Dark Horse (A Mafia Story)

3. Akira Takumi

The skyline grew dimmer with every passing minute of dusk setting in, and the din of vehicles seemed to grow louder although the office had been made soundproof. Akira Takumi sat silent in her seat, eyes closed as the calming effect of her meditation began to take effect. Every day for almost ten years now she had relied on a brief session of meditation to calm her mind every evening after work. As a result, the thorns in her side (in the form of infuriating business rivals) had been spared a violent extermination.

Masaru Takumi had been a major crime figure of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest crime syndicate of the Japanese Yakuza mafia.

As his direct descendant, Akira had dabbled in a world of crime ever since she was an aspiring teenager – from a lowly tekiya (peddler) at the age of 16, to the founder of the Sasori-kai, a sub-organisation under the Yamaguchi-gumi, at 30. With the convenient fact that the yakuza remained the only legal mafia in the world, Akira Takumi had managed to expand the Sasori-kai’s activities to far further than just her hometown.

If the mainstream yakuza families had prohibited women from gaining membership into elite mafia organisations, Akira had ensured that after carving a name for herself, the Sasori-kai would permit only female applicants. Their membership had spiked as they expanded their operations to Europe, and her elite organisation of Japanese women had taken up positions of power in their international dealings. Akira herself soon assumed the office of CEO at Takumi Incorporated.

Of course, to Akira, regulating membership of her organisations to only women had had its advantages –
It had allowed her to meet the brilliant Elena Moretti. Bright-eyed, and beautiful as one would find the sky on a clear night…

A loud knock caused the CEO to let out a slow breath and open her eyes. Only one person would have the sheer courage to risk interrupting her meditation, and after working hours at that.

“Ohairikudasai,” she replied flatly. Promptly, the door swung open and a man stuck his head in.

A man in a sharp indigo Armani suit strode in, straightening the large folder in his hands. As her lawyer, personal advisor and childhood friend, Kenji Ishikawa was one of the few men that Akira implicitly trusted. And as someone who had seen all aspects of her – the bright and the dark – Kenji knew just how much that trust was worth.

“Is this a good time?” He enquired with a raised eyebrow. Akira swivelled in her chair to meet his gaze.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” She replied casually. Kenji regarded her with an inward smirk before settling down in the stiff leather seat across from her.

“Well, considering your favourite financial advisor is on a month-long break,” he replied in consideration.

“And she hasn't entirely agreed to the task you gave her, which has been eating you from the inside the whole day.”

Akira fixed him with an impassive gaze, daring him to continue, which he did.

"And you don't handle rejections well, we both know that."

“It was a request,” Akira interrupted.

Damn that Kenji. He knew her too well.

The CEO interlinked her fingers as she leaned back in her chair. Elena certainly had been an interesting individual. And her interest quotient had spiked ever since the yakuza queen ran a background check on her to find her past interwoven with the Los Caballos mafia clan.

The Spanish mafia family had risen to new heights in the years that had followed its conception.

And the woman that had enabled its exponential financial progress is now at my doorstep, Akira had realised with amusement.

And here I was, sceptical of luck in business.

As a boss who had kept an eye on the other businesses in town, she had carefully ensured that a rival clan was “clipped” when it posed the slightest threat to the Sasori-kai. The Genovese family descendants of the American Cosa Nostra mafia had been the latest on her radar. Unfortunately, this had caused her to briefly take her eyes off another unexpected rival in the neighbourhood –

The Spanish clan of Los Caballos. Although its infamous founder and patriarch, Don Angelo Ruiz, had passed away a while ago, the clan had been left in the able hands of his grandson, Don Adriano Ruiz.

He’s practically a kid, the senior Sasori-kai matriarch had scoffed at the twenty-something young man. But her mole in the Los Caballos business had assured her that what Adriano lacked in experience, he more than made up for in strategy and sheer ambition.

To have a former Caballos member working for her provided Akira with the perfect weapon to take down the amateurs from the Spanish family. If only Elena made things easy.

“I’m not asking you to kill anyone,” Akira had stated gently, having anticipated the reaction from Moretti.

“As a former employee of the Caballos family, all I’m asking from you is that accounting data you helped them with a few years ago.”

It wasn’t entirely a threat, but then again, it hadn't been a simple request.

“It’s not even like you work there anymore, Elena,” Akira continued casually, leaning back in her seat.

She eyed the accountant seated across her, Elena's impassive face giving away the slightest hint of emotional turmoil. The accountant of any mafia organisation was one of the biggest assets, possessing data regarding every  single transaction the organisation made. For this very reason, the accountant or financial advisor was the first to be targeted when a rival sought to attack a mafia business. With their money-managing intellect held hostage, any organisation would crumble.

As her boss’s words sank in, Elena fully comprehended her intentions.
She’s going for the head.

Akira smiled to herself as fragments of that old conversation echoed through her mind. With her best accountant resigning in less than a month, the timing couldn’t have been better. 

A final task for Elena before she exited Takumi Incorporated, one that she couldn’t grudge her boss. Or wouldn’t, considering Elena was no stranger to threats on her family.

“And you’re certain she’s up to the task?” Kenji’s uncertain voice brought Akira out of her reverie. She tilted her head in consideration, the ghost of a smile playing on her face.

“A lovely woman such as Moretti…she wouldn’t refuse such a reasonable request,” the CEO mused, leaning back in her chair again. Kenji regarded the woman for a prolonged moment, assessing from Akira’s smile that she had a backup in place already.

And Akira did have one. Her inside man in Los Caballos would be more than willing to take care of matters if Elena showed a trace of hesitation. Akira didn’t trust the mole with retrieving such sensitive information as Elena would, but he did make a formidable force to reckon with.

Akira just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. After all, Elena Moretti did seem like a special woman. She could see why the late Don Ruiz had placed all his faith in her financial prowess. And why Moretti was not enthusiastic about helping her current employer go against the Caballos.

But in the end, all was fair in love and war.
And business was war.