"I sit on a man's back choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am sorry for him and wish to lighten his load by all means possible… except by getting off his back." ― Leo Tolstoy, What Then Must We Do?

"You must've been a very sad person in another life."

"Fucking... what?!" Been a while since Daki's seen anyone shock her brother like this. She saw the trio from her second-floor window and raced downstairs to her brother's bedroom to eavesdrop since it faced the driveway where he was working.

Naturally, he declined their offer to go over, not only because he didn't care, but he needed the bike fixed for work that day… not that it was any of her business. But after he declined, there was this pregnant pause before Marin said something Daki could NOT believe. She watched as Gyutaro looked at the blonde dumbstruck, squinting his eyes slightly from his perch on his stool, unable to form a proper response aside from cursing. Even the dolt's friends seemed taken aback at the bold, presumptuous manner in which she insulted her brother.

Pity?! Was she pitying him? She wondered in open stupefaction. no… Her eyes said it all, that's not pity, not rage either, or fear or fucking joy… it was honesty. She was being completely serious! But even though her friends scolded their pet-idiot, Marin's only reply was to brush it off, "I think he'll be OK. Well, catch you later," and kept it moving on to the next thing.

Daki warned him at the HOA that she was gonna be a problem, Gyutaro dismissed it of course, but Daki was so pissed she couldn't stop bitching all day about it spending the better part of yesterday afternoon glaring out the window.

"Look at her!" She scowled as the neighbor picked up a box of items to bring inside. Marin was facing their house and bent so low that her breasts were practically spilling out of that… that– bra she wore with blue tatter strips thrown on top! The slut! The sheer obviousness of her tricks made Daki want to scream.

"Oh, I'm looking all right." Her brother says next to her a touch of awe in his voice as he leers at–she never found out, because she punched him hard, ejecting from whatever midday fantasy he was in or sight he was ogling at.

"Gyuuutaroooo!" she growled through gritted teeth. At least he has the decency to look somewhat apologetic as he rubs his shoulder, "Sorry, I mean…" He wracks his brain for the proper response, "... what an... ugly cunt..." he drawls, earning more admonishment from his sister who smacks him again. "Christ! What do you want from me!?" He cries exasperated now throwing his hands in the air. "She's fucking attractive to say otherwise would make me delusional …or a fag!"

"Moron! You're supposed to say queer, brother. Did you learn nothing from that gay couple who tried to get you fired?" His face was contemplative, but in the end he really didn't get it, "Why? Doesn't it all mean the same thing? It did when we were kids."

"Trust me, I'm online more than you, Dumb ass, it's changed! So if you don't want more rumors swirling that you're closeted and suck dick for money I suggest you quit saying that." He grimaces, "Honestly, How do you even keep up with this? Everyone I work with is a felon! I get called names all the time and nobody gets punished but heaven fucking forbid I say the wrong thing and everybody loses it. If that queer couple," he emphasizes correcting himself, "had such a problem with me they should've said so. Seriously who has time to care? I'll tell ya who, people with good lives and nothing better to do! Like you waking me up on my first day off in-"

But Daki was over her brother's rant, still fixated on the she-devil next door. The fact Gyutaro found their next-door neighbor attractive made her want to rip his face off along with hers. The way that little slut sauntered in the HOA like that. Ugh...The immediate jealousy Daki felt was too immense for words. It boiled inside, almost making steam come out of her ears. She knew Marin was a threat here to dethrone Daki and upend the status quo by using her wiles to seduce the Haganezukas into giving her privileges... fuck that, she'll charm the entire neighborhood!

In fact, was she imagining things or was Marin slightly…more attractive!? Her boobs looked just that much fuller, her ass just that much plumper, her legs just a little bit longer… and her smile just that much brighter… was Daki fucking seeing this correctly or has her jealousy made her go insane?!

When that sniveling worm Hotaru dragged her simp to his office it took every ounce of strength she had not to throw things as Marin stood there gawking down at her with an expression that all but said: 'there's a new bitch in town.'

How dare she! How dare she rub it in her face that she had a nice body by pretending she cobbled her clothes together. Pretending like her follower count ranging in the millions was no big deal. Fucking effortlessly bending Hotaru to her will with a word but if Daki so much as said 'water was wet' that same man would froth at the mouth denying the truth for all its worth simply because Daki uttered it.

