"You must be joking, Mom," I told my mother after hearing the request she made. She wasn't just asking me to set aside my beliefs, but to give a chance to a man who spoke of righteousness, rights, values, and more, yet lacked respect for his own family through an affair. Moreover, he led one of the criminal organizations causing the most harm to the world.
This was outrageous!
"No, I'm really letting you know, your father wants to see you, and you should go. The meeting is going to happen, whether you want it or not, and for me, the best thing you could do is approach your father without him being forced to do it," she answered seriously, with a touch of concern in her voice. "He... He wants to mend things, Amaya, so just give him a chance."
"I'm sorry, but a person who keeps me as his dirty secret doesn't deserve a chance," I replied and hung up on my mother as quickly as I could, tired of even considering that she might be insistent. Before my father no longer directly interfered in my life, he had told me that I couldn't completely distance myself; that when he needed me, I had to show up, no matter what. A situation that wasn't just bad, it was a disaster that I hadn't taken his word on, but I wouldn't fall for his game.
I carried on with my own things.
I finished some university activities, reviewed some textbooks, and then turned on my iPad to read a romance comic about a woman in a world of beasts. I loved the way the authors portrayed the panels and crafted great stories. I was so engrossed that I even bought coins for the upcoming chapters. I read them with great satisfaction and then lay down, falling asleep and for some strange reason, thinking about the man from the library.
My subconscious had me dream that the mysterious man spoke to me while I touched myself. His words weren't sweet or refined; they were dirty, laden with desire.
I woke up to the sound of the alarm, feeling heated, with countless thoughts racing through my head in unimaginable directions. Part of me felt playful for having such ideas, yet another part felt ashamed to have reached that point.
I had never had boyfriends, dates, or partners for the simple reason that I knew what a broken heart looked like. For me, the world was not just about feelings but also intentions and desires. I had needs, but I knew myself well enough to understand that they weren't a priority. Opening the doors to men for new interactions would be a major problem, not just because of my fear and my perception of relationships, but because I knew perfectly well that as soon as I started seeing someone, my father would meddle. From a young age, during the many times he visited me secretly, he told me that any woman who respected herself would fulfill three fundamental things: she would respect her family, especially her parents; she would honor herself above all else; she would be a source of pride for herself.
These concepts weren't just tied to ancestral Yakuza traditions but also to a very narrow worldview. Trying to leave those principles behind was very difficult, given the circumstances. However, I couldn't easily let them go. If I got involved with someone my father didn't consider up to his standards, it would be a problem I didn't want to face or know about.
That's why I preferred to remain alone with my books.
They would never leave me alone; they wouldn't become a ticking time bomb.
I was ready to leave the dormitory and go straight to breakfast when my phone rang. I answered without looking, thinking it was my mother.
"We need to talk, suki."
The voice of the man who fathered me completely paralyzed me, furrowing my brow and clenching my fists.
"I'm sorry, but I have a life I'm not going to change for anyone," I retorted and hung up on him immediately.
I turned off my phone right away.
I never imagined that after making that decision, on my way to class, two suited men of Asian descent with stony expressions would approach me. Seeing the symbols on their hands, I knew they were Yakuza, so I swallowed hard.
" Ohayōgozaimasu, Amaya-sama, go dōkō negaimasu. O tōsama kara, chokusetsu o tsure suru yō ni to iwa rete imasu."
"I..."
I didn't even have time to respond; one of them gently took my arm and guided me through the campus to a waiting black limousine. I looked around to see if there was a crowd of people, and no, just a few passing by, caught up in their own affairs.
I took a deep breath and told myself I could deal with Hiroshi Yagami to get back to my routine of English, reading, and consuming Asian productions while eating smuggled ramen in my room.
"Please," said the other man, attempting to get me into the limousine, so he opened the door with chivalry as the other one circled around and got in on the passenger side. Then the man who had been waiting for me extended his hand, and I immediately declined it.
"Hitori demo ī," I snapped, annoyed.
I got in and found myself facing my father. He was red with anger. I knew him well, so I didn't back down, knowing he hated having someone hang up on him. So, I stared back at him and sat apart from him. However, when I looked to my left, at the other end of the limousine, I saw a face I never thought I'd see in person.
