I Became the Yakuza's Nanny (1)

The first time I stepped back into the yakuza world after finishing the previous chapter, a wave of nostalgia hit me hard.

I remembered getting cursed as a Joseon-jin while playing the role of a housewife. It wasn't exactly happy, but I had plenty of memories of living an ordinary daily life.

Was I pretty strong here too?

I felt satisfied looking at the muscles that clung to my body like a proper yakuza. In this world, I was undefeatable. I was yakuza. I stared into the mirror and spent a moment appreciating myself.

From what I remembered, my body was somewhere in the mid-to-late twenties. Despite that age, my face still had a youthful, boyish quality that stood out. There were blade scars on my hands and arms, but aside from those, my skin was clean.

"Damn, I really am handsome. No wonder women lose their minds over this. Right?"

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No matter which world I went to, only my height and weight changed. My face and features stayed exactly the same. The version of me in this world had such a good physique that I genuinely looked cool. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the mirror.

I pulled off my shirt and started flexing like a bodybuilder, striking ridiculous poses just for fun.

-Creak.

The sound of the door opening beside me.

"Joseon-jin. I'm hungry... Hup! Are you crazy? What the hell are you doing in the middle of the day!"

Bang!

A short-haired woman appeared in a flash and vanished like the wind. What caught my eye was her dark blue hair and the bold sports bra she wore without shame.

But the most important thing was...

"Who the hell is that? That's the young lady...?"

I knew time had passed, but it seemed like way more time had gone by than I'd expected. Her body had filled out into sleek, dangerous curves, and the baby fat had melted from her face, leaving behind sharp, piercing features.

This was on a completely different level from the Yamasaki Shizuru I remembered. It was like watching a caterpillar finish its metamorphosis and emerge as a butterfly. I was completely stunned.

"Hmph. I'm hungry, Joseon-jin. What exactly have you been doing since this morning? You pervert."

"Ahem. Please forget you saw that, miss. And when you reach my age, loneliness makes a man do strange things."

When I stepped into the living room, my eyes met hers as she sat watching TV. Her ears and cheeks were faintly flushed. It was probably connected to her barging into my room earlier.

"Lonely?"

"Yes. I'm at that age where I should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be getting a girlfriend and thinking about marriage."

Of course, the girlfriend issue wasn't a worry thanks to Detective Shinoda. I was just acting pathetic to earn some sympathy points from the young lady right now. It was groundwork to get harassed a little less in the future. Yep. I really am a genius.

"Lonely... girlfriend?"

"Is something wrong, miss?"

"N-no. I'm hungry, so hurry up and make breakfast."

"Right away~."

No matter how much her appearance had changed, she was still the same Yamasaki Shizuru I knew. Her core nature clearly hadn't shifted at all.

I cooked the usual miso soup and prepared the meal, then watched her eat while opening my messages.

Must be from Detective Yui.

When I checked my memories, it looked like Yui♥ was a name she had secretly changed in my contacts while I was sleeping. Detective Yui had always been aggressive, pushing me to date her and get married. She used to say that once she saved up a bit, we could even buy a house.

Considering Japan's insane real estate prices, that was an incredible amount of wealth. Even so, I had kept refusing her while maintaining our relationship this far. Every evening I'd go to her place, we'd tangle together, I'd cook for her, and in our spare time we'd text and talk on the phone.

Isn't this basically dating at this point?

When I really thought about it, we'd already crossed way beyond fuck-buddies territory.

"What are you staring at so hard? Did you get a present or something?"

"No, it's not that... I think I have a blind date tonight."

I was obviously going to Detective Yui's place, but a yakuza casually admitting he was heading to a detective's house wasn't something I could say out loud. The boss might not suspect anything, but if someone pressed me for an answer, what was I supposed to tell them? That I was fuck-buddies with Detective Yui and we were going to have sex? How many people would actually believe that? They'd probably just think I was crazy.

"A blind... date? Why?"

"Why? Because I'm at that age. It's about time I got married."

"..."

Shizuru froze mid-bite. Worried the food might have gone bad, I picked up a piece of sausage and ate it. The rich, savory oil spread through my mouth. It wasn't spoiled. So what was going on?

Or maybe she was still going through puberty?

The image of the young lady during her puberty phase flashed through my mind.

That was back before she cut her hair, when her face still had that youthful softness. To think she'd grown up this fast. Kids really grow up too quickly. It feels like I'm watching time pass with my own eyes.

