Uto Keiya had a list of chores to complete before he could step away for the evening.
He meticulously ironed his school uniform along with Isaku’s. He sighed, thinking about how she was out there without him right now as he hung the ironed uniform in her empty room.
She stayed after school to hang out with her new friends, and through a combination of begging and threatening she convinced Keiya to go home first. Keiya wasn’t happy about it, but Isaku was texting him back and picked up whenever he called, so Keiya had to let it slide this time. His best and brightest were on her tail and he had her GPS location.
Keiya quickly finished his last task of the evening, hung his apron up and wrote a note for Isaku for when she got home. He then posted (forced) Riku to stay up and wait for Isaku no matter how late she returned. As much as he wanted to watch over her every hour of the day, Keiya had business to personally attend to.
He changed into his usual dark suit that covered up all the ink on his body, trading the school uniform tie for his expensive black one. He straightened out his jacket and then felt the pocket for his pack of cigarettes. Ever since Isaku prohibited him from smoking on campus, Keiya stopped carrying it at school. She threatened him with exposing him, so he obediently listened despite the fact that she had more to lose than he ever did. But Keiya thought he could be the bigger person in that argument. He was empathetic of her desire to be a normal teenager and while he never planned to (and frankly couldn’t) stop her, he wasn’t going to let her venture in alone.
He slipped his shoes on and walked to the car out front, ready for the second half of his day after the school day was over. Keiya knew his methods were pushing extremities and that no normal twenty-six year old should follow their pseudo-daughter into high school, but he couldn’t help it. He didn't feel like he had a choice. Uto Keiya had too much to lose when Isaku was his entire world – the only family he has. There was nothing past or present that he wouldn’t sacrifice for her.
He dusted off his cigarette out the window when a buzzing interrupted his quiet time in the car ride over to his first job of the night. The stick hanging loosely between his lips, he pulled out his phone to check and smiled at the note from Isaku reporting back that his karaage was good with the little bunny emoji that he loved her using. Her GPS location showed her at home, and he instantly felt better going about his night knowing she was safe and sound.
He texted back that he’d be home later, for her not to wait up for him and then made sure to remind her to finish her homework. Keiya quickly punched send as the car came to a stop. He pushed the cigarette butt against the ashtray in the car, letting the smoke fizzle out as he exited the car with full authority, the warm smile looking at his phone instantly dropping from his face. A group of his underlings greeted him, a man in tow, limply hanging from two sets of arms, bloodied and swollen. Keiya walked up to the man, the path clearing for him as he did. His hands in pocket, stopped before his captive, and tilted his head.
His voice low and absolved of the warmth he used during the day at school, Keiya commanded, “Prep him for interrogation.”
Without batting another eye, he turned and walked away, tugging his tie off and rolling it into his pocket. This man was just the latest in line for Keiya to break. He’d work through him like all the others before him, the hundreds upon hundreds in his decade working for the Sengaki Group.
“My name is Uto Keiya. 16 years old.” He stressed, while wearing an innocent smile.
“My specialty is interrogation.” Keiya stood up and walked towards the two boys who approached Isaku, feeling a jealousy simmer from beneath the surface.
“Interrogation? What?” One of the boys asked, confused.
Like electric chairs?” The other boy laughed, tickled by the weirdness of their new classmate.
Keiya’s smile faded, with his back turned to Isaku his eyes darkened for a moment so brief that neither of the boys caught it.
“With this ballpoint pen.” He picked up a pen on the desk off-handedly, without breaking eye contact.
Keiya’s smile seemed innocent, and he knew they didn’t take him seriously.
“I can show you what it can do.”
Even Isaku didn’t know. Uto Keiya was entirely serious. A pen would be enough. He could get a man to sell out their deepest secret. It was an acquired skill.
What was a 14 year old homeless orphan supposed to do when left with no options?
He could live a life of crime, frequenting the justice system and local jail cell as a way of getting by. Or he could rot on the streets. Keiya chose neither. He chose initiation. He chose to fight his way to get in front of Senagaki Tasuke.
The Senagakis took him in, and in return Uto Keiya vowed to be useful. He quickly earned himself a name. And the trust in return had him posted as young Isaku’s caretaker. He only knew she lost her parents before she even turned five. She wouldn’t even remember how it felt to lose a mother and a father, Keiya thought. He did. And they were the same yet different in that way.
Senagaki Isaku, the moment her tiny hands held his, young Keiya remembered how it felt to handle something with care. Fragile, might break. They felt wrong in his bloody hands.
Yet Isaku ran into his embrace, buried her tear-stained cheeks into his chest. Breathed life into his rotting soul.
There was nothing Keiya craved more than family, more than to be needed.
