Darker Than Love

SMALL PROGRESSIONS

"How's he?"

Urgent. Worried. Frazzled.

These three words are what exactly describes the tone of Kenji Yanagi's voice when he steps out of the backseat of his Rolls Royce vehicle and meets a small group of his men who have been all waiting for his arrival just outside the hospital's entrance. He quickly addresses one of these guys with his question as he stands before them, his eyes sharply staring while he eagerly waits for a response.

"Boss Sakamoto is still going under observation, Boss. But they have already given a go-signal to see him. He can already speak."

Kenji just nods back to this as he walks away and enters unceremoniously into the building with cold regard to some of the staff who quickly greets him with formal bows of their heads after he saunters inside. He only got the call from the hospital, not more than an hour ago. And unexpectedly, bearing good news about Sakamoto's status, Kenji's hope for answers immediately sprung back to life upon hearing it. Though he still is not sure yet whether Sakamoto would give him anything significant about the present issues he is currently working on. But still, as a friend, he is just sincerely glad and even more relieved enough to know that the old guy is already awake and getting better now.

After all, their relationship is much more valuable than business alone. Kenji, Jin, and Sakamoto have been together for so long in this family that it is no longer a surprise that they are very attached to each other. It has already been a decade since the first time they had all met. And Sakamoto has already become a huge part of Yanagi's life today.

He is not just a trusted ally anymore, he is more of a brother to him now. And that is something that will never change no matter what, Kenji also mentally reaffirms himself.

It takes not too long for him as well to reach the suite where Sakamoto has been staying for treatment this past month and when he finally enters the room, he immediately sees him.

In a white hospital gown, Sakamoto slowly turns his head to glance at the presence of Yanagi at the doorway from where he lays in a heap over a huge bed with bandages still wrapped around his head. He still has the oxygen mask on with his breaths coming out into labored fogs seen through the transparent equipment covering half of his face.

Sakamoto's eyes are more sunken now, as Kenji immediately notices. The old man has obviously lost a lot of weight. But Kenji could not even feel anything more than just being happy that he could finally see the old guy's eyes returning his stare. They even held each other gaze for a few more moments until Kenji cuts it when he starts walking his way towards him and abruptly stops on his tracks beside the bed.

"You still know me?" he cleverly asks with a raised brow.

"Why won't I?" Sakamoto just hoarsely replies back to him, yet still struggling to speak up when he slurs his vowels out of his lips while taking deep breaths. Then as an attempt to make it look like he's not having difficulty, he tries to smirk at Kenji, "And just so we're clear, I'm still not dead, right?"

It should have not been a funny joke yet Kenji still finds himself chuckling involuntarily to that frivolous remark Sakamoto has thrown back at him. How can he treat this whole scenario so casually like this? And even more so, he still manages to look hell amused as he just tries to act so coolly about it, even pointing out his ridiculous question like an easy conversation. Yet still, Kenji could only just snicker back at this as he still plays along.

"Turns out," he even says in return, "Death just outwardly rejected you, Sakamoto. So, you have no other choice this time but to stay with me for much longer, I guess."

"Huh," the man just mockingly scoffs back, squinting his eyes as he speaks gruffly, "Sounds like some real baggage there, then. But I won't say I ain't like it."

And honestly, Yanagi just feels exactly the same way as what Sakamoto implied. Kenji is just glad he is still talking with him like this, considering they almost never did.

But then, this is just one of those things he should accept wholeheartedly. It is either you lose so much or gain one thing from being a Yakuza. There is nothing else to expect here. But the only ones that would never leave you alone in this kind of world will always be your most loyal brothers.

And Sakamoto, for one, will always be one of those rare gems in Kenji's life.

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THREE MONTHS LATER

One of the few things Aoi Chiba has gradually noticed during her entire domesticated living in the Yanagi's residence until now is how just well-mannered and strictly formal the men around her have been acting whenever they meet and see her. Though it surely had made her easily more comfortable to move around the place with no regard for anything. But sometimes, she still could not just shake the thought out of her head that she has always been watched and monitored by, if not all of them, at least someone. Perhaps, even could be Yanagi himself.

And obviously, it might not even be that impossible to be the case. He completely owns the building and he could just wire the entire place up from the walls and to the corners and to the doors. Hell, he might just even be watching her taking a bath and she would not really know it until she finally finds a shred of evidence... which is something she might never even notice.

And just those things alone already make this entire overthinking of hers a little too much for Aoi to handle.

But no, it is not that she is scared. It is just that, she could not find any peace of mind, feeling that it could all be true. And even when it is only her and Jin alone in the penthouse, Aoi Chiba would always feel like someone else is there with them. Someone who is just closely keeping watch on her.

