Chapter 94: Chapter 94

Jin’s POV
   With sufficient (sort of, probably) information, Jin decides to head to the HQ of Ryuuzaki Group (or wherever Tatsuma is right now). Naturally, he went there while equipped his armor.

   Right now, he’s standing in front of a building. It has at least ten storeys, and all of its glass is tinted. On the glass automatic doors are emblems of an Eastern dragon with the words “RG” below the mythical reptile. Yup, this is definitely the HQ of the Ryuuzaki Group, or at least one of the buildings that they own.
   
   Jin takes a deep breath.

   “TATSUMA-KUN, LET’S PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY~!!!” he shouts at the top of his lungs.

   And he waits until the yakuza leader comes out. With his rash personality, he’ll definitely come charging towards Jin in the matter of minutes. Instead of Tatsuma, however, Mika was the one who appeared. On her hand is a white handkerchief. Upon seeing Jin, she starts waving it around.

   “I just want to talk to you for a bit. Is that okay with you?” she asks him.

   “Um, sure. What is it?”

   “Before that, can we go in first? It’s freezing out here.” she requests while shuddering a bit.

   “You should have worn something warmer before you came out here.” he points out as he’s staring at the same school uniform she was wearing just now.

   “You think I didn’t want to? You arrived so abruptly I didn’t have the time!” she rants.

   “Oops, my bad then.”

   “Now come on!”

   The interior of the building is pretty normal, at least on the ground floor. There are several leather sofas with glass tables in front of them, presumably for visitors. It’s either that or they’re being used for cover when there’s a shootout.

   Mika gestures at Jin to sit down at one of the sofas. She sits down opposite him while crossing her legs.

   “Aren’t you going to serve me tea?” he asks.

   “Teas are for visitors and guests only. You, sir, are an intruder.” she growls.

   “Not true. You invited me inside, so I’m technically a guest too.”

   Mika narrows her eyes. She’s looking more and more irritated as more time goes by.

   “Look, Miko, my younger twin sister, is doing her best to hold back Tatsuma so that I could have a peaceful talk with you. Can you stop wasting my time and let me get started?”

   “Sure, sure. Go ahead.”

   “Right. Here’s the thing. My brother plan to attack a UCI Lab-”

   “Which one?” Jin interrupts.

   That made her pause.

   “Um, does it matter?”
  
   “Yes, it does.”

   “He was deciding over the Shibuya branch and the Tokyo one.”

   “So he doesn’t really care which one.”
   
   “Not at all. As I was saying, he’s targeting a UCI lab since they had been pissing him off for a while now.”

   “Let’s say he did manage to launch an attack. Then what?”

   Mika averts her eyes.

   “He didn’t think it through, did he?” Jin predicts.

   She nods in confirmation.

   “You do realize that a war between your group and theirs will be nothing but trouble. Once you’ve started, it won’t stop until one of you is gone, not to mention countless innocent casualties, destruction of properties and financial loss.”

   She lets out a sigh.
  
   “You’re absolutely right.” she agrees. “I just wish Tatsuma can see it too.”

   “Just bring him here and I’ll beat some sense into him. Literally.”
 
   “Can you talk him out of it without using violence?” Mika pleads.

   “Is he even the type to listen to others?”

   Mika goes quiet.

   “Do you think I enjoy beating up a kid younger and weaker than I am? Still, I have to do it. There’s no way I can afford to let him go wild if it’s going to cause nothing but trouble. Listen, it’s not just those creatures and experiments UCI have at their disposal, okay? They have really strong demons on their side. And there are four of them.”

   “How strong are we talking about?”

   “About as strong as me.”

   Mika’s face goes visibly pale.

   “You see why I need your brother to lay low at all costs now? Even a single one of the demons I mentioned can erase this city with just a sneeze. I don’t want him to attract unwanted attention before I take care of those demons.”

   “I’ll try to convince him again.” she says as she gets up.

