Have some patience with my technically-cannon OC. He is seen in the manga, but never named, and I loved the idea of him returning to Kumiko to join the gumi. Enjoy and fall in love with Takuma!

The two men walked alongside each other, hands in pockets with shoulders hunched in on themselves against the cold. The younger of the two men nervously scoured the area, his eyes darting down dark alleys and shooting anxiously towards every small sound. In contrast, the older man beside him walked slowly and confidently, only looking ahead.

Together, they traveled in silence down the meandering backroads heading east, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the golden glows coming from houses and streetlights. The younger man, Takuma, shook his head slightly; traveling with the Kumichou of the Kuroda clan differed extensively from traveling with the elder brothers. The Kumichou stalked in the shadows, tailing his prey like the lion he embodied. The Young Chief strutted around, charging into battle with a heart-stopping war-cry to alert his enemies of their oncoming demise. Minoru and Tetsu sauntered everywhere, manipulating their height and weight to intimidate those in their way. Even Wakamatsu walked with power and presence. In fact, Kuroda-Kumichou's walk seemed the only one remotely similar to Sawada-Kumichou's walk, which Takuma attributed to their shared position in the gumi.

Takuma sometimes wondered when his "walk" would develop, or he could call someone "little brother", or anything that made him appear the man his profession made him. For now, he remained 'the young one'. The gaki Ojou brought into the clan when he appeared on the gumi's front door, calling in a promise made years ago. With much reservation from the other men, and excessively jubilant responses from Ojou, he joined the clan, working his way up in the same manner as Tetsu and Minoru. He worked hard, gaining the trust and approval of the inner circle, and with their trust came heightened expectations.

Takuma struggled to release a deep breath quietly, afraid to appear nervous in front of the boss. Until now, Takuma worked with Kyou and Wakamatsu in the main office, learning the basics of loansharking. It consisted of much yelling, shaking, and counting money—something he surprisingly did well with, considering he never completed high school. This job tonight with the Kumichou completed his first big one, a job he couldn't afford to mess up if he wanted further approval from the inner circle.

Shin glanced at the young one out of the corner of his eye, observing his fluctuating eye patterns and poorly projected "calm" persona. Smirking, Shin reminisced on his first job and the anxiety that came with it. At the time, he paired with Kyou-san and therefore resulted in less nervousness and more exasperation. Years later, a job with Kyou-san could still have that effect on him. However, Takuma's first job with Shin held no comparison to Shin's first job with Kyou. This was an entirely new dynamic that could definitely cause nervousness in the young one—a job with the Kumichou didn't come along often for a little brother.

Turning the last corner fluidly, as if they almost planned out their route, the pair arrived at the eastside docks. Takuma wrinkled his nose at the rancid smell of fish and piss, unacquainted with the burn. He looked to Shin, and seeing his bored expression, tried to school his features into something more indifferent. Seeing this, Shin swallowed a chuckle and walked towards the row of warehouses.

"W-1125."

"What?" Takuma looked at Shin quizzically, not understanding what he was referring to.

"Kuroda warehouse is number W-1125."

"Oh." Takuma nodded in understanding, "Why do we have a warehouse?"

Shin reached into his pocket, drawing out a large ring laden with keys and one shisha bought by Ojou for the Kumichou on her last school trip to Okinawa. With every school trip her gifts increased in extravagance and size, causing Shin to set a limit on her latest trip—hence the key chain. He struggled for a minute, trying to find the right key before dropping it. He reached down, sighing, "Too many damn keys for too many damn things."

Takuma chuckled, remembering Shin's lectures towards Kyou on getting rid of some of their hideouts—or Kyou's hangover spots. Shin would never truly get rid of the places, but he seemed to enjoy trying to reason with Kyou for some reason incomprehensible to Takuma. He leaned against the side of the warehouse casually, watching Shin's attempts to unlock the warehouse door in order to slide it open.

With a grunt from Shin and a loud groan of the sliding metal door, Shin turned to Takuma. "Inside. I'll explain everything before our partner shows up." Takuma shrugged and pushed off the wall, blindly following Shin inside.

"Watch the floor until we find the stairs, Kyou left a bunch of shit all over the place last time he was here."

Takuma nodded, before realizing Shin couldn't see the action. Blushing, he stumbled around in an attempt to follow the Kumichou, knocking into chairs and sofas before tripping over the stairs.

"Ah. You found them." Shin said as he grabbed Takuma by the collar, yanking him to his feet. "Come on."

