Chapter 1: Care and comfort
Chapter Text
You turned on the light in your kitchen, almost tripping over one of the stools because your eyes were still half closed, you had fallen asleep correcting the last report that the newspaper where you worked had sent you. You had noticed that you hadn’t even had dinner before, so you made a quick meal before heading back to work, but before you could touch your laptop you heard a crash at the front door, as if someone had collapsed and slammed against it.
It’s not that you lived in one of the worst areas of the city, but it was strange that something happened in the wee hours of the morning, you walked slowly, opening the door, or trying to, because the body of a man was blocking the entrance, a few minutes of struggle was enough for the unconscious body to fall to the other side, leaving you to open the door completely and contemplate the man.
He had one of those mullets that were fashionable among young people, several earrings, some scars on his mouth and stains of what appeared to be vomit and blood, okay, you did not want to interfere with anyone who seemed to be a drug addict, but on second thought, it was better to help the man than to have to give statements to the police as to why there was a dead body at your door.
You dragged him home and laid him on the couch, laying him on his side so he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit if he ever did, though after further scanning you decided he needed a good shower. You did not feel self-conscious in doing this job, you are of an age and you have worked in many things, among them you had a position taking care of the elderly, all kinds of care being more specific, so no, you did not feel uncomfortable having to wash this man.
You changed his clothes and put his striped suit in the wash, leaving him back on the sofa, you continued with your work, reading and quickly correcting the errors you found, the night passed quite quickly and you fell asleep once you were completely done your work, sending it to the head of the newspaper.
The next morning you woke up with a gun pointed at your temple and that man’s pretty eyes staring back at you, good way to start the day indeed.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Are you young people these days so ungrateful? It was you who passed out on the doorstep of my house at two in the morning.”
He lowered the gun, seeming to remember some parts of his night, he sat still a little bewildered and with his head elsewhere because of the drugs taken yesterday, he looked at you in silence now noticing his change of clothes as well as the smell of his hair, it was not the smell of his usual shampoo.
“Did you…?”
“Yes, oh, don’t be ashamed, it’s been a long time since I stopped being interested in that kind of thing, at a certain age the only thing one looks for is economic stability and peace of mind, are you going to stay for lunch?”
He blinked contemplating your calm form, he didn’t know if he was still under the pressure of narcotics, but he didn’t reject your proposal, Sanzu was anything but embarrassing, however he felt like a little boy next to you being cared for by the mother he never had.
For your part, he was not the first brat you helped, you had married friends, with grown children or adolescents who did not stop getting into small problems, you acted like the aunt who drinks wine and criticizes everyone at family gatherings, for your attitude, they found it easier to access you when they had problems they didn’t want your friends ─their moms─ to know about, you always had their backs unless it was something that was detrimental to their health, then you wouldn’t hesitate to call your friends to give their children a lecture, even as adults.
That same attitude was the one that made Sanzu visit you more often than he would like to admit, although most of the times he left scolded for coming home drunk or drugged, you never closed the door on him, how could you? You weren’t heartless enough to leave him lying in the street when he came desperately asking for help with some of his hallucinations.
Your kindness led him to an obsession towards you, you were like his little lifeboat, his conscious part about all the madness in which he was involved, he began to watch you from afar, observing your interactions with strangers and friends, it bothered him, it bothered him that you were just as kind to others as you were to him, he wanted all your attention just for him. He was also worried about you, he had seen the worst part of the rotten world in which he lived, someone with a soft heart like you could not survive against the predators of this society.
Of course, Bonten executives were not stupid, usually most of them lived in the headquarters, they had private properties where they spent a few days or weeks, but most of the time they were in that headquarter, especially Sanzu, that’s why they started to noticing his absence more and more, it’s not like he had to explain himself to anyone ─except if Mikey asked him to─ but his behavior was strange, didn’t he arrive drugged? It seemed like a bad joke, clothes without a bloodstain? he was definitely doing something outside their radar.
Not that the others cared much, but the Haitani brothers were a bit nosy, like gossips who want to know why their partner seems happier when he comes back in the morning after a night of ‘fun’. They discussed it a couple of times with the others when Sanzu wasn’t around, and they all agreed that his behavior was unusual, so they began to investigate what he did in his leisure.
This led to an ordinary person like you being watched by two executives of the largest criminal organization in the country. At first they thought that you were a whore with whom he had fallen in love, but investigating more about you, they discovered that you were a lady with an established daily life, there was nothing about you that stood out and yet you seemed so interesting.
“Sanzu please, I need to finish correcting this report, I promise you that later you can have all the hugs you want.”
“No.”
He tightened his grip on your waist, burying his face in the crook of your neck, you were trying to do your job but Sanzu found your hugs too comforting after you once found him crying ─from being drugged─, killing people leaves obstacles in any person and as much as he loved it, certain deaths of innocent people always ended up flying over his thoughts like ghosts that tormented him from time to time.
The sound of the doorbell made you stop typing, moving the man slightly away to go to open, you were not expecting a visitor which was strange to you, Sanzu felt a chill when you opened the door, meeting the eyes of the youngest of the Haitani directly, he got up quickly without even letting you ask what those guys wanted, he pulled you back before Ran could drag you with him.
“What the fuck are you two doing here?”
“Make sure you don’t have too much fun, are you so in love that you forget the meetings?”
They started a little discussion while you looked blankly, you and Rindou looked at each other in silence while the other two talked, you greeted with a brief nod, thinking they were Sanzu’s coworkers.
Luckily just when the discussion was getting more heated, a 'ding’ coming from the oven threw everyone off concentration, taking advantage of this you got out of the man’s strong grip, walking towards the kitchen to see that the cookies you had been working on before were ready.
