[h3]Hiroshima[/h3] [b]10:09 PM[/b] It's not your hands searching slow in the dark, or your nails leaving love's watermark. It's not the way you talk me off the roof. Your questions like directions to the truth." Dokuro Abe pulled out a pack of Red Apples and lit a fresh cigarette. He inhaled smoke and took in the surroundings of the nightclub. Girls in thigh high boots and miniskirts mingled with men at tables. Most of the men in the room were Japanese. A few of them were foreigners, Asians and westerners, who were clearly sailors. A young woman stood on the stage alone, strumming an acoustic guitar while she song in heavily accented English. "It's knowing that this can't go on forever, likely one of us will have to spend some days alone. Maybe we'll get forty years together. But one day I'll be gone. One day you'll be gone." Abe expelled smoke and started through the club. The Naka-ku Ward served as the nightlife hub of Hiroshima, The Rose its crown jewel. All of the girls in the miniskirts and short shirts worked for the club. Their job was to get the men to buy the overpriced drinks and keep the party going. A man could easily walk out of the club after an hour, one thousand yen lighter. He walked passed the tables and ignored the catcalls from the girls trying to get him to stop and buy them drinks. The heavyset man who guarded the door marked "MANAGEMENT" interested him far more. Abe stuck his cigarette in his mouth as he approached the man. "I'm here to see Goro." "No Goro here." Abe smiled. The muscle cracked his knuckles. Abe saw that he was missing a pinkie finger and had to fight the urge to laugh. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and showed off the tattooed forearms hiding under the fabric. The big man raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Abe Dokuro. [i]Shategashira[/i] for the Tokyo [i]Inagawa-kai[/i]. Goro knows who I am. Now, let me see him before you have to preform [i]yubitsume[/i] again and lose your other pinkie finger." The guard bristled at the dressing down, but he finally turned and disappeared behind the door. A few moments later, the door opened and Abe stepped inside. Goro's large figure sat behind an even larger cherry desk, a cigar in his mouth. A topless Korean girl sat on the desk, her breasts in Goro's face. Four bodyguards were sprawled on chairs around the room, their eyes transfixed on Abe. "If it isn't the Tokyo Terror," Goro said with a laugh. "Everyone, leave us to talk alone." One of the bodyguards began to protest. Goro cut him off with a sharp rebuke. "I've known Abe for fifteen years. I'm sure he has murder on his mind, but not in my direction." The bodyguards started to shuffle out, every one of them giving Abe a hard look before leaving. The Korean girl finally left once Goro pinched her nipple and swatted her on her ample rump. When it was only them, Goro stood and walked towards Abe. "My friend, I am so sorry about your brother." Goro embraced Abe in a bearhug and squeezed. It was a powerful squeeze. Years ago Goro had been a sumo. He'd never had the skill to go pro, but he was more than capable of beating the brains out of men who owed Yakuza money. "Who did it?" Abe asked, the first words he'd actually spoke since entering. "How do I find them?" "We know who did it," Goro said, retreating behind his desk. "A goddamn [i]yobo.[/i]" Abe sat in one of the chairs a bodyguard had been sitting in. "Why did a Korean kill my brother?" Goro shifted in his seat and sighed. "I've been keeping it quiet, but we are involved in a conflict with competition. Koreans and Taiwanese with Triad support have been flooding the streets of the city over the last year. They travel here on so-called work permits, but almost as soon as they get here they're pimping girls and trying to crash our rackets." "Hideki was a casualty of this war, Goro?" Goro nodded and apologized. "He ran one of our soapland bathhouses. The [i]yobos[/i] are targeting the Water Trade. They have at least a half dozen soaplands and hostess bars dotted through the city." Abe took a long drag off his cigarette before he expelled smoke. "I hear a lot of talk, Goro. What I do not hear is a name." Goro leaned forward and stabbed at the desk with his finger. "Please, Abe. Let me find this man. You shall kill him, but I am the boss of Hiroshima and you are my guest. Honor dictates that you kill him, but my reputation demands that I deliver him to you." Abe sighed and stubbed his cigarette out in a nearby ashtray. "I'll wait for you to find him," he lied. "But do not take too long." "My men are out there as we speak," said Goro. "Let them do the hard work. Go to your brother's wife and arrange perpetration for Hideki's body. Abe nodded but did not speak. A grin slipped on Goro's face. "Besides, you are back home. Big city Yakuza like you should relax and enjoy yourself... at least as much as you can at a time like this." He nodded again and stood, turning towards the door. "Abe, wait. Stay here. Enjoy the club and the girls. Drinks tonight are on me." "Thank you," Abe said with a bow. "You are most gracious, Goro. But I have matters to attend to." "Abe... Abe!" He ignored Goro as he left the office and started back through