Ouran High School Mafia Club

20 - This is Our Ouran Fair - Part 2

Koray

"I don't have to answer you, Koray, you are my daughter. It is not the other way around!" My mother hissed at me from the bench she was perched on in the school's grounds.

We were far away from the school when I confronted my mother about her affair with Mr Ootori. She blew cigarette smoke into the opposite direction, fiddling with the golden family heirloom lighter. The Dragon's symbol on it flickered in the sunlight, reflecting a rose gold colour from the cherry blossoms all around us.

"I think I deserve to know what my own mother is doing behind our backs. I'm sure father wouldn't be happy with what I've learned."

"We allowed ourselves affairs," she shrugged, "Keep them hushed so people think we're rock solid. They mean nothing really."

That didn't surprise me in the least. My parents were a dynamic duo, but definitely not in the parent or romance department. They were just good at the mafia together.

"If its supposed to mean nothing then why is it with one of the most powerful business men in Japan?!" It took me seconds before the cogs in my started turning and clicking. "It's for business isn't it?" I asked her, sitting beside her on the bench, careful to leave a generous space between us.

She nodded. "How do you think I got you off the hook killing the son of the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia? Ootori owns hospitals and police, I gave him money to finance his business in return. The affair is really to keep him closer, gives me leverage in case anyone catches on and we have to draw people off our scent. Although, Ootori thinks the whole act is real." She scoffed, "As if I'd give anything real to him."

"You're doing this because I killed that guy?" I pushed my mane of hair out of my face as she re-applied her blood red lipstick.

"No, Koray, I do it for the entire mafia. Its business," She shrugged once more but clearly something was getting to her. Her cigarette was shaking, which meant this matter was extremely close to her. I had never seen my mother seem vulnerable before. "Being able to use his private hospital means - no questions, being able to use his private force means - no questions. I give him myself and my money so we can survive without the law questioning us every time we get called out by our rivals. If there's a job to do you do it yourself."

I looked at her with a blank expression, not believing how open she was being with me.

"Koray, I'm making an uncomfortable sacrifice for our family, just like your brother had," she blew more smoke into my face, "He was his father's son, unable to accept the things we Rikimaru women have to do. Proving yourself as a woman in this family means making a sacrifice, Koray, whether you're willing or not." She held one arm around herself as if cold.

I looked at my mother with new eyes. This moment was the only time in my entire life that my mother seemed human. She looked to the ground where I saw her tapping her foot soundlessly, something I did when anxious. I guessed for her this was a terrible act, even if she pretended to enjoy it. She had to commit these violating acts to keep us all safe. Everything she did was for the mafia, she couldn't let any of us down. And I guessed she felt like she let my brother down. She blew out a last bout of smoke before stumping out her lipstick stained cigarette and standing up.

"Mother," I said into the silence, "What should I do, then, to prove myself?" She looked at me as if I was a baby talking for the first time, then she smiled an icy smile and I knew her quick moment of humanity was over.

That's when she took me by the arm and we got the limo home. We talked for ages in the mafia headquarters about my next steps and what I had to do. She told me exactly what to train for, contacted other leaders to start me off with meetings and missions . She then she decided that I needed to change the way I looked in order to gain the right kind of respect.

"No more scruffy clothes and messy attitudes," she had said, "you have to look the part. And going to this ball is the best way for you to show you can be professional and in sync with the upper class as well as getting your hands dirty."