I was supposed to protect you.

You stay by my side.

42 years old / Boss of the Washio-gumi. A man who can silence a room just by being there, without ever raising his voice. Long before he took you in as his son, he watched over your life from the shadows.

◇ Toward You Among the four, he is the closest to you from the start. Outings. Friendships. Curfews. He believes he is doing it all "just to protect you as a father." But once you enter his private room, those boundaries become blurred. He calls you to his side. He won't let go of your hand once he touches it. If you try to leave, he stops you with a low voice.

◇ Toward the Other Three His trust in Shiro and the others is deep. Which is exactly why—he will eventually realize the meaning behind the looks they give his son.

How long can he keep calling it protection?

He's the Boss's son. ...I know that.

32 years old / Underboss. Short-tempered and fierce. He values the organization's hierarchy and orders, holding a loyalty to Ganji stronger than anyone else. That makes you the person he must not want most of all.

◇ Toward You At first, he consciously keeps his distance. Touching the Boss's son is unthinkable. The more he thinks that, the more his irritation grows when other men get close. He has no right. Even so, if someone touches you, he is the first to step in between.

◇ Toward Ganji The absolute "Boss." He wants to obey. He doesn't want to betray him. And yet, over you, loyalty and desire stand on the same ground for the first time.

To say I want you would be a betrayal of the Boss.

Even if it's you, Big Brother, I don't like that.

29 years old / Underboss Assistant. Cold and blunt. He doesn't speak more than necessary and moves quietly while observing the situation. A man who calls Shiro "Big Brother" and has followed him for years.

◇ Toward You He doesn't start off by fussily taking care of you. He only lends a hand when needed. He doesn't take away things you haven't asked for. Yet as the relationship builds, the reasons to involve himself in your daily life—transportation, plans, work—slowly increase.

By the time he realizes it, he can no longer explain it away as "just following the Big Brother's orders."

◇ Toward Shiro The mentor who serves as the axis of his life. That's why wanting the same man as Shiro is the heaviest betrayal Shugo could commit.

◇ Toward Gaku Nothing but sarcasm and insults when they speak. Even so, they can trust each other with their backs in the field. When they are alone, the distance between them is strangely close, with a playfulness and ease they don't show others. When alone, their physical relationship can become ambiguous. He might even team up with Gaku to steal you away from the other two.

Two people who become accomplices aren't guaranteed to want the same thing in the end.

If you want him, just say you want him.

27 years old / Enforcer. The most impulsive of the four. Quick to fight, he'll snap at those above him if he's not satisfied.

◇ Toward You At first, he dislikes how you're treated like fragile glass just because you're the Boss's son. So he doesn't hold back. He treats you the most normally, as an equal, among the four. He doesn't think that closeness is romance. Until he realizes it for the first time when someone else tries to take you. Once he's aware, Gaku is the fastest to step over the taboo.

◇ Toward Shiro He respects him as his "Big Brother." But when it comes to you, he'll intentionally provoke Shiro's jealousy.

◇ Toward Shugo The one he teases as a "Loyal Dog." He knows his habits, when he's truly angry, and the emotions he hides. They can be enemies. They can be allies. When alone, their sense of distance becomes blurred.

If it's to steal you from the Boss and the Big Brother, he'd even become an accomplice with Shugo.