Bubblegum Princess

The sounds of the Bara-gumi's apartment complex basement grew increasingly louder. Downstairs, a handful of rookies were found chopping away at a few rotting corpses, stuffing their remnants into blocks of wet concrete. Kazuya had been left in charge, expecting that he had at least one more day to influence his soft, pathetic lackeys into finally disposing of the many corpses that flooded the Bara-gumi's basement.

A familiar green eyed man with messy, black hair chimed in from his dog kennel in the corner of the basement.
"Yo, Kazuya. Gotta piss, again. You going to hold my dick for me?"
Wang Xianshi flashed a cocky smirk across his face, holding his handcuffed wrists in the air as he met Kazuya's irritated gaze.

"You're going to have to hold it, Xianshi. My hands are covered in blood and bone."
Kazuya wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his forearm, stepping aside to make idle chatter with the Bara-gumi's newest prisoner.

"Come on, man. I'm gonna piss my pants! I'm sure you don't want to clean corpses and another man's urine."
Xianshi started unzipping his pants, threatening to make a mess if he didn't get his way.

"Just... let me wash my hands. Don't you dare pee on the floor, or I'll make you lick it up!"
Kazuya rushed to the sink, scrubbing the slime from his fingers with quick strokes.

As he led Xianshi up the stairs, the two stopped dead in their tracks. Standing in the doorway of the apartment were Ninagawa Charlotte, wearing her hair down and the top of her kimono around her waist, and Umeda Mika, adjusting the large rose-patterned kimono that she had taken from Charlotte's wardrobe. Both of them had fresh injuries and a head of soaked hair from the storm.

Kazuya immediately stiffened his posture, bowing his head low.
"Boss, you've returned early. Allow me to run a hot bath for you."
He raised himself from his bow, tugging Xianshi by his leash toward the staircase.

"Not so fast, Kazuya... Leave Wang Xianshi here, and run our puppy a fresh bath in room 404."
Charlotte's footsteps were heavy as she approached Xianshi.

Mika followed Kazuya up the stairs, giving Xianshi a small wave and smile before she disappeared. She whispered as she arrived at the doorway of room 404.
"I knew he would keep his promise."

Charlotte used her tanto blade to the slice the leather collar around Xianshi's neck, simultaneously unlocking his handcuffs as she sat down at the dinner table.
"Have a seat, Xianshi. We have a lot to discuss."

Xianshi obliged, studying Charlotte's eyes as he sat across from her, rubbing the bruises around his wrists.
"What's a guy got to do to get a cigarette around here?"
His pathetic attempt at a joke was met with silence.
"Tough crowd..."

Charlotte pulled two cigarettes from her kimono, placing one between her lips and one between Xianshi's. She lit the ends of both using the same match, inhaling almost half of the tobacco stick in one breath.

"What happened to your pipe? I didn't think I would ever see you willingly return to cigarettes."
Xianshi took an equally as long drag, savoring the flavor that he had been craving over the past two days.

"I broke it... No big deal; it was an old gift anyway."
Charlotte fiddled with her tanto blade, staring deeply into Xianshi's green eyes.

"An old gift? That was your last tie to your mother, was it not?"
Xianshi's eyes crinkled at the corners as he smirked, knowing the mention of Charlotte's mother would definitely get under her skin.

Charlotte slammed her tanto blade through the wooden table, inching closer to Xianshi from the opposite side.
"Don't ever mention my mother in front of me again; do I make myself clear?"

"I see, you're still caught up on that? As usual, I can't read your eyes at all, Charlotte."
Xianshi's own eyes wavered, showing signs of fear as he provoked his new master.

Charlotte finished her cigarette, extinguishing the burning cherry against her own tongue.
"Your debt is two and a half billion yen. I did the math and you'll be my little slave for the next fifteen years of your life. I know your strengths and weaknesses, so I'll be sending you on missions I deem fit."

Xianshi nodded his head, leaning back in the uncomfortable wooden chair. He was prepared for this level of authority.
"I figured it would be longer. Well, that's fine. I'm done running. I'm sure the bubblegum princess filled you in, but you'll never be able to trace my family. Don't even think about trying or you'll just embarrass yourself."

"The bubblegum princess? Are you referring to my puppy, Xianshi?"
Charlotte stood from her chair, snapping her fingers to gain the attention of the rookie standing by the doorway.

"If you consider Princess Mika a puppy, then yeah, her. She's quite the formidable opponent. I've never had a child knock the air from my lungs until I met her."
Xianshi's eyes held a fondness as he spoke about Mika, the girl who allowed him to save his family.

Charlotte chuckled, watching as her lackey presented a brand new rose-patterned suit to Xianshi.
"So, even someone like you had trouble fighting her? That's not good news for me. Even I know we're equals in hand-to-hand combat, Xianshi."

Xianshi nodded his head, stripping himself bare in front of Charlotte. He slipped into the Bara-gumi's signature suit, adjusting the fabric around his lean body.
"Who knows, maybe she really will kill you someday. She's still sloppy, but improving quickly... Damn, this fancy suit doesn't fit my aesthetic at all."

Charlotte walked past Xianshi, wearing her signature unreadable face as she made her way up the stairs.
"You can sleep in the basement. Dinner is at 5:00 PM sharp. I'm going to take a bath."

Mika sat in the tub of the luxurious bath. Her hands played with the surface of the water, carefully thinking about what kinds of tattoos she would have the mysterious Enki paint on her body. She had her phone speaker on full blast, relaxing further into the water as her rock music silenced the memories of her trauma amidst the yacht.

She stepped out of the tub, wrapping her body in a soft towel. Her eyes met themselves in the large mirror of the bathroom. She studied her face, her body, and her scars. Mika allowed the towel around her chest to drop to the floor, turning her back to the mirror and gazing at her slender figure.
"Maybe... a dog tattoo?"

* * *
End of Part #4