Series: Possession (4)
Title: Possession
Chapter: 4
Pairing: (1) Aiba Masaki and Sakurai Sho
(2) Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun (hinted)
(3) Ninomiya Kazunari and Ohno Satoshi
Genre: Romance, AU
Rating: PG-13
Beta: laurachan2, kos_mos26
x-posted: arashirabu, jent_fanfics
Notes: This is to fulfill camaronzin's request of a Yakuza Arashi. Depending on how the story goes, this might also fulfill mm_nani's request of being hesitant and conflicted about being gay.
Warning: Mild violence is involved in this chapter.
“Jun-chan~” Masaki called out in a stage whisper.
Jun tucked a long strand of hair and cleared his throat, “What?”
The teachers’ lounge was nearly empty, except for the new drama teacher. The drama teacher hadn’t received a warm welcome like Jun had and Masaki thought the reason was the teacher was male. Besides, who really cared about acting in a finishing school? Jun had been successful in concealing his gender for the past few months, and Masaki didn’t want to take any chances now.
Masaki glanced at the other teacher and shaking his head, grabbed Jun by the arm and headed out. Jun reached for his handbag and ran after Masaki, “Oi … be careful! I can’t run fast in high heels!”
“Oops! Sorry! I forgot,” Masaki mumbled bowing to the other teacher.
Once they were out, he let go of Jun’s arm and they headed to the train station together. Due to the fact that Jun went drinking exclusively with Masaki, there were rumors in the school that the two were seeing each other. Since the school lacked a ‘No dating your co-workers’ policy, the administrators couldn’t really do anything about it.
“I think someone is following me,” Masaki confessed once they boarded the local train.
“Eh? Jun raised his voice before clearing his throat and lowering it to sound feminine, “Why would you say that? I would understand if they followed me, but why you?”
Masaki shrugged and shook his head, “I have no idea. I get this creepy feeling that someone is watching me when I’m alone. But if I turn around, there is no one. I thought it was just my imagination, but the feeling is persistent.”
“Perhaps you should report it to the police,” Jun suggested over the noise of the train.
“And tell them what? That I’ve a feeling someone is following me and I’m afraid?” Masaki shook his head, “I doubt they’d even take my case seriously. Unless I can provide proof that someone is really stalking me, I doubt they can do anything about it.”
Jun scratched his head, “Well, you could move in with me temporarily. That way you won’t be alone for long periods of time.”
Masaki’s jaw fell open, “But I’d inconvenience you …”
Jun shook his head, “Nah, we could share the rent and utility bills. And you’d not be alone or be afraid of someone stalking you.”
"Sounds nice, but it might not work out, especially if the school found out," Masaki sighed.
Jun frowned at Masaki's resignation, "Why not?"
"Haven't you heard the rumors?" he whispered harshly.
"What rumors?" Jun's curiosity was roused.
“The previous school nurse moved in with her long-term boyfriend and when the students’ parents found out they had a unanimous vote to have her removed from her position. So you see, the administrators and parents might be fine with the rumors about us dating. But if they find out that we've moved in together and that we're not yet married, they won't tolerate,” Masaki whispered.
“Let’s not tell the school then. You just go get a P.O. box and change your mailing address to that box. They’ll never find out,” Jun smiled.
“Let me think about it,” Masaki muttered as the train pulled at the station he had to get off, “Ah, I’ll be going now. See you tomorrow.”
“Think about it!” Jun called out as the doors closed and Masaki disappeared into the crowd.
As he walked down the empty residential street, Masaki looked behind him a few times. Shaking his head, he ran the last few blocks and locked his door behind him firmly. His feeling of security was rapidly dwindling with each passing moment. When a dog let out a long, loud howl, Masaki decided he has had enough. He’d tell Jun that he would accept his offer and move in as soon as possible.
*****
Sho stared at the email he had received from Imai. Imai hadn’t dared give this piece of news face to face. He dreaded his boss’s reaction and so he decided the safest way for him to pass the information was through an email. Imai really appreciated the technology and the conveniences it brought to mankind. Sho glared and seethed at the email, but he had no one to aim his anger at.
