Chapter 1: Gangs
Twilight High was the most beautiful and classy place in all of Twilight Town. And that's really saying something. If you attended Twilight High, that means you're a child of one of the wealthiest families in town. But Twilight Town wasn't all glimmer and sunshine. It got its name 'Twilight' for a reason
For behind every city or town, there is a dark and serious plot unfolding right underneath everyone's noses. Kairi Hikari was one of those people who didn't know what this town had in store.
She had perfect grades, a tremendous social life, she was daughter to Aerith Gainsborough, famous supermodel, and she had guys lining up to ask her out. But there was not a one she actually did like. When she approached her locker and punched in the combination, her best friend and half-sister Naminé Shiro walked up to her.
They had different last names; they had the same mom, yet different dads. They were pretty much abandoned by their fathers at around the same time. The reason being, Aerith hadn't realized she was pregnant with Kairi until after she was pregnant with Naminé, a few months after she had dumped Kairi's father.
"Hey, Nami," Kairi said with a smile. "Did you ace Mr. Ansem's history test?" When Nami smiled and nodded, nearly jumping up and down with excitement, Kairi gripped Nami's hands and said, "That's great! I knew you could do it!"
"Well, if it weren't for your tutoring," Nami said. "I would have never passed with all answers correct. Kairi, thanks."
"No thanks necessary, Nami," Kairi said smiling. "Say, Naminé, you haven't see Lea today, have you? Mom's going to flip when she figures out he skipped school today. Big time."
Lea Kasai was Kairi and Naminé's half-brother. It seemed to be a trend that a random man went to Aerith Gainsborough, they would 'make love', Aerith would get pregnant, and then the man up and vanishes out of his child's life. So Kairi, Naminé, and Lea all came from different fathers.
"Probably out somewhere getting drunk, as usual," Nami said with a frown, using her index finger to readjust her glasses. She was cute when she did that. It made all the guys go gaga for her as well. "He hangs out with the wrong crowd."
"Talking about Lea?" a voice asked, and wrapping her arms around Kairi's neck was her other best friend, Selphie Tilmitt, her curly brown hair bouncing as she wiggled around while grabbing hold of Kairi's neck. "Heya!"
"Why?" Kairi asked, turning to see Selphie. "Have you seen Lea?"
Selphie nodded. "Tidus said he saw him walking behind the school with about four other guys. They seemed to all wear hoods though."
"What is Lea thinking?" Kairi asked, lifting up her phone. "Hoods? Is he part of some underground gang or something?" She started punching in the numbers to Lea's phone. When she held it up to her ear, it immediately was sent to voicemail.
"That's it, I'm going find him," Kairi muttered, pushing passed Nami and Selphie without saying another word. She walked straight out of the school, made a left and headed past a sharp corner. She now found herself walking down the alley to the side of the school, where the school keeps its trash. "Come on, Lea, where are you?"
"So is that all the money you owe him?" a rather menacing voice said from farther up ahead. Kairi covered her mouth to stop her rapid breathing, and she flung herself against the wall of the school to avoid being seen.
She would've stayed completely silent, if it weren't for the emo boy standing next to her, his steel-blue hair covering his right eye and flowing in the breeze.
Kairi nearly shrieked out loud, but the boy put his hand over her lips. Kairi's breathing returned to normal. It was just Ienzo, Twilight Town's teen news reporter who works for the Daily Sunset.
Kairi ignored him and went back to listening to that voice she had heard. "—'s been a long time since you paid your debt, man. The boss man ain't gonna like that one bit."
"Nah, it's alright, Braig, I've got things covered," replied a voice sounding vaguely like Lea's. "I'll continue to slip money out here and there, to avoid being caught. But if I do get caught, then what'll he do?"
"Kill the lot of you," another voice replied in a strong British accent. "If you get caught and that money gets put somewhere else, we'll have no reason to let ya'll live any longer. You blokes have it coming—"
"You'll not lay a finger on them," Lea's voice replied. "I'll make sure I won't get caught. Tell 'im I said that. Now get out before I get my people to escort you out. Got it, Rould? Braig?"
