| Plot Summary |
After Japan loses World War II because of a natural disaster, the Japanese struggle to maintain their sense of culture and national identity as the American army and Chinese mafia begin flooding in. In 1947, Leo Shishigami joins the nightclub Primavera and helps them fend off mafia attacks as they work to improve Japanese quality of life. In 2012, the reporter Julie Hayashibara interviews the current head of Primavera, Jeanne Amakawa, and learns about her life.
Short sections featuring Julie and Jeanne are indicated in italics and curly brackets while longer sections will be in their own rows and unmarked.
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Chapter 1: 1947: Primavera[]
City 23, 1947
Leo Shishigami wanders the streets of City 23 looking for a place to eat when a woman, Rose Haibara, suddenly falls on him from a second story window. A group of thugs suddenly appear, who were chasing Rose and think Leo to be with her. Leo easily dispatches them, but more start coming. Leo suggests to Rose that they go to a safer place, but she needs to find her friend Wayne first, who was helping her get away. Wayne Uedera then arrives, mistaking Leo for one of the thugs. Leo introduces himself to Rose and asks where he can get good pasta.
Tokyo, 2012
Julie Hayashibara is a newspaper reporter working for the Japanese branch of the Hong Kong Daily News. She’s recently been selected for a huge job, not because of any skill or talent, but because she’s Japanese. The president of the Japanese company Harukaze, Jeanne Amakawa, wanted to give the Daily News an exclusive report. On the surface, Harukaze was a Japanese organization that sought to foster mutual aid and cooperation between Japanese people, but supposedly they had great influence among the Japanese underworld, and Amakawa was the leader of a Japanese mafia group called Primavera. Amakawa had recently decided that she wanted to leave a record of her life, and she wanted a pure Japanese reporter to jot it down; that’s why Julie was chosen.
Julie is soon escorted to Jeanne’s mansion, bringing with her a voice recorder. She meets the old woman Amakawa, who wishes to be referred to as Madam Jeanne. Julie notes how her real name is Jun Amakawa, and Jeanne is her “second name”; in the period after the war, it was believed that a Japanese-style name could become a handicap when in areas under American army jurisdiction, so Japanese people would refer to themselves with an American or European-style second name.
Club Primavera, 1947
The scene goes back to 1947, where Leo is led to Club Primavera. Beautiful women abound in the nightclub, but Leo pays them no heed and instead focuses on eating pasta. He finds it much better than the food at the repatriation office, explaining that the boat taking him to the mainland got sunk by a mine, and he was locked up for a while because they thought Leo was a fugitive. Richard Maiougi then appears, introducing himself to Leo and apologizing for Wayne’s incompetence. Wayne is sure that the men who attacked them belonged to Alfred, wanting to pay them back. Richard thanks Leo for his help and offers to escort Leo home, only to be told he doesn’t have a home; Tokyo’s changed in the three years since the war ended, and Leo isn’t sure there’s any trace of his old hometown or friends left.
On April 1st, 1944, a natural disaster ravaged all of Japan, ending their involvement in World War II. American and Chinese allied forces started to occupy Japan, trying to restore the country in their own ways. American and Chinese immigrants soon followed, bringing their own cultures and suffocating the Japanese. Leo has his fill of food, and Richard tells Cyrus Saimura to escort him to the repatriation office. Rose tells Leo to come by if he ever feels like he has no one to rely on, much to Wayne’s caution.
{Julie and Jeanne talk about Tokyo as it is right now, where there's a large gap between the rich and poor. There’s also many races and cultures within Tokyo, and Jeanne expresses sadness that Japanese people are now a minority in their own country. Young people see this modern-day Tokyo as normal, making Jeanne feel like her experiences in post-war Japan were meaningless. Even so, she wanted to leave a record of her life with someone who was Japanese, starting with 1947 in Tokyo, City 23.}
Employment Agency
After spending the night at the repatriation office, Leo goes to explore the city. He first goes to the Employment Agency, where a truck drives up with a man hiring people off the street to help unload cargo at the harbor. More trucks arrive offering similar jobs, and people fight each other to get on board before others. Leo ignores them and heads into the Agency, where not only Japanese people are there, but American and Chinese as well. A sign says only English and Chinese speakers are allowed, much to Leo’s surprise. An old person tells him that nowadays there aren’t very many Japanese people rich enough to hire anybody. Leo sees the employers are all American or Chinese, and they had no interest in people who only spoke Japanese like him. Leo thinks his only choices are to be a day laborer or join the army.
Occupying Forces Employment Center
The American army had jurisdiction over City 23, and the General Headquarters was like their city hall. Leo heads inside, where posters advertised benefits to joining the army, including teaching of English by Japanese people. A Japanese person wearing a US uniform talks to the groups of Japanese people there about other benefits, saying they can apply for permanent residency in America if they serve a full term. Another soldier talks to Leo and tries convincing him to enlist but Leo rejects him, having had enough experience in the military for now. He sees many young Japanese signing forms to enlist, thinking that getting absorbed into the victor country is only a given. Leo sees the job offer forms on the board, with so many of them paying low wages and being already filled, the rest having high bars for qualifications. Leo leaves the office unsatisfied, and another man tries to recruit him into the Chinese army. Leo ignores him, thinking this is what it means for a country to be destroyed; Japanese people are only welcome at the army, otherwise they can go sleep in an alley.
Leo's Old Town
Leo then goes to his old hometown, finding the old wooden row houses replaced with concrete buildings crammed together and English signs everywhere, giving a Western-style to the place. He goes into a bar and makes small talk with the assistant, getting strange looks from all the American patrons inside. Leo leaves and walks around some more, seeing lots of Japanese men sleeping in alleys and hearing of others’ troubles with low pay and selling everything they have. Leo uses some of his money from the repatriation office and buys a drink from a shop, still trying to wrap his head around the idea of Japanese goods being paid for with dollars instead of yen.
Leo thinks about his next course of action: either he goes back to the repatriation office to sleep on a hard bed, or he enlists himself in the army. Leo realizes there’s one other thing he can do, but he wanders into an alley and gets surrounded by thugs on all sides. They threaten him and ask him to leave all his clothes and money, but Leo instead beats them all up. They retaliate by pulling out guns, and Leo kicks a trash can over, showering them with rotten food as he runs away.
{Julie mentions how her history books say the American and Chinese forces thoroughly maintained public order, and Jeanne doubles over laughing. She corrects her, saying the occupying forces never got involved with Japanese crimes, and nobody would help a victim unless they were American.}
Club Primavera
Even after two weeks, Leo’s still sleeping in the repatriation office, his money supply dwindling down. He decides to use the rest of his money to party and then sign up for the army, heading downtown. He sees Club Primavera and remembers how Rose called herself his friend, deciding to try and have a drink with her. A car stops behind Leo, and he sees an American officer dropping off a tall Japanese woman, who’s speaking in perfect English to him. The woman, Stella, sees Leo and invites him into the club. He wants to send Rose a message, and Stella asks who he is, becoming awestruck upon learning he’s Leo Shishigami. She tells him of all the rumors surrounding him, and they enter the club to see it devoid of activity. Stella asks a girl Claudia what’s going on, and they see a bunch of suited men standing across from Rose and Wayne. The men’s leader, Alfred Akagi, wants Primavera to hire them as bodyguards, but Rose says they can take care of themselves. He reminds her that all her old bodyguards have gone and quit, and suggests that thugs might make a mess inside the club at any point. More of Alfred’s henchmen arrive, and Rose keeps trying to chase them off, saying they can’t pay him at all. Leo asks Stella who Alfred is, noting his fake French accent. Alfred was one of the most dangerous men in City 23. When the US Army took jurisdiction, the American mafia started moving in to claim reconstruction rights. Alfred was a member of that mafia group and murdered the old head, trying to raise money so he could pay off an American group.
A henchman tries to destroy a potted plant, but Wayne punches him in the gut before he can. The other henchmen beat up Wayne, and another holds a gun to Rose’s head. She finally agrees to pay Alfred, but he wants her to say it louder; Leo steps in before she can. He wrests away the gun held to Rose’s head and takes it for himself, and some of the henchmen recognize Leo from two weeks ago, who Alfred is honored to finally meet. Just then, reinforcements for Rose arrive in the form of Cyrus and Meryl, each pointing guns at the group of thugs. Rose gives Alfred her final answer, that they won’t be paying him any money, and he accepts that and makes his exit, his rage growing. Rose and her group thank Leo for his help once again, and he officially gets hired as a bodyguard under Madam Rose.
Julie asks Jeanne who this Madam Rose is, who's explained as the founder of Primavera and its first Madam. The public believes Jeanne was the first Madam because that is what Rose wanted everyone to think. The story Jeanne wants to tell is not only about her, but of Rose.
Claudia's Kidnapping
One day, Leo makes his acquaintances with the other club members as their new bodyguard, and everyone starts wondering where Claudia is. They then receive a phone call from her, where Claudia starts apologizing when a man suddenly steps in for her; Alfred’s taken Claudia hostage. They want Rose to come alone to a bar in an alley or else they can’t guarantee Claudia’s safety. Richard thinks they’ll want money for Claudia, and Wayne says it’ll be a trap. Rose comes up with a plan: she’ll go alone, and her bodyguards will follow so they can save Claudia. It’ll be dangerous, but this is Rose’s duty as the Madam. Richard doesn’t agree with this idea, but he accepts there isn’t much he can do about it and tells everyone to protect Rose no matter what happens.
They head to the bar in question, and Rose heads inside while Leo goes around to the back. Cyrus wants himself and Wayne to watch the front, but Wayne ignores him and plans to go inside pretending to be a patron. Rose enters the bar and orders for Claudia to be released, and some men come out of hiding to bind and gag her. They take Rose to the back and throw her into a truck, which drives past Leo before he can catch the license plate. Wayne then enters the bar and the men all aim guns at him, aware that Rose brought bodyguards. They also bind Wayne and guide him to the back, putting him into the trunk of a car; Leo memorizes their license plate number when they drive off and heads out the front of the bar, signalling to Cyrus that they’ve been had. They laugh, saying if Wayne hadn’t gone by himself then they really would’ve been empty-handed.
Rose is taken to a building and placed in a room where Claudia is. Her captors say Alfred will come to meet them soon, and start playing cards near the doorway. Claudia apologizes to Rose for letting herself get caught, and Rose calms her down while saying to wait for their friends. With the men focused on their card game, Rose looks out the window and sees they’re above some kind of marketplace.
Leo and Cyrus have followed the car and ended up in a similar marketplace, finding the building the car’s stopped at. They think Alfred isn’t around because of the lack of henchmen prowling around. Leo tells Cyrus to go around back while he goes in front this time. Meanwhile, Wayne is brought to a room with machinery with his hands soon cuffed behind a pipe. He voices his discontent for the henchmen and headbutts a guy when he comes close, causing the others to beat Wayne up. One man holds a gun to Wayne’s head and threatens to kill him, and Leo and Cyrus suddenly arrive. They beat up the men and take a key from an unconscious guy to unlock Wayne’s handcuffs. They think Rose is on a higher floor and start running upstairs. Rose and Claudia hear someone coming up the stairs and think they’re finally going to be rescued, only for Alfred to come bursting through the door, unable to contain his excitement. Meanwhile, Leo’s group reaches the top floor only to find a lone henchman; Rose was being held somewhere else. The henchman is unwilling to disclose where Rose and Alfred are, so Leo picks him up and slams him into a window. He dangles him outside to scare the information out of him, but he knows nothing.
Alfred talks with Rose, asking one more time that she pay them protection money every month. She refuses once again, and Alfred mentions that Claudia may find herself in some trouble then. Fearful, Rose then makes Alfred promise to leave them alone if she does everything he says. Alfred tells his men to take Claudia downstairs, leaving him alone with Rose. He asks her to take her clothes off and starts undressing himself.
Rose's Rescue
At Primavera, the girls are worried about Rose’s safety when a dirty-looking man comes in and gives them a piece of paper. Meryl reads the paper to see it has Rose’s handwriting, and Richard says to give the man a reward. Rose folded a written message into a paper airplane and threw it out the window earlier when the guards weren’t watching. She’s described the scenery near the building she’s held at, and the group pinpoints it on a map. Right on cue, Cyrus calls the club and gets picked up by Richard, who tells them of Rose’s location. Cyrus’s group races to get there while Alfred’s advances continue. Rose reluctantly begins undressing herself when the phone rings. Leo is on the other end and pretends to order a pizza, distracting Alfred long enough for his group to get there. A bunch of henchmen are waiting for them thanks to the call, but they’re no match for Leo, Mad Dog Wayne, the king of the brats in the black market area, and Demon Sergeant Cyrus, the lone survivor in jungles to the south. Wayne and Cyrus comment on how fearless Leo is, saying he already died once and is like a monster back from the war.
They meet Alfred and Rose at some stairs, where Alfred accepts his defeat for now. Rose asks why they're fighting each other when they’re all Japanese, and Alfred replies that Japan as they know it is dead, so there’s no value in being Japanese anymore. Rose says they need to help each other as fellow countrymen, but Alfred ignores her and throws her from the top of the stairs. Leo’s group catches her while Alfred escapes, jumping from the landing onto a shed and onto the road. Alfred gives one last farewell to Rose, and a car barrels into him and sends him flying into a pile of trash. Stella and Meryl step out of the car having come to help, but Leo just chuckles at the situation while Alfred swears to himself.
Chapter 2: A big powerful tree of the 23rd city[]
City 23, 1947
Leo wakes up refreshed, having a nice bed and room to sleep in because of his new bodyguard job at Primavera. Even though he was a bodyguard, Leo mostly drove people around or did behind-the-scenes work instead of dealing with unruly guests. Being a nighttime business, people at Primavera slept during the day and worked during the night, saying “good morning” to each other as if it were daytime. This day, Leo works as an escort for Rose and Richard, driving them to an executive meeting. Alfred is in the hospital because of the car accident the other day, so the club has been peaceful. Even so, Primavera is making their next move, heading to the occupying forces headquarters. They stop in front of GHQ, where some American officers start yelling at them in English. Richard speaks back to them in English as well, and the officers ease up. Rose heads inside the headquarters and Richard moves to the front seat, explaining to Leo that they hired bodyguards cheaply, and they left just as fast because of bribes and threats; having the help of the occupying forces would be incredibly reassuring. They were meeting with an American soldier, a Primavera regular and the head of City 23’s Department of Public Order: Captain Philip Butler. Rose comes back with Butler, and Richard holds the car door open for him while the captain speaks in flawless Japanese. Rose explains that Butler is Japanese on his mother’s side, which Leo takes to explain his looks. As they drive up to a restaurant, Butler starts complaining about the army as Rose listens, asking questions and acting supportive like a lady of the evening should. They stop at the restaurant, and Butler heads inside with Rose wrapped around his arm. Richard tells Leo to go back to the club, pulling an attache case out of the trunk which Leo figures is filled with stacks of money.
Club Primavera
Back at the club, Leo helps Claudia with an errand. The club received regular deliveries of supplies, but sometimes they’d run out because they had lots of customers, so they needed to make emergency purchases from time to time. Claudia is showing Leo where the store is so he can buy things by himself on later occasions. Claudia thanks Leo for the other day and then asks if he has a dream. Leo doesn’t have one, and then asks Claudia what her dream is, which she says is to open a restaurant. She’s been saving money so she can open a restaurant that serves Japanese food and sake, hoping that foreign people can enjoy Japanese culture.
Leo does some more errands around the club, cleaning up glasses and taking out the trash. He looks behind the drink counter and admires the collection of sake, thinking Primavera really is a high-class place. Meryl comes up and challenges Leo’s knowledge of drinks, asking him to concoct something that matches his first impression of her. She realizes that she’s never given him a proper introduction, but Leo already knows her as Meryl Tanashi. As Leo makes his drink, Meryl asks where he fought during the war, to which he replies he was in a country down south. Leo presents his drink, which Meryl recognizes as a Pousse-cafe, representing layers of hidden but beautiful and colorful feelings. Leo comments that nobody can get through these tough times sober, and a sad look falls on Meryl’s face as she talks about how the disaster left her without family. She started to think of her friends as her family, and all the Primavera girls treat her like their big sister. Meryl thanks Leo, and other girls start crowding around to get first impression drinks too.
Primavera's Back Shed
Leo goes out to Primavera’s back shed to smoke, and he sees Wayne punching a sandbag. Wayne tries to ignore him and concentrate, but he stops training and asks Leo about his war experiences. Wayne admits that he’s never been to war or been baptized in artillery fire, but he’s had many near-death experiences, not wanting Leo to underestimate him. Leo sees that Wayne’s been practicing elbow strikes, and Wayne replies that he got captured the other day because someone grabbed him from behind. He knows Leo is strong because his dad owned a dojo, but Wayne wants to get by with his rats’ instinct. Leo begins to leave but Wayne suddenly grabs him from behind, asking if he has any dojo techniques for dealing with that; Wayne is suddenly spun around and held in the same way, and Leo offers to coach him if he asks for it.
