A few seconds later my phone buzzed with a very unhappy reply. “Fuck.” I laughed loudly and pocketed it.
“Come on, we’d better get back to the office.” Kaoru said.
I nodded in silent agreement; Kenichi would not be happy about this. I ran my fingers through my hair again, looking up at the battered storefronts that lined the narrow street. We were in one of the newer parts of our territory that featured mostly dive bars and bootleg DVD stores. Beside me was an empty storefront with a FOR LEASE sign plastered across the door.
I looked up at the flickering red lights coming from the second floor. I didn’t recall there being a business upstairs, but it was Tadao’s job to deal with landlords, not me. I motioned upwards to get Kaoru’s attention. “What’s this place?”
“A massage parlor, obviously.” My partner shook his head. “Come on, let’s get going.”
I glanced back, glimpsing a tall blond woman in the window. She stared me down with piercing eyes before shutting the curtain, dimming the flickering red lights. A foreboding feeling grew in my chest. Something wasn’t right. “I’ll be back.” I promised to the wind before driving off into the night.
? ? ?
KARINA
Although it had been 2 weeks since I arrived, the Tokyo skyline continued to take my breath away. I looked out to the bustling streets. It was 9PM, the lonely salary men would line up soon enough and the five girls I employed would be more than happy to take their money.
I had to do business in cash, after all I was on a tourist visa. Good thing the Japanese people were a cash society. There was no shortage of money to be made in Shibuya. I’d only been in business for two weeks and we were turning a profit.
My father had raised an excellent businesswoman. Too bad that he treated me like a pawn in the end.
Something caught my attention and my eyes locked with a man on a motorcycle just in front of the building. Why did his expression send a chill down my spine? We held each other’s gaze for a moment before he said something to his companion and rode off.
Something wasn’t quite right with him. I’d have to be careful.
-
There was a knock at the door.
Speak of the devil.
I stood at the door which was flung open to reveal that man I had made eye contact with on the street. I tensed. I was no innocent child and I could sense the trouble that swirled around him.
“Coco-chan,” I whispered to the girl at the entrance and put my hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She was the one who greeted our patrons, but I knew that he wasn’t here for a massage. My training surveyed him quickly, noting tattoos peeking out along the neckline of his shirt.
Yakuza.
Coco bobbed her head in a nervous bow and scurried off without saying a word. The parlor would start getting busy soon, once the salary men had finished getting drunk off cheap beer. I couldn’t have this Yakuza guy messing up my profits.
“Hello, can I help you?” I said to him.
The man was tall and thin but muscular. He stood straight at stared at me with the ferociousness of a dragon.
“Would you like a massage?” I continued, politely.
“I’m not here for a massage.” He said. His tone was rude. The man glanced at two of my employees waiting for further instructions. “Do you know where you are?”
I clenched my jaw. Even thousands of kilometers from home, I could not escape the threat of crime. I sighed and motioned to my private office. “Can we speak in here?”
The yakuza man nodded. I didn’t miss the flash of metal inside his jacket. He was no doubt armed to the teeth. But I had my own defenses. I gave the girls a reassuring nod, letting them know to continue business as usual, before letting my guest into the office.
“So,” I sighed and shut the door behind us, even though I knew the girls would listen to what we said while they hovered by the door frame. They were young and curious, college age girls I had rescued from pimps and give them a real job. “Tell me, what do you want?”
The tattooed man seemed shocked at how I well I spoke his language. He didn’t know that my family had raised me to speak Russian, English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and German. My tutors encouraged me to use my gifts to learn as many languages as I could. I was to make myself as useful to my family as possible, although my father would never let me out on the front lines.
I met his gaze. “Yakuza?”
I watched his jaw clench. He was sizing me up, a look that I was used to, being a strong woman in a crime family. “Do you know that you’re on our turf? Setting up a brothel without even a thought about who controls this corner of Shibuya?”