Whitewash High: Rising Sun Ch. 10

After treating leaving the bathroom, he sunk down on his bedding, stomach first, and laid there solemnly. Each time his eyes blinked, he saw her happy visage smiling back at him. Each blink snapped a different photo from their many joyful moments.

He thought the tattoo would lift his spirits but Muramune's philosophical ramblings did nothing but confuse him. Adrift at sea with only water surrounding him, the only recourse Nik had was to point the ship in a singular direction and hope he reached land before the stormy waters consumed the vessel. What land he'd reach, he didn't know.

The doorbell rang suddenly. He trotted over to the door, still shirtless, and peaked through the peephole. Musashi stood there, bags in hand, talking to someone out of sight. He rang the doorbell again. Nik sighed, opening it.

"Wake you up? Come on, we've got to celebrate," Musashi said.

"I'm not in the..."

"Mood, I don't care. Boss wants to get drunk; you're going to pour his glass. Deal with it."

Musashi walked inside. Nik shut the door without looking, only for Ryuji to kick it back open.

"Thanks for the warm reception, gaijin."

"I never drink without my wingman. Bad for morale," Musashi called out from the living room. "Come show us the tattoo."

"Not every day we get to see a real Muramune fresh from the presses," Ryuji commented, ignoring Nik to walk on in.

Nik followed them into his place, going with the flow.

"So I got a giant spread for us. Eat up. Don't be shy," Musashi continued, spreading food out on the floor. "Twirl for us and show off the goods. Show me what my money gets me."

Nik complied, turning around in the doorway of the room. He flexed his back, allowing the creation to pop out at the 'crowd'.

"Fancy stuff there," Musashi whistled.

"Glad he isn't some foreign wacko. I was half-expecting samurai or ninja nonsense. Remember cake?" Ryuji said.

Musashi began to laugh but Nik didn't get the joke.

"Yeah, what a douche. Fear the Cake," Musashi replied, still laughing.

"Cake?" Nik asked.

"Some foreigner we saw at a bathhouse. He had a bunch of kanji written on his arm. Whoever did the job obviously knew shit about Japanese. We think he meant it to say 'Fear the Power' or some nonsense like that."

"I couldn't stop laughing the entire time," Musashi interjected. "Come on, Nikki, don't be so serious. Sit. Eat."

"Yeah, Nikki, eat or put on an apron," Ryuji joked.

"I'll get you the apron so you can serve yourself."

"I do think he tried to make a comeback," Ryuji commented.

"It is a start. Come on, the food is getting cold. If you haven't noticed, we're here to cheer your mopey butt up."

Nik relented, sitting down around the expensive display of food.

"Don't you guys have meetings or people to shake down?" Nik asked, grabbing one of the takeout boxes.

"That is what street level punks are for. Call it the privilege of command," Musashi answered between bites.

"How much did it hurt?" Ryuji asked, pointing at Nik.

"What? The tattoo? A lot."

"I'd like to say you get used to it but you don't. This sucker made me weep for a week."

"I half considered buying him a dress," Ryuji laughed.

"How long you guys been friends?" Nik asked.

"When did we meet? The summit, right?"

"Yep, that summit," Ryuji confirmed.

"Summit?"

"Just the biggest fuckup in yakuza history. Imagine getting gangs from all over the country together for one big meeting to form an inter-regional alliance, only for all that machismo to get hard and fuck it all up like a virgin on prom night. Big mess. Lots of fighting. A few deaths..." Musashi answered.

"Few hundred," Ryuji interjected.

"Few hundred. Alliances are great and all but the bigger the bloat, the bigger the pop."

"Pass the prawns," Ryuji asked Musashi. "Welcome to an exclusive brotherhood, gaijin."

"All sounds complicated. So you...we...fighting anyone right now?" Nik asked.

"Other than Ueno? Always some street toughs around looking to make a name for themselves. Sometimes we get a raid from Osaka, Kyoto, or the arrogant big shots in Tokyo, looking down on us from their ivory tower. Come through the city for a weekend party to stir up shit. About the only time the Aichi Alliance can agree on anything," Musashi answered. "You know, whatever his name gets bonus points for suggesting his folk's restaurant. Best shrimp I had in ages."

