FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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August 28th, 2014

"You think he suffered much?" asked a young lady.

"That's not a good question," replied the older male.

"Why do creatures do this?"

"There's lots of reasons Tanuda-san," he sighed rubbing his flat cragged scalp, "our job is the who and the what, we leave the why up to the courts."

"Yes Murata-san," the raccoon-faced rookie bowed, "what do we do now?"

"Keep the gawkers at bay 'til Forensics arrive, make sure no one touches the body."

"Um, c-could I?" she pointed back to the entrance.

"Nope, you need to get used to this, keep watch over the body."

"Nnnnngh, yes Murata-san."

The young officer clutched her stomach as she kept her distance from the corpse slumped against the alley, a bear with a horned monkey's head showing a deep caustic burn wound in his hairy chest. Beside the recruit who wrapped her large bushy tail round herself, was her senior whose large turtle shell gleamed with the bleakest light, bulbs hanging over them with the barest will to live as he rubbed the bridge of his wide scaled beak. A crowd was gathering at the alley's entrance as he walked towards them, his blue jacket shining with a black tie down his front.

"Wh-what, what's happened?!"

"Alright everyone stay back," his boar tusks framed his mouth in a neutral grimace, "there's been an incident, so just move along-"

"I-is that a body?!"

"Sir, please step away, and let us handle this."

The small group of gawkers did their best to try and look past the hulking turtle, murmurings of excitement and panic rippling through the crowd of birds, reptiles and tentacled cephalopods between eight and ten feet in height. At the back stood a lone individual with cool eyes of white and a snout of blackish-green briefly illuminated by the cigarette hanging loosely from his lips.

Amongst reptiles he didn't stand out much, his snout almost like a panther's for the way his cheeks puffed at the end and the triangular-set nostrils that sat above his lips. His scales were craggy yet smooth, the dark granite colour offset by the white suit he always wore with a red undershirt, along with pale pants and grey loafers that fit his large feet within, a long bumpy tail sweeping out behind him in visible segments. Something squeaked in his pocket, stepping back from the crowd as he pulled out his flip-phone ten years out of style seeing a text message.

Angy - bro where u at, drinks gettin cold O.^.O

Goji - Two streets away, coming now.

He pocketed his phone and walked off down Zennyo Avenue. The old shopping district had mostly closed down with rows upon rows of shuttered storefronts and dejected old drapings from former promotions, sad fated promises of closing sales that had come and went, sharing the same space as needles and dried vomit. Creatures passed him by but knew not to bump into him as he took a slow drag of his cigarette, letting the warm smoke burn at the back of his throat before breathing it out. He loved that feeling, that smouldering taste of heated polonium before he found a nearby bin to extinguish it in.

He left the older street to step back into the roaring city, its neon lights and grand majestic advertisements whoring their purchases around him from the north media district with gold-plated dance clubs, to the south-end clubs of adult entertainment where barkers clapped and beckoned like sirens to the lustrous. Long-legged crickets wore petticoats with revealing holes; a selection of reptiles in wedding gowns were displayed on a banner for one-night-stand honeymoon specials; and an ape in high heels with black velvet vest put her crop against a whimpering shark's face that failed to hide his glee.

But his destination was more innocent, between the leather and silk that briefly covered fur, scales and lurid tentacles of every gender, there was a little karaoke bar named " JOCKIT STEEL" that flashed with a simple steel banner. Low-key and unassuming, but that was why he liked the place. The moment he stepped inside he heard a familiar voice as the bell rang above his head.

"EYYYYY finally!"

The bar interior was so small that the drinks counter took up one-third of the room itself, the rest being occupied by sofas set flush against the walls and of course the eponymous Kara Kappa OK! machine standing firm to attention. The bar had a few customers in, of which two he recognised as reptilian like himself. One had a spiked back like an armadillo, rippling white points like a waterfall of teeth all down his back that poked out of his grey suit that had been specially-tailored with holes to let them out safely.

The other reptile was younger, thinner and without spikes, but he also had a single horn on his face as well as two giant bat-ears that flapped softly in the breeze of the air-conditioning up above. He also wore a suit but not very well, looking like he was wearing his father's clothes but all three of them had one thing in common. A small silver pin of a kanji symbol on their lapels.

"Yo," said the newcomer.

"What took ya so long?!" cried the spikeback. "Ordered a drink like twenty minutes ago it's getting cold!"

"It's supposed to be cold."

"I meant WARM it's been getting warm Kiryu, Obara-kun's gonna get drunk before you even start!"

"H-hiiii Kiryu-shaaan," the hornheaded youth waved to the wall behind him, "ha-howzhit going?"

"Good," Kiryu sat beside them, "sorry for being late."

"It's fine," his less drunk friend slid him a modest whisky, "so what's new tonight?"

"Nothing," he said too quick with a sip.

"Ohohhhh nothing eh?" the spikeback wrapped a leathery arm round Kiryu's shoulder. "Was it a giiiiiirl?"

"No."

"Awwww c'mon Kiryu what coulda caused YOU to be slower than usual?"

"I'm not telling," Kiryu tightened his jaw.

"Oh it is TOTALLY a girl!"

"Not a girl."

"OH, i-izhit a guy then?!" Obara pricked up his ears.

"Maybe, I wouldn't know."