the club towards the exit. The girl on stage was in the climax of her song. "If we were vampires and death was a joke, we'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke. Laugh at all the lovers and their plans. I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand. Maybe time running out is a gift. I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift, and give you every second I can find and hope it isn't me who's left behind. One day I'll be gone, or one day you'll be gone." The club broke out in polite applause. Abe looked over his shoulder at the club. Goro stood at the entrance to his office and watched him intently. Abe nodded at him before stepping out into the night. --- [h3]Korea[/h3] [b]Keijō 11:21 PM[/b] Inspector Shinzo's stomach was in knots. He sat in the backseat of the chauffeured car as it navigated the streets of the Korean capital, worrying the band of his hat while his right leg shook. Shinzo was preparing to end his sixteen hour day when an urgent message came in to Kenpeitai headquarters. His presence was required at the General Government Building. Shinzo at least knew he would be be arrested or executed. When the Kenpei took you, it was always in the dead of night. K-Time, Shinzo and his colleagues called it. Always between three and five in the morning, when even the most dedicated night owl had bedded down for the night. No, he was not worried about this being some governmental purge. Shinzo was worried that he was being called forth because something major was underway in Korea. Maybe there was an uprising in Pusan. Or maybe the Communists had finally invaded from the north. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they tried to drive Japan off mainland Asia and consolidate their power. Perhaps tonight was the night. The car came to a stop outside the building. Shinzo thanked the driver and stepped out. He slipped his hat on and looked up. The colonial capital was impressive sight, designed in a neo-classical style with a large dome that made it look far more western than any other building in Keijō. Shinzo quickly hurried up the steps towards the large metal doors leading inside. A guard met him at the entrance and said he was expected. He led Shinzo through thee empty marble halls of the building and up to the third floor office. "Good evening," the Governor-General of Korea said, standing to meet Shinzo. The inspector bowed so deeply it seemed that his nose was parallel with his knees. This was the first time he had ever met the man, a former prime minister of Japan now serving the Empire abroad. Shinzo rose and looked at the middle-aged man with his steel gray hair and jovial smile. He wore a tuxedo and bowtie. Around his neck dangled the Order of the Chrysanthemum pendent. "Pardon my attire, Inspector. I was at a reception this evening when I was pulled away." The governor motioned towards a chair in the ornate office. Shinzo sat and waited for the governor to sit behind his desk and get comfortable. "I am also sorry to call you in so late. I myself was given the news late and I decided tonight would be the best to talk. During the day, the walls have ears here." Shizno did another polite bow, adjusting his glasses as they slid down the bridge of his nose. "Yes, sir. I understand this better than most. How can I assist you?" The governor placed his fingers together and formed a steeple with them. His brow furrowed in concentration. "What I am to tell you is only to be shared between us, Inspector." "But of course. I would not be in the Kenpeitei if I did not know how to keep secrets." The governor nodded in agreement and laughed. "You have a reputation as an effective and discreet Kenpei officer. You have been chosen for an assignment that requires both. This comes from the highest corridors of power in the Empire. From Tokyo itself." "Well, I am honored by your kind words and trust," Shinzo said, another slight bow. "Soo Jung Kim," said the governor. "Approximately thirty-one. Just her name and age, Inspector. That was all that I was given. She is a Korean subject somewhere in the country. You are to find her and put her under Kenpei custody. Once that is accomplished, report back to me." Shinzo bowed again. Their business done, the governor rose and escorted him out the office. The security guard who led him up led him back through the empty corridors. Shinzo remained silent, his thoughts on whatever it was he was being asked to do. He had only a name and an age. Finding a Kim in Korea would be like trying to find the right needle in a pile of needles. And what had she done that people in Tokyo were so interested in her? Shinzo would never be so bold as to ask. Fifteen years in this profession taught him that those who questioned too much were either fired and disgraced, or worst of all they simply disappeared. As if they had never existed. "Good night, sir," the guard said as he opened the backdoor of the car Shinzo had arrived in. "Thank you, good night to you." Shinzo settled in as the car took off down the street. His driver looked up at him through the car's rearview mirror. "Home, Inspector?" "No. Back to headquarters. Drop me off and you can go home. I still have work to do."