Megumi sat at the dining table alone and she liked it. She liked this little moments just to herself and her thoughts. Sometimes having the weight of a gang got to you that you could kill yourself, but one had to be strong and never show weakness. That was what her father told her.

Remembering her father just filled her with rage. She would get her revenge very soon. Now that she had a very huge asset that no other gang had. Fujiwara Takashi and she smirked. She would be on top as always like it is meant to be.

She stopped when she heard footsteps.

Karou rushed in and she looked troubled. The face she had when there was bad news.

“Tell me!” she demanded.

“The warehouse blew up” she whispered.

She watched as the fork bent in her boss’ hand. Her nose flared and she stood up. 

“How did that happen?!” she yelled.

“I don’t know boss. Ms. Sachi called and she said as they arrived at the premises, the building blew up” she said softly.

“Is she hurt?”

“No”.

“The others?”

“No”.

“How did that happen? That place is far from civilization. Not even the homeless go there. How was it possible? How did it……?”

“Shit!” she yelled spinning around quickly, and making her way to the stairs.

Karou followed her boss so she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

She pushed the door to her office open herself and made a beeline to the phone on her desk. She picked it up and dialed a number, and tapped her foot on the floor impatiently.

“Victor” she said into the phone.

“Meg dear, I was just about to call you”.

“We hit a little bump in the road and you won’t be able to get your supply”.

“Don’t worry about it darling. I already closed the deal with someone?”

“Who?!” she yelled in rage.

“I don’t know the name of the gang. Maybe…..”

“Red Dawn?” she asked her eyes wide with anger.

“I don’t know Megumi, They weren’t forthcoming with the details”.

“Victor you know that we are partners. You can’t just…”

“Sorry dear. Another time maybe”.

Megumi threw the phone which Karou caught.

Sachi burst into the room with some others.

“What happened?!” she demanded.

“I went there and it blew up” her sister replied with a glare. “The blast only took me back a few meters, but the car broke most of my fall” it was them Megumi noticed the cut on her forehead.

“It’s Red Dawn” Megumi finalized.

“No argument there” Sachi said going to her table and sitting down, taking a bottle of whiskey and took a big chug.

“I am going to kill that bastard one day. He blew up my supply!”

“On the bright side only a small part of it”.

“It still doesn’t matter! He closed off on my deal with Victor”.

“A little payback is in order then?” Karou asked.

“Yes” Megumi said taking a deep breath. “Make them bleed, and bring back a souvenir” she said smiling darkly.

“Karou take a team and have fun” Sachi instructed.

“Yea ma’am” and she was out with the others.

The door closed and Megumi screamed, and she would have thrown something, but Karou took her phone and Sachi was holding the bottle of wine.

“Just shoot something if you’re so angry” Sachi said.

“Takahiro will pay for this” she said making her way behind her desk, and got out a revolver from her drawer and looked at it.

“You sure?” she asked.

“Today isn’t that day” and she dropped it back locking it.

“The question though, how did they know?”

“They must have followed us during one of our runs” Megumi shrugged.

“Now I’m going to lie down. Don’t go killing anybody while I’m asleep” she said taking the bottle with her.

“I won’t” she said.

There was a knock on her door.

“Enter”.

Geiru walked in.

“What do you want?” she asked, back to her cold demeanor.

“You told me earlier that I had to look at some records”.

Megumi didn’t seem to recall and she wasn’t forgetful. “I never said anything like that” she stated. “But now that you’re here, you might as well look at them”.

Megumi sat on her chair and got some files for her to look at.

She took a seat opposite Megumi, who looked a little bit too calm for the situation.

“Is there a problem boss?”

“No” she replied.

VVVVV

That wasn’t the only time Red Dawn had an upper hand. Every move she made, or tried to make Red Dawn was always ahead. That was why she was nursing a head wound.

She had been annoyed for weeks. Not only had her warehouse exploded, but also lost a client which meant she lost money, and she would not even bring up their loss against the other gang. They had been silent for a long time, and she let her guard down.

