Natsumi Kuzuryuu remembered the first time she heard the name Nero. It was the day after her family found out that Fuyuhiko and Peko Pekoyama had been kidnapped. Her father and his men were gathered in the heist room while she was outside the door eavesdropping. Some of the men inside suggested confronting Nero when no ransom letter arrived but their leader disagreed. Nero was described as a snake in tall grass, a hidden threat, and a puppet master behind the curtains but also has the best seat in the house.
Nero wasn't even the one who kidnapped her brother and Pekoyama. In fact he's the one who sent them the location on where to find them after they managed to escape. The letter he sent mocked her clan for even having their heir kidnapped.
The Kuzuryuu Clan has always been cautious about anything that's possibly Nero related. He hidden and recruited traitors of other clans, blackmailed and persuaded mercenaries to join him. His format seemed to be quality over quantity, Natsumi guessed. She was suspicious when it was inexperienced brutes that kidnapped her over the summer; they just acted like they kidnapped a random girl, not the daughter of a gangster.
They took her to an old building structure on the very edge of the market district and left her alone in a room with a window. It must be armature hour. Seriously, it took her at least twenty minutes to undo the ropes bounding her to the chair and climb out the window. Then during her escape she met Hinata and true to her word, Kuzuryuu sent one of her dad's men to protect Hinata.
But to be sure, she went back to her kidnapper's base, the first known location of Nero's henchmen. Sure, that sounds insane to a normal person but this is the best lead a Kuzuryuu has ever had, Natsumi wasn't going to waste it.
She expected to at least find some documents, maps, or at least a couch in the building but it was completely cleared out. In the room that she was tied up in was a landline phone on a purple clothed table.
The phone rang.
Natsumi ignored it and lifted up the cloth and saw a smoke bomb with a receiver blinking. Before she could grab and deactivate it, the bomb went off. Three of Nero's men stormed in with haze masks and grabbed her, restraining her movement as she coughed out the smoke. One crony went straight for the waiting phone and answered it, pressing it to Natsumi's ear.
"Did you really have to ruin a plot twist?" On the other side of the line, Natsumi heard a nasally guy with a foreign accent but what didn't makes sense was how young he sounded.
"You're not Nero," she gritted out, struggling more when the two people restraining her put more pressure in their grip. One male and one female, she noted.
"He's too busy to put time for a simple phone call. But hey, don't you want to talk to me? It was fun to put this ordeal in place, only to have you come back for the risk of new information."
Bait, she realized, it was probably planned to let her escape and return to infiltrate. "You're a piece of shit."
The guy mocked an offended gasp, "Such foul language from a young lady, Miss Natsumi, but I expected such a character from the Kuzuryuu family."
"European, that's your accent." The third guy holding the phone seems to put more weight on his left foot than his right, maybe it's wounded from a recent injury. Through the open window, Natsumi saw movement on a rooftop, up there has the perfect angle for a sniper to kill her.
"Awe, you're analyzing me. That is so cute. If it helps you can call me Apollo."
"Trust me, that does not help at all."
"Good, that's what I like to hear," Apollo cheered but then some background noise on his side caught their attention. "I'm in the middle of something here," he sighed. "Give me a minute Miss Natsumi."
He apparently pressed a button because now she was listening to loud waiting room music.
"God I hate this song," the guy holding the phone muttered.
The guy restraining Natsumi's left arm shrugged, "It's pretty catchy."
"Nah, I'm with him," the lady nodded her head to the phone guy.
"Agreed," Natsumi added, "Do you hear this song often?" All three gangsters groaned a yes, adding in more complaints. Preoccupied with their conversation, Natsumi saw the sniper get shot. It looks like her backup is here.
Most of the smoke has dispersed out the window but there should be some of it leaking under the door, leading a trail right to her. Apollo came back and without his upbeat attitude, "It appears that I was given false information. You aren't the Ultimate Yakuza, that is very disappointing, what a waste of time. Well, time to kill you, oh, and why not also that friend of yours."
The lady held Natsumi's right arm against her back with one hand and pulled out a gun to the blonde's head. Natsumi gulped down her fear, not of the gun but at what Apollo said next. "Hajime Hinata, I have his documents right in front of me. Hmm, he'll be an easy target, oh! He's attending the Reserve Course of Hope's Peak, how exciting! Just think how the school will react when poor, useless Hinata gets killed on campus."
It was only two and counting minutes since Natsumi saw the sniper die, she needed more time. "You're targeting a random, stupid guy? That's pretty harsh."
"I know you're stalling, quite a pathetic attempt too."