Dance Hall
Stella asks Leo to drive her to a dance hall to meet with an American businessman. As they drive, Leo asks Stella why she became a lady of the evening; her older brother Richard works as a moneylender for Primavera and manages their funds, and Stella didn’t want to depend on him. Leo comments on her independent women’s spirit, and they reach the dance hall.
Restaurant
At the meeting with Butler, the captain eyes the stack of money offered to him and doesn’t seem to be taking it. Richard asks if it’s not enough, and Butler says the feeling isn’t right. He likes Primavera and wants to help, but he has to consider the long-term effects of backing them. Butler asks that he have some time before making a final decision, and Rose and Richard take him up on that offer. Butler returns to GHQ in a taxi, and Leo is called to bring Rose back to the club while Richard goes to his office. As they drive back, Leo asks Rose why someone as gentle and honest as her would become the Madam for a nightclub. Rose thinks other girls like Stella, Meryl, or Amanda would be much better suited for the job, but Rose wants to do all she can, falling asleep as Leo wonders if she’s admirable or devoted.
Bar Nobushi
Leo walks around the city in his spare time. He finds a new place called Bar Nobushi and checks it out, finding it full of day laborers and with a drunken man complaining about women. Leo makes small talk with the owner, and the drunken man starts going off on how women are sucking up to foreigners while men like him work in the dirt. Leo and the owner try to calm him down, and the man tries to attack Leo. The man is subsequently dealt with, and a big man appears and tells him to go home. The drunken man takes his advice, and the big man sits next to Leo, introducing himself as Keireiji. Leo starts to introduce himself, but Keireiji wants to hear his Japanese name instead of his fancy English name. Leo introduces himself as Shishigami, and the two start talking about their war experiences, becoming friends while drinking away.
Newtown District
Leo escorts a club member who lives in the Newtown District. Rose introduces Leo to her friend Amanda Amamiya, and they arrive at Newtown with its high-class apartments. Leo asks Amanda why Rose is the Madam, and she explains that the streets became more dangerous when the number of repatriated soldiers grew. Various ladies of the evening started hiring bodyguards, and they also needed lots of money for bribing public officials; Primavera was formed as an alliance for ladies of the evening. Stella, Meryl, and Amanda, the leaders of each faction of ladies, fought over who should be their leader, and they all settled on Rose. Even though Rose was honest and responsible, Amanda still gets worried about her. She then talks about the incident with Alfred and why Leo didn’t stop her even though it was a trap; Rose is just barely holding together Primavera, and she’s more important than she seems. Amanda thinks making Rose was the Madam might’ve been a mistake, and Leo says it was the right choice, believing that people who hold onto their ideals will win in the end. Leo drops her off and Newtown and says good night.
Richard's Office
Leo pays a visit to Richard’s office, where he needs to fill out some paperwork so he can officially be paid by Primavera. Leo looks at all the English-written documents and signs his full Japanese name, Koutarou Shishigami. Richard says the documents are in English because the American officials won’t accept them otherwise. Richard also says translating documents is his official job while moneylending is a side occupation. Cyrus comes in bringing tea for them, and Leo mentions that he never sees Cyrus around the club much. Cyrus says he works as a bodyguard for Richard, not Primavera, all due to their long friendship. Leo finishes up the paperwork, and the phone rings, which Richard picks up. Leo jokes that with all these English documents, he’d better not be signing over his internal organs, and Cyrus says that even though Richard may look ruthless, he’d never deceive a friend. Cyrus has known him for years, and Richard acts ruthless because he has a lot of things he wants to protect, especially his sister and friends.
Richard suddenly slams the table, and Cyrus and Leo listen to him talking to another man on the phone and making threats to break his fingers. Cyrus laughs at how colorful Richard’s threats are, and then motions to Richard’s hands; he’s reading off a notepad. Richard was always bad with threats, so he’d write them out beforehand. Richard fumbles his words a bit and finishes his threat, saying he’s sending someone over to see the man, and hangs up. He tells Cyrus to go to the Shiratori shop, not wanting to be taken lightly, and Cyrus happily obliges. Leo asks if Cyrus is seriously going to break the guy’s fingers, and Richard says he’s really a pacifist. Cyrus lies to their clients, telling them that everybody else had their fingers broken and that Richard will let them off easily just this once, and that usually gets them to pay up. Cyrus goes to do his job, and Richard tells him to act in moderation.
Udon Shop "Tanuki"
Rose and Leo go to the udon shop Tanuki since Leo wanted to find an udon place. The shopkeeper greets them, and Rose tells Leo that there are still a few Japanese restaurants around. However, they tend to be expensive, and the shopkeeper mentions that soy sauce is especially troublesome, usually having to buy it in places like Chinatown; supposedly, a Chinese man was buying up all the soy sauce and raising the price. Sauce and ketchup are so much cheaper than Japanese ingredients, and at this rate Japanese restaurants may die out completely. There’s even low-quality fake soy sauce being sold around, which is rumored to have a harmful drug in it. Leo and Rose soon start eating, and Rose mentions that children in City 23 schools are being fed corn, sausage, and other kinds of non-Japanese food. Rose laments that the food they’re eating right now may become a forgotten taste in the future, and she considers having Primavera distribute soy sauce, trailing off.
{Julie is amazed to hear of Primavera’s humble beginnings, likening it to a story about some merry friends. Primavera today was seen as a radical nationalistic group, denouncing anybody who said anything critical of the Japanese to the point of social murder. Jeanne asks if she’s heard of the Pasta Gatherings, which Julie thinks are regular meetings between Primavera’s top executives. Jeanne asks Julie why they’re called that, and the young reporter says it sounds like they had a party and ate pasta; Jeanne affirms it.}
Pasta Gathering
Rose announces the start of the next Pasta Gathering, and everyone in Primavera is lined up to get some steaming hot pasta. The Pasta Gatherings were originally cooperative cooking events between the ladies of the evening so they could save money on food, and they’ve since transformed into a social gathering. After eating, the party starts playing poker and betting money. Amanda asks Rose if she got an answer from Captain Butler, to which the Madam replies that he’s coming to the club tomorrow. The group has trust in Butler, but Richard says they should prepare for just in case he refuses.
The next day, Butler comes to Primavera, getting escorted by Stella and Meryl as Rose appears. He took so long to respond because he’d been making preparations, and he wants to clear up a misunderstanding. Even though Butler was the head of the Department of Public Order, he was still a mid-level administrator and couldn’t just do anything. His superiors and coworkers needed to be accommodated for, and Butler also wanted to ensure that he could rely on Primavera if they relied on him. To that end, Butler gives Primavera a test: an American soldier, Peter McDowell, has been missing for two days. Normally, the military police would be searching for him, but they want this to be kept secret; Peter belongs to a powerful American mafia family, and his grandfather is the Don. Peter did honest work and took an interest in Eastern culture, joining the army to be stationed in Japan. The McDowells gave a message to Butler’s superiors asking to take care of Peter, and if word got out that he was missing, it would be disastrous. Primavera’s goal is to find McDowell, and Butler will take the credit for his personal connections and be seen as a hero, making it easier for him to support them. Rose accepts the job, taking Butler’s picture of Peter. They know Peter hung around areas with poor Japanese people, so the group plans to use their connections all over the city to find information.
Marketplace
Wayne heads to the marketplace, having been the boss of a group of delinquents there. He sees some kids getting chased by some bodyguards, remembering the golden rule of never stealing from impoverished people. The group of boys run into an alley and over a fence, but the last boy trips and gets caught by the bodyguards, getting beat up. Wayne steps in to save him, beating up the guards and sending them away. The other boys come back and thank Wayne, and he asks them about Peter.
Food Cart Lane
The food cart lane was a place where many day laborers gathered for some cheap food, often sharing rumors and gossip with each other. A group of men get angry with a shopkeeper for watering down their drinks and Cyrus comes by, telling the shopkeeper to mix more alcohol with his drinks. The shopkeeper is ecstatic to see Cyrus, calling him an old friend. Cyrus passes him several $100 bills and asks to use his connections, telling him about Peter. The shopkeeper says it’ll be a while as he’s got another case to find a missing woman, one who owes a lot of debt to some nasty people. He mentions that the woman went missing two days ago, and Cyrus remembers that Peter also went missing two days ago.
Evening Lady's City
Meryl heads downtown to an area filled with places allied with Primavera. After talking with the taxi driver, Meryl is dropped off at a store where some punks are complaining to some women about their suits getting ruined. Meryl beats them up and sends them away, and the women become excited to see her again. Meryl asks the ladies to gather so they can search for someone, and they mention that some shady-looking people came earlier to also search for someone, some pimps from Edo River. Meryl brushes it off and shows them the picture of Peter.
Chinatown
Stella heads to Chinatown in City 22. City 22 bordered City 23 and was under jurisdiction of the Chinese army, becoming a miniature China. Stella heads past the Chinese billboards and reaches a certain building, getting stopped by a Chinese man with sunglasses. Stella speaks to him in perfect Chinese, and another man appears to guide Stella into the building, a Chinese restaurant. Stella heads deeper inside to a meeting room, where Lee Meijiu greets her in Japanese. Stella asks if his iguana Huahua is doing well, and Meijiu replies that she’s become an adult now. Stella wants Meijiu’s help in searching for someone, pulling out the picture of Peter, but Meijiu is already aware that he went missing two days ago and the American army is being secretive about it. Stella expresses her surprise at how thorough the Chinese network is, suggesting that Meijiu may want something in exchange, but Meijiu says he’ll gladly help for free since Richard is his precious business partner.
Bar Nobushi
Leo heads back to Bar Nobushi to talk with Keireiji, who tells him of a rumor that a woman in debt was sold into prostitution and fell in love with a young American soldier, disappearing with him. The two of them disappeared two days ago, which Leo figures is close to his mark. He learns the woman’s name is Helena Kanzaki, a high-class girl who could speak fluent English, allowing her to make lots of money from American clients instead of poor Japanese people. Peter, with his connections to the mafia, probably hoped to pay her debt and ran off with her. Leo also hears they ran into Helena’s boss and exchanged gunfire with them, wounding Helena and the boss in the process; it was only a matter of time before they found Peter and threw him to the bottom of a river. Leo thanks Keireiji for his help, and the big man asks for Shishigami to come by more often.
Church
Inside a church, Peter and Helena are hiding out. Helena’s having trouble breathing because of her gunshot wound, and she has a high fever because of it. A priest comes in and offers to get them a doctor, but Peter doesn’t want anybody knowing they’re there, fearing that the other doctors are being watched. The priest says he knows someone trustworthy, and Peter believes him. After the priest leaves, Peter worries about what he’s going to do, sure that the guy he shot is dead. Helena thinks it will resolve everything if he says she fired the gun, but Peter doesn’t want that, having promised to take her back to America with him.
Club Primavera
Primavera has learned about Peter and Helena’s relationship, and Rose wants to save both of them if possible. Richard sympathizes, but Peter is their highest priority. There’s a 50% chance that Peter will be killed if the other men find him first, so they need a guarantee that his life will be spared; Richard suggests striking a bargain with the other men, handing over Helena if they find Peter first. Meryl and Stella object, wanting to keep the two lovers together; after some arguments, Rose decides to contact the men.
Meanwhile, Butler gets a call from a Mr. McDowell, who knows the army is trying to hide the fact his brother is missing. He’s been suppressing the information as much as he can, but sooner or later the Don will hear about it. McDowell makes one last threat to Butler and hangs up; Butler isn’t worried, as he's planning to let Primavera take the blame if they fail.
Church
An American doctor heads to the church and meets with the priest, commenting on how troublesome his request is. Just then, some shady-looking men appear and ask the doctor what he’s doing. They take his bag and open it to see it full of medical supplies and then rush into the church, sure that Peter and Helena are there. They find the two lovers and start beating up Peter. One of the men pulls out a syringe, saying that they can turn Helena into the kind of woman to do her job willingly, and Leo then arrives to beat up all the thugs. The rest of Primavera appears, and Richard tells the henchmen that they should’ve handed over Peter as part of their agreement. The men had gone back on their word, wanting their boss to take care of the lieutenant. More henchmen arrive, but they’re summarily dealt with. The men finally agree to hand over Peter while they keep Helena, mentioning that she owes over $1 million in debt. Peter and Helena sadly accept their fate, but then Rose chimes in with a new offer: they’ll give the men $1 million in exchange for Helena, motioning for Cyrus to pull out a suitcase. The men want to talk with their boss about it, but Rose says they must make a decision right now. She tells the men that ladies of the evening are more than tools for making money, they work just as hard as everyone else. Richard also tells them that Primavera’s been employed by GHQ, and everyone on all sides wants to end things peacefully; the thugs accept the money. Peter and Helena embrace, thanking Rose for her work.
Club Primavera
Afterwards, all the investigations surrounding Peter had closed down, and he had received an honorable discharge, going to live with Helena in America peacefully. The McDowell family was skeptical of Peter’s marriage, but he managed to make it by himself anyway. Butler had earned the trust of his superiors, and he even made some extra money from the McDowells. Butler enjoys himself at Primavera and relishes in the harem of beautiful girls, and he gets interrupted by a rowdy guest. The guest wants a girl to pay for his taxi, and Butler goes up and smashes a bottle on his head. The guest wants to know what an American officer is doing there, and the captain replies that all the stores there are his territory and to take up any complaints with GHQ. The guest and his friend leave, not wanting to earn the wrath of the American army. Rose and the other guests toast to Butler’s success.
Chapter 3: Dance celebrated with wicked Fireworks[]
Primavera found peace thanks to Captain Butler’s backing, having had shady people come by far less often. The rumor of Primavera driving away Crazy Alfred also made more shops want to become affiliated with them. Even so, the bodyguards still had work to do.
Westtown District
Leo drives Meryl to Westtown to help out a friend of hers that’s gotten into some trouble. A bunch of prisoners were recently released from a Siberian prison camp, and one of them was an ex-boyfriend of Meryl’s friend and is pestering her for money. Leo wants to take the guy on, but Meryl tells him he’s just the driver and to leave things to her. They stop at the girl’s apartment, and Meryl gets out.
Inside the apartment, a man snatches away a stack of bills from Meryl’s friend and rants about how he saw hell in the front lines and got nothing for it while women like her flirt with Americans and make a ton of money. Meryl’s friend tries to shoo him away, but he makes an advance on her. Meryl then appears to beat the guy up, and the noise causes a bunch of drunken people inside the apartment to come out; they’re all repatriated soldiers from the prison camp, and Meryl’s friend let them stay with her because her ex said they were friends. The men get riled up when Meryl calls them all cockroaches, and she soon realizes she can’t handle this many people at once; her friend tells her to run away, but Meryl is unwilling to abandon her. The drunken men then get distracted by Leo appearing. Together, Leo and Meryl beat them all up, who scramble out of the apartment. Meryl is thanked by her friend and gives her some reassuring words, saying that her ex meant well but was just too weak and dependent. Meryl’s friend sees what men in this era have to go through, and Meryl says both men and women have to drink to get by, taking a swig from an alcohol bottle.
Club Primavera
Leo plays the part of bartender, making drinks and sending them off to various tables. Using his knife skills, Leo chops up assorted fruit and sticks them into a champagne cocktail, giving it a dazzle befitting of a place like Primavera. Leo hands his creation over to be taken to Stella, and Rose comments on his skill. The other women want Leo to be hired as a bartender, and Leo asks Rose why she doesn’t put out any job offers for them. She replies that they’re hesitant to hire people when they don’t know their backgrounds, even though she hired a suspicious guy like Leo. Leo says he might’ve become the underling of some villain otherwise, and he thinks Alfred’s henchmen were only like that because they had no other choice. Rose realizes that having no employment opportunities would indeed lead to situations like that happening, and Leo tells her to look into it a bit.
Stella suddenly cries out, ranting to other girls about how she’s weak and will only attract men when she’s young. Rose asks if someone gave Stella alcohol, as she can’t handle it at all and gets very high-strung; they always secretly give Stella a drink that looks alcoholic but isn’t, so she can fit in with the other guests. Leo gives a sly grin, as nobody ever told him about this. Stella continues ranting that she looks like a half-granny and nobody will be nice to her. Meryl tries to calm her down but Stella calls her a “chibi-loli,” and they begin bickering. Stella then jumps on a bunch of American customers and begs them to marry her, much to their surprise.
