Scorpion

Chapter 4 - Kazuo

I hung up the phone after speaking with Kitane. It would seem the young man we'd seen the night before had shown up to the club after all. I'd been informed of the lost cell phone early on in the morning as the crew began work on demolishing the inside of the building. I wasn't all that surprised to hear about the youth coming back for his phone; after all, he'd left in quite a hurry.

After I slid my phone back into my pocket, I got up from my chair and went toward the window to look out across the city. Kitane sounded rather enthusiastic. It put me on edge. He rarely ever got excited about anything. Which meant he was planning something. Plans that always went accordingly when it came to Kitane. Such as birthday celebrations that should be forgotten rather than embarrassingly carried out. Kitane insisted on meddling though. Perhaps he found joy in it.

Whatever. I suppose I'll just play along. Can't do anything else about it now, I told myself. In the next hour or so I was to expect company. My day was starting to become rather busy. My phone rang again and I pulled it out without looking. Tapping the green answer, I put it to my ear. "Do you have anything?"

"A lead," Masao's voice filled the line.

"Is it solid?"

"At the moment. The guy who took the drugs from our little mouse had some rather loose lips. The yakuza he was part of is from the western side of Osaka."

Western... I took a moment to myself and Masao waited. "Do you think..." I muttered it to myself mostly but Masao took up the rest of the thought process.

"Kin-Kumo Ikka."

My heart tightened. The edges of the phone cut into my fingers as I gripped the device tightly. Visions of flames filled my mind. I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe. "Bastards," I growled.

"They're looking to rekindle the fight your father once had with them."

"Or end it," I answered. "As his only living heir I am a direct threat to them. But why have they waited this long to take action?"

"Your father did quite the number on them right before the attack. Or so I'm told by Kitane."

"So you think they took this time to rebuild."

"Much like you did," Masao said.

"I see," I muttered. "Planning to attempt yet another coup."

"Likely. We'll have to be ready for anything. Shall I inform Kitane?"

"Yes. Have him get preparations together. I doubt swiping a club out from under me was the only thing they have planned. And if that man is still in charge, we can expect other heinous, underhanded deeds," I told him.

"Just as I thought. I'm on my way to you. I'll be there in an hour or so," Masao said.

"I'll be having company soon, the 'little mouse' as you call him. Seems Kitane has plans."

Masao sighed. "Of course he does. Fine. I'll be in the lobby," Masao said and the phone call ended. I put the device back into my pocket and folded my arms over my chest. In a way, I knew my father's old enemies would become mine. The yakuza Kin-Kumo Ikka had been a powerful rival nearly the entire time my father was alive. Devious and dangerous criminals. If I was going to come out on top, I needed to do things far differently than my father had done. How, though, was going to prove troublesome.

Still, I wasn't going to simply back down when faced with such a challenge either. For now, I would simply have to take it one move at a time. The buzzer on my desk went off and a woman's voice filled the office.

"Mr. Hateno, there's a young man here to see you. A Mr. Yuzuki Ryuu?"

I made my way over to the desk and pushed the button on the speaker to reply to her. "Send him in."