Ryu didn't say a word up until you arrived back at the house. You'd been worried that he would have built up even more resentment towards you after this incident, considering he'd lost money just to get you back. But if he was angry, he certainly didn't show it. He just kept on holding you in his arms throughout the entire drive home. Only when you actually stepped foot into the house did he turn to address you.

"You must be hungry," he remarked. "What would you like to eat?"

"Uh..."

The truth was that you weren't hungry at all, especially since Tatsumi had treated you to breakfast. After watching the deal go down, your stomach had all but clenched into a tight knot. There were a few moments when you actually worried you might puke from the nerves.

But you felt like avoiding the topic of Tatsumi was probably the best thing to do, so you just nodded at him.

"I'm hungry, but anything you have is okay," you said. "I don't really have a preference."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The food you give me is always really good, so I'm sure I'll like whatever there is in the house."

"Very well." He stared at you for a few moments before sighing in exasperation. "Those clothes aren't properly fitted. They clearly aren't the right size. Did Tatsumi give you that junk to wear?"

"No, it was his sister."

"Kaede? Ah, right. I wonder how she's coping with all his antics."

You gave him a puzzled look, but he didn't bother to explain. Instead, he nudged you along towards your room.

"Go and get changed for now. I'll make sure lunch gets set up soon."

"Okay. Thank you."

You made sure to smile at him before walking away. There was no way this latest kidnapping was going to work in your favor. Worst case scenario, you imagined him adding onto your debt even further. Since paying him back clearly wasn't going to happen anytime soon, your only other option was to hope that at some point, the police found sufficient evidence to set you free. But considering how many of them were already being paid off by the yakuza, you were probably just clinging to threads.

Fine, then. Maybe this is just how my life is going to be from now on. If Ryu wants me to be serviceable and obedient, I can act the part. As long as I stay on his good side... as long as I do that, then I should be safe.

You had to tell yourself these little lies. Otherwise, you weren't sure how much longer you'd be able to hold out.

As Ryu instructed, you went to get changed, but when you left your room, you found Masahi waiting for you.

He offered you a tight-lipped smile. "You're okay."

"I am," you affirmed. When he didn't say anything else, you cleared your throat. "Um... were you worried about me?"

"Perhaps I shouldn't have been, but I was," he admitted. "You are nothing more than an innocent bystander in all this. You shouldn't have been brought in to repent for your father's crimes to begin with. I urged Ryu not to take you in, but ultimately, he decided against it. I suppose I am partly to blame for your situation. For that, I am sorry."

Then he bowed, and you couldn't help but frantically shake your head. "It wasn't your fault," you insisted. "He's your boss. I understand you can't just go against his orders. Besides, you're one of the very few people I can actually trust right now. The fact that you're around comforts me."

"Is that so?"

"Of course. You're a very nice person."

"I am still a criminal," he sighed. "I've done many things I regret. Things that I can't take back, things that tore my own family apart. I have a daughter. She's still quite young, barely a teenager, but her mother left years ago because of my involvement with the yakuza. I wasn't able to break away from this line of business, and she was no longer willing to be around for it."

Your shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry to hear that. You must miss her a lot."

"Not really. I can't say we had the most loving marriage to begin with. But I do regret... that my daughter no longer has a mother. None of this has been particularly easy on her."

His gaze fell towards the ground, and you got the sudden urge to try and comfort him, the way he often did for you.

It was only a hug, but it made Masahi's eyes blow wide open.

"What are you doing?" he asked in disbelief.

"Hugging you," you said, squeezing him tighter.

"Stop that," he gasped, pushing you away in a hurry. He glanced around, immediately letting out a sigh of relief. "You need to be careful. If Ryu saw you doing such a thing... we would both be in for it."

"I'm sorry. But you just looked really sad, so..."

Masahi shook his head. "I'm fine. My personal matters are none of your concern. You have far too many problems of your own to deal with already. While there are some things that I can't go back and fix, all that matters to me is ensuring my daughter's safety. At least in this line of work, I can afford to give her everything she needs."

