Yakuza Boy: Or the Man with Painted Flesh (~Unedited~)

Chapter 11

(Yumiro in the picture)

I stared at the drip connected to my arm and squirmed under the man's intense gaze. My headaches were gone and the pain in my stomach had greatly subsided.

The man from earlier was slipping a new shirt on and he never took his eyes off of me.

I was uncomfortable but only because I had no idea who he was.  Somebody must have been watching over me because if this man had ill intentions, I wouldn't have been any match for him. He buttoned his shirt up quickly and I tensed when he approached the bed, checking the needle in my arm.

He fiddled with a few things before turning away. I was confined to my bed and although it was comfortable... my bladder was full.

"Relax... If I wanted you dead, I would've snapped your neck on the way in. I am Yumiro... Yuji's paying me a large sum of money to take care of you. Don't give me trouble."
He spoke in a deep, commanding voice.

I involuntarily rolled my eyes at the thought of Yuji. Well, there went my plan to gain an ally.

"I have to use the bathroom.."
I squeaked and sat up the best I could. My joints popped, removing the tension of my limbs little by little.

Yumiro helped me out of bed carefully, wrapping a strong arm around my back and walking slowly. The journey was long but none the less rewarding. I slid the door open and approached the bathroom's only mirror, grimacing at my appearance. The bags under my eyes had bags of their own and dried spit was crusted along both corners of my mouth.
My face was starting to develop an uneven tone around my jawline and my fingers traced blackheads and course skin.

A nasty odor filled my nose and I lifted my arms only to pull them closer to my sides in embarrassment. I was not about to go back outside smelling like hotdog water and onion bagels. I poked my head outside the sliding door and Yumiro cocked in eyebrow.

"I'm going to take a shower.."
I told him.

Yumiro nodded his head and walked off down the hallway. My head didn't retract back into into the room until I was sure he was gone.

I undressed at a snail's pace and when the water cascaded down my dark skin, I allowed myself to cry. The fight inside of me hadn't died but I was losing my mind.

One that that seemed to be on my mind every day was my mother. I wondered if my dad had spoken to her.. She was probably frantic, no doubt going to the police. I smiled at the thought of my mother. Strong, bold, nurturing and a force of nature when her children were threatened in any way.

My stomach was in knots. I thought about Nala and how happy she was with Kida.. or how happy she claimed to be. Nala was probably outside in the sun, laughing that horrendous laugh of hers that always made everyone around her smile even if they didn't want to.
Maybe she was honestly happy. Maybe she had long talks with Kida and she felt safe around him. Maybe they would actually work something out and her life would be easy. Maybe... maybe.

Maybe none of these things mattered at all because I was one person in a world full of billions and their lives didn't revolve around me. Life continued to go on.

I cursed the day I even planned this spontaneous trip. A last minute attempt to one up my cousins that seemed to live a lavish life. Now all I missed was my ritualistic life of going to work around 8 and getting off at 4 in the evening. Hell, I even missed my boss even though I practically avoided him like the plague because of his friendly advances. The things that really drove me up the wall in my dull life sounded like a godsend in this moment. The utter freedom of clocking in, clocking out and driving home late at night with my queen sized mattress on my mind.