   “Take me with you.”

   “But-”

   “No buts.” Jin interrupts. “I really, really need him to understand that he can’t do this.”

   “...Fine.” she relents. “Just promise me that you won’t use violence unless you absolutely have to.”

   “I promise.”

   “Okay, then. Follow me.”

   Mika brings Jin to an elevator. Once they’re inside, she presses the button which will bring them to the tenth floor, which is the top floor of the building. The wait until the elevator stopped was very awkward. The elevator music wasn’t really helping either.

   “Why enka?” Jin couldn’t help but ask.

   “Father loved it.”

   “Does your brother?”

   “From what I see, not really. Still, he wants to preserve what he loved.”

   Jin rolls his eyes inside the helmet he’s wearing. He’s not even going to say it anymore.

   It didn’t take long for the elevator to reach their destination. Even before the doors open, Jin could hear Tatsuma clearly.

   “...time, let me go, Miko!” he was heard shouting.

   The doors chose this moment to open. This floor consists entirely of a single room the size of two regular living rooms. There’s a throne at the end of the room. It’s made from a combination of emerald and gold. There are multiple Chinese dragons coiling the armrests and the legs, all made from the same materials as the throne itself. Oddly enough, all of them are catching on fire, the flames being replicated by using ruby or some other red metal. There is a small table next to the throne. On the table are three glasses of iced green tea and a plate of senbei.

   Supporting the ceiling to prevent it from collapsing are eight thick pillars. Each and every one of them have one dragon coiling around it as well, not to mention being on fire too.

   Jin looks downwards. The large tiles on the floor also have the symbol of a dragon on them.

   Hmm, he has a sudden feeling that the person who designed this room has an unhealthy obsession with dragons. It’s just a feeling, though.

   From a few feet away from them, Jin sees Tatsuma floating in mid-air, with Miko standing in front of him while slightly grimacing.

   “Hold still, Tacchan, and just wait until Mii-chan comes back~.” she says to her younger brother.

   “No way! I’m going to-”

   He stops as he notices Jin.

   “YOU!” he screeches as he struggles to break free of Miko’s ability violently.

   “Can’t, hold on…” Miko groans.

   “I got this.” Jin says calmly.

   He points at Tatsuma and directs a wave of cold air towards the young yakuza leader. Immediately, his entire body, minus his head, is being covered in a block of ice.

   “What the-”

   Miko lets out a sigh of relief. She then looks at Jin and waves cheerfully at him.
   
   “Thanks for the save~.” she tells him.

   “No problem. You can let him down now.”
  
   “Okay~.”

   Miko puts Tatsuma, the human icicle down gently. All the while, Tatsuma is shouting all kinds of colorful language at Jin.

   “If you refuse to listen to me, I’ll freeze your mouth too!” Jin raises his voice so that he can be heard over all the cussing. “”

   With that threat, Tatsuma finally shuts up. He’s refusing to look at Jin, though.

   Miko walks over to Jin with a glass of iced green tea.

   “Tea?” she offers.

   Jin looks at Mika.

   “See? This is how you show proper hospitality.” he tells her as he accepts the glass.

   “Just drink it quietly or I’ll shove the glass down your throat.” she growls.

   “I’ll help myself, then. Thanks for the tea, by the way.” Jin tells Miko.

   “No problem~.”

   “Hey, that was supposed to be mine!” Tatsuma protests.

   Miko looks at him, then looks away while puffing up her cheeks.

   “Says the one who refused to drink it when it was offered to him…” she sulks.

   “There, there. At least I’m here to finish up this tea.” Jin comforts.

   “Thank you, at least someone cares~. Boy, I sure want to you to be our younger brother instead of that ungrateful Tacchan~.”

   “What? Hey-”

   “Sorry, but no thanks. I don’t really like the yakuza life.”

   “Hmm, too bad~. Well, my offer is always open.”

