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Chapter Twenty Six
Wheelhouse
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“I don’t get it.”
Ren stopped adjusting his collar in the reflection of the window an turned towards Corey with an inquisitive air. “The collar, the limo, or the event?”
“The tears.” Corey swept some of his hair out of the way of his eye. “When I wore the mask, there was so much information being thrown at me. There were fights, destruction. People died, parts of the building fell, that ugly tiger got beheaded somehow; I still can’t focus on it. But we all survived it. We were all alive at the end.”
“But you were crying.” His brow crinkled as he looked up at Ren, his gaze shifting between him and Tone. “And I couldn’t tell why.”
“Maybe he was happy.” Rook, who was too tall and too big for the limo, was hunched up against the ceiling, interjected, the top point of his mask digging into the ceiling. Tone reached over and pulled his frame down by the collar. “To finally be freed from all these problematic pests.”
“No.” Corey had, in spite of Ren’s insisting he do otherwise, repeatedly taken the mask out of the school backpack which sat next to him on the rearmost seat of the limo, and once again cradled it in his fingers. “You were sad, and very angry. But we didn’t die. None of us did. So I don’t…”
“We follow the plan.” Tome mumbled, reaching across the limo and adjusting Ren’s collar himself, instantly doing a much better job at it. “We do everything right, then everyone walks away from this with their feelings intact. Everyone still have their radios?”
“Tell me,” Race asked, glancing up from her phone long enough to ensure people noticed the radio communicator she held up. “How are we gonna get our masks inside the building? We can’t pocket them and just walk in.”
“I can take a few.” Shou looked back from the driver’s seat. “There’s a box of camera equipment in the trunk. Should be plenty of room to fit whatever’s not being worn in. better take the radios too; you’re clearly not security.”
“Yeah, and that box has to get through security just the same.” Race glanced at their chauffeur, watching a clump of ashes drop off his eternally drooping cigarette and onto the previously spotless floor. “What’s stopping them from opening it up?”
“Leave that to me.” He gestured towards the side of the vehicle with his head. “Pick yourselves up, we’re here. Wait for me to get the door.”
Ren glanced out the window his back was against, up at the well-lit building that dominated the skyline. It seemed to be at least seventy stories tall, but illogically large skyscrapers had become a staple of Japan in recent memory, and despite sharing such a similar height with the minimal-security building the statue had been stolen from, this one outdid all others in its opulence.
Hashira no Ten Lucky Casino and Resort was the full title, but Ren knew just enough Japanese to convert the title to Pillar of Heaven, and despite being a glorified hotel with lots of room, it lived up to the title with an overly-glamorous showiness in its architecture and aesthetic. Only the back portion of the building had any apartments for almost thirty floors, as the remainder of that space was used to host an extremely luxurious ground floor, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and multiple steel supports cleverly interwoven into the massive concrete statues which appeared to support the ceiling.
The glistening fountain in the middle of the room, visible through the completely transparent entrance, perfectly framed what was undoubtedly the crown jewel of the tallest building in Sendai. At the top of the incredibly wide stairs, layered in orange, black, and white marble, was the eponymous tiger, standing almost four times as tall as him. Its exaggerated features and walleyed gaze stared down in fury across the entire room, king of all that it observed.
“With Ren.” Tone murmured, seeing Ren was too transfixed by the massive statue to say anything about expected protocol. “Corey, you know where to go, but don’t split until you’re well inside. Race, you’re wearing the mic, I want you hovering around Ren or around anyone who looks remotely important. I’ll be right outside at all times.”
“Good luck, team.” He lightly punched Ren on the knee to get him to focus as Shou opened the limousine doors. “And remember - this is for him.”
Ren slowly exited the limo, adjusting his cufflinks as he stepped out. A number of cameras were poised to take his picture, but none of them flashed, as the reporters quickly realized this random stranger was a complete newcomer they had no idea about. Breathing in deeply, Ren gestured with two fingers as he slid his hand into his pocket for Race, who was in the middle of blankly staring down one of the reporters until he became visibly uncomfortable, and Corey, who was quickly getting overwhelmed by the sheer spectacle of it all, to fall into step behind him.
