Aftg react

Part35

Foxes react: chapter6 part2

"It's funny how Kevin who had actually met Neil didn't know who he was and what he was getting in to when recruiting him" said Alison wanting to make it sound like a joke but didn't work much, "in my defence how was I supposed to recognise someone who I met for a day or so about what like 8 years ago, mind i remind you he had his hair dyed and eye contacts" said Kevin even if he was not so loud as other times since remembering that day made him look sicker by the minute.
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Neil didn't need to be told twice, but he didn't get far. Jean turned back on him before Neil had finished pushing in his chair and beckoned for him to listen. His French was almost too fast for Neil to follow, but Neil understood more than he wanted to.
"Riko will have a few minutes of your time later," Jean said. "I suggest you speak with him if you do not want everyone to know you are the Butcher's son."
Hearing his father's name aloud was a kick in the chest. The noise Kevin made at his side was worse. Neil reacted without thinking, clapping a hand to Kevin's chest and shoving him as far back from the
table as he could. Kevin stumbled back so fast he almost fell. Neil didn't look back at him, but he couldn't tune out Kevin's hoarse denial.
"That's not true."
"Shut up," Neil said, but he didn't know which one of them he was speaking to. "Don't say anything else."
"Run along," Jean said. "It's what you're best at, isn't it?"

"tell me he didn't actually go along with that" said Wymack frustration clear in his voice as ever there was no need for anyone to say anything about it since everyone could already guess that he did.
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Wymack turned on Neil next. "Did you or did you not tell me you weren't going to start a fight?"
Nicky spoke up on Neil's other side. "In Neil's defense—"
"I didn't ask you," Wymack interrupted. "Neil, talk to me."
In his head Neil was already counting steps to freedom.
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"Butcher," a quiet voice called in French.
Neil looked over his shoulder. Jean had come around the circle at some point and was standing a short space away. He tilted his head in an order and Neil followed his stare to see Riko stepping off the court. Neil didn't look back to see if any of his teammates noticed his exit and kept a casual pace on his way to the door. He stepped into the inner court in time to see Riko disappearing into the home locker room. Neil took a breath to steel his nerves and followed.

"Ah fuck come on" could be loudly heard around the room coming from Wymack. Everyone was now more aware of the situation wanting to see how it would unfold from there.
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He turned on his heel to face Neil, and they eyed each other across the room. Finally Riko smiled. It was a horrible expression, but not nearly as bad as the words that followed it.
"Nathaniel, it has been so long."
Neil's fear was hot and thick in his chest. He could barely breathe around it. He prayed his expression didn't give him away even as he knew it was too late. "My name is Neil."
"Do not lie to me again. You will not enjoy the consequences." Riko gave Neil a beat to respond. "Imagine my surprise when the results came back. Your fingerprints," he elaborated, with a mocking twitch to his smile. "Kathy gave me your glass as a souvenir. All it took was a smile and a kiss. It seems she is growing up to be quite the cougar."
Neil's stomach knotted up inside him.

"Now that is just creepy" said Nicky.
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He'd accepted a cup of water at the start of Kathy Ferdinand's talk show and hadn't thought twice about leaving it behind afterward. He'd assumed Kathy's crew would see to it. His mother would beat him half to death if she were still alive. All that time and money spent covering their tracks—destroyed by a simple batch of nerves.

Again the quietness that came when ever Neil mother was mentioned was now present but paired with anger as Neil said what would had happened to him if she was there.
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"Explain something to me." Riko started across the room on slow steps. "Jean says Kevin did not know who you are. After seeing Kevin's reaction I am inclined to believe him. Perhaps I can understand, as I know how blind Kevin can be when it comes to Exy. I might even forgive him for sheltering you from me. But you must know who you are, so I am very, very curious to know what you think you are doing."
"I'm just trying to get by," Neil said, squeezing his arms so tight across his chest he thought he'd crush his own lungs. "If I'd known our families were business partners I wouldn't have signed the contract."
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Riko stopped so close to him they were touching, and it took all Neil had in him to not lean away. Neil hadn't realized before that they were almost the same height. Riko's Japanese genes had betrayed him just as Neil's tiny mother had betrayed Neil.

