Started: September 19th, 2005
Finished: September 28th, 2005

Summary: It is the new school year in Odaiba, and Miyako is having a bumpy first year in Middle School. Daisuke catches on to her troubles, and hatches a plan with Ken on how to help.

Bird of Prey

Chapter 2 – A Broken Wing

Miyako walked down the busy streets of Tokyo, a city crowded enough to make it known as one of the most populous cities in the world. Her shoulders swayed as she hurried along this early morning. Many people were on their way to starting work, and she noticeably bumped shoulders with many other pedestrians as she trudged along. She had decided not to attend classes this day in the immediate aftermath that followed after parting with Daisuke.

And as she busied herself with trying to get lost in the crowd, she tried to ignore the two girls following her down the path she was hurrying away from.

Suddenly, something clasped itself on Miyako right shoulder. As she turned around to look at the unexpected contact, an arm intertwined with her own on the left. Tori and Yuki had caught up, and held their grip rather tightly against her.

Tori spoke to her, "Hi there, Miyako-chan, we missed you yesterday."

"You'll walk with us, right?" Yuki asked, her eyes tracing up to an alleyway between two tall buildings just a few stores down the street. "I know a good short-cut."

"The heck do you want?" Miyako scowled, tugging at her arm in an attempt to release their hold.

Tori whispered into her ear, a bright smile covering her face, "We just want to talk of course… nothing else."

Miyako didn't reply, her struggles not very effective as she tried to get away. The three entered the alleyway, Tori and Yuki finally letting go as they shoved Miyako forwards. She tripped over her feet and fell down chest first on the filthy cement below. She felt a soft numbing crack and clutched her sides as she tried to regain her lost breath.

She slowly got back to her feet to face her oppressors. The two girls immediately moved towards her.

Miyako backed up a few steps, until she could move no more and her back closed in on the cold brick wall behind her. The awful stench of rotten foods and dusty cardboard from the nearby trash containers filled her lungs. She held a hand to her chest, where it still ached from her contact with the ground, and made a few long gasps for air.

Tori giggled at her. "Where's your boyfriend, Miyako-chan? That knight of yours."

"Don't encourage her," Yuki said. "She's got one too many boyfriends as it is."

Tori frowned. "Yeah, what is it about you that attracts all these cute guys?"

Miyako didn't reply, simply turning her head away from them. Her act, however, didn't go unnoticed. Yuki scowled at her, "Are you ignoring us, you witch?"

Tori frowned in Miyako's direction. "You're really making this a big deal. We saw you on the roof this morning. You should've just jumped and killed yourself."

Miyako's eyes snapped right at Tori's direction in a sneer. She clutched her side further. "You'll be wishing I had after I get back at you for this."

Tori blinked at her. "Angry, Miyako-chan? Don't make idle threats towards your sempai, that's just rude."

Yuki smirked. "You're right, Tori. She is angry at us, whatever shall we do?"

"Punishment," was the simple reply.

"We'll punish her for not killing herself," Yuki said. "What a perfect idea! If you just go die Miyako you'd make things a lot easier on all of us, and we wouldn't have to do this anymore."

Tori added. "It's a shame, really."

Miyako stared straight at them, her rebellious eyes hiding nothing.

"Don't have much to say?" Yuki scowled.

Miyako's back was flat against the wall, as she tried to stay as far away from the other two girls as possible. But Yuki was close enough that her fiery red hair almost threatened to burn Miyako alive.

Yuki raised her hand in anger towards Miyako, and descended it for a swift and hard slap. It never connected, as a sturdy palm gripped her arm and pulled her backwards away from Miyako. Yuki landed flat across the ground, caught surprised by the sudden force.

"Daisuke," Miyako raised her eyebrows in surprise, not having noticed him arrive. She stood behind her would-be savior.

"Wha'cha know? It's her knight come to rescue her," Tori said, helping Yuki up.

"You little bastard," Yuki swore as she got to her feet.

Daisuke glared at the two. "You two are still at this?"

Yuki equally returned his gaze. "And it ain't gonna stop."

Daisuke clenched his teeth in his furious state, his lip quivered in anger. "I don't care what the hell's going on between you three or what your reasons are for this - get out of here now. I don't want to see you around Miyako ever again."

"You okay, Daisuke?" Miyako asked him. Her question went unanswered and ignored by all three present.

Yuki started forward towards Miyako and Daisuke, Tori right by her side. She challenged him, "So, then, knight – what exactly will you do if we choose not to listen to you? I'd rather like to hear your princess squirm…"

Daisuke's eyes glowered over the pair, Yuki and Tori were getting much too close to Miyako for his liking. He didn't appreciate their attitude, either.

