Uzumi and the Seven Great Oaks Chapter 4: Please

 

Please

“Please, you have to help my son!” A woman in rags was begging the passerby for help. Reese and I were walking along the Underground’s main thoroughfare, heading for the elevator. The woman kneeled in front of a yokai with the head of a rhino. “Please!”

The rhino shrugged the woman off and kept walking.

I turned to Reese. “Do you think we should help her?”

Reese shrugged. “Stuff like this happens all the time. We can’t afford to be heroes when it doesn’t concern us.”

“Well I’m going to help. The spirit of Taekwondo would be angry at me if I didn’t.”

“That’s stupid.” Reese rolled her eyes.

“Well I’m helping her. Whether you come with me or not.”

Reese groaned. “Okay, okay. It’s my job to take care of you right now, but don’t expect me to go out of my way.”

I approached the woman. “Do you need help, ma’am?”

The woman grabbed my shoulders. “Please, help! My son has been taken captive by the cartel!”

“They exist down here as well?” I looked at Reese.

Reese gave a serious head shake. “No. We do not, ever, want to get involved with the cartel.”

I sighed. “Well, someone’s in trouble, and we have the ability to help. At the very least I’m going to listen to her.”

The woman started crying. “My name is Amber. My husband got into debt with the cartel and couldn’t pay it back. They took him and my three year old son Arie. They’re going to kill them both.”

“More likely sell their organs or turn them into slaves.” Reese crossed her arms. “You still want to help her? It’s the fault of her deadbeat husband.”

“Deadbeat or not, there is an innocent life on the line here. I’m going to help.” I gabbed Amber. “Tell us where you think they went.”

“They’re in the main cartel building.”

“The cartel has a building?”

Reese shrugged. “There really isn’t anything you would call a legitimate government down here. It’s a haven for unsavory types. There’s a lot of criminal organizations here. The Yakuza, the Triad, the Mafia.”

“Okay. I get it now.” I sighed. “I know the cartel. When we deal with them, we must be careful. If you get on their bad side they won’t hesitate to retaliate.” I thought for a moment. “Okay. We’re going to approach this straight. Where’s their building?”

Reese sighed. “Follow me.” We walked across the Underground and came to a large, modern-looking building in a relatively upscale neighborhood.

“Wait, this is their building? I was expecting something more sinister.”

Reese put her hand on her face. “God, this is a stupid idea.”

Amber took hold of my arm with a clammy hand. “Please, help them.”

I took a deep breath and walked up to the door. A man in a suit was standing next to it and eyed me with a menacing glare. “What’s your business here?”

“We’re here to settle a debt. This lady here—” I pointed to Amber—”Got into some trouble with you guys.”

“Unless you have the money, we got nothing for you.”

I put my hand on the man’s shoulder. “There should be another way, right? One that doesn’t involve kidnapping a three year old child?”

“We’re not a charity.” The man grimaced. “But I will let you in. The boss has been bored as of late.” He lifted up a radio. “There’s a party coming in. Call the boss. Tell him …” The man eyed me—” That there’s some entertainment coming along.” He opened the door and gestured us inside.

We walked into a clean, well-maintained hallway. A busy looking man holding a suspicious bag of white powder hurried past us.

“Was that …”

“Don’t.” Reese looked at me. “Pretend that you didn’t see it.”

Two yokai guards stood in front of the elevator. Both of them were holding scary-looking rifles and had bulletproof vests on. We were ushered into the elevator and taken to the top floor, where we stepped out into another hallway. At the end of it was a large, fancy-looking door with carvings on it.

We walked across velvet carpet and stopped at the door. The doors opened without any input.

A man was sitting with his back to us, looking out a window that contained a view of the Underground. “I was going to refuse to let you in.” He lifted his hand, which held a glass of wine. “But then I heard that the fantastic Reese Montgomery was in the group.” He turned. The man was ferocious, with a large scar across his face. He grinned. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, princess.”

Reese grimaced. “I do not feel the same.”

“Oh, dear.” The boss touched his chin. “I forgot to introduce myself. I am Don Carlos. Leader of the small operation usually known as the cartel.” He smiled, though his eyes remained dangerous. “What can I help you with today?”

I stepped forward. “This woman here had her family taken from her. We’d like to figure out a way to get them back.”

“She had a debt, no? The best way to clear a debt is to pay it back. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, but is there anything we can do besides that? Some sort of service we can provide?”

Don Carlos looked at Reese with a grin on his face. “It just so happens that the greatest yokai fight tournament of the year is about to happen in New Yesterday.” Don Carlos grinned bigger. “And if us, the cartel, could just so happen to field one of the biggest new names in the Seed world, well, what would you think?”

“I’m a professional Seed.” Reese folded her arms. “I can’t do this.”

