"And now, I'd like to introduce you all to someone very important."

Ryoma tried to hide the way he gulped involuntarily, and bowed deeply to the gathered executives and the webcam at the center. The setup was very traditional-unlike the Shadow group, the Southpaw group followed the standard yakuza hierarchy, with the requisite advisors and council. Queen favored him with an amused smirk, as if she knew exactly how anxious he was. A moment later, however, she was all business again, her sharp eyes not hidden by the dusty blue of her veil.

"As I have mentioned, Yuuta, Ryoma here will be assisting you with this joint operation. He will serve as the Shadow group's representative in this endeavour."

A tall man with light brown hair turned to look at Ryoma, clearly assessing his value. Ryoma in turn examined him silently, committing every detail to memory. Fuji Yuuta, the rising star of the largest family in the Hokkaido region, and current wakagashira of the Southpaw group. Ryoma had heard that each of the sub-prefectural vices in Hokkaido reported directly to him, instead of to an advisor, making Southpaw one of the most tightly controlled syndicates in Japan. He was a surprisingly nondescript man, save for the distinctive scar on his temple. Hard to imagine that this man had single-handedly brought down much of the previous Southpaw leadership in a violent coup several years ago. Even among members of the family, fearful whispers of the Southpaw Killer floated in his wake. But here, dressed in a genteel suit, his hair softly smoothed back, only the hardness in his eyes betrayed his vicious capabilities.

"Not to cast aspersions on your judgment, my dear, but…the Black Unit operation will require not just skill, but experience." Yuuta's voice was dubious, and the faces of the elders around him echoed his sentiment. Ryoma kept his indignation off of his face, knowing that it was up to Queen to vouch for him.

Queen countered by sliding a dossier across the table wordlessly. While Yuuta and the others passed the files around, Ryoma stood silently at Queen's shoulder, trying to keep his breathing even. His heart was racing. In his head, her words repeated themselves, This is a test. I am using this operation to judge the stability of the Southpaw group and their alliance with Fudomine. You will perform to your utmost ability to prove your worth to them, and at the same time, you will gather information for the Shadow group. He willed his face to stay blank and attentive.

Finally, after an interminable wait, Yuuta looked back up.

"Fine. We'll take him. But this is an important operation. Fudomine is one of the most profitable syndicates seeking affiliation with us, and we want to incorporate them smoothly."

"Very good." Queen smiled and gestured towards Ryoma, directing him to the seat next to hers. She seemed as if she had never doubted that Yuuta would cave. Yuuta's grimace indicated that he had noticed that as well.

"Now then, Fudomine is primarily a financial firm. They make a good profit running protection rackets and dealing in high interest loans, but the reason they're so profitable lies in the fact that they have an excellent roster of enforcers," Yuuta began, "In fact, their main clientele are far wealthier than the usual for loan sharks. So in reality, they make money through their protection fees and through almost 100 percent repayment on their loans. The consequences of defaulting are dire enough that almost nobody dares."

"But if they're so successful, why is this operation necessary?"

"I was about to get to that, brat," Yuuta snapped, "Fudomine has gotten by thus far because although they are profitable, they are not powerful. They have centered their power in Sapporo, and do not often take work outside the bounds of the Ishikari sub-prefecture. Their rivals are all more widespread, and have not felt threatened. By joining the Southpaw group, Fudomine expands their reach several-fold and will become much more competitive."

Queen nodded, and continued the explanation, "Black Unit is about ensuring that Fudomine's rivals are pushed out or wiped out completely in the targeted expansion areas. We're not trying to start a turf war. We want to eliminate the possibility of competition from the beginning." Ryoma frowned at that.

"What sort of operatives have been assigned to this?" he ventured. It seemed to be a very ambitious mission, but a quick glance around the table showed that everyone at least appeared confident about it.

Yuuta passed over another folder, this time filled with details regarding the information. Ryoma flipped through the files, impressed by the caliber of the operatives in Southpaw's arsenal. The stats on Fudomine's enforcers were also almost shocking. He took note of one man in particular…

"Mr. Fuji, what exactly does this man do? I don't understand the way his skillset is described."

Yuuta took one look at the file Ryoma held out to me, and grinned. It was a wide, disconcerting smile, with far too many teeth. It put Ryoma on edge immediately.