She took Sachi out just for a drive. It was a nice quiet night so why not. Just them and the driver. No one else. They had taken their own route, which wasn’t open to anyone else, when they were hit from the side and the driver lost control, and they crashed.

She really thought the car would do a summersault, but they crashed into a building hard. There wasn’t time to take a breather though. They were others outside, but lucky for her, she always brought protection with her.

Shots were fired and they had to leave before someone reported a disturbance. She didn’t care whose gang that was. What she cared about was that something wasn’t right.

Takahiro was no god, but how did he always know what she was going to do. Every single action. She was getting paranoid. He was driving her crazy and the bastard wasn’t here.

“What makes you sure it’s Red Dawn?” Sachi asked.

“Who else can step up against me?” Megumi asked.

Sachi rolled her eyes. “You know you aren’t invincible right?”

“How does he know?!” she yelled pushing the contents off her desk.

“Nobody knew about my warehouse, or my deal, or my secret route, or that we were planning to attack them Sachi”.

The doors opened and Karou looked nervous.

“Speak!” Megumi barked.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop him!” and she moved away from the doors before it opened again.

“Megumi love! Did you miss me?”

Sachi was on her feet that instant looking angry. Luckily she had no gun.

“What are you doing here?!” Sachi demanded.

“Relax woman. I come in peace. See I’m wearing a white coat”.

“This time” Sachi hissed. “Get out”.

“Now Sachi calm down” Megumi spoke.

Sachi would have rolled her eyes if she could, but she was in a lot of pain. She figured that she would say that.

“I knew you missed me Meg” he teased.

“What do you want?”

“I heard about your problem” he said taking a seat were Sachi was seated earlier, making the woman give him a dirty look.

“So it has already spread” she stated.

“Yes. Someone stepping up to Phantom. Really hilarious”.

“Is that why you came here?” Megumi asked sitting down.

“No. I came here to tell you that, I was the one who closed off on the deal with Victor”.

Megumi gave him a look. He had the effrontery to look smug, telling her that he was the one to close off on her deal.

“Get out!” she seethed.

“That’s not all though” he said.

“I don’t care what else you have to say. Get out while you can still walk”.

“Meg, you’re smart, so I find it funny that you still haven’t figured out how Red Dawn knows all your plans”.

“You don’t mean….”

“There’s a rat” he cut Sachi off.

Megumi sat down. There was the possibility, but no one would dare give information to another gang about her. She was sure she had already instilled fear in all of them, and they were all loyal. No one would dare betray her.

“Who do you think it could be?” Megumi asked.

“It’s your gang love” he winked.

“Okay. Now is the time for you to leave” Sachi said sternly.

Kenji gave her a look and they both got into their staring competition.

“I’ll only leave when Meg tells me too”.

“Her name is Megumi and you should leave”.

“I don’t want to. Both of you need my help now. If both of you take charge of this, you’ll kill all of them”.

“Like we would…..”

“He’s right” Megumi cut her off.

Sachi directed her dirty look to her sister. “Are you insane?!”

“No Sachi, contrary to popular belief, I have a brain. And Kenji, he’s good at it”.

“We can find it, we just need a plan” Sachi said.

“Who’s going to come up with it? Knowing you two, you would probably keep shooting until someone confesses”.

“And what’s wrong with that?” Sachi asked.

“You need an actual plan. Now tell me, did you do a background check on all your members?”

“Yes we do and all of them are clean. None of them had any relations with any other gangs”.

“Any new recruits?” Kenji asked.

“……well yes b….”

“Did you do a background check?” he inquired.

Sachi looked to Megumi who didn’t look back because she was thinking. Two fingers together under her nose and her eyes just looking past Kenji.

“No we didn’t” Sachi replied reluctantly.

Kenji smirked.

“There was no need to do that. The guy is Takashi Fujiwara and he has no relationship with any other gang and the girl is……

“Then where has he been all this while?” Kenji asked.

