The Paladin
Chapter Four
June 6th - 9:00 am
Waking up had been a bitter disappointment for Die, and he found himself in a sour mood. He was still filthy; skin stiff with dried blood, sweat, and streaks of street grime. Toshiya was still in his room; sleeping on the floor with his back propped up against the wall. His chest was still held together with stitches; a dull, stinging ache that pulled uncomfortably with every movement. All of which meant the previous evening was not a horrible nightmare. Kaoru was truly gone.
To be allowed to shower without supervision had been a bit of a challenge. Toshiya had argued that he should stay nearby in case Die got dizzy and fell. Die had responded that if Toshiya followed him into the bathroom, he would break both of the man’s arms. In the end, Toshiya acquiesced, but Die was forced to give ground later when the younger man insisted on helping him get dressed. The redhead had managed to fully dress his lower half on his own, but found that putting on even a simple undershirt without help pulled dangerously at the stitches on his chest.
Now, standing in the conference room in a hard-won suit and customary dark glasses, he couldn’t seem to stop himself pacing. “No, I remember now, but it’s just… it’s all completely fucking useless. I didn’t recognize any of the men that attacked us, the people we went to meet weren’t even there, and when I woke up all of the bodies were just gone.”
Kyo sighed, scratching tiredly at his face. He clearly hadn’t slept the night before, moving listlessly with dark shadows under his eyes. “We have people out looking for suspicious activity or news within other families, but when we can’t really tell them that Kaoru’s missing… I just don’t think they’re going to be much help.”
“Whoever did this is either a cold bastard, or desperate,” Toshiya mused. “Not many people would throw away that many lives to grab one person, even someone like Kaoru. If I didn’t see him buried myself, I’d be tempted to think Kunio was behind it.”
Shinya had to agree. His father had been a decidedly cruel man at times, and would have thought nothing of letting dozens of men die to get at the Head of the Niikura family. “What about Nakago? His borders are fairly close to where you two were last night.”
Kyo shook his head. “Die would be dead, and Kaoru’s head would be on a pike in our lobby by now. Nakago doesn’t leave or keep people alive, and he’s never subtle.”
The four men were quiet for a long time, contemplating what little information they had, wracking their brains for any new ideas or theories. When the door clicked open, even the soft sound was jarring in the tense quiet of the room, and found Die and Toshiya both aiming pistols at the intruder. Akio – a difficult man to ruffle even on the worst days – simply raised an eyebrow. He held a small cardboard box carefully between both hands.
“Sirs.” He bowed deeply, his massive frame bent at a sharp, precise angle. “Excuse my intrusion, but I thought you’d want to see this.”
“It’s fine, Akio,” Kyo grumbled. “What have you got?”
“We found it in the front lobby this morning. It’s addressed to you and Mr. Andou.” The large man stepped forward, placing the box on the table. “There’s no return address and it… well, sir, it upset the dogs.”
“A bomb?” the blonde asked, frowning. Why the hell would Akio bring shit like that further into the building?
“No, sir. The dogs didn’t indicate for bombs, drugs, or poisons, but they all seemed disturbed by it.”
Kyo chewed his lip and slid the box closer to himself for inspection. It was such an innocent looking package, plain white cardboard with his name and Die’s etched neatly onto the top in thick black marker, but somehow he found himself perturbed by it. Die stepped forward to stand by the smaller blonde, taking the box from his friend. A practiced hand fished a folding knife out of one back pocket and flipped it open, sliding the blade carefully through clear tape.
Die’s blood ran cold, and Kyo choked on a hysterical whimper. Nestled in a bed of crimson tissue paper were a handful of silver rings, an elegant cross necklace, a cellphone, and a wallet. All of them were streaked with dried blood, and all of them were undeniably Kaoru’s. The redhead shoved the box away from himself and backed away from the table, hands flexing and clenching as if the package had been full of plagued rats. Kyo was trying valiantly not to be sick, but the green tinge around his lips was telling and Akio moved quickly to bring him a waste basket.
Shinya came around to examine the package, reaching in and pulling out a folded sheet of thick paper. “What’s this…?”
Careful fingers unfolded the paper and when Die looked over the younger man’s shoulders to catch sight of the image printed on the front, he felt his heart constrict viciously. Kaoru, blindfolded and panting through split, bloodied lips, stripped nude with his arms bound behind his back. He was on his knees on a cracked cement floor, legs spread to expose every part of him, and deep, bloody bruises colored all of the flesh that wasn’t already stained by tattoos. Kaoru had fought his captor, and lost.
Shinya was more interested in the text on the back of the photo, written in the same hand as the label on the box, “-Poor Niikura, he has no idea why he’s here, doesn’t even know who I am. I suppose such a man could hardly be expected to remember someone he only met twice. But he has nothing to do with this, really. You, Andou, who rode into this world on your father’s lauded coattails and thought to leash me, you would recognize me. Nishimura would know me – he will always know me, as I will always know him. We ruined one another, once, drove each other to madness and beyond. Niikura is innocent in this, but he will suffer for my grievances in your places.-”