Work in progress...

U/C

By sammig82

It was a helicopter last year. This year, a shiny new Gulfstream 250 landed on a private airstrip near the outskirts of Tokyo. Men in suits and dark shades were lining up on each side of a red carpet where the recently purchased jet would come to a measured halt. A black limousine was already in position on one end of the red carpet while on the other, a sheltered staircase leading to the aircraft’s door.

Once the jet had taxied to a stop, its door opened to a imposing figure of another bodyguard. If there was an assassination attempt, he would be counting on his bulletproof vest hidden underneath his western suits while his employer would be counting on him to make sure that no such incident would transpire in the first place. Natsumoto Kenji scanned the surrounding as if he was born with X-rays vision which would detect evil-doer from afar.

“All clear,” the voice of his trusted colleague came through the earpiece in his right ear.

“Copy that,” he replied before turning into the cabin and gave the passengers a nod.

As soon as Aikawa Minami emerged from the doorway, all the men on the ground as well as Natsumoto lowered their heads as a sign of tremendous respect. All eyes were locked to the earth beneath them. At the age of 43, she was the daughter of Aikawa Yamato – the founder and head of the biggest Yakuza family in Japan. Ever since taking over from her father from a relatively young age, she had transformed all of the family’s illegal dealings into legitimate businesses, turning the once fearsome underground organisation into a successful corporate powerhouse.

In the most graceful manner, she glided down the stairway in her elegant long-sleeved velvet dress with a fashionable red hat. Her every steps in her 3-inch pumps indicated the class she exuded as she made her way into the limousine. Despite her age, the current chairman of the Aikawa mega corporation appeared years younger. Behind her oversized dark shades, was her flawless skin in creamy pale complexion as a result of both meticulous skincare and spending most of her times away from the sun. Hence, carrying the nickname the Vampire Empress of the East. Keeping herself in good shape, she had the slender figure of someone who had done plenty of sports despite the truth of otherwise. Her dainty fingers and svelte hand wrapped in velvet silk glove came to rest on the upper frame of the limo’s door as she turned around to address her men.

“Thanks for all your hard work,” she said graciously before spotting someone relatively new in the lineup.

“He’s the new guy, I’ve told you about, Aikawa-sama,” Natsumoto explained as if reading his employer’s mind before turning towards the fresh addition and demanded his introduction.

Keeping his head bowed, the new guy shouted in a customary manner, “Fukushi Takeru. 22 years of age. From Hiroshima. Happy to be at your service!”

Natsumoto noticed that the newbie was as well-built as himself with an admirable determination as well as striking good looks – something which reminded himself of his own beginning when he had started working for the Aikawa family. His loyalty had never been questioned and he hoped the young recruit would show the same promise. After all, he was the one who had been trusted to handle the recruitment process.

“Good. I like earnest young man,” Aikawa said before disappearing into the luxurious vehicle.

Natsumoto joined her in the privacy of her limo. As soon as the vehicle started pulling away from the airstrip, she ordered her assistant – Furi Keiko, who had been an insignificant figure until now – to look into Fukushi’s background with even more scrutiny than Natsumoto did. For that, her long time bodyguard was hurt.

“Sorry, Kenji. You’ve done well. But, I can’t be more careful these days. Especially after what happened last week,” Aikawa said.

They had managed to uncover a traitor among the IT staffers leaking information to a rival corporation in China. It had been rather fortunate on their part when a power outage in one of the company’s server forced them to manually rebuild accounting data. The log file had revealed suspicious activity by a veteran employee who had later been terminated. His family had reported him lost ever since, and rumours had been spreading that the 55-year-old had took his on life.

Natsumoto knew better.

Ending someone’s life had not been in his job descriptions for a while now. But, raised as one of the last generations of Yakuza members before the family decided to legitimise its businesses, he found no difficulty in disposing the said traitor. What worried him more was the sway he was beginning to detect in Aikawa-sama’s principles. The stern words from her uncle must had gotten to her as she had started using methods which was usually the bread and butter for her deceased father.

“I have been receiving words that the cops are trying to plant someone into our organisation,” Aikawa said.

“Words? Please pardon my lack of manners Madam, but are these sources reliable?” Natsumoto felt himself too emboldened to even ask.

“Are you doubting my judgement, Natsumoto-san?”

“Of course, not. I beg your forgiveness,” the bodyguard apologised with his head bowed once again.

“Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with the extra vigilance. I’m going to be a few steps ahead of them in this regards. Furi-san will be in charge of the infiltration,” the ‘boss’ said as she kept looking out through the limo window – taking in the serenading scenery from the countryside in the midst of fall.

“Infiltration? Into the police force?” Natsumoto couldn’t help but be taken aback by her audacity.

“Are you having issues with that?”

“Of course not,” Natsumoto responded, keeping his apologetic tone.

