K: Bittersweet Flames

Chapter 40

Goto was deemed to have stabilised and was transferred to a private ward courtesy of Genji. Genji had asked the doctor to put Goto in a private ward. The reason he gave the doctor was that he didn't want anyone to disturb Goto. After having suffered such serious injuries, he didn't want Goto to regain consciousness in shock.

On the other side, the actual reason was he didn't want anyone to listen to their conversations. There were some things Genji wanted to speak with Chojiro as well as the things they should consider doing after Genji wakes up.

Kaiyo stepped into the ward with Chojiro after seeing the nurses leaving the ward. Having not left the hospital ever since she came into the building with Goto, she was still wearing her blood-stained clothes covered over with Genji's coat that was clearly bigger in size.

"Are you not uncomfortable?" Genji asked as he leaned against the window frame.

Kaiyo shook her head, indicating 'no', and took a seat on the couch in the private ward. "It's bearable," she answered. "Aren't you cold? You came here with only a suit jacket, but you have given it to me instead."

Genji looked down at his dark blue dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows before replying, "It's bearable."

Kaiyo's eye twitched; her words were thrown back to her. She thought about returning his coat, only to stop when she remembered that the inside of the coat must have been stained by blood.

Genji watched her stare at the screen of the monitor, showing the vital signs of the unconscious Goto. He then asked Chojiro—who was standing beside the bed—where the two Red members were.

"Last I had contacted Tarou-san, they are held in the warehouse we had at the other harbour. We had the workers leave work earlier and closed the area around the building. We had a feeling you would want to call Homura over."

Genji pressed his hand to his chin. Deep in contemplation, various thoughts seemed to cross his mind, seeing his expression changing drastically from a restraint frown to a look of contempt. With a smile on his face, his eyes lifted off the floor and in a low voice he said, "Good work. That was what I had planned to do. Tell Tarou and the other members to keep them there. Tie them—ah, wait..." he paused before crossing his arms on his chest, "since we are going to invite the Reds over, we can't treat their members badly. In hindsight, the other Red seems more mature and easier to communicate with." He was referring to Yata. He chuckled. "Give that beanie skateboarder guy some tea and snacks but keep the other tied up. Make sure he doesn't get out from his restraints."

Kaiyo hesitantly looked at Genji's expression. Watching his expressions changing made her worries grow. As said before, there was a reason why Genji was the youngest leader in the unnamed group's legacy and how he was able to manage the business and have it prosper to an extent at such a young age.

--Wits, brains, good social and ethical abilities, charisma, making good use of his connections, and patience.

--But when the patience thinned, his seemingly cheerful and kind side breaks away and the merciless side brews forth.

Kaiyo, "You... won't do anything harmful to them, will you?"

Genji's dark gaze settled on her, and she tensed visibly. "Why?" He voiced out. "Are you covering for them?"

Kaiyo tensed visibly, feeling the oppressing pressure set upon her just by his gaze. "No..." She looked away.

"There's a limit to how much I can tolerate." Genji pulled out a cigarette box, fiddling with the box since he was unable to smoke a stick as it was a hospital. "First was the guns situation. Accusing us to be like those dirty scoundrel groups from the underground without evidence. Does carrying a gun around means we are mindless killers? We have our own pride, yah know. At the second meeting, they were doubtful about this unstable partnership and implied that we may backstab them... Heh, hahahaha, now that I think about it," His chuckle was cold and sarcastic. His eyes looked towards Goto and continued on, "how controversial. This time, it's the other way around."