A reminder that anything Italicized are lines spoken in Japanese.

*Yumi POV*

*CRACK*

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

The guttural scream of a wounded animal reverberated throughout the warehouse. The wall echoed and amplified the noise, making it sound like something straight out of a horror movie. But Yumi wasn't scared. No, she was elated.

*Huff. Huff. Cough. Huff.*

Yumi let go of the finger she had just broken. Standing over Tsuyoshi Kanda imperiously, she roughly grabbed his face so she could turn his head to face her. Sweat covered his pudgy features. His left eye was swollen and bruised, while his nose was crooked, and blood trickled from his nostrils.

"Y-You crazy bitch. *COUGH*"

A bit of spittle hits Yumi's face, and she recoils back, her face scowling in absolute disgust. She quickly wiped the spit off her face before grabbing onto Kanda's broken finger and pulling on it. The man screamed again, the chair he was sitting in shaking violently as his body thrashed against the ropes that bound him.

Yumi let go of the fat bastard's finger to let Kanda catch a breath. She had to make this quick. She was only going to have access to Kanda alone for so long.

After capturing Kanda, the group immediately contacted Michiko. The man had kept his mouth shut during the initial rounds of interrogation, and Michiko suggested that they wait until she sends specialists. Yumi hated that idea because it kept them away from Night City for longer. 

Yumi had to keep Basil safe, and NC had Panam and other allies to do just that. Here in Tokyo, they relied on Michiko to support them. Yumi didn't like the idea of relying on the corpo princess, so she had to get them out of Japan as soon as possible. That meant taking things into her own hands.

Turning around, Yumi picked up a scalpel from a tray. 

*Screeeeeeeeeeeeech*

She dragged the razor-sharp tip across the tray and stalked over to Kanda. 

Walking behind him, Yumi tapped the surgical instrument on the chair, slowly moving up until she placed the scalpel right under his chin. Kanda's breathing quickened as Yumi applied enough pressure to not break the skin.

"What is Yorinobu up to?"

"H-How am I supposed to know? He hasn't been back in Japan for ye-"

Kanda instinctually shut his mouth when Yumi applied more pressure with her scalpel. The tip broke through his fat exterior, and a trickle of blood flowed down the stainless steel edge.

"Apparently, simply breaking a finger wasn't enough."

Yumi pulled the scalpel away from Kanda's neck before moving it down and placing the edge against the knuckle of the broken finger.

"One. Two. "

Once Yumi started applying increasing downward pressure on the scalpel and counting, it didn't take a genius to figure out what would happen. Even worse, there was no mention of at what count she would chop the digit off. Was it going to be at the three count? Maybe ten? Who knows? And that got to Kanda.

"Wait! WAIT! Yorinobu wanted us to attack the Arasaka HQ in Tokyo! I have emails. Everything you people need. JUST STOP!"

"When Yumi paused, and it was clear that she wasn't going to slice his finger off, Kanda sighed with relief, but the moment was cut short when Yumi started applying pressure again.

"Transfer those emails. Now."

Kanda immediately complied with the order and transferred dozens of emails to Yumi. After a quick scan, she opened the files and quickly browsed through them. Yumi couldn't help but smirk. From just the very little that she saw, this would be perfect.

"See? I told you it's everything you would need."

"Indeed it was."

A look of relief washed over Kanda, but it was short-lived. Before he could even process the attack. Yumi swung her arm, holding the scalpel, slicing through Kanda's neck.

The fatty looked at her in confusion and shock.

*GHCK!* 

Blood quickly flowed out of the gash in the man's throat. He gurgled and coughed, only managing raspy sounds as his broken larynx didn't allow any actual words to escape.

"Tabata-San! What have you done!?"

Yumi turned around to see a shocked Takemura, followed by V and Basil. It seems they got back just in time to see her execute the fatty.

"Get away from him right now!"

Takemura drew his pistol from his holster, but Basil stepped in and grabbed onto it before the Arasaka hound could point it at her. He pushed Takemura's arm away before grabbing him with his other hand and pushed the Japanese man up against the wall.

V didn't make a move either way. She simply walked inside before closing the door behind her to make sure the area was secure.

"Calm down, Takemura, I'm sure Yumi did this for a reason. Right, Yumi?"

*Yumi Flashback POV*

"I know you got a thing for Basil."

Yumi immediately crossed her arms.

"Excuse me?"

