A/N: The following chapter contains mentions of blood and injury. If you are squeamish, you may want to avoid the portion that takes place inside the house.
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Three days without Ryuzo felt like three weeks. The news of my contract extension weighed heavily. It could ruin what we had, make things harder for us, or it could be good. I wouldn't know how he felt about it until I told him.
When I was done with my shift, I grabbed my bag from my locker and saw the missed calls from him on my phone. I called him back, and he answered with a playful jab. "Mina-chan. Too busy for me again?"
"Well, you're very shitty at being a sugar daddy, so I still have to keep my job, unfortunately."
"How would you like me to change that?"
"I'll show you later," I laughed. "Speaking of daddies, I started my period right after you left, so . . . congrats on your pullout game, I guess."
Ryuzo laughed a bit too hard.
The process of getting the morning after pill was invasive as hell. Privacy and body autonomy still fell second to what the doctors thought was best. They grilled me, gave me a mandatory lecture, and made me fill out paperwork asking for Ryuzo's name and contact information. I had to refuse the last portion, letting them believe I was slutting around with strangers rather than expose my relationship with him. After going through all that, I bypassed it by going to one of my team's doctors for a monthly pill prescription. While that was rare here, too, I preferred to get shamed once a year rather than after every slip-up.
"I'm glad you were able to get what you needed," he said. "And I'm sorry. I won't make a habit of it."
"You promise?"
He did not answer that. "Which entrance do you use at your hospital?" he asked.
"Why?"
"Because I am parked outside the one with a glass overhang."
"What?"
I hung up on him and ran down the stairs, only slowing my pace to keep from scaring people in the lobby. Outside, it didn't take me long to find him.
He stood against his sexy ass car, suit on, his hair down. His black sedan was unidentifiable after its modifications, but it was a mature style of luxury inside and purred like a lion. The contextually appropriate cat-like smile spread across his face the closer I got.
"Welcome back, handsome," I teased. He cooed words I didn't know, then took me by the chin and kissed me. "What is this?" I asked about his newest toy.
He hummed. "Someone told me motorcycles are dangerous, so I hoped she might approve of this instead."
"You just up and bought a car because I gave you shit?"
He smirked. A yes.
His mood seemed light and playful — perfect for my plan. He moved away to open the door for me. As I looked over my shoulder, I saw Ayumi standing at the curb. Our eyes met, but I couldn't decipher the message she intended to send me before I sat.
"Something wrong?" Ryuzo asked.
"Oh, no. I'm just ready to go home."
He touched the power button, and his big cat purred to life. "Home? I had something else in mind."
. . .
We parked at his house, but he took me somewhere else. Halfway between his house and my apartment, he looked suspicious as we walked a narrow pathway to behind a plain, concrete building.
"Here," he said as he opened the door. "This should help you feel better."
"What is it?"
"Our bath house."
"Yours? Oh . . ." His clan. Family. Whatever. It was for the Yakuza. Visible tattoos were not allowed in the baths I thought about visiting. "What, for my cramps? They're not that bad."
"I don't believe you, but even if that is true, I am sore from practice. Come relax with me."
Inside, he locked the door behind us. Steam rose from the three small pools. The dim, orange glow of the incandescent sconces mixed with the moonlight shining through the high windows, making a dreamy, calming ambiance. It would have given sexy vibes if I wasn't overly aware of the fact the pools were usually filled with men.
He took my bag and hung it on a hook. "Get naked."
"You really want me to get in?" I asked him.
"Yes."
A list of excuses lined up in my mind. "I'm still bleeding."
"So? There are no sharks here."
I rolled my eyes. "This steam is going to kill my hair. You're gonna have me walking out of here looking like Diana Ross."
"I like when your hair is big," he said. I looked over and found Ryuzo's shirt already off and his pants soon to follow. The lighting made the red in his tattoos and his tan skin glow. "You never wear it that way," he continued, despite my gawking. "The day you arrived and only one day since."
"You remember?"
