A/N: I DO NOT OWN DRRR. Except for my OCs.
All Japanese dialogue will be written like this.
Any English will be written like this*
That being said... this is my first fic in... a couple of years! Glad to try and jump back into it. And glad it's with the DRRR fandom again! It's been awhile, weeps. Sorry for any errors I make! I'm always a little rough with first chapters, but I hope you review and I'll be sure to update as quick as I can! :) Thank you for reading.
Chapter 1
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"Listen, bitch - I got places ta' go, and people ta' see, and you ain't none of them -"
"Ooooh! You gonna take that, Hachiro?" A man cackled, shoving at another man - Hachirou, probably - to be more specific.
Said man is growling at his friend, smacking his hand away before turning back towards the female. They're towering in height compared to her, though despite that, she seems to be unaware of her disadvantage. May have been the drinks; seeing as she's slurring her words together, and before this point she was practically stumbling. All she wanted was some fresh air outside of the club for a bit, and now she was being approached by some fishy looking young men.
One of which was far too close into her personal bubble. Hachi-whatever, his name is.
"C'mon baby," Ew. Mari's looking disgusted at the name, all of which has the man behind Hachiro snickering. "I'm just tryin'a figure out where you're from."
"Wha' doessit matter?"
"So I can know where somethin' as fine as yourself came from." There's suddenly a hand snaking around her waist, and with her lack of balance - the simple tug that comes from that invasive grip has her stumbling into the stranger's chest. Kind of pathetic, really.
"'Fuck away from me, boy..." But it's hard to push him off, and he's looking at her in a way that has her skin crawling. What was with guys and not knowing the definition of 'no?' All he seems to be is amused of her refusals - probably had a little too much to drink, too. His friend behind him certainly seemed hammered enough.
And all of that unnecessary touching around her waist - and now ass - seems to be finally getting to the girl.
She's shoving at him more, twisting and turning in his grip and -... to no avail. He was stronger than her, and her inebriation has her dizzy from all her efforts.
That is, until she's practically shrieking out: "STOP IT!"
That certainly seems to get the man's decision, and dark eyebrows furrow over equally as brown eyes. "Shhh. Shut up, will you? You know you like it -"
He's interrupted by a hard fist slamming into the drunken man's nose, sending him on his ass with an 'oomph'.
- FRAME FREEZE -
"You're probably wondering how I got into this situation, huh?"
"Well, lemme tell you. Karma has been the only thing that's been on my side lately."
"See that girl? Y'know, the super cute one with the big ol' booty guys apparently like to grab? Just kidding, just kidding. That was the first guy that ever grabbed me like that, and lemme tell you if I wasn't drunk -"
Halts. There's a person behind the camera motioning her to stop.
"Sorry. Fine. Gettin' off track here. My POINT was... that's me! Aaaaand I'm not really sure who those two guys were - I was so fucked up, lemme tell you. But this is my story! Or, well. Kind of my story. Let's just say in the grand scheme of things, I'm probably a very minor character. But since you're here, and you're here to witness my side of things - this is sorta kinda my story!"
"So sit down, relax, and enjoy my mess of a life."
"Oh, we're gonna hafta rewind somethings though, haha. Gotta have that context, amirite, ladies?"
- FRAME RESUMES -
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- TWO DAYS EARLIER -
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If there was one thing she unwaveringly abhorred, it was being talked down to. Spoken to like she was less intelligent; younger than a child. But in the current place she was in her life, it wasn't exactly something she could avoid or dismantle as quickly as she'd have liked.
Because not only was she a foreigner, taking a little longer to translate the words in her brain than a native speaker, she was also working in retail. A cashier, to be more specific.
Who knew applying into an international program for school would be both the greatest thing to happen in her life, and the most taxing on her nerves.