Food Cart Lane
Leo visits the food cart lane and basks in the atmosphere of day laborers complaining about their worries. He runs into Cyrus there, and they make fun of how terrible the food is. Cyrus then announces to the men nearby that he’s paying for their food, calling it a repatriation celebration. Many of these men had just returned from the Siberian prison camp, and they’re all surprised to see how much Tokyo changed and how English and Chinese are being spoken everywhere. Cyrus says all these men are having trouble getting a decent job; their choices are rejoining the military, fighting over jobs at the Employment Center, or taking English-language courses. Leo suggests hiring them as bodyguards at Primavera since they’re short staffed, and Cyrus says these men don’t know how to listen to women, being more used to drill sergeants. Leo then asks Cyrus about the rumors of him being the Demon Sergeant, and he replies that he’s got no desire to look after such a rowdy bunch, instead focusing on being Richard’s bodyguard.
Leo and Cyrus muse on the status of men, saying how they need someone glaring at them otherwise they can’t do anything. At Primavera, Wayne lacks the presence to bring men together, and Cyrus would be perfect for the job. Cyrus doesn’t agree, as he’d much rather be Richard’s bodyguard and do office work for him. Leo suggests that Richard hire a guy he trusts and Cyrus laughs, as Richard already trusts him enough. The two then lament how a lot of men who came back from the war were thrown into a new Tokyo without any friends or family and nobody to trust them; Leo was fortunate enough to get trusted by Rose and get hired by her. After Cyrus mentions that the Americans trust Americans and the Chinese trust Chinese, Leo asks what it’ll take for Japanese to trust Japanese. Cyrus replies that not many Japanese people are rich enough to hire anybody, and the most he can do is buy meals for his war buddies. Cyrus considers his war buddies to be his family, and even Leo must’ve had some people like that.
After another round of silence, Cyrus mentions how the public order is bad and the atmosphere is poor because Japanese people are turning down the jobs they’re offered. Leo wishes that the Japanese language was English or Chinese, and Cyrus wonders why their ancestors didn’t make their language Chinese when they inherited Chinese culture. Leo muses that if the Sea of Japan didn’t exist, then maybe the Japanese would all be Chinese instead. Cyrus commends the Chinese for having a strong spirit in helping their countrymen, and the shopkeeper chimes in with telling them not to pick a fight with a Chinese man in Chinatown for that exact reason. Leo says the same applies for the American army swooping in to protect fellow Americans. Leo asks who will protect Japanese people if someone attacks a Japanese man, and the shopkeeper laughs, saying even animals who get attacked will get animal rights groups involved.
Cyrus changes the subject to how lots of people back from the war are forming war buddy groups, starting to rope off their turf and demand money, turning into mafia groups. Alfred’s group happens to be at the top and is taking those people in. The shopkeeper brings up a rumor that Crazy Alfred got beat up and is in the hospital, and other mafia groups are fighting for supremacy in City 23. Leo figures this will lead to bigger feuds and more mafia getting hired, and if things were any different he and Cyrus would all end up working for Alfred. Cyrus thinks it wouldn’t be so bad to work for him with how lavishly he treats his men, and Leo laughs.
Bar Nobushi
Leo heads to Bar Nobushi to thank Keireiji for his help in finding Peter McDowell. Keireiji says to think nothing of it, as they’re war buddies and need to help each other out. Coming back from the war, they had nowhere to sleep and nowhere to work, and the only people to help them were other war buddies. Keireiji says they’ll never abandon war buddies since their bond lasts a lifetime, and the other men in the bar voice their agreement. Leo is silent, and Keireiji says not to misunderstand; the fighting is all over, so they just need to focus on each other. Leo asks Keireiji if he’s left anything forgotten on the battlefield, and the big man replies that he does, just like Leo. Keireiji thinks it’s fine to forget about it since no one will think badly of them; most Japanese people taking new English names are a testament to that. The other men talk about their problems, some having come home from the war unable to find the graves of their family and others finding their homes destroyed and replaced with restrooms; they have solidarity with how many comrades they have.
Keireiji then talks about the recently released prisoners from Siberia, with Leo commenting that if they go to the repatriation office, they’ll just be told to enroll in the army again. Keireiji wants to welcome them himself, as the war inside him hasn’t ended yet. He still considers himself the leader of a bunch of rowdy troops, wanting to make sure they don’t get into trouble; he wants to be the person to welcome the returning soldiers with tears streaming down their faces, congratulating them for making it back. Leo thinks it’s very admirable compared to his own past, and Keireiji tells him that the only one who can end his war is himself. Keirejji’s war will never end so long as he has the responsibility of being a leader, and Leo’s war is far away from Japan. Seeing the sad look on Leo’s face, Keireiji asks if he made him depressed with his talk. Leo says it’s nothing like that and expresses gratitude that he got to meet Keireiji.
As Leo leaves the bar, he thinks about how he took his English name to forget about his past self. He remembers his comrades who spoke of their future under the blue sky and wonders how they’re doing now. Leo then remembers how he was the one who betrayed them after showing them their dreams; his war is not over yet.
Jeanne’s Mansion, 2012
Jeanne remembers that with the city overflowing with unemployed people back from the war, they were bound to fall into the criminal underworld. Julie asks if emergency funds were coming into Japan for reconstruction, and Jeanne tells her that the Japanese people became outcasts because they could only speak Japanese. The Americans and Chinese wouldn’t trust someone who didn’t speak their own language. The occupying forces placed orders for reconstruction projects with people who spoke English, and that’s how Japanese people could get jobs.
Jeanne then says learning a new language is not easy, requiring taking a high-level education for a long period while being financially stable; children could easily learn languages as it was necessary, but adults didn’t have the same freedom. Julie then asks what it was that Japanese adults at that time needed, and the answer was employers who trusted them; the only people who were like that were in the mafia.
Club Primavera, 1947
Rose worries over how many Japanese people are living in misery, wanting to do something as Madam of Primavera. Captain Butler drops by the club and asks if any trouble has happened to the club, to which the girls reply there is none. They want to treat Butler to a good time, but first he has to tell Rose something, motioning for her to come over. Butler wants to reserve the club to host a birthday party for his superior. It’ll also be a dance party, and Butler wants Rose to handle the drinks and women; the occupying forces will be paying for it all, so long as it runs smoothly. Rose sees this as a very important responsibility, and Butler says they need to treat each other as equal partners, hoping to repay the favor for the McDowell business. Rose accepts the offer and sets out to prepare.
Assembly Hall
Rose and Leo go to the assembly hall, where Amanda runs a class for teaching kids English. They visit the classroom and watch Amanda tell a group of kids that facial expressions and emotions are more important than knowing how to speak clearly. Rose tells Leo that kids get taught English in schools but it isn’t enough, so Amanda is teaching these kids for free. Amanda used to work as a teacher, and when asked by Leo why she became a lady of the night, Rose replies that it’s not good manners to ask things like that. Amanda announces the end of class, dismissing the kids and meeting with Rose and Leo. Amanda likes that the kids are flexible but doesn’t like how adults see English as an enemy language; they understand it logically, but they just can’t accept it. The language problem is linked to the unemployment problem, where Japanese people can’t get jobs if they can’t speak English. Leo mentions having an experience like that, being faced with the choice of joining the army or becoming unemployed. These unemployed people tend to become gangsters, and when the Americans see this, they think of the Japanese as violent and vulgar. Amanda then asks why Rose came out to her, learning of Butler’s request. She agrees to collect English-speaking girls of her own club, which prompts Leo to remark that even ladies of the night have to learn English to get by.
Amanda reassures Rose that she’ll get it done, and then asks her about the McDowell incident and how she paid $1 million for that Helena girl, specifically asking if Rose discussed it beforehand. Rose struggles to answer and Amanda sighs, understanding Rose’s compassion but also saying it doesn’t matter that everything went well; the safe choice was to take the lieutenant and hand over Helena. Rosa thought it would be too sad, and Amanda says if relations with them went sour, they might attack someone in the club next, asking if Rose would take responsibility in that event and being met with more silence. Rose is told that it’s her personality and her beautiful heart that draws everyone towards her, but as the Madam of Primavera, Rose must not become a glass shield when standing at the front. Rose apologizes, and Amanda says Richard must have already talked with her about it, reminding her to talk things over thoroughly with him next time. Amanda also apologizes for her lecture and then thanks Rose for coming out, reassuring her that she’ll gather the girls.
Rose wonders if she really is unsuitable to be the Madam, and Leo says she’s fit for the job; everyone follows her because she’s the way she is.
Richard’s Office
Rose and Leo drink tea at Richard’s office. Richard has heard of Butler’s party and endeavors to make it fabulous, planning to negotiate with their suppliers for some excellent food. Cyrus asks if anyone will notice if they buy some extra drinks for Primavera, and Richard, spurred on by his comment, asks how much kickback they’ll need for Butler. Seeing Rose’s confusion, Leo explains that the kickback is Butler’s share of money, a thank-you gift to him. Rose says the Captain never mentioned wanting to be paid back, and Richard replies that he might be testing Primavera’s sincerity; the occupying forces are paying for everything, so they’re not really losing out on anything.
Rose still doesn’t understand, and Richard says they’ll strike a deal with some American importers, who’ll likely also want a portion of whatever Primavera is paying. He can arrange the receipts skillfully and wants to tell Butler that they’ll have a kickback prepared for him. Leo asks if American people will even give discounts to Japanese people, and Richard replies that by learning English and having money one can do anything, owing it to the spirit of capitalism. Even then, American merchants can get the same goods for cheaper, and Japanese merchants cannot compete in stocks and prices, leading to the decline in stores with Japanese signboards; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, a natural result of capitalism. Chinatown faces a similar problem, where many cheap Chinese goods have swept across Tokyo. Leo mentions that most of the rice in rice carts comes from China, with Cyrus mentioning that Japanese rice is a luxury. Mass production affects price, and Japanese manufacturing doesn’t hold up to America or China in this age. Richard asks Rose if it would be fine for Primavera to get their own share from the kickback, and she replies that she doesn’t warn to earn money by deceiving people. Richard figures she’d say that, assuring her that he’ll handle everything.
Afterwards, Rose thinks about the state of Japan and how it’s really crumbled. Leo wonders what kind of people they’ll become in the future.
Real Estate Agency
Rose and Leo meet up with Claudia, who wanted Rose to stop by for something. Rose tells Leo that Claudia’s been wanting to open up her own restaurant that serves Japanese food, and Claudia’s finally finished the down payment for a place. She borrowed some money from Richard and has to pay high interest, but Claudia swears to work hard to pay it off. Claudia is leaving Primavera to run her restaurant, but she plans to make it a part of their alliance once it gets off the ground. The three of them go to meet the real estate agent, an American. Claudia could speak some English but Rose was fluent, becoming even more useful than a guarantor. Leo sees the contract is written with lots of English, and Claudia assures him that Richard checked the whole thing over and found nothing strange. Leo commends Rose for her English skills, and she replies her father was a foreigner. After Claudia and Rose sign the papers, Rose starts talking about her past, where she was bullied as a kid because she looked un-Japanese. Her father was a scholar from Greece who knew a lot about Japanese culture and tried his best to act like he was Japanese. Every time Rose came home crying from being bullied, her father would always say, “being Japanese has nothing to do with blood or flesh. It’s about whether you have pride in that spirit.”
Leo thinks Rose’s father was a great father, asking more about him. Rose’s father disliked how Japan started abandoning their unique heritage as they became more Westernized during the Meiji Era. Leo asks what he thought of the expulsion of foreign customs during the war, and Rose has no idea since he was always asleep by then; Rose was born late into her father’s life, so he was very old. Rose wonders if she’s become the kind of person that her dad would be angry with, and Claudia interrupts her to thank her for her help. Claudia expresses her dreams to make all sorts of potato meals, hoping that Primavera will place an order one day.
Chinatown
Rose and Leo head to Chinatown for a meal meeting with someone who works with Richard and helps with investing money. They meet Stella at their destination, who’s taking Richard’s place because he had some urgent business. The group is then introduced to Lee Meijiu, and they sit down at a table. Leo is surprised that even Chinese people can speak Japanese fluently, and Meijiu expresses his joy at finally being able to meet Madam Rose. Meijiu says that when a Chinese person is low on money, they borrow from their countrymen, but there are times they need to borrow money and don’t want it to be known. Primavera used to have a lot of money and could profit by investing it, but in this day and age, they were mistrusted simply for being Japanese, so investing was not easy. Meijiu wanted to have channels in Chinatown where he could obtain money from people that weren’t his countrymen, and Primavera took this chance to form a relationship with him; Richard and Stella could both speak Chinese while Meijiu could speak Japanese, and thus they became business partners. Rose thanks Meijiu for his help during the McDowell case, and Meijiu congratulates Rose for earning Captain Butler’s backing. Meijiu says the American army doesn’t trust the Chinese very much, so he sees this as a wonderful opportunity; Stella figures he’ll want to talk with Butler through Primavera if anything comes up.
After eating, Stella expresses amazement at the solidarity between Chinese people. Meijiu says it’s no different than how Primavera operates, just people who share a homeland helping each other. Countrymen all over the world help each other out, though it’s more noticeable in Chinatown. Seeing the American army rush to protect fellow Americans may seem like favoritism, but from their perspective it’s natural. The trait of disliking favoritism is actually rare in the world; it can’t be unfair for a parent to feed only their child out of a crowd of starving people. Rose considers splitting food evenly in this hypothetical scenario, but then the Japanese children will all get a single grain of rice. Meijiu says Rose should instead feed her child and ignore everyone else; it is not favoritism but love, which nobody can criticize. There's an order when it comes to charity, and feeding everyone comes after feeding family. Rose is silent, and Meijiu says not to think too hard; she should focus on her friends in Primavera first.
As Leo drives her to her apartment, Rose continues thinking about it anyway. Rose asks if she was wrong about seeing favoritism as bad, and Leo says it wouldn't be unfair to put your friends first, which Meijiu was trying to express. Even though Rose saved Helena, Amanda got mad at her, and she used up the $1 million that all the Primavera girls had worked so hard for; maybe that money would be better used on everyone else. Leo agrees it would have been more logical to abandon Helena, but Rose sacrificing so much is why everybody loves her. Favoritism is what happens when you make decisions that aren’t backed by convictions, the heart. Leo tells Rose to follow what’s in her heart; if her heart said to help Helena, then it was the right thing to do. Leo drops off Rose and returns to the car, and Rose asks what his heart is whispering to him: Leo’s heart says Rose’s own is more kind than anyone else’s, and so he must protect her. Leo wishes her good night, and Rose happily responds.
Hospital
Alfred has recovered from his injuries and regains consciousness, disappearing from his hospital room much to the nurse’s surprise. Alfred returns to his men and asks how Primavera is doing, learning they’ve gained the backing of the occupying forces. Alfred then asks why they haven’t done anything to Primavera despite the army’s involvement and holds his knife up to a henchman’s throat, who confesses that they were all afraid of getting on the army’s bad side. Alfred lets go of him and calls everyone useless, deciding to plan an American-style revenge. His men think they’re going to raid Primavera but Alfred has another idea in mind, asking that they go to “the toy shop.” Alfred remarks that Primavera will regret making Crazy Alfred go crazy.
Richard’s Office
Rose goes to talk with Richard about Butler’s party. Richard assures her that all the businessmen they’ve made deals with are good, being larger-scale with American connections and offering cheaper products. Leo and Cyrus make fun of Richard’s penny-pinching, sharing a laugh with him. Feeling ignored, Rose raises her voice and apologizes. Richard asks what’s wrong, and Rose is unable to spit it out. Sensing Rose's concerns, Leo asks if all the contracts he’s made are with foreigners, and Richard says he wasn’t trying to avoid Japanese businessmen; the Americans gave the best numbers. Japanese businesses are weak and can’t compete, as it costs them 10% more for them to purchase things compared to American businesses. Rose still struggles to say something, and Leo tells her to believe in her heart. Rose finally asks if it’s still possible to get Japanese businesses to cater Butler's party instead. If Japanese businesses get more deals, they’ll become bigger and get more connections, thus leading to cheaper products. They left 10% of the money for Butler’s kickback, so they can use that to accommodate the extra costs; Rose has faith that Butler wouldn’t want a kickback since he didn’t ask for one. Richard calls it foolish and asks why they should do that, and Rose expresses her belief that as Japanese people, they need to help each other; Americans and Chinese will assist their fellow countrymen, yet the Japanese are more concerned with profit. Rose sheds a tear after this emotional outburst, and Leo also agrees that Butler didn’t ask for a kickback/ Richard still wants to make a good impression, and Leo replies that if Butler has a problem with it, they can apologize later while still giving him the party he wants.
