Soryu reuniting with MC and his son after she leaves him while pregnant.
(In my old head canons he has a daughter, but since Voltage decided to make him a legit kid, I’ll use ‘em)
You need more than just love to be a mafia wife.
Soryu’s choice in career was difficult for you to accept. However much you believed you could have a future with him, you found yourself corrected and corrected again.
He came home with injuries and blood on his hands, the grim look on his face striking fear and tremors into your hands as you cleaned him up.
You were happy that he came home to you, relieved that he was alive, but you didn’t dare think about how many times he could safely return in the future.
He told you not to worry, that he will be fine, but the more frequently he tried to reassure you with those words, the more empty they became. As you poured more of yourself into fostering your relationship with Soryu, the days started to drag back on your sanity.
Interest in things started to ebb. You applied for more shifts at your job, begging Eisuke to let you work, begging your coworkers to give you something to do to actively occupy your mind. Only when you were busy you could stop imagining, stop thinking of possibilities, stop fretting, stop torturing yourself with disgust and terror at Soryu’s organization. There seemed to be nothing left of you but work and housework, and it was for the better. It kept your mind from wandering. Just a bit.
Your boyfriend noticed it all, but he never had the words to help you. He was confused as you were, worried as you were, and his personality of little talk could only give comfort in his actions. He tried to spend time with you, cherishing moments of leisure spent together in the suite. His warm embrace, his low voice, the firm scent of his skin, the dark eyes, everything about him was a fraction of peace for the pieces your mind fell apart into. He tried, but he found no success in saving you from yourself.
The hours of agonizing waiting drew your thoughts away from food completely. You sat there, feeling the hands of the clock tick away your energy, feeling the loneliness and fear of the worst wrestle in your stomach. Or perhaps it was your stomach needing food, lashing out at you, haunting your mind with more terror as you left the hunger unanswered. You just waited, like a statue, an empty carving of a woman, hollowed by your own demons and desperately praying for your boyfriend to return safely to you. The moment he walks through the door is when you suddenly regain all ability to move, suddenly animated, suddenly alive.
He kisses you, caresses you, draws you close to him as every sense recovers momentarily from the numbness. You needed him.
But even as you lay in the bed under him, the man you love moving inside you, his lips raining steady kisses to your skin, you found no pleasure. It seemed too much like plain reassurance, like a form of reaffirming your reality rather than that blissful intimacy you once knew. No matter how he ravished you with his affections, your body hardly responded, stiff and awkwardly continuing in a familiar repetition of senseless intercourse. You just weren’t feeling it. Ever.
But you didn’t want him to stop.
The physical contact was nice. It kept you rooted in reality, kept you awake, kept you thinking of him.
You fell victim to your own mind, thoughts shattering in the way of your gloomy pessimism and fretfulness. Sometimes you would forget things, like leaving behind that extra ingredient you swore to buy, finding a pack of tiny pills on the counter that still contained the ones you thought you ate, running the washing machine when the only thing in there was a sock you forgot to remove from the last use.
You were done.
Done with yourself, done with the world.
There was one way you could think of to silence the horror of your mind, but you couldn’t do it before Soryu.
You packed up and left, trying to let him believe you would live on- away from him and safe. This was the one thing you could focus on in a while, packing all of your belongings into one suitcase and choosing a time where he wasn’t home.
You went straight to the water’s edge, knowing it wasn’t likely for you to be found here before you succeed.
Half a bottle of wine and strong pills later, you open your eyes in the hospital.
“She’s finally awake. Gosh.”
Ota’s annoyed voice sounded by your ear.
“She’s such a handful. Eisuke just had to send ME after her when HE thinks she’s looking off. And leave me with a puking mess.”
Worthless.
A handful.
Absolutely useless.
Luke gazed down at you calmly, with a gaze that subdued all the sinister and negative thoughts in your mind. He ordered you to rest, and informed you that he would speak to you when you woke again.
He spoke to you about your condition, your pregnancy, and your future. All three things came as a shock, a stunning sort of feeling that you didn’t know you still had the capability to experience.
You cried.
You haven’t cried for a long time, being so numb and lacking in emotion.
But you sobbed in Luke’s arms, begging him to help you, for once believing that you weren’t alone, suddenly desiring life more than ever as your hands clutch the photograph of your ultrasound. You begged him to keep it a secret from Soryu, pleading with the doctor that it would be safer for the child without the father’s background still looming over you. Luke didn’t like the idea, but was simply too frazzled by a sobbing, blubbering woman grabbing on to him for dear life, and complied.
