Tokyo Yakuza #16: Death on the Inside

Mariko Kusama is a woman struggling to get along in the male-dominated world of the yakuza, and she is very, very good at it. Like many women entering the yakuza underworld, her point of entry was as a hostess. Her particular club was a high-end Yakuza-owned place which didn't force the hostesses to have sex when on a dōhan with a client... but Mariko did it anyway. She had the capacity to cut off her emotions, and it was the only way to generate a little extra money without paying the huge cut that the prostitutes were forced to endure. The reason she wanted the money was that she was ambitious. She wasn't content to be a decorative object until her body betrayed her or she got old and was discarded, she wanted power... and a LOT more money. She was studying, and studying hard, to improve her skills as an augmenter and cybernetic specialist. She had heard of the famed Jise Hirabayashi, and had wanted to be like her - but lately, she's learned enough that their paths have been crossing less and less amicably.