Grace Period

All eyes in the square were now staring at a pink-haired anime girl greeting everyone from the giant screen. Her bubbly and carefree nature contrasted the seriousness of the battle below, but to Ryuji, it was a breath of fresh air.

“It looks like many, many people are hurt down there. How sad… As a practicing nurse, it pains me to see all this violence sending more people to the hospital. But you know what? Maybe there’s something that little ol’ me can do to keep things from getting worse.”

Grace winked to the audience before pulling out a microphone. A pop melody suddenly started in the background and after a few moments, Grace began to sing and dance.

The notes felt familiar, like a popular song that Ryuji had heard in passing. But before he could think too hard about it, an assortment of movement all around him caught his attention.

He put up a defensive stance, only to have his jaw drop as he realized that people were moving unlike anything that he saw in the middle of a fight. Others stood stock still as the members of Samukawa’s army flung their arms out, twirled and moved in step with each other.

Like Ryuji, the Azumito Alliance had frozen in place as police and yakuza formed a flash mob, dancing to the tune of Grace’s song. Immediately, the square had become a celebration, a spectacle for the entirety of Japan to see.

The phone in Ryuji’s hand buzzed, which he vacantly brought to his ears.

“It looks like she was in time,” Megu said.

“Did you plan for this?” Ryuji wondered aloud.

“Not at all. Grace has always had the talent to enchant people through music. Her ability to do so was merely refined through her new identity. Samukawa may have written an AI program to mimic it, but it can’t compare to what Grace herself can do.”

“She’s controlling everyone connected through Samukawa’s program?”

“Correct.”

Indeed, his enemies had all thrown aside their weapons, moving in sync with each other. When the first song ended, the next tune started, and with it, they changed their moves. The once-violent crowd was now strutting their hips and waving their arms, some with bloody expressions on their faces. It was surreal.

Ryuji turned to Samukawa, who had fallen to the ground in disbelief. His plan of controlling an army of police and yakuza had backfired, and now, they were merely entertainment to catch the attention of an audience.

Ryuji couldn’t help but chuckle at the result. And as the music transitioned to an anime tune, his snickers turned to full-belly laughs.

“Wave those imaginary wands, people!”

Grace’s voice loomed over the square as the flash mob made cutesy motions and hopped around like teenage girls. She had pulled out a theme song from her favorite Pretty Cute show.

“Oh shit, this is too good! I’m dying here!” Ryuji clutched his sides as the laughter racked his body so hard that it made his injuries ache.

“It looks like Japan is liking it as well… 10 million viewers tuning in and quickly climbing. It’s like a nationwide viral video that is catching fire.”

It wasn’t hard for Ryuji to imagine. If it flooded the news channels already reporting a hot scoop, word of mouth would naturally spread until virtually everyone was watching. Opening up any news site brought up the mysterious pink-haired Vtuber, along with the mockery that she made of Samukawa’s joint police and yakuza operation.

Ryuji sighed in relief. It was finally over.

Just then, a shot fired, causing Ryuji to instinctively dodge. A bullet went past where he just was. He looked up to see Samukawa angrily holding a rifle pointed at him. His eyes looked ready to kill.

“It’s ruined! All my years of work! Everything to get to this point! You filthy cockroaches that will never die! I thought I could make use of you all, at least!”

Shots fired from his gun, which Ryuji ducked out of the way. They made holes in the van behind him. Ryuji’s gaze remained fixed on Samukawa’s shoulders, giving him enough of a lead to know which way to dodge. Samukawa was hardly a bad marksman, having been a high-ranking policeman, but Ryuji’s abilities simply made it that hard for him.

Round after round was discharged, all missing their mark. Soon enough, the click of an empty barrel sounded.

“If I were you, Samukawa, I’d worry more about your face on camera right now.”

Eyes wide, the newbie chairman looked up to see the camera zoomed in on him, Grace shooting a face of disgust at his actions. A banner popped up along the bottom saying, ‘disgraced yakuza boss attempting murder.’

“Viewers at home, are you seeing this? How dishonorable, firing a gun on an unarmed man! Can you believe that he is the head of an underground organization? And who is this man that is bravely dodging the gunfire, unarmed? Why, it’s none other than the infamous Yama Ryu! Members of the same yakuza organization, duking it out! What sort of disagreements could have led to such an outcome? Wait… I’m getting a new report coming in…”

Grace looked off camera, nodding her head and acting like she was listening in on a headset. After her theatrics, she sprung to action, waving her arms to form a viewing window that expanded across the screen.

A figure in a chair sat, looking forward with a curious expression. Ryuji immediately recognized him as one of the Azumito officers responsible for Ojou’s accident, the same person who Ryuji crushed in his assault on their headquarters.

“So… why does the right-hand man of Honjou Kazuhito want the Azumito Alliance to target your boss? Seems rather suspicious.”

“The Tenjou Clan has grown too strong. As someone that finds a bit of competition to be productive, I believe a heavy blow is needed to keep powers in check. And just think, taking down a rival family’s boss will put you at the top of the line for succession. All I ask of the ‘new head’ is the occasional deal to balance the two sides. There’s only so much that can be done in private. Technological advances have made keeping secrets all the more difficult. Please consider the offer.”

