I was helped to one of the tables in the dark hostess club by Blast who wasn’t in better shape. My side hurt like hell. It was oddly comforting to see we weren’t the only ones. One of the Tigers cradled his hand and glared at me. Probably the one I’d stomped on, but my shoulder was killing me too much to care. I laid back in the booth Blast set me down in and decided to watch the room, maybe try to take my mind off the pain a bit. Xianying had jumped behind the bar and was filling drinks. El Pollo was making a call on a cell with a white rhinestone protector. The Boss was leaning against the bar, and it seemed like she was deep in thought. Mako and Tsubasa had vanished but I wasn’t terribly concerned about it. Blast has taken a seat near me and was doing her best to lie down, but kept fidgeting.

“See you then.” El Pollo tapped the screen and slid the phone into a pocket of his jacket. He turned to the Boss with a magnificent spin and clapped his hands. “Okay!” The Boss looked up at him. El Pollo took a seat at the bar next to her. Xianying slid a pair of drinks over to them. The room was dead silent outside of a few creaks and pained groans, everyone seemed to be watching their leaders.

“I did not see your spymaster at the battle today.” El Pollo tapped the counter. “We caught her digging into one of our business terminals. She had a gold dragon on her arm.”

The Boss nodded.

“I suspect the woman you saw was an outcast of our clan.” El Pollo raised an eyebrow.

“You expect me to accept that? We know she was one of yours.”

The Boss responded without much emotion.

“Indeed she was. Fujiko Nanji. She was banished from our clan almost a year ago.”

El Pollo let his voice fall to a whisper.

“Even if I were to accept that...”

The Boss cut him off.

“The fate of Nanji is only a concern of ours in that she has been working to undermine relations between our clans. If you were not confident in your conclusions you’d not have faced me openly. Correct?”

El Pollo nodded, resting his hands on his thighs.

“I understand you will have your doubts about us beyond what words can mend. The five warriors your men faced today are all I have.”

That got me thinking... had she just included me because it was easier than explaining my presence? Or was she counting herself?

“Makoto.” The androgynous one stepped confidently forward when called.

“I’m sorry to report that Nanji has been keeping a deliberately low profile. I would not be able to keep tabs on her without the potential of revealing myself or impacting my other duties.”

The Boss nodded.

“Indeed. However, we can no longer afford subtlety. Find Nanji and we will bring the full might of the Kojima Clan down on her.”

El Pollo sniffed.

“I want to be there.” The Boss put her hand on his shoulder.

“And you will be. On my honor we will not act without you.”

El Pollo closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“You will not mind us conducting our own investigation?”

The Boss nodded

“I understand.”

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the front door. Before I knew it, Xianying was beside it pensively. Tsubasa scrambled up to the other side of the door as the heavy knock came again. Tsubasa gripped the door handle and on a nod from Xianying, swung the door open quickly.

“Uh!” the delivery girl was carrying several bags and styrofoam packages. “Um… Fried Chicken?” She stammered nervously at the group of bloody yakuza staring her down. Xianying rolled her eyes and shoved a few bills in the girls hand. She abandoned the bags and fled. El Pollo’s face had filled with contempt as he scanned the room.

“Who had the balls?” He approached one of his men and glared at him. The man looked away disinterestedly. He walked up to another. “Was it you?” I could have sworn I saw the second one roll his eyes. “You think this is funny?”

One of the men on the other side of the room stood up and when he was sure he had everyone's attention he spoke up “Not really, sir. You already did this gag for us...” El Pollo looked dejected. His pleading eyes gazed around the room but he saw he was getting no sympathy.

“Okay, it was meeee.” He mumbled half heartedly as his arms slumped down to his sides.

El Pollo put on a fresh smile. “Well. Who wants chicken anyway?” Nobody seemed prepared to argue with him.

A herd of black suits crowded around as El Pollo began to sort everything. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair as a shadow fell over me and the Boss set a glass of water and some painkillers down for me. I then tried to sit at attention, but she waved me down.

“Are you alright?” She asked, but didn’t seem too worried.

I took a swig of water and downed a couple of pills. “I’ll be okay.” I rubbed my leg gently. I winced as it was gonna be iffy to walk for a bit. The Boss touched my ankle gently.

“May I?” She asked and wrapped her fingers under my ankle.

“Eh, sure?” I didn’t really know what she wanted to do, but she seemed to want to help.

She lifted my leg and sat down in the booth, taking my leg into her lap and elevating it. I winced as it hurt a bit to shift around. Once settled, she began to slowly massage my hip. Her touch was firm but not too hard, surprisingly soothing and started to feel really good as she got into a rhythm. If the rest of me wasn’t boxed up in the booth, I might have tried to take a nap. It didn’t feel like too long before she stopped. I was disappointed, but tried not to show it. The Boss motioned for me to sit up and it was easier than I expected because my leg did feel a whole lot better. I had to flush as the boss took my hand and helped me to my feet. She then pulled a chair from another table and sat me down, and I noticed the two of us had drawn the attention of some of the Tigers. Before I could do anything about it, the Boss started working on my shoulders. She was damn good at this and I wasn’t going to pass this up just because I was embarrassed about the guys watching.

I needed something, anything, to take my mind off the situation. “Hey... Boss…how did you become a yakuza anyway?” I’d asked Blast about it but she hadn’t known herself.

“Dah, you would be curious.” The Boss let go of my shoulders and sauntered off to the bar. I suspected I should have kept my mouth shut. Xianying poured the Boss a tall glass of something alcoholic and she gulped it down like water. It surprised me when she turned on her heel and came back, setting a chair next to me and leaning into the seat.

“It is a long story but I suppose you aren’t going anywhere.”

==== Ironheart ===

I am Viktorya Mariya Ilyinishna. My brothers in the mafia named me ‘Ironheart’ and my Dragons would simply call me... ‘Boss’. I was born in the Muskaya oblast, a province my family controlled for decades. Oveshchenskov was our city and as developed as any in the Far east. When you looked out across the river from my families home? You’d see our sister city, Hyeje of the people’s republic. The night I first met Xianying Cheng, I was across the river. It was a pleasant evening, still and quiet. I was no stranger to dealing with the odd corrupt officer of the People’s Liberation Army, They were way too uptight but rarely unreasonable.

I did my best to radiate calm. My men were so antsy, I could see it. This side of the river was potentially hostile territory and they knew that. I was proud they weren’t taking this as a joke, but being jumpy was just as dangerous. I’d spread my guys out and they all knew what to do in case of trouble. I’d made sure of that. I had a small fold-out table and a couple of chairs set out so we had somewhere to talk, and the PLA Convoy arrived without ceremony.

Kairi cut me off.

“Who are the PLA?” She asked sweetly.

Xianying pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat across from her.

“The People’s Liberation Army. The most disciplined and dedicated fighting force in this world or any other.” Xianying beamed with pride. “The army made me what I am today.”

Kairi visibly chafed at her statement and shot back with a retort. “You shouldn’t underestimate the will of the Self Defense Force.”

Xianying respectfully returned to the subject. “...The short of it is that the Boss saved me when things went south.”

I nodded and admitted to the part of the story that hurt me the most. “My older brother sold us out to the PLA proper, He correctly feared what I was becoming.”

I could see the curiosity light up in Kairi’s soft eyes, Xianying’s smug gloating all but forgotten.

“A story for another time perhaps.” I tried not to grin. Kairi’s befuddled gaze was a sight to behold. I wasn’t one to tease my treasured and trusted subordinates but this was not the time. I firmed up my grip and she relaxed to let me continue working on her shoulders for a while longer.