Chapter Text
“What are you doing here?”
Keiwa looked up from his computer when he heard how stiff Sara’s voice was. He could use a distraction right now. He was filling out job applications, but he could only fill out the same questions on different applications so many times before he could feel his brain melt.
He could see his sister, Sara, at the door talking to someone, but he could not quite make out who it was. She seemed agitated, her posture stiff, which was strange for his normally happy-go-lucky sister.
“Sara, who is it?”
Keiwa got up, walking over to the door. As he drew nearer, he recognized who was at the door. A middle-aged man in a blue suit, wearing a gold chain, smelling of cigar smoke and aged whiskey. Kekera Sakurai, their father, stood at their door.
“Now is that anyway to talk to your father?” Kekera questioned with a heavy sigh, shaking his head in disappointment at Sara. When he caught a glance of Keiwa, Kekera gave a huge grin, his whole demeaner changed. “Keiwa, my boy!”
“H-Hey dad,” Keiwa greeted with an awkward smile and small wave.
Sara reluctantly opened the door fully to allow Kekera in. The two siblings watched cautiously as their father walked around their small apartment freely. At least he managed to take off his pointed leather shoes before entering.
Kekera rummaged freely, as if he was trying to take inventory of his kids’ lives by looking at their living conditions. When Kekera came across the family shrine Sara and Kewai had set up, he took a quiet moment to light an incense, paying his respects in memory of his late wife and mother of his children. Closing his eyes and bowing his head, one could mistake Kekera as a reverent man.
Keiwa noticed how Sara seemed to be boiling to a rage as they stood by while Kekera roamed freely in their home. He also held similar feelings towards their estranged father, he just didn’t outwardly display them.
“What are you doing here?” Sara asked again, her tone more forceful this time.
“Shh…” Kekera hissed without opening his eyes. Sara’s fists were balled up, and Keiwa grabbed his sister’s hand to calm her down. Kekera stood up after he was finished, dusting off imaginary lint from his pant suit.
“So,” Kekera started, looking directly at Keiway. He was completely ignoring Sara. “Rumor has it, you’re still looking for a job Keiwa?”
“Hey!” Sara interjected; she would not be ignored in her apartment.
“Shh,” Kekera hushed, holding up a finger and giving Sara a bored look. “I was talking to Keiwa.”
Keiwa looked between his sister and father, he did not know what to do. He just wanted his father to leave, and he wanted to keep things peaceful. He could feel his stomach twist in anxiety.
“I’m doing fine,” Keiwa answered in a round about way. He was a terrible liar, but he had a bad gut feeling about answering Kekera honestly.
“Oh?” Kekera raised an eyebrow, turning Keiwa’s laptop around to show the screen that had a partially completed job application open. “Really?”
Keiwa sighed. He just wanted Kekera to finish up and leave. “Yes, really dad.”
“I’m just concerned about you.” Kekera only had to take a few steps before he stood in front of Keiwa. While Keiwa was taller than his dad, he felt himself shrinking down in the presence of Kekera. “You’re a grown man, a Sakurai, and here you are relying on your sister to provide for you. I just want you to live to your full potential, Keiwa.”
“Keiwa said that he’s fine!” Sara took a step in between Keiwa and Kekera. When she saw Kekera raise his hand up, she flinched. Kekera simply moved to adjust his watch, he wasn’t going to get violent, yet.
Ignoring Sara’s outburst, Kekera continued. “You know I’ve always wanted you to join the family business. I’m just here to let you know, the offer still stands.”
The ‘family business’, if one could call it that, was part of the underground. The Sakurai Clan was yakuza, dealing drugs, pimping prostitutes, and shake downs were all part of the job. It was not an honest living. Keiwa and Sara’s mother’s final wish was for them to live simple honest lives. And both siblings wanted to fulfill their mother’s wish, but Kekera would not make it easy.
Keiwa shook his head, “No thank you.”
“Come on,” Kekera stood back, opening his arms wide. “You could have anything you wanted, money, drugs, women. Surly that sounds better than living like this.”
“Please forgive me!” Keiwa raised his voice before bowing at 90 degrees. “I cannot accept your offer, father.”
Kekera stared at Keiwa for a moment, wearing a deep frown of disappointment. After a moment, Kekera sighed as he dropped his arms. Keiwa took a glance up before slowly standing back up. He analyzed Kekera’s body language, wondering what he would do next. Kekera gave a shrug as he walked back to the door.
“Just think about it Keiwa. You know where to find me.” With one final glance back at his children, Kekera left their apartment.
“Thanks dad, great seeing you,” Keiwa mumbled half hearted as he walked his father out.
As he closed the door, both Sara and Keiwa let out a loud sigh, collapsing in relief.
A doctor was speaking to him, but Keiwa was not paying attention. He could not focus at all as all he could do was stare into the room where his sister laid. The world felt dull and slow. Keiwa couldn’t even tell if he was live or not. It all felt like some horrible twisted dream. This could not be reality. But no matter how many times Keiwa tried to wake up, he was stuck.
This was real.
Sara was in stable condition thankfully, but she was hurt. A concussion to the head, fractured ribs, cuts and bruises all over her body. Apparently, Sara got caught up in some gang violence when she was coming home late at night from the office. There were no leads on who attacked Sara. The police filed a report, but that was all they could do until more evidence came to light.
Keiwa balled his fists, feeling his fingernails dig into the flesh of his palm.
How could the world be so unfair? Those bastards were free doing who knows what to others while his sister laid in a coma.