"What?! Wh-whut you mean you don't know?"

"Come oooon Kiryu," the thorny kaiju pulled him close with a wink, "what's with all the mystery?!"

"I don't want to spoil things Sano."

"Huh?"

Kiryu had barely finished his drink amidst all the questions, wanting to get as much alcohol into him as quickly as possible as he gave Sano a look that told him to not push things further. The youngest of them twitched his ears like a puppy with a dumb smile as he raised his glass.

"W-well, whoever it izzh, um, c-congraturaishuns Kiryu-shan an' uh, h-happy trailzh!"

"Nah nah let's not tease him," Sano waved him off, "we can do that tomorrow but for now let's drink, BARKEEP!"

He raised his own glass to the furred ape in a red jacket.

"Another whisky fer me an' the big guy, and uhh put another rum-coke out fer the newbie."

"Very good sir."

"We doin' karaoke tonight?!" asked Obara.

"You bet your ass we are!" Sano clapped his hands. "You don't come to this bar to NOT sing, that's like going to a dance club to NOT dance."

"I-i've dunnat, back in high zhkool."

"What, go to a dance club?"

"Yeah, but..." he looked into his glass, "alzho not danzhe at one."

"Psssh...jeez, that's sad kid," he gripped the lad's shoulder, "come on you're with the cool kaiju now. Well...'cool' I mean Kiryu here's got a long way to go but I been with him long enough."

"Really, h-have you been friendzh fer long?"

"Yep since we were about your age!"

The armoured reptile pulled his drink refilled close with a fist bumping Kiryu's shoulder.

"Got in a lotta fights with each other, and against others but yanno, we make a good team fer like uhhhh eight years?"

"Six," muttered Kiryu still drinking, "been in the clan for ten myself, Sano-san I recruited six years back."

"Woooow," Obara laid his head on the bar to look at them, "did you, come outta high zhkool into thizh?"

"Naaah," Sano shrugged with a grin, "I just roamed the city like the world was my oyster, then I sauntered up to the Toho Clan with my best buddy Kiryu."

"I was already in the clan," Kiryu rubbed his glass, "we fought in a parking lot and then I brought you in."

"And now you're part of the family too!" Sano took a swig and pulled the newbie close. "You stick close to me, and I'll keep you right Obara-kun."

"Th-thank you, shhir." Obara blushed with ears lifting. "I'm real glad you guysh been teaching me-"

"Shall I put your names down for the karaoke, sirs?" asked the bartender offering his pad.

"You betcha!" Sano rubbed his hands sitting up to attention. "It's uhhh Anguirou Sano, Gonkuro Obara and-"

"Kiryu. Gojirama."

Gulping down his second drink in one shot, Gojirama Kiryu savoured the rush of ethanol quietly flooding his body as he watched Anguirou Sano get up to the karaoke machine. He always went first, having something of a showmonster's nature in him from his large-in-charge body and the thick spikes rippling down his back to give him a look of wily danger. He already knew what song to pick as he paid for his token at the bar and booted it up, taking the mic into his claws as three other patrons on the sofas turned to watch the raucous singer, a tarantula in office clothes and two iguanas in short skirts.

A small disco light came on from the machine, bathing the room in a technicolour gleam with dappling lights as the spiny starlet belted his favourite song titled "Send Love Through". Kiryu watched out of politeness, slightly shifting in his seat as his friend went full hog with voice bounding across the bar and rumbling off the walls with an alto that had been left in the 1970s, followed by melodic strains of the guitars and a near-synthetic beat of a desperate-sounding key in major, to incense the listener with hopes and dreams.

"W-wooow Shano-shan'sh GOOD!" Obara squeaked.

"He plays it well," said Kiryu crossing his legs, "knows how to light up a party."

"Sh'good to have friendsh like that. Ish he yer oldesht friend Kiryu-shan?"

"No, but he's definitely in the top five."

"Who'sh yer other friend?" asked the flap-eared youth leaning his head.

"Danzaki-san, but he's in America right now." The white-suited kaiju finished his glass. "He likes karaoke too."

"You ever shang together, like all three o' ya?"

"Heh...when we sing together," he turned to him, "nothing can stop us."

A smile crept on his face as Sano reached the last chord with the voice of an 80s rock ballad. The song finished on an outro, giving Anguirou's score a hearty-looking 87 on the Kappa-OK monitor above him to a round of applause from everyone in the house. The spike-backed lizard made a gracious bow before sitting back in his seat and patting Gonkuro's back.

"Alright your turn Obara-kun, come on give us a good 'un."

"R-really?!" muttered the lad. "I, I-i don' know-"

"Hey hey, we're all out tonight, this is your night too. We're not high schoolers, we're grown kaiju, now get your ass up there an' show me your lungs, that's an order kid."

"H-hah, y-yesh Shano-shan!"

The youngster hopped onto the stage and picked the song that he knew best. It wasn't a song his elders recognised but they knew at least was some form of Korean pop music as both of them gave a thumbs up of encouragement to him. Once the song started, a peppy glittery-techno backing pumped in as Obara started to get into the swing of things, chanting out a mixture of Korean and English much to the bewildered amusement of the bar's patrons.

"Why do you sing that song so much?" Kiryu leaned over to Sano.

