As Rindou came out of his room, an unfamiliar, almost heavenly smell immediately invaded his senses. Ran was never awake before him, so he was confused. With a yawn, he made his way to the kitchen and the sound of sizzling soon met his ears. When he finally reached the room where the aroma and sounds were emanating from, he spotted Danny standing at the stove. Her bi-colored back and silver hair was tied back into a messy bun with her bangs being held back by a headband. A pair of white earbuds in her ears led down to the pocket of a pair of baggy grey sweats as she swayed along to whatever song was playing and drummed her free hand on her thigh.
"Hope ya like eggs 'n bacon," she said without even looking at him while she flipped the eggs. "It'll be done soon, so go wake your brother up."
In response, Rindou just blinked a few times in confusion. He knew that she was supposed to be staying with them, but this was something he did not expect in the least. Danny, the only person younger than him who was hardly fazed when they ran into each other, being nice? That didn't sit right with him.
Noticing he hadn't left yet, Danny looked at him with a raised brow. "Mornin' fog impair your hearing or somethin'? The food's almost done. Unless you want me eating it all, which I sure as hell can and will, go wake up Ran. I ain't lettin' food go to waste."
Rindou furrowed his brows slightly at her, but complied anyway. He was hungry and, though he hated to admit it, the food smelled great.
"Weirdo..." she muttered as she shut off the fire and put an egg on each of the plates which already had bacon on them. After grabbing her plate and a fork, she sat at the table where she already had a mug of coffee and took the earbuds out of her ears before shutting the MP3 player off.
A few moments later, Rindou came back into the kitchen with Ran trailing a few feet behind. "Okay... What kind of fucked up dream is this?" Ran voiced as he stood in the doorway.
"The dream called life. Now, unless you want me eating everything, pick a plate and eat. I made some coffee too, and if you don't want that, I got some milk and OJ. Take your pick," Danny said before taking a bite of her egg.
The brothers shared a look as if they were asking each other what the hell was going on. Then, Ran shrugged and grabbed a plate before pouring himself a cup of coffee with Rindou following close behind. They silently agreed that this was nothing like they expected, but who were they to complain? The food smelled heavenly, they were hungry, and it was too early to really question the unexpected gesture. "So, did you buy all this, or... ?"
Danny gave Ran a blank look before saying, "No, not at all. The house elves just decided to leave gifts of food and a coffee maker since this place has nothing but chips and popcorn. I tried to thank them, but they just hissed and disappeared into the shadows."
"... What?" Rindou asked, giving her a look that silently asked her what kind of drugs she was on.
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I did, cause I like actual food, thank you very much." Then, she ate her last piece of bacon before downing the rest of her coffee. "If ya need me," she started as she stood, "I'll be in my room minding my own business." After quickly cleaning off her plate and refilling her mug, she left the two alone.
"There's the attitude I expected," Ran commented before he heard the sound of a door closing.
"Mhm," Rindou hummed in agreement. "Did Izana want us to do anything today?"
"Just patrolling, as far as I know."
"Mm. What about that spy?"
"Oh, right... Well," a small smirk tugged at his lips, "we can let Danny have fun with that one, now can't we?"
A short airy laugh escaped Rindou. "500 yen she chickens out or half-asses it."
"A thousand says she snaps one of his bones."
"Deal."
~
"Hey, Takemitchy said you wanted ta see me?" Baji asked as he stopped in front of the bench Sayu was sitting at.
"Ah, yeah. Go ahead and sit. I just..." she sighed as she rubbed her forehead and Baji sat. After Takemichi had told her what was going on, she couldn't help but feel partially responsible. She hadn't given it a second thought at the time, but now that she thought about it, that quick look Danny had given her was her asking for some help. If she had just caught on at the time, maybe this wouldn't have happened. "I just didn't know who else to talk to this about. I know Daju left a note saying that she'd be fine, but I know her. She'll bottle up her feelings until they all come exploding out at once. She'll take her anger out on anyone she fights, sure, but that won't help with the rest of her stress..."
"You're talking about Rin Kamishiro, right?" Baji questioned, making Sayu look at him with a bit of surprise.
"How did you figure that out?"
With a sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck before saying, "The other day when she lost her phone and stayed at my place... I found her by the river, cryin' her eyes out. After she calmed down enough to tell me what happened, whenever she mentioned Kamishiro, she would just stiffen up. She told me a bit about how she was like her mentor back when she was in Black Dragon, but... I dunno, I think somethin' happened between them."
