Page 120 of Kotori
His face goes white with the reality of complete disgrace.
"But I have forty years of service!"
"Forty years that ended the moment you decided to profit from my daughter's pain." I lean closer, voice dropping to lethal quiet. "You're breathing because there's no proof you orchestrated anything beyond opportunism. But if I discover you had any knowledge of what that sick bastard was doing to Mizuki, if I find out you helped cover it up or encouraged it, you'll join him in whatever hell waits for those who prey on children."
He nods frantically, understanding both the mercy and the threat.
"Get out of my sight. And if I see you in Kyoto after tomorrow sunset, we'll discover whether forty years of claimed loyalty outweighs one moment of unforgivable betrayal."
Hiroshi flees without dignity, leaving Sho and me alone in the aftermath of political warfare.
"Oyabun," Sho begins, but I raise a hand to stop him.
"Your service continues. Your honor remains intact. Your son's crimes died with him." I move to place a hand on his shoulder. "But don't mistake necessity for forgiveness. You failed to see what lived under your own roof, and that failure nearly cost me my daughter."
He bows deeply, tears still flowing but understanding the distance that now exists between us.
Paige was right. We protect each other. That's what family does.
Now everyone knows exactly what happens to those who threaten mine.
34
Paige
Theeveningstartslikeany other. Homework spread across the low table, Aya's tongue poking out in concentration as she practices kanji, Kohana reading quietly with a book I recommended. The domestic tranquility that's become as natural as breathing.
But tonight feels different. Tension hums through the compound like electricity. Kaito's been in meetings all day, his study doors closed to everyone. I've caught glimpses of men in dark suits moving with focused purpose through the corridors.
"Paige-mama?" Aya's small voice pulls me back to the present. "Will you always be here? Like Mama was supposed to be?"
The question hits harder than it should. Before I can answer, Kohana looks up from her book. "Aya-chan, don't ask questions like that."
"But I just want to know if families stay together always."
I pull her onto my lap, smoothing her dark hair. "Good families try very hard to stay together. Sometimes things happen that no one can control, but the love stays forever."
"Like how we still love Mama even though we can't see her?"
"Exactly like that."
After putting the girls to bed, Aya reluctant to let me leave, I find myself wandering the compound. The ancient house feels different at night, corridors lined with ancestral portraits whose eyes seem to follow my movement.
I'm drawn toward the eastern wing, following hallways I rarely explore. The family shrine room sits at the end, warm golden light spilling from the slightly open door. Through the gap, I hear someone crying.
I push the door open and step into sacred space.
The room takes my breath away. High ceilings, carved beams, a golden altar dominated by Akira's portrait. She's breathtaking in formal black kimono, dark hair elaborately arranged, eyes luminous with intelligence and strength. The face of a woman who could have been anything but chose to be a yakuza wife and mother.
But it's not the shrine that stops me cold. It's Mizuki kneeling before it in perfect seiza, tears streaming down her face as she stares up at her mother's photograph.
"Mizuki?" I approach carefully. "Are you alright?"
She doesn't turn around for a long moment.
"I can feel it starting again." She finally speaks.
I settle beside her on the tatami. "Feel what?"