Yumi wasn't sure what to expect when Panam pulled her to one side away to have a private conversation, but it wasn't this. They were in Misty's shop shortly after they saved Violet from the Militech compound. The two of them have been butting heads for a while now. Yumi didn't like admitting it, but she was always angry at Panam for being Basil's main squeeze. Yumi would treat Basil so much better than this skank. They'd fuck all day, then go out and cave in Tyger skulls. The perfect life.

She was a bit embarrassed to admit it, but occasionally, Yumi would have dark thoughts about how she could get rid of Panam and replace her. But the opportunity never presented itself. Not to mention that Basil would be heartbroken or, worse, might figure out she was behind it all.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a creep?"

Seeing the start of a weird smirk break out on Yumi's face, Panam rolled her eyes and let out a quip. Panam's observation jerked Yumi from her prior thoughts of potential homicide, and she focused back on the Nomad. How did she want to play this? Yumi had two options. The first is playing dumb, and the second is owning up to it.

Sure, Yumi had had fantasies about Basil, but it's not like she had managed or attempted to bring any of those fantasies into reality. She was sure Panam was basing her accusation purely on instincts and had no concrete evidence. If she wanted to continue to stay close to Basil, her safest bet was to act as if she had no idea what Panam was talking about. There was always the risk that Panam would tell Basil to stop interacting with Yumi, but Yumi was pretty sure Basil wasn't the type.

But playing innocent was what scared bitches that were ashamed do. Yumi wasn't ashamed of her feelings for Basil, and she definitely wasn't going to get called out by some hussy who just got lucky by meeting Basil first. It was too bad; it looked like their relationship was heading in a good direction for once.

Yumi crossed her arms and raised her chin to look more domineering. It ultimately failed since Panam was considerably taller than her.

"Yeah, I got feelings for Basil. What do you care? You'll just leave him when your clan gets tired of living so close to the city anyway."

That seemed to have hit a sore spot of Panam's, and the woman's nostrils flared while her hands balled into fists. Yumi tensed up, expecting a fight to break out, but surprisingly, the brawl never came. Instead, Panam closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stretching her fingers and letting the tension go from her arms.

"Yumi, I'm sorry for calling you a crazy bitch, but what you said was a low blow. We got off on the wrong start. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to make an offer."

The rapid change in tone caused Yumi a bit of whiplash. Within a minute or so, Panam went from confrontation to mocking, anger, and now to compromise. Something was off and making Panam borderline schizo.

"Ok... I guess I'm sorry, too. What did you want to talk about?"

Panam hesitated for a few seconds, seemingly unsure of what she was about to say, which was weird. From Yumi's interactions with her, Panam rarely wavered or appeared insecure about herself.

"Look, you know why he's doing all of this, so you also understand why he's going to keep getting himself into trouble. I've come to realize that Basil needs someone to keep an eye on him. "

Yumi raised a brow at that.

"You think Basil isn't capable of taking care of himself?"

Panam rolled her eyes again, but this time, Yumi got the distinct feeling that it wasn't meant for her.

"No, he's more than capable, and that's part of the problem. He's too casual about things, and I need someone to look out for his best interest."

Wait a second...

"And you want me to be that person? Why?"

"Because I need someone I can trust to be with Basil while he's in Japan. He doesn't look out for number one enough, so I need someone to do it for him. And who better to keep my man safe than you? Since, you know, you're trying to get with him and all that. He's too trusting, naive even."

Yumi, unhappy Basil was getting badmouthed, squinted at Panam.

"Explain."

"It's almost like he doesn't understand how the world works. It's not necessarily bad, but it will get him into serious trouble sooner or later. Did you know he split the profits on selling a Caluburn that I didn't know about? We had only known each other for a few hours, and I was even a real bitch to him, yet he still let the Aldecaldos have 50%."

"That's... Not the smartest thing in the world."

"Yeah, you're telling me. The point is, he can't be trusted to put himself first. He got lucky with me since I would keep the clan in check if they ever tried to screw him."

Panam pulled a chair out and sat at a table near one of the statues and trinkets.

"My main problem is the people going with Basil to Japan. I trust Takemura and Michiko as much as I trust a Scav. You don't get to where she is without a few closets full of skeletons. Push comes to shove, Michiko will do what corpos do best and stab everyone in the back, and Takemura will help her do it."

"What about V? She and Basil seem to get along."

