"We're heeeeeeeeeere!"

Niko yelled at the top of her lungs, causing the people around them to glance at her.

"Now wait, Niko, we need to go put away our luggage before we do anything, so let's find a cheap hotel first"

Hannah said while keeping the overly excited Niko from running off on her own.

"No need for any fancy hotels when you're with me, i actually own an apartment in Tokyo!"

Gary said from the side.

"Wait, what, you have lived in Tokyo and never told me!?"

Niko exclaimed in shock.

"No no, i have never been here before, it's just that one of my clients couldn't pay me, so i took their apartment instead. Figured it wouldn't be too bad to own something in Japan, might come in handy someday, and as it so happens, it did, Aren't you glad you don't have to pay for an overpriced hotel now!"

Gary smiled and folded his arms proudly.

"Yea, good for you, i would have had you pay for our hotel anyway so it doesn't really matter"

Niko shrugged.

"...I guess, let's take a cab there, i heard the trains around here are always crowded,it would be a pain to do that while carrying bags"

Gary sighed as he hailed a taxi.

As they were all entering the car. Shoki stopped before entering, Suddenly turning his head to the side as if he had noticed something, But simply shook his head slightly and entered once Niko began to complain that he was being slow.

Gary turned to the driver and said something in japanese, and they drove off towards their destination.

"Wait, what was that, Since when do you speak Japanese?"

Niko asked, furrowing her brow.

"Oh it's just something i picked up from having to deal with so many Japanese business men, you'd be surprised at how much you learn just from that"

He bragged.

"...You learned it from those Japanese cartoons didn't you?"

Niko said with a blank expression.

"W-what, no, i already told you, it's from dealing with Japanese customers, what would a proud middle aged man like me be doing watching cartoons, don't be ridicilous!"

He laughed it off whilst waving his hand dismissivly.

"Yes, indeed, what would he be doing that for"

Niko said again with a blank expression, which made Gary sweat slightly.

"Alright look, i watched some of it, but only because the women in those shows have large TITS!"

He said, trying to come up with a believable excuse.

"Watch what you say infront of a child!"

Hannah exclaimed, covering Niko's ears.

"O-oh sorry.."

Gary apologised to being scolded.

"Again, i am not a child, you seem to forget"

Niko shook Hannah's hand's away from her ears.

"Oh right, sorry about that"

She patted Niko's head before moving her hands away.

"And Gary, don't worry, i won't mention anything about your large collection of certain Japanese pornography on your computer that you seem to think you have hidden, since we are in the presence of a genuine woman after all"

Niko smiled cruely, as she said that loud enough for Hannah to hear.

"Damnit Nikoooooooooooooooo!"

Gary screamed in despair, making the Taxi driver shake his head at the strange foreigners in his car.

--

They eventually arrived at a quiet neighborhood at the outskirts of the city, that was populated mostly by various villas and houses.

The Taxi stopped infront of an average looking house and let them off.

"Hey, i thought you said it was an apartment?"

Niko looked over the house with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it's as big as an average apartment by our standards, so don't get your hopes up, and since it is my house, you guys will be sleeping on the floor!"

Gary declared.

"Gary, you're sleeping on the floor, the bed is mine"

Niko said from the side as Shoki helped Hannah get her bag out of the Taxi.

"But it's my damn house, damnit Niko, the bed is mine!"

"Gary. The bed is mine."

Niko narrowed her eyes as she looked Gary in the eyes.

"No, damnit, i'm not gonna back down this time!"

Gary returned the look and stared into Niko's eyes with determintion.

"Ah let's see, You know, my favourite one from the Japanese videos on your computer was the one where this black haired girl with pigtails stood up and-"

"Ok ok, you can have the bed!"

Gary quickly relented as he realised what Niko was going to say.

"Damn right, you expect someone like the great Niko to sleep on the floor, ridiculous, Kings do not sleep on the floor!"

Niko announced as they entered the house.

"Niko, for you, it would be Queen"

Hannah corrected her from behind her, making Niko sulk slightly.

The inside of the house was made up of a kitchen, a living room and a single bedroom.

"Alright, let's go have fun!"

Niko said excitedly as the bags just touched the floor.

"Now, Niko, we just arrived, shouldn't we rest up a bit before we do anything, it was a long trip after all"

Hannah said with a slightly tired voice.

"Yeah, Niko, You may be a kid now, but i'm almost an old man you know, i need my rest!"

Gary laughed, and held his back in mock pain.

"You ARE an old man, Gary"

Niko retorted, causing Gary's smile to turn upside down.

