Kenjiro stood in the shadows, his gaze fixed on the cafe where his son had found an unlikely sanctuary. The neon lights of Tokyo flickered in his eyes, reflections of a life spent in the underbelly of the city. He was a man carved from the same stone as the empire he built—a legacy of power and fear. He didn't like in the slightest fact that his son was coming to this mere cafe everyday to see some girl instead of doing what he was suppose to do as a mafia.
Kenjiro (thinking): Yuuto, my son, you were raised to lead, to command, to fear nothing and no one. Yet here you are, seeking refuge in a place that couldn't be further from our world.
He had come to confront Yuuto, to remind him of his responsibilities, but the sight of his son, laughing and at ease, had given him pause. It was a side of Yuuto he had never seen—one that didn't fit the mold of the Black Dragon syndicate.
Kenjiro (muttering): This girl, Camilla... she knows nothing of our life, the sacrifices we've made. She cannot understand the burden of our name.
Yet, as she watched them, a flicker of doubt crept into her heart. Had she been wrong to insist on tradition? Was there another path for Yuuto, one without bloodshed and darkness?
Kenjiro (to himself): I've always believed strength and power were everything. But seeing Yuuto like this... Could there be strength in vulnerability? In choosing a different way?
The thought was a whisper against the roar of his convictions, but it lingered, a seed of uncertainty in the hardened soil of his beliefs.
Kenjiro (pondering): Perhaps it's time to let the old ways die. Maybe Yuuto can forge a new path, one that doesn't end in solitude and war.
As Kenjiro turned away from the cafe, the weight of his years bore down on him. He had made his choices, lived his life in the service of power. But Yuuto… perhaps Yuuto still had a chance for something more, something better.
Kenjiro (resigned): I have walked my path, and I must accept its end. But Yuuto, may you find the peace that has eluded me.
In the quiet of the night, Kenjiro made a decision. He would step back, watch from afar, and hope that his son would succeed where he had failed—in finding a life not ruled by the syndicate, but by love and choice.