Zaboru tore through the streets of Tokyo in his Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, the engine roaring beneath him as the city lights blurred past the windows. Akechi had rarely summoned him so abruptly, and the fact that he had only said, We need to meet. Now, was enough to tell Zaboru that this was no ordinary problem.
Because of that, Zaboru had chosen one of the fastest cars in his collection.
Even so, he did not drive recklessly. His movements were controlled, precise, and almost frighteningly calm. He shifted smoothly through traffic, took corners with perfect timing, and used every opening without placing civilians in danger. To anyone watching from the sidewalk, the silver GT-R looked less like a normal car and more like a machine cutting through the night with a single purpose.
Around thirty minutes later, Zaboru finally reached Aoshidan Headquarters.
The guards at the entrance recognized the car immediately and opened the gates before he even slowed down completely. Zaboru pulled into the main courtyard, stepped out, and tossed the key toward one of Akechi's subordinates.
"Please park it for me," Zaboru said quickly.
The subordinate caught the key with both hands and stiffened. "Y-Yes, Boss!"
Zaboru was already walking away before the man finished answering.
The atmosphere inside Aoshidan Headquarters felt different tonight. It was quieter than usual, but not peaceful. Several guards stood at positions that were normally left empty, and every person Zaboru passed looked alert. Nobody stopped him. They merely bowed and allowed him through.
When Zaboru entered the main meeting room, he immediately realized why Akechi had called him so urgently.
Akechi was not alone.
All five of his highest-ranking lieutenants were present.
Together, they were known as the Five Pillars of Aoshidan, the captains responsible for its five major security divisions. Akechi did not gather all of them unless the matter involved something far beyond a simple threat.
Zaboru's expression became more serious.
Before he approached the table, he glanced toward the darker right side of the room. The light from the ceiling barely reached that corner, and to normal eyes, it looked completely empty.
Zaboru smiled faintly. "Hello, Tanabe-san."
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Tanabe Goro slowly stepped out from the shadows.
His presence was so weak that even many experienced fighters had difficulty noticing him. He could stand inside the same room as someone for several minutes without drawing their attention, and the dim lighting only strengthened that unnatural quality.
Tanabe chuckled softly. "Boss, you really can detect me that easily, huh?"
Zaboru returned the chuckle. "You're difficult to notice, Tanabe-san, but not impossible."
Of course, Zaboru did not explain the real reason. Tanabe's ability to suppress his presence meant very little against Living Scan. Zaboru could sense the people around him and receive basic information about their presence, no matter how quietly they stood.
Tanabe gave him a thoughtful look before returning to his position near the edge of the room.
Zaboru then greeted the remaining lieutenants one by one.
The first was Murai, a huge man with pompadour hair, broad shoulders, and the build of a living tank. His temper was explosive, his fighting style was brutally direct, and he was known for remaining standing after blows that would have dropped most men.
Zaboru grinned as he offered his hand. "Hey, Murai. Long time no see."
Murai accepted the handshake with a wide grin. "Hello, Boss. Yeah, it's been too long."
Beside Murai stood Tatsu, a tall bald man with a flower tattoo running along the left side of his head and neck. Unlike Murai, Tatsu rarely wasted words. He was quiet, disciplined, and difficult to read.
Zaboru gave him a casual nod. "Yo, Tatsu. It's good to see you again."
Tatsu returned a small smile and nodded once. "Boss."
That single word was apparently enough for him.
Next was Ruri Kochou, known throughout Aoshidan as Eagle Eye Ruri. Her unusual green eyes and sharp pupils made her gaze feel almost predatory, and very little escaped her attention.
Zaboru smiled when he approached her. "Ruri-san, I heard you helped Ayumi with Karate Bunny 3 as Runtei's motion-capture performer. Thank you."
Ruri's expression brightened with pride. "The pleasure was mine, Boss. Helping Boss Lady was far more enjoyable than my normal work."
Murai snorted. "You wore rabbit ears for three days."
Ruri turned toward him with a dangerous smile. "And the motion capture became better."
Murai immediately looked away.
Zaboru laughed, already knowing the story from Ayumi and Akechi.
The final Pillar was Kuroki Takata. He had long hair, one functional eye, and carried a sword even inside the headquarters. His calm posture made him look almost relaxed, but Zaboru knew how dangerous he was once the blade left its sheath.
Zaboru nodded respectfully. "Kuroki-san. Long time no see."
Kuroki offered a faint smile. "Welcome, Boss."
After greeting everyone, Zaboru finally approached the center of the room. Akechi was already seated at the far end of the long table. As usual, his face was still and unreadable, with none of the warmth he showed around Zenshin or Arumi.
Zaboru sat directly across from him.
He looked around at the Five Pillars before asking, "Why are all of you gathered here? Did something serious happen?"
Akechi remained silent for several seconds.
The silence itself was enough to make the room feel heavier.
Then he finally spoke.
"You know that I have protected Ayumi for most of her life," Akechi said quietly. "I concealed her connection to the Hamazou family because I never wanted the world to know that she was once considered the Hamazou princess."
