Chapter 26: Why So Serious?
As night fell, the bar street began to come alive. Being located in a college town, the area was mostly filled with quiet, casual pubs. Only in the deepest part of the street were there a few rowdier places that students usually avoided, where a more colorful crowd congregated.
Satoshi Suzuki, now changed into a long-sleeved shirt, walked into one of the bars as if he belonged there. He had spent the afternoon gathering intel on his target. According to his divinations, the target was extremely popular with women but had no partner of his own and seemed to be a magnet for trouble. For someone like that, a place like a bar was theoretically the best place to find information.
He ordered a drink and struck up a casual conversation with the bartender.
"I heard there's a strange guy around here. Super handsome, but not into women at all. Heh, you don't think he's gay, do you?"
The bartender was a woman with slightly dark skin, wearing a white shirt and a black vest. In the dim light, she was easy on the eyes, though the braces on her teeth were a bit distracting when she spoke.
"Are you talking about that Kaito… uh, never mind. Forget I said anything."
The woman was cautious, clearly afraid of trouble. A smile played on Satoshi's lips. If she knew who he was talking about, this would be much easier. He took out a few large bills, slid them under his glass, and pushed them across the bar. The meaning was clear.
The woman was tempted, but she still looked hesitant. "Sir, this is a bar. We don't do… other kinds of business."
Satoshi just smiled nonchalantly, took out a few more bills, and pushed them over. "Then just consider it a payment for a drink. Mix me your best specialty. This is your tip."
The woman's hand instinctively snatched up the cash. The corner of Satoshi's mouth curled into a mocking grin. He tilted his head slightly; the sound of her accelerating heartbeat was obvious.
She glanced around, and while pocketing the money, she grabbed a few bottles and moved a little closer to Satoshi's end of the bar. She began to mix a drink with practiced ease, her heart still pounding. She lowered her voice, as if she were sharing an urban legend.
"Sir, I don't know if the person you're asking about is the same one I'm thinking of, but…"
"Go on," Satoshi said, taking a sip of his drink. "Just pretend I'm a bored guy looking to hear a story."
The woman nodded. "I've heard from the senior staff here, and from some people from my hometown who've worked here longer than me, that there's a legend about this place."
"The legend says that in the Binhai University City area, there's a young 'Monster' who rules the underworld."
"They say that back in middle school, he put members of the yakuza in the hospital. And during his university years, any gang that dared to cross the line in this neighborhood was beaten, hospitalized, and disbanded."
"Some people say he can send a grown man flying with a single punch. Others say he's a master of ancient martial arts, so fast that without a gun, no one can touch him…"
Satoshi frowned slightly. The person she was describing sounded like an experienced Reincarnator. But the one he had met was clearly a complete novice who knew nothing.
Sachi, the girl with the braces, pushed the finished cocktail in front of him. Her heart was racing, but her target didn't seem to suspect a thing. She was good at reading people and getting inside men's heads. She knew that the man in front of her, despite his constant smile, was incredibly arrogant and looked down on everyone. She had only ever seen that kind of gaze in one or two rich kids before. It was the look of someone who felt that no one else was worthy of speaking to him as an equal. His friendliness was the condescending affection a human shows to a small animal.
And people like that were the easiest to fool. They always missed the details.
Sachi's heart pounded. She rarely did things like drugging someone, but she gradually calmed herself down. She watched the man drain the glass she had spiked, and a wave of relief washed over her. After feeding him a few more bits of true and false information, she excused herself to serve another customer and quietly slipped away from the bar.
She discreetly sent a text message on her phone: OK.
A short while later, several men dressed like security guards in black suits walked over to the bar. By now, Satoshi was slumped over the counter, seemingly passed out. The guards handled him like any other drunk, hoisting him up by his arms and carrying him out.
The three "guards" were, of course, Katsu's men. They quickly dragged Satoshi into the basement and threw him onto the cold floor.
Katsu stubbed out his cigarette, walked over, and planted his foot on Satoshi's face. He didn't recognize the guy; he wasn't one of the usual underworld types.
"A new face. What would a guy like this want with Big Bro Kaito?" he mused. "Whatever. Let's beat him up first, then take some nude photos and toss him out."
Katsu wasn't a true gangster. In modern-day Japan, the organized yakuza had either gone legitimate or disappeared entirely. What was left were mostly small-time crews like his. They weren't good people, but they weren't excessively evil either. They still had a healthy fear of the law.
"Heh. What a bunch of third-rate thugs. No wonder you're so terrified of a single newcomer."
The sudden voice made Katsu jump. In a split second, he realized it had come from the man beneath his foot. He instantly lifted his leg to stomp down hard.
But a hand shot up and caught his leather shoe mid-air.
Katsu felt an immense, unstoppable force surge up from below. He couldn't force his foot down. He lost his balance and was only able to shout, "He's awake!" before he was sent flying.
Akane, who was hiding in the furthest corner, watched with wide eyes as the young man sent Katsu flying with a single hand. And it was a literal flight. Katsu, who was nearly 180cm tall and weighed over 80kg, was thrown three meters through the air and crashed heavily onto a sofa.
The other three guards reacted. The most aggressive one, Koji, stepped forward and aimed a powerful kick at Satoshi's body.
Satoshi was still on the ground, one hand supporting him, the other still in the posture of having just thrown Katsu. Seeing the kick coming, he pushed off the floor. His center of gravity shifted forward, and he lunged like a gecko. The guard's powerful kick hit nothing but air, and the momentum caused him to lose his balance and fall.
The other two men only saw a black shadow dart forward, rise to its feet like an agile cat, take a few steps up the wall, and then launch into a mid-air flip.
THWACK!
One of them was met with a foot to the face. His vision went black and he collapsed, twitching twice before losing consciousness.
CRASH!
The bottle in Akane's hand slipped from her grasp and shattered on the floor. Her eyes were glazed over. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. In a matter of seconds, the man had taken out her crew's best fighters, including Katsu and Koji.
The last man standing, Chao, had rushed forward a few steps, but now he froze, all his momentum gone. He didn't dare to move.
Across the room, Katsu clutched his chest and struggled up from the sofa, his eyes filled with terror. Who the hell is this guy? he thought. No normal person can move like that. He's like a kung fu master from a movie!
Fear gripped him, and he instinctively reached behind him on the sofa.
Satoshi's mouth stretched into an even more mocking grin. He spread his hands wide.
"Why so serious?"
(End of Chapter)