Seiryu Spirit – 9

Chapter 8 – A break comes when saving Sakura opens the Hidden Past

“Henri Lacome is suspected of owning the warehouse in Kobe.  His investment firm provided money to Daye Chang.  We can’t have his brother meddling in our case.”

“Ogun.”

“Tomoyo.”

“Koji seems to like Andre.”

“Koji found the children in that Kobe warehouse.  You didn’t see his face when he did.  The torture in his eyes.  He should not have to help a man who made him suffer through that.”

“There is more to the story.  You know that.”

Ogun shook his head, his gaze on Andre through the one-way glass.

Andre was giving his statement to Hisao, while Leon gave his to Hisao’s partner in the next room.  Both men insisted on Leon’s innocence, and insisted they were helping Sakura’s mother in return for evidence to clear Henri’s name.

“Exonerating Henri Lacome is not our purpose here.”

“But don’t you think it’s intriguing?” Tomoyo asked, folding her arms against her chest.  “What are the odds that these two would walk into an investigation, and end up with so many ties with Daye Chang?”

“There are no coincidences in life,” Ogun stated.

“Exactly.”

“You think it was planned.”

Tomoyo narrowed her gaze.  She wouldn’t say planned, just—

“The child’s name is Sakura.”

“Yes.”  Ogun nodded his gaze on Tomoyo, confused.  “What about it?”

“Before we left home,” Tomoyo said.  “Koji’s art room was filled with paintings of a blooming sakura tree that then withers into ashes.  He said, the tree withers first, and the flowers last.”

Ogun frowned.

“You can’t mean—

“The mother, this Seiren, is in trouble.  If anything happens to her, the child suffers, if anything happens to the child, the mother suffers.  Do I need to remind you that Koji is not crazy?  What he sees—”

Ogun cursed under his breath.

“Comes true.  I forget,” Ogun sighed.  “What is it like to live an ordinary life again?”

Tomoyo chuckled.

“Leave Andre Lacome alone.  There is a reason for his appearance.  We haven’t discovered it yet; don’t push him out before we do.”

“Fine, whatever you say,” Ogun agreed.

Tomoyo left the room and headed out in search of Koji.

***

Andre told the investigators everything he knew about Seiren, Daye Chang and Henri’s investments.  The door opened when he was finished, and Koji, Tomoyo and their scary guard, Ogun, walked in to the room.

“Where is Henri now?” Koji asked, coming to lean on the table next to Andre.

Andre hesitated.  He didn’t want his brother arrested.  No matter the situation, an arrest would place his family in the spotlight.  There was too much to lose—

“This investigation is private,” Koji said, and Andre looked up to meet liquid blue eyes.  “Seems you have given up your secrets.  I will offer one of mine.  The Seiryu Organization is funding this investigation.  The fourteen children missing were due to enroll into the Seiryu Academy in a week’s time.  Sakura Toshiro is a wild card, one we didn’t understand how she fit.  Thanks to you, we now do.”

“What is the Seiryu Academy?” Andre asked with a frown.

“Small steps,” Koji answered.  “As the investigation is guided by Seiryu investigators,

your brother’s location will not go out to the Kobe Investigation Team.”

“But—,” Ogun started, and Koji gave him a censuring glance.

“You have my word,” Koji said to Andre.

Andre gave Ogun a wary glance, but when he got a small nod from the man, he realized Koji had authority here.  Meeting Koji’s glance, he read promise in blue eyes.

“He’s at our family home.”  Andre sighed.  “Villa Lacome.”

“That’s in France?” Koji asked.

“Yes.”

“You could have stayed there and no one would have known where to find Henri.”

“Henri doesn’t like to stay home,” Andre said, shaking his head.  “He would go mad if I tried to force him to stay there.  He lives for freedom, and I wouldn’t dare try to curtail that.  The problem with giving Henri freedom is he doesn’t know how to differentiate trouble from goodwill.  He got involved with Daye Chang thinking he was helping a good man.  Daye Chang took advantage.”

