Ai No Kusabi Alternative Ending

Chapter 5

Iason stood up in polite greeting as the doctor entered Riki's room carrying a stack of papers. He walked straight past Raoul and Katze in the hallway without acknowledgement. Perhaps he was too busy counting how much money Riki's operation made for him. Perhaps it really was so, because when the doctor lifted his head to look at whom he assumed to be Katze, he found himself genuinely surprised.

"Katze, the bills are-" He gasped suddenly, actually dropping the papers that he held all over the dirty ground. Iason stood in cold politeness to at least be courteous to the man who saved his lover's life. However, this seemed to backfire as the shorter man backed away slowly in fright.

"S-sir!" The man stuttered and Iason stopped his advance.

"Send all the bills for Riki to Iason Mink. He will no longer be staying here." Iason stated matter-of-factly. Perhaps if the doctor paid more attention to who stood in the halls, he would have been prepared to look less like an idiot. But he hadn't done so. And thus, he stood there opening and closing his mouth quite stupidly as Iason even more stupidly reached into his pocket to realize once more that his phone was gone with his other set of legs.

Instead of throwing a small inner tantrum this time like all blondies do when they feel incompetent, Iason stuck his head out the door and told Raoul to call their "Tanagura Medical Center". In just a few minutes, uniformed professionals that outrank the Midas doctor by a few light years showed up and carried Riki off on a stretcher. Raoul followed Iason who followed Riki's unconscious body out the front door. Instead of doing the same, Katze decided to stay in the hallway and have a smoke. He felt that he deserved a break from all the drama with Riki, so he took one. The place emptied out too quickly, and soon the ex-furniture found himself staring into eyes of the slum doctor. 

"Katze!" The man shouted just a tid bit too loudly. Showing fury at the situation that was now out of his control, he stormed out into the hallway where Katze stood. 

"What do you want?" 

"What about my payment? The patient has been stabilized, but his treatment isn't complete!" Katze glared at the man like he was an idiot. 

"If Iason wants Riki moved, then Riki will get moved." Katze puffed his cigarette smoke at the low ceiling and started walking away from the man. 

"W-wait!" The doctor desperately rushed forward and grasped Katze's arm; the same one he held his smoke with. "My money..." 

"Send the bill to Iason." Katze swatted the man's hand off his arm and continued on his way out. 

The slum doctor stood stunned for a moment. I-Iason? As in Iason Mink, the head of the syndicate? He must be loaded! And that Riki must have been his infamous mongrel pet. Then the rumors are true?  The man tried to do a mental calculation of how much money Iason could possibly have, and simply found himself overwhelmed with numbers that ran far off the limits of a regular calculator. If this Katze was someone who worked for Iason, then he must be quiet loaded as well! It's rumored that Iason takes his pet and that he hadn't bought a single other pet since he acquired Riki. The doctor pondered this for a split second before realizing that he could possibly swindle out more money with blackmail. 

"Wait!" The doctor shouted and grabbed Katze's arm once again. Unseen to the man, Katze's eyebrows furrowed in anger. What the hell does he want?  

"I... don't have enough money." 

"What?"

"Well, if you don't want anyone knowing that Riki was-" In one smooth move, Katze grabbed the man by the neck and held him against the wall. 

"Listen. Don't try to steal from Iason if you want to stay in business. He's not forgiving, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut about Riki." Katze hissed in his ear before depositing him on the grimy floor. Katze turned to leave, but paused in thought. 

"On second thought, it doesn't matter. Iason doesn't care for gossip, but everyone knows it's an open secret." Katze helped the doctor up and shoved a few paper credits in his hand. Of course, in Blondie language, a few really meant a few million. Katze wasn't nearly as well endowed as a Blondie, but he was more than able to afford a hefty tip. He felt a bit bad threatening someone who had helped him, or more specifically, helped Iason and Riki. So, the surprised slum doctor found himself with a good 50,000 paper credits and Katze managed to walk away with a slightly clearer conscience.