Chapter Text
Stars had only began to dot the curtain of darkness that settled above the neighborhood.
Within the abandoned house, Kaiji is itching for a smoke, reaching into his jacket pocket and finding the pack completely empty .
As for the other two, Mario grimaces when he hears him and Chang’s stomachs audibly growl.
They look at each other, then set off from home base to a neon lit shop Kaiji had seen four blocks away, confident that they hadn’t been followed and no one was following them now.
As they exit through the sliding doors of the convenience store, Kaiji feels a cutting edge in the air the moment they step into the parking lot. It lasts until they round the corner near a construction site. Construction site?
He was sure that he had counted four blocks, but maybe they’re going one too many…
They seem to be edging farther away from any civilization, and more so, people. Except for some suspicious looking figures on the side of the street huddled under the flickering lamp post. They made eye contact, as any regular encounter on a late night walk.
The five men didn’t look like Teiai black suits, in simple street clothes and all. But, the way that they study the trio’s faces, looking up from the papers in their hands Kaiji just knew . And their eyes analyzing, stone cold, like they had accepted they were had to and were going to do something terrible.
Unbeknownst to the trio, but what was once an effort to capture them, turned into a deadly assassination effort. Predictably capricious as he was, Hyoudou had changed his mind.
On the podium of some conference in Teiai’s shining office building Hyoudou had the his forces gathered in the room. Someone who had caused this much trouble to his company, and dare do something like this to his own son, deserved a death sentence. Any worker who disagreed with this request would be sent down to the mines for ten years!
Noting that they were far away from anyone in the middle of the night, the men produced dark gleaming guns from their jackets.
Time slows as the first shot pops through the air, the wind from the bullet rushing past Kaiji’s face.
Like the shot into the air of the racetrack his heart instantly threatens to gallop out of his chest. A warning that they didn’t want money this time. They were after his head.
The other two immediately panic, Kaiji was trying his absolute damndest to stay calm,his nerves screaming bloody murder at him.
Then something comes likes a light piercing the mist. “Teiai are bastards, but they’re sneaky bastards. If we go to a public place, then they’re not just going to shoot it up. They wouldn’t ruin the company’s reputation, show everyone their true face.” He tells Chang and Mario. At least he hopes they wouldn’t be brazen enough for that.
He was right in a sense. By Hyoudou’s instruction, if they couldn’t be killed in a discreet place they would end up caught and dragged out to one of Kazuya’s construction sites and executed there.
“Shit! Run!” Kaiji, and his friends turn tail and sprint for their lives to the sound of gunfire, hoping that all those bullets would miss their mark. Fortunately, the lack of light is an advantage for the trio, the plain clothes suits’ aims are thrown off.
The dark streets of their own personal dimly lit limboare stretched out before them, but Kaiji pushed them behind buildings and into nooks to throw off the suits aim, which works in all his experience dodging them for all those months after the Espoir.
One block , they hide behind a dumpster waiting for them to pass, but as a gunshot chips the brick off a building it was a signal they still weren’t that far behind.
Two and three blocks. Mario trips following a sharp right, skidding face first onto the pavement. Without hesitation, the other two pivot grabbing an arm each and haul him up to his feet.
Mario apologizes profusely, but Kaiji awkwardly mumbles reassurance. “It’s fine, we’re going to be okay. We just gotta keep going.” Reassuring Mario but also himself in some degree.
Rough angry voices echo not too far away.
Four blocks It had to be right there. He’s sure of it. They got enough distance to put the five gunmen off their trail, but not for long.
Kaiji counted in his head until they would reach the safe bustle and anonymity of the city crowds but the glow of city lights was still one long tantalizing block away.
“Damn it! Kaiji curses to himself, panting. It was just one wrong turn. Just a little mistake. That’s all it took for everything to go to shit.
They finally found themselves back the way they came. Their neon lit safehaven just on the outskirts of town. They looked back, and no one was following them. Weaving around them did cause enough confusion, but the men were still hot on their trail.
The three of them go to the back of the store walking as fast as they can without attracting attention and gather behind a wooden shelf which only created the illusion of safety.
It would only be a matter of time before the men would find them in such an enclosed place. And that thought produced fear. Intense, dwarfing, animalistic, that seized around his heart and made his whole body numb.
Squished between the freezer section and the last shelves at the back of the store,
Mario piped up, snapping their de facto leader out of it. “What are we going to do Kaiji-san?”
The bell at the front of the store rang, and their stomachs dropped. Judgement is here.
Kaiji groaned, leveraging his weight against the wood shelf. Why did this shit keep happening to him? Why couldn’t he just have his money and live in peace?
“Kai-“ Mario started.
“I’m thinking! Fuck!” He run his hands through his hair, peeking at the figures searching the aisles. Plucking a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lighting it and took a long drag, his gaze flying around the store, looking for something. Anything. His brain feeling like a scrambling egg.
The longest moment of their lives passes, then Chang saw a light bulb go off over Kaiji’s head.
“Did you-” Chang leaned in closer to Kaiji.
“Shh. I have an idea.” Kaiji said exhaling smoke, wiping sweat from his brow.
His hand guided their attention to the gleaming convex mirror at the corner of the store, reflecting everyone in there.
“See where their line of sight is going. They haven’t noticed this mirror yet or” He points past them, two aisles down at the corner. A slightly open door marked Employees Only. “Or that back room at all. We’ll get there, we can just sneak out of here before they catch up.”
“What about home base? Where are we going to go?” Chang asks.
“I hate to say it, but we can’t think about it at this very second. “ Kaiji says grimly, as it pains him too. Yet, he flashes a cheeky smile. “We can’t enjoy all that money if we’re dead can we?” And they gather together, ready to make the leap of faith across the aisles.