My confusion must have been evident because Hiro, my father's eldest son, my half-brother who was ten years older than me, just burst out laughing.
"God, I thought this was all some cruel prank, Father, but this goes way beyond anything I ever thought you could do," he said, amused, and I felt uneasy.
"Hiro, you're going to confuse Amaya..."
"I didn't confuse her. You must have confused her. Does the girl even know...?"
"That's enough!" our father cut him off. "We came to fetch her. I'll fill her in on everything when we get home."
That made me tilt my head and look him directly in the eyes.
"What do you mean by 'home'?" I asked.
"Oh, Father! This is so fun to witness..."
"Shut up, Hiro," our father reprimanded him before letting out a deep sigh. "I wanted to handle things civilly with you, Amaya, but since you refuse to even see me, then we'll do it my way. We're going to Los Angeles. I need to introduce you to the council immediately."
"You must be joking..."
"That's exactly what I said on the way here when he told me an interesting story about having a child out of wedlock and the Yakuza," Hiro commented as if it were nothing, and my heart raced.
"I don't want to go. I have my life, my degrees, my dreams, my exams..."
"I'll take care of that for now. Just stay calm, daughter. I need you to calm down, be strong, and show the composure that defines you," Hiroshi asked me.
"Don't try to make me look like an idiot," I snapped angrily, and I saw Hiro smile with delight, as if he hadn't expected this kind of attitude. "You're kidnapping me, you're taking me away from my life to..."
"To present you to my world and have you swear loyalty," he replied without mincing words.
That sent a brutal shock through me. It couldn't be true.
Japanese phrases:
—Good morning, Miss Amaya. We need you to come with us. Your father has asked us to take you directly to him.
—That's okay on my own.
"This has to be a nightmare...""If it's any consolation, little sister, he's doing it to protect you," Hiro said.The look he got from our father silenced him immediately, enough for him to turn his face away."What are you talking about?""When we get to Los Angeles, we'll talk about everything, I promise you, suki," my father replied, and I furrowed my brow.I shook my head; I was somewhat afraid, and I didn't miss the serious look Hiro gave Hiroshi. It made me wonder if it was something natural, usual, for the oyabun to be so expressive and affectionate. I didn't want to inquire, so I just looked out the window until we reached San Francisco. To my complete astonishment, my mother was waiting at the door with a large suitcase and a handbag."Why are we going home?" I questioned the man of all my troubles."Because your mother wants to see you before we board the plane, and we also came for some of your things," he explained, narrowing his eyes."I need all my assignments, everythi
If anything in this life had surprised me, it was Amaya's appearance in that dress, looking as fabulous as she could and completely unaware of her attractiveness. I glanced at the favored Yagami girls; both wore expressions of consternation. I could guess their thoughts quite well: the more superficial one was probably thinking she had competition for attention, while the power-hungry one assumed she had another rival in the succession line.That made me smile. However, when I saw her stop next to her brother, who surprisingly had his arm linked with hers as a clear sign of respect and acceptance, I heard the most interesting conversation of my life because it revealed something that was in the report: the girl could speak more than one language.Her response in flawless Italian not only surprised my chatty soldiers but also caught the attention of the rest of the community. I remained silent to see what would happen, but I gave a stern look to the idiots who had opened their mouths.