“How similar yet different,” Koji murmured, drawing Andre’s gaze.

“What?”

“I’ve told you before, you remind me of someone,” Koji said, with a slight smile.  “Although, your differences are also infinite.  Your brother is safest where he is.  Daye Chang is no gentle tiger.  He will rip him apart if he senses him close.”

“Meaning?”

“I found the children in Kobe,” Koji said, his gaze hardening.  “There are others I didn’t find, Andre.”

Andre didn’t miss the wave of sadness in Koji’s eyes.  Deep, profound grief—it made him want to draw Koji into his arms.  He started to touch Koji’s arm but then Koji pushed off the table and moved away.

“Ogun, they’ll join the team,” Koji murmured.  “The faster we can get into the Blue Dragon club, the better.  Let’s make arrangements.”

“Koji,” Andre said, as Koji headed for the door.  Koji paused in the act of opening the door to look at him.  “Thank you for doing this.”

***

The Blue Dragon club was everything Andre described.  Koji stood in the middle of the crowded dance floor, hearing aids off, loud music filling his head.  Eyes closed, he stood still just listening.  This bliss was different from when he was with Andre.  No, this one was like a cheat: a guilty pleasure that filled his blood with adrenaline.  The faster the beat, the harder the drop, the better.

The DJ was great.  The music worth it.

Koji smiled and opened his eyes.  Ogun had gone back to the Toshiro house to get Seiren’s picture.  Koji returned the hearing aids, and turned them on.  He wasn’t surprised to find Ogun trying to reach him.

“Reply Koji or I’m sending in the cavalry.”

“Relax,” Koji said, though he wondered how Ogun could hear him over the loud music.  “Have you found her?”

“Andre says there is a spot near the bar.  He says she likes foreigners.”

“I hope you made arrangements then?” Koji asked.

“Arrangements?” Andre asked in the communications line.

“Koji doesn’t do hookups,” Ogun elaborated.  “Koji, someone is getting in place.  He’s blonde, and in blue.  Move to the bar and you should see him.”

“You don’t do hookups?” Andre asked, as Koji made his way to the bar.

Koji chuckled, his brain filling with Andre’s kiss this morning.

Koji dared not kiss random people.  He tried once with a boy he liked at the Seiryu Academy.  They were in the same class, and Koji liked the boy’s smile.  Their lips touched, and all the boy’s thoughts flooded Koji’s brain sending him into a seizure.

Koji passed out for three days, and decided then that kissing was not for him.

Until this morning, with Andre.

His first real kiss.

“Koji?” Andre’s voice cut through his thoughts, and he blushed, his cheeks flaming red.

Koji sat on a stool and pressed his palms to his face.

“Are you alright?  You look flushed,” Ogun said.

Koji cursed CCTV and motioned the bartender, ordering a gunner.

“It’s hot in here,” Koji said.

“I bet,” Andre teased.

Koji took the glass the bartender placed before him, and took a quick sip.  His gaze seeking out Ogun’s contractor.  The man stood leaning on the wall with a beer bottle in hand.

Koji finished his drink, and was contemplating asking for another when Seiren appeared from a door behind the VIP staircase.  Beautiful was a small word to describe her.  Dressed in a fitting red dress that revealed her curves to perfection, she might have started wars in a previous life.  Her gaze swept the dance floor for a minute, and then she saw Ogun’s contractor and quickly made her way to him.

“She works fast,” Ogun complimented, when the two moved to the corridor leading to the restrooms.

Koji got off his stool and strolled in their direction, hands in his pockets.  Turning off the hearing aids in his ears when he made it to the corridor.  Ogun’s contractor saw him coming and shifted so that Seiren was holding him against the wall.  She kissed the contractor with abandon, trailing elegant fingers along his neck.

Koji stopped behind her and touched her bare arm.

