Ocho entered the lounge where his client was waiting for him alongside his secretary. The man stood up from his seat; it was Mr. Kiyoshita, who had been waiting to speak with him.
"Well, hello. Welcome. You're the mercenary they assigned to me, right? My secretary was the one who paid for one," said Mr. Kiyoshita, gesturing behind him toward his secretary.
Ocho was intrigued by the large room, seeing many valuable and luxurious items. Then he focused on a painting hanging on the wall. "Wait, that's a…" Ocho frowned, staring intently at the painting.
"Hey, did you buy that or win it at an auction? If I remember correctly, that painting is super expensive," said Ocho, intrigued, glancing sideways at the painting.
"Ha… I bought it. It wasn't that much, but I'm not bragging about what I earn daily. However, the goal I have right now is more important than this." said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Linz, please bring the blueprints from my office," said Mr. Kiyoshita, snapping his fingers to hurry her along.
"Yes, sir. I'll bring them right away," said the secretary, leaving immediately.
While waiting a moment, Ocho takes the time to inspect the entire room, checking the walls along the perimeter. As he looks for a hidden camera or something similar, Ocho finds something next to a book.
It's a photo from what looks like a business meeting; everyone is lined up neatly for a group photo. Ocho looks at it closely and notices something.
Just then, Mr. Kiyoshita approached and startled Ocho. "Haaaa!" … "Ocho shouted, startled by Kiyoshita's sudden appearance.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just noticed how intrigued you were by the photo you're holding," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Yeah, you're right. I was actually wondering what they were doing to take this photo in that spot," said Ocho.
"Yeah, I know. At that point in the meeting, we were planning what to do and requesting funding for some ongoing projects," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Some just refused, others laughed, but those who did agree accepted right away and helped a lot—that's why the photo was taken of everyone who contributed to the project," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Yeah, I see, but what I'm wondering is why Norichi is in the photo," said Ocho, noticing that one of the people in the photo was Norichi Sarutobi.
This question puzzled Mr. Kiyoshita because of what Ocho had said. "Wait, you already knew Mr. Norichi?" said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Yes, I've met him in person, but this seems strange to me because someone so eager to die would help with a donation," said Ocho, thinking for a moment.
"Wait, does that mean the guy never really cared about his business or the money? He was just spending it all to lose everything—he didn't care about going bankrupt," thought Ocho.
"His obsession was greater than what he was actually doing," thought Ocho.
"Well, the truth is, I don't know that guy very well," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
Ocho frowned, and Kiyoshita continued speaking. "When I first saw him, he struck me as a very strange person," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"He was always accompanied by someone when he went to every meeting," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"That's obvious; his secretary, Tokikami, is always with him," said Eight.
"No, the secretary didn't go to the meetings. If I remember correctly, the one who accompanied him was a boy who called him 'teacher,'" said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Whenever I heard that, I wondered if Norichi knew martial arts or something, since the boy always called him 'Master,'" said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"But after two years, I didn't see that boy again, so I figured he must have parted ways with Norichi," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"Actually, if I tell you something, I hardly remember his name anymore. I think it started with the letter F… But that's all I know," said Mr. Kiyoshita.
"I see, so that's it. But why would he want death so badly?" said Ocho, thinking for a moment.
"Here are the blueprints," said the secretary, arriving at that very moment.
Ocho and Kiyoshita looked at the plans; there were about ten of them needed to build the place perfectly. Ocho froze, speechless, because there were so many and they were so complicated that his mind couldn't process everything that was happening.
Excited, Kiyoshita began searching through all ten plans, discarding some that weren't what they were looking for. "Here it is!" Kiyoshita shouted excitedly, having found what he was looking for among the ten plans.
Ocho, his mind already in a daze, couldn't believe what he was seeing; that blueprint was much larger than he'd expected, with a multitude of symmetrical drawings and perfectly straight edges, without a single error.
"Man, this is going to be a pain to do. Hey, I don't have to carry all this," said Ocho nervously.
"No, no, no, you're not going to carry them—why would you?" said Kiyoshita.
"Just relax. I sent one of these to the construction site a while ago, and they've already finished it. I just need to inaugurate the new bridge," said Kiyoshita.
"Well, that sounds good to me," said Eight, relieved he wouldn't have to do any of the repairs.
"Well, I just needed to take them out because this is what I'll show them so they can see how I did it," said Kiyoshita.
"Okay, that sounds good," said Ocho.
"All right, then let's go. Put your hands up," said Ocho, raising his hands in the air as he walked out of the meeting room.
"Yeah, this is too exciting to let it go to waste—we have to celebrate," said Kiyoshita, also raising his hands in the air and following Ocho as if they were doing the snake dance.
Kiyoshita's secretary watched them and just stared. "You guys look like idiots doing that," thought Kiyoshita's secretary.
