Chapter 11: Cooling Down
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! How could they fail? Even that privateer ship sank, too."
Nara Fujiwara practically shouted in anger.
His fingers clenched into a fist and pounded hard on the table.
The recent, and sudden turn of events got him into such a sour mood lately.
The death of his two friends and the capture of four of them hit him hard.
To add insult to injury, his mansion got raided right after the Masquerade Ball.
He had to sell his mansion.
He narrowly managed to avoid a raid on where he stayed.
He didn't leave any leads that could be traced back to him at the mansion.
He had fond memories of his mansion, where he lived for so long.
It used to be an apartment, but he eventually had it renovated and turned into a mansion.
He knew his own staff personally.
They were people from the slums.
He transformed them from being wretched into being presentable and respectable.
Their deaths and arrests hit him hard, even though a few escaped.
"You should take a break, bro. People make mistakes when they get mad. We will still exact payback. We will hit them hard. So, calm down."
"Thanks a lot, man. "
"I'll be off, then. By the way, I sent you an e-mail about what we have to do next. Don't forget to check it."
Shou lightly tapped Nara's shoulder, went out the door, and drove off to attend to his business.
After Shou left, Nara took a quick bath, then changed into a long-sleeved polo shirt with a neck cuff and red and with blue stripes, denim shorts for men, and slip-on shoes, complete with a fedora on the head.
He also put on a quartz watch on his wrist.
He looked at his reflection and liked what he saw in the mirror.
A handsome, fair-skinned man in his late 40s, of medium build, muscular, with a dark and deep stare that can easily read another person's mind, with a face hardened by years of battles.
He let his bodyguards rest in the apartment he owned for now.
But he insisted on his butler to accompany him to the restaurant he often frequented from time to time.
He and his butler went to the Maserati Quattroporte parked in the garage.
His butler drove while Shou sat in the seat next to the driver's seat.
They zoomed along the road, and to the highway until they finally arrived at the restaurant.
The butler parked the car outside, then they both got inside the restaurant.
The customers eating there didn't pay them any attention at all.
They found an empty table, then ordered lasagna with a drink of Merlot.
They both ate and drank in silence while admiring the view.
While eating and drinking, Nara had a flashback.
Nara lived in poverty, in the slums located in the seedy district of Kuragari.
His father was a drunkard, and a womanizer who beat him and his siblings up.
His father also extorted money from his siblings, so that he had money to spend on his vices. His mother was a drug addict and addicted to illegal gambling as well.
He was the youngest of twelve siblings.
It was a sad, dysfunctional family where everyone raised their voices and deadly fights often erupted.
His siblings eventually ran away, never to return.
He also ran away at the tender age of 12. He had to turn to petty crimes in order to survive.
He ran into Shou Yevgeni's father when he accidentally stole a smartphone at some point when he was still 13.
The crime kingpin had his men search and locate the thief who stole his smartphone.
He was eventually found and brought in front of Nara's father.
He could still recall what happened perfectly.
His knees went weak and he shook in fear at the sight of Richard Yevgeni.
A handsome, middle-aged man in his late forties with black eyes and a hawk-like stare, sleek black hair, and fair skin, wearing a suit and tie, paired with black slacks and black leather shoes, sat on an armchair with his legs crossed.
He was smoking a fat roll of tobacco and looking directly at Shou.
"Where are my manners, kiddo? Let me introduce myself. I'm Richard Yevgeni, a crime kingpin. You must be Nara Fujiwara, one of those petty thieves, right?"
Richard blew a puff of smoke while speaking.
Shou was too stunned and too scared to speak up.
This guy must be one of the crime bigwigs. Someone who is definitely out of his league.
"Too scared to speak up, kiddo? That's my phone you stole. Be grateful that it was I whom you encountered. The other kingpins would have killed you on the spot."
Shou could only mutely nod in agreement.
"Let's make a deal. I'll forgive you, on one condition. I'm looking for an apprentice. You will train and be sent to missions together with my son. You get access to luxuries, and information, but expect no special treatment during missions. Do you agree?"
'Y-yes, sensei."
"Good boy. Now, run along, and rest for now."
Then a male butler came and accompanied Nara back to the old place he was renting, to help him pack up and move to his new home.
It's a plain, big, and simple apartment from the outside.
The inside is complete with the latest, high-tech tools at that time, gadgets, and a stocked pantry.
His eyes widened when he saw the wide array of state-of-the-art tools, he could only dream of buying at that time.
He at first found it hard to adjust, being left to fend for himself without even a butler, but he eventually got the hang of it and did a good job surviving at the apartment.
Shou's father hired an instructor accredited to teach an alternative learning system for kids who didn't go through proper, formal education so he can catch up and go to school like any other kid.
Not just any instructor, but an assistant professor at Akita University.
He found it hard to adjust at first.
He felt intimidated by the instructor who won't even lift a finger to help him understand basic lessons.
The fact that he didn't receive any formal schooling also made it harder.
