Three Yakuza and a Baby, Chapter 9
Title: Three Yakuza and a Baby, Chapter 9: A mother's secret
Author: priestess_grrrl
Series: Viewfinder, which belongs to the wonderful Yamane-sensei, not me.
Pairing: AsamixAkihito
Rating: NC-17, warnings for bondage, violence, het (of the Aki-molesting variety)
Notes: For those of you who may not know, Kokoro means "heart". Sorry for the long delay; I've had RL health issues. Don't worry, though, lots of new plot in this chappie!
Special note to Russian readers: Three Yakuza and a Baby is now available here in Russian, thanks to the lovely mammarella.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
When we last left our hapless hero in Chapter 6:
…In front of Akihito were three women, all in black leather, none of them looking very friendly. One of them was holding a now-empty bucket, smiling a vicious sort of smile that reminded Akihito of Feilong when he was in one of his cruel moods. The others were standing with their hands on their hips, looking very much like venomous spiders examining the hapless prey trapped in their web, deciding whether they’d like to kill him first or eat him raw and still wriggling.
I’ve been kidnapped by a bunch of women. How can I even call myself a man?
At a noise from somewhere behind them, the three spider-women parted to reveal a pale young girl with large, empty eyes. She strode up to Akihito and gave him a look that frightened him to the core, though he couldn’t explain why. When she was mere inches away, she spoke to him in an eerily calm voice:
“What have you done with my child?”
***
Chapter 9: A mother’s secret
Akihito stared.
“W-what?”
There was something about the pale girl’s manner of speaking and the way she held herself that was frighteningly familiar to Akihito, but he couldn’t place it. She moved like a snake, coiled and ready to strike, but at the same time, she was perfectly calm. Dressed in black like the others, she wore a suit jacket, cinched at the waist, and black lace-up boots. Her hair was slicked back into a pony tail, and although she was the youngest of the group, she was very clearly in charge. The way she stared him down, without even blinking… it was unnerving.
“I entrusted my child to you. What have you done with her?”
Akihito’s brain had stopped working. “K-kokoro is your child?” This girl is Kokoro’s mother? But that made no sense. There was no way Asami would have… no, it wasn’t possible. She must be lying.
“Kokoro? How adorable. Are you hoping someone will love her?” Her smile was cold and pitiless.
Despite the fact that he knew he was in a compromised situation, Akihito couldn’t stop his anger from flaring up. “What are you saying? You’re her mother. Isn’t that your job?”
This earned him a stinging slap in the face from the spider woman on the far left, which hurt especially, since he was already bruised.
“I might remind you that you are in no position to judge.” The supposed mother crossed her arms, tapping a leather-gloved finger on one forearm.
Akihito knew he was pushing it, but he didn’t care. “You left your baby in a cardboard box outside my door! That doesn’t exactly qualify you for Mother of the Year!”
The spider woman on the right lashed out this time, kicking him in the stomach. He would have doubled over in pain, but the thick ropes held him fast to the pole.
Akihito coughed, trying not to choke. “W-what the hell do you want from me? I don’t have the baby, she’s with…” He stopped. Maybe he shouldn’t tell them Kokoro was with Feilong?
“She’s with the gentleman from Baishe,” answered the leader. At the mention of Baishe, all of the women began to hiss like snakes. Akihito found this extremely disquieting.
The young mother then pulled out a bronze lighter and flicked it once, lighting a cigarette. She propped one leather boot up on a crate, blowing smoke into Akihito’s face. “So tell me, pawn. Why did you give my baby to Baishe? You were supposed to deliver her straight to Asami Ryuichi. What, are you in bed with every crime lord in Asia?”
“What? NO!” Akihito sputtered angrily, his coughing fit renewed. “Do you think this is my doing? Do you think any of this is my choice? Asami does whatever he wants, and so does Feilong! I’m just… just a pawn, like you said!” He hated the fact that this was true, but there was no use denying it. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish by kidnapping me. All it’s going to do is bring Asami’s wrath down upon your head!”
At this, the black clad women laughed, the sound echoing through the empty warehouse like a murder of crows. “Let him come!” the supposed mother said, gesturing to the warehouse doors. “I’d like to hear what he has to say in his own defense.”