Even if Richard were to agree, there’s still two problems: there’s no guarantee the Captain will take things badly, and the American businesses they’ve made tentative deals with have worked with Primavera in the past, and they don’t want to stir up trouble with them. Leo says the businesses are large enough to where they won’t go under from losing deals with Primavera, and Rose promises to apologize to every last one of them. Primavera is one of the more successful Japanese businesses, and they should share that prosperity with others. Richard sighs, being torn between capitalism and love for one’s homeland. He references noblesse oblige, the responsibility of the rich, something that doesn't sit well with Japanese values. Leo says that it was because of Rose that he found a place to sleep; other people aren’t so lucky, and if Rose is willing to save them, then Leo has to agree with her. Cyrus also agrees, as many people back from the war are having trouble with work; and they're likely to fall in with people like Alfred. Rose adds that in the end, public order will improve, and the Primavera girls will be safer; they’ll lose some from this deal, but the long term effects will be great. Richard is asked what his heart is saying to him, and he replies that in place of a heart there are scales measuring money; the scales have determined that Rose's way is the best. Richard tells Cyrus to prepare some tea and a typewriter, as he needs to write up rejection letters. Rose apologizes and thanks him for agreeing. Richard says the quality of alcohol and food will have to be lowered due to the increase in costs, though drunk customers are unlikely to notice a 10% difference. Rose happily says the girls will provide more than 10% service.
{Julie remarks that this is the first time Rose has sprouted cooperation between Japanese people. Rose had always questioned what it meant to be Japanese since her father was foreign. The Japanese determined everything based on profit or loss in the 20th century, and as a result they’re a minority in the 21st. Jeanne thinks the Japanese lost their cooperative spirit because of the war’s aftereffects, and in their effort to denounce patriotism they turned to cosmopolitanism. International marriages in Tokyo started to increase in the late 20th century, and the number of single Japanese men increased since Japanese women would rather marry rich Americans and Chinese. The Japanese Society Institute had estimated that in 20 years, “pure Japanese” would vanish from Tokyo entirely. Jeanne laments that the Japanese are basically a destroyed people, and she wants to leave a record of when they were prosperous. Julie knows that developing a spirit of cooperation in countrymen was one of the goals of Harukaze, and Jeanne says Rose had started to foster it during her time.}
Club Primavera
The day of Butler’s party had come, and though it was hard behind the scenes because of the sudden switch to Japanese businessmen, things were still looking smooth. Rose calls Butler to assure him that everything is prepared, and Butler looks forward to the festivities. Butler also asks if she’s had any trouble, as he got a tip-off that a store was engaging in illegal drug dealing. As it turns out, many of the foreign businesses Primavera cut ties with didn’t like what was happening and were making false reports to GHQ. Butler crushed all of them, but if he wasn’t allied with Primavera, things would’ve been disastrous for them. Rose apologizes, and Butler mentions how she suddenly replaced all of her businesses with new ones, wondering what was going on. After a short pause, Rose explains why. She expresses that those are her own concerns but Butler doesn’t mind; he wants to use Primavera as his connection to the City 23 underworld, and them having a stronger tie to Japanese society will benefit him. Butler plans to send jobs to Primavera, which will then go to Japanese businesses and grow their connections, hopefully leading to more employment and the city quieting down. Butler says that even government offices will go to local businesses when making contracts, and it’s not favoritism but regional promotion.
Richard is relieved to hear that Butler approves of their decision, and Cyrus interrupts with an urgent call from Meijiu, who has some troubling news for Primavera: Alfred is planning to destroy the nightclub by ramming a bomb truck into it. The Primavera group gathers to discuss this, learning that Meijiu had received this information from a Chinese black market merchant. The bomb is still at Alfred’s hideout, but they have no idea where it is; furthermore, he’s planning to ram it at 9:00, right in the middle of the dance party. They can’t suspend the party otherwise the Captain will lose face, so their only option is to find the hideout and stop the bomb. Stella and Meryl get excited at the thought of performing such a dangerous job, and Richard plans a suspension if need be. Rose wonders if they should tell the other girls, but Stella says telling them will just make them more scared. Richard leaves the final decision to Rose, and Meryl says they can’t back down or else people like Alfred won’t take them seriously. Spurred by their determination, Rose wishes everyone good luck, and the bodyguards cheer in unison.
Finding the Hideout
The party was set to begin at 6:00, and the truck would probably leave the hideout before 9:00. Richard’s produced several maps marked with possible locations for Alfred’s hideout, which are scattered all over the city. Only Leo, Cyrus and Wayne are on hand, not enough people to split and investigate everything. Leo suggests that they meet up later, getting an idea. Cyrus stops him and pulls a gun out from a case, handing it to Leo; Alfred’s planning to kill, and no bodyguard should go without a gun. Richard stays behind to relay information, and the group sets out.
Leo had gone to talk to some war buddies, leaving Wayne and Cyrus alone to target a bar that was giving Alfred protection money and acting as a hideout for them. They barge inside and ask the men inside where Alfred is, but the henchmen soon realize they’re from Primavera and fight them.
Leo asks Keireiji where Alfred might be. Keireiji knows him, however they’re on bad terms. When asked why he’s looking for him anyway, Leo replies that Alfred’s planning to kill someone Leo is grateful to for hiring him; Keireiji decides to help, as anybody who helps a war buddy is someone he also owes debt to. He thinks Leo is planning to get rid of Alfred, and Leo says “getting rid of” is too violent, as he’s only putting an end to his mafia schtick. Keireiji could easily call down an army to take out Alfred and Leo says it’s too much. Leo then shows him the map, mentioning it's from Chinatown, and Keireiji is impressed, as it’s more detailed than his other maps. Keireiji agrees to send his men to search, though it’s another favor for Leo to make up for later. Keireiji tells him to call at regular intervals and Leo thanks him and leaves. The other men comment on Leo’s mysteriousness for getting such a detailed map from Chinatown, and Keireiji says he’s a good man that shouldn’t die. He then calls out to someone named Miguel and yells to gather everyone.
Wayne and Cyrus finish dealing with the bar and come up short of info. Leo suddenly drives up, telling them that he’s got some war buddy help; Cyrus says he’s also gotten help.
Alfred convinces a young man that he’s got an important job to do in driving a truck full of trash into Primavera. The young man is eager to do it, and Alfred says he may end up in the hospital but the rewards will be great. Other men tell him that he has to drive it in by 9:00, not any later. The young man takes his position and Alfred gloats over how gullible he is. He gets informed that Primavera has caught on to him, and Alfred goes to hide out to enjoy some champagne.
The party at Primavera started and was going well, with the guests none the wiser. Stella and Meryl keep Butler entertained, and Rose asks him how things are going. Butler, drunk, continues relishing in his harem, and Rose figures things are going swell. Richard relays a call that no new clues have come up. He and Amanda want Rose to go home, but Rose is unwilling to abandon the club when everyone else is fighting. Richard says they can still preserve the Primavera alliance so long as the Madam is alive, and should tonight end in tragedy, Rose should still take responsibility for it. Rose continues to hold her ground.
Leo’s group continues to raid potential Alfred hideouts including an out of business bar, a beat-up apartment, and a back alley shed. None of the goons there know where Alfred and his bomb truck are. With only one hour left before 9:00, the group checks the union offices next, where laborers formed an alliance similar to Primavera except not as good. They see several cars stopped in front of an alley, with many men standing around. Leo talks to them and learns they were sent by Keireiji. Keireiji’s men had already taken care of the henchmen here, but of course they knew nothing about Alfred’s whereabouts. Cyrus wants to give up, as there are too many people in the club, and they can’t evacuate without calling first. Wayne objects but Cyrus asks if he wants Rose to die, and the former struggles for a response. Leo takes the phone and decides to bet on one last chance. He calls Keireiji, who has finally found Alfred’s hideout. Leo gets the info and promises to pay him back later, ending the call.
Alfred’s hideout was in the complete opposite direction of Leo’s group; even if they got there and wrecked the place, they still couldn’t deal with the truck. Wayne punches a box with frustration, and Leo says the goddess of luck is still on their side. The box Wayne just punched had Chinese characters on it, and it has a distinct gunpowder smell. They look around the room and find tools, wire and a soldering iron, along with an instruction manual; Cyrus remembers that Alfred got his bomb from a Chinese merchant. Since Chinese and Japanese characters are similar, the group reads the manual and determines it’s for a timing device; ramming a bomb truck into a building won’t guarantee it will go off immediately, so there must be a timed fuse on it. Leo looks to a beat-up guy and asks if he set up a bomb truck here, and he confirms it, though the truck has already left and is waiting near Primavera. Wayne picks up the guy and threatens to beat the information out of him, but the guy won't tell as he's been through worse. Leo then looks at a building outside, which looks like the perfect place storing trucks, and asks if that’s where the bomb was loaded. The man confirms it again, and Leo says to call Richard, as they now know which truck has the bomb. Wayne and the henchman are surprised as to how Leo figured that out, and Leo replies that the garage is wide open, with an empty space in the middle of several trucks printed with a company logo.
Rose receives the call and Meryl itches to go and search, but Stella reminds her that there’s not enough people to do it, and there are many alleys around the club. Meryl says to round up all the girls and search, but they’re still in the middle of Butler’s party. They need to get the girls to search while maintaining the party, and Stella gets an idea, but they need Rose’s help.
The lights in the party hall dim, and Butler gets interested; Stella says it’s a gift from all of Primavera. Rose walks on stage and greets the occupying forces in English, thanking them for attending the party. As a sign of thanks, Rose is going to sing some American songs, starting with “Amazing Grace.” Rose was a talented singer, but only a few people at Primavera knew this. All of the drunk customers, including Butler, were mesmerized by Rose’s singing and stood up, joining each other arm-in-arm and singing the chorus. Stella, Meryl, and the other women used this chance to slip out. Outside, Meryl tells everyone to look for a truck with “Central River Liquor Union” written on it. Claudia and the other girls resolve to find it; though they were all helping because they didn’t want to get caught up in the explosion, Rose still trusted all of them. Stella and Meryl especially didn’t want Rose to die, otherwise the truce between them would fall apart.
In the office of an abandoned factory, Alfred sits back with a bottle of champagne and awaits 9:00 for the Primavera fireworks display, having a window with a full view of the club. On a lower floor, Alfred’s men were getting antsy at the fact Primavera was busting all of their hideouts. They consider hiding, but they’ve already followed Alfred this far. They start preparing a barricade only for Leo’s group to suddenly burst in. After the initial flurry of fists, the henchmen pull out guns, and Leo’s group responds in kind. The men start to prepare a machine gun but Alfred comes down with his champagne, aiming to pop it in three minutes when the bomb goes off. Alfred orders his men to stand down, wanting to enjoy the countdown alongside Primavera’s bodyguards; Leo decides to play along.
The young man from earlier was waiting in a bar for his chance to drive the truck into the club. He heads outside and sees a lot of gorgeous women standing around his truck. The women confirm that this is the bomb truck, and the man orders them all to leave. Claudia yells for him to stop the bomb, and the other women insult him. Stella and Meryl then arrive and ask him to open the back, but the man fights back only to get stomped by them. The back is locked with a padlock which they ask the man for, but he doesn’t have one. He says it’s filled with trash anyway, but he gets scared after the girls repeat that it’s got a bomb inside and will kill the guy when it goes off. Figuring that Alfred wouldn’t just give a key to their human bomb, Meryl pulls out her gun and shoots the lock off. Stella calls her out for her idiocy in shooting a bomb, and the other women open the door to reveal the bomb counting down. There was a red wire and a blue wire; Stella didn’t know which one to cut, but Meryl just tears at it until the timer stops ticking. Meryl looks at Stella with a smug look, and the tall woman goes off on her.
Alfred pops the cork on his champagne, and Leo says it’s time for his finale. Realizing what just happened, Alfred laughs crazily and orders his men to shoot. Leo’s group exchanges gunfire, soon wiping out the henchmen. Alfred laments his defeat, as Primavera could have been his if Leo weren’t around. He says his war can’t end just yet, and Leo hands his gun to Wayne; he wants to fight Alfred one-on-one. Seeing how they’re both former soldiers, Leo wants to give Alfred an encore. Alfred laughs some more, and he and Leo exchange blows. Alfred is flung into a window and falls limp, but he soon gets back up brandishing a knife. Leo had barely dodged it, a line of blood appearing on his cheek. Leo sees the serious look in Alfred’s eyes, and Cyrus and Wayne remind him of how deadly he is with a knife. Leo dodges his attacks and comments that Alfred is weaker when he’s talking, soon counterattacking and delivering the finishing blow, wishing him a peaceful sleep as Alfred falls through a window. Leo was the only one to see his expression as he fell; Alfred’s war is now over.
Rose finishes singing, and Butler and the customers applaud heavily. Stella, Meryl and the others had returned to the club by the time the lights turned back on, and nobody was the wiser. Butler commends Rose for her wonderful singing, and Rose accepts his praise while nervously checking the time to ensure it was past 9:00. Meryl says she should sing more often, and Rose is relieved to hear everything went smoothly. Rose is concerned, however, that Stella is all beat up, and Stella remembers that she never settled her fight with Meryl and goes back to insulting her. The drunken customers became enlivened with seeing this scuffle. As Butler thanks Rose for the wonderful party, Leo returns with the other bodyguards and gives Rose a wink. Leo goes behind the bar to serve up a celebratory drink.
With the elimination of Crazy Alfred, the most feared mafia boss in City 23, the balance of power was sure to change. Even though Primavera had help from Chinatown and Keireiji, they were still being touted as the ones who destroyed the Alfred Family, engraving their names into the City 23 underworld. Some of Alfred’s men were wondering what to do now that their boss was out. They consider getting together and raiding Primavera for revenge, but they suddenly get illuminated by a car’s headlights. A young man emerges appears, which the men recognize as Miguel. They ask what Miguel wants and he laughs, calling them all pathetic looking. He was going around wrecking Alfred's hideouts, and the men realize that he was pulling the strings. Miguel says it’s time for a final cleanup, and several other men appear out of the shadows with guns drawn.
Alfred’s men swear that they weren’t planning to fight back and Miguel draws his own gun.
Chapter 4: A new Ruler[]
Primavera
Japanese businessmen filled the club, who were all pursuing new contracts with Primavera. They were thanking Rose profusely for helping them, as many of them were planning to kill themselves. Rose calls everyone to attention, saying that in this painful time after the war and disaster, it’s essential for them to help their fellow countrymen and asks that they all hire Japanese employees with their newfound contracts. Richard adds that there are many people striving for jobs at the Employment Agency, and their inability to speak English or Chinese makes their opportunities limited. All of the businessmen here should be aware of this, and if they can expand even a little bit and help provide for their fellow Japanese, then everyone will be happy. The businessmen are silent; they knew that helping each other was the right thing to do and pitied their fellow countrymen, but self-preservation was more important. Leo starts clapping for Rose, prompting everyone else to do it.
{This was the moment that Harukaze was born. Rose had evolved from being a lady of the night to someone who reached out to her countrymen. Primavera basked in its victory from stopping Alfred and earning the backing of the occupying forces, but it wouldn’t last. Jeanne asks if Julie’s heard the story of wolves attacking a village, prompting the hunters to slay them all. They lived peacefully, but soon a stampede of deer had destroyed their fields; because there were no wolves, the deer multiplied. Julie realizes that Alfred’s presence was holding something else back, and Jeanne replies that the criminal underworld is like musical chairs: an empty chair doesn’t stay empty for long.}
Richard's Office
Lots of businessmen were lined up at Richard’s office, signing papers and receiving loans. Richard pitied many of them for their old loans, as the interest rates were outrageous. A Japanese person cannot properly read an English or Chinese contract, and so without connections they were forced to borrow money at insane rates. The businessmen thank Rose and Richard again for their goodwill.
Rose, Meryl, Stella, and Amanda later meet up at a shop outside Primavera. Rose wants to try and meet up at other shops when not dealing with secret Primavera business, and Amanda figures this meeting concerns her desire to help their countrymen. Rose and the other women earn considerably more than others, so she suggests they spend that money at Japanese-run stores whenever possible. She asks what kinds of things they consider when going to stores, and Meryl and Stella say they prefer cheap products and big beautiful stores, fighting amongst themselves as they say this. Rose isn’t trying to force anyone to change their spending habits, but she wants to support the Japanese as much as possible. Amanda thinks this also means buying from places that look like they’re going out of business. Rose asks them to tell the other factions of girls about this, and Amanda thinks she’s oversimplifying things. Regardless, the women agree to pass it on.
Potato Restaurant 'Kuroimo'
Now that Claudia’s restaurant has opened, business is booming. Stella admires the wreaths adorned throughout in celebration, saying it’s been so long since she’s seen one. Wreaths were an integral part of Japanese culture, however they were becoming scarce since so many Japanese shops were folding; wreaths celebrating a new store opening helped bring back a bit of happiness to the Japanese customers in this depressing time. Richard congratulates Claudia for opening her store, asking her to come by if she has accounting troubles. Rose hands her some flowers, and Claudia cries tears of joy.
