"A GANG? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"Or you can call it an organization."
"BUT WHY?" Eli shouts. You quickly glare at him, making him go quiet.
"Can you not yell..."
"Why would you want to make a gang? Do you know how problematic that can be?"
"Yes."
"So why?"
"I want to save people... that's why."
"But you can save people by not creating a gang..." He sighs.
"I can, but the people I want to save might require it."
"I don't understand... what people? I thought you wanted to save your mom..."
"I do, but I want to save a few others too." You add, slowly looking at Eli. Eli furrows his eyebrows, both of his hands gripping the soda.
"Who?" Eli questions. You look in front of you, staring at the puddle. Should you tell him exactly what you mean?
"It's not really a who exactly..." You softly say.
"It's a what?" He asks. You stare into the distance and then sigh, tilting your head towards him. Your eyes relax when he looks back at you.
"Not a what, but... I don't know... it's just that..." You sigh, rubbing the moisture off the soda. "Have you wanted to save someone... but you can't figure out how to do it?"
"Well yeah..."
"I want to save a few people, but it requires a lot to save them..." You softly say, wrapping your arms around your legs.
"That's why you want to create a gang?" Eli asks. You nod. "But wouldn't creating a gang create more problems?"
"Possibly, but... I still want to try." You softly say.
"Okay... so say we do create a gang... how do we recruit people?" He asks. Your eyes slowly widen. You look at Eli and then forward again.
"I have an idea." You softly say.
Knock Knock
You stand outside the door waiting for someone to answer. Eli stands beside you, staring around him.
"This is Hana's house? I never actually been here before." He softly says. The door opens, and Hana shows. You stare at her, feeling a mixture of emotions.
Should I really include her in this? Even after what she said in the future... is she really still a friend? You question.
"Why are you here?" Hana asks, glaring at Eli. Eli furrows his eyebrows and crosses his arms.
"So Yuki can be here, but I can't?"
"No... I'm not really pleased by your presence. It's truthfully a disgrace to see you standing before me." Hana crosses her arms and looks away. Eli squints his eyes and slowly looks towards you.
"She sounds like some awful actor from one of those boring romantic dynasty shows." Eli huffs.
"Hey! Those shows are actually interesting."
"Yeah, right... Hentai is more interesting than that trash." Eli grumbles.
"Hentai? I knew you watched that type of stuff, you disgusting perv."
"Me? No, your stupid little crush watches it." Eli rasps.
"UH! HOW DARE YOU? FIRST OFF, REN IS NOT MY CRUSH AND SECONDLY- HE DOES NOT WATCH HENTAI!" She shouts. "ONLY WEIRDOS LIKE YOU WATCH THAT GARBAGE!"
"Yeah... and only freaks like you watch romantic dynasties." Eli huffs.
"NO! THE ONLY FREAK HERE IS YOU!"
"You both are so awfully loud." You groan. Both Hana and Eli look at you.
"Yeah, Eli, shut up." Hana huffs, crossing her arms and looking away.
"Me? You were the one shouting, and she said BOTH of us... you dumbass." Eli rasps. You flick him in the side of his head. He covers the spot you flicked and looks at you with shock. Your eyes narrow when he does.
"Stop"
"But-"
"I don't want to hear it."
"Tch..." Eli looks away, his face flushing.
"Why did you come here... and why did you bring that thing with you?" Hana says, pointing at Eli. You clench your fists a bit, then sigh.
"I want to start a gang..."
"What?" Hana looks at you in shock. She looks behind her, then back at you. She walks out the door, pulling it close behind her.
"What are you talking about?" She asks. You furrow your eyebrows and look down towards your shoes.
"I want to create a gang that stops other gangs... does that make sense?"
"In the slightest, I guess..."
"In the slightest?" You question.
"Yeah... I get it, but do you know how dangerous it is to create a gang? And how bad other gangs are? Just by being one, you become a target."
"Thats true..." Eli sighs.
"There are a couple of gangs Ren spoke about before called Moebius... they're active where Ayame lives... and for Ren... there's another one called the Black Dragons..." Hana comments.
"Also... there are smaller gangs that are still wandering around causing havoc... and those dudes are scary." Eli sighs.
"Wait... how do you guys know so much?" You ask.
"My mom always talks about how dangerous it is to walk around certain places because I'm a girl... and that boys older than me can target me and... yeah-"
"..." You sigh and rub the back of your head, trying to think.
"I get what you're trying to say, but creating a gang might cause problems... problems you don't want... I don't think creating a gang can save anything honestly." Hana says in a calm tone. You slowly nod and take a deep breath.
"Okay." You turn away, and you walk down the stairs.
"Wait, Yuki, that's it? That's why you came?" Hana asks.
"Yes..." You look back at Hana and then forward again. "You're right... creating a gang won't do anything, so I would have to do something else." You turn away and continue forward. Hana furrows he eyebrows and slowly looks at Eli whos still standing in front of her.
"Why are you still here?" Hana asks. Eli looks at Hana and then back at you.
"... you know- I'm only going to tell you this because I'm concerned... but did you know Yuki's mom's boyfriend has been abusing them, or have you been oblivious to it?"
"..." Hana stares at Eli, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah, I know about that weirdo that her mom dates."
"Do you know anything about him?" Eli asks. Hana crosses her arms and sighs.
