A Generic Love Story

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

*Ringtone plays*

The sound of an incoming call suddenly interrupted their quarrel. Frustrated, Tatsuya sighed and went to get the phone. (Perhaps it's Kura). But it wasn't. Tatsuya suddenly felt chills down his spine as he looked at the unknown number on the screen.

"Hey. Is this... ehh Shidehara Tatsuya?" A gruff voice entered his ears.

"Yes, who is on the other side?"

"Not important. Listen, we have your daughter in captive, her name is Emiko, eh... the natural blondie that have just entered Toudai."

Tatsuya's heart dropped. The blood cell started a mass exodus away from his face, and Narumi's expression changed into pure dread upon seeing her husband's. However his nerves were not that of ordinary people, and Tatsuya replied with a stern voice:

"What do you want?"

"Ah, wait now, we don't need to go into that subject yet. Answer this, do you remember xxx incorporated?"

"What are you talking about? Where is Emiko!"

"You are one impatient geezer aint cha. Xxx incorporated is a company that, well unlucky 'nuff, "got in the way" of the rampaging "Shidehara group" back then, and went bankrupt. That company, united with many others, attempted to sue Shidehara group. And failed miserably, thanks to all of the chairman's connections, mister Shidehara. In short, you and your group fucked up my old man's livelihood and in turn fucked my whole life up. . Tell me, do you even remember how many small businesses have you hungry bastard devoured?"

"I don't fucking care! Is she safe right now? How much do you want?"

"Haaa... such a perfect businessman from start to end... Not wanting to waste any time eh? Fine, disband Shidehara group and resign from your position now. I don't need your dirty money. She comes back when I see the official news. And do be hurry, I'm real horny right now and I just wanna fuck some blondie."

"Teme..." Tatsuya grinded his teeth

"Well, Mistar Shidehara, seeing that you are a busy person, I shall leave your sorry ass alone now. Remember to not touch the police; I've got connections. Peace."

The call ended, and then silence reigned. Narumi's sobs broke out, but only to further deepen the air that was already saturated with despair. In the midst of that situation, yet another phone call came. His eyes read "Kura" on the screen, and he instinctively picked up.

"Hello?... Kyoya said he has seen your daughter this evening... Yes, I'll give him the phone..."

Another voice, this time gasped and trembling:
"Ah yes... This is Kyoya... Hai... about Emiko... I saw her entering a bar this evening. The place is very far from your house... on xxx street, and I'm sure it was her... the club is on the ground floor but the building is an apartment complex..."

"..."

"Is there anything else we can do?"

"..."

"Emiko... is being held captive. Some random bastards... they kidnapped her..." His reply was like a hammer dropping down on Kyoya's mind.

The clock showed half past nine at Kenichi's place. Someone pressed the bell on his front door, and as Kenichi went to check it, he heard what sounded like an argument.

"This is a horrible idea, Kyoya!"

"Please mom, trust me for this once! We need to help her!"

"And exactly how are you going to do that? Crash into a yakuza's turf and get killed?"

"Mom! I need to help her!"

*Sigh* "Why the hell did I take you here in the first place."

The door's handle was twisted, and it opened. A man in his late thirties, tall, thin and hardened, greeted them. Without any formalities, Kyoya frantically explained everything for him. Kura followed up with her objections. When it was finally his turn to speak, Kenichi slowly explained:

"I know that I have no rights to tell Kyoya what to do, since I'm just his grade school PE teacher. The final call is completely up to you, Miss. However I do recommend going there and taking a look. According to what Kyoya said, the enemy is unaware that we know their position, thus the bar shouldn't be too tightly secured. If you allow, I'll bring Kyoya there with me and scout around, maybe we can help the police a thing or two."

"Ugh... I don't like this at all..."
"Mom!"
"Fine! You fucking twerp! But just look around OK? Promise me that you won't do anything rash!"

The key to victory is preparation. No strategist would enter a battle unprepared, and so did Kenichi and his student. He went through a few basic survival principles, and then proceeded to pick their outfit. Kenichi favored thick, baggy and generic clothing like jeans and hoodies. Then they wrapped their fists and put on motorbike gloves. It did not take too long before Kyoya hopped on his master's motorbike, marking the beginning of the operation.

The building was a medium-sized apartment complex, with the ground floor repurposed as a night club. They strode around the place, and ended up at the flank. Observing the windows, a particular room stood out to Kyoya. Despite the narrow view angle from the ground to the dark room, Kyoya managed to make out the shapes of a shelf containing paracord and ductape.

"That room looks like a storage room. But why would anyone use a normal apartment as a storehouse? Combined with the fact that it's located in the middle of the hallway, the apartment looks very fishy." Kyoya pointed

"Oh? But it's too high, we can't get a better look. Even if you stood on my shoulders, it wouldn't be enough."

"Yes sensei. That's why I brought this." As he spoke Kyoya took out strange objects from his backpack. Three big tubes, with connecting joints at the end of each. He fitted them together, creating something that looked similar to a submarine's telescope.

"This was my grade school project. I don't have magnifying lens so this isn't a telescopic device. However with this extended scope we can see what's inside the apartment. I arranged mirrors alternatively inside these tubes so that they can reflect light in a zig zag pattern, bringing the image to our ey..."

"Good. Let's do it." Kenichi interrupted him.

As expected, they found Emiko lying on a bed inside the room. The two decided that they should go inside the bar to investigate further, and the infiltration was unexpectedly easy despite Kyoya looking like he was barely 12. After being mercilessly teased by girls, Kyoya finally settled down next to Kenichi, his cheeks still bright red.

The place was just like any normal night club, until they noticed employees selling drugs to customers.

"Something illegal is definitely going on here. Stay here, I'll go check those "staff rooms".

But Kyoya pinched his shirt, and profusely shook his head. The little boy seemed terrified of the possibility that some random female was going to "eat him up" if Kenichi were to leave him alone. Thus, he followed. They squeezed through the dancing crowd, occasionally bumping into jiggling chunks of flesh.

The door opened to a staircase which probably led to the upper apartments. Seeing nobody around, they both felt a little adventurous and went deeper inside. Just as they took the next corner, footsteps were heard coming from behind.

"Hey! This area is for staff only! What are you doing here?" A security guard that looked like a thug came up to them.