---
The door opened without a sound.
Damilola had been drifting, his body shutting down. Chidi was curled on the booth seat beside him, finally unconscious. The black blade lay on the table, wrapped in a bloodstained jacket.
The old bartender didn't look up. "She's here."
The woman who entered was the tallest Japanese woman Damilola had ever seen. Six-nine. Lean and broad-shouldered, draped in a black coat. Black short hair and Pale grey eyes
Her left arm was prosthetic. Carbon-titanium, matte black, fingers articulated with military precision.
She sat across from him without asking. "Damilola Olamide. You look like shit."
"Thanks?"
"Akane Kurosawa." She said it like the name should mean something. When he didn't react, a thin smile crossed her lips. "Hmm. You don't know me?."
"The bartender said you paid to keep me alive. Said I owe you." Damilola decided to go straight to the point.
"You do." Akane ignore it for now. She seems a bit hurt for the lack of recognition.
"Why?"
She leaned back. The vinyl creaked. "Because I cleared the Yamashita compound tonight. Removed twenty-three men. Erased footage. Paid off patrols. Ensured no one was waiting to cut you down."
His blood went cold. The silence. The empty halls. It was her.
"Why?" he asked again.
Akane gestured. The bartender poured whiskey. She drank. Took her time.
"Kenshiro Yamashita was a monster with vision. I respected him. We were rivals, Black Dragon Security and the Yamashita-gumi circling each other for years. Cold stalemate. Now he's dead. Killed by an outsider. An African street fighter he trained like a son."
"I didn't kill him for a title, nor his Yamashita-gumi.
"I know. I saw the footage before I erased it. Her voice softened fractionally. "But that doesn't matter. The underworld is already talking. By tomorrow, everyone will know the Demon of Shinjuku fell to the Black Wolf."
Damilola's jaw tightened.
"Kenshiro named Kaguya Yamashita his official heir. She has the clan. Soldiers. Political cover. Legitimate grief. But Kenshiro gave his acknowledgment to you. The outsider."
"I don't care about his Kingdom"
You don't have a choice." Akane stated as a matter of fact.
"You die. The boy dies. The orphanage burns. Everything you represent goes out with you. Kaguya proves the outsider was never worthy."
"And if I win?"
"Then you prove Kenshiro's judgment was correct. Kaguya is forced to acknowledge you.
Chidi stirred. His eyes opened, had been awake for a while. He stared at Akane with wary, giddy eyes. The bartender set tea before him. The boy wrapped small hands around the cup.
Akane glanced at him. Something flickered in her expression. "Your brother?"
"Not by blood."
"That matters more, sometimes." She turned back. "You can't run you know. Kaguya's reach extends across continents. Fleeing means defeat."
Damilola's chest tightened.
"My protection is temporary. Black Dragon can shield you for weeks, maybe months. But every day Kaguya consolidates power. Your chances of survival becomes more dire."
"What should I do?"
"There's an organization. The Black Empire. You've heard whispers. The 'gods' of the underworld. They're real. They operate on a scale that makes the Yamashita-gumi look like a street gang."
"And they would help me?"
"They make transactions. exploit debts. I know a mid-level manager named Takeda. He can bring the right people. But understand that dealing with the Empire is not negotiation. It's surrender. The terms are theirs."
Damilola looked at Chidi. Small hands around the cup. Trusting eyes.
"What would I have to give?"
"That depends on the Empire's assessment." She finished her whiskey. "But first, you need off the street. Black Dragon has a safe house. You'll stay until I arrange the meeting."
"Why are you doing this? Really."
Akane was quiet. When she spoke, her voice was less guarded. "Hmm, I wonder... well I want to gamble on you."
Damilola wasn't sure how to respond to that.
Akane stared at Damilola for a long time. "How don't you know me?" Akane knew she was off topic entirely but she had to know. She was kinda of a big deal in the Tokyo underworld.
Damilola looked somewhat embarrassed, but didn't answer. He had been in an indoor training for a long time and only came out on rare occasions except that time in Shibuya where he spent two months dealing with an incident that earned him the title: "Black Wolf of Shibuya."
"She finally stood. "Bring the boy. Bring the blade. My car is outside."
Damilola didn't move. "One condition."
She raised an eyebrow.
"The boy goes home. Whatever deal I make, Chidi goes back to Lagos. Safely. Before anything else."
Akane nodded slowly. "If the Empire protects the orphanage, he can return. He's safer with you until then."
Damilola looked at Chidi. "Just a little longer. I promise."
Chidi nodded. Picked up his tea and drank.
They followed the Dragon of Shinagawa into the rain.
---
The car was armored, tinted windows, silent driver. Tokyo at 4 AM blurred past in neon and rain.
"You'll meet my people tomorrow," Akane said. "Satō, my deputy. Mags, intelligence. Yuki, logistics. You work for Black Dragon while I arrange the meeting. Payment for tonight."
"And the Empire. What do I need to know?"
She was quiet. Rain streaked the window.
"They are not criminals. Not Yakuza or cartel. They are a system. Centuries old, operating beneath governments, through them, sometimes above them in my opinion. They control conflict. Manage instability. Their heart—the Ikemba family—originated in West Africa. The matriarch is old. Older than she looks. When you meet her representatives, you are not negotiating. You are being assessed."
"And if they decide I'm worth nothing?"
"You're on your own, but I doubt that. After all you are the man that brought down Kenshiro Yamashita. Akane kept quiet for a while, and observed Damilola. "It doesn't matter how you did it."
Chidi's small voice: "Dami? Are we going home?"
Damilola looked at him. dark face in the passing streetlights. Trying so hard to be brave.
"Soon. I promise."
Akane watched. Her posture shifted slightly. "When you meet the Empire's representatives, you'll have to be very smart, decisive and careful. Don't let them lead you by the neck."
"Why?"
"Because the Empire doesn't give gifts. It makes investments."
The car drove on. Damilola felt the blade's weight. The choice settling into his bones.
He thought of Sister Clara's voice. Bring him home.
Chidi's small hands.
Kenshiro's final words. You just can't stop caring.
The choice, when it came, wouldn't be a choice at all.
---
The safe house was nondescript. Twelve floors up. Reinforced doors. Akane left them with a single instruction: "Rest. Tomorrow, you start earning your place."
Damilola put Chidi to bed. The boy was asleep instantly. Damilola stood in the doorway, watching him breathe.
Then he laid the black blade on the table and sat in the dark.
The rain had stopped. Tokyo glittered beyond the glass.
Dami let himself close his eyes trusting in Akane's protection, and wondered how the following days to come we be spent.
Can I survive it...
---