Five Families II

"A niece that has nothing to do with this. She's not yakuza."

"And yet, she bears the Kuze name. Responsibility still falls onto you. Surely, even you understand what this means."

"I'm willing to make… reparations." Kiara lingers on the word 'reparations', making sure her intent is clear. "In whatever form. A cut of our annual income." Kiara holds up five fingers. "Fifty percent."

"..."

"Not our profits. Our income. As a relatively new organization, it's natural that the Umi Alliance would struggle to maintain its hold on Ao ward. But with capital, you could afford to recruit a significant number of mercenaries under your banner, greatly expediting the process–"

"Typical Yakuza. You think you can buy anything." The Batter interrupts Kiara before cracking her neck. "My girls' lives are not for sale."

Kiara leans back in her seat. "Then what is it that you want?"

"A Kuze's life for one of ours. I want your niece's head on my doorstep within one week and one day."

"Done." Kiara's response is swift, almost too swift. Everyone in the room breathes a sigh. "Then let us be at peace with one another."

Everyone applauds as the two reach across the table to shake each others' hand.

"Now, if there's nothing else, shall we take our dinner?" Kiara wipes her sweaty palms on her handkerchief.

"Ah, finally. All this politics stuff is so boring. Girls!" Emu claps her hands together, signaling a small parade of Awano Family gangsters carrying platters of fragrant steak to enter the room. A5 Wagyu. Rich and delicious.

In spite of Kiara's stomach churning, she has no appetite. "Awano, I appreciate your hospitality and I mean you no offense, but you will have to forgive me. I cannot dine with you all today."

"Aw really? We were just about to bring out the good sake!"

"Then please, enjoy it in my stead. I have much urgent business to attend to." Kiara smiles politely as she stands. "If there's nothing else. Ladies, I must be taking my leave." She bows at the bosses, and they all bow back out of respect.

Kiara walks outside the warehouse into the cold midnight air. So much time in the shadows means even the distant streetlights feel harsh against her eyes. She starts walking away. Another pair of footsteps follows closely behind her.

「Oka Shibusawa」- Kuze Clan Lieutenant. Kiara's trusted lieutenant and goddaughter. At a gigantic six feet and eleven inches, the slim girl towers over Kiara. Ironic that at twenty years old, she's just nearly twice Kiara's age. Kiara hears the telltale clicks of her fingernails brushing against her gigantic glasses as she adjusts them.

"S-so, how'd it g-go?"

"More or less how we expected. They want Shosuko's head or it's war."

"A-and?"

"War it is."

———————————————————————————————————————

Shosuko wakes up at home. It's already morning somehow. God, what happened last night? It's all such a blur. She grasps at what little she remembers to try and piece everything together. She recalls running. Running as fast as she possibly could. What's going on here? She works backwards, asking herself what she was running from. Then she sees it.

On the ground in front of her, bruised and mangled, its arms and legs bent in unnatural angles– a corpse. What was once a person until she made it that way. She killed that person. Her heartbeat quickens. She killed that person. The realization eats away at her. She killed that person. Over and over, her brain repeats that phrase as though it's trying to drill the fact into itself.

The tiny circular scar on her chest starts to ache. Dammit, not now. She punches her own chest but that just makes it hurt worse. She can't even remember where she got the stupid thing. She punches herself harder, as if the pain will help her take her mind off of the ache.

She's in the middle of her spiral when suddenly, the doorbell rings. Shosuko doesn't dare get up from her spot. The doorbell rings again. And again. And again. She tries holding her breath, as if that might make whoever that is go away.

"Shosuko Kuze?!"

"Who–" Shosuko stops herself, sensing her own weakness. She puts on as much gruffness as possible. "Who's asking?!"

"I'm with the ICMG! I just want to ask you some questions!"

"A-alright!"

Shit. She knows for sure that opening that door is a bad idea. But choosing not to open that door is an even worse idea. Shosuko stumbles out of bed, still in her outside clothes from last night, and walks towards the door. She takes a deep breath and twists the doorknob, knowing full well what could be waiting for her on the other side.

A young girl, maybe two or three years Shosuko's junior, with waist-length black hair swept up in a purple headband greets her. She wears the I-C uniform. A white dress shirt, black suit, black slacks, black tie, and black sunglasses that she takes off, revealing a pair of flat purple eyes.

There's a difference between ICMG commissioned magical girls and magical girls from the ICMG. Shosuko is the former. This girl is the latter. The ICMG skims the cream of the crop off of the girls who just finished their active service and offer them a position. If they accept, they undergo an extra two years of training before they're ready for deployment where they will serve as a hybrid between elite strike force and police. On the streets, they're called "I-Cs", pronounced "Icies." As a constant reminder of both the commission's coldness towards their enemies and that the commission sees everything.

"What seems to be the problem, officer?"

"I'm Officer Amaru Hikome. It's not my real name but it's what you can call me. I'm here to investigate the homicide of Shiki Aragawa. Know anything about this?"

Act dumb. "No clue." Not that dumb.

"Is that so? Because I have a witness that says that they saw you… 'beat the everloving shit out of her'... as they put it."

Not good. "Okay, well… so what if I did it? I don't see a warrant so–"

The I-C pulls out a warrant.

"...right. Um, just out of curiosity, if I did it... I'm not saying I did. But if I did, what's the damage?"

"You're looking at twenty years to life."

"Twe–" Shosuko chokes on her saliva. "Twenty years?"

"To life."

"W-well, you have, what? One eyewitness account?" That isn't real evidence, right? "You ain't got shit on me."

"To be frank with you, miss Shosuko, this conversation is a mere formality. I already have all the evidence and testimonies collected, all I need now is for you to come quietly. If you behave, your sentence might be reduced."

Shosuko clenches her fist. "Sorry about this, officer."

"Hm?"

"But it just ain't in my blood to behave!" Shosuko lunges forwards, arm already cocked backwards for a punch. "Take this!"

She cries out as she throws out a haymaker but her punch doesn't connect, the girl merely sidestepping her strike as if it was the slowest thing in the world. In fact, she's so much faster that she catches Shosuko's arm, lifts her whole body over her shoulder and slams her down onto the ground before Shosuko can even blink.

There are constellations in her eyes. Somewhere far away, she feels herself being put into handcuffs. As she stares at the starry ceiling, she contemplates what she's going to miss out on if she goes to prison. It's not like she has any friends or family who are gonna miss her or she's gonna miss. She's gonna miss pit fighting but it's not like there aren't fights in prison. Hell, the only real issue is that she's going to miss that cute guy at school. Hey, this might not be so bad after all, she copes.

"Sorry to interrupt you while you're busy, Hikome." Two pairs of footsteps start to approach.

"Hm?" Hikome looks up from where she's kneeling. "Captain Momoe. I was just finishing up that case we were talking about last night."

"About that, Hikome. There's no need to pursue this case any further." A soft, almost motherly voice comes from further down the hall. Shosuko's head lolls to the side. She's greeted by the sight of another I-C, one with yellow drills for hair, and another girl. It takes her a moment to realize that it's her old squad leader.

Momoe continues. "The Kuze clan will take care of this matter from here."

"I see..."

"Thank you very much for your service."

Hikome stands at attention, salutes the girl she called Momoe, and they both turn to leave. As though nothing at all happened.

"Here." Her squad leader, whose name she can't for the life of her remember, helps her sit up. "Your family wants to see you."

"My family?"