Aiba Masaki is possibly dating the home economics teacher from his school. Our inside man reports that they leave work at the same time in the evening, together. They are comfortable enough to casually pull each other aside when they need a moment alone. Her name is Matsumoto Jun and she joined the school two months ago.
- Imai
“How dare this woman come between me and Masaki?” Sho yelled to no one in particular and banged his fists against the table, rocking a cup holding the pens.
Imai rolled his eyes from the other side of the door and muttered under his breath, “I think you got that wrong Sho. Aiba-san was never yours to begin with and Matsumoto-san is definitely not coming in between you two. In fact, you might actually be trying to meddle in their business. It is perfectly normal for a man to fall in love with a pretty woman.”
Of course Imai wasn’t stupid enough to say it to his boss’s face, regardless of how close they were, and was smart enough to not walk into that room when Sho was in one of his moods. He turned around to leave the area when a new guy stopped him, “Uh … I’m supposed to give a message to Sakurai-sama. I can’t seem to find his room though. Can you tell me how to get there?”
Imai stared at the man and wondered if he should let the new guy know that it wasn’t a good time to see Sho, but he shook his head and thought better, ‘If Sho gets his anger out of his system now, it will be safer for the maids who will have to clean up after he breaks everything in his sight.’
Smiling at the messenger, Imai pointed to the closed door, “That’s his room.”
“Oh, so I was going in the correct direction! Thank you so much,” the messenger bowed to Imai and ran to the door.
Imai watched the guy knock on the door and walk in. He closed his eyes and pitied the new recruit, but it was for his own good. If he couldn’t tolerate what Sho was dishing out, he certainly won’t survive long in the clan. Closing his eyes, Imai leaned against the wall and waited for the sounds of a one-sided fight to stop.
*****
“I need to change my mailing address,” Masaki smiled at the female clerk at the school’s administrative building. He passed the filled out form and smiled at the lady, waiting for her to enter the information into the system.
“A post box number?” the lady asked curiously.
“Yes. The landlord is doing some renovations and umm… the building’s mailboxes are unavailable for the postman until the renovations are done. So, the landlord suggested we rent a post box until he is done,” Masaki smiled again, gulping nervously.
The lady nodded and entered his new address into their system, “All done. You should receive a confirmation letter in a couple of days. Anything else I can help with today Aiba-san?”
His nervous smile turned into relief and he shook his head, “Nope. Thank you very much.”
Masaki nearly skipped out of the office, but restrained himself. Once he was out, he pulled out his phone and dialed Jun’s number, “Jun-chan! The address change was accepted without any problems. If you don’t mind, I was thinking of moving in over the weekend.”
“I’ll make a copy of the house key for you,” Jun smiled into his phone.
“Thank you Jun-chan! You’re so kind! I’ll treat you to dinner on Saturday!” Masaki declared before disconnecting the call.
*****
“That’s the last box,” Masaki panted pushing it to a corner.
Jun smiled sprawling on the floor, “That’s a lot of boxes for just one person!”
Trying to catch his breath, Masaki smiled joining Jun on the floor, “Not my fault… I can’t help buying books…”
Laughing, Jun turned to face Masaki, “What about dinner?”
“I want yakiniku,” Masaki grinned sitting up, “What about you?”
“I know a place close by,” Jun stood, “but first, I need a shower. I stink from lifting those heavy boxes.”
Masaki sniffed his own underarms and made a face, “You’re right. I need a shower too. Why don’t you take one first while I dispose some of these empty boxes?”
Nodding his head, Jun grabbed a towel, “Yeah. I’ll see you in 10.”
*****
“How are things going at the club?” Sho asked looking at a file.
“The new attraction has brought in unexpected turnover this month,” Imai replied.
“Good. Perhaps we should look into employing more male strippers as regulars then?” Sho suggested.
Agreeing with the suggestions, Imai nodded his head. When Sho would have continued, Imai’s phone buzzed indicating an incoming message.
Ignoring the buzz, Sho spoke again, “What about the other report?”