Darkness filled his mind’s eye, and for a full minute Koji thought he would read nothing, until the dark filtered away.  Fear ruled Seiren, every second of the day and night, even as she stood here trying to channel it into passion with the contractor, she was afraid.  Daye loomed in her head, a terrible overlord who had murdered men before her for the smallest transgression.

Koji closed his eyes at the number of deaths Seiren had witnessed working in the underground club.  Debtors who could not pay their gambling debts.  Suppliers demanding their money.  Anyone who discovered the terrible secrets at the Blue Dragon.  Politicians with too much knowledge, Daye Chang used Seiren to capture most of them and pulled them into his dark web.

Daye had turned her into a black widow, and it weighed on her.

Tears tracked down Koji’s face when he thought of Sakura and Seiren’s love for her daughter took center stage.  Deep, profound, unconditional, the only thing that centered Seiren when she would have jumped off the Tokyo Tower.  This love led Koji to a shadow tied into the fourteen children.  The club had a basement, connected to the building next door.  There was a lab of sorts—

“Who are you?” Seiren’s voice filled his head, and Koji stepped back to find her staring at him.

“The lab…” Koji trailed off knowing without doubt where to find the children.

“What do you want?” Seiren asked him.

Koji turned to Ogun’s contractor.

“Take her outside.”

“Who are—?”

“We don’t have much time,” Koji cut her off.  “Don’t fight him.  Daye Chang will use you as a scapegoat one of these days.  Leave now.  Use the service exit.”

The contractor grabbed Seiren’s arm, and led her toward the exit sign on the right side of the corridor, not giving her a chance to escape.

Koji turned on his hearing aids.

“Ogun, the kids are in the building next door, basement level,” Koji said, when Ogun came online.  “I’ll make a diversion.”

“Koji,” Ogun started to protest.

“Your contractor is bringing out Seiren, don’t lose her.  She’s under our protection now.”

“What are you going to do?  At least wait until I send someone in—”

“Too late,” Koji said, pulling out a black surgical mask, he wore it, covering his face.  Taking glasses from his jacket, he jammed them over his eyes, tagging his black cap lower over his forehead.

“Koji!”

“The basements are connected,” Koji said, heading straight for the door Seiren had used earlier.

Closing the door, Koji paused, staring down the stairs that led to a dim hallway.  Thanks to Seiren he now knew that Daye ran an illegal casino here.  Within the depths there was a section of the club that catered to eccentric desires. He didn’t want to explore any of that, it would throw him off track.

Koji moved with the shadows cast by the dim lighting.  Pressing into corners when footsteps approached, not moving until they passed him.

His goal: Daye Chang’s office, hidden between the casino and the strange lounge filled with equal parts moans of pleasure and pain.  Standing outside the office, Koji peered through the glass to see it empty.  Daye was probably wandering around the club, sure that no one would dare walk into his office down here.

Either that, or there was nothing important here.

Koji entered the office and closed the door.  He had one dagger forced on him by Tomoyo.  He decided it would do, since meeting Daye Chang would also be beneficial.  Plus, Ogun was out there with Tomoyo.  They would come get him in case of trouble.

Koji let out a soft breath and took in the office.  Daye spared no coin in here.  The office boasted an ultra modern touch, though the paintings on the left wall looked very old.  The branded furniture, elegant.  Strange, but the place felt very unlike Daye Chang.  The office felt wrong.  It didn’t fit a man with such a terrible reputation.

There was a laptop on the large desk in the middle of the room.

“Ogun?”

“The Seiryu team entered the second building.  You were right, and they’re now making their way into the basement.  There is a lab, the children are in a holding room.  Our teams are working on getting to them.  Where are you?”

“I’m in Daye Chang’s office.”

Koji smiled when Ogun remained silent.

“I’m looking at a laptop.  I don’t know how it can be of use to you.  You’ll have to guide me.”

“I’m going to smack you senseless after this.”  Ogun’s voice came back with a sigh.  “Take the laptop, we don’t have time to do more.”

