Coroyakuza

Thirty Five|| Your New Oyabun

The moment of truth everyone had been waiting for arrived. Mrs. Houzuki gathered everyone under the pavilion's roof and held the will in her hands. Everyone stood in an eery silence, eager for her to unfold the paper. Emperor stood tall at her side. "Hm," Mrs. Houzuki hummed to herself before letting out a sheepish chuckle, "This is Pearl's will. It's very... nonprofessional to say the least, but whatever she has written here will determine the fate of her possessions." The crowd moved anxiously closer.

"'I, Pearl Houzuki, of Inkopolis, state this is my last will and testament. I'm sorry that this isn't anything fancy or official but this is what I want for Inkopolis. Give my house to my girlfriend, Marina Iida. She can decide if the help can stay and if anyone else lives with her.'" At the sound of that, everyone turned to Marina. She didn't really like the attention.

"'All of my money will be split between Marina Iida, Prince Houzuki, and Agent 8, also known as, Nana.'" Emperor narrowed his eyes and frowned. Agent 8 let her tears fall and smiled. The fact that Pearl even considered her in her will made her feel special.

"'The drugs that reside in my home shall be given to Emperor Houzuki. I'm sure he'll put it to good use.'" Although it was a funeral, everyone couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Even though she wasn't there, Pearl always knew how to brighten the mood. Emperor blushed in embarrassment at the sound of that, and Gloves had to refrain him from blowing up.

"'My car goes to N-Pacer. It isn't much, but I know she'll take good care of it. I also trust she'll take good care of Emperor,'" Mrs. Houzuki couldn't help but smile at N-Pacer, who gently returned the favor.

"'Now, this decision may be found as contradictory or whatever but the Oyabun name should be given to'..." Mrs. Houzuki stopped herself as her eyes widened, "'Marina Iida. She will be your new Oyabun from now on. I'm sure she'll do great things'—" Emperor finally exploded.

"That's bullshit!" Gloves and Prince grabbed him before he could charge for Marina. "Emperor, calm down," Prince seemed to be struggling to hold him back. Their grips on Emperor's arms released after a few seconds and he walked right up to Marina, having to look up at her. She kept her composure but N-Pacer and 8 stood protectively at her side. "You fucking killed her! You were probably here having a nice date and then you pushed her in. Is that what happened?" Marina looked at him in shock, taking a step back before letting out an exasperated breath. "Why would I kill Pearl?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why wouldn't you? She's rich and powerful, you probably forged her will," Emperor accused. Before he could take another step towards her, Mrs. Houzuki stood in his way. She looked up at her son sternly. "She is your new Oyabun now, son."

Gloves and Prince made him take a few steps back. Emperor growled before storming off. The young Houzuki started running after him but he doubled over, clenching onto his side. Goggles rushed to his side. "Stay here. I'll go after him," Gloves said with a reassuring smile before running off to catch up with Emperor. Goggles helped Prince get back to his mother.

Everyone was crowded around Marina, who was kinda overwhelmed with all of this. Almost simultaneously, everyone bowed. She looked around at all the people there, her hand covering her mouth in shock. 8 stood at her side for reassurance. Everyone straightened their backs and N-Pacer gave her a soft and congratulating smile.

Without really thinking, Marina ran off, with difficulty because of her heels. She wanted to find Emperor. Prince and 8 called for her but they didn't pursue. It was probably best she cools off after being given such a large responsibility. She stumbled a little, quickly taking off her shoes so she could run after Emperor. She had to let him know she wasn't the one who killed Pearl, and she needed to calm him down.

She found him sitting on a bench, crying into Gloves' chest. The green inkling looked up at Marina and gave her an apologetic look. Ugly sobs were heard from Emperor, he shook violently as he had is breakdown. Marina sat next to him. "Emperor, baby. Someone's here to see you," Gloves said. The yellow inkling sniffled and looked at Marina. He tried to look angry but he ended up choking on a sob. She grabbed his hand and patted it. "I'm sorry," she said. "Sorry for what? Did you actually kill her?" he asked eagerly, grabbing ahold of her dress collar. Marina shook her head. "No. I would never do that to Pearlie. She was the love of my life," Marina said. Her green eyes looked right into Emperor's golden eyes. "I'm sorry. For blaming you," he said, dropping her collar. "It's okay. I understand," she said with a gently smile.

