A Yakitate Japan Fanfiction

Title: Akai Tonbo

Authoress: Aria DC al fine

Synopsis: AU. What if Shigeru had been raised by his father…as a yakuza? KazumaxShigeru shounen ai

Prologue

Two groups of men stood facing one another on the road behind downtown Shinjuku area, hands buried in pockets, gazes throwing daggers through black sunscreens, eyebrows twitching, jaws tightened, fierce expression etched on everyone's face. All were still until the leader of one of the groups, a long-haired man in black suit, grounded through his teeth. "Can you explain why the hell your gang hurt one of our brothers?" he asked in a low, malice-laced voice.

The leader of the opposite gang replied by spitting to the long-haired man's feet. "The bastard dared to enter our territory, that's why!"

A vein popped on the other leader's head. "As far as I know, Nakata Ward is our territory."

"That's where you're wrong!" The leader of the opposite gang growled, "Idiots!"

The mockery was the trigger. In an instance, everyone roared and lunged at each other, tackling enemies, punching and kicking anywhere they could reach. Skins were bruised, blood splattering against the walls.

Amidst the fighting scene, a posh red car screeched to a halt nearby, and a petite, kimono-clad figure stepped down from it. "Stop!" he shouted in a baritone, not-yet-matured voice as he tried to grab on to one of the member of the opposite gang, "The bosses can talk this out! There is no need for a fight!"

The gang member elbowed the figure out of the way and turned to him. "Are you fooling me?" he spat, "No need for a fight? Who are you, a sissy?"

The figure was sprawled to the ground due to the impact, his kimono slipping off one shoulder. As he rose back up to his feet, a large black cloud loomed over his head. His eyes were completely shadowed.

"You bastards..." he hissed in fury, "Who are you calling a sissy? Who do you take me for?"

The gang member squeaked in fear. Soon enough, many people noticed the figure's overwhelming presence, and stopped fighting. Everyone was looking at each other, afraid to move, when suddenly, a person noticed the tattoo on the figure's exposed right shoulder blade. "Guys…" He pointed, his whole body trembling, "we're…we're…finished…"

The others followed his line of sight and gasped. "My God!" The leader of the opposing gang exclaimed, "Pink hair…violet eyes…pale skin…small build…and the tattoo of a red dragonfly on his back…he…he..is…Hashiguchi Kanmuri Shigeru(4), son of the boss of the Hashiguchi group!"

Many dropped to their knees in fear. "God!" they muttered through clattering teeth, "Please spare us!

The long-haired man in black suit bowed to Kanmuri. "Bocchan," he offered a hand. The pink-haired boy didn't even look at it, he pushed it away and took a few steps towards the gang member, who was cowering in fright. "You brainless savages," he said with such contempt and venom if words could kill his victim would have been dead, "If you want to be caught by the police so much I don't mind, you can continue indulging in this...primal animalistic behaviour. The thing is, Chichiue-sama(Father) is very concerned of each and every member of the Hashiguchi group, and if anyone is to be caught by the police," he leered at the men in his group, who dropped to the road and kowtowed straight away, "It will be troublesome for Chichiue-sama, though."

"Go-gomenasai, Bocchama!" The long-haired man said, and turned to others, "Everyone, apologize!"

"GOMENASAI, SHIGURE-BOCCHAMA!" they chorused.

The boy turned to his men and gave them a soft smile. Thinking they were forgiven, the men looked up at their young boss. "Bocchama…"

"If you understand, then disappear from my sight," he said in a tone of voice which betrayed his mask.

The men knocked their foreheads on the ground. "HAI!" They then scrambled off their feet and ran to their respective vehicles.

Kanmuri himself was strolling towards the red car he arrived in when one of the members of the opposing gang couldn't accept the turn of events and charged at the pink-haired boy from the back. "I can't accept this! It can't be over just like that!" he shouted as he held a short Japanese blade to Kanmuri's throat, "You Hashiguchi bastards, listen to what we say!"

"Shigeru-Bocchan!" many shouted, and got their own swords out of their pockets, knuckles white around the handles. "You scum! Release Shigeru-Bocchan!"

The boy in the core of the conflict sighed. "Remind me again why I despise idiots..." he muttered under his breath and shook his head.

"What?" The captor heard his captive and tightened his hold. "You-!" He raised his hand to plunge the blade to the boy.

