“Oi, wake up!”
Ai heard a panicked voice, breaking through the fog of her consciousness.
She opened her eyes slightly, feeling a budding headache and throbbing on the side of her face. She saw a face she didn’t recognize, but there seemed to be something familiar about it.
“Katsuya?” Ai asked, her mind still feeling jumbled.
“Where is he!? Where is Katsuya?” The figure had her by the shoulders and was shaking her, as if doing so would provide him the answers.
“I—I don’t know!” She said, breaking free from his grasp.
She was frightened and somewhat injured.
“Where is Ken?” She asked, looking around the alley briefly before her heart sunk in realization, suddenly remembering what had happened.
A sense of panic rose in her heart, “T-They took them both! Ken and Katsuya.” She shouted, looking towards the unknown person closest to her.
“Call the police… We have to find them.” She pleaded.
“No, we can’t call the police.” The man stated, his face grave.
“What do you mean!? We have to save them!” Ai insisted, her voice growing more panicked.
“I never said we wouldn’t find them, just don’t call the police.” He said, grabbing her by the arm and onto her feet.
Ai looked at him with a hint of confusion. Yet now that she got a good look at him, she noticed that he shared similar features as Katsuya, though he was more hefty.
“Follow me.” He said, turning on his heel and power walking out of the alley.
Ai hesitated for a moment before quickly following after him. She had no other choice but to trust him right now.
However, she quickly pulled out her phone and began typing away while trying to keep up with the figure. Despite the guy’s size, he was able to move swiftly.
“Dad, we were attacked and now Ken is missing. Please help.”
After sending the message, she was about to put the phone in her purse but dropped it on the ground accidentally.
“Damn it.” She cursed, quickly grabbing it off the ground.
Unfortunately the screen cracked completely, cutting off the visual.
“Hurry up! We don’t have time.” The man barked, his face full of worry.
“C-Coming.” She replied, slipping the broken phone into her purse.
***
“Have their been any moves from the Hokori family lately?” Tomoya asked, sitting back in his leather chair, the exhaustion evident in his voice.
“Only a few grunts skulking around town.” Tsukasa replied, running his hand through his balding hair.
It had been a couple of months since the murder incident and they had felt the effects of law enforcement cracking down on their activity.
Due to the boss only truly trusting a few individuals within the family, all four of the Lieutenants were ordered to stay in Tokyo and help manage the businesses. Without income, the family would fracture apart.
While he was willing to make this sacrifice, Tsukasa was starting to get homesick.
“I just wish we could put an end to those bastards…” He said, feeling a sense of frustration rise from within.
Tomoya nodded, sharing the sentiment.
“I’m surprised that they can still afford to remain in Tokyo… We still have a stranglehold on the businesses despite them trying to take over. I doubt their revenue from Hokkaido is enough to sustain this turf war.” He said, scratching his chin in thought.
Tsukasa raised his eyebrow in response. He was no good at numbers, but he made up for it in other areas.
“So what are you saying? Some wealthy person is sponsoring them?”
Tomoya shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s possible, but I can’t say for sure.”
Tsukasa frowned slightly, deep in thought. “Well it’s not out of the question. We have our own sponsors in the business world.” He added.
The two went into silence, both deep in thought.
SLAM
The sound of a door slamming open caused both of the men to snap their heads in the direction.
“Kiyo? What the hell are you doing here? You should be at home.” Tomoya rose to his feet, anger adorning his features.
However, it only took a few moments to see the utter panic written over his son’s face.
“D-Dad! Katsu has been captured.”
“WHAT!?”
Both Tsukasa and Tomoya exclaimed in shock.
“Tell me what happened!” Tomoya roared, his figure looking intimidating.
“I didn’t see it, but this girl did.” Kiyoshi said, moving aside and revealing a frightened figure behind him.
Tsukasa eyes landed on the girl, but he took a moment to register who it was.
“Ai? Is that you?” He asked in disbelief.
Only after hearing the man’s voice did the girl raise her head, the look of fear still painted on her features.
“Uncle Tsukasa?” She gasped.
Upon realizing who it was, her brave face crumbled and she began to cry, running forward to his embrace.
Tomoya looked on with confusion, though it was quickly replaced with urgency.
“Tell us what happened, time is of the essence.”
Tsukasa pat Ai on the back, trying to calm her. He could feel her entire body shaking after going through the ordeal.
He sent Tomoya a brief look as if to tell him to wait a moment, only to receive a reluctant nod in response.
“Ai honey, everything is okay now.” Tsukasa said, holding her at arms length and giving her a reassuring smile.
It took a few moments, but Ai was finally able to calm down. She briefly turned to Tomoya before looking back at her Uncle.
“I-I was meeting Ken at the train station earlier and we were going back to my apartment to drop off his bags. But then we were ambushed by 3 thugs…” She said, lowering her head.
“And then what happened?” He asked.
“We tried to run into an alley, but it was a dead end.” She paused, as if gathering her words, “They cornered us and beat him up…”
“But what abou—”
Tsukasa flashed Tomoya another look, forcing the words back down his throat.
Stuff’s gonna go down…
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