And now, everything became even much clearer and unexpectedly real when she suddenly sees a small rolled piece of paper tucked inside her sandwich this morning while having breakfast. At first, she thought it has been some kind of a mishap and someone had only mishandled the food. But when she carefully and sneakily tries to open the paper... She unexpectedly finds a small-written note inside.

Knowing that Jin has been only sitting from a distance while reading a magazine again, she quickly hides it. She figures out that it would be better to see the whole note herself inside somewhere private... Like the walk-in closet. Which today, she is really so glad Kenji had generously added inside his house for her own use.

And as she resorts back to acting naturally busy with her coffee and food, she nonchalantly gets up from her bed and walks her way to the walk-in closet when she was done. She already knows Jin will not be following her inside due to the fact that they have somehow just assumed boundaries between each other since the first time they've met. And fortunately, Aoi could not even be happier about it all since she could finally fully take advantage of that now.

She immediately closes the doors behind her, right after turning the lights on inside and eventually being met by the humongous view of her wardrobe meticulously organized in hangers and cases around the small room.

She swiftly rolls the note open inside her hand and reads what has been written inside. And when she finally finishes it, she feels much more bewildered and out of her qualms.

This is crazy.

The game was still on. And the note just left a vague implication on what's about to come, yet Aoi could completely decipher the meaning of what it all said:

"Be careful. Cameras everywhere. Seduce the Y first. Next note coming soon."

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Little embers fall down to the floor from the burning bottom of the cigarette that Aoi Chiba is smoking in her lips. She has been standing alone in the living area for quite too long already, just gazing alone towards the floor-to-ceiling windows of the room while staring down at the horizontal expanse of the city lights before her. It really looks so surreal and captivating that it almost makes Aoi suddenly feel so powerful for some reason, as if she is placed on top of the entire Tokyo like a real queen.

Funny how one certain little change of angle in how she looks at things now could instantly turn her whole perspective around the world around her. So, is this what the rich and powerful people really feel when they look down on those who are weaker than them? Has this always been the way they see things every day?

She still could not stop smoking while she still continues to think of this. And even after reading that note, the one that she had recently found inside her breakfast just this morning, she still could not think of anything else beyond that. Which is why she feels so restless until now. It was all just so sudden. She still could not believe how someone inside Yanagi's building had even dared to slip that thing inside the place.

Was she perhaps, just being tested here? Did Kenji actually set that whole thing up to see if she would still try to betray them?

And if it was really the case, then why? Because honestly, it just seems kind of pointless to do this kind of stuff now, given that everything has already been going well in the Yakuza circle and all of the favors are being given to Kenji himself too. He does not need to test her with anything, he could just even kill her today if he really wants to.

So, if by chance, that letter was really sent by the enemy from outside, why would they still proceed?

She already failed. They should just get rid of her. But somehow, they still trust her.

But of course, the enemy would still go after Kenji even if she had not fulfilled her part. And now that she is still alive, perhaps the enemy thinks it would be a better advantage that she is being planted inside for easier access. Yet given the situation she is already in now, Aoi feels begins to feel less confident about it.

Is this still the right thing to do?

Could she even try it again? But how in the hell could she even seduce that man?

Though, not that she could not. She could actually do it, but she does not know how to make it work.

Kenji has always been out of the house. And on top of that, he even rarely gets home in the past few weeks. When he does, Aoi would have always been asleep and will only wake up the next day, with him already gone. It almost feels like he never really lived there with her. She could not even go out of the place to see him, since she is still being held captive inside the territory because everyone is still suspicious of her. Most of all, she could not get rid of Jin as well, who has always been following her around, and which is already annoyingly unavoidable.

How in the hell could she work this out?

Aoi Chiba takes another long drag from her cig as she tries not to mull over those things for now, not until she can finally sort the things out around her. Having to think about the problem just makes her head hurt, knowing that she can never really move freely around this territory alone. To think that all this time, she has always been surrounded by hidden cameras all over this place... That certainly explains the reason why she has always felt like she was being watched. That letter... she still does not know if she could trust the person who sent it to her.

But it only means one thing, she now needs to make her own move as well.

If the game is still not over, then the odds on whose side it falls on can still be not decided yet.

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It is already in the middle of the night, and Aoi suddenly wakes up into the overwhelming stench of a sickeningly dry, metallic scent growing more pungent near her as it fills the air surrounding her. She cluelessly rouses from the bed and squints her eyes towards the dark view of the room, unable to determine if what she smelled was actually real. It is too dark, though. She just remembers that she had also turned off the lamp on the bedside table before she had gone to sleep a while ago.

Now consciously reaching a hand towards the table near the bed for the lamp, she sharply senses faint movements from a distance. It sounds like footsteps. Aoi alarmingly turns her head and freezes. She quickly scans her eyes around the room, yet her vision could not get anything much of a shadow because of the total darkness.