"Because it's awesome!" he threw his hands. "What do I need a reason now?!"

"Isn't that from like the '70s? You really need to get new CDs."

"Uh, scuse me, I use vinyl like a cool guy does."

"You complain about me having an old phone, but YOU have a record player?"

"There's a difference between classic and old Kiryu," said Anguirou jabbing his chest, "vinyl is classic, it's got the best sound to it, s'all about vibrations you don't get that with digital stuff."

"When do you care about stuff like that?"

"Hey blame Danzaki-san, he's the one who taught me style with substance, meanwhile your phone is just old shit."

"Hmph." Kiryu rolled his eyes. "Substance matters though, my phone works, and that's all I care about."

"But you gotta at least get UP to date, you are missing out on stuff!"

"Not stuff I need, I just need to make calls and texts."

"Auuugh," Sano clutched his face, "gods you're like a high school teacher."

"That's why I'm lieutenant."

With a snort the spikebacked lizard looked back towards Obara, his earflaps shaking with delirious joy amongst pink and white spots from the lights on his face. Despite the cheerisome vibe of the place, Sano noticed the dark look on his friend's face as he leaned closer to him.

"So whut happened?" he mumbled. "S'not a guy or a girl then what?"

"A murder."

"...shit."

The blood drained slightly from his face, and with it went the alcohol as he sobered up faster than he wished.

"Police are back that way," Kiryu thumbed at the door, "I didn't want to say anything, no need to upset the new kid."

"Right...gods." Sano leaned back as his spikes scraped the wooden bar. "You get a look at who it was?"

"It wasn't one of ours, point-blank laser-blast, looked like an office worker."

"Damn...least it's not the Host, thank gods that shit stopped."

"Don't jinx it Sano."

"Ugh..." Anguirou slapped a hand down his horn, "I wanna hate you for tellin' me-"

"I warned you," Kiryu tightened his scowl.

"Yeaaaah me an' my big mouth...come on, let's get something to eat, can't go to bed empty."

"Hold up." He put his hand on Anguirou's shoulder. "I haven't had my song yet."

"Hah...alright, sure let's end this on a high note."

Gonkuro finished his song with a head-shaking final chord and made a respectable 76, walking back with a heavy blush in his ears and shaking arms.

"That ain't bad Obara-kun!" said Sano patting him.

"R-really, ya think?!" squeaked Gonkuro.

"Yeah that was pretty alright, you done good kid!"

"Th-thank you Sano-san."

"Alright, big guy's up, go get 'em Kiryu-san!" U-um, Kiryu-san would you like to go next?"

"Hm, watch and learn."

He stood up and walked to the podium, knowing already what song he was going to pick as Anguirou rolled his eyes.

"Ohhhhh fuck seriously?!"

"Huh?" Gonkuro looked to him.

"End this on a high note I said, and what does he pick?" Sano smacked his head. "That save-the-earth crap again."

"OH, this song, I used to sing it back in school!"

"Same here, I still hate it."

Picking a song titled "Give Back the Sun!", Kiryu readied himself with a throat clearing as he waited for the words to pop up. Unusually this song did not start with any music, making it a brave choice to sing when one only had their naked voice to lull the crowd. The melody began as a drum-and-brass piece, almost like a swing band theme as a simple but heartfelt melody of saving the earth. Kiryu's deep voice added a whole new bass that resonated surprisingly well with the pace of the song that even Anguirou started clapping along to by his slow-burning passion.

The final note rang out with almost-operatic swell that resonated throughout the room. Short as the song was, it bolstered the small crowd as the iguanas stood up with rapturous applause along with the tarantula using all six of his hands in cheerful ovation. Kiryu received a prestigious 95 on the karaoke board as he placed the mic down and walked back to his comrades.

"WOOOOOOW KIRYU-SAN THAT WAS GREAT!" squealed Gonkuro.

"Hahahaaaaa YEAH my dude!" Sano gave a low-five squeeze with their hands. "You rocked that shit!"

"I thought you hated that song," said Gojirama smirking.

"I do, but DAMN it sounds good comin' outta you! Alright let's bounce, I'm in the mood for noodles."

Heading out with thanks to the bartender, the three kaiju swaggered out back into Zennyo Avenue. Kiryu took one look behind him tos the sight of police tape and stationed officers warding creatures away from the eastern street.

"Woah what's goin' on?" asked Obara following his gaze.

"Just a break-in," lied Gojirama, "that's why I was late, they had to cordon off the place."

"Huh...isn't that like a car park or something, what's there to steal?"

"Creatures are idiots Obara-kun. Remember that."

"I guess..." they walked on with a slight rush in their step, "soooo where we going now?"

"This great noodle place I know," Sano smiled with forced swagger, "s'called Insomnia, cuz it's like the only 24-hour noodle place this side of Tokyo."

"Wow really, how do they even run it?"

"Different shifts of course, but the noodles are like the best, so fresh no matter what time of day it is!"

"Well now I'll know where to go if I wake up in the middle of the night an-OW!"

Not looking where he was going, the younger kaiju turned a corner before shouldering into someone walking the other way who staggered against the wall. A large walrus sneered at Obara with thick long tusks, wide-open nostrils and flipper-shaped hands, his other three friends resembling a giant crab and two lobsters.