He gave you a business card, and shipped you off to London along with a sum of money. As you tried to refuse the graciousness, Luke smiled sheepishly and stuck his phone in his pocket. You could have sworn you saw Eisuke’s name on the screen before it disappeared between folds of fabric.
“Consider it a gift from the baby’s two new godfathers.”
You cried again, and left him in a mess as you hugged him, thanking him and Eisuke for their support, weeping your endless gratefulness into his shoulder.
“Why did you let her leave?”
Soryu growled, masking his anguish and utter loss behind his fur as he grabbed his friend by the collar. Luke met his eyes with the same indifferent look he always seemed to bear.
“She’s killing her self by staying.” Luke shoved Soryu back off of him, and the man let go as a rush of weakness flooded him. “I sent her to the most qualified woman I know. That is my judgement as a doctor, and it is not your certification to judge whether she will recover at your side.”
The dark fire died in Soryu’s eyes, succumbing to the crushing defeat as he sank into the couch. He lost her. He pushed her to the brink of death and lost her to the fears he couldn’t quench.
“__________….”
“I know where she is staying.” Luke admitted. “She doesn’t want you to go seek her, but I can at least tell you that she is alive. “
“You think that’s a good thing?” Soryu snarled, glaring at the blond man. “I want her to be well, I want to protect her.” His voice cracked. “I’m supposed to. And now I have to depend on you to tell me she’s alive?”
“Or Luke could tell you nothing at all.” Eisuke cut in. “Soryu, there wasn’t anything you were doing for her. Luke sending her away is better. Give her time to recover, and you can bring her home when she’s ready.”
Soryu fell silent, his voice snuffed out in his throat as your disappearance settled into his chest as a permanent hollow.
“I can go find her when she’s better.” He muttered to himself in a weakly convincing tone.
“Yes, you can.” Eisuke put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, and gripped tightly.
Heartbreak and crippling depression was nothing when you had the guidance of Luke’s talented friend. And there was Ryusei to take care of. You could finally focus enough to push the fearful thoughts out of your mind, to overcome your anxiety as the environment around you was safer, simpler, and you could take care of your newborn son. He was born to you in the most beautiful London winter, and you felt a long overdue sense of peace as you held him in your arms and gazed past the foggy glass at the drifting flakes. With the help from Luke’s old friend, Ms Ziegler, you were steadily recovering. Things started to regain their vividness, happier, worthy of your emotion. Especially Ryusei. He was quiet and peaceful as a baby, rarely crying, always giving everyone a happy little smile when he was held. He was the joy of your life, that positive aspect you retained from your time with Soryu as the passing months washed away your anxiety.
“She what?”
Soryu roared.
“I don’t know where she is anymore.” Luke said quietly.
“You said you’d keep an eye out for her!” Soryu shouted his disbelief in the penthouse suite, pain twisting his words as they tore out of his lungs.
“Angela told me this morning that she left. Sorry, Soryu.”
“Where is she going?”
“I don’t know. Angela wasn’t even told.”
-
You had left a letter of love and thanks to your doctor before disappearing again with your son. You knew her connection to the people you didn’t want to contact in Japan, knew that she was keeping them updated about you, and you just weren’t ready to think about them again. You were not going to subject yourself that the environment that kindled your depression in the first place, not going to risk your son’s life with his father’s career.
You put together the remaining money from Luke’s gift, and flew to your cousin in southern Japan.
“She might be headed back here?”
Baba tried to sooth things over, but the calming voice wavered with his own uncertainty and worry at Soryu’s reaction.
Ota glared at his friend, knowing full well that the possibility was slim.
She wasn’t going to come back.
“Look, Ryusei, we’re home.”
You smile at your son in your arms. Your cousin pulled your small suitcase behind you, patting your shoulder.
“This place hasn’t been occupied for a while because the location isn’t that convenient. You staying here is at least giving it some purpose.”
“I’ll pay you rent when I find a job.” You promised. She only smiles and ruffles your hair.
“I’m in no rush for money. Do what you can, and I might just forget the rest, okay?” She winked and hugged you, giving you a familiar sense of family and hospitality that you missed so dearly.
She left London.
But she won’t come home to me.
She went somewhere without me because she can’t stand to be with me anymore.
She’d rather suffer on her own.
Soryu missed you.
He missed the sweet voice greeting him as he came through the doors, missed sharing his happiness with the cheery attitude, missed that supportive and energetic woman who kept him in check.
He was the one who killed that woman, who ground her cheerfulness away to brittle depression and fear.
It was his fault.
