C2 The Golden Predator

January 20, 2015, 9:57 PM

Gotemba Region, Villa:

After a long and exhausting drive, I finally arrived at a secluded villa complex built in magnificent traditional Japanese architecture, standing in isolation amidst a dense bamboo forest.

"Ah... It's so luxurious... But... How do I get in? Is it alright to just walk inside?"

I murmured softly as I stood before a towering wooden torii gate. Since the large gate was unlocked, I slowly stepped inside, holding the bouquet of flowers tightly against my chest.

The villa's courtyard felt eerily quiet, cold, and dim, with only a few lights illuminating the surroundings.

"E-Excuse me... I'm here to deliver a bouquet of flowers... Excuse me?"

I hesitantly knocked on the main wooden sliding door, but there was no response from inside.

I waited on the front porch for nearly five minutes in the unsettling silence of the night. Then suddenly, my ears caught a faint, suspicious sound coming from behind the main building, somewhere around an old storage shed in the backyard.

"Mhh... Is someone back there...?"

I slowly walked along the side corridor of the villa, following the sound toward the storage shed.

When I reached the back of the villa, I noticed that the old wooden shed door was slightly ajar, with a beam of bright light spilling out from inside.

"Mhhh... Excuse me...?"

I spoke softly and politely as I cautiously approached the open door, especially after my eyes caught the silhouette of someone inside.

"Good evening... I deliv—!"

The moment I stood before the open doorway with the warm smile I always gave my customers, my words were cut off. My entire body instantly froze in place.

Inside the cold storage shed, the body of a middle-aged man lay lifeless on the floor, surrounded by a pool of fresh blood. In the corner of the room sat a man with dark green hair, his hands also stained with blood. Dressed in a perfectly tailored formal suit, he radiated a dense, suffocating predator's aura. Surrounding the mysterious man were several broad-shouldered men with intimidating faces, all wearing similar formal suits.

My breath suddenly caught in my throat, escaping in ragged gasps. My eyes widened in shock as I desperately tried to move my legs, which had suddenly become as heavy as stone and completely numb.

The dark green-haired man sitting in the center of the room slowly lifted his head. Beneath the shadow cast by his hair, a single sharp golden eye came into view, piercing straight through me as it locked onto my gaze.

The moment they noticed my presence, one of the burly men immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully toward his leader.

"There's an intruder. Should this woman be eliminated, Mr. Sousuke Hayama?"

One of the burly men asked for the execution order in a cold, merciless tone.

Hearing the question, the dark green-haired man, Sousuke Hayama, simply raised one hand calmly toward the burly man, signaling him to stand down. He then rose unhurriedly from his seat, a terrifying predator's smile slowly spreading across his lips as he began walking toward me.

"I-I... I don't want any trouble..."

I stammered, my voice trembling violently. In my panic, I dropped the bouquet of red roses I had been holding onto the ground. Tears began streaming down my cheeks, and with every ounce of strength I had left, I turned around and ran from that cursed place.

Just as I had managed to take only three hurried steps, something heavy and blunt struck the back of my neck with tremendous force. A sharp wave of pain shot through my body instantly, throwing me off balance as my vision went completely dark in an instant.

***

January 21, 2015, 2:46 AM

Tokyo, Hayama Mansion:

My consciousness slowly returned. A throbbing pain spread from the back of my neck, but when I opened my eyes, I was no longer in that cold storage shed. I was lying in a spacious and luxurious unfamiliar bedroom.

"Nnghh... Kyahh...!"

I jolted awake. A small scream escaped my lips as I immediately sat upright on the soft, luxurious bed.

"You were unconscious for far too long."

A deep voice echoed through the room. Sousuke sat casually in an armchair in the corner, savoring a glass of whisky. He wore nothing but a black hakama, leaving his upper body bare and revealing his broad neck and muscular chest, where intricate yakuza tattoos coiled across his skin. As he sipped his whisky beneath the room's dim lighting, he looked even more intimidating.

My entire body immediately began trembling the moment my eyes landed on him. The memory of the blood-soaked floor and the dead man in the storage shed at Gotemba came flooding back into my mind. I clutched the silk blanket covering my body as tightly as I could.

"Reika Usoshiboh. Born on December 7, 1995. Living alone in a cramped little apartment in the Katsushika District. Working as a receptionist at Yuki Spa in Roppongi during the day, and as a food delivery driver at night to repay the debts left behind by your late parents... Is that correct?"

Sousuke paid no attention whatsoever to my fear. Instead, he calmly began reading through page after page of my personal information while holding my ID card, along with detailed reports containing my home address, workplace, and even the records of my late parents.

"W-Who are you? How do you know... so much about me?!"

My voice caught in my throat as I instinctively pulled my knees to my chest. That was when I realized my delivery uniform had been changed. I was now dressed in a silk nagajuban, a traditional kimono undergarment that clearly revealed the curves of my body. I hurriedly pulled the blanket tighter around myself.

"I know everything. Including the fact that your father, who only recently died, also left behind an enormous debt owed to a group of small-time loan sharks."

Sousuke set my ID card down on the table, the corners of his lips curling into a faint, icy smile.

"D-Does my father owe you money as well? I-I'll pay it back! But... please, just give me some time...?"

Without a second thought, I climbed down from the luxurious bed and dropped to my knees before his chair, bowing deeply. My mind had gone blank. I assumed he was one of the loan shark bosses who had come to collect my father's debt.

"Don't overestimate your father's worth. The Miyama Clan doesn't deal in debts of such a trivial scale, and I have no idea who your father was."

Sousuke looked down at me from his chair with a calm, icy gaze as he took another sip of his whisky.

"Then... Why did you bring me here?"

I slowly gathered the courage to lift my head, forcing my tear-filled eyes to meet his pair of sharp golden eyes.

"Of course, for something else."

Sousuke replied briefly, a flash of unreadable intent glimmering in his eyes.

"Something else...? I-I swear I won't become a witness to what I saw in that storage shed! I won't tell anyone! Please don't... don't torture me... Someone is waiting for me to come home..."

I pleaded in a hoarse voice, remaining on my knees as I begged for mercy. The image of Zoro, hungry and waiting alone in my apartment, instantly crossed my mind.

"No one is going to torture you. On the contrary, I intend to be generous. I'll pay off your family's entire debt of one billion yen... right now."

Sousuke smiled gently, yet his gaze locked onto my every movement with unsettling intent.

"A... a condition? What kind of condition?”

I froze in shock. My mind went completely blank the moment I heard that this man was willing to pay off a debt of one billion yen, an amount I could never repay in my entire lifetime.

"The condition is... Starting today, you will become my slave, devote your entire life to me, and bear an heir for the Hayama Clan. Once you give birth to a male heir for the Hayama Clan, I will set you free without taking anything away from you."

Sousuke spoke as lightly as the night breeze, yet every word he uttered mercilessly stripped away the freedom of my entire life.

The atmosphere in the room changed the instant Sousuke Hayama finished speaking. My body froze as I struggled to process the words that had just left his lips. At that moment, I realized my fate had become trapped between two impossible choices, both of which would bind my life forever.