"No... I only know that her mom is a sex worker." She answers.
"A sex worker?"
"Yeah... which is why shes always working and rarely with Yuki... but my mother has spoken about it, Ayame's mom... mostly in a bad talking manner."
"... I can understand why that is considered looked down upon..." Eli replies.
"No shit. Yuki was born in Kyoto, so obviously they used to live there, but for some reason her mom moved here... and sells her body to get money."
"Actually... I'm curious- how did you meet Yuki?" Eli asks.
"My mom used to babysit Hikari, Yuki's aunt, before I was born. My father was the one working, and my mother was supposed to be a stay at home mother... but she was struggling to get pregnant..." She sighs and crosses her arms. "But a couple of years after I was born, my mother met Yuki's mom for the first time. My mom said her mother was only a child and thought it was odd that a child had a baby."
"Wait, how old was Yuki's mom when she had Yuki?"
"I don't know... like high school age..." Hana slowly says.
"I just know me and Yuki got close after my father decided to become a deadbeat and start a new family... leaving us behind. Because of that, my mom had to work, and Yuki's mom would babysit me and Mika... so that's how I became friends with Yuki." Hana adds. "Basically... I know almost everything about Yuki."
"Oh..." Eli looks into the distance where you walked and then back at Hana. "Yuki seems very ambitious, but I don't know what it is." Eli sighs.
"Mm... I don't see the difference- she seems like the same Yuki as before."
"I don't know- to me shes different... but it might be that she wants the abuse to stop."
"I bet- but there's nothing much you can do about it... that's an adult affair- only adults can stop things like that. Not us- we have no power." Hana sighs. "Anyways... get away from my house... you're not welcome here." Hana shoos Eli away.
You stand outside Shinichiro's shop staring inside of it, through the window. He sees you and furrows his eyebrows. He stands up from where he is sitting and walks out the door.
"Hey kid... what's up?" He says, letting go of the door. You stare up at him.
"You're the founding leader of the black dragons... right?" You ask. Shinichiro's eyes widen.
"How did you know that? Did Mikey tell you?"
"No."
"Was it Hikari?"
"No."
"...Good... I haven't told her about that-"
"Wait, why?" You ask, tilting your head. "Wouldn't you want to tell her that you were gang affiliated before?" You ask.
"I don't want her involved... but that doesn't matter- why are you asking that?"
"If I wanted to create a gang, how would I do that?" You ask. Shinichiro stares at you before smiling.
"You want to create a gang?" He chuckles.
"Yes." You answer with a stern tone. His smile disappears, and his eyes narrow slightly.
"You know that-"
"I know." You interrupt. Shinichiro examines you, his eyebrows furrowing a bit. He takes a deep breath and sits down on a crate in front of his store. You stare at him, feeling a bit confused. He pulls out a cigarette from his pocket and lights it.
"Why do you want to create a gang?"
"I want to save someone."
"You want to create a gang to save someone?" Shinichiro asks in a low tone? You nod. He takes a deep breath and flicks his cigarette. "I get what you're coming from, but-"
"No, you don't." You interrupt. Shinichiro's eyes drag towards yours. "I don't want to know any of the pros and cons of creating a gang... I just want to know how to create one." You add. Shinichiro's eyes drift towards the ground. He flicks his cigarette again and sighs.
"You pack a punch for a little girl, you know..."
"Huh? What's that mean?" You say in confusion.
"I'm saying you're a lot for someone who looks so small and fragile." He answers. "You remind me of Mikey..."
Your eyes narrow at his statement. He notices and smiles.
"You have a disgusted look on your face." He laughs. "I assume you and Mikey didn't hit it off well."
"He's rude."
"He seems that way, but it's probably because he's really reserved. He cares a lot more than it seems." He smiles. You stare at him, thinking about his words. You furrow your eyebrows, trying to remember the first time you met Mikey... Was he like that when I first met him? You question.
"He said something about you the other day... saying you were odd. He's not very fond of Hikari... he thinks Hikari is a crazy girl who stalks me." Shinichiro chuckles.
"Because she likes you?" You question.
"She likes me? Did she tell you that?" Shinichiro asks with a shocked look on his face. You raise an eyebrow.
"You're asking that almost like you didn't know..."
"A part of me believed she did, but I couldn't tell..." He laughs. "She's a cutie, but shes young... and I'm not the type of guy she would wanna rely on."
"Are you pessimistic?" You ask. Shinichiro looks at you and smiles.
"You speak so maturely... you must be very smart."
"I guess."
"I try not to be... but after a lot that I witnessed... it's kind of hard-" he sighs and rests his arms on his knees. He flicks the cigarette once more before dropping it on the ground and crushing it with his shoe.
"Have you ever wanted to save someone?" You ask.
"Of course..."
"And how far did you go to do so?" You ask. Shinichiro's eyes widen, then relax.
"You want to save your mom?" He asks.
"Yes... but there are a few others I want to save." You answer.
You never thought about it... but now talking to him gives you a clearer mindset.
I want to save my mother, Takemichi, Kazutora, Emma, Izana, and Shinichiro... and- Your eyes widen, and you clench your fists.
"I want to change fate." You answer.
"Change fate?" Shinichiro's eyes widen.
TO BE CONTINUED FEBRUARY 1ST!