part0022

I take a sip of water from the paper cup beside my bed. It tastes bitter and still hurts to swallow. I lie back and gaze at the ceiling. I take a slow, deep breath, enduring the discomfort in the hope it relaxes me.

It’s been just over twenty-four hours since Kazawa’s club exploded. Still can’t believe I almost went up with it. People keep telling me I’m lucky to be alive.

It doesn’t feel like it.

The multiple stab wounds were largely superficial, but it still sucks having a knife thrust into you more than once. Those brass knuckles Miley went to town on me with did the most damage. Cracked ribs, internal bleeding… oh, and my eye socket is bruised. I didn’t even know bones could bruise, but it turns out they can, and it doesn’t tickle. The swelling around my eye has gone down a lot overnight, due to the staggering amount of pain meds and anti-inflammatories currently being drip-fed into my blood stream.

All things being equal, I feel like I’ve just gone twelve rounds with a fucking steamroller.

Luckily, being in a financially secure position, I’ve been able to get the best healthcare available, and I have to say, this place has been great. Even my room… it’s like a cross between a suite at the Hilton and something out of a sci-fi movie—everything’s white and clean and sterile, but also luxuriously comfortable.

I’m in a private ward, high enough up that my view out the window doesn’t even show any buildings. It’s just clouds and daylight. Which would be more impressive if it wasn’t so cold and miserable out there.

Ruby, thank God, is in much better shape. A few lacerations and bruises, some swelling around her wrists from where she was tied up, but other than that, she’s doing okay. I swear, she’s more bothered about what happened to her new dress than to her.

She hasn’t moved from my bedside since we got here, other than to get coffee from the machine down the hall, which is where she is right now. I’m not allowed any, apparently, but according to her, I’m not missing much.

Ichiro dropped us both off at the main entrance yesterday and high-tailed it out of here. He’s going to do some digging for us, see if he can track down what happened to Miley and Kazawa. But he wanted to keep a low profile—a luxury I can no longer enjoy, thanks to the viral video of me being torn apart by a nineteen-year-old—so he didn’t want to be here when the inevitable army of authorities showed up.

I’ll say one thing for all these meds—they’ve stopped my hand tremors. First time in almost three years my hand hasn’t at least ached. The physio could’ve just told me to get high instead of squeezing a rubber ball all day and leaving myself open to Ruby’s many innuendos.

“This coffee tastes like shit.” I smile weakly as she walks in, grimacing at the cup in her hand. “Seriously… one of the most technologically advanced nations on earth, and they can’t make a good cup of coffee!”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’ve quite got that right over here yet.”

She sits beside my bed. Rests her feet up on the edge of it, shoving my leg away to make room for herself in the process.

“How you doin’?”

I allow my head to sink into the pillow. “I’m okay.”

“Uh-huh. So, how are you doing?”

I glance over at her. She’s staring at me like any mom does when they know you’re lying—glaring at me through a raised eyebrow.

I sigh. “Fine. I feel like shit, Ruby.”

“Yeah… me too. And all that crap crazy bitch said to you?”

I shrug as best I can. “Mind game, right?”

“Goddamn right. Remember that, okay?”

“Yeah,” I say with a smile that I hope was convincing.

“So, listen, I spoke to one of the nurses out there. Apparently, the doctors have managed to delay the local authorities from questioning you, for now. And there’s a shit-ton of press out there wanting your picture.”

“Newspapers? Really?”

She nods. “I honestly don’t think you understand just how many people saw Miley’s broadcast of you, Adrian. It’s literally the only thing the world is talking about. Look.”

She takes out her cellphone, presses the screen a few times, then shows it to me.

“You’re trending on Twitter.”

I squint at the screen. “What does ‘hashtag tortured hero’ mean?”

She rolls her eyes. Smiles. “It means you’re famous, big boy.”

I sink back into my pillow and close my eyes.

“Maybe this is a good thing?” she offers.

I lift my head slightly to look at her. “How could this possibly be a good thing?”

“Well… with so much attention, it’s only a matter of time before someone IDs and finds Miley. Saves us a job.”

“Yeah, but with so much attention, I won’t be able to cross the street without appearing on the front page, let alone hunt down and kill an entire Yakuza family.”

“Hmm, good point.” She sips her coffee. Grimaces again, as if forgetting it tasted bad. “So, that’s your plan? You want to go after Kazawa?”

I nod. “Bet your ass. I don’t like being beaten. I don’t like being a patient or a victim. I don’t like people thinking they can do what they did and get away with it.”

Maybe Ruby was right. Maybe it was all just mind games. Or maybe there was some truth to what Miley said, and that’s why it hurt so much. I’m honestly not sure which of them made a better point. But all I know is anger makes the pain easier to deal with, so I should embrace it. Violence is my default setting for problem-solving, and it feels like a good strategy right now to stick with what I know.

