Eiji Matsumara liked to go to the book shop when he was waiting for a call from the Boss. He'd order a tea and a couple of gingersnaps or snickerdoodles, and then get lost in the stacks for an hour or two, sipping and nibbling and reading. One week when business was especially slow, he read all seven of the Narnia books. This week he was working on Anne Rice's Vampire books. He was half-way through The Vampire Lestat. EJ liked Lestat, Louis less so. He was bold and fearless, things EJ wished he could be.

Jingle jingle went the little bell atop the door as it opened. Opened and yet the only thing that entered was a flash of orange and brown. The little thing darted off to the counter and behind, causing the lady behind it to squeal. Moments ticked by and again the door opened. This time it was the small woman who was muttering and brushing a bit of mud from the end of her simple white dress. "Nin. Stop bothering the nice lady!" And there goes the silence of the Teas.

EJ looked up from his book, where Lestat was waxing philosophical about killing wolves in France, and spotted some sort of creature harassing the girl at the shop's counter. His dark eyes then turned towards the door and the girl just coming through it. He gave her a wan smile, glanced once more at the orange and brown puff ball, and then returned to his book.

This is just how things were. When Nin knew someone had food he was up them in record time. Sadly when it was a woman who wore skirts, well, you get the idea. Drawing in her lips she tried not to laugh at the woman scowling at the furball trying to scale her and not making it past the hem. Poor Nin. Moving forward she noticed the Teas wasn't so empty. An apologetic smile was sent to the reader before attention returned to the lady at the counter. Just about this time the woman was planting the fox-squirrel on the counter. Poor Nin was not happy and chattering his frustration. So in order to quiet this she ordered up some raspberry tea and a few sweet treats.

The squirrel-like chatter drew EJ's attention again and he looked up, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He liked animals. They tended to be far more trustworthy, sympathetic, and compassionate than their human counterparts. The kurie?tilted his head to one side and studied the animal for a moment. Then he chuckled softly and shook his head?his little cousins wouldn't believe he'd seen a real-life Pikachu.

'Pikachu' was hungry! And darn if the girl behind the counter wasn't fast enough. At the chuckle the critter's ears shot up and in a bolt was off the counter, hitting the floor and beelining for the source. Which only seemed to be hasted on by the fact that he smelled something that could be eaten close at hand. Nin wasn't shy and once close enough latched onto the arm of the chair, up the side until it was sitting on arm of the man's chair. Hello! Big eye up at the man then over to the gingersnaps in plotting. Kai didn't seem to realize her companion was gone and was still pointing out a few of the pastries. The elveness was a bottomless pit!

EJ broke off a bit of the last half of his gingersnaps and carefully gave it to the creature, wary of too-sharp teeth. "Good afternoon, risu," he said to the animal, his voice soft and melodic with hints of the Far East.

Kai's ears twitched against the golden strains and she looked over in time to see the man offering something to Nin. "Um." Too late. Nin chattered excitedly and snatched up the morsel with his teeth, happily chewing away the new tasty treat. She chuckled and scratched her ear. Yep the man was going to have a new friend for sure. "Sorry."

Dark eyes rose from Nin's face, a grin still on EJ's lips until he realized it was there. Clearing his throat and smoothing the front of his shirt, he dipped his head in an abbreviated bow. "It is no problem," he said to the girl who seemed to be Nin's human. "He is no bother."

Yeah, he says that now... "Well, as long as he isn't causing trouble." What little gold was in her pockets was taken out to pay for the small tray of goodies which dainty little hands were eager to pick up. With the tray in tow she moved over to collect the furball before...wait, no. Too late. Nin was bouncing up along the arm of the chair until he was able to latch onto the man's arm, crawling up to shoulder which would be used as a perch unless the man stopped him.

EJ's ear firmly met his shoulder as the critter passed mid-point of his biceps. "No," he said in a firm tone of voice. "You, my friend, are not a parrot and I am not a pirate." He gently reached for the warm, fuzzy body and picked him up, depositing him with care on the arm of his chair once more. "Stay there and behave yourself." Then he looked up again at the girl and extended a hand towards the chair opposite his. "Please join me?"

She wasn't sure who was more surprised by the man?herself or Nin! She actually stopped in attempt to claim her companion and Nin? Well, Nin sat on the arm of the chair totally distraught. Slowly those long, fuzzy ears lowered and Nin chattered quietly as if protesting the man's claims. Surprised but amused it took Kai a moment to actually respond to the man. "Oh. That is most kind but I don't want to disturb your reading. I just came to get N?n Rochben before he gobbled up all your sweets."

