AN: This chapter is a long one, I went a bit overboard hehe.
YEAR 1995
Its going to be okay baby, mommy is here." A young woman with black hair told her young daughter of five. Sirens could be heard in the background. The woman looked calm as she brushed the side of her daughters face. The area they were in was an empty building they were currently hiding in. A big dufflebag was by the door. A man was pacing back and forth panicking wondering what to do. She looked at her husband.
"Will you calm down, you're not helping this situation. Remember what we talked about?" She told him. But he wouldn't listen as he turned around to face her, anger is in his face.
"Shut up bitch! You always say that and all our plans go to waste their gonna find us and lock us up!" She closed her eyes frustrated and looked at her daughter again. The girl was absentmindly playing with a doll in her hands not really following the conversation although she could pick up some. "This is ridiculous my whole legacy, my families whole legacy is going to go to shit because we accepted this deal." The woman looked at the dufflebag that was by the door. It held something that would cost them their life if it was ever found. She stood up leaving her daughter to sit alone and approached him to calm down.
"Remember what we talked about we had a whole plan you and I. Lets go through it now." She whispered.
"He won't find us if we run. Let's go somewhere. We made enough money from selling the drugs."
"And the motherfucker ratted us out!"
"I come from old money. I may not get along with my family anymore but I have connections come on sweetheart let's get out of here." The sirens noises were getting louder. He sighed and looked back at his wife and then looked at his daughter.
"What do we do about the kid?" He asked. She met his gaze and gave him a look. Turning around she went to meet her daughter again and crouched in front of her. The girl looked back up at her mom with wide eyes. She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. She reached over to grab her mothers hand seeking comfort but her mother gently grabbed her arm and placed her hand in her lap. Mothers eyes were devoid of emotion.
"Me and your father will be leaving but we will be right back to come and get you. Can you wait for us right here sweetie?" The girl still looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't know how to process things. All she knows is that her parents look solemn and scared. Thinking that maybe waiting here for them would help she slowly nodded her head. Mother reached her over and stroked her daughters cheek.
"Mommy will come back shortly to get you." Thats all the girl could understand. Her parents would be back they would only be gone for a short while. She believed it she really did. "Don't go anywhere." The siren noises were getting louder and louder.
"Lets go!" Father commanded. They wasted no time getting their stuff. Mother went and grabbed the dufflebag quickly and the other stuff that they brought leaving only their daughter and her doll. The daughter who was sitting on her blanket watching the back of her parents leaving.
After a few minutes. She could hear some cars pull up near the building she didn't move as her mother commanded only sat there, waiting. Footsteps got closer and closer to the door and she could see so many lights that were facing her. The only thing that was blocking them was the old door of the building. Key chains, people shuffling and murmuring. She could hear it all.
Mommy would come back. She missed her already.
She jumped a little bit when the door busted open. She didn't know what got into her. Thinking it was her mother, she put her doll down and immediately ran up to the person who opened it. But froze in her tracks.
Thats not Mommy
Doesn't even look like her
Thats not Daddy either
So who was it?
The police man took a double take when he realized the girl wasn't one of the drug users that were reported to him. She was very tiny with short black hair. They both had a staring contest with each other. The police man didn't even know that a child was with them. He was confused.
Confused about why they would leave their only child.
A sound suddenly filled the air. There was crack in the small voice.
"Mmm-mommy?"
Mommy didn't come back at all.
YEAR 2005
RYO OPENED HER EYES ONLY TO MEET THE SLIGHT DARKNESS OF HER ROOM. It was shown to be early morning as she could see parts of the sun seeping through her window. She got up slowly in her bed and wiped her eyes. She had a good sleep. Remembering the events from yesterday. Her mother had come home and had told her that she would take care of the rest of the kids and let Ryo off early. Ryo definitely took the opportunity wishing everyone a good night. Mikey was sleeping in the couch she prepared for him, knowing well how he was after he ate. He looked comfortable and she figured it was an asshole move to wake him up. So she kissed his forehead and fixed his blanket before leaving quietly.
Pulling her curtains she began to get ready for the day. She had a lot of things to do. First she needed to go to school and get some information about Mikeys new interest, Takemichi Hanagaki. But she didn't want to approach him just yet. Her current target was one of his friends that she was curious about. The one who was supposed to fight in the first place.
