Shogi City was located about five-hundred kilometers north of Domino City. It was a small city in comparison to Domino with only eight high rises, if one could call them that. The building height restrictions within the city limited all buildings to having no more than fifteen stories. The reasoning was to preserve the views of the rolling hills and abundant trees. The restrictions, however, did nothing to slow the expansion of the city. It was still bustling with multiple generations of residents with more coming in by the day.

Ayame Ishida loved this about Shogi City. The expansion brought new attractions and opportunities to the city for everybody to enjoy. Her favorite was the new department store that opened last year a few blocks from her school, Loft. She spent most of her paycheck from her part-time job there, but she was never concerned about money. Anything she earned was hers to spend as she liked. Her mother had little opposition.

This day was no different. Satisfied, she walked out of Loft with three things: a new faux leather school bag, a new sundress, and a caramel frappuccino. She spent two hours at Loft, and she would have stayed longer if her companion wasn't at the end of his patience. The raven-haired boy walked begrudgingly behind her with his hands in his pocket.

"Next time you say, 'I need one thing from Loft,' let's try to make it out with just that one thing." He grumbled.

Ayame groaned. "That dress was too cute to pass up, Ryuji. And," she interrupted herself to pull the small receipt from her bag, "It was on sale. 1,750 yen!"

Ryuji scoffed which earned a huff in response from his brunette friend. "You didn't have to come."

"Yeah, I remember the last time I told you I wouldn't come; I got a phone call two hours later because you were stuck with no food or train money."

Ayame stopped dead in her tracks and turned her whole body with glaring eyes toward her friend, who continued at his pace toward her. His head was lowered, but Ayame could still see the smug look he wore proudly on his face. They both knew he was right, but it was still something she didn't want to admit to. She really didn't feel like feeding his ego, but when he managed to snatch the frappuccino from her hand without a fight, she knew she already had. The glare softened to defeat.

Ryuji took a sip of the frappuccino. His smirk slowly disappeared as he forced himself to swallow the sweet, caffeinated beverage.

Ayame adopted Ryuji's smug look, satisfaction filling her at the thought of karma working for her. "What's wrong, Otogi? Not your taste?"

"I will never understand why you like your coffee that sweet. It's disgusting."

"You're disgusting."

"Aunt Saki would be so disappointed to see you acting so immaturely."

Ayame shrugged and smiled coyly. "I can't be a model daughter all the time."

Ryuji handed her back her cavity-inducing beverage with a "hah." Savoring what she felt to be a victory, she scooped a glob of the caramel-drizzled whip cream with her finger and put it promptly in her mouth. It was a sweet victory, indeed.

Ayame adjusted the bags in the crook of her elbow and resumed walking down the sidewalk away from Loft and toward the train station. Ryuji fell into step with her, hands returning to his pockets.

The train station was not too far from the department store. Aside from Loft, there were not many new developments in the district. Maple trees still lined the main road leading to the train station. The residents took pride in the trees that have been there since the city first populated almost forty years ago. Many of the shops sold maple leaf specialty products from souvenir phone charms to deep fried maple leaves. The deep fried maple leaves were especially popular. It was something about the soil, or so the vendors say. They also happened to be Ayame's mother's favorite. If she wasn't so broke that day, she would have bought a box. But, if she was being honest, she wasn't thinking much about her that day.

The pair eventually arrived at the train station. The sun was just starting to set. The bright blue was softly blending with a growing orange. The new shade of light seemed to change the dynamic of the open air train station. It changed it from an overstimulating bustle to a relaxing return. At least, that's how Ayame perceived it.

"Hurry up, guys! These backcountry stores close early!"

Ayame turned her head toward the loud, obnoxious voice to find a group of friends around her and Ryuji's age exiting a train cart, with the blonde friend pushing through the small crowd exiting in front of them with a few "excuse me"'s here and there. Ayame narrowed her eyes at the group. How arrogant.

The blonde waited off to the side as one-by-one his friends trickled to his location. The first to join him was a tall brunette boy with hair gelled to a point, followed by a skinny girl with a shoulder length bob, and a short boy with the craziest hair Ayame had ever seen.

"Tourists…" Ryuji commented, breaking Ayame's attention on the group.

She shook her head in agreement. The two continued walking to the ticket gates with their rail passes in hand. It wasn't long before the same loud voice chimed again, much to Ayame's annoyance.

"Hey, where's Bakura?"

