Detective Hajiri; Volume One

CHAPTER TWO

Seven years prior...

A splatter of crimson blood across hardwood. The teen attempted to raise himself off the ground, but was forced down with the heel of a combat boot. Red dripped from his busted lip, still stretched across his dimpled, sun kissed cheeks in a grin, tongue pressed between stained teeth. He looked upward towards the pirates with untempered excitement.

His captors, artillery strapped across their chests and white bands tied across their brows, were an offshoot of the disbanded and defrauded Yakuza who'd taken to the seas. They bare no semblance in code or honor, but wore their uniform all the same.

Bodies of the crew littered the boat, blood creeping across its white surface with the sobriety of the still sea. Quiet like the eye of a storm. In the broad daylight, Hajiri had a clear view from the elevated steer deck, despite being surrounded on all sides. He was the only survivor of the ambush.

"He's got a strong build, we could use him." The man to his back kicked his shoulder slightly, as if to showcase his sturdy frame.

"Or ship him off with the rest."

Another suggested.

"Wouldn't sell." Their leader stated, his position proved by the authority of his tone and arrogance of his stance. He crossed his arms in front of his, gun slung over his shoulder, with a face that looked like it'd been strung a little too tight.

"But he's so young," One responded.

"How old are you?" He demanded.

"Seventeen," Hajiri replied.

"Seventeen ain't young." The boss stood unwaveringly over the captive, not bothering to look up towards his fellow pirates.

"I know, I know, my huge muscles betray me." He jeered, tone all too light for the situation. Five machine guns were trained at his back; every word he said wrote his own death warrant. "But in actuality, I am just a little fella. Fresh outta kindergarten."

It's true he looked all too small for a grisly scene, both in his lack of stature and in that little sun ray he seemed to possess. He was strong, ash burnt and scarred, sure, but his features were juvenile, his expression even more so.

"Shut it." The imposing leader spat.

"Oo, so harsh." The kid flinched, jokingly. "I might cry."

The leader gestured to his subordinates, looking up at last, with slow and subtle movements. He issued the boy's sentence like the inching of the boulder poised to tumble down a mountainside.

"You don't wanna make the Emperor's kid cry.."

The gangster's hand shot up at the word, halting the firing squad within a moment of disaster. He leaned in, regaining that mountainous composure, stifled slightly by the evident surprise. "The Emperor?"

"Yep! the one and only," Hajiri spat another spray of blood across the floor. He hadn't only bit his lip, but damaged his insides in the fierce impact, having been thrown to the ground in the earlier conflict. "Now, I think we got off on the wrong foot.. Let's try this again, shall we? I'm Hajiri Kojima, eldest son of Jomei Kojima, Japan's biggest cartel boss. And how are you?"

The boulder seemed to shiver, fear falling across the gunmens' cold expressions. Hajiri mistook it for the dread that seemed to follow him. That familiar expression when the realization hit. But it was a different kind of shock this time.

With equal parts curiosity and anxiety, the leader pressed tentatively. "How are you still alive?"

The discussion changed railways abruptly. "We have to kill him now, don't we?" A pirate raised after a beat of silence. "They wanted him alive," The leader barked, although clearly unsure himself. "They'd want to do the job themselves."

"They'll have to answer to my dad." Hajiri smothered his confusion beneath his taunting smile. He was ignored as the men continued to discuss his fate.

They then grabbed their prisoner, tying his hands with his head forced to the ground, as the captain set their course to the mainland. As he was dragged below deck, he could faintly hear the boss say, "The New Emperor intends to reign with a heavy hand, and from what I've heard, that begins with him."

That was when the bubble popped.