BXBX NOVEL Chapter 522 - HU LEI AND KAITO
As the door closed, Kaito recalled the event to which Yagi Seiryo was referring with a bit of darkness in his eyes. He remembered clearly what happened on that day, but he did not wish to ask for recognition or a reward for it.
But the memory reminded him of something else that happened a long time ago with Hu Lei.
It was one of the many times that Hu Lei mentioned building good karma.
She confessed once that she thought that as a human being, she was worse than Kaito. He did not counter her words. It was at the time they met by coincidence in the Congo. The meeting was a little random, but it was a welcome reprieve.
That night, the two of them were perched on top of an old tall tree in the rainforest. A fall from the fifty metres tree would probably cause death or at least, serious injuries. Also, dangerous animals like venomous snakes were always lingering in corners.
However, the two of them just remained seated on a tree branch without fear. They were not afraid. And even if they were, they could handle any danger that came. At the time, Kaito had just killed a warlord and most of his powerful subordinates, leaving a chaotic mob.
But in the depths of the forest, it was safe.
"You are a good assassin, Kaito." Hu Lei had said.
Kaito snorted, finding the compliment a little condescending. "You know you are better. The point of being a ninja assassin is to be in the shadows and never be discovered. The fact that people know I am an assassin makes me the worse one."
"I do not mean it that way." Hu Lei responded. "Of course, I am the better assassin, but you are a good person. You know, for a killer."
Kaito was a little irked by the arrogance of the annoying woman, but he did not argue with her.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You might be a killer, but you have at least tried to make the world a better place. I know you always look for missions that will improve the world. On the other hand, I am a gun that is always loaded and ready to attack." She said a little self-deprecatingly.
"I do not know about the next person I will kill. I do not only kill bad people. I kill those who want to harm my father. But my father is not a good person, which means that I am the bad guy. I am the one who blows up at the end of the movie."
Kaito looked at some Samango monkeys frolicking on the trees, swinging and playing as he thought about the words. He did not know what to say to comfort her.
"You could leave your father to his own devices. We could become the twin assassins extraordinaire." He finally said.
Hu Lei looked at him for a moment as if she would agree, but she turned away. "I wish I could leave all this behind. I hope one day I will be able to leave all this behind. But for now, I am bound by the twisted bonds of family."
The two of them remained on the tall tree in silence for a long moment.
"So, what will you do?" Kaito asked.
"I will try to balance out my karma and hope for the best. Since I cannot live as a righteous person, I will be a bad person who sometimes does good things. I do not believe that I cannot manipulate my destiny even as a villain." Hu Lei said.
She stood and stretched her hands out to the beams of moonlight penetrating through the thick canopy. The branch they were perched on was thin, but her movement barely caused any disturbance in the forest.
She was the indisputably superior ninja. The thought came to Kaito, but he would never say it out aloud.
After that, he did not think much about Hu Lei\'s words until Ochi\'s half-brother hired him. He was a little wary of getting involved in the yakuza business, but he was also a little interested in the local underworld.
Therefore, he told the half-brother that he would consider the request.
During that period, he investigated the inner workings of the crime families in Tokyo. He blended into the shadows and watched the operations. At the time, he had only a shallow understanding of the syndicates.
But he came to understand that the world was a little more complicated.
Ochi was the overall leader at the time, but he was facing a lot of pressure from the smaller families who wanted a change in the regime. He always ran the organisation as a chivalrous organisation with only some grey area business.
He did not allow the members to do excessive things that oppressed the common populace. However, his half-brother Koujin had convinced a lot of the smaller families to rebel against the rules. He told them that it would be more profitable if they chose to go in a completely criminal way.
Koujin wanted to make changes like encouraging human trafficking. Some of the smaller families participated in luring young ladies to the city. These women would work as dancers and hostesses and eventually end up in prostitution.
Drug trafficking was also prohibited, but the business was profitable. So, Koujin started working with some of the younger members of the syndicates to increase drug circulation.
When Ochi found out, Koujin wanted to hire Kaito to eliminate his half-brother so that he could transform the yakuza completely. Unfortunately, Kaito found out the background of the matter and rejected the job in the end.
It was at the time when Kaito was planning on closing up the case that he found out of Koujin\'s plot to kidnap Ochi\'s granddaughter, who was three years old. From his findings, it was possible that Koujin killed the girl\'s father too.
During that time, he had acted out of his nature. He never interfered with other people\'s matters if it was not his business. But when he saw the crying girl, he went against his practices and rescued her, before sending her back to Ochi\'s property.
After that, he brushed off the matter and decided to call it gaining good karma.
He did not think anyone saw him or found out about his actions.
But it seems he was wrong.
\'You really are the better ninja.\' Kaito whispered to the air with a subtle smile.
In Supreme City, Hu Lei was deeply asleep in a panda onesie.. She did not know she had missed the moment when Kaito admitted without arrogance or annoyance that she was better.