Yes... after firmly saying that Lotus was The End, they had earned their unrealistically happy ending...
I was inspired by My Name on Netflix earlier this year lol. I just really wanted an organized crime AU with knife fights, and hey, I already have a sandbox for that!
But instead of settling for a random one-shot, I now have a rough outline for a plot-heavy story that hopefully makes everyone very paranoid. :D
Full disclosure: I'm not working on it right now. I was just reminded of it because apparently I listened to a hell of a lot of music from my yakuza AU playlist this year.
I'm currently writing an original fic though, and will be posting the second chapter sometime in the next week!
I'm caught up on Daiya and uh, working on new yakuza fic of all things.
I know.
I adamantly said I wasn't going to write another sequel.
But I recently watched My Name, which made me want organized crime AU with badass knife fights, and then the next day that new MiSawa-in-suits art started circulating. Who am I to ignore such an obvious sign from the universe?
So here's a playlist to start with.
Also I now have a fandom Twitter (sapphylicious). It will mostly be FF14 and Daiya for time being.
So my Spotify Wrapped is surprisingly full of that yakuza AU playlist I made. I... guess I did spend some time creating it... and then listening to it nonstop while editing... and outlining the third part...
I'm not planning to work on that fic anytime soon, but here's what I started, featuring a surprise new character to shake things up.
The first thing Kousei buys after his release is a cheap suit. He grabs it off the rack in a hurry and doesn't even stop to count the cash he tosses at the cashier, probably paying more than the clothes are worth. A chunk of his six-year prison earnings down the drain for a jacket that's too short at the wrists and too tight in the shoulders, haphazard and unbuttoned over a plain t-shirt, with an equally ill-fitting pair of pants.
The tag he forgot to remove catches under his collar when he removes his worn-out sneakers and leaves them next to a row of shiny Oxfords. He can feel the corner of the tag digging into his back when he offers the envelope of condolence money and when he burns incense at the altar. It's an irritating itch that rubs him the wrong way each time someone pats him on the back, congratulating him on his release while reminiscing about the organization's glorious past, those good old days under Tahara-kumicho's leadership, and what a shame about poor Manaka-boy. Such a promising young man, even after the war that shook their foundations. Such a waste to lose that talent.
It's a waste, all right. From where Kousei sits in the back, fists clenched over his thighs, he has a wide view of all the senior executives wrapped in their neatly pressed suits and polite, formal words. They bow in front of Manaka's framed picture but he's not who they're really mourning. This is the Tahara-ikka's funeral, a self-indulgent ceremony of loss, carried on the back of a single man in his death, the same as he had carried it in his life.
Six years since the war with the Todoroki-kai. Six years of barely hanging on. Kousei may have spent those six years locked away, but even within the insular, unchanging day-to-day of prison, news of the outside world had consisted of nothing but radical change. Changes in the hierarchies of their yakuza allies, changes in the laws passed to keep them down, changes everywhere except for within the Tahara-ikka. Listening to its remaining leaders now, Kousei can see why; for them, everything ended when their previous kumicho was arrested. They've filled the time since then with meaningless lip service. After all, beaten dogs only know how to bark.
Manaka must have tried his best. His photo is recent, taken while smiling at the beach, but in it he appears to have aged twice as much since Kousei last saw him, mere moments before his arrest. It had been during one of their many skirmishes with the Todoroki-kai, and against the old man's hellion of a son in particular. The Tahara-ikka lost much of their territory because of that one bloodthirsty brat. Back then, when the police sirens were getting closer and closer, and the fight still showed no sign of ending, Kousei had known that compared to the organization's successor, he was the expendable pawn. So he covered for Manaka's escape, not out of any particular sense of loyalty, but because doing otherwise seemed distinctly uncool.
He hadn't expected Manaka to write to him while he served his sentence. The handwritten letters were sporadic and short, an awkward and old-fashioned way to receive gratitude that Kousei wasn't sure he even wanted. He'd been thinking of leaving this troublesome life behind once he was a free man again. The letters and the card he received each year on his birthday were like a shackle, albeit a flimsy one, more like a rope tied loosely around his wrist.Ā
But maybe the well-meaning correspondence did break up the monotony of prison, and maybe he was a bit touched by the gesture. Maybe hearing about Manaka's death on Todoroki territory of all places shocked some of the sense out of Kousei, making room for this suffocating frustration that gradually tightens into a noose of anger around his neck, and maybe it isn't born of loyalty per se, but plain, uncomplicated respect for a good man who deserves better than this sham of a funeral.
The old guard may be right about the end of the Tahara-ikka. Kousei sees little here that's worth preserving. But at the same time, what self-respecting yakuza simply rolls over and dies? So uncool.
A sudden commotion from the entrance has Kousei turning in his seat. A crowd of black suits blocks whatever is causing the trouble but the raised voices can be heard clear as day.
"You got some nerve showing your face here, traitor!ā
:D Amahisa storyline!
Eijun and Miyuki are still the main characters, but Amahisa plays a big role too. There's some mystery around Manaka's death for him to solve. This opening takes place around the same time as the Lotus epilogue, but the rest of the story is three years after that.
I accidentally thought of Amahisa in like all of your different ace of diamond fic verses. Like him adoring Eijun in each one especially courtesan au
Lololol oh man... Amahisa in courtesan AU... or even better, yakuza AU, because letās see heād be integral in rebuilding the Tahara-ikka and very keen on allying with Eijun. Miyuki would be SO SUSPICIOUS of him. Like heād be so sure there was a catch and lose sleep trying to find it but actually Amahisa just genuinely wants to get along with Eijun as long as Eijun remains interesting.
