(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses-Chapter 152: Alone

"What trouble though?" Haruki rubbed his brow tiredly as he asked.

"I think we both know." Ren calmly lit his cigar and exhaled the smoke.

Haruki’s movements stopped as he met Ren’s gaze. They were quiet for a few seconds before Haruki shook his head in disbelief.

"Are you sure?" He asked sceptically. He knew Aiichiro was powerful and deeply rooted in the underworld but why would he . . . His train of thought stopped along with his breath.

"I think we should return. You shouldn’t be away for too long." Ren stood up and pressed the bottom of the cigar into the ashtray.

Haruki was frozen in his position. If Aiichiro was behind it all, then they were fighting against an enemy they shouldn’t have messed with.

But how did he mess with Aiichiro? If he wanted to attack, he should have done it three years ago when their friendship ended. But they had parted ways calmly, it was so clean that no one knew they had a falling out until Haruki stopped his friends from asking him.

They both had two different territories both in the underworld and the business world and they never had to directly attack each other. So why?

The more he thought, the farther the web seemed to spread. For how long and how much had he done?

If anyone could be compared to Haruki, it was Aiichiro and a war against Aiichiro would be a bloody one. One that would be very messy and both of them would incur more damage than they were willing to suffer.

"You need to return," Ren repeated noticing Haruki was very lost in his thoughts.

"Okay," Haruki replied and rose up. It was still a thesis, they hadn’t investigated well enough to know whether Aiichiro was behind it. He was a suspect based on their premonition, their feelings and there was no evidence to lay on the table.

He sighed and adjusted his suit and tie. With a calm countenance, he walked out of the room back to the noisy ballroom.

The conversations stopped as soon as he walked in and only continued when he walked to his seat and sat down.

Haruki felt a sense of impatience knowing there were so many other things he could be doing at that moment but he had to stay until the party was over.

He looked for Ren and when their gaze met, the man immediately understood and walked towards him. He sat down on a sofa beside him and reached for a glass of wine.

"Have them begin investigating," Haruki leaned said with a hand over his lips when Ren leaned closer to him.

He could feel that man’s gaze on him. He met his gaze calmly warning himself not show anything. If Aiichiro was his enemy, it was best not let him know.

If Aiichiro wasn’t his enemy, a good lip reader like him would wonder what Haruki wanted to investigate and it was something that should also be avoided.

Ren got the order and left to make a few phone calls. Aiichiro rose up and approached Haruki. He sat down where Ren stood up from after bowing slightly.

"You always ignored my invitations in the past," Haruki murmured after taking a sip from his wine glass.

Satomi smiled and shook his head. "That’s an exaggeration, how dare I ignore your invitation, I am stupid to do that?" Aiichiro asked in disbelief. He shook his head and frowned, "I wouldn’t dare."

"But you never came," Haruki replied very calmly.

"I never came because I was busy, as you know," he said leaning backwards in a relaxed posture. "Or you were too busy to know?"

"I got your gifts though," Haruki ignored his question as he stated.

"Oh, and you always sent your appreciation." Aiichiro sighed and leaned forward before whispering, "You know I missed hanging out with you. It got lonely after we fell apart. Just as boring as hanging around with the old geezers."

Haruki watched the man calmly. He didn’t acknowledge his complaint because he was the reason behind it all. It was all Aiichiro’s fault but his faults were not enough for a war, just enough to part ways amicably.

Haruki could not remember having any deep feelings for the man. Aiichiro was one of the few younger men he got familiar with and they hung around together whenever they wanted to have fun or play around.

He was not special at least not like Hiroshi. He felt no attraction to the man and when they parted, he didn’t feel the separation as much as his other friends. Aiichiro was just like one of them.

"You don’t seem to agree though," Aiichiro sighed and shook his head. "I return to my table. I heard last year your men brought gorgeous women for the last round of fun. Are we going to get them this year?"

"No," Haruki replied. "They are all busy."

Aiichiro sighed and shook his head, "I was really hoping to have fun though."

Haruki was tired and wanted to go home. A last round of such depravity was not going to happen at all and last year, it was arranged by Ren without his prior knowledge.

"Let’s get a drink sometime next week to make up for it, right?"

Aiichiro was more or less making a statement not asking Haruki out. Haruki didn’t want to be in the same space with a dangerous suspect but he nodded in agreement. This could help with their investigation or punishment execution if need be.

This was the first invitation Aiichiro gave Haruki. They used to exchange invitations when they were still friends but the moment they parted ways, Aiichiro never sent him an invitation to any event he hosted.

Aiichiro asked about some of their friends but Haruki replied that he had been too busy to meet with them since the night of his birthday party.

After they exchanged a few words together, Aiichiro left to talk to some other guests. Haruki could only fight back the urge to keep checking his wrist watch until everything was over.

On the ride back, Haruki was lost in thought. He had forgotten Aiichiro existed completely for more than three years now except for formalities all of which were handled by Kiyoshi or Ren.

It was not surprising considering that Aiichiro had just been one of the other friends he hung around with in the past.

The memories he had never considered necessary came flooding back. He picked a cigar from inside the car and lit it. He blew the smoke as he brought the window down.

The night air was cold. He had ordered the driver to take them to Hiroshi’s house but by the time he was done smoking, he asked the driver to go back to the main house.

Aiichiro’s network wasn’t better than his but the man was not inferior at all. He was dealing with his equal and if his equal knew his secrets, then he might be weaker, pathetically weaker, that’s unless he finds out Aiichiro’s secret.

***

Hiroshi placed the grape in the freezer to get it colder faster. He was delayed a bit in the crowded store and when he got back, he felt Haruki would arrive soon.

He prepped something for them to eat a light late-night meal together but it was almost midnight and Haruki hadn’t arrived. He walked to the freezer and removed the almost frozen grapes.

Looking at the grape, he stood lost in his thoughts. He remembered that Haruki’s voice sounded off. He was hoping to ease the man’s mind with the little actions he could take.

He left the grapes on the island and grabbed his phone. He wondered if Haruki had ignored him but when he thought of how much they spent together and how he seemed to have integrated into Haruki’s life, he felt that wasn’t it causing him to panic a bit.

He called Haruki. The call ended without a response. He felt his heart race as a dialed the number again. When the call was ignored again, he called Kiyoshi.

"Hello," Kiyoshi said as he picked up the call after a couple of seconds.

"Is your boss okay?" Hiroshi asked. Considering all that has happened during the past weeks he couldn’t help but worry about Haruki’s safety.

"He is but he is very busy right now," Kiyoshi replied without hesitation.

"Okay," Hiroshi replied softly. His shoulders slumped and he looked a couple of centimetres shorter as he took the grapes to the sink. He rinsed them and carried a glass bowl of cold grapes to the living room.

With a sigh, he slumped down on the sofa and threw a grape into his mouth. Sitting alone in the living room, he could only worry about Haruki.

It was almost midnight and the man was so busy he hadn’t bothered to tell him he wouldn’t come over, he was very certain that what kept Haruki busy was something serious.

He picked up his phone and called his lawyer. "What happened to Haruki?" he asked his lawyer as soon as the call connected.

"Nothing that I’m aware of," his lawyer replied without hesitation.

"Then find out about it," Hiroshi ordered impatiently.