every single one of them out of the corner of his eye.

He was impressed once again by Atobe. Maybe this guy really had earned his way to the top.

Jackal spun his little toy lazily in his hand. Walked around the perimeter of the club until he spotted the owner, and made his way over. There was no way a black man could be discrete in Japan, so he went for the direct approach. Raised his spinning ball and flicked it forward to wrap twice around the owner's wrist, and then tugged.

"Come," Jackal said, not bothering with any polite language.

The owner tugged his wrist and realized, eyes widening, that he was caught as surely as with a cuff. He stumbled when Jackal moved, but then recovered his balance.

"A-anything wrong?"

Jackal turned his head (gleaming softly in the strange neon lights) and flashed his wolven smile.

"That's for you to find out, isn't it."

They got to the office and Jackal walked him in gently but firmly, wrist still bound by the chain.

Atobe remained seated at the table as his men gathered. When Jackal escorted the owner into the room, he shifted his gaze away from the man to the flunky next to him.

"Do you remember the last time someone tried to steal money from Ore-sama?"

The man nodded, "Yes, boss."

"Do you remember what I did about it?"

"Yes, boss. I believe we prevented him from using his five-finger discount by removing one of his fingers."

Atobe nodded. He cast his eyes onto the Korean, who was sweating and obviously afraid. "I hope you find the money you've taken to be worth what it's about to cost you."

Atobe shifted his gaze to Jackal. Now it was time to start that test. "Remove his pinky, so his 'pinky' can see what she's cost him."

The small man screamed. Then, he fell to his knees and begged.

Jackal yanked him up by the chain, dragging him bodily over to the desk directly in front of Atobe. He used his knee to roughly shove the man against the wood.

"Your knife," Jackal said, glancing at a flunky. The man hesitated, but had heard Atobe's order, so handed it over.

Let's see. Jackal hadn't done this before, but it had to be much like cutting a chicken wing off the body. Best done through the cartilege of the join, no?

He tried to think lightly about what he was doing. Pinkies were extraneous digits anyway. Poor bastard, simply wanted a good lay, but had to be prepared for stuff like this if he was playing with the big boys. Atobe wanted this, and Jackal was going to do it efficiently, for everyone's sake.

He used his chain to bind the wrist down nice and tightly to the table, then slammed the hand flat.

Human flesh was hard to cut, and it didn't help that blood was spurting everywhere as he carved his way through flesh and sinew and cartilage.

The screams really were unbelievable.

When Jackal was done, he flicked open his lighter, getting the end good and hot.

And applied it with a quick gesture to the gushing wound, cauterizing it quickly.

He hoped the office was soundproof.

When Jackal was done, and the manager was a gibbering, screaming mess on the floor, Jackal handed the knife back to the flunky.

The flunky took the bloody thing gingerly.

"Mind if I clean up?" Jackal's hands were wrist-deep in blood.

Atobe smiled at Jackal, "Please do." Atobe reached out his hand to the flunky next to him, who handed him a handkerchief. Atobe used it to clean blood splatter off his person. That went exactly as he hoped. "You may use the worker's bathroom."

He turned to the flunky next to him. "You take the others with you and go over the parlor. We need to secure our departure as soon as possible." A citizen might have alert the police after
all. While Atobe did own members of the force, it was best not to be involved in a scene.

Jackal knew to meet everyone at the cars. He sauntered off to the bathroom and did the best he could to wash his hands clean.

And then he felt a roil in his stomach. He'd just cut off someone's finger.

Jackal stumbled to the toilet and voided his stomach, as quickly and quietly as he could. Then he washed his face, staring at his eyes. A little more haunted every time he looked. He thought he'd left this life behind...

It kept coming up and tapping him on the shoulder.

Jackal took a deep breath and gave himself a cocky grin. "Don't go nuts now, doudo, you're almost free. Just keep going and it'll all be okay."

He sauntered back out, and got to Atobe's car in time to slide into the back seat next to his new boss.

Atobe nodded to the driver and waited until they were underway before looking at Jackal. He hit the button to put the screen up as they could have some privacy.

"You look pale," Atobe said. He understood. While he had watched, he never would be able to do it himself. "And haunted. You've proven yourself, but this kind of work isn't for everyone. You my quit and return to the Agency, if you like."

It would be the only time Atobe would offer such a thing. He'd make an excuse for Jackal so he wouldn't get into trouble for backing out of his mission, but it was a one-time offer. Mutilation hadn't been in Jackal's dossier. Perhaps he simply couldn't stomach it.

Jackal glanced up, surprised and touched by the kindness. But he also didn't like looking weak in front of such a man.

Jackal felt the chip on his shoulder brushed, just a bit. But he took a breath...and then breathed his anger out.

He'd never show that emotion in front of Atobe.

The look he shot Atobe was cool. "Just nerves. I've been in worse bloodbaths before. Not in a while, though."

He'd had worse sex, too. Not that he'd enjoyed it.

"I'm tough. But..." Jackal met Atobe's eyes with a hesitantly sweet look. "You are a principe indeed to offer." It was rare. Kindness.

Atobe smiled. That was perfect. Kindness inspired loyalty better than anything in the long run. He felt like he could trust the other.

"It's the only time I'll offer," Atobe said, crossing his arms, as if he was trying to safe face. "Don't get used to it."

But he was still smiling. This arrangement may turn out better than he thought.