“Look, you’ve got this all wrong!” Akihito struggled in vain to relieve his discomfort. “How could this baby possibly belong to Asami? He’s twice your age! I don’t know what kind of scam you’re trying to pull on him, but it’s not going to work.”
The third woman in black moved to strike him, but the leader held up her gloved hand.
“Enough.” She took another drag off her cigarette. There was something about the way she held it in her hand that was niggling the back of Akihito’s brain, but he was having trouble thinking clearly. “So tell me, Takaba Akihito… what shall we do with you, while we wait for, how did you put it, Asami’s wrath?”
“W-what?” A black leather finger moved slowly down his cheek, then slid under the curve of his jaw.
“Tired out, are you? I hear you were pretty aggressive there, in the back of the van. Bondage turns you on, does it?” She raised one mocking eyebrow as the other women snickered, moving closer.
Akihito blushed to his roots, turning his face away. “Aw, what’s the matter, don’t like girls?” Hands began stroking Akihito in various places.
“Not girls who tie me up and kidnap me, I don’t - no! S-stop it…!” Akihito writhed against his ropes in protest, but it was no use.
“But you like men who do…?”
“No, I don’t! Just because it happens to me doesn’t mean I like it - ah!” The leader had her hand between his legs.
“Are you sure you don’t like it? It doesn’t feel like that…”
Embarrassingly, Akihito could feel himself growing hard again. The leader had practiced fingers, even through his jeans, and she was pressing herself up against him in a way that was extremely erotic. She’s a professional. These women must be prostitutes. Could it be that Asami really…?
“Nnngh…! Don’t…!”
“Don’t… what?” Her lips were right next to his ear; he caught the scent of jasmine perfume. The other women were running their hands up and down his body, laughing cruelly.
“Don’t - don’t touch me!” Akihito tried to turn his head away, but this only resulted in his exposed neck being licked, making him gasp and squirm.
“Don’t touch you… where?” She squeezed him hard, then began slowly working her small fingers into the opening of his jeans.
“Th-there!”
“Where’s there, precious? Oh, do you mean, here?” Her gloved hand reached into his boxers and wrapped around his stiffened cock. A moan escaped him involuntarily, and the spider women laughed as they continued to molest him.
Feelings of shame and humiliation washed over Akihito as he found himself once again in the too-familiar role of being the helpless victim of sexual predators. When had this become his daily bread?
There was a cruel voice inside his head, one that had been getting louder and louder recently, which ceaselessly mocked and degraded him. Well, well, here you are again, getting just what you deserve. Bet you feel like a real man now!
He wanted to tell that evil voice to shut up and leave him alone, but there was a part of him that totally agreed with everything it said. What kind of a man gets molested by a teenaged girl? When was the last time he was actually in control of a sexual situation? Akihito honestly couldn’t remember. Apparently he was just a toy, a plaything, to be tied up and jerked off whenever his current captors were bored and felt like humiliating someone.
Did he even count as a person? Did Asami consider him as such? Or was he merely a prized possession? Akihito knew that Asami’s feelings for him had changed since he had returned from Hong Kong, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this meant that they were now equal partners. If anything, Asami had become even more possessive of Akihito, hardly wanting to let him out of his sight.
Akihito hated being treated like a bird in a cage, and he rebelled against it as much as he could, though it was mostly futile. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t understand Asami’s concerns, but he loathed the feeling of being someone’s property. I’m not a piece of meat. I’m a human being. I deserve to be treated like one.
Yet even as that thought crossed his mind, here he was, whimpering uncontrollably as gloved fingers forced him towards orgasm. The malicious voice in his head laughed heartlessly. Keep telling yourself that, you filthy little slut. You are nothing but a worthless whore and you know it.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he was about to climax, though he tried to stop them, not wanting to add to the humiliation. It’s never going to change, is it? I’m never going to be anything but somebody’s fucktoy. Please, someone, save me from this hell…
Suddenly, several things happened at once. All the lights in the warehouse went out. Shots were fired. Sounds of struggle were heard. A second hand was suddenly on Akihito’s cock, right on top of the leader’s gloved fingers. This was no woman’s hand: it was a masculine hand, firm, with long, hard fingers that had grasped him many times in just this way… Asami…!
