Gilbert heard a rough slam as he was typing on his computer in his room. He walked out to check; there was this door in the corridor he expected to be the source and without a second thought, curiosity pushed him to take a closer look.
When he arrived, at the first glance the room happened to be empty, except when he entered and heard a groan from someone curling on the floor in the corner. He soon recognized it was Tanaka, trying to get up by holding onto a wooden chair before flumping to it.
"Your face..." Gilbert snorted at Tanaka. It wasn't a frequent event, but also not that surprising to see wounds on the man whom he found in the room.
As a bodyguard, Tanaka settled problems mostly with fights. Short-temper made the best of him, and he didn't talk much to begin with. But, the bruises on his face had been quite a look lately.
"I only know one person who can do that to someone who fights as good as you," Gilbert concluded, walking closer toward Tanaka. "Well, what did you do?"
Gilbert could tell Marvel was the one who slammed the door as he left the room, leaving Tanaka after another memorable beating. From the severity of Marvel's violence, he clearly showed emotions; something he rarely did, and there must have been a reason for it, so Gilbert would like to know.
"Boss told me to check on these people in the casino after a report they've been secretly playing with drugs," Tanaka shortly explained, enough for Gilbert to guess the rest.
Gilbert grabbed an aid box and sat on the chair across from Tanaka whose clothes were dirty with shoe prints he could identify.
It was only two months ago when Marvel broke Tanaka's wrist, but he had put another new injury when the old one had been just completely cured. Though the damage wasn't serious to the point it needed some professional's hands, Tanaka was not invulnerable to wounds. He could still feel the pain.
While wiping his bleeding nose, Tanaka told Gilbert how the people he was investigating bad-mouthed Marvel about being in the Mafia just for business and to fill his pocket. When they were warned, instead of apologizing, one of those men grabbed him and the others started knocking him, though, in the end, they were the ones who were beaten to a pulp by Tanaka alone.
Gilbert knew it must have been the kind of chaos the guests in the casino were happy to look at, even used them as a gamble. Although Tanaka had been told to investigate carefully, he lost the important pieces of evidence and even created a scene, and it pissed Marvel off.
Tanaka was an expert on doing such reckless acts even if it had been five years since he had become a made man; a man who is formally inducted as a full member of the Mafia.
"You've never changed. Relax a bit, can you? Even though people are talking shits about Boss, it's not like his honor is stained," Gilbert sighed, putting a cotton pad on Tanaka's nose to block the blood from dripping.
"I can't stand them," Tanaka whined in a funny voice as his nose was covered. "I should have killed them all when I had the chance knowing Boss would still beat me in the end."
"Retard. Aren't those people the members of Gravanno Family? If you killed them with such a foolish excuse, even Boss might not have been able to save you."
"Gill, you knew?" Tanaka sounded a bit surprised. Gilbert nodded in confirmation before continuing.
"A month ago, Boss told me to investigate this case."
It explained why Marvel was so angry. Tanaka's irritable nature toward something unreasonable had put the investigation Gilbert had been doing for a whole month into vain.
It wasn't unreasonable, though. At least, for Tanaka who had always been admiring Marvel as a whole being.
Tanaka was probably the most devoted person among Marvel's underlings. He was unquestionably loyal, always ready to serve Marvel with no objections. But, it was also the reason why he easily got affected by his feelings, because he tended to take everything related to Marvel personally, it was rather laughable, at least, for Gilbert, despite being the only one who understood the reason for it.
Five years ago, when he and Marvel went to the port to check on some shipment routes, they saw a man lying on the ground under the pouring rain, dirty and wounded. Later they knew that the man used to be the member of a street gang who was accused of something he never did. After being beaten as he couldn't manage to defend himself against the imbalance of quantity in the battleground, he was left behind alone.
It was when Gilbert witnessed his boss, for the first time ever, approaching a stranger and offering his hand. The man who seemed to not have any motivation to continue living unless he had taken his revenge faintly opened his eyes and moved his fingers in a shiver, reaching to a hand which then pulled him into an entirely new world.
"Sorry, Gill," Tanaka uttered softly in the end, feeling regretful toward the mess he had caused.
Gilbert didn't say anything. His eyes were silently scanning the fresh wounds all over Tanaka's face. If Tanaka refused Marvel's offer; to be his own, that day, he wouldn't have needed to experience something like this. It was because Tanaka was all muscles and yet they were useless against Marvel and Marvel only, he could never win. Marvel, though, knowing as much, wasn't going to go easy on Tanaka either.
"Have you ever been upset every time Boss hits you?" Gilbert finally created a sound, his tone serious. "Knowing what he has done to you, have you ever thought of taking revenge?"
Almost each time Tanaka did a stupid thing and was punished for that, almost each time Gilbert asked that. He knew the answer would be the same, but somehow he couldn't be at ease until he heard it himself.
"What's with that absurd question?" Tanaka hissed under his breath, looking at Gilbert with confusion. "Boss is the person I respect and value the most. I won't leave his side. I won't betray him. You know it, don't you?"
As Gilbert expected, the way Tanaka thought was very simple. He wouldn't do anything bad to someone who had saved him.
Gilbert was sure if Marvel didn't save Tanaka from his miserable state that day, he would have likely been in prison today for murdering those gangsters. And yet, he abandoned his hatred, simply because it would possibly harm Marvel's safety in the future. It was so thoughtful of him, and Gilbert knew just how thoughtful Tanaka was then, he would be as thoughtful later on.
At this point, Gilbert should have felt relieved after hearing the answer he wanted, and yet he was still uneasy. Something was bothering him, making him restless, and this time, he hoped his intuition was wrong.
"Tanaka," Gilbert called again and Tanaka hummed in response. "What if someone were spying on Boss and scheming a vile intention to him?"
"I'd find and kill them before they could touch Boss."
It required less than a second for Tanaka to turn his thoughts into sound before Gilbert fell silent again. He should have expected such an answer from Tanaka, so he felt stupid to even ask.
"But, what if Boss were so fond of them and not letting you hurt them?"
This time, Tanaka experienced difficulty answering. The question made him think hard; it was seen from the deep frown that curled his eyebrows down.
Gilbert understood the way Tanaka thought was very simple that he could guess almost everything, but at the same time, it was exactly what made it scary because he knew what would possibly happen.
With that look, it was easy for people to admire Marvel. But, what Tanaka had for him wasn't merely that. There were admiration, respect, devotion, submission, and every time those emotions clash, words failed to define his feeling.
Tanaka took a deep sigh, loud enough to make Gilbert's focus return to him. Gilbert watched Tanaka's face, studying his expression. It needed only a minute after such a question to have an agitated crease shown on Tanaka's forehead before his lips finally parted.
"I don't know who you're talking about, but I'd really hate that bastard for the rest of my life."