Keiya had been working a lead on a territorial dispute for the last two months. Breaking this man was pivotal to planning the ambush that would settle the dispute once and for all. He wiped his hands and then rinsed it with water, but he knew blood never washed off so easily. There was a reason he only ever wore black on these nights. It was going to be a long night.
Keiya ordered his men to bring the case, as he dried his hands and then rolled up his sleeves again.
“I know you bastards are trained to hold up under torture.”
The case opens with a click and he picks up a clear vial.
“But loyalty bought with money can always be broken.”
Keiya walked over to his captive and with a swift motion injected the needle into his thigh. The man lifted his limp head, crusted over with dried blood, “There’s no such thing as a truth serum.”
Keiya faintly smiled, “There isn’t.” He tossed the empty vial, “And yet the truth always comes out somehow.”
He pulled a cloth from the case, unraveled it, to reveal a set of fine needles. Keiya stood before the man, gripping his chin up to look at him, “The problem with some pain is that it’s too easy to shut out.” His voice was matter of fact and detached.
The man in captivity hadn’t even felt as the other men worked, digging a needle under each and every finger nail. That’s when he realized what the drug did.
“But when it all floods in at once, you’ll be begging to tell the truth.”
The anesthesic numbed the immense pain, but slowly it’ll fade. Keiya looked the man in the eye, and he was certain he saw a glimmer of fear. Because the anticipation of an inevitable unimaginable pain was worse than the feeling itself.
“At some point the money isn’t worth the torture.”
Keiya turned around, but could hear the man’s breathing grow heavier. He was wavering.
“And surely, your loyalty will earn you nothing but death in the end.”
He remained quiet, but Keiya knew he was close.
“It’s okay. I have all night.”
Keiya grabbed his jacket and shook out a cigarette.
He stepped out for another smoke break, but somewhere inside a small Isaku voice stopped him in his tracks. She hated when he smoked, so he always tried his best to not smoke around her. Keiya cracks a small smile at the thought of Isaku, and remembers that she was barely in middle school when she hid his cigarettes one night. He politely asked for them back, and she boldly admitted that she threw them out, demanding that he has to live to see her high school graduation.
Keiya remembered promising that he wouldn’t miss it for the world.
She went on to say that he needed to be there when she grew up, fell in love properly, got married, had kids, and everything after that. Her voice had been so full of certain hope that Keiya wasn’t sure why the thought of Isaku growing up left him with a dull heart pain. The thought of her leaving him. The thought of her not needing him.
His only fear burned a deep never-ending black hole inside of him, and Keiya hated that feeling. He needed to shove it away, push it down, and the only thing that ever fixed that feeling was reminding himself of his value to her.
But until then, a band aid would do.
*
*
*
Keiya found himself rising from a familiar bed swiftly, and then fished his shirt from the bedroom floor. He draped it on before bending over to pick up the remaining articles of clothing that landed in a trail to the bed.
“Leaving so soon?” A woman pulled the sheets up just enough to cover her bare chest. She tossed her hair back, leaning on one arm, and even though her lipstick was all but gone she didn’t look any less alluring as her voice wore a light disappointment.
Or so she made it seem.
Keiya turned around, knelt on the bed with one knee and leaned in. He stopped inches from her face, yet she didn’t flinch or freeze. Sekiya Kaori closed the distance and kissed him on the lips, he kissed her back, and despite his lingering lips, Keiya came and went like clockwork. He only reached over her and retrieved his belt that had landed there after he had used it to choke her earlier.
Her eyes followed him as he buttoned his shirt, tightened his belt, and found the cuff links that he managed to preserve on the nightstand before it all started. Kaori didn’t remember when Keiya became a man who wore cufflinks, just like how she couldn’t remember when his tattoo had grown to cover his entire back, crawl down his chest and snake around his biceps.
Uto Keiya was just a boy with a self-destructive wish when Kaori met him.
A tall, skinny boy the district leader at the time brought around to the club. Kaori saw to them getting the best accommodations at the time, as she was rising to her position of power and the most influential district leader was crucial to win over. But the boy named Keiya, he never asked for anything. He never spoke much at all. He looked too clean to belong, but his eyes were cold and desireless. And she would have never guessed he had what it took to rise to power.
When they met again years later, Uto Keiya had become a different man. He was a natural with her girls at the club, he had a softness wrapped around his edges, and Sekiya Kaori wanted to unravel him so badly, to figure out if the boy underneath was still there.
They shared words over a smoke. And then they shared a smoke over sex.
Keiya told Kaori about the boss’ daughter for the first time. And it was the first time she heard warmth in his voice, uttered in two words. Senagaki Isaku.
“The leaders are bringing guests from the other district over to the club tomorrow. Make sure to send them my regards.”
