chapter eight

21 questions

The inside of Tsukomo's apartment was in contrast to the empty and unappealing outside. The small space felt homely, if you took away the strong scent of cigarettes. It was done in a very American western style, sort of similar to the way Itokan was done up, with vintage beer signs and roadmaps on the walls.

Sting followed behind us, staying close to the older man's heels as he led us to the living room.

"It's been years since I've seen Yuki and Courtney." Tsukomo remarked, vanishing into the kitchen for a moment. Cobra and I sat on the carpet in front of a low table with a crystal ashtray and a small succulent plant. Sting left his owner's side and came padding over to the two of us, panting contentedly as Cobra pet him. "How are they? Seeing as how it's just you, I have a feeling they aren't too great?"

"You'd be right." I said sadly, reaching my hand towards Sting. "Dad died a few months ago. Liver cancer." The black lab saw my outstretched hand and sat back on his hind legs, placing his small paw on the inside of my pale palm.

"Oh my god." Tsukomo said quietly. "Why didn't he tell any of us he was sick?"

"I don't know. He never told us much about his life here." I answered as Tsukomo took a seat on the other side of the table, passing me a glass of ice water. "The funny part is, he wasn't even drinking anymore when he was diagnosed. He was almost a year clean. But I guess liver cancer doesn't care if you stop drinking or not, not like cirrhosis."

Tsukomo nodded. "I remember when he used to drink. Strange times, those were. But Kohaku was worse. Nobody could out drink him."

Next to me, Cobra snorted. As a former member of Mugen, I had a feeling that the blond had some personal experience with this mysterious Kohaku.

"I remember when we were in New Mexico, back when your parents got married. You were only five or six, so I'm sure you don't remember, but there was an open bar at the reception. And Kohaku isn't the type to know when to stop if he has a drink, so he just kept on drinking and drinking. Made a complete and utter arse of himself, and I thank god every day that he didn't know enough English to make things worse for himself. Poor Courtney, her family was horrified."

Cobra snorted, and I found myself starting to smile as Sting placed his head in my lap with a small whine, waiting to be pet.

"He likes you." Tsukomo said, nodding sightly at the dog. "He doesn't usually like strangers. I found him abandoned in an alleyway on what's now Daruma's land, even though S.W.O.R.D wasn't around when I found the poor guy."

"You named him after that guy from The Police." I remarked quietly. "Dad liked them. But he liked Simple Minds more. Not a day went by when he didn't have 'Once Upon A Dream' playing. By the time I was eleven, I knew all the words to 'All The Things She Said." I smiled. "I guess I still have a bit of the ranch in me: from when I was six until about a year ago, we lived on this giant ranch just outside Albuquerque. Yuki loved the open space, the outdoors. It's why he insisted on a lake house when we moved to Canada."

Tsukomo nodded, lighting up a fresh cigarette. "That means Kohaku and are the only ones left. At least Yuki and Tatsuya are together again. They were like brothers."

"I wouldn't have known. Japan wasn't exactly something he talked about a lot." I frowned. "I was hoping that maybe you'd be able to tell me something, maybe about why he left, or why he didn't talk about Sannoh, or Mugen."

Tsukomo sighed. "Gillian, if you keep asking around, you're going to hear things. But I want you to remember that your father was good man."

I swallowed back the lump forming in my throat with a large gulp of water. That couldn't be good.

"Did he ever explain to you why he didn't want kids of his own? Why you never had any step-siblings?"

"Sort of. He was schizophrenic, right? Something he didn't want to pass down."

Tsukomo nodded. "Yeah. The disorganized kind, though. Not the one that makes someone dangerous. It scared us, sometimes, when he went into these episodes, when his meds stopped working altogether, or that awkward layover when he was changing them, knowing there was nothing we could do to help him."

"I know the feeling. The only time I ever saw him in an episode, I was thirteen. It was terrifying, seeing Yuki, this image of composure and confidence, reduced to what that sickness made him, yammering on about nothing, acting like a child."