She snapped her head back to the group and stopped walking. Perhaps it was a reflection on how she was raised, but she never liked people who spoke too loudly unnecessarily. Her curiosity demanded to know who the loudmouth was, though she had a feeling it was the blonde boy. Sometimes she was too nosey for her own good. Perhaps it was a reflection of her being raised in a small city. She mentally slapped herself for trying to justify her behavior for the upteenth time in her short life.

The brunette boy stood on his toes to get a better look of the area. Soon he was waving his hand over his head calling Bakura's name. From the crowd emerged a white haired boy in a khaki cashmere sweater. He looked positively overwhelmed as he politely maneuvered the dwindling crowd from the second train cart. She stared in confusion wondering where the group came from to have such variations in hair.

Ryuji stopped too. Placing one hand on his hip, he sighed in frustration. "We're going to miss our train. Stop staring at the tourists."

"How does that short boy get his hair to stand up like that? He looks like he got zapped by lightning."

"Aya…"

"Sorry, it's just that his hair is-"

"Aya."

She took a quick breath. "Right, the train."

She walked over to the entry gate and scanned her rail pass. She continued to walk forward expecting the gate to automatically open. The red rejection light fell upon blind eyes as she collided with the closed gates. She dropped the card in surprise. Ryuji, who was already on the other side of the gate, let out his fourth sigh of the day. "Again?"

"Maybe it didn't scan correctly?" She offered. She knew that she didn't have enough money on the card. For a model daughter, she was not a model for her finances. She also knew that Ryuji was not going to buy that excuse. He knew her too well. She dropped the charade and bent down to pick up her card.

"Do you have money to put on your card?"

"Umm…" She placed her frappuccino on the flat platform that divided the entrance gateways and fished in her purse for her wallet. She opened it up to find only coins remained. She spent her entire paycheck, again. She turned slightly away from her friend as she began to fish through the coins. She heard him chuckle at her action. She realized her movement wasn't as slight as she intended it to be. Embarrassment swept a pink tinge over her cheeks.

Ryuji walked toward her and leaned on the gate platform. "It looks to me like you're short on cash."

At the instant, she fished out two five-hundred yen coins. She flashed it in his face proudly. "Nope, I've still got something."

The raven-haired boy chuckled. "The fact that you have to flash your coins to me says that's all the money you have left."

"Shut up," She pouted out as she turned around and started walking to the recharge machine. "At least you don't have to pay for me again."

Her friend continued to chuckle from behind the gate. She hated him sometimes, but it never lasted. He was the best, worst friend she could have asked for. She shook her head at the thought of adoration. Now was one of those times she hated him, and she was determined to hate him for at least the next twenty minutes.

She approached the machine and began to go through the process of refilling her card.

"Excuse me, but…" A voice trailed off next to her. Ayame stopped her hand and looked toward where the voice came from. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of tri-colored lightning hair. Lowering her head slightly, she found his face was that of a young boy with innocent purple eyes. He was much shorter than she expected. Then again, sizes can be indistinguishable at far distances.

"My friends and I are looking to try some deep-fried maple leaves before we go back home. Do you know if there are any stores still open?"

She smiled gently. "Most stores close by sunset, but you might have some luck with Mr. Morimoto's shop. He usually closes after the sun sets.."

The boy's eyes lit up with excitement. His energy grew Ayame's smile. What a sweet boy.

She turned her whole body to face the main road that she and Ryuji just walked down. The boy's friends quickly caught up to him. She repeated what she told the boy to his group about Mr. Morimoto's shop. "His shop is on this side of the road," She said signalling to her left. "He has a little pomeranian named Louie that sits right in front of the shop. You can't miss him."

"Thank you very much!" The boy thanked her with a slight bow.

Ayame waved her hand in front of her face slightly embarrassed by the show of formality. "It's no trouble, really."

She looked up to the rest of the group with the intention of wishing them well on their quest for the deep-fried confection, only to have her gaze caught on the boy with long white hair she believed to be called Bakura. Her breath caught in her throat briefly enough for only her to notice. A sense of deja vu rushed over her body. Her words came out faster than her rational mind could stop them.

"I'm sorry, but have we met?" She asked him.

The boy looked at her with slight confusion. "I'm not sure that we have."

She laughed a little as if trying to hide her embarrassment. "You're probably right."

She turned her attention back to the group and wished them well in finding the shop. The short boy thanked her again, then the group turned and started walking away. They resumed their conversations at a more reasonable volume as they exited the station. She returned her attention to the machine only to find that her session had timed out. She quickly went through the process again and inserted her payment. She ran back to the gate and tapped her card to grant her entrance. The gate opened and she rushed to where Ryuji was now standing with her frappuccino.