Ooooh… she knew she'd be fighting her. Marin didn't know it yet but she had made herself a life-long enemy.

"That fucking bitch! Ooh, I just wanna punch her in her perfect fucking face and knock out all her teeth."

"Well, she invited you over, why not head to the party and make some friends?" her brother smirks leaning against the countertop. "If I go over there I'm murdering everyone, you know that! Even her friends look like models! I bet they fucking are!" She growls her pretty face scrunched in wrinkles. He let's out a laugh, wild and high just like her rage, "I don't get why you're so upset, sister! She's not gonna last, a pretty little thing like her is child's play!" she growls dangerously at him not to call her 'pretty' in her presence. "Oh. Whatever." He pushes off the counter top, "Like I said who has time to care, not me, I'll let you deal with her. Should be simple enough for you to handle. I'm going back to bed." He waves.

"No! You need to deal with that prick Haganezuka!" She scolds.

"Already dealt." He turns back to look at her arms crossed, "figured an entire bottle of magnesium citrate ought to tune his ass up." He laughs again, "his stomach should be tearing itself to shreds any minute now, won't be seeing him for a while." He cackles throwing his head back. But Daki wasn't laughing, "Gyutaro she has her claws in Hotaru, if she turns her attention to Tecchin, then what? We'll have to pay all those fines–"

"Don't worry about that. I got that covered too" he dismisses immediately, "Huh how?" now she turned her shrill voice on him, "you know it's me that keeps the HOA off our backs right? Since you're too fucking lazy to mow the lawn they keep slapping us with fines! If Tecchin ends up getting seduced by her then we're fucked! I can only afford to pay for so much, while you work for peanuts doing fuck-all… or do you want me to suck Tecchin's shriveled dic–"

"Goddammit Ume," Now he groaned, grimacing ever so slightly, "can we not do this again? You keep saying I'm useless yet you're the one who woke me up saying it was an emergency, remember? If you can't even handle HOA what good are you at this point?"

"Fuck you! I pay for this bitch!" She shouted, throwing her hands up as if he should marvel at the housing. "And its me that keeps the HOA off our backs!"

"you didn't convince the HOA of shit, Daki! I DID! So stop saying that already!"

"What do you mean, Gyutaro?" He swallowed uncomfortably turning his gaze away and scratching his head; an obvious sign of guilt. That's when she realized he snitched on himself; fucking cat was out of the bag now.

"I blackmailed Tecchin" He confessed. "Blackmailed him...How!? Did you film us?!"

"Y-you don't need to know." She raked her hands through her hair in disbelief. "You fucker! You're the reason Hotaru yelled at me today Tecchin must've told him!"

"Highly doubt it. Pretty sure Hotaru just fucking hates you–"

"-DOESN'T MATTER!" She shouts scathingly, "So all this time you let me believe it was my flirting that allowed us to stay here, but nope. It was you pulling the strings manipulating me like you always fucking do!"

"I did it for US!" He shouts no longer sheepish, "We needed assurance he wouldn't charge us anymore than He has! Obviously, you don't have him under your thumb as well as you think. Figured he'd keep his mouth shut if I blackmailed him and he did!"

"You think I can't handle anything, don't you?! You treat me like an extension of yourself and I'm fucking sick and tired of it!"

"HEY!" he pointed his index finger at her in warning, "I've spent my entire life doing everything I can for you, I took majority of the ass whoopings, you barely even got a tongue lashing, you've done fuck-all to help out," he spat. "I keep telling you to take before you're taken, Daki I keep telling you but you're just so damn st–"

"–What?! I'm so damn what? Stupid!?" She stormed into his room.

"NO, I was gonna say…" he fumbled for a moment "…st-stubborn!" he finished waiting in the kitchen wondering what the hell she was doing in his room.

"Oh fuck you Gyu! Don't lie! You think I'm fucking stupid." She came out of his room empty handed apparently not finding whatever she was looking for.

"No! I think you're … im-impressionable," he said the word like even he didn't believe it himself sitting on the stool, watching her storm about the house.