At the count of a hundred and seventy-nine seconds, a katana dove under the lady's gun arm, jerking the gun out of her grip, and smacked the lady's face. Right behind her was Peko using the sudden momentum to drag the henchman away from Natsumi.
Using her freed hand, Natsumi whipped out her pocket knife and stabbed the phone guy's right leg. The other man holding her arm wasn't a problem, a gun went off and the guy fell forward, blood leaking out of the bullet wound on the back of his head.
Phone guy lost his balance, dropping the phone and crying out in pain. While Peko finished off her target, Natsumi stabbed the phone guy again in his heart.
"Listen here you bastard." Natsumi smile when she heard her brother as she twisted the knife. "This trick of yours has failed. You underestimated my sister and now four of your men are dead."
Natsumi didn't catch what Apollo said, she was too busy wiping the blood off her knife but she did notice Fuyuhiko grip his gun tightly, almost shakenly.
After he hung up, the only thing he said to Natsumi was, "I'm glad you're alright." The three of them went back home in silence. If Fuyuhiko learned something from Apollo, he didn't share anything to her. Besides, she had a promise to withhold. A week ago she sent Hinata a note to not worry but now she knew that this Apollo guy has information on an innocent bystander.
Now fast-forward to about three months into the school year, where Hinata declined the offer of a life time but it could possibly be controlled by Nero. At least he's still alive but that doesn't stop her nerves from worrying that Apollo will kill them both.
It was lunch break and she and Hinata were at a fountain where she was introduced to Chiaki Nanami, another Ultimate. After Hinata had a revelation about his own problems, he has been insistent to help her out too by actually doing normal friendship stuff like playing video games.
"Hinata, attack that one! No, goddammit, you lost another life!"
"Will you stop yelling at me?" Hinata shouted back, furiously button mashing his game console. Kuzuryuu was practically butting heads with him to watch his screen where pixelated explosions went off. "At least I got father than you."
"Well I never played Gala Omega, so what did you expect? No!" She raged as the game over music played and Hinata just sighed and handed the Game Girl Advance to her. "Alright, it's my turn again."
On Hinata's left was Nanami, quiet but deadly, Natsumi decided, but in a video game kind of sense. She told her the basic instructions to play but that didn't help much since a minute in, Natsumi already lost two lives.
It's easy to tell that Nanami was the one Hinata was thinking about during his speech the other day, saying that there's more to life than just talent. As much as Natsumi would like to disagree, she wants that to be true. Just look at her life right now, her brother and his, um, closest companion are considered Ultimates while she's scared to be left behind.
Perhaps Hinata had similar thoughts about his friendship with Nanami. He did admit that he had dark passengers on his shoulders, just like Fuyuhiko and his insecurities, so Natsumi figured that he shouldn't be alone when fighting his demons. He seemed really happy for her to meet Nanami and she can understand why. Natsumi could already tell that Hinata was lonely and friendless when they first met so he must be eager to fill some cold, empty void, something that she relates to. But right now with him and Nanami, she had this giddy, warm feeling as she and Hinata bantered over the game.
"Go left, left!"
"Stop back seat driving, Hinata!" Button mashing seemed like the best plan right now, as she and Hinata yelled at each other while on the other side of the bench, Nanami was completely quiet and engaged. Game over music played on Hinata's console again. "No, I almost won!"
"That's obviously a lie, Kuzuryuu," Hinata said.
Nanami put down her console and smiled at Natsumi, "You did better than you're first attempt, that's really great!"
Getting a compliment over a game shouldn't make Natsumi feel flush but there she is, feeling a bit warm when the gamer praised and gleamed at her. "Um, yeah, thanks Nanami." Then she noticed that Hinata was smiling at her too. "Why the hell are you smiling too?"
He shrugged, "You look happy, that's all."
It felt kind of weird to have these two smiling at her, genuinely enjoying her company. The smiles she usually saw were fake ones, where the happiness doesn't reach a person's eyes. Fake smiles were better than cruel and smug ones that she often seen; the ones she often wore.
"That's really sappy, Hinata. By the way, I think lunch is almost over."
They parted ways with Nanami making them promise that they'll all go to the arcade after school. She wanted to find a game where all three of them can play. As much as Natsumi thinks that the title of Ultimate Gamer is silly, she had to admit, Nanami skills can probably relay into real life situations, well strategy wise. Overall, she's really nice. She gave Natsumi a spare sandwich.
It's nearly impossible to avoid Sato when entering the classroom; her desk is the closet one to the door after all, probably so she can find Koizumi right away. Natsumi could feel Sato glaring at her as she and Hinata took their seats.
