Chapter 18: A War Without Honor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18: A War Without Honor
April 22nd (Sat) [9:40 AM]
I met up with Kishimoto on the subway this morning, and we headed to the plaza at Shibuya Station together.
It was the location of the Hachiko statue, where Tojo had arranged to meet Sakamoto.
"Wow! It's the Hachiko statue! I was so bummed I didn't get to see it yesterday!"
Kishimoto chattered away in a cheerful voice, despite the fact that we were here to tail someone.
The eyes of passersby were drawn to her, making her look like a tourist out sightseeing.
Her current outfit looked quite warm, considering it was spring.
A stylishly worn light beige trench coat, bright blonde hair spilling out from under a white floppy hat, leopard-print sunglasses, and even a mask.
It was the classic cliché spy outfit, but for some reason, it looked good on her.
In fact, if you took away the mask, her sophisticated outfit wouldn't have looked out of place in a fashion magazine.
I guess it's true that a pretty face makes any outfit work.
As I was mentally critiquing her outfit, which befitted a former reader model, Kishimoto tilted her head and asked.
"But Ryu-chan, are you sure you'll be okay with just that? I think I'd recognize you from a mile away."
"I'm not small like you. This is enough for me."
I replied, pulling the hood of my hoodie down a little further.
With my build, just wearing different clothes wasn't enough to avoid suspicious glances anyway.
So I kept the disguise minimal, figuring I'd just have to own my size.
We'd arrived a little earlier than the meeting time Tojo told me, so we were sitting in the shade of a tree, chatting while sharing a box of donuts and coffee for breakfast. That's when we spotted a familiar face approaching in the distance.
'Hide!'
Kishimoto quickly ducked her head, while I hid my large frame behind the tree.
Fortunately, Tojo didn't seem to notice us and made her way through the crowd toward the Hachiko statue.
"Mom, what's that man doing?"
"Oh, my! I'm so sorry! So sorry! My child doesn't know any better!"
The child pointed at me hiding behind the tree, and his mother, horrified, apologized and hurried away with him in tow.
Perhaps seeing this, other passersby seemed to quicken their pace.
"..."
I hadn't even done anything, but I felt kind of hurt.
*
Following Tojo, who had also arrived a bit early, Sakamoto came running breathlessly from the direction of the subway station.
I checked the time on my smartphone. 9:55.
Thankfully, the protagonist wasn't so clueless as to show up exactly on time.
"Sorry, Tojo! Have you been waiting long?!"
"No, I just got here myself. Don't worry about it."
Their first meeting.
Tojo had already given him a preview of her made-up face when she challenged him yesterday, but this was the first time he was seeing her in casual clothes. After catching his breath, Sakamoto finally looked up and was momentarily stunned by how unbelievably pretty she was.
"...Pretty."
He seemed to have muttered it unconsciously, but because she was standing right in front of him, Tojo heard it.
"...Th-thank you."
Perhaps because it was the first time she'd been called pretty by someone she wanted to impress, her face turned as red as a ripe apple.
At any rate, the initial atmosphere seemed incredibly good.
They looked just like a fresh, young high school couple.
"W-well, then, should we go get some tea or something? We need to talk to decide on a place for our date."
"Sounds good. Let's do that."
Perhaps thanks to the enthusiastic advice Kishimoto had given her over burgers yesterday, Tojo skillfully took the lead and headed with Sakamoto to a nearby café.
"Ryu-chan! Let's follow them!"
"Right."
I threw the empty donut box and coffee cup into a trash can, then followed Kishimoto into the café.
*
April 22nd (Sat) [9:55 AM]
"That bastard! How dare he make my daughter wait for five whole minutes?!"
"Please calm down, Chairman!"
Naoto looked ready to draw his sashimi knife and charge, while the executives of the Toseikai tried to hold him back.
