CENE I, ACT I. "AFTER HOURS"
October 5th, 2002. 5 AM, Tokyo, Japan. Over a month after Saori's death.
Saori's death hangs over the heads of everyone as some struggle to maintain a steady work flow. It has been over a month since but no new answers or leads. Just the note in the owner's possession, the unknown cause of death, and an incredibly impersonal funeral just two weeks ago. No family in attendance of course. Just the bar on a September Sunday, their only day off. Now that "normalcy" is returning, the hitmen all begin to process: a rat? Among them? Someone responsible for their beloved (or not) Saori's death? With the people they normally spend the most time with, they discuss their thoughts. The who, what, when, where, why and how's.
Everyone performs their closing duties after a busy Saturday (4 PM - 4 AM hours). The General Manager and FOH Supervisor left around 3 AM, leaving Yoshio as the fill-in for the remainder of the night. Yuusuke was recruited to help Yoshio & Meifang polish the silverware and wipe down menus.
Amihan generally fucked off around business hours. When he was around, he was in the office with his signature black book. Names, addresses, numbers. All in undecipherable code known by him and only him. Hanzo invented the language. Maybe learned it from his own father. It was those scraggly lines damning criminals to their own violence that passed like kidney stones to the sole inheritor. While Kazuo and Kage were present employees in Red Moon, Hani ripped them from their Hell (he interpreted as such) that night for a very important meeting at Warehouse K. The car ride swelled with jazz from the radio and there was staunch tension between two men in the backseat who exchanged cautious glances. Hani was in a good mood, humming along and smacking the steering wheel off-beat.
Flanked by his former playmates, Hani pushed open the warehouse doors. It was dark, save for the anticipatory violet glow of his eyes. He shut and locked it once the light was on. In the middle of the bare concrete floor of the warehouse was a bald man tied to a chair. Naked. Tape over his mouth (with a frowny face drawn in marker on the tape), zip ties binding him to the legs of the chair. Near the side of him was Hani's table of tools. Normally interrogations were performed there -- for the sake of getting more names for Hani's book. The owner pulled out a candy bar and started unwrapping it, a small smile on his angelic face.
"So," he started off casually, the captive's sniffling and begging through his duct-tape starting to grind against the air --
"This is Araya Kenji. I saw him sniffing around Saori-chan's apartment a few days after she..." he stopped, watching pieces of his wrapper fall to the floor. The owner teared up, his voice breaking.
"It's so terrible. I can't even say it," he said, rubbing his temple. Something hurt there. Sometimes. Hani took a bite of his candy bar, pacing slow circles around the naked man. The stranger's chest heaved up and down considerably, and he tried to say things through the duct-tape, maybe striking wagers for his life, but it was all muffled. Hani blinked away his tears, watching him and taking another bite.
"Anyway," he started again with his mouth full, "I looked into him a bit. Bad, naughty family. Some indebted to the yakuza, in fact, quite a bit of them. Including this lucky guy. He started working for them, hm, quite a bit ago? As a handler to very, very unhappy-looking girls from… Taiwan? Was it? Dad must have sold him to that nasty business. I would have brought Masashi here, so he could have someone to relate to, someone to bond with, but that kitchen needs cleaning, right? Besides, this one looked like he was really happy — with those unhappy girls,” Hani speculated with a laugh, the hand holding his candy bar falling at his side.
“Kenji-kun claims he is an old flame of Saori-chan's. Which I highly doubt. He is very unattractive, especially after what I do to him tonight," the little owner claimed, intrigue in his eyes as he tilted his head once the man started hyperventilating through his tape. His crying eyes pleaded; they always did. Hani sighed after death-staring the man and sat down on his bare lap, facing Kage and Kazuo. The owner crossed one leg over the other and finished off his candy bar, a small smile on his face. There was a little bit of chocolate near the corner of his mouth. Hani could not look more immature if he tried. He pushed his glasses up.
"I missed you both by the way. It's been days! Thought maybe we all could catch up? How have you been, Kage?" he asked the guard dog first, a saccharine smile on his chocolate-stained face. Hani had a tendency to disappear for days at a time, but he was always cheerful when he returned. Especially to his old housemates.
Green eyes stared blankly at the naked man, Kage's face stoic as he listened to Hani's explanation. The man later named Araya Kenji made eye contact with him, a look of silent negotiation flashing in the victim's eyes before the blonde simply focused his gaze on Hani.
Calloused fingers twitched, instinctively reaching for a cigarette, and lighting it in a few fluid motions. The Owner's dramatics were nothing new for Kage, and he knew it wasn't for Kazuo either. Why Hani felt the need to bring them all the way here and not let them tend to their business, was plaguing his mind for the entire car ride, up until this moment.
“Kenji-kun claims he is an old flame of Saori-chan's."
Ah, another lead... Holding the menthol cigarette between his index and middle finger, he took a deep breath, his muscles relaxing within seconds. Another name to add to his list. But what was a woman like Akiyama-San doing with... this piece of shit?
Kage shared a look with Kazuo, knowing how passionate he was about finding this damned rat. He took another drag of his cigarette, before Hani commanded his attention again. "I missed you both by the way. It's been days! Thought maybe we all could catch up?" The Owner's post-hiatus glee is almost like clockwork, despite his usual erratic behavior. If there's any constant with Hani, it is that he's always cheerful after being away from The Red Moon.
"How have you been Kage?" The same as usual, as of late. Frustrated, dealing with paranoid gossip throughout The Front, employees letting their emotions impact their work in and out of the building, no-call no-shows...
But Hani didn't want to hear about that, not really. These were things that Kage and Kazuo dealt with, not him.
Exhaling another puff of his cigarette, Kage spoke up,
"I have been fine. Mostly training with Kazuo here on my aim during our free time. I'm tired of using my hands."
Looking over Hani's shoulder and straight down at the bald man, he continued,
"Though, I'm not afraid to make an exception tonight, if you need."
While Kage stood with perfect posture, and was dressed in a full-black suit, there was a dangerous tone in his offer that only made Araya Kenji scream some more under his frowny-face duct tape.
