The Yakuza's flower

The aftermath

Kozue's POV

I watched in horror as Ume's body flew backward—out the window.

She got caught in the crossfire.

Glass rained down like frozen daggers.

My scream tore through the room.
"UME!!"

Hanayama moved before I could blink.

I had never seen him move that fast.

He lunged, arm outstretched—his massive frame cutting through the shards of broken glass, reaching—

But he was too late.

Their fingers touched for a fleeting second. A single heartbeat.

Then she was falling.

His face twisted into something I'd never seen before.
Not rage.
Not pain.
Something worse.
Fear.

I ran forward without thinking, grabbing the jagged edge of the shattered window to look down—

And my stomach dropped.

She wasn't falling alone.

The man Hanayama had thrown—Mateo, she'd called him—was plummeting with her.

They hit a car below.

The sound hit a moment later.

BOOM.

The impact crumpled the roof inward, glass exploding from the windows.

But he'd done it—he'd shielded her.

I saw the way his body twisted at the last second, wrapping around her, taking the worst of it.

The force sent a shockwave through the street. Alarms blared. Smoke curled from the wreckage. People screamed.

I couldn't breathe. My nails dug into the window frame.

Then—

"KOZUE!!"

Baki's voice slammed into me. He yanked me back from the window, but I shoved him off.

We both stared down at the wreckage.

Ume...
She wasn't moving.

A group of men rushed in
Mateo's men...

They didn't go to her.

They went to Mateo.

Checked him. Pulled him from the car.

And pushed Ume off of him like she was debris.

They left her.

No one checked her pulse. No one checked if she was breathing.
They just took her abductor—and left her behind.

"I have to get to her!" I choked as I looked back to baki.

I ran.

I didn't look back. I didn't know if Hanayama was behind us—or still frozen in that moment she fell.

I dialed 911 with trembling hands, heart racing.

I stayed on the line. Told them where we were. Told them what happened.

After that

I ran with baki downstairs

By the time we hit the ground floor, chaos had erupted outside.

The car—

People were shouting, pointing, backing away from the wreckage—but all I could see was her.