“That is a good question Sachi” Megumi said looking up at her.

“And the girl? What’s her name?”

“Geiru” Sachi replied.

“Yeah. Did you run a background check on her?” Megumi asked.

“I didn’t. I wasn’t the one who recruited her” Sachi replied. “It was Karou” she wasn’t going to take the fall for this.

“Where did you get her from?” Megumi asked.

“At the club. She was playing poker and we do need someone to run the numbers” Sachi said.

“You think it could be them?” Megumi asked Kenji.

“I don’t know, that’s why you need a plan” Kenji said.

“Are you going to help or not?!” Sachi snapped.

“Calm down Sachi” Megumi interrupted. “I have an idea” she said softly.

Kenji smiled. “When you plan, you really have something in store. Something good”.

“You can leave now” Sachi said with a glare, and this time he didn’t complain. 

He got to his feet. “I’m sure the guest room is already set for me” and he was gone.

“You’re unbelievable Megumi”.

“What?” Megumi asked turning in her seat to her sister, who was now leaning against the wall.

“Again? You’re really doing this again. Letting Kenji back into your life won’t be good for you at all”.

She was silent and then she smiled.

“He’s just helping us Sachi and we need it”.

“We can do this ourselves if we try. You’re smart Megumi and you should know that Kenji isn’t what we need right now”.

“We’ll just have to see how it turns out then”.

VVVVV

Kenji made his way to the room meant for him and he wasn’t surprised when it opened easily for him. The meeting went better than he had expected.

He had expected Sachi to blow up, and Megumi would let her shoot him. That was what he had thought, but it looked like his love still had feelings for him. It was really nice. He felt really warm inside. No he didn’t. He felt really good inside and even better because she needed his help.

He was about to enter, when another door opened and a girl stepped out. He smiled at her and her state of dress. Her sleepwear was really nice.

“Good evening” he said.

“Good evening” she replied. “Who are you?”

“Kenji…a friend of Megumi”.

“Nice to meet you” she said.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Geiru. I’m new here” she explained.

“Good to know. Well I had a long journey and I need to head to bed”.

“Sure” she nodded.

“I guess I’ll see you around then” he said.

“Sure” she smiled and he walked into his room and closed the door.

Geiru smiled when she was alone. Kenji was really attractive, and he being close to Megumi was an added bonus.

VVVVV

Megumi had decided to go on a walk so she could clear her head. Everything was falling apart. She wasn’t at the top anymore because word had spread that Red Dawn had one upped her, and her losing against them in a battle, and then her almost getting killed, but they failed.

Now the possibility of there being a mole in her gang. That was a very big breach of security. Was she that much of a joke that they just think that they could put someone here, and they weren’t scared to actually relay information.

When she found out who they were, they’d regret it.

Could it actually be Takashi and Geiru? Well she didn’t know anything about them, and they were just accepted so quickly that she was surprised that she accepted that easily. To be on the top was getting to her head that she just accepted him, because of the thought that she’d have something that the rest didn’t have.

And that was Takashi Fujiwara.

And there he was walking around too. He stopped when he saw her.

“Takashi” she greeted.

“Ms. Megumi” he said back with a small smile.

She blinked impishly.

“Walking is really nice, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes” he replied.

“So Takashi, I don’t make it my business to know about my members lives, but I want to know about you”.

“Okay…”

“Then tell me about you”.

“I’m Takashi Fujiwara, and I am here working for you. Making poison for the gang”.

“Why did you decide to join my gang?”

“I wanted to” she replied.

“Well everyone wants to be in a gang. The money, the power, it’s really nice, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Well there’s that….”

“Where were you all this while?” she asked.

“I was staying with some people” he replied.

“Did you know your parents were part of a gang? Red Dawn?” Megumi asked leaning closer.

“I knew their job was funny, but I never suspected them to be in a gang” he explained clearing his throat.

