(Third Person POV)
Eight years ago...
"Umm, father?" The little nine-year-old girl blinked in her seat at the kitchen island, raising her head up to look at the tall man before her.
A tall man with short black hair and dark blue eyes in his mid-twenties turned around to look at the little girl he had met one week prior, now alert. "Yes, Rena?"
Rena dropped her eyes to the counter, kicking her legs that hung down from the stool she was sitting on. "Why did you take me in?"
Sam Monroe, the notorious world-class thief renowned for his heartless and emotionally-detached behavior, felt his gaze falter. He couldn't help but smile happily at the little girl he had already grown to adore so much. "Well, Rena, it's because you remind me of myself when I was your age."
"I do?" Rena blinked at him curiously, slowly sitting up straight all of a sudden.
"Yes." He smiled, then ruffled her shoulder-length brown hair. "Just like you, I didn't have any parents to take care of me. I grew up in a dojo with my Sensei, who was the one who taught me everything I know."
Rena just stared at him very shocked. "And you want me, of all the little girls out there, to be your daughter...?" Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared down at the floor. "Why don't you just pick someone better..."
Sam smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, gently making Rena look up at him. "Rena, do you remember how we met?"
Rena grimaced, then sweatdropped. "...I...tried to...pick-pocket you..." She awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
Sam just cracked up at the sheepish look on her face, and he ruffled her hair again. "Yes, you did. And do you remember what I said to you?"
Rena shuffled in her seat. "When you found me in that alley after I pick-pocketed you, you turned around and looked at me and said, 'I'm insulted that you managed to pick-pocket me so horribly,' and you grabbed my hand that held your wallet..." Rena sweatdropped again.
"Don't you see?" Sam smiled at the little girl. "There is no one better than you, Rena."
She was so caught off guard by the compliment that she didn't know what to say, and she just dropped her jaw. "...h-how...?"
Sam patted her on the head, annoying the girl by messing up her hair again. "Because you've got guts." He grinned at her. "You ran away from your orphanage at age nine and tried to live off on the streets by yourself; that takes guts, Princess."
Rena cracked a teensy smile at the amount of respect Sam held for her. "So, Sensei---" She caught her mistake and quickly corrected herself. "I mean, father, what exactly do you do...?"
Sam stiffened just slightly, and his eyes darkened. "Well, Rena... Unlike most adults, my job isn't exactly...legal."
Her eyes couldn't help but widen in shock. "Wait, really? What is it?" Rena's curiosity got the best of her once again.
"I'm a world-class thief." Sam smirked, watching as a little Poochyena trotted into the room and jumped up onto the kitchen island. He started petting the Pokemon Rena had brought with her when Sam had unofficially adopted Rena.
"Whoa..." Rena stared at him, completely amazed. "You are?"
Sam simply nodded his head yes. "I steal specific items requested by my clients, art from museums to sell on the black market, and I currently run my own gun-smuggling ring across four international borders." He smirked, proud of his achievements.
"That's so cool!" Rena slapped her hands on the sides of her face. "I wish I could do cool stuff like that!"
Sam was slightly surprised by her statement, but not entirely. "Well, since you're my daughter now, I have absolutely no problem with teaching you how to be a thief..." He smiled at her with the smile she loved so much.
Rena's eyes grew wide with delighted surprise as she enveloped Sam in a tight hug around his neck. "Yay! I want to be just like you, father!"
Sam hugged her back and carefully pulled away from the hug with a serious look on his face. "Now, Rena. When it comes to being a thief, there are some risks you must take."
"Like what?" Rena blinked up at him, cuddling Poochyena in her arms.
Sam gritted his teeth slightly. "Well, for one, you could get caught and have to go to prison."
The thought did scare Rena, but she wasn't too worried. As long as she had her father, she'd be fine, right? "Okay... What else?"