Keiya’s words broke Kaori out of her thoughts. She looked over and he had neatly folded her clothes into a pile on the side of the bed.
Kaori smiled, “Of course.”
Keiya nodded, “I’ll lock the door behind me.”
Kaori heard the closing of the door and as expected, Keiya never stayed around for anything other than sex. On a good night, they’d have a smoke, but she assumed he had unfinished work. It didn’t bother her since she had never signed up to be his girlfriend and would never sign up to be anyone’s girlfriend, but Uto Keiya always held a special place in her heart.
Keiya had a kind of loyalty that was too pure for the man that he was. Violent, ruthless, poisonous.
Yet after the monster that he’d be in bed, when all of that pent up rage was released, he’d always return to his calm demeanor. He would fold her clothes neatly, and he wouldn’t so much as crack a smile to insinuate attachment.
Sekiya Kaori always thought he was too tough to thoroughly unravel, but it didn’t matter. She could see that through his shell that he was still the self-destructive boy she met over a decade ago.
Uto Keiya denied himself of any love that was within his reach.
Because how dare he find happiness in someone else?
Someone else other than the person who allowed him to redeem himself.
Senagaki Isaku.
*
*
*
His car was waiting out front when he exited the building. His driver had changed shifts an hour ago at midnight, but Keiya still had to make his rounds. He instinctively checked Isaku’s GPS location as soon as he got into the car and at this hour, he could only expect that she’d be at home sound asleep. The thought of that calmed him. And he closed his eyes briefly for the car ride.
The car pulled into the S Night Club in Shinjuku, where a steady stream of young people trickled into the establishment at this hour. Keiya was parked across the street and observed from his window. The neon signs blinked relentlessly, and their sign was many times more grandiose than all the other clubs on the same street.
The S Night Club had been a struggling bar years ago, until the Senagaki Group channeled funds into it and it didn’t take long before it ran many neighboring clubs out of business. Keiya remembered the fight for this business. The leaders had their eyes set on it, it was a missing piece of their portfolio and a key to winning the war in this district.
He spent many sleepless nights scouting the area, collecting blackmail, beating up thugs for street cred. It wasn’t uncommon that his infamous reputation in this area got him jumped, even in broad daylight, but as long as it didn’t land him in the hospital there wasn’t anything the clinic couldn’t patch up.
When all was said and done, this district eventually became Keiya’s territory, and then passed off again when he rose the ranks.
His goons had gone into the club and reported back no abnormalities. There were no VIPs and Keiya didn’t need to show face, so they moved onto the next location. Like clockwork, he made his stops all until the last one that there was a VIP he had to meet face to face.
“If it isn’t Uto Keiya…” A voice scoffed as soon as he entered the private room in the casino.
Keiya politely greeted the man despite his attitude and as a gracious host, he put on a smile and welcomed the VIP into their establishment while the wait staff served up an expensive bottle of champagne, “On the house. Hope you enjoy your time.”
Keiya had played his part as the host and excused himself when the man continued to provoke him.
“You know, I know what you’re up to these days.”
He turned around, “I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Keiya had finally clocked this man’s identity. The pain in the ass from a third-tier gang on the outskirts of Tokyo. He wasn’t sure what his title was, but he was sure he could take this scum to the curb if he needed to.
“Some asshole jumped you the other day right? I looked into it.” The man laughed, “Someone must really hate you to jump you when you’re out with a pretty lady.”
Keiya’s face darkens. But the man was oblivious.
He leaves the safety of his escort to provoke Keiya further, “You know. Your face has pissed me off since the beginning.” He was so close Keiya could smell the alcohol in his voice.
“Senagaki Group has stooped so low by putting a pretty twink in charge. The old man must be senile.”
He smirked.
“Or you’re sleeping with the granddaughter.”
Keiya’s eyes froze over and he grabbed the man by the head and smashed it against the table with a speed that sent the poker chips flying across the room. His men stood guard by the door. No one in and no one out.
Keiya leaned over by the man’s face, and barely above a whisper, he sternly reminded the man with the gentlest tone, “Say one more word. And I’ll make sure you never talk again.”
He crushes his head against the table again for good measure before grabbing his wrist, twisted it backwards and broke a finger.
The man yelped out in anguish, but Keiya didn’t even blink twice.
“Don’t let me catch you here again. Or else it won’t be a finger next time.”
He straightened out his jacket and left, but the man stumbled out of the room after him, yelling for his escorts to retaliate. Keiya tsked in annoyance as a fight broke out on the casino floor. The man had long vanished in the chaos, and he simply wanted to be done for the night.
