I Became the Yakuza's Babysitter (2)
The back alley barely caught any sunlight. Drug addicts, already flying high since broad daylight, lay sprawled everywhere, groaning and filling the air with a nauseating stench.
It was a legal blind spot where someone always dropped whenever a crow cried out.
The gazes sliding over me—a man—were filthy beyond words. A few of the burned-out junkies tried to mess with me, but—
Whoosh.
The moment I drew the katana I kept at my side, they slunk right back into place.
I swallowed my disappointment and headed for the meeting spot. There, a woman stood out like a sore thumb in an oversized trench coat.
“Hey~ Long time no see.”
“What the hell did you call me out for? Asking to meet in a place like this basically means you don’t care if I die, right?”
“Do whatever you want. If you can manage it, that is.”
Shinoda Yui flipped open her coat just enough to reveal the holster underneath. The firearms she carried were far too dangerous to belong to an ordinary detective. Special rounds of unknown origin dangled from every available loop.
If I poke her the wrong way, this whole district could disappear.
And if she activated her Target ability on top of the guns, there wouldn’t even be bones left—let alone a body.
“Ha… So that’s why you’re so cocky. Just spit it out. I need to get going.”
“What, did you get yourself a girlfriend behind my back? You’re really trying to make me jealous, huh?”
“Jealous my ass. I just agreed to look after the boss’s daughter for a while.”
“Oh, that’s all? I almost kicked your door down thinking you’d escaped bachelorhood first.”
She’s not joking.
From what I remembered, Detective Shinoda—no, Shinoda Yui—could flatten a small yakuza office without breaking a sweat. Her ability, Target, was so broken that anyone would call it cheating. As long as she knew the face, she could snipe from anywhere, no matter the distance. An overwhelming power. I couldn’t even imagine how terrifying she would have been if she’d worked in the underworld.
“So what’s the actual business?”
“Fine, fine. First, look at this.”
The photo she showed me on her phone depicted a woman drenched in blood. The white chalk lines around the collapsed body made it clear this was a crime scene.
She’s wearing a police uniform. A fellow detective?
“One of my colleagues was murdered recently. The investigation points to a yakuza perpetrator.”
“If you’re showing me this, does it mean it’s connected to our organization? The boss ordered everyone to lie low!”
“Not your group. Another organization.”
“No way.”
Lately there had been constant reports of other yakuza setting foot in Yamazaki faction territory. The obvious suspects were the rival Daimi Union. Combining everything I’d seen with the current situation, I could guess exactly why she had come looking for me.
“Those bastards crossed a line even the police can’t ignore. You people have some idea already, don’t you?”
I simply nodded. No words were necessary.
“I only came today to warn you. The higher-ups and even internal affairs are watching closely, so be careful.”
“Is there a weapons crackdown too?”
“Yes. The order is to sweep away anyone who gets caught, so watch yourself. And for that reason~ hand them over.”
“Hand what over?”
“Aww~ You really think I don’t know about the thing at your waist and the one tucked just above your back pocket?”
A chill ran down my spine at the sudden command. She might have spotted the katana, but how the hell did she know about the gun I’d casually slipped into my waistband?
Forcing my racing heart to calm, I shook my head.
“Ahaha, a law-abiding citizen like me doesn’t carry anything like that.”
“Really? Then you won’t mind if I search you, right?”
“...”
Yui raised both hands in a clear gesture for me to do the same.
“Hurry up.”
“Fine. But if you touch anything weird, I’ll put a hole through your head.”
“Sure, sure~. Then shall I enjoy touching a man’s body after so long?”
What she called a search was closer to outright molestation the moment her hands made contact.
Her cool fingers slid naturally toward the inside of my thigh. Then came the perverted way she stroked my trained abs. The grand finale was Shinoda Yui’s lecherous grin as she casually groped my ass.
“Hey, if you weren’t a yakuza you could’ve been a gravure model… Ack!”
“That’s enough… But you said you were searching me. Aren’t you confiscating the weapons?”
“Well, I got to feel you up. I’ll let it slide today~.”
“Seriously? Is a cop even allowed to act like this? You really are a corrupt detective.”
Bonk! The moment I teased her, Yui flicked my forehead.
“Taking them now would just be a hassle to carry. Besides… it’s dangerous lately, so keep them on you.”
“Even if your face turns red, you still won’t date a detective.”
“Trying to look cool for the first time in ages, what a joke. I’m leaving!”