"I'm still not sure what her whole deal is, but she seems to be in some kind of deep shit and can't dig herself out of it. What do you think she would do if she had to choose between Arasaka and Basil, and the deciding factor is who is more capable of helping her?"

Yumi chewed on her lower lip. She could see where Panam was coming from. Honestly? Yumi wanted to help, but she also didn't want Panam to think she'd aid her for free. 

A lesson she learned while being part of the Tygers was never to help a rival gang without getting something out of it. Panam is, if anything, an enemy in love, and it would be foolish of Yumi to help her without getting as much as she can from the interaction.

"Alright, I understand so far why you want me to do it, but I still fail to see why I should help you here."

This was an excellent opportunity for Yumi to make a move. Panam wasn't the type of woman to let Yumi jump her input's bones just for something like this, but she could get concessions. Something like being included in the team with any business Basil conducts from now on. Or maybe even a few dates, if she could swing it.

Yumi watched as Panam couldn't help but roll her eyes again. Yumi could practically hear the 'really, bitch?' Panam was barely holding back.

"Fucking- *Sigh* Calm, Panam, calm."

Yumi quirked an eyebrow, still surprised at how seemingly contained Panam was trying to be."

"Look, Yumi. If we're going to make this work, we have to stop playing these stupid games with each other. You want access to Basil? Fine, I'll do better than that. I'm willing to share."

There was a moment of silence as Yumi processed the bombshell that had just dropped on her. It didn't feel real. Out of all the ways this conversation could have gone, this was definitely not what Yumi expected.

"BUT! You have to prove that you can work in this relationship. Look after Basil in Japan, keep him safe, and make sure things go in his best interest. Do that, and we'll talk about this further. Deal?"

Panam offered her hand to Yumi. Yumi stared at the Panam's palm, and then her body instinctually shot out and grabbed the other woman's hands. 

"Yes! Deal! I'll do it! Whatever you want!

Seeing how eager Yumi was, Panam smirked. Then she remembered something.

"Oh! And I'm the top bitch and always will be. Got it?"

Yumi barely caught that last bit. It didn't matter anyway. It was like all of Yumi's prior animosity toward Panam was washed away. She would do anything for this to work.

"Huh? Sure, whatever. How is this going to work? How long after I get him back from Japan before we can... you know... do stuff?"

Panam laughed at her, in a good-natured kind of way, which Yumi thinks is a first between them.

"You're really down bad, aren't you?"

*V POV*

"Directing the Steel Dragons to attack the Tokyo HQ, high-value targets, supply weapons, and gear, all explicit instructions. We lucked out. Seems like Kanda was holding onto the info as leverage if he ever needed it, which means we got the whole nine yards."

V was talking to Michiko through a large monitor at the warehouse base where they've been operating. The whole team was there like any other report. Basil and Yumi were off to the side next to each other, and Takemura stood stoically by himself. The only difference was that Takemura was clearly brooding.

And V couldn't really blame the older Japanese man. It was unexpected, to say the least, when V, Basil, and Takemura returned from picking up some supplies to find Yumi having murdered their best lead on Yorinobu.

While Takemura and Basil immediately got tangled up, one trying to apprehend Yumi and the other protecting her, V decided to hold off and see what was up. And she was glad she did.

It seems that while they were out, Yumi got bored and decided to interrogate Tsuyoshi Kanda into her own hands. V was unsure what Yumi did precisely, but from all the blood, she wasn't sure she wanted to know anyway. Regardless, Yumi seemed talented at information extraction because Kanda sang like a bird and handed over everything he had on Yorinobu. And what a haul it was.

"Well done, though I would have preferred if you all had waited and followed my plans."

While Michiko didn't specifically mention her, it was clear that statement was directed at Yumi since Michiko was looking directly at her when she said it.

Completely unfazed, Yumi simply shrugged.

"I don't work for you, so I did what I thought was best."

Michiko then looked at Basil and raised an eyebrow, clearly interpreting him as Yumi's 'boss'.

"We can debate her methods all we want, but Yumi got us what we wanted faster. I think the results speak for themselves."

"Hmmmm."

Michiko simply hummed while she focused back on the emails.

"It's good. Like you said, we got him nailed..."

V could sense a but coming.

"...but"

There it is.

"We don't have anything on his inside people. Just getting Yorinobu isn't enough. We must kill the weeds down to the roots and salt the earth."