"HEY, watch where ya fuckin' goin'!"

"S-sorry, sorry sir!"

"Look at that ya messed up my fuckin' suit!"

"I-i didn't mean it, I'm sorry!"

"You okay dude?" asked one of the crustaceans.

"NO I'M NOT LOOK, he damaged the weave!" The walrus pointed at a tear in the fabric. "You and your fuckfaced horn did that, you better pay fer this!"

"Hey." Kiryu stepped forth raising his hand. "He said he was sorry, he didn't mean it."

"I don't care if he didn't mean it, you fuck up a guy's suit, you compensate him!"

"I am SO sorry please let me just," Obara nervously reached into his pocket, "h-how much did your suit cost?"

"Heh..." the thuggish mammal gave a small grin to his buddies, "about uhhh two-hundred twenty-thousand?"

"WHA-...th-that's a lot of money."

"Well yeah when you buy a suit THIS good, not like you'd know."

"Maybe if it wasn't already ruined," said Gojirama.

"Wh-what?!"

"You think I don't know a bad suit when I see one? You're trying to fleece my friend when your suit was already torn before we walked into you."

"Who the f-f-F-FUCK are you accusin' me of fleecin' huh?!"

The walrus tried to shove Kiryu but he didn't budge an inch. Sano nodded to Obara who put his money back inside his pocket before the spiked lizard walked up with a diplomatic grin.

"Listen, we all make mistakes, that's no biggie. Let's just keep walking down our separate paths and pretend this never happened, no need to spoil the night."

"FUCK THAT!" the walrus snorted. "Your little brat tore up my suit and now this pin-head fuck says I'm lying, you think I take that shit lyin' down!?"

"No, but you're about to if you don't walk, away, NOW."

Anguirou lowered his voice with a threatening bluntness that made two of the lobster boys fidget with mandibles clacking against their mouths.

"Uhhh bro, let's just go I'm tired-"

"NO!" barked their leader. "You either pay up NOW, or I'm gonna skullfuck you with my tusks!"

"That's the worst mistake you'll make tonight," warned Gojirama, "last chance to think about it-"

"FUCK YOU!"

The brawny mammal took a wild swing at Kiryu who dodged his head to one side, before driving his elbow into the cheap-suited thug causing him to wheeze with a staggered cough.

"Y-you...ffffuuuuh...THAT'S IT, ALL OF YOU ARE FUCKIN' DEAD!"

With rallying cry his friends joined forth as two went after Sano whilst the third barged into Gonkuro, startling him as he stumbled back and planted a desperate front kick into the lobster's soft belly. His large claw-like hands whalloped the youth across the face, Obara coveing his eyes with his surprisingly tough leathery ears that caused the beastly arms to slide off with glancing blows, before Obara suddenly squeaked a small shout of fire that burped from his throat. The lobster was more surprised than actually hurt by the weak burst of flame, but it was enough to give the youngster an opening with a panicky fist slamming across the crustacean's face that sent him flying against a steel shutter.

Sano put up his fists against the crab and the other lobster who, while nervous to fight initially, had more gusto when teaming up against a single kaiju. Both of them came driving forth with huge claws like clubs, the armoured lizard dodging the first attack before blocking the second with his arm which stung a dull pain that he bared through. He countered with a sudden thrust-punch into the crab's tiny eyes which made him cry out in pain, before throwing his knee into the lobster to make him shudder weakly enough to get grabbed and hurled straight into a wall.

The spikeback grinned as he spun himself round and threw his entire back into the thug, piercing spikes with crunching force as the lobsteer screamed an unholy cry of agony before falling to a foetal position, his suit plenty-torn to reveal the hard-shelled carapace underneath. The other crab however grabbed Anguirou's arm and tried to twist it hard, but he gave a snorting chuckle at his attempts and balled himself up with his naturally-round body to suddenly roll like a crocodile in a death spiral. The crab was hurled into the ground and scraped his body hard in the asphalt, Sano rolling himself on top with a choking scream from his opponent.

"RAAAAAAARRGH!"

Kiryu faced down the walrus whose thick body of blubbered muscular fat made his swinging slaps powerful as the kaiju dodged underneath the first wham, but the second strike he blocked by grabbing the fisted flipper's wrist and punching hard into the bicep, following with an elbow slam into the walrus' face to send him reeling back. With bloodied nose he cried out with a vicious haymaker that Kiryu ducked under, crunching his shoulder into the thug's chest as the mammal went on his knees and grabbed a discarded syringe to lunge for Kiryu's head.

The kaiju rushed to meet him with fearless step, surprising the walrus by grabbing both arms and kicking out his leg, hurling him in a judo throw towards the wall upside down and finishing him off with a crushing side kick into his belly. Slumping into the ground with a shrieking whimper, the cheap-suited punk was down for the count as Kiryu dusted his hands.

"Well, that's that, now-"

"KIRYU!"

The lobster that Obara had fought came staggering towards his back ready to pile on top of him, until Kiryu grabbed an empty beer bottle near his foot and spun round fast with a cracking shatter across the crustacean's skull, sending stars through his vision and his body falling back to the dirt. Gonkuro stared at him with shock and awe as he walked over to the walrus and grabbed one of his tusks to yoink him up painfully by the root of his dentine.

