A vigorous knee strike to the face was all it took for Ryo to defeat Jun Eun-ji after minutes of pummeling. Club Ethereal's charming prince and knight in shining armor collapsed to his knees, wracked with bloodlust as his face deteriorated with scars, bruises, and wounds. Jun clenched his teeth and fist before jabbing the ground in a fit of sulking rage, looking up to face Ryo.
"Game over," Ryo said to Jun, panting to catch his breath after their ring brawl. His face and body had minor wounds and bruises, but none of them were as severe as Jun's. It had been a long while since Ryo exerted that much strength and rigor to engage someone in hand-to-hand combat. Jun was a decisive, tricky, and formidable foe to face that was enough for Ryo to handle. Only momentarily, he wondered if he had the strength to face Akai after defeating someone like Jun.
Jun clenched his teeth and glared at Ryo, snarling at him like an aggressive pit bull. The crowd around Ryo's surroundings fell silent before blaring criticism and contempt for Ryo's victory began striking his eardrums in the form of verbal insults. Club Ethereal's usual customers and VIP guests began rising up and tossing over food, alcohol, money, and furniture to Ryo's side of the ring.
"How the fuck did Mr. Eun-ji lose!?" This shit is rigged!" A drunken male customer yelled, tossing his bottle of vodka.
"Bullshit! Rematch, or it didn't count!" A seductive pole dancer cried, tossing her clothes onto the ring.
A well-known fanatical Jun Eun-ji supporter, one of the regulars who frequented Club Ethereal as a golden ticket customer, smashed off the end of an alcohol bottle to create a lethal sharpened weapon. He climbed into the ring and screamed in cowardly strength, charging his weapon into Ryo's behind. The crowd ended their hostile ranting and banter as soon as Jun charged at the fanatic, ramming his fist into his cheek to silence his actions.
"Don't you fucking touch him!" Jun Eun-ji cried, ceasing the hostile environment of Club Ethereal in an instant. Ryo turned his head toward Jun, watching him rise up from the ground still injured to move properly. However, he still held up his guard as his pure anger for his fanatical fan began to give him the energy to speak. "The fuck do you think you're doing to our guest, bitch?" He asked his fan. "Drop the bottle and sit your fucking ass down!"
The fanatical fan's eyes drooped in sadness before he dropped his weapon. He began cowardly whining and sobbing dramatically because of Jun's targeted reaction, crawling away like a lab rat into the shadows.
From the entrance of Club Etheral's opening, Sophie held Naoto together and healed him with the support of Nana perched on Sophie's shoulder. Nana's appearance was unexpected. Naoto's wounds may have healed, but the more he looked at Jun Eun-ji, rising contempt for his insults towards his sister remained. It was something he attempted to control, yet failed. He glanced down at his fists and silently imagined the future.
Jun Eun-ji spun around the ring to attend to the underground guests of Club Ethereal. He rallied them together and criticized the crowd's behavior. "What the fuck is wrong with all of you sacks of shit, huh?!" Jun asked, his voice getting gruffer. "Is that any way to treat our guests? To treat our victor!? Him and his outstanding performance!?"
Silence filled the air as blank stares began circulating around the arena. Ryo's bloodied fists remained still as Jun rotated around his position. Jun's presence alone was enough to silence the frequenters. Their fearful presence was instantly suppressed as a result of Jun's seething anger at the establishment's dishonesty.
"To the victor go the spoils," Jun said, swiftly wiping the bottom of his slightly swollen lips with his thumb. He exchanged glances with Ryo confidently and raised his right hand to signal for the entire crowd. "I have lost. If anyone has a problem with that, then you can kindly get the fuck out of my club. Otherwise, I want to hear some applause!" Jun's voice instantly shifted into a more positive tone, applauding for Ryo's performance.
Ryo was astonished at how quickly the crowd of gangsters, frequenters and drunk whiners assimilated to Jun's strict request. The underground applauded for Ryo like he was the main actor of an award-winning performance. Even if they were fake claps, Ryo understood Jun's power in the underground and firmly stood his ground.
"Now, if anyone lays a finger on Naoto and his darling, you'll be hearing from me," Jun threatened, approaching Ryo. He placed his palm on his shoulder and waved at the crowd. "They're to be treated with the utmost care under our supervision, do you all hear?!" He yelled, looking back at Ryo with a grimace. "Controlling the crowd is a tough business. You'd be surprised at how frequently they use their words to tear apart our challengers."
"I don't care," Ryo interrupted. "I'm waiting for-
"Don't worry," Jun interrupted back. "I'll keep my promise. Meet me on the top floor," He said, leaving the stage with his bodyguards surrounding him. They wrapped his luxury jacket over his back and brought him a bottle of amber-colored bourbon. They pampered him down with first aid as he made his way into a neon-lit hallway filled with seductive women awaiting his return.
