New Valentine always struck me differently when forced to walk through it on foot. The sense of scale, of just how huge the sprawling districts and buildings were didn’t feel the same when blasting past them on a bike or bus. The contrast between the different districts—from the working class Southside to the bustling business atmosphere of Downtown. The grotesque level of wealth on display rested on the backbone of hundreds of thousands of mortals barely getting by.

The Sects didn’t care to maintain the city aside from a couple of choice districts. Assuming the people would self-manage with the corporations pitching in. Unless something affected their business as usual.

We ran through the streets of this city like little blood vessels. Our lives gave shape to this beast; bringing it to life. That comparison felt fair, New Valentine was like a spirit beast—a grouchy swamp-dragon content to dwell in the dank muddy bottoms of stagnant water. Only bothering to reluctantly surface when trouble poked its domain.

I crossed from Downtown to Uptown, the home of Brass King turf. And reached my destination; I checked my phone and confirmed that this rundown apartment was the place. Ivy grew freely on the reddish-brown brick side of the building, infesting the place with nature that seemed foreign to this concrete jungle. It was rather poorly maintained for an Uptown building, its steps cracked and the metal railing leading up to the door almost hanging off.

Strange to meet at an apartment building, Tristan usually found some abandoned hole to lay claim to. Maybe even some back-of-shop that paid us protection, and got a cutback for the trouble.

Cars lined the outside lot of the apartment, but what pulled my eyes was the set of bikes. Including Bruno’s familiar black and chrome beauty, and Kayson’s sleek apple-red comet. If not for them, I’d have assumed this was an elaborate setup to demean me before my new squad, Tristan had pulled those kinda shitty tricks.

What was even stranger was that he wanted me to meet everybody before a job. Didn’t see a major point to that. In my experience, delinquents didn’t hang around and get to know one another. Whenever Tristan called us to meet, it was usually to deal with something. I dialed Kayson, hesitating by the door to the apartment.

“Hello?” Kayson asked, and I heard a radio blasting in the background. They were kicking some euro-rock. Upbeat with heavy guitar riffs. The most recent obsession in the Rising Sun. It was popular to picture ourselves mingling with the castles and lords and ladies across the ocean, even when their music had barely comprehensible lyrics.

“Went to the spot ya gave me. See your bikes, this aint some kinda trick is it? If ya’ll are going to come out and mock me, get it over with. I’m just wanna get on with this, I owe ya’ll that much.”

“…He really did mess you up, didn’t he? Oh well. Wait a minute, I’ll come down to get you.” What the hell did that mean? Before I could open my mouth to chew him out with my questions, the phone call dropped. I shoved my hands into my pockets and strolled around to take a closer look at those bikes.

The lot had a few boring cars, beat-up sedans, and cheap trucks. But I ignored those, going right up to the bikes of Kayson and his squad. You could tell a lot about a person depending on what they rode. Of course, there was the beauty of a chopper that Bruno rode on, I felt a tingle of jealousy at the smooth frame. But I had to admit it suited the man’s bold personality. There was Kayson’s cherry red sportbike, well crafted, and no doubt reliable. Someone had an off-roader, midnight blue and caked with dirt. And lastly, a gorgeous yellow bike, modified for racing. A stripe of black ran down the length, reminding me of a bee.

“Over here, come on. Bugs are thick, and don’t want them to get in because you’re busy scoping out our bikes like a kid staring at candy.” Kayson’s dry voice jerked me out of my admiration.

I blushed a bit, turned on my heel, and stopped. He wasn’t even wearing a Brass King’s jacket. Just a plain textured button-up. He scowled at me. That was strange. Tristan only ever showed up in front of us in his Brass King’s shit. Pride in his colors and rank. I assumed most lieutenants were the same, ego-obsessed jackasses; considering I was meeting the rest of his squad, I’d have figured he’d have that sorta thing on display. Whatever, as they said, when in Rome. I’d come in with as open a mind as I could manage.

He hustled me into the building, I gawked at the beige walls and dull gray carpet, which I theorized at some point had been much closer to white. Still a step up from what I was used to, so hey, good for whoever lived here. Kayson didn’t leave me much time, pushing me up the steps to an oak door that’d seen better days.

The first thing I saw in the apartment was a mysterious woman wearing an apron. Her hair pulled back as she hummed to herself in the kitchen, the fried plantain in her pan barely edging out the smell of burnt tobacco. Past her was a living room with a card table—Bruno almost comically large as he leaned forward in a fold-up chair. A short girl sat on his right, wearing a baggy long-sleeve and wild curly black hair, her nose pierced with an opal that complimented her dark skin. She shifted in her spot, mumbling to herself. Then there was that twitchy boy, Suzaki, who scanned his cards with a nervous eye and was clearly ill-at-ease in the apartment.

Kayson gestured to an empty chair at the card table. “Get comfortable, I have to help my sister finish the rest of the food. I’ll swing by in a few minutes, you know everyone except Eve there.” He flicked his gaze to the baggy-clothes girl, who’d switched in two seconds from mumbling something to herself to a full-blown argument with Bruno.

“—Straight whacks a flush over the head, dumbass! No two ways about it! I. Win. Pony-up buttercup!” Eve yelled, throwing the cards onto the table to reveal her straight. Bruno flipped his own—five hearts, a flush.

