The Yakuza Path: Blood Stained Tea

by Amy Tasukada

  “Don’t think about running away, Saehyun,” Taejin warned.

  Saehyun ducked into the living room. He looked at the phone’s screen, and his heart pounded.

  “Nao?”

  “You need to leave Kyoto, Saehyun.” Nao’s voice was clear over the phone.

  Saehyun’s voice jammed in his throat, and his pounding heart shook his whole body. He stumbled into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

  “Wh-where are you?”

  “You need to listen to me—”

  “I’m so sorry.” Saehyun slid down the wall. “Please, Nao. I promise I wanted nothing to do with what happened at the teahouse.”

  A sharp inhale of breath was the only thing that made Saehyun pause. It echoed through the small space and crushed Saehyun even more. His chest felt like it would crumble under the weight. It would have been easier if Nao were dead so he wouldn’t have to explain himself. So he wouldn’t care what happened to his own life. But Nao was alive, and that changed everything.

  “You have to get out of the city tonight, Saehyun. Do you understand?”

  “Come with me.”

  “I can’t.”

  Saehyun shook his head. “Together we can forget all of this. We can use your connections and move far away. Maybe China or the Philippines. Somewhere Taejin doesn’t have any reach. You can reopen the shop, and we can forget about this. Forget this ever—”

  “Leave.”

  “Nao, please, just hear—”

  Saehyun pulled his phone away from his ear. Nao had already hung up. Saehyun closed his eyes. Nao was alive, and there were only a few places he could be. Saehyun had to find him.

  Another step and a shock wave of pain pinched at Saehyun’s toes then arched to his heel. How many hours had he walked between the Philosopher’s Path, Nao’s teahouse, and then to his apartment? All were empty of his lover.

  Climbing the stairs to Nao’s apartment, Saehyun hoped his lover was there. It would be impossible to save him during the Double Moon’s planned attack if he took refuge at the Matsukawa headquarters. The men Saehyun trained were too undisciplined to follow orders without wavering, and with Lee holding a weapon, even a houseplant would fear for its life.

  Yet each step Saehyun took down the hall to Nao’s apartment brought back memories of Takeo banging on the door, demanding Nao open up. Another lie they shared that had ended in blood.

  Saehyun shook the thought away and stopped in front of Nao’s door. Leaning against it, he listened for any sounds coming from inside. The dull rush of water echoed through the door and into his ear. Saehyun could save him. Saehyun pressed his full weight against the door, turning the handle, and it popped open. Nao must not have gotten the door properly fixed after he’d rammed it open.

  After stepping inside, Saehyun took off his shoes. He hadn’t thought through what he’d say to Nao. He hadn’t seemed too interested in hearing any of Saehyun’s excuses on the phone.

  Saehyun placed his shoes beside Nao’s and traded them for a pair of slippers. Saehyun had no choice. He couldn’t quit. Nao could, since he had nothing to do with the underworld besides a simple relationship. If Saehyun left, it would be a mess, and Taejin would pull his ass into the nearest police station to take the blame.

  The water still rushed from the bathroom as Saehyun filled the water boiler and turned it on to the correct temperature for oolong. Nao would need something to help his nerves, and Saehyun would be ready to serve Nao any way he needed. Stepping carefully to the bed, he tried to be silent so as not to scare Nao. Nao was all he cared about. Taejin, Lee—hell, any member of the Korean mob—there was no family among them, just debts to be given and paid back.

  “You kept it,” Saehyun mumbled, picking up the bracelet still within the box.

  He turned it over, and the light hit their engraved names. The bracelet held Saehyun’s hope for the two of them together, never ending, like the circle. It seemed almost silly to think that way, but Nao would listen to him. Saehyun was strong enough to protect him. Maybe Nao didn’t need protection, but the man he loved was drowning in his past, and only Saehyun could guide him to the future.

  The water stopped running, and he waited. He had no reason to go in after Nao or stand and risk the possibility of catching him off guard. Nao needed to trust him, and the split second of fear he risked by catching Nao off guard was unacceptable. So Saehyun waited, keeping his gaze on the bracelet, even after the door to the bathroom opened.

