"They're heading to that park — the one where Yasushi and Lady Jingliu were attacked by that serial killer last year," Alicia muttered, eyes focused on the tablet in her hands, scribbling down something quickly.
Bhaqui stopped, eyes scanning their surroundings as he gave a slight nod. "Yeah, now that you mention it, this does look like the place Yinhaie described." His voice held a distant edge, as if the memory weighed on him more than he let on.
A little farther down the street, Youta's group came into view. Each of his twelve lackeys carried black bags, some filled with items they'd collected and others likely stolen from smaller, less prepared groups. Youta, though, walked without a care, hands empty, his usual smug expression making it clear that he wasn't one to get his hands dirty.
"What should we do?" Bhaqui asked, turning his head toward Alicia. "Yasushi said they're making their way there now. Should we call the cops or something?"
Alicia didn't look up from her tablet as she responded. "CCTV cameras were installed after the attack, not just here but in other blind spots across the city. That's what Yinhaie told me last week. So, we've already got more than enough footage to bury Youta in court, but… I think Yasushi wants more than just a court win. He wants Youta to admit what he's doing — and maybe even start a fight." She finally glanced up, her tone colder than before.
Bhaqui's phone buzzed again, pulling his attention to yet another message from Yasushi. This one read, "We're taking a detour, going to grab lunch for everyone. Head over to us when you can. If you spot Youta, just film whatever he's doing and leave it at that. We've got a new plan for tomorrow."
He glanced at Alicia and held his phone up for her to see. She read the text quickly, giving a small nod as she processed it. "We've still got a few minutes before we need to eat," she said, tapping her tablet. "Might as well keep an eye on Youta's group for a bit longer. If they head to the park, we'll have enough footage to keep us busy for a while."
"But… isn't this our chance to finally take them down?" Bhaqui asked, the tension in his voice hard to miss. "Why not do it now and finish this?"
Alicia paused, her eyes briefly flickering to the group ahead of them, watching Youta's lackeys haul the bags as they strolled like nothing was wrong. "Yasushi must have something bigger in mind," she said, not looking away from the scene in front of them. "If he thought this was the moment to catch Youta, he'd have told us to make our move. But he didn't. So we trust him on this. He knows more than we do right now."
Bhaqui nodded silently, and the two of them shifted from their spot, moving in closer to where Youta's group was gathered. Keeping their distance just enough to avoid drawing attention, they listened in on the conversation while capturing everything on record.
"Boss, how many more do we need to grab today?" one of the lackeys asked, his voice low but carrying enough for them to hear.
Youta barely glanced at him, eyes drifting down to his phone as if the question wasn't even worth full attention. "We'll wrap up in about an hour," he said, still tapping away on his screen. "Then we'll eat. You all can head out after that. Tomorrow's when we'll hit them again. Most of these idiots are already scared out of the event, so tomorrow will be easy. We've already done half the work today just by being here." His grin spread slowly, satisfaction oozing from his words as he spoke.
Another lackey, walking next to him, glanced around nervously before speaking up. "Youta, I heard they put cameras all over the place after what happened last year. Shouldn't we be more careful about what we say out loud? I've been wanting to bring this up for a while."
Youta waved him off, barely interested. "That's all bullshit. I had someone check it out already. Those cameras are fake — they put them up just to freak people out. It's just for show because the idiots running this city don't know what the hell they're doing. The mayor's a moron. If anything, they're the ones we should be laughing at." He shrugged, completely unfazed, like it was all a game he was winning.
Alicia and Bhaqui exchanged a quick glance, their thoughts aligned without needing to speak. They hadn't expected Youta to be this reckless, especially after Yasushi painted him as someone "smart" and "cautious, to a point." Now, it seemed Yasushi had misjudged Youta, at least in his current state. Overconfidence had clearly started eating away at the edge Youta once had.
Remaining in their spot, they watched from a safe distance as Youta's group wandered off, moving toward another section of the park, bags still slung over the shoulders of his lackeys.
"He's either too arrogant to see how much of a fool he's become, or he's gotten complacent," Alicia muttered, her gaze locked on Youta's retreating figure. "This has been going on for far too long, but it's always the same. Wealth and power rot the mind eventually. We saw it plenty when we traveled with Lord Liang Yang through China."
Bhaqui nodded absently, cutting the recording and shoving the device back in his pocket. He leaned against the wall, eyes lifting toward the sky as if it held answers. "Yasushi better have something solid lined up, or this whole mess is going to drag him down. His evaluation's riding on it."