Deep down though, he felt slightly overlooked that his boss had decided to trust a relative newcomer in Furi-san over him with such an important and highly-challenging task. Secondly, it was not that such infiltration had never been done before. In fact, it had been done on a couple of occasions during her father’s time. However, on both of those instances, both men had decided to ‘defect’ once they had settled down with their own families and gotten used to the comfortable life on the better side of law.

Besides, Natsumoto couldn’t see the urgency of taking such drastic measures as the Aikawa corporation had been turning over a new leaf for quite some time now. Why would she go to such lengths? Yes, there were some instances where they did blackmail a few of their business rivals. And, there some new night clubs coming which had not been completely compliant with the local laws. They could have just resort to roping in some local officials into their payroll. That would have settled most things. After all, they were Aikawa Corporation- the biggest company which control the livelihood of almost every entertainers and big shot artists in the country. Natsumoto just couldn’t see the reasoning behind his boss’s decision.

Unless, of course, she had something going on which even himself had no knowledge of. With that thought, he trained his vision at Furi Keiko – a petite and bespectacled young lady who could not shake of the typical impression of your everyday secretary. Natsumoto had a feeling that she was a lot more than meet the eyes.

The Rise

Sato Yui felt herself shaking as she held on to her firearm in exactly the manner she was taught back in the academy. They did not teach her how to control her nerves, however. Considering the fact that it was her first major drug raid, she could do much worse. Her superior – a veteran in drug enforcement of 15 years - stood beside her, tried to calm her.

“Take a deep breath and think about the Sake we’re gonna pour ourselves once this is over,” Ryu-san said as he leaned against the building along with a dozen others from the same agency.

It was a warehouse in a secluded industrial area in an abandoned mining town of Yubari. It was the same anonymous tip-off which had been feeding Hajimaru Ryu’s team intel that had helped them crippled a small drug ring over the past couple of months . This time, they had been pointed to something which was even bigger – something which would drag the giants of Aikawa corporation into the mud.

“Everyone in position. On my count, guys,” Ryu whispered into his earpiece. Just like that, the team rushed into the warehouse, where a money-drug-exchange between the Yakuza and the Russian Bratva was happening.

Fifteen minutes later, Sato Yui was the only one from her team who was still standing. To her, it seemed like an ambush. It felt like an ambush. Every member of the Bratva had escaped. Ryu-san and the rest of his team were dead. There was an immense sense of dread and regret that she could not prevent the sacrifice of her colleagues. However, she had managed to take down a prominent member of the Aikawa family, along with a few of the Yakuza followers. The bullet from Yui’s firearm which landed between the crook’s eyes felt good.

The Aikawa Corporation denied all involvement in the incident, saying that the deceased member was loyal to Aikawa Takeshi, the younger brother of Yamato, the former leade. Prior to this incident, Takeshi had long been cut off from the family by the current chairman – Aikawa Minami, due to his insistence in continuing the ‘old ways’ of the Yakuza in doing business.

As of this moment, the authorities was in the manhunt for Takeshi to have him cooperate in the investigation of the purported ambush and the death of eleven police officers. He had become Japan’s most wanted man. Meanwhile, Sato Yui had been awarded the medal of bravery, the highest accolade in the country’s enforcement history, for her defiance in the face of an impossible challenge. She was also promoted to lead the drug and organised crime unit – the highest position in the police force ever given to a woman.

Disciple

“The rise of the policewoman I’ve always looked up to, Yui Sato. I hope I didn’t miss anything in that retelling of your story. I’ve always read a lot of news about you, senpai. And, I was almost in tears when I’ve found out about being promoted to work directly under you,” Hikaru Miki was starry-eyed after she had finally confessed her admiration for her new chief.

Sato Yui blushed at the flattery she was receiving as she sat cross-legged  behind her desk in her own office as she looked at the young lady in her mid-20s who reminded a lot about herself when she had just started out. Even their executive suit attire appeared similar except for the knee-length pencil skirt Yui herself was wearing. Miki was sporting a pair of smart women-slack instead.

“I’d advised that you don’t read too much into what they’ve written in the papers. Sometimes, they tend to exaggerate,” Yui said as she examined the appearance of the new addition to her squad.

While Yui had matured over the years, she still looked lovely with her Bob-cut hair style. She would usually be seen with a stylish bang partially obscuring her left eye. Miki, on the other hand, exuded the more youthful girl-next-door vibe with a less sophisticated getup where her silky black was kept neatly in a ponytail. While Yui was slightly more voluptuous, Miki had a slender figure which had proven to be nimble as well during her days in the academy.

Before this, the chief herself was the only woman in the team. With her position though, she was rarely required to be on the field – enjoying the safety by making big decisions and giving orders from behind the desk. Miki’s addition nevertheless made her feel less alienated in a job and world dominated by men. She had always vowed to change that after having submitted her proposal to have more women in the enforcement as a whole.

More to come...