Daichi ate dinner in his room as usual because Shuhei was not present.
The food was brought to Daichi by the female servant he saw this morning. Daichi was uneasy because the servant was stiff and did not say anything.
"It will be more fun with Haruka here." Daichi grumbled as soon as the maid left the room.
Shuhei didn't return for two days.
•~•
Shuhei appeared on the evening of the third day. From head to toe, fatigue was evident.
"Daicchan~" Shuhei pounced on Daichi who was lying relaxed on the bed.
Daichi initially ignored it because he didn't want to argue. But when he smelled the foul odor, he frowned. "Get away from me and go take a shower, stinky boy!"
Shuhei chuckled, but he no longer clutched Daichi. He came to a halt just before entering the bathroom.
"I brought you a phone. It's in a paper bag on the table."
"Eh?"
Daichi took Shuhei's paper bag. He opened it to find a new cellphone inside.
"He actually brought me a cell phone? Is not he afraid I will call someone and flee? Shouldn't he be that paranoid?" Daichi pondered inquiringly.
Daichi felt a little off, but he couldn't find anything out. He dismissed that small doubt from his mind and began using his new cell phone. To give Shuhei the impression that he actually wanted to play games, he installed a number of them.
As soon as Shuhei emerged from the restroom, he noticed Daichi was occupied with a game.
"I didn't know you liked playing games."
"Just to relieve boredom, what's the harm?" Daichi responded while continuing to play the game.
"Oh."
After joining him on the bed, Shuhei gave Daichi a passionate kiss.
"Mmmh, Yoshimoto!"
"Daicchan, why don't you address me by name?" Shuhei bit Daichi's lower lip in annoyance.
Daichi remained silent and hesitant to respond, as Shuhei had predicted.
"You are quite disobedient, aren't you?"
Shuhei begins to make wild and brutal love to Daichi, until Daichi becomes overwhelmed.
"Ah Yoshimoto, please stop," Daichi begged. "Your movements are too rough."
"Say my name, and I'll slow down a little."
Daichi forced his mouth to open. "Shu... Shuhei, ah..."
Shuhei gave a big smile. "Daicchan is a good boy. Very tempting..."
"Eh, ehh, you said you were going to slow down—"
•~•
Daichi becomes more serious during the day when Shuhei is not present. He left a message on the phone number Suzuno Sonoda had given him a few days before.
[Hello, is this really Suzuno Sonoda's number? I am Daichi Nishiyama]
Daichi stared expectantly at his cellphone screen. A reply message arrived not long after.
[Hi Nishiyama-san! I'm glad you finally messaged me. How are you?]
[I'm fine.] Daichi replied.
[Good. Shuhei Yoshimoto must not be around since you contacted me, correct?]
[Correct.]
[What good fortune! Is it possible for us to act now? Send me your location, please.]
When Daichi saw Suzuno's message, he was astounded. "Is she really going to help me? Is she a police officer?"
[I'll send it.] Daichi pressed the share location button. [But, my place is very tightly guarded. I can't even leave the room at all.]
Suzuno didn't reply for a long time, despite the fact that the last message Daichi sent had been read.
Daichi waited for nearly two hours again, but Suzuno had not responded to his message. Daichi's enthusiasm faded yet again.
"I shouldn't have hoped...hehe..." Daichi chuckled softly. "In any case, that is impossible."
Knock knock!
His room door was knocked on. Daichi did not come to answer the door because he assumed it was a servant. But then there was an unexpected voice;
"Nishiyama-san."
Daichi turned around abruptly. When he saw Suzuno Sonoda standing in his room's doorway, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Sonoda-san… is that really you?"
Suzuno, who was dressed in black, smiled at Daichi.
"Don't worry, you didn't see it wrong. Come on, hurry up, we have to hurry before Shuhei Yoshimoto notices."
Daichi is also not interested in wasting time. He took a step towards Suzuno. He was astounded to see the guards at Shuhei's condo all lying on the floor.
Suzuno signaled to her own people, and they all rushed out of the condo together.
When they arrived at the parking lot, they all went straight for the black van. Suzuno dragged Daichi up.
"We will take another car."
Daichi followed Suzuno into a car. There were only the two of them inside. Suzuno drove the car out of the building, trailed by a black van.
Daichi became even more curious about Suzuno and the others after witnessing how well they performed.
"Are you a police officer, Sonoda-san?"
Suzuno replied vaguely. "Let's just say so."
Suzuno's response rendered Daichi speechless. Suddenly, he remembered Haruka. "Sonoda-san, Shuhei Yoshimoto has locked up another person!" Can you also save her?"