Sam mulled it over for a moment. "Being a thief doesn't just involve stealing the object, it also means sometimes you must con someone out of the object you're going to steal." He started to explain to Rena, who was attentively listening. "This means that you must make yourself completely emotionally-detached when it comes to any job, and also in general. It's best to ignore your emotions and try to feel the least amount of them as possible."
Rena felt a little crushed that she wouldn't be able to feel very much, but she complied. "Okay, I can do that."
Sam smiled, then patted her on the head. "Don't worry. You can still be yourself when it's just us at home."
Rena sighed in relief, which caused Sam to chuckle ever so slightly. "Was that all?" She asked, staring at Sam brightly.
"Just...one more thing. This is the hardest one." Sam wore a grim look on his face. "Rena, once you agree to this and start your career as a thief, there's no stopping. You must continue to outrun the law your whole life, which means...you can never have a family."
Rena blinked once, twice. "Never...?"
"Never." Sam shook his head. "If you had a family, you would be putting them at constant risk. Being an international world-class thief and a grifter causes you to develop enemies, which can sometimes put both you and your family at risk of being killed." He was completely serious. "The worst thing you can possibly do as a thief is to back out of a job, which in some cases can get you killed."
Rena gulped nervously. "Oh..."
Sam worriedly glanced at her, and he held her small hand in his tightly. "Rena, are you really okay with going down this path...?"
Rena stayed completely silent for a moment before abruptly snapping her head up to look at her father. "It's okay, I never really liked boys anyways."
The statement was so funny and random that Sam couldn't help but bust out laughing, and Rena and Poochyena were quick to join in.
Sam hugged Rena, smiling as he buried his face in her hair. "Don't worry, Princess. As long as you've got me, you already have a family."
Rena scooped up Poochyena so he could join in on the group hug. "And you're all the family I need."
______________________________
Rena stared blankly at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, trying to prevent tears from welling up in her eyes at the forgotten memory.
"You must make yourself completely emotionally-detached when it comes to any job, and also in general."
"It's best to ignore your emotions and try to feel the least amount of them as possible."
"The worst thing you can possibly do as a thief is to back out of a job."
"I'm sorry, father..." One stray tear dropped down Rena's cheek. "I have failed you..."
Rena reached behind her back and tugged her shirt down in the back just enough so that she could catch a glimpse of her tattoo in the mirror. It was a large, rainbow-colored butterfly tattoo that took up most of her upper back. No one but Mightyena knew that she had this tattoo. She'd had it since she was fourteen years old.
It was to symbolize transformation, her transformation. Her transformation from the apprentice to the master. She got this tattoo to symbolize taking over as master, and to honor her father.
It's also what her name meant. 'Rena' means to be 'reborn.'
Rena couldn't take it anymore, and she quietly left the bathroom and tip-toed past a snoring Eevee and Rhythimi, making her way toward her dorm's front door. She quietly snuck out and into the night, trying to find somewhere peaceful she could think. Somewhere away. Rena crept through the dark hallways and walked down the stairs, heading outside. She didn't even really realize that she was making her way towards Ascension Square before she was already halfway down the stairs.
Although, she wasn't alone.
Poor Rena had no idea what she was about to witness when she reached the bottom of the steps, and by the time that she did, it was already too late.
Rena felt her heart explode and shatter into a million pieces as she stared at the sight in shock, completely frozen in place. Her heart had been completely broken in an instant.
Down at the pier was Keith and some girl Rena didn't recognize, and they were both...kissing each other.
Neither Keith or the girl noticed a heartbroken Rena run away as fast as she possibly could, sniffling and choking back sobs.
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Just when we thought things were calming down and going back to normal, another plot twist arrives...with a teeny cliffhanger.
I felt like updating today since I've been a real lazy ass about updating this book as of late. Screw the update races, I'm basically finished anyways since they're both nearly done with their books XD
P.S.: A picture I drew of Rena's tattoo is attached to the chapter :3
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