He chuckled without answering. A yes. Of course he did. When his pants came off, I forgot what we were talking about.
He walked past me, casually pulling his hair up into a bun as if he didn't look like walking se as he did so. I stared in awe at the graceful shape of his body. The smooth lines from his broad shoulders down his narrow hips and strong ass and legs. Tight and muscular, his swagger looked like the stalk of a panther while he waded into the tub.
He looked over his shoulder at me. "Mina," he scolded me while distractingly holding his gifts in his hand. "Take your clothes off and come here. I won't ask you again."
Okay.
I did as he wanted, neatly folding my clothes and pulling my hair into a pile on top of my head. With nothing but the necklace he gave me, I confidently walked to the pool, staring him in the eye as he smirked.
The water was hot as hell. My skin screamed with the sudden contrast to the cold air. I sat on my knees in front of him, the waterline hitting right below my shoulders.
"Does it feel nice?" he asked teasingly.
"I was fine before."
He pulled me closer, making me sit beside him. His strong arm wrapped around my waist, his other hand tilted my head so his mouth could find my neck. His tongue slowly licked against my sensitive skin between kisses, traveling from my throat to that little spot behind my ear. I relaxed in his arms, the water no longer the only thing making me warm.
"Does this feel nice?" he asked between gentle sucks.
My giggle covered my moan. "You said this would be good for me, but you're making me want to do bad things instead."
His teeth pinned the corner of his smiling lips. "I got something for us."
"What?"
"A surprise, Mina-chan. Something fun. I will show you when you are done with your week." He pulled me closer and gave me a proper kiss.
"Zo-chan?" I asked, trying to lead into my news. "If I didn't have to leave in a few weeks . . . what would you think? Would you want me to stay?"
His eyes followed his finger as he traced it down my jaw to my chin. His smile dimmed slightly, as if he were considering it, but before he answered, his phone rang. He looked at it with confusion, leaning over to pick it up from its position on the ledge.
He grumbled and ignored the call, turning back to me. "Sorry."
"You don't need to answer that?"
"It's just the kids. Kobun shit, you know. It can wait."
"You sure?"
He nodded. "What were you saying?"
"Oh, uh . . ."
As I tried to find the words, his phone rang again. He cursed and reached for it again. "What?!" he barked.
The longer he listened, the more his anger dropped into fear. I could have sworn his face got two shades lighter. He hurried out of the pool without a word.
"What's wrong?" I asked with fear.
"We have to go. I need your help."
I climbed out without hesitation. "What's wrong?"
He handed me my clothes. "One of the kobun. He hurt himself and he's bleeding badly."
"If he's bleeding a lot, he needs to go to the hospital."
"Mina . . ." He didn't want to say taking him to a hospital would lead to trouble or a possible lack of care. "Please help?"
"Okay. I'll try."
. . .
Redressed and frantic, I followed Ryuzo as he ran across the street and behind the restaurant. In the back, a garden was tucked behind a fence. At the end, a door to what looked like a group home stood open. I did not know their base was just behind the restaurant.
He led me inside, where four men stood around another who was on the floor. I walked around them and saw the blood soaking the front of his pants.
"What happened?" I asked.
The boys looked at me with confusion, some leaning toward fear, the others closer to surprise. A gaijin they had never seen before was now in their base. A place women — especially foreign women — never went.
"They said the idiot was fucking around with a katana and fell on it," Ryuzo answered.
"Well, shit." I crouched in front of the boy. "Please remove your pants."
He shook his head violently in protest. I looked to Ryuzo for help. "Do you want her to help or do you want it to fall off?" he reprimanded the kobun.
I pieced together where the cut was, which calmed my worry. We had a bleeder, not a serious slice. Had it been severed, I doubted he would be conscious.
The young man hesitantly pulled down his pants, looking away with embarrassment. Blood soaked his white briefs. While snapping on gloves from their first aid kit, I gestured toward the area. "Those, too."
