The Carefully Laid Web

Shout out to Foreverstuckin2016. May your aim be so good in your next game, the enemy team thinks you're cheating. 

Shawn's POV:

As I don't feel like carrying a grown man, I just tie him up, gag him, and take anything that he could cause problems for us from him. Compared to the last high ranking Hashimoto gang member we fought; I was expecting a lot more from him. Besides the gun, he wasn't even that much of a threat. 

Now it was clear that the Hashimoto clearly had an idea on how to counter deflecting bullets, I wonder what his game plan was when fighting me. I'll give him credit, he was quick to draw his weapon and pull the trigger, which is probably how he gained his name. Otherwise, he was just shooting at random places, a lot of which I didn't bother deflecting. But it was no use dumbing myself down to understand his thinking, I got him. 

Heading back inside with Trigger in tow, I see his eyes widen as we come back to the bloodbath Mamoru left inside the drug den. Ducking past the dripping blood and stepping over dead bodies, we find Mamoru calmly drinking a cup of sake at the counter, the ramen owner nervously serving him. Seeing he had no intentions on leaving yet, I plop Trigger on the bloody floor next to us as I have a seat at the counter. As the ramen guy glances at me, I slightly shake my head no, as I wasn't up to try sake. 

"I knew I could leave him to you." Mamoru says without looking at us. 

"You honor me, Sensei." I respond trying to sound as cringe as possible. 

He ignores it and slowly downs the rest of his sake, taking care to enjoy it instead of chugging. Placing the cup on the table, he begins to dig into his pocket, causing both the ramen guy and Trigger to flinch. But he takes out his wallet and places a generous tip on the counter, which the ramen guy slowly reaches out for with a shaking hand. Grabbing it, Mamoru motions towards the exit, which the ramen guy doesn't hesitate to leave. Watching him go, I ask a question on my mind.

"Were his hands clean in this that we let him go?" I ponder.

"In a way, no. But whether he was forced to use his shop as a front or willingly, once the Hashimoto find out what happened here, they're going to find him and definitely kill him anyway. That money was a chance for him to get a generous head start. It's messy business dealing with Hashimoto. Now come, we have work to do." He says like I was the one lazing about. 

Even through the rain, the night streets had just about as many people as it did in the daytime. Using the alleys and back ways, we avoid the main streets until he leads us to what he referred to as, ' his favorite spot'.  

Sure enough, on entering the building, a weird smell hits us. Going into a room, a fluorescent light flickers on a single dentist chair, with dried blood and unclean tools surrounding it. Clearly, I knew who the seat was for, and don't waste time tying him down. Mamoru puts on a clear plastic bag to not mess up his clothes with medical gloves as Trigger looks between us in horror. Looking at the scene, to a civilian who didn't know the context, we looked like the villains in this situation. 

I lean against a wall as I let Mamoru do his work. He picks up a hammer, testing the weight of it in his hand before folding both of them in front of him. Lighting a cigarette and through the puff of smoke, he says in Japanese,

"Tell me what you know about the Hashimoto's plan with the Shimada. I'm hoping that you don't, I have some things I want to try." 

Many emotions go through Trigger's face, and I can feel them until he settles on a surprising feeling of defiance. Looking Mamoru dead in his face, he responds, 

"You can do what you want, but you won't get anything out of me. I'm not stupid enough to think that I live after this. If I talk, the Hashimoto will definitely kill me. Plus, I know that your little stunt tonight will tip off the Hashimoto that you're at work. Everyone will be on alert, meaning your job gets harder. My silence will inconvenience you more."

Hearing this, Mamoru snorts, but we both know that what he says is true. The time was winding down, as we didn't know the Hashimoto's plan. If we wanted to do anything before Genji was born, we needed to know something now. 

"Fair enough. Let's see if your attitude doesn't change in a moment." Mamoru begins to walk towards Trigger with the hammer, but I stop him. Mamoru raises an eyebrow, offering me the hammer, but I decline it as I saw this was the perfect opportunity to test something. 

Walking over to him, I touch his arm and feel his bioelectricity. I can sense the adrenaline and cortisol flowing within his body. It's there that I sense that I was correct in my thinking. While it was true that he was defiant at the moment, he was still terrified of both of us and what was to come. It was a simple matter of changing his line of thinking to appeasing us with information at a chance to escape, despite his mind telling him otherwise. That was the good thing about manipulating fear, the mind is filled with doubt. 

In Japanese, I order him, "Now tell us everything you know about the Hashimoto's plans with the Shimada."

His head hangs low with defeat. "I am not a high enough rank to know all the details, but the plan is generally know to most of us. Kozuke, Otsuka, Yahiro, are all present to make sure this mission goes smoothly. Kozuke has charmed your brother and is currently with child to your nephew. With her magic, a spell has been woven that on his birth, your brother will be completely under our control. 

With time, your nephew will grow, and the second part to the spell will take effect causing him to grow more powerful. He will dispose of the firstborn and the father and take his place as the new head of the Shimada clan. From there, we will wipe out all semblance of your clan. Your nephew will have the blood of a dragon and the blood from the Hashimoto tigers. In two days, marks the fall of the Shimada, and rise of the Hashimoto."

Hearing all this, Mamoru's face grows all the more serious. "Where is your base of operations?" He asks.

"Shibuya." He admits. 

Putting down the hammer, Mamoru walks over and swipes his hand across the guys throat. Without saying another word, Mamoru leaves. Seeing that we were finished, I follow him, leaving the guy to choke on his blood.

Knowing what's at stake at this point along with how deep these webs were laid, I refrain from saying anything to Mamoru. I don't need to read his bioelectricity energy to know he was troubled and thinking on what to do.

Strangely, we walk to a park, which to no surprise as it was the middle of the night, had no one there but us. I sat on the bench next to him in silence for minutes before I decided to break it.

"So.... what's the plan?" I ask carefully.

He sighs, "The only thing we can do. Drink and enjoy the night." He says taking a flask out his suit vest jacket and tipping his head back. Finished with his swig, he offers it to me, which I take while shaking my head.