Tokyo Demons Book 2: Chapter 1

Jo ran his hands through his sopping hair. He closed his eyes, tilted his chin up toward the showerhead, and let the prickles of wet heat cascade down his face. He absently sprayed the warm water that collected in his mouth.

Someone pounded on the door. “Jo!” Sachi called through the wood.

Jo scowled. No, he willed silently. Go away.

Sachi banged a few more times. “Are you done yet? We need to talk. Jo!”

Jo gave a watery grunt. He rubbed his face with his hands, sighed, and twisted the metal knob. The water vanished with a depressing squeak.

BANG BANG BANG

“I get it!” Jo snapped as he grabbed a towel. “Back off!”

The pounding stopped. Jo toweled himself off, taking a full two minutes, out of habit, to dry his hair in handfuls. He brushed through the tangled strands with his fingers as his gaze swept around for a comb.

No luck. He opened the bathroom mirror, but only a few medications and a tube of cream hid behind it. He absently picked up the nearest pill bottle.

Propanolol, it read. Jo had no idea what that was. He turned the bottle; it was prescribed to Zayd.

The banging returned. “Jo!” Sachi cried. “What’s taking so long?!”

Jo slammed the bottle back onto its shelf. “I’m coming!” he snarled.

He heard Sachi murmur something from outside. Jo threw the mirror shut.

Jo didn’t have clean boxers, so he zipped up his pants without them. He slid on the collared shirt Daniel had lent him and grabbed his wadded underwear. He opened the door.

Sachi, his face grave, clutched his own elbows. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he breathed. “Touya tried to recruit you?!”

Dammit. Jo’s stomach sank. He’d blissfully forgotten that he had to have this conversation.

Jo tossed his boxers into the hallway laundry basket. “I guess Daniel updated everyone,” he muttered.

“Why didn’t you say anything? How long has this been going on?!”

“It’s not ‘going on,’” Jo corrected. “It’s already over, all right?” Jo headed for the sleeping room. Sachi followed.

“Daniel-san said Touya let Kiyoshi go for you!”

Jo pushed open the door. A half-eaten pile of onigiri rested atop the table, next to an abandoned laptop. Jo grabbed a rice ball and glanced at Zayd, in the corner, who looked like he was trying to explain something in English to Adam.

Jo bit into the onigiri. “Maybe,” he mumbled around the rice. “Touya just told me he was sending a gift.”

Sachi shook his head in disbelief. “Why is he so interested in you?”

“No idea. I already told Daniel everything I know.” Jo fell heavily onto the only open futon mattress. As he ate, Sachi slowly lowered himself to sit beside him. He chewed his lip and said nothing.

Jo could tell, from the way Sachi’s mouth twisted, that he was more than just surprised. A tiny pang of guilt shot off in Jo’s gut. He crammed the rest of the onigiri into his mouth.

“Touya told me not to tell anyone,” he said at last. “Since I didn’t know what he was after, I thought it was smarter to stay quiet.”

Sachi’s eyes rolled over from beneath his glasses. He furrowed his brow.

Jo swallowed the end of his rice. He shifted a few centimeters to the right to ensure their arms weren’t touching.

Jo’s gaze fell on the other futon, pushed up against the wall. It took him a few seconds to realize that the big lump atop it wasn’t just a comforter. Dark hair and the curve of a nose peaked out from the blanket.

Who’s in there? Jo wondered.

The lump twitched. The top of the pile twisted, revealing a pair of haunted eyes.

Kado.

Jo let out a breath. Then the guy was finally awake. Every time Jo had seen Kado in the communal sleeping room, the boy had been curled up in his futon. Jo had mostly just ignored him.

Jo suddenly remembered something Daniel had said. “Hey,” he called to Kado. “You were Touya’s roommate, right?”

Kado paled and said nothing. His eyes dropped to the floor.

Jo jerked a thumb at him for Sachi’s benefit. “He probably knows more about Touya than me,” he said dryly.

Sachi sighed. He ran his hands through his limp spikes.

The English conversation ended as Adam moved to the far end of the room. He started twisting his upper body back and forth, like he was stretching. As he lowered himself to the floor, Zayd abandoned him to join Jo and Sachi.

Dark green eyes stared down at them. “Good work,” he told Jo, gesturing to the other room. “You were very helpful with Kiyoshi last night.”

Jo brushed off the comment. Just keep your fucking power away from me, he thought.

“Kiyoshi likes you.” Zayd pulled up a chair. “That is very important right now. Things will be easier if all of you are friends…we have very serious battles ahead.”

“About that. Does the Church have some sort of…plan now? What are we supposed to do about Core?”

Zayd rubbed his chin. “Nick is out gathering information. We are planning to be aggressive, since we are very worried about Shouri.”