Imai’s eyes went wide at the message he received and he avoided looking at Sho, “Uh… about that…”
“Yes?”
Licking his dry lips, Imai passed his phone to Sho, “I just received a message regarding Aiba-san…”
Raising an eyebrow, Sho took the phone from Imai’s fingers and read the message twice… slowly, “They moved in together?”
Imai kept his eyes directed at the floor, “That’s what the message says.”
“It happened yesterday?”
“Looks like it,” Imai sighed.
Letting out a string of expletives, Sho threw the phone away. Imai watched in dismay as the phone hit the wall and fell to the ground, bouncing once before it lay in pieces. Sighing softly, Imai looked at Sho, “What do you want to do now?”
Stopping his curses, Sho paused his pacing and looked at Imai with a strange light in his eyes, “I know! Find out where they live now and see if we can rent a place next door.”
“What for?” Imai was confused by the request.
“It will be a lot easier to break into that place without rousing anyone’s suspicions if one of our men lived next door. I need anything you can find on that whore Jun who is trying to seduce my Masaki. Anything you can find!” Sho growled, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.
“Y-yes… I’ll see if we can find a vacant apartment next door,” Imai mumbled wondering when Sho’s obsession about Masaki will die down, “what if there are no vacant apartments?”
Sho stared at Imai like he had just grown a second head on his shoulders, “You’ve been with the clan for years now! You should know how to deal with uncooperative landlords and tenants!”
“Got it,” Imai mumbled, “I’ll be on that task right away.” He picked up the broken pieces of his phone and head out grumbling at the unexpected additional expense. Growling softly he pulled aside one of their men and yelled, “Find out who owns Sakura apartments.”
*****
“School was so boring today,” Masaki complained walking next to Jun on a Monday evening a week after the move.
“I got to bake a chocolate cake,” Jun grinned holding a cake box, “If you’re good, I’ll share it with you after dinner.”
Masaki grinned, “Absolutely. I’ll be a good little boy. But, what’s in the cake?”
They were walking down the empty hallway leading to their apartment at the far end. Jun was about to go into details of how to bake a cake and what ingredients to use when a door burst open and a man fell to the floor. Jun and Masaki stared at the man and realized the bloodied face belonged to their landlord.
“Eh?” Jun squeaked and went to help only to stop himself when a group of guys walked out behind the landlord.
Masaki pulled Jun away from the men and stood in front of Jun in a protective act, and whispered, “I think we should not get involved. You don’t want to expose yourself accidentally by getting caught in this fight, do you?”
Jun shook his head and stayed behind Masaki, his fingers resting on Masaki’s shoulders. The landlord whimpered and looked at one of the guys that beat him up, “I swear I’ll return the money. I just need more time.”
“We already gave your friend two months to repay it,” a familiar voice spoke from inside the apartment.
When the man that voice belonged to stepped outside, Masaki gasped and nearly pointed his finger at him. Stopping himself in time, Masaki whispered to Jun, “I saw this guy at the bar where we had your welcome party. He was beating up someone else at that time too. We should definitely not get involved in this.”
“I… I just need one more month. I have sent a letter explaining the situation to my brother in Okinawa. He’ll send the money soon,” the landlord was explaining.
Imai smiled and shook his head, “That’s very good and all, but we can’t believe your word. We’ve already given your friend two extensions. Since he skipped town and you were the guarantor for the loan, you’ve to pay up.” Looking at his men he nodded to them, “Bring him in.”
Masaki and Jun flattened themselves against the wall as the landlord was hauled away. Their eyes fell nervously on Imai who smiled at them wiping his hands on a handkerchief. They gulped when Imai came closer, “You’ve a new landlord from now on. Make the rent checks payable to the Ohno Corporation.”
When Imai’s eyes lingered on Jun’s face, Masaki stepped in front of Jun blocking Imai’s view, “We understand…”
Laughing at the gesture, Imai walked away leaving the two untouched. Dialing Sho’s number Imai began his report, “Sho, things have been taken care of here. It turned out that the landlord was a guarantor on a loan we hold. I had to pull some strings to get this done, so I hope you don’t mind.”
