Everything went as planned. Jia had his conversation with Ren, saying he had no idea why Nagashima had not come back yet and he would personally ask the Itto Ketsuen for a reason. Ren believed him and left without another word. Of course he would believe Jia. He didn't believe that Jia would have anyone killed for the sake of his empire. But how wrong he was to forget that Jia was just a business man first and foremost, but he's also a yakuza. Cold blood doesn't run often through Jia's veins but when it does....it's worse then Eirinsu. Speaking of which, Ren asked about Eirinsu's whereabouts, saying he had not heard a word about him for the past two weeks as well. Jia said he didn't know where he had gone, but he reassured him that he was still in New York and was unaware of Nagashima in California. Satisfied, Ren nodded, bowed his head and went on his way. I closed the door after Ren as Jia looked at me and said,

"Call Sozaburo for me. Tell me that Ren for now is satisfied with his response. But that will only buy us a couple of days."

I nodded, bowing my head and left. I called Ichiro on my way out, letting him know what Jia asked for. He then said he would take care of it and we hung up.

I watched over Kotei over this time, mostly because I feared what he might do. Ren was also asking me as a favor. Since he would have to speak with the heads of the Itto Ketsuen while he awaited word from his oyabun and ran Nagashima's syndicate while Nagashima was absence, he could not juggle taking care of Kotei and his full time needs. So he asked me. Which was okay for me because when Kotei wasn't being a pain in the ass, he was fine to be around. We sat on his balcony that afternoon, my hands over the balcony as my cigarette rested in my fingers, my head down, forehead against the metal rail as I looked down at the concrete floor beneath my feet. Kotei was in the same position I was in next to me. We both smoked as he said,

"Should we do anything this afternoon?"

"I'd have to ask Ren."

"Why?"

"Because if I took you anywhere without letting him know he would probably kill me....that or tell my oyabun and then he would kill me. Either way, I'd end up dead in the situation and I have plans for the rest of my life."

He laughed as he said,

"You seem so serious sometimes!"

"I'm not laughing."

He laughed anyway as I then said,

"How's school?"

"How would I know?"

"Haven't you been going?"

"Yeah but not like I stay awake."

I shook my head as I said,

"Don't you even want to be smarter then most of us?"

"How far of an education did you get?"

"Finished high school in Tokyo...which is like collage here."

"Hey I know a thing or two about school in Japan, it's not that hard."

I looked at him from the side of my eye as he said,

"Okay it's hard."

"I know."

"Did you want to go to college?"

"Not really. I wanted to fuck around and spend money and speed up and down the Roppongi District."

"Me too."

"Not in your line of work."

"Same to you."

"I know. It's why I'm here now."

"I do want to be an oyabun to this syndicate. Maybe with enough guidance, I can make it something big."

"True...you do have Jia's protection as you go..."

"My father said I could do it. He said I'm smart and that even though I act like a spoiled brat I do have the temperament to be an oyabun."

"I believe that. You act like a kid most of the time."

"I'm savoring my final few moments."

I nodded as he then said,

"So...you wanna go somewhere?"

"Where?"

"Uh.."

He bit his lip as he brought his hand to his mouth where he took a drag of his cigarette and then said,

"Wanna eat?"

"Sure."

I finally stood upright as I finished the last of my cigarette and flicked it over the edge as I called Ren to make sure everything was okay. Once it was clear, I took the kid out to eat.

Kotei, unlike most yakuza I've seen eat, ate very much like Katie. He stuffed everything to one side of his cheek as he continued to eat. I looked at him strangely and laughed to myself as he swallowed what he had in his mouth then said,

"So...what do you usually do on your time off?"

"Nothing much actually."

"What did you use to do?"

"What makes you think I did anything differently before?"

"I have a feeling."

"I use to shop a lot."

"What did you get?"

"Clothes mostly. Music too. I was a big music junkie. I've stopped though."

"Why?"

"Got in the way."

"Oh...work huh."

"Yeah."

"So...did you and your ex break up because of your job?"

"You never heard of tactful questions have you?"

