Aftershocks

The ride back to Chochin was a silent, surreal journey from one world to another. The plush leather of the car, the scent of wealth and power, the impression of Takumi Senior’s kiss on her cheek; it all clung to her like a second skin. She stared out the window as the pristine, tree-lined streets of Aurora Cliffs dissolved back into the familiar, neon-drenched chaos of her own district. The contrast was violent, a physical wrenching in her gut.

She was playing a game on a knife’s edge, and some of the most dangerous men in Mirage City were the players, and she was the treasure they both intended to win. The Rolls-Royce dropped her off a block from the Den, a final subtle power play from Takumi; letting her slink back to her master’s territory on foot. Walking slowly her mind raced, the weight of his command, pack your bags, echoing in her skull. It wasn’t a suggestion; it was an expectation.

Pushing open the heavy door to the club felt like stepping back in time. The air was thick with cigarette smoke and the thrum of electric jazz tunes, a stark, grimy contrast to the silent, minimalist luxury she’d just left. And there he was. Karasu sat in his usual booth, but he wasn’t holding court.

He was alone, a half-empty bottle of sake and two glasses on the table before him. His blue cigarette was a steady ember in the dim light, and his sharp eyes lifted the moment she entered, tracking her every step as she crossed the room. He had been waiting. She slid into the booth across from him, the seat creaking. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The audio transmitter felt like a brand against her skin. Only after finishing his cigarette Karasu spoke, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated through the table, “So fox, start talking.” Rei took a breath, the scent of his smoke a painful comfort. She reached into her bra, retrieved the tiny recording device, and placed it on the table between them. Karasu had heard it all, she knew it.

“He’s serious,” she said, her voice quieter than she intended, “He offered to pay off all my father’s debts”, she met his gaze, letting him see the sheer, staggering scale of it, “He wants me to leave the Den. To work for him exclusively. He called it a partnership.” Karasu’s expression didn’t change, but the muscle in his jaw tightened. He lit a new smoke and took a long, slow drag, exhaling a thin, controlled stream. “I told him the final details would have to be settled with you,” Rei said, rubbing her hands together, “I told him to come here himself, to speak with you.”

A flicker of something, approval, fury, she couldn’t tell, passed behind Karasu’s eyes. He was silent for a full minute, processing the move. She had escalated everything, forcing a direct confrontation on his turf. Then, he did something unexpected. He poured a measure of sake into the second glass and pushed it across the table to her. The air in Karasu’s private booth, usually thick with smoke and calculated calm, was now charged with a lethal static.

“He’s buying you to hurt me,” Karasu stated, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. It was a simple, brutal fact, “And to control his son. You’re a weapon he thinks he can aim.” Rei’s fingers closed around the cool ceramic of the cup. “And you?”, Karasu’s blue eyes pinned her to the seat, sharper than any blade, “Do you want him to buy you?” The question hung in the air, the most important one he had ever asked her. It wasn’t about the mission anymore. It was about her. About them. Rei didn’t waver, the memory of Takumi’ intoxicating offer warring with the raw, painful truth sitting in front of her. She thought of the sheer power, the magnetic pull of a man who could erase a lifetime of struggle with a word. Then she looked at Karasu. At the rough skin of his hands, the stubborn lock of hair falling over his brow, the fierce, possessive protectiveness that lay beneath all his ruthlessness. The man who had given her a purpose, not just a price.

“No…”, she said, her voice clear, “…but I do want to be free.” A silence stretched between them, thick and heavy. Karasu studied her face, searching for lies. He found none. A slow, genuine smile finally touched his lips. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. “Freedom doesn’t come with protection Rei. If I let him pay your family debt, you owe the same amount to him – you know that right?”, he said, his voice dropping to a whisper meant only for her. He leaned in, his hand grabbing her elbow, pulling her around the table and over to his side of the booth. His grip was strong as he tugged her up against him. Rei relaxed into him. “I know Karasu…”, she whispered almost inaudibly. Karasu’s eyes burned with a cold, terrifying fire, “Beside the debt, there is the escape fee for Jin. Even a Kuroda won’t be able to pay that simply. I make the rules here”, he said brutally.

I chill ran down Rei’s spine. She knew which fee he was referring to; it was her. But Takumi Senior was not one to let anyone set the rules. Placing a calming hand on Karasu’s chest, feeling the tense muscles beneath his shirt, she looked up at him, her dark eyes pleading. “I would never forgive myself if you got harmed because of me”, her fingers coiled into the fabric of his shirt, “I’ll go with him. Considering everything, I’ll be more valuable to you there. I can still be your eyes, your ears…”

A spark of pure, unadulterated fury rippled across Karasu’s face. Her attempt to frame it as strategic, as something for his benefit, seemed to enrage him. He grabbed the wrist she had on his chest. He didn’t move, simply stared at her, the blue in his eyes melting into something frigid. With an irritated motion he released her wrist, “Go wait in the apartment. Now.” The command was absolute, brusque and left no room for argument. It was the voice of the Nephila, the man who dealt in absolutes. Fear surged in Rei’s gut. When he got like this, nothing good happened. Violence simmered just beneath the surface, looking for an outlet.