Jo glanced at Adam. “Everyone keeps talking about her,” he said as he watched the man start some slow push-ups. “Who is she?”

“She is one of the Church’s best computer experts. Adam is her bodyguard.” Zayd crossed his arms. “We had them in a secret location in the mountains of Hokkaido to give her…privacy for some of her work, which is not always legal. But there was a very bad storm, so we lost contact for two weeks. Core kidnapped them sometime during that.

“Based on what Kiyoshi has told us,” Zayd continued, “we think she was the first member of Core taken by force. Kiyoshi was the second.”

Sachi leaned back on the futon. “And Adam-san was with her?”

“Yes. They were separated, but Adam thinks they were using him to force her to cooperate.” Zayd frowned. “Such as threatening to kill him if she didn’t use her skills for Core. Her skills are very useful and very dangerous. But Adam is also dangerous, so eventually…” Zayd trailed off.

“Why was he in a car trunk at Kiseki?” Jo asked. “Were they moving him? Were they planning to kill him and dump the body?”

Zayd shrugged. In the corner of the room, Adam switched to sit-ups.

Jo waited for someone to point out the elephant in the room. When both Zayd and Sachi said nothing, Jo threw up his hands.

“Screw this,” he muttered as he got to his feet. He marched over to the other futon as its inhabitant curled away from him.

“Kado,” he said icily. “Why was Adam in that car trunk?”

Kado clutched the comforter draped over him. “I don’t know,” he murmured.

“But you knew he was in there.”

Kado’s sunken mouth twitched. “I…I wanted to help,” he whispered.

Jo irritably grabbed the comforter. He tried to tug it off the boy.

Kado clutched to the comforter with bizarre desperation. The flap over his head slipped off and bunched around his shoulders.

“Jo,” Sachi called. “Quit it.”

“It’s past noon, man. Get up.” Jo angrily released the comforter. “You’re on this team now, right? Then pull your weight like the rest of us.”

Kado swallowed. He sat up straighter, but stayed bunched in the blanket.

“I used…my power,” Kado offered at last. “To find Adam-san in the trunk.”

“Power?”

Kado wilted. “Please don’t make me explain it,” he begged.

Jo turned to Sachi in surprise. Sachi shook his head.

Wait, Jo thought. He doesn’t mean…

“No one knows your power?”

Kado looked away.

Sachi sighed from elsewhere. “It’s okay,” he said. “Kado can tell us when he’s ready, Jo.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jo felt the frustration in his gut twist into anger. He clenched his fists. “After all the personal shit the rest of us had to give up, this princess gets to hide a superpower?”

Kado trembled slightly. “I’ll use it to help everyone,” he said in his defense.

“But we can’t decide how to use it if we don’t know what it is!”

Sachi got up from the futon. “Calm down, Jo.”

“No,” Jo snapped, pointing at Sachi. “Shut up.” He turned back to Kado. “Touya offered me protection, and I turned him down. I probably dug my own grave because I didn’t want to screw everyone over.” He snorted. “I told them my secret. Now it’s your turn.”

Kado’s eyebrows creased in sudden fear. He clapped a hand over his mouth as sweat beaded on his forehead.

Sachi ran over and grabbed Jo’s arm. Jo yanked himself free.

“I told you not to touch me.”

“I’m sorry, just…listen.” Sachi leaned closer. “You can’t force Kado, all right? It’s not gonna work.”

“This isn’t a self-help group, Sachi. You’re gonna fuck us over if you keep pampering him!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Zayd interjected. “Nakajima has already tried force.”

Jo stopped. The pain in Sachi’s eyes implied something, but Jo didn’t know what.

Kado tucked his head between his knees and sucked in deep breaths. The comforter slipped further down his shoulders, dragging the edge of his robe with it; he jerked the robe back up with trembling fingers.

In that moment of bare skin, Jo had seen the boy’s collarbone. Jutting out against the pale skin, unnatural and unnerving.

He looked…anorexic.

Jo hadn’t expected that. He tried to remember if he’d ever seen Kado eat.

Sachi crouched down beside Kado and offered soothing words. From the back of the room, Adam practiced some spin kicks, his feet pounding out a rhythmic thumping against the floor.

Jo’s fingers twitched for a cigarette.

Shit.

Shit.

After all the foster homes he’d been in, Jo knew a panic attack when he saw one. He also knew that they ground activities to a screeching halt. What the hell were they supposed to do? Walk on eggshells around Kado? After dealing with Kiyoshi all night, Jo was out of patience.

He noticed Zayd watching Adam, concern tugging his thick eyebrows. When Adam started punching the air in fast swings, Zayd shouted something across the room. Jo recognized one or two words in English…something about stopping?

Adam brushed the man off with a hand. “Okay,” he called back.