"Come on, you can rest when you sleep, let's go, better to do something sooner rather than later!"

"It's all about catching the day!"

"Squeezing all you can out of today!"

"Starting now, means not giving up later!"

"Oh come on, lets goooo!"

Niko complained loudly, causing Gary to sigh, Hannah wearing an awkward smile, and Shoki raising an eyebrow.

In the end, they had relented to Niko, and made their way towards the Shinjuko area in tokyo, which was well known for being a popular tourist spot due to it's many malls and retsurants, Niko being most excited for the latter one.

"Why are we going to a tourist spot..weren't we supposed to be here to meet 'Evileye'?"

Gary asked as he realised where they were going.

"Oh come on, we can't do work on the first day here, fun first, work later!"

Niko patted him on the shoulder excitedly as they sat on the subway train headed for Shinjuko.

"Alright, let's go, I know exactly where we should go!"

Niko said as she stood at the forefront of the group, holding a very large map infront of her.

They slowly made their way through the crowd, getting lost several times on the way, which was definitely not due to Niko not being able to read maps very well, before they were stopped by someone yelling something at them in japanese.

Walking towards them was a tall Japanese man wearing a very loose fitting Kimono, his exposed chest covered with various tattoo's.

The man had a mean smile on his face as he adressed Gary, to which Gary responded with his usual cheery business tone, although Niko could tell that it was slightly strained.

"Look, kimono man, we are on our way somewhere, so could you please not bother my walking piggy bank?"

Niko said, feeling slightly annoyed over the delay.

"Oya? What this, you have fun with family? How nice, Gary-san, sorry Ojou-chan, i need to talk to your oOtou-san about some very IMPORTANT matters, is that not correct, Gary-san?"

The Kimono wearing man who was wearing a slight grin. said with a heavy accent.

"Right? well have fun Gary!"

She said as she quickly put her hand into Gary's pocket and took his wallet before walking off with Hannah and Shoki.

"Hey, wait, damnit!"

Gary complained, although he didn't bother to resist, since he knew that it would be useless against someone like Niko.

"Haha, Quite interesting family you have, Gary-san!"

The Kimono man laughed as he slapped Gary on the back and (literally) dragged him off into a nearby bar.

Soon enough the group, minus Gary, found their way to their destination.

A large restaurant that was obviously high-class, stood infront of them with it's impressive ancient looking architecture, the smell of delicious food quickly dragging them in before they realised it.

A Kimono wearing woman led them to an empty table, before starting to take their orders.

"I want this and this and this"

Niko quickly chose the most expensive dishes they had without bothering to look at what they were.

The woman looked slightly confused and said something in Japanese that Niko couldn't understand, making Niko scratch her in confusion as she tried to explain what she wanted to the woman by pointing at the things she wanted.

Hannah quickly read the menu and said something in Japanese to the woman, Shoki took slightly longer to choose, but similiarly also ordered in Japanese.

"W-what is this, you guys can speak Japanese too!?"

Niko exclaimed in Shock.

"Ah yes, i studied abroad in Japan for two years during College, it was part of an exchange program, so i learned it during my stay here, it was very interesting to learn a new language"

Hannah smiled as she explained.

"My grandfather is Japanese"

Shoki said without bothering to go into details.

"Nooooo...Now i'm the only one who doesn't speak Japanese, Shoki you traitor!"

Niko cried dramatically.

"Right..."

Shoki raised an eyebrow at Niko's over the top reaction.

"I'm the only one who can't order properly..."

Niko sulked.

"Oh, i can just order for you Niko, just tell me what you want!"

Hannah tried to reassure Niko as she patted her head.

"Well..i want this, this, this and this!"

Niko quickly regained her vigour and started to choose the most expensive looking dishes.

"Hm..alright..but Niko this is alcohol you know"

Hannah said as she pointed towards the first thing Niko had chosen.

"Well of course, no meal is complete without some sake, and i heard the sake here is the best!"

Niko explained like it was obvious, her mouth obviously watering at the thought of sake.

"Niko, you can't drink alcohol"

Hannah frowned.

"Hah, what, why not?!"

Niko asked, complete confusion obvious on her face.

"Because you are not old enough, of course!"

Hannah shook her finger at Niko.

"I'm older than you damnit!"

Niko retorted angrily.

"No, you are not, so no alcohol for you!"

Hannah declared, and ordered for Niko.

While the other two were enjoying their food, Niko was sulking, quietly sipping on her apple juice.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Wow, Niko, you were right, they really did have the best food i've ever tasted!"