Alicia gave a faint, almost thoughtful smile as she turned her attention back to him. "Plans don't need to be complicated to work, though. Simple ones, when thought through, can hit harder than some convoluted plot no one understands." She shrugged slightly. "Lady Yuhan once told me that, and it's stuck with me since."
"Well, whatever his plan is, we need to find out. Let's go meet up with them," Bhaqui said, urgency creeping into his voice. Without wasting a second, they bolted from their hiding spot, weaving through the narrow streets. The sprint wasn't easy, but they covered the ten-minute distance in a fraction of that time, pushing themselves until the restaurant finally came into view.
Inside, Yasushi and his group sat at a large table, scattered dishes of food filling every space. Yasushi spotted them as they approached and motioned to the empty seats waiting for them.
"Glad you two could finally make it," Yasushi said, nodding toward the chairs. Plates of food sat in front of their places as if he had anticipated their arrival down to the minute.
Both Bhaqui and Alicia slid into their seats, catching their breath, though they didn't need long. Yasushi leaned forward, skipping pleasantries and cutting straight to business. "From what Alicia reported, Youta's starting to get complacent. We'll use that to our advantage. The first step is forcing the other groups still in this to steer clear of that park. Once that's done, we'll flood the area with garbage — enough to make it look like a dump. Lure them in. After that, we spread a rumor that'll pull them right into our trap."
Jingliu took a bite of her food, her shoulder pressed against Yasushi. "So, what next?" she asked, speaking casually through a mouthful. "Are we going to use the cameras in that spot?"
Yasushi nodded, his expression steady. "That's the idea. But we're also going to get Xinyi and Jingliu's staff involved to set up voice recording equipment. We need to catch everything, not just the visuals. We'll confront them there, and I'll keep my phone on, just to be sure we have everything recorded," he said, his voice calm, but there was a certain weight behind the plan.
The setup was straightforward, well, as long as they had enough cash to make it work. Fortunately, the families of both Jingliu and Xinyi had deep pockets. Yasushi didn't doubt they could pull it off.
Furuya, who had been quietly listening, finally seemed to snap back to his usual self. "And how are we keeping everyone else from showing up?" he asked.
"That's the easy part," Yasushi responded. "People already know who's behind most of the attacks. The cops want more evidence, but they're still after the delinquents he hired. All we have to do is leak the word to Youta first, make sure it reaches him. Once he knows, we spread the story that he's headed to the park. People will stay away because they know getting caught up with Youta's business means trouble."
Alicia and Bhaqui, along with the rest of the group, stayed locked in as he laid out the plan. It was simple — almost too simple — but with Youta's current mindset, walking around like he was untouchable because of his parents' money and his group of lackeys, the odds of pulling this off shot through the roof.
"I'm not interested in fighting him, but if he does come at me swinging, it'll just help us out in the end. By the time tomorrow's event rolls around, he'll be knocked out of the running, and things will finally be fair for the rest of us," Yasushi said, casting his eyes around the group.
"What's the plan for the rest of the day?" Bhaqui asked, clearly wanting to know how they should spend their time until tomorrow.
"We carry on as usual. Yinhaie told us just a few minutes ago that Youta's group has already called it for the day, so we won't need to worry about his guys causing any more problems right now. Of course, we can probably expect a few stragglers to cause issues just because they feel like it," Yasushi said, his tone measured but clearly aware of the lingering threat.
With the plan laid out, they settled back into their lunch, the tension easing a little. The weight hanging over them wasn't completely gone, though — they all knew if things didn't go the way they needed them to, they'd have to come up with backup plans right then and there, scrambling to adjust. Still, with how straightforward the whole thing was, success seemed almost certain, like the odds were stacked heavily in their favor.
+-+
Yasushi and his group moved through the city, following their pre-planned routes, determined to gather as much trash as they could for the Garbage Collection Event. The goal was clear — they wanted to win, and with how things were looking, they might just pull it off. Still, none of them could afford to relax. Yinhaie kept sending texts, warning them that at least one of Youta's groups was still active, although every time the cops got involved, they scattered like rats, ducking away before getting caught.
Yasushi paused for a moment, taking a breath as he watched Jingliu and Xinyi hustle, picking up trash and stuffing it into their bags. They were quick, methodical, trying to cover as much ground as they could. Xinyi, without even glancing up, sensed him standing there and shot a question his way, her voice sharp.
"Are ya just gonna stand there gawking, or are ya gonna help?" she asked, a frown creasing her brow.
"Give me a second," Yasushi started to respond, though he didn't get far. Before he could say anything else, he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Turning around, he found himself face-to-face with a woman he'd never seen before. Her expression was unreadable, and it threw him off.
"Can I help you?" he asked, his confusion plain on his face as he tried to make sense of what was happening.