The group eats and Wayne compliments the soy sauce taste, as it must be good stuff. Cyrus says soy sauce is supposed to be expensive and is surprised that Claudia is selling food at this price. Claudia’s actually been boiling cheap soy sauce and adding a few things to get the taste right, thought she still wants to cook with real soy sauce some day and hopes to get more customers. Meryl promises to eat there every week and Stella gives Claudia some potato recipes.
Later, Leo and Rose see Claudia talking to some crying men, which they figure to be the heads of companies she's made deals with; they’re all grateful to her for preventing their family suicides. Claudia opening her store has brought happiness to so many people, and Rose figures other women in the club will follow her example. Rose also wants to make people happy, and Leo says she can do that so long as her heart keeps whispering to her.
Marketplace Back Alley
Wayne goes to give some kids money, receiving praise from them for taking down Crazy Alfred. Wayne says the kids still need to train to take care of themselves and scoffs when they say they want to be a legend like him. As the boys show off their stances, Wayne reminds them of the golden rule to never hurt innocent people; stealing for pleasure is evil, but stealing to live isn’t. He also tells them not to smoke.
Leo and Wayne then meet up. Wayne says the war and disaster left a lot of orphans behind, and they all get treated like sewer rats. Wayne was an orphan even before the disaster, the result of a family suicide. He was sent to live with relatives in the countryside but he got treated poorly, always eating scraps and getting blamed for everything and beaten in return. One day, Wayne stole all the cash he could, including some savings from a precious vase he broke, and ran away. Wayne hid away in freight trains and made his way to Tokyo, becoming the leader of several orphans after the war and teaching them all the necessary skills they needed to survive. Wayne and the kids may be treated like rats, but they have the heart of wolves, and anyone who can’t rely on their own power will go hungry and die. He can’t forget the looks from other adults when he and his friendss pull off the blankets from someone who’s gone cold. Wayne had gotten sick of this world and eventually met Rose, learning what unconditional love was like.
Wayne also admits that he‘s never been to war and must look silly using his own fighting style, but he’s still crawled through hell like many others; if a battlefield is a place where death is an inch away, then Wayne has been on one his entire life. Leo assures Wayne that he has never once looked down on him, and he scoffs. Leo offers to take him out to eat but Wayne doesn’t like the idea of dressing up nice after letting his friends wade through the trash, putting his hood up and leaving. Leo shrugs.
High-Class Restaurant
Meryl's invited Leo to brunch with her and Amanda, and as they drive there Leo offhandedly mentions that Stella’s thin arms are dangerous; Meryl replies that she does kung-fu and martial arts for her figure. They arrive and Amanda admonishes them for being late, and Meryl says Stella suddenly dropped out when one of her regulars came up. The group then heads inside, wanting to make Stella regret missing this.
The Newtown District was a place where many beautiful high-class apartments were located, as it was created to be an ideal futuristic city after the war. It was used in propaganda as a symbol for reconstruction under American leadership, always appearing in newspapers. Considering the average Japanese income, this place was basically a home for the upper class. The restaurant Leo’s group was eating at was equally splendid, receiving a visit from General MacArthur and proudly displaying a commemorative photo. Meryl, Stella, and Amanda were each the leaders of factions of ladies of the evening and had all united under Rose. Amanda says she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty to bring people together unlike Rose, and Meryl says many of her girls have come crying to her because of it. Amanda retorts that many of Meryl’s girls have come to her because of how unreliable she is. After the war, Amanda proposed the idea of having the ladies of the evening form an alliance and becoming its Madam, and many girls suddenly voiced their dissatisfaction of her. Rose was thus chosen to be the Madam, as while she was bad at bringing in customers, she knew how to handle things behind the scenes; the alliance may have fallen apart without her. Amanda took all the blame for it and retired, and Stella and Meryl were able to settle their disputes. Amanda agrees that Rose has a strange appeal, but her potential for acting as Madam is still questionable. Even so, Amanda wants Leo to protect Rose with everything he has, still trading insults with Meryl; Leo remarks that the alliance is indeed rocky.
Bar Nobushi
Bar Nobushi was located near the Employment Agency, being a place where day laborers gathered. However, the difference between it and Primavera was like night and day, as the men there always looked angry and ready for a fight. Leo was heading there on one of his days off, thinking about how surprising it was that he even came to a place like it in the first place, and then sees some men trying to solicit money from a woman as a crowd watches.
The woman says her husband is sick and can’t find work, and she promises to pay them back in a month, with the men making her agree to pay off just the interest. Miguel then appears with a laugh, wanting to know what’s going on. The men straighten up at the sight of him, and Miguel sees that the woman tried to run away without paying. Even though the men are letting her go since she can’t work when she’s injured, Miguel pulls out his knife and says she doesn’t need a nose to work. Miguel also starts insulting her and women, saying they're all stupid and always forget how much they borrow and when they need to pay.
The woman swears that she never forgot but Miguel claims she tried to run away and presses his knife to her nose, threatening her and then swinging it towards a shrugging Leo behind him. Miguel asks if he has a problem, and Leo says he’ll write it on his face. Miguel then attacks Leo, but he dodges it while saying it’s not as polished as Alfred’s. Miguel is surprised, and after more insults from Leo he charges at him. Miguel struggles to lay a hit on Leo, and he expresses amazement that a man like him is living in City 23.
Keireiji suddenly calls out for Miguel to stop and appears wearing a new outfit. Keireiji also asks him to lay off for now, introducing Miguel to the legendary Shishigami, a former combat instructor from the war. Leo is likewise introduced to Miguel Kurashiki, a survivor from Keireiji’s unit during the war; Miguel’s spent too long straddling life and death, so he doesn’t have any restraint. Miguel looks displeased and Keireiji says Shishigami is his mate, and he won’t forgive him if they fight again. Leo offers a word of friendship and Miguel leaves in a huff. Keireiji asks what he's doing near the bar, and Leo replies that he wanted to thank him for the Alfred business. Keireiji says he’s busy and was only passing by the bar, asking that they meet again next week. Leo accepts and Keireiji waves him off, getting into a waiting car.
Richard's Office
Leo and Stella transport some money from Primavera to Richard’s office, something Rose normally did with Stella on random days so as to not draw attention. The money would be taken to Ricard’s office for safekeeping, then divided by him into good and bad money before being sent off to the bank or used as bribes. Leo jokes that joining forces with Richard would be a surefire way to make lots of money and Stella tells him to stop, as if she tried that then Amanda would find out through the audit logs, and Stella would be at the bottom of a river. Amanda may seem like a quiet and reserved Madam but she personally employs bodyguards, and supposedly even a few assassins. She asks if Leo wants to hear about the girls who tried to steal money from Amanda and ran away, looking pale as she references the “thirsty duck torture.” Leo chuckles, as one needs to be strict to lead this many women. He mentions that Stella leads a few girls herself, and she replies that she’s had to yell or take action before, but nothing as bad as Amanda; no matter the place, you’re done for if people stop taking you seriously.
Leo and Stella arrive at the office and see Cyrus throwing a guy out the front door. Cyrus is telling him that no matter how many times he begs, Richard’s not giving him a loan. The man pleads for Richard to help but Richard walks up behind Cyrus, a cold look in his eyes as he secretly reads off his cheat sheet. He doesn’t want to give any money since the man has a lot of loans to pay off, and as per their contract Richard's taking his house and store as collateral. The man wonders where he’s going to sleep and Richard says to figure it out, hoping they don’t meet again. Even Richard was not immune to making mistakes; this man embezzled money from his shop and tried gambling to cover it up, then came crying to Richard. All the money Richard lent him vanished, and he had had enough. The man continues pleading and grabs Richard’s arm, getting brushed off as Richard admires how clean his fingers are. He asks Cyrus to remove them and his toes while almost flubbing his line. The man is horrified, and Richard says his business is built on trust and he can’t let someone get away with his limbs intact as Cyrus tries to keep from laughing. Cyrus says he’s going to wrap string around the guy’s fingers to cut off the blood flow and make it less painful, and the man finally runs off. Cyrus laughs as Richard gives another cold remark, but Cyrus knew he was still acting. Leo hands him the money from the club and goes inside for tea.
As Richard finishes writing a receipt for Rose and hands it to Stella, he says his threats are semi-serious, though Cyrus is far too soft. Richard then prepares to head home, as some urgent business came up. Leo sees that he looks shaky, and Richard says he’s been pulling too many all-nighters at the office and is feeling drowsy. Stella asks Leo to escort her brother home and writes out a map for it.
Richard's Apartment
Richard’s house was in an apartment near the office, a working-class arrangement in stark contrast to how much he made with his job. Leo helps Richard to his room and prepares to leave but then he notices diapers being hung up to dry. Leo begins to think Richard has some peculiar tastes when an elderly landlady carrying a baby arrives. The landlady hands the baby to Richard, which he calls Yuuji and begins making baby noises at. Leo comments that this is a different side of Richard, asking if that’s his kid. Richard replies that Yuuji is his little sister’s kid, and not Stella. Stella had a little sister whose husband died in the war, and she herself died in an accident. Richard became Yuuji’s adoptive father, with the landlady watching him while he’s at work. Richard says the baby’s full name is Yuuji Eugene Maiougi, lamenting that Japanese names may not have a meaning by the time he becomes an adult. Richard says Rose calls him a man who is cold on the outside and warm inside, but he claims he was always cold; Leo says he may have been ruthless in the past, but that’s all changed. Richard never went to the battlefield, instead staying behind and suffering from the disaster; he still wakes up in shock sometimes when large trucks drive by. Faced with an earth that can destroy anything with disasters like that, Richard has considered life existing at all to be a miracle; he believed protecting life and preventing its loss was something that needed to be done.
Richard’s parents were moneylenders, and they were able to divide their assets to maintain a foothold even after the disaster. Richard’s only relatives were Stella and his other sister, and he saw fit to protect them in place of his parents. Richard started trying to earn money more ruthlessly, and after starting to raise Yuuji he began to realize that all he can really do for him is save up money. Seeing the way Japan was changing, it brought Richard unease to think that it would stop being called Japan in the future; saving up money would not change what awaited Yuuji. Leo finally began to see why Richard supported Rose, and that was to protect the future of the next generation. Rose was able to bring together the ladies of the evening, but she knew nothing of politics and diplomacy; it would be easy for Richard to take control of Primavera behind the scenes, but he silently swore allegiance to her. It was true that Richard planned to build trust with Rose only to take everything from her, but ever since she began talking about helping their fellow countrymen, he started to think that money really wasn’t the answer to everything; for Yuuji, he wants to ensure a future built on the support of countrymen. Richard tells Leo that his strength is also essential, asking that he protect Rose and the children's future.
Hotel Chrysanthemum
Leo was invited by Keireiji to go drinking in a high-class hotel located in the administrative section of the city. They walk inside and Keireiji orders a random drink, not able to read the English menu. Leo thought he could speak it, and Keireiji replies that this is Japan, so there’s no need to act like good boys and girls. The drinks arrive and Leo thanks Keireiji for his help in dealing with Alfred. Speaking of which, Keireiji asks Shishigami if he knows a guy named Leo. Rumor has it that Leo went toe-to-toe with Alfred unarmed, and only one man fits that description. Regardless of if Shishigami is Leo or not, Keireiji has judged him to be a fearless man. To that end, Keireiji wants Shishigami to join him, needing his help for an upcoming battle. Keireiji wants to end the war inside all the repatriated soldiers, wanting to understand what the war was really about. It was a ridiculous war being fought to free Asia from the West’s colonial rule, and many people with families and jobs had lost their lives to fight it. The soldiers might have felt satisfied had they accomplished something and ended the war, but the disaster took that away from them. In the end, it was a pointless war carried out on a chessboard played by the higher-ups. The new constitution said that citizens have the right to continue their healthy and cultural lifestyles, yet repatriated soldiers were unable to get stable jobs, and those who came back in one piece were the lucky ones.
Keireiji wants to build a city where the repatriated soldiers can live in, full of money and jobs. Many jobs in City 23 are under the control of foreign businessmen, passing on jobs and making massive profits. (In simple terms, “passing on jobs” is where businesses connected to the occupying forces take jobs from them and are given a budget of $1 million for example. The business will take half of the money and then resell the construction work to lower-level businesses, who don’t have such connections. These lower businessmen will also take half of the money and pass the remainder to the bosses of Japanese day laborers; in short, 75% of the money used in projects is swindled away before the workers even get paid.)
If Keireiji can get rid of the middlemen in these cases, then there’ll be better wages and more jobs; repatriated soldiers can finally regain their normal lifestyles and forget all about the war. Once Keireiji can end the war of everyone else, his own will finally end. Leo thinks for a bit and then asks how Keireiji will fight, as his opponents will be the foreign businessmen with ties to the occupying forces. It was hard to imagine a non-English speaker like Keireiji chasing out foreigners and taking their connections for himself; to the Americans, Keireiji was a foreigner and a member of an occupied people, so there’s no way they’d offer him any deals. Keireiji needs to do something that will let them make deals with the occupying forces on equal footing, and this upcoming battle is the way to do it. Keireiji asks again for Leo to join him, offering to end his war for him, and Leo instead puts out his cigarette and stands up. Leo’s war is a bit different; he admires what Keireiji’s trying to do, but Keireiji can’t possibly end his war. Plus, Leo already has another boss, one he still hasn’t paid back yet. Keireiji knows Leo isn’t a man to be swayed by money and poured his heart out to him, so Leo should be able to determine whose goals are more noble. Leo says his boss’ goals are not inferior to Keireiji’s and thanks him for talking. Despite his refusal, Leo says they’ll still be war buddies, paying for his drink and leaving. Keireiji looks at Leo's cigarette and says he won’t give up; he needs Leo.
Food Cart Lane
Some men discuss a rumor that a guy who tried to claim the marketplace after Alfred’s defeat had rejected Caleb’s offer and was found in a river. Hearing this unfamiliar name, Cyrus asks who Caleb is: he’s a guy who was grabbing power here and there, trying to get City 23 under his control. Last week they found the corpse of the guy who controlled the shipping union, and his parents were found torn apart, likely Miguel's work. Cyrus recognizes Miguel Kurashiki as being Caleb’s protege and assassin, and he was comparable to Alfred; Alfred was much worse since Caleb kept Miguel on a leash. James Tomitake’s family, the ones running the gambling dens, had also accepted Caleb’s offer. Despite having war veterans in his family, James knew he was no match and understood the position he was in. All of City 23 was sure to come under Caleb’s rule, and it wouldn’t be peaceful. Mafias profited by taking protection money from people doing business on their turf, though it was often a small amount since the businesses would go under if they took too much, and being too harsh would cause the businesses to go crying to rival organizations and stir up more trouble. If Caleb united the criminal underworld, there would be no competition, and so he’d stop appealing to the common man. The American army could do something about it, but Caleb will probably try to win them over; Caleb would be unstoppable if he had the occupying forces’ backing and control of the underworld. The men then talk about how Caleb’s planning to provide jobs for his countrymen and Cyrus compares it to an election, as he’ll say anything that looks good. Cyrus fears that Caleb will be gunning for Primavera soon, and he doesn’t want to have another war on his hands.
Rose's Apartment
Primavera holds another Pasta Gathering. Wayne compliments Rose for the delicious pasta and Richard says he cooked it this time, eliciting an angry response from Wayne. Leo says the room being filled with Rose’s kindness and consideration is making the pasta taste twice as good. Rose had invited Claudia but she was busy with her store, with Amanda hopeful for her success. Stella considers saving up for her own store and Meryl mocks her, prompting another fight. Primavera had faced no trouble at all because of the bodyguards and the Captain, and they all applaud. Wayne swears to kill Butler if he tries to touch Rose’s chest again but Rose nervously says she’s fine, not having anything to lose; Stella says that a lady of the night like her must see her chest being touched as no big deal, and Rose nervously agrees. Leo comments on her innocent reaction and Richard tells him that Rose rarely goes out on the club floor. Rose laments that she has never been suited as a lady of the night and Leo says that to men, merely staying quiet and nodding along is good enough. Stella and Meryl chime in and fight again, and Amanda is pleased to see how lively everyone is. Richard figures she hasn’t been by the club often enough recently, and Amanda replies that although Primavera may be peaceful, City 23 isn’t.
The group soon realizes that with Alfred’s defeat, many other groups are vying for control. Amanda says the fight will soon end, as Caleb will be the one to rule. Rose and Leo ask who he is, and Amanda explains that Caleb is a former officer from the war, with a charisma that draws men towards him. He’d been gathering repatriated soldiers for his army and was also the boss of some harbor laborers, smuggling in a significant amount of weapons. Other groups were willingly joining Caleb when they realized they couldn’t beat him, and Richard asks what kind of man he is. Amanda says Caleb is stubborn, but he has conviction like a samurai and isn’t one to give up easily; he’s like a boar in that he’ll try to make his dreams reality by destroying anything that gets in his way. At any rate, Primavera doesn’t want him as an enemy, and Leo asks if Amanda knows Caleb. Before the alliance, Amanda had come into contact with some of Caleb’s forces when employing bodyguards, and he declined in the end because he didn’t want to provoke Alfred, though their personal relationship continued. Richard and Cyrus think they can use Amanda’s relationship to get on Caleb’s good side and make connections with the underworld, however Amanda doubts she can help. Leo asks about Caleb’s Japanese name, and Amanda realizes she’s never heard it; Leo then asks if he has any distinguishing features like a big scar, and she affirms it. A stern look appears on Leo’s face.