Akihito heard a sickening crack as the woman’s grip was violently torn away. She yelped in pain, but Akihito had little time to care about her, because suddenly Asami was all around him, and he was coming hard into his strong hand, and crying just as hard. “A-Asami…!”
Asami’s hands shook against him; his voice was raw and violent. “Akihito. No one makes you come but me. No one.”
In an instant Asami had cut the ropes away and crushed Akihito in his arms. Akihito grabbed onto Asami’s suit jacket like a life preserver, his knuckles white, his breath coming in great shuddering gasps. Asami’s grip was so tight it was hurting him, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was the fact that Asami was here; he’d come for him again, and he was safe in Asami’s protective embrace once more.
“Asami…” Akihito sobbed in sheer relief.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I won’t get go. I’ll never let you go again.” Asami’s hand was still shaking as he stroked Akihito’s hair. Akihito squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on the sound of Asami’s powerful heart beating in his chest, its reassuring cadence slowly calming him down.
The lights flickered back on, and Akihito felt Asami’s muscles tense as he drew his gun and moved to shelter Akihito with his body. The scene had changed. Kirishima and Suoh had apprehended the three spider women. The young mother stood between two Baishe men, looking down the barrel of Feilong’s pearl handled pistol.
Coming back to his senses, Akihito noticed two things immediately. First, Asami had not let his guard down, despite having things seemingly under control. The rock-hard muscles in his right hand were still strong as steel as he gripped his gun, and his rapid heartbeat had not slowed. Second, strangely, the young mother was smiling, although clearly in pain. She was staring at Asami with abject hatred in her eyes, but there was something else there as well: victory. Her bitter laugh suddenly rang out through the empty warehouse. What exactly was going on…?
“At last, I finally have the full attention of the great Asami Ryuichi. If I had known it would be this easy, I’d have done it a long time ago.”
Asami growled low in his throat, and Akihito feared for the young mother, despite his feelings of hatred for the way she had treated him. Does she not realize how angry she has made him? Does she not get that she is literally playing with fire? Akihito was actually surprised that Asami hadn’t shot everyone in sight, since that was his usual m.o. Was he hesitating because they were women? Or because of Kokoro? Or was it that Asami actually did know this young girl…?
Whatever the reason, Akihito hoped she would come to her senses. He really didn’t want to watch Asami murder a teenaged girl before his eyes, however vicious she was, yet that possibility loomed closer and closer each passing minute. Akihito could almost feel Asami’s finger on the trigger, sensing just how much control he was exerting to refrain from pulling it, and how terribly easy it would be for him to let go. As the silence stretched between them, Akihito became more and more nervous.
He had forgotten about Feilong, however, who was in his element.
“So tell me, young lady,” Feilong purred, nearly dancing on the balls of his silk slippered feet, wielding his gun like a royal scepter. “How is it exactly that you thought you could take on both the all-powerful Baishe and the not-quite-as-strong-yet-still-formidable Yakuza all by your lonesome? Isn’t that awfully big job for a little whore?”
The young mother sneered, her eyes never leaving Asami’s. “I don’t talk to snakes.”
Feilong’s eyes flashed red. Akihito was seriously worried now, since Feilong was even worse than Asami in terms of being a loose cannon. A look passed between Feilong and one of his men, and the young mother fell to her knees, her broken wrist having been twisted cruelly.
“Let me make this perfectly clear, sweetheart,” Feilong snarled, crouching down and pressing his cocked pistol to the middle of the girl’s forehead. “If you’d like to walk out of here alive, with all of your limbs in tact, I suggest you address me respectfully.”
Ignoring his threats, the young mother spat right back at him, “Go to hell!”
Feilong lashed out, grabbing her by the neck. When she started making horrible choking sounds, Akihito screamed. “No, stop, Feilong…!” Asami’s arm tightened around Akihito.
Laughing, Feilong dropped her to the cement floor, where she lay gasping for breath. “Lucky for you, our Akihito still has a heart full of compassion, even after you treat him like garbage.” He bent down and whispered in her ear. “That’s why Asami keeps him around.”