“There are plenty of cookies for everyone, Sanzu you can invite your friends.”
“They are not my friends!”
“That’s very kind of you, we’d love to meet our friend’s friend.”
So you ended up having lunch with the three men in an awkward silence between them, due to the tension of which you preferred not to take into account, Ran and Rindou were quite nice and understood that you were not a love interest, nor did you want it, nor did you seek it. Alarm bells of boys without a mother figure going off again, of course you caught their interest more than before, they knew your background but not your personality, and they ended up falling into that obsession towards you, as if there was something that made them gravitate towards you, was it because of your simplicity? for your kind words? They didn’t know it, but they were jealous that Sanzu could snuggle up against you and they would have to keep more of their distance.
Now you had three of Bonten’s executives constantly visiting your house, whether it was asking you for small favors or advice on nonsense to asking you to make them cookies or food in general, they just desperately wanted your attention, like babies crying out for their mother.
This cycle of obsession only made the others begin to suspect that they were up to something, whether it was harmful to Bonten or not, Takeomi was the first to notice, Kokonoi the same, he noticed how the brothers spent a certain amount of money, which they didn’t used to do that often, followed by Kakucho, Mochizuki and lastly Mikey.
So it led you to be kidnapped by Mochi after doing enough research on you, because they didn’t take much notice of it at first when the brothers first noticed. You were tied hand and foot, a blindfold was removed after consciousness returned to you, you found yourself face to face with a man with immense dark circles and eyes full of lifeless, on his right side another man with a large scar on his face, on his left side another man with a small scar on his left eye.
You felt something cold touching your temple, again you had a gun pointed at you, held by the same boy who had kidnapped you, you turned your head also noticing another man with long white hair.
“Who are you and why do you have my executives after you?”
“Executives…?” you looked at everyone carefully, connecting the dots when you saw their tattoos “Oh- so that’s why they never wanted to tell me what they worked for… are you some kind of organization? Like arms smuggling, money laundering or something?”
You took the situation calmly, that your life was hanging by a thread right now was not one of your biggest concerns, you had lived a full and happy life up to now, you had no regrets, you were mature enough to understand the point at which you were, the more the years go by, the less afraid you are of the things that used to terrify you when you were young.
“GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF MY MOTHER!”
Everyone was surprised to see how Sanzu entered kicking Mochizuki so that the weapon flew out of his hands, away from you, the Haitani brothers followed closely untying you quickly while all those men had a discussion of looks, the dense silence was broken by your giggle, you were trying to control yourself as much as you could but it was impossible.
“My God, Sanzu, you just called me mom!?”
The boy’s face was completely dyed in pink tones, all the attention was now focused on you while you let out a laugh at the slip that your child had, something made the hearts of others clench in pain when they heard your laugh, no matter how bad it sounded, whether it was asthmatic, uproarious, or silent laughter, it was like real music to the ears of all the executives at Bonten, including the leader. As if you had flipped a switch in the mind of their rotten minds, they now had a new interest in you, as if you had further triggered an obsession you were unaware of with the first three you met.
They began to understand why those three felt attracted to you, it was as if your mere presence was intoxicating for them, as if just listening to you or looking at you calmed their broken hearts, many alarms from boys without a mother figure, of course that was a triggering reason, all these men longed for that kind of love that they could hardly experience.
Now you had the criminal organization after you, not in a bad way, more like a bunch of men acting childishly because of your limited attention. One thing they were clear about without the need to speak, you were not going to leave their sight for a single moment from now on.
Chapter 2: Caring you
Chapter Text
You sighed leaving the shopping bags at the entrance of your house, turning on the lights in the living room while you carried the bags back to the kitchen, only before you could even take a step you screamed when you saw Mikey sitting on your sofa eating a cookie quietly.
"Holy fu-, do you want me to have a heart attack one of these days?"
You had not seen his figure before so it was normal for you to be scared, although in recent weeks you had had these intruders breaking into your house, you did not recriminate them for breaking into your home because they practically "spared" your life that day in which they kidnapped you, yet the Bonten leader kept insisting that you should stay with them in their headquarters because the city was full of predators who could take advantage of the likes of you.
"You know that you still have time to come with us."
You had denied his offer by active and passive but nothing seemed to make Mikey reason, he didn't want to resort to kidnapping because he had already experienced that look from you once when you found him binging on the cookies you had made for everyone, of course he didn't want to share them, he snuck into your house at night so that they would only be his. Receiving that look of disapproval and disappointment made his heart sink, as if he were a kicked and scolded cat.
They had discovered that threats ─even if they were empty─ were useless against you, you had lived long enough for that kind of thing to affect you and you already had some loved ones waiting in the other world, besides, no matter how sadistic Sanzu was, he flatly refused that none of the other executives could even think of raising their hand to you or thinking of torture to make you bow down to them.
So Kakucho was the one who discovered that the best thing they could do to 'protect' you was blackmail, well, he thought it would work out considering that you didn't deny helping them whenever they came to your house looking for comfort or help, but you weren't an idiot. They were men old enough to take care of themselves, besides being criminals.
“Mikey, really, I don't know why I'm not six meters underground yet, I appreciate that, but I like my ordinary life."
Of course, Kokonoi offered you countless kinds of luxuries to try to take you into a comfortable life with them, which you refused just the same. Mikey got up walking towards the kitchen where you were placing the purchase, an action that was completely interrupted when the man hugged you, letting his face rest against your back.
"It's not fair… why can't you accept it? we just want you to be safe, I- I need you by my side, I want you to pay attention to me!"