Keiya pulled the gun he had tucked in the small of his back and fired toward the ceiling. The sudden gunfire caused everyone to freeze and his men were able to gain control of the situation. Gun in hand, he walked through the casino floor to the exit where he finally tucked it away.
Once he got into the car, he realized a wetness between his fingers, wincing in annoyance as he realized the fighting broke the stitches on his arm.
“Take me home.”
Thankfully the night was over, and upon returning home, he found Riku sleeping on the floor outside Isaku’s door just as he was ordered to. Keiya smiled at the sight, before going back to his own room to change his bandages first. Once he was done, he relieved the poor man and tiptoed into Isaku’s room.
He crouched down by her bedside and seeing her peacefully asleep calmed him. It was their open secret that Isaku knew Keiya would always sneak in at night after work, and she began to leave a light for him. And normally, he’d tuck her in, stay for a few minutes, and then he’d leave her alone.
But Keiya sat down on the floor by her bed and simply looked at her sleeping tonight. He rested his head on his arms on the side of her bed, closed his eyes and even the sound of her breathing helped him relax. He snuck his hand under her covers, where it was nice and warm. Keiya imagined this to be what home felt like. But he’s never known otherwise.
Uto Keiya never knew how to be vulnerable in front of anyone, yet on nights where he felt like the deep never-ending black hole would swallow him whole, the little night light Isaku left for him was enough to keep him afloat.
Sometimes it's between the thoughts where he was drifting off to sleep that Keiya was the most lucid, the only time where he could acknowledge that Isaku may never love him back the same way, and he knew deep down there was a desperate desire he was barely keeping at bay. Some day, sleeping like this in her presence wouldn’t be enough.
Uto Keiya wanted to be the only one who could have Senagaki Isaku.
That to love was to possess. And possession was absolute.
Nobody could take her away from him. Even if he burned the world down, himself along with it.
05/05/2025
声明一下，纯扮演者粉丝视角 若有不适 自行负责
jesse诠释的keiya有一种少年感 有点清澈 就算做一些很丢脸的动作的时候也能够合理化 （也有可能是轻喜剧的因故吧）。撇除他本来就是个大帅哥，我非常能get的到虽然是烂IP但是会想找Jesse来演的原因。我只能说还好找了jes来演这个角色 + 导演的功力，把原著的油腻感去掉了好多。我甚至找了动漫来看对比，电影版本真的“犯法感”少了好多。甚至都有点纯情了😂
然后很想表扬一下他在这条赛道（大狼狗吗？番犬是啥？）里找到了自己，非常适合他（下次能找个姐姐搭戏就更好了😂）。我总觉得他说的台词时候很真挚 再说一下，没有那种拿捏小女孩的油腻感和爹味！果然很适合演直球呢jesse！这里点名男主说自己背了罗密欧全部的台词因为自己想演的时候，有一种用笨拙的方式保护最喜欢的人的感觉，而不是一个成年人想睡小女孩的感觉。有一种虽然他的喜欢是有带性欲的喜欢，而且这种占有欲是错的 但是他的出发点和“服从”+ ”尊重“女主的行为是让我能够小小原谅他的点…怎么说呢？就是拿这个比方来说，男主背罗密欧的台词是他默默做的事，有机会的话他会想办法搅黄男二和女主演舞台剧 但是不然的话 他还是像一条忠犬服从女主的命令的，用别的方式“守护”她。
我也很喜欢女主虽然没用（对不起） 而且单恋男主 但是她还是很有主见 并且在恋爱和校园青春友情之间她无比的在意后者。而且她对男主也很硬气，很坚持自己 绝对不会幼童化自己 很有“主人”的魄力吗（？）这个设定就很有效的打破他们之间存在的不对等的年龄差（澄清一下不提倡这种关系哈！）
然后说回keiya：jes诠释的这个角色的那种少年感和角色的真实年龄+经历形成的反差让我真的好在意，在不经意间流露出来的黑道感真的超级带感。可能和jes本身的气质也有关系，我一直觉得他只要气场全开，光站在那里就非常能够压住很大的场子。就是一个明明是黑道里年纪轻轻就混成了二把手心狠手辣的角色 心里却保存了一块净土 笑起来那么阳光 在女主面前当甘愿服从的忠犬。一直有个固定的炮友却不懂恋爱的感觉 这个设定本应该有点恶心 毕竟成年男性谁不懂 但是我细想他要是在黑帮里长大 加上原生家庭的不幸 这对他而言可能只是生理上的需求（我说出洗白的话都觉得自己怎么回事）
但是我还倾向于把功劳归功于因为jesse气质干净而成功的洗白了男主，他诠释的反差感我真的反复品尝…不能磕但是jes也太适合这样的设定了吧，但凡稍微的改一改都能让我磕生磕死的程度…我要滚去写文了