“That’s good then. I find it funny that you weren’t recruited by them. Well it’s good that Karou found you. You’d just not fit in there at all. Your talents will be wasted”.

He remained silent.

“So Takashi, how do you feel about betrayers?”

“What? Well…I-I….”

“We all hate them, don’t we?” she asked.

“My father had a friend once. But in this world, you trust no one and that led to his death. I learnt a lot of things from him and he also gave me a gift”.

“What kind of gift?”

“He gave me something to help with that type of betrayal. I can’t wait to use it”.

“Who betrayed you?” Takashi asked softly.

“Someone who isn’t important” she said with a grin.

“Okay” this woman was crazy.

“So is Geiru your girlfriend?” she asked.

“No. We’re not together” he replied.

“Then what is your relationship with her?”

She suspected something already. Well she was smart. Who knew?

“We’re just acquaintances” he replied trying to keep a straight face. The questions were too much and if he messed up, he could compromise both of them and he was sure she wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.

“You two aren’t friends, but both of you went to a club to get recruited. I’m sorry, I just can’t wrap my head around that”.

Neither could he. She wanted him to mess up. That wouldn’t happen. Where is Geiru when you need her?

“Megumi” a male voice called.

Takashi turned to see a young man walking towards them. The members didn’t call her by her name, so this must be a friend and a new face in the house because he hadn’t seen him before.

 “Who are you?” he asked Takashi which shocked him.

“….I’m…..”

“He’s Takashi Fujiwara. A new recruit”.

“Any relation to Dai Fujiwara?”

“Yes” Megumi answered before Takashi could.

“Good to know”

“This is Kenji” she told Takashi. “He’ll be here for a while”.

Takashi shook his head.

“You can call us friends” Kenji said.

“We aren’t friends!” Megumi spat.

“Well we have done what normal friends wouldn’t do, but if you want to call us friends I’m okay with it” he said with a small smile directed at Takashi who smiled back.

“Kenji, let’s go” she said already moving.

With one last look at Takashi, he turned placing a hand on Megumi’s waist, and Takashi was alone.

He leaned against the wall sighing with relief. Something was going on in Megumi’s head. He needed to find Geiru.

VVVVV

“Why did you act like I didn’t tell you about him?” she asked removing his arm from her waist.

“Then he’d start thinking why is the boss talking about me? You have to be smart about things like this Meg”.

“If he’s the one, we want to catch him making a mistake. We don’t need him all suspicious” Kenji said.

“Have you seen the girl?” Megumi asked.

“Yes and she’s pretty. It’d really be a shame if she’s the one though”.

“And if she isn’t the one?” Megumi asked.

“Then we’d have some fun together” he laughed.

“You’re unbelievable” Megumi sighed.

“So tell me about your plan” he said.

“Let’s go to my study”.

Getting there, she sat him down and told him her plan.

“I really wonder why they say you’re not smart” he teased.

“You make them see what they want to see and not the real thing” she explained.

“So when are you going to put this plan into action?”

“Today of course” she picked her phone up. “Karou I need you now”.

VVVVV

“You’re sure she’s suspicious?” Geiru asked unperturbed.

“Yes she is. You don’t look so worried” he said taking in her body language and her expression which was actually the same, but still.

“Because I’m not” she said. “You’re still paranoid and on edge about what happened last time”.

“This is different. She was asking about betrayers and…..”

“We haven’t betrayed anyone because she doesn’t trust anyone remember?”

“Yes, but she was asking about me and you and our relationship…”

“Yes because you’re good looking, and she wants to know if you’re taken or not”.

“But it was suspicious questions, not wanting to know about you questions” he complained.

“Takashi” Geiru was tired of him right now. “You think too much and you don’t need to think right now. Leave it to me and just work on trying to get Megumi to trust you”.

Geiru opened the door and Karou was there.

“Is there a problem?” she inquired.

“No there isn’t” she replied coolly. “The Mistress needs you and we’re going out for a while” she said.

“Another raid?” Geiru asked.

