INTO THE MONSTER'S DEN

"My Cherie Amour."

Kenji Yanagi pleasantly welcomes and calls Cherry in this name with a vibrant smile on his face when Jin has opened the backseat door of a Rolls Royce car parked right at the front driveway of the Club's entrance. As Cherry pauses and stares at the man who has been waiting inside for her, she also senses the weight of the stares from a few onlookers that have stopped from a distance as they try to peek on who is inside the expensive vehicle that is ostentatiously displayed there.

What a way to keep a low-profile where anyone could actually spot and recognize this infamous man.

And with that thought, Cherry quickly gets into the car to escape from any unwanted attention. She doesn't really like being gawked at. And as soon as Jin gently closes the door behind her, Cherry scoots closer to the window, putting a reasonable distance between her and Kenji Yanagi who is still staring at her with that suspicious grin.

"You seem quite more tamed now. But why are you moving so far from me?" Kenji playfully teases as he studies the woman's rigid demeanor, "You even got here without putting a fight unlike how you'd acted back in the room. What changed?"

Cherry, however, just chooses to ignore and pretend she didn't hear his question as she stares out of the tinted window. Kenji Yanagi does not really mind that negligence though, it has only been a half-assed joke to put her in a lighter mood. The silence continues until Jin finally settles himself on the front seat. As soon as he closes the door on his side, the driver quickly steps on the gas revving the car up and pulling it away from the club's front driveway and back onto the main road.

"Where are we going?" Cherry asks this after a while as she tries to familiarize the streets they have been passing by. She still has no idea what's about to happen next. And now that she just willingly went with the enemy, she knows this is no longer just a simple matter to face anymore.

This is the start of everything. And she needs to prepare herself.

"To my territory."

His answer somehow confirms Cherry's prior guess. He's really planning to keep her for good. But the question here is, how much time is still left for her?

"Are you going to kill me there?" she boldly asks, with no reservations anymore. And to hell with it, she has already entered the scene and came with him also knowing that she might get killed in an instant. Yet her inquiry does not even inflict any reaction among the men inside the car as silence just comfortably settles despite the words she just said.

Cherry just stares and waits for Kenji to answer him and when he does, he glances at her with a blank face.

"No."

"Really?" Aoi retorts with a raised brow, looking out of the windows for a moment, "Then, you're going to torture me?"

Most likely, that's one of the worst-case scenarios. But Kenji still answers her the same thing.

"No."

She turns to look at him, only to find his eyes intently focused on her face.

"Then what am I supposed to help you with?"

He takes a moment before he finally decides to answer her. And as he speaks, his face also changes and its expression just goes even more unreadable.

"Consider it as your new home now."

"New home?" Cherry isn't even surprised by the sudden declaration, but she still finds his entire statement quite crazy.

"What do you mean home? I'm staying there?"

Kenji smirks as he looks away and stares out of the window on his side. Then he just shrugs his shoulders, without even saying anything. Cherry just watches him from her seat as she also turns towards the view on her own side, she starts musing. So, he's not planning to kill her... Yet. But he's really keeping her.

Now that's some kind of twist she didn't really expect this time... He's planning something really suspicious with this.

"What about my job?"

"You won't be working at Pandora's Club anymore," This time, Kenji has answered her with no hesitation, "You'll be living in my place starting tonight."

"You bought me off?"

The idea does seem possible, considering Yanagi's connection and rank in the Yakuza organization. But Cherry still wants to confirm just so she could make sure of where she's being led to.

"Pretty intuitive, are we?" Kenji only comments, slyly smirking, "You keep surprising me, Cherie Amour."

His answer neither confirms nor denies anything about her question, but Cherry could already guess it. He really bought her off... Her life as a hostess has finally come to an end. And good riddance, since she didn't really like doing it. But this could also mean she has no point in returning there now and the only way to go from here is to follow where they are heading to.

"So, I'll be like your private slut bunny?" Cherry retorts back, partially mocking as the idea just pops in her head, "A bedwarmer for when the nights get colder for you?"