And there he is… you didn't know Mikey's personality when he acted like a leader everyone feared, but next to you he was like a spoiled attention-seeking kid who throws a tantrum if he doesn't get what he wants. You turned so that his head rested on your chest, tightening your embrace a little and rubbing his back in circles, you had to push the atrocities these men engaged in very deep, but there was not much you could do about it either, it's not like if you could change their lives of crime, so as in all your life, swallow and follow the course of things, if these guys wanted your attention you were not going to deny it as long as they cut you out of their business and behave moderately around you.
"You don't need me seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day by your side, plus you always invade my apartment when you want."
He didn't respond to your words, he only clung to you more, almost squeezing you to get every last drop of your affection, Mikey knew he couldn't with your will to continue with your daily routine, but if that was going to continue like this the least he could do was spend as much time as possible with you.
Although as much as it bothers him, he is the leader and he has things to attend to, so he lets you have time with the others, much to his displeasure of course, he doesn't like to share very much, but he knows that you will scold him if he doesn't let the others have their time with you. Takeomi was in charge of making a schedule, taking into account your work hours and even leaving you one day off so that you had privacy and peace, although on those days off Rindou or Sanzu would surely escape to see you even though they weren't allowed to.
Kakucho would always accompany you when you had to cook, before you only had to make food for yourself, and now you find eight grown men clamoring for your homemade food, you appreciated the boy's help and he was more than happy to hear your praise about how well he cook, oh boy, Kaku's chest swells with joy every time you taste his food and you smile at him like a proud mother who has taught her son a new recipe that he has mastered perfectly. Although he doesn't show it as openly as the others, he yearns for your hugs in silence.
Kokonoi always accompanied you when shopping, this man will not let you spend a penny of your money while he is there, he makes sure that you don't lack for anything, although he is a bit annoyed that you refuse to buy stupidly expensive clothes, they just want to spoil you for everything you do for them, even if you don't even realize that your simple actions drive them crazy.
Mochi is undoubtedly the one that stalks you the most, he has to make sure that no creep gets too close, if this happens he will be calling Ran to find out information about that person and they will immediately contact Sanzu to eliminate them. After all you only need them and other people are harmful to you, of course they will still let you keep your close friends and family because they make you happy, and they wouldn't do anything wrong with you, unless they do, when someone close to you does something to you that they don't like, they will comfort you after that person died mysteriously or in an 'accident'.
Which happened… it had to happen, it was a friend you made relatively recently, just a few months before Sanzu collapsed at the door of your house that dawning. You felt comfortable with him and you got closer quite quickly, although you usually used to communicate more by messages than face to face, you always made time to go out one day, the Bonten men controlled all the people you interacted with, even if they were a simple supermarket clerk, if their tone were apathetic with you, they wouldn't last much longer in this world.
Just as they knew everyone you talked to, they knew about this man and they didn't like him one bit, they looked up information about him and Rindou found out that he was a filthy gambler who spent a few nights in brothels, had some history of violence and minimal arrests, it was enough. But the worst thing was the way he looked at you, Takeomi described it when he was following you secretly, his eyes looked at you with disgusting love when you only saw him as a good friend, that thing shouldn't even deserve a second of your time. Mikey asked you about him one day ─because he's a 'curious' boy and wanted to know things directly from you─ and they found out that this disgusting guy simply lied to you about his job and hobbies, although you already found out on your own and complained to him, he promised that he was trying to fix and run his life again, you accepted it by deciding to keep the friendship.
And the guy really started to straighten his life out a bit, but still… that look he gave you kept bugging your boys, plus if you got a partner your attention would get harder and harder to get and they weren't passing by. Even though you weren't interested in having a partner, it didn't convince them, that guy was going to make you feel uncomfortable because he planned to declare himself and you didn't feel the same, it was the breaking point and the end for him.
Today was your friend's funeral, not much in the mood to stay there any longer, you gave your condolences to the family and went home with tears running from your eyes, maybe he wasn't the best person but you still considered him a friend. When you got home, what you least expected was to see those eight men waiting impatiently for you, they knew it, they knew that you were a little more vulnerable now and they wanted to take advantage of that.
"Why is everyone here? Something has happened? I'm not going to launder money or hide weapons here if you want any of those favors."
You wiped your tears leaving your jacket on the coat rack, the first to approach you was Mikey, murmuring your name as he dragged you to the sofa.
"We just had a bad feeling, are you okay?"
"Oh…"
They acted worried even though it hurt to see your tears, a little upset because they were tears for that scum, but now they wanted to focus on making you feel better in their arms. Mikey self-proclaimed your lap as his seat, passing his arms around your shoulders, resting his head on your chest to listen to the sound of your heart, the rhythm of your pulsations was too relaxing and addictive for him. Ran and Rin were on either side of you, clinging to your arms, Sanzu and Kokonoi sat on the ground, leaning their foreheads against your knees, hugging your legs while Kakucho stood up comfortingly stroking your head. Mochi and Takeomi looked askance as they all clung to you without giving them space to do so as well.
Takeomi was not one to go against his leader's orders, however, he would take it upon himself to limit Mikey's time with you just by taking up so much of your time.
"Okay guys, I don't feel half of my body."
You asked to be released because you began to stop feeling your arms, which had fallen asleep due to the iron grip of the Haitani, reluctantly everyone released you or gave you your necessary space.
"Are you feeling better?"
Kakucho asked without stopping massaging your scalp, you let out a shaky breath, you had already had your fill of crying all morning and you had barely eaten anything, you nodded closing your eyes, feeling tired from all the emotions released today.
"Yes, thank you very much guys, I love you."
You muttered without taking into account the weight of those words on the criminals, they all froze, planning to crush you in a desperate embrace right then and there if the rumbling of your stomach didn't stop them. Your cheeks began to take on a slight pinkish tint, cause of embarrassment, they were usually the ones who came to you to be fed, their guts rumbling, but not you.
