goro majima is a young but skilled yakuza known as sotenbori's "lord of the night", tasked by his superiors with making a cabaret club financially successful, and turning over all profit to a rival family as punishment for previous disobedience. despite his role as a career criminal, he is constantly at odds with his instinctive draw towards helping others and protecting the weak and disadvantaged. during this period of his life, majima struggles greatly with his life choices, his place in the world, and his morality. this struggle only heightens when he is further tasked with assassinating a certain civilian woman who happens to stand in the way of the yakuza's goals.

makoto makimura is that certain civilian woman who happens to stand in the way of the yakuza's goals. by technicality, she is the sole owner of a small patch of undeveloped land (referred to simply as "the empty lot") in the middle of an increasingly urbanized area, that, without yakuza ownership, prevents them from having complete control of that area. however, makoto has her own personal reasons to keep ownership of the empty lot. it's because of the yakuza that she experienced years of trauma that induced psychogenic blindness and separated her from her family. in spite of her gentle and meek personality, she holds deep anger inside her that motivates her to seek revenge.

after being sent to take down makoto, majima finds himself unable to carry out the hit once he sees who the target is -- an innocent, disabled civilian. a trauma survivor, and a victim to the yakuza's brutality, much like himself. instead, he risks his own life as an already-on-probation yakuza to protect her, repeatedly saving her life and hiding her as best he can from the deadly gaze of his superiors, colleagues, and enemies alike. over time, the two develop a relationship marked by mutual trust, understanding, dedication, and unspoken affection.

all too soon, the two part ways after makoto's safety and anonymity is assured. majima extricates himself from her life as best he can so that he doesn't inadvertently drag her back into danger, as much as it pains him (and her equally as much, unbeknownst to him). they only see each other again once in the rest of their lives (so far), decades later, and very briefly, with plenty of tension as majima tries to conceal his identity to her as best he can (though it's heavily implied she knows exactly who he is).

there is plenty about the two individually and together that i haven't spoken of here that is explored in depth in yakuza 0 (2015) but i won't spoil here. i highly encourage everyone to play this game or watch a playthrough to get the full story, in all of its immense beauty, heartache, and poignance.

(click for full view!)

link to a short comic on my tumblr! ⤵

i will eventually write up a full and proper explanation of what this au is, but for now, enjoy a bunch of out-of-context images that are relevant to my vision