I Was Forced To Date A Mafia's Daughter

Sato and Hikari stared at Sora, who had just pulled up with Kaito on his bike. "Great, you brought Sora," Sato said, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm, "another mafia in my house."

Kaito, ever the cheerful one, ignored the jab, his eyes assessing Sato. "I see you're doing better, that's good. Plus, he insisted he had to come for Hikari, though."

Sora wasted no time, striding directly to Hikari. "I take my eyes off you, and you run out of school! What is wrong with you? Don't you understand what's happening?" he demanded, his voice tight with frustration.

Hikari pouted, not backing down. "You were there on the day Sato was in the rain! You knew as much as me that he would catch one, so I got worried! I don't care if I get caught by a mafia in the process; he needed me, and that's why I came!"

Sora pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply. "This type of character is what would get us all killed! If anything should happen to you, your dad would kill every single one of us, don't you get it?" Sora and Hikari argued, their voices rising, as Sato and Kaito watched speechless from the side.

Kaito leaned into Sato's ear. "Should we, like, do something?"

Sato, still observing them quietly, then walked up to Sora, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. Sora turned, facing him with a deep frown. "Sora, she's fine, isn't she? So that's enough," Sato said, his voice even.

Hikari and Kaito both stared at Sato in shock. Sora then faced him fully, his eyes narrowed. "You don't get it, do you? Stay out of this."

"You're right, it's not my place," Sato conceded, then gestured around wildly. "But this is my place, literally! I mean, you guys are fighting outside my house! What if my neighbors tell Mom, huh? How do you think she would react? Not only that, they might also tell her that you guys are mafia, and then I have to change towns, new name..." Sato continued his frantic, rambling banter, painting a ridiculous worst-case scenario.

Sora stared at him in utter confusion, completely thrown by the tangent. Kaito, however, was trying to stifle a laugh, a smile spreading across his face as he thought, Great way to break the tension.

Sato finished his impromptu speech, breathing heavily. Sora continued to stare at him, speechless. "Ummm, I'm sorry," Sora finally managed to stammer out.

"Don't be," Sato replied, now composed. "Just take Hikari and leave, and take care of her." He whispered the last part to Sora, his gaze firm.

Sora understood. He offered Sato a rare, slight smile, then nodded. "Okay, Hikari, get in. I'm taking you back home."

Hikari waved at Sato from the car. "See you later, I'll text you!" she called out as she entered the car, and they zoomed off.

Kaito and Sato watched the limousine disappear down the street. "Okay, I better start going too," Kaito said, putting on his helmet.

"Let me guess," Sato said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "It has something to do with football."

Kaito grinned, climbing onto his bike. "You know me too well, don't you? But yeah, as you know, I got a big game coming up on Saturday, which you promised to come to. So I have team training, and I have to win it. It's gonna be my opportunity to go pro."

"Sure," Sato replied dryly. "I'll make sure to sit on the bench and do the best I can on Saturday, and by 'best I can,' I mean trying not to sleep."

Kaito chuckled. "Oh, trust me, there is more than football in store for you on Saturday, so I doubt you would have any time to sleep."

Sato stared at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Before Sato could press him, Kaito immediately started his bike engine, the roar cutting off any further questions. "I've said too much! See you tomorrow, bye!" he yelled over the noise, then zoomed off, leaving a bewildered Sato behind.

Sato, still confused, shrugged it off and entered his house, only to see the table laden with food. He sighed dramatically. "Oh, that's just great, now who's gonna eat all this?"

Meanwhile, Kaito, driving down the road, let out a relieved sigh. "That was close," he muttered to himself. "Almost revealed the big surprise. I can't wait to see his reaction on Saturday." He increased the speed of his bike, eager to get to practice.

Meanwhile, in Sora's car, Sora drove with a steady frown, his mind drifting back to an incident that had occurred just this morning.

The Incident:

Early in the morning, Sora stood up from his bed, only wearing pajama bottoms, his chest and sculpted abs exposed. He ran a hand through his perpetually messy morning hair, trying to slick it back and part it, a rubber band dangling between his fingers. His phone buzzed on the nightstand beside him. The caller ID simply read: "Jiro."

Sora frowned, picking up the call with a sigh. "Why are you calling me? I'm not allowed to block other Rokushin members' lines, so stop calling me," he said, his voice curt.

"I just want to get your answer," Jiro responded calmly over the phone.

"I don't understand what you're talking about," Sora replied almost immediately, a hint of irritation in his tone.

"Oh, but you do," Jiro countered smoothly. "Our meeting with Kuro Ryū-kai is on October 8th, only eight more days to go, and you haven't said if you're coming or not. So let me ask: are you coming?"

Sora remained quiet for a while, his face devoid of emotion. Then he spoke, his voice low. "I wouldn't be able to make it. I have to stay back and protect Hikari."

"Yeah, I thought you would say that," Jiro said, a hint of something unreadable in his voice. "Look, if you really are protecting her, then you shouldn't have let her go off to school like that. I mean, she's living an open life now."

Sora looked shocked, a flicker of alarm in his eyes. "How did you...?" he started, feeling a jolt of surprise.

Jiro chuckled dryly. "Oh, come on, you should know us by now. Do you think we would really just entrust the princess in your hands like that? Everyone knows. We just don't want to tell the boss because he has a lot on his mind now, and knowing this, who knows what he would do?" Jiro's tone hardened slightly. "So, how about we make a deal: you come with us on October 8th, and I'll try my best to make sure the boss doesn't know any of this. But refuse, and... let's just say you know what's next."

Sora's frown deepened. "You know, if I was in a spot to kill you, I would do it immediately, no second thought."

"I know," Jiro replied, unperturbed. "That's why you're my favorite." Then, with a click, Jiro hung up.

Back in the present, the unsettling thought raced through Sora's mind, darkening his expression.

(Fucking bastard. He's the main reason Hikari is being secretly engaged to a psychopath, and he wants me to have a front-row seat to the whole event. I just pray Jigoku doesn't accept the offer. I'm willing to go to war with Kuro Ryū-kai if he doesn't rather than this. But if he does accept to marry the princess, there's nothing I or any member of Kuro-Kyoufu can do. It's the boss's wishes. Sato, you might be the last line of defense here. Does he have what it takes to defy the top two Mafia gangs?) Sora maintained his deep frown, the weight of his thoughts heavy on him.

Hikari, sitting in the front passenger seat of the car, noticed the intensity of Sora's expression. "Ummm, are you okay? You seem bothered by something," she asked, feeling curious and a little concerned.

Sora snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes briefly meeting Hikari's before he composed himself and focused back on the road. "Oh yeah, everything is fine, just...." He trailed off, falling silent again, staring ahead.

Hikari, trying to break the silence in the car, offered a bright smile. "I wonder what awesome stuff me and Sato would be doing tomorrow. I'm missing him already!"

Sora responded immediately, his voice calm, almost detached. "Well, too bad, because you're not going to school tomorrow."

Hikari leaned up from her seat, a frown replacing her smile. "Is this about me going to Sato's house? You know, you're being a jerk!"

Sora sighed, a hint of weariness in his voice. "You really don't know what tomorrow is, do you?"

Hikari stared at him in confusion. "What? What's tomorrow?"

"It's Wednesday," Sora stated.

Hikari's eyes widened in sudden realization, and her face fell, sadness clouding her features. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Oh yeah... Mom."

"You always go to her grave for a day of prayer every Wednesday, even the boss too," Sora confirmed gently.

Hikari remained quiet, the joy from earlier completely gone as the car zoomed off towards her home, carrying her towards a day of solemn remembrance.

The Next Day.