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Andrew and Shania were in comatose due to the driver of the car fled from the scene, the aftermath went worse that the government started taking control. Kohaku didn't even had time to mourn and attended Julian's burial--considering how many lives they lost to the disaster that befall. 'What the hell was going on?' was what was going on through his mind, feeling tired and helpless. 'Why my friends have to die like this!?' he thought, he was so devastated that he lost his friends in less than a week!

'Why did I do to deserve this?' he cursed inside his mind, still crying silently while Byakuya gently pat his best friend's back to try easing his pain of losing his loved ones and also his students' sacrifice that cost his life. He know Kohaku grieved, it hurt him so badly that he often wondered if he could take on a long journey of accepting his friends' fate in a horrific ending. "Kayana..." Sherry placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jolt and look over his shoulder. The look on his face could be describe as mixed emotions, before letting go of the grip on his seat, allowing himself to melt into the comfort of his closest comrades. "Sherry... I..."

"It's okay, that's what we are for."

As her soft fingers caressed his forearm, Kohaku gazed directly at her. "Tell me, am I... really that trustworthy?" he questioned, his usual strong facade gone--replaced by a broken person who's overwhelmed with his painful feelings of regret. Kahayana kneeled in front of his son, he was so upset that Kohaku falling into his lowest point and become depressed. "Kayana, I'm sorry... you lose your classmates after the Phantom Eruption..." he told him, after all of the things he went through. "Guys, keep him company--I don't want something crazy happen to Kayana."

Radjasa whispered while Byakuya keep him close to his body, preventing his suicidal temptation. Rayna frowned to see Kohaku becoming sad, the fourteen-years old girl hugged him tightly and told him that this isn't the end of everything. For once, he never felt this devastated when he lost one of his classmates--Misuzu. After all these years, Kohaku kept fighting by masking his regrets of his fears, but this time...

... he felt vulnerable as a helpless being.

For once, his emotions overwhelm him as he felt lost in his own heart.

The Trilaksana Organization members also having funeral for their fallen officers, Kohaku sent his condolences after that. "I'm terribly sorry, Prof..." Hokuri heard Kohaku whimpered as he patted his shoulder, after he saw Luca talk to his older brother Damien regarding this case--along Alda and her husband Lastier checking on Andrew and Shania respectively. Hifumi also paid condolences to Julian, so does Kaname as he clenched his fists after hearing this out--lastly Kayla and Aliyah who were part of the Executive Officers got devastated as well.

"Kohaku, hey... come on, it's not your fault..."

Hokuri consoled him as he put his arms around the latter, before his friends gather around--even the new members showed themselves, only able to give their best wishes. Damien watched him silently, before hissing. "I need to consult it with our president now, I'll be in his office for some business," he whispered, Luca sighed while scratching his neck. "Listen here, bro... we're facing with two fucking Japanese yakuza who had business in Indonesia and worse--the 'Black Cat' shit from the Indonesian underground, get yourself ready..." Luca warned.

Damien was wide-eyed, before his brows furrowed. "That fucking bastard... no wonder the client has been giving us intel and all. When we met the scums, tell Kayana and EXODUS that they only need to assassinate the 'leaders', just because of reasons," he whispered to Hisato, who nodded while writing up the minutes. "I'll tell Madame Alda regarding this shit too... she's the Executive Director after all, this isn't good." he spoke with a whispering tone, before glancing at Kohaku and the others. He put a hand on Damien's shoulder before nodding, both of them leave the vicinity and went to the president's office.

'I need to give Kayana some break... he won't be able to focus and endanger himself,' Damien thought, deciding on the matter for Kohaku's sake. He already have something in mind, what would he be possibly doing in return of being given a break, and perhaps... Damien could have Kohaku work on his private task with them.

But, his priority is his emotional stability.

Few hours later...

Kohaku slept on the bed as he was exhausted from the funeral activities, he was burying his feelings on one spot after he made an emotional breakdown in front of everyone. He rolled up on the mattress, as his closed eyes were slightly wet and swollen after they showed up in his house, along with Kahayana as an additional companionship. They ended up sleeping in Kohaku's mansion, seeing that he was having a terrible migraine from his breakdown. As he kept holding himself in, until he let go and broken down.

Byakuya left him on the bed, after all Kohaku had experienced was an absolute, absolute abuse of bad luck and tragic loss. Even he is lucky but he's cursed with misfortunes, making him into a reluctant protagonist of a horrible story. His suffering is much too different compared to the man's pain before him, it felt so depressing for him...

"I'm sorry for dragging you guys into it..." he said, surprising his friends with that deplorable and miserable voice. Was all of that worth it? Kohaku's friends can't seem to find any happy ending of that misery and self-loath he had carried. "Kayana, don't blame yourself... you've gone through a lot," Rayna replied, she tried her best to cheer up her friend. Kohaku patted the little girl's head, closing his eyes with pained expression--no longer putting up a tough boy act for showing his vulnerable side to the rest. "Please give me some time, okay?" he said with a smile on his lips, as the girl pulled away and smiled back.

"I will, as long as you want to meet us. I would definitely answer the call."

Those words warmed Kohaku's heart when she said that, putting his trust on his teammates as always; they were ready to help him when the time had come. "Let's hope this doesn't end bad."