"Yes sir, understood, brah," Braig's voice had said, and then Kairi and Ienzo heard footsteps.
"Oh, god," Kairi muttered.
"Quick, let's get away!" Ienzo whispered, grabbed hold of Kairi's hand, and the two rushed out of the alley and onto the steps in front of the school. "Sheesh, Mr. Even Sunset does not pay me enough for this."
"Was that Lea?" Kairi asked worriedly. Ienzo could see that she was trembling. Ienzo didn't really care what else would have happened, so he started walking off. "Wait, Ienzo! You're gonna post this story online? We've gotta get people involved! Actually, don't, Lea will get in MAJOR trouble. Just what happened back there?"
"Simple," Ienzo answered her question. "Twilight Town is full of gangs. The main gangs being the Fiery Hot Assassins and the Berserk Midnight Crusaders. They basically destroyed nearly every gang out there. If that really was Lea, then I'm afraid your brother is part of a gang."
Ienzo didn't bother elaborating any further and walked away without hesitation. Kairi needed a moment of peace now. As she sat down on the steps, she was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Lea could be some kind of mafia boss. But whose money was he giving away?
Kairi was ready to go back down that alley when the bell had rung. Shoot! She had to wait. She had to continue school as normal. As if her life would be normal again. Lea was a mafia boss of sorts, and Kairi was going to be dragged into this one way or another.
She continued her classes, had many guys flirt with her, and then headed home for the day afterwards. Naminé and Selphie accompanied her. They walked towards Kairi and Nami's house, soon leaving behind Selphie as she had reached her home, and no sooner than when they arrived at their destination that Lea was already pounding on the house door.
"Lea?" Nami asked, rushing to the spikey redhead. They had no idea how his hair possessed that fiery color, as Aerith had brown hair and his father had black hair. He seemed like a special case. "Lea, why are you—"
"Lend me the key, why don't ya?" Lea muttered, stumbling backwards. They then noticed the bottle of cold beer in his hand. Knowing Lea, this was one of a dozen he had stashed in a cooler in his truck.
Whereas Kairi and Naminé were sixteen and fifteen, respectively, Lea was nineteen and way more irresponsible.
Lea glared at the girls and said, "Open the damn door, I'm thirsty." Before he began speaking again, he took a long swig of his beer. "Come on, Kai…just open it…"
"Hold up, Lea," Kairi said in a very annoyed tone, bending down and removing a key from under the mat at the doorstep.
"What's that for?" Lea asked, making Kairi stomp her foot in disgust.
Kairi unlocked the door, and Lea rushed in, nearly knocking Kairi to the side. Luckily for her, Nami had caught her. "His drinking habits seem worse, don't they, Kai?"
"Exactly," Kairi replied. "Mom isn't gonna be too happy about this." She stepped in the house and smiled at the wonderful fragrance emanating off of the walls and furniture. It was, however, soon replaced by the foul smell of Lea's putrid beer. "Lea, stop dr—" She couldn't finish her sentence.
Her bright yellow dog with oddly long black ears bounded up to her, jumped up, and tackled Kairi to the ground. "Pluto…Pluto, get off!" Kairi was able to push off the dog. "Good boy. Do mama a favor and go catch the mail in the back yard."
Pluto instinctively raised an ear and ran in the complete opposite direction. Kairi laughed even though she felt miserable, and she heard Lea start to cough.
Kairi looked to Lea who was frantically searching the fridge. "Where the hell is all the beer!?" Kairi wanted to tell him he had them in the truck, but she was too lazy to do so. "Kairi, tell me the truth…what do you know about my life? Nothing. You know nothing. Now quit being stuck up my ass like some lost puppy and quit askin'."
"But I wasn't—"
"Nah, nah, Lea's always right," Lea muttered, belching. "Got it…memorized?"
"Whatever," Kairi replied. "NAMINÉ!" Nami poked her head from behind a corner leading to her room. "Nami, do you wanna go sleep at Selphie's tonight? Lea doesn't look too sane."
