The Accompanist

Chapter 18: Opposing Forces

(A few minutes earlier)

Mr. Utsushima pulled into Onsei's parking lot with nothing more than a pen in his shirt pocket. As he stepped out of the car, he straightened the tie on his suit. Checking his Rolex watch, he strode onto campus with the poised practice of a king.

A short security officer confronted him before he could even reach the front door. "A foreigner..." He mumbled under his breath, and hissed something into his walkie talkie. "Sir! Not allowed entry!"

"I have a meeting with the Chairman." Mr. Utsushima's Japanese was plane and crisp, as clear and connected as a local.

The security officer lowered his head when Mr. Utsushima approached, their height difference staggering. "H-He has a very important guest... We can't allow you to interfere."

"Then I'll wait until he's done," replied Mr. Utsushima. "Please, guide me to his office."

"...W-We can not allow you to interfer--"

In seconds, Mr. Utsushima's large hand wrapped around the short man's shirt collar. He lifted him up into the air and stared directly into his averted eyes. "Take me to his office. Or you might lose your job."

The officer put his hands in the air. "I-I have a wife and kids! If I let you go in there... I'll lose more than my job! Please, sir, you have to leave! You don't know who you're dealing with..."

Mr. Utsushima smirked as his jaw tilted inward. "I know exactly who I'm dealing with... And if I can get in there, I'll give you a new job. One that doesn't require you to lie and keep terrible things hidden."

The officer gulped. He looked everywhere but Mr. Utsushima's face. Then he squeezed his eyes shut. "The office... It's in the building to the left on the fourth floor at the end of the hallway... There are big double doors leading into it..."

Mr. Utsushima slowly put him down and smiled a toothy grin. "Thank you! But if you sell me out to anyone else... You'll be guaranteed to lose more than your job. So please, do me a favor and pretend I came here to visit my son. For both my sake and yours."

With that, his expression darkened. And he was back to taking long strides, this time in the right direction.

.  .  .

Shiki was on his way back to the house when he noticed something strange. A salary man, or rather, someone who was pretending to be a salary man, was wearing sunglasses. And from the way he seemed to follow Shiki's car with his head, it was likely he was glaring at him through the windshield.

Looking at people driving fancy cars wasn't an uncommon occurrence. But wearing sunglasses was. What bothered Shiki even more was the chill a single glance sent down his spine.

He took out his phone and opened his messages with Boutarou, firing off a text. Code: 116720. It was the passcode to get out the door that led to the underground tunnel connected to the room he hoped Boutarou and Sayaka were still in. It was only an off feeling, but his hunches weren't usually wrong.

When he left, his house was still safe. But after undoing the jamming signal, it probably hadn't taken the enemy long to surround it. He just hoped his clan wasn't outnumbered.

Pulling into the knocked out wall of the freezer section that now functioned as a garage, he reached for his pistol. 

If his family was really holed up inside, there were only two options. Wait until suitable backup could be provided, or start the fight and hope they won.

But the second he exited the car, a cold metal barrel pressed into the back of his head. "One wrong move, and I'll shoot."

Shiki immediately spun around and tried to shoot the man. The deafening sound of gunfire rang through his ears. Searing pain shot through his shoulder. He tried to suppress the oncoming scream as his hand reflexively dropped the gun.