Kahayana watched him with deep gaze, and his gaze narrowed when his mind filled with thoughts. 'The Black Cat... is it... the one in that incident?' he thought, remembering the man that attacked the police district the night of October 28 and it made him wonder about it. "Uhm... Mr. Tirta," Byakuya called Kohaku's father, seeing him approached as Kahayana made them food. "Hm? Is something wrong, Byakuya?" he asked the brown-haired man, who asked back with a question. "Is Kohaku okay?" he asked.

"Uhm... how do I put this? I hope this doesn't sound morbid... as his father. I'm scared for him, because... you know."

Byakuya's calm expression slowly morphed into despair, almost seeing how broken Kohaku had become due to losing his friends. "I feared for my own son, everything that had been coming up from this month had been overwhelming for him... what if he really kills himself due to depression, or worse!" his voice softened at the last two words, tears formed in his eyes--even when Byakuya was in his mansion. Kahayana offered him to stay with them, and he quickly nodded at his offer. "He's my one and only child, I might say that he has an emotional fragility more than a mental strength..."

"Sir, Kohaku wouldn't do such an extreme way to end his own life... he always have us by his side. That is the reason of him living today, because we were with him... now for my opinion. He's just... having a bad month, is all," Byakuya suggested while Kahayana nodded in agreement, before he smiled weakly and turning back on the stove. "I can see why my son considers you as his closest friend, that's how you and him think alike, same brain cell," the father joked that made the latter chuckled, giving a slightly better mood that seems good enough.

Meanwhile, Kohaku was sleeping soundly as he hugged a pillow and rolled up onto the bed--he dreamt of Julian in the college, followed by Shania and Andrew who soon merged into a single person that haunted his dreams--startling him and he broke into tears. His phone got confiscated by his father because he intended to 'get himself together' and didn't want Kohaku mess up with some depressing and suicidal shit. That is Kohaku's nightmare for the past month, every nights--seeing his deceased friends were haunting his dreams without a means of waking up!

His friends visited him like a shift and take turns to check on the young assassin, making sure he didn't do any desperate act of desperate and crazily impulsive move. Also the one who make him feel a sense of relief, is...

... his father and his friends.

Although Andrew and Shania were still in comatose for unknown time--despite their brain still active, Kohaku prayed that they'll be okay.

"Kayana...?" his father called softly, putting a plate of steak on the tray on the small table--as the auburn-haired was sitting in his veranda and saw the backyard garden. From the moment he went into depression, Kahayana decided to give him 'space' and alone time so he can process his thoughts and whatever feelings he had in him. How many days has it? It's been two weeks he has been depressed and Kohaku being complete hell for the whole day, even his friends including the assassins taking shifts to take care of him. His teammates also having a grieving for the assassinated officers, to say the least they're not exactly amused with how their boss dealing with his shitty luck.

Kohaku slowly walk out from the bed, still in his pajamas as he put on his sleeping jacket in the early morning--sniffing the aromatic scent of French toast with a little bit of fried pepper that is coming through the room. Kahayana thought it would calm his nerves, telling him to take some deep breaths and slowly exhaled in the hopes of feeling a sense of relief. "Good morning," he greeted him, while Kohaku was holding his glasses and sniffled tiredly--it was so nice and warm being around Kahayana, than staying alone in the room for two weeks. "Morning, Dad..."

"You have the weekend off, how does your sleep went, by the way?"

Kohaku let out a faint sigh, Kahayana frowned in worry when he asked him for a hug which he complied. "You need all the comfort you could get, Kayana..." he assured his son, keeping him still and letting him to not use his words. "It's cold... it's raining outside..." Kohaku sobbed, chanting the last part while weeping silently on his father's shoulder. Kahayana rubbed his son's back in small circular motion. While Kohaku hiccuped when he weeped harder and mumbled the sentences about he is still mourning and moving on with his life, Kohaku can't help but thinking if his curse will affect the assassins when the time comes?

"I keep seeing them in my dreams..."

Kahayana heard him whispered with a hoarse voice, still hugging him tightly and it didn't take long until Kohaku finally cried himself to sleep on his father's shoulder. "Andrew and Shania will be okay, even though they're in comatose..." Kahayana whispered softly, gently running his fingers in his hair, and whispering words of comfort. "I promise they will be okay... just let them rest well, we are taking care of them."

Kohaku nodded, before he wiped his face dry while his father was making breakfast for him. He took a shower and cleaning his body from head to toe, later joining them in eating at the dining table. 'I had to cheer him up so he won't be able to think bad once again... and besides, he have secret assignment planned as well,' Kahayana thought while he fed his son a small portion of scrambled eggs and bacon on his plate, all the while encouraging him to eat it--by reminding him that he'll gain some strengths from eating this time. "There, eat up... you haven't eaten for two days, take it easy for a few bites. You still need energy, I can't have you dying right here... don't pull any extreme move, Kayana..."

"I'm not, I'm just... having a bad fever and extremely exhausted."

Right, Kohaku didn't have a suicidal thoughts--which is a good sign. He know the last thing he want to experience is when his own friends thought he become a depressed being that was unfixable, only because of his grieving period which is normal for anybody in this situation. Even though he's twenty-one years old, Kohaku's mental stability just dropped like a bomb. "Hisato said that Damien had given us a time off, so it's good--am I right?" Kohaku said, his father smiled--reassuring him that everything will be okay, as long Kohaku did a normal activities like the ones he done before all the tragic shitstorm in his life.

