CH_4.11 (111)

CH_4.11 (111)

Takuma sighed as he knocked on the heavy metal door, uncharacteristic of a grocery store's back door. The sun had long set down, and he was hungry because he hadn't had the time to have dinner— but here he was, hungry and exhausted after a day's worth of hard work, most of it spent outside under the sun.

He heard a pair of footsteps that abruptly stopped. The slot in the door slid open, and the man behind the door sighed before opening the door. Unfortunately, the guard behind the door wasn't the only one in the corridor; another man stood in the middle of the corridor.

He and Takuma met eyes, and almost straight away, the other man clicked his tongue upon seeing Takuma and walked past him, exiting the building with a displeased face. Takuma didn't say anything or acknowledge the man and simply fixed the mask over his face that imparted him another identity.

The fact that he hid his face didn't sit well with many of the dealers under Ryuu; they didn't like to be so closely connected to someone they didn't know anything about. Takuma couldn't blame them, and as long as they didn't mess with him, he didn't mind facing their displeased reactions from time to time. However, if they tried to disrupt his business, he would find where it hurt most and strike them there.

Ryuu's grocery store acted as a front for his drug dealing business. The first floor ran a profitable grocery business, while the basement was the drug shop that racked in even more, selling a commodity with a demand that never seemed to dwindle.

Takuma walked down the familiar stairs to the basement almost every week to renew his stash; it was a bother to visit every week, so much so that he had arrived today to increase his order so that he could cut his visits to every other week.

In the basement, one of Ryuu's men acknowledged Takuma.

"Late, aren't ya, Tobi." While many disliked Takuma, he wasn't without 'friends.' Some people were civil with him, and he usually only interacted with people.

"Work's a bitch," said Takuma, his voice distorted. He handed the man two thick stacks of cash and told him the order.

"Oh? This is more than usual," said the man as he counted the cash, "and you're getting more of the better stuff today, huh."

"Got me a few folks who can afford the better stuff," replied Takuma. There were different strains of weed, some more potent, some providing a different experience than others— people had their preferences, and they had their budgets. Recently, Takuma had found a few clients who could afford the better stuff, and he was more than happy to fulfill their demands because the better quality always had a better margin.

The man took out the produce, weighed it, and packed them in zip-lock bags before handing them to Takuma, who double-packed them in heavy-duty zip-lock bags. With the exchange done, Takuma was about to leave when the man spoke to him,

"The boss wanted to see you."

Takuma looked deeper into the large basement, where a small office made from sheet metal stood. After their first meeting, Takuma had only met Ryuu occasionally̦— once a month on average. Other than those, he usually only dealt with Ryuu's underlings who worked directly for him.

"Why?" asked Takuma. "Did he say why he wanted to meet me?"

The man shrugged his shoulders as he marked some entries into a ledger. "If he did, he didn't tell me. You should hurry, it's already late, and I doubt he'll be happy if you keep him waiting much longer."

Takuma sighed. He was tired and wanted to go home, but he couldn't say no to his supplier. He walked to the office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Takuma stepped inside the room and was immediately hit by a sweet smell lingering in the room. His eyes went to a candle sitting in the corner of the room, releasing wisps of smoke. It was a special-made candle, crazy effective at getting rid of smells— one of Takuma's best-selling accessories that he had to buy from another shop to sell to his clients.

"You wanted to meet?" he asked.

"Sit," Ryuu said from behind his desk. He read an old leather book with a title that Takuma couldn't spot because of the faded leather. "How's the business going?"

"Decent," said Takuma.

Ryuu chuckled, "Don't say that to other people."

"What's this about?"

"In a hurry, are you?" Ryuu looked up from his book.

"It's getting late, and I'm sure both of us want to return home now."

"That's why I like you, kid. So straight to the point, it's refreshing," Ryuu closed the book and looked up at Takuma. "I want you to do something for me."

"I refuse," Takuma directly shot down the topic. "We are supplier-and-dealer. I pay you upfront, and you give me the product. There's no need for anything to be added to our dynamic."

"Well, things change, kid. It's the natural world order," said Ryuu, unperturbed, "and if I say I want you to do something for me, you don't have a choice in the matter."

Takuma's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "What if I refuse?" he asked.

Takuma didn't see this coming. Until he had stepped into the office, nothing had given him any inkling regarding the current situation. He would've prepared in some ways if he had seen it coming. Even though he didn't know what Ryuu was asking him, Takuma did not doubt that it would be bothersome.

"If you refuse, we end our little business right here," said Ryuu with a smile. "I like you, kid, but you aren't an easy one to work with. In our business, trust is everything— and there are things that give substance to that trust, which you don't really have. I love working with you, and you're a good customer, but the fact remains that I know nothing about you, and you know everything about me— who I am, where I work, who I deal with.... That's not fair, don't you think?

Simply put, I need the incentive to put myself at this risk."

"Sit down, kid. If you leave now, even if you agree later, the offer will be closed," Ryuu said. "The way I see it— you get to keep your identity a secret, and I get a little something out of it. Disagree if you will, but this is your best option. You're a shinobi; treat me as a patron and what I ask you as a mission. It's simple if you look at it that way. In return, just like a patron, I'll pay you in the form of a discount on the product."

Takuma disagreed wholeheartedly, but he sat down.

"What's the job?" he asked.

"I want you to deliver something across the village."

"Why can't your people do it?"

"Because my men are known for their association with me. We can't be connected to this. You, on the other hand, are an unknown; change your look a little bit and drop the package at the destination— nothing more, nothing less."

"What's in the package?"

"The less you know, the better for everyone," said Ryuu.

"This has been great." Takuma stood up. "I'll not do a job if I don't know everything about it." He understood where Ryuu was coming from, but after the Land of Frost, he preferred to know more, even if that knowledge later became a curse later on.

Ryuu didn't say anything.

Takuma shrugged and moved to exit the office. It was a pity that he would no longer be able to work with Ryuu, as that was the most stable thing for him in the drug business. He knew that the chances of getting another supplier were on the floor.

Even if he revealed his identity and became like every other dealer wouldn't work because when people knew that he was in the Police Force, they wouldn't touch him with a ten-feet pole.

It was over... he would find some way else to earn more, or else cut down his classes.

"Soldier pills and other medicinal mixtures."

Takuma's lips curled briefly up behind his mask before he turned back and sat down.

"Who's the recipient?" asked Takuma.

"You're to drop the package in a location. Someone will collect it after you're gone," said Ryuu.

Takuma let the room sit in silence as he matched his eyes with Ryuu.

Ryuu sighed, "Are you sure you want to know, kid? Sometimes it's better not to know and leave things behind."

"I don't want to do this, but if you're going to have me do this job, I need you to answer all of my questions," said Takuma.

"The Maiko Triad," answered Ryuu.

Takuma's eyes narrowed when he heard the name. He knew about the Maiko Triads from both his time as a dealer and from the information binders he had to memorize during the Police Force training period.

They were dangerous people; some very not nice shinobi.

Takuma's eyes shined.

"Alright, let's do this," he said.

"I knew you wouldn't refuse me, kid," Ryuu's words along with a few chuckles followed Takuma as he walked out of the office.

Takuma looked up at the starry sky outside and sighed as he lit a blunt.

He had agreed with Ryuu, but that didn't mean he was going to do it. From the looks of it, he most probably was going to do it— but not before he paid Enomoto a visit to see if he could get some help from that avenue before he was forced to fulfill his commitment.

He felt twice as fatigued as before, but his appetite had been thoroughly killed.

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