Emperor clung on to Gloves, burying his face into his chest. "He's not really used to crying," the shorter boy said as a loud sob escaped his boyfriend. "I've never met a Houzuki that is," she said, rubbing Emperor's back. "What are you going to do first as Oyabun?" Gloves asked. "I want to make everything okay again. Open up Deca Tower so we can have turf wars, ranked battles, the arcade place should be opened up again, maybe Salmon Run can be something for fun rather than just business, y'know?" Emperor looked at her and nodded in approval. "I think Inkopolis has seen enough deaths," he agreed. "Best of luck to you, Ms. Iida."

•

After a long week, Marina and 8 had finally moved and unpacked all of their things in to Pearl's penthouse. Marina insisted 8 move in with her, knowing she was going to get kicked out anyway. The green octoling helped 8 hang up every weapon 3 had used before. "They look nice up here," Nana said, staring at them for a while. "Y'know what, I think you look really cute in that flannel," Marina said. "It was 3's," the shorter girl stated bluntly. "I'm sure she would be blushing like crazy if she saw you in that. She was so lucky," the older muttered. She turned to Nana, brushing a stray tentacle out of her face. "She'd want you to move on as well, 8." Nana hugged her friend and nodded, "I know."

The elevator made a small ding!, causing both of their heads to turn. In the elevator were all of their friends with food and balloons and gifts. "I know this was completely unnecessary but we figured a good ol' welcome wagon might make you guys feel a little more comfortable with the place," Prince said with a sweet smile. Emperor and Marina made eye contact and for once, those sharp, golden eyes didn't look so menacing.

Marina didn't really realize how much people ended up coming to this unplanned celebration but she certainly didn't mind the company. Marina and 8's friends arrived and their friends came along too. Hachi finally decided to introduce the two to his boyfriend, Specs. "He was kind of a meth addict but he's pretty cute, right?"

Marina decided to let Pearl's help services go. She was pretty sure she didn't need anyone cooking for her and 8. They all insisted on staying, even without being payed but the two octolings reassured them that they didn't need any help. For once, the help didn't look so nervous or miserable. The last thing they did was cook a feast for the house warming party. The green octoling helped in the kitchen, and when she found a certain recipe, she knew it had to belong to someone special.

She looked around for anyone that could help before spotting a pink inkling girl. "Excuse me, do you happen to know if Army's boyfriend is here?" The girl nervously bit on her lip before pointing over to an inkling boy in a coat that was soaked in orange ink. Marina cringed at the sight but said a small, "Thank you," and made her way over to the boy.

"Hello." Aloha looked up at her with empty eyes. "Can I help you?" he asked, tapping on his cup of water anxiously. "You're Army's boyfriend, yes?" He shrugged, "More or less." She nodded slightly and handed him the recipe. "What is this?" He put down the water and read the recipe over. "Army occasionally cooked for Pearl. I guess he left the recipe here. I think you should have it," Marina said with a warm smile. "B-But I don't know how to cook," he mumbled. "No harm in learning, right?" Tears welled up in his pink eyes. He gave her a smile, the first time he had smiled in a long time. "Thank you." He pulled her into a surprise hug before she could leave him.

"Speech!" She turned her head and noticed everyone chanting. She chuckled nervously, shaking her head in protest. 8 grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of everyone. "No, no. I can't do this," she laughed. "Just do it," the pink octoling said. Marina rolled her eyes before taking a deep breath.

"There's really not much for me to say besides, uh, thank you for coming. 8 and I appreciate the housewarming gifts. I'm not entirely sure why Pearl decided to make me Oyabun. I don't know how to lead at all. But I'll try my best to somehow satisfy as much of you as I can," she assured. Everyone smiled. The smile on Emperor's face was so reassuring, she almost felt relieved.

"To our new Oyabun!"