Not to say she didn't absolutely enjoy her stay in Ikebukuro - the city never slept, and she had always been particularly interested in the big busy city life! But there was some fallbacks, as most big decisions in life came with. She didn't particularly live in the greatest part of the city - what with the rent being so high in the more "cleaner" areas - and... work wasn't the greatest place on earth, either. It's a little hard to land a great job as a foreigner; lest you were transfered there to teach students English in school; but Mari wasn't in that field. And Mari had prematurely thought teaching a group of children English might be a handful.
Boy did her present self want to slap past self into some sense now.
Anything would beat this angry old man.
"-Are you calling me a liar!?"
"No, sir - I am just explaining that those -" Damn. What was the word? "- mugs have not been on sale for a month now!"
"I've seen it with my own eyes! Where is your manager? I want to speak to someone who knows proper Japanese!"
"I have already called him. He is on his way, sir."
"It's been 20 minutes! What kind of service is this!?"
"Old ass bitch...* -" Is the under the breath mutter. Then, a barely contained sigh. "I am very sorry, sir. But it has only been a few minutes. He is probably very busy and will get here soon."
The old man was too into himself to realize the daggering remark in another language. "He better be! Otherwise this is going to be posted online that you are denying me service!"
"I am not denying you service. I am simply telling you that those items are not on sale at this moment. You are still free to purchase these items, but it will be at full price -"
"These items are on sale! You just took down the sign! You fuckin' foreigners. You all just come into this country to change things and mess it all up! Why don't you go back to your own country?!"
And if Mari were on The Office right now, this would be the very moment she looked into the camera.
Thankfully before she could decide to struggle finding another job to help her pay rent - because she'd surely be fired after knocking this dude's teeth in - there's the implicable sound of glass shattering as a man is hurtled through the window of Mari's workplace - and that old man was sent flying with the stranger when he crashes right into him.
Mari's only instinct was to jolt, startled by the crash and wincing when the duo lands into a shelf of porcelain knick knacks; ultimately shattering most of that, and knocking them both unconcious from the brutal collision.
It's right then that her manager steps into the scene - comically enough - and is sent into shock. Truthfully, Mari would share that emotion too if it wasn't that grumpy, downright racist old man yelling at her. But since it was, and since they were both unconscious and therefore out of Mari's hands - it's not like she could do much besides call an ambulance. Which, she didn't exactly feel like doing since she hadn't had the most pleasant day.
"W-W-What happened!?" Her manager, Takeda, stutters out.
"Um." Well. Not even she could completely register what happened. But when she leans over the counter to get a look at whatever catapulted that man through the shattered window - she merely catches glimpse of a head of shaggy blonde hair, and a head of dreadlocks just stepping out of her line of vision.
" - Not sure."
"BAHAHA- THAT'S FUCKIN' CRAZY -"
"That's what I'm saying! But hey, I'm not complaining. I got to end my day early, and that old dude got what karma was gonna give him anyway."
"Ya, another fuckin' guy ramming right into him, hyaha -" There's a slap over the knee, and Mari can't help but roll her eyes at her companion's antics.
"Stop swearing, will you? Apparently we already got a bad rep' about 'coming into this country and messing everything up'."
The girl is rolling her eyes right back at Mari, an arm hanging around her shoulders. "Girl, chill. Not everyone here is like that! Well... at least most of them I came into contact with. Most people have a progressive and open mind here!"
"That's pretty damn easy for you to say, you have a good job."
"I'm a waitress."
"Still."
A hand lifts to pinch Mari's cheek (hopefully to pinch out the bitterness in her tone), and the girl is hissing with the spark of pain.
Lucy, in turn, exhales. "I deal with prejudice, too, y'know. But I get ya. Maybe try applying to my place?"
Mari is rubbing her cheek when her friend legs go, sending her a sharp look, before that expression melts into a pout. "I did... And I didn't get a call back."
"Hmm." A thoughtful hum, before meeting another pair of brown eyes. "Maybe you should work on your Japanese?"
"I am!" A sigh in return. "It'd be awesome if I knew a native speaker to help me with all the slang and idioms and kanji... but everyone I know here are foreigners. And I can't ask my landlord."