Takuya Yamamoto
From what she gathered about the boy he was the more quiet one in Takemichis group and academic wise did better than his four friends. His fighting skills were very poor and he has always been very uncertain about fighting other schools. Which had Ryo wonder why he did accept the fight in the first place. Maybe because he would do anything for his friends. He seemed like the type. She figured with him she could learn some more details about what Takemichi was like private and school life. Compared to Yamamotos other friends he would be easier to talk to. Lunch would be the perfect time to reach out to him.
A low meow could be heard by her feet and she looked down to see that it was her cat, Suki. Suki nudged her head against her owners leg, begging for attention. Ryo reached down to give her cat of 3 years a much needed pet. The cat purred with a small smile on her face. She was an American shorthair medium sized cat with grey fur that had black spots on around her body. Her eyes were piercing silver, something Ryo loved most about her. It was how she met her companion through those eyes. Ryo was walking down the street once with Takashi Mitsuya they had just finished eating dinner and were headed to his motorcycle so that he could drop her off. It was dark and drizzling, cars were honking each other as traffic began to come. They had passed by a trash area when Ryo had heard a small whine from behind one of the big trashcans. She gestured for Mitsuya to hold on as she wanted to check it out. He was hesitant at first because it could have been a plot used to trick her but eventually complied and followed.
There Suki was drenched in water and dirt as she was trying to find any scrap of food. Her grey eyes were shining in the dark. Ryo fell in love once she made eye contact with those eyes. She felt so bad that Suki was alone and did not hesitate to try and feed her. Suki hissed at her and went further in the back to try to hide herself. But Ryo didn't push she got her leftovers of food in her container and slid it close to the stray. The black haired girl smiled. And Suki looked back and forth between her and the food, not knowing if it was trick or not. Ryo stood up with the help of Mitsuya and turned around to face her again.
"I hope you will still be here when I come back. I will make sure to feed you some good cat food for you to enjoy." She spoke softly. Mitusya smiled at the scene. He knew about Ryo's admiration for cats. Turning away with her friend behind her again a small meow was made by Suki, as if she was saying thank you. Ryo kept her promise and luckily Suki was always residing in that alleyway. Eventually they had grown a strong bond and were bound together forever.
After finishing greeting Suki she got her slippers and towel from her closet as she was about to go shower when she heard a chime sound. It was her phone that was currently sitting on her nightstand, the charger still in place. Picking it up she saw that it was a text from Mikey. She did not hesitate to open it. Suki made her way up to make herself comfortable on her bed observing her owner.
FROM: SILLY MIKEY
Ryo-channnnn I'm assuming that your up because well...you always are the first to wake up no matter what! But anyway that was off topic but Kenchin and I will be paying a lovelyyy visit to your school to see Takemichi so don't be surprised if we show up to your class too. Because I miss you already. :( So be on the lookout! ?
Three hearts this time. Thats new. Ryo thought to herself before responding back to the blond. Knowing Mikey that boy was full of surprises as always. She bit her lip to prevent a smile from showing up on her face. Plugging her phone back in, she resumed her way to the bathroom. She needed to get there as soon as possible because the house was going to be in chaos once again and didn't want to deal with it so early. Mitsuya was on his way as he offered to take her to school today. She reminded herself to thank him for his help in getting information about Seijuro, the boy she interrogated.
She tip toed quietly to the bathroom not wanting to wake anybody up and got ready for the day.
RYO WAS GREETED BY HER MOTHER, CHIHARU DOWNSTAIRS WHO WAS PREPARING BENTOS FOR EVERYONE. She was doing Hers, Himari, Anzai, Yuki and Emiyos first as they were the older ones. Finishing up Yukis, she smiled once noticing Ryo had joined her. "Hey sleep well?" She asked. Ryo nodded and put her school bag on the high stool. Chiharu slid a plate of pancakes and orange juice across from her, Ryo took it and nodded a thank you.
"Did you wake up early to fix everyones lunch?" Ryo gestured to the 4 bentos she made. Chiharu looked at the 5th one she was making currently for Emiyo and nodded.
"Yep, I know I usually sleep in a little late but I promised myself I would wake up this time to make them. Its not so bad its actually kind of fun." Giving her daughter a wink.
"I know but if you ever need any help, I can do it." Chiharu rolled her eyes at that, playfully of course. She knew how ready Ryo was to step in and take over because she was worried but she also wanted her adoptive daughter to sit back and relax too. But it was something the 15 year old was not used to. She was always on the move working and stressing herself out.
