A.N.- Second (sort of) backstory-ish thing~

Disclaimer: KHR not mine.

Rai's P.O.V.

"So is that how you got it?" Anrya asked Selina.

"Got what?" Selina asked in confusion.

"Your ability to cast illusions."

"No."

"Then how did you? From what I observed and know about you, you never had any contact with the mafia forces, so there are limited possibilities on how you could've gotten the ability to cast illusions…"

I nodded in agreement as did the others. It was quite rare for a person without any contact with the mafia to suddenly show signs of flame use…at least, that was what I heard.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know when my ability developed, but I just know that I have it so…"

Anrya looked dissatisfied with the answer, but didn't press on. For a while we went back to eating our lunches. It was a nice day outside for a day in December, with a slightly chilly breeze. Eating lunch under the sakuras and maples was quite relaxing.

"Hmmm…maybe if I dissected you and observed you from the inside…or observed your brain a bit I can figure out how you got your ability," Gray said to Selina with nonchalance.

Selina shivered. "Uh, no thank you Gray."

"Relax, I was only joking," Gray said twirling her fork.

"Oh," Selina said with a sigh of relief.

"Scary," Crystal commented.

Gray snorted.

"Well let's go back to what we were talking about before," Anrya said, finishing up her lunch. "We still have ten minutes left in the lunch period, so it's your turn, Rai, to tell us about your home life."

"Eh? Sure," I said. I thought of where I would begin in my story. Unlike the others, I didn't think I had much of an interesting story. My parents didn't travel all over the world like Selina's did, my parents weren't ever part of the mafia, like Esa, Jasmine, and Crystal's parents were, and I didn't have a strange occurrence in my life like Anrya did. I pretty much had a normal life. "Uh, I guess I'll start from my second year in middle school…"

"Run Rai-kun!"

I glanced back as I ran across the school property with a jacket in my hand. It wasn't my jacket, it was a jacket that belonged to a fellow classmate of mine, but since we were playing keep-away, I had the jacket in my possession and was running away from my pursuer.

"Oi baka! Give me my jacket back!" My classmate ran after me, gasping for breath.

I grinned. "Come and get it~!" I shouted over my shoulders as I ran. I ran in circles, zig-zags, around objects, and so forth, until I had covered most of the school grounds. This chase went on for a while until the pursuer behind me tired out and sat on the ground. I stopped and turned around. "Tired already?"

Too tired and out of breath to reply, he just huffed and gasped and gave me an exasperated look. I waited a minute for him to catch his breath, and when he did, he tiredly said, "Can I just have my jacket back? Please?"

I sighed, then smiled. "Sure." With a toss, I returned the jacket back to its owner. Then turning on my heels, I walked to the soccer field and climbed up the post.

"Sempai, lunch period is almost over, don't you think we should head back in?"

I looked down from the goal post. A first year student looked up at me. "Nah, I'm gonna rest a bit before I head back in. I got a nice exercise with Itsuki-kun there, and now I have to rest my muscles."

"Eh? Exercise?"

"That's pretty rough of you Rai-sempai, seeing how you're way more athletic than Istuki-sempai~" Another first year came up to me with a grin.

I grinned back down at him and said, "Well it was still fun~"

Beeeeeeeeeeep

"Ah that was the bell sempai!"

"Looks like we're gonna be late as usual."

I jumped down from the post and landed next to the two first years. "Well, looks like we have to go in." I walked with the two into the school.

"Sempai, are you going to be at the park today for a game of soccer after school?" asked one of the first years.

"Yup."

"Hey Rai-sampai," said the other first year, "this is just rumor on the street, but is it true you got slapped by Kiku-chan the other day for flirting with her?"

I gave him a look. "Ah…"

"I guess it's true then. Not only does Rai-sempai go for most of the girls in his grade, but also the younger girls in my grade." The first year kid gave me a sly look. "What's next? Are you going to ask out an upper classman next? Perhaps Mai-sempai in the third year?"

I just laugh and tousled the kid's hair. "Be quiet~"

"—You seem to have a pretty normal life," said Esa, interrupting my story.

"M'hm" said Crystal in agreement.

"So, how many girls did you have in your second year?" asked Gray.

"Huh?"

"I said how many girls did you have in your second year? You seemed to be quite the playboy then. Were you like that throughout your whole middle school years?"

I gave a lopsided grin. "Actually, I've never dated a single one of them~"

"Well that's surprising," Anrya said. "I thought you would've definitely dated a lot of girls."