Sayu nodded in agreement. "Back then, after she got into delinquency... every time I'd see her, she'd have fresh cuts and bruises, and after the days she stayed at school a little later, she'd usually have a limp. Daju, being the person she is, always said it was just from a fight or that she tripped and fell. But now..." she pursed her lips together for a moment, "I think Kamishiro was using her as a punching bag. She rants about everyone usually, whether they're a friend or not, but Kamishiro? She hardly spoke ten words about her. It was almost like she was scared to talk about her."
"Yeah," Baji lightly nodded, "I kinda figured that was the case. If I could... I'd go an' get her outta there," he lowly said, making Sayu look at him with a bit of surprise.
Then, she smiled a bit. "You know, Baji..." she started, making him look at her with a raised brow. "You'd better take good care of her."
He blinked in surprise a few times, wondering if he heard her right. "Wha-"
A giggle escaped her, cutting him off. "You guys even have the same tell," she teased as she poked the tip of his ear that was poking out from his hair.
He jerked away, covering his ear with his hand. "Quit it!" he exclaimed, making her chuckle some more.
"All jokes aside, I mean it. The fact that she let herself be vulnerable around you shows that she trusts and cares about you more than most people. If she didn't, she wouldn't have even let you get close to her. Besides, I think you two would be good for each other. You two are already crushing on each other, so why not make it official after all this?"
Surprised, Baji blinked a few times. She... has a crush on me? He couldn't tell if Sayu was being serious or if she was just teasing him. He liked Danny, that much he knew and had accepted, but there was a chance she liked him back? The thought alone made his heart flutter and his stomach swarm with butterflies. "You're... not fucking with me... are you?" he finally asked, still unsure.
"Baji, Daju is like my own sister. I could tell by the way she talks about you and even looks at you. She likes you. I love my romantic dramas, but I'd never lie about this kinda thing. You've got the best shot out of anyone, so shoot it, I say."
~
"Hand it over, Little Brother."
"Fuck you," Rindou grumbled as he slapped the money into his smirking brother's hand.
"I'm the only girl that could kick your ass, and you thought I'd chicken out?" Danny inquired.
The three were back at the apartment, having just finished dealing with the spy that turned out to be three. While Danny was washing the dried blood off her hands, the brothers were in the living room. In all honesty, the two were impressed with how she got the one guy they had to fess up about the other two.
"Hah? We were going easy on you," Rindou said with a glare as he entered the kitchen.
"Mhm. Sure you were~" she teased as she threw a smirk over at him. "If anything, I was the one holding back."
"Uh-huh, sure you were, Princess," Ran said with his own teasing smirk as Danny turned off the water and turned to lean her back against the sink with a raised brow.
"First: don't call me that. It's gross. Second: you guys took over Roppongi when you were, what, twelve and thirteen?"
"Yeah, and?" Rindou replied with a raised brow as he crossed his arms.
"Ever hear of the gang... Ssss... Shit, what was it called again?" She furrowed her brows for a moment, trying to remember the name. "Styx! That's what it was!" she exclaimed, perking up and looking rather proud that she remembered the name.
They shared a look before Ran said, "Yeah, Shion said he took care of that gang by himself. It was like a hundred-fifty against-" He stopped himself when he saw the mood shift on Danny's face. What was once a look of accomplishment was now a look that was calmer than what he had seen before.
"He... WHAT?!"
Both teens found themselves jerking back from the sudden outburst and the pissed-off look that overtook her features. If this had happened last night or even just this morning, they probably wouldn't have even batted an eye, but after spending the day lightly bickering and joking around, they had collectively forgotten that she was known for her temper.
"Oh, I swear to fucking GOD- I'm gonna..." she began ranting as she walked past the brothers, her anger coming off in waves. Seeing Ran's purple phone on the counter next to him, she swiped it before he could even think to say a word in protest.
It took him a second to realize what she had grabbed, but once he did, he made a move to get it. "Hey, what are you-"
She cut him off by tossing him the phone and saying, "He is gonna set this shit straight, whether he likes it or not. If you don't want him leaving in a bodybag, I suggest you hide the knives." She ended that with a quick smile before she stormed off to her room to change into something other than the Tenjiku uniform.
Confused, but curious, Ran opened his phone and went to the texts. "Hey, need to talk to ya ASAP," he read aloud.
"... She's gonna kill him," Rindou blankly said after a moment, making Ran smirk.
"Oh, I have got to make some popcorn," he sniggered before his phone buzzed.
"Ok? Why?" Rindou read this time as a bit of a smile made its way to his face. Out of everyone in their group, Shion had always gotten on his nerves the most, so he wasn't exactly opposed to the idea of seeing his ass get handed to him.
Ran chuckled as he typed out, "Just come over. It's important." "This is gonna be fun."