“Yes. They won’t even see it coming” she smiled. “And she’s not in a good mood, so I suggest you get there quick”.

“Sure” Geiru nodded and closed the door as Karou left.

“You’re going to tell them?” Takashi asked.

“Yes” she replied. “They best be prepared. Megumi’s face when she loses is the best”.

“I guess I’ll get going then” he said.

“Me too” she said.

Geiru knocked on her study and Megumi replied with the normal ‘Enter’.

Walking in she saw the man of last night and he smiled at her. She gave him a curt nod and approached Megumi.

“I want you to look at some numbers and give me the details about it. How much we made, how much we saved, how much we spent due to the turnout of things, how much we lost” she glanced at the man by the window. “Yes that”.

“Yes ma’am” she nodded taking a seat opposite her.

“So Geiru…..right?” Kenji asked.

“Yes sir”.

“Let my accountant work” Megumi said sitting in her seat, and turning to the window.

“So how did you get mixed up in Phantom of all gangs?” he asked. Megumi turned to him. “No offense” he chuckled, but it wasn’t humorous. It was dark in a way.

“I am offended” she said. “But now I am curious” she said. “Why my gang Geiru?”

“Because your gang is at the top ma’am, and I want to be at the top”.

“Isn’t that the answer all your lackeys give you?”

“They are not lackeys Kenji” she said calmly, her eyes betraying her mood.

“I think there’s something deeper there. You can’t just want the power. Megumi dear and her sister are at the top of the pyramid, and you’re where honey?” he was behind her now. “I’ll say you’re crawling up, albeit slowly. But the truth is that, you’re expendable, so where will all that power come from, because you have none”.

“Kenji” Megumi said standing up. “Leave her alone” a warning tone in what she said.

Kenji backed away with a smile. “Okay. No need to shoot me”.

“Now my mood has been ruined” she sighed and got her phone out. 

Geiru opened her mouth.

“What are you going to do?” Kenji beat her to it.

“Calling them back of course” she said.

She put the phone on speaker and she answered.

“Karou” she called.

“Mistress” she replied.

“Fall back” she said.

“A-are you sure?”

“Are you questioning me?” she asked.

“No ma’am”.

“Good. Fall back” she said and dropped the call.

Geiru wasn’t in a good place now. First of all, the Kenji of a person was a creep and second she never took Megumi, the leader, the boss, Mistress to have mood swings. Bad ones at that and just call them back.

“Why did you really call them back?” Kenji grinned.

“I’ve been really angry lately at Red Dawn having the upper hand so that, what just happened was just a diversion”.

“What?” Geiru asked confused.

Megumi just looked at her and blinked, like just remembering she was here.

“Oh yes Geiru. I should at least tell you” she rounded the table and placed her hands on the chair, close to her shoulders, her fingers tapping against the wood lightly.

“When Red Dawn gets there, Phantom won’t be there and since I know them really well they’ll let their guard down. And if they’re not calm….”

“BOOM!!!” she exclaimed in Geiru’s ear. “Just like dynamite. Like they aren’t people at all”.

“They placed a bomb there?” Geiru asked calmly. She had to school her features, or Megumi would see right through her. And she couldn’t afford to die right now. She couldn’t leave Takashi on his own. He’d die before he’d even lift a finger.

“You’re smart” she grinned. “I like you”.

Geiru sat there unfazed. That wasn’t the first crazy look she had seen.

“And even if the bomb doesn’t kill all of them, I have the best snipers at my disposal. We just have to see”.

Now she could see it. Takashi had been right. She had been suspicious, and that was why she was here running numbers, and getting interrogated. Megumi actually suspected her. But she knew she wasn’t sure, that was why she was still alive.

Next would be Takashi. And now she had learnt a lesson to actually listen to him next time. But she knew she must have passed whatever test Megumi must have set.

The music pierced the eerie silence of the room, and that felt like her heart dunking itself in cold water. 

“Karou” she hummed.

