Chapter 14
The Bowels Part 1
Akira shook off his hand as his knuckles and wrist stung sharply. The punch he had administered to the fiend sending shockwaves throughout his arm that now reverberated in his hand. He recalled feeling the bone of the man's chin crack upon impact, seeing his head snap back and slamming into the floor underneath him. He had not taken any time to really assess the situation at hand when Ryuji pulled him away to check on the girls. Perhaps this was why his mind drifted away to the fiend now behind them, even when walking back into the open landing Ann and Kasumi were now resting in.
The boys found them sitting at the bottom of the staircase, clinging tightly to each other. Kasumi clutched her arms to herself, shivering and twitching as she stared into the floor. Ann rubbed her shoulders like a concerned older sister would but was obviously out of it herself. Her eyes darted around randomly, focusing indiscriminately on anything around the cluttered, decrepit room, then trailing back to Kasumi. Despite how rattled they were, Akira was glad they were at least physically unharmed.
He shook out his hand, dispelling the tingling stings of pain that snaked through his wrist and fingers before kneeling in front of the girls, meeting their eyes. Their thousand-yard stares came down upon him after a moment, and he noticed the glistening of tears in the corners of their eyes. "You guys okay?" he asked in a soft tone.
Kasumi looked away again, but Ann nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you guys."
"Don't mention it, really," said Ryuji.
Akira gave Ann a small smile then turned his attention to Kasumi, who seemed to shiver again, her legs shaking rhythmically. "How's she doing?"
"I think she's in shock, but physically she's okay. I'm just not sure what to do with her that won't freak her out more." She rubbed the younger girl's shoulder, pulling her in close and resting Kasumi's head on her arm.
"Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out myself. We're not gonna put her through anything else unpleasant, but we still got a job to do here."
"Maybe you can stay with her?" asked Ryuji. "Ann and I can go take care of Kamoshida, and you can stay behind and keep Kasumi company."
"I can't just let you guys go hunt that guy on your own. Even if you very well could manage it, I'm not gonna let you put yourself in any extra danger."
"If we go and finish it quickly," said Ann, "then we can all get out of here soon. I just want us all to be shut of this place as soon as possible."
"Yes," Kasumi piped in quickly. "Please, do whatever you can to get us out of here." She looked around at them with pleading eyes. She looked to Akira like an injured puppy, or perhaps a cherub. There was a sheen of innocence and purity about her, and he was thankful that such innocence seemed to be mostly intact.
Akira shook his head as he sat on the floor. Running his fingers through his thick hair, he said, "Just don't be gone long. One hair stands up on my neck, and I'll come find you, okay?"
"Appreciate it, man," Ryuji smiled.
Ann then knelt beside Akira, and to his surprise, wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered to him. "Be safe."
Overcoming the momentary awkwardness, he returned the hug, his face being immersed in her long blond hair. "You too." His chest tightened as she pulled away from him, a tear falling down her cheek. Ann stood beside Ryuji, exchanging a nervous nod. They turned their backs to Akira and Kasumi and walked away.
Akira leaned back on the floor while Kasumi held her legs to herself, closing her eyes. She buried her face in her knees, as if hiding from the world around her. Akira had half a mind to just leave her be, but a sting in his gut said otherwise. "Hey, you alright?" he asked softly.
Kasumi's large eyes poked out over her knees in a way that was almost cute. "I don't know," she mumbled. "I kind of wish Ann had stayed…"
"She'll be back soon, I know it," Akira smiled falsely. "And we're gonna get you out of here, I promise. No one else is going to hurt you."
"How do you know?" Kasumi's worried frown turned to a suspicious glare. "We were just ambushed."
She's got a good point. Before resigning his pride and potentially reducing Kasumi's confidence in him, Akira had an idea. He reached into his coat and pulled out his gun, holding it by the barrel so as to appear as non-threatening as possible. "Because I have this," he said. "Anyone comes after us, I can protect you." Akira's eyes met hers, noticing her incredulous glower. "I swear it."
"Why didn't you use that before?"
Akira looked over his shoulder back at the fiend. He was out cold, even possibly dead. Akira banished that possibility from his mind. "He didn't need to die," Akira said slowly. "He was a victim of Kamoshida, just like yourself. Probably not a great guy, yeah, but we have another target to deal with. I won't take a life unless I'm absolutely certain there's no other way, and I knew there was another way."