"Its okay, your mom may not be superwoman but I can handle it. My shifts have been cut down a couple of hours so I can manage a bit better now." She received a raise of an eyebrow from Ryo at that. "Besides, this is an apology for coming home late and not letting you know sooner. You know the workplace I am in is such a hellhole. I mean nice job! But goddamn I want to bang my head against the wall because everyone I work with is so nosy and rude!"
Chiharu worked in a flower shop that was a few blocks down from their house. The place was small but paid well because it was a successful business. Ryo still to this day didn't know how her mother could handle working there. So many people were unpleasent to her because she was a widow who had adopted so many kids and didn't want to remarry. They thought she was crazy but it was the opposite she was just that loving. Some people thought that she was seeking for attention. They would always whisper behind her back that she was doing it only to get on national news. Which was absolutely ridiculous but luckily she didn't pay any mind to them and just kept on doing her thing. It was a quality she admired about her adoptive mother and wished she could be more like that when people were whispering about her at school.
"By the way I was the one who dropped Mikey off. I offered and he accepted. In case you were wondering where he was." Chiharu told her. Ryo nodded and turned to look at where he slept the last time she saw him. The blanket was still on the couch but it was folded. She knew Mikey wasn't the one who did it.
"Yeah I got a text from him this morning."
"He seems to be doing good, very smily as usual. How are things you know with Toman?" Ryo was surprised, her mother wasn't usually the one to ask about that especially since she did disapprove of her joining at first. But she kept her opinons to herself mostly because she did trust her daughter. But was still very concerned. Especially due to what happened the year before, something that affected Ryo very badly that she doesn't talk about at all.
"Its been...good really, we've been keeping track of somethings. No big fights too. Theres a boy that caught Mikeys interest and mine too. He's weird but he seems worthy to know about."
"Are you guys trying to recruit him?"
"Well we're still looking into it but he's up there, yeah."
"Whats his name?"
"Takemichi Hanagaki, but Mikey gave him a nickname sort of, Takemitchy."
"Has a nice ring to it."
"I guess it does." Chiharu had just finished Emiyos bento and placed it next to the others ones she made. Finally she got started on the youngers ones food.
"Well I wish you guys luck on this recruitment he seems to be a very promising young man. He obviously did something very impressive to catch Mikeys attention."
"He really did." Ryo answered, taking the last bite of her pancakes. A roaring sound could be heard from outside catching both of their attention. By the sound they knew Mitsuya had just arrived. Crying could also be heard from upstairs as well as loud footsteps. The rest of the kids were on the move. The two of them looked at each other.
Let the chaos begin
TAKASHI MITSUYA had just pulled up in front of the Takagi household. He smiled once he heard a bunch Takagi kids loud voices. Steadying his motorcycle he went to send a quick message to Ryo to let her know he had arrived but knowing her she probably already knew. He had ended up dropping off his two little sisters, Luna and Mana earlier before coming to get her. Closing his phone he waited and a movement from the upper side of the house caught his attention. A little girl with black hair was absentmindedly staring at him, as if she was in a trance. It took Mitsuya a second to realize it was Yuki Takagi who was looking at him. Not knowing if she realized he could see her he raised his hand awkwardly and waved. Yuki blinked and began to blush realizing that he saw her. Instead of waving back she quickly closed the curtains of her window. Leaving him even more perplexed.
Did I do something wrong? Asking himself.
Yuki quickly ran to her older sister who was getting ready to leave. She was putting her shoes on and was about to open the door. But Yuki grabbed her arm causing Ryo to stop and look at her. Before she could get a word in she was bombarded by Yuki's frantic rambling.
"Ryo! When you see ummm... when you see him outside. Mitsuya yeah please tell him that the person who was starting at him was not me. It was my long lost twin sister that I recently reunited with we just look exactly the same so tell him that. I was not being a creep my twin sister was." Yuki winked so that Ryo could get the hint but the older girl just looked more confused. She then let out a dramatic gasp. Something that caught Yuki by surprise.
"Oh no Yuki you stared at him? Right in eyes?" Ryo asked her voice had a hint of worry. Yuki widened her eyes dropping the whole twin sister thing. She moved closer to her sister curious.
"Yes... is that a bad thing?" She asked. Ryo turned around quickly grabbing her sisters arms. Yuki looked back at their arms freaking out a bit. Did something possess Ryo?