“Feilong!” Asami growled a warning.
“Only kidding!” Feilong beamed, clearly enjoying himself.
Akihito had had enough. “Look, will you two stop it already! Why does it always have to come down to violence? Asami, this girl is claiming to be Kokoro’s mother, and she obviously has something to say to you, so start listening! Feilong, quit exacerbating the situation!”
Feilong pouted. “Tsk! Can’t you gag him or something? He’s ruining the fun.”
“Enough, Feilong.” Asami was staring intently at the young girl, as if he were trying to read her thoughts. “If you have something to say to me, now is the time. Otherwise, we’re taking you all hostage and having this conversation under much less favorable conditions.”
“In other words,” Feilong insisted on chiming in, “Speak now, while you still have an angel of mercy here to keep us from pulling out your fingernails one by one. Because if you think your sex or your age are going to save you, think again. I’m an equal opportunity assassin, after all.” He flashed her a predatory smile, tossing his long hair.
The young mother sat up, breathing through her nose, and composed herself. The look of pure hatred on her face as she glared at Asami would have bored holes through steel. Akihito shuddered as dangerous thoughts crossed his mind: what if Asami really had done something to her…?
When she finally spoke, her voice was pure venom. “You men think you can do anything you want, all the time, with impunity. Rape, murder, ruining people’s lives: it’s all in a day’s work. Who cares whether someone gets run over by your misdeeds, so long as you get your guns and your drugs and your filthy money by the end of the day. So long as no one is strong enough to fight back, you can keep on doing it forever. Survival of the fittest. As long as you’re the alpha male and you stay on top, who gives a fuck what’s going down below. Those people are all trash anyway. Particularly whores, whom everybody knows are the lowest of the low.”
She paused and took a breath, her eyes still smoldering with hatred. “Our lives are less than nothing to you. You use us in every conceivable way possible: our bodies, our lives, everything we have. We run your drugs, we hide your bodies, we cover up your lies, we get sent to prison for your crimes, and what do you do for us in return? Nothing, barring occasionally throwing some money in our direction so that we’ll shut up and not rat you out to the police like you deserve. For that, we are expected to just stand by whenever you feel like taking out your aggressions on us, on our mothers, our sisters, our children. We’re supposed to sit there and take being raped and beaten and abused, and for what? So that you selfish fucking pricks can get more money and more guns! How is that fucking fair? Explain that to me!”
Asami stood unmoved. “I fail to see what all of this has to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you, you fucking arrogant bastard! My child deserves a better life than this! You can snap your fingers and give it to her. For once in your crooked, miserable existence, you could save a life instead of taking one. One tiny life, for all those people you’ve murdered and brought to ruin! Is that so much to ask?”
Feilong was laughing again. “Is that it? Are you serious? Did you really think that coming here and telling us your sob story was going to make a difference? Like Asami would take on some little whore’s brat just for the hell of it…! Do you even know who you’re talking to? Please, honey, take it on Oprah. I’ve got better things to do with my time. Like getting my nails done, for example…”
“Mock me if you will, Baishe! But the day will come when you filthy men realize that we women are far from powerless. What would happen, do you think, if every whore in Tokyo suddenly refused to offer her services? If we all stopped running your drugs and covering up your lies? How would your nice little Yakuza balance sheets even out then?”
“And we’re supposed to believe that you, one pathetic little teenaged prostitute, has the power to bring about such a revolution?” Feilong snorted.
The young mother gave Feilong a sharp look. “What do you think, Baishe? You walked the streets, you saw how the women reacted. You think that you can kill me with impunity? Try it. See what happens, I dare you.”
Asami lowered his gun, finally, and Akihito could sense that he had come to a decision. “Who are you?”
She looked him straight in the eye, and Akihito felt a sudden foreboding.
“My name is Kira. My mother was Cheng Su-Lin, otherwise known as Tokyo Rose, the most famous prostitute in all of Japan…”
Asami’s face betrayed nothing, but Akihito felt him twitch, and his grip on Akihito’s forearm tightened.
Kira’s face suddenly changed; her eyes lit up and she smiled wickedly, looking at Asami like a rat in a trap.