  “Why haven’t you left the city?” Nao asked.

  Nao’s towel hung low on his hips, and every inch of exposed skin dripped wet. Even with all the mess, the look Nao gave him made Saehyun’s blood pound with desire. He wanted to touch those lips, to caress his body and let his name be the only one Saehyun ever spilled out in ecstasy.

  “Get out of here.” Nao grabbed the bracelet out of Saehyun’s hand and tossed it back on the nightstand.

  “I thought you were dead.” Saehyun reached out to Nao, who stepped out of the way. “Why didn’t you return my calls?”

  “What excuse did you want to hear? My teahouse was a bloodbath not only with the blood of the Matsukawa, but also four citizens.” Nao’s tone made Saehyun wince.

  Saehyun gulped. “I didn’t want to do that.”

  “Or that I didn’t want to have a deep, heartfelt conversation because my father’s eyes were delivered in a wineglass—”

  “I didn’t want to do that.”

  Nao’s jaw dropped. “You’re the one that did that?”

  “Taejin was there.”

  Nao turned and headed for the closet. A shiver ran through Saehyun. Nao’s back was red, and not from the phoenix tattooed there. The flowers were red and swelled his skin. Why would he get it finished unless he thought he was going to die soon?

  “You got it finished?” Saehyun stood and followed Nao to the closet.

  “Get out of Kyoto.”

  “Come with me, then.”

  Nao laughed, opening the closet door. Saehyun trailed his fingers down Nao’s arm. Nao’s muscles tensed under his touch.

  “You can open a teahouse where we go, and I can help,” Saehyun said.

  “What happened to Taejin, the wolf in every wall that would hunt you down wherever you went? Were you lying to me then?”

  “You can use your connections with the yakuza, and we can get out of here. China, hell, even America.”

  “I’m Japanese.”

  “And you’re not Japanese outside of Japan?”

  “I belong in Japan. I belong to Kyoto, and you belong in Korea, Osaka, I don’t give a fuck, but you need to leave.”

  Nao pushed past the yukatas. What was he doing?

  Saehyun tried to read Nao’s reaction, but his face was unmoved, and his eyes were blank. Couldn’t Nao see how much he cared for him? How he was ready to leave everything and risk being caught to be with him?

  “I shouldn’t have called you,” Nao said.

  “No—no, I was so happy to know you were alive. Get dressed, and I’ll make you some tea. You can calm down, and we can talk about this.”

  “Do you really think I could wake up beside the man that ripped out my father’s eyes?”

  Nao reached deep into the closet and pulled out a gun. Saehyun’s heart thumped.

  “I want you to leave both my apartment and the city,” Nao said.

  “Put the gun down.”

  Nao loaded the bullet into the chamber. “There’s only one Saehyun in the Double Moon, isn’t there?”

  Saehyun licked his lips and slowly nodded. There were no more lies they could hide behind. With each lie exposed, they could finally start over clean. Nao’s face distorted, brows pulling in, and a weary smile passed his lips.

  “Next time I see you, Saehyun, I will shoot you.”

  “Please, listen—” />
  “I said go!”

  The weight of the bulletproof vest churned the acid building in Nao’s stomach. His mission would be his death, but death came as a welcomed release. Because of his attack, the Koreans wouldn’t sign the treaty, forcing the Matsukawa to fight for Kyoto as the city deserved.

  Leaning against the back wall of the Double Moon safe house, he screwed in the silencer to the tip of his 9mm. His steady breaths filled the air as he pulled down his night-vision goggles and double-checked the extra ammo in his pockets. He only hoped the Koreans hadn’t amped up their security.

  He pushed against the back door. It didn’t budge. Yet the lock looked the same as when he had tampered with it. His pulse pounded against his gloved hands, but he knew to let the adrenaline slowly build within. He let out a steady breath and charged the door.

  Nothing.

