Scorpion

Chapter 2 Kazuo

I tapped the end button on my phone and slipped the slim black device back into the pocket of my jacket. The remaining workers had long since left, including the one we'd caught selling drugs the other day. I didn't mind, they didn't need to see what Masao had done to the man anyway. Blood coated the table and dripped down onto the floor in a steady stream. Masao was wiping clean his knife, leaning against the wall that separated the back rooms from the front of the club.

"Kitane is sending over a few men to clean this up," I offered. I looked back to the body and shook my head. "Bastard."

"And we still have nothing on who's selling the drugs, too," Masao added.

As if I needed more insult to injury. I looked over to him and glared but Masao simply shrugged. Unfortunately, it was true. An unknown yakuza selling drugs on the streets that I owned. The eastern side of Osaka was entirely under my control yet it seemed someone wanted to test my boundaries.

The young man who had done the drug deal would likely have nothing for us. Especially since he'd been forced to make the trade in the first place. My hopes of finding the culprit were slowly slipping away.

"Do we have anything else, Masao?" I asked.

He put his knife away, somewhere under the clean suit jacket, and looked around the room as he contemplated his answer. After a while, he shook his head. "The only other option I can see is following the drug trail. The spot where the deal took place is a good start. I'm sure I can find the man who bought them."

"Then we'll start with that tomorrow." I took the paper from the table and began rolling it up. The deal to buy the place wasn't even a good lead. There weren't any names listed other than my own, and a ridiculous price attached to it.

With Masao at my side, we left the establishment. It was a nice club, but the fact that it'd been run like a slave house, not to mention a side of drug dealing, made it feel disgusting. I paused at the door and looked around. "Remind me when we get back to have Kitane close this place down for remodeling tomorrow. And get me a list of names, someone you think would be good at running a club."

"Sure thing," Masao said and opened the door. I left without looking back again and got into my car. Masao got into his, which was parked to my right. The silver Subaru was his pride and joy. The race car's engine hummed to life, the lights brilliantly washing out the colors of the club. I waited for Masao to back out and leave first, the sound of the vehicle's intense engine ringing through the air long after he'd disappeared. I left the club soon after, taking my time driving through the city streets.

The manor housing the entirety of the Hisui-sasori Kai was a good hour drive outside of the bustling city limits. Situated securely in the hills, surrounded by thick trees and vegetation. It kept our home private from prying eyes. Close enough to the sea to feel the cool breeze of the water, but far enough away to still be undetected and hard to reach from the cliffside.

I stared at the red light I was stuck at, tapping the steering wheel lightly -entirely lost in thought. The manor had always been my home, and I'd inherited it earlier than I'd wanted. I took a deep breath and for a moment, I could smell the smoke that had filled the halls of my manor those years ago. My mother had been trapped, and no one was able to save her. I was carried out by a young Kitane at the time. He and a handful of others made it out. An endeavor that had not been easy considering the fire had been started by a rival yakuza. The fighting had been brutal. Standing in the hall, sword raised to his shoulder, my father had faced the coming incursion without flinching. It was the last time I saw him.

The light turned green and I eased the vehicle forward. Picking up speed, I got onto the highway, my thoughts still lingering on those dark memories. The only thing left of the manor after that fight were the pillars in the front. Their red coated paint tarnished with the fires that engulfed the place. It took three years to clear the area, plan a rebuild, and reconstruct the manor. The majority of the building was kept the same as before, with additions of secret rooms, escape routes, and an underground bunker just in case the manor were to be burned down again.