The Hero

Obeying his order, the man left the room. "Why'd you ask for the girl?" Remi asked, leaning on the wall.

"Two reasons. Firstly, Takeo obviously cares for the girl Kozue. Whether he has a soft spot for her, well, I'm not certain." He opened a drawer in his desk—revealing an ashtray. Using it to extinguish his cigarette, he continued, "Love isn't really my thing. But either way, he'll raise a commotion with his old man. There are two possible outcomes: he disobeys again and returns here, forcing his father to pursue him. Or he actually listens to his son, rushing down here as soon as possible. Not enough time to gather all his forces. Hero complexes can be... manipulative."

"Hero complex? He's the son of a gangster, how could he have such a thing?"

"Don't you get it, Remi? Hypocrisy is a requirement for being a hero."

"I never really cared for all the fiction stuff; I was too busy with my own deliquency." She stated and yawned, continuing, "But I'm curious, how?"

"You mean how is hypocrisy a requirement?" Kyoki checked with her. She nodded her head. "Hmm, just think of what defines a hero. A person who saves. But who exactly? Only the ones experiencing injustice, or the ones committing injustice?"

"It'd be the ones who are getting wronged."

"Exactly, that's what every hero does. But that's the catch—they're deciding whom to save and whom not to. Not to mention the 'no killing' rule. If you spare the villain, that person could go on to ruin innocent lives. However, if you do kill, then guess what? Clearly, you didn't save a soul."

"Ah, so like cops?" Remi pounded a fist on her palm. "Not the example I would've used. But I suppose it's all about perspective. Are cops simply upholding guidelines, or are they genuinely doing whatever it takes to save human life?"

"I'm getting a headache from this," Remi pouted. Kyoki slowly walked to the door, "that's unfortunate, but you and I each have our own things to do." He said and signaled for her to walk with him to the elevator.

"Given the current situation, you still want me to go and collect our money? Hiroki is like a persistent thorn in my thumb; the kid just won't back off."

"He has the potential, though. So, ensure you educate him about the operations and such."

The door opened, Remi entering the elevator and saying, "are you coming or what?"

"I'm taking the helicopter today."

"And what about me?"

"Take one of the cars from the garage." Kyoki told her whilst fixing his tie. "Really, any of them?"

The elevator door started shutting. "Go for it," Kyoki acknowledged, an up burst of excitement coming from Remi just before the door fully closed.

He turned around and went to a door nearby. Once opened, it revealed an alabaster spine, meticulously crafted, wound its way down over sixty stories, an architectural marvel in pristine white. 'If I remember correctly, there's a motorcycle gang here in South Yokohama that has ties with the Himura family.' Kyoki thought to himself, continuing up the stairs. As he was already high up, only a few sets of stairs were in his way.

'The Steel Hounds. That's what they call themselves. Located in the boondocks by the station. Once I'm done dealing with the current situation, I'll need to ensure I remove them from the picture.'

Reaching the top, he encountered a loud squeaking noise upon opening the door, but it was engulfed by the clattering spin of the rotor blades, generating an urgent, high-pitched noise demanding attention.

Placed on a helipad, it gleamed jet-black, adorned with strategically mounted guns both on its surface and within. Advancing towards the helipad, he disregarded any effort to shield his eyes, letting the wind tousle his hair. "Here you go, sir!" A man hastily emerged, offering Kyoki a pair of headphones.

Once in, the pilot looked back and asked, "Where are we going sir?!"

"Head to the Kagacho Police Department."

"But sir, that's up north!"

"Do any of you in here understand how the Himura family is armed and protected?"

"..." They said nothing. Kyoki began petting the mounted machine gun. Bullets lay scattered on the floor, a tangible testament to the potential for unleashed chaos. Brass casings clinked against the metal surface with each subtle shift of the helicopter. The ammunition, neatly arranged in bullet belts, coiled like serpents ready to strike, adding an ominous weight to the aircraft.

"It's the police, that's how! It's time to cripple their source of weaponry."

"You mean..." The co-pilot became nervous, the pilot smacking him on the helmet. "We're here to serve the boss. If our leader says it's doable, then it's doable!"