After a decent breakfast and safely escorting the visibly troubled young lady to school, I was left with nothing to do again. In the beginning there had been orders from the higher-ups because I was yakuza, but those had pretty much dried up a long time ago. Probably because I was a man and there were too many rumors about me serving as the young lady's personal attendant.

"It's nice not having work, but... it really is boring."

A safe and peaceful life somehow felt tedious. I didn't really have anyone to meet, and I didn't have any particular hobbies either. Just lazing around, soaking in the peace... I guess this was happiness.

[Ring! Ring! Ring!]

Along with a flood of alarms, a message arrived that made my eyes snap wide open.

"What the hell is this?"

A request for backup wouldn't come unless the situation was urgent. The fact that it was Senior Shiina sending it meant things must be serious.

I quickly grabbed my clothes and weapons, then rushed to the location written in the message.

Even though it was still early morning, the moment I entered the alley I caught the fishy smell of blood. I tensed up and moved inside slowly.

The further in I went, the more bloodstains I saw on the floor and walls. I also spotted what appeared to be corpses of both yakuza and Chinese mafia.

Green suits are the mafia.

Yakuza wore suits often too, but they didn't coordinate the colors like that. The Chinese guys seemed to have decided on green suits.

"Kwaaaaaaaaah!!!!"

"I told you not to block my path..."

"What the hell is that?"

Deeper inside, I found a larger number of Chinese mafia than expected and several fallen yakuza. They must have fought with their tops off because the irezumi tattoos on their backs were clearly visible.

Senior Shiina... of all people.

To a yakuza, tattoos were like name tags that let them recognize each other. Among the fallen was Senior Shiina, the one who had called me.

It was already too late to run. I pulled out my gun first and aimed it at the woman.

"...Who are you?"

"Oh? After catching one, now a man appears. Is this the mercy of you island monkeys? That face isn't bad at all. You'd make a perfect host boy."

"Fuck off, you damn chinks."

"A bastard who'd die happily if I just stepped on his dick."

From among the mafia, a woman wearing a china dress—the boss, apparently—walked forward. She had pink hair and a small build, but I could tell she was not someone to take lightly.

She took down Senior. I can't let my guard down.

-Swish!

A sharp needle appeared right in front of my eyeball.

Mind's Eye!

The world slowed to a crawl. I snatched the needle flying at me with terrifying speed, bent it in front of the women, and threw it back.

"Oh. You're not ordinary."

"What the..."

Thinking about how I would've lost an eye if I'd been even a little slower sent chills across my skin.

-Bang!

She must have predicted my bullet because she rolled to the side to dodge. She fired needles so thin they were nearly invisible, but I used Mind's Eye to avoid them easily and drew my sword.

A sudden question arose. Why weren't the other mafia members around us doing anything?

By the time I finished that thought, the woman in the china dress was already in front of me. I lightly dodged the fist aimed at my right eye and tried to stab my longsword into her ribs in return.

-Whoosh!

She dodged. If this attack landed...

-Tap.

Huh...?

I was sure I'd dodged the attack. So whose hand was grabbing the back of my neck?

My head was pulled forward naturally, and a pure white knee filled my vision.

-Crunch!

I took the knee strike directly to the face. My brain rattled and my thoughts stopped.

I burned more stamina to activate the ability again and barely avoided the knee. This time I swung my sword diagonally, aiming to cut her body in half.

-Thud. Tap.

Instead of the blade, attacks targeted my shoulder and elbow, disrupting my sword path. As my slash cut through empty air, another fist flew toward my face. This one was different. The black flames rising from her small hand were clearly not ordinary.

"Black Island."

This... I definitely couldn't dodge—

That was the moment.

-BANG!

Right before I got hit, a powerful gunshot rang out near my ear and everyone froze.

"This is the police! Don't move! Any bitch who moves except for that man over there, I'll turn your cunt into a rag!"

Detective Shinoda Yui, who I hadn't seen in a while, was mediating the fight. When she looked at me and smiled brightly, she was so beautiful I almost fell for her on the spot.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Yeah... I'm fine except for bumping my arm a little."

"I'll clean this up, so get out of here first. I don't have a warrant right now so I can't arrest the mafia bitches either."

I left the rest to Detective Yui and slowly walked out of the alley. Even as I left, the sight of the corpses sent shivers down my spine.

This isn't over yet.

The moment these two forces clashed, there was no way it would end here. A massive storm was coming.