"Tokyo thinks they are hot shit cause they are Tokyo. I always enjoying giving them a road rash," Ryuji stated.

"Remember when the Kyoto boys came down four months ago? We gave them a proper ass kicking in the park."

"So you're at war with all the cities?" Nik questioned.

"War? Nah, hasn't been a real war in a while. These are unfriendly competitions. They send raiders up here, we send some back, and we beat the piss out of each other," Musashi answered.

"We set up a time and place, meet up, and throw down. All about bragging rights. The amount of muscle it'd take for a clan to occupy multiple cities is massive. Hard enough to keep one city's yakuza from tearing each other apart, but two would be near impossible."

"We don't have any allies? From what it sounds like, we're surrounded by the other three major cities. Isn't there a risk they would ally together and split a city in two?" Nik wondered, slowly eating the delicious food.

"He is a quick study, Musa," Ryuji laughed, "Figuring out gangster politics within a ten minute conversation. I'm impressed, gaijin."

"Too much machismo in the big cities. Could New York and Boston ever ally together? Toronto and Montreal? Seoul and Busan? It is a delicate power balance. Tokyo and Osaka will never ally; their ruling clans hate each other vehemently. Even if Kyoto and Osaka formed an alliance, we'd form one with Tokyo to balance the powers."

"Why not just all ally against Tokyo if you all hate them so much? Sound like a bunch of arrogant pricks to me," Nik commented.

"Good question, easy answer. We'd just bicker amongst ourselves about who is in charge. Even if we did defeat Tokyo, just like the Allied forces in World War Two, we'd fight over who gets what slice of the city. No, it is safer for all this way. Besides, I'm not from those cities so I've got absolutely no ambition to expand there. I'm happy with my patch and land here. It is important to me and that is all that matters," Musashi stated.

"Is this how you spend your free time, talking about politics instead of pussy, gaijin?" Ryuji asked. "Musa told me you turned down some free pussy. He told me who the Madonnas were. Any other guy would line up outside the door."

"Is discussing my sex life how you get your nightly rocks off, Jap?" Nik shot back, giving as good as he took.

"Just making sure you're alive. Speaking of pussy, your debut performance is all edited up and ready to hit the shelves. I've got big hopes for you."

"You know why I like you Nik?" Musashi randomly mentioned. "You don't bend over for anyone. Polite, sure, but you don't take any crap from Ryuji and you're not afraid to be blunt with me. Know how many of my boys have the balls to tell it to me straight?"

"I'm guessing just this guy?" Nik replied, pointing to Ryuji.

"Got it in one. When you're the boss, everyone sucks up to you. I've got so many yes men surrounding me, I could ask for a cup of poison and they'd tell me it was a glorious idea."

"Yeah, Ryuji filled me in on that."

"Did he?"

"Gaijin and I had to get over our periods the other day."

"Don't know how girls handle them monthly. No wonder they are always moody," Musashi joked.

The joke got the three to laugh in unison, cutting some of the tension and heavy air inside the small apartment. For the next couple hours, the three men sat around, eating and talking, passing the time joyously. They only stopped to adventure to a convenience store around the corner and grab more liquid refreshments, and returned to continue until they passed out one by one.

Nik woke up first, the rising dawn breaking through his half opened blinds. Musashi slept with his fedora over his face, leaned against the wall. Ryuji laid out on his stomach, drooling all over the cheap carpet. Both men of great power and presence looked comical while sleeping.

Nik let them sleep, grabbing a pair of shorts to get dressed. He walked out of the apartment, walking back to the same store they went to hours ago. All the food and drinks in the apartment were gone, and his stomach growled fiercely. His lips were also parched like he spent the night sleeping in the Sahara Desert.

The depressive cloud that hung around him dissipated slightly. Whether intentional or an eccentric accident, Musashi's hangout plan helped Nik feel better.