Zayd clicked his tongue angrily. The two of them argued in English for a minute, then Adam seemed to give up. He pulled a dusty broom from the corner and unscrewed the brush from the long handle.

Zayd sighed. “He is pushing himself too hard,” he offered Jo in Japanese.

“He looks fine to me.”

“He is not fine. He was beaten for weeks.” Zayd leaned back in his chair. “But he wants to fight, even if it is bad for his body.”

Then don’t discourage him, Jo thought, resentment clenching his jaw. They had precious little protection as it was.

“O-Oda-san.”

Jo turned. Kado, still bent in half and clutching at his knees, shakily looked up.

“I…I don’t know much about Touya-san. We didn’t live together long.”

Jo wasn’t impressed. “You lived with him as long as I lived with Kiyoshi,” he said darkly.

“Yes, but…he doesn’t talk about himself. He never did.” Kado swallowed hard. “I…I was paired up with Touya-san a year ago through an advisement program.”

Sachi blinked. “He was advising at our junior high?”

Kado gritted his teeth. “I thought…he could help me, so I followed him to Fukuhashi. But I-I didn’t expect to share a room with him.”

Zayd leaned back in his chair. “Did anyone visit him in your room?” he asked.

“No. Never.”

“Did he seem to have a strange ability?” Zayd pressed. “Something like yours?”

Kado paled.

Sachi jumped on that. “Even if it’s just a clue,” he begged. “Anything would help, Kado!”

Kado scrunched his forehead, his lips trembling. He looked on the verge of another meltdown.

But for whatever reason, the boy just took a long breath. He steeled his jaw and tilted up glassy eyes.

“I…I don’t think Touya-san sleeps.”

Jo stared at him. No one said anything. From the back of the room, Adam’s bare feet thumped against the floor.

Kado swallowed. “I was…uncomfortable living with him,” he said quietly. “The first night, I couldn’t sleep until he did. But I waited and waited, and he spent the entire night at his desk.” He gritted his teeth. “And it was like that every night. For…a week, at least, until I found somewhere else to stay.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just miss it?” Jo retorted. “There’s no way you stayed up every minute of those nights.”

“I did. Every minute.” Kado started to tremble. “He was scaring me. I couldn’t sleep.”

Jo suddenly remembered Kado’s behavior in class. When he hadn’t been zoned out or shaky, he’d been asleep at his desk. Or…gone. Skipping.

Zayd paused. “What did Touya do at his desk?” he asked at last.

“He was usually writing. He didn’t have a computer, so it was on paper…” Kado squinted his eyes. “He’d cut up the paper into little pieces. I’m sorry, I-I couldn’t see much from my bed.”

“He could’ve been sleeping during the day.”

“I dunno, Jo.” Sachi bit his lip. “When we were in school, Ayase and Kiyoshi saw him during school hours. And wasn’t he coming to see you, too?”

Jo thought on that. He was no stranger to all-nighters, but if Touya didn’t sleep at night and was running around during the day…even if he was squeezing in a few hours here and there, he couldn’t do that for long. And he would be a mess–like Kado. His sleep-deprivation would be obvious.

Jo remembered Touya’s perfect grooming and cologne. The way he would lean in and drawl, unspoken messages glittering in his eyes.

That man was not running on empty.

Zayd’s voice cut through Jo’s thoughts. “Touya may be on Pitch,” he said evenly. “Perhaps that is a side effect.”

Sachi rubbed the back of his neck. “But…it could also be a power.”

“That is unlike any ability I have heard of. But I will speak to Daniel–he knows more about these things.”

The thudding of Adam’s feet suddenly quieted. Jo looked up to see Adam spin the detached broomstick through the air. He did a slow pinwheel, rolled the stick along the back of his neck, and spun a second pinwheel. He gripped the stick in both hands and took a breath.

Zayd scowled. “Adam!” he warned.

Adam twisted his body and spun the stick in whooshing arcs. The wood whipped around him in a blur, spinning faster and faster as the momentum drew him across the floor in quick steps. Then the wood locked against under his arm as he kicked forward, then backward; he spun and whipped the stick in a giant crescent over him to slam against the floor with a loud crack.

Jo raised his eyebrows. As Zayd yelled an obvious order to stop, Jo found himself catching wide eyes with Sachi.

Sachi slid his glasses up his nose. “Whoa,” he breathed.

The electronic tinkling of a mobile phone danced through the air. Zayd dug his phone from his pocket and flipped it open.

“Yes?”

Footsteps thumped from the hallway. As Zayd’s face went grave, the door to the room flew open.

Ayase panted in the doorway, her hands hastily adjusting her crooked skirt. Her hair was more disheveled than usual and she was missing a sock.

“We found it!” she cried.

Zayd held out a hand before anyone could say anything. He pressed a button on his phone and held it toward the room.

