Their New Future | BOOK 2 OF THE ANOMALY SAGA

CHAPTER 4

[ Date: One week after Ryū's recovery. Time: 9:27am. Location: The Kogoshi Clan HQ, Osaka. ]

"Are you sure about this, Ryū-san?" Jiro asked, skilfully tying the obi around Ryū's waist as they tightly gripped onto the sides of the bed frame to stop the shaking of their legs, barely able to keep upright.

An intricate, silk organza jacket complimented their wide shoulders, a pair of well-fitted jeans and sturdy combat boots alongside. Their legs fatigued and buckled underneath them, having enough of standing, the Lieutenant advisor just barely catching them before they injured themself. They groaned, tucking their very overgrown mullet behind their ears in frustration.

"I don't have much of a choice. They don't deserve to be left in the dark, they're my family as much as I am theirs." Ryū whispered, grimacing as they tried to adjust their footing, opting to sit on the bed frame instead.

It had been a week but their condition hadn't improved. Ryū could barely walk without an aide and without the feeling in their left leg, they would just stumble over their feet. They were embarrassed and humiliated.

Their muscles refused to recover after being in a coma for 14 months no matter what they tried.

They were useless.

They had to ask their father to dig through their old stuff and found an experimental prosthesis they developed. It was a carbon fiber build, several small LED's and even though it had exposed mechanisms it was refined, ignoring the occasional puff of air it released from the shoulder, fatigued by the slightest movement. A mechanical leg brace sat on their left leg, whirring whenever they moved it to lessen the load on the muscles. It did the job, but they didn't have the balance.

"The meeting is in an hour. The car is already outside and I've hand selected the personnel. You'll be safe." They stayed quiet. He nodded to himself, muttering under his breath and left the hotel room to give them some space as they stumbled into the bathroom, gripping the end of the sink as the marble underneath cracked.

The smell of coffee and strong cologne drifted through the bathroom from the kitchen, grounding the tired yakuza back to reality.

Ryū's flesh hand gripped their thigh, biting back the urge to sob. Their nails dug further in. They couldn't even feel it. They couldn't even feel their skin. They stared at their own reflection, looking at it as if they were looking a stranger. It looked wrong.  They looked wrong.

They let out a guttural scream before their fist collided with the mirror, smashing it into shards as pieces fell into the sink, followed by slow droplets of blood. Their body shook, resting their hand on their eyebrows as their tears were swallowed, falling against the wall behind them.

"Get yourself together, Kurokawa... Stop being a failure." With a deep breath, they gathered their strength and lifted themself with shaky legs, desperately clutching onto the crutches under their arms as they tried to find their footing before making their way to the entrance. Ryū leaned against the wall as the growing fatigue quickly overwhelmed them.

"...Jiro!"

Within a couple seconds, he was ready to escort Ryū out of the building and into the luxurious car that was waiting for them. He sent them a concerned look to which was quickly brushed off, clearly feeling humiliated. Their cold personality had returned a couple days after they woke up, the façade only faltering around their son. Akane was also receiving the cold treatment, they wouldn't or rather, couldn't look at her in the eyes.