Infiltrating the Kagura Family

Kagura Family was a prominent family with a longstanding history that could be traced back as far as the Showa Period. They started as a small-time group of mercenaries that desperately tried to survive by taking on all kinds of odd jobs. As time went by, the mercenary group made a name for themselves and grew bigger until they established themselves as a yakuza family with considerable influence.

Their family had branches all over Japan, but their center of power remained close to the capital. The main house was located just outside of Tokyo, hidden within the wilderness of a mountainous area.

Even though it was called the ‘main house’, it was more like a whole residence complex on its own. The complex occupied a vast space, with one big main building in the center and numerous smaller buildings dotted all over the place.

“…this is certainly bigger than what I imagined.” Hiiro mumbled next to me as he eyed the tall walls that encompassed the whole complex.

“How are we supposed to find Kagura-san inside such a massive place?!” Takashi said to us frantically.

“Well, let’s wait for Ouji-senpai and the others for their scouting results.” Hiiro placated him.

We were currently waiting in a clearance inside the forest, just a few dozens of meters away from the main house’s entrance. Thanks to Marika’s information, it wasn’t that hard to find the place. Now, our biggest challenge was to sneak inside and find Sakuya without being caught by the guards.

“Ah, there they are.” Hiiro remarked as he saw Ouji and a few delinquents who went with him returning to us.

Ouji had volunteered to scout the main house’s surroundings, to find a side entrance for us to sneak inside. He was followed by several delinquents who were confident in their physical abilities, especially their running speed. It would blow the whole operation off if they got caught while scouting.

“How is it, Senpai?” I couldn’t help but ask Ouji eagerly once he arrived.

“Any entrance we can use?” Hiiro added as he handed a water bottle to Ouji.

Ouji emptied the whole bottle first before giving his report. “The whole complex is built in a rectangular shape. We’ve found three side entrances, one at each side of the complex. Unfortunately, the entrances were only big enough for one person to enter at a time, and they’re heavily guarded. It’s impossible to sneak inside without being noticed.” He explained.

Hiiro started drawing the rough outline of the complex on the ground using a wooden stick. “Is it possible to jump over the walls?” He asked.

“The walls aren’t impossible to climb, but they are fitted with lasers on the top of it.” Ouji answered bitterly. “I tried throwing a stone to test it, and it got sliced off cleanly.”

“What the hell?!” All of us stared at Ouji with shock and dread.

The whole complex was built in the style of traditional Japanese residence, so hearing that they installed something as modern as laser beams came as a big surprise.

Kazu whistled as he commented, “We really shouldn’t underestimate the technological prowess that comes with Kagura Family’s immense wealth.”

“Okay, so jumping over the walls is out of the question.” Hiiro muttered as he mentally scratched out the suggestion. “What if we lure the guards away from the side entrance? Will we be able to sneak in?”

“Technically it’s possible, but I don’t know what or who else will come out from the side entrance.” Ouji said apologetically. “There could be a whole army coming out once they detect a ruckus, and it will be easy for them to block the entrance.”

“It’s fine, it’s impossible to see what’s inside the walls, after all.” Hiiro placated him.

“All that’s left is the main entrance, huh?” I rubbed my chin as I racked my brain. “Say, what will happen if there’s a big ruckus at the main entrance? Big enough that they have to mobilize a lot of people? Won’t they have to divert some of the people guarding the side entrances?”

“I think they simply need to block the side entrances before going over to the main entrance.” Touma coldly shot down my suggestion.

“T-That’s true.” I sighed.

“No, I think that’s a great idea.” Hiiro suddenly spoke up. The edges of his lips were pulled up, revealing a sly smirk. “So here’s what we’re going to do…”

*****

One of the guards yawned loudly as he scratched his head. He—and all the other guards—were actually proper members of the Kagura Family. They were part of the lower-rungs, the so-called family grunts. When they weren’t assigned a mission, they took turns guarding the main house.

“Oi, don’t slack off.” The other guard, clearly more senior than the former, nudged him. “I know the head isn’t home right now, but if Tetsu-san catches you slacking off, you’ll go through hell.”

