miari | Swindler Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN.

FINALLY.

Hopefully I've made up for the long wait. I don't know why this part was so damn hard to write.

There hadn’t originally been a problem. Kurosaki had planned on collapsing his fake bank which held the money of most of his “tenants,” disappear for awhile and leave Shizuna to face the consequences. He was going to expose all three of them as swindlers by anonymously sending all the pictures and information he had to the police.

He had considered killing them, but that wasn’t really what he did. He was Kurosagi, he uncovered swindlers and even though this was a personal issue, he knew killing them would only give him momentary satisfaction. The thought of the three of them in prison for a very long time with no hope of a normal life afterward was much, much more satisfying. Especially when he considered how he’d be able to rub it in their faces when they did get out.

However, because of an entirely coincidental happening he had discovered that he had been entirely and completely wrong. He hated being wrong. And now things were in motion that he couldn’t stop that should be stopped...

He thought he had found a way, but then he had spotted the younger Ariake male sitting in Katsura (with an excellent disguise, mind you, but Kurosaki knew him too well to mistake him for someone else,) and he had to change his plans, because obviously they knew something...the question was how much that something was.

What did they know of him, of his fake bank, and of their interconnected past? How much did Shizuna know was what was really bothering him. He looked at her much differently these days. They still went on dates, but Kurosaki felt himself become more Kurosaki and less Kurosagi each time he saw her.

Kurosaki started to test them, bit by bit, and was surprised when he discovered that Shizuna had stopped putting money into her “bank account”; she had even taken out most of it. This was when he realized that they knew more than he had originally guessed. Well, that or she had been chastised by her brothers for being so careless. Both made him nervous.

He decided that there really was nothing for it and that he wasn’t going to waste his time trying to figure out what they were doing. He never went around and told people exactly what he was planning to do and they were at least as smart as he was so it was best that he just continue as planned and hoped they would listen to him when the time came. Because that was the only way to fix this whole thing.

“He wants to meet us all to finalize everything.”

“Kill us, probably.”

“Pleasant, Tai-nii, very pleasant.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Can I say that I’m scared?”

“Yeah. Knock yourself out.”

“Maybe I will.”

“Is most of your money out of that bank?”

“He asked me about that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I said you had a medical emergency.”

“Shi...”

“You can wear a fake cast when you meet him, it’ll be cool.”

“It’s not like it’ll matter, he most likely knows that you’re lying.”

“Casts are cool.”

“Wear it yourself then.”

Koichi paced the front of Katsura. In his mind, he could hear his mother’s voice saying, “you’ll wear out your shoes; stay in one place!” But the memory of her voice only spurred him to walk more fervently.

Taisuke and Shizuna came ambling up the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, only their tightly clasped hands showing any sign of distress.

They waited in front of the restaurant as Kurosaki instructed for about five minutes until Shizuna latched onto his hand and nodded down the street. Kurosaki was dressed in anything in particular, but the way he walked towards them seemed formidable in and of itself.

When he stood in front of them, Koichi knew that the master swindler knew they knew everything.

“You know that we know,” he said in way of greeting.

“Come inside and eat and we’ll talk.”

“Why? It’s not going to solve anything and all we really want to do is kill you.”

Kurosaki was silent for a moment and Koichi was thankful that there was no one on the street.

“We need to clear the air. Hear me out, and if you don’t believe me, I will let you kill me. I’ll even tell Katsuragi to help you cover it up and hide my body, he’s very good at that sort of thing.

Koichi was breathing hard. Shizuna was still holding onto his hand (he was afraid his bones might break) and he could imagine that Taisuke was grinding his teeth in frustration. He decided that it should be his sister’s desicion.

“Shi?”

It must have been a good five minutes before Shizuna whispered “Fine, but you get fifteen minutes. Then you’re dead.”

“I’ll make sure that my last words are full of meaning,” Kurosaki replied wryly.

“You’re a bastard.”

“I know. Are you sure you don’t want to eat something?”

Taisuke growled.

“Right.”

Kurosaki led them inside, nodding to the hostess who did not at all seemed surprised that four people were walking towards the back of the establishment like they were going to kill someone.