The 6th Chairman of the Toseikai, Tojo Naoto, and eight of his top executives had tailed Tojo Karen from her mansion early this morning all the way to the Shibuya Station plaza.
They were currently disguised in various outfits to avoid being spotted by her; Tojo Naoto had even donned a long wig to hide his signature short hair.
But there was one thing they failed to realize: no matter how they disguised themselves, a group of nine burly middle-aged men moving together was bound to attract attention.
Even more so when they were grim-faced men who looked like they were ready to teach someone a harsh lesson about the ways of the underworld.
After Tojo Karen and Sakamoto Ryuji met and entered a café to grab some tea, Naoto and the eight executives simultaneously folded the newspapers they were holding and shot up from their benches.
They looked for all the world like yakuza heading into a turf war with another clan, causing the people around them to scatter quickly.
Even the police officers patrolling near the station were watching them warily, speaking into their radios.
Sento Osamu, the clan's brain and an elite yakuza, was the first to notice this and reported to Tojo Naoto.
"Chairman, the cops are here."
"What?! Already?!"
"It seems that the nine of us moving in a large group is making us stand out..."
"Then what should we do?"
"Excluding you, Chairman, there are eight of us. I believe it would be best if we split into pairs of two to continue tailing them."
"As expected of Sento! The brains of our organization!"
"Hehe, you flatter me. This is nothing."
As Sento Osamu said this, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger, Naoto nodded and addressed the other executives.
"Alright, from now on, we move in pairs as per Sento's plan!"
"Yes, sir!"
The moment Naoto's order was given, the executives paired up and scattered.
Once the executives had scattered and only Sento Osamu, the clan's brain, and Takeyama, Naoto's right-hand man 'Shisan,' remained, Naoto nodded and offered a fist to Takeyama.
"You ready, Shisan?"
"Of course, Hyeolhae."
The organization's number one and number two, sworn brothers who had sealed their bond over cups of sake, quickly moved to follow Tojo Karen into the café.
*
April 22nd (Sat) [10:15 AM]
Tojo and Sakamoto went into the café to plan their date over a cup of tea. We followed them inside and sat in a corner seat, trying our best not to be noticed.
I was watching them from afar—Tojo, who was being uncharacteristically shy compared to her usual easygoing self, and Sakamoto, who was chatting with her quite normally—when a waitress approached and asked me in a very cautious voice.
"Um... sir? What would you like to order?"
At that, Kishimoto, who had been having a staring contest with the menu, shot her hand up and said.
"I'll have this Special Jumbo Strawberry Parfait!"
"Wait, can you finish all that by yourself?"
We didn't know when those two would leave the café, and she had ordered something huge.
Kishimoto tilted her head and asked, looking puzzled.
"Ryu-chan, you can't finish a whole parfait at a café?"
She asked so confidently that I was left speechless.
"...I'll have a tapioca milk tea."
"Okay. One Special Jumbo Strawberry Parfait and one tapioca milk tea."
The waitress took our order and left.
I finally felt like I could breathe a little, so I went back to secretly watching the pair sitting by the window. Just then, two middle-aged men walked into the café.
They looked around before spotting our waitress heading toward the counter and gesturing to her.
"Miss, get us a cup of whatever's most popular here."
"I'll have an Iced Americano."
What's with them? Did they just finish an early morning soccer game or something?
The two men, who clearly didn't fit in, took a seat in a corner.
At first, I thought that was the end of it, but then more grim-faced men started entering the shop in pairs.
...What? What in the world is going on?
As I stared toward the counter in horror, Kishimoto, who was searching for something on her phone, commented on the constantly ringing bell.
"This place is really busy, huh?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
My gut was telling me.
Those men were connected to Tojo Karen.
It had to be. One of the last three men to enter had hair as red as blood.
"Wow! It says the Sunshine City Aquarium has dolphins! We have to see them if we go today!"
I expressed my deepest sympathies for Tojo's date, which was shaping up to be a difficult one no matter how you looked at it.