You sick fucking rat

“What was up with Docchi today?”

“Yeah, Dojima-sensei seemed really out of it.” The questions from Ai and Kou come after a very strained and uncomfortable homeroom session. While those two seem confused, Tori and I struggle to hide our pride.

“I’m sure he just had a bad morning. Right, Tori?” Said I.

“Of course, of course. Even a laid back teacher like Dojima-sensei can have his rough mornings.” Replied my partner in vigilante justice. We barely manage to hide our sniggering enough to avoid suspicion from our friends.

It was true, the air in the classroom was a little more tense today, and the reason for that tension makes me giddy with excitement. So much so that it was difficult to act serious when Dojima was briefing me privately this morning.

The normally ‘calm and fun’ homeroom teacher was in a real shitty mood from the moment he got in today, and no one but me and Tori knows why. Yesterday was the third night in a row where “The Judge And Jury” stopped yakuza traffickers from delivering shipments of the monstrously valuable “liquid love” street drug, and the losses are starting to seriously hurt their profits. As the one overseeing the plans to find and stop the vigilante duo, Dojima was being used as the fall guy, so the massive losses were all falling onto his plate.

It’s a small victory. Cutting off one head of the hydra will just cause two more to grow back. Even if Dojima takes the fall there’ll be someone to replace him. Still, the knowledge that we’re causing real damage, enough to make a higher-up so stressed that his act begins to slip, is very rewarding.

I can’t wait to watch them burn.

***

“Hear anything about any big jobs yet, Fuji?” asks Tori, as I backstep her one-two combo.

“Not yet, but I’m meeting with him at one of their warehouses tonight. He told me has a job for me, but he was being even more secretive than normal.” I reply, barely missing her chin with my front snap kick.

“Hmm… It’ll be harder to pull off a convincing act if it’s a job you’re on, since there’ll likely be more security anyway… but this could be a good opportunity.” she feigns a low kick and lands a clean blow on my upper torso, causing me to stumble a little.

“An opportunity? For what?” I duck the follow up hook and earn some space back with a push kick to her centre. She grins and puts her hands down, not re-engaging in the spar.

“Ain’t it obvious? This is your chance to make “the immovable Ouroboros” the most valuable asset to the Seiryou clan.”

I lower my own guard and look at her confusedly for a second. It takes me a while but eventually it hits me.

“You… want me to stop you?”

“I want you to prove that you’re the only one who can.”

It… actually makes a lot of sense. In the few weeks since we had started this charade, ‘Ouroboros’ and ‘The Judge’ had faced one another only a small handful of times. Enough to convince the Yakuza that it was a fairly even match, but not quite enough to make Ouroboros seem like the indispensable asset we’re aiming for. If we can rob them blind by increasing my pay and demand while still having Tori wreak havoc, it’d be the perfect setup to slowly drain them dry. But there’s a problem…

“If this is the sort of job we’re both thinking it is, it’s way too dangerous for you to go it alone. The security’s gonna be way higher than a simple drug delivery or gun run. You can’t overextend too much, you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“Naaaah, I’ll be fine, man. I know my limitations.”

“You’re too gung ho about these things, Tori.”

“You’re just a worrywart, I’ll be fine, trust me.”

“I just… I really don’t want you to get hurt.”

Her smile turns into a teasing smirk. She’s not taking this nearly as seriously as I am.

“Oh? You’re that worried about me, are ya Fuji? I don’t gotta worry about you falling for me, do I?”

“I’m serious here, Tori. You’re dealing with dangerous people here. I know you can handle yourself, but you have to be more cautious. You’re only human.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s get back to sparring.”

There’s just no getting through to her, is there?

***

I’m fifteen minutes early to meet Dojima, but that was a calculated decision.

“We should be able to move it on the 26th if our plans are laid correctly, but that’ll rely on whether the freelancers take us up on our offer or not.”

“Should we really be relying so heavily on people from outside the family?”

“We don’t have a choice. They’re leaps and bounds better than any of our grunts, and our guys at the top refuse to get their hands dirty.”

I can ‘innocently’ snoop on Dojima’s conversation with his underlings and dig up some dirt to relay to Tori this way. I’m not so early as to rouse suspicion, but early enough to gather some basic information. Sounds like they have something big planned for the end of this month.

“Ah- Boros, you’re early.”

“Sorry, figured it’s best to be punctual.”

He notices me behind him, but while my presence momentarily startles him, he doesn’t appear worried. Either he doesn’t know how long I’ve been listening, or he’s planning to fill me in on this plan anyway.

“I’m sure you guessed by the fact that I called you here that I have a job for you.”

“And I’m sure you guessed by the fact that I’m here early that I want this over and done with, so get to the point.” He leers at me for my snark, but doesn’t linger on it too long. We both know this isn’t a relationship built on mutual respect.

“Fine, I’ll cut to the chase. We’ve got some cargo that needs to be delivered, but it’s absolutely imperative that this mission not be interrupted.”

“Ok… how is that any different to when you have me smuggling drugs?”

“Well… I’ll show you.”

He beckons me to follow him, and walks to the far end of the warehouse. There at the end, there’s a small metal door with a combination lock, which he unlocks and removes. It seems like he’s being oddly cautious, considering how much of a brash asshole he normally is.

“In here is the cargo you’ll be delivering.” He enters the room, signalling that I should follow.

The site on the other end of that door almost makes me vomit.

There’s a cage taking up almost half the room, it’s gate shut with a large built-in lock with two keyholes. And inside the cage, there’s three women, all with their hands chained to the ground, and all looking like they haven’t showered or changed clothes for at least a week.

“I trust you’ll see the job through to the end.”