"Indeed"

Hannah said with a smile, her cheeks full of food, as Shoki agreed with her.

"It was ok i guess.."

Niko muttered quietly.

"Are you still sulking because of that alcohol, you know you're too young, and besides it would have just made the food taste worse!"

"I'm not young, and the food tasted bad without any sake.."

Niko sighed and continued to chew on her food as if it was completely tasteless.

"So, where do you want to go now Niko?"

Hannah asked as they exited the retaurant after having paid the bill with the help of Gary's wallet.

"Somewhere with Sake..."

Niko muttered to herself as her shoulders dropped slightly, whilst she looked at the map.

As they were busy discussing where they would go next, the door to the restaurant opened as someone exited it from behind them.

"Ahhh that sure hit the spot, that sake was so great, maybe i should have ordered more..."

Someone muttered with a delighted tone from behind them.

Niko turned around upon the mention of Sake, happy to see someone who shared her taste, only to be shocked by the sight infront of her.

"You!"

"YOU!"

They both exclaimed simultaneously as they pointed towards each other.

Two figures stood infront of Niko, one of them was a man dressed in pitch black robes that covered every inch of their body, so it beacame difficult to even tell if it was a man or a woman. The other figure was someone Niko could regonise fairly well by now, and Shoki even more so.

A man with long red hair that wore peculiar dark red and gold robes stood infront of them.

"To think that a fellow sake lover would be someone like you, are you trying to ruin the reputation of my dear sake!!"

Niko exclaimed in anger as she waved her fist at the man.

"Whilst i hadn't expected to run into you so soon...it's only a good thing, now i don't have to look for you, Shoki...and strange little girl.."

He muttered the last part whilst his hand unconciously moved to rub the back of his head.

"Forget it, Bonefire head, last time Shoki easily handled you, so you better run along and not piss me off too much or i will send Shoki after you!"

Niko tried threatening him, standing her ground with her hands on her hips.

"From what i remember, it was you who ran off, but no matter, this time i won't let you run away!"

The red haired man snapped his fingers, and the robed figure behind him burst forward towards Shoki, who was already in a ready stance holding his dagger.

Instead of using a sword like the previous henchmen that were with the red haired man, this one used their fists and nothing else.

The black robed figure was blindly rushing forward and throwing punches left and right with no consideration to any defencive maneuvers whatsoever.

Normally, Shoki would take this obvious mass of openings to land a quick killing blow, he was however too busy trying not to get hit himself, as the speed of his opponent surpassed anything he had faced before.

And by the large holes of where his opponent had missed a punch which ended up in a wall, their strength matched their speed.

"W-what's going on, Niko, who are those people!?"

Hannah asked with a confused and slightly frightened tone.

"Some cultists or something, i don't remember, ask Shoki later"

Niko said as she glanced over at the fight before turning her gaze back towards the red haired man.

"Now, before i move in and help finish off that traitor, i might as well take care of you while i'm at it, don't worry, death is just the beginning and i will make sure to make it quick and painless!"

The red haired man started walking towards Niko and Hannah with an ominous smile.

"....You!"

Hannah pointed at the red haired man.

"Me?"

He asked, a confused expression on his face.

"That's your friend, right?"

She asked as she pointed towards Shoki's opponent.

"Hm..a friend..i guess you could call it that if you want"

He shrugged.

"Then tell your friend to stop, what they are doing is not particularly propper, they could get hurt, and it's bothering the people around them, Shame on you for not having propper manners, didn't your mother teach you any!"

Hannah continued to scold the confused man.

"That's good, keep him busy, i have a plan!"

Niko whispered to Hannah, before running off to find Gary.

A few minutes later, Niko had made her way towards the bar that Gary was dragged into.

Niko quickly entered the bar, and was met with glares from dangerous looking Tattooed men that were talking loudly among themselves, the bar thick with smoke from their cigarettes.

Niko spotted Gary at the back of the room, being squished between the Kimono wearing man and another large man, who were merrily chatting away, with Gary nodding occasionaly, his usual smile now obviously strained.

Niko quickly walked up to their table, Gary instantly beaming up when he noticed Niko.

"Niko, you came to save me-"

He began, his eyes tearing up.

"Shut up Gary"

Niko interrupted him and turned towards the Kimono wearing man.

"Oya oya, what is ojou-chan being here, is bad place for child"

The Kimono man looked over at Niko, who was staring at him.

"You're part of a Yakuza gang, aren't you?"

Niko asked with a blank serious face.

"Oya oya, ojou-chan, i never would talk to such evil people"

He denied her claim.