"Two thousand says she'll dislocate or break somethin'."
"I bet we'll get a noise complaint."
"That's too obvious."
"Fine, I bet he'll cry."
"Deal." With the second bet of the day being made, the brothers left to change into a comfortable set of clothes so they could watch the show.
Ten minutes later, just a moment after Ran had gotten his popcorn, a knock sounded at the door. They both shared a look before Ran went to the door.
"Hey, man, what'd ya need?" Shion asked once Ran let him in.
"Oh, I didn't need anything. Our guest, on the other hand..." he said with a sly smirk growing on his face as they got into the living room.
As if she could sense the presence of Shion, Danny seemingly appeared out of thin air. "Why in God's name have you been taking credit for the fight against Styx?!" she exclaimed as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him down to her level.
While Danny proceeded to verbally rip Shion a new one, Rindou was leaning against the back of the couch with Ran right beside him, munching on the popcorn. Then, Rindou's phone buzzed. After looking at it and texting a reply, he quietly told Ran, "The others are heading over. Think we should break this up?" without looking away from Danny and Shion, one of whom was slowly growing paler as the other kept cursing him out.
"Hell no," he responded with a chuckle. "This is too good of a show to stop."
Rindou shrugged as he grabbed some popcorn and continued to watch the scene play out. This was more interesting than anything that would be on TV anyway. It'd be even more interesting once the others arrived.
A few short minutes later, the others arrived just in time to see Shion get punched in the face. "IT MATTERS 'CAUSE I TOOK THEM DOWN BY MY-FUCKING-SELF, YOU WALKING SACK OF POORLY PACKAGED HORSE SHIT!!"
Izana, who was the first one in, looked at Ran and nodded toward Danny. As much as he would love to see what other insults she could come up with, he didn't need Shion out of commission for the fight against Toman. After handing the almost empty bowl of popcorn to Rindou, Ran took a couple of steps forward until he was behind Danny, who looked like she was about to literally pounce on Shion and rip his throat out. Then, he picked her up by the back of her hoodie, issuing a hiss from her. Not a hiss of pain, but a literal warning hiss, which made everyone freeze in their tracks.
After blinking a few times in surprise Ran asked, "You guys literally just gave us a feral cat, didn't you?"
"Put. Me. Down," she almost growled.
An amused smile made its way to Izana and Rin's faces while Mochi and Kakucho shared a look. "Is the kitty gonna be good?" Izana asked with a teasing tone.
"It's not my fault!" she exclaimed before pointing at Shion, who was sitting up and cupping his bleeding nose. "That arrogant bastard has been saying for years that he brought down the gang Styx, when he knows damn fucking well that I did it! I wouldn't be so fucking mad if it was fifty people, but damnit! That was over a fucking hundred! And I was eleven then, too! If it wasn't for that bastard, I woulda had a sick-ass name too!!!"
That's why she's upset...?
Izana turned to look at Shion with raised brows. "Shion?"
"You're really gonna take her word over mine?" he asked with an offended look.
"Well, you did just freeze up while a girl yelled at you, before she broke your nose it looks like," Rindou stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
"She took me off-guard, that's all!" he exclaimed in defense.
"Fair enough," Ran said with a slight nod. Shion went to open his mouth again, but Ran beat him to the punch. "But, you did just stand there and look like you were about to piss your pants for like five whole minutes. So, I'd say you had plenty of time to recompose yourself."
"Tch. I was the Commander then anyway, so whatever she did was my win."
"This fucking..." Danny mumbled before lifting her arms straight up, making her fall out of her hoodie. She was about to lunge at Shion to strangle his freakishly skinny neck, but a socked foot directly in front of her face stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Down," Izana simply said. With a silent huff, Danny listened, sitting cross-legged as she crossed her arms and sent a glare at Shion, a silent threat that she'd finish what she started later. "Good Kitty."
At the name, Danny's eye twitched slightly, but she reminded herself that she had to endure and that this was better than dealing with Kamishiro. Finally, she broke the glare she had trained on Shion and looked back at Ran. "Gimme that," she said before swiping her hoodie back and slipping it back on over her head.
I fucking hope that the fight happens soon, before I end up having to cover up a murder...
~If you couldn't tell before, she really hates Shion. Especially now. And, so far, I'm liking how these chapters are turning out compared to the original. Originally, there was just gonna be some banter between Danny and the brothers, but I wanted some more stuff, so here it is! Also, my original plan was to have it to where she was pretty much on house arrest with them, but I think this turned out much better. We'll have probably one more chapter like this before we get to the big fight, so that'll be fun:)~