"She... She's not a daughter from my marriage, but the circumstances of her conception are not a relevant topic in light of the fact that she carries my blood, Yakuza blood, and as such, she falls under its mantle and protection," he retorted with utmost seriousness and clarity, emphasizing an intriguing point, a point not beyond comprehension: Amaya was his daughter and had the same rights as the rest. "The process of changing her name, as well as bestowing upon her a new surname, will conclude shortly, and she will officially become a Yagami."The man's wife was boiling with anger, twisted to the point of being shaken entirely. Her daughters were the epitome of modesty, yet they reached out to comfort their mother, while Hiro held his younger sister who seemed on the verge of fainting. With those words, the table fell into silence, and the council members stood to give a small bow to the girl who was on the brink of tears. With that, she had sealed the poor girl's fate, so it was wi
The presentation was a complete nightmare for me.There was no way to lie about it, especially not after the disaster that unfolded.My father had not only revealed the fact that he had fathered me outside of his marriage, which in itself was an expression of wanting to marginalize me in front of everyone, but he had also made a public declaration that they would protect me no matter what, which meant I had to adhere to certain principles that I knew nothing about.I felt completely out of sorts, out of my own skin.It was a complete disaster, much bigger than I had expected, and I was nervous, especially after he announced that a member of the Camorra, the most violent Italian mafia of all, would marry one of his daughters. This, after the announcement of my paternity, included me and meant an even greater disaster.I didn't want to get involved in this world, I wanted nothing to do with either side, I just wanted to live my life in peace, far away from everything and everyone. So wh
"I... I give them my blessing," he replied, and I felt the wound of betrayal.The Camorra boss took my hands and turned me with infinite delicacy so that I would look at him. The man wasn't ugly; he was tall, somewhat blond, and had imposing green eyes that stood out against his handsome features. The only thing that obstructed the view was the mask, but it wasn't something ugly or extravagant.However, that's what made him intimidating to the rest, and when he fixed his gaze on mine, I felt as if I had been firmly ensnared, with a kind of deep magnetism that put me on guard."Ore to kekkon shite kure."He said it in a difficult pronunciation, but it shook me to the core.I just looked at him, I didn't know for how long, but it was a long time because Hiro cleared his throat, and then he asked again:"Cho ni narou.""I... " I looked at my father for a moment, and he nodded firmly, so I closed my eyes tightly and squeezed his hands. "Yes."People applauded, some without much enthusiasm
Her reaction to my words was as if she had been stabbed."Doesn't your daughter have any idea how the Yakuza operates?" I asked Hiroshi incredulously."Don't get involved in this..." the man retorted defiantly.I shook my head, crossed my arms, and cut him off with an icy stare."She agreed to be my wife, my woman, interamente mia, so I have every right in the world to ask, to know how ignorant she is of her origins," I replied sternly.I wasn't sure if it was the tone, I used that frightened her or the realization that things went much further than what had been told to her. I just saw Amaya become dizzy from the impact of it all, so I quickly held her and helped her sit down.She was trembling, her hands cold and sweaty."Are you okay? Do you need anything?" I asked immediately."I..."She looked conflicted, and then her father approached, which made her react."Suki...""I want you to answer him. Come on, tell him what you don't have the courage to tell me, tell him what you've ref
Hiro led me through some corridors, turning left, and Hiroshi's wife watched the scene with anger, which annoyed me. I didn't bother letting her know that, to me, she was like an annoying insect, and she had a lot to lose. Maybe too much, which made her the most composed woman in the world."What happened to her?" she asked."She got overwhelmed," her father replied. "Maybe she hasn't been eating well; she tends to skip breakfast at university, and we brought her straight here..."This made the woman look at him with a red face, as if she were engulfed in flames."She's going to university?""Not now, Nyoko, it's not the time," he snapped, and Hiro opened a door."She'll be comfortable here; I'll call the family doctor. He should be downstairs with the other guests," he announced and then left so that his father and I could enter.I laid Amaya on an impressive bed with carved wooden posts. The bed and pillows were covered in imported Egyptian cotton, which pleased me, and I positioned
Trafficking in women That was the phrase I woke up to in the middle of an unfamiliar room, with a piercing headache and an immense desire to cry over the nightmare it could signify in my life. What was curious, though, was that in a few seconds of rational thinking, I became aware that something was in my arm. So, I focused my eyes and saw that I had an intravenous line in place. On instinct, I moved to remove it, fearing they had drugged me. However, a voice stopped me. “I wouldn't do that.” Turning to my right, I saw none other than my fiancé. He was leaning against the window, his body facing it, but his face oriented towards me. From that perspective, with the moonlight shining on his golden mask, he seemed like a creature of the night, a God of darkness who had come to take me away. My heart began to beat strongly, like a madman in search of comfort. “I...” “You fainted in the middle of the conversation we were having with your father, it happened quickly. How much did you