Sakugawa Seiichi

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A strange bastard with permanent raccoon eyes and a talent for cooking. He has made a name for himself as a dedicated supplier for The Tsumaru, whipping up massive batches of cheap product and causing havoc in the black market. Rumors even say he’s experimenting to aid the family in competing against The Ajiwau. Because of his laundry list of enemies, he’s quite private, refusing to share his techniques and supplying under the alias ZIGGURAT – or just RAT, depending on how much you want him dead.
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Though you wouldn’t figure him to be vicious competition at first glance. Seiichi is generally an easygoing, chummy sort who’s quick to sling his arm over your shoulder and invite you to try whatever wack shit he’s got prepared. But it’s best to be careful when entertaining him; he loves you, yes, but whatever he loves, he tends to meddle with – sometimes to the breaking point. He can be so single-minded with his interests that he forgets (or chooses to ignore) the consequences of his actions. He also has a tendency to be volatile, becoming engrossed in subjects to the point of lunacy before petering out and losing interest entirely, or having random bouts of aggression. Depends on what he's on.[break][break]

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It took a grand total of five seconds for Seiichi’s father to disown him. One look was all it took for him to know Seiichi couldn’t be his son, not unless he intended to enrage his entire bloodline. He resembled her too much, with his blue eyes and blonde hair; the same as those of the woman he had spent his business trip in Vegas with – the woman who was most definitely not his wife. Seiichi’s mother had agreed, unable and unwilling to raise a child on her own, and with this mutual contract they had the baby shipped off to Los Angeles, where the black sheep of the Sakugawa family lived.[break][break]

Sakugawa Jiro, better known as 'Uncle Frankie' was a Sakugawa in only the vaguest terms. His ties to the family were cut after his arrest for drug possession and subsequent loss of tenure as a chemistry professor, though even before that he’d never fit their mold. He was a natural goofball, a charming man who always sought to experience new things; the Sakugawa business acumen wasn’t in him, and he’d moved across the globe in an effort to escape the pressure with minimal success. Until he set his life on fire, that is. [break][break]

Imagine his surprise when, after years of absolute silence from the family, his perfect brother had appeared on his doorstep, demanding he take his bastard son. Their relatives would believe he’d have a child with some American woman. They wouldn’t care, not if it’s him. Bewildered, but ultimately sympathetic for the kid, Uncle Frankie accepted Seiichi as his own. [break][break]

Despite never meeting his parents and growing up in poverty, Seiichi was a happy child. He was loved dearly by Uncle Frankie and their neighbors. He spent his childhood running around with the other kids, exploring the old apartment building, playing in parking lots, and daydreaming in school. His teachers could see his intelligence. They said he was unparalleled in topics that interested him but refused to apply himself anywhere else. Uncle Frankie never bothered him for it; he never wanted the kid to feel pressured to be anything, like he had when he’d been young. [break][break]

The trouble only really started when Seiichi entered high school. Money was getting tight. Minimum wage jobs were all his uncle could get after his reputation had been soiled, and it was barely enough for their daily necessities. He offered to start working part-time to cover school expenses, but Uncle Frankie always dismissed him, insisting he’d cover it. He always did, and Seiichi often wondered how he managed. [break][break]

His answer came in the dead of night as strangers pounded on their door, demanding payment that was long overdue. When Uncle Frankie tried to bargain with them for more time, they beat him to the ground in his own home, leaving a shaken Seiichi to tend to his wounds. The next day, while his uncle still lay unconscious and recovering, Seiichi went to his friends for help. They needed money, and fast. [break][break]

He’d only been selling at first. A runner for local suppliers, selling mostly weed with random orders for prescription pills, molly, LSD, and shrooms. It was faster than his uncle’s income, but still wasn’t enough to dent their debt. He dealt in increasingly strange hours, until his uncle’s suspicion reached its peak and he was confronted. [break][break]

