Smirking, I dodged his fist. Ducking underneath his arm, I spun so that when I straightened, my elbow made contact with his chin.

His head went up as I buried the same elbow deep into his gut. He curled around the blow, staggering backwards.

I didn't let him even breathe, I rushed towards him, landing a flurry of kicks aimed at his torso and his upper neck. I drew my hand back, while he stood, slightly swaying, and drove my fist into his throat. Knocking him back and leaving him winded.

"Next time, think twice about entering our territory." I smirked, at the older male. "Also, about underestimating your opponent, even if she's 'just a little bitch',"

With that said, I swept away from the beaten male.

Like a bad bitch.

"YOU IDIOT!"

Damnit, I felt so cool before.

I slumped in my chair, glaring at the floor as my surrogate older brother paced back and forth in front of me.

"I can not believe you did that! Actually, no. I can." He glared at the one next to me. "What I can't believe is that you let her go out! All. On. Her. OWN!"

I snuck a glance at the sister sitting next to me. She sat stiffly but tall, her beautiful porcelain face wiped clean from all emotions, her pure green eyes cold as she looked at our leader.

"She is strong enough." She spoke calmly, albeit coldly.

"It's not about strength, Angeles!" He growled, "It's about safety. It's about being careful. It's about making sure that she won't get caught because she has a brighter future than any of us ever had!"
I pouted as I slumped down my seat even further.

"And! She. Is. Eleven. Years. Old!"

"Not mentally, she isn't." Angeles snapped. "We've made sure of that. She's strong and capable, why can't we trust her to carry out any missions? She's restless, Don. Why can't you just see that-"

"That what? That she could get hurt? That she could get killed? What do you want me to see, Angie? Tell me!"

"That she's growing up." Angeles said softly. "Val isn't the same six year old we found crying behind a dumpster any more. She's growing up."

"Yeah, I know." Don's hazel orbs finally locked with my own. "But she's growing up too fast. Way, too fast."

I blinked, as I sat up straighter. "D-"

"We've been teaching her things that would be suitable for people five years older than her." Don said, speaking more calmly. "Martial arts, explosives, chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, algebra, some English, history, engineering, some technical works... the list goes on and on. But... Val," Don knelt in front of me. "You're only eleven."

"But I like those! I'm good at them!" I mumbled, sounding a bit whiny. "I like being with youse... I want to help you."

"I know, Val. But maybe..." Don hesitated, "Maybe you should hang around people your age. People like your sister. Doesn't she miss you?"

I bit my lip. "She sees me everyday."

"What about your dad?"

"If you want to get rid of me, just say so!" I snapped, standing up, making my way to the door.

"Stop right there, Val."

I froze where I stood. My hand halfway up to turn the doorknob.

"We don't want to get rid of you, Val." Don said quietly. "You're our little sister. You're our precious girl. We just want the best for you-"

I turned the doorknob and stormed down the hallway. Even if I knew the end of the sentence, I didn't want to hear it.

"-even if we won't be there beside you."

I stormed inside the apartment, dumping my bag on the table before storming to my room.

I threw myself onto my bed and screamed into my pillow.

"Bad day?"

I rolled over, hugging my pillow to my chest to see a carbon copy of myself standing in the doorway.

She smiled and walked in, sitting down next to me. "Want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, and curled in on myself. "Bag's on table. Don't know what's in it."

"Okay," My twin patted my arm. ""Get some rest. You look like hell's been snapping at your heels."

I smiled at her tiredly. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I really do feel like shit.

No seriously, I feel like shit.

"I'll see you in the morning, okay?" She stood up to leave the room.

"Mmmkay,"

"Bye."

I woke up startled when I heard my twin scream.

I grabbed my baseball bat near my bed and ran to the kitchen where her scream originated from.

"Tor? Tor, what's wrong?!" I demanded as I burst into the kitchen, ready to pulverise whoever dared to intrude the Mizuchi residence.

"Look!" Tor squealed as she held up items from the bag that I had brought home.

I relaxed when I saw that she had been screaming, excitedly, over some clothes.

"Let's see what we got, aye?" I walked over to the table, where Tor had spread everything out.

We sorted through the food, sorting it into perishable and non-perishable foods, then storing the non-perishable foods in the little compartment underneath a loose tile. We then went through the clothes. We put aside the more 'fashionable' ones for Tor and the more durable ones for myself. The rest, Tor could easily fashion clothes and other things we may need out of them.

We lived by ourselves, most of the time.

We survived on the foods provided for us by my friends or on the lunches that Tor managed to sneak out of school whenever she could. If we were lucky, Tor would come home with fresh vegetables grown from the school gardens, since she was in the Gardening Club just for that reason. The clothes we wore, were either hand-me downs from my friends or the second-hand shops whenever we had money from whatever odd jobs Tor and I did around the apartment building.

Sometimes, I go to school in Tor's place. Especially, whenever she's sick as she doesn't want to miss out on anything, also she doesn't want to mess up her perfect attendance. We're pretty smart, I reckon. Considering that she's in a grade above her age-group and she's breezing through the subjects. I've been tutored by Angeles and a couple of her friends, I enjoyed the things they taught so much that I could be considered a prodigy, if I went to school.

We were lucky, I guess. The apartment and all the utilities were paid for by the government. They were going to give us a stipend every month, but Dad insisted that they only pay for the rent and the utilities for us. They agreed, thinking that he had only one daughter, who would be in her neighbour's apartment for the majority of the time.

They think that I ran away.

They think I'm lying in a ditch, dead and rotting.

But in reality, I hide every day in my friends' hideout and during the night I come to be with Tor.

It's not the best life, but it works for us.

My friends, Don, Angeles and the others, don't know about this. If they did, they would do more than give me food and clothes, they'd give Tor and I a home. They'd do anything for me, and by default, Tor as well.

But neither of us wanted that.

Tor studied hard and worked so hard, so that she could get a scholarship and enter one of the best universities in the country. She wanted to be smart enough to get a high-paying job, so that she could provide for Dad, her and I.

Me? I just wanted to be strong enough to protect my family. My smarts weren't only focused in books and theories. I used my knowledge in chemistry to create explosives, I used my knowledge in biology and anatomy to make my hits and blows more devastating, I used my knowledge of history to learn from their tactics and strategies to make my attacks successful, I used my knowledge of engineering and technologies to hack into computers and security systems, so that we would be safer. I applied my book smarts into street smarts.

"Val? You going already?" Tor's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I smiled as I pulled up my hood. "Yeah, see you later."

I slipped out of the window, closing it swiftly behind me.

Yes, I know I haven't updated Conflicted in a while. But this story just wanted to be written, it just wouldn't stop bugging me. Let's just see how far this will go.