Kasumi's glare softened; her eyes lowered. She lowered her legs to the bottom of the steps she was sitting on, now wrapping her arms around herself. "You showed mercy," she said in almost a whisper.
"I don't know if it's mercy if you didn't have to take a life, but I do know there was no reason to end his. However, if he gets up again and tries some shit, I'll do anything needed to make sure we're safe."
Kasumi's voice caught in her throat. Her eyebrows twitched and her fingers drummed on her sides. "I hate that anyone would have to make such a choice, especially on my account. You don't seem like a bad man. You shouldn't have to be here."
Akira nodded, then let out a sigh. "You're probably right, but if it means I saved your life, then I'm glad I was. I just want everything to turn out okay now, you get me?"
Kasumi nodded weakly. "You s-seem very kind… for an armed gunman."
"I'm not a gunman, kid. I just have… strange bedfellows as of late."
Kasumi looked put off once again, raising her eyebrow at him. "And who would those strange bedfellows be?"
Noting that the word "yakuza" would likely only freak out Kasumi more, Akira pondered on how to best respond to that question. "Let's just say you and I have both recently found ourselves wrapped up in circumstances beyond our control, and not to our liking."
"Whatever it is," the girl replied curtly, "it must be far better than what happened to me."
"From a literal perspective, you're right. It's just, complicated." Akira stood up to stretch his legs, as well as to distract himself from the worries flooding his mind regarding his friends. It had only been a couple minutes, true – and it was still two on one – but no amount of rationale nor logical thinking was able to calm him. "So, do you remember how you got here, Yoshizawa?" The girl turned away at that. "I mean, if you're comfortable with me asking."
Kasumi shut her eyes tight; her shoulders twitched as if she were having a nightmare. "I-I'm not sure," she said with a whimper. "I'm sorry…"
"No, no, it's alright," Akira forced a smile to his face as he tried to calm her. "If you don't wanna talk, then –"
"But I do remember it," Kasumi interjected. "At least, mostly." She sighed, rubbing her face like she was trying to wake up from a deep slumber. "I'm… I'm a gymnast," she began. "I was competing at a meet that was being hosted at the stadium in Kamurocho. I… was bombing pretty hard, honestly. At least judging by the expectations put on me. I was returning to my hotel after a meet last night… I think. Then there was a van that pulled up beside me, and the rest is a blur, or totally blank."
"I see…" Goddamn degenerates. "So, you're a victim of high expectations, huh?"
Kasumi nodded. "Basically, yeah."
"I hear ya," Akira nodded. "Kinda going through something like that myself, honestly."
Akira could swear he heard the lightest, faintest chuckle come from Kasumi at that. "You a struggling athlete as well?"
"Well, not quite. Just caught up in circumstances beyond my control, like I said. And with that came expectations I wasn't ready for."
"I had time to prepare though," said Kasumi. "I thought I was ready. I gave it my all, and still was barely in the top half for the competition. I was expected to be in the top five, at least… Maybe this was my punishment…"
"Bullshit," Akira added, causing Kasumi to bring her attention back to him. "That's the shock talking, the emotional trauma. Therefore, we know it's not true. Probably just your brain's way of rationalizing what's going on, but it's still not true at all."
Kasumi appeared very surprised, her face becoming still as her eyes widened. "You some kind of psychiatrist or something?"
Akira smirked. "Not really, but my dad is. Taught me the fundamentals, and I picked up lots of other stuff over the years just by being around him. But don't think I'm psychoanalyzing you when I say that stuff. I say it because I mean it. This is not your fault. It's just bad luck."
Yoshizawa's eyes welled with tears again, and her gaze fell to the floor. Her arms wrapped tighter around her, and her body quivered as she began to cry. Akira felt as if he was about to have a heart attack, thinking he said something to upset her more, until her soft, youthful voice broke the increasingly painful silence. "Thank you…" she whispered, wiping her eyes of tears.
The tightening in Akira's chest abated after she spoke. "You're welcome."
A gunshot, muffled and far away, ripped through the building in that calming moment. A scream caught in Kasumi's throat, and no sound escaped her as her body tensed and she slinked back along the step, away from the door. Akira shot up to his feet in an instant. "The hell…?" He looked down to Kasumi, who had pulled her legs back up to herself again, looking up to him with terrified eyes. He did not want to ask her the following question, but he had to anyway. Even though he already knew how he was going to continue.
