Eiji Chapter 1: The trap
Three days ago, Eiji's father had told him that he would be going on a trip to New York. Exciting, right? For some people, traveling would mean freedom, rest, parties. Well, for a normal family, yes. But for his, it meant trouble, settling scores, and punches, because Eiji's family is none other than the most influential, wealthy, and feared Yakuza family in all of Japan—the Satô Family. And you don't want to anger them. So that's why poor Eiji finds himself in New York in the middle of summer.
Eiji and his two bodyguards walked through the streets of New York, in the scorching summer heat, with the smell of fried food assaulting his nose. The one positive? The women. They are gorgeous here.
As always, the most annoying task falls on me.
Among his three brothers and his only sister, it had to be him his father sent to settle the score with that jerk "Big G"—ridiculous name, really, you can't get worse than that.
"What are these merchants yelling about…" he grumbled, adjusting his hearing device.
One of his bodyguards, Toma, chuckled:
"Yeah, welcome to the city that never sleeps, boss."
Eiji growled, pulling out his phone:
"Ugh, spare me your sarcasm, Toma. Not only did he hurt Aiko and Karine, but now I also have to deal with this city. (I don't hate New York… when I'm on vacation…)"
Jamal, the second bodyguard, finally spoke:
"From what I've heard, apparently, three members of Big G's gang, who were on vacation in Japan three days ago, attacked two of our female members. They ended up in the hospital. They were caught off guard and didn't even have time to react… Luckily, they couldn't do more. Thanks to Hiroshi and the team—if they hadn't intervened, we all know what they would have done."
Eiji clenched his jaw just thinking about it.
"No matter what they did or didn't do, they'll pay-." His words were cut off when he felt someone bump into him, knocking his phone to the ground. "Seriously…" His words stopped completely when he saw who had bumped into him: a small boy with big innocent, frightened eyes, no older than five. He looked lost.
"Oh…" His voice softened as he crouched to be at the boy's level. "Hey there, are you lost?"
The boy nodded slowly. "Y-yes, I lost my big sister… at the park… She's blind, she's in danger!" (She wasn't really, but the little brother was very protective for his age.)
"Boss," Toma began, picking up the phone from the ground while Jamal stayed close to Eiji, "we don't have time for this, it's not our—" He frowned as Eiji covered the boy's ears. "Ugh, boss, seriously, are you going to insult me?!!!!! He knew what to expect"
"Shut up, he's my problem now," he said, his attention back on the boy. "What's your name?" he asked, gently pinching his cheeks. "You're too cute!"
The boy, surprised by the gesture, frowned.
"T-Tsuya, stop that, sir!" Eiji laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay, I surrender and I'll stop." He stood up, amused.
"So, you're Japanese, here on vacation?"
Tsuya nodded vigorously.
"Okay, the park, right? We'll take you there then."
"Boss, we really don't have time—" Toma tried to intervene, handing him back his phone.
But Eiji stopped him with a glance, Taking his phone back before retourning his attention to Tsuya.
"Let's go. Show me." Eiji held out his hand. Tsuya suddenly hesitated. Jamal noticed but didn't say anything, just observed for the moment, though his instincts screamed that something was off. As they walked through the crowded street, the feeling only grew stronger when Tsuya led them around a corner into a dark alley. Jamal was about to comment when he saw Eiji's expression, a sly grin on his face.
"The park's this way, it's a shortcut…" Tsuya whispered.
Tch, that bastard realized it was a trap, but he's bringing us straight into it anyway.
The alley smelled of urine mixed with garbage and something Eiji recognized: gunpowder. This place was nothing like a shortcut, obviously.
"Funny park," Eiji said with a cold, calculating grin, not teasing this time.
Tsuya tensed, his hand slipping from Eiji's. He said nothing, just guided him to the end of the path. But Eiji felt him flinch when a stray cat hissed.
And there they were: Big G and his crew.
"Using a child as bait is pretty cowardly, but coming from you, I'm not surprised, Big G."
Tsuya ran toward someone, not Big G, but a young woman standing in a corner. "Himari onee-san !." He called out rushing in her arms
Eiji smirked
"Well, that just got interesting." His gaze locked on the blind woman, and for the first time, Eiji couldn't look away.