   “I’ll never take it, though. I don’t mind coming over to play every once in a while.”

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   “No way! No! Freaking! Way! I’ll never allow it!”

   “...Do you seriously think you can stop me?”

   Tatsuma grits his teeth and grinds them together. He’s being so loud Jin was half-expecting his teeth to break.

   “Why are you even here?” Tatsuma demands instead.

   …Oops. Jin has totally forgotten about his purpose of coming here.

   “To stop you from being an idiot.”

   “Who’re you calling an idiot?”

   Oh, joy. Looks like Jin has to mention the five dangerous demons for the third time today. He also told Tatsuma what would happen if he started a war for real. Once he was done, Tatsuma went quiet for a moment.

   “...Sacrifices are necessary.” he eventually says stubbornly.

   “Yeah, but not pointless ones. Those you mentioned could be avoided easily if you stop being so stupid and short-sighted.” Jin says sternly.

   “It’s all to preserve the honor of the Ryuuzaki Group!”

   “Honor won’t mean a thing if everyone you cares about got hurt or even worse, died.” Jin points out.

   “A lapdog like you who’s protecting others just because it’s part of your job will never understand!”

   Jin shrugs.

   “I admit it. I’m doing what I’m doing because it’s my job. Still, I at least draw a line on what I can or can’t do. Getting someone innocent hurt just because of my stupid ego? I definitely won’t go that far.”

   ““Ego”? You’re comparing the honor of my family with ego?”

   “Isn’t that what it is? If you want to die in a blaze of glory, go ahead. That said, do me a favor and leave the others out of it.”

   “If you mean others, as in those not from my family, they can rot for all I care! Father always told me to protect what he left behind in case he ever passes away, and that’s what I’ll do! Those bastards from the UCI endangered the lives of my family, so I’ll give them what they deserve!”

   “By endangering the lives of your family yourself. Got it.”

   “I was not! I was just-”

   “Just give it a rest already, Tatsuma.” Mika interrupts after letting out a tired sigh.

   Tatsuma stares at her.

   “What are you saying?” he demands.
 
   “I’m telling you to grow up and stop using our father as an excuse to go nuts every single time something happens. It’s really tiring. There’s a limit on how much we can pamper you, you know.”

   “What do you know about our father? He-”

   “OF COURSE I KNOW HIM! HE WAS MY FATHER TOO!” Mika shouts at the top of her lungs.

   Tatsuma shows a dumbfounded expression. It’s either he was never shouted at before, or this is the first time Mika has raised her voice.

   Wordlessly, Miko points at herself. Mika notices and clears her throat.

   “Our father was what I meant to say.” She corrects herself with a normal tone. “My point is, you’re not father, Tatsuma, and you can never be him. Also, stop trying to think “what would father do if he was here?” and use your own brain for once.”
  
   “...You think I’m not doing that?”

   Tatsuma’s voice was soft, a far cry from all the shouting he gave earlier. He also sound pretty vexed.

   “I know that I’m not a great leader like our father. The only reason I’m not dethroned as the leader was because all of our subordinates have sworn absolute loyalty to him, and through him, me.” he says while looking like he’s on the verge of breaking down. “Time and time again, I tried to do things my own way, but I never can. The thought of “what if I screwed up?” kept on haunting me. With that thought in mind, I figured that I might as well do what father might do so that the chance of failure will be decreased.”

   Mika walks over to him and pats his head. Her expression has become quite gentle.

   “Look, you’re not in this alone. We’ll always be here for you. Stop shouldering everything by yourself.” she tells him.

   “Yup yup, we’re family after all~.” Miko agrees. “Well, just leave the more troublesome problems to Mii-chan and leave the easy ones to me.”

   “You’re not really helping, then.” Mika points out.
  
   “Am too, just somewhat~.”

   “Look, can we continue to talk about this while all of us are being comfortable?” Tatsuma pleads.