"He's not gonna do anything," Tori giggled. "He's just a kid, younger than even Miyako-chan here."

They moved one step too close, and Daisuke roughly shoved both of them backwards to the ground. He shouted at them, "How dare you act and talk about Miyako's death so casually? Don't think I haven't overheard. You're freaks, the both of you."

"You… you hit a girl!" Tori cried out at him.

"What of it?" Daisuke replied, "You deserve far more than that."

"Damn it, just calm down, Daisuke," Miyako said, resting a hand of hers on his shoulder to pull him away from the scene. "Let's just get out of here. I've had enough of this."

He paused for a moment, and nodded towards her, leaving Yuki and Tori to pick themselves off the ground as he checked up on his friend. Daisuke then asked. "Feeling alright?"

Miyako frowned at his pestering. "I can walk."

Daisuke simply nodded again. "Let's go, then. I'll walk you home."

Yuki clutched her arm, apparently hurt from the fall, and stared after their retreating forms. "We aren't going to let you get away with this."

"We'll get back at both of you!"

Daisuke turned around, his voice low. "Listen here. If you two even dare to simply look at Miyako the wrong way again, you two will be the ones that won't be able to get away from me."

Seeing no oncoming reply, Daisuke followed after Miyako past the corner outside of the alleyway and back into the busy streets of Tokyo.

Miyako let out a deep sigh as she walked with Daisuke towards her home. He grasped her hand suddenly as they walked. It was unnerving to her, as normally only romantic couples did that. He just cared too much for such a trivial matter about her to let go. Not wanting a silence similar to the one they shared yesterday to follow, she decided to speak.

It was a small smile that crept across her face as she began to tease him, "Despite what dumb things they say, I guess you really were my knight in shining armor back there."

"You don't need to be so gracious about it," Daisuke said. "It's not like I could've just ignored this when I saw it."

Miyako quirked her brow. "And why exactly where you even here to see it? I thought I told you to go back to your own school."

He flushed slightly. "I guess I might've just decided to stay put and keep an eye on you today."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever, it's not like I need a personal bodyguard. You need to get back to your own daily routine before you get yourself in trouble from this."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, waving off her concern. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking backwards at the path they came from. "I think I'll start working on it now. See you, Miyako."

"And where are you going?" Miyako asked.

Daisuke looked back towards her, a slight frown covering his features. "To your school, I'm going to see what I can do about reporting this."

If the poor, unpleased expression on Daisuke's face could have deepened to a more saddened state, it would've done so once he entered the main office of Murasuzume Academy. In the time it had taken for him to walk with Miyako and then come back to this school, both Tori and Yuki had already come here and were in a discussion with a middle aged man – someone that looked to be one of the top officials from this school.

Tori immediately saw him as he entered the office, and yelled loud enough for the entire room to hear. "There he is! That's the boy that was harassing us!"

As every head in the office turned towards the entrance doors, Daisuke could only stare in disbelief. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!"

"It's true," Yuki said, caressing her arm. "He almost broke my arm. He needs to be punished, call his parents, call the police, or even call the yakuza for all I care."

The man that was with Tori and Yuki when Daisuke first entered walked over to him. "Young lad, what's your name?"

Daisuke looked up at him, and recognition came up as the man that had been watching him the previous day while he gazed upon the soccer trophies. He replied to the question immediately. "Motomiya Daisuke, Sensei."

"Alright, Motomiya-kun, then, could I speak with you privately in my office? I'm the Director of this school, Director Karasu."

Daisuke nodded. "Lead the way."

The man led Daisuke to his own private room in a subsection of the head office where the rest of the staff worked. He took a seat at his desk and motioned for Daisuke to do the same towards a few nearby chairs.

Once seated, Director Karasu began speaking, "Now, the two girls out there tell me you've given them quite a rough time. Would you care to explain yourself?"

Daisuke frowned. "In my defense, I was helping a friend they were obviously bullying."

"I see," the Director commented. "Tell me about this friend of yours. Who is he?"

"She," Daisuke corrected, "is Inoue Miyako. I'm not quite sure which homeroom she's in, though, but she definitely goes to this school. She's a first year."

"I see," the Director repeated again, and then leaned back on his chair as if in thought. "The name does strike me as somewhat familiar... Inoue, oh yes. Now I remember. She was one of our last-minute acceptances." He smiled faintly then, "She was on our waiting list for quite some time, and all those applicants have to be interviewed for admittance."