Apparently, Kenji doesn't appreciate her sentiment as his face goes dark upon hearing her joke.

"Don't sell yourself that short, Cherie Amour," he heavily implies as he sharply turns his head to look at her again, "It's nothing like that."

Cherry bitterly chuckles to his sudden strong words and thoughtfully finds him a little unpredictable. Not convincing for a man known to have a lot of women flocking around him. What is he thinking?

"Then, what are you planning to do with me?"

Her inquisitive persistence eventually tires Kenji out from answering her every question as he lets out a sigh and leans his head on the headrest of his seat and closes his eyes.

"If you keep silent until we get there," he tells her in a slightly intended authoritative tone, "I'll answer your question. But for now, I need you to shut up. Please?"

His condescending "please" only makes Cherry merely smiling to herself as she looks to the front of the car. And upon doing so, she quickly catches Jin's deathly glare directed at her from the rearview mirror and she teasingly gives him a smirk as a response.

"Fine," She gives Kenji her answer with her eyes still staring straight to Jin's and continues with a half-assed comment just to mock the situation between them, "If you tell Jin to stop murdering me through the rearview mirror, I'll shut up."

Upon the sudden mention of his name, Jin looks away while Kenji immediately opens his eyes again.

"Jin?" Kenji pointedly remarks, "So you're on a first-name basis already? I never thought you'd be that easy for a snotty woman like yourself."

This time, it has been Cherry's turn to sound authoritative as she looks at Kenji's direction and meets his stare.

"I prefer big boys than pretty ones, no offense," She snidely retorts back at him, "And I like them tougher."

"Did I just tell you to shut up?" Kenji sharply squints his eyes at her and closes it again as he decidedly chooses to put a stop to the conversation and finally takes a short nap instead. Yet it has been too obvious that he was slightly triggered by those words.

"Fine..." Cherry just says afterward, feeling a little proud of herself to make the man beside her affected by her statement, "I will."

And soon, the ride after that finally becomes more at ease as it eventually basks the entire atmosphere in complete silence.

_____________________________

The moment the car pulls over in front of a majestic driveway of a tall mansion-like establishment in some kind of a very remote area near the borders of Tokyo, Cherry looks out from the window. It has been already dark and way past midnight but she still could clearly see the extensive scenery of trees surrounding a six-story state-of-the-art building standing right before her.

"This is the territory." Kenji briefly introduces her to the very place as he gets out of the car door beside him after his driver has opened it for him. And just before the door closes as he steps out, Kenji leans down to peek from the opened side of his vehicle to look at her again.

"There's no tour so don't entertain yourself with the idea," he tells her with a raised brow.

"I'm not expecting one," Cherry just responds, realizing she's been gawking at the whole place, and quickly moves to get out of the car when Jin opens the door on her side.

"You're pretty romantic for a scary-looking guy," She decides to comment on Jin's gesture, trying to bait the huge man who just quietly stands before her, as he closes the door of the car.

"Cherie Amour," Kenji, however, must have heard her as he quickly interjects the moment between her and Jin. Cherry immediately turns to look at him and soon meets his gaze from where he stands on the other side of the vehicle.

"I'd really appreciate it if you stop hitting on Jin," he tells her with a sly smirk on his face, "He's not a man who can be easily fooled by low-class flattery and he's got no interest in romance. Ain't it right, Jin?"

"Yes, boss." the man, who has been addressed, also verbally agrees with him.

Cherry just rolls her eyes at Kenji's advice and gives Jin a sidelong glance.

"Too bad..." she ruefully remarks with a pretentious pout, "But hearing you say that makes me think you're getting jealous, Mr. Yanagi."

Without even knowing, Cherry jolts from the surprise when Kenji has suddenly appeared behind her. And like an automatic reflex, his arm immediately goes around her waist, as it smoothly turns her over so that they end up facing each other in rather a closer proximity than she had anticipated.

"Do you want me to be jealous?" Kenji's voice instantly gets deeper and huskier as he softly utters the statement towards her, with their lips almost touching. And as their eyes continue to gaze deeply into each other, he softly whispers to her a simple reminder before he eventually leaves Cherry hitching a breath when he lets go of her.