Everyone left the room and headed to the elevator. They reached the doors, pressed the button, and waited a long time, a really long time, another really long time, yet another really long time (I can't think of anything else).
The doors finally opened and they stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, and Ocho pressed the button for the basement. They began descending the floors as music played.
"Hmf… beach sounds. Must be a chill-out track by the band Dednigri," said Ocho, listening to the elevator's background music.
"Actually, those are jungle sounds. The song is called 'Jungle of Paradise,' by the same band," said Kiyoshita, correcting Ocho.
"Hm… what great taste in music," said Ocho.
"Exactly. It's better to choose a great artistic style rather than just picking one that'll annoy you after a while because it's so repetitive," said Kiyoshita.
"Good choice. That way, no one complains later and gives the owner a hard time," said Ocho.
The elevator stops right at the basement level; the elevator doors open, and Kiyoshita, Ocho, and the secretary step out.
They walk through the area and eventually find Ocho's car, which was parked right at the exit. Kiyoshita looks at the car and notices something important.
"Wow, it really is a Ferrari. I didn't think you were that elegant, sir," said Kiyoshita.
"Never doubt the salary of someone brutal—well, someone who's head and shoulders above the rest on missions," said Ocho, scratching his head.
This surprises Kiyoshita, who laughs at Ocho's response; the secretary remains silent for a long time as they listen.
Ocho takes his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the car. Everyone opens the car doors and gets in. Kiyoshita sits in the passenger seat, and the secretary sits in the backseat.
Ocho puts the key in and starts the engine. "Okay, buckle up, because this is going to be fast," said Ocho.
The car pulls out of the underground parking garage. It speeds forward; Ocho skids the car, shooting out onto the street at high speed.
Once on the highway, Ocho follows the route indicated by the GPS. "Well, what a route—it'll take us about two hours to get there," said Ocho.
The car drives along normally until something happens on the road. Out of nowhere, a car speeds past right in front of them, and Eight slams on the brakes, bringing them to a stop.
They're stuck in heavy traffic. "Don't worry, I'll change the route to get there," said Eight, looking at this rather strange situation.
Ocho's car backs up to change routes, but just then another car comes up behind them, and Ocho has to brake to avoid a collision, leaving them stuck in traffic on the highway.
"Damn it, we won't be able to get out of here; we'll have to wait," said Ocho.
"Well, looks like we'll be here for a while," said Kiyoshita, stretching his arms in a gesture of relaxation.
A motorcycle with two people wearing helmets that cover their faces approaches the highway at high speed, but the two people don't seem to have good intentions.
"Hey, did you notice that?" said Kiyoshita's secretary.
Ocho realizes something is wrong when he looks in the rearview mirror; he sees the people on the motorcycle getting closer and notices they have hidden weapons.
"Well, looks like they found us sooner than expected," said Ocho.
"What are you talking about?" asked Kiyoshita.
"I mean it looks like your robbers planned this, but don't worry, I've got this," said Ocho with complete calm.
Ocho reclines the passenger seat, and as the people on the motorcycle approach, Kiyoshita—confused as to why his seat is reclined—wonders what Ocho is going to do.
Eight pulls out a gun hidden in the right side of his pants and aims at the window; the guys on the motorcycle pull up alongside, and the one sitting in the back pulls out a rifle and aims at the car.
But just before Eight fires, he takes such a precise shot that it goes through the car window and passes close to the person's helmet, piercing it as well and hitting him in the head.
The guy falls off the motorcycle from the bullet, hits the ground, and bleeds heavily. "Ha, he learned that from Seven (Sifon)," Ocho thinks to himself as he watches the driver (the man's companion) run off down the road.
"Well, then, buckle up tight because this is going to get dangerous," Ocho said seriously.
Ocho floors the gas pedal and crashes into the car in front of him, then slams on the brakes and shifts into reverse.
The car reverses at high speed and crashes into the one behind it, sending it backward. Ocho does the same thing twice more and manages to create an escape route.
"Alright, now it's time to go," said Eight, flooring the gas pedal and turning the steering wheel to change direction.
Eight pulls out of traffic and drives against the flow of traffic; more cars come out because he's in a bad position.
Ocho dodges them with difficulty, driving like never before; he skids on the road, ending up on the edge of it, and the car falls off the road downward.
But there was another road below, and the car hits the ground; luckily, everyone inside is okay, except for Kiyoshita, who has already gotten dizzy. Ocho changes lanes to take a new route that will help them get out.
Ocho drives down that new road at full speed, and then, as he drives calmly, more cars chase him, along with more people on motorcycles, all with the goal of killing Mr. Kiyoshita.
But Ocho watches them and is ready to take them out. He pulls out his gun and aims at one of them, waits for the perfect moment, and shoots the tire of one of the cars, causing it to lose control and veer off the road.
The car crashes into some people riding motorcycles, which takes out a few of the thugs, but there are still more left. Ocho sees this and just smiles, ready to act again.