"I can help you." Lucy pipes in, smile in place. "Or at least I can help you mingle a little more. Some classmates and I are gonna go to the club this Friday. You should come!"
Mari looks to be thinking about it. Not that she had any qualms with any clubs... But this would be a Japanese club, right? With other, probably around her age, people of Japanese descent inhabiting the place. It was... rather intimidating. And while she was getting used to using her second language more frequently with her employment of a few months now... the last thing she wants is to mess up around other people and get laughed at. It was both a little humiliating and a little degrading. Though she did want to push out of her boundaries and better her Japanese... her hesitation was growing stronger the more she thought on it.
Before she could contemplate it too much, however - Lucy is shaking her with her loose grip on her shoulders.
"Hellooooooo. Maricelaaaaaa. Earth to Maricelaaaaaaa -"
"Yeah, yeah - okay." She's shaking off her friend's grasp, a soft little huff tumbling from her lips. "I'll see if I can make it."
The grip is back, and Lucy cackles with triumph. "THAT'S what I wanna hear, bitch!"
She already regrets this decision.
Did she say she regretted this decision? That's a lie. She loved this decision. The best decision of her life! She should have done this sooner!
And no, she's about 57% sure that isn't just the alcohol talking.
Lucy and her friends seem to be having just as much of a good time, dancing with and mingling among the locals; shit was lit, to be frank. Why would she ever be scared of going to a club in Japan?
Of course, the only person besides Lucy and the group of girls they came with Mari really spoke to was the bartender - but hey, a good time was a good time, right? Don't really need to speak so much when you're either drinking or dancing. And things were going well! Very well.
Very well until she stepped outside for some air.
Of course, if she was sober, she might've alerted her friends and gotten one of the girls to come with her. That would have been the smarter decision. But her thinking was hindered, and when she felt too hot in the crowded, dark room of swaying strangers - she slipped away without much notice.
All she was gonna do was maybe sit on the sidewalk for a bit, and then go back in. But nope - seems the night had different plans for her. For two figures follow her out of the club, one of which grabs her elbow, and coos a sea of compliments at her. Too uncomfortable with the sudden advances, Mari finds herself tearing from the unfamiliar hand, only for things to turn sour.
Alright. So maybe now she was starting to regret this decision.
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- PRESENT MOMENT -
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"What the FUCK, man!?" Hachiro lays sprawled on the ground, clutching his nose as crimson gushes past his fingers and down his neck. It was broken, and the friend who'd been smirking and laughing at Maricela's expense was flabbergasted. His face is red with bubbling anger towards the culprit who'd punch his companion. And when Mari starts to realize that anger wasn't directed at her, but at the man who now took a step in front of her, it finally sinks in that she wasn't the one who broke that guy's nose.
That's a little disappointing.
"Y'know, when a woman tells you to stop touching her, you should really learn to listen." The voice is flat, but clearly disapproving. There was some disgust sprinkled in there too. All was lost on Mari, however - too much in a daze to realize she was... being saved?
The stranger doesn't seem to appreciate this heroic act, however. And instead he's taking a step forward, fists clenched and glare ready. "Fuck you, dude. She was comin' onto us. All we were doing was giving her what she wanted -"
"If that was true, she wouldn't have screamed, dude."
"You weren't here, bastard!"
"I'm gettin' pretty fed up with your excuses." And with that, her savior advances a step forward; which has the nameless man taking a step back in return. He's angry, and hisses something under his breath.
"Look, Kadota, we don't want any trouble..."
"Then get the hell out of here. Before I kick both of your asses. I better not catch you guys doing this shit again." Downright disgusting.
Warning heed, the stranger is helping his friend up before scampering off without another word. 'Kakata', or whatever his name was, made sure to watch them leave until they were out of sight. And Maricela, now realizing what was happening was... astonished, really. So astonished, she felt her stomach swirl, her head spin, and -
"Hey. You okay?"
"BERLGH -"
Her vomit spilling right over Kaka's shoes.
Yep. She officially regrets making this decision.