You bit down on your lip. Sure, the money was one thing, but it was a dangerous job. The girl's only family was her father. Wasn't he worried that he might get seriously injured one day and be unable to take care of her?

Or worse yet-killed?

You didn't voice any of your thoughts, but Masahi seemed to know what you were thinking about regardless.

"My daughter will always be taken care of," he said. "That's another thing. No matter what happens to me, Ryu has sworn that someone will be there to take her in. We may commit crimes and even hurt others depending on the circumstances, but we are still a close-knit group. We look out for our own."

You remembered your very first day in the office, when Ryu had nearly beat a man to death for a mistake that wasn't even his fault.

I really hope he's right about that.

"What's your daughter's name?" you asked, hoping to veer towards a more pleasant topic.

"Hm? Oh. Her name is Keiko."

You didn't miss the way his expression softened as the sound left his lips. It made your chest tighten. Truly, you hoped that him and his daughter could live long, happy lives.

"Keiko is a beautiful name," you smiled.

"Thank you. I was actually the one who named her. Though [Name] also has a nice ring to it," he chuckled softly. "Anyways. The food should be ready by now, so run along before Ryu comes looking for you. And no matter how you may feel about him, he really was worried about you this time around. The fact that he swallowed his pride and made a deal with Tatsumi is proof of that."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. I'll do my best to watch my behavior."

"Enjoy your meal."

"I will, thank you."

Masahi kept his eyes on you up until you were out of his sight. The whole time, he was smiling, and once he realized it for himself, he felt pain well up in his chest.

He knew that you would always be out of his reach.

...

The following day, you went in for a shift at the hostess club, as if nothing at all had ever happened. Ryu had allowed you to rest up yesterday and recover from recent events. Not once did he mention that he was going to be adding on to your debt, or voice his frustrations about having to bargain for your safety. He didn't try to guilt you or make you feel like everything was your fault, as he so often had in the past. You were surprised to see this side of him, and it instilled you with a bit more courage.

The more deeply he became attached to you, the better.

One thing that had changed, however, was that Ryu seemed to be taking extra precautions so that you'd never end up being kidnapped again. He provided an entire other car to tail you to the hostess club, and the men were then posted as bodyguards outside to ensure that nothing happened. It was far too excessive in your opinion, but given how tightly he'd held onto you yesterday, you understood that this was his way of showing he cared.

It said a lot about your life that you were actually relieved to be able to go back to work. At least while you were busy doing some kind of job, you could pretend that everything was normal. The familiar routine helped give you peace of mind.

"Ah, [Name]. You're here!"

You frowned. Though you shouldn't have been all that surprised to see Kosuke, considering how often you'd run into him by now, you still hadn't been expecting for his face to be the very first one you saw.

"I feel like you're here a lot," you remarked.

He bit back a chuckle. "Aw, but you like seeing me, don't you?"

"Uh... sure?"

"You're just acting shy," he mused. "But I am glad to see that you're okay. Obviously, I heard about the kidnapping, but I wouldn't have been able to act on it considering, well... I would have essentially outed myself as working with Ryu's group. It's the kind of information only someone on the inside would know."

"It's fine. I didn't expect you to do anything."

Kosuke winced a bit. You hadn't even intended for your words to come across as passive-aggressive as they had. You were just used to things by now. There was no reason for any of these people to help you when they had nothing to gain from it.

"I knew Ryu would get you back," he insisted.

"Well, it's a good thing you were right."

"[Name], if I could have done something without getting myself thrown in jail, I would have."

"I know. I'm not blaming you for any of this."

"But it feels like you are blaming me," he pouted, all but making puppy eyes at you. A part of you was wondering why your opinion even mattered to him. He was a corrupt cop. Sure, he hadn't raised any problems for you so far, but you were never going to see him as an ally of justice. He knew that, didn't he?

