Yakuza!!!

Chapter 8

In the pov of Mei

When I was a child, my family had nothing.

My biological father died soon after my mother gave birth to me. So I never knew him, but he was pure Japanese like my mom. My mother didn't have a reason to care about that. At least not before I was two years old.

That was when the yakuza took control of the country, two years after my father's death. My mother had remarried a year before that, so she didn't know the consequences after the yakuza took control.

My new father was a half. Half Korean, to be exact, didn't have an education or a job. Mother had always been more of a housewife but had a secretary's education and worked a full day as such.

I was put in kindergarten as soon as I was old enough and rarely saw my mother. Things had gotten slightly better after mom fell in love with dad, and she remarried, but things got worse again as the yakuza took over.

As the civil codes came to use, my mother's remarrying suddenly turned into a bad thing.

Dad was only a half, so he couldn't get higher than three, and even that was impossible as he didn't have a good job.

Dad was only given code two, and mom, even though she was pure Japanese, could only get two as well as she had married a half.

I, of course, got the same code as I was registered as their child.

We barely managed to afford food, and mother and father worked themselves to the bones to afford my education.

They did anything they needed to do to secure me a better future.

And I did anything in my power to help mom and dad, even though that meant studying like crazy.

I never played or spent time with the kids my age not until I was eight.

I was heavily bullied in school.

I was smart and got good grades. 

But I was code 2. 

A worm, a word they used to describe me. 

But I didn't care. I didn't have time to care.

No matter how many times they stole my shoes or filled them with sharp objects.

No matter how many times I was asked to die or my stuff was destroyed.

No matter how many times I was hit and kicked.

I simply learned my lesson, and next time the same trick wouldn't work on me. I hated my life, but the drive to help the parents that worked so hard for me was overpowering.

I didn't let anyone pull me down, and by the time I was eight, I had utterly matured away from all that could be called childish.

I had completely stopped caring about the people my age.

Well, that was until I met him.

I was sitting in a park collecting my stuff from the ground. Property that my classmates had taken here.

I put them back in my bag as he kneeled next to me and helped me.

He was around two years older and had a kind face and messy brownish hair.

He looked at me smiling lightly, and you could clearly see he was used to smiling.

He was like the sun, even though his face was filled with concern.

"You being bullied?" He asked, looking at me slightly frowningly.

I didn't say anything at first but then raised my head.

"You shouldn't be near me. I'm code 2." I said in a matter-of-fact tone, like simply being code two justified the way others acted towards me.

He just smiled.

"Then you aren't full? Just like me. I'm half Chinese. I never met my father, though. Ah! My name is Hamada Chou. Nice to meet you." His face spread into a smile, and he gave his hand to me.

I took it, frowning slightly.

"Ichinose Mei. and I am full, but my stepdad is half, so my code was also revoked. It's complicated."

He smiled with a slight hint of warmness in his eyes.

"But that's a good thing. If you are full, you can be anything. Even an honorary citizen if you just work hard enough."

That was the first time I thought about it.

If a person reaches code five, their family, blood or not, is eligible for code four. It is the only way to improve your standing as a stepchild of a half.

I could help mom and dad.

This was the first time I actually understood this.

I had just studied because mom told me to study. 

After this meeting, I met Chou really often.

I learned that his mother was a famous designer that had gotten pregnant with Chou while on a trip to China.

She never told him who his father was.

Her mother was code 4. She used to be five, but her code was lowered by one after getting pregnant and receiving a half. Chou was code three until he came of age, and after that, his code would drop to 2 if he didn't have high enough education.

They still lived comfortably. That was a testament to his mother's high position in society—one of the many benefits of being a code 5. Even a big mistake like getting pregnant to a foreigner still allowed you to live in relative luxury.

Chou also studied martial arts and at one point started teaching me to protect myself against my bullies.

He was the closest I had to a friend in my life.

After we had known each other for a while, he started calling me Meichi.

I wouldn't say I liked the nickname. It was too conspicuous.

When I finally reached the age of 18 and graduated high school, I applied for medical school and got in on my first try. I studied hard.

After graduation, I received my new civil code. 

5.

I did the paperwork and upgraded my parent's codes as well.

That was the most significant achievement in my life, and I still continue to work my hardest to protect the family that raised me even though it was so hard for them.

I would do anything for them.

Even be imprisoned for life as long as my parents are safe, but marriage is too much. Marriage to him is too much.

That was the only thing my parents were keen on protecting.

I would marry someone I love. 

Not to save my family.