Rei swallowed nervously, her heart thrashing. Without another word, she got up and hurried out of the booth, through the club, and up the stairs to the apartment without looking back. The echo of his anger chasing her every step. She slammed the door to her room and locked it, leaning against the wood as if she could barricade herself against the storm she’d unleashed. She started packing, her hands shaking as she tossed a few items into a bag; a frantic, automatic response to Takumi’s command. Then she stopped, her hands falling to her sides. She sank onto the bed, the reality of the situation crashing down on her.

What was that anger? She was only trying to protect him! Sure, they had shared a new tenderness; sure, he had claimed her, told her she was his in every way. But this was different. This was the reality with tangible threats. And then it hit her, a cold, sinking realization. He was angry at her attempt to be useful, to be pragmatic, to protect him. In his eyes, it must have seemed like she was giving up on him. Like she was already ready to walk away without a fight, from what they had just found. He had finally allowed himself to care for something, someone, and within hours, it was being bought out from under him; and she had been the one to bring him the offer.

But what could she do? If Karasu didn’t let Takumi pay the debt, if he refused to let her go; there was no knowing how far an exec like him would go to prove his position, his power, to punish the Spider who dared defy him. Karasu’s world, his entire web of shadows, could be burned to the ground.

She was trapped between the immovable object of Karasu’s possessive pride and the unstoppable force of Takumi’s will. No matter which way she turned, someone was going to get hurt. The door of the apartment opened and closed with a slam. Startled, Rei stood and hid the bag she was packing under her bed. Karasu’s voice rang out forcefully, “Rei?” The lock to her bedroom clicked open under Rei’s trembling fingers, but she hesitated, her hand resting on the cool metal of the doorknob. Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed across the living room, stopping just on the other side. Taking a shaky breath, she pulled the door open.

Karasu towered there, filling the doorway. His hair disheveled, as if he’d been running his hands through it repeatedly. He had unbuttoned his vest. His blue eyes contained a turbulent storm, alight with simmering anger. Beneath it, something else flickered; a raw, startling vulnerability. He looked like a man pushed to either snap or shatter. For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Then, he ran a hand through his hair, the gesture uncharacteristically agitated. “Cook us lunch,” he commanded, his voice rough, bypassing any greeting or confrontation. He turned and walked towards the dining table, grabbing a bottle of sake and a glass on his way.

Relieved by the mundane order, Rei hurried into the kitchen, her mind racing. She pulled vegetables from the fridge, bok choy, carrots, spring onions, and set a pot of rice on the stove, her movements automatic, a desperate attempt to impose normalcy on the chaos. The only sounds were the chop of her knife and the glug of sake as he poured a glass, then another. After his third glass, he broke the silence, his voice a low mumble, “You piss me off.”

Rei’s hands froze over the cutting board for a second. Then, she forced herself to continue, focusing on the precise slices of the spring onion. She turned down the heat on the boiling rice before she answered, her voice surprisingly steady,“Good.”She heard his sharp intake of breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his sake glass pause halfway to his lips. “That way,” she continued, not looking at him, “you might actually let me protect you for once… you might let me go do what needs to be done.”

CRACK. He slammed the glass down on the table with such force the sake bottle spun, teetering precariously on its base. Rei moved in a flash, her hand darting out to steady it before it could fall. She set it down firmly, her own frustration boiling over. “You’re being childish!” the words burst out of her before she could stop them. Her eyes widened, and she brought a hand to her mouth, shocked at her own boldness. Karasu was on his feet in an instant. But instead of grabbing her, he began to pace the length of the small kitchen like a caged beast, his movements tight with restless energy.

“You think I don’t know that?” he bit out, his voice rising, “You think this is some simple calculation? Listen to me – you made me give in to you. You’re my favorite plaything…”, the words came out cruel but strained, “…and now that corporate bastard thinks he can just stroll in and steal you away? Hell no.” He stopped lighting a cigarette, his hands atypically hurried. Rei had never seen him like this; so verbally honest, so stripped bare of his icy control. Even on their night together, his honesty had been physical, not spoken.

“Plaything…”, Rei whispered the word to herself, the sound barely audible over the hiss of the boiling rice. Karasu paused, hearing her. The pot on the stove chose that moment to boil over, water sizzling angrily onto the hot burner. The everyday crisis broke the mounting pressure. Rei turned and efficiently moved the pot, cleaned up, throwing herself back into cooking the teriyaki chicken rice bowl, his favorite.

She felt him approach behind her. His hands settled on her hips, his body pressing against her back. He buried his face in her neck, kissing the sensitive skin there with a hungry intensity that made her knees weak. He pulled her hips back against his yet still gave her the space to keep stirring the chicken. A soft moan escaped her lips as she leaned into his touch, the spatula slowing in her hand. This is it, she thought, despair mixing with desire. Being in love is making me stupid. And it’s doing the same to him.