When the Director stopped speaking, Daisuke saw his opening to continue, "And to be truthful, if they ever try to hurt Miyako again, then they'll look a lot worse out there then they do now."

"Motomiya-kun, please don't threaten my students. It doesn't persuade me to try and help you get through this trouble you've caused."

"That I caused…?" Daisuke breathed, he was silent for a moment, and then get off his seat, preparing to leave. "Thank you for your time, Sensei, but I won't sit here and be told I'm in any way responsible for any of this."

"Please sit down, Motomiya-kun. I've got several other questions I'm interested in asking."

"With all due respect, I think I'm done with answering questions for the day."

"Then perhaps you'd like to listen to something I'd like to say," the Director said.

Daisuke seemed to consider for a moment, and then sat back down, awaiting further words.

"This is a very prestigious school, Motomiya-kun. We are viewed highly amongst those in the Ministry of Education. We accept only the best students, and only the best graduate here. We here at the school pride ourselves in having the best students, and the best athletic teams."

"Why are you telling me this?" Daisuke asked.

"You were looking over our soccer display yesterday, weren't you?"

Daisuke raised a brow. "Maybe, why do you ask?"

"I've personally seen you on the field against Ichijouji Ken last year, Motomiya-kun. I'd like for you to be on our team come your next school year. I'm prepared to give you full scholarship for our school."

Daisuke blinked in awkward surprise. "You're joking?"

"Not at all, Motomiya-kun," the Director said. "You have some rough edges in your play, but nothing at all that our coaching can't straighten out."

"Why are you offering me this?" Daisuke frowned. "I mean, what's the catch? You completely changed the topic away from Miyako and those two out there."

Director Karasu smiled at him, "I was about to get right back to Inoue-san. You see, in order to stop this bullying, I'd like for your friend to remain at home for the remainder of the school year and come back next year. It can be arranged for you two to even be in the same homeroom class."

"You're going to fail her!" Daisuke cried out in shock, but immediately lowered his tone as he reminded himself of whom he was speaking with. "You – you can't do that. It would totally ruin her to be held behind."

"Motomiya-san, please listen," the Director said, and motioned to the two girls standing outside the office, patiently waiting for them to come out after their meeting. "Tori and Yuki will be graduating soon. This is their last year. The last thing our school board wants is for news of this to get out and ruin the lives of some of our best students."

Daisuke didn't seem very pleased with the reply, and vocalized his thoughts. "I don't like it."

There was another sigh from Director Karasu, "Motomiya-san, come next year, the two girls there will not be attending our school. They will no longer be our responsibility, and they will not be around to bother Inoue-san, either. Think carefully of my proposal. Everyone will benefit."

After a brooding silence in which Daisuke contemplated his choices, he finally voiced his answer as he got off his seat to open the room's doorway. He looked outside curiously, noticing Tori and Yuki had left the main office.

"I do thank you for the offer, and I'm sorry about this – but I refuse."

Miyako shifted her weight to her other foot, as she struggled to open the backdoor of her family's convenience store. Her mother had been less than pleased that her daughter had decided to skip school for the day, but had immediately put her to work in the store. Now her hands were full with twin garbage bags that she was expected to throw into the containers in the back of the building.

The door finally swung open, and Miyako exited the building. She breathed a sigh of relief as her hands were finally freed of the heavy load of garbage. Twin shadows appeared from behind her, appearing from the corner of the building. They whispered amongst themselves in a familiar tone. Miyako sighed once again, this time in annoyance. She mumbled aloud as she turned around, "What do you two want now?"

Yuki and Tori come into her view, and Miyako recoiled at their sight out of instinct. It wasn't that they were intimidating by themselves, or their appearance having shocked her. Rather it was what Yuki held in her hand that startled Miyako…

Tori smiled. "We want you, of course, Miyako-chan."

"No genius around," Yuki began, "No knight to save you… you're all ours, Miyako."

For the first time in all their confrontations, Miyako felt fear. Her anger subsided, fading much like the distance between her and the two girls as they descended upon her. Yuki dragged a long blunt object that Miyako could guess in certainty only Iori would be able to recognize and properly name.

But to Miyako, enough about it was obvious – it was a weapon.

Daisuke stood still in front of the Inoue apartment. There was a deep frown across his face, as the last day along with today had been far less than cheerful, both for him and for Miyako. He dreaded having to give her the news that the school wasn't about to support her.

Gathering up his wits, Daisuke pressed forward, and knocked on the door with a sharp rap that he knew would bring someone inside to the entrance. He waited patiently, his breath quickening in nervousness. He heard footsteps on the other side of the door, and the sound of the knob turning.

