10:55 AM. Atreus slowly stirs awake, less than an hour shy of a full eight hours of sleep. He turns lazily in his bed, and when he reaches to his nightstand, he recalls the short quality time he spent with Max in the late night – or date, as she was readily willing to call it. He also notices that he fell asleep in the long-sleeved baseball shirt he wore at the time – something he never really does, so the combination of his exhaustion and the effects of alcohol must've exacerbated the problem. Thankfully, it was still a relatively small amount of beer he consumed, so the pulsating pains of a hangover are nonexistent in this new morning.

He sits up in his bed to look at his phone, which has a slowly flashing hologram coming from the tiny notification projector at the top of the device. He missed a text, specifically from Okada, sent only an hour ago. He immediately checks it in case it's something of urgency.

[I spoke to Lee. He promises he knows nothing about Blue Star planning any sort of activity on Sanada-gumi territory, and he'll help acquire the information that we need immediately. I'll call you when he finishes.]

The text plainly and matter-of-factly summarizes the call Okada made to his acquaintance in the Blue Star. There's no real reason for Atreus to respond to the text, as it explicitly tells him to just wait for more information. Thus, he sets his phone down again and stands to begin his morning, both eager and anxious to receive the results of the search for a VF+ cartridges sale.

Thankfully, with no reason to rush out the door this time, Atreus moves at his leisure to actually have a hearty breakfast of eggs, white rice, and a small variety of different meats. He also takes the opportunity to do a few chores, particularly laundry. About an hour and a half into his morning, just as he puts away his clean clothes, his phone lets out another chime of an incoming text message. Unsure if it's Okada again, he looks at it.

[Hey, you coming to the office soon?] the message, from Devin, asks.

[Yeah, I'll be there in a bit. I've been doing chores this morning since I've been too busy up until now,] Atreus replies, subtly lamenting his lack of free time since the investigation began. This short lull in the process – as well as one of his days off from Crown – will grant him a much needed breather.

The gangster quickly folds up the remains of his warm, fresh-from-the-dryer underwear and gets properly dressed for the day in his pristine white shirt, pitch black vest, pants, tie, and shoes, and glistening clan pin. He orders another Automa taxi as he exits his apartment, and a vacant sedan pulls up to the building just as he reaches the sidewalk.

The quiet afternoon ride concludes after about twenty minutes of regular encounters with the usual stuffed roads and one unfortunately gridlocked intersection – traffic inconveniences often caused by the small portion of human drivers still on the road – and Atreus reaches the grey, nondescript building that houses the modestly sized Asano family. In the lobby, several lower rank foot soldiers give him deep bows of respectful greeting as he approaches the elevator to go to the top floor. He then makes a straight line to Ryuji's office where, predictably, Ryuji and Devin are lounging; the former is at his desk like always, and the latter sitting on the sofa, watching a movie that's in the middle of an action scene.

“Hey, man,” Devin gives a casual greeting from his seat. “What did Okada say to you last night? Is he able to help?”

“He said he'll talk to one of the people in the Blue Star that he's still on good terms with,” Atreus answers as he sits on the chair next to the sofa. “He actually sent a text earlier saying that his contact claims to know nothing of Blue Star organizing any sort of hit on Sanada-gumi turf.”

“Who exactly is the man he's talking to?” Ryuji asks from his desk.

“Hak-sun Lee.”

“I remember that guy,” the family patriarch acknowledges with a small nod. “When the incident happened, he was one of the few Blue Star officers who fought to cooperate with us to hand over other rogue members of theirs; said that because they acted as a rogue group, the Blue Star had the grounds to exile them anyway.”

“So you'd trust him to be cooperative with us on this?” Devin asks.

“For the most part, yes. In fact, he's probably the only person in that gang who we can reasonably expect to not bullshit us. If he says he doesn't know of any hit, then I'd believe him.”

“So either the Blue Star had no part in Camlin's murder at all, or they did, but it was simply unsanctioned,” Atreus thinks aloud.

“If it was an unapproved hit that the top brass doesn't know about, then I can't imagine how much shit would hit the fan over there,” Ryuji remarks with a conflicted expression. “That'd mean their ranks are so disorganized, that they allowed two rogue acts of violence to happen on our territory within the last two years. It'd just prove they can't keep their men in check, and we'd probably have to do some sort of hostile takeover just to ensure it doesn't happen again.”

“Would we really go to war over a civilian death?” Devin comments with reluctance in his eyes.