“It worked Mistress”.

“Ah” Megumi moaned happily. “This calls for a celebration doesn’t it?”

“Yes” she replied.

“Any survivors?” she asked.

“Few” she replied. “Should we let them go?”

“Someone has to break the news to Takahiro” she chuckled and dropped the call.

‘Boss’ she thought a little bit scared.  Her boss might seem like a nice guy because he was always smiling, but he wasn’t. But she rather be here than be by her boss’ side. He didn’t like failures and he dished out punishments for failures when they happened. Especially at his expense still with a smile on his face.

She had heard the stories, heard the screams, and seen the horrors that he meted out to his own members. She’d call and talk to him later. Hopefully he would have calmed down.

She continued with her work.

“Are you done?” Megumi asked.

“Yes ma’am” she nodded her head, face neutral. Like it always was, 

“Smile a little Geiru” Megumi said pulling on her cheeks. “I just gave you good news. Now go get ready, and drink till your heart’s content” and she stepped away gesturing to the door.

Geiru nodded and left the room.

“Well?” Kenji asked as she left.

“I can’t decide yet. Just because she was here and nothing happened can’t really prove anything”.

“Well it did” Kenji said.

“And if I make a move and she’s not the one? It might just be a coincidence, because it was a last minute change and not everyone knows about it. So that means the rat, whoever they might be wasn’t with them and couldn’t change it, and even if they weren’t there, didn’t get the information on time”.

“Just because she was here doesn’t eliminate our other options”.

“Who could they be?” Kenji asked walking towards her and pulled her close with a smile of his.

“Anyone” she replied. “Remember there’s still Takashi” she reminded him.

“Before we go downstairs, why don’t we have a celebration of our own?”

Megumi smiled as his hand went lower. Down her back, and then to her…

She cleared her throat and caught his hand. “Not now and not again Kenji” she tapped his cheek with her palm like a good dog.

“You’ll come around” he said as she walked past him. “You always do” he said mostly to himself.

VVVVV

The champagne tasted like shit in her mouth. How could she be here celebrating over the death of her members? Red Dawn hadn’t killed anyone yet, Megumi had been the first to draw blood. Takahiro wouldn’t take this sitting down. He’d fight back, and he’d fight back harder. But she couldn’t afford to not be at this small party.

Megumi already suspected her.

“So what now?” Takashi asked.

“You get a move on” she hissed.

“What does that mean?” he asked confused.

“Make your move on Megumi and strike, and then we can get out of here before any more casualties. You don’t know who Takahiro is” she warned.

“That is your problem” he said. “I’m not a gangster….”

“But you’re part of Phantom”.

“And you’re twofaced”.

“I’m not going to rush this and risk everything blowing up. So whatever you’re planning, don’t let it affect me” and he walked away.

Geiru sighed. He would get himself in trouble for sure, and she walked away.

Kenji smiled to himself as he came out from his hiding spot with a smile on his face that screamed malice. 

‘It has been long since I had some fun. First Megumi and now the two of them’ he laughed to himself and looked for Megumi’s eyes in the crowd of people, but he caught Sachi’s and he winked at the older sister who glared hard.

He went off to find more wine.

“I don’t like him being here” Sachi told her sister.

“He’s not doing anything”.

“Yet” she sighed.

“Sachi can you just calm down. My house isn’t on fire and everyone is still alive. Stop acting like he’s a demon”.

“He’s not a demon. He’s a spawn of Satan”.

“If he is, then what are we?” Megumi asked.

Her sister again wasn’t thinking.

“He’s human and nothing bad is going to happen during the remainder of his stay.

‘Until you’re a mindless drone again’ she thought. Letting his manipulative ass back in her life will be doing everyone good. She didn’t like it at all.

“So who do you think the rat is?” she asked.

“Could be anyone. The only thing they were slow today. I just want to catch whoever it is in action and then they’ll regret ever knowing me, Megumi Hirose” she grinned.

“And that’s a promise”.