"Honor among riders is traditional," Taviano said, "or at least I always thought it was."
"If all the families were dishonored, and their sons were banned from riding, stripped of their abilities, the families would be left with nothing. I can't explain just how dire the consequences for them would be there. No one would acknowledge them or have anything to do with them. Cousins, anyone outside the riders would demand their last name be changed -" He broke off as it occurred to him that Mariko's last name couldn't have been the name she was born with.
Giovanni had to be thinking along the same lines as he was. "Did any of these boys have siblings? A sister? Could your woman be related to one of them?"
Ricco tried to remember. As far as he knew, none of them had sisters. Or brothers for that matter. He shook his head. "That's why the way they treated Akiko really got to me. It didn't make sense when they needed female riders and there was one right there, not related, and they treated her like dirt. I didn't understand them at all, other than the fact that Nao was on a power trip. He kept bragging that even the Yakuza would fear him."
"So this Nao went into the tournament already injured from the previous night when he and his little gang jumped you." Stefano redirected him, wanting to keep him on track.
He nodded. "Akiko defeated him by such a margin there was no way the judges could pretend it was a tie or that she had in any way fouled. The trophy was given to her, and Nao was shamed. His father was furious with him and humiliated him right there in front of all of us. Even his own friends laughed at him. I knew he would try to retaliate."
He ducked his head for a long moment. He had to confess to Stefano. There was no way around it. He looked directly at his brother. "I had been so disgusted with the way they treated me that I'd stopped working so hard. I knew no matter what I did, it wouldn't be recognized. It was only later I realized recognition didn't matter. Training did. But I had become what they said. I didn't have discipline."
He knew that was shocking to his brothers and sister. He trained night and day. No one could ever turn him around in the shadows. He could find any place – anytime, anywhere. He was fast and he was vicious when he needed to be. He shook his head and held up his hand when his brothers would have protested.
"I was a hothead, worse than I am now. I thought I was proving a point, but instead, I got a lot of people killed."
"How?" Stefano asked, his voice nonjudgmental. Waiting for the evidence of his brother's crime.
"I went to a class on hojojutsu-tying prisoners that evening. Two riders overheard Nao and his friends conspiring to go after Akiko, and they told me before I went to class, asking my advice on what to do. I advised them to go to the council again. I thought it was taken care of – until I got home and found the boys gone. I knew they were going after her. I'd never been to Akiko's home. None of us had. I didn't have the exact address. I had to find it. I thought I'd get there and warn her father, but I got turned around. I ended up on the wrong side of town and had to backtrack. If I'd been studying like I should have, I would have gotten there first and I could have stopped them. Akiko would still be alive."
There was silence, and he stalked over to the bar and poured himself another drink. He needed it, and he couldn't quite make himself look at his brother. He didn't want to see the disappointment he knew would be in his eyes. They'd been raised by Stefano to always give their best. Stefano would never have shirked learning. Not for one moment. It didn't matter how much Ricco trained, all the extra hours, the skills he had now, none of it made up for his getting lost in Tokyo that day.
The riders were sent to Tokyo because it was Japan's largest city, or more properly, prefecture. It was very confusing to the young riders, easy enough to get turned around, but they were expected to learn directions and be able to move freely from one end to the other quickly.
"That's bullshit, Ricco," Taviano burst out. "Complete and utter bullshit. No one could possibly blame you for that girl's death. What the hell? You were fourteen."
Ricco downed the Scotch, feeling it burn all the way down his throat and into his belly before he turned and faced the others, trying not to see the images burned so deeply into his mind he'd never been able to get them out. "It wasn't just Akiko. They killed her father and grandmother as well as two servants. Akiko fought them, and the noise brought her father and grandmother running along with two of the people who had worked for their family for years. The four boys killed them. I got there late and found the bodies of her grandmother and servants. There was blood everywhere."