“I take it, and they’ll know someone was here.”

“I don’t think there is any need for secrecy, Koji.  The alarms in the laboratory are set off.  We have the police coming in.  Get out of there, Koji.”

Koji closed the laptop, glad it was ultra thin and light.  He held it tight, and started to walk around the desk.  The art on the wall caught his attention again and he moved closer, his gaze on the closest canvas.  It was of a delicate blue butterfly, wings in motion, drawing the eye.  The next painting was a seaside landscape.  Waves hitting the shore, wild and alive, he could feel the turbulence.  Then came the last painting.  It drew a gasp from Koji.

Why had he not noticed before?

Why?

Koji stepped closer to the painting, staring with blank astonishment.

The woman in a vibrant blue kimono decorated with delicate white sakura flowers sat on a chaise looking back at Koji.  Her hair, long and silky black, decorated with more sakura flowers.  Her eyes a light blue shade.  He recognized them.  Koji’s heart tightened in pain.  His gaze shifting down to her hands, and the ring on the woman’s right index finger.  Similar to his own.

“Okaasan.”

The word wrenched from his lips.

“My, my,” a raspy voice said.

Koji turned to see an elegant man standing at the door, smiling at him.

“What have we here?” the man purred.

Koji gripped the laptop in his hand tight.  This was not Daye Chang.

“Who are you?” Koji asked, fighting to keep his tone casual.

His dagger hidden in his right arm.

“That should be my question,” the man said in a lazy tone.  “You’re the one sneaking around in my office.”

“Your office.”  Koji looked around, the paintings making sense.  Daye did not seem cultured enough for paintings.  Koji frowned.  “Why do you have this painting?”

The cold man’s gaze moved to the painting of Misato Sukiyama, then he smiled at Koji.

“A friend painted it,” the answer came.  “She was the love of my life.  You’re not leaving alive.  I’m sure you know that.”

“How kind of you to let me know.”

Koji refused to leave his mother here.  It wasn’t right.  Her painting shouldn’t hang in this place heavy with the stench of the worst.

“You’re not Daye Chang.  So, who are you?” Koji asked.

The cold man pushed his hands into his pockets, staying by the door, not moving an inch in.

“I’m Takino Yuki.”

Koji bit his lip hard.

“Basement with the lab secure,” Ogun said into his ear.  “I’ve sent three men after you through the connecting door.  They should be on you in two minutes.  Stay calm, we’ll get you out.”

Koji stood still, staring at the man his brother claimed had murdered their parents.  This man, who held all the answers to his parents’ deaths…Koji allowed the thin dagger Tomoyo had given him to slide down his sleeve and into his right hand.

Takino’s gaze caught the movement and he chuckled at the sight of the dagger.

“Wow, that’s a sharp blade.  I’m impressed.  Who sent you?”

Koji stepped back to the wall.  He pushed a lever on the handle of the dagger, extending the blade.  With quick swipes, Koji made short work of cutting into the edges of his mother’s painting, freeing it from the frame.

Takino rushed toward him with a harsh protest.

Koji shifted to evade him, moving the dagger away from the painting, he swung it at Takino.  The blade stopped inches away from Takino’s throat, the tip pressing on his jugular.

“Don’t move,” Koji ordered, pressing the blade deeper into Takino’s neck, breaking skin.

Takino stopped.  With his left hand, Koji grabbed the falling canvas, leaving the frame empty.  Koji kept pressure on the blade, taking a few steps round Takino.

Rushing footsteps hurried toward the office, Koji risked a glance back in time to see Daye almost at the door.  Before he could panic, Daye gasped and fell to the ground.  Two figures in black gear appeared and Koji ran for the open office door.  Jumping over Daye, Koji let the two men guide him out of the basement.  He gripped the canvas from Daye – no, Takino’s office against his chest.  The laptop secure inside his jacket and the dagger back in its original size in his hand.

***

Thanks for reading…to be continued.

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