"Ah, our soon-to-be resident genius," he said fondly, "He's a lot like you, Ryoma. Trained from a young age, and very proficient in his area. You'll like him...or maybe hate him. It's a toss-up, I suppose."

What was he supposed to say to that?

"Enough. Let's finish this up," Queen's voice cracked like a whip across the room. Ryoma suppressed a shiver. Her mood had changed again. Yuuta cast a lazy eye over at her, but motioned to another elder to begin. Not as lackadaisical as he looked.

The man coughed and pulled out the first two files, "First, of the Fudomine enforcers, we have Kamio Akira and Ibu Shinji. Kamia and Ibu are a long-term team that has worked very well for Fudomine. Kamio specializes in stealth and speed in operations, while Ibu is their idea guy. He also works with poisons." Which was a nice way of saying, this is our assassination team.

Holding up the next file, he continued, "Ishida Tetsu is their direct handler, and he's also the muscle of their team, when they go for more brute force intimidation tactics."

"Fudomine always reports directly to Tachibana Kippei, their current kumicho. They're a small group, and intensely loyal. Black Unit will begin in the sub-prefecture of Kushiro, and we will move inwards towards Sorachi. Either at the very end, or when the opportunity strikes, we will more fully take control in Ishikari, and reconsolidate in Sapporo from there. The goal is to take out the minor competitors, strengthen our hold on as much physical land as possible, before moving into the more heavily entrenched, larger cities."

Ryoma looked at the file on Tachibana. He was another well-known new figure, come to the forefront of Fudomine after much internal turmoil. But unlike Fuji, Kippei had risen to power with a tight circle around him, guarding his back. The Lion of Sapporo was known for his dedication to the pride that followed him, and his unwavering loyalty inspired them in turn. With this, they had turned Fudomine from a low-level street gang into a serious player. Although this was all pretty common knowledge, nobody really knew what had happened to the old guard that preceded this new Fudomine.

"How is this operation going to run? Are we aiming for intimidation in the smaller areas, and then blackmail or direct attacks in more contested areas?" His mind clicked through the different options, trying to find the combination that would be the most efficient. Fudomine was a small group, and wouldn't have the resources for drawn-out territory struggle. Unless Southpaw was willing to lend their new affiliate a hand?

Queen gave Yuuta a smug look while answering, "Good thinking. You are correct, intimidation and then incorporation will work for the smaller areas, since that will assist in strengthening our hold over the businesses. From there, Southpaw's advisor, Mizuki, will be giving you directions."

Ryoma read the underlying words: Good job. You've shown them some of your strategy skills. Mizuki is the one I want you to investigate.

Yuuta nodded and picked up the explanation, "While Black Unit is consolidating the smaller territories, Southpaw and Fudomine will approach the other syndicates with incorporation offers. Based on their responses, we will determine whether or not to take an aggressive route with them."

"Am I working directly with Fudomine, then?"

Yuuta nodded, "You are working with the Kamio-Ibu team, yes, and a lot of coordination will go into this. As this is primarily a Southpaw-Fudomine operation, you are the only representative from the Shadow group." It will be easy to blame you if anything goes wrong, Ryoma heard. This was going to be a difficult mission.

He paused, letting his eyes rest heavily on Ryoma's.

"Do not disappoint us."

Wakagashira: second in command Kumicho: main boss

I had Southpaw follow the traditional yakuza leadership structure with the requisite titles, while the Shadow group follows my own made-up, more western format with vices and right/left hands. There is also a discrepancy in the naming system-although I romanized Ryoma without the "u" or the bar over the o (for reasons of typography-I don't have accent keyes, and I was used to reading Ryoma as such when I first started writing this fic), I've written Yuuta with two 'u's instead of just one. I know this is contradictory, but somehow I just prefer them this way. My apologies. Although everything else in the fic is pretty Western (and I've avoided the use of Japanese suffixes, etc), I still present the names backwards in the Japanese fashion, simply because it's what I and most other fans are used to. Ta!

This was hell to write, but year 1 of med school is over (be thankful that I survived at all; it was a close call) so I celebrated by diving back into writing! As always, comments and reviews are appreciated, and feedback of any sort is loved. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm the type of writer that needs feedback to feel like my writing is worth doing. So please! Throw a few breadcrumbs. Sorry it's short :(