"And how do you suggest we do that, huh?"

Yumi decided to pipe up then.

"You, won't be doing anything. The plan stays the same. Wait in Tokyo for my specialists to come in, but instead of interrogation, they'll do espionage."

"What's the point of waiting here if we're not going to be doing anything? Just send us back to NC."

It was becoming clear that Yumi just really wanted back in NC. Interrogating Kanda and tying up loose ends after getting what she wanted was definitely moving towards leaving The Land of the Rising Sun.

"Their specialists, Yumi, which means they're good at a certain set of things. I need generalists," Michiko indicated to the four across from her, "to back them up if the situation demands it."

V, and presumably everyone else here, then received a data transfer request from Michiko.

"Besides, I got something to keep you all busy anyway."

*Basil POV*

"So you're staying over there for longer?"

It was later that night, and I was on the warehouse mezzanine, gazing out the windows onto the rainy streets of the Keihin Industrial Zone. Panam and I were sharing a video call.

"Yup. Yorinobu's real pissed at this one research station in Tokyo, and Michiko wants us to look into it while we wait for her team to get here."

I had texted her that we might return early after Kanda spilled the beans, even though Takemura disliked 'engaging with unrelated personnel'. But you know what? Michiko said the fancy schmancy phones she gave us couldn't be hacked, so I'm gonna use it.

"What's so special about this place anyways?"

"All we know is that Yorinobu couldn't shut it down through his corporate authority and that no one knows what's happening inside."

"How does that work? Isn't he the CEO now?"

I moved away from the window and leaned against the wall to focus back on Panam. It was nice to see her face like this. We've been pretty consistent in texting each other, but this is the first time we got to talk face-to-face since the flight to Japan.

"It's a combination of things. First, Arasaka was always teetering on the edge of an internal war. The only thing holding all the factions back was that the old man had forced everyone to behave. And now that he's dead..."

Panam picked up where I left off.

"The people that don't like Yorinobu are giving him the middle finger."

"Bingo. Of course, if Yorinobu pressured hard enough, eventually, the branch would have to shut down. The only problem is that some kind of perpetual directive allows the research facility to ignore anything anyone says."

As expected, that last bit of information surprised Panam.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, I know, right? That sounds really stupid. Who do they take orders from then? Or what happens if they finish researching whatever they are working on? Regardless, the point is that Yorinobu either knows what is going on there and it's a legitimate threat to him, or his pride is so damaged by being unable to shut a facility down that he is willing to take on unnecessary risks and have the Steel Dragons attack the facility."

"And what do you think it is?"

I simply shrugged at that question.

"Honestly? 50/50. Either way, Michiko figured it's best to know what's happening there. Enough about me. You should have been done with that first shipment to those maritime nomads. How'd it go?"

"Funny story, actually. It started out rough, with them moving the rendevous point twice. It's not totally unheard of in the biz, but it doesn't make it any less annoying."

"I could imagine."

"Then they made us wait almost an hour before showing up. Again, we've had worse, but we were pretty peeved at this point. That went away pretty fast when a bunch of high-tech speeders came splashing toward us. At first, we thought it was a sting, but then we saw the MetaCorp symbol."

Now it was my turn to be surprised."

"MetaCorp, as in one of The Seven?"

"Apparently, suddenly showing up with so many hard-to-get weapons made quite the blip on their radar, so they set up a meeting posing as some small maritime clan to vet us. All the messing around and waiting was them testing us and seeing if it was really just us."

"And I'm guessing you guys passed?"

"Damn right we did. Victoria herself wants another meeting. This could be huge for us, Basil, and we couldn't have done it without you."

"Don't mention it, babe."

I then tried to stifle a yawn, but not well enough to not be noticed by Panam.

"It's getting late over there, huh? I appreciate you staying up to talk to me."

"I'm fine. It's no problem to me. I like finally getting some alone time with you."

Panam just rolled her eyes.

"Uh-huh. I'm hanging up now, so go to sleep, mister."

As much as I wanted to continue our conversation, I knew Panam had made up her mind, and once she did, I was never going to talk her out of it. And even though I hate to admit it, I was getting drowsy.

"Yes, mother. Love you."

"Love you too, Basil. Good night."

Our call ended, and I stood up from my spot, stretching my body and letting out a long yawn. I descended the stairs and headed to my bed to get some shuteye. There was a long day ahead of us after all.