RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Thirty-Eight: A New Found Solace

PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

Things were already starting to change so drastically.

Osamu Sato checked the time on his watch again, relieving his boredom as he waited at the backseat of his limousine at a random parking lot in the city for his informant to show up. He had been told that there was an urgent matter that he needed to see with proofs. It was unlikely that he would be asked to do this and he did not really expect that he would even need a personal meeting just to confirm this intel, however, Osamu felt the urgency of it as soon as he read the email sent to him and he quickly gave a place and time to get it over with.

He arrived at the venue a few minutes earlier than planned so he kept his silence, smoking a stick of cigarette while looking out of the tinted window beside him. He observed the scene playing outside of the car, with the highway and the streets, cars driving past the roads, and a few passersby walking obliviously. It was a pretty normal day. The sun was almost setting down and the sky was then illuminating an orange ambiance dimming the entire city as the streetlights lit up to glow the paths.

It was now a minute past the agreed meeting time, Osamu had also discarded his cigarette, but there were still no signs of his informant anywhere. It was only by then that he was about to pick up his phone and send the man a message. Yet before he could even send something out, finally, a tap on the window from the other side of the limousine caught Osamu's attention in a snap and he quickly turned and see a guy wearing a white mask and a black hoodie and cap. 

It was him.

Osamu immediately reached out to call for his bodyguard who was sitting at the front seat with the driver to let the man in. And right away, a big buffy guy got out of the car, moved to approach the stranger, and tried to check if he was safe. When it was sure enough that the man was harmless, the big dude opened up the door on the backseat and the hoodie guy got in.

Osamu had also put a mask on and dark sunglasses just to conceal his entire face from the stranger, although he was pretty sure that this man already knew who he was. But then again, just to be secured, he still wore it and simply greeted the guy with a tight nod of his head.

"Good evening, Mr. S," the stranger guy, who sounded quite younger than Osamu had expected, greeted him in a rush as soon as he settled himself inside the car. The door closed gently behind him and he slowly took off his cap as he reached for something placed underneath his hoodie.

Was he really just a young dude? Osamu frowned subtly from beneath his sunglasses and kept his silence as he watched him with extreme curiosity and caution. This was the guy he had been trusting to get information and classified stuff from the government and the syndicates around the city... And he... was just a young man?

"I was supposed to give this in a flash drive, but I didn't want to risk being traced," the guy told Osamu as he slowly handed him a Manila envelope that was quite stuffed with a stack of papers. Osamu took it silently and eyed it with scrutiny. What the hell was this? He should have just sent this through email.

"Why did we have to meet in person?" Osamu said in a deeper and lowered tone, opting to change the sound of his voice. The young guy's eyes quickly smiled at him as it crinkled and showed a half-revealed expression of smugness.

"Because you gotta know the people you're giving resources to, Mr. S," the young guy said. And Osamu looked up to him with a raise of his brow.

"Even if I pay you hefty enough, huh? You're still in doubt?" he remarked with an icy voice.

"Why don't you check the proofs first, Mr. S? At least, that way you might understand why I have to personally give it to you?" the young man defiantly rebuked, sounding casual as he tipped his head to motion towards the envelope in Osamu's hand. Osamu looked at him with a steady gaze, stayed like that for a few seconds before eventually obliging and opening the envelope in a haste.

The moment he took a peek inside it, Osamu frowned anxiously. It was not papers, but rather photos. And he pulled it out, and it was quite thick. There were too many of them. But it seemed like they weren't only just photos. There were printed letters on the backs of them and Osamu immediately took one from it and saw a familiar face right away. It was one of the National Diet members.

"What the hell are these?" Osamu expressed, just as he skimmed through the others who turned out to be those he also recognized from the Diet.

"Well, obviously, you know them, Mr. S," the young man said, briefly explaining, "And they are all pretty much high-pro. The only way I could provide those pieces of evidence is to give them to you like this... The security in technology is severely tight when it comes to those guys, y' know? I didn't want to be traced, that's all."

All of them... Every one of the pictures was stolen shots of National Diet members in a private dinner, with someone else, and with people who appeared to be dangerous to the society... These were all... Real evidence.

"You took all these?" Osamu, later on, inquired just as he had finally absorbed every bit of information he could get by scanning each of the photos in his hands. 

For a moment, the young man just looked at Osamu with a stoic expression. And then he let out a snort, rolling his eyes as if it was a dumb thing to ask, and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's crazy how one simple click of your mouse can do so much for you, Mr. S," the young man said, looking away. "I'm here because you're paying for my skills, and I don't care who the hell those people are. But I know that this is a dangerous job, that's why I want to trust you to never drag me down, Mr. S. And since I already knew how to reach you, I guess, that goes both ways for the two of us now, doesn't it?"

"You think I would betray you?" Osamu probed. The guy just tilted his head to one side and stared at him blankly.

"How old are you, anyway?" Osamu continued.

"Why? Does it bother you because you think I'm young?" the young man answered cleverly. And Osamu smirked back, amused by this kid's audacity to challenge him like this.

"I trust you, kid," he then said, after a moment, slightly chuckling as he waved the envelope in his hand and went on, "I'm not the type to go against an ally when I see one. And this thing, right here, serves as a promise that I would owe you someday, for sure."

"You sure about that, Mr. S?" the young man just raised a brow.

"You sure about trusting me?" Osamu countered, earning a laugh from the young man from the opposite end of the seat.

"I sure trust your money, Mr. S," the young man admitted, not even looking anything but proud of his own words, "I work when I am paid, so don't make me accountable if I somehow ended up working for any of the guys in those photos."

Osamu tensed, and this time, he was alarmed by what this kid just told him. What the hell?

"But don't worry," the young man quickly added, sensing the sudden shift of mood from Osamu after hearing his previous remark, "So long as you're the highest bidder, I won't resort to changing who I'm working with. In the meantime, you own me. I'm still no trash, Mr. S."

But that did not feel quite reassuring for Osamu as he just gave a nod and masked his own judgment.

"I know you'd eventually figure out my real identity after this, Mr. S," the young kid said after a moment when nothing came out of Osamu's mouth anymore. He was now putting his cap on again and moved as if he was about to leave, "So it's okay to doubt me for a while, cause I expect you to trust me seriously once you learn who I really am."

That sounded really interesting. And the young man escaped just like that. It should have been an intriguing mystery yet for some reason, Osamu did not feel quite pleased to hear those words. Whoever that kid was, he surely must be someone he can't possibly just keep under control.

And that was one thing Osamu did not like... the way everything seemed to be out of his control.

------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Thirty-Nine