“V.I.P, unmarked.” The doorman raised his eyebrows semi sarcastically at the invitations Ren handed over, delivered to him by Odgu. “Well, missed out on paying the actual ticket price, so you bribed your way in, huh?” He motioned at the door, which two other doormen swiftly opened, not giving the clearly offended Ren a chance to defend himself. “Keep the kid away from the bar. And have your ID ready.”
The spectacle did not grow any less luxurious once inside. A glass box made up of several panels housed a sand garden, where a tired and clearly overworked fellow completely covered in ceremonial robes and samurai armor struggled to stay upright as he slowly pulled the rake along. Two suited men in sunglasses were arguing in front of the glass, and immediately paused to glare at Ren as his eyes landed on them. The chandeliers above him were quite large, but not so massive as the center one, which easily covered most of the ceiling.
“Hey.” Ren motioned for Race to go on ahead with a tip of his head. As Corey’s gaze followed her, Ren crouched down and turned his chin back towards him. “This is going to be the real deal. I want you to know that we’re going to be following your every word, no matter what happens. It’ll be up to you to make sure-”
“I know.” Corey nodded, matching Ren’s level of gravitas. “It’s all gonna work out.”
“Good.” Ren smiled, ruffling Corey’s hair. “I gotta get into the crowd. Keep yourself safe.” He quickly stood, and began the long and arduous process of bumping elbows enough times to get into the thick of the crowd. Corey continued looking after him with a grin until, with a slight not, he turned and walked directly into a massive orb of curly chestnut hair.
“Oh!” The owner of the orb jumped slightly, turning around to help Corey, who was rubbing his eyes from the impact. “Sorry about that, son. You okay? I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“You’re Bekko.” Corey blinked, staring down at the man who was somehow even shorter than him. “Yes, I think I will have one of those.”
Bekko completely froze in place, staring at Corey’s eyes with a tense and suspicious air, unsure if he should physically react with so many people around. After a moment he softly drew a candy from his pocket and handed it over, the rest of his body still entirely static.
“Thanks.” Corey barely got the wrapper off in time to shove the candy in his gaping maw. “Caramel and chocolate, nice. Say hi to the other Kin Gin Rin for me.” He turned and departed, clumsily slipping into the crowd and leaving the extremely alert Bekko trying to determine what to do.
—
“Excuse me,” Ren reached over the crowd and touched the shoulder of the giant. Evidently quite jovial, the fellow finished a hearty laugh directed at someone else and turned to face Ren, his heavy brows lifted in amusement, his wide mouth turned up in a sly grin, betraying the scowl it seemed like it had been carved into, and his large roman nose refusing to flare its nostrils at the sight of the Wild Mask staring him in the face. However, the only real distinction between this pleasant colossus and the ominous patriarch of Koi Blood was the complete and utter lack of tattoos on his face.
“Not here.” His mouth did not move as he spoke, the air hissing from in between his teeth as he pretended to miss Ren and look elsewhere for who might have tapped his shoulder. “The bar. Ah, Shinsuke! Still dry, are you? My congratulations.” Oisim’s massive arm easily cut through the crowd around him as he gripped the unwilling hand of a visibly uncomfortable man close to Ren’s age, who looked away from Oisim sheepishly, the topic of his alcoholism clearly an embarrassing one.
Ren opened his mouth to object, but Oisim seemingly had an electrifying effect over the crowd, as with a glance he compelled those around him to swarm the pair, cutting Ren off entirely. He could do little else but stare in from outside the crowd, searching in vain for some kind of opening. The moment it seemed like he could push his way in, the crowd shifted, and he was blocked yet again.
Fine. Ren stalked around the outside of the crowd as he made his way to the bar, pausing for a moment to look back at the zen gardener as he struggled to breathe. There’s no getting out of this one, Oisim. It’s time for some answers.
—
“Really?” Tone grumbled, massaging the front of his mask for no other reason than for the gesture. “That’s your great and wonderful plan to get the masks inside?”