“Yeah I know, but this is really boring.” The younger guard yawned once again. “I mean, there’s no way a random guy can find this residence deep in the woods, and anyone who knows about us won’t dare come barging in…”

His sentence was abruptly interrupted by a loud quarrel just outside the main entrance. He exchanged suspicious glances with his senior.

“Go check it out. If it’s only some random people, chase them away. We always get a few lost people every year.” The senior guard ordered. “And if you need help…”

“I just have to call through the comms, right?” The other guard tapped his earpiece with an annoyed tone. “I know, I’m not a newbie anymore, geez.”

Without waiting for his senior’s response, the younger guard went out of a small door right next to the main entrance. It was much easier to access compared to the main entrance, which consisted of two huge wooden doors that needed considerable effort just to push it open slightly.

When the guard came out, he saw two high school kids busily arguing with each other.

“…I told you, we’re supposed to take a left turn ahead!”

“As if I’m going to trust your sense of direction! Your crappy decisions stranded us in the middle of nowhere!”

“Lost people as usual, huh?” The guard thought to himself as he approached those two. “Hey, how about you two take your arguments somewhere else? This is a private residence, and—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the two male students turned to him at the same time and punched him right at the face.

Thud!

“Well…that was easier than I thought.” Narumi commented as he shook his numb hand.

“You properly held back, right?” Abe asked worriedly while checking the guard, who was out cold on the ground.

“Of course! There’s still a lot to come, right?” Narumi answered cheerily, right when the senior guard came out to find his missing colleague.

“Wha—?!” The guard was stunned at the shocking scene in front of him.

Taking that chance, Takashi and Yuuji who were hiding beside the small door immediately pounced at the guard.

“You all…! What the hell…?!” The guard struggled against them, but he couldn’t break away. “Help! Intruders! There are intruders!” He started shouting for reinforcements through his earpiece.

Just a few moments after that, the big door slowly swung open, revealing a whole bunch of angry yakuza, complete with their weapons of choice.

“Oh wow, Hiiro really isn't kidding.” Kazu commented as he and the other delinquents also made their appearance. “They all came out like a swarm of angry hornets.”

“Their stings will hurt more than hornets, though.” Touma added dryly.

“They're the intruders! Get them!” One of the yakuza shouted.

With a loud war cry, yakuzas and delinquents collided into a messy and hotblooded battle.

Meanwhile, a few minutes before the main entrance’s big door was opened, the guards at east side’s entrance were busily preparing to mobilize.

“The call came from the main entrance! Leave a single person here and lock the door tightly! The rest can go and help out!” The guard's leader of this side entrance shouted his instructions.

Following the order, the rest of the guards hurried inside, leaving only one person to guard the side entrance from the outside. However, just before they could lock the door, they heard a muffled scream from the other side of the door.

“Hey, is everything okay?!” The leader asked, but there was no answer. “Wataru, answer me! Are you okay?!”

Instead of an answer, the door was suddenly kicked open with tremendous force. The leader and his subordinates were flung backward from the shockwave.

“What the—?!”

Before the leader could regain his wits, he was already gagged and restrained.

“Infiltration—success.” Hiiro smirked as he finished restraining the last guard. He didn’t forget to swipe their earpieces, preventing them from calling for help.

“Amazing work as always, Hiiro.” Ouji quietly praised him.

“You two should seriously consider becoming secret agents.” I was amazed at the two’s flawless teamwork.

Hiiro had sneaked upon the lone guard outside the door, then Ouji kicked the door open with his brute force. The two proceeded to restrain all the guards with precision and speed, as if they were used to this kind of work. I was left with practically nothing to do—though it wasn't like there was anything I could do to help.

“It’s all thanks to Sakuya-chan.” Hiiro chuckled with a nostalgic look on his face. “Whenever she stormed into another school to subjugate it, she’d only bring the two of us. She left us in charge of restraining everyone else while she beat up the Banchou. Those were the good old days, right Senpai?”

Ouji nodded with a similarly nostalgic expression. “She’d teach us how to take them down quietly and bound them quickly as well. It was very educational.”