In the sheer helplessness, he tried to give himself hope, tried to convince himself that he had the power to fix things.
That perhaps, his effort could lead you home.
Ryusei was a wonderful child.
Mild tempered, polite, thoughtful, and appreciative of everything he had. It was never easy being a single mother, working at a restaurant, squeezing every paycheque to pay for food and necessities, managing to scrape a bit extra for rent as you didn’t like to abuse your cousin’s generosity.
There was still nothing better than spending time with your son. He always drew, sketching pictures of plants and the strays that loved to surround him. He was tall for his age, with dark hair and the same ink coloured eyes as his father. They rippled with a calm tranquility though, unlike the steely fierceness Soyru always had. You were pleased about it. Maybe your son had a chance to live a normal life after all. The eyes shone the brightest when he spoke of what he wanted to do, to adopt all the animals, to become a veterinarian, to be the best in the world, to be recognized for intelligence and skill.
You didn’t have the heart to tell him you couldn’t afford that sort of education for him. You would do anything you could to give him that opportunity, to let your son live up to what he can be.
Sometimes you couldn’t help but think that it would be easier to hand Ryusei to his father. Soryu was wealthy, easily able to give him the best upbringing, letting him have the background and support to pursue his dreams.
But you didn’t know how. You didn’t want to get Ryusei involved with all the crime that may set him on a different path. There were no guarantees of what could happen, and you couldn’t bear to leave your son so vulnerable.
It took Soryu a few years to fully detach himself from the Ice Dragons. He appointed another leader, oversaw the organization for a while, and withdrew his presence completely. He had other plans now, better plans, something that might give him a sliver more of a chance at reuniting with you.
He looked out across the busy room now at Inui. The new floor manager, the once obedient and nervous young fellow had grown into a confident and capable man, holding a clipboard and running through the restaurant doing his checks. The scents of soy sauce and meat filled the air, accompanied by that wholesome scent of freshly steamed buns.
People change for the better.
He can too.
“Hey boss.”
Inui passed Soryu a dish of shrimp dumplings fresh from the kitchen.
“How is it looking out there?”
“Lunch is rush is over. Cleanup is running pretty smoothly!” The man planted his hands on his hips proudly. “The new procedures actually streamlines the job.”
“Nice.”
Soryu ate.
Inui grinned at his praise.
“How does the dumpling skin taste?” He asked.
“What do you mean?” Soryu looked down at his food.
“Just try it and answer me.”
“It’s chewy, but it doesn’t stick to my teeth.” Soryu paused and took another bite. “Very smooth too. But the lack of stickiness is very striking.”
“We’re trying a new non-stick recipe in the kitchen.” Inui handed Soryu some files. “It should make the skins smoother and more chewable so it doesn’t stick to the teeth and turn gummy.”
He flipped through the documents, reading the ingredient list and cost analysis.
“Good job.” Soryu nodded.
Days flew by with Ryusei at your side. Laughing days, saddening days, days of joy, and days of worrying over his feverish state. You were fully recovered, able to enjoy your life as it was.
You were walking to pick up your son from class one day when you say him sitting on the school steps, cradling a black puppy in his arms.
“Ryusei, where did you find it?”
“I don’t know, mom.” He looked up at you with those soft dark eyes. “It seemed hungry and sad and it came to me.”
It didn’t have a collar, and it buried its face into Ryusei’s shirt, letting the boy pet the matted fur.
Small animals really loved his father too, you recalled achingly. The similarities were starting to show through more as Ryusei began to express himself more through language and action. A natural leader, quiet steadfastness, the ability to sympathize with and care for small animals, the intelligence and calculation behind a calm personality.
“Let’s get it to a shelter.” You say gently as your son hops to his feet. The two of you head for the closest animal charity home, and some voices come around the corner.
“I don’t think this kind of place would be ideal to open another dim sum joint of yours.”
Eisuke looked around, arms crossed, eyes scanning skeptically around the area of plain houses, cafes, and convenience stores. It wasn’t a big city like Tokyo.
“The neighbourhood doesn’t have to be rich necessarily.” Soryu replied. “Our surveys say this is the most high demand location.”
He looked up and down the street, taking in the crowds and blinking vehicle lights. Amidst the people, he could almost swear he saw a familiar face dip into his vision and vanish again.
“__________.” He breathed out.
It was a name Eisuke hasn’t heard in a while. He looked at his friend in shock.
Soryu stared off into the distance, all thoughts lost, walking down the street in a trance like desperation as he looked for the glimpse he had and lost in the sea of people.
