The Negotiation

The car came to a stop, and I startled awake. The door opened, and I stepped out, leaning on Mana. Trees surrounded us except for a walled Japanese-style resident. The pale morning sunlight shone on us as the guards opened the door. We walked through a lush garden with ponds filled with koi. The sunlight only made its scale shine under the crystal clear water. Flowers of many colors were placed throughout. A large house loomed over us, and we stepped inside.

We were greeted by several women dressed in plain-colored yukata. They escorted us to a room, and the soft tatami mats caressed my feet as I walked. We were offered a shower and change of clothes which we took. Mana wore a yellow yukata, the color matching her hair. I wore a jinbei, perfect for the summer heat.

We entered a room where a doctor sat. He bandaged my wounds and gave me some painkillers, urging me to lay on the bed which I refused. There were too many questions to be answered, and I could not rest until I knew what was going on. Mana was also scanning her surroundings. The door slid open, revealing a short girl wearing a vibrant pink yukata with straight, long hair hanging down. I didn’t recognize her until she spoke.

“I’m glad to see you two are safe,” said Aimi, bowing. “I welcome you to our headquarters. We have much to discuss after you have rested.”

I stood up, ignoring the pain around my head. “Answers will do much more for us than rest.”

Mana nodded then stood up next to me.

“I could also use some answers myself after having stayed here for a day,” said a familiar voice behind Aimi. The tall woman showed herself, towering over Aimi. Her left arm was in an arm sling. Her hair was neck-short and green, and she wore the same gray suit when we last saw her.

Matsumoto Rika stood in the doorway behind the short girl, staring at us. “Looks like I seriously underestimated you two.”

“Rika, how?” said Mana.

“I was outside when the building exploded. Thankfully, I only broke my arm, but a lot of good men died.” She scowled, shaking her head.

“How’d you get here?”

“I looked for my men near the warehouse, and I tried to track you two down. Instead, I had to save this kid from a one-eyed henchman.”

“And Tamotsu? Is he ok?”

“He cleared his track and is home safely,” said Aimi.

Mana sighed with relief.

“Everyone’s here, so the negotiations can finally begin, right?” said Matsumoto, gazing at Aimi.

She closed her eyes then opened them. “Yes, I suppose so.”

Aimi escorted the three of us to a large conference room. A brown table was in the middle of the room with one cushion on one side and four cushions on the other. At the left end of the table were two cushions. Mana and I tilted our head, not quite understanding what was going on. Matsumoto took her seat at the sole cushion on one side while we were directed to the two cushions at the far left end. Aimi sat on one of the four cushions nearest to us. Other than Matsumoto who crossed her legs, we all sat kneeling.

The door behind Aimi slid open, displaying a view of the garden. A boy around the same age as me entered and sat on the far right. His eyes were sharp, and his black hair was long for a guy’s. He wore a montsuki-haorihakama with a sigil I didn’t recognize. An old man entered next, his hair bald and straight beard gray. His eyes were always shut, and he wore the same clothes as the boy. He took a seat next to him, leaving the one next to Aimi vacant.

A tall woman entered. Unlike Aimi, she wore the same clothes as the men. Mana and I were wide-eyed, mouth agape. Even without her glasses, we could tell who she was at a glance. Kido Natsumi took a seat between the old man and Aimi. She gave her a glance, smiled, then returned her attention to Matsumoto. All four gave a bow except for the guest.

“Greetings. I am Natsumi, acting leader of the Kido Clan. My father, sister, and brother are with us today to discuss this important matter.”

She pointed to each of her individual family members and introduced them. The boy’s name was Shuji, and he was the heir of the clan. The old man was Toshiyuki, the actual patriarch, and their father. Natsumi was the oldest, Shuji was the second child, and Aimi was the youngest child. Once introductions were finished, Matsumoto wasted no time.

“I am Matsumoto Rika, representative of the Gold Stars, though I’m sure you already knew that. I’ve come to make a deal.”

The room held its breath and so did we. I glanced at the faces of each member partaking in the negotiations, and none had expressions to speak of. They held their gaze on Matsumoto like she did on Kido Natsumi.

“We are offering you large monthly deposits for any and all information that come your way. You will only be able to deal with us and no one else.”

“Last we checked, the Gold Stars are in no condition to strike a deal considering their current state,” said Kido Natsumi. The boy, Shuji, nodded at this.

“A minor setback. We will recover in no time.”

“We are not under any obligation to make any deals with the Gold Stars.”

Matsumoto leaned on the table with her arm, glaring into Kido’s eyes. “I know the location of your headquarters, and when I leave, I will not hesitate to call the rest of my comrades to burn it down.”

“You won’t leave here alive then.”

“Doubt it. I heard this clan isn’t full of savages.”

Aimi hanged her head, eyeing the floor. Silence held us, and Kido remained unflinching against the Gold Stars detective’s glare.

“As your offer is in line with our current goals, we will accept.”

Shuji whipped his head and gazed at Kido. “Sister, I would like to remind you that this would severely hinder us.” Kido raised a hand, and he faced the floor.

The old man, Toshiyuki, spoke up, his voice surprisingly energetic and youthful. “Now that is done, we have something far more important to look to.” He faced us along with everyone else.

“Thanks to you two, we managed to find out where Kamiko is hiding,” said Kido, a faint smile crossed her face.

We received the details from Kido Natsumi. According to her, Kamiko was hiding at a safehouse near the wharf we landed at, and scouts had already been sent to her location. She was going to leave the city using the ship we were on tonight. The scouts managed to spot a few persons of interests inside the hideout including Kamiko thanks to the CCTV footage we found of her. She wore a furisode and had an escort of four other furisode-clad women with her as well as multiple armed guards. They’d take turns disguising as Kamiko and were closest to her in terms of distance. There was also a helicopter on the roof of the hideout.

