“You’re lucky he didn’t spot you.” Akatora sighed, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.

  “You don’t have to tell me that!” Kanashi argued, his face still flushed red from the panic he’d just experienced. “Also I’m not really complaining about it but why the hell couldn’t he spot us? His Observation should be top notch as the strongest Hachibuto right!?”

  “That bastard is as blind as a damn bat with observation, not because he’s inept but because he’s so full of himself. He relies on his blessing for everything and expects it all to fall into place eventually. He’s a top tier slacker at heart.” Growled Akatora as if complaining about his own employee. Sitting in his now lightly refurbished office he took an inhale of his cigar before blowing the smoke from his nostrils. Sitting across from him in old dust caked chairs were Kanashi and Kenji.

  “Well I can’t really complain about it…” Kanashi muttered.

  “Well, since you’ve seen him now and all. How does he compare?” Akatora asked, tapping the end of the cigar on his ash tray.

  “Compare?” Kanashi asked, raising his brow.

  “Yeah, to Jinen?”

  “Well… he’s the closest person to Jin in strength I’ve seen yet, but he’ll still be crushed like the bug he is when the two fight.” Kanashi said with a weak smile.

  “Even if he’s the closest to Jinen?”

  “Think of every strong person I’ve met so far as a moon, compared to them Domushi is a planet, but Jin is a galaxy.”

  “Hmmm, not quite sure I get it but I’ll trust you on that… it’s the only thing I can do at this point.” Akatora sighed once more, rubbing his creased brow. “Now, you told me you managed to get a meeting arranged with Nordon right?”

  “Yeah, he said to meet him tomorrow at [Giovanni Giuseppe Diner] in Shibuchu…. alone.”

  “Ha- well I wish I could be happy about that but if you really do need to meet with him alone…” Akatoras voice trailed off with grumble, pushing down on his forehead with his thumb and index finger hard enough for the skin to turn purple.

  “You said you wanted Kanashi to talk to his Nordon guy right!?” Kenji asked with a shout rising from his seat. “So what the hell is the problem now? Why aren’t you thanking him!?”

  “Kenji, stop, it's fine!” Kanashi yelled, grabbing the swordsman by his Kimonos sleeve. Kenji turned to look at Kanashi, his face not full of aggression but panic, something which Kanashi nearly felt himself crumble on the inside upon seeing.

  No, I need to be strong, because If I’m not then… who will be? He asked himself, shaking his head. “It’s fine Kenji, don't worry , things are still going to work out. Akatoras just worried about how things are gonna go now with Domushi being around here. Right?” Kanashi said, turning to Akatora for confirmation his eyes creased.

  “Yeah, I’m more than happy about the meeting happening, but it’s just like what Kanashi said, Kenji. If our only worry was Domushi lurking around then I could still trust you and my men to protect Kanashi. But if Nordon wants him to be alone…” Akatora let out another sigh, this one deeper than all the others before. His face pressed firmly into his hand which had veins bulging across the back of it.

  Kanashi felt his own heart beat slowly, his head full of grim gray depressing fog. Even their small victory of making a meeting with Nordon ripped away from them before they could celebrate it.

  Kenji's overt aggressiveness, pointed at Akatora specifically, was most likely caused by his pride suffering an unimaginably awful blow. He couldn’t keep him calm when he saw Domushi, and even felt what must have been fear for the first time in maybe even over a decade. And to add salt to the wound, Akatora who he was supposed to be equal to if not superior in strength to was able to keep a cool front when standing directly before Domushi, something Kenji surely wouldn’t have been able to.

  Kanashi had quickly picked this up but decided not to press the issue, if Kenji felt even more cornered who knew what might happen. Instead he had to…

  “I’ll do it.” Kanashi said aloud.

  “Huh?” Both Akatora and Kenji asked to look at him.

  “I said I’ll do it, myself, all by myself I’ll do it.”

  “Hehehehe.” Akatora chuckled dryly. “This isn’t the big heroic moment that you think it is Kanashi-”

  “I don't think it is.” Kanashi interrupted, “I’m gonna do it, myself for myself. I’m gonna meet Nordon alone and secure this deal.”

  “It’s not just about you! It’s about everything and everyone!” Akatora yelled.

  “I know! I get that but just this one time, just right now I’m gonna be selfish! I’m gonna do it for myself!”

  “Isn’t being selfish what got you into this situation!?”