My sister is freaking possessed.
"Yes! Yuki yes. What if he..." Ryo paused what she was going to say. Yuki however was concerned now and wanted to know what had her acting weird. Ryo moved closer now her face was blank.
"What if he turned into stone Yuki?" She said in a spooky voice. Yuki gaped not believing this was coming out of her sisters mouth. "I mean your eyes are as cold as ice imagine he could have been frozen by that cold stare you gave him. It would have been over." Yuki glared at Ryo. Not amused.
"You are not funny you know. Like really." Ryo shrugged and got ready to walk out. She enjoyed taking the opportunity to mess with her siblings.
"What happened to that tough Yuki from yesterday? Lost your touch?" Ryo taunted. The ten year old put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue. That was the last thing Ryo saw before closing the door.
Mitsuya gave her a fake bow when she approached him. "Ah the Queen has left her castle. The day shall begin." She playfully rolled her eyes.
"Sorry if I held you up, they all started moving all over the place. As usual." She apologized to him. Mitsuya raised his hand. "I don't mind at all, its amusing to see how energetic those kids are. Makes it more lively." Ryo looked back at her house she could still hear the noise coming from her siblings.
"Yeah, their little shits. But their my little shits." She said to him. He chuckled while retrieving his keys. "For sure you do keep them in check when they need to be. Whats your secret? I'm going to need you to help me with Luna and Mana. Can't keep them in check at all." He joked.
"That will be 5 yen."
"You're charging ? "
"Well yes gotta treat all my clients equally." She said seriously. But she was joking aswell, He laughed again.
They both got on his bike but before he could start it Ryo tapped on his shoulder. He turned to meet her eyes. "Thank you by the way about Seijuro, I owe you alot." She thanked him. Mitsuya shrugged. "Its really no problem we're buddies you don't have to owe me anything I helped because I wanted to and I know how much you needed the information." With that he gave her another smile and started the engine.
And they were off
THEY ARRIVED PERFECTLY ON TIME as other students of Mizo Middle School were beginning to pile in. The motorcycle got the attention of some students who were near. Ryo didn't pay them any mind as she handed over the helmet to her friend. Mitsuya had one of his hands on the handle and looked at Ryo to ask her something.
"You need me to pick you up?" He asked and got a head shake in response.
"No Mikey and Draken are going to stop by and knowing them, they got me covered." Mitsuya nodded his head in understanding.
"Gotcha gotcha." He noticed the sudden discomfort on Ryos face and saw that different group of friends were staring at her with nervousness, curiosity and disgust on their faces. He narrowed his eyes and was about to give some of them a piece of his mind but stopped when realizing that he couldn't and that Ryo wouldn't want that.
Ryo was playing with her nails she didn't know what had gotten over her but those look from those other students had always unsettled her she hated the attention. "Suddenly I feel like it's the first day of school all over again." She breathed out to him.
"More like everyday when you walk in. Pisses me off at times, all the staring."
"Right." Mitsuya stared back at his friend who was looking down at her shoes. He placed his hand as a fist bump and moved it towards her. Ryo stared at it for second before awkwardly raising hers and they bump fists together.
"You got this Ryo, you're in the Tokyo Manji Gang after all. I know you can endure this school and ignore those ignorant people who don't know shit about you. You're better than them anyway." He said to lift her up. And it was true and he would always believe that what he said to her was the truth. Giving her one more wave he started the engine again and was off. Ryo waved back at him but it was a bit too late.
His words made her feel a bit better but they had her thinking.
Were these people really ignorant? Or did they have the right to judge her. She didn't exactly make her reputation presentable especially with the big serious drama that happened last year with that girl it was hard to keep a good image in her school it just made people more afraid of her.
She wished she could go back and make things right
She looked around as she was walking towards the entrance and it was the same thing over and over again.
The same old stares
The same old gossiping
The same old rumors
Everybody had tried to hide it but she could always tell when she was the topic. She was tired.
Lord have mercy on me
AN: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter I just had to put Mitsuya in this cause he's such an amazing character for sure Top 10 and Top 5 TR characters.
More Mikey will be next chapter along with our crybaby hero and big brother Draken :) hope you guys don't mind this length of words if you guys don't like it just let me know and I'll try to shorten them a bit for y'all.
PS: Sorry for the grammar errors, typos etc
Bye bye