“Here we are, Ryusei.”
You smile and he trots up to the doorway of the animal charity house.
“Hey, no, wait!”
The puppy, as if recognizing the place, squirms out of his arms. The boy, caught off guard, loses his grip and the black pup dashes away in search of more refuge.
“Small animals love you, Soryu.”
Eisuke chuckled.
Soryu frowned down at the puppy at his feet, tail curled between its legs and whimpering sadly.
“Wait! Come back!”
A boy’s voice called after the puppy, and Soryu saw a young child tear down the street, hurrying towards him.
“Sorry, Mister!” Ryusei extended his arms to the puppy, wiggling small fingers, coaxing it with a gentle and adoring voice.
It’s been a while since Soryu has heard a voice like that, tender and affectionate, promising never to hurt, singing to a broken soul to heal and protect them. Just like you.
“Where’s your mother, boy?”
“Oh!” Ryes looked behind him, suddenly nervous at losing you when running. A breath of relief escaped him as he saw you catch up.
“Ryusei, you can’t just run off like that! You’re going to bump into people and hurt them and get lost!” You scold through hurried gasps of air as you grab onto your son. His young face was so bright, glowing up at you, a relief to see.
“_________.”
You raise your head at Eisuke’s voice sounding over you, and something seeps into you, freezing you from the spine down to your limbs. Your gaze drifts from him to the man beside him, the face you dreamed of so many times, the figure you never thought you’d see again in your lifetime. He was as stunt as you were, staring at you with open disbelief. Everything coursed through his mind, how he missed you, how he just wanted to hold on to you in the desperate fear of losing you again. He needed something to root him to the ground as the world around him whirled out of his control and left him to sink into a spiral of hope and hopelessness.
Every instinct told you to flee, and you grab Ryusei’s hand.
“Come on.” You say quietly, unable to retract your gaze from Soryu’s face. “We have to go.”
“The puppy!”
“We have to GO.”
You’ve dreamed of seeing him, longed to reunite, but you couldn’t handle a meeting like this. The fear of his reaction, the memories of your depression, the horrid images of blood and violence, everything you left behind seven years ago caught up to you in the same instant, and you almost screamed.
The silence dragged on in the streets, and Soryu shattered the unmoving scene as he gave in to his need and grabbed your arm.
“___________…”
His voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
You struggled, crying out in protest, begging him to let you go, wrenching your arm in his grasp. He stammered his own pleas, begging for you to listen, for you not to run away from him, for you to give him a chance. Voices flew between the two of you, missing their target of ears, lost in a simultaneous bout of expression for all the repressed emotions.
Eisuke watched with amusement as the small boy punched Soryu in the stomach with all his strength. The child barrelled into Soryu, shoving him away from you, twisting on Soryu’s arm, trying to force him to release you. He did. Not because of the boy, but from the numbing chill at the terrified look in your eyes.
“Who are you?”
Ryusei yelled up at him, clinging to Soryu’s arm with all his strength, glaring daggers.
You shake your head at your son, rambling something about telling him to stop, that you had to leave, that he needed to let go and come to you. Words fell jumbled from your lips, frazzled in thought as you noticed, for the first time, the intense fire in the steel of your son’s eyes.
Soryu tried to reach for you, and Ryusei clung on, screaming.
“Don’t hurt my mom!”
Eisuke noticed the staring crowds, and turned to his friend .
“Stop.”
Soryu let his extended arm fall to his side, staring at you with endless longing. Ryusei let him go and scurried to your side, standing in front of you protectively.
Eisuke was as composed and relaxed as ever as he raised an eyebrow at you.
“_________, care to join us for a coffee?”
“No! She doesn’t want to!” Ryusei snapped at Eisuke. “Why are you such a bully?”
You lay a hand on Ryusei’s shoulder to calm him, and he falls silent, grabbing your fingertips in search of some reassurance. You squeeze his hand.
“We have time for a coffee.” You manage to say.
The puppy had been brought with them to the cafe. Now it stomped over Eisuke’s shoes to curl up by Soryu’s legs.
Eisuke studied the face of the boy. He looked familiar, a faint glimpse of Eisuke’s own childhood friend on the young face.
“How old are you, boy?”
“….”
Ryusei pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Eisuke was not used to being ignored, and glared at the child. The child glared back.
“Ryusei is six.” You answered in his place.
Soryu sat there, his gaze fixed on you, picking up every detail about your face. The look of age ghosted across your face, a tired and strained look that tried to erode away the beauty he saw. But you were as beautiful as ever, perfectly genuine and loving as you held your son’s hand, perfect despite the seven years that escaped him.