She stopped cooking entirely and turned in his arms to face him. Tears welled in her eyes, making them shimmer like obsidian. “Love won’t help us, Karasu,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. She was fighting it, fighting the pull, for both their sakes. He looked down at her, the anger in his eyes finally banked, replaced by a weary awareness. He let out a long, slow sigh, the sound ruffling her hair. “No,” he breathed. Then he pulled her into a fierce embrace, his arms locking around her as he pushed her back and gently up until she was sitting on the edge of the kitchen table, surrounded by the evidence of their half-made meal. He held her there in the eye of the storm they had created, with no clear path out. Then he placed a hand behind her neck, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

“Rei, It’s not only the vulnerability of my… feelings for you that piss me off. It’s beyond infuriating to have that corpo bastard come in here, threatening to steal what is mine. He is offending me.” Karasu clarified, as if he was trying to convince himself more than anything. To Rei, it was like a wake-up call. In Karasu’s world it was all about him. About strength. She didn’t answer. Instead, she slid down from the counter and turned back to cooking. Karasu’s jaw tensed, but he just went back to the dining table and poured himself another glass of sake, observing Rei cook, a fraction more serene than before. A silence settled between them.

“I’m going to let him pay off your old man’s gambling debts”, Karasu stated as she served the food. Rei looked at him astonished, then gave a small nod and sat down too. He poured her a glass of sake, “But he can’t buy you”. Rei paused with a piece of chicken between her chopsticks. Karasu ate slowly, holding her surprised stare unfazed, “You were sold to me, not as part of the debt, as the price of escape, as collateral. Your value has gone up… I highly doubt he wants to pay the price…”

Rei started eating again, then asked cautiously between bites, “He won’t like that… and he could buy all of Chochin if he felt like it”. Karasu’s expression grew poisonous, “Your price isn’t Units little fox.” The quiet in the small apartment was deafening, broken only by the soft clink of chopsticks against bowls. Rei chewed slowly, the teriyaki sauce tasting like a reminiscence in her mouth. Karasu’s words hung between them, a cryptic, terrifying pronouncement.

What did that mean? What currency did he deal in that even a top Kuroda executive couldn’t match? Her mind raced through possibilities: blackmail, a favor, a life? The chill that had run down her spine earlier returned, settling deep in her bones. Karasu ate with a deliberate calm, his eyes never left her. He had laid a trap and was waiting for his rival to step into it. Rei’s fear, her confusion, made a flicker of that dark satisfaction return to his gaze. After finishing his bowl, he set his chopsticks down with a precise click. He lit a cigarette, the blue smoke curling around his head like a crown of thorns.

“He wants to play a game of funds and influence,” Karasu said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble, “He thinks that’s the only board. He’s wrong.” He took a long drag, exhaling slowly, “When he comes to finish what he started, you will stand beside me. You will say nothing unless I tell you to.” He leaned forward, the intensity in his eyes glueing her to her seat, “He will offer to pay the debt. I will let him. And then he will ask for you”, a cold smile touched Karasu’s lips, “And I will tell him your intolerable cost.” Rei’s breath hitched. “Karasu, he’ll—”

“He’ll what?” Karasu interrupted, his voice dropping to a whisper that was more threatening than any shout, “He’ll be angry. He’ll be insulted. He’ll threaten me? Good, then we speak the same language. Let him. He needs to understand that some things in this city are not for sale. Some loyalties cannot be bought. He thinks he can purchase you like a piece of art for his Aurora Cliffs gallery. I will teach him that you are a blade, and you already have a hand wielding you.”

He reached across the table, his calloused fingers brushing against her cheek. The gesture was shockingly tender amidst the venom of his words, “His weakness is his arrogance. He believes his money is the ultimate power. We will show him it’s a key that only fits certain locks”, his thumb stroked her jawline, “and the lock on your cage belongs to me.” He stood up, leaving his empty bowl and the half-finished bottle of sake, “Clean up. Then get some rest.”

He walked to his room emerging with his sports bag of martial arts gear, then continued to the door of the apartment, pausing with his hand on the frame. He didn’t look back, “You don’t need to pack your bags, little fox. You just need to remember whose you are.” The door clicked shut behind him, leaving Rei alone in the silent apartment, the heat of his touch on her skin and the declaration of his plan hanging in the air. He wasn’t just going to refuse Takumi Senior. He was risking declaring war with Kuroda Global Incorporated.

Despite Karasu’s sudden surge of confidence, Rei packed a bag. She wasn’t confident Karasu held the winning hand, and she refused to let him sacrifice even part of his power to play house with her. Sure, she loved him avidly, but deep down she didn’t want too. Historically he had hurt her just as much as he made her happy; had given her a home… almost as much as a prison. The best way of paying him back, was to be his blade, sharp and precise, but she would also be her own hand. Both men might think they owned her, shaped her, but she knew she was shaping herself with their help.