"Be careful though..." he had said to her, "That could be really dangerous."

And then, he moves as if it has been so natural and starts leading their group into the entrance of the place.

It somehow took her a few moments for Cherry to finally gather her wits as she blindly trails behind the men who have already started to walk before her. And soon after, she finds herself being guided into the lair of the Yanagi's. It almost feels like she has been warped into a different dimension and she is astounded to discover an entirely different world filled with only men and luxury. The entire place has been packed with tough-looking guys, some of them are even younger than her. And they all look really dangerous and intimidating as she passes them by.

Everyone who sees them would even automatically bow their heads at the presence of Kenji Yanagi. And that is when it all finally dawns on her.

She has officially entered the MONSTER'S DEN.

This is now the REAL Yanagi's territory.

And right after her realization, Cherry gets herself completely lost in a maze of hallways as Kenji Yanagi smoothly shows them the way into a huge room that looks like a big dining hall. Cherry sees a crowd of men gathered inside, who all quickly take notice of the arrival of Kenji Yanagi, as they greet him with great respect and bow their heads at him when he enters the place.

"At ease, boys," Kenji tells them this as he strides across the hall and stops right in front of them, "I just drop by to introduce you to a new addition to our family. I want to make her comfortable with the place."

The second he speaks those words, Kenji turns around to reach his hand out towards Cherry, as if he's inviting her to approach him. When Cherry hesitates (since she still has been a little overwhelmed with the sudden attention being given to her by the men inside the hall) Kenji just walks straight towards her and smoothly grabs her again on the waist.

"This is Miss Cherry," he tells everyone, while his thick arm draping so familiarly around her body as if he's already done so many times before, "Now, I want all of you to take care of her... Like a sister. And ONLY as a sister, because she's off-limits."

"YES, BOSS!" the men quickly respond in unity with their loud voices.

"Off-limits?" Cherry unconsciously voices out, in the middle of being distracted by everything that has been happening, and she turns her head to give Kenji a startled look while frowning.

"Better clear out the atmosphere..." He just simply tells her with a soft smile. He squeezes her on her waist for one more time before he finally lets go of her again but not before he whispers more into her ear, "I don't like anyone touching something important."

Kenji then strides off after that and walks straight towards the exit of the room.

"I'll leave up the rest to you boys," he tells the men without looking back, and the men just bow their heads again to give their respect. Cherry has been guided by Jin as he walks beside her on the way out and she blindly follows Kenji again from behind. The next thing she knows, Cherry has been taken into an elevator. She finds herself standing beside Kenji while Jin and another huge guy are guarding them at the front. As they wait to get to the next floor where they are heading to, Cherry speaks in a faint voice as she leans a little closer to Kenji's side.

"Important, huh?"

Kenji briefly smirks upon hearing her words and does not even bother to spare her a glance. But as the elevator doors finally ping open, he soon responds back to her with a yet vague and unexpected answer.

"Well, maybe it's time for you to know my intentions."

But she doesn't really know what it is... What is his intention for keeping her? And why does it seems to be so easy for her to be here in the very territory of the enemy? It's as if, she's being favored by the gods. This could still be a trap and Cherry has only one thing in mind...

THE PLAN.

She must stick to the plan no matter what happens next. Yet all of this is just suddenly boggling Cherry's mind and she still could not quite believe it's all real.

Why does it seem like it's going too smoothly for her? Is Yanagi really letting her stay here despite what she almost did to him?

Is this really how the game goes?

If then, she must be really careful from now on. The odds might be working for her tonight, but there's still no guarantee if the plan would really work out later.

As it turns out, Kenji Yanagi seems to be pretty well-prepared for this too... He looks like he's not even bothered. He might as well be just trying to deceive her so she would feel safe and then he could catch her off guard the moment she becomes too comfortable with his.

Though there's still no assurance... The tables might be turned anytime soon. And in terms of whose side would get the upper hand the next time, it's still too early to figure it out.

After all, the game has only started.

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