Jeanne's Mansion, 2012
Julie realizes that Caleb is Keireiji. Jeanne says his full name is Keireiji Caleb Souhei, and he’d always switch his name when he was on and off duty; as the boss he was Caleb, and on break he was Keireiji. Caleb’s men never called him “the boss” either, rather calling him “Father,” as he always felt that repatriated soldiers should be family to one another.
[Just as Amanda predicted, the Caleb Family had resolved all the feuds in the criminal underworld and turned them to his side. Caleb finishes recruiting another group and makes them kiss the back of his hand, soon returning to his car and driving triumphantly through the city. Miguel congratulates Caleb for taking all of City 23, as now the true battle was about to begin.]
Julie asks why uniting the criminal underworld was important for taking on the occupying forces. The American and Chinese armies were all focused on stopping public disturbances more than anything, and with Caleb suppressing all of it in City 23, he could act as a representative for the entire criminal underworld and use that peace to his advantage. Caleb predicted that negotiations would be open if both sides aimed guns at each other. Despite his overwhelming numbers, it was also his weakness. If he brought out his army, war would break out and both sides would fall. However, Caleb couldn't properly demonstrate his numbers without pulling them out. Nobody would accept Caleb as the ruler of City 23 until he showed it in a way that made it clear, and that way was money.
The Caleb Family Rises
In front of a restaurant, lines of men formed a wall as Caleb marched inside. Many of the bosses that had submitted to Caleb were seated at a long table, having acknowledged him as Father. Caleb confirms that everyone has gathered, and he gives a speech about how a ruler needs three kinds of power: influence, wealth, and force. Caleb has gathered force in uniting the criminal underworld, and he aims to control wealth by stacking up as much money as he can. And with all of that, Caleb can obtain influence, making the occupying forces acknowledge them on an even playing field. The bosses voice their support, and Caleb declares that they will take the occupying forces’ work orders and distribute the projects among themselves, eliminating the middlemen and improving quality of life for their countrymen; their comrades who have lost arms and legs will also receive the support they deserve. Miguel and the other bosses chant “Father” in unison, applauding while swearing to make his dreams come true.
Caleb says that even now, their comrades are hungry and dying on the streets, so they must act fast; he wants everyone to tighten up the businesses on their turf and make them offer money to his cause. Many businessmen have made fortunes without experiencing war, and they’re still living in luxury because of the blood and sweat of soldiers; these people are obligated to save them, just as soldiers are obligated to serve them. If they refuse to understand that, then they will be made examples of. Miguel swears to take back what was stolen from them.
Rose hears that the Caleb Family has contacted the businesses Primavera’s made deals with and demanded money for making a “War Veteran Welfare Organization.” Many businesses across the city were afraid of them and paying the money, even though Caleb was likely to pester them again for more. Rose wonders if Caleb will go after them as well, and Richard says he’s well-aware of their connection with the occupying forces and is probably avoiding them. The businesses connected to Primavera have held off on answering Caleb, expecting Rose to do something about it; they want to see if the occupying forces’ protection will extend to them. Rose says the Captain’s protection may not count and decides to try convincing him. Rose calls up Butler and asks for his strength, and after hearing that she has troubles with her contracts Butler says he can’t look after them, as their deal only extends to the establishments in the Primavera alliance. Rose still wants to discuss those problems, promising to open a new contract with a suitable reward. Butler says he’s never seen their relationship as a contract, preferring to protect them because of modest desire on his part and as a regular guest. Rose pleads him to talk and promises to pay him back, and Butler says he’ll consider it if he spends one night with her. Rose struggles for a response and Butler laughs, finding it fun to tease her. Butler says he’s can’t protect her contracts as he’s also barely scraping by, soon apologizing and hanging up as Rose hangs her head in silence.
After Butler hangs up, he sits back down in front of his guest Caleb and asks if that was enough to prove he’s neutral. Caleb accepts his position and Butler pours him a drink, saying they could be good friends. Butler had already formed a contract with Caleb beforehand, as he couldn't afford to ignore someone like him. Butler tells him not to make too much of a scene, and in exchange he’ll ignore the businesses that Caleb’s profiting off of. Caleb says the deal is backwards, as Butler has much more to offer them in exchange for peace. However, he understands that Butler’s taking them lightly and still isn’t convinced of his strength, even though they could wage war on each other at any time. Caleb leaves, telling the captain not to underestimate him.
Primavera
A girl tries to stop Caleb's men from coming in without an appointment, but Miguel insists to see Rose. The girl to inform Rose that Caleb is here; if she doesn’t come out to meet him, then he’ll accept that as her answer. Rose soon introduces herself and Richard to Caleb inside the VIP room. Primavera has heard of Caleb taking over the City 23 underworld, and likewise Caleb has heard of Primavera getting the backing of the occupying forces and crushing Alfred. He’s also heard that the legendary Leo worked there as a bodyguard, with Miguel seeing Wayne and mocking him, as he can't possibly be Leo. Richard says Leo’s off duty today, and Caleb gets to the brunt of things. Caleb doesn’t want to fight with the occupying forces, and if they attack Primavera then it will tarnish the Captain’s reputation; Miguel asks them to consider why Caleb decided to show himself in person: Caleb wants Primavera to join his Family. Hearing that Rose was doing all she could to help her fellow countrymen made Caleb want to do the same thing, so it makes sense for them to unite with their similar ideals.
Richard asks what kind of support Caleb wants, and he replies that he just needs funds proportional to what a business makes; in Primavera’s case, he wants $10,000,000 Japanese dollars. Wayne balks at the outrageous amount and Caleb says he knows how much Primavera’s saved up. The Caleb Family wants them to pay just $50,000 a month, which Caleb intends to use for the sake of helping his fellow countrymen. $50,000 is a lot, but a decent meal costs $50; 300 unemployed people could be fed dinner with this. Caleb aspires to rebuild City 23 in such a way where everybody earns enough for decent food. Rose says it’s an admirable thing to do and Caleb continues, saying many people are hungry out there. There are also a lot of troublesome people, as all the businesses who made deals with Primavera got all high and mighty because they think the occupying forces will protect them. Caleb is collecting money like a tax, and if some people don’t pay then the ones that do will look stupid; hearing that Primavera paid up will make the other businesses follow obediently, and there won’t be any trouble. Richard asks how much time they have, and Caleb says he wants an answer as to whether or not Rose will join now, leaving the money debates for later. Rose asks for time to discuss and Caleb gives her one hour, heading into the club with his men for drinks.
The group then discusses the deal. Rose still thinks Caleb's actions are admirable but Wayne doesn’t want her to trust him. Richard says it doesn’t matter what Caleb uses the money for, what’s important is whether or not Primavera wants to pay protection money every month. Wayne says they should get Butler’s help and Richard replies that he’s probably weighing them and Caleb on a scale; the Captain wants connections to City 23’s underworld, and he isn’t going to antagonize Caleb for Primavera’s sake. According to Cyrus, those who reject Caleb are made examples of, and Primavera turning him down would result in their contracted businesses being interfered with, delaying delivery of products and in the worst-case scenario putting them under. Primavera would thus be forced to renegotiate with their old American contracts, which Caleb will ignore to avoid getting on the occupying forces’ bad side. Many of the Japanese businessmen Primavera contracted with would have committed suicide if not for Rose, and there was no guarantee Primavera would be safe if they rejected them. Rose considers agreeing to Caleb’s proposal, and Richard still disagrees since there’s no guarantee he’ll actually do it. Regarding the $50,000 monthly, they’d have to cut wages and employees at Primavera and lower the quality of food and drink to afford it; Primavera would suddenly stop being high-class. In the end, Primavera's women would have to resort to standing on street corners in the dark and attracting shady customers, the same as kicking out all the women they promised to protect. Rose laments that she won't be able protect anyone no matter what she chooses and asks Richard for his thoughts. Richard would agree to Caleb's deal, giving an asking price now and negotiating later. This would also give them enough time for a counterattack, pending discussion with Amanda, Meijiu and Butler. If Richard were the Madam, he’d pretend to show obedience and be done with it.
Rose's Answer
Rose ponders over this and finally settles on “yes;” pretending to be obedient was the right choice. She leaves the VIP room and psychs herself up to talk to Caleb when she sees Miguel giving Claudia a hard time. He was grabbing her arm and saying that men like Miguel saw hell on the battlefield while women like her were living in pleasure and luxury. Claudia begs him to let go, but Miguel keeps expressing his disgust towards women and how they pretend to sympathize with men when Rose yells to stop and slaps him. Rose tells him not to underestimate women, as while she understands men worked hard on the battlefield, women were working just as hard; being a lady of the night is painful, as soldiers get sympathy for fighting for their country while ladies like her get none. Miguel insults Rose back and prepares his knife, and Caleb tells him to stand down, apologizing for Miguel’s drinking problem. Caleb then asks Rose for her answer, and she replies “no.” She’s unwilling to give anything to people who belittle women and think they’ve never suffered; if Rose wants to provide for the needy and unfortunate, then she’ll do it herself. Rose originally believed Caleb’s goals were admirable, but after some thought they’re ridiculous. Caleb can’t save one person’s suffering by bringing misery to others, he’s just forcing his ideals onto others. Caleb says there’s so many people who need help yet so little time, and Rose tells him to listen to his heart and make people understand; she can’t possibly believe that someone like Caleb who makes examples of others can be capable of saving someone. Rose demands that Caleb leave, as her answer won’t change. Caleb appreciates the good response, comparing Rose to his dead wife. However, Caleb hopes that Rose takes responsibility for what will happen next, snidely remarking that she’s never taken it before. Caleb rounds up his men to leave, and he tells Rose that protecting someone means getting your hands dirty; Rose’s fine clothes and flawless appearance betray her words.
Caleb bids farewell and says they may not meet again. A henchman gives Rose a number she can call if she changes her mind, which she accepts but doubts she'll need. Caleb finally leaves, and the rest of the girls rush to check Claudia’s condition and confirm she's fine, though her hair was pulled a little. Wayne says Rose's answer was excellent as she collapses from anxiety, wondering if she really thought it through as Madam. She echoes Caleb’s parting words, as her heart told her they were bad people and she listened. Richard says there is no right or wrong answer; if she has no regrets, then she made the right choice. Wayne asks what will happen next, and Richard figures they’ll see soon enough.
Leo is told what happened, and the group figures that something similar to Claudia’s kidnapping could happen later. Rose hurriedly says they can still fix it if they call the number and Richard tries to make her calm down as she starts crying. Leo assures Rose that her heart made the right choice as Stella and Meryl comfort her. Richard had already contacted Amanda and Butler about this, but the bodyguards’ jobs will be a lot harder going forward. The businesses they’ve contracted with are likely to be attacked, and there’s too many of them to defend. Now that it’s known Primavera and the Caleb Family are enemies, they can’t hire more bodyguards; Leo, Wayne and Cyrus are all they have. Meryl wonders what they should tell the girls.
Amanda talks to Caleb and voices her surprise that Rose refused even though Richard was with her, praising her for her guts. Caleb doesn’t plan to go easy on them since they picked a fight, with Amanda telling him to please be soft. Caleb asks his men if Miguel would really listen to Amanda and they all laugh in response. Amanda wonders if Rose can really take responsibility.
Caleb's Retaliation
All over town, stores allied with Primavera were getting raided by Caleb’s men. Cyrus, Wayne and Leo had each gone to protect the shopkeepers but were all too late. The president of Central Fruits and Vegetables was in especially bad shape, having several broken ribs and possible damage to his internal organs. Wayne laments his powerlessness and Cyrus tells him to calm down, as there was nothing he could do anyway.
Leo was doing rounds to each of the businesses to make sure they were safe, and he sees the owner of the Yodokane Liquor Shop closing up. The owner thinks Leo is one of Caleb’s men and starts complaining to him about how he could barely stay afloat with how much money they took each month, and now he’s sold all of his possessions and is leaving Tokyo for the countryside. Leo asks if he’s given the store to anybody else but the shopkeeper doesn’t care, as the Americans and Chinese are the only ones doing well. No one’s protecting the Japanese, and the shopkeeper would’ve preferred if MacArthur dropped some new bomb on Japan.
Richard says Amanda is maintaining contact with Caleb and will probably pull him back to the negotiation table. Rose says many people will be suffering during that time and Meryl tells her to stop beating herself up over it. Stella says she tried to contact Meijiu but couldn’t get in touch at all. Cyrus figures Chinatown is also sitting back and watching, as they would get targeted by Caleb if they sided with Primavera; the Chinese are known for having developed extreme foresight during their harsh history.
Chinatown
Meijiu sits down at a table opposite Caleb and welcomes him to his restaurant but Caleb sees through him, propping up his legs and saying he knows Meijiu is part of the Golden Dragon Society: Black Dragon Lee, one of the Big Four who protects the Young Lord. Meijiu's expression and tone changes as he sits back and props up his own legs, finding it problematic that Caleb’s eyes have wandered outside City 23. Caleb knows Meijiu leaked information about Alfred’s hideouts and helped Primavera, and Meijiu says Caleb still followed along. Meijiu reminds him that though the Chinatown of City 23 may be weak, there’s still a massive one up north that is all of City 22.
City 22 was under the jurisdiction of the Chinese army, and the GDS had gained its backing. The GDS soon controlled all of City 22, but there was still City 7 to the west and City 21 to the north, which both had American jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Chiba Prefecture was controlled by Japanese mafia, and goods smuggled through Choushi Harbor had to travel through it to reach Chinatown. 7 and 21 had formed an anti-China alliance and were always looking for opportunities to get into 22; Meijiu’s mission was to stop City 23 from becoming an additional enemy. Meijiu tells Caleb that he hoped to be friends with him, but Caleb says they’d never understand each other because they’re of different races. Caleb explains that he’s fighting to protect his countrymen, and if Meijiu assists Primavera again, he won’t hesitate to wage war on them. Making his threat known, Caleb and his men take their leave. Meijiu says he never touched his food and Caleb says the Chinese are all about poisons, asking who would eat food offered by an enemy. Meijiu’s men ask what they should do, and he replies that the youngsters should be told not to act too rashly; if Primavera tries to make contact, do not do it until Meijiu says so. Meijiu plans to report to the young lord that a “dragon” has appeared amongst the City 23 Japanese.
Primavera
Leo heads out to meet someone, being questioned by Wayne where he’s going: in order to deal with Caleb, if the right hand is being naughty then the left hand should be asked for help. Richard gets off of a phone call and informs Cyrus that the president of Central Fruits and Vegetables has died from multiple bone fractures and internal wounds. Cyrus wants to take revenge but Richard tells him not to let Wayne or Rose know, as it would be too painful for them. However, Rose happened to be walking by and heard that; she realizes that her emotional rash decision had resulted in someone’s death, and Caleb’s parting words come back to her. Angry at her powerlessness, Rose sheds a single tear and starts calling for Wayne. She asks him to secretly prepare a car for her so she can drive to GHQ and convince Butler to help, even if she has to offer her body for it.
Richard wonders where Leo went, thinking he has nerves for buying cigarettes at a time like this when Stella and Meryl suddenly rush in asking where Rose is, as she disappeared after leaving for the bathroom. Cyrus says that Wayne and the car are gone too, not liking how things are playing out.
Wayne wonders if Butler will even see her without an appointment, and Rose is sure that the Captain will listen, waiting as long as needed for him to meet her. Wayne hits the brakes before a red light, and two black cars suddenly appear to their sides. Wayne yells for Rose to get down as the men inside the cars stick machine guns out of the windows and unload them. Wayne hits the accelerator and starts trying to lose the cars, weaving in and out of traffic as the townspeople scramble out of the way. One of Wayne’s tires suddenly bursts, and he crashes into an alleyway. Rose gets out alright but Wayne is stuck because of his seatbelt, yelling for Rose to get away. Rose produces some fabric scissors from a sewing kit she always takes with her and tries to cut him out but Wayne still wants her to run away, as he can take care of himself. With more black cars surrounding them, Rose decides to escape into the alley.
