When he’d finally arrived at the address, Mai was half-asleep. Hisashi asked for the keys, carrying Mai to her bedroom. Laying her into the bed, he covered her, and brought her a glass of water. She seemed to have sobered up a bit, so Hisashi continued, “Mai, you need to lock yourself. I’ve gotta go now, I had a good time with you, but let’s not make any rash decisions. Let’s hear from each other from time to time, okay?”

Mai got up from the bed, and leaned to kiss him. “Of course. But you should stay the night with mee.”

Pressing her lips against Hisashi’s, he noted the taste of an alcoholic beverage. Hisashi was too stunned to push her away, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Feeling his back, Mai suddenly stopped. “Eh, Hisashiii, what is that?”

The blood in Hisashi’s veins froze. “Come on, let me see.” She said, unbuttoning Hisashi’s shirt.

“Ah, no, I don’t think you want to see that. This is a bad idea, Mai, go to sleep.”

“But I don’t wannaaa.” She had already unbuttoned half the buttons on the shirt, pulling it down, revealing Hisashi’s shoulders and upper arms.

Hisashi froze. His heart began pounding, the air became too thick. Too heavy. It got caught in his throat, no, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t…

“Pfft.”

The laughter, and the oh so beautiful smile appeared on Mai’s face. “Is that why you don’t wanna sleep with mee? What’s this ugly red thinggg? Lemme see moreee.” She said as she tried to catch Hisashi, but he moved out of the way.

“Mai, I think it’s the best that I leave.” Hisashi said, visibly upset.

“Oh, is that why you don’t wannaaa stayyy with me? It’s the ugliest thing I’ve seen, hihi.”

Biting his lip, Hisashi buttoned his shirt back up. “I think it’s the best that we stop here. I will leave you to rest now. Goodbye.”

“Huuh, you’re really leaving? Tch, and all that funn for nothing… back to my boring life with my husband.”

Hisashi froze. “Mai, you have a husband?”

“Yeaaa, so?”

Hisashi wished he could erase the last few hours. Wished he could just disappear from the face of the earth. The pain in his chest grew, it was getting harder to breathe again.

So he looked at her, emotions filling his voice. “Mai, I can’t do this. Not to you, nor your husband. I brought you home so you can rest. And I’m leaving you here. Let’s not hear from each other again.”

“Eeh, you’re so boringgg. And I thought you were specialll.”

Hisashi heard nothing but those words ringing in his head as he exited the house.

Reito Akiyama spat blood out. “You do whatever you want to do, I’m not telling you anything. You monsters. How dare you do this to our mayor? Do you think I’ll betray him just like that? NEVER!”

Luna and Kyoshi sighed in desperation.

“Never say never, Akiyama. You just might regret saying that.” Said a low voice at the doors of the training grounds.

“That being said, I suggest you reconsider your priorities.” Said Yoru as he hauled something–someone across his shoulder.

Reito gasped. “Airi! What have you done to my wife?!”

Putting Airi into the chair in front of him, Yoru put his hands upon her shoulders. “I suggest you choose your next words carefully, Akiyama. Surely the mayor isn’t more important to you than your wife.”

Reito said nothing–did nothing but grit his teeth­–as he looked at his wife’s unconscious expression.

He gave in at last.

“Mayor Takeshi made a deal, which would bring fortune to him. I’m talking huge amounts of money. I was supposed to meet with him today, so that we could wait for the shipment in the harbor.”

“What’s on those ships?” asked Luna.

Reito swallowed. “Money the mayor made.”

“How did he make it?”

“By exploiting oil to other cities. To those that don’t have access to the sea, and you know how expensive the oil is on the market.”

Yoru narrowed his eyes. “True, it costs a kidney to afford premium gas for my bike. When are the ships arriving at the doc?”

Reito threw a look at his wife, who just came to. Airi saw her husband sitting across her, then threw a glance at the calloused hands upon her shoulders.

Her gaze travelled up, towards the apathetic expression on Yoru’s face. Widening her eyes, she was about to scream when Yoru said, “There’s no use in screaming. All your husband needs to do is give us the info we ask him.”

“You monster.” Reito said, sobbing.

Yoru sauntered over to him, tilting his head up by the chin. “You should thank your friend, Anzai Takeshi, for that. He was the one who made me like this.”

Reito sat there speechless as Yoru released his jaw and turned to Kyoshi and Luna.

Airi looked at Yoru, her eyes wide with fear. She whimpered.

“Today. The ships are arriving today. Possibly right now, I don’t know what time is it. Mayor said it would be about 4 PM.”

Luna frowned. “The main harbor?”

“Yes.”

“Which dock?”

Reito swallowed. Looking at his wife, he finally said, “Number six.”

Yoru clapped his hands so loudly that both Reito and Airi flinched. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? You didn’t have to bring your wife into this, you know. It could’ve been only you.”

“What do you mean?!” Reito bellowed.

“What I mean, now you know too much. I can’t let you run to the mayor knowing of our whereabouts. But you’ve been of a great help, so we’ll see each other in the evening.”

“W-wait. Let’s talk this out, shall we? Surely you’re not that heartless, are you?!”

Yoru turned to him, a somewhat sad expression upon his face. “My heart died with him. And it’s the mayor’s fault. Now,” he said, turning to the Akai Ryu. “Let’s discuss our plans for the afternoon, shall we?”