“What kind of strings?” Sho questioned.
“Well, I told the guy who took the loan that if he disappeared for a while his loan will be pardoned. To get to the landlord, this was the quickest way,” Imai grumbled.
Sho rubbed his temples, “It doesn’t matter. Even if the friend knows that the debt has been canceled, his guarantor doesn’t. We’ll just have the landlord make up for the pardoned amount. And … don’t hesitate to double the interest if the guy shows up for another loan in the future.”
“I’ll make sure the accountants are aware of it,” Imai nodded his head getting into the backseat of a sedan.
“So the apartment next door is empty now?” Sho inquired.
“Absolutely and I’ve put up a notice on the front informing the tenants that the management of the apartment building has changed and rents should be paid to Ohno Corporation starting next month,” Imai reported.
A grin split Sho’s face, “You’re a very efficient man Imai. I’m glad we bumped into each other in college. Send in one of our men to occupy the empty apartment. I’ll treat you to the best sake available when you come home.”
“Since these two don’t know who our inside man is, I’ll have him take residence next door,” Imai nodded before ending the call.
*****
“You need not worry. No one knows whom I work for,” the new teacher smiled packing his bags.
“Keep it that way and don’t forget to check in with me whenever possible.”
“I won’t. This is turning to be quite exciting,” the teacher smiled zipping up the last of his bags.
“Teaching?”
“No silly. Coaching how to act in a drama to a bunch of teenage girls is actually quite scary, especially when you’re a single unmarried man. The girls are always trying to seduce you into being more lenient!” the teacher locked the door and walked to the waiting taxi.
“Oi! Don’t get carried away because you see pretty faces everywhere. Focus on the job at hand!”
Laughing softly, he stepped into the taxi, “I won’t.”
“Take care Nino! Be careful.”
“You too,” Nino smiled as the taxi drove him to the Sakura apartment complex.
[To Be Continued]
[End of Chapter 4]
Comments? Opinions?
Chapter: 4
Pairing: (1) Aiba Masaki and Sakurai Sho
(2) Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun (hinted)
(3) Ninomiya Kazunari and Ohno Satoshi
Genre: Romance, AU
Rating: PG-13
Beta: laurachan2, kos_mos26
x-posted: arashirabu, jent_fanfics
Notes: This is to fulfill camaronzin's request of a Yakuza Arashi. Depending on how the story goes, this might also fulfill mm_nani's request of being hesitant and conflicted about being gay.
Warning: Mild violence is involved in this chapter.
“Jun-chan~” Masaki called out in a stage whisper.
Jun tucked a long strand of hair and cleared his throat, “What?”
The teachers’ lounge was nearly empty, except for the new drama teacher. The drama teacher hadn’t received a warm welcome like Jun had and Masaki thought the reason was the teacher was male. Besides, who really cared about acting in a finishing school? Jun had been successful in concealing his gender for the past few months, and Masaki didn’t want to take any chances now.
Masaki glanced at the other teacher and shaking his head, grabbed Jun by the arm and headed out. Jun reached for his handbag and ran after Masaki, “Oi … be careful! I can’t run fast in high heels!”
“Oops! Sorry! I forgot,” Masaki mumbled bowing to the other teacher.
Once they were out, he let go of Jun’s arm and they headed to the train station together. Due to the fact that Jun went drinking exclusively with Masaki, there were rumors in the school that the two were seeing each other. Since the school lacked a ‘No dating your co-workers’ policy, the administrators couldn’t really do anything about it.
“I think someone is following me,” Masaki confessed once they boarded the local train.
“Eh? Jun raised his voice before clearing his throat and lowering it to sound feminine, “Why would you say that? I would understand if they followed me, but why you?”
Masaki shrugged and shook his head, “I have no idea. I get this creepy feeling that someone is watching me when I’m alone. But if I turn around, there is no one. I thought it was just my imagination, but the feeling is persistent.”
“Perhaps you should report it to the police,” Jun suggested over the noise of the train.
