Chapter 8: For the people we care about

POV Katsura

I spend almost entirety of today planning. Hori san probably felt something was off too. She didn't bring it up, but it almost felt like she knew. Sorry Hori san, I will explain everything later.

I had spent last night entirely chalking out the plan, with a little help from the police files (thank god my access with the government database was still not revoked) I found out the names and details of the guys I had taken down. Two of them should be out of commission if my estimates were correct, which left only one standing. Musashi Kazeo. He had priors, armed robbery here, a little bit of drug dealing there, the police suspected ties with a small branch of the Yakuza, but this guy had been bailed almost instantly every time, so nothing was proved; officially… yet

If I had to remove these guys out of the equation, I needed to cut off the entire gang. Killing was off the table. I am done with that. So, the next best thing was probably prison, but in Japan, these guys were way too strong, I needed them extradited. US would be the ideal choice.

For the charges to stick, I need major evidence, something hardcore, thankfully I am in luck again. Handler's contacts came in useful again, a major shipment is coming through tonight. If they were to be caught red handed, it was to be done today.

I cut school early today, and come back home by evening. I plan to get a good two hours nap before the hunt began.

6:30 PM

My alarm wakes me up. I clean my head, and clearly go through the plan again. A major shipment of drugs is going to arrive here by midnight, the part of the docks where the trade off happens has been sealed off, the right people have been paid, and to make this operation valid, handler has to get in touch with the highest level of drug enforcements agency in the US. She has to convince them that getting these guys would help catch some guys back in Mexico, which would help the US. They never did anything which didn't benefit them. It was a matter of timing, they have to catch the guys before the Japanese government, to force their hand into extradition. She will get through them. She has to..

The head of the family, Nagamasa Hiroshi would be personally there to check the goods, so it would mean a few hours alone in a storage facility surrounded by trusted guys.

For an operation of this scale, my estimate would be three guys, inside with him, in the container to count stuff, and anywhere between five to seven men outside to keep the perimeter secure. Not an army, but still damn tough to take down in my condition. Without killing on board, this was probably a very bad idea. Harry Freeman had doubts, he never has doubts.

I would have to sweep the perimeter clean, taking out the guys one by one, silently. I had to first catch their radio frequency, and time the intervals within which they checked with each other and within that small window, I have to individually take them down one by one. No shots can be fired, or else it would give me up instantly.

The package sent by handler was on my bed. I open it. It contained a singular cylindrical object, a US SS weapon, a sleeper bomb. Blowing this up in a closed space, puts the entire room to sleep. After taking out the guys I have to throw this thing inside the building and wait for it to work its magic. That was it. Simple right ? But I knew real life. Nothing was ever simple, there is always something waiting to go wrong, I probably hadn't thought of it yet. I try to keep it out. I need to focus on the task at hand.

I open my cabinet and bring out my old special operations suit. A parting gift from handler. It was a bit crinkled from a few months of disuse but otherwise it was alright.

The suit is jet black and is made with a special type of lightweight shock absorbent polymer. It cannot stop parabellum rounds, but small bullets could definitely be stopped. The high-grade polymer prevented almost all types of stab related injuries, and best of all it came with a mask. It's the sort of the face mask you use while you have cold, but a thousand times better, it had crossed metallic spikes protruding outwards, discouraging direct hits to the face, one look at the thing and no one would hope to punch me in the face. It offered protection against normal poisonous gases, which included the sleep toxin I was about to use today.

I look at my desk once, which had the revolver. "No guns" I say out loud, I don't know why. No guns, Harry Freeman agrees.

After setting up my stuff in order, I go to make dinner. Can't go hunting with an empty stomach.

