1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 52

A/N: If you are a repeat reader of TYB, you would have realised that this version is a whittled down version of the original version. If I ever publish TYB one day, that's where you'll find the extra scenes.

~

It was today.

A judge in a court would decide his fate. His heart thumped noisily behind his ribcage despite his calm exterior, and he tried his best not to think; not that his mind could form comprehensible thoughts now anyway.

Just an hour ago, he had been let out of his cell, his few belongings in his arms. If everything went well today, he wouldn't be seeing them again. If not, he'd take them back, and he'd probably be transferred to another block with it, or even another prison. He'd been unable to meet Owen too, and that saddened him. Owen had been extremely helpful and friendly to him, and he knew he'd been lucky to meet such a person in prison.

Now, he stared at his reflection in the tiny mirror above the sink. He had already cleaned up for the judge, as per instruction, and that included brushing his teeth furiously, and scrubbing his face. There was nothing he could do about the dusting of facial hair on his jaw as he wasn't allowed to handle a razor. He hated how unkempt it made him look and he rubbed at the bristles on his chin in annoyance.

His hair was a mess too. He didn't have a comb and had to make do with his fingers. He'd given himself a side parting with his hands, but his fringe had merely flopped back over his forehead to hide his eyebrows. After wetting his hair numerous times to fix it, he'd decided it wouldn't work, and left it alone.

'Forget it,' he muttered to himself, and hoped that the Judge wouldn't care.

But Vera would. Appearances and all. He already knew what she would say.

'Your hair is a mess,' was the first thing she said when she entered the waiting room.

Leon shrugged his shoulders and stared up at her, not bothering to adjust it.

'Teeth?' She moved to stand over him.

He opened wide, his lips pulled back from his teeth, and let her peer at it. It was something she'd done every night when they were children, a long time ago, after their mother had passed away. She had always asked them that question before putting them to bed, and Vera had picked it up as her elder sisterly role.

Teeth? It brought back memories.

'At least it's clean,' she said, nodding her approval.

~

Hana slipped out through the kitchen door, shut it behind her, then plopped down onto the topmost step without attracting so much of a glance in her direction. The three ladies had been in the midst of some heated discussion, and hadn't even noticed that she was gone. That's good, she thought, at least they don't know who I am. She took in a deep breath of the crisp air, and tilted her head up to the weak winter sun. The cold soon seeped through her pullover and she was soon shivering, but she didn't care. For the past week, her only contact to the outside world was through a grimy window, but now, she could see up close the clumps of snow on the ground, and the footprints made by the guards circling around that portion of the house. Now, she realised how much freedom being in the kitchen gave.

Juan must have forgotten that the kitchen back door didn't have a lock.

She squinted into the line of trees across her, about a hundred, or maybe two hundred yards away. There was an occasional flash through the shrubbery which she thought she could make out. What is that? Why is...Oh! She gasped and sat up as her mouth stayed open like a goldfish.

Cars! It's the light bouncing off the cars!

She couldn't help but grin to herself. Cars meant a road. And that many flashes of sunlight meant that road was quite well used. And that, she thought, means that if I find that road, I can find my way out. But the only problem now is...

'You aren't supposed to be out here.'

The guards.

She slowly turned her head to the figure that had appeared beside her and shot him a bright smile.

'I won't run off, don't worry.'

He examined her up and down, a quizzical expression on his tan face, as if wondering where a girl dressed in a pullover and joggers could run off to during winter. Apparently, not many places. He shrugged a shoulder, immediately dismissing her, then lowered his rifle to the ground and leant it against the wall. Hana thought she'd seen him before. Was he a night guard? If so, why was he on duty now?

He picked a packet of cigarettes from his jeans pocket, removed one, then promptly lit it. She continued watching as he sucked on it, then blew out with smoke rising above his head. It was followed by another, and another, and another, smoking as if his life depended on it. She thought he had a rather pleasant face, except for the annoyed tick in his features. His frame was lanky but with muscular shoulders, and he had a snake tattoo around his right wrist, the hand that was holding the cigarette. Yes, I have seen him.

'What?' He tilted a chin at her.

'Oh, nothing,' she said nonchalantly, 'I think I've seen you around before.'

He raised a brow.

'Yeah? I'm a guard.'

'I know.' And you're also the guy that Sabine was naked with last night.

She had gone to bed in the wee hours of the morning because her roommate had been with a boy in their room. Hana had opened the door a crack, and jumped back from surprise as the lamp light had illuminated two figures partially under the covers. One glance told her what they were doing, and the clothes strewn all over the floor completed the story. She had shut the door silently, then stayed in the kitchen until she saw the same guard pass by the kitchen window. When she left the kitchen, Sabine was just outside, and asked where she had been. Hana had just shrugged her shoulders and followed the girl back to their room, both of them not speaking.

His mouth opened, about to speak, but he shut it and exhaled heavily instead. He didn't seem in the best of moods, if the way he was irritably tapping his cigarette was anything to go by.

'You're Asier, aren't you? Sabine's told me about you.'

His finger paused in its tapping.

'Did she? And who are you?' His green eyes hardened as he stared at her.

'I'm Hana. Her roommate.'

'The new girl?' His lips tilted into a small smile. 'She's mentioned you.'

'Ah, I see. Are the two of you...together?'

'Together?' A deep breath on his cigarette was followed by a huge puff of smoke. 'You can say that,' Asier muttered darkly. 'But here, there's no such thing as 'together' for the girls. They all belong to Juan. You do know that, don't you?'

She slowly nodded her head. Hana was still unused to the 'belongs to Juan' mentality that the other girls had. They had debts to pay, jobs to perform, clients to please, but she had none. She was just an unfortunate person, kidnapped by a delusional man, who had an unquenchable hatred for her husband.

~

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