"Nope."

"Yeah we did."

"When's the last time you saw him?"

"Almost a year ago. Maybe less."

"You miss him?"

"Not anymore."

"Not anymore?"

"I don't think about it. It has a tendency to rob me of stable and legit thought."

"That's called being human and in love."

"I'm working on not being both. Ever again."

"You don't wanna feel anymore?"

"Nope. I just don't wanna give a fuck about anything."

"Sounds hard."

"I'll learn. So will you."

He frowned as he played with his chopsticks for a moment and looked at me across the table and said,

"I love Ren you know."

"I know. It'll break your heart if something should happen to him. The pain is worse then anything you could ever imagine."

I recalled everyone telling me that once. And I looked down at my drink as he said,

"You know huh?"

"Yeah."

I took a drink from my cup as Kotei brushed back some of his hair back from his face as he said,

"Joryu..."

"Hm?"

"My father's dead right?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Little things. My father being gone for two weeks without a word. He would have at least called for Ren's condition."

He looked at me, waiting for an answer as he took a sip of his tea. I shook my head as I said,

"I don't think so Kotei. Your father is probably busy."

He shrugged as he said,

"Right."

He could tell I was lying. Though I had lied so many times to everyone, before about everything, he knew I was lying. I didn't say anything else and went back to eating my lunch.

Afterwards, I took the kid for a walk as he talked a little, making me stop every now and then as he raised his arms over his head and exclaimed he liked something. He was like five years old all over again. As he pressed his hands to a window display I said to him,

"You got pants that come above your hip bones?"

"Nope. Nothing but my school uniform anyway. Why?"

"I just notice a lot of skin when your arms go up."

"Oh..."

He smiled as he turned back to the window and I said,

"Just go buy it already."

"No, I'm just looking."

He then walked on, me following. Around nine that night, as he stood beside me as we both played the hell out of some video games in Barcode, my cell phone rang. I moved outside of the room, going down the escalator as I answered. It was Ren, asking for Kotei to be brought back home. I nodded and said I was on my way now. I then hung up and jumped the rail of the escalator going down as I got on the one going back up. I then grabbed Kotei from the game as he started complaining he wasn't done yet and still had a whole game left. Once I said that Ren wanted him home, he was dragging me down the escalator. We took a cab back to his place where I brought him to his apartment where Ren was waiting. I then finally had the rest of the night off and I went to see Ichiro.

Another few days passed before Karasu was in charge of telling Ren that Nagashima died. Ren stood in Jia's office, myself, Kotei, Aoki, Toki, Akio and Tai around Jia's desk as Karasu stood beside Ren. Ren was a little surprised as he said,

"How?"

"We're not sure. We just got word back that he was dead. We're looking into it though."

Ren nodded as he said,

"Such a shame."

He looked at Kotei as I did as well. The little emperor sighed as he went into his pockets and took out his cigarettes and put one between his lips. He lit it as he said,

"So what happens now?"

Jia looked at him, his eyes slightly narrowed as he smiled a little and said,

"Don't you care?"

"Slightly. But I had this feeling for the past couple of days now. I know my father well enough to know something was off."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Anything you want done?"

"Nothing really. Just have my father buried. I'll need to take control over his empire as soon as I can."

"You're not trained well enough. Plus you're too young."

Kotei nodded as he said,

"I understand that. So meanwhile, Ren can take over. I'll watch him, learn from him and see what I can take. When I'm old enough, I'll have it brought back to me."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Good plan."

"How old will I have to be before I can control it?"

"When you feel ready Kotei. Just not now."

"Good because I'm not ready now."

Jia nodded as he said,

"You'll be schooled in the lessons soon enough."

"I count on it."

Jia stood up as Kotei stood up and they shook hands. Kotei then said,

"I appreciate what you're doing for me Jia."

"I should say that to you Kotei."

The little emperor nodded as Jia then let go of his hand and said,

"You'll earn that name yet."

"Thank you."

Kotei bowed his head as he then excused himself, Ren following as he too bowed his head in Jia's direction and then they left.