Police were Killed

I was released from the hospital a week later. Aoi still remained, she had suffered from a pneumonia infection which had just stabilized.

Evan was driving me back to the headquarters, instead of taking the underground tunnel, he drove towards the mountainside. He flashed his ID at the roadside camera, and the side of the mountain opened up. He drove through our emergency route.

Something must have happened. I clenched my fists.

“Police raid” Said Evan without even a glance at me.

“Figures.” I replied. I knew Red and Asuna’s relationship would eventually lead to this.

“The police came yesterday, we have sealed and hidden the headquarters. However, they have filled up the underground tunnel. 100 men armed with guns.” Evan said as he steered us towards the entrance. We entered, and got out quickly. Evan and I ran towards the main entrance.

I saw Red and Asuna, he had his arm wrapped protectively around her, while Asuna was in tears. There was a tall man across from them, he had his black hair combed over and was in a slick brown suit.

“Is everyone alright?!” I shouted as I headed over, Evan followed right behind me.

“I’m sorry,” Said Asuna. “I tried to get my dad to see that you guys are different from regular mafias, however, dad doesn’t want to just let you guys go.”

“You’ve always been good for nothing, so it’s a relief how your uselessness has proved useful, leading me towards the GrayWolves’ headquarters.” Declared the man as he glared scornfully at Asuna.

I saw Red clutch Asuna even tighter. “Asuna is not just a tool to be useful towards you! She’s a human and your daughter!!”

“It’s because she’s my daughter that I expect more out of her! Mafia scum. To think that she would think mafias can be good! She’s too naive.” Spat the man.

Red looked like he was about to burst, however, Asuna had calmed him down when she pressed her head against his chest. I decided I’ve got to butt in.

“The name’s Gray. Boss of the GrayWolves, if you’ve got any grudge, point it at me.” I said as I glared at him.

“My name’s Taki, I’m a famous investigator. I’ve got my reputation from taking down mafia scums like you.” He replied as he glared back at me.

I smiled. “I can tell you don’t approve of Red and Asuna.”

“From what I’ve heard, you didn’t approve of them either. That will be the only thing we have in common, Gray.” Said Taki as he smiled back. He then reached in his pocket and took out a pistol, he pointed it at me. I raised both my hands up.

“Well, I’m happy for Red either way. And as his friend, I’ve got to help him clean up his mess.” I walked towards Taki, his gun was still pointed at me, his arm was steady.

From the corner of my vision, I saw Red and Asuna’s eyes both widen. I gave them a wink. Letting them know I’ve got this under control.

That’s right. 100 policemen or not, this here is my turf with my people. I’m the one with control. My smile spreads wider as I thought of all the ways I can eliminate them right now.

Yes.

I can see fear in Taki’s eyes. The fear of a cornered prey. His arms started shaking as I walked closer to him. He pressed the trigger and a loud sharp crack resonated from his gun. He missed.

Before he could reload, I grabbed his gun, and twisted his arm. I leaned my lips towards his ear and pressed the gun against his chest.

“No!” Screamed Asuna. “Don’t kill him! Please don’t!!”

“Why…” Said Taki as his eyes widened and his chest tightened. “I’ve done nothing but cause you misery. I’ve always been unfair to you… so why”

“Because… Father is kind! Kinder than you give yourself credit to. Even though I’m completely useless towards you, you still gave me a place to live, you still taught me, and when I was sick, you still looked after me.”

I smiled wider and wider. I pressed the pistol deeper into Taki’s chest. The barrel is right up against his beating heart. I pressed in harder.

“I’ve pushed you away again and again. I’ve done everything I could to make you hate me, yet why do you come back again and again?!” Screamed Taki, he thrashed against me, and I shook as I took the force in.

“It’s because Asuna is so kind. She doesn’t blame anything on anyone, she always blames herself for things that go wrong! She’s too kind to see you as anything else but her father.” Said Red, tears were welling up in his eyes. “So please, don’t hurt her anymore.”