"A-AAAH-AAAAAAH!"

"Say you're sorry."

"A-AAAAGHH!"

"Say it, or I give you a root canal with my fist."

"S-SORRY, A-AHM SORRY, SORRY PLEASE!"

"Good." He dropped the punk like a bad wallet. "Alright, Sano-san where's this noodle place?"

"Bout a hundred yaaaaards...that way," said Anguirou stepping past the crumpled bodies, "c'mon gang, my treat!"

"S-sorry Sano-san," Obara rubbed his neck, "I-i shoulda been more careful-"

"Naw forget about it," he patted his back, "but from now on, we're gonna teach you about two things. Respect that you earn from others, and how to spot a scam."

"Right, got it."

"Now let's go, it's noodle o'clock!"

Heading down the old street they soon slipped into a smaller passage known as Pink Alley where there lied an unnamed noodle shop, the only clue to its title being a bowl where Z's were flitting out of it. The place was deserted and awfully cramped, big enough for four customers at most as the kaijus lumbered their way in and sat in the corner.

"Eyyy Sano-san," a praying mantis greeted them in chef uniform, "yer earlier than usual."

"Wanted to invite my friends," he smiled leaning back on the chair, "gimme three o' my usual."

They were soon served and tucked into the hefty bowls of medium-large noodles, slorping quietly as they could with the exception of Anguirou who sounded like a dolphin snorting coke. Kiryu stared at him pointedly for a full minute until he started to slurp less. They said nothing, mostly for enjoying their food as the hot meaty taste slithered down their throats and filled them up to the point they struggled to finish the last quarter of their bowls. Soon they were finished, Anguirou paid for their food and the three headed back out again.

"Awwww jeez I'm so stuffed," Obara whimpered, "hohhhh that was so good."

"I told you right?!" said Sano jostling them both by the shoulder. "Nothin' beats sum good ol' Insomnoodles."

"Doesn't matter how much you call them that," said Kiryu bumping him back, "it's not catching on."

"Aw come on it's a great name you can totally copyright that!"

"Why? I don't cook noodles."

"But if you DID you'd call them that right?"

"No."

"Well then I'm gonna teach ya how to cook!" The spiked kaiju grinned wide pulling him round to face him. "We can get the best soba, I know a guy who's got some cheap-"

"No."

"No no you HAVE to do what I say, I'm older than you, I got seniority!"

"By like one year."

"STILL OLDER KIRYU!"

"Um, S-sano-san?" Gonkuro rubbed his eyes. "I uhhh, I'm getting sleepy, you mind if I head back home?"

"Ahhhh alright." He put an arm round his back. "You have fun tonight?"

"Oh yeah it was awesome, you guys are real good singers!"

"Kid it's not a date, you don't have to compliment us."

"Wh-what?!"

"Besides I'm already going back to your place."

"WHA-NO, th-that's not, um, I-i-"

"Hhhhahahaha I'm just joshing ya Obara-kun come on lighten up."

Kiryu felt a deep vibration in his pocket that slowed down his steps. He pulled out his phone, seeing the name "VARAN" was calling as he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Ahh Kiryu-han, howsit going?"

The drawling voice of a husky Okinawan filtered through the phone.

"I'm good, Obakimura-san. You need something?"

"Yeah I'm glad I caught y'all out on thuh street, we got a problem wi' one of our creditors not handin' in their usual. Sorry to ask out o' thuh blue but ya think you could sort 'em out?"

"Sure. Where is it?"

"Tenko Holdings, down on West Showa Street. We asked 'em nice but they were real rude to our collectors an' well, I reckon they'll learn better manners from you."

"Alright. Be back soon, sir."

"Problem at the office?" asked Sano looking back.

"Not really," said Kiryu ending the call, "Tenko Holdings isn't handing their money in."

"You want me to come with?"

"Nah I'll be fine." He waved his hand dismissive. "You take Obara-kun back home, I'll swing by the office to hand the money in."

"I'll see you back there then." Sano gave a firm nod. "Watch yourself, okay bro?"

"Sure. Goodnight Obara-kun, sleep well."

"Night Kiryu-san!" piped Obara with flapping ears. "Th-thank you for the night out, see you tomorrow!"

They parted ways as Kiryu took a cautious stroll towards Pink Street, the main thoroughfare of seductive screams of a billion lights around him he heard the sounds barkers crying out their saucy wares and drunkards singing with revealing tongues. Every colour of the neon rainbow could be seen and felt on his skin, dappling his pale suit into a myriad of atrocious colours upon his back as Kaijus stayed out of his way sensing the aura around him, his hard flinted eyes and a face that sat in a natural scowl forcing the many reptilians and arthropods to veer from his sight.

He didn't enjoy the fact they did, but it did make things easier except for the odd hooligan that tried to pick a fight with him. It was surprisingly quiet that night with only two further incidents of small-time brats wanting to harass him for chump change, both times which he came out the successor by either driving his fist three times into one bug-faced punk's engorged pupils, or slamming his foot into the back of a monitor lizard to crunch his snout against a street corner until a dark line burned down the middle of his face.