“I’m not going in there,” Taisuke spit through his teeth, when Kurosaki tried to usher them into a back room. “I don’t know who you have waiting.”

Kurosaki opened the door wider and stepped through it first. “I can only promise that you won’t be harmed. You won’t find me again after tonight so make a desicion.”

Shizuna had followed him before Taisuke could even open his mouth and Koichi found himself pulled along into what looked like a private bar.

“Sit,” Kurosaki gestured to the chairs and stools, “...somewhere...”

“Thirteen minutes,” Shizuna informed him.

“Fine. When I was ten, my father was swindled out of 3 million by a man by the name of Suzuki Taro. With my mother and my sister, and myself to care for, it was a huge blow and he had no choice but to submerge himself into the world of swindling - the very thing which ended him - to pay his debts.”

“That’s the life story of every swindler from Sapporo to Nagasaki.”

Kurosaki ignored Taisuke’s obvious attempt to stall the story, “So, this is where your parents come into the picture. My father discovered that they were the original Kurosagi pair and he teamed up with them to get his money back from Suzuki Taro.”

“Where your father promptly backstabbed our parents with your help. Literally. What is the point of this?”

“The point is that you’re wrong about that.” Kurosaki decided that he hated it when Koichi raised his eyebrows.

“Explain.”

“I’m trying. They successfully pulled the swindle off, but they failed to get Suzuki captured by the police. Suzuki found out that our parents were the ones that had swindled him and set out for revenge. He went for your parents first. Katsuragi found out and told my father who was at an amusement park with to celebrate and we hurried to your parent’s house.”

“What are you trying to say exactly?”

“I waited outside,” Kurosaki continued, ignoring Koichi’s question, “and when my father didn’t come back out I went inside and found our parents both stabbed to death. I thought,” the swindler paused, collecting his thoughts, “I thought that your parents had killed my father in an attempt to get all the money. I thought the call he received from Katsuragi had been your parents luring him to the house.”

The Ariake children were silent and Koichi felt his blood boiling at the ridiculousness being presented before him.

“I left with blood on me from holding my dead father, which is when you,” Kurosaki nodded to Taisuke, “saw me.”

“Long story short, I thought your parents killed my father and you thought my father had killed your parents when in actuality they were both killed by Suzuki Taro.”

Shizuna was shaking next to him.

“That’s a lie,” Koichi whispered. It had to be a lie. He had believed that his parents were killed by Kurosaki’s father since...well, it felt like forever...like it was the only thing he had ever been completely sure of.

“It’s not.”

“You father killed our parents. We came here because your father killed them,” Shizuna said, “Why?”

“I didn’t.”

“Liar. Answer her. You like her, answer her! Why did you kill our parents?” Koichi screamed. “Answer me!”

“Shizuna,” Kurosaki whispered, “I didn’t, I swear it wasn’t me.”

“I don’t believe you!” Taisuke screamed, as Shizuna choked up on frustrated tears, “Are you going to believe him,” Koichi leapt up to hold his brother back because the fifteen minutes weren’t up yet, “Koichi, are you really going to believe this bastard?”

“How could I?” Koichi stared hard at Kurosaki, “You have no proof. I will not believe some random story that could easily be pulled out of your ass to save your sorry life. You’re nothing but a criminal.”

“You’re right, I’m a criminal. I steal, I cheat, I swindle, but I don’t take people’s lives.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not.”

“PROVE IT,” Shizuna snapped.

“I need your help to prove it completely.”

“What.” His sister’s tone was very cold and Koichi could sense his sister’s fifteen minutes coming to a close very quickly.

“Katsuragi will swear that he called my father when Suzuki went to your house to kill your parents. I remember the phone call, the desperation in my father’s face to reach your house before the inevitable happened. Katsuragi will also swear that Suzuki told him that night that he killed both our parents. But...you don’t really know Katsuragi.”

“Damn right,” Taisuke bit out.

“So, we need to find Suzuki Taro and get him to tell us what happened.”

“Sorry,” Shizuna’s voice was bitter, “but you want to work with us?”

“Yes,” Kurosaki said, “I do."

A/N I PROMISE TO GET THE NEXT ONE OUT SOONER. PROMISE.

Swindler Chapter 7

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