“You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you? That’s right, Asami Ryuichi: I am your daughter.”
Author: priestess_grrrl
Series: Viewfinder, which belongs to the wonderful Yamane-sensei, not me.
Pairing: AsamixAkihito
Rating: NC-17, warnings for bondage, violence, het (of the Aki-molesting variety)
Notes: For those of you who may not know, Kokoro means "heart". Sorry for the long delay; I've had RL health issues. Don't worry, though, lots of new plot in this chappie!
Special note to Russian readers: Three Yakuza and a Baby is now available here in Russian, thanks to the lovely mammarella.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
When we last left our hapless hero in Chapter 6:
…In front of Akihito were three women, all in black leather, none of them looking very friendly. One of them was holding a now-empty bucket, smiling a vicious sort of smile that reminded Akihito of Feilong when he was in one of his cruel moods. The others were standing with their hands on their hips, looking very much like venomous spiders examining the hapless prey trapped in their web, deciding whether they’d like to kill him first or eat him raw and still wriggling.
I’ve been kidnapped by a bunch of women. How can I even call myself a man?
At a noise from somewhere behind them, the three spider-women parted to reveal a pale young girl with large, empty eyes. She strode up to Akihito and gave him a look that frightened him to the core, though he couldn’t explain why. When she was mere inches away, she spoke to him in an eerily calm voice:
“What have you done with my child?”
***
Chapter 9: A mother’s secret
Akihito stared.
“W-what?”
There was something about the pale girl’s manner of speaking and the way she held herself that was frighteningly familiar to Akihito, but he couldn’t place it. She moved like a snake, coiled and ready to strike, but at the same time, she was perfectly calm. Dressed in black like the others, she wore a suit jacket, cinched at the waist, and black lace-up boots. Her hair was slicked back into a pony tail, and although she was the youngest of the group, she was very clearly in charge. The way she stared him down, without even blinking… it was unnerving.
“I entrusted my child to you. What have you done with her?”
Akihito’s brain had stopped working. “K-kokoro is your child?” This girl is Kokoro’s mother? But that made no sense. There was no way Asami would have… no, it wasn’t possible. She must be lying.
“Kokoro? How adorable. Are you hoping someone will love her?” Her smile was cold and pitiless.
Despite the fact that he knew he was in a compromised situation, Akihito couldn’t stop his anger from flaring up. “What are you saying? You’re her mother. Isn’t that your job?”
This earned him a stinging slap in the face from the spider woman on the far left, which hurt especially, since he was already bruised.
“I might remind you that you are in no position to judge.” The supposed mother crossed her arms, tapping a leather-gloved finger on one forearm.
Akihito knew he was pushing it, but he didn’t care. “You left your baby in a cardboard box outside my door! That doesn’t exactly qualify you for Mother of the Year!”
The spider woman on the right lashed out this time, kicking him in the stomach. He would have doubled over in pain, but the thick ropes held him fast to the pole.
Akihito coughed, trying not to choke. “W-what the hell do you want from me? I don’t have the baby, she’s with…” He stopped. Maybe he shouldn’t tell them Kokoro was with Feilong?
“She’s with the gentleman from Baishe,” answered the leader. At the mention of Baishe, all of the women began to hiss like snakes. Akihito found this extremely disquieting.
The young mother then pulled out a bronze lighter and flicked it once, lighting a cigarette. She propped one leather boot up on a crate, blowing smoke into Akihito’s face. “So tell me, pawn. Why did you give my baby to Baishe? You were supposed to deliver her straight to Asami Ryuichi. What, are you in bed with every crime lord in Asia?”
“What? NO!” Akihito sputtered angrily, his coughing fit renewed. “Do you think this is my doing? Do you think any of this is my choice? Asami does whatever he wants, and so does Feilong! I’m just… just a pawn, like you said!” He hated the fact that this was true, but there was no use denying it. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish by kidnapping me. All it’s going to do is bring Asami’s wrath down upon your head!”
At this, the black clad women laughed, the sound echoing through the empty warehouse like a murder of crows. “Let him come!” the supposed mother said, gesturing to the warehouse doors. “I’d like to hear what he has to say in his own defense.”
