Tokyo. The summit of four major criminal organizations. Hiratsuka-gumi.
The boss of Hiratsuka-gumi, Hiratsuka Kuma, was on the phone with his beloved daughter, and his beloved daughter was none other than Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Kuma's broad, heavily built frame and greying hair gave him every bit the look of a genuine crime boss. Yet the moment he was talking to his daughter, he turned into something resembling a nervous little girl, his hands twisting the telephone cord over and over in anxious loops.
He had come across information about Ryunosuke, and as it happened, the boy was currently a student under his daughter at the same school. He wanted his daughter to reel in this rare talent and bring him into the fold at Hiratsuka-gumi.
Society had changed, after all. The days when organized crime was genuinely needed were fading. In an earlier era, Japan had faced severe labor shortages, and certain responsibilities had quietly been handed off to the gangs. They had protected ordinary people's property in exchange for protection money, filling a role that wasn't entirely unlike the police.
If someone opened a restaurant and paid their dues, the gang would stand out front waving in customers, even bring their own brothers around to eat there. The gangs of that era had their own strict code. As long as someone paid, the gang was obligated to protect them.
Over time, four major organizations had taken root in Tokyo.
Hiratsuka-gumi, led by Hiratsuka Kuma.
Shuei-gumi, run by the Ichijo family.
Ryuuen-gumi, which formed the background of the Ryuuen family. Ryuuen Kakeru was currently grinding away at his studies, determined to return to Advanced Nurturing High School and settle things with Ryunosuke.
Beehive, an American outfit managed by the Kirisaki family.
In short, all four organizations were feeling the pressure and desperately needed to transition. Why else would the Ryuuen clan have sent their prized son, Ryuuen Kakeru, somewhere like Advanced Nurturing High School? It was all part of the shift from the underworld to legitimate business.
The state had grown stronger, and the role of the gangs had slowly eroded. But in recognition of the part they had once played, the government hadn't moved to eradicate them by force, leaving them to grow or collapse on their own terms. That was precisely why Kuma needed someone like Ryunosuke so badly.
He wanted his daughter to try her hand at winning the boy over. She was attractive enough, after all, even if her temperament ran on the violent side and her first response to most things was to hit them. There was perhaps some risk of domestic violence after marriage, specifically the husband getting hit by the wife. But on the whole, his daughter was remarkable.
On the other end of the line, a vein in Shizuka's temple made itself visible. She swore under her breath, slammed down the receiver, and hung up.
Chase after some barely-grown kid whose hair hadn't even finished coming in? She was a teacher. What was she supposed to do with that? She let her father's words pass through her like wind and thought nothing more of it.
Kuma sagged with resignation. If his daughter's temper never improved, she was never going to find anyone. As a father, it gave him genuine headaches. He had spent years trying to find her a match, but her requirements were unreasonable: the man had to be handsome, had to be able to take a beating, and had to do whatever she said.
Where exactly was he supposed to find someone willing to be Shizuka's personal punching bag? And even if such a person existed, what kind of man meeting those criteria would voluntarily choose a woman whose primary hobby was throwing punches?
Shizuka was already twenty-seven. There was an old saying that once a woman passed thirty, she crossed into a different category entirely, and her prospects would only get harder from there.
Kuma's standards weren't high. As long as the man could endure his daughter's personality and somehow bring her to heel, he didn't care who it was. Even someone as plain-seeming as Akasaka Ryunosuke.
Across town. Shizuka, who had just hung up, was visibly fuming. "That senile old man! Has he lost his mind? Telling me to seduce some snotty kid."
She paused.
"Even if the boy does have real ability and is technically my type, that's absolutely none of your business!"
At the school bar, she grabbed a bottle and downed it in one long pull to work off her irritation.
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At Shuei-gumi, the Ichijo household. Ichijo Raku was in the kitchen. He had a hundred-and-some portions of egg fried rice to prepare before he could feed the two hundred or so gang members waiting outside. This was routine for him. Once the last plate was done, he stripped off his chef's whites, pulled on his black school uniform, and headed out.
He had seen the news about Ryunosuke, and it stirred something in him right away.
"Almost ten years now, hasn't it been?" he murmured. "I really do miss him."
His thoughts drifted back a decade, to the first time he had ever met Ryunosuke.
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Meanwhile, at the American gang Beehive, the Kirisaki household. Kirisaki Chitoge had naturally heard about the stir Ryunosuke was making at school. Her hand drifted up to touch the red ribbon in her hair, and she thought of the boy from ten years ago.
Ten years ago. Chitoge was lost in the forest.
"Papa, Mama, where are you?"
She wiped her eyes and searched for any sign of them. Then her foot slipped, and she fell into a narrow crevice in the ground, too tight to climb out of on her own. Tears poured freely from her vivid blue eyes.
"Waaaaaaa!" She cried at the top of her lungs.
Up in a tree nearby, Ryunosuke had been helping himself to a bird's nest. The sound startled him, but with the mother bird watching in mournful distress, he quickly tucked the egg into his mouth. Protein was protein. He even swallowed a bit of the shell for the calcium.
Annoyed by the noise, he called out, "Stop crying!"
The young Chitoge went quiet. Ryunosuke climbed down and came over to the crevice. He could see right away that she couldn't get out, so he tried reaching a branch down to her, but it didn't go far enough. Chitoge stared up at him with those large blue eyes, unblinking.
After trying several approaches and getting nowhere, Ryunosuke rolled up his sleeve and jumped straight down into the crevice.
Chitoge was certain that was it for both of them. If he had jumped in too, who was going to pull them out? She was about to start crying again when Ryunosuke clamped a hand over her mouth.
"I'll get you out of here, but you have to feed me a proper meal afterward. Deal?"
It wasn't a grand request. He simply hadn't eaten in a long time. The stunned Chitoge eventually nodded.
"Okay!" Ryunosuke's whole demeanor brightened. He crouched down and told her to climb onto his back and hold on tight, then began working his way up the rock face inch by inch. Chitoge on his back turned remarkably obedient.
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