Ryuuji struggled with his tie once again as he got ready for work. He fumbled with his long fingers in an effort to properly knot the darn thing, but it just wouldn't come out right. Taiga walked past the door and saw her husband struggling, once again, to look appropriate for work, and sighed loudly. "I swear, you're absolutely hopeless, aren't you?" She called out to him as she entered the room, and walked up to him. She grabbed the ends of his tie and began to knot it for him. Ryuuji blushed and looked away, scowling. "You know it's not my fault. I didn't have a dad to teach me how to tie a tie. How do you know how to do it?" Ryuuji questioned her.

"There were few things my dad taught me," Taiga said, "and since he didn't have a son until I was 18, he taught me a few 'manly things' so that I wouldn't have to rely on anyone else." She reflected on this with a sad remembrance, the past weighing heavier than usual. Ryuuji smiled sadly, and hugged her tight. "It's okay. He really did you a favor. Now you can help my clumsy self out," he joked. He smiled kindly at her, looking down on her sweet cherub face. She punched him in the chin, and he fell back on the bed. "What the hell was that for?!" Ryuuji shouted.

"Stupid mutt," she said, "I'm here to help you with everything. You would be lost without me," She told him with a wink. Ryuuji rubbed his chin and smiled as she walked out the door. "I love you," he said under his breath.

On his way out the door, Ryuuji ruffled his son's dark, fluffy hair. "Bye bye," he smiled to Seiji. Seiji giggled back at his father. Some days, Seiji seemed to be the only person who wasn't scared of his eyes. He walked out the door to his car, a slick black convertible. Seiji loved it when his dad drove with the roof down. He drove with the roof down for the fun of it, driving down the street to the restaurant. He went parked in his personal spot and stepped out, smiling, ready for another good day. He walked in to the front, prepared for his favorite part of the day. Early morning cleaning. He beamed the whole way through it, sweeping, mopping, wiping down tables. The afternoon slowly came, and the lunch crowd began to line up outside the doors. Ryuuji smiled and looked out at the line, ready to greet the lunch rush.

"Good morning everyone, welcome to the Palmtop Tiger's," he said as he handed each of his guests a menu. He closed his eyes and smiled, and tried to be as unintimidating as possible. Some people still shied away from him, but most were very content. The day went by fairly slowly as he went back to his office to handle some paperwork for his business. The advertising companies wanting to put up some billboards, the health care department commending him on having the cleanest workplace in his area (Ryuuji would be damned if his business wasn't spotless at all times), bills, bills, and more bills. The desk phone rang out, and Ryuuji groaned. He was growing tired of the calls he usually got. Koji wanting to shoot the breeze, big wig companies wanting to buy him out. He was ready to scream.

He answered, "Hello, Palmtop Tiger's, Takasu Ryuuji speaking."

"Ryuu? Is that you, baby?" The woman on the other end said. "Mom?" Ryuuji responded. "What's wrong, is everything okay?"

"It's okay Ryuu, I'm just calling to warn you. I picked up Taiga and Seiji and brought them over to your grandparents' house. Listen close. I saw someone outside of work. I thought I was imagining it, but I saw him. I don't want him anywhere near this family, you hear me?"

"I don't understand, mom, who is he?"

"He's bad news, and that's all you need to know. Be careful, he is a crafty devil. I don't know how long he has been watching you, but he I think he is after you. He has a tattoo of a dragon along his wrist. If you see him, don't talk to him. Please baby, don't talk to him!" She cried. He could hear her shaky voice over the phone. "I promise mom," he said with a firm voice. "But tell me. Who is he?"

His mom took a deep breath and spoke. "He's...he's a criminal. He used to work for the Yakusa and he helped me out when I was in a bad spot. He helped pay off some debts I had. I think he is coming to get paid back. And he is going to do it through you. I don't want him near you guys, he has ways of taking others out for his own gain. Be careful Ryuu. Mommy loves you."

When Ryuuji hung up the phone, he took a deep breath. He knew his mom had gotten mixed up with some strange people, but the Yakusa? That seems a little far-fetched. Still, his mom over reacted, but never that much. He figured the least he could do was go home to be with his family.

He stepped out of the office and was on his way out when his head chef, a close friend he called Wasabi, stopped him. "I'm sorry Taka, but we are having an issue with a customer. Could you take care of it really quick?"

Ryuuji exhaled in irritation. He walked back into the building, looking into the back, where a thick cloud of smoke rose. A man sat in the back with a cigar in between his teeth. He was leaning back in his chair, dumping his ashes on the carpet. Others around him were scooching away. This made Ryuuji infuriated. He tried his best to jeep calm as he walked over to the man, in a black pinstriped suit, with slicked back dark hair, wearing sunglasses with an orange tint. Ryuuji stopped. This was the man who was at his son's party. Now he couldn't contain his anger.

"Sir, you can't smoke in here," Ryuuji said angrily, glaring at the man with his terrifying eyes. The man looked up, and grinned a sickening smile of a delinquent. He lifted his cigar over Ryuuji's shoes and tapped off his cigar ashes. Now Ryuuji could not control himself. "Out of my restaurant. Now!"

The man continued to smile. "For such a successful man, at a very young age at that, that's quite the temper on you." he began in a raspy voice of an alcoholic. He lifted his other hand to grab his glasses, revealing his sleeve. A black outline of a classic Chinese dragon, with glaring eyes and jagged teeth. Ryuuji breathed in deep. The man removed his glasses to reveal a set of piercing, glaring eyes. Eyes that very closely resembled Ryuuji's. "Although I shouldn't expect any less from my son."