The camera shifted as the person speaking stood up and moved with him. It passed by a mirror on the wall, clearly showing Samukawa’s reflection. The scene froze on his face there, emphasizing his involvement.

Suddenly, the scene changed.

Now, the camera looked out at a desk, familiar to most of the Tenjou Clan. The phone rang, and a hand reached over to answer it.

“Hello?”

“You dirty bastard! You lied about the Chairman being there! Now, the Tenjou Clan has rallied outside our doors over his daughter’s murder! That wasn’t the deal! You better-”

The receiver was set down, ending the call. A low chuckle echoed in the room before Samukawa spoke.

“There, phase one of obtaining a guinea pig is complete. Finding a human volunteer would have been nigh impossible if not for the backing of a shady donor. How useful the yakuza can be!”

Ryuji gawked at the screen in disbelief. Takashiro came over and poked him in the side.

“Oy, Yama Ryu! Is all that true?! Did this snake rile up our boys all those years ago?”

It came as much of a shock to Ryuji as it did Takashiro. Everything made sense now. His answer was to simply shoot a death gaze at Samukawa, causing Takashiro and the rest of the Azumito Alliance to do the same. He had become the number one most-wanted by the top two yakuza clans in Japan.

Grace’s takedown didn’t simply end there. The viewing window shrank until it fit between her palms.

“How evil! A planned betrayal and usurpation of power! An assassination of an innocent child, whose only fault is having a yakuza parent! So much for the promise of a new yakuza way, one where laws are abided by! And we have an even bigger discovery! This organization head isn’t even a true yakuza, but a policeman in disguise! How surprising!”

A picture of Samukawa in uniform was displayed, showing his real name of Masato Inui.

That had been the last straw. A murderous rage engulfed the square, all aimed toward Samukawa. Sensing the bloodlust, he shrieked and took off running. With everything revealed on live TV, there was no way that he could return to the yakuza life, or the police for that matter. The public would soon have a heyday questioning the dual roles that he played, something that no one involved was willing to answer.

Not long after, Grace concluded her report and disappeared from the airwave. The television broadcasts returned to normal, with many stations scrambling to rehash what had just happened.

Gradually, those in the square that had been dancing slowed to a halt. They looked at each other with confusion of the last hour. Ryuji and the Azumito Alliance wondered if they would have to fight again, but the Special Assault Team received a sudden transmission to retreat.

Forgoing any arrests, they quickly scrambled back into their vehicles and drove off, leaving the downed Tenjou yakuza behind. Those of the Shindou Family that had been controlled by Samukawa ran off like headless chickens. Likely, they realized what they had done, and their patriarch wasn’t there to protect them from the fallout.

A hand gripped Ryuji’s shoulder. Turning, he saw Shirokawa braced against him and quickly lent a shoulder.

“Did you see what happened, Shiroyan?”

“Bits and pieces while I was close to blacking out. Woke up in time to wonder if I had died and gone to hell.”

“I’d take a hell like that any day. Haven’t laughed that hard in years. By the way, have you seen Ozaki?”

Shirokawa pointed to the right, directing Ryuji’s line of sight to a group of people still dancing. In the middle of them was Ozaki hip thrusting while waving his hands suggestively around his head.

“What the hell? Since when did you-”

“Oh hey, Aniki! When I came to, these guys were shuffling all around me. Thought I’d blend in and join in the fun!”

Ryuji shook his head. He should have known better than to think that he was being controlled. Even when his energy reserves were exhausted, it didn’t take long for him to bounce back. Somehow, he had corralled a bunch of his underlings to dance with him. It was best to simply pass on by at that point.

“Oy, Yama Ryu! Care to explain?”

Ryuji turned to Takashima, who was scratching his head. He simply smiled and replied.

“Guess life decided to give us yakuza a little ‘Grace’.”

Shirokawa choked at his bad joke, smacking Ryuji in the side as Takashima remained befuddled. Then, he reached out for a handshake, which Takashima accepted.

“I’m grateful that you decided to come.”

“Heh, we can’t let the public be thinking that Kansai will just fall in line with whatever you Kanto boys do. Not to mention, learning what really happened back then gives us the right target to piss on. You can bet that Samukawa won’t be able to set foot anywhere in Japan. He’ll be blacklisted from every family.”

“If he’s not at the bottom of Tokyo Bay by next week.”

“That’s up to y’all. I ain’t hauling him back to dump into Dotonbori Canal. If our boys find him, we’ll carve a slice and leave a blood trail for you to pick up.”

With that, Takashima pulled out his megaphone and shouted at his men to disband. What remained at the square were battered and unconscious Tenjou members slowly recovering from the battle. The wounded were being carried off by anyone able to.

Ryuji patted Shirokawa on the chest as they slowly made their way over there to help.

“It’ll take some time, Shiroyan, but we’ll bounce back. Good men like that always do.”

“I wouldn’t mind taking it easy in a hospital bed. Know of any place with cute nurses?”

Ryuji stopped and looked back at the screen above Cinema Square.