Chapter 4: Shiranui-kai
3-18-12 Kurogane Street, Naruhata Ward.
Next to an old, unfinished construction site that had been discontinued due to a cutoff of funding from the local council, stood a small, aging 3-story concrete building with a faded sign that read 'Kurogane Urban Renewal Co. Ltd'. The neon lights padded along its exterior inconsistently flickering on and off, clearly in dire need of maintenance.
At a glance, the building seemed to be the office of a low-tier real estate and construction company. The first floor of the building was scattered with cheap desks, dusty file cabinets, and a reception counter manned by an evidently bored staff member scrolling on his phone. His feet kicked up on his desk without a care in the world.
That illusion ended on the second floor.
Once you crossed the staircase's threshold, the words 'Kurogane Urban Renewal' were rendered meaningless, and the headquarters of a minor yakuza organization known as 'Shiranui-kai' came into existence.
Underground quirk fighting rings, loan sharking, protection rackets, black market quirk gear, smuggling, and information brokering made up the bulk of their operations. All of which were handled by the organization's lieutenants on their boss' behalf.
The second floor was filled with nothing but paperwork for shell companies and a small meeting room for the organization's financial staff. The third was dedicated to logistics and storage, harboring hidden support gear crates, false walls, and a soundproofed storage room for items their boss deemed to be of high importance.
As for the third?
It was a cat sanctuary, an area that held virtually no operational value, but one that was reserved solely for the organization's head and her most trusted aides.
Instead of the musky smell of concrete and oil that persisted down below, the floor smelled like warm tatami, clean linen, and faint incense. It was designed to allow the 20-30 cats that wandered the floor at any given time to roam around comfortably, each of them marking their territories around the various low wooden tables, cat beds, and cushions scattered around the space.
Click!
The door opened, a scent familiar to every cat in the room wafting through the floor and sending the felines rushing towards the door to greet the entrant.
"I'm home my fluffy babies!"
A woman in her mid 30s stepped into the room, immediately crouching down as her 'babies' brushed up against her with their tails raised high in the air.
Her hair was a striking snow-white color worn loose over her shoulders, and her eyes a bright-amber gold, coupled with pupils that took the form of narrow vertical slits, like a tiger's. Atop her head sat two, puffy white ears with spots on the back that an animal would mistake for eyes, and protruding from her lower back was a medium-length, white and black striped tail.
Typically she opted for casual, modern clothing when she was out and about. But while at her organization's headquarters she preferred to adorn a dark kimono with subtle tiger patterns woven into the fabric.
Reika Shiranui. The leader of the Shiranui-kai Yakuza.
"Oh my gwosh! You're all so adorable I could just eat you up!" She giggled, picking up one of the cats by the armpits and spinning around in place. "You're the newest one, aren't you? The others haven't been bullying you, have they?"
The cat she had picked up was a rather chubby specimen, with white fur and a distinct black spot on its head. Its light-green eyes peering back into the woman's, not a single thought going on inside the feline's cranium.
Her love for cats that caught her fancy was well-known throughout her organization, finding one she liked and offering it to her was a nigh-foolproof way to curry favour with her. Of course, there were certain breeds she had a deep disdain for, like the sphynx cat.
Offer her one of those? Claws would slice their way through your face before you knew what even struck you.
With a toothy-grin, Reika scratched the newest addition to her collection, noticing the distinct lack of a collar on her pet.
"Hmph, your old owner didn't even bother to name you! It's a good thing you're with me instead, I'll take much better care of you!" She gently placed the cat down, letting it wander as it pleased.
This sanctuary was the only true place where Reika felt like she could have some peace of mind when she wasn't managing her organization's day-to-day operations. And she'd be damned if she allowed anyone to take it away from her.
///
.
"—from what I've heard, the woman running the Shiranui-kai's pretty tough. So you're best off just forgetting about that cat, it's not worth the trouble."
Takumi finished giving Power a basic overview of the organization, explaining their boss' personality, reputation, and of course, the reason why her men decided to nick Meowy from her.
"Like hell I will!" Power jolted upright, pointing at Takumi with indignation. "Meowy swore herself to me as my loyal servant! As her lord it's my duty to retrieve what is rightfully mine!"
Delaying his response, Takumi took a calm sip of green tea. "Setting aside the fact that this 'rescue mission' of yours is 100% a death wish. How do you even plan on executing it? Do you know where your Meowy's being held?"
"Guh—!" Power staggered, her expression a clear indicator that she hadn't devoted so much as a millisecond of thought into how she'd actually go about achieving her objective.
"There are plenty of street cats wandering Naruhata. Honestly, you'll probably find three more sleeping around the dumpster if you go back there again."
If Power couldn't even handle the Shiranui-kai's grunts, what possible chance did she have against Reika Shiranui?
"But I can't just sit here and do nothing! Meowy's in danger!" She bit her nails, struggling to get her thoughts in order.