Kanmuri made use of that moment where his captor lowered his defense to step on his feet and elbow his ribs with all his might. The two engaged in a struggle which left some cuts on Kanmuri's hands, but after Kanmuri retrieved a vial of blue liquid from the sleeve of his kimono and broke it on his captor's face, Kanmuri managed to snatch the sword as the man dropped to the ground.

"W-what was that?" he said as he tried to get pieces of glass off him.

An evil smirk graced the pretty boy's face as he pointed the cold blade that was previously pressed against his flesh in front of the man's own throat. "You'll find out…in hospital."

Then, as his men took care of the guy, Kanmuri returned to his car.

He didn't know what his fate was, but Hashiguchi Kanmuri Shigeru was sure as hell NOT meant to be a yakuza.

Son of a wealthy mother who was temporarily enraptured by his father's yakuza ruggedness, Hashiguchi Kanmuri Shigeru inherited more of his deceased mother's genes than his father. Kanmuri was definitely not a brainless thug, for one. His build was rather slender, his features delicate and almost pretty as a girl's and he was always pale no matter how long he had been exposed to the sun. He was stronger than your regular teenagers, though, a result of training in various martial arts, and apparently, much, much cleverer too.

With much struggle, Kanmuri managed to get his father to agree to his studying Life Science in Harvard from when he was 12 to just a few months ago; his father had the mind to make Kanmuri his successor as the fourth generation boss of the Hashiguchi yakuza clan, and studying in Harvard would contribute nothing to becoming a good yakuza boss. In the end, it was Kanmuri's high school teacher – yes, Kanmuri was already in high school at the age of 11 – who managed to convince his father that it would be a waste not to maximize Kanmuri's potential to the fullest. Kanmuri's father yielded, yes, but Kanmuri had to promise that he would return to Japan and eventually be the successor of Hashiguchi clan.

It wasn't that Kanmuri had something else he really wanted to do. He was interested in Life Science, but not enough to want to be a researcher – he didn't think he could do that for the rest of his life. Living with dimwitted thugs most of his life had eroded his patience. Kanmuri loved the time he was in Harvard, though, the competitiveness, and the desire to improve himself, something he couldn't achieve as a yakuza, but as of yet, he still had nothing worth risking his life for, which he would have to do if he were to escape from the path of being a yakuza.

"Bocchan-"

"No." Kanmuri interrupted. "Going to hospital for cuts…that's exaggerating. Harumi's more than good enough."

"But what if the wounds get infected like the tattoo-"

A glare, and the long-haired man knew to shut his mouth.

Kanmuri would never forget that moment. He was given the tattoo on his back as his twelfth's birthday present, a mark that he was no longer a child. His father had wanted the design to be fierce, like a dragon or a tiger, but Kanmuri chose a red dragonfly, hovering above a lone chrysanthemum. He was told it was his mother's favourite flower, gold as a crown, the family's namesake. And he resembled a stick-thin dragonfly more than a dragon, anyway. But somehow, after he started using bacteria in fights to compensate for lack of physical strength, and he became notorious for his short-temperedness, the red dragonfly became his nickname.

Kanmuri actually liked the tattoo, despite the infection and the grief he had to go though. The tattoo was art, not a brand on his skin.

The car pulled over a large, Japanese-style estate, and Kanmuri stepped out of the car and into the house. Inside, many men had arranged themselves in the corridor and greeted him. "Gokuro-sama, Shigeru Bocchan(1)!"

"Shigeru-san!" from the end of the rows of men, came a dark-haired girl, pale and petite like himself, clad in a blue kimono. A Yamato Nadeshiko(2), Kitagawa Harumi was the daughter of the boss of Kitagawa yakuza clan, the 3rd largest yakuza clan in Japan (The 2nd largest preferred remaining enemies to collusion), and Kanmuri's betrothed. They had been friends ever since Kanmuri could remember, despite the difference in their intelligence level. A gentle soul, she was his solace when the other dense thugs became too much for him to bear.

"Shigeru-san, you're hurt!"

"I'm okay," Kanmuri smiled when the girl stood back instead of fussing over the wounds, "I'll clean them as I take a bath. You can wait in the living room to tend for them." She was the only one he trusted for that. The other guys would just fuss and not know what to do with the cuts. He doubted they could even tie a proper knot for the bandage.

It turned out that a stupid someone – one of the brutes, no doubt - was using the bathroom for so long Kanmuri nearly break the opaque glass door in irritation. After he finished taking a bath, a cold bath, mind you, which worsened his mood even further, he opened the door to the living room huffily. "Sorry for taking so long-"

Harumi didn't seem to mind. In fact, Harumi was singing. Out loud, pouring her heart.

