Like Father, Like Son

General Ryo Tanaka glared at Akito Yamamoto and the assembled men behind him. "Pathetic... you let a restaurant owner and a pair of girls slip through your fingers?!" He turned to Akito, "And you... you promised me your special relationship with your family's heiress would make this entire operation a done deal!"

"Need I remind you, Sakurai-san's one of your people, not mine," Akito firmly defended. "If you're expecting me to go head-to-head against a trained commando, that wasn't part of our agreement!"

"You had three against one, with more coming, where's your manhood!" Ryo scoffed.

"Sakurai-san beat your men down like children and he wasn't even trying. By the time the rest of your men showed up, he was long gone," Akito snapped.

"I won't allow Oyama's syndicate to regain what they've lost! I've put too much into this operation to let it fail now!" Ryo swore.

"If I may... we can still salvage this," Akito offered, prompting a raised eyebrow from Ryo. "The whole point of kidnapping Kyoko was to apply pressure on Ikemoto; OK, she may be out of our reach for now. But Ikemoto-kaichou is a businessman; the only reason he signed the deal was he was convinced it was a going to be profitable and for protection of his assets in the neighborhood. If you make the price of doing business with Oyama too high, he'll drop him, I'm sure of it."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Ryo asked. "If we could just crush them in the streets, we would have done that without all this nonsense."

"Because I know Ikemoto's business structure... where shipments are loaded, payments are processed and which transportation hubs are vital. I know where to send your men for maximum impact. If we make the attacks look like Oyama's men..."

Ryo's face slowly relaxed. "Very well, let's talk..."

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Isamu Ikemoto shook his head with a mixture relief and incredulity. " Yamamoto-san did this...?! After all we've done for his family?"

"Yes father, he came before your people with a group of gangsters. We only got away when Kyosuke held them off to buy us time," Kyoko explained.

"I-I see... I suppose once again, I owe him a great debt," Isamu admitted. "So, what is your next move? How are you coming home?"

"We managed to make it to Kyosuke's apartment to get away from the gangsters. I'm calling from a phone that Akito won't be able to trace so we can talk privately," Kyoko explained. "Kyosuke is asking you to come pick me up at Ueno Park. It's not far from here, and he says it's got enough security to be safe, and we'll be able to confirm that no gangsters will try again."

Isamu took a moment to consider the idea. Ueno Park had half-a-dozen museums, several temples, and plenty of bus stops and a nearby train station. It would be extremely public with plenty of witnesses in every direction, which should make any attempts of criminal mischief extremely risky, so he nodded. "I can make that happen, and Kyoko, I... I want you to know that... I've thought about what you said about Kyosuke, and how I allowed my focus on status and social standing to not see what kind of person he's been. If you... wish to pursue him after this... I will support this choice." 

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Daisuke Oyama nodded grimly as his gang leader came into his offices in Shinjuku. "And are you sure that's what they said?"

"Yes sir," the subordinate reported. "The surveillance devices we left behind in his offices confirm that he's definitely made contact with his daughter, or at least someone claiming to be her on his private telephone."

"Can we track where she's calling from?" Daisuke demanded.

"It's not from any of the phone numbers we have associated with the Ikemoto organization. Best guess, she was calling either from a public phone, or she was using a burner," the subordinate explained.

"So, we can't find where they are now. But they are apparently headed to Ueno Park?" Daisuke considered, then paused to consider his next move. "Perhaps we could have our men waiting to..."

"Ueno Park is several city blocks with half a dozen museums, with bus and train stops, not to mention, filled with people. We don't have nearly enough people to cover a perimeter that size, not to mention the kind of security response we would be provoking," one of his senior members warned. 

Daisuke cursed with frustration. If we can't get the girl, and Ikemoto-kaichou decides to renege on the deal because of everything that's threatened his family, then our organization could be facing ruin. But if we can't force him through his family, then what other options do we have? 

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"So... what's the play?" Yoriyoshi asked.

"Let's see, assuming Ikemoto-kaichou is able to get transport together, it's thirty minutes... maybe an hour, tops, allowing for traffic from Kyoko's place to Ueno Park. We can be there ten," Kyosuke calculated. He pulled out the Sig P230JP he had gotten from Akito and performed a quick brass check to confirm it was chambered.

"W-where did you get that...?!" Kyoko looked shocked.

"Yamamoto-san tried threatening me with it, so I had to disarm him," Kyosuke defended. "You weren't expecting me to just let him shoot me, were you?"

"Well... no, of course not," Kyoko huffed, "but... you're not going to actually..."

Kyosuke slid the pistol into an improvised holster. "Only as an absolute last resort, trust me. I'm well aware what city I'm in and the legal ramifications of what happens if a single round goes off." 

"So, where's the meet up... oh... can we do it at Ueno Zoo?" Kimiko begged. "The pandas and petting areas will make such a charming backdrop for the perfect Instagram for your romantic confession..."

"Yoshoku restaurant will work just fine," Yoriyoshi proposed, much to Kimiko's disappointment. "It's right by the parking lot, so we won't be exposed having to be on foot for long, and with Shinobazuno Pond covering one direction, it keeps our exposure to any incoming opposition to a minimum."

Kyosuke nodded.  "That'll work."  He turned to Kyoko.  "Text your father and give him the location and tell him we'll be there in... sixty minutes.  If something goes wrong, and we see any opposition that local police aren't handling properly, we'll fall back to a secondary location and update accordingly."