"Yuzu, you can't just ask him that" I say giving him a stern look
"What do you know about Jordan Romano" he repeats
"YUZU!" I whisper-shout
"What he must know something about him. Come on Charlie-chan he's in the Yakuza, he should know something"
"He's right. I do know stuff about him" Keith cuts in
"Well spit it out man" Yuzu pushes
"Can I...tell you guys some other time? How long are you in Japan for?" Keith asks
"Not that long I'm afraid" I answer
"How about tomorrow? First thing in the morning. Charlie you still have my number right?"
"Sure I'm good with that and yes I do"
"Alright I'll see you two tomorrow. I'll text the address" he says before running off again
"Well that was...interesting" Yuzu says as the two of us watch him run off again
"Yeah. It sure was. Let's head back before everyone get's worried"
And off we went
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There you guys are!" Scott calls when the two of us walk into the room
"Where were you guys? I'm starving" Patrick calls getting up to grab a bag from my hands
"Uhh.. we ran into an old friend" I say awkwardly
Well that wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either
"Sure it was" Tessa says unconvinced while digging into her ramen
"Probably went on a secret date didn't you?" Shoma asks
"I love you Charlie-chan!" Shoma laughs, mocking Yuzu
"I don't sound like that!" Yuzu whines, burying his face in my shoulder
"Sure you don't Yuzu. Pooh-san loves you Charlie-chan!" Scott calls joining in the fun
"Why are you guys so mean?!" Yuzu whines again
"Come on Charlie-chan" Yuzu says dragging me out of Javi's room
"Have fun guys! But not too much fun if you know what I mean" Alex calls after us and a chorus of laughter can be heard as we leave the room
"Yuzu, they're just joking around with you" I laugh as he drags me to our room
"I know, but I want to spend time with you" he says as he opens the door
"So whataya wanna do?" I ask as I slip my shoes off and get comfy on the bed
"UNO?" he asks, heading to my backpack to get the cards out
"Oh, you're on Hanyu" I say getting ready to kick my boyfriends ass in a good'ol game of UNO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ding!
"God, who text's this early in the morning?" I groan reaching over to grab my phone off the night table
Keith: Hey Charlie! Meet me at the corner of Makoto Street by 6:30 a.m
Shit! I totally forgot
I quickly text him back and 'ok' before moving to the bed beside me to wake Yuzu up
"Hey Yuzu. Get up" I say nudging him a little
"Charlie-chan, no let me sleep" he says in a groggy morning voice
"Yuzu please, you wanted to ask Keith about Romano anyways" I urge, nudging him again
And then I get an idea
I quickly grab a pillow from my bed before swinging it around and slamming it on his head
"YUZU. WAKE. UP!" I shout with each hit
"Ok, ok geez Charlie you don't need to be so violent" he says getting out of bed
"Now let's get ready so we can get some answers"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Keith?" I ask out loud as Yuzu and I are walking around Makoto Street
"Are you sure he's coming?" Yuzu asks while the two of us look around the street
"Charlie" a voice calls out
"I swear if Keith is trying to be sneaky, I'm gonna kick his ass" I grumble
"Charlie" I hear again
"I guess we should follow the voice" I say and the two of us do so
"Strange...but what isn't strange" Yuzu says to himself as the two of us make our way into an abandoned looking warehouse
The two of us walk in and there's an eery feeling in the air
"Hello..."I call out
"Charlie-chan!"
I look further into the warehouse and there he is
"Keith! You're a sneaky little shit" I shout as I go to hug him
"Charlie! So you said you wanted to know more about Romano right?" he asks pulling away from the hug
"Tell us all you know" Yuzu says
"He's trying to reassemble his own Mafia" Keith tells us
"We know that already" I say like it's common knowledge
"Wait why do you want to know about Romano again?"
Oh right, gotta put Keith in the know
"He's been after Charlie-chan, for months. He's in jail now but I have a feeling he could be back" Yuzu explains
"Why's he after you?"
"Something about getting me to lead the Mafia with him or some shit. I'm about as weak as a twig so I don't see why he chose me" I say
"Oh" Keith says understandingly
"He's going to get out of prison. I can assure you that. The only question is; when"
"That's why we need your help. Your in a gang too right? We need eyes and ears on all sides" Yuzu says in a demanding voice
Woah, I know we watch the Walking Dead a lot but I never knew Yuzu would go all Rick Grimes up in here
"Sure, I can see what I can do to help" Keith replies
"So what is this place" I ask looking around at the interior of the warehouse
We're surrounded by junky looking furniture that all look out of place. The couch has a granny pattern that's falling apart, the TV looks like it's from the 1950s, the twin bed has a few stains here and there, and the trash can is overflowing
"Oh this is my... home I guess you could call it..." Keith answers
"Home?" Yuzu questions
"Charlie didn't tell you?" Keith asks
"He doesn't want to be apart of the Yakuza Yuzu-kun. He wants out"I explain again
"I want out" Keith adds
"So why did you join?" Yuzu pushes
"I didn't have a choice. My parents abandoned me at a young age and then THEY found me. I thought joining was going to be a safe haven, like I would finally belong somewhere...but I was wrong" Keith says, explaining to Yuzu the same story he told me so many years ago
"I hope you'll get out soon", Yuzu says, "So you'll keep us updated with everything?" he adds
"I will"
"Thanks again Keith. I hope you get out of the gang soon" Yuzu says in thanks
"I hope we can see you again before we leave Japan" I tell him
And then Keith pulls me into another hug and whispers in my ear
"I still love you"
