Disclaimer: I own Kenji Hakaki. No stealing!
~
It was a sunny day when I met the Kids Next Door, if I recall rightly. I had just finished an argument with Tanner, Priye's older brother. Oh, I am sorry. I forget that you don't know who these people are. Priye's my friend, part of the Harley family, though I don't see her very often. She lives in one of those mobile homes on the edge of the city, while I'm just in a box in the centre. Her brother Tanner is forever trying to sell me drugs. I don't know why.
Here I go again, off on a tangent. Never trust me to make a report, that's what they always say. You won't know where I start or where I finish. I suppose I should start with the basics. My name is Kenji Hakaki. I'm a street kid from the centre of the city. I'm amazed no one has taken advantage of me before, as has happened to so many other unfortunate girls. Maybe it's because I dress like a boy. They can't know the difference...
Before I met the guys from the Kids Next Door, I didn't know what trees were, and grass was like a phenomenon to me. For as long as I remember I'm lived in my box, occasionally selling newspapers for some extra dough. It's a tough life.
Tanner had again tried to force me to sell drugs for him. If he had resorted to brute strength, I would not have had a chance. He is so much taller than me, and stronger too. I do have one advantage, however. Someone from my gene pool must have been quite speedy, as I can outrun Tanner straight, which is what I did.
I ran out of the alleyway, hoping that Tanner wasn't following. He knew the winding labyrinth much better than I, and could easily push me into a corner. Through fluke, however, I turned down the street that would take me to the suburbs.
The suburbs are a whole new world to me, as I soon found out on this particular sunny day. I dashed out of the alley, barely taking in the natural wonders all around me. Never before in my life had I seen so much green! I took a right, a left, another right and found myself approaching a colossal treehouse.
I stopped and looked at the summit in wonder. It was easily 70 storeys high, possibly 100. An F-14 aeroplane tail stuck out of one of the walls, as did many other strange devices.
As I craned my head back to get a better look at the house, I was glad for the rest. I was sure I had lost Tanner in the maze of streets. I could take it easy for a while.
I began a leisurely walk towards the treehouse, determined to know more about it. I walked twice round the base, a seemingly normal suburban house with the tree bursting through the roof, and I stepped back to assess the height. I turned round and came face to face with the barrel of a gun.
After getting over my instinctive shock by swallowing, I dragged my gaze upward from the gun to the face of the one who held it. What I didn't expect was five different people, all with a weapon trained at my face.
None of the five caught my eye as much as the one closest to me. He was dressed in red, with dark shades covering his eyes and a glare to go with his gun. I felt my heart go out to him straight away, and knew I would never get over this boy in my entire life.
With a second glance I realised the gun this living wonder had trained on me was not real. It was a strange homemade device, though I still did not doubt it's potency. The confidence all five expressed showed that these apparently crude weapons would be enough to cause me considerable damage.
I backed up against the wall, scanning my surroundings for all possible escape routes, but I had to hand it to them. They had me well and truly trapped.
"Who are you and what are you planning?" The kid in red said. I was completely confused.
"I – my name's Kenji, but I wasn't planning anything!"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" He snapped. "No one comes and looks our treehouse round at all angles unless they're planning something!" He lowered his weapon, though the others did not.
"Keep him in your sights, team. If he makes one false move, give him everything you've got." He told them confidently. Full of adrenaline as I was, I snapped.
"I'm a girl, for crud's sake! Can you not see that? Do I really look like a boy? I am a damned girl! Get it into your thick heads!"
I realised instantly my mistake, expecting them to fire at me any moment, but the leader (as he must surely be) seemed taken aback, and the others didn't fire without an order. I smiled slightly, remembering for the first time the small knife in my back pocket that I had once stolen from Tanner. I slipped it out from my pocket and clutched the blade carefully in my hand, concealing the thing up my long sleeve.
"What should we do with... her, Numbuh One?" A short boy with a mop of blonde hair asked the wonder boy.
'Numbuh One' walked slowly behind me, studying me through calculating eyes as though assessing whether I was a danger or not.
But he didn't know about the knife.
He put a hand on my shoulder and that was when I struck! I slashed wildly at his hand with my small blade. He reeled away, doubled over with pain, blood streaming down from the multiple wounds I had inflicted.