With a sharp turn, the detective strode out of the back alley. I briefly considered smacking the back of her head, but since she had clearly overlooked things within her authority, I let her go.
I should hurry home. Being a babysitter is such a pain.
Normally I would have stopped by a street stall for a drink, but now I felt like a married man with a child to look after.
***
“Feed me!”
“Yes, yes~ Is there anything the young lady wants to eat?”
“...Karaage?”
“We’re out of ingredients~.”
As expected, the moment I returned home I was greeted not with warm affection but with the ill-mannered young lady’s shouting.
We were still far from getting close. I held back my tears, fetched the oil, and endured the scorching heat as I fried the chicken. A mouth-watering aroma slowly rose.
A warm home-cooked meal to survive the cold night was complete.
“Miso soup with this is plenty, and the fried chicken is perfect~ The rice turned out nice too?”
“Ah~ Just one for me.”
“You’re only tasting.”
I popped a perfectly fried piece into her mouth. She chewed with sparkling eyes, clearly enjoying it.
“Delicious, right?”
“It’s… passable.”
Seeing her eat with gusto made me a little happy. I filled her small character bowl with fluffy rice and even brought her water.
As the table filled with food, she naturally sat down and waited.
“Thank you for the meal!”
“There’s plenty of fried chicken, so take your time.”
Looking at her like this, she’s nothing but a kid. So why is she so prickly?
Whether it was the boss’s influence or something else, the important point was that I was exhausted. Collecting money from loan sharks would have been far easier. Catering to someone else drained far too much mental energy.
“I ate well~.”
“If you’re finished, go brush your teeth.”
“Later~ I have games to play.”
“Aha…”
I wanted to flick her forehead and tell her to listen, but I endured it. Maybe once we grew closer she would change, but that day still seemed far off.
Time passed. A few days later, it was time for the young lady to head to school.
“It’s time for school.”
“Yeah, I know! Bread!”
“Here you are.”
“Ah, where did my socks go?”
“Right here.”
“Skirt!!!”
“I’ll help you put it on, so eat slowly.”
At some point I had stopped being a babysitter and become a perfect servant. I spent another hectic morning helping the young lady rush through putting on her uniform.
Since we were already late, I decided to take the boss’s precious car.
“It’s mom’s car! Is it really okay to drive it?”
“If you scratch it… we’ll just cut off two fingers.”
“Eek!? Let’s go, quick. It’s not my fingers anyway.”
In a panic, I drove Yamazaki boss’s car toward the school. We arrived just as the teachers were closing the gates.
She jumped out in a fluster and sprinted inside.
“Must be nice to be young.”
It hadn’t been long since I’d possessed this world, yet watching the students so leisurely made me feel like an old man.
“I should find a woman here too~.”
But the only women around were scary yakuza with dragons or strange youkai tattooed across their backs. If I was going to meet someone, I wanted someone pretty with a nice figure like the sex friends back at the academy…
“Ah.”
One person immediately came to mind.
“Shinoda Yui.”
She was a little sly and the fact she was a detective gave me pause, but her refreshing looks and elegant curves were undeniably beautiful.
A yakuza with a detective girlfriend…
Sex friends might be acceptable, but I decided I should be careful. If people thought I was an informant, I could end up sold off as a prostitute from my fingers to the rest of my body.
“I wonder if she’ll answer.”
***
“Die, you fucking bitch!!”
“Bang~.”
Bang!
The woman slashing wildly with bloodshot eyes collapsed the moment a hole opened in her leg.
“These thug bastards are worse than yakuza, I swear. Sis, how’s it over there?”
“This side’s clean too. There’s been so much knife crime lately—it was smart to wear a stab vest.”
“Right? Hmm…”
Just as she was working hard as a detective, an alarm rang from her pocket.
The sudden change in attitude was surprisingly not a bad offer.
“Why are you grinning like an idiot? Did you take something?”
“Something better than drugs. Hehe, I’ve been hearing my luck’s been good lately…”
The thought that spring might finally be coming for her made it impossible to hide her joy.
Cute.
If he weren’t a yakuza she would have confessed every single day, yet she had never imagined a moment like this would arrive.
“Okay! Then shall we rack up some serious points today?”
“What points?”
She draped an arm over her bear-like detective colleague’s shoulder.
“There’s something like that, so let’s hurry. I have somewhere to be after we finish early today.”