“How close is Kamiko with these women?” said Mana.

“From the looks of it, not at all. They’re just strangers who are following a script,” said Kido.

“Then I’ll disguise as one of them and get close to Kamiko.”

Shuji and Toshiyuki widened their eyes, and those who knew her only gave a chuckle.

“Alright. You’ll need to memorize the script though.”

“I’d like to disguise as a guard if possible,” I said.

Kido nodded. “Yes, but you’ll need to follow the orders given to you on the earpiece from the enemy.”

It would also give me intel to what they were saying, so I didn’t mind. All I needed was a black suit, sunglasses, and the earpiece. Kido would have her men waiting outside, and if things went awry, they would rush in and support us.

“There’s also the matter of the police chasing after us,” said Mana.

“I’ll talk to the commissioner after this is all over. He’s got no backbone, so it’ll be easy,” said Matsumoto.

Silence passed through the room until Toshiyuki spoke. “Looks like everything is in order then. He looked to the two of us, smiling. “Would you care to join us for breakfast?”

Our stomach growled, and I couldn’t refuse even if I wanted to. We were escorted out of the conference room and into a wide room with a long table and cushions placed. It looked about the same as the one we just left, but this one had seven sets of utensils on it. The moment we sat, food was brought out, and we ate.

“Mana, I didn’t expect the person you brought to the family meeting to be the leader of the Rats,” said Matsumoto.

“Neither did I. I’ll be sure to bring her along for the next meeting. For protection, of course.”

Matsumoto grimaced while holding her chopsticks full of rice.

“I didn’t expect you to be such an important figure, Natsumi,” said Mana.

“I only took on this role to do what I could against Kamiko. I’ve given up the position of heir to my brother already, so after this, I’ll return to the office.”

“You’d make the better leader,” said Shuji in such a small voice that only I could hear.

“I never thought my daughter here would run off and bother you guys so much. For that, I apologize,” said Toshiyuki.

“She hasn’t been a bother at all. If anything, she’s been very helpful,” said Mana.

As we ate, an attendant entered and whispered into Kido’s and Toshiyuki’s ears. They nodded, and she left.

“We have successfully procured a furisode for Mana and an earpiece for Katayama,” said Kido.

We devoured our remaining breakfast and rose from the cushions.

“Kamiko will figure out something is wrong if they’re missing, so we should hurry,” said Mana.

“No one is missing. We bribed them to give up the outfit at a certain time. As for the earpiece, we just stole one.”

We sat, enjoying the temporary peace. When everyone was done, Shuji disappeared while Kido led us all to the rehearsal room. After a few hours, it was just Kido, Mana, and me present.

“You accepted Matsumoto’s offer earlier because of your goals. What are they?” I said.

“Before my father became head, the Kido clan was an expansive and violent one. He decided he wanted to be more peaceful. This deal would allow us to work with good rather than evil.”

“Your brother doesn’t seem to be a fan.”

“Shuji is young and ambitious. I do not fault him for that. I’m sure he will become a great leader when he understand that peace is more desirable than expansion.”

I observed the rehearsal which consisted of Mana trying her best to move in a yukata. She’d copy the movements the scouts reported and try to perfect them. A couple of minutes passed, and she took a break. Kido turned away from us, and her shoulders heaved alongside a sigh. She turned to face us again, her eyebrows furrowed.

“I—,” she began but the sentence died, “I hope you two luck when you get Kamiko.” The smile returned.

I left the room, allowing the two to rehearse and spend time alone. I wandered the outside garden, gazing at the flowers and koi. Aimi was crouching, looking at the koi swimming in the pond. She noticed my arrival and stood up.

“How well is your face healing?” she said, a faint smile across her face.

“It’s alright,” I said, and we took a seat on the veranda, the wind chime ringing against the breeze alongside the cries of the cicadas.

“Did you know I was working on my own?” said Aimi. I shook my head.

“I got tired of all the lessons and being home that I ran away. I managed to get some contacts and bought information. Even sold some. But in the end, I forced my family into a tough spot.”

She hanged her head, looking at the ground. “I guess I should’ve stayed home after all.”

“You helped find Kamiko. No matter what anyone says, it was thanks to you,” I said. “You did the right thing.”

She held a moment of silence. “Thanks,” was all she said as she rose and left me alone on the veranda.

I felt the breeze, took in the sights, and listened to the sounds. Something plopped down next to me with a thud. I looked at my side and noticed a phone was sitting there. I hadn’t seen it before. I looked behind me, but no one was in sight. The phone rang, interrupting the wind chimes, breeze, and cicadas. I picked it up, answered the call, and pressed it against my ear.

“Hello, assassin,” said the familiar voice. My intestines squeezed, and I nearly crushed the phone.

“What do you want, Ryuji?”

“You see, I was an idiot when I saw you again after so long. I hadn’t realized that such a large bounty was on your head.”

The stink of smoke wafted through my nostrils. From the corner of a garden, black smoke rose, and a flash of red, orange, and yellow fire was devouring it.

“However, I am a benevolent person. You see, if you wish to remain alive and don’t want a horde of greedy assassins coming after you and your newfound friends, then simply come to me after you have dealt the finishing blow to Kamiko. You will enter my service just as that sick man did with the woman.”

I gritted my teeth, the sea of flames making its way to the house. In any second, it would incinerate me and anyone inside.

“Think about it, okay?” The call disconnected, and the garden returned to normal.

I pocketed the phone and returned inside. It seem I couldn’t escape my fate after all.