'Well, if you're alright with it, Chitsu?' Jian chuckled, 'Let's go there then. Lead the way, father.'
“Good day. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?” Midori greeted the woman politely. “Last time we spoke you mentioned something about a voyage of exploration, but I was too focused on the upcoming ceremony and meeting the Emperor, so I did not ask about it. An oversight I was hoping to correct, if that is alright with you...”
Chitsukiko nods. "I can handle the sight of a few breasts, Jian." Shintaro leads the two of them out into the city, to a long street with red lanterns lit in front of all the buildings, bathing the cobblestones in a sanguine glow. He heads into a large building with flowers all around it, and Jian's senses are assaulted as he follows. This place is classier than his mother's haunt by a thousandfold, with incense burning to fill the air with a mix of fragrances. Truly beautiful and truly erotic men and women walk around, talking and laughing with their clients in a common area decorated in red and gold, expensive foreign liquors being imbibed at a bar. A guard, incredibly tall with slate black skin, nods to Shintaro. "She's on her break, go right up. You'll have to wait a while for the mother." Shintaro thanks the man and slips him some coins as a tip. Together, the trio head up a set of stairs and move down a hallway. Shintaro knocks on a door, before sliding it open, revealing a woman lying on a bed. "Father?" She sits up. "Err, who are your-, is that?" Shintaro nods. "Jian, meet Amalia, your sister." He points to Chitsukiko. "This is Chitsu, Jian's woman." Amalia bolts up and rushes to Jian, hugging him tight. "It's so good to meet you!"
"Hey hey, I didn't say he was a prisoner... well, at best he's stuck here with us." Kyouka calls out the men bringing the accountant to the basement. "Just prepare his bed there, let him eat, and drink up here." She sighed. Then as Ya-Ming spoke, she nods, "Yeah. Start trying to contact them. Though, I don't want any troublesome people."
Jian was a bit surprised by Amalia's enthusiasm, but it was infectious. He hugged her back, 'You're a cheerful one, it's good to finally meet you too, Amalia. Did father tell you about me?' He shook his head at his father, '"Jian's woman"? You truly have a way with words, father.' He looked around and smiled at his half-sister, 'I grew up in a place like this too, but your establishment is certainly nicer.'
They release him, and he nods gratefully, going to get some food. Ya-Ming says "They should be pretty disciplined. Ninja go through a lot more training than your average thug, and most prefer to have a group to belong to, being raised in clans."
"Good, good." Kyouka nods, "So then. Depending on whether or not we'll be able to use the temple. Does any have any recommendation on who to recruit?" She said, before remembering, "Tatsu! Get over here!" She called, and when he arrived, Kyouka asks him about how the Yakuza opperate.
Shintaro chuckles. "What? It's true." Chitsukiko rolls her eyes. Amalia releases her brother. "Yeah, he's been writing to me about you. I've never met any of my siblings, so it's exciting to meet you." She greets Chitsukiko. "You have a beautiful lover, brother." The samurai blushes yet again, harder than earlier.
'That she is,' Jian smiled at his sister, 'I have a beautiful sister too, you look radiant. Shall we sit?' Jian somewhere close by with Chitsukiko and Amalia and looked to his father, 'So what do you normally do when you are visiting?'
Tatsu moves over, as Ya-Ming promises to have a think about possible candidates. "How they operate? Well, they make money from drugs, prostitution and gambling, mainly. The organisation is split into different families led by captains, who've all sworn allegiance to a single boss, the oyabun, who is rarely ever seen. I'm not sure who he even is. The family heads run parts of the city as their territory, and are basically like the daimyo of the criminal element in that area. They're pretty loosely knit, sometimes they fight one another for turf, but they all pay tribute to the oyabun, or they die horrific deaths."
Tiyaka pours a fragrant herbal tea and passes Midori the cup. "It's good to see you again. So, I hear you met with the empress, did she tell you more about your mother?"
She smiles, as the three sit on cushions. Shintaro goes to answer the question, but is interrupted by his daughter, who says "Him? He spends time talking with me until my mother is ready for a new client, at which time he runs out of the room like a rabbit." Shintari chuckles. "Not like a rabbit. More like a particularly slow hare." Amalia shakes her head and pours tea for her guests, a strange foreign blend that Jian has never experienced before, but enjoys nonetheless.
"Mhmm. Interesting." Kyouka nods with a grin, "So, whose turf did we raid. And where is your sister located?"
'Oh?' Jian chuckled, 'You still like Amalia's mother that much?' He drank the tea, 'This is good tea, Amalia. Thank you.' He smiled at his new-found sister, 'Tell me a bit about yourself. Do you enjoy working here?'
"The warehouse was owned by the Kitano family. As for my sister, she's a lieutenant in the family, so she'd be in the headquarters, a fortified complex in the slums."
Shintaro nods. "She's fantastic, you gotta try he-" he sees Chitsukiko looking at him with raised eyebrows and shuts up. Amalia gives a warm chuckle. "Yes, I do. I've done more traditional work, but I ended up coming back to work with mum. Good hours and great pay, and the clients know that if they step out of line they'll be thrown out on their asses."
"Ho? A lieutenant, eh?" Kyouka hums, "Well, we'll be butting with her once we cause enough noise." She shrugs, "So, what can you tell us about the Kitano family? How strong are they?"
"Not including the men you killed at the warehouse?" He thinks. "Maybe eighty men in total. Of those eighty, maybe sixty are soldiers, the rest are money makers. Kitano-san himself isn't one of the powerful bosses, because he's not great at making money, but he's respected because he's brave and willing to get his hands dirty. He gained power after his own boss was murdered by a more powerful family. Instead of surrendering like the most of his own family, he swore vengeance and went to war. 12 men against more than a hundred, and he won, killing the murderers and the traitors alike. He's also become very violent recently. He can snap at basically anything he perceives as an insult. I've seen him beat men to death with his hands, slash their faces, throw them out of windows. Really, anything."
