*ODAGIRI’s POV*

“First question: Why do you know the Oedo family so well?”

She shifted nervously under my stern gaze. “Family friends…?”

I looked at her with my eyebrow raised skeptically and she met my eyes and held them. “Okay. Second question: The tall guy who walked in at the end, he said there were two Ojous present. Yankumi is one. The other one is…”

Silence.

“Me,” she said quietly. “You know, I’m really surprised that you’re so calm about Yankumi being the Ojou in the Oedo family…”

“Am I supposed to be surprised? I knew she was different and with her fighting skills, her being an Ojou makes sense. I’m slightly startled that you said you’re an Ojou though…” I raked my hand through my hair. “Don’t tell me- you’re part of the Nakamura family, huh?”

Her eyes dilated slightly. “Good guess.”

“Well, it’s pretty well known that the Oedo Group and the Nakamura Group work together,” I shrugged.

A smile hinted at the corner of as she watched me closely. “My grandfather is the head of the Nakamura family,” she explained. “He’s my mother’s father. Him and my grandmother divorced and she remarried to a rich businessman. My mom married my father, also son of a wealthy businessman… I prefer to live with by myself or with my grandfather. My father’s parents are annoying.”

“Are they…?”

“They’re the people who only care about money and themselves. That’s how they taught my father and that’s how he tried to raise me. Most of my relatives are like that except for Sho.” She fixed her eyes on the window. “I don’t fit the cut yet I’m an only child, the heiress to my father’s company. I love being around my grandfather and the people who live with him- they’re more of a family to me than my parents are.”

“I understand. My father’s also a businessman… he’s rarely home. When he is home, he doesn’t seem to notice my existence. I’m not alive until I can be of use to him when I grow up,” I said sadly.

“Exactly! I’m nothing but a tool.”

“We’re really alike,” I laughed bitterly.

She nodded. “Any more questions?”

“Third question: What’s your relationship with Ren?”

She looked at me with a bewildered expression on her face. “I grew up with Seiji and his best friend is Ren. Naturally during my childhood I saw Ren a lot… I guess he’s also like a brother to me?”

“You have a lot of ‘brothers’,” I commented.

“Of course! There’s Kuma, Uchi, Shin, Sho, Noda, Minami, Kikwang, Seiji, Ren…” She tackled her brain trying to remember everyone.

“I get it, I get it,” I smiled then grew somber. “Who attacked you guys?”

“Strawberry cupcake darn it! I keep forgetting their names…” She frowned. “I think he said they were the Koporashi group. Well, at least it was something like that,” she crinkled her nose.

“The Kobayashi Group?” I was startled.

She stared at me. “You know them?”

“Oh freaking sh-”

“No cuss words,” she cut in, reprimanding me.

I started again. “Oh freaking ake mushrooms!” I groaned and leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. “I bet you I know why they attacked…”

“Why?” Her eyes flamed, a hungry blaze feeding off my words.

“Harumi’s brother is part of them.”

“WHAT?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “Harumi’s brother is one of their leader’s most trusted advisors.”

“THAT DAUGHTER OF A FREAKING,” she paused, fighting to find the word to describe her, “DAUGHTER OF A FREAKING DEAD MOSQUITO! HOW DARE THEY ATTACK MY FAMILY LIKE THAT!” She leaped to her feet despite her injuries. “I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. SHE WOULD BE THE ONE BEHIND THIS.”

I pulled her back down to the couch, forcing her to sit. She glared up at me, fuming. “We don’t know for sure though,” I reasoned. “Maybe they attacked because you guys are the top…”

“Harumi… I had a nightmare about her recently,” ________ whispered.

“That’s who your nightmares are about?” I asked, startled.

“You knew?”

“Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and I hear you crying.”

She started to shake slightly. “Ever since a year ago… I’ve been having these midnight visits from the nightmare giver,” she laughed dryly.

I watched her struggle to keep her emotions on leash. “You know what I realized?”

“What?” She refused to look me in the eye.

“You rarely show any ‘weak’ emotions. Like now.”

“Why should I? I’m totally fine,” she lied.

“It’s okay to cry and ask for help,” I said softly. “I’m here.”

She turned her head away from me quickly, but not quick enough so that I saw her silent tears. “I don’t need help,” she stubbornly objected.

“You’re lonely, right?”

There was no verbal answer, yet her silence answered it for her.

I continued on. “You’re living in a huge apartment like this all by yourself. Your parents don’t spend any time with you because they’re too caught up with their own affairs. At school you’re this bubbly girl who gets along with everyone, but once you come home you have no one.” I watched her carefully.