Hinata assumed that she had nothing to gain from fighting and bullying Sato and if Natsumi was honest, she'd say he was right. She doesn't feel particularly guilty for being a bully back in middle school but she knows that her reasons will never be justified.
Koizumi was praised for her photography skills by their peers, mostly from Sato, and everyone knew that she'll eventually become the Ultimate Photographer. The redhead was just a normal person and she acted so modest about her talent, it felt unfair to Natsumi.
As the children of the Kuzuryuu leader, Natsumi and Fuyuhiko, along with Peko, were trained at an early age to be as good as the rest of the clan. They had to learn their way to survive with guns, knives, and swords but also go through rigorous training to beat someone through words and then cause bodily harm. It was mentally and physically exhausting but in the end the three of them felt stronger but still incomplete. Natsumi felt emptier when Fuyuhiko and Peko were accepted to Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Yakuza and the Ultimate Swordswoman.
She trained for so many years to be with her brother but right in front of her was a dainty, harmless girl being called an Ultimate. To make Natsumi feel worse, even she had to admit how talented Koizumi is with a camera. Anger and jealously got the best of her which had to be the shallowest reasons to bully Koizumi, Sato was just willing to be in the way.
So at Hinata's request, she backed off and ignored Sato's presence. That didn't mean that Sato backed off. This did not surprise Natsumi at all, Sato's aggrieve and protective behavior over Koizumi was reasonable but at times she seemed a bit obsessive. As usual Sato was glaring at Nastumi but after school things got weirder when she was on Natsumi's and Hinata's path to the arcade for a suspiciously long time.
"Hey, if you're stalking me, you're doing horrible job at it!"
Sato sneered at the blonde, "I'm walking in front of you; you're the ones following me!"
"Well I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder to glare at whatever behind me!"
"Settle down children," Hinata sighed. "But really, I think we're going to the same place." They've arrived at the arcade where they saw Nanami, Koizumi, and three other Main Course students were waiting.
Sato immediately took her place next to Koizumi, holding her hand and glaring at Natsumi. As for the redhead, she gave Natsumi and uneasy look. Nanami and the other Ultimates quickly caught on to the tension.
"So, I see that some of us already know each other," Nanami said and frowned, "This was a bad idea, I think."
"No, your idea is great," Natsumi reassured her and then faced Sato. "Look, I've been backing off from you all week so I'll have no problem ignoring the both of you."
Koizumi still looked uncomfortable but asked, "Is that true? Has she stopped bothering you?" Sato continue glaring, clenching Koizumi's hand but didn't respond.
Natsumi groaned at Sato's stubborn rage. "If it makes you feel better, I swear on the Kuzuryuu name that I, Natsumi Kuzuryuu will not bother you and Koizumi," she swore with her hand over her heart and added, "for today at least."
"Kuzuryuu," Hinata scolded.
"For two days." Natsumi decided and grinned playfully at her friend.
"Are you serious?" Hinata rolled his eyes, sighed, and gave Koizumi and Sato an awkward smile. "That's probably the best I can get out of her."
"Well if she promises then things will be okay, right Sato?" Koizumi relaxed herself and at the sight of her smile, Sato begrudgingly agreed but still looked unconvinced.
With that concluded, Nanami made everyone give introductions. The other Ultimates with them were Sonia Nevermind, Kazuichi Souda, and confusing enough to Natsumi, Peko Pekoyama. She would have never imagined the swordswoman doing anything other than being by Fuyuhiko's side or training but apparently Nanami convinced her to come. The gamer now has more of her respect than Hinata could ever have.
Speaking of the brunet, he seemed to be enjoying himself as he and the princess played some co-op games about spaceships. At first he was stiff and nervous around the Ultimates, well he was downright terrified by Peko, but with Sonia's excitement to play in an arcade her happiness radiated to Hinata and Souda, the fellow that seems to have an unrequired crush on her. Sato made sure that she and Koizumi were ever too close to Natsumi, not that the blonde even cared. What piqued Natsumi the most was the fact that Peko was here.
Currently Nanami was cheering on Peko on a zombie shooting game. So Natsumi stopped spectating Hinata and Sonia and wandered to Nanami's side.
"Hey Peko," she drawled out the swordswoman's first name when Peko shook her head a little and resumed her focus on the game, "Yama. Pekoyama is what I said, definitely." Nanami didn't show any acknowledgement of her slip up. "You don't seem to be the type of person to socialize in public places."
"Do you wish for me to leave?" She shot down another zombie, adding onto her killing streak.
Same old Peko, Natsumi mused. "I'm not in charge of you, do whatever you want. I'm just curious to why you're here."