"So I guess we're ordering food?"
Koko already had his phone ready to call the most expensive restaurant in the city, you knew what he was planning to do so you got up and gently took the phone from him, denying it.
"No, I can do something quick."
"Okay, we can do something quick."
You smiled sweetly at Kakucho for offering to help, receiving death glares at his cunning, Mikey immediately jumped up grabbing onto your leg, pouting like a complete child.
"I can help too."
"Mikey… I would like you to help too, but last time you burned my pan."
Chapter 3: Mark and cross out
Chapter Text
"Sorry, you're fired."
You nodded at the curt words of the head of your block in the newspaper, letting out an exasperated sigh, you had had a bad few weeks lately and it led to poor performance at work, not that this was a world renowned newspaper, but they were pretty strict about what they posted so they didn't like your mistakes.
But that was okay, you had enough savings to indulge yourself, you decided to take a couple of weeks off to send resumes around town again, you smiled wistfully when you had to add new years of experience to the document, it had been a long time since you'd had to do these things, you almost laughed at your nervous twenties self having to send out those job applications.
You came home earlier that day of course, you took the opportunity to buy something quick to eat because you didn't feel like cooking right now, you open the door slowly, frowning at a pair of shoes in your driveway that definitely weren't yours.
Internally wondering who could be, perhaps a relative or close friend (who were people who could have the keys to your house) but what you did not expect was to see pink hair at this time of the morning, since it was relatively early for someone like him, who lived more at night than during the day.
"What are you doing Sanzu?"
His widened pupils looked at you like a deer about to be run over, his first reaction was to lower his head as if he had been a son stealing and caught red-handed by his mother, but he immediately regained his composure, slowly putting down the sweets that was eating on the kitchen table, despite still ─clearly─ having the effects of the narcotics from the night before, remembered your schedule and you weren't supposed to be here right now.
"Has something happened? Has someone done something to you? You should be at work now, right?"
You raised one of your eyebrows watching as he tried to keep his body from rocking from side to side due to the persistent dizziness, you let out a small sigh as you approached the man, pushing him by the shoulder into your bathroom.
"No, no, and yes, I should be at work but-"
"Did someone mug you on the way there?" you patted his shoulder so he would crouch in your bathtub, frowning because he didn't let you finish your sentence, he looked at you with expectant eyes, now noticing a slight smile on your face "Wait, what are you going to- AHHH! MOM?!"
You tried not to laugh but it was funny to see how his whole face got wet, you had turned on the shower to relieve his condition, the cold water would at least clear his mind a bit, you added points to your fun for the nickname 'mom' that gave you, you found out that when Sanzu is high he uses that nickname for you a lot, you didn't care much, you just found it funny.
"Nothing has happened to me, they just fired me."
"What do you-"
You cut him off by throwing a towel at him to dry his hair, you also didn't listen to his worries about losing your job because you closed the door with a new change of clothes to replace the wet ones. You waited for him on the couch and just a few seconds after he came out of the bathroom he embraced you in a hug, leaving his head on your stomach.
"Then who do we have to kill?"
You looked at him with the most expressionless face you could make, hitting his nose to stop him from thinking about killing other people, before you could scold him for his words someone else broke into your house like it was their own property.
"Sanzu, I swear to God, you know it's not your time to be with her, don't think I didn't realize that both you and Rindou are running away, I'll cut your damn-"
You looked at Takeomi in silence, his glances from your figure to that of the boy who was clinging to you, his words dying on the tip of his tongue as he noticed how you had that 'keep talking if you dare' expression for threatening so openly one of your boys and immediately he flipped the switch in his head, knowing you shouldn't be there, it was an avalanche of questions that you had to patiently answer.
"We'll take care of that 'boss' of yours, but now you can accept one of our positions, right?"
"What am I supposed to do in a mafia? Learn to use katanas or something? I want a normal life Takeomi."
"Katanas sound good."
You both looked at the youngest in silence, deciding to ignore him for the moment because you weren't going to learn to wield or use bladed weapons and anyway the others didn't want to see you exposed to danger, which meant no weapons for you.
"It's not that, you can be our… secretary?"
Not even he was sure that they needed something like that, they knew how to manage their affairs and even he would function more as a secretary than anyone else, but the possibility of having you closer to them was something that he was not going to let go of, he looked at you in silent as was his partner, they shared a brief knowing glance and refocused on you.
"You know, that doesn't sound so bad."
"Is that a yes?"
"Okay, yes, I accept the job."
"The katanas sounded better but whatever..."
You felt Sanzu's arms squeeze you to death as well as the too wide smile of the other, but you cut off their spontaneous happiness for a few moments, you made it clear that you were not going to be involved in fraud or illegal things, you knew they had or rather needed some legal money-laundering businesses, so you didn't want to get into the crap they had behind their backs. You were of an age and you didn't want to complicate your life any more than you already did in your careless teenage years.
The news spread like wildfire, the boys were completely delighted to have you in their meetings ─the most normal ones─, without a doubt the one who benefited the most was Kokonoi, he needed help to keep the bank accounts and you were a good support, although in truth he didn't need the extra hand, he just wanted to spend more time with you, listening to your praise for becoming such a successful man with money from such a young age.
Mikey got very angry because he wasn't the one who got you to finally 'join' them, but it's okay, you freed Takeomi from a severe punishment by making some homemade dorayakis that completely calmed that beast of jealousy that the leader carried on his back.
You began to visit the brothels that the Haitani brothers ran more frequently, luckily, everything was legal, it could be immoral depending on the person looking, but it was not something punishable by law. And usually the others liked to spend the free time they had there, they always had a table reserved for them, some of the waitresses or company womans already knew you in the place, you were always welcome, all these girls adored you.
