The air in the karaoke booth crackles with barely restrained violence. A fight, especially three on one, would be over quickly and brutally. Not in my favor. My mind scrambles for options, none of them particularly good.
Sakura, face pale, edges closer to me. It's a small act of defiance, one that won't save us but speaks volumes about her misplaced loyalty.
Megumi leans back, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. She's either appraising my struggle with cold calculation or relishing the chance to see if I can talk my way out of this mess. Probably both.
"So," Tanaka paces back and forth, the cramped space barely containing his rage, "What's it gonna be, puppeteer? Beg for your life? Offer me money? Or you got another one of those genius schemes up your sleeve?"
I buy time, playing the confused innocent. "Schemes? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't insult me!" His fist slams into the flimsy table, sending half-eaten dumplings flying and making Sakura jump. "We both know you set me up, filled my men's heads with lies until they tore each other apart!"
The truth of his words hangs heavy in the air. It's one thing to manipulate from the sidelines, quite another to face the consequences head-on.
Before I can formulate another denial, Megumi interrupts. "Let's be practical, Tanaka. Wallowing in past failures won't rebuild your empire. But… perhaps a mutually beneficial arrangement is possible."
Her shift in strategy is as jarring as it is brilliant. Offer an alternative, a way to turn Tanaka's thirst for revenge into something useful to us.
Tanaka hesitates, his gaze shifting between us. It's the first flicker of doubt I've seen, a glimmer of hope amidst the impending bloodshed.
"Let me hear it," he growls, dropping heavily into a seat, his men flanking him like grim bodyguards.
"Shadow," Megumi says, her voice laced with strategic calm, "He's your true problem now. We both know he's cunning, consolidating. If we work together, we can take him down before he grows too strong."
Tanaka's scar twitches, a visible sign of his internal conflict. Pride wars with pragmatism. Megumi's offer is poisoned, a spider luring him into her web, but it's also his only realistic shot at clawing back some power.
I seize the moment. "Think about it," I say, aiming for desperate sincerity, "You know how these things go. Blood feuds, revenge...they never end well. This way, you get payback and a fresh start."
Tanaka glares at me, the hatred still simmering, but now there's a flicker of calculation in his eyes. I've appealed to the part of him that wants to survive, the part that knows another reckless charge into battle is a death sentence.
The silence stretches, broken only by the muffled thump of bad pop music from the adjoining room. Then, Tanaka lets out a rough sigh that's closer to a growl.
"Fine," he spits, "But one wrong move, and you're a dead man, puppeteer. Don't forget that."
The threat hangs heavy in the air, but it's a victory – a fragile, temporary one, but a victory nonetheless.
We hammer out the uneasy alliance. Tanaka's information on Shadow's movements, combined with Megumi's strategic mind and Sakura's talent for slipping under the radar, might just be enough to take him down. Or it'll all blow up even more spectacularly than my previous plans.