“We found the Core stronghold,” Nick’s voice buzzed.

Sachi jumped up from his crouched position. Ayase ran into the room, a strange, almost manic light in her eyes.

“The one Kiyoshi was in,” she explained. “I sent some bugs inside to spy. I’m sure it’s the same place.” She turned to Adam. “And I saw Shouri-san in there!”

Adam froze at the name. Zayd quickly translated.

Jo furrowed his brow. “Hang on,” he snapped. “You were spying? When?”

“This morning. I snuck out as the swarm and met up with Nick.”

Sachi balked. “You what?”

“I already contacted Nakajima,” Nick cut in. “She can’t send in any cops without a warrant, but she can drag some of the managers into the police station on fake complaints. It’ll cut down their leadership for when we storm the place. And Jo?” he added. “We need that street gang of yours.”

Jo threw up his hands defensively. “Wait,” he insisted. “It’s only been a day since…” He checked his wrist for his watch, then remembered it was gone. “I mean, Takeshi was just here yesterday. He said he needed three days to get his guys together.”

“Call him. He has one of our phones.”

“And what the hell do I tell him? What are you planning to do?!”

“We need his input, actually. Without Shouri, we can’t hack into their electronic security–we may need to break through manually. Nakajima said Byakko kids specialize in breaking and entering.”

Jo felt sweat bead on his temples. As Ayase explained the general layout of the building, Zayd translated for Adam. Hope lit up the bigger man’s face, his fingers squeezing the stick in his hands.

Sachi seemed to notice Jo’s expression. “Nick,” he said to the phone. “Jo said the gang needs three days. And Zayd-san keeps saying Adam-san isn’t ready to fight…we might need some time.”

“We need Shouri out as soon as possible. We’ll work with whatever Jo can get us.”

Sachi threw Jo an encouraging look. “Whatever you can get us,” he repeated.

Jo couldn’t believe how calm Sachi was. Didn’t he realize what Nick was saying? The attack on Kiseki and the Yazuka had been two days ago. They were still nursing injuries. And Nick wanted Byakko as his muscle? A gaggle of stoned punks?

How the hell could they storm anything?!

“That…that can’t be your only plan.” Jo’s hands shook. “I thought the building with Kiyoshi was crawling with armed guards.”

“It still is, but their numbers are down. Core’s still recovering from the other day–I think the hit on that Yakuza club went worse than they expected.”

“This can’t be your only plan!”

Steely green eyes settled on Jo. “They will not be expecting an attack so soon,” Zayd murmured. “It is our best chance, even if it is a small one.”

“Take me with you.”

Jo jerked his head around. Kado, his legs wobbly, finally stood from the pile of blankets. He pulled his robe around himself and raised his dark eyes.

“Take me with you. I can help.”

Nick grunted from the phone. “We need all hands on deck,” he admitted, “but I’d rather not take the psychics. This is an assault, not an interrogation.”

Kado’s mouth trembled. “I know I’m a burden,” he breathed. “But I’m sure there are…things I can do at that place.”

Nick muttered something to himself. But before he could answer, Sachi spoke up.

“I’ll come, okay? I’ll watch over Kado.”

Worry flashed through Ayase’s face. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and looked away.

“Even an attack needs people for communication and stuff, right? Or as look-outs…” Sachi trailed off, then smiled weakly. “I’m sure I can help, too.”

Jo swallowed. Sachi wanted to go. Sachi. So he could babysit Kado.

Jo felt, not for the first time, like the only sane man in a world gone mad. But as Zayd translated for Adam, and the martial artist smiled and flashed a thumbs-up at Sachi and Kado, he knew there was no way out of this. They were serious. They thought a freaking church group could penetrate an armed stronghold.

Jo deliberated on Ayase. She looked alert and anxious, a far cry from her usual sullen self. And she was bees. A swarm of bees.

Gunmen can’t shoot bees.

Jo stared at his hands.

Did they stand a chance? Could an assault actually work? If he was being overly cautious and his fear was blinding him…

He closed his eyes and took a long breath.

No, he decided at last. They’re fucking crazy.

Jo pulled out his mobile phone. It took him a minute to figure out how to scroll through the contacts to Takeshi.

“Not gonna fight ’em head-on…Byakko always finds a back door.”

Takeshi’s wild ramblings suddenly seemed reasonable. Jo found himself clinging  to the hope that Byakko, at least, had an idea other than a full-frontal assault. And Nick said he wanted their opinion.

“If you really wanna do this,” Jo muttered, “we do need the gang.”

Ayase nodded at him. “Then talk to them for us,” she said. “They seem to like you, for some reason.”

Jo furrowed his brow. As he pushed the dial button on his phone and held it to his ear, he decided not to take that one personally.