Ryo sighed, rotating his shoulders to stretch them out. Several bruises on his body began taking a toll on his stamina as he slid underneath the arena to ground level. He retrieved his white sweater and dressed it on as Sophie helped Naoto towards him. After seeing the severity of Naoto's wounds, Ryo wished that he could have beat down Jun until he was unconscious.
"You did good," Sophie said, handing Ryo back his V2 nanosuit. "I couldn't help but feel like I caused this. I'm sorry, Naoto."
"You didn't know," Naoto said, speaking with his swollen lips. Ryo supported Naoto's left shoulder with his arms. "Thanks, man." He muttered eyes dragged towards the side to avoid eye contact.
"Who does that freak think he is?" Sophie insulted Jun, whispering to avoid the crowd's madness. "Someone like him replacing Mr. Miura makes me sick. This place was never like this before. Can we please get out of here?"
"We need to head upstairs," Ryo informed the two, moving towards the entrance with Naoto and Sophie. "Jun said he'd meet us there. We can find out about the Yakuza without a problem now."
"I don't trust him," Sophie said. "Not after what he did to you, Naoto."
"Makes me happy to see that you care…" Naoto muttered.
"We don't have a choice right now," Ryo stated, looking at his nanosuit attached to his chest as a precaution. "If he pulls anything funny on us, he'll have to deal with me again."
Ryo and Sophie both supported Naoto up the stairs where the chaotic techno music muffled up, freeing them from the underground arena. Naoto spotted a red velvet couch trimmed in gold and feebly pointed at it with his finger. Ryo laid Naoto on the couch as one of Jun's bodyguards approached the trio.
"We can watch over him," The bodyguard's deep voice insisted. "Orders from Mr. Eun-ji."
Ryo nodded at him. "Thank you." He sat down next to Naoto's resting body at the edge of the couch and clamped his hands together. Had he stepped in early to stop Naoto from facing Jun, Ryo thought he could have mitigated the damage. He thought about Sumire's fate and wondered if he could have saved her as well. Thoughts of April suddenly circulated around him, leading him to regret his biggest decisions. A single soft tap made him break free of his thoughts.
"Was anyone… laughing at me?" Naoto asked, left eye squinting from the bruise bloating his eyelid. He held Ryo's arm tightly, entrusting what little strength he had fixated on him. "Anyone make any funny faces while I was up there?"
Ryo kept a straight face. "Does it matter what anyone else thinks?" He asked.
"I care what you and Sophie think," Naoto clarified. He chuckled and placed the back of his right hand over his lip. "Guess I wasn't the brave hero I thought I was. But I couldn't let that guy make a fool out of my sister. I just wanted to know if what I did was embarrassing."
"You were walking on eggshells. I think what you did was not the smartest move," Ryo said. "You let Jun into your mind."
"That might be true…" Naoto said weakly. "But even so, I got a chance to defend her for the first time, just like how I always wanted to. Suddenly, I don't feel so useless anymore."
Ryo exhaled through his nose and looked away. "If you want to defend her, then try doing so without getting yourself killed next time." He said.
"I hear you." Naoto said, closing his eyes.
Ryo pondered over what Naoto referred to about being a 'brave hero.' Ryo never once believed he was anything of a hero, but rather a lost soul seeking redemption for his mistakes. He could never consider himself a hero for what he had done to Ash, and after Sophie revealed that she was slowly driven into insanity and lust for affection, Ryo wished that he hadn't been so soft to follow Sez's orders. But there were instances that he did save people, such as Naoto and Natia. Such conflicts stirred his mind in an endless torrent of confusion, believing that his existence has yet to be fulfilled by everyone falling apart around him. He had nothing to account for except for what he had now, which was relationships that were thinning apart. Natia and her loss of trust, Claude and his presumably deceased daughter, and April were all people that he had cared about.
"Go check on her, would you?" Naoto asked, resting his head against the cushions on the end of the couch.
Ryo looked up and blinked once, letting out a single teardrop as soon as he saw Sophie sitting by herself on the top floor bar. He nodded and approached the bar without a single word rehearsed. He sat beside Sophie, who was drinking iced water by herself. Ryo could sense her breathing rate increase as his presence remained, wondering if he was making her uncomfortable.
"Being here makes me wonder who else out there changed," Sophie began, clasping both of her bitter hands against the ice-cold glass of water. "Mr. Miura was a one-of-a-kind person. While I sat at home thinking about Meguro-san and having a fake copy, everyone else was already a hundred steps ahead of me. Maybe I could have done something to help Mr. Miura or anyone else out there instead of thinking of myself." Her head dropped down as she stared at her glass.
