On both sides of the road, colorful shop signs are densely packed with no order at all. The yakiniku restaurant is sandwiched between the information center and the love hotel. Flyers of different styles are posted on the walls. A messy yet lively atmosphere comes from all directions.
As Asia's largest red-light district and a street that never sleeps, Kabukicho's unique atmosphere is created by the mixture of legal and illegal activities.
Sometimes, even the sunlight cannot shine into this street full of neon lights. There are not many customers at the moment, but it is almost business hours and many shops have already started preparing.
Makoto Sakaki and Miss Miyano walked past the sign of "Kabukicho Ichibangai" and came to Ishikawa Hide and greeted him briefly:
"Ishikawa-san, long time no see, how are you doing lately?"
"Thanks to Sakaki-san and Miss Haibara, I am in good health and my business is booming."
Ishikawa Hide looked at the two of them with a smile, and sighed sincerely:
"I have been waiting for this day for a long time."
Paper cannot cover fire, and paper has no intention of covering fire. It is just waiting for the right opportunity.
Ever since Ukura Takaki Ken let the cat out of the bag, Ishikawa Hide knew that Sakaki Makoto would come to him sooner or later, and this time they would be open and honest with each other.
"This is not the place to talk. Please follow me."
Ishikawa Hide brought Sakaki Makoto and the other man to the gigolo club he opened. A group of strong men in black gathered in front of the store. They were so large that their bald heads and tattoos were particularly conspicuous.
The sturdy men looked ferocious, like door gods, with bulges on their waists, which showed that they were hiding a lot of weapons.
Sakaki Makoto was very familiar with some of these faces; they were all Ishikawa Hide's carefully cultivated confidants.
This scene caused Miss Miyano to look at them twice more. The strong men made way for them with expressionless faces, waited for the three men to enter the store, and blocked the door again. Anyone passing by would be tortured by their gazes.
"When you come here, just like you are at home, don't be polite."
Ishikawa Hide, who was walking in front, did not even turn his head, and spoke in a very gentle tone:
"It took me 12 years of hard work to build a safe house, and it is very safe."
Both sides of the corridor were also filled with people, all of them were gang members. When Ishikawa Hide walked past them, they would lower their heads and respectfully call him "Big Brother".
The fact that he had arranged so many men showed that Ishikawa Hide was well prepared. Miss Miyano gently pulled her boyfriend's sleeve and gave him a vigilant look.
As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four legs. Sakaki Makoto is not the Hulk, nor is he Kyogoku Makoto. He can beat one or two, ten or eight people, but not twenty, thirty, forty or fifty people.
Miss Miyano and Ishikawa Hide had only met once, so naturally she didn't trust each other that much. But Sakaki Makoto was different. He had cooperated with Ishikawa Hide at least four times. He knew exactly who Ishikawa Hide was.
He shook his girlfriend's hand, signaling her to be at ease, and Sakaki Makoto teased:
"It seems that Ishikawa-san has been doing well recently and has gained a lot of followers."
"Haha, the Shangxin Group is in a mess lately. There are a lot of people who want to kill me. It's always better to be cautious."
Ishikawa Hide stepped onto the stairs and said as he walked:
"Don't worry, these are all my old subordinates. The newly recruited ones are not qualified to come here."
Arriving at the office, Ishikawa Hide opened the door and saw the huge room filled with green wooden boxes, which contained all kinds of weapons, such as STG44 assault rifles, MP40 submachine guns, MG42 general-purpose machine guns, grenades, C4 explosives...
All of them are Soviet equipment, and the dark paint exudes a murderous aura.
In a trance, Makoto Sakaki thought he had arrived in Shanghai in the 1940s.
"If you had come a few days earlier, this place would be much more spacious."
Ishikawa Hide pointed to the sofa surrounded by weapon boxes and walked to the wine cabinet:
"Have a seat, hot tea, juice or whiskey?"
"Don't bother, let's just get straight to the point."
Sakaki Makoto and Miss Miyano sat on the sofa and asked directly:
"How did Ishikawa-san know my father?"
Opening the cabinet door, Ishikawa Hide took out a half-bottle of single malt whiskey, poured himself a glass, added two cubes of ice, took a sip, looked up at the ceiling, and all kinds of memories flashed through his eyes:
"I was 17 years old that year. During the summer vacation after graduating from high school, I drove to Kanagawa Prefecture with my parents. We had a car accident and my parents died. I was lucky to survive, but the sky fell."
"My father is a small entrepreneur who owns a factory. Our family is quite wealthy and it's a family business. But ever since my parents got into trouble, those relatives gave me a few perfunctory words of comfort and then ran off to fight for the property. You know..."
"When I was lying in the hospital, with my parents' bodies piled up in the morgue and no one taking care of their affairs, did I feel the same way when I saw that group of relatives going to take a bath in the sea and heard them discussing how to defraud my property?"
Ishikawa Hide lowered his head, rubbed the cup in his hand, and laughed at himself:
"Lying alone in a hospital in a foreign land, loneliness and despair surged over me like a tide, suffocating me. Those relatives were like demons, with claws and fangs, opening their bloody mouths towards me. They wanted me to die, and as long as I died, the property would naturally be theirs."
"I couldn't sleep all night, curled up in the corner of the bed, and stared at the door of the ward at 5 a.m., feeling that someone would come in at any time and kill me cruelly. Only when the hospital was bustling in the morning and the nurses came to check on me could I close my eyes and sleep."
"At that time, I thought that the world was so cold and dark. Apart from the doctor, no one cared about my life or death. What was the meaning of my living? It would be great if I could die in that car accident with my parents..."
Makoto Sakaki and Miss Miyano looked at each other, pursed their lips, and listened quietly to Ishikawa Hide's narration.
"On the fourth day of my hospitalization, my condition improved and I was transferred from the ICU to a general ward..."
Ishikawa Hide's eyes suddenly lit up, like a believer who saw an angel in despair:
"I met a strange man, he was older than me, with one arm wrapped in a bandage. When I was wheeled into the ward, he was struggling with an unwashed apple. It was really strange, no one would worry about an apple, right? There were melons and bananas piled on the table in front of him!"
"After the nurse left, he looked at me and asked if I could peel an apple for him. I agreed dazedly."
"At first I thought he was peeling the apple to eat it himself, but he just held the apple and stared at the door of the ward, the same movement as me. But I knew he was waiting for someone."
"At 10 a.m., the door of the ward was pushed open and a very beautiful woman walked in. The man shamelessly handed her an apple and said, 'I peeled it for you. Eat it quickly!'"
"I was so angry that my nose almost broke!"
Ishikawa Hide smiled and said:
"It's rare to see such a shameless person in this world!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