“Of course you wouldn’t have to use your real name. That would even work out better for us. You know, betting odds and all that.” Don Carlos folded his hands. “I must ask, though. Why are you going through so much trouble for a single woman who has no connection to you?”

Reese elbowed me. “It’s this guy. He wants to play the hero or something.”

“I have a mission to protect those who need it.”

Don Carlos eyed me with a strange glint in his eyes. “Your aura. It’s strange. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

Reese appeared to get nervous. “He’s, ah, he’s a Seed in training.”

“I thought Seeds started their training when they were toddlers. He’s, at youngest, a senior high schooler.”

“College, actually.” I did my best to smile.

“Hrm.” Carlos tapped his fingers on the table. “My sixth sense tells me that you’d actually make a good candidate for sponsorship in the tournament. I like the way you look.”

I bowed. “Then I’ll take you up on that offer. As long as Amber gets her son back.”

“Right. We can’t guarantee the life of her husband,” Don Carlos looked at Amber with a smile—”But we also can’t let her get away scott free. How about this. You three will participate as our sponsored fighters in the team fight.”

Reese raised her eyebrows in shock. “You can’t be serious.”

Don Carlos chuckled. “Oh, yes I am. This woman really needs to be taught a lesson about how to pick romantic partners.”

Amber was shaking. “But sir, I don’t know how to fight. I’ve never been in a fight in my life.”

“Exactly!” Don Carlos appeared quite chipper. “Such a story! Such motivation! A young woman fights against yokai in order to protect her child! This is exactly the kind of story I’ve been looking for!”

Amber bowed. “Then I will risk my life.”

Reese held out her hand. “You won’t die. I’ll make sure of it.”

I looked between Reese and Don Carlos. “So can everyone see yokai down here?”

Don Carlos blinked, and then chuckled. “Well, how else would someone be able to live down here?” He raised his hands. “In any case, let’s get you guys started. The tournament is in three days. You can do what you wish until then, but remember that if you flake we’ll be taking her kid.” Don Carlos pointed at me. “And that isn’t what you want, right?”

Reese bowed. “Thank you, sir.” The three of us were ushered out by men in black suits. We stepped onto the street and looked at each other.

Reese sighed. “I’m going to have to talk with the Grand Master about this. He’s probably going to be against it, but I think I can persuade him.”

I looked at Reese and paused. “Why are you helping me? Why are you risking your life to help someone you don’t know?”

“Because …” Reese sighed. “I really can’t say. Perhaps I have the same bleeding heart that you do.”

I looked up at the ceiling. “Okay.”

Reese looked between me and Amber. “The two of you can go to the academy. Uzumi, you’re going to have to learn a lot in the next three days. Make sure you get as much stuffed into your head as possible.”

“Right.”

Reese nodded and walked away.

Amber looked at me. “I am sorry. I didn’t expect anyone to actually help me, let alone go as far as you have.”

I shrugged. “It’s my calling. I have to do something about people in distress.” I paused. “That’s about it.”

That wasn’t about it. I had a beef with the cartel, harkening back to the other day when they had tried to extort the soup kitchen. From the start, helping Amber was, to me, a way to get into the cartel and scope out the new leadership. I wanted to help her, of course, but I understood that I might have a chance to negotiate with whoever was in charge and get them to whitelist the soup kitchen. Helping Amber wasn’t the only reason why I was getting myself into so much trouble.

It was a boon that Reese had agreed to help—I felt that her presence would radically change whatever the outcome was.

Amber bowed. “My address.” She handed me a note written on a piece of scrap paper. “I won’t bother you anymore. I know you have other things to do. And thank you. Thank you so much.”

I nodded, pocketing the paper. “Are you okay? Do you think you can fight?”

Amber raised her hand. “Believe it or not, I used to be called the Iron Maiden.” Her grin, though, was hollow.

“Great. I’ll be seeing you in a few days.” I turned and walked to the academy. Once I entered, a man with shock white hair who didn’t look older than thirty waved at me.

“Are you Uzumi?” He walked up to me. “I heard from Johnathan. I’ll be your interim instructor here. I know your have the strangest affinity we’ve ever seen, but we’re going to do our best to teach you everything there is to being a Seed.” He paused. “I was told Reese would be with you. Where is she?”

“She had business to attend to. So, where do I start?”

The instructor turned. “My name is Aike. I’m the general instructor for third years here at the academy. I know you’re in college to be an engineering student. I hope you have some spare time?”

I raised my smartphone. “I’ve already contacted my professors.”

“Great. Glad to see you’re on the ball. Come with me and we’ll try to get you up to speed on becoming a Seed and what that means.”

We came to a small classroom filled with the kind of chair-table hybrid that was at most high schools. Aike walked up to the chalk board. “Are we ready to get started?”