Wayne finally frees himself from his seatbelt, but Caleb’s men surround him. Wayne voices fierce opposition towards them and Miguel soon appears, mocking the Mad Dog. He continues belittling him and tells Wayne that the reason he lost is because he’s never really lost before; someone who’s learned to accept defeat will never lose again, and for Miguel that means winning or dying. Miguel’s men interrupt him, as they've knocked Rose unconscious and put her into a car to be driven off. Wayne weakly calls out to Rose and Miguel says he’s keeping him alive, asking that he tell the others at Primavera what happened; if they want to guarantee Rose’s safety, then they better not try anything funny.
Caleb and Shishigami
Leo meets Caleb again, having finally understood who he really is. Caleb apologizes for deceiving him, as most people tremble at the sound of his name so he calls himself Keireiji, hoping to become friends with Shishigami. Leo asks if they really are friends and Caleb says of course they are, as the Caleb Family wouldn’t give him a meeting without an appointment otherwise. Caleb offers him a drink and Leo repeats his question, slowly this time. Caleb sees what he means and Leo begins to make a request but he gets cut off by Caleb asking his own question. While taking over all of City 23, Caleb was asking everybody if someone named Shishigami worked for them, and he came to the conclusion that no man by that name lived in City 23. Leo replies that he’s a lone wolf, and Caleb puts out a condition before he hears his request: he wants Leo to disappear. Caleb’s about to go to war with Primavera, and like the proverb of a cornered mouse biting a rat, Leo is far too valuable of an asset to them. If Leo doesn’t join his side, then Caleb will have to make him disappear. He doesn’t want him to die, he just wants Leo to disappear from Primavera: that is the condition for him to listen to Shishigami’s request. Leo ponders this and a henchman informs Caleb of some good news. Caleb asks Shishigami to stick around for longer.
Inside a storehouse, Rose was chained up with Miguel sitting in front of her. She pleads to meet with Caleb so she can surrender to him; Rose’s decision earlier had caused so many people to get hurt, and she wants to take responsibility by apologizing, doing it as much as possible until Caleb forgives her. Miguel asks if she really thinks he’ll listen and Rose replies she does, planning to surrender from the bottom of her heart and convey her feelings. Miguel suddenly kicks her chair over and starts demeaning her for acting so high-handed despite her surrender. Forgiving the defeated is something only the victor can do, and losing means you’ve stopped fighting and are equivalent to a corpse. Rose still believes Caleb will listen, as they aren’t enemies but just humans, and she believes sincerity will help them communicate. Miguel decides to test this sincerity and asks his men to strip Rose. Miguel repeats that surrendering means you’re the same as a corpse, and he plans to show Rose how enemy corpses are treated after a fierce battle. The men begin tearing off Rose’s clothes and Miguel admits that he’s being heartless, but Rose’s heart should be able to connect to his own and stop his barbarity. Rose becomes gagged with her own clothes as Miguel presses his knife to her skin, a cold expression appearing on his face.
Leo and Caleb drive to the storehouse, with the latter promising not to take up too much of his time. As soon as they arrive a henchman shows up to whisper into Caleb’s ear, and he swears at Miguel’s impatience. Caleb and Leo run into the storehouse to be met with the smell of blood and sweat, the nearby henchmen snapping to attention as Miguel apologizes; Rose was just too beautiful for him. Leo goes over to where Rose lay, bleeding and staring blankly. He puts his coat around her and lifts her up as Caleb apologizes himself, as he never ordered this. Caleb says he’ll agree to Leo’s request to let Rose and Primavera go if he joins him. Leo doesn’t like being forced to abandon what he’s sworn to protect, regretting stepping onto that boat so long ago. He takes Rose and walks past Caleb’s men, promising that he will never abandon anyone again. The men all look at Caleb for a response but he just shakes his head. Caleb then asks why Leo is refusing if he knows he’s fighting a losing war, asking if he really wants to taste helplessness again, and Leo replies that leaving without being able to fight alongside his comrades is much more painful. As rain starts pouring, Leo and Rose disappear out of the storehouse.
Leo returns to the club and everyone comes out to gauge Rose’s condition. Surrounded by her friends, Rose finally regains emotion and starts crying weakly. Meryl and Stella hug her, and Wayne cries out, beating his head against a pillar and lamenting his failure in protecting Rose. Cyrus tries to restrain him but Wayne yells that he promised to protect Rose and now has no right to even look at her; Wayne runs off into the night, leaving the men to carry Rose inside. Leo stares into the sky, looking for a faint fragment of hope.
Chapter 5: Collapse of Primavera[]
Rose’s Apartment
Leo cooks some pasta and offers it to Rose, but she puts it aside and weakly says she’ll eat later. Leo then tries to joke with her but she gives the same answer. Ever since Rose made her decision to Caleb, she was laying in bed all day and brooding over her guilt and regret, crying a bit each time.
Leo goes to Primavera to inform Stella that things are still not looking well for Rose and he won’t be coming to work, and she wishes him luck. Meryl says a rumor is spreading among the girls that Madam Rose has submitted to Caleb, even though they said not to talk about it. If Rose were to show herself then everyone’s uneasiness would pass, but with her condition it would make things worse. They can’t ask Butler for support either, as he’s already made it clear he doesn’t want to get on Caleb’s bad side. Stella thinks surrendering to Caleb is the only option, saying Rose made the wrong decision as Meryl argues with her. Meryl says she wants to fortify the club and prepare an all-out war as she and Stella soon trade more insults.
Caleb and Amanda are in a car together, with Amanda disliking how underhanded he’d been lately. Caleb says to take it up with Rose if she has a problem, as they’re treating her the same way they’ve done to all the other businesses. Amanda asks if he really wants to strike them down before they can produce anything and calls him impatient for thinking he could win over a woman with a single conversation. Amanda then makes a request to Caleb: she wants Primavera. She’ll pay Caleb protection money but will still take half of it; if Caleb is supposed to be the emperor of City 23, then Amanda will be his empress. Caleb agrees to it, and Amanda embraces him.
The car stops at Amanda’s apartment and drops her off, with Caleb’s men bowing to her respectfully; Amanda’s treatment had changed ever since she became recognized as Caleb’s lover. Caleb says he’s going to dinner with the occupying forces.
Restaurant
A high-class restaurant near GHQ had become the de facto hangout for American officers. Butler greets Caleb and introduces him to the other, high-ranking officers seated nearby. Caleb asks Butler to introduce them in turn but the Captain replies that this meeting is unofficial, and they still don’t see him as a potential business partner. Butler told them that Caleb was the most powerful Don in City 23, and Caleb wants to ask them if they accepted the money he sent. Butler acts as a translator and relays this request to the officers, who reply that they’re open to negotiations but are afraid of what he wants in exchange. Caleb wants to have control of all business projects in City 23, and Butler says that’s impossible as GHQ has to take responsibility for all of that. Caleb calls him a liar, claiming that they prefer American businesses and give them special treatment. Caleb then asks how much money the Americans are making, promising to give GHQ even more than that.
Butler comes to understand that Caleb wants the “special offers window” for himself. However, there are many mafias in the US that are comparable to Caleb’s, and they also want the special offers window. After another round of translation, Butler says his superiors are willing to negotiate with the American families regarding the offer, however it will require a lot of money: $100 million Japanese dollars in cash. Caleb laughs and then stands up in anger, asking if they really want such an exorbitant amount; this may result in a situation that can’t be fixed with money. The officers mock him for his savagery and laugh, and Caleb angrily asks what’s so funny as Butler tells him it's a misunderstanding. Butler says that if Caleb can really present the money, then they’ll have no choice but to listen to him. These officers are gentlemen, but they won’t make a deal unless their partner is also a gentleman; Caleb must not threaten them again or else.
Caleb returns to his car and orders all the bosses to gather for an emergency meeting. He also calls for Miguel to assemble a group of men to deal with Amanda’s job; he plans to squeeze every last drop out of Primavera that he can.
The officers and Butler drink, with Butler asking if overcharging him like that was the right idea. An officer says that Caleb can’t possibly produce the money, and it’s impossible for them to become partners; Caleb wanted a one-to-one relationship but he was the one who needed to provide more. The officers mock the Japanese and compare them to dogs, and Butler comments that Caleb’s way of thinking isn’t the same as the executives here; Caleb’s violent methods are sure to do him in one day.
Miguel, Amanda and several henchmen arrive at Primavera. Stella and Meryl come to meet them, and Amanda says she’s come to help Primavera in its time of need. Amanda calls the girls to attention and tells them that Primavera will now be a part of the Caleb Family. Stella and Meryl voice their opposition to having to pay protection money, and Amanda says that they can either pay and continue to do their jobs in safety, or they can be stingy and go back onto the streets searching for customers like old times. Amanda won’t force girls to pay the Caleb Family for safety, but if they do they must leave the club right now. Meryl says that’s a decision only Madam Rose can make, and Amanda replies that Rose is not qualified to be Madam since she’s doing nothing while the club is in danger and then asks if everyone will accept her as Madam Amanda. Meryl and Stella say that Amanda has been wanting to become Madam from the start and she laughs in response, saying she’s felt humiliated ever since she took the fall and has been waiting. Meryl and Stella threaten her and Miguel’s men raise their guns. Meryl then leaves the club, with Stella following behind her after telling Amanda that she’ll die a painful death and that Primavera no longer exists after today. Amanda asks the remaining women what they think, and most of them accept her; though there were some girls who left, others weren’t as bold.
Rose’s Apartment
Leo and Rose hear of what Amanda’s done, with Stella saying it was likely to happen considering she had ties with Caleb back then. Amanda’s part of the Caleb Family, so aiming guns at her would mean waging war. Stella remembers that Richard’s in charge of Primavera’s money, and even Amanda would have to bow to him. Richard and Cyrus then walk in, where Richard’s a little injured from running away; Caleb’s men barged into his office and didn’t even give him the choice to accept loyalty or not. Richard then tells everyone that they should escape the apartment, as Caleb’s men are likely to burst in here. There are still people who acknowledge Rose as the Madam of Primavera, and she still has some pull with Butler. Rose doesn’t understand why Amanda would try to kill her when she’s not qualified to be Madam, and Leo hears some tires screeching outside. More cars appear with gun-wielding men emerging from them, and Cyrus fires some shots out the window at them. Leo picks up Rose and follows Stella and Meryl outside as they draw their own guns. Cyrus was pulling out one handgun after another and unloading them onto the streets below when someone gets out a machine gun. Richard pulls Cyrus to the ground as a shower of lead flies into the room,
Leo and Rose get into a car as Stella and Meryl fend off the men surrounding them. Meryl docs into the driver’s seat and hits the accelerator, driving into the corner of an apartment building. Leo tells Rose to run and hide in Claudia’s store nearby. Meryl sprains her ankle, and Leo provides cover fire for Stella and Meryl as they escape.
This was the first time in a long time that City 23 had news of a gunfight, and while the Department of Public Order knew Caleb was behind it, the higher-ups swept it under the rug so as not to provoke him.
District 68 Back Alley
The rapid construction following the war was like a race to see who could finish first, and so there were gaps between buildings where vagrants would hide out in. Stella and Meryl had gone to one such alley while running from Caleb’s men, Stella hopes Leo and Rose are safe and then wonders what to do with Meryl’s ankle, which was swelling. Meryl wants to be left alone but Stella would rather that she die instead of Meryl dying and haunting her bedside. They decide to wait until midnight to steal a car and leave the city; the Caleb Family is their enemy now, and there’s nowhere else in City 23 for them to go. Meryl asks about Meijiu in Chinatown, and Stella says he may have taken a wait-and-see approach like Butler. If they go to hide with Meijiu, then the worst-case scenario is him handing them over to Caleb as a sign of friendship.
Meryl asks Stella what she would’ve done if Rose had sided with Caleb, and she replies that she would’ve given up on her. After selling out and sucking up to people for so long, Rose had shown Stella what an unwavering conscience looked like. Meryl has similar sentiments, as without Rose they would’ve continued living like rats and chewing each other to bits; Rose showed unconditional love to them and transformed them into people with dignity. Rose truly was the one to bring Primavera together, acting as the spokesperson for all of their ideals. Stella believes Rose really did make the right decision against Caleb by not giving up, for the sake of all the ladies of the evening. Meryl regrets not doing more to protect her, as Rose was now about to meet a terrible fate. After a brief pause, Stella and Meryl resolve to protect Rose with everything they have if they see her again; Rose is the only Madam they’ll acknowledge.
Richard's Apartment
Caleb’s men had invaded Richard’s apartment, asking the landlady for his whereabouts. Miguel says they should’ve gone for the baby first, but even after interviewing the other tenants and tearing the room apart they find nothing. Cyrus and Richard had managed to escape Rose’s apartment earlier by jumping to the roof of a nearby building and gradually moving downwards, taking Yuuji from Richard’s apartment and hiding out. Richard also had several hideouts because of his loans, and ever since the McDowell incident he was hiding money in places all over town, a trick inherited from his parents. Amanda may have taken Primavera but she didn’t have the safe, a crushing blow to Caleb when he desperately needed money. A henchman says that Richard has had dealings with Chinatown and may be hiding there, though Miguel doubts Meijiu would do anything to make enemies out of them; they want to find Rose and Richard as soon as possible and ensure Chinatown doesn’t become an enemy alongside the occupying forces.
Miguel then hatches an idea, deciding to make it harder for Rose and the others to hide and forcing Rose’s friends to help search. Miguel leaves to tell Caleb about his brilliant idea.
Potato Restaurant 'Kuroimo'
Claudia invites a disguised Leo into her restaurant and takes him to meet Rose, who tearfully embraces him after fearing that he died earlier. Rose wonders if everyone else is safe and Leo replies with information that the disturbance at Rose’s apartment was the only one in the city; no other car chases or gunfire exchanges were reported. The other members of Primavera aren’t ones to surrender easily, and the lack of disturbances means they are surely safe. Rose is relieved to hear that no one else died because of her and starts crying again.
Claudia says Rose can stay with her as long as she likes and is still willing to accept her as Madam. She goes downstairs to check the food and Leo says they should regroup with Richard. He assures Rose that Richard believes she’s right and is willing to follow her, though Rose still doesn’t know if she really did the right thing. Richard’s whereabouts are still unknown, so staying with Claudia is the best strategy; since this place is close to her apartment, Richard should figure out Rose is here and come soon. Rose realizes that the enemy might also realize she’s hiding thee and wants to leave. Leo says that if Rose went and got herself captured, what would the people who still look up to her feel? No matter how just Caleb says he is, his methods are wrong; every bad thing that has happened is Caleb’s fault, not Rose’s. Leo, Stella, Meryl, Cyrus, and Richard are still willing to follow Rose wherever she goes, and Claudia walks back up to say that she’ll follow her too, having given shelter to someone wanted by the mafia after all. The three relax and begin dining on potato meals.
Back Alley
A car parks near the alley where Stella and Meryl were hiding, with the two of them raising their guns in preparation for potential pursuers. A gentleman comes out of the driver’s side, someone who looked nothing like Caleb’s men. Seeing this chance, Stella and Meryl decide to play “trick-or-key” with him. They go up to the man, with Stella asking for help for Meryl’s injury but the man recoils in horror after seeing the short blond girl aiming a gun at him. Stella calls her out for this and Meryl gets confused, as she thought they were taking the car by force. The two of them fight and the gentleman prepares to run away, but another car’s headlights suddenly shine on them. The lights illuminated several men with their hands in their coats, clearly aiming guns at the two ladies. Stella and Meryl find it fortunate that they were wanted alive as they weren’t immediately shot to death, and the men motion for them to enter the cars, soon driving into the darkness.
Portside Park
The Caleb Family was handing out money and food in a park, where over a thousand people were gathered. Some people weren’t too keen on Caleb’s actions, considering all the stores that went under because of him. The food these people were given was similar to dog food, but it was better than nothing. Some of the henchmen then yell out that this is a chance to get rich by finding those who oppose Father Caleb: $100,000 for capturing Rose Haibara, with more money for info on where she’s hiding. Another $100,000 would be given for finding Richard. As the poor men chatter excitedly, Caleb watches the scene from a car nearby. Caleb wonders why they didn’t put out a bounty sooner, and Miguel says there are a few Chinese people mixed in with these Japanese laborers, so Rose’s group will be found even if they go to Chinatown. It’s also possible that some people who defied Amanda will get rose to come out of hiding, and Amanda says she made sure that nobody will deft her.
Amanda then asks Caleb to help her make more money to fill the empty safe by stopping his men from coming to the club all the time, as it’s always on the house. Caleb and Miguel say there’s nothing wrong with letting their men have a drink from time to time, and Amanda sighs. Caleb then asks Miguel to find girls who are trying to do business on the streets and make them stop, as only girls who accept Amanda as the Madam are swallowed to do that.
The mafia men continue, saying that they don’t mind if Rose and Richard are brought back dead, and Wayne is shown watching nearby. After leaving Primavera he had gone back to his rat’s lifestyle, struggling to figure out how to help Rose in her time of need when he still felt powerless. Even now, his anger at himself grew.