Taki fell limp against me. “I… I’m sorry.” He stuttered as his eyes were wide and pupils dilated.

“You’ve got an incredible daughter. Cherish her, please.” I said as I lifted my gun off his chest. However, I still held Taki tight in my grips.

“I… I was never one to raise a child. However, I thought I could do it along with my wife… but when she died, I didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. I hated her for existing. Since if it wasn’t for her, Tobiichi wouldn’t have died!” I let go of Taki now. He fell on the ground, he was on his knees, teardrops falling.

So that’s the reason. When Asuna broke down in front of Red at the hospital, I knew the cause was her father. I didn’t expect it to be like this, but that’s fine. I know Taki would protect and love Asuna now.

The hard part was over.

As for the police waiting outside, dealing with them is the easy part.

Asuna ran to her father and hugged him. Taki was still for a moment, and hesitated, then he embraced her back, and they both cried into each other’s shoulders.

“Thank you Asuna, for growing up to be so kind. You’re so much more than I can ask for. Despite being hurt deep down, you still turned out more than fine. You’re not useless, I was the useless one.” Said Taki in a shaky voice.

“That’s fine! That’s fine! I’m strong, I’m strong because I had you there with me.” Replied Asuna.

“In reality, no matter how much I convince myself, I can never truly hate you…Can you give me another chance at being your dad?”

“Of course.”

I looked at those two, and then looked at Red and Evan. We were all smiling. I thumped my chest twice and they did the same.

“See, us mafia people aren’t so bad. Maybe we can get thanks for all the help we provided.” I said as I tossed Taki back his gun.

However, he pointed it straight back at me.

“It was mafia scums like you who killed my wife. She died protecting Asuna. You guys are all evil!” Screamed Taki. Fortunately, Asuna was quick to take his gun away and slapped her father across the face.

“Enough dad! Stop facing away from the truth now! You can’t deny it anymore, this mafia is different!” Said Asuna, her voice cracking from desperation. But Taki just smiled, his eyes were wild. He took out a pen and pressed it.

The main entrance exploded.

くそ！ (shit!)

“Everyone, defensive position 2!” Shouted Evan.

Red and I instantly took out our guns. I saw the rest of the mafia scampering around, getting into position.

Through the settling dust, nothing happened. No one came. I saw the flashing lights of the many police cars parked there, however, there were no people.

The only people there were, were the many bodies lying across the pavement. All of them were policemen, and upon a closer inspection, each of them had their throats slashed out by knife. Blood was still gushing from them like a broken water fountain.

We froze.

Hiro and iota came up to us. Iota ran up towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she spun around. “Gray! That was seriously scary! Would you be so kind as to comfort a scared young girl like me?”

“I’m glad you’re fine iota.” I told her as I let her down and went over to Hiro. iota made a pouty face.

“No doubt about it, this is the work of the Red-Foxes.” Commented Hiro as he bent down to look at the bodies.

“How can you tell?” I asked him. The Red-Foxes had attacked us on the plane, I never expected for them to have found our headquarters in Tokyo.

“Three slashes to the throat. Each slash represents the three founders of the organization. For mass killings, they use knives instead of guns.” Replied Hiro.

“Huh” was all I said. It was strange how Hiro knows so much about the Red-Foxes… perhaps he was concerned about them as well and had done research.

We spent the next few days cleaning up the bodies. We decided to confiscate their weapons and police cars, they are now property of the GrayWolves.

Aoi was finally released from the hospital, she went straight to work even though I told her not to. Though, she seemed to be in high spirits.

Meanwhile, we held Asuna and Taki here, and began negotiations with the investigator.

It was 4 am in the morning. Everyone came here in their pajamas, well everyone except for me. I was in a sleek business suit. Everyone looked at me as if I was the odd one out! We looked like we were meeting up for a sleepover. Asuna and Evan even brought their plushies here.