"Whatever." Was the slightly muffled reply he got in the bathroom as she throws the dirty clothes he left into the hallway, "no NOT fucking whatever!" He yells back scooping them up and heading towards the laundry room dropping a few items along the way. He curses again when he opens the door and sees wet clothes he forgot to dry and dry clothes he forgot to put away. With a disgruntled moan he dumps the dirty clothes in with the wet and starts the wash all over right as she bull-rushes past him with an empty hamper to shove dry clothes in. "Argh, see! you can't fucking do laundry, and You burn all our shit! Yet you think you're better than me?" With each lobbed insult she shoves an article of clothing into the hamper.

"YOU burn all our shit! YOU can't fucking do laundry!" He retaliates pointing at her accusingly, "And you're home practically all damn day! What do you even do?!" they bickered that day well past the point where it was appropriate.

They even stayed until the next day when their little neighbor stopped by inviting him to the party. Daki was proud of how well her brother handled it. Any other guy would've fallen for Ms. Wily Coyote with her fake "cutesy" valley girl accent and charm but she taught her brother better. Besides, they've heard the same drivel from previous neighbors inviting them over with their fake kindness only to shun them afterward when they did or said something unsavory like Gyutaro's fag comment.

One of them, a gay couple, started off nice and generous at first until he said that word, he wasn't trying to offend, at least she didn't think so. He phrased it like a question and it was the thing he said to them the entire exchange, but they were no longer welcome anyway. Funny, that same fucking couple literally bragged earlier how 'good' they are how much they cared about the poor and uneducated and how they wanted to help by any means necessary... if only they knew. They shunned the exact same people they claimed they loved helping, over a misspeak. No explanations. No greetings. Nothing. Completely forsaken. If irony had a face, it would two-faced, like that couple.

And then came the shit-talk. Not only did they shun them but they had zero qualms about spreading rumors that her brother threatened to hurt them and how afraid they were to be around him… all lies Gyutaro did no such thing. How could he? They made it a point never to meet him after that one time! The only other time he confronted them was when they tried to get him fired. He didn't care about the rumors but he was not gonna tolerate losing another job. Their response? To Call the police. When that fell through, they moved out the next day, leaving their furniture, china and other nice things for the siblings to take and put in their own house. One week was all it took. It was a personal house record for fastest turnaround. Gyutaro was actually proud of himself for getting rid of them with minimal effort plus he got to keep his day job though he did have to sit through an obligatory sensitivity lecture about being more inclusive due to the complaint. Talk. Talk. Talk.

How Daki hated moral brow-beaters. They were the absolute worst kinds of people. She would know, she works in the sex industry which is basically a dumping ground for liars with skeletons in their closets. Men, women, straight or non... didn't matter. Everybody was a liar. The type to point a finger and have 3 fingers pointed right back at them. The same men spouting misogyny in the daylight were the same men simping, begging and pleading for her to give them attention and the men who white knight-ed endlessly that women were queens to be protected are the same ones shaming and calling her a brainwashed whore for defending her brother for his ignorant and outdated mindset. And of course women were no better ... lies... all lies... she hated the lies people told themselves all the time. Why couldn't they admit they were just as selfish and dishonest and petty as she was? Why did the moniker only stick to her and her brother but never the husbands in her DMs hiding their phones from their wives?

The class taught by his manager was an obvious check-boxing stunt to keep operations going, because like Gyutaro said they were all felons, his sex-offending manager called everyone slurs. Gyutaro's nickname was 'the Crackhead Twink'. Daki had to explain it to him since he had no clue what it meant. He laughed finding it somewhat funny, saying something along the lines of 'he gets what he pays for.' When his job handed him a survey on what he learned in the class he drew a giant penis and handed it back. The message clear; Nothing at all. (His manager later got axed for sexual assault only to be reinstated when the male in question, also a druggie, quit pursuing charges, so in the end, nothing changed, his manager kept his job and the guy he assaulted kept working for him.)

Lecturing the Shabanas on inclusivity was so stupid. They were the face of outcasts everywhere, no way a class was gonna change how Gyutaro felt about the world or the hatred he felt for everyone in it. It's the same reason why he laughed off the nickname, complaining about it certainly wouldn't do him any good. In the end, she knew if they died nobody would care. It was never about words or language, it was about the contempt ALL people blessed with better lives had for those at the bottom. They pity you but never do anything. They purport they're morally superior but nobody who is actually a good person walks around reminding people that they're constantly good all the time… The blind man down the street certainly didn't, which is why they never gave him or his family trouble. Anybody who proudly brow-beats people for their moral lapses are just terrified of having the finger pointed back at them.