“And tell them what? That I’ve a feeling someone is following me and I’m afraid?” Masaki shook his head, “I doubt they’d even take my case seriously. Unless I can provide proof that someone is really stalking me, I doubt they can do anything about it.”
Jun scratched his head, “Well, you could move in with me temporarily. That way you won’t be alone for long periods of time.”
Masaki’s jaw fell open, “But I’d inconvenience you …”
Jun shook his head, “Nah, we could share the rent and utility bills. And you’d not be alone or be afraid of someone stalking you.”
"Sounds nice, but it might not work out, especially if the school found out," Masaki sighed.
Jun frowned at Masaki's resignation, "Why not?"
"Haven't you heard the rumors?" he whispered harshly.
"What rumors?" Jun's curiosity was roused.
“The previous school nurse moved in with her long-term boyfriend and when the students’ parents found out they had a unanimous vote to have her removed from her position. So you see, the administrators and parents might be fine with the rumors about us dating. But if they find out that we've moved in together and that we're not yet married, they won't tolerate,” Masaki whispered.
“Let’s not tell the school then. You just go get a P.O. box and change your mailing address to that box. They’ll never find out,” Jun smiled.
“Let me think about it,” Masaki muttered as the train pulled at the station he had to get off, “Ah, I’ll be going now. See you tomorrow.”
“Think about it!” Jun called out as the doors closed and Masaki disappeared into the crowd.
As he walked down the empty residential street, Masaki looked behind him a few times. Shaking his head, he ran the last few blocks and locked his door behind him firmly. His feeling of security was rapidly dwindling with each passing moment. When a dog let out a long, loud howl, Masaki decided he has had enough. He’d tell Jun that he would accept his offer and move in as soon as possible.
*****
Sho stared at the email he had received from Imai. Imai hadn’t dared give this piece of news face to face. He dreaded his boss’s reaction and so he decided the safest way for him to pass the information was through an email. Imai really appreciated the technology and the conveniences it brought to mankind. Sho glared and seethed at the email, but he had no one to aim his anger at.
Aiba Masaki is possibly dating the home economics teacher from his school. Our inside man reports that they leave work at the same time in the evening, together. They are comfortable enough to casually pull each other aside when they need a moment alone. Her name is Matsumoto Jun and she joined the school two months ago.
- Imai
“How dare this woman come between me and Masaki?” Sho yelled to no one in particular and banged his fists against the table, rocking a cup holding the pens.
Imai rolled his eyes from the other side of the door and muttered under his breath, “I think you got that wrong Sho. Aiba-san was never yours to begin with and Matsumoto-san is definitely not coming in between you two. In fact, you might actually be trying to meddle in their business. It is perfectly normal for a man to fall in love with a pretty woman.”
Of course Imai wasn’t stupid enough to say it to his boss’s face, regardless of how close they were, and was smart enough to not walk into that room when Sho was in one of his moods. He turned around to leave the area when a new guy stopped him, “Uh … I’m supposed to give a message to Sakurai-sama. I can’t seem to find his room though. Can you tell me how to get there?”
Imai stared at the man and wondered if he should let the new guy know that it wasn’t a good time to see Sho, but he shook his head and thought better, ‘If Sho gets his anger out of his system now, it will be safer for the maids who will have to clean up after he breaks everything in his sight.’
Smiling at the messenger, Imai pointed to the closed door, “That’s his room.”
“Oh, so I was going in the correct direction! Thank you so much,” the messenger bowed to Imai and ran to the door.
Imai watched the guy knock on the door and walk in. He closed his eyes and pitied the new recruit, but it was for his own good. If he couldn’t tolerate what Sho was dishing out, he certainly won’t survive long in the clan. Closing his eyes, Imai leaned against the wall and waited for the sounds of a one-sided fight to stop.
*****
“I need to change my mailing address,” Masaki smiled at the female clerk at the school’s administrative building. He passed the filled out form and smiled at the lady, waiting for her to enter the information into the system.
“A post box number?” the lady asked curiously.