The pilot systematically flicked switches, the co-pilot meticulously checking on the weapons. Following their preparations, they ascended gradually, heading directly for a massacre.

************

"Hey Tanaka," a policeman spoke, a woman turning around to look at him, "I heard that partner of yours quit. Sorry to hear that. Has boss assigned you a new partner?" The balding man held out a cup, "coffee?"

Tanaka Aika, a skilled and renowned detective for the entire country of Japan. Cases many thought to be impossible or lost causes, she went and completed them, proving everybody wrong. She wasn't a quitter, but her ability to lash out in anger was well known amongst her coworkers.

Despite that, consensus prevailed on one thing—she was utterly stunning. In her late twenties, her prime, she measured about a head shorter than the average man. A sleek curtain of walnut-colored hair highlighted her classic beauty. Above all, observers took note of the changeable feeling one could experience by looking into her eyes. When happy, warm embers flickered in her hazel eyes, but when angered or displeased, she had the capacity to freeze people in their spot, as if she were Medusa.

"Coffee? Sure, thank you," she took a sip. "Mm, it's good. But regarding the vacant spot, no, the boss has not filled it yet."

"Have you thought of any replacements?"

'God, just how obvious is he trying to be? Wait, what was his name again?' She got lost in thoughts, a resounding and enunciated voice reeling her out, "Detective Tanaka." 

"!" She shot her eyes straight up. The man who was talking to her previously was gone. Her boss now stood in front of her.

"Yes sir, how may I help you?"

"I'll be heading out into the field again today. Go to my office; there's a folder in there. That's your new partner and assignment. Understood, Detective?"

"Yes sir." She replied, the man nodding back to her. As he walked away, a briefcase was in his hand, but she already knew what was in it. Go back a around a year ago, she caught a sniff she couldn't get rid of.

She and her former partner were conducting an investigation on the Himura family, a private endeavor unbeknownst to the department. Trailing the family's patriarch, Himura Tadashi, they ventured into a ghetto area with buildings teetering on the brink of collapse. It was a compact area, comprising no more than a couple of neighborhoods.

The two of them saw Himura Tadashi enter an abandoned house, multiple men and trucks with him. After staking it out for roughly an hour, another car appeared. The man who exited the car was none other than their boss.

Thinking she caught on to a huge scandal, her partner's home was invaded that night and was brutally beat. The Himura family caught them on surveillance that day, and they paid for it.

Her partner's sister was killed.

And unfortunately for Aika, her little brother was kidnapped and sold into human trafficking. But that wasn't the end of it. Her best friend and mole, Himura Akari, was caught sneaking information about the family to her only a couple weeks prior. She helped her onto a train and told her to hide in Southern Yokohama.

However, a man much worse than Himura Tadashi appeared there.

Yamishin Kyoki.

At the time, his organization was small, and he had just emerged into the crime world. Nevertheless, he and his men captured her. They tortured her unlike anything Aika had ever seen at the time.

Her right leg was amputated, and her eyes were gouged out and filled with bird food. After getting what they wanted, they tossed her into some back-alley where birds feasted on her corpse.

And while her partner lost hope in exacting revenge, she had not. Since those two incidents, she swore she'd find her little brother and exact revenge on both the Himura family and the Yamishin Syndicate.

Once her boss was out of sight, she strolled through the room until she arrived at his office. There, she spotted the folder he mentioned and carefully picked it up.

"The Yamishin Syndicate base of operations." She read the title out loud. "So, this is where you hide, huh?"

Her brows furrowed as she continued reading, her body turning cold. After going through the short number of pages, she walked out of the office, folder in hand. As she got back to her cubicle, she heard a whirring from outside, her fellow coworkers looking out through the windows. 

"Is that...a helicopter?" One said, another responding with, "no shit Sherlock. It's probably just a news station."

'But there's no logo or anything on it? It's just a plain black,' Aika mused. Continuing her observation, she discerned a door on the helicopter opening, and two objects emerging from beneath the helicopter. It was difficult to see as the helicopter was facing the building.

"Wait," Aika examined closely. "Get down!" She ordered, a trail of smoke inching closer to the windows.