11:30 PM

I was perched on top of a shipping container at a higher ground in the darker side of the docks. My eyes were glued to the binoculars, checking all sighs of activity. They guys were already here, they were early, the shipments probably arrive later. I catch a glimpse of Nagamasa, who came outside for a bit of air, but my mind was mostly fixated on his bodyguard. Handler definitely missed something. This guy. He was huge. And by that I mean HUGE.. probably about 7 feet tall, he had more developed muscles in one hand than I had in all four of my limbs combined. I have seen large guys in my time, but this guy sure took the prize. He was probably juiced up on all kinds of steroids and stuff, no one gets this huge naturally. Taking this guy would be a problem, heck he could jeopardise my entire plan.

1:05 AM

Finally, Nagamasa and his crew of three men go inside the shipyard, I was right on him taking three men, but that giant probably was worth five himself. If the plan worked, the giant would be out without a fight.

There were exactly seven guys outside, patrolling the building at all the logical spots. I see two automatics and five handguns, probably Glocks, a good choice for them, not for me. I timed their radio checks at intervals of about twenty minutes, so I should take a good seventeen to take them out.

I climb down from my perch. It was showtime.

The guy closest to me was at the northwest corner, I stick to the shadows, and move fast, without making any sound. I spot him where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to do. I stick to the building wall and creep behind him, like I have done million times before, except with a more dangerous weapon in hand.

I take out a hypodermic filled with tranquilizer they use to dose animals at circus, this was strong stuff, heck this guy was probably going to experience the best sleep in his entire life. I pounce on him from the dark, wrapping my arm around his throat. A surprise attack like this earns some valuable reaction time. The guy tries to struggle but my hypodermic is already in his neck and before he can let out a grunt he is already down. I take out another in my hand and start moving forward. I have to circle the entire building before finally reaching the guy at the entrance.

The task went smoothly, seven hypodermics and seven guys all wasted. I am done in seventeen minutes. Deadline. After the guy at the door goes down, I slowly latch the door, wrapping chains around it and locking it. I definitely want no one coming out.

Now for phase two.

I crouch near a window and take a look inside; the guys were busy doing whatever the hell they were doing. Once I break the glass there was no going back. I plunge my elbow, hard against the glass and shatter it. I immediately throw the cylinder in, pressing the button on it and dash away from the window.

The window is small, so it is not a valid escape point, the guys were trapped in. Okay….

I hear sounds of confusion inside, and a commanding voice shouting commands, it all dies down in about five seconds. The bomb was really good.

I make my way back to the entrance, and stare at the door. There was no shaking, no…

My little celebration is cut short, as the door jerks violently once. That guy wasn't down. The 'problem' in my plan. Surely the door will hold him in right… surely…

The door gives another violent shake, yeah no… its not going to hold. I pick up the gun next to the guy guarding the door. I pull out the magazine, pull back the chamber and the bullet inside it jumps out. I catch it midair and throw both of them away. I needed some safeguard, the gun was a good scarecrow for the monster inside, I didn't trust myself completely, so I emptied it. I meant it when I said no killing.

The door gives another violent lurch before tearing away from the hinges, and the monster steps forward. Up close, he was marvellous, and scary. I am not the tallest person in the world or anything but going by normal height, I was definitely not short, but this guy was something else. A being of pure muscle, his face radiated no expression apart from hostility, he was meant to be scary and he was pretty good at his job. His eyes fall on me. I cock the gun at him "Don't move" I say. The voice modulation of my mask makes it sound more threatening. The guy takes a confused look at me and then at the guard lying next to the door.

Now, whoever created the prejudice that large guys like these were dumb, you are wrong. Sure this guy wasn't going into Havard anytime soon, but he had a functioning brain, I could see the gears turn, figuring it out. The guard next to the door was alive, so I was no killer, so it was a bluff. He knows. I see it in his eyes. I see his mouth flicker into a smile of cruelty. He lets out a grunt and charges straight at me.