“I know it’ll take an hour.” Shou shrugged, pausing to pull at his cigarette for a moment. “But there won’t be any questions asked, there won’t be any difficulty with verification, and they’ll be dispersed with no issue. It can’t possibly go wrong.”
“They could need the masks now! We can’t afford to wait an hour for the masks to arrive!” Tone angrily retorted. “If we don’t get those masks in there soon, they could get seriously hurt!”
“I have an idea.” Rook mused, ignoring Tone throwing up his hands in reply. “We fly into one of the hotel rooms, he takes everything downstairs, and we join in when the party starts.”
“That’s…” Tone looked up in surprise. “Actually really good, wow. But, we won’t be able to risk security cameras picking us up more than once. An abnormality once, in the dark, is one thing, but two extremely fast-moving groups of people and then security runs back the footage and we’re dead. Is there a window we can get to easily?”
“There.” Shou pointed through the windshield. “That part of the back side is the only part which doesn’t ever get light. The floodlights cover everything else, but right there we’ll be able to hide out until we find a room that’s unoccupied.”
“Everybody’s super closely parked, but the lot is still well-lit.” Tone drummed his fingertips together. “That means we’re only going to get one shot at flying upwards, too. Soon as you’re ready, let’s do this.”
The limo door opened, closed, and locked. Shou walked around to the side, casually looked around, and after a nod he, along with a very large black object, suddenly shot into the air until the darkness concealed them all.
—
“You replaced the car, you collected up Corey’s drone that got lost, you did a hundred other things.” Ren sighed, looking into his glass with one hand clutching the side of his forehead as his elbow dug into the table. “But what about all the other stuff you did?”
“Besides the hundreds?” Oisim asked. It was clearly rhetorical. “You have specific instances in mind. Name them.” He downed the shot in front of him in one gulp.
“You tried to kill me.” Ren sent a vicious glare towards Oisim, quickly losing his fear of the yakuza boss as his indignation started to rise. “Tone got shot in the face. You tried to kill Race, too, and Shou.”
Oisim looked towards him at the mention of Shou, choosing not to have his eyes land on Ren and instead look into the bar itself. “The yakuza gang is not a moral body, wolf mask. Even if the head is righteous the organs are corrupt. There are sickly branches that needed pruning. The rest of your question is implication that you were not capable of handling it.” He snapped his fingers, and the bartender trudged over to pour him a second shot, having previously been preoccupied with the crowd which had followed Oisim to the bar, and now barricaded the pair in, keeping a respectful distance and chatting to themselves while acting just slightly too intoxicated to be in public.
“Right, because you’re all so upstanding all the time.” Ren growled. “Those corrupt organs of yours nearly killed Tone, and me, and Kohaku-”
“Excuses.” Oisim suddenly snarled, the shot glass in his hand creaking from the added pressure. The bartender stopped mid-pour and looked up in concern at the muscular man who now stared Ren right in the face. “You are Wild Masks. You have not died to these branches. You have been pruning the tree in anticipation of tonight.”
“And tonight?” Ren sent a glare towards the bartender, who still hesitated to finish pouring.
“The end of Koi Blood.” Oisim nodded towards the bartender to resume. “You will destroy the Pangolins tonight. Then Koi Blood will be destroyed also. But first my most loyal will escort the civilians. They must be removed or the Wild Masks will hold back.”
“And where are these ‘most loyal’ you speak of?” Ren grumbled.
The crowd around him went dead silent. Ren’s head immediately snapped towards them, eyeing each one individually. There was quite a variety of people present, yet all men, all in suits, and all native-born. And each and every one of them looked at him with a determination in their eyes harder than the statues which towered over the room, unyielding from their shared goal. A glance back to the bartender prompted a slow raising of his balding head with the same fierce look in his eyes, radiating confident resolution in all directions.
“Tonight, wolf mask.” Oisim forced Ren’s gaze to return to the giant’s menacing pupils, all the former pretense of civility and hospitality gone. “This ends tonight.”
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