"Good job, model daughter," Ryuji jokingly said as he handed her the frappuccino.

Ayame huffed.

"We're on quite the immature streak today."

"I hate you."

Ayame lived in a backhouse in an older part of town. For as long as she could remember, she lived in that small two-bedroom house. The elderly couple that lived in the main house, the Yoshikawa's, were the closest thing she had to grandparents. When she was younger, she would often spend time in their home when her mother would work long hours as a nurse assistant at Mrs. Watanabe's home in Iwo Town about an hour outside of Shogi City. Since their son and his family lived far away and never visited, they doted on Ayame as if she was their own. However, if anyone asked, she was theirs and they were hers.

Ayame opened the door to her home and was welcomed by the scent of her mother's cooking. She started removing her shoes and putting on her house slippers. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back," Sumiko's proper voice from deeper within the house.

She walked into her home and placed her bag on the loveseat. She unsurprisingly found her mother in the kitchen. She already had most of their dinner prepared with only the main entree remaining: misoyaki butterfish.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Mother?"

"Ah, yes, if you could set the table? The Yoshikawa's will be joining us for dinner tonight so please place four settings," Her mother instructed motioning to their dining table. Ayame's eyes lit up at the thought of her grandparents joining them for dinner. Even if it usually happened every few weeks, the occasion was nonetheless very special to her. The older she got, the less she felt she saw of them.

"Of course!" Ayame chirped as she collected the utensils to place.

Sumiko flipped the butterfish. The flesh sizzled immediately upon contact with the hot aluminum pan. "I thought Ryuji would be with you?"

Ayame shook her head despite her mother not being able to see her. "He said he had to talk with Uncle Clown about something at the last minute. He apologizes for not being able to make it tonight."

"That's a shame. I'll pack him a lunchbox. Bring it by tomorrow for him, will you, dear?"

"I will. I'm sure he'd like that."

Sumiko turned to her daughter and smiled. Ayame was placing the last set. The middle-aged woman found herself admiring everything about her sixteen year old daughter from her mid-length straight brown hair to the mascara she began using to accentuate her deep blue eyes. Sumiko felt that Ayame was still too young to be wearing makeup, but agreed under the condition that she applied it modestly. Her clothing, however, seemed to be becoming more fitted. Sumiko wanted to believe it was just Ayame's pubescent body filling out clothing better, but a part of her knew that her daughter was simply buying more flattering clothing. She somewhat regretted allowing Ayame to spend her part-time job money as she pleased.

Then the doorbell rang.

"That must be Grandpa and Grandma!" Ayame exclaimed as she started running to the door. "Coming!"

"Please walk, Ayame," He mother said in her normal voice as she turned her attention to the multiple bowels of assorted foods. She picked up two at a time and started toward the dining table.

Ayame slowed to a fast walk and excitedly opened the door to be greeted by the smiling faces of her grandparents. She welcomed the elderly couple and held her arm out to her grandfather. He steadied himself with his wooden cane as he took her arm shakily.

Sumiko looked at the sight with melancholy. It's been sixteen years, but that creeping feeling of the day she will lose her brunette girl reared its ugly head into the forefront of her mind. She set the next two bowls with trembling hands. She could barely muster her welcome to the elderly couple. Instead, the couple greeted her, snapping her out of her trance. 'In through the nose, and out through the mouth,' She affirmed to herself anyway.

"It's nice to see you home, Saki. You didn't need to take care of Mrs. Watanabe tonight?" Mrs. Yoshikawa asked as she seated herself at the dining table. Ayame guided Mr. Yoshikawa to the seat next to his wife and assisted him into the chair. Sumiko brought the freshly cooked misoyaki butterfish and placed it in the middle of the table with the rest of the food.

"Her daughter is in town visiting for a week. She said she will take care of her during that time," Sumiko explained as she found her seat across from Mrs. Yoshikawa. Her daughter took the seat next to her.

The family clapped their hands together and gave thanks for the food. They all picked up their chopsticks and began serving themselves the food. Mrs. Yoshikawa looked up from the food she was picking up. "That's nice. You deserve the break. You work too hard, Saki."

"You're too kind," Sumiko replied modestly.

"It's true," Mrs. Yoshikawa insisted.

"Thank you, Mrs. Yoshikawa."

The conversation continued through the evening. The Yoshikawa's left after dinner, but not before insisting that they help with the cleanup as they always did. They usually won the argument, if one could call it that.