“So, yeah,” I continue. “I’m gonna kill Kazawa and anyone associated with him. Every last fucking one of them. Including Miley. Especially fucking Miley. She did something to me no one else ever has. And I’m pissed. Which means she’s dead first.”

Ruby says nothing. She holds my gaze for a second then looks away, staring at the floor.

“You okay?” I ask her.

She shifts in her seat before looking back up at me. “Adrian, we were this close to being dead. Thank God for Ichiro, but… for a while there, it looked like we were done.”

“I know. But we got out.”

“Yeah, and I’m grateful, obviously. But there’s no way that Kazawa or his psycho girlfriend don’t know we’re still alive. Maybe we should…”

“Should what, Ruby?”

She sighs. “Maybe we should cut our losses. Take advantage of this second chance and move on. Start over. Somewhere quiet.”

“Is that really what you want?”

“I dunno,” she replies, shrugging. “Maybe.”

“I don’t understand. These people nearly destroyed us. We can’t let that stand.”

“Says who?” She gets to her feet and begins pacing back and forth at the foot of my bed. “Why do we have to take revenge on them? Pride? Principle? Jesus, Adrian, we don’t have to prove anything to each other. Who else is there? Why does it matter?”

I slam my hand against the bed. “It matters because people cannot be allowed to get away with that kind of shit, Ruby! If we don’t stop them, how many more people are gonna end up like us? People who can’t defend themselves. People who don’t know how to survive like we do. Their blood will be on our hands if we walk away now. Besides, the way I see it, if we just take out Kazawa, someone’s just gonna step up, take his place, and come after us. Best way to avoid that is make sure there’s no one left to assume control.”

She stops pacing and stares at me. It doesn’t look as if she’s trying to find something to say. She’s just staring at me, hands on hips.

“Look,” I say, “I understand where you’re coming from, okay? I do. But do you really think Miley is gonna let me start over somewhere else? Like you said, she must know I’m alive, because I’m trending worldwide. She’s going to hunt me for the rest of her life until she finishes me. Trust me, I know what it’s like to be driven by vengeance. It consumes every part of you. She won’t ever stop, Ruby. Which means we won’t ever be able to stop running. I don’t want that. Not for myself. Not for you.”

She walks over to the window and looks out. A good two minutes pass before she moves again. She turns on her heels and throws her coffee cup across the room, sinking it in the trash can stood against the opposite wall. Then she moves to my bedside. Sits on the edge of the bed. Takes my hand.

“I know you’re right,” she says. “But it’s not every day you face your own mortality. It’s not every day you see someone you care about tortured beyond comprehension. I’ve seen a lot of shit, Adrian, but yesterday was too much, even for me. It just makes me wonder if the fight’s worth it.”

I do my best to squeeze her hand with mine.

“Look, while it wasn’t intentional at the time, we’re in this situation because of me, and I’m sorry for that. Truly, I am. But you saw what Miley did to me. She’s grown up fixated with taking revenge on me. She won’t stop. Ever. This is the fight of our lives, kiddo. So, you can bet your ass it’s worth it.”

She takes a deep breath. When she smiles, it looks forced. The expression barely reaches her tired eyes.

“Then we fight. Whatever it takes. And you know I’ve got your back.”

I nod. “Likewise.”

We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment. For the first time since waking up here, I remember what we said to each other when we thought it was over. Before Ichiro showed up. It was intense. We both thought we were about to die. Did we speak honestly, or were we just victims of circumstance? It’ll need talking about at some point. I mean, we almost—

“Am I interrupting?”

We both turn and look over at the door. There’s a man standing there. Short, dark skin, a barrel chest surrounded by muscle, and an obvious power to his frame that defies his years. He’s dressed in black, wearing a cream trench coat that rests just below his knees.

He smiles. “The nurse said it was okay to come see you.”

“Are you a reporter?” Ruby gets to her feet and moves around the bed, so she’s standing between me and the new arrival.

He chuckles. “No, I’m not. Although, there’s a few of them out there, all looking for a quote from the man of the hour.” He leans to the side and looks past Ruby, right at me. “How are you feeling, Adrian?”

I shrug. “As you’d expect, I guess. Sorry, you are…?”

“Moses Buchanan.” He pauses to grin widely. “Josh Winters recruited me to a senior consultant position when GlobaTech bought my security firm a few years ago. When he passed away, I was chosen to replace him as CEO. My condolences, by the way. Josh was a good man and a good friend. I know you were like a brother to him.”

Ruby looks around, wide-eyed, and we exchange a look of surprise.

“How did you find me?” I ask. “And why are you here?”

He steps inside the room and leans back against the doorframe. His hands are deep in his coat pockets.