"Kenji?"

She only speaks of the first thought that has popped inside her head. And as soon as she calls out his name, a looming figure slowly appears before her right when she finally presses on the switch over the table beside the bed. The sudden brightness of the lamp immediately hits her with a flashing sharpness of its light and Aoi repeatedly blinks for a few more seconds to gradually adjust her eyes into the luminosity.

She gets a stronger whiff of that unpleasant smell again and when she finally settles her sight towards her front, she instantly sees a terrible look of Kenji Yanagi who is just standing from a few steps away. Disheveled, face filled with gloom, and a shirt stained and soaked in blood. Aoi Chiba has been too shocked to even say anything first as she only holds her breath for a long second with her eyes widening at his frightening sight.

"I'm sorry..." she then hears him faintly whispering when he reads her face and continues on in that monotone low voice, "I've woken you up so suddenly."

He sounds so worn out, and Aoi Chiba could only gape back as Kenji slowly moves forward, taking a few steps closer towards her. She keeps holding her breath until he pauses and heavily lets out a loud sigh. She watches him in silence, still uncertain of what she could really say to him. But when he did not try to speak again, she suddenly feels obligated to talk.

"Y-your... clothes..."

"It's not mine." He quickly replies, too abrupt as he does not even let her finish her own words. Aoi just frowns back at his aloof answer and when he turns to glance and notices her reaction, he just gives her a sly smirk.

"The blood," he calmly points out after a beat, "It's not mine."

And whose is it? Aoi Chiba could only gulp down her own thoughts, afraid of really voicing that one out loud. She no longer knows where this entire conversation is leading them both. Yet with just one look at Kenji, she could already guess the rest that she did not want to confirm anymore. So without another word, she just blindly moves over the bed and slowly reaches her arms towards him. Like a woman who has been always left waiting for the arrival of her husband all day, she begins to tend to him and helps him unbutton his shirt off. She even ignores the heavy stench smothering her nose and tries not to think more of the slimy sensations she feels on her palms because of the sticky blood covering most of his body.

"You don't have to do this." he gently tells her after a moment of silence and tries to remove her hands.

"It's okay," she politely reassures him, not minding his words. She still moves her hands over him until Kenji eventually allows her. They soon let the stillness of the night gradually settles into a peaceful atmosphere between them even for just a short while.

When Aoi finally manages to take his upper garment off of his body, she moves over the bed again to silently leave as she walks her way to the bathroom. After a few moments, Aoi then returns with a basin filled with water and a clean towel in her arms. Kenji stays seated on the bed, observing what she is going to do. And when she finally stops and sits beside him, he gives her a raise of his brow.

She ignores his expression, though aware of his doubts, yet she still works on wetting the towel on the basin she has placed over the bedside table. She squeezes the fabric out of the excess water and immediately turns to wipe the remaining blood that has been left on Kenji's body. She begins from the side of his neck and down to his chest and she slowly descends to his stomach. When she reaches his navel, he suddenly holds her wrist to halt her.

"This is enough," he sternly tells her, his voice has now gone colder and much huskier. Aoi just looks up to stare back into his dark eyes. And it suddenly makes her feel weird. Because for a split second, she sees something in his eyes that immediately stuns her. The feelings beneath those harsh glaring eyes, something she never expects she would even see. And if she hadn't been gazing at him at that time, she would have never caught it.

"You can go back to sleep," Kenji drops her hand down on the space between them and turns his face away, avoiding her eyes. He quickly stands up from the bed, snitching the towel from her grasp as well.

"I can clean up for myself."

He gives her another quick glance when he tries to reach beside her to take the basin on the bedside table then just turns again, without another word to walk away.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Aoi could not help but still ask him this just before Kenji could reach the door leading into the bathroom. He stops in his tracks, while he still keeps his silence for a moment. And she could actually sense him still weighing his thoughts in his head even just by looking at the view of his broad back.

When he finally answers her back, he gives one last look over his shoulder to meet her eyes in a steady stare.

"What makes you think I'm not?" he just casually mocks back this time. Though, it somehow feels insincere. And when the door finally closes behind him, Aoi Chiba still continues to stare at the empty spot he had left, wondering what she had seen from those eyes.

It had been different.

And she knows it meant something more. That look in his eyes... It was the very first time she actually saw something like that on his face. It almost makes her feel guilty to know about it.

It was truly weird. Yet it looked real. And for a second, she really thought she saw a glimpse of something forbidden. The man who is supposed to be scary and merciless and dark... At that short moment, had become someone else.

A man whom no one would even expect to have that look in his eyes.

The look that proves he is still human... A human who can also be vulnerable and miserably lonely.

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