Japan, 1998…

  Some would say that the rainy night was too quiet and peaceful in the Shirogawa district.

  Rain poured endlessly, blurring the street lamps and soaking the dark alleys.

  There was no one in sight.

  Only the sound of thunder and distant sea waves echoed through the night.

  No one would hear your scream or your call for help.

  It seemed that Shirogawa was sleeping peacefully…

  No one heard the hopeless begging of a man in a small, poor house.

  Even if they did, no one would dare to come.

  No one messes with the Shirogawa Mafia clan.

  “Please… give me a few more days. I’ll get the money. This time it’s real, I swear!!”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  He begged, kneeling on the floor, staring at the barrel of the gun in front of his eyes.

  “A few more days, huh? You think this is a game?

  Do you have the money or not?”

  “No… but I’ll have it. I’ll have it tomorrow!!”

  “Tomorrow?”

  He let out a quiet laugh.

  “Very impressive. They always say tomorrow — and tomorrow never ends.

  But my patience does.”

  “Get him out of my sight,” he said to another man, who was holding a young woman tightly by the waist.

  “He will pay another way…”

  he added casually, placing the gun behind his back as everything is settled.

  “The woman too?” one of his men asked, just to be sure.

  “Both of them. We need to send a message.”

  “And what about the child?”

  he asked, glancing toward the little malnourished figure with messy black hair — barefoot in pajamas, curled in the corner of the room.

  The boy was shaking in fear, silent, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

  “We’ll take him with us. We need to collect the debt,”

  he said, looking at the child with coldness in his eyes.

  The mother screamed.

  “No! Don’t hurt him… please… let us go!!

  We didn’t do anything!”

  She struggled desperately to free herself from the tight grip of the man holding her.

  “Damn you, Hiroshi!!

  Look what you’ve done! Look what you’ve done to us!!”

  Her voice, full of rage, echoed through the room as she looked at her husband with disgust.

  “Sota, honey… don’t cry.

  Mommy is sorry. Mommy loves you so much…”

  Her voice filled the room as they were dragged out of the house.

  Through the open door, the sound of heavy rain and thunder filled the room, and their silhouettes eventually faded into the darkness of the night.