CHAPTER 3: Resonance

Isamu pranced around the room, heart and mind in chaos. An internal pandemonium found its way inside the recesses of his mind, disturbing peace he sought for.

With Naoki in the picture, Isamu did not know what to make of the situation.

He was only temporary. As long as Koji-sama, the sandaime by birthright, had not officially broken ties with the Takagumi, the group's genuine and filial loyalty will never be truly his. And there was Naoki; he suspected something. Isamu knew that if Naoki could prove he killed the late Oyabun then he'd never survive the Takagumi. They'd kill him.

Something had to be done and in order to secure his position as kumicho, he had to act upon the situation. Grabbing his coat, he opened the door of the office.

"Isamu-sama!" a man who stood guard at the door blocked his path. "Where are you going?"

"Just personal business," Isamu replied curtly.

"Then I'll come with you."

"No," Isamu shook his head. "I'd like to be alone."

The man who stood guard narrowed his eyes. "The last time someone said that, he died in an accident."

Isamu stayed silent. Somehow, he understood the other man's guilt and his frustration at himself for a failure he deemed unforgivable.

Isamu's lips twisted into a rictus of a sad smile. "If I die, then it wouldn't matter. I'm only temporary after all."

The other man gave a puzzled frown. His tone was braided with sadness and resentment laced with regret; the phrase rimmed with truth - however painful it probably was.

Only temporary - not unless I change it, Isamu said to himself.

- - - - - - - - - -

"There is a young man looking for you, kumicho. He said his name was Igarashi Koji."

Mitsuhiro, the kumicho and Oyabun of Kyoto's largest yakuza group asked, "Who is he?"

"He claims to be the Takagumi's sandaime."

"Sandaime? But I heard that Isamu became kumicho. If Isamu is kumicho, then he is their sandaime. Who is this Igarashi Koji?"

"I said the same thing, Oyabun. But..." the man hesitated, "he forced his way in."

This caught Mitsuhiro's attention. "Forced?"

"Yes."

"Then, let him come," he frowned.

The man exited the room and returned minutes later with the stranger behind him. The stranger bowed to Mitsuhiro and greeted, "Forgive my sudden and forceful intrusion, Kitsugumi's Oyabun."

Mitsuhiro nodded. "I am very interested why you risked your life to meet me. Surely, my men have at least proved to be quite adept in fighting?"

The stranger smiled. "They were skillful opponents, Mitsuhiro-sama."

"Ay, you know me? Well, yes, of course. You did seek me." Mitsuhiro squinted his eyes and studied the young man. Their visitor was clearly in his youth; a young adult wearing a white long-sleeved top with a cobalt-blue tie and black pants that made him look younger than what he really was. "Who are you?"

"I am the son of Igarashi Daiki, the man with whom you fought over a district in Tokyo with."

"Daiki? But he is dead, is he not? A car accident, they said?"

Koji's eyes held a glint of abhorrence. "The satsu are not to be trusted and cannot be relied upon. We from the yakuza know that. It is a universally accepted fact."

"Yes, yes." Mitsuhiro frowned. Then what was the Takagumi's next-in-line kumicho doing there?

"And," the young man continued, "as you might have heard, Isamu is now in control of the Takagumi."

Mitsuhiro nodded. "So I've heard. But shouldn't you be..."

"Mitsuhiro-sama, you know that we who live by the ways of the yakuza give importance to loyalty. We live off loyalty. Everything is determined, obtained, and destroyed by loyalty. Isamu is ten years my senior. He had been fighting gangs when I was but six. He was a shatei when I was seven and earned every ounce of respect from everyone, even the regional bosses. And when he saved the life of my father," Matsuhiro noticed disgust in the delivery, "he was greatly respected by many, even if their position was higher than his."

"Is he, in any way, related to the death of your father?"

The air between them was tense and heavy.

"Yes."

"And you have proof?"

"Which brings us to my problem: I don't. I merely saw them together before the accident. Isamu was the last man my father was with. If Isamu killed my father to control the Takagumi, then surely he would someday kill me as well. Which is why I fled the Takagumi. And if he accuses me of murdering my father and fabricates evidence, then I would fight a lost cause for everyone would be inclined to believe him."

"Ah, the loyalty problem?"

Koji nodded. "That would be correct."

"But, young man, fleeing the Takagami House at this point in time is a mistake. They will see you as a traitor," he disapproved. "Will that not make you a suspect of your father's death?"

"But by fleeing for the time being, I am invariably preserving my life."

"You do not think like a nineteen year-old," Mitsuhiro observed.

"Because my opponent is not a nineteen year-old."

"What do you plan to do?"

"I doubt he'd leave his seat of power just to make way for my ass so I cannot say that a fight will be inevitable. For this reason, I came to you for help."

This piqued Mitsuhiro's interest. "But you know there will be a price, yes?"

Koji nodded. "That's why I am willing to give you that piece of territory you and my father had been fighting over for years."

Mitsuhiro smiled. "That is a good deal, indeed. But before we discuss terms and such, I cannot agree to help you unless you confess to me the manner of your father's death."

"My father trusted Isamu to the point that he let himself go with the man unguarded. I was merely at the right place at the wrong time. I assume Isamu invited my father to drink for if he was inebriated at that time, then I can understand why my father let his guard down. In any case, I saw them enter father's car. The windows were tinted and from where I was standing, I could not see or hear anything. The car sped up seemed as if it was headed for Shibuya. The next day, I heard of my father's accident."

Mitsuhiro nodded. "Yes, it does seem that the man was involved with your father's so-called accident. Such an efficient way to relieve yourself of the evidence, I say. Since that is the case, then I will help you. In exchange of that territory, of course."

"Yes, of course."

"What do you want to happen, then?"

"I want him to confess and then die with shame."

"Fit for a traitor?"

"Fit for a man who threw away his honor; for a man who gave in to the temptations of power. Yes, fit for a traitor."

next chapter: chapter four

1. Satsu - Yakuza term for 'police'.