"I was in your shoes, as you are, now," Ryo said, reflecting upon his days as a Yakuza leader. "Being trapped against your will with nowhere to go… controlled by one dominating factor that defines your life. When I was on Sezan's side, I was nothing but a coward. I could have returned home but I was afraid of them being hurt. I could have stayed with my sister, but I feared for her life too. The Yakuza took so much out of my life that I could do nothing but watch until I had enough."
"Ryo…" Sophie turned her head towards him. "You know… I could have stopped you that day we had that argument outside the school. I knew the truth about how he was controlling you. But I was selfish. I only cared about Meguro-san and my wellbeing. I didn't think of saving you once because I thought you were a lost cause. I'm…"
"Don't apologize. What's done is done," Ryo said. "We both fucked up, now let's own it up. Just like Naoto tried to do for you."
"What?" Sophie asked.
"I agree that what he did wasn't smart, but he wanted to defend you with what strength he had. He's been wanting to do that since the beginning, and now he's proud that he was able to do something along the lines of that." Ryo stated.
Sophie chuckled before taking another sip of her water. "I'm just… blind," She said. "Blind to Naoto, blind to Meguro-san, blind to myself. I was obsessed with wanting the perfect life all by myself that I forgot how others felt. I really am just…"
Sophie stopped speaking, realizing that she had been droning on her negativity for quite some time. Ryo wanted to change the subject, wondering if she would find any interest in comparison. "By any chance… have you met someone named April before?" He asked, reminiscing her blonde appearance with the scent of the sakura orchards.
"I can't say I have," Sophie said, wondering where his question derived from. "Why do you ask?"
Ryo had no clear answer. He had just thought of April the more time went by after losing his closest allies. "She was someone I met recently. A kind smile, braveheart, generous eyes. Those bright green eyes made it certain that she was reading your mind. The thought of her reminded me of Ash. She was a person who accepted life for how it was, even though she never knew much of it. But she slipped through my fingers. I was a fool."
"What do you… mean by that…?" Sophie asked, eyes fixated on Ryo's expression.
"I mean, uh…" Ryo stammered, still struggling through the memories of April's major injury. "She was struck in a hit and run. She's in the hospital recovering. I couldn't catch the person inside the car."
"Maybe it was the Yakuza," Sophie said. "I too have bad experiences with cars…"
Ryo didn't chuckle at Sophie's lighthearted joke.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Sophie apologized. "This April person… Maybe when she's better, I'd like to visit her myself. I've never met her before, but if you said that she reminds you of Meguro-san, I'd like to see for myself."
"I think she'd like that." Ryo admitted. April had always been a person to accept the positivity of others. Sumire, Starrosa, Chiaki… There were so many of his friends that lifted her spirits and gave her a new experience by entering her life. Someone with an honest heart, such as Sophie, would be perfect to rejuvenate April's broken spirits. Ryo believed that if Sophie were to meet April, she would do nothing but treat her as delicate as a budding flower because of her past experience with Ash.
The silver-etched elevator doors opened with a sweet-sounding tune playing to catch them both off guard. Jun Eun-ji exited the elevator with his bodyguards beside him. He signaled his guards to move away to keep watch on the underground with a single swipe of his right hand. He gestured for Ryo and Sophie to sit next to Naoto's recovering body. Ryo and Sophie both exchanged looks at each other before agreeing at the same time.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Jun said, looking at Ryo with his bold stare. "I took quite a heavy beating back there, thanks to you," He then turned to Naoto's battered state, crossing his arms together. "And then there's you. I apologize for that."
Naoto remained silent.
"But anyway, I digress," Jun continued, looking back at Ryo and Sophie. "You wanted to know about the Yakuza, didn't you? Well, here I am, in the flesh to give you the answers. I only ask that you do not disclose this to anyone but yourselves. I'd rather not have them battering through my beautiful establishment as a business is being made."
"Whatever you say," Sophie said, letting her passive anger get the better of herself.
Jun chuckled and looked at Ryo. "I heard that there was a heist not too long ago that the Yakuza pulled off near a laboratory in that special sky. Something was stolen. An item of great importance that they were keeping for years. And when the Yakuza were caught by their enemies, they weren't executed or taken away, I heard."
"Genesis," Ryo clarified. "What happened?"
"The Yakuza cut a deal with them," Jun continued. "What deal it was, I'll never know. But I've had Yakuza frequenters come to my place searching for that stolen object. I think it's safe to assume that the Yakuza are in ties with the ones they tried to rob."
"Fuck." Ryo whispered. Sezan was now an even bigger threat.
"As for the object they're searching for, it's a unique one," Jun said. "It's a crystal of some sort. I've been hearing the Yakuza call it… a memory fragment."
"A memory fragment…?" Ryo asked.