"Ok but can we talk about the way that he is face to face with a mafia relative but his thoughts are from wrecked to oh look he is short" said Nicky with a tiered look like most in the room.
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"You're lying," Riko said.
"I am not." Neil hated the thread of desperation that worked its way into his voice. "I don't want to cause any trouble for your family. I don't want you to cause any trouble for mine. I'm just here for a year and then I'm gone again, I promise."
"You don't want to cause any trouble for my family," Riko echoed, as if hearing them a second time would make them easier to understand. "You have already cost my family a sizable fortune and eight years of trouble."
"How?" Neil asked. "The money I took was my father's."
"If you think acting stupid will save you, you are sadly mistaken." "I'm not acting," Neil said, finally giving in and taking a step back.

"Ok that is becoming more questionable by the second what is happening?" said Nicky but he was not the only one thinking it so now it better to just sit back and see what would come next.
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"My mother said it was my father's money. She never even told me about you. If I'd known the money was yours—"
"Nothing your father owned was his!" Riko snapped.
Neil's words died in his throat. He stared blankly at Riko. Riko stared back at him, looking for deceit on his face. Whatever he found only served to infuriate him further. Riko grabbed Neil by his shoulders and slammed him into the wall. Neil's head hit hard enough to rattle his teeth.

Riko slamming Neil onto the wall made everyone's nerves to sky rocket but nothing was becoming clear why was Riko so mad.
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"I refuse to believe she never told you. All that time running and you never asked why?"

"He is really getting on my nerves right now, Neil clearly has no clue what the fuck is his problem?" Said Matt. Andrew had a look that meant that he was thinking all this over so he can figure out what Riko meant and by the end of it he had a guess but said nothing wanting to confirm it first.
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Neil gave Riko an incredulous look. "Have you met my father? I didn't have to ask."
A door banged open down the hall, and Matt called Neil's name. They only had seconds before he found them, but that was enough time for Riko to lean in. He kept his voice down but packed a world of venom into his words.
"You were not running from your father, Nathaniel. You were running from his master."

Andrew and other knew what that could possibly mean and Kevin's reaction just confirmed it, Riko was saying that the butcher belonged to the Moriyama's.
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The thought of anyone keeping the Butcher on a leash was insane. "He didn't have one."
Riko pushed back, putting space between them right before Matt rounded the corner. Matt leveled a furious look at Riko as he moved up alongside Neil.

Most send a look at Matt only now finding out that he was there but said nothing.
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"What is going on here?"
Neil ignored him and insisted, "He didn't have one."
Riko pointed a finger up at his own face and waited. Neil stared back as his brain refused to put the last pieces together. What Riko was suggesting was impossible.

"I have to say that Denial doesn't look any good on Neil" said Alison with a grimace and made other roll their eyes on her comment.
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The Butcher was one of the biggest names on the eastern seaboard. He made Baltimore his home, but his territory extended from D.C. to outer Newark. He had a fiercely loyal syndicate and a penchant for grotesque executions. No one told the Butcher what to do. But Riko's incensed reaction didn't seem like an act and he had nothing to gain by lying to Neil, especially considering how easily Kevin could set things straight.
Kevin was going to say yes to all of this. Neil knew it, and he wasn't ready to hear that yet. If the Moriyamas really were powerful enough to keep a man like the Butcher under lock and key Neil was so far in over his head he might as well be six feet under.
"I don't believe you," Neil said, but even he heard the dread in his voice.
"Denial is more infuriating than ignorance," Riko said. "You will speak to Kevin at the next available opportunity and have him explain this to you in little words your small mind can understand. Learn your place. I will never tolerate this level of disrespect from you again. Do you understand?"
Neil was already in his coffin. He might as well nail it shut. "Yeah, I understand you're a complete asshole."

"Come on" quietly Wymack said rubbing his hand across his face.