"Kasumi?" he asked. The girl shivered, clutched her legs tighter, and then slowly looked up to him with a terrified expression. "I have to go. If you want, you can come with me, or you can stay here. But I'm not gonna leave you defenseless, okay?" He reached into his coat pocket and produced Ma's mysterious knife, holding it out for the girl to get a good look at it. "This thing has already saved you once. It can save you again if you need it."
"Y-you promise?"
Akira nodded. "I promise." Kasumi took the knife in her trembling hands, inspecting the sheath closely. There was another gunshot; Akira's heart skipped a beat in his chest. He met Kasumi's eyes. She nodded her head slowly. "Thank you."
"…you're welcome."
Before moving on, Akira dragged the knocked-out fiend into a nearby and closet and locked it tight, just in case. He glared down the hallway, and then marched on. Fire roared in his eyes; his whole body felt as if it were heating up. His fists clenched; his muscles tensed. The strength, the rage he felt that night and feared ever since was returning to him.
"You better not have touched a hair on their heads, you son of a bitch. Because if you have, you're about to get a taste of Hell."
Five minutes earlier…
Ryuji and Ann had only just made their way back to the chamber they found Kasumi in. While inspecting the walls for some kind of exit or structural weakness, Ryuji was startled by a loud crashing noise.
"Gah! The hell?!" he whirled around on his heel, seeing Ann standing tall over a collapsed table. Adult toys and devices were now strewn about the floor.
"Sorry," she said, thoroughly embarrassed. "That just felt good to do."
Ryuji shrugged and smacked his lips. "Can't say I blame ya. I about did that myself when we found the girl."
"You think they'll be alright?"
"Akira's with her. She'll be safe, I'm sure. Besides, no one else is in here with us. I think…"
"There was that guy that attacked us. There could be more hiding in here."
"That guy wasn't hiding, I don't think. He came out of nowhere a while after we got here. There's no reason he would have just been camping in a corner to rush us when he did."
"Are you saying Kamoshida, like, let him out to attack us?"
"Basically, yeah." He continued to feel around the wall for any structural weaknesses. The dry wall was dirty, water stained and coarse to the touch. Ryuji could easily have punched through it if he was certain there was no inner layer for him to break his fist on. "Like mad fucking attack dog." As his hand traced downward along the wall, Ryuji felt a small metal slot about three fingers in width. He pushed back on it away from himself, which caused a segment of the wall to depress away from him. A hallway, ominously lit by a couple lightbulbs strung from the ceiling, was revealed to them. "I'll be damned," Ryuji muttered.
"Oh my god," Ann said from behind him.
The dim, yellow light from the bulbs illuminated the ample dust flying about the air in the hallway. There was a wretched, foul stench wafting their way from further down, seeming fleshy in nature. Ann covered her mouth as not to vomit from the stench alone. The air was dank and humid, almost heavy to them. Ryuji took a tepid step inside, with Ann following behind closely.
"This is some real shit," Ryuji said.
"That smell…" Ann covered her nose and mouth, "…it's almost like… decay."
Realizing the implication she was alluding to, Ryuji held his gun out in front of him with increased readiness, and unease. "Let's hope to god that's not it."
Their footsteps clicked against the floor and reverberated against the walls. Ann stood as close to Ryuji as the cramped passage allowed, holding her gun downward by her leg. Flipping over the table in the previous chamber had alleviated her anxiety for a moment, but the dank and rancid corridor she walked through instilled those feelings within her once again. Despite her better judgment, Ann found her thoughts wandering to how her and Shiho were in reality very close to suffering the same fate as Kasumi. She pondered on what they would have done to her, how Kasumi came to be here, what would have happened to her and her best friend had they not come into the company of two young yakuza. She was also thankful that Kamoshida had not been able to enact his desires upon that poor girl, and now she was about to make sure no one would ever befall such a fate at his hands again.
After a long minute of slow, tepid walking, Ann and Ryuji came upon another chamber. The putrid scent was growing stronger, upsetting Ann's stomach all the more. She tried to breathe through her mouth to lessen the stench assaulting her by at least a little bit, and it truly did offer only a little relief. The room seemed to be some kind of storage area, with three doors on each side of them lining the walls. The lights in the ceiling above them were dim, yellow and dirty. Grime, dirt and all other manner of filth covered the floors underneath them, even making their shoes stick to it in certain spots.
