(MC POV)
I walked out of the club alongside my two companions with the bouncer from before leading the way out.
Yumi and Hiroto had blank expressions on their faces like they still could not comprehend what had happened in there.
The bouncer was about to head back into the club without a word when I cleared my throat loudly.
He quickly turned back and bowed his head at a perfect ninety-degree angle, "Take care, Oyaji!"
I waved him off and he retreated back into the club, leaving me alone with my companions.
"What… What just happened, Yumi?" Hiroto asked, his face still blank.
"I… I don't know, Hiroto… It feels like I'm dreaming…" Yumi replied, a similarly blank expression on her face.
I snapped my fingers in front of them, waking them from their stupor, "The Kashima family are now our subordinates, it's as simple as that. Why are the two of you so surprised?"
Yumi grasped her head, "Wait… Big brother… No… The Kashima Family has centuries of history, you know?! They have over six hundred members in their Kashima Family alone, you know?! How did we make them our subordinates when we barely even have a hundred people in our Family?!"
I shrugged, "Because we're better than them. It's as simple as that."
Hiroto grasped my arms, "Aniki! You are just too awesome! This one swears to follow you no matter where you go! Even if it's to storm the gates of hell, I will be there with Aniki!"
"Ok, ok, calm down, no need to make a big fuss over this. Things aren't finished with just that so we still have work to do. Or rather, you guys have more work to do."
Yumi tilted her head at me, "What do you mean, big brother?"
I gestured that we should walk and the two of them followed me back to the car we parked by the sidewalk.
Only when we had driven off from the place did I lean forward to explain.
"Kashima-san might have sworn his family to us but that man would definitely not be happy about this arrangement. I have no doubt he's already trying to figure a way to get himself out of his current situation. We already know he's not above backstabbing after all."
Yumi turned to look at me from the passenger seat, "That reminds me… How did big brother know about Kashima-dono sabotaging us? I don't think any of us figured out who was behind the attacks."
I smiled at her, "Who do you think you're talking to? It's me after all."
"Ah! Of course, big brother! Eh… But… In that case… Is it wise for big brother to accept them as our subordinates? They could betray us at anytime."
I tapped my nose, "Haven't you heard the saying 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'? Anyway, the whole point of making them our subordinates is not for more manpower, it's to put ourselves on the same standing as the other Families and get their attention. You two know that we are part of the Ryu Alliance, right?"
"Of course, Aniki."
"That goes without saying, big brother."
"Kashima family is one of the top twenty Family's of the Ryu Alliance while we're amongst bottom feeders at rank hundred and ninety two. Now that we just subjugated one of the top twenty Families, it's bound to get us noticed by the others."
It may be a little complicated, but my Family, along with every other Yakuza Family in the western half of Japan are all part of the Ryu Alliance.
On paper, everyone's supposed to work together to bring greater benefit and prosperity to the Alliance like one big happy family. But when you band together a large group of criminals, there's no way any sense of morality would prevent backstabbing and internal strife from happening amongst our group.
Hiroto looked at me through the rear view mirror, "Isn't that a bad thing, Aniki? The other Family will have their eyes on us now and some would probably want to take action before we grow any more."
Normally Hiroto would be right of course, we were in no shape to go against any of the main Families in the alliance if they were to bare their fangs at us.
It wasn't even a matter of their fighting strength since their influence reached further than ours, they could suppress us through their connections alone.
Only problem for them is, they play by my rules now.
I smiled back at Hiroto, "That's what I want actually. They will come after us, they will fail, then we will have a reason to retaliate against them."
"Eh? Are we using the Kashima Family's assets after all, Aniki?"
"Oh no, not at all. They wouldn't cooperate anyway. I will deal with them myself."
Yumi's face scrunched up in worry, "Big brother… Is there any reason for us to antagonize them? Wasn't the plan for us to just do the yakuza thing as a side business and focus on the international trade side of things?"
"We still are," I assured her. "But we're doing both this time, no reason to give up something beneficial to us after all. In due time, you two. Everything will be revealed in due time."
The car stopped at a red light and Hiroto turned back to look at me with a raised eyebrow, "This has something to do with Tsuki-chan again, doesn't it?"
I huffed, "Of course it does. If I controlled both sides, there would be less people trying to disrupt my time with Tsuki."
That's only partially true. If I occupied a major position in the alliance, the family that would have tried to assassinate me would be less inclined to do so. Not that I would have let them try if they had any intention to do so in the first place, but it would mean one less trouble for me which is a plus.
The two people seated in front of me let out a sigh, before turning back just as the lights turned green.
"So where to now, Aniki?"
I checked my watch for the time, "It's time for Tsuki to get off from school so let's go pick her up."
"Right, shall I drop you at the usual place so you can walk there, Aniki?"
I grinned, "Actually no, we're going there directly this time."
"Are you sure, big brother?" Yumi asked, looking concerned again. "Didn't you want to keep Tsuki-chan away from all this?"
"Well… She's a big girl now and we did have a long talk yesterday. It's better that she knows about all of this than being kept in the dark. Besides… There's going to be something interesting happening today and having you guys there would be good."
"You want us to call everyone, Aniki?"
"Well, just a few of them will do, we're just going to intimidate some high school students, no need to be too drastic in our actions."
Yumi giggled, "I'm not sure if big brother can say that anymore considering what you did with Kashima-dono."
"Yes, yes. Now step on it, Hiroto."
"Right on it, Aniki."
I relaxed into my seat as we made our way towards Tsuki's school, Yumi already busy dialling numbers to call up several of our people to meet us there.
If the future is still the same for the memory Tsuki today, there would be some altercations between her and some nosy students who think they are better than her.
Of course it would be an elder brother's duty to help his little sister when she is bullied~