The sun is beaming through the window onto your face. You slowly open your eyes to see Aimi and Hana still asleep. You look out the bedroom window to see the sky covered in clouds. It wasn't very bright outside, but the sunlight is still shining through.
It looks like it's going to rain, you think to yourself.
You quietly climb out of bed, trying not to wake them. You slide open the bedroom door to see Ren and Eli awake, sitting on the couch.
"Oh... you're awake." Ren says.
Eli is sitting on the ground, lost in thought. You quietly slide the bedroom door closed.
"Yeah. Did you both sleep at all?" you ask.
Ren nods.
"I slept a little... I don't know about Eli though." Ren says, looking at the back of Eli's head.
You look at Eli, who's still completely zoned out.
"Eli..." you say, trying to get him to snap out of it.
Eli slowly looks up at you, and tears begin to form in his eyes. Your eyes widen when you see him crying. Ren also looks confused.
"Are you okay?" you quietly ask.
"No... I'm such a coward..." Eli sniffles.
He pulls his legs close to his chest and rest his head on his knees, closing his eyes as he sobs and shivers.
A couple of hours pass, and you, Aimi, Hana, Ren, and Eli are sitting in the living room around the coffee table in front of the couch. There are a bunch of pastries spread across the table. Yuki's grandmother gave you a few for everyone to eat.
"So... both of you are members of Toman..." Aimi says, her words sounding like a statement rather than a question.
Ren nods. Eli is zoned out again.
"We're under the First Division, and we have to follow Baji, the First Division Captain." Ren adds.
"That doesn't seem too bad." Aimi says
"You would think... but they're still suspicious of us." Ren states. "That's exactly why we're under the First Division to begin with."
Ren takes a bite of a cream-filled pastry.
"Oh... and by the way, Hana... you might want a new phone and number. Baji is using this to contact us." Ren says through a mouthful of pastry while holding up Hana's phone.
Hana sighs and looks down.
"And they now know what I look like." Hana whines.
Everyone sits quietly eating pasties.
BZZZZZ BZZZZZ
Ren grabs Hana's phone and answers it.
"Hello?" Ren answers.
"Hana?"
Ren looks at Hana and shakes his head, motioning for her to be quiet.
"Who?" Ren questions.
"I'm calling Hana through my work phone since she's not answering my phone calls. Who is this? You don't sound like Hana." the voice on the phone says.
"That's my mom" Hana whispers.
"Your phone didn't ring a single time for your mom..." Ren whispers back, holding the phone away from his face.
"Yeah... because I blocked her..."
"Why?" Aimi asks Hana.
"Because... she's trying to get me to join this stupid nutritionist thing. She's saying if I keep eating the way I do, I'll just get critically obese and end up dying from some sort of dumb heart attack or whatever. I don't want to do that dumb ass diet. Soooo I blocked her... I'm rebelling. No one's taking my favorite food from me." Hana whispers irritably.
"Hello?" Hana's mother says.
"Hi..." Ren responds.
"Who is this?"
"This is... Cheol-soo Lee..." Ren quietly says into the phone. "Or you might remember me as Ren..."
"The Korean boy? Do you know where Hana is?"
"No... I don't"
"Why do you have her phone?"
"Hana wants me to fix her phone since it won't work properly..." Ren says, rubbing the back of his head.
"Okay... well, when you see Hana, can you tell her she needs to come home NOW? That crazy girl is always driving me insane..."
Ren nods. He has a tired smile on his face while Hana's mom goes on a rant.
"I will let her know." He replies.
"Thank you, Ren... and tell your mom I said hi. Wait, she's in the States, right?"
"Yes... But I will let her know we spoke." Ren answers.
"Okay. Thank you. Bye."
The call ends.
Everyone looks at Ren.
"Cheol-soo?" Eli questions, looking up at Ren.
"Yeah... that's my real name." Ren answers.
"Wait... did Hana already know this?" Eli asks.
"Everyone knew this Eli..." Aimi replies.
I didn't know that, you think to yourself.
"Welp... looks like I have to go." Hana says, standing up and grabbing a couple of pastries.
She shoves them into her mouth.
"Oh, and thank you for lending me your clothes, Yuki..." She muffles as she winks at you.
You nod.
When Hana leaves, Aimi goes with her.
That just leaves you, Eli, and Ren.
Eli is eating a pastry while Ren is going through Hana's phone.
"She doesn't have anyone on her phone other than me, Yuki, Aimi, her sister and her parents. Oh... and some random number too." Ren says as he scrolls through Hana's contacts.