But he worked hard, and finally got qualified to study at Akita University.
He also worked hard to refine his behavior, speech, and fashion sense, so he won't get picked on in a school exclusively for those with the money.
Time passed by.
By the time Nara was 16, he slowly but steadily moved his way up the ranks of Richard's gang, together with Shou, who was also sent to the apartment solo to be taught discipline and give Nara a companion.
Shou wouldn't stay in the apartment for long, as he returned to the mansion by the time, he was 17. He's one year older than Nara.
At the age of 17, Nara thought of revisiting the slums he once lived in.
His siblings haven't returned for a very long time.
He also hasn't heard any news about them from his neighbors.
His mother died early because of an induced drug overdose.
Some loan sharks got angry when Nara's mother couldn't pay her debts and had her killed.
His father took up another woman in her mid-twenties.
In a moment of rage at the memory of beatings he got from his father before, he plotted to have his father's new woman killed and the shack his father lived in burned to ashes.
News eventually reached him that his father went insane a few days after.
He just looked at the person who told him the news from the head down to toe with loathing, then turned around, and left.
The person is one of his father's old drink buddies.
A few years later, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with BS in Psychiatry at Akita University.
A lot of years passed by. He eventually got introduced to the rest of the high leaders of The Renegades, and they eventually banded together.
Shou Yevgeni returned to his father's mansion.
He just finished checking up on his Faction to see if he needed to fix anything.
More than half of the high officials under him died during the Masquerade Ball at Nara's mansion.
A few managed to escape, while a few got caught and hauled off to prison on the sudden fight that erupted during the Masquerade Ball.
He did a facepalm upon noticing this.
He'll need to do a lot of reorganizing.
He also noticed that cracks developed in the organization over time, and it caused forces on the side of The Premier to infiltrate The Renegades.
He's also faintly aware of how those double agents caused chaos in the long run.
To solve this, he proposed a massive internal purge.
He knew a lot of blood will be shed, but he needed to cleanse the entire organization. And he already expected those who sided with the Premier to give a harsh answer in return.
He immediately requested the other five high leaders of The Renegades to convene in a lowkey meeting so they can finally reorganize the group, and do a counter-attack.
He still remembered the directive of the Grand Leader clearly.
"Do what you lot have to do to keep the organization up and running. Use whatever you can to remove that damn Premier from the office, and all will be well. "
He needed to clear his mind.
So, he went to his room to take a bath in the built-in bathroom in his room.
After he took a bath, he wore jeans, sneakers, and short socks to cover his toes.
He wore a plain t-shirt under a rider's jacket, put on his riding helmet, and placed his smartphone in his jeans pocket.
Then he grabbed the keys to his big bike and went straight to the garage.
He revved up his BMW S 1000 XR, then drove straight to his trusty new assistant's house.
He went inside to see his assistant watching television.
"Hey, Ayaka, get up and get dressed. We'll go sightseeing, then eat and drink afterward."
Ayaka turned off the television, turned around, and is surprised to see Shou.
"Sir? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Are you deaf, Ayaka? I said, get your ass moving and get yourself ready to go sightseeing, then eat and drink afterward."
Then Ayaka realized and rushed off to her room to take a bath.
After she finished bathing, she put on a leather jacket, wearing nothing except for her sports bra beneath.
She also wore skinny jeans and sneakers.
She placed a helmet over her head.
She grabbed the keys to her big bike, then went outside.
She revved up the engine of her Aprilia RS 660.
"Sorry I kept you waiting, sir. Let's go."
They both sped off into the distance side by side, admiring the calm, serene, and refreshing view in the province Districts for a change.
When they returned, they parked their big bikes outside a restaurant. They removed their helmets and put them on the handlebars of their big bikes.
Then they entered the restaurant.
They went inside, found an empty seat, and ordered a full buffet meal. They also ordered some brandy to go along with their meal.
While eating and drinking, Shou recalled the past.
He was born rich and privileged and lived the life of a typical rich kid.
He had no siblings.
He studied at exclusive schools for the rich.
He was often at the top of the class.
However, he was the epitome of a bad genius.
He broke school rules all the time and often got away with it.
He is also quite the rebellious and wild kid outside the campus.
And his father didn't approve of it.
So, his father sent him to live alone in an apartment with hidden CCTVs, together with Nara.
They had adventures together outside school hours and even went on missions together.
Shou eventually got fed up with having to live in the apartment, with no one but Nara to talk within the apartment.
So, he secretly packed his things up and returned to his father's mansion one night while Nara is still asleep.
His father was at first taken aback, but he accepted the fact as time passed by.
His father died at the age of 60 in a fight with a rival crime kingpin.
He immediately consolidated his power and became the new crime kingpin.
He then went about absorbing and eradicating his father's rivals.
As time passed by, he got introduced to the rest of the high leaders of the Renegades, and the Grand Leader himself.
He eventually formed legit businesses as a front for the illegal activities he headed.