The Chairman's Girlfriend (REVISED)

Epilogue 🦋

Artwork above commissioned by PepperCatArt on Twitter.

Life is never a certainty for anybody. You knew that better than anyone else. You'd seen your loved one get shot, drown, get into fights. You knew your life changed the moment he made a deal with you. You knew you were ruined. And you didn't mean to fall in love with his personality. But you did because of how magnetic it was. Every time he was hurt you felt it in your body as if it was your existence falling to pieces.

He did too. He knew the moment you agreed that it wasn't about him anymore. As selfish as he'd been, it wasn't just about him. It wasn't his story any more. It was both of yours. He'd attracted you in such an amazing way, in a way that nobody had ever been before. The day you almost drowned Kiryu felt it in against his own body when you hit the water. He was intertwined with all your pieces.

Then you got pregnant.

And things came to ahead for both of you. The Chairmanship brought so much for you both but was ready to take just as much. It was a very generous seat but also a selfish one. It could snatch away everything you'd ever loved in an instant. It tried. It almost succeeded. Kiryu getting shot, you getting kidnapped by Shindo and finally you almost drowning.

Living in Okinawa for the last few months made you both realise that being together was truly beautiful. A life in Okinawa was exactly what you needed. The pair of you. You both bonded in so many different ways and you saw an entirely new light to Kiryu. With some money you both managed to get married because you didn't want to be unwed when your baby was born. The marriage was witnessed by all the children at the orphanage. In these last few months you also found out the gender of your child. It was a boy. You both celebrated by drinking simple lemonades and eating mochi.

You both welcomed the new year together and spent a good amount of time with the children doing so. Counting your blessings, feeling grateful for the fact that you both could give to such beautiful souls. It was a joyous celebration, you lit fireworks and spent time on the beach making sandcastles to make your mark on your new home. The sky looked particularly colourful that night and you felt your heart swell with such happiness.

Then one dull & dark day in February you felt a tightening feeling across your stomach and back. You were asleep at the time and it was enough to cause you to stir. Then it happened again after nearly 45 minutes. Gently you nudged Kiryu to advise him that you'd started labour. With it being his first baby, he didn't really know what to do. But he remained calm & packed your delivery bag while you tried to continue sleeping.

Whilst you'd spent months preparing for the birth, the actual truth was that you felt your hadn't prepared enough. It was exhausting having to wait for the contractions to get closer. When they did get close enough the next morning you both travelled down to the hospital in an ambulance to the birth home. And while it was the middle of the day & Kiryu was sat in the arm chair next to your bed, you both were wide awake and staring into nothing.

You were told how important it was to eat, so you did. Ate whatever you could, ate all of it. Mainly so you could retain your energy when pushing and delivering. You couldn't wait to meet your baby. But the labour was slow progressing. So got took a small walk around your room to try and keep things going.

Then you felt the urge to push. Kiryu helped you back down to the bed but you felt more comfortable standing up and with your arms holding the bed. You were encouraged to do what you felt comfortable with. And when your delivery doctor came in you wasted no time in pushing this baby out. He encouraged you to push and work on your breathing while Kiryu held your hand. Within minutes you were laying on the bed again.

You'll never forget the pain you felt during the labour and delivery. It was exhausting and incredibly terrifying that your body could withstand such a high unit of pain and stress. You could faintly hear voices in the room but couldn't exactly describe who they were. The entire room was scurrying around but the only constant was Kiryu who kept holding your hand and letting your squeeze him as tight as you physically wanted. Small words of encourage also helped. You can do it. Keep pushing. You're almost there. I'm so grateful for you. I'm so lucky. You're so strong. You've done it!

Hearing those cries was every parents relief because the baby was born properly. Your boy was wrapped in a blanket with a small bobble hat on his head and handed to you for skinship. He was a lot bigger than you thought, the doctor commented on how big he was. Not fat, just tall and heavy. Exactly like your midwife in Tokyo had said he would be.

What made everything better for you was Kiryu unbuttoning his skirt and letting his boy rest against his chest. It was a picture from heaven that only you were lucky enough to see. Skinship was the term for bonding through physical contact. Whether it be a couple, friends, or even in an intimate scenario like this one. What surprised you was how gentle this non gentle man could be. You'd truly seen the coin flip on itself. This man who'd beaten people up was now incredibly gentle to his own children.

Adjusting back to normal life was harder than you thought. It was so demanding and physically taxing. While looking after your son you had so many other things to do. But Kiryu urged you to rest while he did chores. He forced you to take the weight from your feet and focus on letting your body readjust to its normal state after being pregnant. You often found yourself multitasking. When one of the kids came to you asking for homework help, you wouldn't stop breastfeeding your baby. You'd multitask. You were very good at it.

The children adored this newborn baby. And you apologised to all the children for having to give all of your attention to this newborn. But when you explained why they were appeased and more than happy to help you. Delivering water, snacks, holding the baby occasionally, learning how to change nappies. It was a bonding experience for your entire family.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into months. You watched this child grow, you nurtured your little baby into growing strong enough that he began crawling on his own. It had also become a whole year since you both took over the orphanage and had started a new family. Things couldn't have been going better for you both.

Then one day you were sat outside with your baby crawling around and Kiryu cutting up logs shirtless. You cat called him a few times and he brushed you off as being silly. He only stopped and put the axe down when he saw his son by his feet. Proceeding to pick him up and put him over his shoulder.

Then, a letter came hand delivered by 2 young men in a car. They called out to Kiryu but you were too far away to listen to what was being said. Voices were being raised and Kiryu was growing angry. When you went to listen, they'd driven off into the dust.

"What is it, Kazuma?" You asked in concern, taking the baby from him.

"An eviction notice from the Ryudo family." Kiryu frowned and continuing to read the notice.