"My, my, could you give me a hand, young man?" she asked, her voice smooth, almost too casual. "I seem to have bought more groceries than I can carry to my car," she added, gesturing towards a nearby vehicle and some bags near the bushes.
Yasushi took a quick glance at her, then at the groceries scattered by the side, and finally at the car parked nearby. He shot a look over at Jingliu and Xinyi, both of them nodding in silent agreement. "Alright, no problem, ma'am," he said, and without much more hesitation, walked off with her toward the car.
He didn't say much as he picked up the bags, quietly hauling them to the back of her car. His mind wandered while he worked, thinking about the day, about the event, about Youta's group still lurking in the city. When he finished, he turned back to the woman, wiping his hands on his pants. But something wasn't right. Her face — it wasn't the same. Somehow, it had changed.
Yasushi blinked, his heart skipping a beat as he stared at her, the realization crashing into him. It was so subtle, yet impossible to ignore.
"…Goddess Hakufubuki?" he whispered, eyes wide, barely able to believe who was standing in front of him. Shock rippled through his body, freezing him in place as the full weight of it hit.
"Hehe, did I catch you off guard?" she asked, her smile easy, but there was something in her eyes that carried more than just amusement. Her hand rose, brushing against his cheek, the way a mother might, with a touch that was both gentle and knowing. "It looks like you're dealing with another headache, aren't you?" she added, voice soft but carrying the weight of someone who already knew the answer.
Yasushi let out a dry laugh, the tension in his shoulders loosening just a bit. "Yeah, some punk's trying to screw up the event for us. It's pretty damn annoying, to be honest," he admitted, shaking his head before raising his hand to touch her hair. "Your hands are so cool. Wouldn't mind borrowing them during those brutal summer months."
She let out a chuckle, eyes narrowing in playful disapproval before she reached up, catching his nose in a pinch. "I'd have to agree with you there, but I don't exactly appreciate the idea of my hands being reduced to air conditioning units for you," she replied, her tone teasing as she released his nose, her laughter still hanging in the air.
Yasushi rubbed the back of his head, grinning as he felt the residual coolness from her fingers. "Fair enough. But seriously, why does this city get hit with eight months of normal weather, then suddenly turn into a furnace for four months straight? It doesn't make any sense," he asked, genuinely curious, the heatwave still a mystery that bothered him every year.
She pressed a finger to her cheek, her expression turning slightly mischievous. "Well, I had originally planned to turn the whole place into a permanent winter wonderland. Seemed like a fun idea, right?" she said, her smile deepening. "But Amaterasu didn't exactly see it that way. She wasn't thrilled about it and insisted I dial it down. So, we settled on six months, but I pushed it to eight. As for the heatwave… well, you can thank Amaterasu for that little detail. It's her doing, not mine."
Yasushi let out an exaggerated groan, rubbing his temples in mock frustration. "Figures. Leave it to the gods to mess with us like this… really makes life so much easier," he muttered, shaking his head. "Eight months of cool weather, then bam, she turns the city into a damn oven."
Hakufubuki couldn't hold back her giggle, her eyes gleaming with amusement. "Oh, don't be too hard on us. We have our reasons, you know. Anyway, thanks for giving me a hand," she said, her tone shifting as she added, "I'll be cheering for your team. But… speaking of your group, it looks like your girlfriend and… perhaps your mistress are waiting for you." She gestured behind him, a sly smile playing at her lips.
Yasushi blinked, turning around to see both Jingliu and Xinyi standing not far off, their hands on their hips, eyebrows raised in unison. The two of them were clearly not impressed, probably wondering why he'd been gone so long and why he was standing there chatting up what they no doubt saw as a random stranger.
"She's not my mistress or anything," Yasushi said quickly, trying to brush off any implications. "Anyway, thanks, and see you around." He turned on his heel and dashed back towards Xinyi and Jingliu. "Sorry about the delay," he called out as he rejoined them.
Both girls turned their heads in unison, their expressions a mix of curiosity and skepticism. "Who was that?" they asked, their voices overlapping.
"Huh? Oh, just a random woman I helped and chatted with," Yasushi answered, his confusion evident. He tried to sound nonchalant, but the look on their faces made it clear they weren't buying it.
Their faces remained skeptical, but they chose not to press further for the moment. Jingliu grabbed his wrist firmly, her tone all business. "Let's get a move on and finish up for the day. We can't afford to slack off now."
"Yeah, playboy, let's go," Xinyi chimed in, a smirk tugging at her lips as she and Jingliu began pulling him along. The trio quickly got back to work, the urgency of their task pushing them forward.