"Just answer me, yes or no"

Niko pressed on.

"Humu..what would you do if i said yes..?"

He asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Gary owes you alot of money, right?"

She asked.

"Hoo, ojou-chan is sharp, but that is not true, it is not money he owe, but honour"

The kimono man shook his head as he finished his drink.

"Honour?"

Niko asked, slightly confused.

"Yes, Ojou-chan maybe is too young to understand, but your Otou-san made it so we were kicked out of Yakuza, we technically not Yakuza anymore, although we always are in soul"

He said as he showed of his cut off pinky.

"They cut off your finger?"

Niko felt slightly disgusted by that and looked away.

"Yes, Yakuza is not easy to escape, even if you don't want to, they cut off finger to prove that leaving is bad, even if we do not want leave, don't worry ojou-chan, like this i can do cut off finger trick much better!"

He laughed as he tried doing the finger magic trick with his non-existent pinkie.

"Ok, so how about this, if you help me out, i will offer you to join a group much better than any Yakuza group, sound good?"

She propsitioned.

"What kind of Group you are talking about, we have high standard"

"Well, if you help me out, you will see that the group is defintely worthy of Ex-Yakuza like you, and it will also serve as a test to see if you are actually worthy of joining it"

Niko said, trying to ignite the competetive spirit that she knew every man possesed.

"A challenge? We will not back down from challenge, we will help and then we see if we join group or if we break neck of Gary-san"

He laughed and gave Gary a strong pat on the back, which made him cringe slightly.

--

Hannah was still yelling at the red haired man, with Shoki and his dark robed opponent seemingly dancing around. The robed figure trying to get a hit on Shoki, but always missing with a few centimeters, making their actions look like some kind of interpretive dance, that was sped up ten times.

"-And you should also cut your hair, it's not good to have long hair, it can get stuck, which is quite painful, and why would you colour your hair, do you realise that it destroys your hair!"

"ENOUGH!"

The red haired man yelled, fed up with the strange womans ramblings.

"I let you talk since you seemed to pose no danger, but you are simply too annoying to leave alive, Don't worry, the traitor will be joining you soon anyway"

He took out a match stick from inside his robe, and flicked it towards Hannah.

Hannah observed his strange action, thinking that it was rude to throw random trash at people.

"Die, annoying woman"

He muttered and snapped his fingers, the matchstick starting to light up in midair.

Before it could properly get ignited however, the end part of the matchstick, which contained the chemicals that ignited it, was somehow detached from the rest of the matchstick, causing it stop igniting.

Hannah looked at the man that now stood infront of her. The man was wearing a very loose kimono and had a heavily Tattooed body. But the most strange thing about the man was that he was holding a japanese sword, that he had drawn at some point.

The sword was obviously of very high quality as it seemed to be well taken care of as it perfectly reflected the sun in it like a mirror. The sword had a plain wooden handle, and a simple wooden sheath that the man was holding in his left hand, the featureless wooden parts were most likely made that way due to the fact that they were for storing the sword when it was not being used.

"Phew, we made it just in time!"

Niko breathed out as she ran up to Hannah, with several other Tattooed men following her from behind, these ones not holding swords, but instead simple baseball bats and brass knuckles.

"More annoying pests...and who the hell are you?"

"Zatoichi... Ojou-chan is this what you need help with?"

He looked at Niko who nodded slowly.

"Men, you go help knife kid there, i will take care of fancy hair here"

He nodded towards where Shoki was fighting the robed figure, the men quickly starting to make their way there.

"You seem to be taking this very lightly...in that case, since you will all be dead soon, i will bless you with my name, they call me Skuld, and now i will make you wish you never heard my name..."

The red haired man named Skuld, said as he took out a match box, putting several matchsticks between his fingers on both hands, and he held them up to both sides.

"Since i have now told you my name i have to make sure you all die...so observe, no one has seen this attack and lived, ELDR VAENGR!"

He announced, as the matchsticks between his fingers lit up.

Instead of blowing up however, the matchsticks started to slowly release flames, almost like small flamethrowers, except instead of shooting the fire straight forward, the fire seemed to be waving together on both sides, creating something very similiar to pair of large fiery flame wings.

"Ojou-chan...if this is just a test for joining group you mention..i do not want know what group deal with usually..."

Zatoichi the Kimono wearing man said in what sounded like a nervous tone, but when Niko looked up at him, she noticed that he was smiling, grinning even, and she realised that what she heard was not nervousness but simple excitement.

"I will slice your flames, AKUMA!"