Eventually he reached Tenko Holdings, situated in the promenade of Showa Street right next to the main road where taxis lined up waiting for pundits. Some taxis were traditional four-wheeled cars where kaiju sat, whilst others resembled rickshaws that had the driver wear a set of reins and ball themselves up like pillbugs to roll forwards at a tremendous pace. Kiryu stopped outside a rather unassuming place with green banner showing a gaudy-looking red sun that made it seem more like a travel company than anything. He stepped inside almost straight into the main office, a building too small to have a reception as the motley group of reptilian IT staff turned towards the newcomer.

"Um, c-can I help you sir?" a lean gecko in a sweaty shirt approached him.

"I'm here from the Toho Clan," explained Kiryu politely bowing, "I came to check on you since you missed your last payment to us. Is everything alright?"

"O-oh yeah, yeah, everything's fine!"

"No one harassing you? If someone is forcing you otherwise then we can help-"

"NO, n-no, no one's harassing us! Until you showed up that is, s-SECURITY!"

Stepping out of one office room was one kaiju that did not match the rest of the group. A large horned beetle in a black suit that was almost as big as Kiryu.

"Is there a problem here?" snorted the bug wading towards him.

"Th-this, this THUG from Toho wants my money!" stuttered the gecko.

"Sir you know the rules," said Kiryu calmly, "twenty percent of your holdings go to us, every three months, in exchange we keep Showa Street clean and your doorstep free of thugs."

"N-not anymore! No, I-i'm sick and tired of being pushed around by gangsters, I told your last boys to get lost and now you better leave!"

"What? We never pushed you around, compared to the thugs you had problems with before we came along, we've been really generous considering how much you earn, other clans would be taking a lot more, they take fifty percent down in Osaka."

"Well I don't care for you, not one bit!" the nerd slammed his fist against the wall. "This is MY money, all of it, I earned it and I don't have to share it with anyone else!"

"I understand, but we wrote a contract of which you could back out anytime, we stressed that. If you want to cut ties with us, we can arrange a meeting-"

"NO, either you leave now, or I will make sure you leave, by force!"

"Best do what he says," said the beetle puffing up his chest, "don't wanna mess up your suit worse than it already looks."

"Are you even with a clan?" asked Gojirama leaning on a desk.

"Only clan I'm with is me, myself and I. Now beat it or else you get to see 'myself' and 'I', also known as my fists."

"I don't want trouble, and neither does your soon-to-be former boss, just let me take what I'm owed, and I'll leave."

"You got five seconds to leave, wideboy."

"Don't talk to me like that." Kiryu warned.

"Or what?" the beetle smirked.

"Or I'll put you back in the bargain bin that you crawled out of."

"Alright pal, me warned you."

The moment the beetle put a hand on his suit with his other rearing back, Kiryu grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and shoved its closed points between the bug's fingers. There was a moment of confusion before he violently twisted the shears to crack two fingers out of their joints.

"A-AAAAARGH, AAAAAARGH!"

"O-OH MY GOD!" the gecko shrieked stumbling back.

"How much are you paying this idiot?" said Kiryu not even changing his tone. "Better not be more than forty-thousand, he's ripping you off."

"GA-AAAARRGH SHIT YOU BASTARD!"

The office staff panicked stumbling out of their seats, the gecko boss putting his back against the wall as his bodyguard went down kneeling.

"S-STOP, STOP IT GET OUT OF HERE PLEASE!"

"Twenty, percent." Kiryu slowly twisted the scissors five degrees further as the beetle's eyes bulged. "You can always negotiate with us in future, if you really feel you're getting a bad deal, but hiring a rent-a-thug to chase us off instead of negotiating, is very poor practice for a holding company."

"NNNRRRAAAARGH!"

"A-ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" the lizard shrieked. "JUST-...MICHIKO, GET THE CASE!"

His assistant ran off to another room and came back with a grey suitcase she opened up before Kiryu. Rows of neatly-stacked money that he silently counted whilst keeping broken fingers twisted against the screw of his scissors, the wound of whimpering drones filling the room until he was satisfied and took the case. He pulled the scissors out between the beetle's fingers who sat down on the floor and nursed his crippled hand.

"Thank you for your patronage," said Gojirama bowing, "hope to see you again in another three months and if you have any problems, please, talk to us. We're here to help you, have a good night."

He stepped out back into the cold Tokyo night and went straight down the west of Showa street back to his workplace. What many considered to be the entrance of Kaijurocho, the glorious Shinto gate of red gleaming neon created a sense of inherent Japanese tradition embracing the new technology. In truth it just appeared to be an old wooden gate wrapped in hideous lighting that masked the true ancient beauty of its exceptionally-crafted wood, the street unveiling before him as a cramped affair of pubs and clubs with the main office of his work looming to his left.

He walked himself in to see the place semi-occupied with the night shift, a short hallway with a few storage rooms and a reception area before reaching the main nerve centre of his family's base, where several desks sat in a long rectangular room with plants in the corner and two black sofas facing each other across a low table.

"OH, Kiryu-san!"

A squat hairy kappa bowed from his desk, wearing a hat with perspex scoop to keep the water falling out the puddle of his scalp.

"Varan-san's up in his room, how's your night going?"

"Good," Kiryu nodded, "a few fights but nothing major, you?"

"Just the usual," a four-armed crab shrugged from his desk, "two drunks were having a fight outside and I had to push them along."

"Really?" Kiryu blinked looking back. "They always like to hang out near the gate."