"Of course. Now, for our discussion regarding Julian... our people had it investigate," Kahayana suddenly added. Kohaku nodded his head, indicating him that he had regained his senses and he won't being a sad-ass anymore, much to his relief. It's not good for him to be a crybaby, even if it's just about the sudden bad moments. But even if all of these things are hard, he just needs to wait for his opportunity to change them...

Kohaku wanted to brush off that depressive thoughts, he decided to clean up his room and do some chores to keep his mind occupied. He really needed a change of scenery, his thoughts seemed to linger on him more than he could handle. He was washing the plates he used, also took the empty bottles down to the recycle bin. It's been hours and he's getting exhausted, so he decided to take a nap on his bed after cleaning his house. "Fuck, my head..." he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead as Kohaku entered his room and stared at the window.

After a few more minutes of cleaning...

He went to his bed and slept for a few hours, slowly being in deep slumber and it turns out to be a peaceful dream he had.Kohaku woke up as his eyes were still locked away, rubbing his eyes as he rolled to the side. "What a nice dream..." he murmured, before he sniffed another food scent into his nose--quite smelling like baked chocolate cookies. "Huh?" he looked up, seeing his father called him downstairs. "Kayana!" Kahayana's voice kept getting louder, surprising the auburn-haired man as he rolled from his bed and fall into the carpet mat.

"Ah... what the hell? H-Hold on! Ugh..."

Kohaku groaned loudly as he opened the door, wearing a white hoodie, blue denim jacket and blue denim pants. "Come on, stop skipping breakfast and go downstairs!" his father told him, but Kohaku simply just pushed the older man aside with a scowl. "No, I want to sleep," he groaned, plopping himself onto the couch. 'Great, here we go again...' Kahayana thought, before he smirked--finding an idea to cheer up his son, actually he learned a lot of shit from the childhood as he turned his own father become his happy-go-lucky brat of a son. "Kayana, if you don't eat... I will not allow you to hang out at the mall and amusement park."

Kohaku raised his upper body in a snap.

"And also, the beach."

Now he immediately walked downstairs to have breakfast, Kahayana always make sure he's a hungry, grumpy kid that is going through teenage rebellious stage. 'Food works miracles, even it came in the form of someone being their family...' he thought with a small smiles when Kohaku soon munched his fried eggs quietly and drink his chocolate, followed by finishing his sandwich. "After this, we'll be heading to the gym. Damien told me that you better keep your body on fit, just because of reasons. Don't worry, we are on our way of solving Julian's case and I promise... you're gonna kill the guys who killed Julian and made you two friends got into severe coma,"

Kohaku had a glare and he tightened his fists when his father mentioned his classmates, not forgetting those bastards--the yakuza who he knew through his search of intel after that incident. 'Andrew and Shania...' he thought, his hopes went up--when Kahayana reassured that Andrew and Shania would be okay, no matter how deep they're in their comatose condition, their brain was still alive and well. His father gave him a small smile, the atmosphere had gone lighter as soon as they knew Kohaku is now better with his emotions--meanwhile he sighed in relief to know that his classmate or his students are in safety.

"They're on safe hands, Kayana..." Kahayana said as if he can read his son's mind, smiling.

His friends visited him throughout the day, even during his training session or activities--Kohaku didn't feel lonely. It took him a long time to get up from his lowest points, which he decided to keep moving forward. His schedule went on as per normal, much to his relief. "Yo, you're back!" Radjasa greeted him with a smile, while Byakuya wanted to hug him but holding himself back with his stoic and calm expression. "It's alright, I'm glad to see you guys."

Kohaku hugged his friends with a tight embrace, his days truly ended up a lot better--he's glad to live with it, and he can be his usual self. "We brought some food for you, you know," Rayna spoke while Sherry giggled and the auburn-haired man ruffled the youngest girl's head. "He looks more cheerful, Rayna," Sherry responded while Kohaku sighed, before Kiryu suddenly jumped on him and he yelled in surprise. "Damn it, Kiryu! Give me a fucking break, will ya?!" he barked at the light blonde-haired young man, and he replied in amusement.

"That's what we say when we are happy about you finally be our active self again, bro."

Byakuya responded, while Kyouka brought some donuts on the dining table--while Kyoran began cooking on the kitchen and he is on duty for today. Meanwhile, the brunette young girl hug Kohaku as a very happy welcome to him finally getting a grip and moved on with his life. Nadya was relieved that he's alright, even though the latter had to recover for a while. Damien visited him with Hisato along Ichika who's his daughter, watching the trio cooked for the dinners and having fun, all the while as he and Hisato observing from afar.

"Will be be ready to stop our three targets?"

Damien raised an eyebrow while glancing back at him, letting out an airy chuckles as his crimson eyes was seen gazing deeper within the young assassin's soul. "Only time will tell, Kayana Sahanaya Tirta... just in time for your secret assignment."

Brightened for his secret mission, Kohaku nodded. "That means the time is coming, soon we'll be the end of their ties..."

Then, all hell will break loose when they did what they needed to do.

The next day...

"Mr. Christiadjie, there's a guest wanting to see you."

Damien's secretary entered and notified him about the appointment that Marduk Kamal just arrived and telling him to have a meeting at 9 A.M at the Bali Grand Hotel. Well shit, Damien should act normal. "Name please," he stated, turning his head away from the computer screen and quickly stood up from his chair, walking towards the front door of his office room, all the while adjusting his black and white three piece-suit. "Mr. Kamal. From Malaysia," was the only answer that he got back, he was busy re-checking if everything is in place, after he replied an 'alright' to his secretary.

