I went to the CCTV room of the building to delete some files that can prove that those kids escaped from here.
I head back to the headquarters after that with a poker face. I always wear this look a lot. My face is not trained to show any emotion unless I am in a mission and I need to disguise. The facial expressions that I show are controlled by my goal.
I was walking straight to the elevator when Aika approached me. "Oneesan, the Oyabun is calling you." She said while bowing unto me to give some respect. I did not bother to answer and walked faster towards the elevator. Instead of pressing the 19th floor where the assassins stay, I pressed 30, the Oyabun's—the chief of Yakuza—office.
I just waited the elevator to reach the 30th floor. I'm not really nervous meeting the Oyabun, it's like my routine to go to his office. Maybe it will be some mission again.
When I reached the 30th floor, the guards pointed their samurai at me. It's normal. It's a safety precaution for the Oyabun. When they recognized me, they bowed and let me enter.
When I opened the door to his office, the current Wakagashira(right hand) of the Oyabun instantly gazed at me and nodded.
"Konnichiwa, Okyakusama."(Good afternoon, sir.) I bowed.
"O-genki desu ka, Nakano?"(How are you, Nakano?) He said while walking towards me.
"Hai, genki desu." (Yes, I'm fine.) I answered.
He nodded again before giving me a teasing smile.
"Comment se passe la formation?" (How is the training going?) He asked while still grinning like an idiot. Argh. The old hag is testing me again. As if I haven't had my mission in France before.
"C'est bon monsieur." (It's good sir.) I answered confidently.
"Lernst du gut?" (Are you learning well?) Oh, German, the latest task I had.
"Sehr viel, Sir." (A lot, sir.) I raised my brows indicating that I'm getting pissed, but he just shook his head and continued.
"Handa ka na ba sa panghuli mong gawain para maging kanang kamay ng pinuno?" Oh crap. Great. Kuso(Fvck.) I want to kill this old hag for making me feel dumb. He really knows me too well.
I haven't had my mission in the Philippines before because I don't want to. It reminds me of my mother.
But hell no! I don't want to feel low in front of this old man, so I used the words that my mother told me before she died and the only Filipino phrase that I know.
"Mahal kita." I self-assuredly answered.
He just laughed hysterically. Tch. Uzai yaro. (douchebag.)
"fuzakeru na." (F*ck off.) I said, glaring.
He stopped immediately and held a poker face. He is really the master of that.
"Here, you will need this." He handed me a book.
Tagalog for Beginners
I rolled my eyes but accepted it anyway.
Tatsuya, the current Wakagashira, was my trainer since I went here. He taught me how to fight, to plan, and to be goal-oriented. He became like a father figure to me. He pushed me to my limits because he said that I will be the first female Wakagashira in the future.
And the last.
We both looked at the other door and the Oyabun stepped out. Tatsuya and I bowed to him.
He nodded and sat on his swivel chair.
"Come here, Nakano. I have something for you." He gestured me to come and I obeyed.
Tatsuya walked to the other corner and sat down on his own swivel chair. That's the perk of being a Wakagashira, he will be very close to Oyabun and he has access to every files the division contains.
"I really hate the other Yakuza these days. They don't live up to their name. Tsk tsk." He shook his head.
Other Yakuzas now is not the same as before. Not all Yakuzas these days are murderers, some divisions even work with the government. But the Sairento hanzai-sha remained on the dark side. A syndicate that kills and destroys hundreds of lives.
He gave me a document and I read first the location.
South Korea.
I nodded.
"Itsu?" (When?) I asked.
He met my gaze. Before, I couldn't look at him in the eyes, because it reminds me the memories from years ago on why I got here.
Flashback (20 years ago.)
"Nakano!" My mom called me while I'm on outside playing with my friends.
"Hai, okāsan!" I yelled and ran towards my mother. She embraced me and we both went to our house. She changed my dress and comb my hair.
"Okāsan?" I asked my mother. "Hmm?" She answered.
"When will we go to the Philippines?" I enquired.
She just sighed. "Sa takdang panahon, anak."
I frowned. "Mom, I can't understand." I brood. I only know how to speak Japanese and English.
She just chuckled and hug me from behind. "Mahal kita, Akachan." That's what she always say to me that I can't understand a thing.
I really want to go to the Philippines. My mother is a Filipina and I want to see the country where she grew up.
"Modotte kimashita!"(I'm home.) Father yelled and I immediately ran towards him. He carried me in his arms and kissed me on my cheeks.
"Otōsan, anata ga inakute sabishīdesu." (Father, I missed you.) I fondly said to him. He just smiled and we walk towards the dining room.
We laughed and shared how our day went.
Then suddenly, there was a commotion outside. When we peek at the window, there were guys going inside our house.
My otōsan instantly stand up and okāsan carried me using her arms. My father got his weapon and gave mom 2 katanas.