For a moment I was horrified at what I had done. He hadn't really been a threat, why had I acted so irrationally? But my resolve hardened when I saw the others, still with their queer weapons trained on me.
The short blonde boy fired first. The energy beam shooting from his weapon was slow, and I easily dodged it. Inwardly, I smirked. My dodge had again taken me closer to 'Numbuh One', who was looking in frozen horror at his own mutilated hand.
With two deft actions, I grabbed the boy and held my knife to his throat. All action around me froze, though he himself was not struggling or showing any signs of recognition to his dangerous position.
My conscience was telling me that I had done the wrong thing, and I was now breaking the law by threatening to actually murder an innocent kid. I swallowed and tried not to let my fear show. I wanted them to think I was a heartless killer. Maybe then they'd let me go.
"Look, you little bunch of dweebs. I'm going to count to three, and if you aint all standin' with your hands on your heads and your weapons on the floor then your little buddy here," I indicated my captive, "will not only have a bleeding hand to worry about, savvy?"
I looked around at the rebellious yet scared faces.
"One," I began. No one moved. "Two. I'm warning you."
There was a slight growl issued from the four kids, though I could not tell from which one it came.
"Three."
I pressed the blade slightly into 'Numbuh One's' throat. He whimpered uncomfortably as the blood trickled down in a steady stream, trying not to swallow unless the blade cut him deeper.
There was a sudden flurry of action as all of the others, seeing that I was serious, raised their hands to their heads. I smirked.
I removed my knife from the boy's throat and he collapsed in relief, sobbing slightly as the stunning reality of the recent events caught up with him and he fell into a state of shock, still bleeding slightly from the neck and heavily from his torn hand.
I began to run, though I could not have got more than fifty paces before a shot from one of those guns hit me on the right side. My knife went skittering away across the floor as I fell, and I realised my mistake.
*Stupid!* I thought to myself. *You should have kept a hold on the boy! You should have threatened him until you were far enough away from them to make a run for it!*
Another shot it my legs and felt an awful feeling of paralysis creep up them. As the third shot hit me my last thought was for the brave leader.
*I would not have killed you... never you...*
I sunk into the swirling mists of blackness, shots still hitting my useless body.
~
It was a sunny day when I met the Kids Next Door, if I recall rightly. I had just finished an argument with Tanner, Priye's older brother. Oh, I am sorry. I forget that you don't know who these people are. Priye's my friend, part of the Harley family, though I don't see her very often. She lives in one of those mobile homes on the edge of the city, while I'm just in a box in the centre. Her brother Tanner is forever trying to sell me drugs. I don't know why.
Here I go again, off on a tangent. Never trust me to make a report, that's what they always say. You won't know where I start or where I finish. I suppose I should start with the basics. My name is Kenji Hakaki. I'm a street kid from the centre of the city. I'm amazed no one has taken advantage of me before, as has happened to so many other unfortunate girls. Maybe it's because I dress like a boy. They can't know the difference...
Before I met the guys from the Kids Next Door, I didn't know what trees were, and grass was like a phenomenon to me. For as long as I remember I'm lived in my box, occasionally selling newspapers for some extra dough. It's a tough life.
Tanner had again tried to force me to sell drugs for him. If he had resorted to brute strength, I would not have had a chance. He is so much taller than me, and stronger too. I do have one advantage, however. Someone from my gene pool must have been quite speedy, as I can outrun Tanner straight, which is what I did.
I ran out of the alleyway, hoping that Tanner wasn't following. He knew the winding labyrinth much better than I, and could easily push me into a corner. Through fluke, however, I turned down the street that would take me to the suburbs.
The suburbs are a whole new world to me, as I soon found out on this particular sunny day. I dashed out of the alley, barely taking in the natural wonders all around me. Never before in my life had I seen so much green! I took a right, a left, another right and found myself approaching a colossal treehouse.
I stopped and looked at the summit in wonder. It was easily 70 storeys high, possibly 100. An F-14 aeroplane tail stuck out of one of the walls, as did many other strange devices.
As I craned my head back to get a better look at the house, I was glad for the rest. I was sure I had lost Tanner in the maze of streets. I could take it easy for a while.
I began a leisurely walk towards the treehouse, determined to know more about it. I walked twice round the base, a seemingly normal suburban house with the tree bursting through the roof, and I stepped back to assess the height. I turned round and came face to face with the barrel of a gun.
