Knight Takes Rook

Akito Yamamoto listened with bated breath as his man from the field called in to report. He verbally ripped into the man for his failure to protect his principal as everyone else looked on. Yes, three-to-one were difficult odds, but he evidently failed to maintain sufficient situation awareness, or he wouldn't have been facing those odds in the first place. Luckily, his failure was made up by the flood of witnesses and their phones. Akito never thought he would be grateful for social media, but there it was; video clips of the kidnappers, their faces, their escape vehicle and initial route.

However, he knew the information about the vehicle wouldn't be good for now; if the kidnappers weren't total fools, they would have a swap vehicle ready.

"Get me a vehicle now!" Akito ordered as the rest of his team scrambled to deploy. He knew all other matters would be secondary until Kyoko was secured. As such, he would be accompanying the team into the field to make sure the job gets done properly.

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The van pulled into a warehouse near Nakai station where an awaiting vehicle awaited. The men quickly got out of the van, dragging Kyoko with her hands bound as she stumbled out of the doorway. The lead man gestured to the rest of his men, "Get her in," he ordered. "We need to be gone as quick as possible!"

"What's this about?" Kyoko demanded with a mixture of fear and anger.

The lead man leaned forward menacingly, "Keep quiet and do what we say, and you won't get hurt, Princess," he ordered. "Be a good girl, and this'll all be over soon, and you'll get to go home to your daddy." He knew that was a lie, but it was the best way to keep the captive compliant.

Just then, one of their phones went off. The man answered, turning to the lead man. "It's the boss," he confirmed.

The first man grabbed the phone and listened before responding. "Look, we just arrived, it won't be a problem."

"It damned well better not be!" the voice on the phone snarled. "You guys are all over social media right now! Anyone paying attention whatsoever will be able to figure out which direction you went! The only reason you're not in jail now is we've got the police in the area handled, but it won't be long before the ones that aren't on the take figure out where you are!"

The man ended the call and turned to the rest of the group. "Get her in the trunk and let's move!" The cars the group had swapped two were a group of black and grey sedans, one of which had a generous trunk that had been lined with sufficient padding to load a hostage. Once loaded, the convoy pulled out of the warehouse and headed south towards Shinjuku City, sticking to the side streets to avoid the visibility of cameras and witnesses. This choice resulted in slower speed, but also would be safer for their hostage in the back, which they were briefed needed to be kept alive at all costs.

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Kyosuke Sakurai paused at an intersection, checking his smartphone's social media app for feeds and updated information from witnesses to Kyoko's kidnapping. He was riding Yoriyoshi's Kawasaki Z900RS/Cafe instead of his Toyota Corolla because he suspected he was going to need the speed and flexibility that a motorcycle could give him more than the anonymity of his sedan. Hopefully I don't trash it too much, or I'll have to kiss my recent bounty goodbye.

Studying the eyewitness video accounts, the van that took Kyoko was heading to the warehouse district near Ikebukuro's Chinatown district. He knew about that area; smart people knew to avoid it at night as the area was rife with gang activity, and the warehouses were often used as stash houses for moving illegal products; perfect place to keep a few cars ready to swap.

He pulled up to the gatehouse and came to a stop and looked inside the open warehouse. He had arrived just in time; they were talking while dragging Kyoko into one of the sedans. He couldn't tell if they were Tanaka's or Oyama's people, but it wouldn't change his approach no matter who it was. He had no idea whether they were armed or not; in Japan, virtually no civilians had firearms. However, it was highly likely they would be armed with knives or some other melee weapon, which in numbers could still be quite dangerous.

As the convoy of cars pulled away from the warehouse on the opposite side, Kyosuke watched with binoculars, making a particular note of which one had Kyoko in the trunk. Gunning the motorcycle, he drove after them. He was slightly concerned as they split apart but set that aside. His goal was Kyoko; whatever else the rest were doing wasn't his concern. 

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Kimiko Tamatsuki sipped her sake as she sat in Yakitori Izakaya. She had stopped on her way home after dealing with yet another round of sparring with her company's Legal Department. Cowards, she groused. Just because the Ikemoto's were rich didn't make them above a little poke in the broadside now and then, she muttered to herself. And it's not like what I was writing wasn't true... ok, maybe a little exaggerated, she allowed, but I'm not even slandering them, she insisted. I mean... so the Princess is seeing a new guy. It wouldn't have been the first time, and it's not like this Kyosuke wasn't good looking... I mean... saving her life at that club, mysterious past, tall, dark, rugged, hell, if little Miss Princess doesn't end up with him, maybe I'll give him a try, she fantasized.

Just then, her smartphone alerts went off. She looked at the screen at the notifications and blinked; she had her Instagram and Twitter alert settings to ping if there were any additional news or sightings of the Ikemoto family so she could keep on top of the story. Everything seemed clear when she left the office, but suddenly there was a wave of new alerts and sightings. She scrolled through the shots, skimming the tweets and reactions as fast as she could, her excitement growing with each page. What the hell was this...?! Did they just kidnap Kyoko Ikemoto...?! She took a breath and paused. The story seemed so wild; she actually considered the possibility that the whole event might have been staged, but looking again at the faces of the surrounding crowds, it just felt authentic. The witnesses had even managed to get video of the van driving off and heading south, along with the license plates.

She checked the direction and location markers of the Instagram pictures; they were in Ikebukuro when that took place and headed south. She practically squealed with excitement; she was in Shinjuku City. If she moved quickly and could catch a lucky break, she might have a chance to be right in the middle of the story! 

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Kyosuke Sakurai kept his distance to avoid being spotted as his target vehicle turned south and got onto the 305 highway, parallel to the Tokyo Metro-Fukutoshin Line. Having left the Ikebukuro neighborhood, they were picking up speed, meaning time was limited. Shinjuku City was one of the places he suspected they might be heading to, which made him think it might be Oyama's people. Either way, he needed to stop them before they reached their destination. If there was a physical confrontation here, he would be facing two men. If he let them reach their destination, there could be twenty. It was now or never.

Kyosuke gunned the motorcycle, pulling past their car to the driver side and got just in front of them before reaching into his center saddle bag to pull out a prepared bottle of oily fluid. The driver of the sedan saw him speed past and for a moment suspected something was off, but reacted too slow as suddenly a bottle splashed onto his windshield, instantly rendering his visibility to nil.

"Shit...!" he screamed, slamming on the brakes. Luckily, the anti-lock mechanisms worked properly, preventing the car from losing control. Kyosuke executed a U-turn, coming face-to-face. The two men got out of the car, as traffic flowed around both of them in a dangerous manner. The first man brandished a club as Kyosuke accelerated towards them. With one hand controlling the motorcycle, Kyosuke pulled out an Asp baton, snapping it into a ready position. Just as the driver was about to fire, Kyosuke sped past on the motorcycle, striking his forearm and shattering the bones in his wrist and hands. He screamed and dropped to his knees. The second man pulled out a knife, forcing Kyosuke to make another hard U-turn to face him. He kept his cool as he charged forward, fishtailing the motorcycle into his legs, crushing him against the car. Crap... that's going to leave a mark, he realized. The motorcycle had some cosmetic damage and the car door was crushed. He disembarked from the motorcycle and opened the trunk. He breathed a sigh of relief to see Kyoko disoriented but otherwise in good condition."Wh-who...?" she blinked before recognition kicked in.

"Come on," Kyosuke extended a hand to pull her out of the trunk. "We need to get you some place safe before their friends arrive."