The family leader's face turns grim. “Not just any civilian death, but a civilian death that could ruin the clan's greatest source of income and get a lot of our leaders thrown in prison – including Okada-san and the chairman – if anything were to concretely be traced back to us.”

“Once I get information on the Blue Star's recent black market ammo sales, we can find out exactly how connected they are to the murder,” Atreus interjects. “All we need to do is wait. Best case, it only takes a day or two. Also, has Tetsuya made any progress on the phone?”

“I asked him last night before I went to bed. He just said it'll be done when it's done,” Devin answers with a shrug. “He sounded a bit irritated though, so it might not be going very smoothly. Honestly, I don't think we should hold our breath that it'll be finished tonight.”

Atreus looks upward and inhales deeply. “I feel like we're not approaching this murder from enough angles. The phone isn't a sure thing to begin with, and the Blue Star ammo sales might be a dead end too. What do we do then?”

“I wish we could just break into Camlin's home or something and dig around there, but if we get caught by the cops doing that, it's over. They probably scoured the place anyway.”

“It's probably best to stay away from Camlin's home and family,” Ryuji comments. “The cops are likely still operating under the assumption the Sanada-gumi had something to do with his death, so finding two clan members snooping around in his home might as well be a confession in their eyes.”

“Do you think I'd be able to talk to an Atmos Dynamics employee?” Atreus lifts his head up, feeling an epiphany striking. “Maybe I can ask them some questions?”

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“I think that's a road worth taking,” the patriarch comments with a pensive stroke of his scarred chin. “Don't head to Atmos on your own and start knocking down doors, though. Ask Okada-san to get you in touch with one of the employees under his payroll first.”

“Yeah. He did mention that some of them have personal loyalty to the Sanada-gumi. I'll ask him about it when he tells me the results of Lee's search – he's a busy enough man as it is, so I don't want to burden him with another request so soon.”

“Just don't sit on it for too long. We don't know how far the cops are into the investigation, themselves. They still have access to resources we don't, like drone footage.”

“You know, I had an idea of asking Tetsuya to obtain drone recordings for us,” Devin chimes in, “but considering his work as a white hat, that'd almost certainly be asking too much from him. Hacking into a law enforcement network would get him into trouble that we definitely couldn't get him out of.”

“Do you think they even have anything substantial from their drones, anyway?” Atreus ponders aloud, an eyebrow lifted in curiosity. “I fell like if they caught something useful, this investigation would've been over by now.”

Devin lifts his shoulders in a clueless shrug. “Beats me. Maybe they got a tiny clue out of it or nothing at all. We can't really say. Oh, and before I forget, I gotta take a couple boys and collect money from the den on Yaesu Street tonight, so I won't be able to head anywhere with you.”

Devin refers to an illegal gambling site run by the Sanada-gumi, where traditional Japanese games such as mahjong, oicho-kabu, cho-han, hanafuda, and more are played for varying stakes. There are multiple such places scattered throughout Kyoba, each hosting a different collection of games and run by different families.

“That's fine. I'm pretty much just playing the waiting game now. Maybe I can actually take a bit of a break today,” Atreus leans back in his chair and adopts a more relaxed posture. “I really need to talk to the boss at Crown and see about finally quitting. I was only supposed to be there to temporarily fill numbers, but it's been a month already.”

“Is being a bouncer there really that bad?” Devin asks.

“Well, I haven't needed to get violent or anything yet. I've only kicked out a few people in the time I've been there, but that was back when I first started. The real issue is just how boring it is, and how we can only stand during our shifts, so my feet and knees are usually aching by the time the night's done. I've also been stuck in the VIP section, so I've been forced to hear these loudmouth moguls and millionaires brag about their lives to the girls for forty-five minutes at a time. It's easy work, sure, but it's fucking annoying.”

“What about that Max girl you said you liked? Have you been talking to her?”

“Actually, we hung out last night, after my meeting with Okada,” Atreus reveals with a semi-embarrassed caress of his cheek. “We met up at the little park near my building and had some drinks. And I might take her to Takahashi's later, too.”

“Holy shit, you're already taking her out to places, huh?” Devin asks, wide-eyed at the amount of progress the relationship has made in only a few days. “So, I guess that means you like her for sure, then?”

Atreus lifts his brow and pauses to try and feign uncertainty, but he can't deny it. “Yeah, I guess I do. She's really easy to talk to and I think she feels the same about me.”