I suppressed the urge to shout, “What the hell have you been teaching them, Sakuya-san?!”

“Putting that aside, we need to move fast.” Hiiro started moving toward the only main building. “Since this place is needlessly large, we’ll have to split up. If any of you find Sakuya-chan, alert the rest and we’ll immediately move to lure the enemy away. Make sure to always be careful, okay?”

Ouji and I nodded to him before we went our separate ways. I moved stealthily between each building, making sure that I wasn’t spotted by anyone. Nevertheless, the sheer size of the complex completely blew my mind. It was akin to the size of a whole village within the fortress-like walls.

The smaller buildings that I passed through seemed to function as guest houses, since it was furnished with furniture but remain deserted of people. I took a moment to map my destination. Right now I was at the east side of the complex, while the main building was right in the middle of the complex.

It was common to assume that the main family would take residence within the main building. However, according to Ouji’s report earlier, the number of guards on the north side entrance were a lot higher than other side entrances. I suspected that the main family’s residence would be at the north side—furthest away from the main entrance and making it easier to defend.

Having decided to check the north side, I started moving. I stuck to the complex’s periphery, since there would be less chance to meet other people. After sneaking around for twenty minutes or so, I stumbled upon another big building.

The building was only two-stories high, but it was built wide enough to accommodate hundreds of people. Most likely, it was the servants' living quarters.

I was debating whether to enter and steal a servant’s attire as camouflage or not when my ears caught the sound of footsteps approaching. I quickly hid behind the bushes and held my breath, desperately praying that no one would realize my presence.

The footsteps came closer to my hiding place, and I shrunk myself as small as possible to avoid being detected. Fortunately, the footsteps went past me without problem. I quietly let out a relieved sigh and took a peek from within the bushes.

There was no one in sight, other than the footsteps owner who was turning at the corner. It was a black-haired woman clad in black kimono, with a petite build—

“Wait!”

Before I knew it, I already leapt out of my hiding place and chased after her.

“Wait, Sakuya-san! It’s me!” I caught on to her and grabbed her shoulder. “It’s Ryuu…huh?”

I was stunned when I saw the older version of Sakuya in front of me. She was of the same build as Sakuya, with the same neatly cut, long black hair. But this woman had soft wrinkles around her eyes and forehead, which gave her a more mature appearance. Most importantly, her eyes were the ordinary black color instead of vivid red.

“Um…w-who are you…?” The older woman seemed startled by my sudden approach.

“Ah…I-I’m sorry! I’m…” I quickly let her go and backed away. “My name is Ryuu. I’m looking for Sakuya-san and—”

“There he is!”

Before I could finish my sentence, suddenly my body hit the ground painfully and my arms were twisted behind my back.

The older woman let out a shriek and stumbled backward.

“Madam, my apologies for scaring you. Did this rascal do anything to you?” The man who was pinning me asked the older woman politely.

“Ah…no…” The woman mumbled softly.

I tried twisting my neck to look at the woman again, but the man restraining me pushed my head flat on the ground.

“I see, that’s a relief. However, please refrain from walking around on your own, Madam. The head will surely be upset if anything happens to you.” The man put emphasize on ‘the head’.

“I…I’ll be careful…” The woman’s voice shrunk even further when that person was mentioned. “Um…who is this boy…?”

“He’s just a common rascal who tried to sneak inside as a game. We’ll get rid of—chase them out before they make a mess.” The man quickly corrected his wording, probably because of the woman’s delicate nature.

“Madam? Could it be that she’s…” I had a guess of the older woman’s identity, but before I could confirm it, I was dragged away to the main entrance.

*****

“Hey, Ryuu. It’s a spectacular failure, I suppose?” Hiiro was the first person to greet me when I got to the main entrance.

Despite his usual grin, his lips were stained with blood and he looked terribly disheveled. Clearly, Hiiro had been beaten up before he was brought here. And he wasn’t the only one.

All of the delinquents were beaten up and bounded with ropes before being gathered here. They were helplessly kneeling on the ground, but they kept glaring at the yakuzas as if displaying their fighting spirit.