So Gyutaro fucked up... not like he was up to date with whatever trends were considered socially acceptable he has no friends, no family aside from her, no money, and he works like a mule with other criminals all day... If Daki's work didn't require being online she'd be none-the-wiser, either.

So hearing Marin utter similar nonsense felt like a script. Daki was ready right then and there to burst out her front door, baseball bat in hand and kick Tig-bitties off her property ... had her Gyutaro not let it go. When Daki asked Gyutaro later about it his only comment before slamming his door shut was: "That girl is the stupidest fucking bitch I've ever seen in my life!"

So it's war then.

Daki squealed in delight. Things were always much easier when Gyutaro didn't drag his feet, now that he was sufficiently pissed he'll be helpful at sabotaging her… or so she thought…

She really wished she had paid more attention when her brother told her their neighbor got involved in his spat with Hotaru, (Daki raged out the instant Gyutaro mentioned their names.) Because had she listened she might've noticed the subtle, yet crucial, detail he said about Hotaru wanting to get the police involved.

If she knew ahead of time she could've used Tecchin to stop it! Daki was unhinged when they took him. What the fuck was she supposed to do now?! She ran around frantically trying to think of a way to save her brother. Did I have enough money? What're his charges? How long do I have? Should I ask the blind man down the street? Will he go to prison this time? Will I be… alone? Who can help me? Who wants to help? Where are the brow-beaters this time?

The unbridled rage she initially felt gave way to worry before descending into a deep and intense panic; She might lose him- for good this time… because as stupid as the charge is attempted murder, multiplied with Gyutaro's other shit, carries an absurd price to pay. She can't cover it on her paycheck alone, no way. She begged the blind asshole to do something but he was completely useless. She has to get to Tecchin's...

She has to …she has to …she has to… like a mantra, she repeated it trying hard not to sob uncontrollably. When she bangs on the door and the old man answers she demands an audience with him, linking arms like they were on a date to a more secluded area. There she touched and kissed trying to get the perverted old fool to submit to being her puppet once more and force his son to drop the charges. She was about to unbuckle his pants when he panicked suddenly shoving her face down with a jolt.

When she looked up she saw a car pulling up not too far away from his residence and a voluptuous figure emerging from out of the car. A hooker? Hotaru, has a hooker? yes, this is exactly the blackmail she needs! But upon closer scrutiny, she realized the outfit was too specific to be a generic hooker. It looked like a… costume…

"I knew it!" She shouted unable to hold her cry back, "I knew it, I knew it!" She was trying to move in on them! In fact that bitch is probably the fucking reason Gyutaro got arrested she's whispering poison in Hotaru's ear! She wanted to break in their house but with Tecchin still latched to her like a baby to his mother's tit she had to keep him occupied besides it was clear the slut didn't come alone someone else is in the car.

Eventually, she came out, entered the car and left while Daki remained hidden finishing the hand job she was giving and made a beeline straight home to get the Vaseline because it was time to beat that bitch's ass and FORCE her to get that fool Hotaru to release Gyutaro ASAP. She banged loudly on the front door until the bimbo opened it with a stupid expression on her face but after a while her face fell into what could only be described as acceptance after Daki explained exactly why she was there.

"Can we at least remove our nails?" The neighbor asked pointing to the acrylics on Daki's hands. She calls one of her female friends to get several bowls ready before inviting Daki inside to have her nails removed.

It was a …strange sight. The two girls sitting in opposite corners, hands in the bowls peeling their nails off before a cat-fight; her friends hovering nervously around them. The entire time Daki's scowl never left her face while Marin's eyes darted everywhere but Daki's face. Her friends made it abundantly clear they didn't like this plan, (except that cute boy she was with back in the subdivision building, and her friend who carried the bowls,) They knew what this was. This was a vendetta, she had to fight now or else never show her face again.

After removing their nails, they took it to the front yard. Kensei (that was the cute one's name) stated that if things got out of hand they were gonna step in. Marin nodded while Daki rolled her eyes, "Whatever! Let's just do this!" she wound up and threw the first punch, landing square in Marin's face; a perfect hit, marking the beginning of her long overdue beat-down.