“If you think you’re right, show me! Honor me with a glorious match of arm wrestling! Might makes right!” Bruno shouted, scattering the chips on the table with his arm and staring down a girl half his size. Suzaki sank in his chair, trying to avoid the chaos.

Only Suzaki gave me a quick glance when I entered, the other two were too busy to pay attention. This wasn’t like the Fourth Division at all. Eve shouted in protest at all the chips now decorating the carpet. Bruno only laughed at her, and shook his arm on the table, still trying to talk her into his solution. So. Seventh Division. I was doing this, none of them wore our colors, either.

I tried to suppress a welling panic that I’d be unable to catch up with that psycho while stuck with these clowns. They’d done something for me already, better to keep an open mind. Especially since things heating up with the Crimson Eagles, I was just afraid we might end up dead.

But that girl. She was fucking wrong—a straight did not beat a flush. “Are ya fucking kidding?” I threw out, storming over. “Unless it’s a straight flush, ya didn’t win.”

“Who fucking asked you? I don’t even know you, and you’re not in charge, so get off that throne you put yourself on, you prick!“ Eve threw a middle finger up at me, and Bruno barked in a fit of laughter.

“Luca! Come! Eve refuses my gracious offer to arm wrestle because she’ll lose. Test my strength instead?!” Bruno asked, an eager grin on his face as he shook his arm to draw attention to it.

“Hey! That’s not what I said dumbass—even if you spend all day at the gym, I’d still win since I have finesse!” I watched the fiery girl out of the corner of my eye. Not willing to arm wrestle Bruno either since I didn’t wanna embarrass myself; though that claim to beat him would be impossible. Unless she was a cultivator. I gave her a second look, before taking a seat next to Suzaki who refused to glance anywhere near me or the pair of arguing delinquents.

Suddenly Eve stopped her bickering and curled her nose at me. “Take that jacket off, you’re in Kayson’s home. Have a little respect.” She didn’t wait, leaping to her feet and yanking my colors off. I tried to fight back, but damn she was quick.

“What?” I asked, flabbergasted that she thought wearing our colors in our lieutenant’s home was disrespectful.

She tossed the jacket onto the couch near the TV, shaking her head. “I’ve gotta use the bathroom. Be right back.” One angry look at me, and then she left.

“The hell is her problem?”

“She’s like that around new people, and you were a bit of d-dick,” Suzaki muttered, retreating further into his chair. My jaw went slack. Bruno laughed and patted me on the back. “A-another hand?” Suzaki asked politely, unable to cope with the tension. I stared in the direction Eve disappeared, before settling back down in my seat. Maybe the kid was right, but damn, that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.

“Why not.” No better way to ease your tension than a hand or two of cards. Even with the low stakes a spark of thrill burst in me. “But I don’t got any chips,” I shoved a hand in my pocket, meaning to take out my phone and turn them out to show they were empty. Except—Where’d it go? I searched bewildered, got up and checked my jacket too. Nothing.

Bruno tilted his head, looking rather absurd with that t-shirt of his, a cartoon mascot stretched across his broad chest. He began to divvy out the chips between him and Suzaki, leaving a pile for Eve. Then pushed some of his in front of me, even as I spazzed out trying to find my phone. “Everything okay, Luca?”

“No—where the hell is my phone?”

“Probably dropped it.” Bruno shrugged, gesturing to the pile of chips he placed in my spot. “I’ll loan you some chips, so you can play.”

“I—“ If I lost my phone, I was pretty screwed. But, this presented a chance. I might win enough cash even in a low-stakes game to buy a replacement burner, I was decent at poker, being fine with adapting to the bluffing component. In a way, bluffing someone was like placing a bet, that they’d buy in or not. With the problem re-framed, my Soul Seed rang with delight. I settled down and joined the casual game. “Yeah… Thanks, Bruno.”

They asked a few questions, at first I answered honestly without trying to give too much away about my family. Wasn’t sure why they bothered with those questions and more than anything it caught me off guard. Nobody in the Fourth Division cared enough to act, but this went past polite conversation. Bruno seemed invested in my answers, so I got opened up a bit.

Wasn’t like they were trying to butter me up. Nobody tried cheating which, I suppose wouldn’t have made sense considering the big guy loaned me chips. Slowly the tension began to unwind.

Then Eve returned—I darted from my seat and damn near scattered the few chips I had gained when I saw my phone in her hand. She threw it at me, and I barely caught it, knowing this piece of junk wouldn’t survive a meeting with the floor.

“More boring than a rock,” she shook her head with disgust. “All there was were scam calls, messages between you and your old lieutenant, and the occasional one to your family. B-ooo-ring. Even worse than that, you’re about as big of a dumbass as Bruno there. Wonder how you’ve managed that, slick.” She stuck a tongue out and seated herself—a quick tap on the table to be dealt in.

I stared at my phone, then at her. Evaluating this ruthless invasion of my privacy and was damn near stunned by the way she’d admitted to it with such a casual demeanor. “What the fuck!” I shoved the phone away. “Who the fuck do ya think ya are—“

“—S-she’s does that,” Suzaki, of all people, cut me off. Shrinking into his chair. “S-sorry, should have warned you.” That didn’t help. It made me more pissed, who was this entitled brat who thought she could stick her hands in other people’s pockets? I shoved my chair as I stood, it clattered against the ground. Bruno gave a clapped and hollered in excitement.

I was about an inch away from losing it, the only thing holding me back was not wanting to disrespect Kayson’s home.

Eve lifted an eyebrow, daring me.