The man who brought me here proceeded to toss me among the delinquents. I cringed in pain as I sat up on the hard ground and scanned everyone. Fortunately, no one was badly injured. I had braced myself to see a broken bone or two, but maybe we’d be able to walk out of this mess safely.

That was, if the Kagura Family didn’t decide to kill us off.

“Is that the last rat?” The most senior yakuza there asked his colleagues.

“Yes, Yagi-san! We’ve swept the whole place and didn’t find anyone else!” One of them answered.

“Okay, then I’ll ask you all again.” Yagi turned toward us. “Who the hell are you people?” He narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Who sent you here?”

I was contemplating how to best answer this question when a particular idiot beat me to the punch.

“We’re Kagura Sakuya’s subordinates!” Takashi shouted proudly. “And we’re here to take her back, obviously!”

Commotion struck the yakuzas when they heard Sakuya’s name being mentioned. Yagi’s face visibly darkened as he marched toward Takashi and grabbed his collar.

“What the hell do you mean subordinates? Is Ojou-sama secretly building her own army to rebel against the family?” Yagi interrogated Takashi intensely.

“No!” I quickly shot to my feet. “That’s a misunderstanding! We’re—”

“Yeah, you can say that we’re part of her army!” Takashi interrupted me as he idiotically charged forward. “We won’t let you guys imprison her any longer!”

“Takashi, shut up!” I shouted at him, but it was already too late.

“I knew it!” Yagi violently threw Takashi away and turned toward the other yakuzas. “Ojou-sama has been planning on rebelling since the beginning, and these are her pawns! We’ll kill them all and report this to the head!”

“Uh…wait, what?” Takashi paled once he realized the consequences of his careless words. “No, no, wait a second, hear me out…!”

However, his words were drowned out by the yakuzas’ bloodthirsty war cry. They all took out their weapons, seemingly ready to slaughter everyone here.

“Hold it.”

A heavy voice reverberated in the air, instantly stopping the yakuza in their tracks.

“Are you guys idiots?”

A man emerged from among the yakuzas. He had a huge and intimidating build, just like a bear. That body of his was densely packed with muscles, to the point that I would look like a twig standing next to him.

“T-Tetsu-san! Please excuse our rowdiness!” Yagi immediately lowered his head to the man, followed by every other yakuzas.

It seemed that Tetsu held quite a high position within the family, even though he didn’t possess scarlet eyes.

“No matter how you look at it, they’re only high school brats.” Tetsu eyed us indifferently. “There are only two strong people among their ranks. There’s no way Ojou-sama would build such a useless army.”

“W-What?!” Both the yakuzas and the delinquents were equally shocked.

“Hou…he’s quite the fearsome opponent.” I caught Ouji muttering to himself.

“Senpai, please hold back your rivalry spirit right now.” I prayed that he wouldn’t do anything stupid at this critical moment.

“Besides, how would you cover up the disappearance of these many brats?” Tetsu turned toward Yagi, who immediately paled at his question.

“T-That’s…w-we’re going to ask Shin-san after this…” Yagi averted his eyes.

“So you’re going to kill them first before thinking of how to cover it up?” Tetsu crossed his arms and asked mockingly.

“N-No…that’s…uh…yes…” Yagi gave up trying to defend himself.

“Tsk. This is why you can never rise through the ranks.” Tetsu clicked his tongue in annoyance, turning Yagi’s face red from anger and shame. “And for your information, Shin is currently accompanying the head. He won’t be back for a few more days. By that time, the news of 80-something high school brats disappearing would already spread everywhere.”

“…I apologize for my short-sightedness.” Yagi gritted his teeth as he kept his head lowered.

I secretly heaved a relieved sigh at their decision not to kill us off.

“However…” Tetsu’s eyes were set on me. “It will be troublesome if we allow them to go back just like this. It won’t be a problem if you kill one or two as an example. That scrawny kid seems like he’s the brain. You can kill him.”

“What?!” I blanched as every yakuza’s eyes were fixated on me. “No, wait for a minute…!”

