Reaper

4

Akihiko sat alone in the back of his limousine. This time, he decided to be more low-key and left his entourage at the airport. He couldn't help but remember when he first dropped off the girl. He had brought a large group of his men because he had many enemies and couldn't be sure who to trust. He took his men with him everywhere constantly for extra protection. He didn't even care if he had made that little girl uncomfortable with that overwhelming male presence.

But things were different now. He had dealt with most of the infighting within the family. There were three prominent families for the Yakuza, and the fighting was over the right to make major decisions. He was a top player in his family and had to make sure everyone understood their family would take charge. His weapon spoke volumes, and the other two families eventually settled down and fell in line.

Earning the stability that now surrounded his gang was only a small matter. He was used to bloodshed. The most significant change to his life was that he spent more time with his daughter. He couldn't believe how much he could love that little girl. She was so tiny, cute, and trusting. Her entire life was in his hands, and he felt he would have to take extra good care of her and her future because he knew how the men in his organization could be.

They wouldn't do anything to his daughter now. He knew. But in the future, one of the thugs in his gang might ask to marry her. They would treat her poorly because, to the gang, women were only objects. His daughter may be young, but she was already brilliant. If she were a boy, she could go far in the gang. Now, he understood what his wife had always told him before. Why was it wrong that she was a girl? She could be successful, too. He now truly believed and would do all he could to help her.

His family was the smallest of the three prominent families and dealt in sex trafficking, weapon dealing, and smuggling. They had a rivalry with the most prominent family. It was more that his family looked down on them, and they knew. And they didn't like it. That family did well with profits because that particular family dealt mainly with drugs, and no one in his family cared for that. Although his family was the smallest of the three, they were the strongest physically due to their constant training led by the trainers he taught personally. But when he would think of their current work with sex trafficking, he felt sick thinking of the children that they would sell. He wanted to end that; he didn't want his daughter to know he had participated in something like that. He didn't care for the adults sold. But the children should be spared.

He decided to change his family's work and make a legitimate company. At least as a front. No more human trafficking and more emphasis on weapons. Aside from eliminating the harm to children, he wanted to place more women in places of leadership within the organization. Having them in charge of their prostitutes wasn't enough. He felt there were many with the ability to succeed in other areas and had begun giving them chances. People in the organization weren't happy. But they couldn't argue with the results. Once more women rose within their organization, the more commonplace it would be. It would be slow. But he hoped it would be enough to pave the way for his daughter to take control. He would have to go to the top first, but he was close and would kill anyone who stood in his way.

After these changes, he remembered the little girl he had sent to the Red Room. He felt guilty. But he did not regret his decision. After all, he was making waves and had to protect his weakness. He had his ninja secretly follow his wife and child, but it would be easier to have another child nearby. He planned to place the child with his ninja and pretend they were ordinary neighbors. This way, his wife wouldn't have suspicions. She had already fought with him many times about what she believed to be his overprotection.