“Look, you’ve got this all wrong!” Akihito struggled in vain to relieve his discomfort. “How could this baby possibly belong to Asami? He’s twice your age! I don’t know what kind of scam you’re trying to pull on him, but it’s not going to work.”
The third woman in black moved to strike him, but the leader held up her gloved hand.
“Enough.” She took another drag off her cigarette. There was something about the way she held it in her hand that was niggling the back of Akihito’s brain, but he was having trouble thinking clearly. “So tell me, Takaba Akihito… what shall we do with you, while we wait for, how did you put it, Asami’s wrath?”
“W-what?” A black leather finger moved slowly down his cheek, then slid under the curve of his jaw.
“Tired out, are you? I hear you were pretty aggressive there, in the back of the van. Bondage turns you on, does it?” She raised one mocking eyebrow as the other women snickered, moving closer.
Akihito blushed to his roots, turning his face away. “Aw, what’s the matter, don’t like girls?” Hands began stroking Akihito in various places.
“Not girls who tie me up and kidnap me, I don’t - no! S-stop it…!” Akihito writhed against his ropes in protest, but it was no use.
“But you like men who do…?”
“No, I don’t! Just because it happens to me doesn’t mean I like it - ah!” The leader had her hand between his legs.
“Are you sure you don’t like it? It doesn’t feel like that…”
Embarrassingly, Akihito could feel himself growing hard again. The leader had practiced fingers, even through his jeans, and she was pressing herself up against him in a way that was extremely erotic. She’s a professional. These women must be prostitutes. Could it be that Asami really…?
“Nnngh…! Don’t…!”
“Don’t… what?” Her lips were right next to his ear; he caught the scent of jasmine perfume. The other women were running their hands up and down his body, laughing cruelly.
“Don’t - don’t touch me!” Akihito tried to turn his head away, but this only resulted in his exposed neck being licked, making him gasp and squirm.
“Don’t touch you… where?” She squeezed him hard, then began slowly working her small fingers into the opening of his jeans.
“Th-there!”
“Where’s there, precious? Oh, do you mean, here?” Her gloved hand reached into his boxers and wrapped around his stiffened cock. A moan escaped him involuntarily, and the spider women laughed as they continued to molest him.
Feelings of shame and humiliation washed over Akihito as he found himself once again in the too-familiar role of being the helpless victim of sexual predators. When had this become his daily bread?
There was a cruel voice inside his head, one that had been getting louder and louder recently, which ceaselessly mocked and degraded him. Well, well, here you are again, getting just what you deserve. Bet you feel like a real man now!
He wanted to tell that evil voice to shut up and leave him alone, but there was a part of him that totally agreed with everything it said. What kind of a man gets molested by a teenaged girl? When was the last time he was actually in control of a sexual situation? Akihito honestly couldn’t remember. Apparently he was just a toy, a plaything, to be tied up and jerked off whenever his current captors were bored and felt like humiliating someone.
Did he even count as a person? Did Asami consider him as such? Or was he merely a prized possession? Akihito knew that Asami’s feelings for him had changed since he had returned from Hong Kong, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this meant that they were now equal partners. If anything, Asami had become even more possessive of Akihito, hardly wanting to let him out of his sight.
Akihito hated being treated like a bird in a cage, and he rebelled against it as much as he could, though it was mostly futile. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t understand Asami’s concerns, but he loathed the feeling of being someone’s property. I’m not a piece of meat. I’m a human being. I deserve to be treated like one.
Yet even as that thought crossed his mind, here he was, whimpering uncontrollably as gloved fingers forced him towards orgasm. The malicious voice in his head laughed heartlessly. Keep telling yourself that, you filthy little slut. You are nothing but a worthless whore and you know it.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he was about to climax, though he tried to stop them, not wanting to add to the humiliation. It’s never going to change, is it? I’m never going to be anything but somebody’s fucktoy. Please, someone, save me from this hell…
Suddenly, several things happened at once. All the lights in the warehouse went out. Shots were fired. Sounds of struggle were heard. A second hand was suddenly on Akihito’s cock, right on top of the leader’s gloved fingers. This was no woman’s hand: it was a masculine hand, firm, with long, hard fingers that had grasped him many times in just this way… Asami…!