“You can’t kill Ryuu!”

The delinquents immediately rose out of anger.

“We won’t let you!” “You’ll make Kagura-san sad if you do that!” “That’s right! Don’t you know that he’s her favorite?!”

“Ugh…stop painting bigger target on my back, you guys!” I screamed internally.

“Hmm…Ojou-sama’s favorite, huh?” Tetsu’s lips curled into a cruel smirk. “I wonder how she will react if I show her that brat’s severed head?”

Chills ran down my spine when I realized that Tetsu wasn’t joking at all. “Crazy…they’re all completely crazy! Is this why Sakuya-san ran away from home?”

“Look, it will be useless to kill Ryuu.” Hiiro stepped out courageously, just like a hero standing up to protect the helpless villager. “Even if he dies, we’ll keep on charging into this place. We won’t ever give up until we take Sakuya-chan back with our own hands. I say it will be easier for you guys if you give us Sakuya-chan before we started harassing you earnestly.”

Hiiro grinned devilishly as he continued speaking.

“How do you feel about this place being exposed to the whole world? We’ll make sure everyone knows this is the Kagura Family’s main house if you kill any of us. Good luck trying to protect this place.” He sneered. “Won’t it be easier for you to just give up on Sakuya-chan?”

Tetsu stared at Hiiro silently, as if contemplating his proposal. Then he walked up to Hiiro and dislocated his left shoulder in one clean move.

Tetsu’s movement was so fast that we only realized what happened when Hiiro screamed in pain.

“Hiiro!” I leapt to my feet and ran to him frantically.

His left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, but thankfully his bone wasn’t broken. It was a silent display of Tetsu’s mastery over the human body and how to inflict the most optimal pain without killing someone.

“Do not address the Kagura Family’s heiress so casually, brat.” Tetsu said coldly. “And you’re right. If you’re going to expose our location, we have no choice but to kill all of you here.”

“…!” I looked at Tetsu with a terrified face.

“No…wait…!” Hiiro muttered with pained voice.

“B-But Tetsu-san, you just said…” Yagi, who had kept quiet, raised a protest.

“We can use a bus.” Tetsu interrupted him. “We’ll just stuff them inside the bus and send it down a cliff. Since Sakurasaki has just closed down, the news will probably report this as an accident during their farewell trip.”

The delinquents all turned pale at the plausible scenario. I trembled in fear as I furiously racked my brain for a way out, but the fear had dulled my mind. Tetsu was right, the police wouldn’t suspect a thing if we all died in a bus accident. They would probably think we went out for one last trip before being separated into different schools.

“Ryuu…” Hiiro whispered to me. “…run. We’ll buy you time to escape.”

“What?!” I was shocked. “No! I’m not going to be the only one to survive!”

“Someone has to escape and expose their location.” Hiiro persuaded me. “That will bring us closer to saving Sakuya-chan.”

“No!” I vehemently refused. “I’m not letting anyone sacrifice themselves for me!”

“Kill them all.” Tetsu mercilessly ordered.

The yakuzas approached us with their weapons drawn, while the delinquents fell into a mass panic. Some of them stood their ground bravely, ready to fight until the end, and others chose to run for the gate, which was firmly shut. But most of them stood frozen, unable to do anything in the face of certain death.

“What is this ruckus?”

A cold, dignified voice rang from behind the yakuzas. They all halted and quickly separated to both sides, just like how a particular sea was parted. At the other end was a young woman followed by scores of maids. She strode gracefully among the yakuzas, who lowered their heads reverently to her. Her black kimono swayed elegantly with every step as she approached the delinquents.

“Our apologies for disturbing your rest…” Tetsu also bowed his head at the young woman. “…Ojou-sama.”

“…?!” At that name, all of the delinquents stared at her wide-eyed. Even I didn’t recognize her before Tetsu revealed her identity.

In front of us stood the girl we had been desperately searching for.

Kagura Sakuya.

However, the girl before us was like a completely different person. The Sakuya that I knew was a lively girl, with a bright smile like the sun and a forceful personality that drew everyone to her side. The Sakuya that stood in front of us right now was like an ice queen, with an expressionless face and dignified demeanor.