A gap of light opened from the doors edge, as the doorway opened up quickly to present the face behind looking out. A woman of many years older than him looked down at him from the doorway. Daisuke gave the biggest smile he could muster towards Miyako's mother.

"Good day, Obasan, may I visit Miyako-san for a little while?" his words came with a heartfelt smile.

Miyako's mother presented a half smile before him, slightly amused by his formal request. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea at the moment. She's had quite a rough day."

"What happened?" Daisuke frowned slightly. He figured there were some troubles with her having skipped classes today.

Miyako yelled out over to them from the direction of her room, "Let him in, Mama!"

Her mother excused herself as she let Daisuke enter, her half-smile having long faded. He bowed slightly and walked past the elder woman.

The doorway to Miyako's room opened wide and she appeared there, a somewhat surprised look on her face at seeing Daisuke here. Still, she parted from the door to let him enter.

"You can sit on the chair by the computer desk over there," Miyako said. "I talked to Ken-kun earlier, apparently you told him about this. Don't worry, I forgive you.

Daisuke gave his thanks and took his seat, ignoring the jibe about Ken. Miyako nodded towards him, urging him to say something about his presence. She closed the door behind her, and sat on her bed. She winced loudly at the abrupt pain it caused.

"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked, her discomfort not having gone unnoticed.

She ignored his question. "What brings you here?"

He sighed at her change in topic. "Well, for starters, I've got some bad news."

Daisuke looked to the side, making sure the door was closed and they wouldn't be easily heard. To enhance this, he moved his chair closer to where Miyako sat on her bed and lowered his voice as he explained what went on when he visited the school's office.

Miyako listened intensely, slowly nodding her understanding, or making small neutral comments along the way in order to urge Daisuke further on and show her comprehension and understanding of his words.

When Daisuke had almost finished, Miyako asked, "So did you accept?"

Daisuke scoffed, as if offended by her question, "Of course not, I wouldn't take his bribes if they ensured world peace for all I care. He's trying to avoid responsibility by pretending none of this ever happened. What a coward that Karasu is."

Miyako frowned at him. "Please accept it, Daisuke-kun. Go back to the school and tell them you accept."

He almost couldn't believe her words, and he stuttered as he tried to express his confusion, "W-w-what?"

"You heard me, Daisuke-kun, please do it."

"But why would you want me to?" he asked. "Not even a few hours ago you wanted to fight this by yourself. The dumb agreement just means you'd end up having to repeat your first year."

"I want you to do it because," she started, and then paused momentarily, considering her words, "Something happened while you were gone."

"What could have possibly changed your mind so much?" he frowned.

"They showed up here," Miyako said, her words beginning to quaver. Her own body began to shake as she recalled what had happened but a short while ago. "They… near my own home they attacked me - they had a weapon."

"Miyako…" Daisuke began, at a loss for words. He didn't quite know how to react.

"My brother is furious. He closed down the shop and now he's out on the streets thinking he's going to find them. Mom says my dad would've probably done the same were he here to find out about this."

Daisuke simply nodded.

She continued, "I guess I simply want you to accept because then I won't have to deal with Tori and Yuki again. As you said, they wouldn't be at Murasuzume Academy anymore."

"That's a pretty cowardly way out of your problems," Daisuke frowned. "And what's to stop them from coming back here? You said so yourself that they obviously know where you live. Where is your courage to fight back?"

Miyako pleaded, "Please don't lecture me, Daisuke. I'll be safe with my family here for the rest of the year, and besides, I'd really like for you to be in the same homeroom with me, too."

"I don't know…" Daisuke started.

"Please," Miyako simply said, cutting him off.

Daisuke took in a deep breath, again weighing his options. It seemed everyone and everything was pushing him towards one single solution that would try and pretend like nothing had ever happened. And he hated it.

He reluctantly agreed, "Fine, Miyako, I'll do it."

"Ichijouji residence," Ken answered the phone. Like the previous night, it was Daisuke on the other end.

"Is that you, Ken?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's me," Ken responded, and then asked, "Calling about Miyako?"

"Got it on the first try," Daisuke said, "Well for starters, I'll tell you what's been happening. Afterwards, I'll be in need of some help from you tomorrow…"

Chapter Notes:
- Karasu is the Japanese word for "Crow."
- Sensei is the Japanese term used when addressing most teaching officials and/or medical staff.
- The yakuza could also basically be known as the Japanese Mafia.
- Obasan is a kind and respectful way of referring to a middle-aged or elderly woman.