"I got a bad feeling about this," said Ann with her mouth covered.
Ryuji brushed his finger against the trigger of his gun, as if reminding himself that he had some bit of protection about him. "Maybe we should look around, see if we can find any more victims."
"Or drugged up loons," said Ann.
"You're armed and dangerous, Takamaki. Remember that."
"Adapt and overcome, right?"
"Hell yeah." Ryuji then came up to the first door on his left, groaning at whatever brownish residue was spattered on it. A metal sliding panel was at his eye level, and he tentatively opened it to peer inside with a grinding creaking noise. The metal panel was, to his great surprise, cold. Very cold.
He looked through the dirty window that was revealed, squinting to better make out what was inside. His squinting eyes immediately widened fully as he saw, leaning back in a chair and tied up with chains, a woman – pale, looking up to the ceiling, and obviously dead. "Oh my god," Ryuji muttered, taking a reflexive step backward.
"What is it?" asked Ann from behind him.
Ryuji shook his head as if clearing his mind before looking back inside. Within the room, which he surmised must be some kind of refrigerator, he got a better look at the Japanese woman chained to the chair. Her eyes were wide as she stared up to the ceiling, her jaw slack and hanging open. Wounds, fairly fresh and mostly open, scarred her body all over, which was mostly exposed as she only was adorned in lingerie. "There's a woman in here," said Ryuji slowly. "She's… dead."
"What the hell!?" Ann nudged him aside to investigate the refrigerator, but recoiled immediately at the slightest glance inside. She gasped, covered her mouth and backed away slowly. "What did they do to her?"
"I don't think either of us want that question answered," Ryuji shook his head. He then looked around the room slowly, focusing on the other doors. "And I'll guess the other rooms in here aren't going to be any more pleasant."
"It's like they're – storing them or something!"
Ryuji tightened his grip around his gun with a fiery scowl. "He will pay," he muttered.
"He'll pay for everything," Ann continued.
From behind the two young adults, the sound of slow, clicking footsteps rang through the storage area. Ann turned around slowly while Ryuji spun on his heel, pistol at the ready. "Come out with your hands up! Or you're gonna be breathin' through a new hole in your head!"
"Still so vulgar, Sakamato," came a calm, egotistical voice. The footsteps grew louder before stopping all together about twenty feet away from them. Kamoshida stood in the entrance opposite to them, wearing an obscenely tight t-shirt atop appalling leather shorts that left little to the imagination. The appearance was so jarring that Ann and Ryuji almost did not notice the shotgun he held in his hands. The girl raised her gun shakily toward him while taking two nervous steps backward. "You always have been so aggressive. It's like your unevolved mind just can't grasp the concept of subtlety."
"You're one to talk about being vulgar, murderer."
"But isn't that why you're here, Sakamoto? To murder me? Your fellow man?"
Ann interjected before Ryuji could respond with further expletives. "Would anyone shed a tear for a concerned citizen putting down a rabid animal? They'd be happy that a monster was removed from their town."
"Rabid animal?" asked Kamoshida. "Monster? I'm a fucking businessman, Takamaki. No one got upset about me using my talents to get the gold medal in '84. What's the big deal about taking a few drugged-up whorish addicts off the streets and putting them to use for the first time in their worthless lives?"
"You scum!" exclaimed Ann.
"Don't you dare insult someone like me!" Kamoshida roared back. "I am an Olympian, a god among man! Through my own skills and talents alone, I soared to heights you pathetic peasants couldn't even dream of! I deserve everything I have, and everything I fucking want!"
Ryuji readied his pistol in front of him, his finger gracing the trigger. "Here's one for ya, you son of a bitch," he murmured.
Kamoshida, in a surprisingly fast flash of movement, readied his own dirty shotgun, pointing it not at Ryuji, but at Ann. Ryuji paused as his mind blanked, feeling as if his insides were melting. "C'mon, I know even you idiot kids were taught better than that! Don't you know that guns are fucking dangerous!?"
Kamoshida cocked his shotgun as he stared down the barrel at Ann, who was stock still in terror. "ANN!" Ryuji exclaimed, blind-firing his pistol in the vague direction of Kamoshida as he tackled Ann to the ground. The sound of the gunshot reverberated off the walls at an ear-splitting volume, surprising Kamoshida just enough to throw off his aim, shooting well to the kids' right, completely missing them. With terrified panting, Ryuji and Ann retreated backward into the hall they had entered from. Kamoshida retreated behind a nearby wall as well.
