"Stop playing mind games with us, Miss! Give us your answer or we'll take you back forcibly!"
"My, aren't you quite the noisy little underlings… Tell him that I have no such intentions of ever returning, and that he needs to find a replacement for me." She replied, glancing up from her reading, firm chocolate eyes falling on the two men, tall and well-built, with shaggy faces and sunglasses.
"You don't understand, Miss. He'll have us killed if we don't bring you back!" one replied, stepping boldly forward, a hand to his chest.
"Does it look like I care?" she shot back bluntly, her eyes now settling back to her book.
"Miss is so stubborn… I suppose this won't be that easily done after all…" muttered the other, previously silent, man.
"Yes, I must say that I admire Miss greatly for her willfulness. However it is tiring at times to try and convince her to listen to Boss." The first man replied with a shake of his head.
"Hey, Won, I think I know how we can get her to listen…" the second man realized, motioning for the first man, Won, to come closer.
"Yeah…? Hmm? OH! I see…" muttered the other, a dangerously sneaky glint shining through his thick shades.
"What are you two fools babbling about? I don't have the time and I don't have the patience to play these idiotic little games with you…" she growled, standing finally from where she'd previously sat beneath the tree.
"Fine." Muttered the first man, stepping ever closer to her, that glint of sneakiness still lingering below his shades. "I suppose you're right, Miss. It may be true that we alone cannot take you on. It is also true that we do not have the ability to subdue you and bring you back."
"However" the second man chimed in, "We DO have a man who CAN take you on and bring you back." It was here that the two had stopped, mere inches away from the girl, her back against the tree.
"You wouldn't dare." She scowled, her fists clenched at her sides.
"Oh, we would in a heartbeat, Miss." The first man replied confidently, a content smirk playing across his face.
"So, unless you want to face the embarrassment of losing to him again, then I suggest you come quietly." The second man suggested, reaching out for her wrist.
"Sorry, but I don't think I want to go back just yet." She replied, hoisting herself easily up into the highest branches of the large oak, using them as a means of escape, leaping from one to the next.
"Quickly, we have to chase her! Even if we don't capture her, we still need to know where 'he' can find her." The first man ordered, dashing after her from the ground, the second man following closely behind.
'Damn, I've got to find some way to lose them! If they know where I'm staying they'll send 'him' after me… That's one person I pray I'll never see again.' She thought to herself, leaping from tree to tree, further and further into the denser trees of the park.
"Perfect, I can just faze into that crowd over there! They'll never be able to follow me through such a thick crowd!" she muttered, leaping from the tree, straight into the edge of the crowd, quickly integrating herself with the rest of the onlookers.
'Ah! Hey, there's Purin! Good, she's performing a street act and the people are gathering together! It'll be easier than I thought to hide!' from her place in the midst of the dense crowd of fans she could easily see Purin, her acrobatic monkey like friend.
"And now, for my final act!" shouted Purin, expertly balanced atop a multi-colored beach ball, "I will need two male volunteers, ok?" winking down at her from the throw together stage in the middle of the crowd, Purin had taken notice that her friend was being chased again.
"I can't see her anywhere in this damned crowd."
"Yeah, me neither. Should we just stake out the area?"
"You two guys down there! Yeah, you two in the suits, come on up here and be my assistants!" hollered Purin, watching in content amusement as her fans pulled the two to the stage by force.
Mouthing 'thank you' before sneaking out of the crowd and into some nearby bushes, Ichigo saw Purin nod once and begin her last act of the day; juggling multiple, very sharp, swords over the two as they lay there on the stage, probably having wet themselves.
…
"Olive, I'm home cat!" she hollered, entering into her apartment by way of fire escape.
"Nya!" was the cat's eager reply as it leapt down from the back of the couch, dashing over to its mistress.
"Hey there kitty, what's up? Yah guard the place with me away?" she asked lightly, kneeling to rub Olive's tan/grey ears as she purred.
"Nya!"
"Good girl! Guess what?"
"Nya?"
"Won and Lee came looking for me earlier at the park. Fortunately I can outrun them and had Purin's help. They threatened to call 'him' though."
Upon hearing this, the cat's eyes went soft, understanding swimming in the emerald pools. "Nya~"
"Olive, I don't. I'm over it now… I've moved on since then. I'm not who I used to be and I'll never go back." She argued, standing once more. "I don't love him anymore… I guess I was stupid to have ever thought it would work." She muttered, her expression falling.
Kicking off her shoes underneath the ledge of the counter she sighed and made her way up to the loft of the apartment.
Flopping down lazily onto her bed, her bag tossed onto her desk chair, she couldn't help but recall the last night she'd seen 'him'.
…
"Ichigo, please don't go…"
"Ryou, I'm sorry, honest. But, you know why I'm leaving, right?" turning towards him and away from her bag, her eyes shone pure and innocent with sadness.
"Ichigo, it's not like he's making you get married or anything." He pointed out, taking her hands firmly in his.
"Yeah, I know. It's just that, after Jun's funeral he started talking about inheriting the family name… He says I'll be running things when the time comes." She muttered, voice laden heavily with stress. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes. She turned her tear streaked face away from his piercing cerulean eyes, not wanting him to see her cry.
"You think your brother, Jun, was more worthy of the position?" he asked, his grip tightening.
"Yeah, kind of." She whimpered, her hands clenching into fists. "Actually though, it's more than just that… it's the fact that I don't want to be the leader of a Yakuza! Ryou, you can outwit me and out fight me… Why didn't he choose you? It's not against the rules to make someone who's not your own child your heir…so why me?"
"He chose you because he knew you were best for the position. You're his daughter and he trained you just the same as he did me. He knows you have the strength and the skill to succeed him."
"Yes, but Ryou, you're stronger than I am and it's as if you're his son. So, why didn't he choose you instead?"
"He chose you because you have traits that I don't. First, you're just as sneaky as he is when it comes to getting information. Second you have his willfulness, something I don't. When in the heat of the moment I can't think… I do stupid things like beat somebody up. You, on the other hand, can push for peace."
"Sorry, Ryou… I can't guarantee I'll see you again, but just know I don't regret us being friends." And with that she leapt from the window, into the night.
…
"It's been four years, Ryou… Do you think of me often? Are you still angry at me for what I did? I didn't mean to abandon you, but I couldn't do it." She sighed, staring up through the large sunlight, out into the thick night outside.