As a child, I don't know what's happening but one thing's for sure, we are in a great danger.
My mom and I ran to the backyard. She put me down and gave me the other katana.
"Nakano, you know how to use this right?" I nodded. Yes, as an 8-year-old kid, I know how to use a katana. My father taught me.
"When strange guys come to get you, use this." She instructed me. I don't know what to say so I just nodded again. "Hide behind the bush If you see mom fighting, run." She pointed it. "Don't let anyone get you."
We looked at the house when father shouted. "Yukio!�� My mother cried my father's name and went on the side of our house. Our compound is not that big that's why I can hear what they were saying.
"Kneel!" someone shouted from our house. "You were my great assassins, Yukio! Yet you and your wife betrayed me!"
I took a peek from the bush and saw that my father and the other man pointed their weapons on each other's neck.
"I won't kneel on you, Hirohito, even if that cost my life." My father bravely said. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
"Then die." uttered by the man.
They were fighting so fast that I can't predict their movements. The whole time I was silently crying. Praying that those bad guys will go home so that I can sleep in the arms of my father while my mom caress my hair, just like we always do.
My father managed to disarm that man. He pointed his sword at the neck of his opponent. When suddenly, the man was about to look at my direction. My father noticed that thus he tried to block my view but the man took the chance and stab my father from his sword.
I was shocked and I felt my heart was twitching. I saw my father being killed.
The man got out from our house and went to the backyard.
"Sumiko, Doko ni imasu ka?" (Sumiko, where are you?) He asked while looking around the backyard finding my mother.
I tried really hard not to make a sob but failed.
He looked at my direction and before he can reach my location, my mom threw small balls that made a blast in front of that person named Hirohito, the man who killed my father.
My mom started fighting Hirohito and that's my go signal.
I ran but before I reached that far, someone showed up in my front. He was about to attack me when I defended it using my katana.
He was shock on how I fluidly use my weapon. "Katana, huh?" He smirked.
I was taken aback when he pulled a katana on his side.
He was about to attack me from the head but I tilted my head to the right and lift my katana to defend his attack at the same time, holding his wrist and turn it outwards so that he can drop his sword.
My father taught me that the best way to fight is disarming and defending yourself, not killing.
"Fast, just like your mother." He said. I have two swords on my hands right now and he was about to step forward but I ran towards him. I lifted myself and I treated his body like a wall and kicked it making my body do a rotary backward and just in time, my feet landed on the ground.
He groaned, possibly insulted. Who would not? An adult man had been laid on the ground by an 8-year-old kid?
"You're now dead, kid." He got up but I did not let him. I did another rotary movement forward and I'm now at his back. Just as he was about to sit down when I placed the two swords on his front and criss crossed it making his head be detached from his neck.
You know what my father taught me? If someone will provoke you three times, then aim for the head. He's not worth your patience.
I got up and was a bit shocked by the first person I killed in my entire life. In this situation, I fully understand of what I did. Their group killed my father. I was about to run away when I remembered my okāsan. I turned around and watched my mother.
If I would go to her, I will just be a distraction. I forced myself to get up and was about to run away when there are 5 people showed in front of me again. They attacked me and I did my best not to be killed. But their experience got me.
I was laying on the ground faced down with a sword on my nape. I killed 2 people from the 5 but one caught me off guard.
My mom saw and she was distracted for a bit and that's the time Hirohito got his chance. He stabbed my mom just like what he did to my father.
Mom vomited blood on the ground and I couldn't even shout. My body felt numb and I was shaking.
I lost my parents in a couple of hours.
Just as one of the guys was about to kill me as well when Hirohito stopped them.
"Wait, she killed three people?" Hirohito asked them. They all nodded. I can see amusement from his eyes.
"A talented one, I see." He think for a couple of seconds then spoke, "Keep the child. Make her one of us."
When I was dragged by the other guys, I looked at my mom who is now faced-down on the ground and dying.
"Mahal kita," She said that I couldn't even understand. It's frustrating that the last words she uttered before her death was still foreign to me. I hate that language.
Unfortunately, Hirohito noticed that my mother was still breathing and he immediately stabbed my mom again. This time, it's towards the heart. Making sure she's dead.
Hirohito looked at me again in the eyes. He then smirked.
Fastforward (20 years after)
"Next week." He said.
I was out of my league for a while and I've just got back to my senses when he spoke.
I nodded. "I'll just check the documents and the agenda, give me three days sir." I said formally. He just nodded as well.
I turned around and walked outside the room.
All this time, I worked so hard to make him feel that I am on his side. I gained his trust and now I'm one of the candidates for the position of the next Wakagashira in Sairento hanzai-sha division. If I will finally got that position, I'll make sure I'll be the one to cut his head and continue the plan my parents started and fought for.
To destroy this Yakuza's division.