He did so, refusing to look me in the eye any longer. His brothers snickered, making crude comments. I sighed with annoyance.
I saw what was little more than a paper cut on his penis, but when I reached for it, he covered himself. Batting his hand away, I inspected the wound. It was very shallow, just unfortunately in an area with very prominent blood flow. "You are going to be fine," I assured him.
While I sanitized the area, I picked up certain words from the brothers' whispers. "Who is she?" "A gaijin?" "Is she yours?"
I hadn't applied liquid stitches on someone before — let alone someone's penis — but I had assisted enough times to feel confident. When I went to clean the area, he screamed and tried to scoot away. I slapped him on the cheek. "Damare!" I yelled in his face to shut up. "This doesn't hurt, shithead."
Ryuzo failed to hide a laugh. I shot him a look, and he stopped.
Another swipe of alcohol, then I applied to bandage. "Done. You clean yourself." I handed him the wipes. He hid himself from me while he did so.
I tried to piece together the rest of my words and came up short. This wasn't the most common occurrence at my job and usually not in my realm of responsibility.
I turned to Ryuzo. "Tell him the area has good blood flow, so it should heal quickly." I paused while he translated for me. "He will need to keep the bandage on for two days. After that, only a gentle rinse of water. No creams, lotions, or oils. And . . . he will need to avoid sex until it heals."
Ryuzo gave the message, and a different kobun laughed. "That won't be hard. He hasn't had sex in his life." That got him a slap against the back of the head.
Men are so annoying.
"If there is swelling, bleeding, or pain, he needs to visit a hospital or see a urologist."
While he translated, I removed my gloves and glanced around the room. It looked like a group home met a dojo. The little kitchen, living space, and training room with mats like the spare room in Ryuzo's house. Samurai decor was everywhere, including the bloodied sword on the floor outside a doorway. Through that door was a more refined lounge area with brown leather couches and a mahogany table. A meeting space, perhaps.
The injured kobun nodded. "Sank you, doctor." His English was as good as my Japanese.
After they cleaned most of the mess up, Ryuzo walked me out, pausing in the garden before returning me to the street. "Thank you," he said. "I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything, but I'm sure you'll make it up to me anyway."
He smirked. That alluring flame burned his adoring gaze. He glanced over his shoulder, then stepped forward. I gasped when he pulled me into a kiss.
The gentle yet passionate suck of my lips made me hum. The words I love you repeated in my head, trying to escape again. He let me go. My mind returned to the news I had yet to share with him.
"Zo-chan, I have to tell you something." He hummed a prompt to tell him. "At work, they offered me —"
His eyes darted over my shoulder. He stepped away quickly and bowed. His sentence was a typical greeting, but one word changed everything. Oyabun.
My skin went cold. The Boss.
I turned to find the three older men in very expensive suits, standing in a triangle. Too quick to take in more, I bowed and greeted him as well, thankful for my scrubs and the bloodstain on my knee.
"Please excuse me." I gave Ryuzo a bow next. Acting as if we didn't know each other felt very uncomfortable. "Sayonara, Ryuzo-san."
"Arigato gozaimasu." The most formal he had ever been with me.
I left his side, keeping my eyes down as I followed the stone path out of the garden. My skin crawled with discontent. Who we were behind closed doors was never supposed to show in the light, especially not in front of his superiors. My presence, medical or otherwise, could not look good for him.
Turning back to glance through the gate, I found one man still speaking to Ryuzo. I thought nothing of it until he swung his arm, landing a hard slap against Ryuzo's head. It was audible even from my distance.
I was shocked, but he accepted it, staring at the ground while the man berated him for over a minute. His expression warred between shame and anger. The man finally left him, walking inside. Ryuzo didn't look my way. He just stood there for a moment, swallowed his pride, and followed the man inside.
I knew little about how they operated or who they were to each other. Everyone was a brother, a son.
But that . . . That was the emotional damage only someone very special could inflict.
___
A/N: The mystery begins to reveal itself.
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