“Yes. The landlord is doing some renovations and umm… the building’s mailboxes are unavailable for the postman until the renovations are done. So, the landlord suggested we rent a post box until he is done,” Masaki smiled again, gulping nervously.
The lady nodded and entered his new address into their system, “All done. You should receive a confirmation letter in a couple of days. Anything else I can help with today Aiba-san?”
His nervous smile turned into relief and he shook his head, “Nope. Thank you very much.”
Masaki nearly skipped out of the office, but restrained himself. Once he was out, he pulled out his phone and dialed Jun’s number, “Jun-chan! The address change was accepted without any problems. If you don’t mind, I was thinking of moving in over the weekend.”
“I’ll make a copy of the house key for you,” Jun smiled into his phone.
“Thank you Jun-chan! You’re so kind! I’ll treat you to dinner on Saturday!” Masaki declared before disconnecting the call.
*****
“That’s the last box,” Masaki panted pushing it to a corner.
Jun smiled sprawling on the floor, “That’s a lot of boxes for just one person!”
Trying to catch his breath, Masaki smiled joining Jun on the floor, “Not my fault… I can’t help buying books…”
Laughing, Jun turned to face Masaki, “What about dinner?”
“I want yakiniku,” Masaki grinned sitting up, “What about you?”
“I know a place close by,” Jun stood, “but first, I need a shower. I stink from lifting those heavy boxes.”
Masaki sniffed his own underarms and made a face, “You’re right. I need a shower too. Why don’t you take one first while I dispose some of these empty boxes?”
Nodding his head, Jun grabbed a towel, “Yeah. I’ll see you in 10.”
*****
“How are things going at the club?” Sho asked looking at a file.
“The new attraction has brought in unexpected turnover this month,” Imai replied.
“Good. Perhaps we should look into employing more male strippers as regulars then?” Sho suggested.
Agreeing with the suggestions, Imai nodded his head. When Sho would have continued, Imai’s phone buzzed indicating an incoming message.
Ignoring the buzz, Sho spoke again, “What about the other report?”
Imai’s eyes went wide at the message he received and he avoided looking at Sho, “Uh… about that…”
“Yes?”
Licking his dry lips, Imai passed his phone to Sho, “I just received a message regarding Aiba-san…”
Raising an eyebrow, Sho took the phone from Imai’s fingers and read the message twice… slowly, “They moved in together?”
Imai kept his eyes directed at the floor, “That’s what the message says.”
“It happened yesterday?”
“Looks like it,” Imai sighed.
Letting out a string of expletives, Sho threw the phone away. Imai watched in dismay as the phone hit the wall and fell to the ground, bouncing once before it lay in pieces. Sighing softly, Imai looked at Sho, “What do you want to do now?”
Stopping his curses, Sho paused his pacing and looked at Imai with a strange light in his eyes, “I know! Find out where they live now and see if we can rent a place next door.”
“What for?” Imai was confused by the request.
“It will be a lot easier to break into that place without rousing anyone’s suspicions if one of our men lived next door. I need anything you can find on that whore Jun who is trying to seduce my Masaki. Anything you can find!” Sho growled, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.
“Y-yes… I’ll see if we can find a vacant apartment next door,” Imai mumbled wondering when Sho’s obsession about Masaki will die down, “what if there are no vacant apartments?”
Sho stared at Imai like he had just grown a second head on his shoulders, “You’ve been with the clan for years now! You should know how to deal with uncooperative landlords and tenants!”
“Got it,” Imai mumbled, “I’ll be on that task right away.” He picked up the broken pieces of his phone and head out grumbling at the unexpected additional expense. Growling softly he pulled aside one of their men and yelled, “Find out who owns Sakura apartments.”
*****
“School was so boring today,” Masaki complained walking next to Jun on a Monday evening a week after the move.
“I got to bake a chocolate cake,” Jun grinned holding a cake box, “If you’re good, I’ll share it with you after dinner.”
Masaki grinned, “Absolutely. I’ll be a good little boy. But, what’s in the cake?”
