Don't cry over spilt blood (English Version)

Chapter 2: A Million Regrets

«Kurogane, you are truly an incredible man. You always manage to carry out your plans!» Yuuma said, complimenting the Sokaiya. Yuuma was now an ex-yakuza. He didn't want to have anything to do with that dirty and rotten world that it had become. It no longer made sense to stay in a family where their kyodai (non-blood brothers) would do nothing to protect each other and where they would only think about their own accounts. The only member who acted alone was Kurogane Dayu, Sokaiya of the Kawaguchi family.

«You don't need to thank me.» Kurogane replied. «It's my duty, after all.» he continued while in his hands he was crumpling a piece of paper that he threw into the nearest trash can in the office.

«How do you...continue?» Yuuma asked in an almost strangled voice. The air of the office had suddenly become tenser and it took a while before Yuuma received an answer.

Kurogane grabbed the first pen that he found in front of him, sitting on his desk, starting to fill out papers allegedly concerning last-minute criminal affairs.

«How can I continue? Are you afraid that I will reveal the fact that you still have contact with the yakuza, Yuuma?» replied Dayu dryly, with another question. Yuuma clenched his hand into a fist, clenching his teeth:

«I have to admit it, it's always a risk to have intercourse like that even though I'm now a normal civilian." he sighed, knowing that what he had been doing for a year now could have done serious damage to his repentant life.

«Despite this, I have always wondered, how a person as loyal to the organization as you can want to continue this dirty work. Extend money by blackmailing honest people..." He sighed even harder as if he wanted to emphasize the gravity of his reckless actions.

«Do you want to talk to me about honesty, Yuuma? Are you joking? I have kids to feed and the only way to protect them is to humiliate companies and enemies with my methods. I swore fidelity, unlike you. " the Sokaiya soured, taking his briefcase. Yuuma's fear and shame didn't allow him to open his mouth. He tore off the form he had just finished writing, leaving it on the desk. He got up from his chair and started walking briskly towards the exit of the office. He reached for the doorknob, throwing it open as if in a hurry.

«The other criminals hate the Sokaiyas.» Yuuma hissed, who had remained in the same position as before, blocking Kurogane's words.

«Organizations keep an eye on every shareholder meeting you attend. As soon as a Sokaiya is hired, his calling card is practically out of the blue. You are criminally liable and despite this you continue to do what you do, not being afraid of anything! What doesn't stop you? " he screamed in despair as if it were the last time he would see him again. Kurogane, without hesitation, slammed the office door, leaving Yuuma's question pending.

Dead silence was breathed at that moment: the offices were completely deserted and Yuuma was left alone.

Helpless and unable to argue with his ex-colleague, he walked over to Dayu's desk. On the desk he could distinguish a pencil holder, piles of forms, and some mobile devices: there was not only a cellphone but four, also stacked near the ends of the table. He used those devices as secure bridges to communicate with people from other organizations, sometimes even rival ones. Yuuma decided to take the cell phone on top of the pile: the latter remained a signal that it was moving. There was no question: it was a way to locate the transceiver she is carrying in her pocket. In the middle of the table was the torn sheet that Kurogane had left. Yuuma could not help but peek: knowing what his colleague was doing might bring him to him. He did not know why he wanted to follow him so much: the desire to know how he carried out his work was overwhelming, but above all, he wanted to protect the person he admired.

"Sometimes he's unbearable, but I know it's not. He has a family and I know he doesn't want to lose it. He especially cares about the world of the Yakuza, a world that no longer belongs to me." Yuuma mulled as he picked up the paper from the desk. The paper was about his latest work to be completed by the end of the month.

"Damaging the reputation of the Katou family." these were the words that appeared on Kurogane's contract. Yuuma attempted to search in his mind, trying to rummage through the memories of his brain if he had ever heard that surname before. He thought about it for a long time and yet he had the information about the Katou family right on the tip of his tongue.

It was just when he was caught by a moment of distraction outside the office window that it all came back to his mind: just outside the structure there was a shop displaying the latest generation TVs and at that moment they were broadcasting the latest news. : "Ryobe Katou, has just acquired, after long negotiations, Matsuda Holdings for a total of one hundred million yen. Matsuda Holdings shareholders were completely blown away by this new change! ".

It was obvious: the Katou family had come under the crosshairs of Kurogane, one of the worst (or best) Sokaiya in the Tokyo prefecture. This sudden change of ownership caused such a stir in the Japanese economy world that most of the prefectural news programs began to talk about it.

Yuuma's curiosity did nothing but feed: at that moment he wanted to show Dayu that he was truly capable of working and having a passion as ardent as his. He walked over to the basket and grabbed the crumpled paper. "What must have led Kurogane to wrinkle such a contract? What would be the problem? " he thought as he tried to fix the battered sheet. It felt more like a letter than a real contract from a Sokaiya.

As soon as he read the first words, many questions were answered. Many insecurities were given certainties.

Yuuma gasped and rubbed her eyes to see if what he was reading was some kind of absurd dream or if it really was reality:

"The second daughter of Ryobe Katou's family is the key to our success. The father has to be incarcerated somehow. The boss has decided that you will have to abuse her and find a way to blame the father for all this: follow the orders or you know how it will turn out. "

[...]

The sunset had now come to an end and the only thing to light up Kurogane's battered head was Yuuma's torch, who had come to help him: the man seemed to show no signs of life. Yuuma squatted, kneeling on the ground in order to better inspect the wounds. He grabbed the transceiver from his pocket, the device that allowed Yuuma to track Kurogane's location. With his right hand, he supported the injured man's chin, moving his face to the right and left to see if the scars were really bad: you could very well see that the bruises had been caused by a blunt weapon. With his thumb, he pinched one of the upper eyelids, lifting it slightly, and then pointed the flashlight at the pupil: he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it move: Kurogane still had a chance to survive. Despite this, he had suffered several damages to the head, and it was evident: a large patch of blood spread like an oil stain all over the left side of his face.

"Sometimes, to protect something or someone, you have to give up something else." Yuuma sighed, aware that the time left in Kurogane was short. "If you really did, you were such a bastard." he mulled, with tears in his eyes, incredulous that a person who seemed to have a good heart could turn into such a monster.

"Have you really come this far? For what?" Yuuma continued to be interrogated as he somehow tried to cure the bleeding with multiple bandages. He tied a very tight bandage to the top of his head and then others to the other affected spots.

He couldn't hold back his emotions and Yuuma burst into tears over Kurogane's shabby body. He wrapped his arms around his body as if in a hug.

"I know you had your motives. In fact, I know for a fact that you are an intelligent person. You would never have committed such a thing even if by order of the boss ... right? " he continued to wonder, doubting his thoughts more and more about him and about the person he had come to know over time, but that he didn't really know if from that moment on he would see her more as before. With a hand under his back and under his knees and with a little effort, Yuuma was able to lift the man. With a slow pace and tears still streaming down his face, he began to walk towards the street, leading him to the car that would return him to headquarters.