(A/N: So this idea quite insistently requested to be written. After months of nothing from my muse; I decided that it would be in my best interests to go with it. I don't own Ouran.)
Kasanoda's Strength
Prologue
"We've got them, boss! You'd think that those idiots would keep better track of their boss' heirs!" The thug from their rival syndicate proclaimed in triumph.
Ran cringed as she and her twin were thrown in front of the severe looking man, as they were bound in ropes they couldn't brace themselves from slamming into the hard ground.
Ritsu glared at the men and growled, "You're all just a bunch of cowards! You bastards couldn't take our group in a fair fight, so you just took some kids half your size!"
Ran was intensely aware that this wasn't the best thing for her brother to have said and she inched closer to him; ready to push herself in front of any attack dealt in retribution.
"Why you little! This'll teach you!" The man roared and threw some liquid toward them.
Ran lunged in front of her brother just in time for the liquid to hit the right side of her face.
Her eye was burning and the pain was intensifying as it kept eating through her eye.
She couldn't stop screaming as the men laughed and Ritsu cried out in horror.
"Sis! Wake up!"
Ran snapped awake and looked up to see her brother standing over her with a worried expression.
"Was it that nightmare again?" Ritsu asked, guilt riddling his sharp features that often scared others away.
"It was. But as I've told you a thousand times in the past eight years; I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're safe, little brother." Ran replied, trying to convey her sincerity with her one good eye.
"You don't have to protect me, and you're only older by 15 minutes!" Ritsu grumbled the last part and Ran smiled slightly.
"But I do; it's my duty as the older sibling. So deal with it, my cute little brother!" She reached up and ruffled his hair playfully.
Ran glanced at the clock and then said, "We'd better get ready. Isn't today the day you plan on talking to Morinozuka-sempai about being his apprentice?"
This made Ritsu halt in his attempt to straighten out his hair and run back to his room that was adjoined to hers.
Ran chuckled slightly. She didn't really blame him for wanting friends. It got lonely with it being just the two of them. His idea for getting them was what amused her. But as he was just as stubborn as her, she knew better than to try and talk him out of it.
She stretched and yawned as she got up and started to get ready.
Her uniform was very different from what the girls of Ouran typically wear. She had asked the chairman to allow her to modify it to suit her disability better. So instead of that rustly, poofy monstrosity and clacking heels; she wore a white uniform shirt, the blazer usually in the boy's uniform, a black mini-skirt, and some black flats. The only part she kept from the girl's uniform was the red ribbon, which she tied around her neck.
The changes made it easier for her to use listen for what she couldn't see on her right side. The fact that it made her look less delicate was only a bonus.
In her family's business, to appear weak was suicide. That was also part of the reason she brushed her bangs to cover her damaged, milky eye.
Looking in the mirror, she wiped any emotion off of her face and made sure that her long crimson hair was perfectly in place and that there were no flaws in her appearance.
As heiress of Kasanoda-gumi, her father said that she must look like deadly perfection.
Grabbing her bag and shinai that was ensconced in its case, she called out, "Are you ready, Ritsu?"
She heard his fast and somewhat clumsy footsteps approach her right. "Y-yeah."
She nodded and they walked outside where they were met with their 'brothers' greeting them. "Good morning, young sir and miss! Have a good day at work!"
Ran's eyebrow twitched as she hid her wry amusement at them making the same error as they had just yesterday.
Ritsu, already on edge, yelled, "How many times do I gotta tell you that it's school we're going to?!"
The men froze in terror. Ran reached out and grabbed hold of her brother's sleeve to remind him that they were already running late and didn't have time for this.
Ritsu gave a frustrated growl and they began walking again.
"Calm down, Ritsu. Morinozuka-sempai isn't a bad guy. He's really good about my eye at kendo practice." Ran tried to soothe her brother.
Just then, she heard a slight rustle of a bush behind them and some harsh whispering. She couldn't make out all of what was being said, but she definitely heard "Kasanoda brats" and "gonna pay."
Her eyes narrowed.
She may just have to ask their sempai for some help of a different sort.