An hour later, Ayame was dressed and ready for bed. She exited the washroom and headed for her room across the hall. Sumiko sat at the cleaned table with a cup of hot water with lemon. She watched her daughter walk to her room in her plaid pajama set that the Yoshikawa's bought her last year for Christmas.

"Ayame?"

Ayame stopped and turned her head to face her mother. "Yes?"

Sumiko shook her head, ignoring the pressing question put to the front of her mind. "Nevermind, it's nothing, dear. Good night."

Ayame smiled. "Good night, Mother."

Ayame closed the door behind her as Sumiko ran her hands through her raven hair. The years have done nothing to the weight of the truth bearing down on her shoulders daily. She wanted to tell her so badly so many times. She wanted to tell her tonight. Would that make her a better mother for admitting it to her? The thoughts spiralled through her head, blowing up the mole hills into mountains. 'In through the nose, and out through the mouth,' She mentally coached herself for the second time that day.

Sumiko left early that morning to run the errands that have been gradually piling up. Since she did not have many days off, she took it as an opportunity to reduce that number. Most of those errands were related to self-care, something that Sumiko severely neglected.

Ayame found a note with breakfast prepared. She smiled at the gesture and began to eat the food her mother made. After breakfast, she got ready for her part-time job. Despite the reasoning for her mother's absence that day, it was like most mornings.

Ayame worked part-time at Himura Ramen near Ryuji's family business, Black Crown. She had worked there for the past year. She initially started working a few days after school for a few hours. Her reasoning for wanting the part time job was simply to be able to buy the things that her mother wouldn't buy for her. Of course, that wasn't the reason she told Sumiko. It was an innocent lie. However, when Sumiko found out, her mother made sure to note the importance and responsibility that came with a job, as well as the importance of budgeting.

The last part fell on deaf ears.

After straightening out her uniform and smoothing over the few flyaways in her hair, Ayame picked up her bag and left for work, locking the door on her way out. The morning air grew cooler by the day as summer vacation came to an end.

The lunch shift was unusually slow that day. Ayame leaned on counter as she looked at the front door waiting for a customer. Mr. Himura closed the lid on the broth and reduced the fire to low. "Not even one customer today, eh?"

Ayame shook her head.

Mr. Himura leaned on the counter next to Ayame. He was a middle-aged man with black hair sprinkled with white. Himura Ramen was a family business he inherited from his late parents. He devoted all his time and energy to the family business. His dedication has deterred many from maintaining long-term employment with the shop. They found it difficult to work with a man who seemed to care little for them.

And then, there was Ayame Ishida who just wanted a paycheck to go shopping with.

"So, what am I supposed to do when school starts again next week?" Mr. Hiruma questioned, now looking at her. "It's hard to find somebody to work for me during the day."

She laughed. "I'm sure you'll manage as you always have. Besides," She smirked. "Most of your patrons are my classmates who come after school is over."

Mr. Himura let out a single loud laugh. "I'm not sure what those young girls see in this old man!"

"I'm sure it has something to do with that cold demeanor you typically have around them. That appeals to some," She explained. She never understood it herself, but it did seem to be the case.

Mr. Himura mirrored her smirk. "Is that why you work here, Ishida?"

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Pervert."

"Is that any way to speak to your boss?"

"Keep being nice to me and you'll lose your customer base."

Mr. Himura laughed. "I'm joking!"

Despite going outside to coax people into the shop, it seemed as though the street was empty. After about an hour, she returned into the shop more confused than ever. It was strange for there not to be a single customer.

Ayame took her lunch break at around 2:00pm. She took the two lunchboxes and prepared to leave for the Black Crown to drop off Ryuji's lunch. "I'm leaving to have lunch with Ryuji."

"What's the lucky boy got today?"

"Mother made some misoyaki butterfish last night. He couldn't make it to dinner, so she packed it away for his lunch instead."

Mr. Himura nodded. "Be back in twenty minutes."

"Yes, Boss," She said smiling as she bowed slightly.

Just as she was about to open the door, she heard heavy footsteps running down the sidewalk and a familiar voice calling her name. "Aya! Aya!" Ryuji threw the door open and came face to face with who he was looking for. His face held a sense of urgency with emotions that Ayame could not decipher. Her smiling face dropped to one of worry.

"Ryuji, what-"

"Aya, Aunt Saki's been arrested!" He yelled at her, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "It's all over the news!"

Ayame dropped the lunchboxes in the bag on the floor and her face faltered.

"A-Arrested?"