They were walking down the empty hallway leading to their apartment at the far end. Jun was about to go into details of how to bake a cake and what ingredients to use when a door burst open and a man fell to the floor. Jun and Masaki stared at the man and realized the bloodied face belonged to their landlord.
“Eh?” Jun squeaked and went to help only to stop himself when a group of guys walked out behind the landlord.
Masaki pulled Jun away from the men and stood in front of Jun in a protective act, and whispered, “I think we should not get involved. You don’t want to expose yourself accidentally by getting caught in this fight, do you?”
Jun shook his head and stayed behind Masaki, his fingers resting on Masaki’s shoulders. The landlord whimpered and looked at one of the guys that beat him up, “I swear I’ll return the money. I just need more time.”
“We already gave your friend two months to repay it,” a familiar voice spoke from inside the apartment.
When the man that voice belonged to stepped outside, Masaki gasped and nearly pointed his finger at him. Stopping himself in time, Masaki whispered to Jun, “I saw this guy at the bar where we had your welcome party. He was beating up someone else at that time too. We should definitely not get involved in this.”
“I… I just need one more month. I have sent a letter explaining the situation to my brother in Okinawa. He’ll send the money soon,” the landlord was explaining.
Imai smiled and shook his head, “That’s very good and all, but we can’t believe your word. We’ve already given your friend two extensions. Since he skipped town and you were the guarantor for the loan, you’ve to pay up.” Looking at his men he nodded to them, “Bring him in.”
Masaki and Jun flattened themselves against the wall as the landlord was hauled away. Their eyes fell nervously on Imai who smiled at them wiping his hands on a handkerchief. They gulped when Imai came closer, “You’ve a new landlord from now on. Make the rent checks payable to the Ohno Corporation.”
When Imai’s eyes lingered on Jun’s face, Masaki stepped in front of Jun blocking Imai’s view, “We understand…”
Laughing at the gesture, Imai walked away leaving the two untouched. Dialing Sho’s number Imai began his report, “Sho, things have been taken care of here. It turned out that the landlord was a guarantor on a loan we hold. I had to pull some strings to get this done, so I hope you don’t mind.”
“What kind of strings?” Sho questioned.
“Well, I told the guy who took the loan that if he disappeared for a while his loan will be pardoned. To get to the landlord, this was the quickest way,” Imai grumbled.
Sho rubbed his temples, “It doesn’t matter. Even if the friend knows that the debt has been canceled, his guarantor doesn’t. We’ll just have the landlord make up for the pardoned amount. And … don’t hesitate to double the interest if the guy shows up for another loan in the future.”
“I’ll make sure the accountants are aware of it,” Imai nodded his head getting into the backseat of a sedan.
“So the apartment next door is empty now?” Sho inquired.
“Absolutely and I’ve put up a notice on the front informing the tenants that the management of the apartment building has changed and rents should be paid to Ohno Corporation starting next month,” Imai reported.
A grin split Sho’s face, “You’re a very efficient man Imai. I’m glad we bumped into each other in college. Send in one of our men to occupy the empty apartment. I’ll treat you to the best sake available when you come home.”
“Since these two don’t know who our inside man is, I’ll have him take residence next door,” Imai nodded before ending the call.
*****
“You need not worry. No one knows whom I work for,” the new teacher smiled packing his bags.
“Keep it that way and don’t forget to check in with me whenever possible.”
“I won’t. This is turning to be quite exciting,” the teacher smiled zipping up the last of his bags.
“Teaching?”
“No silly. Coaching how to act in a drama to a bunch of teenage girls is actually quite scary, especially when you’re a single unmarried man. The girls are always trying to seduce you into being more lenient!” the teacher locked the door and walked to the waiting taxi.
“Oi! Don’t get carried away because you see pretty faces everywhere. Focus on the job at hand!”
Laughing softly, he stepped into the taxi, “I won’t.”
“Take care Nino! Be careful.”
“You too,” Nino smiled as the taxi drove him to the Sakura apartment complex.
[To Be Continued]
[End of Chapter 4]
Comments? Opinions?