Ashes to Ashes (Book Two of The Kazuya Series) (✔️)

五 (Five)

(Arielle's POV)

Like Seiichi said, Masaki was at the other end of the table. What he didn't say was that from his seat, Masaki had a clear view of Koan and for the first ten minutes all he really got done besides eating was staring at Koan.

He looked away when Kintaro started speaking to him.

"How are your men doing?"

"Good. Real good."

"Healing nicely?"

"Thanks to your doctor." He nodded.

"That's good." Kintaro smiled kindly.

"What brings you to our city?" Kenji asked.

Masaki's eyes flicked to Koan then back to Kenji before he answered. "Spent some time here a while back and enjoyed it."

He then went to tell us about how he spent the first few years of his life in Japan before his parents died and he became an orphan. He had no other family over there so he went into the system. At the age of three, a nice couple from America adopted him and brought him over here. They died when he was sixteen and their extended family didn't want him so he went into the system. He was in four foster homes before he ran away and lived with a friend. A year or so after that, he was arrested and sent to prison. He got out, got a job, saved money, and has been relying on himself ever since.

Izumi teared up a couple times throughout his story and Kintaro told him that he was welcome there anytime. Koan tensed beside me at his father's words and Renzo sent him a worried glance.

Throughout his story, Masaki had looked at Koan several times, but Koan kept his focus on his plate. No one else seemed to have noticed his constant glances, but I did and I didn't like it.

There was something about him that felt...off to me. I felt like there was something he wasn't telling us. Something he may have been hiding.

Kintaro and Izumi then began asking Masaki about his...family. Not his blood or his adoptive family, but his... yakuza family.

He went into detail about how he'd met his men. Some of them he met on the street, some he met in the system, and some he met in prison. He said that, like him, they were lost and had no one to rely on. He never meant to start a criminal family, but it snowballed into that.

"They're not the most skilled bunch, but they've got heart and guts." Masaki smiled.

"Well you know, Koan actually owns a local gym. It only allows men and women...like ourselves. It'd be a great place to get some training done and meet others. The last thing you want to do is step on someone else's toes without knowing it and getting your ass kicked." Kintaro said.

Renzo, Shiro, and Kenji all looked wide-eyed at their father before looking at Koan. Seiichi had closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

Koan?

Well I looked over at him and saw that he was holding his dinner knife and he was doing so so tight that it had actually began to cut into his skin. He obviously didn't feel it so I had to poke him and point it out. He dropped his fork and put his hand in his lap where I grabbed it and wrapped my napkin around it to stop the bleeding.

I'd learned that Kintaro wasn't your normal mafia boss. He was different.

He was friendly.