Cyclops' Den

Across town, in a private room of a classically designed bar, sat a few mid-ranked members of the Nakagaki group having a noonday meal. They were a boisterous bunch, making loud conversation as they had their fill of meat and alcohol. Talks of how much money they were making, the businesses they were thinking of incorporating and the people they scared the piss out of, all made for enlightening chatter. At the top of the line of men, quietly eating, sat Kenshiro the Cyclops himself. His underlings made sure to keep his plate and his cup filled without him ever having to demand or make a hand motion. He appreciated the fact that he commanded enough respect that his men knew what he wanted and would follow orders without question. Deep in thought about the coming 'renovations' so to speak, Kenshiro had a lot to consider. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with setting up shop in this particular prefecture or town, but it didn't necessarily seem like the most lucrative of options. It seemed unusual for Boss Nakagaki to send him here, but there had to be a reason. These and other thoughts were interrupted when the door to the private room slid open and a man wearing a gaudy patterned yellow shirt stepped in before kneeling down.

"My apologies for interrupting your lunchtime, Captain", Kawamura addressed Kenshiro, "But there was a matter that I figured you'd want to see for yourself."

Kenshiro looked up and fixed a penetrating stare onto the man at the end of the room. His gaze wasn't particularly threatening, but few could stand being under such a hard gaze.

"Darui, I thought I told you, I don't like being bothered while I eat."

A bead of sweat dribbled down the man's neck, "Again, I deeply apologize, but I was certain that this was a matter too important to leave alone."

The Cyclops breathed a short sigh through his nose knowing that his men knew better than to trouble him with matters they could solve by themselves. He got up from his table and had Kawamura follow him to his office. Once he got settled behind his desk and composed himself, he nodded at the man to continue, Darui turned and called behind him, "Bring the kids in."

That caused a stir of annoyance and confusion in Kenshiro. He knew of his subordinates attempt at drafting the local kid's gangs into their fold to do odd jobs and act as their feelers, but he couldn't think of a reason why he'd bring them to the Nakagaki's meeting place. The idea was a good one, having local eyes and ears as well as just having some fresh blood. As long as there was no insubordination, and jobs got done in a timely order, the men could act mostly independently. However, this wasn't a matter he felt the need to directly supervise. Couldn't they let his right-hand man deal with it?

In walked three kids who stood in a line, one boy and two girls. The one girl was quite tall, had short, red hair, and a solid build. She looked a little out her depth, but was maintaing a calm front. She most likely another street rat. The other girls was average height, carrot top with warm brown eyes. She looked friendly but scared out of her wits, obviously got mixed up in this by accident or morbid curiosity. The boy had the look of another street rat. He had the eyes and the stance of someone who'd slit your throat from ear to ear and not think twice. However, he was wearing a mask like a smiling skeleton, which wasn't exactly frowned upon, but some viewed it as a sign of immaturity or even mistrust.

"Hey, you get in here too", Kawamura ordered, dragging one more kid into the room.

The last kid looked like hell. His hair was disheveled and from what Kenshiro could tell, he had a pretty nasty shiner over one eye, but it was hard to tell since he just kept looking down.

"-hen we get to the bar, there's a bunch of girl delinquents there too, all of them just shouting bloody murder. And in the middle of it all, these two are beating the piss out of one another. We broke it up before things got out of hand, but were just going to leave before we noticed the other two. I asked what they were doing there, and the girl said they were forced into coming there as some sort of leverage."

Only about half of what Kawamura said was processed, but it was more than enough for Kenshiro to already make a judgement call. A baleful, half blind gaze was turned towards the boy with a broken nose standing before the yakuza denizen.

"If you have anything to say in your own defense, now is the time to say it", Kenshiro stated in a tone indicating he already made up his mind about the matter.

"Well, I-"

"And take off that mask already", Kenshiro interrupted, "You sound like you already mumble and that piece of costume isn't helping matters."

Kusakabe obeyed and pulled his mask down around his neck. The rest of the yakuza snorted or let out a light, hearty chuckle when they got a good look at his face. Even Kenshiro had to take a moment to hold in a laugh of his own. The boy's nose looked as though it had been broken and then badly reset. It was like if a sculptor glued it on crooked after he was done chiseling out his face but then his scaffolding suddenly collapsed.

Hachirou's face colored slightly but he stated his case, "I was just trying to get some new members for the gang."