Sooooooooooo, i just finished the daiya yakuza!verse fics and yknow spotted that it was last updated in 2015 and i was just wondering if there was any hope at ALL that it would be continued? Yknow, just to confirm? HUHUHUHUHUHUHUUUHUH
I actually consider yakuzaĀ āverse to be complete as far as the main story goes because Lotus isnāt getting a sequel. Thatās it, thatās the against-all-odds happy ending. For a while I considered a short (comparatively, anyway) prequel about Miyuki first joining the Sawamura-gumi, but I donāt think thatās going to happen. I might possibly write more drabbles at some point, but would need to get back into Daiya first and then see if I feel inspired.
I just powered through your yakuza au these last couple days and holy bejeezus it is amazing! It's so obvious you spent time researching and really thinking about the characters and how they would react in different situations. Miyuki is 100% spot on and I LOVE how ruthless Sawamura could be while still being himself. And the chapter where Rei recruits Miyuki is perfect! Thank you so much for writing and sharing those stories with us!
I've done a little research into the yakuza, not anything in depth really, so I was pretty excited to notice that had also obviously researched them! What I read said they don't use firearms much bc of the difficulty/expense in getting them and most yakuza are notoriously bad shots (which should have been my first clue about Miyuki!). It seemed like a lot of explosives and guns were used I your fic. Was that a choice you made or have things changed & the yakuza are using them more?
What I came across also mentioned that yakuza ties with politicians isn't really a smear on them and doesn't hurt their chances of getting elected. Did you find different info or something saying that this has changed recently? Either way, I loved how you handled the Rep Okumura situation.
Also! Is there a reason Miyuki got his lotus on his front rather than his back like Sawamura?
IāM GLAD ALL MY EFFORTS ARE APPRECIATED. I worked really hard on that fic! Researching the yakuza with only online, English-language resources is, well, limited. Thereās also a limit to just how far Iām willing to go for the sake of writing fanfiction -- like, Iām not gonna reach out to authors of yakuza-related books or the MPD to ask them questions. Iāll just google the shit out of stuff and read articles and watch movies.
Also, artistic license. Gun laws are super strict in Japan so yeah, irl the yakuza rarely use firearms and mostly what they have access to are Chinese knockoffs (according to a big gun bust in the 90s, I couldnāt find any recent examples), but manga and movies tend to be lax about that or ignore it completely, so I did as well. Plus, I just really wanted Miyuki to have a badass 1911.
From what I read, public opinion regarding the yakuza has become a lot more negative and policies against them have become stricter over the past couple decades (although one article mentioned police corruption ironically replacing certain yakuza rackets). While the yakuza are still entrenched in Japanese politics and businesses, if a major government figure is revealed to have a connection to them the public doesnāt tolerate it very well. In 2012 the minister of justice resigned weeks after the news of his yakuza ties got out.
Also, within the context of the fic, itās worth keeping in mind that in Dragon Gate a major yakuza war takes place, endangering the public, and people are going to be very anti-yakuza as a result. Rep. Okumura is famous for his anti-yakuza stance, so the reveal that he has yakuza connections would be really damning.
As for the tattoo -- symbolic reasons, mostly, since the gunshot wound is on the front and the metaphor is that heĀ ādiedā from it and was reborn to finally be together with Eijun. Additionally, Miyuki thinks getting the exact same tattoo in the exact same spot would be lame and embarrassing lol.
I'm not sure if this has been answered before, but in Lotus in Paradise when Miyuki responds to Eijun's order as "yes boss" with Rei when they meet in the police station, how does he, Rei, and Eijun react?? (I think maybe Miyuki is surprised a bit? but doesn't really care much but that's just be speculating...=_=;;;;)
That scene actually happens at the airport since Rei catches him just as he returns from Okinawa! Bringing him down to the station would draw way too much attention and look like a display of police authority, which would have pissed Eijun off and made him uncooperative. Plus, Miyuki is supposed to be undercover again.
As for how everyone reacts to that line at the end of the scene... well, itās up for interpretation since I didnāt write their reactions, but based on Eijunās possessiveness heās probably satisfied. I doubt heād think too hard about it since for him itās natural that Miyuki would obey him. Miyuki might be a little surprised at first because he says the words automatically, and later, as we see, he gets wrapped up in thinking about how easy it is to fall into old habits, but heās also aware/trying to convince himself things canāt return to the way they were before. Lotus is about Miyuki figuring out how pointless it is to keep his distance, so there are complicated feelings on his end.
Now, Reiās view on the other hand is less obvious because her opinion doesnāt have much bearing on the story, but she definitely has Miyuki pegged and knows involving him with Eijun again is dangerous. There are very brief, subtle hints that sheās not happy about this, but she looks at the big picture and this is the easiest way to keep a close eye on the Sawamura-gumi. She prioritizes results and the benefit of the public over keeping a single subordinate out of yakuza hands. So in that particular scene, when Miyuki answers to Eijun, Rei wouldnāt show much of a reaction but sheād note it, and by the time Miyuki chooses his side I donāt think Rei is surprised or upset or even judgmental. She and Miyuki continue to respect each other after heās taken up with the yakuza again.
Hiya! It's 2am for me, but I just want to leave some love for your Yakuza 'verse fics. I read Dragon Gate last night and again tonight, along with Lotus, and they're both amazing!! I think I'll be screaming about this AU through the weekend, most likely longer. :D Thank you for writing them! Hope you have a wonderful day.
Thank you! Iām really glad you enjoyed them. :) Iām not very experienced with writing that sort of plot so there were many times when I was tearing my hair out in frustration lol. Badass yakuza boys were too much fun to resist though. Part of me misses writing them, but another part is happy to be working on something different.