   “Sure, if only someone could get you out of there.” Mika says while sending a glance towards Jin.

   He takes the hint and unfreezes Tatsuma. While shuddering slightly, the boy slowly gets up and lights himself on fire. A few seconds later, he lets out a sigh of relief.

   “Yup, I prefer to be warm over being cold…” he mumbles.

   “Now that you’ve calmed down, can we have another talk?” Jin asks him.

   “...Fine.” he agrees reluctantly.

   And so, all of them sit down while forming a circle.

   “Say, aren’t you hot in that suit of armor of yours?” Tatsuma asks Jin curiously. “I know it’s winter and all, but still.”

   “Don’t mind me. This is how I hide my identity. Besides, it won’t be as hot if I constantly use ice magic to cool myself down.”

   “Well, if you say so.”

   “Let’s cut the pointless chit-chat and get down to business.” Jin begins. “Like I said just now, I need you to lay low until I’m done with the demons.”

   “You know, I just figured something out. If they really have those scary demons at their disposal, what’s stopping them from thrashing us anyway?”

   “From what I heard, their leader has gone missing. They’re probably trying to lay low and not draw any unwanted attention. It’s either that or they’re gathering up their forces.”

   Tatsuma grits his teeth.

   “By getting more test subjects.” he growls. “We really have to start thrashing those accursed places.”

   “Didn’t you listen to what I said? About laying low?”

   “Look, if they’re coming for us anyway, we might as well strike first.”

   “Hmm…”

   Naturally, Jin has thought about doing this too. The only problem is that he has trouble dealing with even one of them, much less two or more. He especially needs to make sure that he has as much energy and mana to spare as possible when he’s fighting Volrik.

   “If it’s the difference of forces you’re worried about, I have lots of connections to depend on.” Tatsuma informs.

   “No offense to whoever they are, but I can’t count on them unless they’re at least half-as strong as I am-”

   Jin pauses as he realizes something.

   “When you say connections, do you mean outsiders?” he asks Tatsuma.

   “Yup. They’re all fellow yakuzas and gangsters like our group.”

   “And you’re fine with asking them for help? Even though they’re not part of your family?”

   Tatsuma looks embarrassed at that.

   “I got over that. Mika’s words helped a bit.”

   Jin merely shrugs. Mika, on the other hand, couldn’t be smugger.

   “Anyway, there’s a pair of Chinese that I know who really kick butts.”

   Mika furrows her eyebrows.

   “You can’t be serious.”

   “What’s wrong with them? They’re both nice people.”

   “I know that. I especially like hanging out with Fang. Zheng, on the other hand…”

   “My ears are ringing from just remembering about him…” Miko mumbles while shuddering.

   “Weren’t you girls listening? We need as many people for this as possible.”

   “Yes yes, we know. I guess he can be tolerated if we’re to survive this.”

   “Anyone else?” Jin asks.

   “Nope. Can’t think of anyone else. Let’s move on.” Tatsuma says.

   Something about him made Jin suspicious. He’s being too hasty, as if he wants this topic to end as soon as possible.

   “Actually, there’s one other person-” Miko begins.

   “No there isn’t!”

   “See, she’s-”

   “Not one more word from you, Miko!”

   “If Tacchan wishes it, she would totally-”

   “I mean it, Miko! Don’t you dare finish your sentence!”

   His reaction really piqued Jin’s interest. Well, no point asking about the mystery girl if Tatsuma refuse to disclose any information.

   “Where are all those people you mentioned just now?” Jin asks instead.

   “The two Chinese are in Yokohama.” Mika answers. “As for the girl-”

   “Didn’t I say not to bother about her?”

   “She’s probably still in Japan. I would have to call her to find out.” she replies while ignoring Tatsuma and taking out her phone. “I’ll call the Zheng and Fang too while I’m at it.”

   “All right, you do that. I’ll be calling my allies too.”

   With that, the two of them start calling reinforcements of their own.

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