C2 The Dragon’s Interest

Riku sat in the back of his black sedan, Osaka’s neon lights flashing through the rain-streaked window. He had removed his suit jacket, the ink of his dragon tattoo coiling down his chest visible beneath his loosened shirt. His fingers drummed lazily on the leather seat, but his mind was anything but calm.

He couldn’t shake the image of Arun.

The sharp focus in his eyes, the strength in his strikes, the refusal to bow even in victory. Most men who entered that ring were desperate—for money, drugs, recognition. But Arun fought like a man protecting something unseen.

Pride. Freedom. Perhaps even himself.

Riku’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“How rare,” he murmured.

Across from him, Keiji cleared his throat. “Boss, he’s not like the others. He doesn’t run in circles we can control. He lives alone, works odd jobs, fights for scraps. No ties, no debts. That makes him dangerous.”

“Or perfect.” Riku’s eyes glinted as he lit another cigarette. The smoke coiled upward like a ghost.

“A man with no chains… will look beautiful wearing mine.”

Keiji frowned. He had followed Riku for years, seen him discard lovers like broken toys, but this felt different. The boss’s tone wasn’t playful. It was hungry.

“Forgive me, Boss, but he said it himself—he doesn’t deal with men like us. Arun’s the kind who’d rather break than bend.”

Riku exhaled slowly, his smile deepening.

“Then I’ll enjoy the breaking.”

The car fell into silence. Outside, the city pulsed with life, but inside, Riku’s world narrowed to one man—one fighter who had dared to look him in the eye and not flinch.

Most men bowed. Arun resisted.

And resistance was irresistible.

Riku leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes briefly. In his mind, he replayed the fight: the way Arun’s body moved, the fierce concentration, the way sweat slid across his skin under the lights.

It had been a long time since Riku felt this alive.

“This is not a game, Keiji,” Riku finally said. “He will be mine. Not tonight, not tomorrow—but soon.”

Keiji said nothing, but he knew his boss well enough to recognize the danger. When the Black Dragon desired something, nothing—not honor, not law, not even the man himself—could stop him.

And for the first time, Keiji wondered if this obsession would make or break the empire they had built.