The Ozawa clan was in its small dojo, about 15 members, all kneeling in a circle on the mat. At the center, a small table held a bottle of saké, a glass. Also there, an incense burned, perfuming the place. A lamp hung from the ceiling, tied to the wooden frame of the typically oriental building. All fifteen members wore nothing but white thongs to protect their intimacies and displayed beautiful body suits, engraved on their skins through the ancient art of tebori.

The oldest of the men cleared his throat before he started to speak. He was Kazuhiro's grandfather and leader of the clan.

"Kazuhiro! You have been preparing for months. I feel you are ready now, mago-musuko."

Kazuhiro leaned forward, his face approaching the floor, as a sign of respect for his grandfather.

"You are ready to go to America to fulfill your destiny and make our organization stronger."

In fact, Kazuhiro had been preparing himself exhaustively in the past few months, learning the english language, the american manners and improving his own martial arts skills, which he thought would be extremely useful in the foreign country. He felt prepared.

"Mago-musuko! May Füjin guide you in safety to Philadelphia, where your journey will begin, and may Hachiman protect every step of yours."

Every other men in the circle grunted in approval. One of them got up and went to the table in the center. An observer might notice that he was missing a piece of his little finger. A closer examination and one could see that several of those men sported severed fingers. Those men were Yakuza, and despite the beautiful ceremony they performed, they were unscrupulous criminals and drug dealers. The Ogawa clan was one of the oldest ones operating as part of Inagawa-kaï.

The man took the saké bottle and the cup from the table and filled it. All 15 men drank from the same cup, in a sign of unification and respect for Kazuhiro for the journey ahead. After the celebration, he was quick to leave. He had a long trip to Philadelphia, where he was supposed to look for Vulcan and the Ignis Domini...