"Shit!" Ryuji shouted, darting back into the corridor with Ann. "No one told us he had a freakin' shotgun!"
"This is too much!" shouted Ann. "We can't take him on that easily. It's two on one, but that's a much bigger gun!"
"We should have brought some of Iwai's men in here. In fact, why the fuck did they not come with us!?"
"Hey!" Kamoshida called out to them. "Make it easier on yourselves and come have an honest fight! I didn't expect you two to bore me, of all people!"
"Shoot yourself with that thing, you goddamn freak!" Ann shouted back.
"I will not quit while I'm at the top of my game! I have a business! A kingdom to rule!"
"Oh my GOD! Will you shut up about being a king!?"
"HEY!" the voice of Akira broke over the chaos, ringing out from a few meters behind them. "You guys alright!?"
"Akira!" Ann exclaimed.
"We're okay, man!" Ryuji added. "How about you?!"
"I'm fine! I heard the gunshot and came after you guys! You absolutely should have let -!"
A blast from Kamoshida's shotgun interrupted him, causing his heart to skip a beat. Luckily, neither of Akira's friends were hit. "Is that the black haired jackass you were with, Sakamato?" Kamoshida shouted. "Even if you were able to make friends, it's not gonna do you any good!" His voice trailed off as he continued. Kamoshida was running away, further into the underground storage area.
It was only then that Ann realized she was not breathing, and let out a long sigh. Her heart was beating faster than ever in her life, feeling near to breaking out of her chest. She clutched her pistol to her chest, breathing deeply in and out.
Ryuji slammed his fist into the floor with a loud grunt. "Ergh, that bastard is toying with us! He's too much of a coward to take us on in a fair fight, so he wants us on his turf."
"He's got—" Ann was interrupted by her own deep breathing. "—the home field advantage, Ryuji. And I guess someone as insane as him still has a will to live."
"I guess he's not stupid," said Akira as he approached. Seeing their friend emerge from the shadows set Ann and Ryuji at ease a bit, the former a bit more than the latter. "You guys okay?" he asked.
"Physically," said Ryuji. "Kamoshida's not a great shot, thank god."
"I guess it might have been better if you had come with us," Ann laughed weakly. "We might have gotten a shot on him."
"You couldn't have known, it's alright." Akira sat down beside Ann and sighed heavily before pursing his lips. She was surprised by how Akira seemed more annoyed than scared, but the image instilled in her some bit of confidence. Perhaps misplaced, yes, but she did not care in the moment. "There's nothing wrong with you two wanting Kasumi to be kept safe. And before you say anything, she's alright. She wanted to stay behind; understandable, I think. I gave her my knife to defend herself, just in case. She's actually an athlete, so she should be able to handle herself.
"I'm glad she's okay," Ryuji added. "And that you came our way in the end. We underestimated that bastard."
"Well, now I'm here with you, and we're gonna finish this fast. Don't wanna keep the girl waiting."
"Are you sure about this?" Ann asked. "That was a pretty big gun."
"Three on one, Ann," said Ryuji. "Why do you think he ran."
"Forgive me for having the jitters after all that," Ann lowered her head shamefully.
"Forgiven," said Akira with a smile. "If you want, you can head back with Kasumi, though. We won't make you do anything you don't want to."
Ann paused, her fearful expression turning to one of festering anger. "I want to go back to her," she said. "I want to leave this all behind. But I can't." She looked down at her pistol, grazing her thumb against the safety. She turned her gaze to the exit where Kamoshida had fled. "This one's for Shiho."
"Hell yeah," Ryuji stood to his feet. "Shiho, and everyone else he's hurt."
Akira and Anns stood up in turn. They looked to each other, exchanging newfound moticrums of confidence. "Let's just get this done, and be well shut of this place," Akira stated. "It's almost all over."
They walked on down the corridor carefully; even their footsteps were quieter. They came to the hall Kamoshida had escaped through, peering deeply into the darkness that awaited them. Ann breathed out slowly, calming herself. Ryuji's fire burned brighter within himself. Akira simply glared with an expression almost… condescending. "Fitting," Akira remarked, "for a cornered rat."