Zaboru nodded without interrupting.
Akechi continued in the same restrained tone. "So far, I have done that well. Most people know her only as Ayumi or Ayumi Renkonan, your wife and one of ZAGE's developers. They do not understand her past, and they do not understand what her family name once meant."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But the truth always leaves a scent. No matter how carefully it is buried, someone persistent enough may eventually find the soil that was disturbed."
Akechi looked directly into Zaboru's eyes.
"Someone has been tracing Ayumi's background."
Zaboru's expression hardened.
Akechi continued, "If it were an ordinary journalist, a rival developer, or a small criminal group, there would be no reason to gather everyone here. We could erase the investigation before they even understood what they had found."
He paused.
"The person doing this is not ordinary. He is formidable, and he has powerful allies."
Zaboru frowned. "Who is it, Akechi-san?"
Akechi answered without hesitation.
"Zanki Zagashira."
Zaboru's brows furrowed further. "Zanki? The owner of ZUSUGA? The man working with Apple on iPlay?"
Akechi gave a small nod. "The Zagashira and Hamazou families have a long and bloody history. You do not need to know every detail tonight. What matters is that Zanki understands enough about my family to know where he should look."
Akechi's voice became colder.
"And he is not searching because he cares about Ayumi."
"He's doing it to get to me," Zaboru said.
Akechi nodded once. "Correct."
He raised one hand toward Tanabe.
Tanabe stepped forward and placed a small recording device on the table. Without saying anything, he pressed a button.
A conversation began playing through the room.
The voices belonged to Zanki Zagashira, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs.
The recording had been captured several months earlier. In it, the three men discussed exposing Ayumi's past and shaping the public narrative around it. They did not merely intend to reveal that she came from a yakuza family. They planned to distort the story, connect her to the Hamazou family's bloodiest history, and present Zaboru as a businessman who had knowingly married into organized crime.
Worse, they wanted to release the information near ZEPS 4's public reveal.
The goal was obvious.
They wanted the scandal to swallow the console's launch.
The longer Zaboru listened, the colder his face became.
Steve Jobs' involvement did not surprise him completely. Their relationship had already become openly hostile, and Jobs had repeatedly shown that he was willing to make business matters personal beside he directly work with Zanki.
But Bill Gates...
That cut deeper.
When the recording ended, Zaboru remained silent for several seconds.
Then he muttered, "Damn bastards."
His hands tightened beneath the table.
"Steve Jobs, I understand," Zaboru said bitterly. "He has hated me for a long time. But Bill Gates too?"
Akechi watched him without interruption.
Zaboru leaned back and stared toward the ceiling for a moment. "Our relationship isn't good now, but we worked together before. ZAGE helped make Diablo and Diablo II exclusive to Windows 94 and Windows XP launched title. When I discussed AKAI's software expansion, I deliberately avoided plans that directly copied Microsoft's main business because I still respected what Bill built."
His jaw tightened.
"And this is how he returns that respect?"
Murai let out a low growl. "People like that only understand respect when they still think you're useful."
Ruri folded her arms. "Or when they still believe you cannot threaten them."
Akechi finally spoke again. "We are still investigating and limiting the damage. But Gates and Jobs provide Zanki with political, corporate, and technological support. Microsoft and Apple are not small targets. If Aoshidan attacks them directly, the consequences could become international."
He said it casually, but nobody in the room misunderstood the danger.
Akechi continued, "The Japanese government values ZAGE, so some officials may help us if the situation escalates. But I did not call you here only to discuss countermeasures."
Zaboru's gaze sharpened.
Akechi leaned forward slightly.
"If Ayumi's identity is exposed, ZAGE's reputation may suffer. Your reputation may collapse. The public may call you the husband of a former yakuza princess. Your fans might be gone, your subsdiaries might revolt, rival companies may attack, and governments may ask "official" questions and statement."
His face remained expressionless.
"What will you do?"
Zaboru stared at him.
Akechi's next question was even colder.
"Will you abandon her?"
The room became completely silent.
Zaboru's eyes widened—not from doubt, but from disbelief that Akechi had even asked.
He answered immediately.
"I thought you were smart, Akechi-san. Why are you asking such a stupid question?"
Murai's lips twitched.
Zaboru continued without hesitation. "I don't care if my reputation collapses. I don't care if ZAGE's value temporarily falls. Money can return. Companies can recover. Public opinion can change. ZAGE will not fall easily."
His voice became firmer.
"But Ayumi is my wife."
He looked directly into Akechi's eyes.
"No matter what happens, I will not abandon her."
For the first time that night, Akechi's expression changed.
A slow grin spread across his face.
It was not warm.
It was sharp enough to make several people in the room understand why he was called Rashomon.
"Without hesitation," Akechi said quietly. "I see."
Then his grin softened by the smallest amount.
"I'm sorry I doubted you, Zabo."
Murai sighed and crossed his arms. "See, Boss? I told you Zaboss would say that. You made everyone come here just to test something obvious."
