Haunting smile
# Chapter One: The Heir Who Feels Nothing
**Time: 9:00 PM**
**Place: The Gilded Palace of the Kurosaki Family**
The name Kurosaki was a nightmare for everyone — enemies and allies alike. Everyone bowed before it.
The founder of the Kurosaki family was Ryo Kurosaki, a monster who had single-handedly seized control of all of Japan and built a dominance that stretched across the world.
But everyone who mattered knew the truth: it wasn't Ryo alone who had built this empire. It was his son, Shin.
No one had ever seen Shin fight for his father. They didn't need to. Whoever dared to confront him simply vanished — no bodies, no witnesses, no trace. No one truly knew what Shin did for amusement, and no one dared to ask twice.
Ryo: "Shin, what are you doing, son?"
Shin sat sprawled on the luxurious couch, flicking a lighter open and shut, again and again, chasing a spark of interest he couldn't find. He stared out through the enormous windows at the city below, swallowed in mist — a city his father owned outright. Even among the underworld, only a rare few dared cross Ryo Kurosaki.
Shin: "Dad. Does this actually feel like fun to you?"
Ryo: "What, exactly?"
Shin: "Sitting here. Every day. Doing nothing."
Ryo: "Because you're the heir to my empire."
Shin: "I never asked to be."
Before Ryo could answer, Johan entered. Of everyone in Ryo Kurosaki's service, Johan was the one he trusted most.
Johan: "Good morning, Lord Kurosaki."
Ryo: "Good morning, Johan."
Johan: "The disturbance you mentioned has been dealt with. I oversaw it personally."
Ryo: "Good work. I have something else for you."
Johan: "Anything you require, my lord."
Ryo: "My son is bored to the point of playing with a lighter like a child. Fix that."
Johan considered this for a moment.
Johan: "May I suggest appointing the young master a tutor?"
Ryo gave him a flat look.
Ryo: "Johan. You do realize my son has broken nearly every tutor I've ever hired."
Johan: "With respect, my lord — the young master enjoys breaking them. That's precisely why it works. It's the only thing that's ever held his interest."
Shin, silent until now, finally spoke.
Shin: "And what makes you think a tutor could actually cure my boredom, Johan?"
Johan: "Young master, we'll hold a special examination. And we'll offer the winning tutor something no one could refuse — a place among the brightest minds in the world."
Shin considered it, then allowed the faintest smile.
Shin: "This is why I like you, Johan. Always finding a way. Make it happen."
Johan: "As you wish."
He bowed and left. Once the door closed, Shin turned to his father.
Shin: "Dad. Do you remember what I did three years ago? In Los Angeles?"
Ryo went pale. He nodded slowly, saying nothing.
Then Shin smiled — and it was not a normal smile. It twisted past charming, past unsettling, into something that made even Ryo Kurosaki's hands tremble beneath his composure.
Shin: "What a beautiful night that was. I still dream about it. So beautiful. So haunting. So mine."
The smile stretched wider with every word. Ryo forced himself to speak.
Ryo: "Son. Your mask is slipping."
Shin froze. Slowly, the smile receded. He exhaled, sharp and controlled.
Shin: "You're right. I'm fine now."
Ryo studied his son — his son, blood of his blood — and reached out to ruffle his hair.
Ryo: "I know what people call you. The devil incarnate. After what happened, I understand why. But before any of that, you are my son. No matter what you've done, no matter what you become — I will always stand behind you."
Something in Shin's expression softened, just barely. He looked at the man who had buried his enemies and built an empire on their bones, and said:
Shin: "I know, Dad. That's exactly why I'm still me."
Ryo ruffled his hair once more and left the room. Alone, Shin pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and dragged the smoke deep into his lungs, letting the nicotine do its work. He closed his eyes —
And saw her.
A woman. A stranger. He didn't know her face, only her smile — bright and gentle, like the first warmth of spring after a long winter. He reached for her, wanting just to touch that warmth—
And she dissolved into nothing, leaving only silence and a hollow ache behind his ribs.
Shin laughed. There was no joy in it. Just an empty sound that echoed off the walls and died there.
Shin: "Who are you? Why do you keep coming to me?"
The room offered no answer. The most feared man in Japan sat there, alone, drowning in questions with nowhere to put them.
---
**A few hours later**
Shin came down for lunch and took his usual seat. The maids laid out a spread fit for royalty, but he only pushed the food around his plate, his mind still tangled in that vision — that smile he couldn't place.