Chinatown's Southern End
The northern part of City 23 was often called the Small Rock District, though it was better known as Chinatown. When City 22 came under control of the Chinese army and became a Chinatown, their influence moved to part of City 23. Small Rock Chinatown had no official leader though everyone recognized Meijiu as the boss, being an important member of the GDS. The other Families in City 23 would avoid Chinatown to avoid getting on their bad side, though there were no clear boundaries as to what was and wasn’t part of Chinatown, so disputes between Japanese and Chinese mafias would pop up.
Lackeys in the Caleb Family were patrolling the streets of Chinatown and forcing truck drivers to stop so they could check their cargo. After they search another truck and find nothing but pork, some men from the GDS suddenly show up. The Chinese men see that these other men are from Caleb’s family and say this city is not part of his turf. The henchmen reply that this place isn’t China’s either, and the GDS members continue that some Chinese people were saying they were dragged from their cars and beaten. The GDS member finally asks the men to leave for the day, as the GDS does not want to start a fight with Caleb. Two of his subordinates say something in Chinese and they all laugh. The Caleb minions get agitated after hearing them laugh but are stopped once the GDS pull out guns, with Caleb’s me doing the same. Each group tells the other to back off.
Club Primavera
Ever since Amanda became Madam, the atmosphere at Primavera had changed. A woman goes off on one of Caleb’s men for acting so lawless and driving away all the real customers. The man yells back that the club is owned by the Caleb Family, so he has every right to be there, with him and another man planning to “teach her a lesson” in the VIP room. The other women watched her get dragged off, afraid of what might happen to them the next day. Situations like this made them want to quit, but there was no other place to go. Every club affiliated with Primavera was facing similar problems, with rowdy Caleb thugs coming in and running wild; no regular customer would come to a club like that. Claudia visits the club and sees how things are, and the other women are glad to see her. Even Claudia had to pay protection money to Caleb, and though she would love to hire the club girls, she could barely pay them. Claudia asks if Amanda will do anything about it and a woman replies that she doesn’t even show up at the club anymore, mentioning a rumor that she’s splitting half of the club’s profits with Caleb. If they quit their jobs then Miguel will come after them, with one girl who quit being found slashed up in an alley; even within the clubs, one girl provoked one of Caleb’s men and got her jaw broken. The women ask Claudia how Rose and the others are doing and she replies that she knows nothing, having come to get something she lent to Rose earlier. The women then ask Claudia to tell Rose if she sees her that she’s the only Madam they’ll accept.
With a situation like this, Richard’s option of pretending to be obedient may have seemed like a logical choice, however Primavera was first formed to give ladies of the evening a safe working environment; Richard’s choice worked on the male accounting side of things but ignored the female side of things. This day was going to come no matter what answer was given, but the only difference was whether or not the ladies of Primavera would lose hope. Rose’s choice turned out to be correct in the end, and Claudia wonders what pain Rose went through in making that.
A soldier desires death on the battlefield, as that is what they are meant to do; dying to a gunshot or a shovel means dying as a warrior. However, getting killed by a trench mortar is not ideal. Mortars allow you to attack targets from several kilometers away. People on the receiving end will get blown into pieces, and their killers won’t even be looking the same way as them. Even when criminals are executed by firing squad, their executioners are still looking at them through the sights; nobody can rest in peace after being killed by a mortar. Soon after the bombardment, many troops are lying wounded but the surgeon ran out of supplies and can’t do anything. Keireiji swears and tears up, wanting to know who will care for his crippled comrades when they return to Japan, wondering if they’ll be called baby killers and mass murderers. Keireiji tries to get a wounded troop to hang in there and promises to make their dreams come true, and they tearfully hold each other.
Caleb suddenly jolts awake. Amanda asks if it was a nightmare, but he replies it was a dream of an oath he had sworn to keep until his war was over. Caleb is grateful for always seeing them in his dreams, as they remind him to keep going. Amanda comforts him, and Caleb swears to collect more money so he can save them as soon as possible.
High-class Sightseeing Hotel
This hotel was also one of the businesses paying protection money to the Caleb Family, and the entire suite floor was given to them to use as a hideout. Miguel and some other men bring an attache case full of money to a room where several bosses were counting other cases full of money, which added up to $30,000,000. With James’ family bringing in another $10 million, Miguel’s case also having $10 million, and some more assorted bills, their grand total was $70 million. The bosses celebrate at having so much money but Miguel is displeased, asking his men where they plan to get the remaining $30 million from. The bosses were already pushing the limits to obtain this much, and any more would really squeeze the businesses dry. The bosses think GHQ was actually mocking by making them gather a ridiculous amount and Miguel says it doesn’t matter so long as they can actually provide it. The bosses continue to say that gathering more than $70 million is impossible, realizing just how much of a parasite they all are on City 23. Miguel asks what they plan to do, and the bosses reply that City 23 is done for; Chinatown will likely take it over, and with this much money they can do anything. Miguel asks if he’s really surrendering and a boss replies that he is, finding a change in plans to be a good thing.
Miguel then stabs his knife into the guy’s forehead. The other bosses look on in horror, and Miguel says he’ll forgive them just this once. Miguel orders everyone to get that remaining $30 million, asking that they target some Americans or Chinese if the Japanese have run dry; the occupying forces won’t intervene since they don’t want a fight.
Occupying Forces Headquarters
Butler enters a meeting with his superiors and hears reports of American civilians being threatened by gangster groups. Now that the Caleb Family was targeting Americans, the occupying forces couldn’t overlook this. Butler says this was a natural result of demanding $100 million, and an officer comments that a man capable of negotiating with GHQ could scrape together as much; they wanted to have $100 million in brand-new bills, not crumpled blood-stained bills, something Caleb didn’t understand. The higher-ups could care less what happens to Japanese citizens, but shaking down Americans is unforgivable. They want to bring Caleb in, but Butler says he’s like a bomb, and one wrong move could destroy both sides. An officer reminds him that the American-Chinese Occupying Forces High Command Conference is coming up, and they don’t want any disturbances in a cty run by the Americans. The Director-General asks everyone to leave the room so he can speak to Butler alone. Butler held the rank of Captain but he didn’t earn it because he could fight on the battlefield: it was because he was skilled at dealing with things behind the scenes, resolving private issues without anyone suspecting his involvement.
Chinatown
Meijiu calls Caleb, who has heard of GDS members fighting with his men, and both were expecting the other to take responsibility. Back when there were many rival underground warlords, fighting with Chinatown was considered to be taboo. The City 23 underworld being united had suddenly reignited GDS sentiments to keep the Japanese divided as much as possible, something Meijiu was trying to do. At first they were trying to weaken the Alfred Family after it got too big, but Leo meeting with Caleb had suddenly changed everything.
Meijiu mentions Caleb’s need to gather money for his countrymen, finding it admirable but reminding him that Chinese also live in City 23. As fellow citizens, Meijiu wants to work with Caleb; he wants to save his own Chinese countrymen and will help Caleb get the $100 million in exchange for some of the “special offers counter.” Caleb immediately rejects the offer, figuring that Meijiu’s trying to use him to get between the Americans and Chinese, and he prepares to hang up when Meijiu says something else, his tone of voice growing colder. Meijiu asks Caleb if he understands why Japan lost the war, and that is because Japan tried to fight both China and America, warning that Caleb having more enemies would not benefit him. Caleb mentions that the GDS higher-ups want to avoid war with him, and though Meijiu may be ordered to play nice with him, Caleb won’t do the same. Meijiu asks again if he’ll team up with him, as he can easily get Caleb the remaining money and expand the range of his businesses, giving him more profit; there’s nothing to lose from this. Caleb replies that he’ll lose a country for the Japanese made by the Japanese, and finally ends the call while telling Meijiu not to interfere or else. Meijiu sits back and muses that a carp must ascend a waterfall before becoming a dragon, feeding his iguana while laughing at Caleb failing to become one.
Finale
Leo was always going out in disguise and collecting information on the current state of affairs whenever possible, as they couldn’t burden Claudia forever. Leo remarks that the marketplace, the place where Alfred had held Claudia earlier, had changed from its chaotic fervor and was nearly empty. Leo says Caleb forgot what it was they went to war to protect, and then he sees someone who looks like Wayne run by. Wayne runs through the streets chased by Leo until he trips and falls, with Leo catching up to him and asking where he’d been. Wayne angrily shouts back that he’s just a rat, and Leo tells him that Rose and the others are safe. Wayne figures Rose will be fine as long as Leo is there and Leo replies that he can’t do it alone. Wayne calls himself useless, regretting that he never did more to help Rose escape earlier, even if it killed him; he was so happy to hear Rose ask him to do something when she was always relying on Leo for the hard stuff. Leo tells him that Rose needs him but Wayne keeps putting himself down, soon saying that he would go to fight Caleb right now , but he’s still a rat. Leo tells him that he has fangs and reminds him that he’s still Mad Dog Wayne. Wayne starts crying, lamenting that he couldn’t become a dog, and then he begs Leo to make him a man. As Wayne bowed to the ground and pressed his forehead into a puddle in front of Leo, he realized that he reached the limits of his self-teaching and was now abandoning all his pride. Leo helps him up and then offers to treat him food, which he better not deny this time. Wayne asks Leo not to tell Rose abut this, as he wants to better himself before reappearing. Starting from this day forward, Wayne was meeting up with Leo and taking lessons on martial arts and gun shooting; he had always seen adults as his enemies, finding it humiliating when they tried to teach him something or push him around. Wayne started to forget all of that and gave his trust to Leo. Despite Wayne’s reunion, Leo was still unable to get new info, and by then the 10th day since the shootout at Rose’s place had come.
Caleb was still short of reaching his $100 million goal, and thinking back he should’ve negotiated with GHQ and lowered the amount or suggested paying in installments,however if he did that he would’ve been mocked. Amanda sees that there are empty shops everywhere, reminiscing about an old lady who owned a tobacco shop that was so nice to her. Caleb says his war buddies are still starving, and every store owner who ignored them better not be complaining now. All the shop owners ran away, and Caleb compares them to soldiers as they would’ve been shot for desertion. Caleb and other soldiers were trained to keep fighting even if they lost an arm and a leg, and they lynched allies who dared to run away and abandon them. Amanda asks if gathering $100 million will really allow him to bargain with GHQ, and Caleb is sure that Butler will keep his promise. If not, there’ll be war; he’ll go inside and kill everyone, and may even scatter the money from the rooftop and commit suicide. Amanda thinks for a bit, as Caleb was the kind of man who really would do this; gathering that $100 million would lift the pressure that Caleb was putting on the city. Amanda then asks if Caleb ever searched the houses of the Primavera girls, as Rose may be hiding out in one of them. Caleb says Miguel already searched the homes of those currently employed, and then Amanda asks if they checked the former employees, suggesting a certain someone who went to start their own business and lived close to Rose’s apartment.
Claudia serves up dinner for Leo and Rose, and even though 10 days have passed, the fact that they haven’t heard anything must mean Richard and the others are still safe. Leo says he met up with Wayne despite being told not to mention it, and Wayne is currently hiding in the city and gathering information. Rose wonders why people still follow her, and Leo and Claudia say that it’s because she’s moved so many people with her way of life; even Amanda recognized her a bit. Caleb had caused many shopkeepers and citizens to move out of the city, and if they were as strong as Rose then things wouldn't be so bad. Rose asks what it means to protect something and starts crying again as Leo is suddenly alerted to a knock downstairs. Claudia begins to go downstairs to answer it but Leo holds her back. Miguel and several men were knocking on the door, and they knew someone was inside because of the second floor light. Claudia opens the door with the chain still set and Miguel suddenly wrenches it open as much as possible, having recognized Claudia from earlier. Miguel asks to come in and Claudia refuses, causing Miguel to thrust his knife before her nose, with his men aiming guns at the door. Miguel asks again, and Claudia unsets the chain. Miguel and his men then barge in and start searching for Rose. As Claudia pleads for them to stop, Miguel goes to the lit gas stove and causes a fire, throwing Claudia’s alcohol into it and spreading it. The other men report that Rose is nowhere to be seen, however the second floor had signs that someone was recently there. Miguel heads upstairs as the other men keep adding to the fire.
Miguel could smell that someone other than Claudia was there. There were enough chopsticks and a bowl for one person, yet the stove downstairs was still on. Miguel opens the window and calls down to his men on the ground, who confirm that nobody snuck out. Miguel then opens a closet and sees a futon, pulling it out and unwrapping it to reveal chopsticks and bowls for two more people. Miguel knows that two people are hiding in the building somewhere; he goes into the closet and sticks his knife into the ceiling boards, feeling resistance from it piercing something on the other side. Leo winces in pain, and Rose starts to get worried. Miguel couldn’t feel a woman’s flesh with his knife, so it must be Leo he stabbed. Miguel sticks his knife in further as Leo continues to writhe, trying to keep his position as much as possible. Miguel then pulls his gun out and starts shooting through the ceiling, and a bag of potatoes suddenly falls out with his knife embedded in one of them.
On the first floor, Leo and Rose suddenly emerge from the kitchen floor and kick up a bucket of vegetables; when the men were searching, they moved that bucket on top of the storage door they were hiding under and made it difficult for them to get out. The men yell for Miguel and Leo beats them up before escaping the restaurant with Rose. The underlings moved to pull out their guns but hesitated as they were ordered not to kill Rose. Rose calls out towards Claudia, but she’s still inside trying to deal with the fire. Leo carries Rose on his back and runs off as Miguel and several cars begin chasing them. Leo comments that these guys were much more organized than regular gangsters, seeing that these are the war veterans Caleb’s so proud of. The men were all taking perfect positions and readying machine guns, and even Rose could tell that Leo was no match for them. Rose wants to give herself up and help Leo escape but he won’t have any of that and starts firing at the men. Miguel offers to spare Leo if he surrenders since he’s Caleb’s friend but Leo continues his one-man assault.
After another exchange of gunfire Leo prepares to load a new magazine and Rose stops him, saying that she’s glad everyone adored her as Madam Rose but now she’s just Rose Haibara; she has nothing to offer that would mean sacrificing so much to protect. Leo then grimaces after getting shot in the shoulder, still continuing to shoot. Rose keeps saying that her words are just talk and Leo says they are a path; Rose has shown people a new path to follow in this dark era, and Leo wants her to trust in her heart and walk with confidence. No one wants to die when they’re stumbling around in the dark, but Leo is willing to do it after seeing Rose’s light, swearing to himself that he’ll fight for what he believes in until the end. Miguel asks if Leo is done with his chat and Leo stands up. The two of them begin aiming their guns at each other when a car screeches to a halt near them. Wayne emerges from it to provide cover fire as Rose escapes. Leo and Wayne together hold off Miguel’s men. Rose continues running through an alley crying as gunshots go off in the distance. She pleads everyone to not die. Leo calls Wayne his new war buddy and tells him to show the results of his training as the credits roll.
Jeanne’s Mansion, 2012
An elderly man comes into Jeanne and Julie’s room exuding a dignified presence. He whispers something into Jeanne’s ear, and the Madam says she’ll have to call it a day with Julie, as some unpleasant business has come up. Julie thanks her for her time and Jeanne says it’ll be 4 months before she’s free again. As Jeanne leaves escorted by black-suited men, Julie wonders what happened to Rose, Leo, and Wayne after everything in 1947. One thing she does know is that Wayne Uedera still lives and was still serving Primavera as its consigliere. The old man tells Julie that a car has been prepared and shows her the way, and she starts wondering if this man could actually be Wayne with how he entered Jeanne’s personal room like that. She mutters to herself that Mad Dog Wayne sounds like a cool nickname and the man suddenly coughs.
Returning to the office, Julie was bombarded with questions about what she heard and lied that she wasn’t supposed to reveal anything until the whole story was finished; it was probably the right thing to do, as Julie still didn’t understand what Jeanne was trying to say.
Julie begins writing up a summary on her computer, where Advisor Uedera has told her that Jeanne should be free around December, and so Julie plans to use this time to consider everything she’s learned.
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Many cases of money were being transported to GHQ, with American officers counting each and every bill inside. Butler is doing a thorough check to ensure they haven’t been fooled, and the directors decide that Caleb has proven himself; he should be welcomed as their new partner.
Meijiu asks his men to find a skilled assassin, aiming to avoid a war with Caleb.
Butler talks privately in a car, saying that the Caleb Family has crossed the line and is like a balloon: they need to pop Caleb and take it out.
Caleb calls up Rose and says they both share terrible luck, as they’ve tried and failed to kill each other. Rose says she’s misunderstood what it meant to protect people, thinking she had to hug the weak and protect them with her back: true protection is getting your hands dirty and killing your enemies. Rose resolves to protect her fellow countrymen and officially makes a proclamation of war against Caleb.
If Caleb doesn't surrender, then Rose will use her own hands and gun to kill him.