The way over the hotel in which they were going to have their appointment was about a twenty-minute drive, a path full of lush vegetation and small Buddhist stupas can be seen along the way. Upon arriving at the hotel, they immediately walked towards the first floor to seek out the familiar looking male, only to be greeted with bright and warm smile followed by friendly laughter. "You must be Mr. Damien Fernandez Christiadjie, president of Christiadjie Corporations?" he asked, giving him a bow as a sign of respect and extending his hand for a handshake.

Marduk Kamal also has the knowledge about social cultural, economy and political--which make him an attractive candidate for partnering deals as well. The difference between two people is that, Damien is skilled in manipulating anyone and make sure the profits are his goal, whereas Marduk, he's quite of an extroverted people's person and a man with open mind regarding cooperation deals--but he use a cunning and scheming tactic. "The one and only," Damien answered as he stepped forward and reached his hand to greet him back with a firm handshake. "I'm honored to meet you here, Mr. Kamal. You're the last guest that I've been expecting," he added in a sincere tone while returning a friendly smile.

If Damien is the king of manipulation, then Marduk Kamal is the king of tricking people into their demise.

Apparently, his main reason to visit Bali is to check on the various agricultural methods that are implemented in Bali. Marduk Kamal was dressed in his signature elegant white silk Chinese-style robes with golden trims, a dark blue silk oriental vest and a dark teal pants with Mandarin shoes with white socks. He always wear oriental-style clothing because he doesn't give a damn about ethnical outfits and other shit, and he rather prefers a gentleman or scholar. His scholarly short brown hair was slicked back with small bangs, while his skin is light and his bangs almost covering his light brown eyes.

In another view, everyone is a little wary of him because of his intimidating presence. Aside from that, he also has a background full of suspicion--like the whole internet searching about his past and crime was completely covered by his achievements, not even the security agencies in the underworld knew where he originated and they only knew that he's Malaysian criminal with half British descendant. Still, the client doesn't know about this, even Nadya have a tough time to discover his true motives behind his acts.

Besides, dressing in these oriental robes and vest gives a sense of dominance and power, he was wealthy businessman as the front-face while he holds a secret weapon somewhere. "So, regarding Takashi Shimaou and Kizuna Kekkain... you're having a hard time dealing with these two yakuza leaders. As for the 'Black Cat', I can give you some small assistance since it's involving your country," Marduk Kamal stated, after he takes a sip from his tea. "You know, some of my men also got killed by those syndicates."

Damien narrowed his eyes, so he wasn't the only one being targeted by these two? "You have any problems you're facing, Datuk?" he calmly asked the latter with his soothing voice, he earned a small nod of response. Marduk Kamal puffed out a smoke from his mouth, after inhaling from the smoking pipe on his hand. "Which is why I need your help too, Mr. Christiadjie. These mobs were really trying to harm my credibility for black markets, they're all connected with politicians, businessmen and other bosses," he stated, he was a respected Datuk of Malaysia, but in truth; he held a political title in Mafia underworld in Asia.

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His appearance with a well-groomed manner and clothing that emphasize the richness of his character, with a huge cash flow underneath his pockets. "Do you know the story of the 'Black Swan' here in Indonesia? The former drug lord of crime has worked for both governments in Indonesia and Malaysia, an old time enemy with yours..." Marduk inquired, his gaze darkened; giving a serious stare with his light brown eyes--enough to make everyone have an uneasy feelings.

Those darkened light brown eyes sends shivers down anyone's spine, but Damien remained calm and collected as usual, he was unfazed with his words--for reasons. "'Black Swan'... sounds familiar," he responded, before the man held a smiling expression again; although the latter was aware of his current situation, he knew how dangerous he could become. "I killed him two years ago," Damien admitted with a smirk, no sign of remorse or guilt whatsoever when he reminded him about their agreement to kill any threats that are either related to business and government officials.

Marduk Kamal's gaze hardened, now knowing what's going on with him--he remembered a person he knew and they're often arguing with each other. "That's good to hear, I hate that guy. Good riddance and all that," he responded in relieved tone, rubbing the back of his head as he gave out a chortled laughter. Damien and Kamal know each other through e-mails, occasionally having social network--Marduk Kamal always fancied any good discussions that's always polite, either on real life or online. "So, how do you deal with the Japanese yakuza?"

The twenty-five year old mafioso pulled down his fingers, with a serious expression and his eyes remain unmoving on him--instead it shows the light color on his iris. "I have my own methods, mind you. It might require a death wish..." he began, leaning his back against the chair.

"... because I usually use psychological or emotional torture, thus... it always leaves painful consequences."

He spoke with his silky and smooth voice--before it turns into a dark and quiet one, earning a small smirk on his lips. "Do you want to take down Takashi or Kizuna? I can try the next best and most effective strategy... as we agreed, we will target anything and anyone that brings damage to our reputation and credibility," Damien said bluntly, that he haven't told him a mere half-lie to explain what is his tactics actually about--besides, it was their little 'war game' of some sort and how his team operates. "Don't mess with Kizuna, she's quite sadistic."

"Well... we used to ally. But that was a bit ago, few decades ago."