As they ascended the stairs, Takuma looked around fruitlessly in an attempt to observe his hidden surroundings. Holding onto the rail and cautiously feeling the steps with his foot, he tried following after Shin without tripping again, not wanting to further embarrass himself. Reaching the top of the stairs, he heard Shin shuffle and jingle the keys. A door creaked open and the two walked inside.

Shin switched the light on, flooding the room with a dim golden color and a low, inconsistent buzzing sound. Takuma blinked in order to adjust his eyes, then quickly glanced around the previously unknown room. This room in particular oversaw the entire first floor of the warehouse, observable through a large glass window. A long table lay low in the center of the floor, most likely for "business" meetings. As Takuma observed his surroundings, Shin sauntered across the room and flopped down at the head of the table, motioning for Takuma to take a seat. Stiffly, Takuma followed Shin's actions, looking down at the table. Silently, they sat.

After a few minutes of terse silence, Shin turned his head towards the window. "We are here to receive and oversee a shipment of artillery from a contact in Russia. In twenty minutes, a black truck will drive into the warehouse. We will help unload, check for the correct amount of guns, and then tip the men driving. You have a gun or knife?"

Takuma nodded, a gun and a wakizashi strapped to either side of his ribs laid heavy under his shirt. Kyou-san handed them to him before he left, warning him to watch his back.

"Good. Always pays to be careful around these men."

Takuma nodded shakily. Moments like this, where his life teetered the line between living and dying, put his career into question for him. He glanced at Shin whose eyes never left the window. Shifting in nervousness, Takuma wondered if Shin ever questioned his path. Takuma's sister called him every day and asked him to lunch on a regular basis, willingly putting her reputation on the line to see her yakuza brother. Other than that, the only others who cared for him were the gumi. Did Shin leave behind a family? Did he question his ties with the yakuza? Did he regret it?

"Calm down kid, you look like you're gonna shit yourself."

Takuma's head shot up at Shin's words, turning to his Kumichou is astonishment. In turn, Shin's eyes shone mischievously, accompanying the smirk on his face. "What's eating ya kid?" Takuma looked down at the patterns in the wooden table, wishing he could disappear into them the way Shin seemed to disappear into the shadows sometimes.

"Hey…Kumichou?"

"Ah."

Takuma slowly moved his head to stare Shin in the eyes, trying to convey his sincerity in the question. "How…How did you know this was the right life for you?"

Shin's smirk widened, teasingly. "Having second thoughts? You'll lose a pinky that way."

Takuma shuddered, and Shin saw a nervous young one seated before him; an opportunity never quite granted to the now-Kumichou. For him, it always became all or nothing, and his journey within the gokudo occurred the same way.

Looking out towards the window to see if the men had yet arrived, Shin called upon words of wisdom once said to him by Kuroda-Kumichou. "Takuma. How I ascertained my place in the gokudo is not how you can be sure of yours. Difference circumstances, different people. My advice to you is this; when you waver from your conviction, remind yourself of the reasons behind it."

"Sawada-san, would you give up everything for the clan?"

Shin always understood he differentiated from his peers—a tad too violent, a bit too smart, and much too rebellious. He also understood no outlet to release whatever tension accumulated over the day existed. He wanted something different, something interesting and exciting. Unfortunately, nothing like that presented itself in his sixteen-year-old world, so rebellion manifested into boredom.

Everything resulted in boredom; school, home, and especially girls. They all led to sleep and disinterest and, in the case of girls, suicidal thoughts to accompany the incessant giggling and unintelligent chatter. Those things just weren't worth the trouble, so he didn't bother.

However, fighting promised an outlet. Fighting encouraged the violence and discord within him, challenged his intelligence and common sense, and tested him physically. He reveled in it. Despite not running into a fight first from among his classmates, he always emerged the last one standing. Fighting alongside his "comrades" or "brothers" as Kumiko would call them, always caused realizations about his situation. Now, looking back, he knows he really should have realized his dedication for the clan before he actually did.

He should have realized it when he first helped Kyou, or went against the Nekomata clan, or even during that fucking festival when Kyou fucking coerced him into wearing that fucking fundoshi (Years later, Shin still refuses to forgive Kyou, and refers to the event as a moment of weakness, but every year he allows it to happen again). He should not have realized it on a boring date with a weird girl he only said yes to because he of jealousy over Kumiko. Sadly, that was exactly when it happened.

