Yuto Gonzales
Jun's childhood best friend, fresh out of prison with a grudge that got him killed. Motoko pulled the trigger.
// Appearance
The story never pauses long enough to describe Yuto's appearance. He exists in motion — drunk at a TC bar, jumping out a second-floor window, crashing through a strip mall in a modded Archer Quartz. By the time anyone gets a good look at him, he's already running.
// Background
Jun's childhood best friend — released from prison and immediately fixated on murdering TC Lieutenant Kisaru, who allegedly framed him for drugs. He shows up at Jun's apartment with eddies and drugs on the table, trying to call in a favor to recruit Jun for the hit. Motoko puts a knife to his throat and shuts it down: if Jun murders a TC Lieutenant, the retaliation kills him. Yuto backs off. Jun tries to talk him down at a TC bar, offers him legitimate work through Wakako and Fujimura. It doesn't take.
Yuto makes a first attempt on Kisaru and fails. Then a second attempt, this time injuring him. The Oyabun call a full meeting — Moritaka demands Yuto's head and punishment for Jun. Fujimura defends Jun and then hires Section 9 to find and kill Yuto. What follows is a multi-chapter manhunt: Motoko breaches a safehouse in Rancho Coronado, hacks Yuto's NCTV subscription to track his location in real time, chases him by car through Japantown into 6th Street territory, and finally catches him at a second safehouse. Copperhead to the head, then three more shots. 250 XP. Jun adds Yuto to the apartment shrine afterward — a quiet moment of grief for a friend who couldn't be saved.