I just waved my hand at her. "Nah, they were ok—some were cute—but they weren't my type so, all I did was hang out with them~"

"That's a bit hard to believe," Jasmine commented.

"So anyways, what about your parents?" asked Selina, "What are they like?"

"Well…" I thought a moment. "I don't know."

"Hm? What do you mean 'I don't know'? You live with your parents, so can't you tell us a bit about them?" said Anrya.

"Actually I live with my grandma," I corrected.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I live in my grandma's home. My parents are usually busy with work, so they came home really late and leave really early often. When I was little, I remember them being busy, but as I grew up, they've got even busier." I thought back to when I was little.

"Rai, you're back from school?"

"Uh-huh. Hey mom, can you play a game with me? I learn it at school!"

"Not now honey. Sorry, but I have a lot forms to fill out by tomorrow. Go ask your dad."

"Hey dad?"

"Hmm? What is it Rai?"

"Can you play a game with me?"

"I'm busy right now Rai. Why don't you go do your homework first, and maybe I'll play with you later."

"Ok..."

"Eh~ Really?" said Anrya. "I remember my parents used to work like that too, and that I'd stay over at my grandparents' house, but now they're usually home when I am."

"My parents are pretty busy too since they travel all over," said Selina.

"Hey Rai, so, do your parents know about you joining the mafia?" asked Esa.

"Hm? No, and neither does my grandma. And I told you, I live with my grandma."

"Yeah, I know that, but I'm pretty sure you see your parents some time during the day at your grandma's house."

"No, I mean that my parents live separately rom me," I said.

"Rai."

"Yes mom?"

"Starting tomorrow, you're going to stay with grandma."

"Are we going there to visit her?"

"No, you're going to live with grandma from now on."

"Huh?"

"You're going to go to school in grandma's town and live in her house. The community there is really great and the school system is amazing, so things will be fine."

"Mom, you're not coming?"

"No, I can't Rai. Your dad and I just got a promotion at our job sites and we can't stay home too long. We're worried about you staying home by yourself all the time, so we decided it would be good if you stayed with grandma from now on."

"I can stay home. I'll be fine."

My mom shook her head.

"But I don't want to leave you and dad!"

"Don't worry, daddy and I will take you to grandma's house tomorrow."

"But…but why do I have to stay there by myself? And anyways, don't you and dad have work tomorrow?"

"We decided we would spend the day off and be with you. Tomorrow we'll go to the zoo, eat yummy food, have ice-cream, and a lot more before we drop you off at grandma's house. Doesn't that sound fun?" My mom smiled at me.

"I…guess so."

The next day I had lots of fun with my parents and did lots of things with them. I was pretty happy even though I knew that I'd be living separately from them. When I finally got to grandma's house though, I felt a bit sad.

"Ok Rai, mommy and daddy's going to go now. Be a good boy to grandma, ok?"

"Ok mom." I sniffled.

"Now, now, don't cry."

"I'm not crying."

My mom smiled at me. "Of course you're not. After all you're a big boy now, right?"

I nodded.

"I know mommy and daddy can count on you to be a good boy. After all, Rai is nice, Rai is good at sports, Rai makes lots of friends, and Rai does well at school. You're going to make your parents proud, right?"

I nodded again.

"Since Rai is really the best son in the world, I know you'll be a great kid and make all those around you smile. So Rai, you should smile too."

I wiped away any loose tears.

"Don't worry Rai, we'll visit you when we can, so smile and be a good boy, ok?"

And with that my parents left. As they said, they did visit me. At first it was everyday, then every other day. But soon they visited less and less as they got busier. At one point they only visited during the holidays and my birthday, but soon they stopped coming all together. Now, all I got were letter and post cards, but I didn't ever feel lonely. Like my mother had told me too, I looked into every day with a smile.

"Oh, so what you're saying is that it's only you and your grandma?" said Anrya.

"Yup."

"Do you miss your family?" Crystal asked.

"Hmm~" I played with my chopsticks. "Sometimes, but not much~ Anyways, I have a pretty cute family here with lots of people I like."

Esa snorted.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

"Ah! I think it's time we go back in," said Anrya. "Class is going to start again soon."

"You might want to hurry then," said Gray. "Zero, Ren, Ace, and Darke already left."

"Shoot!" We all scrambled to our feet and collected our things. "C'mon, run guys, we're going to be late!"

We all ran for the school doors, all the while smiling.

owo