Tatsu gave a quiet nod.
Kuroki looked toward Zaboru and said calmly, "Truly worthy of Boss Lady."
Ruri smiled faintly. "Ayumi-chan chose well."
Zaboru looked slightly embarrassed by the collective approval. "You people made this sound like an entrance examination."
Akechi ignored the comment and returned to the main issue.
"Now you understand why I called you. Bill Gates is not your ally. Whatever respect you still hold for him is not being returned."
Akechi's eyes became cold again.
"If you have the opportunity to destroy Zanki, do it. If Microsoft chooses to stand behind him, then destroy Microsoft's position as well."
Zaboru leaned back, his earlier pain gradually turning into determination.
He gave a slow grin.
"Then I may need to adjust AKAI's software plan."
Akechi raised one eyebrow slightly.
Zaboru continued, "I was trying to avoid a direct war with Microsoft. That was respect. But if Bill has decided to attack my family, then he has already ended that courtesy."
His grin sharpened.
"We'll show Microsoft how software should be done."
Akechi gave a small nod. "Good."
For a moment, it seemed the meeting was finished.
Then Akechi's expression became serious again.
"One more thing."
Zaboru waited.
Akechi looked toward Tanabe, but this time Tanabe only shook his head faintly. Whatever information they possessed was clearly incomplete.
Akechi said, "We have noticed another party watching Zanki."
Zaboru frowned. "Another company?"
"No."
"A government agency?"
"We do not believe so."
Akechi rested one hand against the table. "They are skilled. Extremely skilled. Their movements are clean, their information gathering is disciplined, and they disappear whenever we approach their trail."
That admission alone carried weight. Very few organizations could avoid Aoshidan's surveillance for long.
"From the limited intelligence we gathered," Akechi continued, "they call themselves Arachne and their logo is Purple Spider-Web Apparently."
Zaboru's brows tightened.
"Arachne?"
The name felt strange.
Not completely unfamiliar, yet he could not attach it to any memory. With Deep Memory Dive, forgetting information was nearly impossible, which made the feeling even more unsettling.
He searched his memories carefully.
Nothing.
And yet the name continued scratching at the back of his mind.
"Arachne..." Zaboru repeated quietly.
Akechi watched him. "You recognize it?"
Zaboru slowly shook his head. "No. But for some reason, it feels familiar."
Tanabe spoke from the shadowed side of the room. "That may be intentional. Organizations like this sometimes leave their symbols or patterns behind without revealing their actual identity. You may have encountered their influence without knowing their name."
Zaboru glanced toward him.
That possibility did not comfort him.
Akechi continued, "For now, we do not know whether Arachne is an enemy, an ally, or something watching from the middle. But they are interested in Zanki. That means their objectives may eventually intersect with ours."
Zaboru nodded slowly.
Akechi then gave him one final warning.
"Do not tell Ayumi about this yet."
Zaboru's expression changed. "Why?"
Akechi's gaze remained steady. "You may be willing to let your reputation or ZAGE's value fall for her. But Ayumi will not forgive herself if she believes her past damaged everything you built."
Zaboru fell silent.
He knew Akechi was right.
Ayumi was strong, but she carried guilt too easily when it involved the people she loved. If she learned that Zanki intended to weaponize her past against Zaboru and ZAGE, she would blame herself even though none of it was her fault.
After a moment, Zaboru nodded.
"Don't worry, Akechi-san. I won't tell her yet."
Then he gave a faint smile.
"And if the worst happens, I'll personally make sure she understands that none of this changes anything."
Akechi studied him for a second before nodding.
"That is what I expected."
The meeting continued for a little longer. Tanabe explained what little they knew about Zanki's investigators, while Ruri described several possible information routes that might have exposed Ayumi's old records. Kuroki and Tatsu discussed security adjustments, and Murai complained that all of this would be simpler if they were allowed to punch the problem until it disappeared.
Eventually, Zaboru stood and prepared to leave.
Akechi remained seated, watching him quietly.
Zaboru gave the Five Pillars one final nod. "Thank you for protecting Ayumi and the children."
Murai grinned. "That's our job, Boss."
Tatsu nodded.
Ruri smiled.
Kuroki inclined his head respectfully.
Tanabe had already disappeared back into the darkness.
Zaboru left Aoshidan Headquarters and returned to the courtyard, where his GT-R waited near the entrance. The subordinate who had parked it offered the key with both hands, still visibly nervous about handling such an expensive machine.
Zaboru accepted it and entered the car.
A few moments later, the GT-R roared back to life.
As he drove away from Aoshidan Headquarters, his thoughts remained fixed on two names.
Bill Gates.
And Arachne.
The first had become an enemy.
The second remained a mystery.
Inside the headquarters, Akechi stood near the meeting-room window and watched the GT-R disappear into Tokyo's night.
His expression remained unreadable.
But one question continued circling inside his mind.
Arachne... are you watching Zanki to help us?
His eyes narrowed.
Or are you waiting for all of us to weaken each other?
To be continued.
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