And Bonten mans always tried to behave like "good children" by your side in that kind of environment, but you weren't stupid, you also had that time of being young, you just found it funny that Rin tried not to look at the tits of one of the workers in case you caught him, or even Kakucho concealed looks of desire from some girls. It was a brothel for god's sake, you weren't going to kill them for looking, it's not like you could anyway, but these guys would be embarrassed to talk about it openly, after all, most of the time, talking about sexual things with your parents is awkward.
The fact is that you are on your way to one of these occasional meetings, accompanied by Mochizuki in his car because he offered to give you a ride, more like he won the last bet against the others and everyone had to give in, when you entered you were greeted by the same receptionist as always, a kind and tense smile decorated her face when she saw you appear, it didn't take long for you to reach the booth with the rest of the boys, but you had to make a detour to the bathroom before you could sit down.
The eight pairs of eyes only saw your figure disappear with disappointment for not having been able to have time with you yet, patiently waiting for you to return, just when you were going to leave the narrow corridor that connected bathrooms for both sexes, you collided with someone's chest, a tall guy, captivating gaze, gold rings and necklaces ran into you.
"Oh my, excuse me beautiful lady."
"It's nothing."
You were a bit surprised, he looked like a man more or less your age, he was quite handsome in your eyes compared to other men you had seen there, you smiled almost ghostly, you rarely have the opportunity to run into someone like that attractive, he seemed to notice that and his smile spread, he took your hand looking directly into your eyes, planting a kiss on your knuckles.
"It's a pleasure to meet you beautiful lady, I am one of the biggest investors in this site, I see that they spare no expense with women, I like to see the products that they bring from time to time and I can say…" his eyes traveled your body from top to bottom in splendor "that put my money to good use."
"Excuse me?"
And that was where the attractiveness of the guy went, you politely released his hand, taking a step away to one of the sides, the man did the same without taking his eyes off you, you assumed that you had been very lucky so far because this had not happened to you before, or that it was usually young men who used to come here.
"Are you listening to me, come on, you're one of these whores, aren't you? They pay you with my money, so prepare a room for the two of us mommy, I'll make you scream my name until you lose your voice."
You laughed, you laughed in his face even though you didn't want to because he was clearly someone precious to the Haitani income, but it was impossible not to let out a wry laugh, almost offended by how he used his tone on the word 'mommy'.
"I'm sorry, I don't do that kind of work."
“Come on, is it because your shift ended? I can pay overtime."
"Is something wrong here?"
Kakucho interrupted the conversation, and you silently thanked him because you wanted to hit this guy with all your might right now, the newcomer pushed you to his side, putting one of his arms around your shoulders, not a second later the Haitani brothers were there, recognizing the man, he greeted them casually, apologizing hastily thinking you were his whore.
And unfortunately, everyone seemed to fall silent just as he said it, you know, that moment where you don't want anyone to hear you and everything just goes quiet, the workers nervously went about their work because of the stifling tension that had been created. Mikey's look was so disturbing that he scared some of the girls at the next tables, the others were just like him.
No one. Absolutely no one had the right to form a sentence where your name and the word 'whore' were related. This man had dug his own grave in seconds, honestly, Koko had already noticed his interaction since you left the bathroom, the others too, but they supposed that no one would be stupid enough to try something with you, they had not threatened all the staff for nothing from the brothel, apparently a small rat escaped.
"What did that scu- guy tell you?"
Sanzu was the first to jump to your side, he worried about your integrity when he saw your frown, you shook your head, dismissing the matter.
"Nothing that surprises me about a man really."
Mikey sat next to you silently, his dead stare still looking at the guy who talked to the Haitani in a feigned idle manner, though the brothers kept his tone for now, it wouldn't be the same in a few hours. The leader wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you like a koala in need of love.
"I'm sorry, we'll make sure that it doesn't happen again and that you don't see that thing again."
"Yes, we'll personally make sure that guy doesn't cause you any more trouble."
Mochi emphasized 'personally', earning a nod from Takeomi and Kaku, you let out a breath, smiling at Kokonoi who was holding your favorite drink towards you, you took a small drink, much more relaxed, you smiled looking at the boys.
"You don't have to do anything, he's someone important to the business, isn't he? It's not like it's the first time I've been disrespected."
"Has anyone else disrespected you?"
Mikey tightened his grip on you, you winced, patting his head to loosen his crushing grip a bit, all waiting to remember those people who had messed with you because they didn't deserve to live.
"Yeah, well, I've lived a lot, and teenagers are a bit idiots, although I include myself…"
"Who? Give me names."
"Sanzu I was just generalizing… it's not like I remember all the people who have disrespected me."
"Then we will have to start making a list of those people."
"Takeomi, don't join too!"
"They are right, why don't you start with your years in high school?"
"Kakucho…"
"We could start with old classmates."
"Mochi, really? Kokonoi, could you tell them to stop? I didn't say it with this intention, my God."
Koko shrugged, accepting the proposals of his fellow criminals, you gave up, folding your arms as you occasionally finished your drink, a small feeling of guilt in the pit of your stomach as you locked eyes with the guy who called you a whore, his look now was desperate, his eyes were teary as if he was begging for mercy, while unable to see them due to their back to you, Ran and Rin had the widest smiles ever seen, despite losing an investor, their punishment was going to be much more pleasant, the only clear thing is that he wouldn't be the first nor the last on their list.
Chapter 4: Dye ir baby
Chapter Text
You never knew how to measure quantities when cooking, because you didn't want to go short, you always ended up adding more ingredients than you should, which led you to make too much food, in this case, little strawberry cupcakes along with some other fruits.