Ryo entered and noticed immediately.
Ryo: "Shin. What's wrong?"
Shin: "Nothing. Just thinking."
Ryo: "Your face says otherwise. Your mind's a storm right now."
Shin: "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."
Johan entered and bowed.
Johan: "Young master, I've finalized the plan for your tutor. I've contacted the top ten schools in Japan — their brightest students will sit a special exam. The highest scorer earns the position."
Shin (uninterested): "Go on."
Johan: "They'll want it badly, young master. We're offering a fully funded scholarship to any school, college, or university they choose — plus the chance to study alongside the world's leading scientists, physicists, and literary minds."
Shin: "Do whatever you like. I couldn't care less."
---
**The next day, 10:30 AM**
**Place: Private Academy Hall**
The jet-black limousine rolled to a stop outside a private academy hall in Tokyo. Rumors had already spread like wildfire — the billionaire mafia patriarch, Mr. Kurosaki, had arrived in Japan. And with him, his only son: Shin Kurosaki, a name whispered with equal dread in the underworld and in elite society.
Inside, hundreds of students sat in tense silence — the top hundred handpicked from every prestigious school in the country. None of them knew why they'd been summoned.
The doors opened. Mr. Kurosaki entered first — tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in a three-piece suit, a black cane striking the floor with each measured step. Behind him walked Shin: black hair, pale skin, hands buried in his pockets, his face a perfect blank.
Silence swallowed the room until Mr. Kurosaki's voice broke it like thunder.
Mr. Kurosaki: "You've all been gathered here because of my son — Shin Kurosaki. My only heir. The one who will inherit not just my empire, but the weight of my name. But my son hates people. He despises idle chatter, shallow minds, and false smiles." He gestured at the rows of nervous faces. "Which is why I've summoned the very best."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Student 1 (whispering): "He hates people? Then why bring all of us here?"
Student 2 (trembling): "Because we're not just students. We're being tested."
Student 3 (steadying himself): "Mafia or not — I'll pass whatever exam they throw at us."
Shin finally spoke, his voice low and utterly disinterested.
Shin: "Father, this is unnecessary. I don't need a babysitter. Especially not a hundred of them."
Mr. Kurosaki (smirking): "Not a babysitter, Shin. A tutor. Someone who can match your mind — and survive your silence."
Shin scoffed, sinking his hands deeper into his pockets.
Shin: "And you think one of these smiling idiots will manage that?"
The insult landed hard. Heads dropped. No one dared answer the mafia heir —
Until one girl rose.
Her uniform was crisp, her posture flawless, her calm blue eyes locked directly on Shin's without a flicker of fear. She tucked a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear, unmoved by the stares now burning into her.
Yumi Claire (firm): "With respect — if we're the best students in Japan, then none of us are idiots. You'll learn that soon enough, Kurosaki Shin."
The room went dead silent. Then the whispers exploded.
Student 1: "Is she insane?! Talking back to him?"
Student 2: "She's going to get thrown out—"
Student 3 (in awe): "Look at her. She's not even flinching."
Shin lifted his gaze slowly to meet hers. For a long moment his face gave nothing away — and then, barely, the corner of his mouth curved.
Shin: "Finally. Someone with a spine." His tone sharpened. "Your name."
Yumi Claire: "Yumi Claire."
The name landed heavy in the room. Mr. Kurosaki raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.
Mr. Kurosaki (chuckling): "Excellent. This is exactly the spirit I was hoping for. Shin — like it or not, you need someone who won't bend. Perhaps this one will prove worthy."
Shin leaned back, resting his cheek against his palm, eyes never leaving her.
Shin (murmuring, amused): "We'll see how long that confidence lasts, Claire."
More gasps — the mafia heir never called anyone by name. Yumi didn't flinch.
Yumi Claire (calm): "Confidence doesn't fade when it's real. I won't prove it with words. I'll prove it with results."
Her words hung in the air, daring, in front of both father and son.
Student 4: "She's fearless."
Student 5: "Or completely insane."
Student 6: "If anyone stands a chance, it's her."
Mr. Kurosaki tapped his cane once, and the whispers died.
Mr. Kurosaki: "Good. Very good. I want my son challenged — not surrounded by sheep. The exam begins now."