"I doubt that, Reika's reputation suggests she takes quite good care of them. With her finances she can probably provide Meowy better care than you can." At the very least, Meowy would have a much better diet than scavenged leftovers from a dumpster.
Power went mute. Her face scrunched up in frustration as she bit her thumb, anxiously pacing back and forth around his room.
Meanwhile, Takumi's focus remained on his tea. His quirk analyizing it like everything else that entered his mouth.
'Estimated liquid temperature: 67.4°C. Optimal drinking temperature for flavor: 60-63°C. Cooling time required: 46 seconds. Burn risk: minimal if less than 4 mL of tea is consumed per sip.'
"Just give up. Your energy will be much better spent figuring out your own situation instead of worrying about your cat's." He continued to dwindle away at the ceramic cup's contents, working away at his math homework positioned to his left.
Find the maximum value of the function 𝑓(𝑥) = −2𝑥^2 + 8𝑥 + 3.
'Function type detected: quadratic. Coefficient sign: negative. Graph shape: downward parabola. Maximum value exists.'
'Possible solution routes detected: Route A: Complete the square. Route B: Derivative. Route C: Vertex formula (-b / 2a).'
'Estimated operation count: Route A — 9 steps Route B — 7 steps Route C — 3 steps. Optimal path solution: Route C. Confidence: 99.7%.'
"No! There is a way!" Power slammed her foot on his dining table, earning a chilling, bone-dry glare from Takumi as a reward. "Creepy human! You shall assist me in my rescue mission! For I have decided to grant you the honor of meeting my squire in person!" She pointed at him with her haughty-air operating at full capacity.
"I refuse."
"Ehhhhhhh?" Taken aback, Power staggered backwards.
"What did you expect? I'm a high schooler. Not a policeman nor some kind of vigilante. Ignoring the fact that I probably can't beat Reika Shiranui anyways, I have absolutely no interest in storming a yakuza building and putting myself on the Shiranui-kai's radar. Much less for some stranger's pet."
He breezed through his math questions one after the other, not an ounce of compassion in his voice for Power's distress. He had already exhausted his humanity for the day by clothing and washing Power, he didn't have it in him to do any more.
"In any case, you can't even go after them if you want to since you don't know where their headquarters are."
"No! I know how to find them!" She cackled with self-assurance.
"Do you?"
"Since you seem to know where the people holding Meowy are! All I have to do is force the information out of you!" From the other side of his living room, Power lunged at Takumi. Fully intent on grappling him into submission while he was still cross-legged and vulnerable.
'Pointless.'
Non-reactive, Takumi lifted up his green tea and grabbed hold of the edge of his rounded dining table, nudging it forwards and hitting Power square in the shins.
"Owie!" As his quirk calculated, Power fell face-first and stubbed her nose.
"You can't even handle one helpless teenager, there's a 0% chance you're capable of handling the entirety of the Shiranui-kai on your lonesome."
His homework now finished, Takumi decided to check his watch.
'10:32 PM. Target sleep start: 10:50 PM. Sleep onset buffer: 10 minutes. Lights-out recommendation: 10:40 PM.'
He walked over to his cabinet and pulled out a futon, laying it out across his tatami mat. "You'll sleep here tonight, tomorrow's a Saturday so I'll decide what to do with you then."
Takumi turned the living room light off and entered his bedroom, doing the same.
"Good night."
///
.
Takumi expected his quirk to wake him up at 5:20 AM like it usually did when he didn't work overtime. But instead, it forced his eyes open at 1:32 AM. Immediately transmitting an audio input analysis into his head.
'Audio input detected. Source: living room. Sound classification: person crying. Volume level: suppressed. Probability of distress: 92%. Threat probability: 8%. Wake subject: recommended.'
With a deep groan, Takumi reached for his nightstand and turned on the lamp, putting on his glasses as he begrudgingly got out of bed and entered his living room.
His quirk accurate as ever, Takumi found himself looking at Power's sleeping, sobbing figure. Her arms clutched tightly around her pillow as if she were desperate for comfort.
He didn't need Battle Algorithm to decipher that she was imagining the pillow as her 'Meowy'.
"The cat means that much to you, does it?" He muttered under his breath, his voice kept between 31-34 decibels to avoid waking her up.
Reflexively, he found himself looking towards his foster father's altar. The fading candlelight reflecting the man's gentle gaze within the portrait.
"Don't look at me like that, it's harder than it looks." He exhaled in exasperation. "But you already know that, don't you? You still want me to try despite the fact, right?"
His quirk's assessment of Power's condition fully complete, Takumi took a few steps in the direction of his bedroom. But not before sparing one last, pondering glance towards Shunpei Kisaragi's altar.
Out of the blue, his quirk produced a new analysis.
'Objective: infiltrate hostile organization headquarters. Location type: fortified criminal base.'
He pressed his palm against his forehead. "What's the point? I don't even know what her cat looks like."
Though Takumi returned to the comfort of his sheets, the thought didn't leave his mind. Whether he liked it or not, his quirk would continue to formulate a plan based on the meager information he had to completion.
///
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