After getting over my instinctive shock by swallowing, I dragged my gaze upward from the gun to the face of the one who held it. What I didn't expect was five different people, all with a weapon trained at my face.
None of the five caught my eye as much as the one closest to me. He was dressed in red, with dark shades covering his eyes and a glare to go with his gun. I felt my heart go out to him straight away, and knew I would never get over this boy in my entire life.
With a second glance I realised the gun this living wonder had trained on me was not real. It was a strange homemade device, though I still did not doubt it's potency. The confidence all five expressed showed that these apparently crude weapons would be enough to cause me considerable damage.
I backed up against the wall, scanning my surroundings for all possible escape routes, but I had to hand it to them. They had me well and truly trapped.
"Who are you and what are you planning?" The kid in red said. I was completely confused.
"I – my name's Kenji, but I wasn't planning anything!"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" He snapped. "No one comes and looks our treehouse round at all angles unless they're planning something!" He lowered his weapon, though the others did not.
"Keep him in your sights, team. If he makes one false move, give him everything you've got." He told them confidently. Full of adrenaline as I was, I snapped.
"I'm a girl, for crud's sake! Can you not see that? Do I really look like a boy? I am a damned girl! Get it into your thick heads!"
I realised instantly my mistake, expecting them to fire at me any moment, but the leader (as he must surely be) seemed taken aback, and the others didn't fire without an order. I smiled slightly, remembering for the first time the small knife in my back pocket that I had once stolen from Tanner. I slipped it out from my pocket and clutched the blade carefully in my hand, concealing the thing up my long sleeve.
"What should we do with... her, Numbuh One?" A short boy with a mop of blonde hair asked the wonder boy.
'Numbuh One' walked slowly behind me, studying me through calculating eyes as though assessing whether I was a danger or not.
But he didn't know about the knife.
He put a hand on my shoulder and that was when I struck! I slashed wildly at his hand with my small blade. He reeled away, doubled over with pain, blood streaming down from the multiple wounds I had inflicted.
For a moment I was horrified at what I had done. He hadn't really been a threat, why had I acted so irrationally? But my resolve hardened when I saw the others, still with their queer weapons trained on me.
The short blonde boy fired first. The energy beam shooting from his weapon was slow, and I easily dodged it. Inwardly, I smirked. My dodge had again taken me closer to 'Numbuh One', who was looking in frozen horror at his own mutilated hand.
With two deft actions, I grabbed the boy and held my knife to his throat. All action around me froze, though he himself was not struggling or showing any signs of recognition to his dangerous position.
My conscience was telling me that I had done the wrong thing, and I was now breaking the law by threatening to actually murder an innocent kid. I swallowed and tried not to let my fear show. I wanted them to think I was a heartless killer. Maybe then they'd let me go.
"Look, you little bunch of dweebs. I'm going to count to three, and if you aint all standin' with your hands on your heads and your weapons on the floor then your little buddy here," I indicated my captive, "will not only have a bleeding hand to worry about, savvy?"
I looked around at the rebellious yet scared faces.
"One," I began. No one moved. "Two. I'm warning you."
There was a slight growl issued from the four kids, though I could not tell from which one it came.
"Three."
I pressed the blade slightly into 'Numbuh One's' throat. He whimpered uncomfortably as the blood trickled down in a steady stream, trying not to swallow unless the blade cut him deeper.
There was a sudden flurry of action as all of the others, seeing that I was serious, raised their hands to their heads. I smirked.
I removed my knife from the boy's throat and he collapsed in relief, sobbing slightly as the stunning reality of the recent events caught up with him and he fell into a state of shock, still bleeding slightly from the neck and heavily from his torn hand.
I began to run, though I could not have got more than fifty paces before a shot from one of those guns hit me on the right side. My knife went skittering away across the floor as I fell, and I realised my mistake.
*Stupid!* I thought to myself. *You should have kept a hold on the boy! You should have threatened him until you were far enough away from them to make a run for it!*
Another shot it my legs and felt an awful feeling of paralysis creep up them. As the third shot hit me my last thought was for the brave leader.
*I would not have killed you... never you...*
I sunk into the swirling mists of blackness, shots still hitting my useless body.