"Did we ever indicate that we were short on members and ask you to find new recruits?"

He swallowed, "No, but I thought it couldn't hurt to have some new members t-"

"If you were trying to gain new members, why did Kawamura find you having a catfight?"

There were a few guffaws among the men, making Kusakabe turn a shade pinker.

"The other gang was under the comm-"

"Was? You mean to say, this gang isn't actually together?"

"They mostly stopped their activity about a year ago, but they still kept in contact with one another and acted as one."

"And instead of talking to a few of them individually, you decided to gather them all together and engage in a pointless fight with their leader."

"That girl", Hachirou pointed at Daitan, "Has the entire gang wrapped around her finger. They don't even sleep without getting the all-clear from her. So, I thought if I could just remove her from the picture, her gang wouldn't want to follow her any longer?"

Kenshiro fixed another analytical stare at Kusakabe as he kept digging himself deeper and deeper and filling the hole with cement.

"You, girl", Kenshiro addressed Daitan, "Did you actively seek out this guy for a fight?"

Daitan stiffened ever so slightly when she was called upon, "N-No sir. I haven't actually sought out a fight with any other gangs for about a year."

'Impressive', Kenshiro surmised, 'A delinquent that somehow managed to keep herself out of trouble for that long. Some of the men I know don't have that much patience.'

"So, if you didn't want to fight anyone, why break that now and with this guy?"

"I wasn't going to do anything, but Kusakabe sent a messenger for us to say that he had two hostages with him."

The color that had been building in said boy's face slowly began to drain away.

Gesturing at the remaining two people, "And by hostages, I assume you mean these two kids right here."

"Yes. They're not a part of mine or any other gangs. They just got caught up in a feud that should've already ended months ago."

The last statement was said not so much with hatred but rather annoyance and frustration.

"And why would you say that you have no quarrel with this gang that supposedly used to be your rivals."

Daitan grimaced as she recalled , "Well, the last time we fought was the last time my gang really acted like a gang. We decided to have one last hurrah, and try to let the Kusakabe's know that we were just trying to move on."

Enough was said from the two had stakes in this, but that still left two that got whacked in the crossfire.

"And you, Carrot-Top", Saori was trying and failing to smile, "What were you doing before you ended up at the abandoned bar?"

"N-Nothing really. We were just on our way home and then we got told to come with a bunch of shady looking guys if we didn't want to get hurt."

Kenshiro slowly drummed his fingers on the table for a moment while looking all of the kids in the eye. Well, all of the kids except for one that had yet to say a word or even look anyone properly in the eye.

"And you", the one eyed captain's barking voice made the human stick boy jump, "How do you fit into this whole mess?"

The kid fiddled with his hands a little and looked like a bug under a microscope.

"It helps to hear you if you speak up and look people in the eye", Kenshiro demanded.

The walking nervous wreck looked and stammered, "It's l-like Y-Yamanaka said. W-We were just w-walking and th-this weasel looking guy c-comes up and tells us t-to follow h-him."

Kenshiro's gaze remained impassive yet analytical, although the inside of his head would reveal a monumental blank out. He had grown considerably, his hair was shaggier and his face was more somber than he recalled, in addition to the split lip... Still, right in front of him was someone he thought he'd never see again.

'Benji! But what's he doing here', Kenshiro thought feverishly.

Benjiro was looking down, as if not seeing the world around him would keep it from latching its claws into him, and yet the moment he scanned around the room, their eyes met and the young man blanched. It was only for a few seconds, but two of them stared.

'Kenny, I heard he was part of some shady stuff, but I never imagined something like this.'

There were a million questions swirling around their heads as this unexpected reunion, possibly cruelly stitched together by a particularly sadistic fate, brought the two prodigals together.

Silence permeated the room as the Nakagaki men waited to hear what their captain had to say to everything they just heard. Said captain scooted out of his chair and said, "I need to have a talk with this one", he pointed at Benjiro, "The rest of you wait outside. I don't want any interruptions until I say so. Is that clear?"

The men nodded as they grabbed the other three kids and forced them out. Saori turned around to try and call out to her friend but he gave her a look to reassure her. Once everyone else had vacated, there was a tense silence to follow. The one eyed man slowly approached the younger boy, causing him to back away. A large, calloused hand reached out and grabbed him.