Peko responded after shooting down three more zombies. "I am here because I want to spend time with my friends."
Nanami simply beamed at Peko, "Video games are fun with friends. Pekoyama, go that way; no the other way, there's more ammo there."
Friendship wasn't an answer that satisfied Natsumi. When Peko got attacked by a hoard of zombies and lost, Natsumi said, "Hey Nanami, I think that Souda guy needs help with the claw machine, you should totally snag a prize instead and give it to Hinata or Sonia. I'm gonna join Pekoyama," stepping up to the player two gun, she smirked at the swordswoman, "I think I'll score higher."
The gamer gladly took the bait to leave, following the noise of Souda's whines of how the machine is designed to fail and how he can definitely win Miss Sonia a toy. Peko started up the game and the two girls shot away.
"Miss Natsumi, why are you here?"
"Are you personally asking that question or is my brother concern for me?"
A mini boss zombie crashed into the screen and they both shot at its life points. "Young Master is always concern about you but he knows you can take care of yourself. It's just that you can be unpredictable, such as your companionship with Hinata, unless you want me to strike him down?"
"That's unnecessary, Peko, he's pretty harmless." In the screen's reflection, she saw Nanami win a little, pink rabbit plushie for Hinata. "One of Nero's men threatened his life just because he helped me out once. I don't want him to get hurt because of me." The swordswoman remained silent and focused on finishing off the mini boss, once it was defeated Natsumi spat out, "What is my compassion unpredictable too?"
"The opposite actually," was all she said.
It wasn't often when Natsumi would strike up a conversation with Peko and when she does, Peko just acts like her father's men, emotionless and ready to take orders. There was the exception when Peko's guarding Fuyuhiko where Natshumi spots the glimpse of a smile. Right now, she sees that same tiny smile on Peko's face as they shoot at another hoard of zombies.
"Your compassion is predictable too." It didn't sound like the best compliment but she saw Peko's smile grow a little. "So why are you here and what's with you stopping me from saying just Peko?"
"Before school started, Young Master ordered me to pretend that I have no relation to the Clan, that we're both normal students. Spending time with my classmates is a normal activity and also, I enjoy their company to some extent."
Natsumi smirked as she got a headshot bonus, "Ah, I get it. If he told you that then he probably wants to talk to you as a normal guy."
"What do you mean, Miss Natsumi?"
The screen showed the victory cut scene and displayed their high score. At the look of Peko's stoic face, Natsumi sighed, "You'll get it one day Peko. I'll just let Fuyuhiko do his plan until he begs for my help."
Although, Natsumi thought, she doesn't think that she would be any help in his plan. Emotions weren't well discussed or well-expressed among the Kuzuryuu Clan. But if her brother needs help romancing Peko, she'll gladly be there to make sure that things don't get any worse when Fuyuhiko and Peko mess up with their feelings. They were always together in their childhood and Natsumi can clearly see how well they fit together. At first she was frustrated at how strong their bond is yet they never confessed their feelings but then she thought if they get together, and hopefully they will, it'll be much easier for them to leave her behind.
And there she goes again, letting her thoughts spiral down to loneliness and sadness when she should be yelling encouragements to Nanami as she play against Souda at a melee game. She had Hinata and Peko at her sides behind Nanami while Koizumi and Sato were on Souda's side, far away from blonde. Sonia on the other hand was right next to Nanami, the side away from the engineer Natsumi must add, pressing her face against the gamer, amazed by her button mashing skills and the technology of gaming platforms.
Zoning out was Hinata's thing, not Natsumi's. She didn't dwell on dark thoughts other than murder and organized crimes. She certainly does not think about how inadequate she feels compared to Fuyuhiko and Peko. Sure their parents had no time to give affection to their children and when their father started teaching Fuyuhiko how to be the heir, Natsumi sure as hell didn't feel forgotten or uncherished. And when her amazing brother thinks he doesn't deserve to be the Ultimate Yakuza Natsumi told him how smart and skillful he is, all the words she would never describe as herself even when the person she loved the most said that she should take his place.
Fuyuhiko was just wrong and if he thinks that way then most certainly Peko thinks the same. Peko has complimented Natsumi's knife skills before but that doesn't match up with her swordsmanship. Also Peko now knows that Natsumi has been bullying her classmate, what happens next? Is she going to tell Fuyuhiko and they'll both look down on her for being petty and stupid?
"Hey," Hinata said quietly, nudging his arm against hers, "You're zoning out."
"No I'm not." She glared at Hinata to stop their conversation and he complied unhappily.