"I know seriously, it's like moths to a flame."

"Hey-ey, don't say that shit!" the kappa wagged his finger. "Can't say that kinda stuff nowadays!"

"Lighten up dude it's just a phrase-"

"He's right," Kiryu scowled, "watch your words, that sort of language starts fights as much as a fist does."

"For real?!" The crustacean pulled back his beady eyes. "Ugh, alright, whatever you say boss."

Walking through the office and finding a flight of stairs, Kiryu made his way up to a lived-in apartment floor. The sounds of jovial bleeps and boops he heard from inside the first room as he slid open the wood-and-paper door to find his boss sitting on the floor, hunched forwards with a controller in his hands staring at a 40-inch TV that looked very out of place in the traditional tatami room of soft pale floors and old posters of Okinawa.

"Come, ON you piece o' shit!"

Kiryu watched a small big-headed monkey on the screen who was running frantically through a jungle of devious traps.

"These gotdamn Enjinn games I swear were a lot easier when I wuz a kid."

"I never played these so I wouldn't know," shrugged Kiryu.

"Well you ain't getting my turn-AGH, FINALLY! Hooooo!"

He pushed his little ape through the goal as he sighed in relief. Kiryu stepped closer looking down at the small grey rectangle in the centre of the floor.

"Was it that small when it came out?"

"Naw this a mini-Jinn," said the boss, "NEC made a buncha these an' I wuz lucky enough to grab one."

"You bought this?"

"Can't go to arcades much nowadays an' I miss my games...but this'll do." He tapped the menu button and made a save state before turning it off. "Tell you whut that's a hell of a lot better than havin' to fight all thuh way up to thuh fortress, I mean I wuz GOOD at Super Bonk but sometimes I wish I coulda had thuh chance to save anytime."

"So you know how to play videogames but not your phone?"

"Don't smart-mouth me boy." He gave a warning finger with a grin. "Least a vidyagame console only got a finite number o' buttons on it, not like a gotdamn phone nowadays tryin' to be ev'ry damn thing."

"Hmm. Fair enough." Kiryu put down his briefcase. "Here's Tenko Holdings' stuff Obakimura-san."

"Ahhhh thank ya kindly, also just call me Varan, you know I hate that formality shit."

"Shisahara-sama said-"

"Shisa-han ain' here Kiryu! You don' hafta talk like you're out shakin' with thuh in-laws round here, you only gotta call me that when we at HQ."

"Right."

Sanjin Obakimura, Patriarch of the Obakimura Family, was an old-looking kaiju hitting towards his 60s as his triassic skull could attest from the many crackling scales of his once-golden features. Resembling a large salamander, his head was topped with large singular spikes resembling a mohawk that rippled down his back and stopped short of his tailbase. But what stood out most was the fact that he did not wear a suit, rather a Hawaiian-style shirt with raving hot pink as well as a pair of shorts that made him look more like an ex-soldier on the beach than a member of the yakuza.

The shirt had long open sleeves that revealed a pair of orange membranous wings folded beneath his triceps that attached to his waist. He changed the TV's channel to get back to cable, catching up on the news detailing an election's results in Africa where a long-necked brontosaur waved to the crowd.

"Aw nice he got in!" cried Sanjin. "Damn he gonna be good fer thuh Congo."

"Who's that?" asked Kiryu.

"Mokammed Mbembe, been fighting thuh vashers fer ages but it seems thuh Congo's looking its way up in thuh world past couple o' years."

"How do you keep up with other country's politics but money is a problem?"

"Whut'd I tell you 'bout smart-mouthin' me?" He raised a fist but smiled all the same. "I like to keep up with things, 'sides I remember names better than I do numbers."

"Maybe you have that problem creatures have with numbers," Kiryu rubbed the back of his head, "you ever think about getting yourself checked?"

"Naw, that's why I have you boys do it for me. Speakin' of grab me a beer wouldya, hell grab one fer yerself an' take a load off."

He walked over to the small fridge in the corner to pull out two beers and handed one over to Sanjin. Kiryu sat next to his boss as the news rolled on by with a translated interview of Mbembe, who spoke of "reviving the rivers of his home" to "wash away hatred and nourish the fields with love". Varan sighed rolling the can slightly in his fingers, the news flicking over to Spain where a fight had erupted in parliament between a beastly wolf and a winged serpent. Chaos reigned, chairs were thrown, and at least two desks went out the window before the speaker managed to shut them both down with paralysing sonic wings to maintain order.

"You're not going to count the money?" Kiryu looked over at the briefcase.

"Should I have to?" said Varan looking back to him.

"No, but-"

"Then I don' have to." He gulped down a long sip. "I'm not here to be an accountant, I'm here to keep punks in line an' their noses straight, speakin' of they give you any trouble down there?"

"They had a guard, big beetle guy. Couldn't even hit me before I put him in his place."

"Haha, whut you do?"

"I broke two of his fingers, but only after he grabbed me."

"Hoohoo! See that's why I wanted you in mah family, not cuz yer strong but cuz yer smart abou' fightin'."

"I've learned over the years that those who starts fights always lose them."

"Wise words."

He gulped his beer down before slamming it on his spiked skull with a crushing impale.

"So whut wuz the problem at Tenko?"