"Find cover!" Another person yelled.

Everybody frantically tried to hide, but only a few would be able to.

"AHHHHHH!!!" Echoes of screams filled the air, along with swirling dust. Yet, Aika remained deafened. Amidst the chaos, all she could perceive was a persistent ringing. Looking up, she saw a ragged tear marred through the once-intact roof, the result of an explosive force that tore through the structure.

People were screaming, and she witnessed her deceased coworkers encircling her. Some lay in fragments, while others suffered the loss of a limb, or multiple.

Her heart plummeted as she examined herself for injuries. Running her hands across her body, a sigh of relief ensued. However, the building convulsed with a violent tremor as another missile found its mark, shaking the very foundation.

She rose from the ground and made her way to the back of the building. Glancing back, she observed the helicopter turning. 'Is it leaving?'

Abruptly, a barrage of bullets tore through the air. Blood stained her vision. She turned a corner and collided with somebody. The person uttered something, but she couldn't discern what he said or who he was. A cloud of dust enveloped them.

She forged ahead, maneuvering through a crowd as more bullets pierced the premises. Numerous officers sprinted past, armed with guns, but not her. She owed nothing to these cowardly and corrupt individuals.

She stepped into the armory. Unlocking her locker, she carefully extracted her New Nambu Model 60. A sleek handgun.

The rumbling ceased, but she could still faintly hear the echoes of missiles and machine guns being fired. Additionally, her coworkers were audibly shooting at the helicopter.

In a frantic bid for escape, they burst through the door, only to stumble and crash to the ground, the abrupt impact followed by violent coughing. Pedestrians scattered like startled birds, and car alarms blared in discord. 'Just what the hell.'

She looked up at the sun. Then, she saw a helicopter fly through it. A police chopper. "Impossible!"

It spun uncontrollably as fire erupted from it. Following its path with her eyes, it crashed onto somebody's home, triggering a massive explosion that set off a chain reaction down the block. Debris scattered in all directions, and black smoke began to envelop the sky.

She hurriedly crossed the street and nearly fell face first into a yellow car. She dug through her pockets and spoke out loud, "Keys, keys, keys!"

Her keys emerged from her pocket, and she wrestled to get into her car. She started the car and shifted gears, speeding away from the department. Her body was covered in dirt, so she attempted to wipe her eyes. Upon reopening them, she spotted the helicopter in the rearview mirror.

Whilst the machine guns continued firing onto the department, the missiles went after her. 'Why me?' She thought, speeding past as many vehicles as she could. She used them as bait. And it was working.

The innocent bystanders unintentionally caught the missiles for her. Then, the missiles stopped. "Did I escape?" Her heart was beating like crazy. BA-DUMP! BA-DUMP!

"I...I survi-"

She didn't look to oncoming traffic.

The car experienced an unhinged elevation, momentarily defying Earth's gravitational grip, suspended in the air like an inadvertent acrobat.

Shards of shattered glass adorned the interior like malevolent confetti, reflecting fractured images of the mangled vehicle. Amidst the disarray, the world outside had been inverted, turned topsy-turvy. Aika found herself suspended upside down, the world now an unsettling inversion of reality. Seatbelts dangled uselessly, like forgotten vines, and personal belongings hung precariously from the vehicle's ceiling. As she grappled with the disorienting scene, the approach of hurried footsteps reverberated through the twisted wreckage. Feet appeared first, upside down and disconcertingly close, each step sending a shiver through the vitiated interior.

The disorienting aftermath and the acrid smell of gasoline weighed heavily on the already tense air within the upended wreckage. Aika, suspended upside down and entangled in the chaos of twisted metal, began to succumb to the overwhelming shock and physical toll of the crash.

As the smell of fuel mixed with the metallic tang of blood, a sense of nausea permeated the air. She was already struggling with disorientation, feeling the unsettling combination of fear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. 

"Are you okay?!" She was able to make out what a man said. But before she could respond, everything began to turn hazy.

 The inverted wreckage, the fractured windows, and the approaching feet beyond the glass blurred into a chaotic lullaby, coaxing her into an involuntary slumber amidst the wreckage of her overturned reality.

Then it was black.