Marduk Kamal responded with a wary chuckle, letting out a heavy exhale from his parted mouth--he feels a lot of burdens due to what happens years ago. "Damien... let's work together like we used to do. I know you're pissed because of what happened in Kuantan last month, so... could you find a solution to get rid of these syndicate groups?" he pleaded, Damien looked at him--still having that stoic face of his. He still offended when his turf was taken by them, until they returned the territory when Marduk took several guns from them that were originally took from Bali.

"Have it. But... I'll tell you this, she is not as fierce as you might have think. On top of that, the underworld mobs and elite class families cannot touch me or kill me, either way... they have failed attempts," Damien said with his arrogant tone, his ruby red eyes under his sunglasses shimmered dangerously when he blinked. "Well, even if it hurts... a lot."

They received reports of these two yakuza leaders were responsible for stealing valuable resources in the black markets, Marduk Kamal called him on the phone after he heard the news. Obviously, Damien would put his ass in danger--also these two yakuzas were dangerous menaces in all of the underworld affairs. "The 'Black Cat' is currently a threat to the kingdom, I'm the Malay Datuk. But still, there's few of them in Kuala Lumpur--this time... they have gone straight to Bali," Marduk Kamal muttered, sounding rather unhappy that it had come to this.

He may be ruthless and a corrupt one, but when the criminal world turned upside down by a mere rat--he is a very serious threat and the Black Cat is without a doubt, a terrifying bastard. "How about this? We'll make a deal that should end in win-win solution. I'll help you with your problem, once you destroy the problem that is now rising in Indonesia... both underworld criminal empires," Marduk Kamal declared, narrowing his eyes.

At least, the one that he knows Damien is not the sort to let go of the past or hold grudge. Damien may be nonchalant and calm in everything that happened, but deep down he is always vengeful and he can keep on attacking until the rival is smashed into mincemeat. He's a typical bad boy with his fancy smile but waste not time to show his dark nature, that's why people afraid of him or sometimes underestimated him. "We'll take Takashi and Kizuna separately, once we got their strength and weakness."

They paused when they sensed somebody eyeing on them, making both of them prepared their respective weapons under their clothes. Damien kept his black umbrella that concealed his true weapon, while Marduk Kamal concealing his hidden weapon within his cane. "Did you sense that?" Damien asked, giving out a low murmur. "Yes," Marduk responded, after drinking his jasmine tea. Both of them went silent for a moment, before both of them unleashed their weapons as the men with tattoos entered the room.

By that, the 'fun' has just began.

Damien slain the men with his sword and aimed his gun to shoot the 'captain' of the yakuza clan, before Marduk Kamal spun his cane and revealing a spear to cut down the other mobsters that was in his way. After they killed them, Damien wiped the blood from his face as he glanced at the Malaysian businessman. "Let's clean this up," he said, not averting his eyes off from his visage as the latter cleaned the blood smeared on his cheek after killing some of the mobs. "Sure thing, Mr. Christiadjie."

"It's Damien, you earn my trust."

"Likewise, here... have a gift for being a fellow administrator."

Their respective men in their organizations cleaning up the mess, disposing the bodies. In exchange of valuable information and connections, Damien gave his card and his number to Marduk Kamal with a dark-colored box, the latter could know his intentions of him giving the latter gifts as their symbols of loyalty to a mutual favor; making the Indonesian satisfied by the Datuk's agreement. "I may not fully trust you, but you sure know how to fight..." the man said, as they bowed their heads for respect, Damien nodded.

They parted ways to have their personal cases, while Marduk Kamal looked back at the Indonesian mafioso. He wondered what makes Damien 'interesting' when it comes to assassination, such as his 'favorite' assassins that he always chosen. "Also, about Kayana's condition..." he asked, making Damien stopped on his track. "Is he okay?"

Wait, what is it about? The TBC one or his actual condition?

Crap, Damien didn't know how to answer that because all he knew is Marduk Kamal learning about Kohaku's 'disease' when he met him for the first time in person. He gulped nervously, perhaps he need to give him a motive instead of letting him has his own. "He's okay," he replied, making Marduk Kamal tilted his head before he grinned. "Great, I'll look forward in meeting him again!"

On the other side, they were eyeing on him after cleaning up the mess that night. "So, what do you got from him?" Byakuya whispered, seeing his boss sighed. "He always remained untouched after he 'get rid' of his enemies, although he can't deal with the underworld gang like the Borneo-based criminal organizations when it comes to business. But he succeeded as the Datuk, he have an oil palm industry which is his hometown in Kuantan, Pahang," he explained. "No wonder his Indonesian is fluent..." Nadya whispered, observing him from the distance.

"He thinks that Secret Garden is a newly built and potential competitors--so let him believes what he thinks of us."

***

The boss lady has arrived in Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar while her luggages being carried by her men, she walked out from the departure gate with few members of her clan with her, wearing sunglasses and her long black hime hair swayed elegantly as she wears a black strapped sleeveless dress with slits with red color underneath, black strapped heels and white long trench coat with a fur and necklace around her neck. Her crimson red eyes shimmered under her sunglasses, its sharp pupils were gleaming--dangerously. However, this woman wore a stoic facade and calm expression on her beautiful features--it contrasts with her nature of being a woman to kill and has no hesitation to shoot.

"Ane-san, do you need anything?"