Akihito heard a sickening crack as the woman’s grip was violently torn away. She yelped in pain, but Akihito had little time to care about her, because suddenly Asami was all around him, and he was coming hard into his strong hand, and crying just as hard. “A-Asami…!”
Asami’s hands shook against him; his voice was raw and violent. “Akihito. No one makes you come but me. No one.”
In an instant Asami had cut the ropes away and crushed Akihito in his arms. Akihito grabbed onto Asami’s suit jacket like a life preserver, his knuckles white, his breath coming in great shuddering gasps. Asami’s grip was so tight it was hurting him, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was the fact that Asami was here; he’d come for him again, and he was safe in Asami’s protective embrace once more.
“Asami…” Akihito sobbed in sheer relief.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I won’t get go. I’ll never let you go again.” Asami’s hand was still shaking as he stroked Akihito’s hair. Akihito squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on the sound of Asami’s powerful heart beating in his chest, its reassuring cadence slowly calming him down.
The lights flickered back on, and Akihito felt Asami’s muscles tense as he drew his gun and moved to shelter Akihito with his body. The scene had changed. Kirishima and Suoh had apprehended the three spider women. The young mother stood between two Baishe men, looking down the barrel of Feilong’s pearl handled pistol.
Coming back to his senses, Akihito noticed two things immediately. First, Asami had not let his guard down, despite having things seemingly under control. The rock-hard muscles in his right hand were still strong as steel as he gripped his gun, and his rapid heartbeat had not slowed. Second, strangely, the young mother was smiling, although clearly in pain. She was staring at Asami with abject hatred in her eyes, but there was something else there as well: victory. Her bitter laugh suddenly rang out through the empty warehouse. What exactly was going on…?
“At last, I finally have the full attention of the great Asami Ryuichi. If I had known it would be this easy, I’d have done it a long time ago.”
Asami growled low in his throat, and Akihito feared for the young mother, despite his feelings of hatred for the way she had treated him. Does she not realize how angry she has made him? Does she not get that she is literally playing with fire? Akihito was actually surprised that Asami hadn’t shot everyone in sight, since that was his usual m.o. Was he hesitating because they were women? Or because of Kokoro? Or was it that Asami actually did know this young girl…?
Whatever the reason, Akihito hoped she would come to her senses. He really didn’t want to watch Asami murder a teenaged girl before his eyes, however vicious she was, yet that possibility loomed closer and closer each passing minute. Akihito could almost feel Asami’s finger on the trigger, sensing just how much control he was exerting to refrain from pulling it, and how terribly easy it would be for him to let go. As the silence stretched between them, Akihito became more and more nervous.
He had forgotten about Feilong, however, who was in his element.
“So tell me, young lady,” Feilong purred, nearly dancing on the balls of his silk slippered feet, wielding his gun like a royal scepter. “How is it exactly that you thought you could take on both the all-powerful Baishe and the not-quite-as-strong-yet-still-formidable Yakuza all by your lonesome? Isn’t that awfully big job for a little whore?”
The young mother sneered, her eyes never leaving Asami’s. “I don’t talk to snakes.”
Feilong’s eyes flashed red. Akihito was seriously worried now, since Feilong was even worse than Asami in terms of being a loose cannon. A look passed between Feilong and one of his men, and the young mother fell to her knees, her broken wrist having been twisted cruelly.
“Let me make this perfectly clear, sweetheart,” Feilong snarled, crouching down and pressing his cocked pistol to the middle of the girl’s forehead. “If you’d like to walk out of here alive, with all of your limbs in tact, I suggest you address me respectfully.”
Ignoring his threats, the young mother spat right back at him, “Go to hell!”
Feilong lashed out, grabbing her by the neck. When she started making horrible choking sounds, Akihito screamed. “No, stop, Feilong…!” Asami’s arm tightened around Akihito.
Laughing, Feilong dropped her to the cement floor, where she lay gasping for breath. “Lucky for you, our Akihito still has a heart full of compassion, even after you treat him like garbage.” He bent down and whispered in her ear. “That’s why Asami keeps him around.”
“Feilong!” Asami growled a warning.
