Ranma rather understood that these guys were certainly of that sort of group. His eyes quickly caught the open collars that marked many of them as not being as formal as others, and he saw the hint of tattoos were the skin was exposed. They stood closely together as they looked at him, but none of them showed any sign of feeling uncomfortable with the others being so close.
The pigtailed boy gave the speaker a weak grin and raised his brows. "So, my uncle decided that he wanted me ta take over for him?"
"That was what he told us," the speaker for the group replied, and flicked a hand at the guys around them. "You see, he was our boss, and in our line of work, you do what you're told."
"If ya say so. Pop never said what this great-uncle of mine was supposed ta have done."
"We thought so. Seems your old man didn't like the way things went with the boss and his brother."
"Oh?" Ranma murmured.
"The thing is that your family has been martial artists for a real long time. But our boss wanted something different, and since his brother was the one to carry on the name, he decided to break off on his own."
"So... he went into business with you?"
"Worked his way up from the bottom to become the boss of our little local group," the man admitted.
"And you're...."
"A... business organization. We even have an office, with a nice plaque next to the door."
"Sounds good."
"We think so. In fact, we have plenty of interests that make us some nice change. Restaurants, hostess clubs, sales, private places where a guy can have female... company, security, videos.... You name it. We even have stocks in several good firms. And we have... friends in other cities around Japan."
"That's good. It's nice ta have friends."
"Good to see that you understand that," the speaker told him, and let one side of his mouth curl up. "Why, it's already helped you out."
"It has."
"Certainly. You know that girl you live with? The one that is the sister to your fiancee?"
Ranma wracked his brain for an answer to his question. "Which one... Nabiki?"
"Yeah. Her. Nice little games she's been playing. Nothing that we'd be too interested in. But it's lucky for her that she knows you."
"And why's that?"
"'Cause, if she didn't, then she wouldn't have someone keeping people from going to bother her. She might have had to pay them back, and with looks like hers, it wouldn't be hard to imagine how that could have turned out."
"Ah, damn...." the martial artist muttered, easily imagining what he was alluding to. "Then what happens now?"
"Nothing too bad. If you want, we could even just take you out on the town. Show you the sights. Or at least just let you have a taste of what you now control."
"I 'control'?"
"They may be our organization's shops, but you are the one in charge of all of it. Hell, you all but own most of them outright."
"'Most'?"
The older man barked out a laugh. "Some had your great-uncle's name on the deed, and with him gone, you inherited them. So, perhaps our first stop should be a... gentleman's club that you really do own."
"Uhh.... Goin' that quick ain't that high on my list. I mean, I don't even know your name."
"Ah, right. You do need to call me something."
"See?"
"Easily. You could always call me... Wakagashira."
With a strained smile on his face, Ranma realized that he was dealing with gangsters, which meant that his life was about to be complicated by a yakuza presence, while:
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(Posted Tue, 27 May 2008 04:05)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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