My old man always said to always expect the unexpected. Things happen for the craziest of reasons. Never question the way your life works out. Therefore, when he decided to move us to Yokohama, I never questioned it. My father knew what he was doing - he was a smart man. Powerful too. I had no reasons to fear anything within the city. Itachi Ito was my father, and he knew everything going on in the city. His nickname back in my hometown had been Dark Lynx. Spry as a cat. Sneaky as one too. The best informant in the Underground. A mafioso to the bitter end.
Well -
A new start in a new city didn't seem such a bad thing truth be told. It's always been easy for me to make friends. Attending a new school wasn't a big deal. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. Father was careful. He never let me travel to school alone or with strangers. Taking a train or bus had been thrown out as an option from the beginning. He took me to school. He picked me up from school. I knew how to fight. My father taught me how to fight - how to defend myself. I had an escape trick for every type of hold. I learned how to use daggers. They were his speciality, and it was fun to learn all the places you could hide them.
It has been fun to live in Yokohama with my father. Of course, we moved when I was 10 years old. Dark Lynx was protecting his young daughter from the truth. He was trying to keep her innocent. I would say it had worked for the first 4 years of living in the city. In my fifth year of living in Yokohama, things took a weird turn. I had almost questioned the circumstance I had found myself in at that moment. Never question anything that happens, I had to remind myself. Things work out in mysterious ways. My expression melted from one of surprise to a neutral expression. I couldn't help the surprise that had shown on my face to see an alleyway gone. I had traversed it many times to get home.
It didn't exist anymore. The buildings that made up the alleyway didn't exist anymore. Hardly any debris existed. A crater existed. I could see that with my own eyes. Three figures came into focus as my eyes drifted over them. That was when my expression changed to neutral. I didn't know them, and they didn't know me. The adult had spotted me first. An audible gasp left his lips before he had begun to walk toward me. His blue suit did not have a spot on it. It seemed peculiar to me; however, I hadn't wanted to ask. To be honest, I wanted to melt into the shadows and disappear.
"Are you alright, miss?" he asked.
Ah. A foreigner. His accent meant he was from Europe, but I couldn't place the country. His head tilted as I realized that my answer came a few seconds too late. A curse ran through my head before I shook my head at him and waved a hand as if to blow off the question. I wasn't close to here when - whatever - had happened. I glanced around the area once again before settling on the man in the blue suit.
"I'm fine," I answered. "I normally take this route to go home. My head must be in the clouds to not realize it didn't exist anymore."
"What's your name?" he continued. "I can help you get home." He smiled at him after his words were spoken.
A lopsided smile appeared on my face as I looked up at him. My expression probably gave off the feeling of I wasn't going to tell it. A hand propped up onto my hip as I leaned slightly to the side before giving a sigh. People were so rude - asking for my name before giving their own. I clicked my tongue in response to his question.
"Why should I tell you?"
"I am cautious," the man answered.
"Honesty is a virtue, I suppose," I said to his answer. "The name's Mio."
The man waited a bit longer before he straightened himself and his suit. He had realized I wasn't going to give him my last name.
"Ito Mio," a much younger voice spoke. "I do suppose you live around here."
My eyes glanced toward the taller boy of the two. Neither looked much older than me. A year - possibly two - either way they were around my age. A brown eye met my blue ones before the boy smirked. It irked me. I felt an eye twitch. I hadn't given him my last name. He shouldn't have known who I was when I had never met him. The huff and groan from the ginger haired boy next to him snapped my attention to him. He looked better.
"And I'm sure you look like a ray of sunshine," he spoke.
"I said that outloud," I hummed. "Whoops."
The other boy began to laugh at the shorter boy. Ah. They had that type of dynamic. My attention sharpened on the laughing boy. He still knew who I was when I did not know who any of them were …
"Hey," I spoke, a coldness to my words. "How do you know who I am?"
"An excellent question!"
I hadn't gotten the answer that day. My father had found me. His own expression told me that I shouldn't have ever met any of those people. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from them. I had been miffed. My question had never been answered. Also, I never knew their names. I had given my father an earful whenever I could about the situation. They knew who I was, but I didn't know who they were.
"I feel exposed," I said to him once.
"I know," he said. "Don't worry about it, Mio. They won't do anything to you."
I knew he meant that they wouldn't dare touch me. I'm worried about it. He couldn't stop the thoughts going through my head. Day after day. Night after night. I didn't let him see it was bothering me. He was trying hard to keep me safe. Safe from the darkness that followed him from the time he was my age - maybe even younger. He wouldn't specify when he started his informant position. Kind of grinded my gears too. Man was a mystery even to his only daughter. Though, I couldn't complain. My life had been normal and great, well, until the day he disappeared.
I had come home from school to the house being torn apart and ransacked. Father was nowhere to be seen. I had lost my composure. I panicked. I was only 15. I could survive to a certain extent, but I wasn't capable of surviving completely on my own. A weakness that I would own up to later in my life. A note, hidden behind a mirror, had my name written across the top. I opened the note hoping for an explanation. It was less of an explanation and more of a set of directions given by the man. My teeth gritted against each other as I read it. I had been livid that he didn't give me an inkling of what had been going on while I was at school.
My little shadow,
It seemed that they had caught up with me. My last few years with you are the most precious to me. They came to get me while you were in school. You're safe for the moment, but I fear they will come back for you. On the back of this note is a number. Call it. That man will know what to do.
Turning over that note and spying that number would change my entire world. The man I called had been Ōgai Mori - the boss of the Port Mafia. That day changed my life in a way that was unexpected. When I had called, Mori had been expecting my call. It sent a shiver down my spine when he answered the phone.
"Mio-chan," he answered. "I was expecting your phone call."
"I suppose you would have been," I replied. "My father told me to call you."
"And an excellent decision on his part," the man said. "I do not know what he had for him to have to disappear without his dear daughter, but I do know that I can protect you."
"Can you?"
Mori laughed from the other side of the phone.
"My dear," he said. "Nobody crosses the Port Mafia."
It had been a whirlwind after that, dear father. At the age of fifteen, I had been accepted into the Port Mafia due to my ability. Twisted Shadows was a capable skill for infiltration and obtaining information. My training from my father prepared me for a life as an informant. The man had planned it all out to make sure I would survive and live my life. The Port Mafia welcomed me with open arms. A few characters in the mafia didn't seem to enjoy my presence, but it had been expected. Not everybody had to like everybody.
But, hey, I finally found out the identities of those two boys I met in that alleyway. And, boy, were they going to take me for a ride.