The Yakuza's flower

Are we whole again?

Hanayama's POV

I looked at her when she told me I wasn't going to get rid of her.

I couldn't have agreed more. If anything, I didn't want to.

She was in my arms, her body pressed against mine, and I couldn't stop looking at her.
I took in everything, the curve of her face, the way her eyes softened when they met mine.

It had been too long since I held her like this.

The day we made up, we stayed together until nightfall. The hours slipped by, but I didn't care. Just having her near was enough.

"Kaoru... I have to go," she said softly, her voice tugging at me in a way nothing else could.

"Stay tonight," I told her, the words rough but certain.

Her eyes wavered. "...I can't. Prince needs me home."

I knew she was right. Her boy always came first. Still, something in me clenched tight, refusing to let her slip away so easily again.

"You both can stay here," I told her, low and steady.

She giggled as I brushed a strand of hair from her face. "You're cute. But you don't have a baby bed or any essentials. Plus... why don't we take things... slow?"

I watched her, amusement flickering across her features the same stubborn glint I knew too well.

"Slow?" I rumbled, a corner of my mouth twitching.

"Yes... If I'm being honest, I'm still a little upset about the Sayaka situation," she said, looking away.

So she's mad at me?

I shifted closer, letting my hand brush her cheek lightly. "I get it," I said, low, rough. A bit disappointed she couldn't stay—but respect was all I wanted to give her.

⸻

When she finally left, I couldn't stand the quiet.

I took her home, then didn't waste a second when I got back to mine. I called Kizaki and had him convert one of the guest rooms into a proper baby room—crib, changing table, blankets, everything a kid could need.

It wasn't just about comfort. It was about showing her that she and Prince had a place here.

⸻

Ume's POV

A couple of months have gone by, and things are... better.

Not perfect..nothing about us ever is but better.

Hanayama and I are together again. Not in the sneaky, secret way anymore. We're trying. Really trying.

I told myself I wouldn't forgive him so easily after the whole Sayaka mess. A part of me is still mad, still bruised by the memory of it. But Hanayama has this way of showing up with flowers I didn't ask for, or little gifts that don't make sense until they're sitting in my hands. Rough and thoughtless-looking on the outside, but always something that fits me perfectly.

He's still a man built for violence—he wears his new scars like second skin but with me and Prince, he's gentle. Prince reaches for him without hesitation, and Hanayama bends in ways no one else gets to see.

He's gone back to his old lifestyle of fighting, which really worries me but Hanayama and I have a rule: I support his fights, his choices, as long as he comes back to me at the end of the day. That's all I ask.

Winner or loser, I just want him safe.

Anyway—

Life has shifted in other ways too. My grandmother finally decided to move out to the countryside with her sister. She left me everything the house, the café.