(// As you may know, I have a tendency to not finish multi-post stories. Therefore, this one's all in one post. There's a little more background info, mostly about Nori, but it shouldn't be all that vital.)
Five months ago, the leader of the Golden Star Syndicate died.
Kabukicho Depot, 10:03 AM
Three men sat at a table in a dark room. Facing the door was a slim long-haired man. To his left, a taller man with a sword at his side, and to his right a pale, bespectacled man. The three were playing poker, and the one facing the door seemed to be winning. As usual.
"Impossible... you just got a royal flush ten minutes ago, now four aces?" the sword-carrying man said in shock as the winner placed his cards on the table.
"'Improbable', perhaps. 'Impossible', clearly not. Perhaps we should stop for now, Nagahide. We're late for our meeting with Isamu. At least you've learned not to gamble with me... how much did you lose last time?"
"Two thousand credits," Nagahide replied, grimacing. The long-haired man, Nori Koga, didn't cheat, he simply had incredible luck. He also was the leader of this small group - he had other employees, but Nagahide Taira and Katsuro Imagawa were two of his most valuable. Nagahide was his bodyguard, skilled with his sword and a surprisingly good marksman. Katsuro Imagawa, the man with the glasses, was his advisor; business, diplomacy, strategy, weather, fighters, Katsuro helped with all of it.
"Katsuro, I'm leaving you in command while we're out. We have a small fighter wing out in Honshu intercepting diamond shipments, they'll be back before we are."
Five months ago, a Kishiro executive killed a Hogosha lord.
New Tokyo, 11:52 AM
A dark brown ship touched down at a small civilian spaceport. The ship was very blocky, unlike traditional Kusari models, but had particularly powerful maneuvering thrusters. In fact, it glided to its landing point powered only by those engines. Very few would recognize the model, a Crow. Used almost exclusively by freelancers who put too much value on flash, and too little on actual skill. Nothing to worry much about.
Two men climbed out of the ship. Nori tapped a nearby woman on the shoulder and asked if she knew where Isamu Asakura was.
"Nori, I don't think-"
"He's off work today," the woman responded, silencing Nagahide instantly. "You can find him at his mansion, if you have an appointment."
"I do, in fact. Can you show us the way?"
"Oh, you must be the new guards!" Nori smiled and nodded in response, glancing over at his bodyguard. "It's straight ahead, only a few minutes' walk. I'll show you."
The woman's name was Kasumi Ito, she was Isamu's receptionist. She was on her lunch break when Nori saw her, he recognized the pin on her blouse from his time with Kishiro.
Asakura Residence, 12:03 PM
"So, nine o'clock on Saturday? I have nothing else planned, sure." Damn it, Nori, Nagahide thought to himself. Now isn't the time! "Here we are. I'm going to eat, you should have your first break in an hour. Stop by if you have time, Nori," Kasumi said, walking toward a restaurant.
"You have everything?"
"Flashlight, lockpick, and lucky charm."
"Good thing I brought the weapons," Nagahide replied, clearly annoyed at Nori's apparent apathy.
"We're lucky," Nori said, watching the guards moving as the two approached the gate. "Shift change. This'll help our little disguise."
The man was right. The two walked right past the guards that were leaving, even making small talk with a few. None were suspicious of them; they weren't even checked for weapons. The mansion looked somewhat like a fortress from the outside, with armored doors, patrolling guards that acted like soldiers, (and indeed may have been hired mercenaries rather than mere security guards) and even some stationary gun emplacements. Inside, however, it was the definition of extravagance and luxury. They were greeted upon entry by none other than Isamu Asakura, the owner.
"You must be the new additions to the guard," he said, checking the roster. "Masaru Yoshida - that must be you," he added, looking at Nori, "and Masayuki Minamoto. Here's a map. You two are assigned to patrol together, we can't spare the men to show you around and I have impotant business to attend to. Feel free to ask any questions later on."
When they got further inside, they learned quickly why they were given a map. Even long-time guards seemed to get lost once in a while; the mansion was built like a labyrinth. Another security measure, a guard explained when Nori asked why. Apparently, Isamu was rather paranoid.
They navigated the mazelike halls until they finally found the stairs to the second floor, where something hit Nori: the map didn't show where the stairs were to get to the third floor, where they needed to be.
Five months ago, Isamu was promoted.
Asakura Residence, 1:13 PM
Second Floor Meeting Room
"Sir, the new guards are here," a guard said as he led a man and woman out.
"But they got here... an hour ago..." the businessman began, realization quickly dawning on him. "I hire guards to keep people out, and they get in because of the guards! Well don't just stand there looking stupid, find those intruders!" he shouted angrily.
"Yes sir!" the guard responded, almost running from the room.
Asakura Residence, 1:15 PM
Second Floor West Corridors
An alarm went off, a high-pitched wailing sound that Nagahide found particularly unpleasant. The duo knew two things immediately: they had been found out, but they had not been found. Though he was paranoid, Isamu was not particularly thorough; he probably didn't even remember what they looked like. Besides, they found the stairs to the third floor as the alarm went off, hidden stereotypically behind a bookshelf. The guards wouldn't ever go up there, the warning on the map was very clear about that point... and chemical burns did sound so very unpleasant to Nori.
At the top of the stairs, they found a locked door, with a keypad to enter a code. Nori pulled a small device out of his pocket, and scanned the keypad with it.
"What's that?" Nagahide asked.
"That's my lockpick," Nori smiled as the password was revealed on the display. 1234. Not thorough at all.
As the two walked into the black hallway, they heard a faint humming sound, like that of a laser charging.
"Funny thing about our security system, it's rigged to give a different code to devices like that one."
"I can't help but wonder," Nori replied, very slowly reaching into his black coat, "why you people always tell a hostage exactly what they did wrong. Do you need to pad your ego?" He did not get an answer, however, as the guard didn't have a chance. A bright yellow flash came from just outside Nori's coat as a yellow bolt streaked across the room, into the guard's chest, killing him instantly. He wasn't wearing his armor. Or, as Nori noticed when he picked up the guard's weapon, anything else. He glanced toward the open doorway and saw a woman, but she quickly ducked back into the room.
"You never mentioned a gun," Nagahide said, putting his own pistol back inside his coat.
"That's my flashlight," Nori responded with a smirk.
The two then walked toward the end of the hall, into Isamu's private office, and left the door open. Each took a position on one side of the door, back a few feet so they wouldn't be seen. They then waited. And waited... and waited. Nori waited for an hour, in fact, before he finally heard the click-clack of dress shoes climbing metal stairs. Only one pair of shoes; Isamu must not trust most of his guards. When Nori realized who that woman was, he realized maybe there was a good reason for that mistrust. Maybe if Isamu was more thorough, he'd have caught on... but then, maybe if he was a bit more thorough, his wife wouldn't have done what she did.
As Isamu Asakura walked into his office, he heard a faint humming sound, like that of a laser charging.
"Five months ago, Shiro Asakura was murdered," Nagahide said, pointing his gun at the Kishiro executive. "Five months ago, you got the promotion your work deserved, the promotion kept from you because of your apparent Hogosha ties." He fired once. "Five months ago, you murdered your brother." He fired again. "The Golden Star Syndicate frowns on fratricide," Nori added before Nagahide fired a final time, a killing shot directly into Isamu Asakura's head.
Kabukicho Depot, 5:23 PM
A few days later...
"I just got off the phone with Kasumi," Nori said to Nagahide.
"Oh?"
"Mm. She was calling off our date. Apparently she's kind of upset..."
"About?"
"Well, apparently someone killed her boss," Nori replied with a smirk. "No idea what she's talking about."