"Well, yes. Are you aware of her lockup location?
"Sadly, no..."
"Okay. Let's go now. Just think about saving her after you have ensured your own safety."
"Thank you very much, Sonoda-san."
"There is no need to thank me." Suzuno glanced at Daichi briefly. "It is all because of my boss."
"Who is your boss?"
"Um. We'll see him in a moment. You can thank him directly later."
•~•
They arrived at a location, a building that appeared to be an entertainment venue, after driving for quite some time.
"Come on"
Suzuno led Daichi inside. They passed through a large hall that was lavishly decorated and furnished. There are a lot of beautiful, sexy women there.
"We have to go upstairs." Daichi was alerted by Suzuno's voice.
"Oh okay." Daichi was embarrassed because he had been caught staring at the beautiful women in the room.
The hall upstairs was just as glamorous as the previous one, but instead of beautiful women, there were charming, handsome men.
Suzuno kept walking and climbed the stairs to the next floor, followed by Daichi.
The view from this floor is completely different from the views from the previous two floors. If the previous two floors were very glamorous and beautiful, this floor is the polar opposite. The hall, which was filled with strangely dressed men, was festooned with perilous and ambiguous ornaments.
Daichi took a deep breath and swallowed. He would probably seen something similar on a po-rn site before. Daichi was reminded of a sadomas-ochist club by the scene here.
In contrast to Daichi, who appeared distracted, Suzuno appeared relaxed, as if she was used to it. She was also unafraid of passing by a group of almost naked men with 'embarrassing accessories' on their bodies.
Suzuno opened a door. "Nishiyama-san, let's go in."
Daichi took a step behind Suzuno. It was not a large room that they had entered. Though the room was dimly lit by a crystal chandelier on the ceiling, Daichi could still make out a man seated in a big chair and a sizable carving of a green dragon on the wall behind him.
Suzuno bowed to the man. "I have brought Daichi Nishiyama here, Shuya-sama."
"Ah, so this is Daichi Nishiyama, huh?" The voice of the man Suzuno referred to as Shuya could be clearly heard in the room. He used the back of his hand to prop his chin up as he assessed Daichi's appearance. "He actually looks much better than he does in the photo."
Suzuno stood up straight and introduced the man to Daichi. "Nishiyama-san, this is Shuya Yoshimoto-sama. he's my boss."
Daichi froze when Suzuno said his name. "Yoshimoto…??"
"That's right. He's Shuhei Yoshimoto's older brother." Suzuno explained.
Daichi looked at the man once more. It's true, the man in front of him looks similar to Shuhei.
"You are correct; I am Shuhei's elder brother. You don't need to doubt this."
"Oh, I apologize; I just learned. I'm Daichi Nishiyama. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Daichi-san."
"I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my family for everything Shuhei has done to you. We were the ones who failed to provide Shuhei with a suitable education."
Shuya's words just now surprised Daichi. "Uh..."
"My younger brother has never shown restraint." Shuya went on. Shuhei is always mischievous, enjoys doing whatever he pleases, and defies authority. Not much can be done by our family.
Shuya's sincere tone made Daichi feel the Yoshimoto family's helplessness in raising Shuhei, while Shuya continued to tell how disobedient Shuhei was as a son and younger brother.
"Especially now that he has reached the pinnacle of power. He wields enormous power, and it is spiraling out of control."
"Is he really that dangerous?" Daichi wondered.
"Think about it: if someone like him, who does not have a clear mind, had power, what would he do?" Shuya asked back.
Daichi couldn't answer.
"You are a example, Daichi-san. Shuhei is the one who caused all of the pain you are going through. More and more people will suffer as a result of him if things keep going this way."
Daichi agrees on this point. "Can't he be stopped?"
Shuya was quiet for a while. "The only way out is to remove him as chairman of Kiryu."
At the mention of 'Kiryu', Shuya turned to face the green dragon carving. He extended his hands solemnly, as if greeting God.
Daichi honestly had no idea what Shuya meant by that. Shuya returned his attention to Daichi before he could think any further.
"So, Daichi-san, I need your help with this."
Daichi's mind was filled with confusion. "What?"
Shuya smiled. "Can you lend a hand? We will bring Shuhei down together so he doesn't act arbitrarily again."
“Thats … I'm not sure if someone like me can help…”
"Of course you can. So, do you agree?"
Daichi still didn't get it, but he nodded.
"Very good. Then, we will get right to work carrying out our plan."
Shuya grinned more broadly. As he gazed at the green dragon carving, his eyes shone with ambition.
•~•