One of her bodyguards asked, she gave out a long sigh as her secretary brought her paperwork and tablet with her, checking the information in regards to the business she had built in secret--but doesn't pay no mind to this. "Call the limousine," she ordered, in which the blonde-black hair male nodded and called one of the bodyguards to do the task. The latter did immediately as he commanded. Her red eyes wandering around, seemingly like she was expecting one person arrived and looking for her. 'Huh, some of my men got caught in car accident and fled from the two victims... where the fuck are they now?' she thought.

The other man holding the tablet on his hand while she inhale the smoke of her kiseru, before he informed his superior. "Ane-san, we have information of the two traitors of our clan. They were hiding somewhere in the beach of Bali, but we lost track of them after they didn't inform us about Takashi's men killing a college student for seeing them in Batu Belig beach," he reported, causing Kizuna to brew the smoke and glared at them. "WHAT?!" she shouted, when she saw her male secretary almost flinched from her yelling. "How did these two men got on the case?"

"They revealed the confidential material to the young man, causing a huge problem and Takashi has no choice but to eliminate him and got rid of the two men."

Kizuna tapped her heels for a brief second as she puffed out the smoke, now she's getting annoyed by their careless actions--even the traitors are still alive and caused the accident on two young victims' car. But her best chance is to discuss matters with the man she disliked the most, that asshat and his boy toy. 'That irritating one-eyed male, can't believe that Takashi challenged me... at least his lackeys can do something very useful to this clan.' she thought, then she looked up from her crimson red eyes at the driver that was driving them to her villa. "First things first, get rid of those two traitors. Second of all, who's the 'godfather' of Indonesian underworld business?" she questioned.

They were hesitant because he was under shadow government of Indonesia's protection, but he decided to spill it out for her. "Damien Fernandez Christiadjie, he was one of the Nine Dragons of Indonesia, part of the nine chosen members from secret government. That guy have a leadership within his organization known as the 'SECRET GARDEN', he's the youngest godfather for being twenty-five years old... though he denied that title," he answered, causing her to be unamused by the thought of her biggest rival. "Damien, that white-haired asshat? He's one of the High Administrators that protecting the secrecy of hidden place where his colleagues in hiding, hiding from the unknown enemies."

She hissed in annoyance, before telling him. "Make sure none of his men tried to get rid of ours and kill whoever it is," the woman demanded her secretaries as well as her personal bodyguards, who looked at each other in disbelief. "But ane-san, Damien is an opponent for you, one of our leading figures..."

"Takashi is his opponent too, right?"

Correct, she wasn't the only leader among the highest authority of the three crime bosses. All of them have different objective with different way to achieve it, she hated that both of them hated each other despite having same roles and equal status. "He also has his 'favorite' assassins in his organization, a group of assassins known as EXODUS--led by Kayana Sahanaya Tirta or... Kohaku," he added, causing her to be interested and kept listening to him. "He is an assassin and one of the seven recruits for them, Kayana Sahanaya Tirta has been under his training for a year--even though he's a rookie... he's already wanted by many people when he first started to work there."

Kizuna tuck a few strands of her long black hair behind her ears, only to realize she became curious of this man. She have no idea of this Kohaku, judging from his appearance and its meaning--he was someone that belonged to Secret Garden that's already known with a title of 'Chrysanthemum of Blades'. He's an interesting specimen for her if there is more proof of his skills can be shown. 'You're not merely a fighter, are you? Kohaku, let's see what you got...' she thought with a smirk.

"But first... I'll deal with that one-eyed asshole first."

Meanwhile...

Kohaku visited Andrew and Shania who were in the hospital and hasn't woke up from their coma, he clenched his fists as he began to think about those Japanese men with tattoos who fled from the scene--after Julian's funeral. "Now I'm curious of them..." he grumbled, before he turn around to leave the hospital and headed to the beach at night to clear his mind. After suffering from his emotional turmoil after Julian's death, it felt like a nightmare with a dark shadows that followed suit and watching over him--but he began to avenge them by looking for those men.

He look around the beach for anything suspicious that has been happening so far, but the eerie atmosphere doesn't help much to make him feel relief--at all. But there are no incidents so far, so he walks casually and tucked his hands inside his pockets. However, when he took a step forward to the crime scene--he sensed that someone was standing there. He turn around to see the tall and muscular man holding a cigarette on his hand, before lighting the tip with the lighter--making Kohaku wide-eyed at the description of the man. That bluish-black short messy hair with long bangs that fell on his cheek and his left bangs covering his black eyepatch on his left eye--he has a golden yellow eyes and fair complexion. He wears a suit with a black tie and black suit underneath, there are several tattoos over his arms and his neck--signifying his reputation in the name.

'Speak of the devil... is this...?' he thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Kayana Sahanaya Tirta, right?"

Kohaku was petrified as the one-eyed man turned his eyes at him, the male jolted from hearing his name has been mentioned by the voice of another man, especially when his name was the one who was mentioned by the man he can't escape from. "W-Who are you...?" he asked out of instinct, not bothering to hide his intimidation towards him. The man smirked, as he take another smoke and then exhaling the grey smoke to him. "Takashi Shimaou,it's a pleasure to meet you... assassin boy," he answered, despite having a calm demeanor--the presence of his dark shadow were enough to chained his ankles as it had a grip around his legs.

Yes, this is him.

He never expected to meet him this early than originally intended. When Kohaku was tempted to do something, Takashi continued speaking to him. "But, I didn't expect to meet you this soon--still, I would be grateful if you could escort me to the crime scene," he said, before walking past him with a blank expression while his dark shadowy aura got deeper. The young man could have never imagined feeling such fear before in his life. "It appears that we have more in common than we could possibly imagine, Kayana."