“The how was easy,” he says. “The people torturing you live on the internet weren’t as good as they thought they were at covering their tracks. I’m sure a lot of people traced the signal. I’m simply better and faster than most people.”

Listening to him talk, I can’t help but be reminded of Josh. His mannerisms, his confidence… the way he perfectly treads the line between charming and arrogant. I see why they were friends.

“As for the why … well, I thought it only right I check up on you. It’s what Josh would’ve done.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d buy that,” he says, smiling. He steps forward and extends his hand. “You must be Ruby.”

She shakes it tentatively. “Yeah. How do you know?”

He looks at each of us in turn. “Honestly? Josh kept a file on Adrian under lock and key. Only accessible by whoever holds his job.” He focuses on me. “It… ah… it details everything about you. From the moment you and Josh met until the moment he travelled to Rome with you.”

I feel my eyes pop wide, which instantly sends a shooting pain around one side of my skull.

“Damn it!” I grimace and screw my eyes closed again. “Really?”

“Yeah. He left a note with it, saying it might come in handy.”

“Right. So, why are you here, Moses? I’m kinda busy being in pain.”

He takes his hand out of his pocket. He’s holding a piece of paper, which he passes to Ruby.

“What’s this?” she asks, taking it.

“It’s a list of Tetsuo Kazawa’s associates. It was too much of a risk to investigate that piece of shit personally, but I figured it’s a good way for you to start looking for him.”

“This is… this is great. Thank you.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I appreciate that. Thanks.”

I shuffle myself a little more upright in bed, trying to get comfortable. In doing so, the bed cover slips a little, revealing the multi-colored patchwork of bruises on my torso.

“Ouch…” says Moses, gesturing to them.

“I’ll live,” I reply. “So, at the risk of appearing ungrateful here… what do you want from me?”

“Who says I want anything?”

“Really? The CEO of the biggest company in the world flies five-and-a-half thousand miles to do a favor for a guy he doesn’t know, purely out of the goodness of his heart? I respect the fact Josh trusted you. That goes a long way with me. But don’t bullshit me. You show up here rocking the Nick Fury look and expect me to believe you don’t want anything? Try again.”

He holds my gaze. His polite and cheerful exterior visibly hardens. His eyes narrow for a second. Then he nods and smiles again.

“Fair enough. I came here because of who you were to Josh. I came here because no one should have to go through what you just did. Especially in front of the world. The people who did this to you should be brought to justice. But they’re Yakuza, and it’s not something I want my team or my company to proactively get involved in. We’re very visible too, and there are political ramifications to every decision I make. Plus, I figured you would probably want to handle it yourself.” He nods to the piece of paper in Ruby’s hand. “That’s a peace offering, of sorts. A gesture of good faith between you and me.”

He lets out a taut breath. Glances around the room and over his shoulder. “Because I’ve been around long enough to know when shit’s about to go sideways. I know the signs. Trouble’s coming, Adrian, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have someone like you owe me one.”

“What kind of trouble?” asks Ruby.

“Right now, the manageable kind. But the world’s on a knife edge. That could easily change.”

“Is Jericho still working with you?” I ask.

Moses nods. “He is.”

I smile. “Say hi for me.”

“I will. Although, I think he’s still a little unsure about you.” He laughs as he moves to the doorway again. “I’ll let you rest up. Both of you. Take a couple of days. Get your strength back before you go looking into that list, you hear me? Tetsuo Kazawa isn’t someone to take lightly.”

He steps out into the corridor and looks back. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I took the liberty of leaving you a little gift in your apartment.”

“Flowers and grapes? You shouldn’t have…”

“Not quite,” he replies, chuckling. “Just a few things to help you with your Yakuza problem.”

He nods a silent farewell to each of us and disappears out of sight.

Ruby turns to me. “Well, that was weird.”

“Yeah, just a bit.”

“What do you think’s going on?”

“Nothing GlobaTech can’t handle, I’m sure.” I gesture to the paper. “What’s he given us?”

She looks at it again. “Just a list of three names and addresses.”

“Well, now we know where to start.”

“Yeah, but I think we should take his advice. Lay low and rest up for a couple of days. Minimum.”

My instinct is to argue, but I stop myself. I can’t even stand, let alone wage war on half of Tokyo. I made my point to Ruby about us needing to fight, but I admit that resting sounds pretty good right now.

I nod. “Yeah, okay. We should get a good forty-eight hours of peace in this place. But you’ll stick around, yeah? I don’t want you out there on your own. Not at the moment.”

She smiles. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry.”

She sits back down beside me. Puts her feet back up on the bed, shoving my leg aside again. Starts tapping the screen on her phone. I watch her for a moment, then lie back in bed, focus on the ceiling, and try to relax.