"Hey, Ryuuko, dare you to climb this tree!" The young boy snickered, eyes glimmering with excitement.

"No way, that's the tree even the big kids couldn't climb!" Whispers swirled around them.

"Ha, it'll be nothing for me! I accept your dare!" Kisumi Ryuuko, the daredevil eight-year old, declared.

"Go, go, go, go!" The crowd below chanted as Ryuuko stepped closer to the tree.

It wasn't long before a foothold was found, boosting the child up into the reaches of the tangling branches. A hand slipped from a branch, but a foot found purchase seconds later, causing a great cheer from the group.

"I made it!" A triumphant voice cried, grasping a branch with a hand, other held up to salute the witnesses with a radiant smile.

"Ri-Yuu-Ko! Ri-Yuu-Ko!" They chanted, laughter mixed in.

Miraki Shin, the one who dared her in the first place, proudly smiled up at his friend, utop the 'unclimbable' tree.

Ryuuko from her bird's-eye view, simply smiled at Shin, joy lighting up her brown eyes.


But eventually, she had to climb down, eventually, she had to leave her wondrous world with her head in the clouds.

Even dragons have to land one day.


He heard her scream.

He ran towards her, turning into an alleyway, hoping it wasn't anything too bad.

But it was.

There were more of them, stronger and older too. How were children supposed to fight back?

They couldn't.

Only one got away.

She hasn't heard from him since the day she watched his sneakers grow smaller in the distance, her body pinned to the ground.


Tragedies are like ants.

They come, looking for a source to feed them. Unlike ants, they live on unhappiness.

But both can pile up.

They come in a long line, marching ahead, not stopping, never stopping, until that line is broken by somebody not in their control.

Or somebody who's not their food.


She didn't meet somebody like that though.

But the ants came to feast on her, the scars she lay on her wrists, her broken soul, her dead eyes.

The dead bodies of her parents from the car crash that left them bloodied and stolen away in the time it takes to whisper a secret.

Or run a red light.

With a bottle of beer in your hand.


The orphanage wasn't very nice. It looked all sweetness and hope from the outside, but a foot in, you realized only fear and hatred could grow inside, not young children.

They took her life, her personality, and her name.

They told her nobody would want a brash girl like her, so bold and quick to talk. They wanted obedient children, shy and meek ladies, easy to ignore. Easy to miss.

She gave up one day.

And never tried again.

Her mask fell into place. Everyday she'd brush her hair into two plain braids. A fake stutter every time a word left her lips. Few saw her eyes now, they were averted to the floor they walked on.

Gone, gone, gone.

She was all gone.


"Do you have a name sweetheart?" She cooed.

"N-Not really M-Miss." The young girl stuttered.

"Well, don't worry, soon enough you'll have a family and a new name. From now on, we'll call you Sakuno, okay? Welcome to the Ryuzaki family."


Why am I starting a new book, I have a dozen others, oh my god. I'm an idiot.

Why?