𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐓𝐄𝐃 | 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴

III - invisible

"Requests that still need to be processed get marked and sorted into that pile over there for the boss to review himself. Other things like business receipts get filed away, and the ones we've already rejected are taken to be shredded," Yuki explained. "Does that make sense so far?"

You nodded once. "Seems simple enough. I guess I'm just worried I might accidentally throw out some important papers."

"It's fine," he chuckled. "Anything you're not sure about, you can just ask me. I don't expect all of this to come naturally right from the start, but you'll get used to it eventually. I know some yakuza groups get a bad rep, but most of what we do isn't all that exciting, really."

"Right..."

Considering the fact that you'd been kidnapped right after your mother's funeral, you would say that he was probably underselling it quite a bit.

"In any case, I'll always be here to help," he smiled, lightly patting you on the shoulder. "I'm a fairly new member myself, so we're kind of in the same boat. We should look out for each other."

"I'm not exactly a member," you replied grimly. "Ryu brought me here to work off my father's debt."

"Oh, uh... well I sort of figured that there was a catch. We don't exactly have any other women working in the offices, but for the time being, we're still coworkers, aren't we?"

"There are still other women that are part of the yakuza?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Unofficially, yes."

"Meaning...?"

"Wives or girlfriends of the members, or other family members with special connections. There's also the women that get put to work, um, elsewhere."

"Like on the streets," you swallowed, remembering all-too well what Ryu had threatened you with just last night.

"Not always. They're usually taken care of pretty well. But you're right that a lot of their business isn't exactly legal."

Yuki offered you a sympathetic smile. It didn't matter how nicely he tried to put it, the fact of the matter was that they were being forced to sell their bodies in order to fund the yakuza's activities. Perhaps he was even telling the truth. Perhaps some of those women were content with their jobs, their lodgings, and knowing that they'd be under the group's protection. But that could never be you. Which is why you were determined to do everything in your power so that it wouldn't come to that.

"Here," Yuki said, trying to change the subject. He handed you a large stack of papers. "Start with these ones for now. Remember, if there's anything you're struggling with, I'll be right over here to answer your questions."

He smiled one last time and sat down at the desk just beside yours. You appreciated the fact that he was at least treating you with some respect. Even now as you tried to bury yourself in work, you just couldn't seem to avoid the scathing looks you kept getting from all around the room. They seemed outright disgusted that you were sharing the same space as them. They were probably even wondering why you were still alive, given that you had absolutely no money to your name.

Whatever. Let them gawk. Your situation had certainly taken a turn for the worse, but at the end of the day, nothing had changed. Just like everyone else in this world, you were going to do your best to survive.

At first, the process was quite slow. You were being as careful as possible to make sure that you didn't mess up any of the filing or throw away something that would be important later on. Yuki was very kind and patient and was there to lend a helping hand whenever you needed it. Perhaps it was because you were so immersed in your task, but time started passing much faster than you'd expected, and before long, you'd actually gotten the hang of things.