The rest of the day went by fast with more games and Souda getting rejected by Sonia a lot while Hinata seemed to get along with Koizumi. Nanami won a bunch of stuffed animals for all her friends, Natsumi got a red lion toy. They all parted when they reached the commons ground of the school where the Reserve and Main dormitories were in opposite directions. Sato just disappeared after she hugged Koizumi goodbye, she probably had her fill of tolerating Natsumi.
Hinata apparently had another idea because when they reached their floor of the dormitory, he nodded his head towards the small balcony area. The view from there faced the Main campus where one can easily see the contrast between the two buildings; one was built with pristine materials, large and luxurious outside decorations and the other building was just constructed to just be a building, yep nothing fancy.
"Is that a pool on their roof?" Natsumi spied and saw some beach balls being thrown up in the orange sunset. "We should sneak up there one day."
"Natsumi, you weren't making a lot of sarcastic comments around the time we left the arcade." Hinata derailed her topic. He even had the nerve to have some sadness in his eyes, like she needs sympathy. "You looked really down."
"Shut up Hinata, everyone frowns and no one has to smile all the time."
"So you were thinking about your brother." Damnit, it's only been a few weeks and Hinata can read her well. "You had the same look of your face back when we talked about him."
It was either proceeding or aborting this conversation and leaving was the easier route but she was Natsumi Kurzuryuu. Fuck the easy route.
"Why do we have some emotional talk by a railing with the academy in the distance?" Natsumi raised a finger to stop Hinata from making a sarcastic remark. "My brother is probably going to find out I bullied Koizumi and he's gonna be disappointed in me. Even though Fuyuhiko is a yakuza he a sucker for rules." She scoffed and failed her arms, "This one time we hijacked a supply run and I wanted to steal the car so it'll be easier to take the stuff back to base but no!" Natsumi exaggerated with a baffled, annoyed expression. "He said that I shouldn't drive because I don't have a license! He made us walk home after stealing the heavy crates! We are gangsters why are we obeying the law!"
She emphasized her last sentence slowly and loudly. All Hinata could say was, "So he's a lawful evil."
"The hell does that mean?"
"Um it's nothing too important. Anyway, the reason you initially bullied Koizumi is because you're jealous of her talent and then you thought that if you made her drop out, you'll take her place in your brother's class. In the long run, that plan is flawed."
Natsumi sighed and just sink down on her folded arms on the railing. "Yeah my plan was horrible. I'm horrible. What I did to Koizumi and Sato was cruel and I was monster to them. I was stupid, jealous, and angry all because I felt like I was going to lose Fuyuhiko by not following him to this school, by not having talented."
"But you don't need talent to be with your brother, you just need to talk," Hinata advised.
"We're not the best with emotions."
"I can tell but look at you now, you're talking to me at least and you have more friends too." She lifted her head up and saw him smile. "We both do and we have each other. You can trust me to be there for you."
Natsumi is familiar to loyalty. It's the most important thing about being in a clan. What Hinata is offering is much more than mere loyalty. It's friendship, comfort, equality, and emotionally engaging himself into her life. Perhaps its small compared to the bond between Fuyuhiko and Peko but it's enough for her.
"I think I can trust you, Hinata, and you can trust me too." She stood up straighter and still frowned. "But you know about the things I've done as a bully and you've seen how I am as a yakuza, why would you trust me?"
His reassuring smile grew, "The past can't be changed but it doesn't define your future. You can change and become a version of yourself that you're proud of."
Letting out a surprise laugh, Natsumi admitted, "You continue to impress me with your words. I guess you're right, I can change." She then frowned, "I should give Koizumi and Sato some decent apology; they deserve that."
"And talk to Kuzuryuu, your brother I mean."
"I'll talk to him too, just one emotional confrontation at a time Hinata, please I'm only human."
"A normal human being, just like me," he added and they both smiled at each other, "It's getting close to the nighttime restriction hours, we should go."
"Hey it was your idea to talk about feelings."
They walk silently together as they reached the main area where the corridor that splits up the boys' and girls' dorms. Before Hinata walked away he added, "Natsumi, I trust you because you look out for my since the beginning, you could have ignored me but you reassured me with your note and juice, so thanks."
"Hinata, quite being sappy," she playfully joked but then instantly frowned, her eyes grew wide, "Wait what did you say?"
Her sudden change of emotions scared Hinata and he knows only one thing that could do this to her. "You sent me a note and orange juice right?"
She nodded slowly and he saw her hands tremble, "The note yes but I never sent you orange juice."
Natsumi has seen and hear a lot of threating things in her life style but never has she thought that orange juice of all things would scare her.
Thanks for reading! Writing in Natsumi's perspective for the next few chapters have been fun.