Devin smirks and gives several small nods of approval. “Nice.”

A muffled musical tune is heard from the corner of the room, drawing the attention of Atreus and Devin towards the source, which seems to be in Ryuji's immediate vicinity. Surprised, he stands up to reach into his pant pocket and retrieve and his phone, which displays an incoming text message.

“Bessho just sent me a text all of a sudden,” Ryuji announces with clear confusion washing over his face.

“What's it say? Is it important?” Devin asks, displaying an equal amount of puzzlement.

“I... don't know,” the family leader furrows his brow and narrows his eyes at the screen; he's growing more baffled by the second. “It says he's going to lunch at Shohei's right now, and he'd appreciate it if Atreus joined him,” he succinctly summarizes the message and looks up at the augmented gangster.

“What the hell?” Atreus joins in on the club of baffled expressions. “Why didn't he just text me directly? He has my number.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Ryuji declares his ignorance while scanning the text again, as though he expects some sort of hidden, subliminal message to make itself apparent. “Do you want to go to Shohei's and ask?”

“You think I should?”

“Well, considering he went out of his way to be discreet, it could be important.”

“Maybe he's following up on his side of the search for Takiyama and he's trying to be secretive about it,” Devin interjects with a reasonable idea.

“That's a good point,” Atreus voices his agreement. “Alright, well, I guess I'm heading over to Shohei's, even though I just got here,” he heaves a sigh and stands up. “Unless something else comes up, I'll come back afterward.”

Not knowing what it is that Bessho wants the meet for, yet assuming it must be somewhat important, Atreus makes an impromptu exit out of the office and takes another ride over to Shohei's Towers. He eventually arrives and, trying to maintain his normal composure, enters the establishment first by scanning the seating area for the one who summoned him. His eyes are soon drawn to a man near the opposite corner of the interior – Bessho, in his usual dark red suit with white pinstripes.

Though he's facing the entrance of the restaurant, he's hunched forward, his elbows resting on the table and his hands clasped together in front of his mouth and under his nose. His gaze is focused on the floor, and he seems to be deeply contemplative of something. Despite his calm appearance, the fast bouncing of his left knee can be seen below. On the table rests a tray of crumpled up paper that once housed a burger, spotted with oil, and a half-empty cup of fries. He must've been disinterested in eating, yet ordered something anyway in order to not seem like he's simply loitering. Atreus approaches him with haste, deciding to ignore making his own order to seem inconspicuous.

“Hey, Bessho,” the augmented man gives a greeting as he walks comes. “What's up?” he asks as he sits in the vacant chair across the table.

“Hey, man. Sorry to ask you to come over in such a weird way,” Bessho replies with a slightly hushed voice, still leaning forward. “Did I interrupt anything? Were you doing some sort of job?”

Atreus shakes his head. “No, I wasn't in the middle of anything. Why'd you contact me through Ryuji? You have my number. Did you lose your phone?”

“No, I didn't,” Bessho answers immediately with a shake of his head, too. “Ever since the cops stopped by the office the other day, we've been trying to keep as low of a profile as possible. I think they have our phones tapped – or, at least the phones of the guys on the upper end of the Hoshino family, like me.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

“They had a warrant to barge into the office, which means they almost certainly have permission to tap our phones. Text messages, calls, voicemail, the apps we use – everything – they have access to all that information. I'm probably going to need to buy another fuckin' burner phone, but they have access to bank account info too. It's a fuckin' pain in the ass,” Bessho releases a drawn out sigh. He's clearly annoyed at all the precautions he has to take in order to skirt around all the surveillance he's not even sure he's subjected to.

“Is this why you wanted to talk?” Atreus asks, still unsure of the nature of this sudden meet up.

“No, it's not. Look...” the fidgety Hoshino family lieutenant leans forward slightly more and continues in an even more whispery voice. “After you told me about not finding Takiyama in his apartment, I sent a couple boys to the building to stake the place out, like you suggested. They even fixed the fuckin' door so it didn't raise any suspicion. After that, they kept an eye on the entrance to see if the kid would come back.”

“And did he? Did Takiyama come back?”

Bessho shakes his head. “No, he didn't. I've been cycling between two pairs of guys for the last couple days, each doing twelve hour shifts, watching that apartment building like fucking hawks. Takiyama never showed up. But,” he lifts his finger while greatly emphasizing the last word. “Late last night – like almost four in the morning – they said some shady dude shows up.”

“Shady dude?” Atreus repeats, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity.