A few days had passed since you'd started working in the office. The violence that had taken place on the first day had come as a shock to you, but after that, nothing too noteworthy happened. With Yuki's help, you were able to complete all the tasks that were assigned to you and avoided incurring Ryu's wrath.

One evening, however, he said something that caught you off guard.

"You've been off school for a while now. If you want to pass your courses, you should probably start attending again soon."

"Uh... sorry?"

"Your university," he frowned. "Weren't you set to graduate this year? You may have to drop a course or two in order to accommodate your new schedule, but I can't very well have you dropping out altogether."

You were still confused. "So, you're letting me keep attending school?"

"That's what I just said."

"But... why?"

Perhaps it was better not to ask, but you couldn't help it. The night he'd taken you to be brought back here, you were convinced your old life was over. Based on how large your father's debt apparently was, you didn't think he'd allow you to retain any sort of autonomy.

"Education means a career," Ryu said. "A career means that eventually, you'll be earning more money for me. Right now, you're just working on menial tasks and freeing up some time for my other associates. You aren't actually helping put a dent in the debt at all. Or what? Were you happy to just keep on being my little servant for the rest of your life?"

"Right. I understand now." You nodded meekly, forcing a smile. "Thank you for this. School is very important to me."

Every now and then, Ryu would look at you in a sort of bewilderment. In a way that implied your behavior was absolutely baffling to him.

"You're always thanking me," he mused. "Even though I just told you that the money you'll be making will go to me."

"I know that. Still, it feels nice knowing that I'll get to see my education through till the end. My mother would have wanted that for me."

His eyes narrowed. "Is that so? Good for you, staying positive. But I wouldn't get too comfortable. You're only working in the office for now because I still haven't figured out what to do with you yet. One way or another, you will need to start bringing in some money. I'm not willing to wait another year or two to start seeing results. I need to know that you're going to pay your dues."

Ryu's earlier threat still hung heavy in the air. No matter what, you wanted to do avoid doing that at all costs. Something, anything, just not that. You weren't sure what yet, but you were going to have to find a way.

"I'll pay you back," you swallowed. "I swear that I will."

"For your sake, you'd better hope so. Head to bed now. I'll arrange for someone to drive you to campus tomorrow morning."

He left the room and slid the door shut behind him.

...

It felt strange returning back to classes after everything that had happened. You knew that you couldn't very well explain your circumstances to anyone. Ryu would be sure to punish you-most likely with death. Which is why you knew that this wasn't really an escape, but it felt nice to detach yourself from your current reality and pretend like everything was okay, at least for a little while.

You couldn't say that you had that many friends. Not that people didn't like you, but you'd always been so busy juggling school and your other jobs, on top of visiting your mother while she was sick. You'd never really had much time to bond with others. You had a good few people that you felt comfortable around, but no one that you could really say you were all that close to.

Well, maybe there was one person.

"[Name]!" said person exclaimed. It was one of your classmates, Rintaro. He was a kind-hearted guy in the same program as you who you'd met last year. You'd started off as friendly acquaintances, but over time, you'd become a lot closer. You'd only ever thought of him as your friend, but your mother used to joke about how the two of you should start dating.

You smiled tiredly and sat down beside him. "Hi, Rintaro. How've you been?"

"I'm fine, but more importantly, where have you been?" he frowned. "You were gone all of last week. I messaged and called you a bunch of times, but you never picked up..."

You obviously couldn't tell him that your previous phone had been confiscated and the only one you currently had access to was a work-related phone that Ryu had given to you-which was almost definitely bugged.

"My phone broke," you lied, feeling a bit guilty about it. "Sorry. I just got a new one, though, so I can add you again if you'd like."

Rintaro sighed audibly. "Well, that's good. I was worried I'd done something to upset you."

"No, of course not."

"Why were you gone all week, though? Were you sick as well?"

"Oh. I guess I haven't told you yet."

"Told me what?"

You shifted in your seat, bringing your palms together. "My mom died just recently," you admitted. "I was busy planning the funeral and getting everything settled. Well, you know how sick she was. It's not like I wasn't prepared for it at all, I just didn't think it would happen so soon..."

"O-Oh, no," Rintaro gasped. "[Name]... I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay. There's no reason for you to apologize. She liked you a lot from all the stories I told her," you smiled. "I remember her saying she wanted to meet you someday."

Tears were brimming in his eyes. He looked ready to break down right in the middle of class, but just barely managed to hold himself together. You looked down at your desk and let out a sigh. In a way, it was probably for the best that your mother had passed before Ryu and his men came looking for you. She would have been heartbroken to know that her daughter was being forced to make up for her husband's mistakes.

I can't tell anyone about my situation, but at least I still have people that care about me.

That alone was enough to keep you going. Ryu was even allowing you to continue attending school. You would work hard enough to pay off your debt, and one day, you would be free again.

Class was the same as always. It was a good distraction, actually. Having something to focus on helped you forget your sadness for a little while. You knew that by the end of the day you would have to head back to be under Ryu's cold gaze, but for now, you wanted to enjoy it while you still could.

"I've got a lot to catch up on," you sighed. "Seems like a ton of material was covered last week."

"Don't worry about that," Rintaro reassured. "You should turn in a letter explaining your absences. They'll exempt you because it was a family emergency. That stuff should always take precedence."

"I appreciate the thought, but I think focusing on school is the best thing I can do for now. I don't want to use my mom's death as an excuse. Things have never been easy. I can handle this much."

That's right. You'd always been able to handle whatever life threw at you, no matter how demanding. Compared to being held captive by the yakuza, school was nothing.