There was no trace left of her usual sun-like cheeriness.

“Sakuya…san…” I muttered her name in a daze. There were tons of things I wanted to say if I ever met her again, but now that she was in front of me, with a completely different look, it felt like meeting a stranger.

“What happened here, Tetsu?” Sakuya demanded in an icy tone.

“These brats barged into the house, saying that they’re your subordinates and they want to take you back. We’re about to kill them off and take care of the rest, so please don’t let it bother you, Ojou-sama.” Tetsu summed up the whole fiasco neatly, as if we were merely insects that could be swatted away.

“Hmm…I see.” Sakuya nodded. “Pray tell, how are you going to deal with their disappearance? With this large number of people, the media won’t shut up easily.”

“No need to worry about it. We’ll disguise it as a bus accident.” Tetsu answered swiftly.

Sakuya stared at him coldly. “…that won’t be enough.”

“Pardon?” Tetsu was visibly surprised.

“Let’s say their bus crashes off a cliff somewhere nearby here. The police will investigate how they got here in the first place. I’m sure they took the train to Tokyo, before boarding a bus that stopped not far from here.”

Sakuya easily deduced our route, as if she was there with us the whole time.

“The police will be suspicious as to why they bothered to take the train when they can rent a bus from their town. It will be cheaper for them to use the same bus to go here and wherever their destination is, instead of switching between the train and the bus.”

Tetsu offered no rebuttal at her argument.

“The police will investigate further and find out that they had actually taken a bus to this place. After that, it will be simple to put together the pieces.” Sakuya ended her argument.

Tetsu stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Ojou-sama, are they truly your subordinates?” He asked quietly. “Is that why you’re defending them?”

I looked at Sakuya with anxious expression. If she slipped up here, she’d be deemed a traitor and executed along with us.

At that question, Sakuya simply scoffed. “You must be joking. There are only two useful people among them, why would I pick all of them to be my subordinates?”

“Then, why are they claiming to be your subordinates?” Tetsu kept chasing after her, refusing to back down.

Instead of answering immediately, Sakuya scanned each of us. She had a frown on her face, as if she was trying to remember something.

“…Aah, I remember.” Sakuya nodded. “They’re a bunch of self-proclaimed subordinates of mine.”

I started exhaling in relief when Hiiro suddenly raised his head and protested, “Self-proclaimed?! Sakuya-chan, we’re truly your subordinates!”

“Wha—?! Hiiro, this is a bad time to declare that!” I hissed at him, but he only returned a wink at me.

As if on cue, Ouji and the other delinquents also started protesting. However, Sakuya shot them all down coldly.

“No, sorry, I don’t know who you guys are at all.” Sakuya shook her head. “I just know that you guys liked to follow after me everywhere I go. Tetsu,” She turned toward the big-built yakuza, “Chase them off this place. They’re starting to annoy me with their nonsense.”

Tetsu narrowed his eyes. He didn’t seem to completely buy Sakuya's and the delinquents' acting, but he also didn’t have enough proof to dismiss them as well.

“Only chase off, is it? What if they expose this place?” Tetsu questioned her.

Sakuya glared at him, displeased that he questioned her orders, but Tetsu remained persistent. She finally sighed and looked toward us.

“Since you’ve been saying that you’re my subordinates, then you’ll follow my words, right?” Sakuya stared sharply at each of us as she pressured us with her bloodlust. “Don’t say a word about this place. Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes!” We answered diligently, like a new recruit in the military.

“It’s done.” Sakuya glanced at Tetsu indifferently. “You can kill anyone who breaks their promise.”

Tetsu clearly didn’t look satisfied with this, but he couldn’t keep insisting any further. “…I understand. We’ll take care of them, so please return to your room, Ojou-sama.”

For an instant, Sakuya’s eyes darted toward us. Emotions such as worry about our safety, happiness to see us again, and longing to be with us were mixed together in that brief glance. Her lips parted slightly, as if she was about to say something. But in the end, Sakuya simply turned her back at us and walked away.