"That's all I know," Jun clarified. "Now, I've never seen one myself, but I think it's safe to assume that it has something to do with one's lost memories. That fragment is certainly of great importance. The Yakuza are tearing the city in the sky searching for it, and they've already torn through nearly half of Japan. It's only a matter of time before they find it."
Ryo tried his best to not unveil any information about the orange memory fragment that he had stolen. He was surprised that Jun had no idea that Ryo was the one who took it during the heist.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Jun asked Ryo, placing his hand over his mouth in amusement. "You might be even more surprised when I tell you that the Yakuza were there that night when shots were fired at a group of people. Only the Yakuza would do such a thing… if you were there, isn't that right, Ryo Nakai?"
"What if I was?" Ryo asked.
Jun smirked. "For a Yakuza warrior like yourself, I expected you to be much smarter than that," He said as he retrieved a glass of oolong-scented wine. He pressed his warm lips against the surface of his cup, downing his drink in a single gulp. His throat remained still as if alcohol consumed his life. "Oh, but how unfortunate it is. The past catches up to us all, doesn't it? You'll find out, without a doubt, that the Yakuza orchestrated everything."
Ryo exhaled seething fumes from his nose. Why couldn't Sezan just leave me alone, he thought. He's taken my sister and makes a fool out of me. What more could he possibly take away from me? His heart clenched tightly as he scowled in utter revolt, consuming his anger inside his throat. "Who in the Yakuza was responsible?" Ryo asked with a voice that resembled a reviving corpse fresh out of hell.
"Many of them were responsible," Jun said. "But there was only one person involved. They talk about him all the time."
"Who?" Ryo asked.
Jun closed his eyes and grinned. "They call him the Jester. I've never seen him before in person. If you're looking for him, there's no chance. Only a handful of people from the Yakuza have seen him. The Jester comes and goes, just like his targets."
"That person who was shot that night was part of my family," Ryo admitted, losing his sense of control. "Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Ryo yelled, stomping his foot on the ground in spite.
Sophie placed her hand on Ryo's back, remembering how he stated that the shooter took the life of his sister when they had reunited. She rubbed his back in an attempt to soothe his anger.
"I… I will be sure not to say anything to the Yakuza or anyone who frequents my establishment," Jun insisted, bowing in respect. "You have my word. As for your next step, I would prioritize not showing your face in Japan for the time being. It's only a matter of time before the Yakuza catch up to you."
Ryo, Sophie, and Naoto remained still as Jun stood up from his seat. His bodyguards brought Jun another drink as he circled around the trio with his arms extended outward playfully. "Ooh, the drink's starting to hit me," He joked. "Anyways, I appreciate having such refined guests over. I've got some business to deal with. There are drunken rascals downstairs who need my attention. Ooh, I love drama! Hope to see you again, Ryo Nakai. And you too, beautiful." Jun opened and closed his left hand as a gesture to leave the top floor, finishing his exit by winking at Sophie.
Sophie groaned and cowered backward in response to Jun's wink. She shivered uncomfortably and proceeded to check on her brother. "What a disgusting man," Sophie said. "It looks like you two are leaving again, aren't you? Are you returning to Aries?"
"We've got no choice..." Naoto's voice blurted out. "I think... we might be dealing with more than we thought. Genesis... the Yakuza... Lucia... there's just too much."
Sophie glanced at Ryo, who seemed to appear hopeless at the time. She switched her gaze to Naoto, who weakly remained idle. "If you're all going back up there... then I'm coming with you guys." She firmly decided.
"No, don't," Naoto said. A burst of strength made him sit back up, but he regretfully laid back down after sensing the excruciating pain tingling from his bruised back. "If you go, then I..."
"I can handle myself just fine," Sophie argued. "I've got my reasons for wanting to help. I need to be stronger so I can face those freaks that took Meguro-san away. And if the Yakuza is really involved... then I want to see the look on Shibusawa's face as soon as I tear him apart for what he did."
"But what about AIL?" Naoto asked.
"I can take a vacation," Sophie said. "After all, I've been working with them for quite a while. I think they would understand if I took a break to fix any problems I've got with my personal life."
"We can't guarantee that this will be solved any time soon," Naoto said. "Ryo, what do you-"
"She can come," Ryo said, still fixated on Sumire's disappearance as a result of the Yakuza's responsibility. "As long as the others agree with it. I need a break too... I need a..."
Naoto and Sophie watched as Ryo stumbled with his quivering feet as his words stuttered. He sluggishly stood up from the couch and approached Club Ethereal's front door with a somber scowl. His heart was tremored with regret that he had let the Yakuza act on their own for so long. Although his heart was filled with guilt from what he had done to Ash, he could not bear to witness the destruction of his allies falling apart without doing anything to prevent it. His punitive attitude remained, and he was certain of what he wanted next.