No reply.

“I know what you feel like. Even though I live with my parents, it’s like I’m not even there. I try to talk to them and they look at me blankly as if they had forgotten I existed. Yet at least I have their company. You don’t.”

Her shoulders started to shake. I drew her close to me and wrapped my arms around her, rocking her like a mother would comfort a baby. “It’s okay,” I murmured. “It’s okay.”

She looked up at me finally, tears streaming down her cheeks. I gently brushed a tear away and cupped her face. “________, it’s okay to cry.” She held on to me and started to sob.

We sat like that for a long time; me holding her while she cried.

Finally she started winding down and her tears stopped. Exhausted, she rested her head against my chest. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I nodded, my chin resting on her head.

“The nightmares,” she said slowly, “are always about Harumi.” Her body started shivering again. “It’s always the same nightmare.”

She stayed still for a while and began again. “A year ago… Harumi somehow found out where I was. She found it disgusting that I was popular at my school. By some means her flames of jealousy destroyed her one piece at a time until she was nothing but it. An enemy yakuza discovered that she was plotting to annihilate me and fed her whispers of encouragement. Eventually they bonded together and she paid them to attack me and get rid of me. They…”

________’s voice quivered and she broke off, her body violently trembling. Her voice became agonized as she recollected the memories she had thrown into the deepest, farthest part of her mind.

I held her tighter, letting her know that I was there, that I was protecting her.

“They caught me after school one day. I was strolling along the street when suddenly someone grabbed me and yanked me into a dark alleyway. They placed a handkerchief over my mouth and I out. When I woke up I was in the hospital. A person who passed by had discovered my body lying in the shadows and brought me there. My entire body was bruised and I had several broken bones. The doctors told me that I was lucky to be alive."

My rage was building up in me, threatening to erupt, as I watched her tormented face tell me her story, bit by bit. I bit my lip, hard.

“I was in the hospital for a few months. My grandfather had spent the entire time digging up information. He eventually found the gang and demolished them, but they wouldn’t disclose any information on the brains behind the assault. My parents didn’t come visit me, not even a phone call to see how I was doing.” Her eyes filled with tears again and she rapidly blinked them away. “After I got out, I stayed home for a while. I begged my grandfather not to tell anyone what had happened because I didn’t want people precious to me involved. A few days later, however, my doorbell rang while I was at home. It was Harumi.”

I bit my lip even harder as ________ started telling the second part of the story.

(A/N: This whole next part is ________ [YOU] telling the story. Just BTWs)

“She smirked as she stood on the front porch.

‘I’m surprised you’re still alive,’ she laughed.

I stood there confused. No one was supposed to know that I had been attacked. The rumor going around was that I had contracted a serious case of the flu. Then I realized what she said.

‘You’re the one behind this?’ I asked her, astonished. I knew she hated me, but I didn’t know that it was to that extent.

She just laughed again. ‘Too bad your grandfather caught my henchmen.’

She leaned closer to me. ‘Did your phone ring yet?’

My hand reached into my back pocket. ‘No…’

‘Wait a little bit,’ she whistled.

True to her word, my phone rang. When I picked up, it was my best friend’s mother. She was frantic. Yuuki had disappeared. I promised that I would look for her and hung up to see Harumi’s satisfied face.

‘What’d you do to her?’ I screamed.

Harumi snickered. ‘Your grandfather may be good, but he’s not great. He didn’t catch all of the gang. I got the remaining few to kidnap your little friend. If you don’t leave Japan in a week, say goodbye to her.’

I left in five days for America. My grandfather was the only one who knew why and I made him promise to keep it a secret. Sho managed to find out the last part of the story though. Then after a year, I heard from a friend that Yuuki was still missing. That’s why I came back.” She sniffed, trying to hold back more tears.

(A/N: Back to real time!)

Suddenly she reached up and touched my lip. “Ryu! Your lip is bleeding!”

I tasted the iron and wiped it off with my thumb. “I guess I was biting my lip too hard. That’s not what’s important though,” I spoke softly as I tenderly her hair.

She blinked up at me. “But you’re bleeding!”

“Your feelings are more important.”

She stared at me, a bunch of feelings flickering across her face. “You…”

“I’m sorry about everything that happened to you,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. And I’m honored that you told me all of this.”

I closed my eyes, my feelings for her swelling up through my body. I fought against my heart, trying to place a lid on my emotions. I love her.

Then I felt her lips pressing softly against mine.