“Taki, I’m sure you’ve already met Red and Evan, let me introduce you to our fourth executive, Aoi.” I said as I pointed to Aoi, who was wearing a blue pajama that was dotted with moons and stars.

“Nice to meet you, investigator Taki.” Replied Aoi as she bowed.

“Whatever your motives are, you won’t convince me to help you. Mafia scum are mafia scum, they should be in prison.” Said Taki. I guess he wasn’t too happy about having his weapons confiscated. Taki was also rubbing his eyes, which were half asleep still. He wore a white pajama that had red polka dots, I thought it really didn’t suit him.

“Says the one who was stuffing his face at our cafeteria” Replied Red with a smirk. Red doesn’t wear pajamas, so he was here in his puffy white bloomers, his Santa nightcap, snooky dog slippers and tank top.

“My dad’s stubborn, though he doesn’t want to admit it, he is very impressed with what you have done. He tells me that it’s more organized and peaceful here than outside!” Butted in Asuna. She wore a simple pink button up pajama and was carrying the plushy of Red that Eiko had made for him.

“Asuna! I said to tell no one about this! You’d make a terrible investigator” Rebuted Taki.

“Well, sir. We have all 4 executives here along with yer daughter to convince ya onto our side, so hear us out.” Said Evan as he put an arm around Taki. Evan was in a brown teddy bear pajama, he was wearing the hoodie that came with it, which has two bear ears poking out from the top, in his right hand he was carrying Kumarie, his teddy bear.

“Alright” Began Aoi. “I don’t know if you know this, but the underworld is a delicate balance of power. Just like the food web, where predators hunt prey, if you take out any of them, it would cause a massive disruption.”

“Likewise, if ya were to introduce another factor, let’s say another predator, that would also cause a disruption.” Said Evan as he finished off Aoi’s sentence.

“I don’t need a biology lesson, and I don’t want you convincing me. I’m with the law, and that will never change.” Muttered Taki, though his eyes tell me he was interested in what we have to say.

“Well, as you already know, the disappearance of gangs and the dwindling gang numbers is all thanks to us. We either completely destroy them, or have them join us. Because the GrayWolves are here, we are able to keep most of the mafia members on our tight leash, which ironically makes Tokyo much safer.” Explained Red.

“Less gangs would mean less skirmishes” Muttered Asuna as she was contemplating the logic of all of this.

“That’s true, however, you guys still stir up trouble whenever you skirmish with another mafia. Many of the killings here happen because of the GrayWolves. And you guys growing in power is concerning, it would make it harder for us to deal with you.” Interjected Taki.

“That was the old GrayWolves with the old boss. I’m sure you’ve noticed less activity from us these past few years. We still commit crimes, yes, but those we kill are already beyond saving.” Replied Aoi. “Basically, we clean up the places that even the Japanese government can’t get to.”

However, even after all of this, Taki still wasn’t swayed. Fine by me, I will hit him with our trump card.

“The Red-Foxes are a dangerous american gang, they’re extremely wild and unpredictable, and have been expanding to Japan.” I said as I looked Taki in the eye.

“That’s true, we’ve been tracking their activities, however, being a foreign gang makes that almost impossible for us to do.” Muttered Taki as he started tapping his finger against his knuckles.

“I’m sure you would rather not have them keep expanding to Japan, you’ve seen how vicious they can get.” I responded. “And they are an objective of ours too, so I propose that you let the GrayWolves help you deal with them.”

“Use mafia to take down a mafia, the same concept as fighting fire with fire” Said Red.

“Hmph. The government working with the mafia…”

“Yer be the one to take the most credit for being the one leading such an operation and successfully taking down the Red-Foxes. Imagine, great Investigator Taki saves Tokyo!” Exclaimed Evan, Taki’s eyes lit up.

“Well, it’s worth a consideration. I will have to confirm this with my superiors.” Said Taki as he reached his hand out.

“The GrayWolves will be at your disposal” I said as I shook his hand.

“You’d better be.” Replied Taki as he stood taller and puffed his chest.