  “But that was different, I was being selfish for someone else, the idea of being able to help others by letting myself fail. This time I’m doing it by myself for myself, and no one or nothing else!”

  “This is bigger than your pride or ego Kanashi, this is the fate of me, my company, family and my country and the whole world! This isn’t about you at all!”

  “Right now it is! Right now it’s about me, right now the only thing I care about is fixing what I broke, everything else can come after that! I’m gonna be selfish here, this is something I’m doing for myself, I’m going to make myself face what I’ve been dreading and surpass it, so I can save everyone and everything! So I can save myself!” Kanashi yelled back, his aura spiking enough to engulf the room, for a moment Akatora lost his breath before returning with his own aura which quickly smashed Kanashis back smashing it down to where it barely spread beyond his person. But he couldn’t crush it completely, Kanashis aura much like Kanashi himself was unkillable, death defying, it stubbornly clung onto whatever it could find and Kanashi didn’t back down either. Though he poured sweat and trembled he kept to what he’d said with a flame in his crystal clear blue eyes.

  “I agree with Kanashi.” Kenji said, his voice quiet yet sharp enough to slice the tension cleanly in half.

  “What?” Akatora asked, turning to Kenji. The anger which he held for Kanashi quickly turned into pure confusion and helplessness as he stared at Kenji.

  “I trust him.” Kenji answered earnestly.

  “You’ve known him for three days!” Argued Akatora.

  “And in those three days I’ve learned to trust him! Yeah he’s weak, yeah he’s useless when it comes to fighting, yeah he’s small and cries alot. But so far when he’s said he’s gonna do something he’s done it. Just yesterday he pulled off what both of us thought to be the impossible and made Soutou Raizen surrender his title as clan head without a single casualty. Just through words and planning. So what’s meeting someone at a diner alone compared to everything we’ve done before?”

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  Akatora lost for words clenched his fist. Conjured flames coiling around his arms dancing in rhythm with his hectic heartbeat. Kanashi too felt unsure of Kenji's words and fell back into his chair, puffs of ancient dust filling his lungs as he did so.

  Kenji… you believe in me too much… Kanashi thought, balling his hands into fist. It was almost scary how attached to Kanashi, Kenji had become. You’d think they were lifelong friends, it even somewhat scared Kanashi even if he appreciated the friendship. After all, while Kanashi surly liked Kenji and treated him as his friend and trusted him with his life, their relationship was clearly worlds apart in terms of the level of trust. But if you’re gonna be the only one who believes in me then I can’t let you down. If I do, there’ll be no one left to believe in me.

  “Please, Akatora. I don’t expect you to trust me like Kenji does, I know I keep asking a lot from you, but please. Just let me have this last thing, I’ll make sure after I get this you’ll be repaid so much you’ll owe me change.” Kanashi smiled, awkwardly.

  Akatoras face scrunched up in a painful wince as he thought hard yet quickly about Kanashis request.

  “We’re equals in this after all aren't we?” Kanashi added.

  “Ughhhh, you better make sure this works!” Akatora yelled his flames consuming him completely for a moment before disappearing without a trace. “Because if you don't, hellfire won’t burn you as bad as I will.”

  “Thank you!” Kanashi yelled with a laugh, giving a full bow.

  “But, you’re not gonna be completely alone, I’ll have some smaller Yakuza hanging out around the area “looking” for Domushi for me. They won’t know a thing about you or our plan so there’ll be no suspicion

  “But isn’t that still dangerous… since they’re gonna be looking for me to turn me into Kobe?” Kanashi asked, his voice trembling.

  “That’s just a part of the gamble now, isn’t it?” Akatora grinned coldly.

  “So who was that guy?” Kenji interrupted.

  “Who?” Akatora frowned, turning to the swordsman.

  “The bug guy.”

  “You mean the one you saw out there?” Akatora asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “First of his name is Domushi.” (Mushi means bug in Japanese). “And second of all, I don’t even really know the answer to your question. So be happy knowing that he’s a Hachibuto and one you want to avoid if at all possible.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know the answer? I know you said Domushi was sketchy but you should at least know a bit about him right?” Kanashi asked.

  Akatora sat back down in his office chair and reclined in it, the rusted and dry metal hinges creaking as he did. “Sumiyoshi Domushi, Hachibuto of the Toumeikans defense force. He’s in charge of general security and making sure our turf is clean of anyone else. He showed up on the scene about eleven years ago and was promoted to a Hachibuto from the outside.”