"He was having one of his episodes the day everything changed. about a month before he left Japan. When we lost him."

I could feel the panic starting to set in. The ugly truth was rearing it's fat, ugly head.
"Lost him to who, Tsukomo?"

Cobra sighed. "I have a feeling I can make a pretty on-the-nose guess."

Tsukomo glanced over at me, a sad look in his eyes. "We lost him to the Iemura Group."

It went silent. So silent you could hear a pin drop. The only sound I could register was the ringing in my ears. Cobra sucked in a breath and looked at the floor. Tsukomo took another drag form his cigarette.

The lost my dad to the yakuza.

The motherfucking yakuza.

"That's what they do, Gillian." Cobra spoke first. "They prey on people when they're vulnerable, like a cult. That's how they got Noboru, and that's how the Korean mafia got Kohaku."

"They had me too, for a minute. Those Korean bastards." Tsukomo added. "But we got Noboru back, and before I did anything I was gonna regret, I saw sense too. Then Kohaku threw me through a window, but we got him back too. What's important is that we all came back. So did your father."

"But what if you weren't fast enough?" I responded. "What if he did something so bad while he was there, that he saw no other option but to leave the country."

"Gillian, you work in law. You know how it is." Cobra sighed. "You can never leave organized crime. Not unless you're dead. When we got Noboru back, the Iemura Group ran him over. He spent two months in a coma, and is only no regaining use of his legs."

"Oh my god." I said quietly, burying my fingers in Sting's soft fur. I needed to do something to stop my hands from shaking.

"He was a good man, Gillian." Tsukomo said quietly. "You need to remember that. And he was proud of you. So goddamn proud, especially when you got into Harvard."

Cobra raised an eyebrow. "You went to Harvard?'

"Dropping out to be with my family after the diagnosis was the hardest thing I ever did." I answered simply, cut off by the incessant buzzing of Cobra's phone.

"What's going on?" Tsukomo asked, concerned as the younger Mugen member stared at his phone.

"That would be the S.W.O.R.D group chat descending into chaos. You know how it is: Murayama says something, Hyuga pokes at him until they both start fighting with each other and vice versa." Cobra sighed. "You remember last summer when Doubt were running around stealing girls?"

Tsukomo nodded. I was a little unsettled. The hell kind of town was I in? Vigilante gangs and people that kidnapped girls?

"Well, Murayama's girlfriend was one of them. Her name is Midori, I think her dad is actually Noboru's landlord. Anyways, she got away, but apparently Doubt are back, and they have the Mighty Warriors working with them again. According to Midori, they've been prowling around the bordertowns, scouting for land." Cobra sighed again, running his hand through his hair. "Between this, the missing Iemura girl and Gilly's quest for answers, I think we need to call another S.W.O.R.D meeting. God, why did they all put me in charge?"

"Because the alliance was your idea?" Tsukomo suggested with a shrug.

"Wish it wasn't." Cobra exhaled, scratching Sting behind the ears before getting to his feet. "I should get going if we're gonna call this thing." His phone pinged again. "And there's Hyuga, right on cue, making fun of Murayama yet again. God, they're all children."

"I should go as well. I have some stuff I need to do for work still. There's a big homicide back home, they need all hands on deck." I said, wiping my eyes and standing up. "It was nice to properly meet you again, Tuskomo-san."

Tsukomo grinned. "Drop the honorifics, kid. We're as good as family. Wait right here for a second."

Tsukomo vanished into a side room with a sliding door, returning moment later with a small key ring in his hand.

"Your dad used to talk about coming here with you and your mom one day. It's a shame he didn't live long enough to bring you back here. He would have wanted you to have this. It opens a shipping container down by the docks, where the Container Fight was. Anybody in Sannoh will know where to take you."

I smiled, taking the keys from Tsukomo. "Thank you. For everything. I have a feeling this isn't the last we'll see of each other."

"I think you're right."

NOTES!!

1600 words makes this the longest chapter in this book so far-

i've gotten a lot better at writing longer chapters since i started writing for high and low