You had time to do it on one of those rare days where you weren't being stifled by the presence of any Bonten executive, having you as their secretary made it easier for them to be accessible to you, but unfortunately they couldn't stop you from interacting with other people, more than anything because they also needed men to do their dirty work, men you seemed to talk to from time to time, which they didn't like.
For you, it was just small interactions, greetings, small talks with the guys who were hanging around, who came from missions or bodyguards who watched every corner in the barracks, nothing really important, you were just being nice like you would to anyone else, although most of them would only nod at your presence or words, they had already been threatened and knew the consequences.
But that didn't stop some clueless from enjoying your presence more than they would like, not to mention the fact that you want to distribute the leftover cupcakes among those men, they'd rather throw away your homemade food before those creeps could taste it, but they couldn't stop you, at least not most of the time.
You wanted to think that the disappearance of some people with whom you spoke or shared that leftover food was not your fault, after all, working with this type of criminal exposed you to many dangers, but you really did not know how far your boys could go for simply smiling at another person.
You put those thoughts aside, clutching the box full of cupcakes tightly, you reached the elevator in the main building, dialing the highest number, you waited patiently, humming the light music on hold, on your way out you simply walked a few more steps and knocked on the door already well known. It opened with a creak, as soon as you entered, being received by an arm hooking onto you in a loose hug, you smiled when you saw Mikey, anxious to see what you had prepared this time, despite not being his favorites, everything you did to he, would be a culinary work.
"By the way, today is dyeing day."
"Hmm? It is?"
You muttered at Rindou's words, noticing now, the boys who already had part of their natural color at the root of their hair, you shrugged smiling at the younger of the Haitani, nodding at his request, earning pitying glances from Kakucho, who was the only one who decided not to alter his original hair.
You approached him, rubbing his shoulders in a comforting way, trying not to let his kicked puppy look affect you, you offered him a smile that was enough to warm his heart, looking for a second at the expressions of his companions to silently boast of being the only one that received all your attention.
"Don't worry Kaku, I'll make sure that my next day off is just for you, we can make that recipe you told me about the other day, or visit some place you want."
The completely bitter and serious expressions of the others turned into small grimaces that were meant to be smiles as you turned to them, letting Takeomi lead the group out while you give a last silent wave to Kakucho, who simply nodded at your action, as soon as you were out of sight a frown on his face.
Kaku really hated 'dyeing days' because he was the only one not included in the bonding time with everyone, but then again he could always take advantage of it, just like now, he always got an extra day with you, and best of all It's just that it was just you and him, so he had your full attention.
Although he had to leave that for later, now, returning with the boys and you, you went out of the building to the crowded streets of Tokyo, everyone staying on the sidelines except Kokonoi, who was the only one who went with you to buy the hair dye, since the group itself would draw a lot of attention and he was the one handling the money, the others reluctantly agreed as he took your hand to guide you to the nearest store.
"Don't you want to dye your hair too?"
"I think not for now, my hair doesn't look so bad right?"
"Of course not! It's perfectly fine."
You laughed at how Koko was quick to make sure your hair was perfectly fine, knowing how delicate people your age could be because of the dreaded gray hair. You both walked out of there after choosing the appropriate colors for everyone, smiling at the packages you were holding in your hand.
It reminded you of your youth, you went through that stage too, you learned how to apply the dye on your own because going to a hairdresser would be a lot of work and much more expensive, although you stopped applying so many dyes to your hair because it started to get drier. When the boys discovered this —snooping through your old photos from your high school days— they asked you to apply the dye.
While everyone got used to being treated by a ridiculously expensive professional hairdresser, nothing could compare to taking advantage of this to spend more time with you, not to mention enjoying the feeling of being pampered by you, giving them a little scalp massage when you applied the dye to them, it was something that even the most experienced or expert hairdresser could not achieve.
"Who should be first?"
You all ended up in your house, because you continued to maintain that house even though the boys told you it wasn't necessary, but you hadn't spent most of your life working to buy this property and now just abandon it so abruptly, no, you weren't going through that, plus it was always like a refuge of your own peace of mind, although in the majority there was always someone who interrupted you on your day off.
You observed that everyone had impatient eyes, watching as you internally debated who should be the first to go through your majestic hands and head caresses, taking one last look at everyone you made up your mind once and for all.
"I guess we can start with Ran, since I'm going to take longer with him, you go after Rin, the rest of you shouldn't take that long so you can choose the order, oh, without any shouting or throwing knives."
You warned before taking the brothers to the bathroom, aware that the last time you told them to choose the order in which you were going to dye them they ended up fighting to see who would be the first to receive your attention. You started working with Ran, massaging his head while applying the dye, it took you half an hour to finish them both as they had two different colors, which complicated the process, luckily the others only had one color to choose from.
You weren't surprised that the next one to enter the bathroom was Mikey, after all he was the boss, and if the brothers had been lucky enough to go before him, it was only because it was your decision and he respected it. You took your time with him, knowing that he enjoyed more than anyone the reassurance that your fingers gave him, running over his skin in a firm but gentle way, it was refreshing for him, the only place where he could let his guard down and relax to the point where he almost falls asleep
The next one was Takeomi, he was the fastest since he only had a small part of his hair, that didn't mean that he didn't feel satisfied by the simple fact of being with you alone. He was followed by an impatient Sanzu, who was always very restless despite being with you, as if he were the rebellious and hyperactive son of the group, then Mochizuki entered and finally Kokonoi.
You sighed once you kicked Koko out of the bathroom, leaving you to relieve yourself while cleaning the dye stains left on your hands, you wet your face to cool off, feeling tired after a long day.
"Guys… can you tell me what the hell are you doing with my school album again? I thought I had hidden it…"
You stared blankly at the group of men who decided to deliberately ignore your words, one of the few times they did, more focused on gossiping about your past as a student.