  He charged again and again. Pain blossomed out from his shoulder and sparked down his arm. The door swung open with the fifth barrage, and the chair pushed against the doorknob toppled over. The thud echoed in Nao’s ears, and he froze. The whole place was still, and the only noise came from someone snoring in the living room.

  With the chair back in its “security” position, Nao opened the door to where he had started his slaughter of the Double Moon no more than two weeks ago. Gun at the ready, he pressed his back against the door. A quick check showed no one was there. Nao didn’t want to start shooting before he had a clear shot at Lee’s head. The dark stain in the middle of the room made Nao grin. It would’ve been impossible to clean up all the blood.

  After finding the circuit breaker, he shut off the main power with a loud flick of the switch. He traced the wires with his gloved hand then pulled them free from the box. With their ends frayed, it would be impossible to repair.

  Back through the kitchen, Nao paused at the edge of the living room. Six bodies slept in futons on the floor, their heads outlined in his night vision. One snored so loudly Nao wondered how the others could even begin to sleep.

  They meant nothing. Without Lee dead first, the Koreans could still function.

  Then there was Saehyun.

  His plea for them to run away together echoed in Nao’s ears. Saehyun didn’t understand Kyoto’s pull. Nao would be nothing but a shell away from the old capital. Nao swallowed, but his throat remained dry. Saehyun had surely heeded his warning and left the city. Saehyun wouldn’t have been stupid enough to stay.

  Nao tried to steady his racing heart as he climbed the stairs, but it only made the veins in his hand pulse. He had no other choice but to carry out his plan.

  Five doors were on the second floor. Lee’s room was on the right corner; it was the room with a desk in it, so Nao figured it had to be the leader’s when he searched out the place the first time he was there. The bathroom was along the same side. The three doors on the opposite side held the remainder of the Double Moon members. If they slept on futons, they could fit ten people in each room. It would put Nao against thirty at least.

  Nao slid inside Lee’s half-opened door. The desk took up much of the space, with Lee sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Nao scoffed. How could someone sleeping in such filth think they deserved Kyoto? The Double Moon was to blame for killing his father, slaughtering Oyama, and disturbing the solitude he had built around himself.

  Drawing in a calm breath, Nao fired two shots into Lee’s head.

  The silencer only dampened the noise. The shots were still loud enough to wake the mild sleepers in the household. Their muffled calls in Korean and Japanese came through the doors. He walked out of the room and to the corner. The shuffling of futons and feet against wooden floors were from the room beside Nao. If he stayed still, they wouldn’t see him in the dimly lit room.

  “The power’s out!”

  Nao heard the Japanese language, even with the thick Korean accent, from the living room all the way up the stairs.

  “Was there an earthquake?”

  “Go check the breaker.”

  “You check the breaker. I’m going back to bed.”

  Nao jumped as the door beside him opened. He drew the gun up and level with the head of the man that walked in. Even with Nao’s vision colored green from the goggles, he could recognize that outline anywhere.

  Saehyun…

  Why hadn’t he listened to Nao’s warning?

  The gun shook in Nao’s hand while Saehyun’s groped in the darkness for the light switch. Nao couldn’t allow the second-in-command to live and carry out the treaty. He had no choice.

  A groan drew Nao’s attention away from Saehyun. He was so distracted he hadn’t noticed the four other men filtering into the hallway. He had to get Saehyun, but any Double Moon member he killed was one less the Matsukawa had to deal with. The adrenaline started to work through him, the gun a mere extension of his body. He aimed and delivered four bullets, one through each of their heads. They could still fight if he shot anywhere else.

  Shouts echoed, which would wake everyone up. A wicked grin crossed Nao’s face. There were still two rooms upstairs asking for his attack.

  Three quick steps and he crossed the hallway. He flung the door open using it as cover as he took aim. Three futons were empty, and seven other men scrambled to get up. Nao shot, making quick work of them before they even noticed he was there.

  A sweet satisfaction seeped into Nao’s veins. Was that how his ancestors felt when they had invaded Korea all those times? What was his death toll? How many more could he kill before they teamed up against him? Two shots. He threw the empty gun cartridge on the floor and replaced it with a full set of rounds.

