K. Morikita

Yakuza no Iro Chap 34: Soon, Shion would have to tell Kana why he needed a wife at all. And with it came the questions he couldn’t quite resolve—how he was supposed to keep her without losing her in the process, and whether she would understand how it had come to this… or walk away once she did.

Yakuza no Iro Chap 33: A small huff of laughter slipped out before she could stop it.
          
          “What nonsense are you thinking about?” Shion teased.
          
          A playful smile curved her lips. “I was just thinking…”
          
          She paused deliberately, letting the silence stretch just enough to hold his attention, her gaze fixed on him.
          
          “… about you.”
          
          Shion froze, then slowly, he leaned forward.
          
          “What about me?” he asked, his voice low—almost beckoning.

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 31: Gravity pulled her toward him, her head dipping onto his shoulder, where she stayed fast asleep. He watched her more closely, for far longer this time. A quiet pull tightened in his chest, constricting around his heart. And in that quiet, unguarded moment—he understood. He was already in too deep.
          
          He leaned his head against hers, the faint scent of her shampoo filling the small space between them. Before his mind could catch up, he tilted just slightly—pressing a long, firm kiss to her temple.

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 29: Where there is proximity, there is tension.
          
          Kana’s gaze drifted to his hands, a faint heat of embarrassment touching her neck. "... I'll make it up to you."
          
          "Yeah?" he murmured. "I can think of a few ways you could pay me back with that bod–"
          
          He stopped dead. His eyes sharpened, the clarity of what he’d just spewed hitting him. He cleared his throat and looked away, forcing his attention back to the medical tape.
          
          "Buy me dinner once you can walk straight," he muttered, his voice dropping to a low, rough murmur. "We’ll call it even."

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 28:
          Kana was now in his room, on his bed, and anchored to his lap. She had already bled her grief into his neck and clung to him until her fingers ached. One thing was clear—the bridge back to the katagi world had already burned. The only path left was toward Shion.

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 27: This chapter took me longer than usual to edit, as it was deeply emotional for me. I hope Kana’s feelings reached you the same way they reached Shion.

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 26: Shion found Kana bleeding in the bathroom.
          
          "What happened?" The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
          
          “I fell,” she said quietly, her head lowered, hair cascading forward. "The sidewalk was uneven. My heel caught on a gap and I fell."
          
          His gaze burned into hers, but the impact hit deeper. ‘She... fell,’ he thought numbly.
          
          He exhaled a short, sharp shot of breath that sounded like a fracture. He nodded his head downward, his lips curling into a brief, bitter ghost of a smile–an expression of pure, exhausted disbelief.
          
          “Okay. I’m glad you’re fine.” He looked up at her then, his eyes stripped of the warmth. “Get some rest.”
          
          Then he stood up and walked out of the room without looking back. The door shut with a heavy, final click… the sound of a man who was simply done trying to bridge the gap.

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 25: The shadow of Kana's stalker has emerged and shed first blood...
          
          Wet tracks now stained her cheeks.
          
          Home. She needed to get home. There was only one place left–one person who was both danger and protection. Her mind clung to him, desperate and undeniable, a need to reach him at all costs–the only power that could keep her whole against a shadow that mirrored his own.
          
          Okita Shion.

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 24: After a brief pause, gentler now and more certain, he added, “I’m sorry.” It didn’t erase what had happened. The fear and the weight of his words from before could not be undone. But his words now, they have reached her.
          
          The blade has finally meet its sheath. Will the sheath contain the blade, or will the blade cut the sheath?

Yakuza no Iro Chapter 23: If Shion had to choose, it came down to exactly what he wanted to be present in his future. And that made the answer less straightforward than it should have been.
          
          Because when he stripped everything else away–expectation, obligation, long-term gain–what remained was a question he hadn’t properly considered until now.
          
          What exactly, truly, did he want from Kana?
          
          His end goal had always been clear: the Big 3 territory inheritance. That was, and always had been, the purpose behind all of this. The reason the contract existed in the first place.
          
          Right?