Blackmail (1)

Reiji flipped through the document, expecting some janky businessman getting blackmailed by a competitor or something petty like that.

But when he saw the details about the client, his eyes narrowed and he straightened up a little. He flipped through and saw that only a basic summary of the situation and other relevant details like their contact information and how much they were willing to pay was listed.

"We actually offer services like this?" Reiji asked in disbelief.

"Of course! We technically do anything for the right price, as long as it doesn't cross our bottom line," Baldy said proudly.

"....Feels more like we're mercenaries rather than Yakuza," he muttered.

The two men exchanged glances at those words, but didn't say anything.

"How far is the location from here?"

"Not too far Boss, we'll meet the client in about 10 minutes."

Reiji went back to studying the document, trying to absorb all of the information on it so that he wasn't unaware of anything when they reach their destination.

He opened social media and searched the name of the client, going through some of their latest photos and posts to get a better understanding of the dynamic at hand.

After his encounter with the Tassle Company at Greeny's family restaurant, he had come to understand the power of information. If he hadn't looked up the person they were up against, he wouldn't have been able to come up with the plan to blackmail him.

Ironically enough, his very next task for the syndicate was to deal with someone being blackmailed in a similar situation.

'I don't even know how to feel about this, it's like going off to punish someone for doing the same thing I did...'

Though he managed to pacify himself when he realized the intentions behind the action were completely different.

As Reiji got a decent grasp on the client's situation, they pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex. They got off and walked in after entering the access code listed in the file, taking the elevator to the 5th floor.

Beardy turned to Reiji to see if he was prepared, but paused when he saw the subdued anger in his eyes.

"Boss, can I say something? Just don't take it personally."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Beardy sighed and continued, "You know that the document portrayed things a certain way, but we don't know how much of it is true. You should go into this with an unbiased perspective, otherwise it will mess up your decision-making and judgement."

Reiji took a moment to process that, and he glanced down at the papers in his hand. As the realization set in, he hardened his expression and nodded at Beardy.

'...I almost made a stupid mistake, he's right. Can't be biased with things like this.'

They both smiled when they saw his contemplation and knocked on the door loudly.

A few seconds later, the door swung open slowly to reveal a young woman who looked to be in her twenties. She looked at them nervously, cowering behind the door because of how tall all three of them were, especially when compared to her petite figure.

"Wh-Who are you?" she asked with a hint of panic in her voice.

"We're from the Yagami Syndicate Ma'am, we're here because you submitted a job for us?" Beardy explained calmly, raising his hand to show her the tattoo of the gang's logo on the back of it.

She visibly relaxed when she heard that, exhaling with relief.

"I'm sorry, I thought you might have been sent by him... Please come in," she said, moving away to open the door wider so that they could enter.

The three of them walked in and took off their shoes. The woman led them to the living room where they sat down on the sofas while she placed glasses of water in front of them.

Baldy and Beardy looked at each other, but before they could speak up Reiji started the conversation without beating around the bush.

"Could you explain the situation to us more clearly Ma'am? The request you submitted is pretty vague in terms of how things devolved into this so suddenly?"

The woman looked at Reiji with puzzlement, not expecting the high school student to be the one to lead the queries. She had assumed he was the son of one of the other two men who had just tagged along for fun, but that didn't seem to be the case.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking the contents of her request was not something a teenager should know or be involved in.

"Please rest assured, we will do our best to help you so don't leave out anything you might think is relevant," Reiji continued when he saw her caution.

The woman sighed and finally began to explain.

"I started dating my ex-boyfriend about three years ago when we were still in college. Everything was going well, he seemed like a really genuine person that I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. After graduating we both found jobs in different sectors, where I'm a software engineer and he became an accountant, and there didn't seem to be any issues."

She took a sip of water and continued, her voice starting to tremble at this point.

"But a year ago he lost his job and wouldn't tell me why. If we worked in similar industries I could've maybe helped him out, but that wasn't possible, and anyway I didn't think it was a big deal and encouraged him to look for another one once he took some time to improve his mental health. But I think that was the wrong choice because he became extremely lazy, lounging around the house all day and did absolutely nothing to help with the chores. I worked 8 hour shifts and came back to a house that looked like a mess, forced to clean up after him even though I was exhausted."

She leaned back into her chair, staring at the ceiling with a blank gaze filled with melancholy.

"I couldn't take it anymore. It was 8 months of hell for me, where it felt like I was taking care of a grown child who wouldn't take any responsibility. I broke up with him and made him move out. He didn't take it well at all, he was borderline abusive and threw tantrums, but because my name was on the lease he wasn't able to stay. I thought things were finally over and I could move on with my life, but a few days ago he...he"

The woman's hand began to shake as she reached for her glass again. The three of them didn't rush her, waiting for her to regain some control and clarity.

She sighed and wiped her mouth.

"He sent me explicit pictures of myself that he secretly took when we were intimate, threatening to send it to everyone we know and post it online if I don't send him a large sum of money by this weekend."

Reiji's grim expression tightened even further at her words, confirming that it wasn't too far off the mark from what he was expecting.

But he was also cautious, especially after what Beardy had told him.

Though her misery seemed real, he had heard of far too many stories of women falsely accusing men of similar things which completely ruined their lives. He decided to confirm it first before proceeding with the job.

"Can you show us your messages with him?" he asked.

The woman blinked in surprise and hesitated, but then she opened her phone and handed it to them.

"Pl-Please don't scroll up, the images are still there. You can confirm his threats from the messages on the screen."

Reiji nodded and looked down at her phone, with Baldy and Beardy hovering behind him to do the same.

***

Keito: You fucking bitch, don't think I won't do it! I'll send it to everyone! Your families, friends, even your coworkers, I'll make sure your life is as miserable as mine!

Chinatsu: Why are you doing this? When did you even take those pictures??

Keito: Does that matter? It's not fake, and I know a lot of guys who would loooove to see them. Send me everything in your savings account by Friday or you know what will happen. I know how much you have in there, so don't try to mess with me!

Keito: Don't even try to contact the police, any sign that they are involved and i'll post them straight away. I've already drafted the post, i just gotta click send.

Chinatsu: Please don't do this! What am I going to do afterwards?

Keito: should've thought of that before kicking me out. three years I wasted with you, you couldn't even give me a few months to recollect myself? useless bitch!

***

Reiji's eyes grew colder as he read each message, a vein almost popping on his neck. He couldn't believe that someone could do something like this for their own benefit.

All this just because they were either too lazy to find a job or wanted to get revenge for being dumped?

No, if those pictures really were taken secretly, then he had been wasting precious oxygen for much longer than the story indicated.

'What a pathetic excuse for a human being.'

He clicked on Keito's profile and confirmed that it was indeed his account and not someone posing as him, closing the chat before handing it back to Chinatsu-san.

She took it without meeting his gaze, her face drooping with shame.

"Why do you look like you got caught doing something wrong?" Reiji chuckled.

Chinatsu-san's eyes flickered as she looked up with confusion.

"Don't get it twisted, you haven't done anything to be ashamed off, at least not that I know of. This happened because your ex is a lazy, sad, and inexcusably disgusting piece of shit that needs to be flushed down the toilet."

The woman stared with bewilderment..... and then burst out laughing, the glass of water in her hands spilling over the sofa as she lost control of it.

"Hahaha, thank you. I think I needed that," she said, wiping the tears of both joy and sadness that had formed at the edge of her eyes.

Reiji stood up and finished his water, placing it on the table with a satisfied sigh.

"Now, tell me where that shit stain lives."