You sighed and shook your head. "Seriously, I'm not upset. You were under no obligation to help me, and honestly, it wouldn't have made much sense if you risked your livelihood for me in the first place. Everyone has their own shit to deal with. I'm sure Ryu helps you afford a lot of luxuries that you otherwise wouldn't have without turning a cheek to all his shady business."

"But that doesn't mean that I'll allow someone innocent to get hurt. The yakuza might not have the best reputation, but they don't go after random people for no reason. Ideally, we try to keep civilians like you out of the crosshairs when rival gangs get into it like this."

"Well, I wasn't hurt, so everything's fine. No need to beat yourself up over it, I guess."

He didn't say anything, but he almost looked a bit guilty.

Only after you fully made your way inside the building did you see who you were hoping to, and she reacted with even more enthusiasm than you'd been expecting.

"[Name]!" Ekaterina wailed out, rushing to grab you in her arms. She held you tight, the scent of her floral perfume enveloping you from every direction. "I was so worried," she whimpered. "Goodness, the situations you end up in... they're enough to shave years off my life."

You giggled, hugging her back. "I'm fine, really. But it's nice to see that you were worried about me."

"Of course I was! That group is dangerous. And just look how cute you are. I was holding my breath waiting to hear that you'd gotten back safe and sound."

"Don't worry. I'm here now, so everything's been resolved."

She stared at you through those pretty blue eyes of hers. "You wouldn't be if Ryu hadn't made the deal. And I was honestly to surprised to hear that he'd agreed to such a thing. The fact that he was willing to go to such lengths shows that you actually mean something to him, and that's worth holding onto. It'll keep you safe for as long as you're here."

"Which turns out is going to be a very long time," you muttered.

"I don't know the specifics of your debt, but it's clear that Ryu doesn't intend to let you go anytime soon. And I'm not saying this to make you lose hope or anything. I think it's good to know what you're in for. But I'm sure no matter what, you'll be able to get through it. You just need to stay strong, okay?"

You nodded. "Okay. I can do that. I've been doing that all my life."

"Good girl," she smiled. "Now. I'll give you a few minutes to get changed and grab some refreshments, and then you're off to work, yes?"

As it turned out, work went pretty damn well. Perhaps it was the fact that you'd just recently been kidnapped and made to fear for your life, so the contrast of it all played a part in how you felt, but you were convinced that this was the best shift you'd had ever since starting at the hostess club. There were no tedious or sleazy customers. The conversations were actually rather pleasant, and you were even just thankful for the distraction. You also had a few drinks alongside the people you were serving, so by the end of the night, you were a bit warm in the face but in fairly high spirits.

You didn't spot Kosuke, which was strange, considering that he'd been in the building earlier. He usually liked to pay for your time. You didn't mind it, really. He was someone familiar to you, so there was no fear of the initial conversation being awkward or forced. For all his faults, you still couldn't find it in yourself to openly dislike him. You'd come around to him quite a bit since your first meeting.

By the end of your shift, still no Kosuke, but you were tired and ready to go home for a good night's sleep.

"Ekaterina," you called out, walking over towards the hostess stand. "I'm all changed and ready to leave, so I think I'm gonna clock out now, okay...?" You trailed off near the end of your sentence when you realized she wasn't alone.

The man standing before you had straight brown hair, in a light, somewhat ashy color. His eyes were long and sharp, something in between copper and maroon. He wasn't entirely unfamiliar, though. No, you were certain you had seen him before, but you were struggling to come up with his name.

Regardless, you hardly knew him. He, however, appeared to have very strong opinions about you.

"So you're the reason the boss was all worked up the other day?" he sneered. "You just had to go and get yourself kidnapped, huh, you useless bitch?"

The verbal attack caught you off guard, especially since you'd never spoken a word to him up until now. But you'd actually been having a relatively good day, so naturally, you didn't take too kindly to his words or his tone.

"I had no way of knowing Tatsumi's group had hijacked the car that always came to pick me up," you argued. "Ryu had always instructed me to wait at the designated location after I finished up with my classes, and every time without fail, the same vehicle showed up. How was I supposed to have known what would happen?"