Kohaku gritted his teeth, he was about to turn around to face him until he was met with the tip of his blade from Takashi's katana in front of him. He was about to take out his chain bullwhip, but when he did--Kohaku hissed at the stinging sensation was pierced to his stomach as he was in pain from receiving damage from his blade, not just cutting him directly as the one-eyed boss slowly approached him. "You need to know that your dead friend should never meddle in our business in the first place, he was naive..." he sneered, withdrawing his katana--covering in a tiny bit of his blood.

'Don't you DARE talk about him in that tone, that's disrespectful--'

Kohaku thought before the attack was done, when suddenly he gasped as he was shot on his left shoulder and below the chest as the pain shoots up throughout his veins. He grimaced as he heard the sound of the weapon being discharged upon being shot, suddenly he couldn't move due to his limbs weakened--his body fell back and crashed on the sandy ground. Kohaku tried to hold his weapon but due to his injured shoulder, he couldn't do it--he close his eyes when Takashi was about to shoot him until...

The gunshot missed when Damien appeared with taking out his longsword from his cane and cut off the bullet before he stepped in, his movement is so quick. His blade itself was long and looked a bit worn, its tip was rusty and the handle was ripped, even there were some cracks on it. "Kayana, are you okay?!" Damien asked, seeing his Indonesian compatriot nodded--hissing in pain as he tried to stand and holding his black chained bullwhip. He tried to speak, but there was little strength to say his answer. "Well, well... how did I expected you can actually make it to come here and save your favorite protégé?" Takashi said as he let out a sarcastic chuckle.

"Nice try, Takashi... but you have the balls to pull your shit stunt."

The tension thickened when the enemies and rivals of each others were facing their biggest threat, and if their past had anything to do with the conflict. Damien sensed that somebody is intervening and was about to unleash another blade strike, before Kohaku used his bullwhip to retaliate the katana's blade as the blades were clashed. "You did a great job for luring me here, Takashi..."

Kizuna muttered, before she unleashed her katana on his neck and managing to slash him, before Damien evaded her attack. "Can't believe our favorite enemy comes back from the States, sheesh...!" Damien groaned when Takashi's katana is clashed against the latter's and then attacked the side to dodge, causing the opponent to missed and forced to retreat. "And you two are way too annoying..." he added, before Kohaku growled and slammed his bullwhip against the two yakuza leaders--creating a huge blow towards them. 'They can't be underestimated, not with that much strength and that ability... what are their true intentions for coming here for?' Kohaku thought before he snapped out of it. "Kizuna, it's been a while."

Takashi greeted the boss lady who stood there stoically before turning his face to their rival, Damien scowled at the two and Kohaku quickly took out his weapon. "Damien, so glad that we finally meet up... together with this beautiful night," she said as she grinned sadistically with a twisted smile, making the latter unamused and not too keen of the other's behavior. "You two... stop meddling in my country's business. For your information, you don't have the right to 'buddy-buddy' with them--as they're not your allies."

"I came here for an apology to Kohaku," Kizuna stated, looking at puzzled Kohaku who heard that from her mouth. "From the deep down in my heart, I apologize for my men's behavior to your two fellow friends--I already get rid of those two who fled from the accident, in case you're wondering about them," she explained, Kohaku blinked--for some reason... Kizuna has a somewhat... kinder tone than the impression he heard from him from the shadow government and her secretary. It was an accident, so the boss lady had to apologize on behalf of the men that caused it. "Besides, nobody likes a bad maniac out of control from the criminal activity--your leader's words to put it bluntly," the male yakuza boss clicked his tongue in annoyance, that was the phrase.

Kohaku gulped, having a mixed feelings whether he would take her words seriously, before he shook his head. Not forgetting that he shouldn't blindly accept the apology easily, especially when their first impression with both yakuza bosses were beyond bad and neither did his organization or Secret Garden won't forgive them... but he look back at her. "It's up to you if you want to accept my apology or not, it's my men's fault so am I," she added, this convinced him to forgive her and that she has a right reason to apologize, they understand it was an accident.

"Then... I'll forgive you for this," Kohaku answered, making her widened her eyes. "But, I'm not forgiving you," he added to Takashi, knowing that this psycho has never even have his hand stained by his blood. The latter male smiled, his golden eye darkened as he folded his arms--keeping his katana with him. "Oh? I'm interested with a bold kid like you..." he murmured that sounded more like he was whispering to himself. He tapped his gun while checking at him, when he remembered about him and thinking of a plan. Damien and Kohaku won't be able to defeat him at any cost, Takashi has the capability of mind games by taunting--while Kizuna also interested in bold people but would he able to surpass their expectations? It depends, Kayana Sahanaya Tirta is perfect target--his words to a more twisted effect.

'I want to see what you're capable of, what did you expect when you get involved with my men.'

Damien glanced at Kohaku, before he scowled at the two. "What are you two doing in Indonesia? You're trespassing my territory," he said to the two yakuza bosses, questioning the reasons behind their action for trespassing the territory borderline. Even though it wasn't that obvious, the ones that are known for having the blacklisted status from Indonesia and Secret Garden are mostly criminals from underworld societies from United States and Japan, because one; they're violent during international conflicts, two; has history of terrorizing territories of other countries which ended with victims from massacres, and three; doesn't give a shit and not giving a damn, the boss man cannot ignore them nor risk the consequences of putting themselves in danger.