When on a date with a "cute girl", no matter how psychopathic, how many guys would rather attend a succession ceremony for a yakuza-gumi's nidaime? How many guys would rather converse with the Ojou and Kumichou of a yakuza gumi? How many guys dreamed to stand behind Kuroda-Kumichou in Kyou or Wakamatsu's spot? Or even better, next to the Kumichou and Kumiko? With all those thoughts racing around his head, Shin understood he could never live the life of the katagi. When the Tanukibara-gumi lowered their heads to him and that girl—Hitomi? Hiromi? —ran off, Shin knew this was the only thing he wanted, and he would give up anything for it.

"Sawada-san, would you die for the clan?"

The memory that lead to the realization, that yes, he would die for the clan, vividly returns to him, similar to when Kuroda-Kumichou first asked. The fear in Kuma's voice over the phone; the desperation that caused him to run faster than he ever had in his life. Shin did not possess one bone of cowardice in his body, but those six words taught him true fear.

"Yankumi, she was kidnapped by Kudou."

At those words, Shin dropped his groceries and ran. Upon arriving, he asked Kuma the situation, but with no reprieve in sight he ran in. Shin wasn't rash by any means, but the fact that Kumiko sickness lead to defenseless in the hands of Kudou sparked a fire within him, that only blazed higher and higher with each step he took towards the warehouse.

Therefore, he never regretted hitting that bastard upside the head with the wooden board he found. He would do anything it took to insure her safety. With each hit he took, every punch he gave, that conviction became stronger. No matter how cowardly, unmanly, unrespectable he acted, he would stoop to the lowest point of men as long as she remained safe, happy, and-most importantly—alive.

That reasoning prevented him from hesitating to stand between her and Kudou. That knife scared him, as death scares everyone, but the thought of Kumiko's lifeless body in the ground scared him more. For her, he could stare down a knife, a gun, an army. For her, death could greet him a million times over.

So when Kuroda asked the second question, Shin gave a resounding "yes". The willingness to accept martyrdom for that woman extended over the clan she embodied. If Kyou, Tetsu, Minoru, Wakamatsu, or even Kuroda-Kumichou had fallen into that situation he would have acted the same. Nothing resides above the clan's safety.

"Sawada-san, would you consent to this life until death?"

Originally, his future remained some vague unexplored until it arrived. While studying for the national mock exams he told Shinohara the truth—he didn't plan on college and he didn't know what he was going to do. At this point, his efforts towards Kumiko were going unnoticed, he never considered college, and possessed no career goals to speak of—and it was totally fine.

Even Kumiko supported his choice, and her approval was all he really wanted, so why should his future bother him? Of course, no one else saw his perspective. Sarutari, so lost in his ambition for school recognition, stalked him for weeks until he consented to taking Todai's entrance exam. Still, he saw no point. With no career choice, no preference, and no motivation, he saw college as redundant. In the end, he chose criminal law as his major, not because of some child's dream, but rather because Shinohara was one and maybe that would even the battlefield.

Yet, he still couldn't change into the person who went to work and did the whole "wanna go for lunch?" thing. Every class and lecture he sat through, he thought about how he would rather loan shark with Kyou, defend the businesses that paid protection money with Wakamatsu, oversee the illegal weapons operations with Minoru or Tetsu, or even sit through a meeting of the clans with Kuroda-Kumichou. Every time a classmate asked him out to lunch or drinks, he compared it to a party with the gumi or his friends. In the end, those outing paled to the others, and he always found himself wishing himself elsewhere.

When he sat down with Kuroda-Kumichou to talk about joining the gumi, all these thoughts passed through his mind. Nights spent dreaming of fighting alongside the brothers, of raising a daughter to love this way of life, of dinners and parties among these men and women, circled around him. His answer to Kuroda presented itself firm and sincere, the yakuza way of life was the only way for him.

Opening his eyes, Shin looked upon the young one before him, gazing at Shin as if he possessed all the answers in the world.

"Listen here Takuma, would you give up everything for the clan?"

Takuma nodded vigorously, "Yes."

"Would you die for the clan?"

"Yes."

"Would you consent to this life until death?"

"Yes."

Shin watched as Takuma's eyes increasingly hardened with each question, revealing the spark of conviction within the boy. He knew, that as long as that conviction remained, then one belonged to this way of life.

The garage door on the bottom floor of the warehouse opened, allowing entrance to what appeared a refrigerated grocery truck. Shin looked over at it for a second and stood up, beckoning to Takuma to follow him.

"Then you have your answer."