You thought you had more than made your case. After all, what kind of sane person would want to be kidnapped? Unfortunately, though, this guy didn't seem like he was in the mood for any logical reasoning.

He took a menacing step forward, outright seething. "Is this broad seriously mouthing off to me right now? Hey, Ekaterina. You're really going to let her get away with disrespecting me like this?"

You weren't sure why he was bringing Ekaterina into this all of a sudden, but you had no doubt that she would rush to your defense and put the man in his place, just like she always did.

Except that didn't happen.

"[Name], just apologize," she mumbled. To your surprise, her expression had gone rigid, and she was even avoiding looking you in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Hayate. I'm sure she didn't mean to be rude. She must just be very shaken up after everything that's happened to her."

Not only was she not backing you up, but she was actually apologizing to him? You could feel the way your jaw was hanging ajar.

Hayate scoffed and forcibly pushed you aside, then moved to wrap his arm around Ekaterina. "Annoying bitch ruined my mood. You should teach her some manners when you get the chance. Anyways. You've got some extra cash, right? I'm gonna need it in a bit."

"Of course," Ekaterina nodded. She rifled through one of the drawers and hastily handed him a wad of bills.

Hayate grinned and quickly pecked her on the lips. "You're the best, babe. I know I can always count on you."

He wasted no time in pocketing the money, and playfully slapped her on the ass, which made you openly grimace. He then turned to leave, but not before glaring in your direction one last time.

For a while, it was eerily silent, but Ekaterina eventually let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "He's not a bad person, but he does have a bit of a dirty mouth. It's not that he has anything against you personally, but I know that everyone has been on edge ever since they saw how Ryu reacted to your kidnapping. Please try not to be too upset with him."

That was easier said than done.

"So... the two of you are dating?" you squirmed.

"Yes," she nodded. "We've been together ever since I first started working at the club under the group's supervision. There was a lot of pressure on me to do good back then, and Hayate really helped me settle in. He made the whole transition so much easier."

You had very mixed feelings about all this. Obviously, you knew better than to judge someone without getting to know them properly, but everything about Hayate's demeanor seemed really troubling. And it was hard not to take things personally after he'd just basically just blamed you for the feud between the two yakuza groups.

"You'll have the chance to get to know each other better," Ekaterina assured. "He's a bit difficult to approach, but once he gets used to you, it'll make all the difference."

"Right," you answered, still very much unconvinced.

"I promise. You'll see. You're okay though, right? Even after he yelled at you?"

"Yeah. I'm okay."

I have to be.

Not long after, you said your goodbyes. It was an admittedly disappointing ending to what had been a previously enjoyable evening.

You stepped outside, expression downcast, only to find that Kosuke was waiting right by the entrance alongside the bodyguards Ryu had assigned to you.

"Hey," he smiled. "How did work go?"

You gave him a wary look. "Uh, it was good. But why are you still here? I thought you'd left."

"Nah, I had some errands to run around here. I just came back to make sure you were doing okay."

"But I have all these people waiting for me," you frowned, pointing towards the cluster of bodyguards. They looked equally confused as to why the policeman had stayed behind.

"Don't worry about it," he chuckled, smoothing your hair down. "I'm sure you'd feel much safer with an officer of the law by your side. Come on, I'll stay with you for the ride home."

"I mean, you really don't need to..."

But he'd already gotten into the car, and was happily patting the open seat beside him. You sighed, realizing that trying to change his mind would just be a poor use of your already limited amount of energy.

Even though everything had gone well up until your unfortunate encounter with Hayate, you were still drained after a long shift. At some point, you must've dozed off in the car, because you awoke with your head fallen against Kosuke's shoulder.

"Mmph," you groaned, pulling yourself upright. "Oh... I guess I fell asleep. Sorry about that."

You blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed. It was unlike you to let your guard down this much. Even if you kept trying to convince yourself that this sort of