Ryo decides to be Alice's aide.
"I refuse."
Soe let out an exasperated sigh. "Alice--"
"I refuse!" Alice stomped her heel on the ground. "You are not going to monopolize my school life by having creepy men in black follow me around!"
"Don't be unreasonable, Alice," Soe said. They had already agreed that Alice and Ryo were heading to Japan, and Soe had been laying the groundwork for their move. Soe insisted Alice have her own security team. "The Nakiris in Japan are something else, dear--you're completely aware of that, aren't you?"
"Yes, father, I know," Alice said. But the pout on her face was completely defiant. "I lived in Japan for a few years, remember? And it was so incredibly stifling! I like the way we do things here in Denmark."
Alice had grown up in Denmark mostly doing as she pleased and going where she wanted, but that was because her parents were always close by or easy to reach. Denmark was a fairly safe country as well, with people leaving their babies outside of restaurants with little care for them. Alice only attracted unsavory attention when she flashed her wealth around, but since Ryo started accompanying her, she'd been safely able to go wherever she wished.
"Denmark and Japan are two very different things," Soe told her. "Your cousin Erina always has security with her in Japan. Alice, it's something you just deal with."
The mention of Erina seems to have triggered something in Alice, her expression quickly shifting to annoyance. "Well, no wonder Erina is such a boring, sheltered little bitch," Alice said, in a mocking voice.
Soe looked absolutely floored. "Alice! Language!"
"Erina is Erina, and I'm myself, father!" Alice went on. "And besides… I've got Ryo to protect me!"
The gentle approach clearly wasn't working with Alice, so Soe decided to be a bit firmer in his words. "Alice, unless you haven't realized, Ryo is a kid, just like you. He's incredibly reliable, but it's immature for you to thrust this much responsibility onto him."
Alice's lips turned into a dangerous frown. Nothing annoyed her more than her parents outright calling her a kid. She was red and fuming now, stomping her feet more in annoyance, the telltale signs of a full-blown tantrum in the making.
"You… You… You close-minded old man!" She yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Soe. Her eyes were turning teary now. "You don't understand me at all!"
She left the room and slammed the door behind her. On her way out, and alarmed Leonora and Ryo saw her, and perhaps tried to ask her what the matter was, but Alice ignored them, heading straight to her room.
"...Miss Alice." A few hours later, there was a gentle knock on the door. Ryo pressed his ears to the door, checking if Alice was okay. "...I brought you something."
He heard her snifle, as if trying to get herself together before making a response. Alice was always stubborn, and she was a strong girl, but at the same time she was also an honest-to-goodness crybaby. After a few minutes, Alice unlocked the door, and opened it a creak.
Her eyes were red and puffy. Clearly she had been bawling her eyes out. Ryo knew enough by now to not point it out. It only made her cry more.
He entered the room, and handed her a wrapped meat pie and a bottle of iced tea. He knew she hadn't had dinner since she locked herself in her room. "Thanks, Ryo," Alice mumbled, taking the food and bringing it to her bedside.
It was not the first time Ryo witnessed some sort of family argument between the Nakiris. He avoided any sort of entanglement--it wasn't in his place to say anything, after all.
But sometimes, he did. To Alice, at least.
"...Miss Alice." He spoke softly, careful not to make her cry even more. "Don't be so upset. I think your dad is just trying to protect you. You kinda have to try to see where he's coming from."
Alice tried to wipe away her tears with her hand, unwrapping the pie with the other. "Yeah, right," she said, the sarcasm heavy in her voice. "Protect me at what expense though? You don't get it, Ryo."
"...Alright, then. Make me 'get it'," Ryo said, leaning against a corner of Alice's room as he watched her nibble meekly at the pie. He didn't make a move to hold her or comfort her--that wasn't how he was, and both he and Alice knew that. He would just stay there, and listen. He knew that Alice usually talked things out and ranted and whined to get things out of her system, and then she would feel better after.
Alice took a quiet moment to gather her thoughts. "...I spent my early years in Japan, as you already know," she said. "I grew up in a huge mansion. If you think this place is big, the one in Japan is even bigger! But I barely knew anyone. There were servants and security everywhere. Everyone humored me, and I got mostly everything I wanted, but... it's like in exchange, I had to act a certain way, do certain things, and have all these people watching me all the time."
At that moment, Ryo realized one thing.
The Nakiris--and Alice--were so powerful, and privileged, but in exchange...
They lived in a gilded cage. It was a pretty and comfortable cage, but it was a cage all the same.
"When I moved here to Denmark, it was so different," Alice continued, and she smiled a little at the mention of Denmark. "Dad was just starting up the company, and while he's well-known, it's not as extreme as it is in Japan. It's safe enough for a kid to go around, and mom mostly lets me do as I want. I even got to visit your dingy little pub!" She flashed him a smile when she said this. "It's the sort of freedom I never had in Japan, and I felt like I was coming into my own, you know? I... I like doing as I please. Is that too much to ask?"
"...I can't really say that I understand you, Miss," Ryo said, and it was somewhat true. His upbringing was the exact opposite of hers. He was fed to the wolves at a young age, basically clawing for survival. He had to find his own way, or die. In Ryo's head, whining about something such as security was such a spoiled thing for Alice to do. The gilded cage was simply the cross she had to bear.
"You never felt like you were backed into a corner and had no control over your life?" Alice asked him, curiously. "Like you don't have the freedom to do things? But I suppose no one ever stopped you from doing what you wanted, Ryo."
"...Freedom, huh?" Ryo said, mostly to himself, as he looked a little thoughtful. She was right--no one ever really stopped him from doing whatever. But it was because no one cared. Even if he was free to make his own decisions, due to his circumstances, he was still stuck in a box where all he wanted to do was not die. He just needed to work, needed a roof over his head, needed food in his stomach. He was never really free. He was stuck there, fighting for survival.