"Who is it? You have many photos with this person."
Sanzu pointed, you approached to check who was, a smile tugging at your lips upon seeing that person, the boys silently stared at your expression, feeling an internal anger against the stranger despite not knowing anything about that person.
"That was my first couple, although we didn't end up very well."
"Why?"
"Cheated on me with someone else." you immediately noticed how the tension increased in the room, rushing to continue talking "Oh, but we were both very inexperienced, it was the first relationship for both of us and we had many ups and downs."
"Why would you keep the photos of this person? Seems useless."
"Mikey… that's rude, I keep them because it's a memory of my life, although I only keep the good times."
They continued to look at more photos —some embarrassing— and judge the people you had the closest contact with in the past, Takeomi making a mental list of the few names you inadvertently let slip as you remembered between laughs and blushes of embarrassment your adolescent adventures
Although there was someone who annoyed them more than anyone, a girl, an old classmate who decided to mess with you for something quite common in pubescence, pimples and early physical changes, her harassment was only verbal, small teasing so that her group of friends would laugh, luckily nothing physical happened, mostly because one day you decided to stand up to it and set the record straight, since teachers don't do much, you decided that sometimes taking control of the situation wasn't a bad idea.
The girl was embarrassed years later by her attitude towards you and apologized when you met her as an adult, you simply forgave her because she was not and would not be anyone important in your life, there was no point in hating her when you could just forget her.
But the boys did not like this at all, they heard from your own mouth ─because they begged you to tell them the whole story─ that many nights you cried, self-conscious about your appearance, forcing you to do things that were dangerous to your health, both mental and physical, you didn't go to extremes, but without a doubt that year was a bad time that you prefer to bury in the depths of your mind.
Oh boy, Bonten was going to dig up the shit for you to clear your conscience, rather his own under the guise of 'doing it for you', what better way to get over someone than to just wipe them off the face of the Earth? It's a pleasant job for them anyway, especially if they're people who had hurt their mother in some way. You may have taken it as a joke, but the idea of hunting down your former bad classmates, or teachers, were not empty words, it was a promise.
"Hello, Kakucho? Didn't we have an important meeting today?"
"Ah, we can always do without one or two, so don't worry, isn't it better to spend the day with me than listen to us talk for hours about business?"
"I suppose you're right, hearing about your companies is more boring than working as a cashier."
You smiled tightening Kaku's grip on your hand, leading you through a pretty garden full of different flowers, completely oblivious to the reasons why you hadn't been allowed to attend today's meeting. You let go of his hand when he had to take a call, seizing the moment alone you bent down to see a lovely red rose, touching the soft petals of it, going down to the stem just feeling a little prick.
"Ow, it has very sharp spines."
You muttered, a drop of blood falling onto the green grass, staining it slightly red, you immediately felt someone pull your shoulder back, meeting you with a worried look that caused you to laugh.
"Let's get you a doctor."
"Kaku, it's just a cut, some water and a band-aid will suffice."
"Oxygenated water, we don't know if more people have touched that."
"Okay big baby…"
As you spent the afternoon nonchalantly by Kakucho's side, the rest of the boys personally took it upon themselves to give proper torture to that girl who once messed with your appearance, all taking turns slowly draining her blood, letting her life slowly and painfully escaped from her body.
"This teach you not to mess with mom, you stupid bitch."
Sanzu smiled sickly, taking the last turn to finish at once, the others watching in silence, their faces, hands and clothes stained with fresh blood, feelings of pure hatred manifested with blows, stabs, cuts… it was the price to pay for messing with someone she shouldn't, and she had to accept it. Sanzu grabbed the trusty pistol from him, without thinking twice, drowning out the agonized screams that did not stop ringing for four full clock hours, the last drops of blood spattering the walls.
BONUS!
"Where have you been? Arriving like this full of blood what the hell?"
Everyone ─except Kaku─ shrank from your angry gaze, ducking their heads like children scolded for doing something wrong, they already knew what they were up against when they arrived at your house completely covered in blood.
"Sorry mom."
They all answered in sync, avoiding your gaze at all costs so as not to feel worse, but they were too eager to see you after having disposed of yet another piece of garbage in the world.
"No 'sorry mom' do you know how difficult it is to get blood stains out of clothes? You're lucky I have my laundry hacks."
Chapter 5: The truth
Chapter Text
You fumbled with the wall for the light switch, your tired eyes playing with you and making you almost trip over a blanket that had been thrown on the floor.
You yawned stretching your back, you had been working on some files that Kokonoi asked you to correct, you fell asleep without dinner and your stomach decided to wake you up at this time of night.
Luckily you had some leftovers from today's lunch, everyone had come to eat despite it being your 'day off', but since they had been busy with work more than usual lately, they couldn't spend as much time with you as they would like, although that didn't stop them from hiding cameras in your apartment to check that everything was okay from time to time.
A knock at the door made you frown, remembering the first time you met Sanzu. You walked slowly, expecting to run into him, or even one of the Haitani brothers who ran brothels near the area, it wouldn't be the first time they've come home drunk after a good night.
When you opened it, confusion flooded your face, there was no one there, not a note, nothing, you thought that maybe you were still too sleepy and you had hallucinated, or maybe it was some late-night teenager making a joke. You shrugged shutting to go back to your dinner, but before you knew it or could make a move something hit you in the back of the neck, knocking you unconscious, the last thing you saw was a few blurry faces, but none you knew in the slightest.
Panic, panic was the first thing Mochizuki experienced when he saw the recordings from the cameras installed in your house. He had to do a checkup the next morning and just seeing how careless they had been to let that trash kidnap you made his thoughts turn to disgust and guilt.
