I had been off the beat for a while now. It was due to a case involving the Mafiosa in my relatives' stomping grounds in Chicago. It was a delicate mission, one that needed my particular and slightly disturbing skill set...and my contacts. After getting half of your ribs broken by a bouncer wielding a billy stick and your humerus by a thug with a careful if not elementary understanding of the simple lever--a.k.a. lead piping--while on a case (and still having to finish the work), you tend to stay away from any kind of mission for a while. I don't remember several months from the time I entered Chicago until the time I fled to Tokyo for a much-needed reprieve. All I was hoping for was some down time...(and the chance to tour numerous anime, video game, and manga studios situated throughout the metropolis...)
My dad had been to Tokyo briefly in his career. He said that half of the city was off-limits if you wanted to keep your head in place and that the other half was full of whore houses and the homes of drug cartels. Apparently, over the last few decades, things had changed. Drastically.
The city was a shining metropolis at first glance, but it held deep shadows with even darker secrets. Just like New York City, just like Chicago, just like Los Angeles, just like Mexico City, and just like Madrid. Not like London, though. Of course, with all the rain and fog, that city is nothing but fog, doom, and gloom anyway. This was different, though. The air itself spoke of possibility. I could hear it, feel it in my bones. Something big was going down. And I wanted in on it.
Sighing, I followed my thoughts to the logical conclusion: my vacation was over. I pulled out my netbook and started to work.
Then...things got interesting.