Roxanne, you don't have to put on that red light

Walk the streets for money

You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right

Roxanne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight

Roxanne, you don't have to sell your body to the night

His eyes upon your face

His hand upon your hand

His looks caress your skin

It's more than I can stand

Why does my heart cry?

Feelings I can't fight

You're free to leave me

But just don't deceive me,

And please believe me when I say I love you

He couldn't hear it from outside the room, but that was probably because the living room was also designed to be a karaoke room for the thugs' entertainment. Her English was surprisingly good; forgive Kanmuri for saying that since Harumi wasn't very bright in her academics; foreign languages and music seemed to be the only subjects she liked. Kanmuri had heard the song before when he was in USA, on a school trip to Broadway. It was in a musical, he thought, Moulin Rouge, and the song was sung by a man. It didn't sound so bad with a female voice. And there was something else. There was longing in her voice, longing so strong Kanmuri, a person of logic and science wanted, that instance, to feel a longing, a love for someone, once in his life.

As she sang the last few notes, Kanmuri clapped as hard as he could. "Bravo!"

Harumi turned so fast she tripped on the end of her kimono and fell on the floor. Kanmuri rushed to her. "Harumi! Daijoubu(3)?" He offered his hand to her, but she was covering her face, which was so red it spread to the tips of her ears, with her hands and did not take it. Kanmuri laughed. "What are you embarrassed of? Your voice is so good!" he tugged her hands off her face.

Her brown eyes shone. "You think so?"

Kanmuri nodded, and she smiled so wide it split her face to two. Kanmuri had never seen her smile like that, despite having been friends for a long time. She was rather introverted, and did not share her secrets with him unlike he did with her, and when Kanmuri was in Harvard he kind of lost touch with her, so that was understandable, he guessed, but the smile was really heartening to see.

Which was why he was sad when the smile disappeared in a second. "Forget it," she remarked as she stood up and took the first aid kit from the table.

"Why?" Kanmuri frowned, "You have the talent."

Harumi motioned for Kanmuri to put his wounded hands in front of her, which he did without breaking his gaze from her eyes. Harumi was determined to let the matter go, but Kanmuri was determined to get it out of her, like pulling a tooth, and Kanmuri's determination won. Harumi was applying antiseptics to the cuts when she broke. "It'll never work."

"Why do you give up before even trying?" Kanmuri didn't understand. He prayed so hard for something he could throw away his life for; she found hers, so why was she so weak-willed?

"You don't understand!" She stood up so fast Kanmuri winced, but she, who was normally very sensitive to Kanmuri's needs, didn't notice. "I am the only child to succeed the Kitagawa clan. Aniue-sama(4) died in that horrible fight. I'm so weak I can't lead the clan myself…I don't want to disappoint Chichiue-sama any more. Besides, my dream of becoming an opera singer…it has to be in Europe, since Japanese don't really like western operas…I have to put my all in that, it's not something I can do while being a wife of a yakuza boss and a mother…"

By the end of her talk, she appeared ashamed to have lost her composure; the tears stopped falling, and she picked the pink-haired boy's hands again. "I'm sorry."

But Kanmuri was moved. "Harumi!" he put his hands on her shoulders, "Don't give up on it yet! I promise after I marry you, I'll give you all the freedom you want."

"Shigeru-san-"

"I'm serious," his amethyst eyes bore to hers again, and she couldn't help but cry again. "Thank you, Shigeru-san."

Kanmuri lent her his shoulder to cry on.

(1) Thank you for your hard work

(2) Feminine, submissive, model Japanese female

(3) Are you okay?

(4) Older brother

TBC

A/N: This fic is NOT Kanmuri/Harumi. I believe every gay must have a girl best friend like me and my gay best friend who had left me to Melbourne (kidding. I know you're still me friend). I'm sorry if Harumi sounds Mary Sue. She isn't clever. And no one says she's pretty; she's a regular-looking Japanese girl with a good voice and a gentle heart. She is pivotal to Kanmuri's escape from his yakuza fate. Next Chapter: Kanmuri meets the guys from Southern Tokyo Pantasia branch!

A/N2: I'm sorry I use many Japanese phrases (some of them not even correct!). Please tell me if you dislike it, or want me to change the format e.g. write the translation next to the phrase or the Japanese words.

A/N3: This chapter had been revised due to overuse of Japanese phrases. Will rewrite the next chapters in due time. Thank you, Alice-san.

Last words: REVIEW PLEASE!