Eli looks at Ren in confusion.
"She takes an awful lot of pictures." Ren sighs. "Probably why her battery and storage is so bad."
"Wait, she doesn't have me in there?" Eli asks.
Both you and Ren look at Eli.
"Of course she doesn't... all you do is piss that girl off..." Ren replies.
"Well... she pisses me off too." Eli responds, looking away with a pouty expression on his face.
"You said there was a random number? That's not Eli's?" You ask.
"Nope... I know Eli's number by heart. Due to how much he calls me." Ren glares at Eli and then sighs. "Though I can say I do recognize the number- I might have it in my phone."
The phone starts vibrating in Ren's hand. His eyebrows furrow as he answers the call and hands it to Eli.
"Hello?" Eli says, looking at Ren in confusion.
"Oi, Eli... what are you doing?" the voice asks from the other end.
Eli stiffens and takes a deep breath.
"Nothing as of now." Eli answers.
"Okay. I want you to meet me at the bridge we were at last night. Be there in 5 minutes."
"Five minutes? But the-"
The phone makes a click sound.
"GODDAMIT! THE PHONE DIED!" Eli groans loudly. He sinks to the ground and begins to grumble.
"Who was that?" you ask.
"Baji..." Ren responds.
"Yep... which means it's time to go, Ren..." Eli says, standing up and stretching.
Ren stays seated, looking up at Eli with a relaxed expression.
Eli looks at Ren and motions for him to get up.
"He said that to you... not me" Ren points out.
"He did?... Just me?" Eli asks with a worried look on his face.
Ren nods.
"Didn't you hear him? He wants you to meet with him." Ren says in a low tone, smiling at Eli.
Eli sighs loudly.
"I DON'T WANT TO GO ALONEEEE..." Eli groans, slowly sinking to the ground again. He lays on the floor with his arms and legs wide open.
"Yuki... can we go to your grandparents place? I want to meet your grandpa." Ren asks. He stares at you, waiting for an answer.
You sigh at Eli and nod at Ren.
Ren looks at Eli.
"We can walk you halfway, but we will split ways after." Ren says.
"Fine." Eli sighs
The three of you walk for a while before you and Ren split ways to head toward Yuki's grandparents place.
"Wait- Why do you want to meet my grandpa?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.
"He taught you martial arts, right?" Ren asks.
You nod.
"Well... he taught me different kinds of martial arts, but he mostly taught me how to defend myself."
Ren nods and chuckles.
"I knew you were talented, but I didn't know you were that talented." He softly says, smiling at you.
You look away from his smile feeling flustered.
"Yeah..." You smile back.
"Did you choose to learn martial arts?" He asks.
Your eyes relax and your smile disappears.
"No."
More of Yuki's memories fill your mind.
There is a memory of Yuki's grandma yelling at Yuki's grandpa because Yuki was in pain and crying from the soreness from practicing martial arts.
"I didn't want to learn Martial Arts... It hurt, and I was tired."
You rub your arm as more memories play in your mind.
"One day, I was listening in on my grandparents. They were arguing about me learning martial arts. My grandma didn't understand why my grandpa was forcing me to learn. Neither did I. But my grandpa explained he wanted to teach me so that I can protect myself."
"My mother was being hurt by her boyfriend at the time, and it broke my grandpa's heart. He taught my uncles martial arts when they were younger, but he never taught my aunts or my mother. He said he regretted it and chose to teach me so that I can always protect myself."
"I never knew that was his reason. I knew my mother was being beaten but I was small and weak. I wanted to get stronger so.... I decided to suck it up and learn how to fight."
"I wanted to protect my mother..." you say in a softer tone.
"But... I was never able to protect her."
Your eyes sadden.
Ren looks at you with a sad expression.
"You're a really strong person, Yuki. You did all that training to protect your mother... that's such a sweet thing to do." Ren says, smiling.
Your eyes relax and you put your hands in your pockets.
"Now... my new goal is to protect my friends. I also want to protect all the innocent people who get taken advantage of. That's mainly why I got invested in Toman." you say with a smile.
"Makes more sense now." He laughs. "Then I'm willing to be your ally."
"Ally? But you're a member of Toman... wouldn't that affect you?" you ask.
"Yeah... I am a member of Toman... but I was your ally way before I was theirs. I will always choose my friends and family over others... even if it means risking my fate." Ren replies, smiling at you.
"But I don't want you to carry the burden on your own... that's why I want to meet your grandpa. I want him to teach me some stuff as well so that I'm not a liability." Ren smiles more.
You nod.
"Okay." you smile as well.