𝙸𝙵 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙺 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙸𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴 ,, high&low

chapter four | do or die

chapter four

do or die

Shortly after Cobra revealed the circumstances of Tatsuya's death, we had left Itokan. Along with the other members of Sannoh Rengokai, I sat on a workbench in the Asahina Garage, nervously fidgeting while Yamato searched for some of his old things from Mugen. My heart was racing.

I came to Japan for answers, but I wasn't aware I'd be getting them this fast.

Yamato came back from wherever he had gone with a messily packed shoe box in his hands, "This is everything that's left." He said. "At least, everything my mom didn't throw out. She never realized how sentimental I was, something I really didn't get from her."

"The guy who ran Tatsuya over, did they ever find out who he was?" I asked, reaching for the lid of the box.

"The police said he was one of us, a Mugen." Yamato said quietly. "But we, we found out later that he was a mole, implanted by the Iemura Group."

Iemura.

"That girl on the news, the one that's missing. That's her family, isn't it?"

Noboru nodded. "Our own local yakuza mob. Himari is Tatsumi Iemura's daughter, he's the grandson of the original founder of the Iemura group. They're not all related to each other, some guys marry in, some are recruited." The way he mentioned recruitment made me think there was more to his story than that. "I'm not sure what you know about the yakuza, but they're not the kind of people you want to mess with, especially when all nine families get together and try to steal your hometown out from underneath you."

"If Mugen was involved with the yakuza, even as far back as when my father was still involved, do you think that has something to do with why he left the country? Why he never talked to us about his past?"

"I couldn't tell you, Gillian." Cobra said "Kohaku and Tsukomo would probably know more than we do. We would have just been little anklebiters when Mugen really got started back in the nineties."

"I wish we could have been more help." Dan said, peering over my shoulder as I stared at the motorcycle closest to the workbench.

"It's not over yet." Yamato interjected. "We can still talk to people. There are bound to be people in town who remember Yuki, and Tsukomo and Kohaku are sure to know something!"

"Thank you, all of you. Really." I said quietly "It means a lot."

"Happy to help." Yamato nodded "Mugen never abandons it's guys."

I nodded in response, taking a sip from my warm coffee. Using my foot, I pointed at the motorcycle. "That a Harley? I had one similar back in New Mexico. Had some problems bringing it over the border with me, but I haven't used it since dad quit chemo, when things got their worst."

Yamato nodded. "Yeah, I've had this thing since I first started to ride. She's still in the best shape she ever was."

"It's adorable how men refer to their bikes as 'she'." I chuckled

Behind me, Dan, Tetsu and Chiharu started conversing lowly among each other.

"She bikes? With a Harley?" Tetsu gawked. "God, it's hot when women know motorcycles."

"Wow, Tetsu. How misogynistic of you." Chiharu joked

"Oh, shut up! You think she's hot too!"

I rolled my eyes, catching the tail end of their conversation as I moved towards the bike, running the pads of my fingertips over the metal of the body. "She's a gorgeous bike, but the wheel spokes look a little loose right here. Bit of a hazard if you ask me. Do you mind if I take a look."

"Knock yourself out." Yamato said, tossing me a few tools.

I shrugged out of my sweater and took off my bucket hat, flipping all of my hair to one side of my head while I took a look at the bike, tinkering until I felt everybody's eyes on me. I looked up. "What? Look who my father was. Did you think I wouldn't know my stuff when it comes to bikes?"

"Understandable." Dan said curtly, nodding as he shot Tetsu a glance

"Be quiet." The dreadlocked one huffed as he looked on at me as I continued to tighten the wheel spokes.

Since was about ten I would go out to the massive garage on our ten-acre ranch and work on the bikes with Yuki. When I was too young to actually do any work, I simply acted as an errand boy, bringing my dad whatever tools he needed. When I was twelve, I had my head too close to the bike when he started it, which lead to me having some slight hearing issues on my left side. A reminder of what once was. When I turned sixteen, he took me out on my own bike for the first time. Before I even had a real driver's license, I was learning about motorbikes.

"Good as new." I smiled, passing Yamato back the tools. "I wasn't going to say anything, but I don't actually have anywhere to go now that I'm here. I wasn't sure how long I'd be, which made getting a hotel kind of hard."

"Tetsu will do it!" Chiharu offered, the boy in question shooting him a confused look

Catching on to what the baby of the group was trying to do, Dan nodded in agreement, patting Tetsu on the shoulder. "His house is too big for one person, and he has a spare room the two of us only use when we're too drunk to go home."

"What are you doing?" Tetsu hissed under his breath.

"Wingmanning you, buddy." Chiharu said back, equally as quiet before raising his voice again and turning back to look at me. "So, what do you say, Gilly?"

"As long as it's not any trouble." I said, getting back to my feet and dusting off my ripped jeans. "I don't want to put you out. I'm sure there's a hostel nearby I can stay at."

Tetsu shook his head. "Don't do that. I have a perfectly good spare room that never gets an use. At least, not by people who appreciate it." He glared back at Dan and Chiharu, who just grinned at him and shot the boy some thumbs up gestures.

"Thank you so much." I said, bowing gently before pulling the Mugen jacket I had taken out of bag around my shoulders

"Don't mention it." Tetsu said quietly, and I thought I saw a faint dusting of pink dance across his cheeks. A blush.

"Also, Dan." Tetsu grinned slyly. "We're going to need the truck."

Dan gawked "What?"

"Gillian has luggage, and I only have space for one on the bike. I need the keys to your truck."

"You're going to make me walk home?"

"Exactly."

Dan scowled, reaching into his jeans pocket for the keys. "Fine, but don't say I don't do anything for you."

I laughed, stuffing my wool sweater back into my backpack and zipping it up. "Well then, I suppose my chariot awaits." I joked, patting Dan on the shoulder as I left the garage, Tetsu scrambling to catch up before I went too far.

NOTES!!

not much happened here, but like chiharu and dan being tetsu's wingmen is so funny to me