Seven years.
He had lost you for seven years, letting you slip through his fingers, losing what he once held so dear.
And now you were here, sitting in a coffeeshop, looking back at him with an expression of unreadable mixture of feelings, reigniting the love he tried keep build for so long.
Here you were.
“You seem well, Soryu.”
“Yes.”
You flinch at his curt answer, the shortness of the word.
Soryu bit back the pleas that shook his voice, not wanting to scare you again. He draws in a deep breath, and you anticipate him to speak. He just exhaled with a dropping sigh. An awkward silence ensued, you ducking your head to avoid eye contact.
“Seriously, you two, get to it.” Eisuke folded his arms over his chest annoyedly, glancing at his watch. “_________, are you going to explain why you’ve kept Soryu’s kid away from him for all these years?”
Soryu jolted in his seat as his attention finally went to the child sitting beside you.
His son?”
He could see the dark hair, the intense eyes under the bangs, churning with fire that sat beneath self control and patience. He did look a little like him.
But Soryu couldn’t believe.
You left him, you hated him, you went to seek a better life somewhere else, with someone else, certainly.
He looked to you with a questioning gaze.
“H-How do you think-“
Eisuke’s chuckle cuts you off.
“You’re as easy to read as ever.”
You chew your lip and turn to your son. He pats your hand gently, all the violence from him having retracted inside a decently behaved boy as he observed your attitude change towards the two strange men. He was a surprisingly mature child.
“____________…”
Soryu called for you, the sound of your name so quiet, floating on a thread of possibility.
“Is it true?”
You couldn’t look at him, not like this. Not after you and promised yourself you could be fine on your own, not after you tried to bury the unsettled feelings in your heart. You did love him. The circumstances took you away from him, forcing you to leave him and save yourself first.
You felt the tears roll down your cheeks before you could control them, slipping off your lashes and trailing in a trickle over your skin. A rare tremor shook your shoulders, shaking loose the pent up feelings and anguish inside you as you cried.
“Yes…”
Soryu pressed against the table, leaning closer to you, trying to comfort you but losing his voice as the reality pressed onto him.
How could you do this to him?
How could you hide away whatever last chance he had at a family?
How could you be so cold to leave him hanging on broken shards of his heart, to leave his affections unanswered for seven years?
“I’m sorry…” You coughed out, wiping your eyes with the back of your hands, finding more teardrops the more you tried to rub them out. “I needed to leave, I couldn’t live like that- I- I was selfish…” You’ve built yourself up so well over these years, raising Ryusei on your own, depending on no one but yourself, hardening the delicate young woman into a strong mother. In front of Soryu however, you were just you. Ryusei clung to you, rubbing your arm, sadly whispering at your side.
“Don’t cry, mom.”
He shot Soryu the dirtiest look he had.
“Go away.” Ryusei spat out. “Go away. Both of you.”
Soryu looked at his son sternly and answered.
“No.”
He reached out and took your hand in his. You gave it a yank, but he held tightly.
“Did Luke know about Ryusei?”
“Yes…”
“Everyone knew but me?”
“Yes…” You couldn’t hear anything but coldness in his voice, scaring you to the core. He couldn’t forgive you. He wouldn’t. Not after everything you've done.
“How could you, ___________?”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… There was nothing else I could have done! I didn’t want to leave, Soryu.”
“You still did.”
“Leaving broke my heart.” You peer at him through the blur of tears. “But it kept me alive. It was for the better.”
“The better?” He sounded skeptical, frustrated.
“What could you have done? With a depressed girlfriend, an illegal career… what could you have done to promise your own child a safe life?”
He had no answer, pinned to his seat with guilt and uselessness. You finally caught his gaze, meeting the tormented grey irises that swam with prayers.
“Now… Now, ____________, can you come back?”
Your heart trembles at the plea in his voice, not quite young enough to flutter but not quiet hard enough to not long for him.
“…”
“Soryu is running a dim sum business now, if you’re wondering.” Eisuke said. “He thought he wanted to be the average person with a restaurant since you hated his job so much. Well, that was after he got over the stage of trying to murder Luke.”
You couldn’t help but chuckle, making a slight hick through your crying. The laughed sparked something in the air, making Soryu’s tensed form relax a little.
“Can you come back, __________?” He asked again.
“Soryu…”
“Come home.” He looked down at the table where he was still gripping onto your hand. “I’ve missed you.”
Thanks for the read!
Hope you liked!
This took me 5 forevers to write ugh