  “The outside? Like, he wasn’t a part of the Toumeikan before?”

  “Correct, the first time he collaborated with the Toumeikan was around 11 years ago, when he participated in the Kageki clan massacre.”

  “!”

  At the mention of the Kageki clan Kanashi leaned forwards, his eyes widening.

  “The Kageki clan massacre was carried out by roughly 100 Yakuza, all at least ranked Hikari.”

  “So right under a Joshin, or equal to Ugoki right?” Kanashi asked.

  “Yeah, around there.” Aaktora nodded. “The Kageki clan being one of the great 3 clans of Edoland were of course dangerous, and with 300 hundred members, a quarter of which were skilled in magic, they needed all the fire power they could bring.”

  “And how many survived?” Kanashi asked. He’d had first hand experience with the Kageki clan, his example being Satoshi who was incredibly dangerous, though it was unknown how he compared to the rest of his clan.

  “Only two, the Hachibuto who preceded Domushi Jounichike Koutarou and Domushi himself.”

  “Amazing…” Kanashi said.

  “You’re leaving me out of the conservation even though I was the one to start it.” Kenji frowned. “Why should I be impressed with the Kageki or those two surviving them? It seems pretty damn clear that they’d be able to if Domushi was anything to go from.”

  “Because…” Kanashi went to answer but caught himself and stopped. He wasn’t sure if he should reveal the fact of Satoshi being alive and a member of the Kageki clan to Akatora. Even if he might not care personally it seemed like something to speak of carefully.”

  “Because the Kageki clan were a clan of world renowned assassins, it didn’t matter who you were or how strong you were, they always killed you in the end. If they put a hit on me or you we’d both die before the new moon rose.”

  Kenji frowned at the explanation as if doubting Akatora's last line but it seemed to be good enough to answer his question.

  “So do you know anything about Domushi from before he joined the Kageki clan massacre?” Kanashi asked.

  “Not a damn thing.” Akatora answered, turning back to Kanashi. “The name Sumiyoshi Domushi never existed before that event.”

  “So it’s an alias?” Kanashi asked.

  “Most definitely, but even then his real identity isn’t one we’ve been able to discern. Even Yamikawa got involved at one point in trying to discover who Domushi really was and not even a DNA sample could find anything.”

  “So he’s a ghost… someone who doesn't exist.” Kanashi muttered

  “It seems so. Which means he’s all the more dangerous. Because we don’t know how far he will go or what his weaknesses are.”

  “Just another piece to the puzzle… Frowned Kanashi.

  “Well, if you’ve had your questioned answered, I think it’s time for you to return to your rooms by tomorrow. Who knows if Domushi will return to look for something just like this happening.”

  “Yeah… got it.” Kanashi muttered while getting out of his chair. Kenji nearly flipped out of his and raced to the door swinging it open.

  “Before you leave tomorrow come speak to me!” Akatora called out as Kanashi left the room, to which Kanashi raised his hand in confirmation.

  # # #

  “Thanks Kenji…” Kanashi said as both he and the swordsmen returned to Kanashis hotel room.

  “For what?” Kenji asked, tiling his head.

  “For saying those things about me… I can’t say that hearing you describe in such ways doesn't hurt but everything you said was true. And it’s because of you that Akatora is letting me do this.” Kanashi said.

  “I’m pretty sure you’re the reason he’s letting you do this.” Frowned Kenji. “And besides, I’m not leaving you alone you know.”

  “Huh!? But I have to go alone!” Kanashi said. “That’s what Nordon told me.”

  “You’ll go into the food place alone but I’ll be with you as you walk there.”

  “...alright, I think I owe you at least that much.” Kanashi sighed. “But Kenji.” He muttered, coming to a sudden halt.

  “What now?” Asked Kenji.

  “I appreciate your friendship and all, and I feel pretty similar about you, but why do you like me so much? I mean like Akatora said we’ve only known each other for a few days and you’re so much cooler and stronger than me. There’s really no reason for you to put so much faith in me. I mean like I get that I promised to help you fight Julius and all. And don't worry I’ll keep that promise, it’s just that… well I feel like I haven’t earned any of what you’ve given me… and that I’ve given you so much less in return.”

  “Blegh, too much talking. Don’t think about it so much. I just like you.” Kenji shrugged, turned away and continued to walk the path to Kanashis room casually.

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Kanashi smiled to himself. “Friends are friends.”