(MC POV)
"Big brother… I'm pretty sure Kashima-dono is fuming by now…" Yumi remarked, following a step behind me as I led our small group towards the agreed meeting place.
"I have to agree with Yumi-san on this one, Aniki. That was actually the most stressful ramen I've ever had… Maybe we should call the others instead of going there with just the three of us?" Hiroto added.
I chuckled at them, "You two worry too much. I did say I have everything under control, didn't I? Or do the two of you have so little faith in me?"
"No! That's not the case, big brother!"
"Never, Aniki!"
Both of them denied with panicked expressions, to which I just laughed it off.
We soon reached the nightclub where the meeting was supposed to take place. Given that it was still in the afternoon, it was supposed to be closed so there wasn't anyone around other than us and a single bouncer standing outside the entrance.
"You're late," he chastised us with furrowed brows. "I hope you have a good explanation because Oyaji is definitely not happy with you."
Without waiting for a response, he opened the door to the club and stepped inside, gesturing for us to follow him in.
"Quite rude, don't you think?" I pointed out.
Hiroto and Yumi just stared at me like I grew a second head.
If my Family and Kashima's Family were equal, my words would have made sense. But right now, we're merely a small and insignificant Family who are supposedly riding on their coattails. Even if I'm the Patriarch of my Family, their goons can get away with things like this and we wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
Until now, that is.
We walked through the empty halls of the club, something that should have changed when the day gets dark. But I knew for a fact that they were losing customers left and right to the point of even having an empty club one night.
Waiting for us in one of the alcoves was the patriarch of the Kashima Family, Eiko Kashima.
On the outside, he looks like a politician with his glasses and thin build, but that could not be further from the truth.
Though he may look thirty, the man's already closing in on his mid-sixties this year. Some attributed his youth to being a blood sucking vampire and I was inclined to believe them.
He was infamous for being extremely strict, even with his own men. Any failure was met with the harshest of punishments no matter what. But precisely because of that attitude, his Family could be considered one of the deadliest as his men were especially trained to be efficient and ruthless.
If he wanted someone dead, his men would hunt that person down without a day of rest until the job is done.
And now, said man was glaring at us the moment we came into view, watching us unblinkingly as we made our way to sit across from him.
Yumi and Hitori were understandably nervous at being glared at by him since our own Family could still be considered quite young in this business, the core members being no older than twenty five. An old Family like Kashima's could crush us flat easily.
Again, that is if we're still under normal circumstances of course.
I settled into my seat across from the Kashima patriarch comfortably, not even showing worry at the men who started appearing out from the corners of the club to surround us.
"You got some nerve, brat…" Kashima growled, tapping his finger on the table impatiently. "First you stab me in the back with those cabaret clubs you set up, then you had the gall to play innocent while watching me go on a wild goose chase, and now you even showed up late when I showed you courtesy by inviting you here. Do you really think we wouldn't crush you just because you did some small work for us? Work that we can get another third rate family to replace you in doing easily?"
I steepled my fingers in front of me and moved closer towards the table.
All eyes were on me now, waiting to see what exactly I would say to defend myself.
I sucked in a breath and held it dramatically, looking the patriarch dead in the eye before finally speaking.
"So?"
Silence.
Everyone just gaped at me, their minds still trying to comprehend what I just said.
The patriarch slammed the table with his fist, "SO?! FOR ALL THAT, THE ONLY THING YOU HAD TO SAY FOR YOURSELF IS 'SO'?!!"
I tilted my head at him, as though not understanding why he was so upset, "Why are you acting all surprised? Were you not already stabbing me in the back as well?"
He glared at me for a moment before saying, "What are you even talking about? I gain absolutely nothing by doing that."
It sounded so sincere I almost believed him.
I leaned back in my chair, "You think I'm a young upstart nobody who bit off more than I can chew. That's why you've been finding other Families to do our work for you so that you can cut us off whenever you want. Unfortunately, you realised no one else can give you the same service we did so you wanted to undermine us to prevent us from getting any more influence. You even went as far as trying to go after my people while pretending to be the other rival clans. Do you think I don't know?"
Honestly, he actually did a really good job covering this up since there was no evidence. The other me might have needed that to take him down but definitely not the current me.
"You have no proof. Are you're slandering your elders now, brat?"
I smirked, "If I am, what are you going to do about it, Eiko-kun?"
There were sharp intakes of breaths all around us.
I knew all of his men were ready to strike me down, all they needed was a signal from their boss and they would rip me to shreds immediately.
The patriarch furrowed his brow, "Brat… Are you sick of living?"
I shrugged at him before leaning forward again, "Hey… Want to see a magic trick?"
"What are you--"
"Doesn't matter, I'll show you anyway. Look here!"
I raised up my hand and summoned a deck of playing cards to fan out, making them appear out of thin air.
"Normally I would ask you to pick a card but I know you're not in the mood for that so… There!"
I closed up the deck before spreading them on the table, revealing that all the cards had changed to display pictures of a few men.
Men who the Patriarch had tasked to sabotage my people.
Of course the only reason I knew was because I scanned his memories, not that I actually found out by myself.
But to him, it must look like I have much more dirt on him that could potentially land him in a lot of trouble.
The slight twitch of his lips was enough to tell he was disturbed.
I grinned, "Pretty cool right? Maybe that's what your clubs are missing to get the crowds back, have some kind of show, you know?"
The rage boiling off him was evident when he shifted his sight back to me, "What are you doing?"
I raised up my finger, "Oh! But I'm not done yet!"
I gathered up the cards and clasped them in my hand before letting go, revealing that they were gone now.
Then I reached up in the air and snapped, directing everyone's attention to my raised hand before materialising a picture on the table.
I lowered my hand and pointed to the picture, redirecting everyone's attention to it.
"What do you see?"
The Patriarch frowned, "This is… A picture of your sister?"
"Cute right? Just one of the two cutest sisters anyone can have, don't be jealous ok? But anyway, what I really want you to see is behind you."
Everyone turned to where I pointed, only to realise there was now a giant picture standing behind the crowd of men that depicted a woman smiling at them.
Most were surprised that such a giant thing appeared there without them knowing, which was obvious since I literally materialised it out of thin air.
Only the Patriarch and I know that the woman was a lover he was secretly sweet on, a memory I dragged up from the depths of his consciousness.
It wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that he was already married with three kids.
Insidious? Breach of personal privacy? I don't know what those words mean.
He turned back to me, his face as red as a tomato.
Too bad for him, I wasn't done yet.
I tapped the table with a finger and he realised the picture of my sister was now replaced with a piece of paper with a list of numbers on them.
These were the passcodes to many of his safehouses where incriminating evidence against his entire family were kept. Some could potentially keep him away for a very, very long time.
Again, these are things I stole from his memories to materialise in front of him. But to his understanding, it would appear as though I had already accessed them and could use them against him whenever I want.
His expression was now subdued, "What… What do you want?"
I smiled at him, "Nothing much, really. Just your entire family becomes subordinate to mine. As simple as that."
With that said, I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms, waiting for his answer.
Did I make him an offer he couldn't refuse? Absolutely.