Papers rustled through the hall. Shin didn't glance at his once. His eyes stayed fixed on Yumi, tracking her every movement as though she were the only interesting thing in the room.
---
The tension sharpened when Mr. Kurosaki clapped his hands once. A dozen black-suited men filed in with mechanical precision, setting deep crimson folders on every desk. The air itself seemed to grow heavier.
Mr. Kurosaki: "These are not ordinary exam papers. They were designed by some of the most visionary minds in the world. There are no simple answers waiting inside — no formulas, no memorized solutions. What I want to see — what my son will see — is how you handle the impossible."
Gasps spread again.
Student 1: "The impossible…?"
Student 2: "He doesn't care about the answers. He wants to see how we think."
Student 3: "This is insane."
Shin, sprawled lazily with one leg crossed over the other, pulled out another cigarette and struck the lighter, the flame flickering as though the entire scene bored him half to death.
Before it reached his lips, a hand caught his wrist.
Mr. Kurosaki (gentle, but firm): "Son. That's enough."
He plucked the cigarette away and crushed it in his gloved palm, dropping the ruin onto a passing butler's tray.
The hall froze. Not because of the cigarette — because of the tone. It wasn't anger. It wasn't a reprimand. It was something far more unsettling: protectiveness.
Mr. Kurosaki (quieter, just for Shin): "It's bad for you. I won't allow it."
Shin blinked, and for one unguarded second, the ice in his expression cracked. The students caught it — the faintest flicker of something almost human.
Shin (quiet): "…Fine."
Student 4 (whispering): "Did you hear that? He actually listened."
Yumi, pen paused mid-motion, saw it too — the moment Shin's untouchable composure slipped, just slightly, in front of his father.
Mr. Kurosaki turned back to the hall, his voice regaining its full authority.
Mr. Kurosaki: "Begin. Three hours. Remember — this isn't about what you know. It's about who you are when knowledge runs out."
Pens scratched against paper, hesitant at first, then faster. Shin leaned back again, arms folded, watching not his father, not the exam — only Yumi Claire, who opened her folder and began writing without a moment's hesitation.
Shin (to himself, amused): "Let's see how long you last, Claire."
The exam wasn't really an exam. It was a filter — a way to choose the one person who might finally kill the boredom eating away at the heir's mind. As the students wrestled with riddles that defied logic, Shin's head slowly tilted to one side, and he drifted into a deep, sudden sleep. Ryo noticed and signaled a guard, who carried his son back to the estate without a word.
Three hours later, the papers were collected, and the students filed out into the evening, uncertain and exhausted.
---
That night, in his dream, Shin saw her again — the same girl, standing just out of focus, her smile bright as ever, her face a blur he couldn't resolve no matter how hard he tried. He reached for her. The dream shattered.
He woke alone, searching his room for a trace of her that didn't exist. All that remained was the memory of a laugh he'd never actually heard, and the ache of wanting to hear it again.
---
**The next morning, 10:00 AM**
**Place: Private Academy Hall**
The hall filled again. Today, the results would be announced. Shin sat beside his father on the stage, boredom etched into every line of his face — except for the moments, every few minutes, when his eyes found Yumi Claire in the crowd and lingered there, searching for something he couldn't name.
Ryo: "Good morning. The results will now be announced. If your name is called, please come to the stage."
Johan: "On behalf of Lord Ryo Kurosaki, I'm pleased to announce the results. Yumi Claire and Kazuki Ren — please step forward. You have both been chosen."
The two students climbed the stage. Before anyone could react, Shin stood and took the microphone.
Shin: "Before we go any further — Kazuki Ren, withdraw. I have zero interest in you."
Kazuki froze, blindsided.
Shin: "You'll still receive everything my father promised. But if you refuse to step down, the consequences won't be pleasant."
Kazuki withdrew immediately.
Shin lit a cigarette, dragged on it slowly, and let out a short laugh — cold, with nothing warm left in it.
Shin: "Yumi Claire. I'll see you on the first day of tutoring." A pause. "I sincerely hope I'll enjoy studying with you."
He walked off the stage without another word. Behind him, Ryo handed Kazuki his scholarship documents as promised, then turned to Yumi.
Ryo: "Ms. Claire. My butler will have your belongings moved to the Kurosaki estate. Your reward will be arranged shortly."
Yumi said nothing — only watched the door Shin had disappeared through, wondering exactly what she had just agreed to.