He could not stay there. It was too much. Keiwa wanted to scream, to destroy something, to get revenge on the ones who did this to his sister.
Storming out onto the roof of the hospital, Keiwa hesitated only for a moment as he looked at his phone, starring at Kekera’s contact information. He was not naïve enough to completely trust his father, he even had some thoughts that maybe Kekera had set Sara up. But all other trails were cold, and he did not know where else to turn too.
Keiwa exhaled before pressing the call button.
“Keiwa! How’s my favorite son doing?” Kekera voice didn’t seem to betray any scheming intent, at least none more so than usual.
“Sara is in the hospital,” Keiwa’s voice was deeper than his usual speaking voice, rougher with jagged edges.
“Oh…” Kekera seemed to be at a lost for words.
“Some punks attacked her while she was coming home from work.”
Kekera paused as he processed the information. When Kekera broke the silence, his voice was eerily clam. “So, what are you going to do Keiwa?”
“I’m going to kill those bastards,” Keiwa growled.
Kekera let out a loud booming laugh on the other end, causing Keiwa to jump slightly and snap out of his fit of rage.
“You always know how to make your old man laugh son,” Kekera chuckled, speaking with renewed energy. “I only have one thing to ask you, are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Keiwa did not hesitate in his response. Maybe he was more like his father than he would like to admit, but right now he needed that part of him. Consequences be damned. If it was for his sister’s sake, then Keiwa would burn the world twice over.
“Well then, welcome to the family business Keiwa.”
Keiwa was uncomfortable. He was wearing a three-piece suit, leather shoes that felt too tight, heavy rings that were tiring to carry around, and sunglasses despite it being night. Kekera had instructed him to wear this outfit if he was joining the Sakurai Clan.
“What are we doing?” Keiwa sighed with frustration.
“Patrolling,” Win said, fixing his slicked back hair. Today was his official first day and Keiwa was assigned to shadow Win. “We got a few stops to make too, but we’re mostly walking around so people know that this is Sakurai Clan turf.”
Keiwa frowned, this was not what he wanted to do. “I want to look for Sara’s attackers.”
“So, I’ve heard,” Win waved him off nonchalantly, grabbing some Takoyaki from a street vendor. “Want some?”
Keiwa brushed off Win’s offer. “What am I even doing here?”
“Boss filled me in. You said you wanted to join right? Well, this is part of it.”
Keiwa sighed, feeling a mixed of anger and disappointment. He should had known things would not be straight forward.
“Besides, we don’t have any leads yet,” Win continued between bites of Takoyaki. “Think of this as part of the investigation.”
Keiwa did not have much to say in response. Win’s words made sense if he stopped to think about it. Keiwa just did not like the sound of it.
“Listen,” Win’s tone was gentle. “You can back out now. You can go back to your old life, and leave this to those of us who are in too deep.”
The thought did sounds appealing. But if Keiwa did not seek justice for Sara, he was not sure who would.
Shaking his head, Keiwa steeled his resolve. “No, I’ll do this,” he affirmed as he took one of Win’s Takoyaki balls.
“That’s the spirit!” Win grinned, patting Keiwa on the back. He nodded his head over to a shady alley way. “Come on, we’re close to our first stop.”
Keiwa followed as Win took them into a small soba restaurant. When the elderly owner caught sight of the two of them, he froze and dropped the stack of dirty dishes onto the ground. Keiwa moved to help the owner, but Win stopped him. Win shook his head no before taking a step forward to take lead.
“Should we talk here or…?”
The owner, quickly picked up the mess. Wiping his hands, he nodded to the back. Keiwa could see that the owner was shaking.
When the three of them were outside, the owner handed Win an envelope. “Here, it’s all I have this month.”
Win hummed idly as he counted the money. After his was finished, he lowed his sunglasses down to look at the old man. “This covers this month, but what about the last four?”
“I-I…” the owner stammered. “I’ll pay it back, double. I just need some more time. It’s just my son, he’s in the hospital.”
“Can it old man! We’re not a charity!” Win cut the other off. He reached into the inner pocket of his suit to pull out a pair of knuckle dusters. “Hold him, leave the rest to me,” Win whispered to Keiwa.
Keiwa’s eyes widen as he glanced between Win and the restaurant owner.
“B-but,” Keiwa stammered. He felt compassion for the old man, it seemed like he was in a tough situation. How could they demand money from him?
“Did you want in, or no?” Win’s words were biting, lacking any trace of friendliness he had from earlier. Keiwa swallowed hard, taking a glance at the owner.
Keiwa walked over to the restaurant owner. The old man struggled and attempted to flee, but Keiwa was stronger. He easily wrestled the man down onto his knees, holding his hands behind his back. Keiwa closed his eyes and turned his head at what came next, but he did not let go.
If this is what it took, then Keiwa would do it. For Sara’s sake.
“Good job everyone!” Tsumuri congratulated as she watched Geats, Buffa, and Na-Go finished off the Jyamato threat. The threat wasn’t anything they haven’t seen before, but no victories were ever guaranteed.
The navigator diverted her attention back to check in on Tycoon. She had tried to send him a message about the attack earlier, but she was unable to reach the Rider.
Now that she was looking again, she saw that Keiwa was hanging out with his sister at the mall. Seemed like there was a pop-up store that Sara wanted to check out.
Tsumuri smiled at the scene before her. The threat was easily handled by the other three Riders, and Keiwa deserved to enjoy himself. Everything was normal and as it should be. Tsumuri closed out the screen.
Fanfiction is fictional writing based on existing works of fiction written by fans.