"Manager didn't want to deal with us anymore and thought he could frighten me off rather than do business."

"Huh...weird, who wuz it ya talked to?"

"I don't know," Kiryu shrugged, "he was a gecko, is that the usual?"

"Nnnnah, nah the usual guy's Ushigawa," Sanjin stroked his chin, "got a big ox head and a spider body, musta been the assistant manager ya met, I'll look into it."

"I don't want to put them in trouble, the manager seemed like he was new."

"Yeah, goo idea, so whut y'all up to thuh morrow?"

"Sano and I are having a rematch at the Stega arcade," said Kiryu taking careful gulps.

"Snrk...hhhhahahaaaa I knew it, I knew he couldn't resist, Virtua Fighter?"

"Yes."

"I'm more a Beast Fighter fan mahself," said Varan twitching his shoulders, "played the shit outta that when it first came out."

"Was that because you only had a...what was it, PC Engine?"

"Nope," he shook his head, "never got myself a home console til thuh 80s, so I spent most my time in arcades. thuh console wars were a bloody an' contrived battleground, but down the arcade, thassa a different matter. Oh sure ya got yer Master Systems an' NeoGeos but I chose my hill to fight, where only thuh strongest survived in the arcades and I'd Shoryuken every sumbitch out o' there."

"Right..." Kiryu's eyes glazed over slightly, "I think my first console was the Mega Drive, the orphanage got one and we all took turns."

"Awww thas cute."

"Yeah until someone broke the controllers."

They kept drinking and watching the rolling news feed before it changed programmes to a documentary about the English steel industry. It was passively interesting if only because the accents were so unusual to their ears that they ended up riffing on it partially, before Kiryu remembered something and put down his beer.

"There was a murder out on East Taihei."

"Really?" His boss raised his brow. "You get a look?"

"Bear body, face of an ape, looked like an office worker, saw no pin."

"Alrigh'," the old kaiju scritched his head, "I'll call up HQ an' see if anybody reported missing."

They kept watching in a muted silence, the laughter dwindling from their throats as if observing a wake in memoriam. Then there came the sound of traipsing feet from behind and a large spiked back came lumbering through the door.

"Eyyyy." Anguirou waved closing the door. "Sup Varan-san."

"Ey Sano-san," Obakimura waved looking to Kiryu, "see he gets it, so uhhh Kiryu wuz tellin' me you threw down a duel fer him tomorrah."

"Hell yeah," Sano slapped a hand on Kiryu's shoulder, "you, me, lunch break, Theater Square, battle for the ages."

"It's Virtua Fighter," muttered Kiryu, "not boxing."

"BITCH Virtua Fighter is the sport of KINGS!" Sano pumped his fists. "And I'm picking the cabinet this time!"

"A bad player always blames his buttons," snorted Varan sniggering.

"IT WAS THE JOYSTICK, YOU PLAY IT AND TELL ME!"

"Nah boy, I ain't sum weak-ass bitch who think Virtua Fighter's still good, jumpin' around like yer on thuh damn moon!"

"Still better than Beast Fighter."

"Beast Fighter's a gotdamn masterpiece!" Sanjin thumped his knee. "First fightin' game to let you do combos AND special moves with variety fer everyone, Virtua Fighter just did all that less flashy an' a whole hell of a lot worse."

"Oh come on Virtua Fighter's about TECHNIQUE," Sano boasted sitting beside, "it's about gauging the enemy's counters because they handle realistic motions, not shooting fireballs all over the place like some Kamen Spider shit."

"Boy do NOT bad-talk Kamen Spider in my house or I will send you through thuh gates of Hell!"

His threat was only half-serious, despite a looming fist and tempering snarl amidst Sano's snickering laughs as he raised his hands to defend himself. Kiryu did not react, sitting between them with stoic eyes as eventually they relaxed to banter with each other until it came time to sleep. Sano and Kiryu left back to their separate houses, taking a taxi each after waving goodnight before Gojirama ended up on a quiet street far from the madding crowds of Kaijurocho. It was a small tender residential district, blocky two-floor apartments sitting on their lonesomes with pale walls and telephone poles reaching down the street, the odd car passing through the night as he headed up the stairs of one building to unlock his door.

His home was rather spartan, with nothing but a futon bed, a bathroom and a kitchen area in two square rooms as he kicked off his shoes and slipped off his suit into a tiny wardrobe along with his shirt and pants. With his boxers coming off last he revealed his naked black body, a strong rugged chest that slightly dwarfed his head with sculpted arms and staunch legs the size of tree trunks. Tensing and stretching his body, he did a few toe-touches to unwind his muscles as his thick tail swished in the air above him, exposing his tight rump and burly thighs to the wall between up-down motions of his arms that reached as high as they could and went straight back to the floor.

Sometimes he felt a little pop in his muscles as he smiled, rolling his arms once he was done touching his toes to loosen their joints with a deep groan as he briefly stared out the window across the neighbourhood, his dark broad chest shining from the moon's gleam to almost turn a bluish-white, before he slipped underneath the bed covers and slept with the sounds of Tokyo off in the distance. A voice would call out, a car would pass, causing the streets to rumble forming a lullaby for those like him. He rarely dreamt if ever, yet the city never did. The dreams of all its creatures would live, and die in its darkness.