It was a hot afternoon, the blazing sun burning the top of Hisashi’s head as he finally reached the Shuryo Inu mansion. Disappointment upon his face, he just prayed he wouldn’t come across Daisuke, or anyone other than Arika for that matter. Yet another failed date, yet another opportunity to find a nice girl crushed. Leaning his head upon the cold walls of the hall, Hisashi closed his eyes. He didn’t have to open them to know Arika just arrived in the hall, leaning upon the walls.

“So, how’d the date go? Did you lose your virginity?”

Hisashi raised an eyebrow. “No, my dick was too big.”

Arika snickered. “That’s a shame. Was she not your type?”

Hisashi mused. “Let’s say that she drinks a lot.”

Arika let out a serious “Oh”. Hisashi slowly smiled at the sad expression she was making. “Don’t feel bad about not getting me a girlfriend, Arika. They usually say love comes when you least expect it, with the most unexpected person. Maybe my special someone is up to something fun right now, enjoying life to their fullest.”

“I’ll give you that one. Hope dies last.”

“Have you perhaps tried finding anything about Yoru? I know I haven’t been of much help.”

“Not much, unfortunately. Not even his birth certificate. It looks like the guy just appeared and started

threatening the mayor. He was occasionally spotted writing threats to the mayor, but when the police went to capture him, he’d outrun them. No murder attempts before the parade, either.”

Hisashi frowned. “I don’t get it, honestly. If there was nothing aside from threats, why did he make a move now? He could’ve just gone and assassinate the old fag while he was in his office. Like, smash his window and jump him from behind, strangle him and be gone. That’s how I would do it, if I were Yoru.”

“Perhaps there is a deeper meaning to all this, Hisashi. The mayor isn’t a good man. Maybe Yoru experienced his ruthlessness firsthand.”

Stroking his beard, Hisashi followed, “A revenge? Possible motive. But how many people have already tried to get their revenge on the mayor? The only thing they got from it was a death sentence.”

“Yoru thinks he’s different. We didn’t manage to talk to him back there, but he seems to have an ego. I mean, only a fool or a complete lunatic would dare strike the mayor down. As for the assassination, I think he might be trying to weaken him first, and then, when he’s the most vulnerable, strike him down.”

“You’re right about that. He’s not stupid either. Maybe he was also testing the waters with the attack during the parade. He’s seen how weak the Shuryo Inu is, and that the mayor won’t put up a fight if he’s endangered. Rather, he’ll send people to fight for him while he flees to safety. If Yoru ever called him a coward, I’d absolutely agree with him.”

Arika laughed at that.

Hisashi let a smile upon his face. “Maybe we can go investigate now. We’ll turn over every rock in Kuroyuki, but I tell you, we’ll find them and their hideout.”

“Good idea. Maybe we can pick up more info on the way.”

 Exiting the house, Hisashi spotted the mayor fidgeting around his car, talking to his bodyguards about something. Nodding to Arika, they crept up closer, but remained hidden so they avoided unnecessary conversation with the mayor.

“They should’ve already come to the town by now, what’s the deal? I’ve called him numerous times since the morning, we are expecting shipment in about half an hour! We’ve agreed to sign the contract on the spot.”

Arika froze. “What shipment?”

“I don’t know. The client seems to be missing…. Shit!” Hisashi grabbed his katana.

“Hisashi?”

Hisashi turned back to her. “Don’t you get it? The mayor agreed on this shipment with his client, but he went missing almost for the whole day. That means Yoru is behind the disappearance. Only he could pull this off, in an attempt to destroy the mayor’s precious position.”

“But how will we know which harbor?”

“Get in the car. We’re following the mayor!”

Stepping on the gas, Hisashi easily caught up to the mayor’s car, all while Arika begged him to drive carefully. “It’ll be alright now, Arika. We’re right behind the mayor, so unless Yoru throws a rocket at the cars, we’ll manage to stop him.”

“What if he brings a sniper with him?”

Hisashi closed his eyes as the red light turned on. “Since there’s just the two of us here, it’s the best that if the mayor gets attacked head on, we split up. You stay with the mayor, and I’ll secure the area. He won’t go without his bodyguards. We’ll use them to cover us while we keep the Ryu occupied.”

“We are outnumbered! How do you expect this plan to work?”

“The bodyguards have their duties, too. They’ll do anything to keep the mayor’s head intact. Meaning they’ll have to join us, whether they like it or not.”

Arika closed her eyes. “I’m just so skeptical about them helping us.”

“Unfortunately, as much as the Akai Ryu are predictable about their move, they are also too unpredictable to actually fight against. And I’m not asking them for help. So, we’ll figure stuff along. We can’t learn to fight them from the book.”

The mayor’s car stopped at the dock, so Hisashi followed behind and parked nearby. The duo took their weapons and scattered. The mayor didn’t react even if he’d seen them.

Climbing on top of a barrack, Hisashi took his gun out. Willing calm into his mind, the only thing he could do was wait. Anxiousness flew throughout his body, but at the same time, excitement. Knowing, hoping Yoru had forgotten them from several nights ago, Hisashi would definitely remind him who he was dealing with. “Ten million wyrettes.” He mumbled to himself.

Half an hour passed. The mayor stood on the doc, looking around. No ship yet.

An hour passed, but no ship yet. The mayor started fidgeting. The client is nowhere to be found, either.

An hour and a half later, a loud horn announced the arrival of the ship. Hisashi moved. Crawling closer, and closer, he camouflaged with the nature around the harbor.

This waiting was killing him. The mayor came closer to the anchored ship, the ladders landing. Maybe he was anxious for nothing.