When the truth came out, Uncle Frankie was distraught. He’d wanted to spare Seiichi from a life like his, but even his honest efforts hadn’t saved them – and wouldn’t. The debt would only grow bigger the longer they dawdled. And he couldn’t leave Seiichi to put himself in danger and shoulder the burden, nor could he earn the money they needed in his state.[break][break]

At the tender age of 14, Seiichi was taught how to make heroin in a family friend’s basement. He was only an assistant, aiding his uncle at times he couldn’t continue the process. The jump from selling to cooking had been drastic – regretful – and his uncle did his best to minimize his exposure but Seiichi took to the job with ease. He found it interesting. He became upsettingly good at it. And their products came out good in turn. [break][break]

It wasn’t long before they’d built a business out of it. For the first time, they weren’t struggling. Seiichi dropped from school to focus in the lab, a choice that his uncle couldn’t persuade him out of (and guiltily enough, wasn’t entirely against). Despite how engrossed he was in this work, he never tried their products to the point of inhibition, and his involvement was a well-guarded secret. By all accounts, the teenager was doing fine – better, even. [break][break]

But they only got a few years in before they caught wind of police preparing to crack down on their operation. They packed up quickly and left Los Angeles, fleeing down the spout of America and beginning a long series of trips. With their newfound riches, no place was out of their scope – Uncle Frankie was able to realize his dream and had them travel the world. [break][break]

At age 20, Seiichi and Uncle Frankie had settled down in Monte Carlo for a time. Meth was the name of the game: they planned to sell just enough to replenish their funds and continue down the road. By this point Uncle Frankie had built for them a network of connections in international trade routes, utilizing his charm and their quality products to gain favor with various distributors. It had ensured them safety and supply in many places, including Monaco. [break][break]

Of course, Uncle Frankie had always remained prudent in these deals. One could never fully trust a criminal, most especially those at the top – but it was ironically this caution that had let a mole through the cracks. The mole had wanted their secrets, and once they got their hands on it, there wasn't a reason for them to be around anymore.[break][break]

Seiichi had never been swarmed in a raid. Had been fortunate enough to never witness it in person, for his uncle had always ensured they fled the scene long before the police arrived. He felt it then, the blinding red and blue lights; the ear-piercing demands; the feeling of his heart threatening to burst from his chest as he was held down; his uncle be slammed into the floor just like that night back then, his blood splattering and staining the carpet –[break][break]

That should’ve been the end. The end of his life, his future, but it wasn’t. He doesn’t know how. All he knows is that when he woke up, he wasn’t in jail – wasn’t in Monaco at all. He’d been smuggled out by old friends who’d been paid exorbitantly to aid him. Likely with everything he and his uncle had left. [break][break]

His uncle had sent him to Japan, evidently thinking it was the safest place for him while the fires died out – Seiichi isn’t sure. The guy had gone missing. The men who smuggled him there could only say they had to be separated, something about keeping the cops off Seiichi’s trail. Ironically, despite his biological family being a mere train station away, Seiichi had no one. They hadn’t helped him when he was born, and they wouldn’t help him now. [break][break]

He fell back into the world of drug trade like the arms of an old friend. First as a small-timer, using cheap materials and the shittiest lab he’d ever cooked with. Then as he earned more, he began to upgrade, increasing the quality of his goods. Really, the challenge of it was having to take over being the face – Uncle Frankie usually took care of dealings and finding distributors, but he eventually picked that up too. [break][break]

It’s been a good few years since he was recruited into The Tsumaru and began supplying for them. In exchange for protection and a constant supply of resources, Seiichi had agreed to make them his primary distributors. They take care of where his products go, leaving him a fair cut, as well as having the ability to request specific orders that Seiichi is all too happy to carry out. His moody temperament makes him a bit of a handful, but he’s been good to them. [break][break]

He has to be good to them. This trade allows him to garner more cash than he ever could as a freeman, but he needs more if he intends on tracking his uncle—or god forbid, his corpse—and bringing him home where he belongs.[break][break]


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