Eventually, class was over, and Rintaro offered to go over his notes while you grabbed a bite to eat in the cafeteria.

He slid a notebook over to you and pressed his lips together. "This section was a little complicated. The prof didn't really go into detail too much about it, but I've heard from previous students who took this course last year that it always ends up being covered extensively on the exam. Most of what I've added in here is stuff I found from browsing online or reading through the textbook."

"That's typical of him," you snorted. "Prick."

"Haha. Can't argue with you there. Anyways, I found the best way to understand it is if you focus on these types of problems..."

He began going through a list of examples outlined in his notebook. At first, you were paying attention, and most of it was making sense, but your attention drifted away as someone passed by the table you were sitting at.

You weren't exactly sure why, but the way the guy looked at you was a bit off-putting.

Rintaro peered over at you. "[Name]? Is everything okay, or am I going through it too fast?"

"Uh, no, it's good. Sorry. Keep going, please."

You had every intention of focusing, but each time your gaze wandered away from the table, you noticed the same guy staring at you. For a while, he was reclined against the wall. Then, he lined up to order himself a coffee, still stealing glances at you on occasion. After that, he sat down at one of the tables across from you and just kept on staring.

What's his problem?

"Rintaro," you frowned, "do I have something on my face?"

"Huh? No, why?"

"I was just wondering."

"You look pretty like always," he said, blushing slightly.

A chuckle left your lips. "Thanks. You're sweet."

Rintaro blushed again and went back to explaining, but not before stumbling over his words a few times. You clenched your jaw and made up your mind to not look away again. School was important. You needed to get a good job, to make sure that you had the means to pay back Ryu and get away from him as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the more people told themselves not to do something, it just made them want to do it even more.

When you finally looked up again, the guy had disappeared, but that eerie feeling still lingered.

...

The store was quiet. Other than the soft buzz of the machine held in the man's gloved fingers, nothing else could be heard. This late at night, the store was technically supposed to be closed, but exceptions had always been made for this particular type of clientele.

Eventually, a soft sigh filled the room.

"I'm done," the man said, pulling the needle away. "Take a look in the mirror over there if you'd like."

The client stood up and stretched his arms out, and proceeded to turn towards the mirror and examine the large tattoo now decorating the length of his arm. A scattering of cherry blossom petals, interwoven upon a winding branch. It had turned out rather nicely. The young artist couldn't help but pat himself on the back.

"Thanks," the client said, rolling his sleeve down and throwing his blazer on over top. "I was told the payment would be wired to you, so I didn't bring the money with me."

"Yeah, I know. The group always covers it."

"Sounds good. Thanks again."

The older man nodded towards the younger one and left, the chimes on the door clinking away in his stead.

"These assholes work me too hard," the tattoo artist muttered, relieved that his long day was finally over.

His name was Tsukishima Kaito. Since he was an artist in the purest sense of the word, a gig like this had come naturally to him. His preferred medium was photography, but tattoos or piercings-those were all fine, too. He welcomed any sort of artistic expression.

And the reason why he was working past closing hours? It had a little something to do with his connection to the yakuza.

Sure, they brought in a lot of business, but they were all so gruff and intimidating. A bit of an eyesore, if he was being honest. He couldn't exactly complain, though. After all, the fact that he was so closely acquainted to the yakuza was the only reason he'd gotten this job in the first place.

Speaking of...

Kaito discarded of his latex gloves and finally checked his phone. Immediately, he rolled his eyes. "God, what a needy son of a bitch. He's called me five times already."

He dialed the number back and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Kaito?" the man answered.

"Hi, Ryu. What do you want now?"

"Why did I have to wait so long for you to call me back?" His tone was clipped; clearly, he wasn't in a good mood.

"I was in the middle of doing someone's tattoo. What, am I just supposed to stop midway?"

"You should answer right away if I'm the one who's calling."

"I was working on one of your men. Cut me some slack here."

"Forget it," Ryu snapped. "Anyways. Did you do what I said? Were you able to find her?"

"Uh-huh," Kaito droned, bored of the conversation already. "She was just sitting at a table with some guy and reviewing notes. She wasn't trying to run away or anything interesting like that."

"Good. Remember, it's your responsibility to keep an eye on her while she's on campus."

"What's the big deal, anyways? Let's say she tries to run away. Then what?"

"It is a big deal," the other man growled. "We have no leverage on her. If she chooses to run, we don't have any relatives we can use to make sure she doesn't abandon her duties. Other than her good-for-nothing father, the last of her family died with her mother."

Kaito leaned back in his chair. "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm asking why it matters even if by some chance she escapes. Let's be honest here-it'll take her ages to work off that debt, assuming she even makes it that far. I just don't see what value a single woman has. It seems like a waste of both time and energy."

"She's going to have to work for it. Otherwise, I will kill her. And it isn't your job to question me, Kaito. Just do as I say. That's it."

The line clicked off not a second after. Kaito scrunched up his nose and set his phone face-down. Family, huh? To say that he was disinterested in your situation would still have been an overstatement, but he couldn't help but pity what had happened to you. All because of your shitty dad. Life really was cruel, usually to the people who deserved it the least.

Kaito knew full well that family could be a giant pain in the ass. After all, he'd been unlucky enough to have someone like Ryu as his cousin. Though, things could have been worse. He could have been forced to work under the yakuza directly.

Kaito threw his head back and let out a sigh. "She just had to attend the same university as me. Goddammit all."

It seemed like things were going to become even more troublesome from now on.

...

Character appearances:

Tsukishima Kaito