He offered both the creature and the girl a light shrug. "It is no bother, really." Then he turned his attention to the squirrel-thing. "N?n Rochben? Is that your name? That is a very large name for a very small creature."

Twenty minutes later, EJ was perched on the edge of an extremely hard satin damask-covered chair in the office at the top of the stairs in the Kotetsu Social Club. From downstairs came rhythmic, percussive beats of the fight room's sound system. Even with the extensive soundproofing that had been done to the office, the din of the crowd's cheering, the occasional screams of fighters who were particularly hurt, and the incessant music still seeped through the walls, adding to the building headache that was pounding behind EJ's eyes.

EJ wasn't alone in the office, despite his desperate wish to be. There were two other kyodai present, each with two shatei in tow. The ninkyo dantai had begun a recruitment drive in anticipation of an all-out war with both the Makos and the White Lotus Society for domination of the Five Kingdoms, its burgeoning drug and prostitution trade, and protection money from its more legitimate businesses. EJ knew that the next few months would be awful for his new hometown. Death rates and violence the likes of which the city had probably never seen were on the horizon and he would be in the thick of it all, helping his wakagashira orchestrate the ninkyo dantai?s more overt moves.

Just as he'd felt back home in San Francisco, EJ was extremely ambivalent towards his role in the society. On the one hand, his family had been members of the Aziukotetsu-kai for centuries and he was helping fulfill the Matsumara's place in the organization. But on the other hand, he was beginning to loathe the violence, the killings, and the rampant distrust that filled the ranks. He wished he could be more like Ari-chan and get away from the yakuza's influence. He knew, however, that he could never leave. One did not simply walk away from the yakuza. One was in the society for life.

Finally Kōtetsu finished his meeting with the two kyodai, approving their little brothers' entrance into the organization and giving them their first assignment. Find more men. In preparation for war, Kōtetsu had lifted the ban on gaijin joining and the society had its first non-Nihonjin since its inception. He and his brothers had heard an earful of Obaasan's opinion on this subject and while the eldest Matsumara son, Taro, and the baby boy of the bunch, Kichiro, agreed with Obaasan, EJ did not. He found the new, more open ways a refreshing change to the closed society he had been brought up in and this openness gave him hope for the future.

Kōtetsu turned and nodded towards EJ, who rose and bowed deeply to the old man. ?I have a task for you, Eiji-san,? the wakagashira intoned gravely. ?It?s an extra task from your normal duties, but I have no doubt you can perform it with honor and dedication.? EJ bowed again, carefully keeping his face a neutral mask. Whenever Kōtetsu flattered like this, it meant he was giving EJ a package that would eventually kill someone, be it a bomb like the one he?d carried to the US District Attorney?s house in San Francisco, or the kilo of uncut heroin he?d delivered to the Wo Sing Society in Los Angeles that had eventually killed eight junkies.

?I live to serve, Kōtetsu-sama,? EJ said in a voice that rode the fine line between passionate subservience and awe. It made the young man sick to his stomach to act like such a sychophant. ?I am happy to do my duty to the ninkyo dantai and to my oyabun.? He threw in another bow just so he could avoid looking into the wakagashira?s face. There were rumours that the old man had the uncanny ability to read minds and EJ feared that he could see the distaste and the reticence he harboured.

Kōtetsu grunted, pleased with EJ?s obedience and moved a few paces forward, holding out a large wooden box that had been hand painted with a marsh scene. EJ fixed his gaze on the skillfully wrought plants and wading birds, wondering what was inside the box and who it would kill. ?You will deliver this to the City Hall. The gaijin akuma no on'na has won another term in office. Her remarks about chasing off this planet were presumptuous and offensive. I wish to remind her that this is our home now; we have no intentions of leaving it any time soon.?

?Hai,? EJ responded as he took the box. It didn?t smell like the bombs or drugs Kōtetsu-san sent his enemies. Perhaps it was merely a warning this time. ?Is that all, Kōtetsu-sama??

The wakagashira nodded once, curtly, and said, ?Once that is delivered, continue your normal duties. I will have something else for you later this evening. Come ?round at eleven.? EJ bowed once more and backed out of the room, still carrying the box.

He left the club and strapped the box onto the back of his motorcycle. Then he set out, leaving the Five Kingdoms behind. Once he was across the bridge that led to the Marketplace, he pulled over to the curb and twisted around to peek inside the box. He breathed a sigh of relief?there was nothing more harmful than books and sake tucked away inside. Satisfied that he wouldn?t be contributing to the woman?s death, he made his delivery to the City Hall and then headed back to the delivery service. A cold cannonball of dread had taken up residence in his stomach. He?d have to go back to the club that evening and his task would no doubt be as innocent as delivering a gift.