Not even five minutes after seeing that, all the executives were gathered in their meeting room, no matter where they were, they all got there instantly upon answering Mochi's call.
"And if I pause right here..." Mochi stopped the video just as two men lifted your unconscious body "this guy here, on his neck, his tattoo is from another band."
"Those bastards have been giving us so much trouble lately, I'm looking forward to seeing blood drain from their brains."
Sanzu slammed both hands on the table, completely irritated and concerned for your well-being, he was controlling his urge to go looking for you only because Mikey had remained silent with a blank stare throughout the entire meeting.
The Haitani brothers were already warming up to fight, Takeomi was mobilizing some men to search your apartment for clues while Koko and Kakucho were trying to find where your chip signal was. Yes, although unknown to you, they decided to insert a tracking chip into you a while ago just to know where you were when they couldn't be around.
The signal was bad, either because you were too far away from their location or because you were somewhere underground, which didn't help much. They were all probably on the verge of hysteria, the search wasn't going fast enough as they'd like and it only made their mood worse.
It took at least five days for them to come up with any solid leads to your whereabouts, the worst five days of their existence, the poor people or employees who will come across any of them probably aren't alive anymore. Mikey locked himself in and refused to come out unless they heard from you, he barely ate and his sleep schedule got even worse.
"Are you sure it's there?"
"Yes, several of our men have seen these guys with the same tattoo come and go, it doesn't appear to be their central base but it's hidden enough to carry out kidnappings."
Takeomi pointed to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, everyone mobilized to go there immediately, even Mikey and Kokonoi, who didn't usually get their hands dirty with this kind of work, decided to go.
As for you... it was confusing the first day you woke up, the feeling of a gun pointed at your head became familiar as did the ropes on your wrists and ankles. Your reaction upon seeing the criminals was to release an inaudible sigh, without fear or surprise, your state was neutral.
You knew it, you knew that sooner or later this was going to happen, as much as your guys will try to hide you from problems with other mafias, there are always some leaks, and playing with loved ones from enemy gangs is the easiest card to play to threaten. Although in this case they didn't even have time to issue a threat to Bonten when they had already been threatened by your kidnapping.
The following days were threats to your people to try to get information that could put Bonten in trouble, as well as planning to move to another of their hideouts, however you were unaware of most of the things that Bonten did, although you were their secretary, you were only in charge of planning schedules and correcting some superficial reports from Kokonoi, you were not much help to these scoundrels.
"Damn! I don't understand how they could have protected you so much if you're just a useless old woman, you're useless! Why the hell do those guys hold you in such high esteem...?"
In the outburst of anger as he took it out on you, the sound of his hand slamming into your cheek sounded as the door above fell off its hinges.
"Boss, we have a prob-!"
The eye of the man who was coming down the stairs was blown out thanks to a bullet, landing right between your feet, you closed your eyes and, no matter if you don't believe in any god or anything, you prayed, not for you, but for what all these people did not suffer such a painful death.
You knew what Bonten men were capable of, at first you thought you were exaggerating, but that was the truth and at times, it terrified you. You were terrified to think of all the lives that left this world just because of you, your boys were more than gangsters, more than just criminals, they were monsters looking for any excuse to kill, and you were that excuse.
You knew that there was nothing in this world that would make you reverse time to the point of not having helped that drunk guy at the door of your house, you knew that nothing would make all those men leave your side because of showing your kindness, you knew that no kind of therapy could help such rotten minds at this point, so you could only swallow, as scared as you were, as much as your legs trembled, you had chosen this path yourself and you had to accept it.
"Mom..."
Your breath quickened slightly as you felt Sanzu's cold hand resting on your cheek, you slowly opened your eyes to see pure relief reflected in his, ignoring the bloodstains on his clothes and face, and even ignoring the blood he was leaving on your face, you smiled at him.
"I'm fine guys, I'm… fine."
You had to swallow and avoid getting dizzy from the smell of oxide in the place, your memories are blurry when you try to remember when you left there, you remember seeing many practically mutilated bodies, a river of blood and many arms holding your body as if you were going to disintegrate at that precise moment.
After you were rescued, you spent at least two days in a hospital at Kokonoi's request to see that you didn't have any injuries, everyone turned to you with questions about how you were doing, especially mentally.
It became suffocating, the amount of attention you received after that event, made you understand that, from now on, you could not have a single moment for yourself, no matter the job, the time or the place, you will always have one of them on top of you to keep an eye on you.
It doesn't matter if you complain, the truth, which you had to accept once again, is that nothing but death could separate you from these men, because they were not willing to let you go, ever. But the worst of all is that you accepted it, you accepted your fate, a fate that was sealed a long time ago, you accepted that you lived with monsters, that you helped and treated horrible people like completely sane people, but, an ordinary person like you, no could change anything.
"How long until the cake is ready?"
"Don't be impatient Rin, it's only been in the oven for five minutes."
"That's already a long time..."
"Shut up, you're always so impatient!"
"Are you looking for a fight!?"
"Kakucho, could you...?"
A nod from him made you sigh in relief, breaking up the Haitani brothers' fight as you sat at the table with the others who were talking about random topics. You stared into your teacup, your blank stare imagining imaginary scenes of another lifestyle in the steaming liquid.
"Are you ok? You seem distracted."
You looked at Kokonoi, keeping your gaze off without focusing on his face, you nodded with a slight smile when you saw that everyone had shut up to look at you.
"Yeah, I just didn't sleep well today."
"We'll buy a new bed then."
"I did not mean that..."
And like many things in your current life, your opinion was thrown away just to bring you more 'comfort'. You had no power and that was the absolute truth, nothing could change at this point.