  Didn’t they know he was ready to die in this fight?

  Nao stepped over a body, but hands gripping his throat pulled him back. His breath shallowed, and he stepped back, feeling the weight of the attacker against his back. Nao slammed the attacker’s back against the wall on the far side of the room. His hands loosened, and Nao turned and fired first into the Korean’s gut and then his head.

  He caught his breath as sweat slicked his skin. He used the back of his sleeve to clean off the blood that covered his face. He still had downstairs he needed to clear.

  The house stood eerily quiet. The Koreans were finally coming up with some kind of counterattack. Nao took in a deep breath. He was ready for anything.

  With his gun held firm, he stepped out of the room and onto the empty landing. He started down the stairs. Bullets zipped past him, spitting at bits of drywall with their bite.

  He peeked around the corner, noticing two Koreans by the sofa. If he stayed quiet, he’d still have the advantage of being able to see. Steadily placing each foot, he stepped down the first steps.

  The fifth squeaked, and a rain of bullets ascended the stairs. Nao fired back, shooting the two behind the sofa. More bullets rang out, but Nao dove for the protection of the furniture. Light beamed in from the streetlight outside, making Nao’s goggles useless. He pushed them off his head.

  The shots faded, and Nao ached with each deep breath. Blood spilled out of his sleeve and darkened his black suit. Nao glanced at the wound on his left arm, which screamed in agony. His bated breath never slowed, and any deep inhales he took ached. Blood speckled his pressed shirt, along with three bullet holes. He felt the bullet trapped within the Kevlar fibers. The vest was working fine, but the shots still hurt like hell. He could probably take two or three more before it was worthless.

  Nao swallowed a scream when his arm brushed against the sofa. It was only his left arm; he could still fight. And he would fight until the last breath left his lungs and he became another ghost walking the streets of Kyoto. Kyoto would be safe because of what he’d already done. The old capital would return to the right hands—the Japanese.

  “He’s behind the sofa!” Saehyun’s voice rang in Nao’s ears like a faded memory.

  Nao crawled to the edge of the sofa
and peeked over the edge. Saehyun squatted beside the window along with three others. He must’ve gathered the people downstairs for a counter attack. Blood splatters covered half of Saehyun’s face, and bloodied handprints soaked his clothes. Was he the kind of leader who consoled his dying underlings?

  It didn’t matter. Saehyun had to die.

  Nao took aim with a steady breath in and a slow exhale. He needed to make the shot count.

  Saehyun’s mouth dropped when their gaze met. Nao closed his eyes and fired.

  Two of the Koreans lunged at him. Three pops from his gun and they plopped to the ground, lifeless.

  A sharp pain fired through Nao’s neck like a paper cut. He blinked, gazing up to Saehyun squatting beside him, holding a knife against his neck.

  How was he alive? Nao had shot him. He was supposed to be dead.

  Saehyun leaned forward, his hot breath warming Nao’s cheeks. His lip quivered. He wasn’t supposed to see Saehyun. He wasn’t supposed to be there in front of him. He wasn’t supposed to see another lover die.

  “You can put away your gun, and I’ll put away the knife,” Saehyun said.

  His voice was steady and just as caring as ever. Why was he doing that? Nao pulled his gun-wielding arm to his side. Saehyun lowered the blade.

  “Why is it so quiet?”

  “You killed everyone.”

  “I killed everyone but you.” Nao’s voice shook as much as he did.

  Nao jerked as Saehyun reached out to caress Nao’s cheek.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  “Why didn’t you leave when I told you!” Nao yelled.

  “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  “Saehyun…”

  “Then we can move and start over, together.”

  What was Saehyun saying? Nao could never escape the underworld. He had tried and was pulled back in. He wasn’t right. He disemboweled people, skinned them alive. He didn’t deserve a quiet life as a tea merchant.

  “We were destined to be together.” Saehyun smiled.

  “It’s impossible. We were never meant to be together.”