...But Alice waltzed in one day, and magically solved all of that.
Glancing around Alice's room, and at Alice herself, Ryo realized he didn't have to worry about where to sleep anymore, or if he had dinner to eat, or if he had clothes to wear or a place to belong. Alice and her family had solved all of that. He had been stuck in a box--a cage--where all he had in his mind was survival, and now...
He was actually free. And he owed it to Alice.
Leonora knocked on Alice's door soonafter, and Ryo excused himself, giving the ladies some privacy to talk things out. When he left, Ryo found himself heading off to Soe Nakiri's office, with resolve in his steps.
Soe had his elbows up on his desk, hands in his hair, visibly still frustrated by Alice's earlier tantrum. "Is Alice doing alright, Ryo-kun?" he asked. His daughter was obviously still in his mind.
"She simmered down a bit, sir. She'll be fine," Ryo said. "But there was something I wanted to ask of you, sir."
Soe looked up to Ryo, with surprise written all over his face. Ryo had never asked for anything in all his years of living with them. "What is it?"
"I'd like to be Alice's aide."
Soe certainly didn't expect that. "You are, Ryo. Alice tells everyone that."
"I mean on paper," Ryo said. "I'm old enough to sign a contract. I'll undergo any training. I'm strong enough to be her bodyguard. I'm sure it'll make our lives so much easier in Japan, sir."
Soe caught on that word--bodyguard. "Did Alice talk you into this? Don't let her push you around like this, Kurokiba-kun. You're Alice's friend. You're not her servant."
"There's no reason I can't be both," Ryo said. "You know that I'm capable, sir."
He was, and Soe knew that. Ryo often joined Soe in working out regularly, or engaging in any sort of sport that took his interest. Apart from being physically strong, he had incredible street smarts, from growing up near danger. He was alert and often spotted people who could be trouble before they even went near him, or Alice. Ryo was also quite disciplined--he was orderly and ran on schedule and strict routine. He had the makings of a perfect assistant-slash-bodyguard.
Soe sighed. "You know that Alice is... she's difficult to handle, isn't she?"
"...Yes she is, sir," Ryo said. Alice was stubborn, spoiled, threw tantrums, and does whatever she sees fit.
"So why sign up for this, Ryo?" Soe asked him curiously. "You know you don't have to."
"But I want to."
Ryo had already made up his mind.
It was all thanks to Alice that he was here right now, in a place where he wasn't locked in that cage of simply trying to survive.
The least he could do was try to give her some of her own freedom in her hands, the way she did for him.
"Dad," Alice walked into her father's office shortly after, her mother behind her. She was surprised to see Ryo there as well, but it did not distract her from what she wanted to say. "I'm... I'm sorry for earlier, dad. But, can I ask you something?"
Soe simply nodded, as if telling her to keep going. And she did. "Why did you start Nakiri International?" she asked. "You're the eldest son. You could just focus on Totsuki and the other businesses that the Nakiri Group already established in Japan. But you moved to Europe to start your own company. Why is that?"
Soe looked surprised at this line of questioning, and then he quickly eyed his wife, as if wondering if she had anything to do with this. Alice was asking very serious questions now, and it embarrassed him to have to talk about this in front of the kids.
But he only groaned a little, and answered anyway. "Firstly, I'm passionate about food science. But also... I just wanted out of Japan. There was a lot of pressure on me as the eldest Nakiri. But I didn't have the God Tongue or anything like that... So I suppose I just wanted to make something of myself. Something of my own."
Alice nodded, as if agreeing with all that. "I feel the same way, father. Even if I am a Nakiri, I want to live my life the way I want to, without having to worry about people looking at me all the time. I know there are some things I can't have my way with, but could we at least try to compromise?"
Soe let out a heavy sigh, looking up at Leonora, and then at Alice. Alice was truly his daughter. She had the will to try to carve out her own fate, and Soe was convinced by now that not even he could try to stop her.
"About that... We kind of figured something out," Soe said, glancing at Ryo. The two ladies looked a little lost, and gave them questioning looks. "Alice. Ryo is formally on your security from now on."
"He's... what?" Alice was a little shocked. "Well, he's always been looking out for me, so that doesn't change much, does it?"
"It doesn't," Soe said. "Except he'll have to get some formal training, and that you have to promise me one thing. If Ryo tells you something is dangerous, you're going to listen to him, alright?"
"Alright, dad. I will. I promise."
"Did you... uhm, what sort of conversation happened back there?" Alice asked Ryo, in a bit of a whisper, as they headed up the stairs to their rooms. "Did you talk to dad, or...?"
Ryo did not want to tell her that he deliberately presented himself as her aide or bodyguard. He knew she would never shut up about it if she knew. Instead, he simply told her, "You owe me one, miss."
Alice decided to accept that. "I guess I do. And I suppose we're really stuck with each other now, huh?"
Ryo pondered a bit on those words, and realized she was right. With him having to formally be her aide, he really was stuck with her now.
But frankly, Ryo thought, he didn't really mind that.
a/n: More serious (??) chapter. Headcanon: Ryo is ripped af coz he obviously doubles as Alice's bodyguard and he probably aspires to Nakiri tiers of buffness. Other headcanon: the girls' (Erina and Alice) aides are obviously employed by their parents, we kinda see this in how Azami is the one who fires Hisako briefly. This was just something I had in my head while wondering how/why Ryo 'officially' became an aide. She obviously gets away with doing more things than Erina and she doesn't have security following her so much, and Ryo being able to look out for her probably has a lot to do with that.
Reviews welcome! Also super flattered by all the reviews last chapter, thank you! sorry I can't update as fast as before huhu, real life and stuff.
