I found Sensei standing outside the club door with his arms crossed and his feet planted hip-width, staring at the sky. He was dressed in a poorly tied yukata, and I thought it must have been something he just threw on over his training clothes to save his modesty. "There's no red in the sunset tonight." He said as I approached. "I guess we'll see if there's red in the sky at sunrise."

"Why are you looking for all that red?"

He peeled his gaze from the sky and cast it toward me. "If the sunset is red, the weather will be favourable the next day. If the sunrise is red, the weather will be turbulent. A fisherman taught me that."

I didn't ask him any more questions. He followed me into the club, and I dropped my gym bag on the floor in the lobby, and draped my jacket over a chair. I wasted no time stripping myself of my shirt, and dropping my suit pants to the floor to change into my hakama. On the training floor, the tea was set out in the dim light, and the steam coming from the hot water wafted upward in high contrast to the darkness. It was a peaceful atmosphere created in a place that was meant for kicking and punching with the intent to injure, offering a sense of safety that was just a front. I sat down on the training mat and poured two cups of tea, hurrying the ritual along, but I couldn't deny that I enjoyed the taste of it.

"Has he been looking for me?"

Sensei nodded as he breathed in his sip of tea. His expression was always so complacent, the most immaculate poker face. "Yes, he has." He said. "I've told him I haven't seen you."

"Thank you." I took a long sip of tea, wondering how much I should tell him, how much I could trust him. "I'm storming the capitol tomorrow."

Sensei nearly spit out his tea. "That was such a casual way to say what I think you're saying."

"There's something going on, and I don't like it, and skirting around it isn't giving me any answers. I can't handle the side effects without attacking the root cause."

He nodded slowly, setting his tea cup down gently. He seemed to be searching in mind for something to tell me, some advice to give me. It looked different from an old man simply taking a moment to think. It looked like he was accessing his wisdom. "I don't know what's going on." He said, after a moment longer of silence. "I don't see anything outside of what happens here. I see the same men come and go each day, and I don't ask them about the politics of the syndicate. They don't offer up the information, either. I'm getting old, and Oda is too. I want to see a change happen before I die."

I reached across the table and gave his shoulder a strong pat with my palm. "Just say you have my back, old man, don't make it so dramatic."

"I just hope that you're prepared."

"I am."

He studied me for a beat of time, his eyes like fires, blazing trails over my skin. "What about your girl?"

"I'm bringing her with me. It's a tactic, using her like a shield, mostly." I said. I chuckled to myself at the thought. "You should see her though. She's ready for anything."

"She was my student first, before she was your girl." Sensei tipped his tea cup at me in a one sided cheer. "I've seen her."

I put my empty tea cup down on the table, pushing myself up to stand with both palms. "Let's get to work."

Sensei turned the lights off. The residual light pollution from the city was enough to cast a line of sight across the training floor, but the corners of the room remained heavily shadowed. He held a wooden practice katana out at arm's length to me. I took it without a word, but I was distracted by the childlike grin on the old man's face. I adjusted my ready stance, clutching the katana with both hands, anticipating his next move. Nothing could have prepared me. He took a swing, so fast I could barely detect it, his katana connected with the back of my knee, and he started a sprint to the other side of the floor. I was frozen with surprise for only a second, and I forced myself out of the daze to follow him. We played this game of cat and mouse in the dark until we were both out of breath and slick with sweat. Sprint, take a swing, try to connect at the knees or ankles, dodge or jump, sprint again. Just like a couple of elementary school kids.

As Sensei flipped the lights on again, we were laughing, reaching for our discarded shirts to wipe the sweat from our faces. "That was fun, thank you for humouring me, Obata."

"Don't mention it." I took a messy swig from a water bottle, and held it out to offer it to him. "It was fun. What's your angle?"

"A few push-ups, a few sit-ups, and we're done for today." He made a gesture toward the training floor. "Bring your gun tomorrow. And your sword."

I didn't have any confidence that anyone in the Oda-kai house would back me. I was outnumbered, and I wasn't sure if my own men would continue to stand with me. As a leader, I was harsh on the upper ranks of the syndicate, and I was oblivious to how well liked I was, if I happened to be liked at all. I was the street rat, the leftover from the second in command who had worked his way to the top, having taken over from my father who had put in the time before me to pave my way. I had the scars to prove that I had fought, but I knew it wasn't enough when I was considered the hand-me-down. I was going to storm into the syndicate headquarters house to shout some big accusations that I had quite possibly only made up in my head. I had to be prepared to have every bridge I crossed set ablaze behind me.

I wore my best suit. It was a clean black set which was tailored to fit just a little looser than perfectly, and I left my shirt unbuttoned enough at the top to brandish my tattoo. It was a purposeful power move, and I hoped that each man would understand it that way. I was tattooed for the Oda-kai, and that tattoo would last for my entire life. So would Oda-kai, one way or another. I instructed Ito to get dressed in her nicest clothes, whether it was a business suit or a dress, I wasn't concerned, and she didn't disappoint. She emerged from the bedroom wearing dark tan wide-leg trousers, cinched at the waist with a dainty beige belt, and white sleeveless shirt tucked in. Over her shoulder, she carried a matching dark tan blazer. Her hair was secured in a neatly wrapped bun sitting close to the base of her neck.

"You don't look like a Yakuza's woman at all." I told her. "You look like you want to take over the Yakuza."

"Should I change?" She looked down at herself, evaluating my comment, and I couldn't help feel a flood of adoration for her. She took my offer seriously, whether she realized it or not, but I couldn't sense any nervousness from her. What I sensed was her desire to be a leader.

"Don't change."

My men drove my car to the Oda-kai house, Ito and I in the back. We sat close, but didn't touch, not even a grasp of a hand. It was a cold kind of situation to be in, enveloped in the silence of the drive. I kept my gaze straight ahead, staring into the void created by the partition window. I went over the plan in my mind's eye, over and over. Walk in. Waste no time. Announce my intentions. Fight, if necessary. And try to keep Ito safe.

I caught her stealing glances at me out of the corner of her eye. It reminded me of one of the first times we slept in her bed together, and I couldn't help but smile. "I'm just distracted." I told her. "This is important."

"I didn't mean to interrupt you." She said. She looked so young in that moment. She looked away from me shyly. "I just like to look at you, and when you're thinking that hard, you usually don't notice."

It was a bold statement to make in such a timid way, when she had not long ago been arguing with me over coffee about who was more important to who. "It might get dangerous in there, depending on how they receive what I'm going to say today. I want you to stay close to my men until I feel like it's safe enough to introduce you."

"Is it always like that?"

"It's never like that. We're all supposed to be on the same side in this house. I just don't think we are."

She looked at her knees and nodded, and I knew she was resigning herself to the knowledge that yet another place I frequented might try to kill me. "I'll trust you on this one, this time."

"If everything goes the way I want it to, you won't have to just trust me when I tell you I'll come back to you." I said. "There won't be any real danger out there after today." I knew it wouldn't be that easy, even if I got my way. I hated lying to her.