"Huh, you have territory in Indonesia? Why not tell us."

Takashi challenged him, Damien had his own method of calming down the people he doesn't like. But, Kizuna raised her right hand. "We're not here to fight you, you're not a target for us this time, so there's no need to fight... you win on that part."

What the fuck is going on? Is this happening? There must be an idea behind their actions of targeting him, he isn't worth fighting--then why did they come to him. "If that's all, you better leave. But one last thing..." Damien pointed at the two, because he's taller like Takashi while he was facing the bluish-dark haired male. "If you kill anyone, I will declare this war is on. And if anyone tries to go further... the consequences will be far worse than hell itself."

This means that the battle between the three secret organizations won't give up.

"Well then, Takashi Shimaou..."

Kizuna smiled at the man next to her as she stared at him intently before flipping her long hime hair behind her hair, leaving the scene. "I guess this is where we're leaving you alone then, we won't do anything without you knowing--should be a clue," she said before her footsteps left, and never coming back. Takashi followed as well, folding his arms and has no intention of attacking them while their guard was at low--and eventually left the two of them. Leaving Kohaku's brain felt scrambled with confusion as to what was going on, he glanced at his superior who turn around to check his wounds. "Let me check your wounds, Kayana. It was fortunate that I have medical kit from the car..." he spoke.

"There's a gunshot wound on my shoulder and stab wound on my abdomen... it really hurts when he struck me," the latter groaned at his wounds, but the worst part was when he stabbed him--it was only meant to kill him, but his blade was sharp. Because of him trying to approach Takashi by turning around, he received these injuries from his blade--it is more serious than it was originally meant to. The leader check his stomach, before he took out his ripped cloth and pressed it against his body to reduce the bleeding. "Then, you'll be fine--I'll handle the mission by tomorrow and tell the others that you cannot come," he said, making Kohaku looked up at him with concern. "B-But..."

"Just listen to me, you may need some rest. It's easy, there's still a day to go--as for now, just let this wound heal so you can come the day after that," Damien explained, making Kohaku sighed in defeat. "Alright, but only for two days--not one day."

"Precisely."

Kohaku hissed in pain when he tried to walk, so his superior helped him to walk while escorting him to the car and took him back to the Secret Garden's hideout, Kahayana noticed his son Kohaku just got injured so he ran to help him to his home. He, however, prayed for Julian's death to be avenged. Because despite being kind-hearted, his beloved son has slowly losing it and not recovered from the emotional turmoil he suffered from his loss. "What happened, Kayana...?"

"Dad, I... I met the one-eyed Yakuza leader," he muttered. Kahayana stared at his son with alarming look on his face, before he began to tend his wounds--seeing how bad his son has it. Damien was in utter disbelief, what the fuck is Takashi and Kizuna doing in this country?! What's more, the wounds they inflicted on him--had several more clues, a puzzle he needs to solve in this 'game of cat and mouse', the shadow government was aware of the clashes between the three crime bosses and their organizations in rival that they caused. Yup, Damien got scolded by the shadow government ministers for what have happened when he fought his biggest enemies. "I'm so sorry, Kahayana--"

"Damien, it's fine... you tried your best," Kahayana sighed while Damien felt his hands trembling from the realization, that he was responsible for all of his subordinates--especially Kohaku that was injured, the said man held his hand with his own and comfort him. "I'm the one who's at fault, Damien... I shouldn't have gone outside to check that crime scene..." Kohaku admitted, shaking his head as his eyes blinked the tears. 'I know that I'm acting reckless when I saw two yakuza with tattoos of their head profiles, I need to--no, should have had backup...!'

In a way, he felt that he can't really blame Damien and should be only him and his sins of revenge. While Damien was scolded by the ministers, those two yakuza also got into trouble for taunting him--which mean they had to appear at night instead of morning due to the eyeful watch of shadow government agents that sent by them. "Next time, don't let him wander off out of nowhere. Do you understand? You need to train him in any way possible in the aftermath..." the speaker from the phone instructed. "... he could even die if the wounds are critical. Next time, DON'T do that again or this is going to turn uglier than anything else," the minister stated in his stern voice.

"Yes, sir."

"Also, his test to become the leader of his own team must be completed--he may faced a lot of obstacles in many ways, depending on him, his leadership skills and tactics--to accomplish a task force is the requirement for his goal. You know what we're talking about, Mr. Christiadjie--Kayana is not a tool, he is your co-leader and an important member for your group that will make exodus complete and the end of any other enemies. Make sure he'll gain respect from his comrades as well, we gave him permission to build the official team of his choice since he's an important part of your organization."

While Kohaku is healing his wounds, he was sitting on the couch as he was self-reflecting on himself--he hated on how his dumbass self who didn't check on those tattooed men or called for backup... seeing him being shot twice at times where he most of all, he shouldn't expect to be at easy. Byakuya was listening to him, before he folded his arms. "I see... at least you get some informations about them, even though you got injured at the end-nya..." Kiryu muttered with a frown, while Sherry tapping her fingers on the table. "Is it bad?"

"Not bad, but for fuck's sake--that Takashi guy is a huge pain in the ass... I should've look out in that moment..."

He couldn't forgive himself, for putting a burden upon his own body--something that's his fault for that. Then, he decided not to repeat the same mistake like that again.

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