“Only kidding!” Feilong beamed, clearly enjoying himself.
Akihito had had enough. “Look, will you two stop it already! Why does it always have to come down to violence? Asami, this girl is claiming to be Kokoro’s mother, and she obviously has something to say to you, so start listening! Feilong, quit exacerbating the situation!”
Feilong pouted. “Tsk! Can’t you gag him or something? He’s ruining the fun.”
“Enough, Feilong.” Asami was staring intently at the young girl, as if he were trying to read her thoughts. “If you have something to say to me, now is the time. Otherwise, we’re taking you all hostage and having this conversation under much less favorable conditions.”
“In other words,” Feilong insisted on chiming in, “Speak now, while you still have an angel of mercy here to keep us from pulling out your fingernails one by one. Because if you think your sex or your age are going to save you, think again. I’m an equal opportunity assassin, after all.” He flashed her a predatory smile, tossing his long hair.
The young mother sat up, breathing through her nose, and composed herself. The look of pure hatred on her face as she glared at Asami would have bored holes through steel. Akihito shuddered as dangerous thoughts crossed his mind: what if Asami really had done something to her…?
When she finally spoke, her voice was pure venom. “You men think you can do anything you want, all the time, with impunity. Rape, murder, ruining people’s lives: it’s all in a day’s work. Who cares whether someone gets run over by your misdeeds, so long as you get your guns and your drugs and your filthy money by the end of the day. So long as no one is strong enough to fight back, you can keep on doing it forever. Survival of the fittest. As long as you’re the alpha male and you stay on top, who gives a fuck what’s going down below. Those people are all trash anyway. Particularly whores, whom everybody knows are the lowest of the low.”
She paused and took a breath, her eyes still smoldering with hatred. “Our lives are less than nothing to you. You use us in every conceivable way possible: our bodies, our lives, everything we have. We run your drugs, we hide your bodies, we cover up your lies, we get sent to prison for your crimes, and what do you do for us in return? Nothing, barring occasionally throwing some money in our direction so that we’ll shut up and not rat you out to the police like you deserve. For that, we are expected to just stand by whenever you feel like taking out your aggressions on us, on our mothers, our sisters, our children. We’re supposed to sit there and take being raped and beaten and abused, and for what? So that you selfish fucking pricks can get more money and more guns! How is that fucking fair? Explain that to me!”
Asami stood unmoved. “I fail to see what all of this has to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you, you fucking arrogant bastard! My child deserves a better life than this! You can snap your fingers and give it to her. For once in your crooked, miserable existence, you could save a life instead of taking one. One tiny life, for all those people you’ve murdered and brought to ruin! Is that so much to ask?”
Feilong was laughing again. “Is that it? Are you serious? Did you really think that coming here and telling us your sob story was going to make a difference? Like Asami would take on some little whore’s brat just for the hell of it…! Do you even know who you’re talking to? Please, honey, take it on Oprah. I’ve got better things to do with my time. Like getting my nails done, for example…”
“Mock me if you will, Baishe! But the day will come when you filthy men realize that we women are far from powerless. What would happen, do you think, if every whore in Tokyo suddenly refused to offer her services? If we all stopped running your drugs and covering up your lies? How would your nice little Yakuza balance sheets even out then?”
“And we’re supposed to believe that you, one pathetic little teenaged prostitute, has the power to bring about such a revolution?” Feilong snorted.
The young mother gave Feilong a sharp look. “What do you think, Baishe? You walked the streets, you saw how the women reacted. You think that you can kill me with impunity? Try it. See what happens, I dare you.”
Asami lowered his gun, finally, and Akihito could sense that he had come to a decision. “Who are you?”
She looked him straight in the eye, and Akihito felt a sudden foreboding.
“My name is Kira. My mother was Cheng Su-Lin, otherwise known as Tokyo Rose, the most famous prostitute in all of Japan…”
Asami’s face betrayed nothing, but Akihito felt him twitch, and his grip on Akihito’s forearm tightened.
Kira’s face suddenly changed; her eyes lit up and she smiled wickedly, looking at Asami like a rat in a trap.
“You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you? That’s right, Asami Ryuichi: I am your daughter.”