Unexpected Consequences

Kimiko Tamatsuki scrolled through her social media feeds searching for her next big fish. She was a gossip journalist for Shūkan Gendai, an influential weekly news magazine, though "journalist" was perhaps being generous. She wrote for the electronic versions of the society and gossip columns of the tabloid where speed was the name of the game. Who cared if it was actually true as long as it got clicks?

"Violent incident last night at Chez Kooun", the wire headline screamed in a bold hyperlink. Kimiko's eyebrow rose; normally that place was a high-class place where incidents rarely got out of control. She clicked and scrolled through the summary and clicked her tongue with a mixture of delight and surprise... was that the Ikemoto heiress out on the town? Hard to believe that stuffy old tycoon would ever let his precious little princess out unsupervised like that... or did he? Maybe the little rich girl wasn't the obedient little doll everyone thought she was? And who was this...? She scrolled through the rest of the story, then pulled up related feeds, including an incident report where some of the troublemakers had to be taken away. Camera footage showed her leaving the club with another man, and a good looking one at that. And who might you be...? She didn't recognize this guy... not a celebrity... not one of the usual hangers-on that clung to their inner circle, so a new player in the mix. Kimiko picked up her phone and dialed a number. "Hey, it's me... do you have a number for the Chez Kooun manager who was working last night? Can you see if he'd be willing to answer a few questions? I'm trying to find out what happened to Kyoko Ikemoto and who got her out of the club."

After a short conversation, Kumiko started scribbling furiously onto a pad, then went back to her laptop and started typing. Rich society girl, handsome new stranger... this story practically writes itself, she thought to herself with glee. Just needed a little embellishment here and there and this story will go viral, no sweat...

____________________________________________

"So, our team tracked the man down and finished our background check," Akito Yamamoto reported as Isamu Ikemoto listened from his desk. "Kyosuke Sakurai was born in Japan but grew up overseas due to his family's employment. He joined the United States military and served for eight years before receiving an honorable discharge and returning to Japan. His packet says he served as a 92G, a chef, but it looks suspiciously light for the duration of service. There's a good chance quite a bit of his record has been redacted."

"So... is he someone we have to worry about?" Isamu asked.

"I don't think he's working for the Oyama organization, at least not that I can find," Akito replied. "There's no one matching his description in our list of names or persons of interest."

"I just don't want strangers around my daughter," Isamu huffed. "Make sure she doesn't go wandering off without supervision again."

____________________________________________

Kyosuke Sakurai got off the Shibuya train station and made his way to the Hana noodle restaurant where he had an understanding with the restaurant's owner Yoriyoshi Osaki. Like most well-constructed lies, there was quite a bit of truth behind it. He actually had worked as a chef during his time in the Army so if anyone challenged his story, he could prove his story by actually cooking. The owner of this restaurant had connections to some underground contacts along with providing him with a legitimate cover job in exchange for a cut of his contract fee.

"Yoshi-san, I'm back," Kyosuke greeted as he entered.

The older man huffed, though not in an unfriendly manner. "I heard there were some difficulties." He tossed an envelope containing payment. "I confirmed your delivery of the package through other sources." He spoke obliquely, just in case anyone was listening through remote means.

Kyosuke nodded, then lowered his voice. "I'm going to need another delivery vehicle. I had to ditch my last one before I got to the club," referring to the precision rifle used for the assassination.

"Are you serious...!" Yoriyoshi almost swore. "This isn't America where you can get those in every corner drug store! Even the Yakuza have trouble getting those in the country; you expect me to find you another one of those?"

"I couldn't help it!" Kyosuke protested. "The Op team's reaction was far greater than the contract led us to believe. There should have been at least another few minutes before they even reached the club, and nowhere in our plan did we expect them to start firing into the crowd!"

"That was... unexpected, true," Yoriyoshi admitted. "He was supposed to be just some minor functionary of their organization. I was told someone wanted him punished to send a message, not because he was that critical to the organization. I'll look into what's going on and who might have put in that contract." Yoriyoshi then shifted the topic and raised his voice. "Also, what's this business about you making out with high society?!"

"What?" Kyosuke asked, genuinely confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Yoriyoshi pulled out his phone and opened a social media app headline that read "Who is the hot new boyfriend? Ikemoto heiress has a new date!" screaming in an 18-point font. He then clicked the link, "Witnesses at Chez Kooun watched as the wealthy young heiress to the Ikemoto conglomerate was seen in the arms of her new beau at the fashionable club as the two of them were seen having drinks late into the night..."

"I-I did what now...?!" Kyosuke exclaimed, with a flabbergasted expression.

"Oi, oi... you know it's none of my business who you want to hang around with in your spare time, but um... a bit of sage advice, in your line of work, maybe dating someone who's famous and being followed by the paparazzi may not be the smartest choice to make," Yoriyoshi remarked with a mixture of sarcasm and amusement.

Kyosuke scrolled through the story. "Th-this is all made-up nonsense! None of this happened!"

"So... you didn't swoop in like some kind of hero to save her from a bunch of goons?" Yoriyoshi smirked.

Kyosuke sighed and pinched his nose. "Look... those guys were going to stab her with a knife, what was I supposed to do, just let it happen?"

Yoriyoshi almost threw up his hands with a disbelieving expression that silently said what he couldn't say outload; you kill people for money...! He then calmed down and nodded with understanding. "I mean, I get it, she's cute and all, and I don't deny having someone around with a fat bank account has its benefits, but maybe standing next to the girl who's getting her face in the social media pages gossiping who she's seeing might put an end to your ability to conduct business in this town, if you know what I mean."

Yoriyoshi trailed off when he heard activity coming from the front of the shop in the form of an early group of customers. "Welcome!" He called out, turning his attention to the front and getting back into a restaurant's frame of mind. He suddenly paused as one of the customers caught his attention and turned to Kyosuke and whispered. "Oi... heads up! Looks who's here!"

Kyosuke turned to the door and was momentarily stunned as Kyoko Ikemoto peered into the small restaurant. "Is the place Kyosuke Sakurai works?"