Imagine a freight train with a brain charging at you, that's what it felt like. I veer away at the last moment to make him miss. But he is pretty fast for a guy of his size, he stops forcefully and turns towards me, by which time I am already moving towards him, I launch with a quick punch on his chest, dodging his right fist, I twist my body and use the kinetic energy to ram a kick at his stomach. I quickly draw back again and avoid a right hook. Hitting him was like hitting steel, I didn't know if he even felt it, but one hit from him would probably knock me out. I sidestep another punch and put in a punch of my own. I needed to up my game, if the gas didn't do it, I needed a hypodermic, dodging another slam, I twist my body again, and slide to his back, jumping on his neck and pushing the hypodermic in. Bad move on my part.

The guy grabs me before I could jump again and holding me firmly, he runs me into the wall crashing me into it. I have never been hit by a car before, but now I knew how it felt. My vision blurred as pain erupted in my back. If I wasn't wearing my suit, this would have shattered my spine. Before I could even drop down, I feel him bury his knee into my stomach as I feel more pain. I throw up blood in my mask as I fall down. I feel barely conscious now, I could see coloured spots in my eyes. I cough up more blood.

I roll away just in time to avoid a stomp on my head which would have definitely crushed my skull, this stomping game continues until I catch another kick in my midsection, throwing me further away. I had moved to the perfect angle to receive the lowest damage but still it managed to blow all the air out of my lungs. I crouch, trying hard to stand, but up to no avail, I cough continuously as my lungs protest the lack of air, the guy is already standing over me, his next move about to decide the outcome of the battle.

He picks me up by my throat. Choking to death. I won the gambit. It would take him ten seconds to crush my throat, it would take me four to escape. I could feel adrenaline rushing in, the final push. My feet are already above ground. I swing my leg backwards, mustering up all the strength I could I drive my leg into the guy's groin. An ugly move, not fair, but his size was not fair either. I feel his grip loosen and I wriggle free, using the moment of weakness against him, I push another hypodermic at his throat. He manages a grab at me but I dodge this time. I grab hold of his hand and using my momentum from the jump, I twist it at the wrong direction. The guy gives out a shriek of pain, it was almost inhuman. I use my adrenaline rush to punch the broken hand punching savagely, breaking the important joints. The guy makes another hit at me with his left hand which I veer away from. He is on one knee now, all that sedative finally taking effect. I punch his face repeatedly "Just….. go…. Down..." I mutter each word with a punch, finally breaking his nose. The guy falls on his back. I won.

My knees shake and I fall on them. It was all luck this time, if he hadn't wasted his time killing me, I wouldn't have had the chance. I pick myself up somehow and walk to the building, the others people were sleeping soundly inside.

I pull out my phone and call handler. "Its done. Track my location and send the guys here" I say.

"Are you alright?" I hear concern in her voice.

"Yeah. Just hurry, I don't want anything to go wrong" I say in an urgent tone.

"And, I was never here remember..." I remind her.

"I know. But still good job, these guys are really a piece of work" she says

"Aren't they all?" I add nonchalantly.

Handler said nothing

"Is Musashi handled?" I ask

"Yes. Steven picked him up personally" she assured me

"Thank you" I say

"Don't mention it, although you could show your gratitude by taking about that 'family'" she said in a teasing tone.

"Don't push it" I say.

I disconnect the line. We were done, no one from my world needed to know about Hori san.

2:40 AM

I don't know how I made it back to my apartment, but I did. I somehow open the door and crash down on the front porch. After the adrenaline surge died down, the pain flowed in, and it hurts like hell, thankfully no visible injuries from the outside.

I somehow crawl to the bathroom and throw up in the toilet, it was mostly blood. I didn't have an ounce of energy to move, I still manage to crawl out but I think the hallway is as good a place as any to sleep. I cant move anymore.

As I drift into sleep, I feel strangely at peace, it hurts like hell, but I was still happy. What is wrong with me?!

I guess, knowing the Hori family is safe now, is a prize good enough.

I smile for a moment for no apparent reason, then slowly drift into unconsciousness.