"Am I too hot for you?" Lea asked in a seductive tone. "Do I make you edgy? Do I make you uncomfortable? I can change that…" Lea started walking forward.
Kairi had to think of something fast. "Don't…don't…" she muttered, calming Lea. "I overheard you earlier with a few people… who's debt do you need to pay? Are you in a gang?"
For that brief moment, Lea seemed a little sane, snapping back to reality. "I don't know what you're talking about. Kai, Nami, maybe you two should head to a friend's house. I need to be getting to bed."
Now Kairi was very confused, and maybe a little sad for the older half-brother. "Lea, who's money are you giving away and who is receiving it?"
"I don't wanna give away any secrets," Lea muttered, inching close to Kairi. "But you know all that money Mom has in her safe? Well, let's just say it ain't so safe anymore…" He belched again.
"You're giving our money away?" Nami asked from her bedroom. Kairi noticed she had been shaking in her room since they had got here.
"You were bound to find out at some point or another," Lea said, actually now acting like a normal person rather than a drunken one. "This gang, the Berserk Midnight Crusaders, is out for money and power. Seeing as Mother is one of the richest, the leader of the gang targeted her. But…they either get the money, or they harm all of you and get you guys killed."
"Who's the leader?" Kairi asked with a frown, wanting to know what punk is playing her family like a sitar.
Lea looked to the ceiling as if expecting helicopters to be appearing in the sky and dropping bombs on them. "…Isa Tsukiakari. That's his name. He dropped outta school a year and a half ago."
"Wasn't he one of your friends—"
"I think you two should leave," Lea interrupted. "Go and spend the night at Selphie's. Maybe get Olette to join. Just stay far away from all this stuff where you don't belong."
Kairi shook her head, hoping every last bit of this fairytale would vanish. It didn't. She called upon Naminé to follow her out, and the two exited the house, not looking back at Lea.
They had a lot of explaining to do when Selphie opened the door to her house. Kairi and Nami entered without telling her anything at first, and eventually Olette had joined the sleep-over.
Kairi had finally spilled everything about Lea, and the gang he's up against. The Berserk Midnight Crusaders. This guy, Isa, who controlled the gang, used to be Lea's best friend if Kairi remembered correctly.
What had happened to those two, Kairi did not know. Kairi decided not to mess with that topic.
0-X-0
Lea clutched his head as he lay on the couch at his house, shirtless, barefoot, and only in his boxers. The effects of the beer were wearing off, and he was finally able to think straight again.
He didn't hear knocking, yet wasn't startled when he noticed two people standing in the doorway. Braig and Rould. Braig was a tad old and had a long ponytail and a black eye patch over his left eye. Rould had golden blonde hair with a goatee-beard and lots of piercings on his ears.
Both of them had on black hooded cloaks.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Lea asked, obviously not surprised. He stood up and scratched his chest. "Here for the payment?" He walked over to the safe that was just on the shelf underneath the TV. He punched in the combination, opened it, and took a wad of cash out. "Money's running out, fellas."
"Not cool, Lea, not cool," Braig replied with a smirk. He pulled something out from under his cloak. A handgun. "This baby's loaded and Isa ain't gonna take no crap from no one. Either he gets his payment or the famous model and her oh-so-adorable children get killed off one by one until he's satisfied."
Rould grabbed the money and walked straight out of the house. "Pleasure doin' business with ya, mate. The money is always appreciated."
Braig started laughing, walked to Lea, and placed the gun right next to Lea's chin. "We are watching you, Lea. One wrong move, and say goodbye to those sisters of yours. Got it?"
"I've got it memorized, Braig," Lea replied. "Now get out before my mom gets here."
Braig smiled. "Sayonara, kiddo. Ciao." Braig walked off.
Lea was lost in his train of thought. What if the money eventually ran out? Then Isa would have my family killed. Then if I'm the only one left standing they'd think it was me who offed them. As these thoughts raced through Lea's head, he lay down on the couch and began falling asleep…
…a beer bottle in his hand.
