There weren't many moments in (Y/n)'s life that would certify her as 'reckless'. Unfortunately, this was one of the few that did.
When she heard of one of her subordinates latest mission, her heart very nearly stopped beating.
It was a simple one, really. All that the subordinate needed to do was to locate a boy of age twelve-- a street urchin-- by the name of Matsui Hiroshi, and bring him in so he could be palmed off to a bigger organization willing to pay a hefty prize for him in return. In other words, the mission was a bounty hunt for a kid with an ability that the buying clients needed for whatever reason.
None of the nitty gritty details mattered to her. What she cared about was the fact that she knew Hiroshi. He was one of the many kids she'd essentially taken to caring for. Hiroshi was a little older than most of the kids on the street since they either died or found some way to earn a livelihood through illicit activities, and he'd taken quite a bit of time before warming up to her presence, but he was a good boy who cared for his younger companions and did his best to survive each day.
He'd been abandoned young, much like she had, because of the nature of his abilities. There were quite a few people who turned away from a gift concerning death and the spiritual realm. His own parents had deemed him some sort of an abomination for his 'unnatural' connection to the netherworld, deciding that the boy was some sort of offspring from hell and would be better off dead.
But Hiroshi had survived, and maybe (Y/n) saw just a little bit of her younger self in the boy that made her care enough to slip away as soon as word of the mission reached her so she could find him before anyone else could. (Y/n) didn't have a plan. She didn't know what she would do after reaching him. What she did know was that she couldn't-- wouldn't-- stand by while they took a child away for their own selfish purposes.
No child deserved to have their innocence stripped away so mercilessly. Hiroshi was by no means unaware of the cruelties of the world, but the things he could be subjected to wherever he was to be whisked off to were enough to quite possibly break him in ways that would shatter anyone's spirit. Knowing this, and feeling the weight of the promise she'd made to herself and these kids, (Y/n) found herself appearing in the shadows of one of the many alleyways of Yokohama, wildly searching for a familiar head of wild black hair.
"Hiroshi!" she called to him urgently, bringing the boy's attention to her from his friends as she neared them. "We have to go before they get here. There's not much time."
He blinked, dark eyes peering up at her in confusion and some worry. "What?" he voiced slowly. "What're you talking about? Who's coming, onee-san?"
She frowned grimly. "The Mafia," (Y/n) answered in a grave voice that warned of nothing good, causing all the children to stiffen. "The rest of you need to run and hide before they get here. If anyone asks, you do not know anyone by the name of Matsui Hiroshi and have never heard of anyone with his gift or appearance. Deny everything and stay safe."
Now, Hiroshi was looking rightfully alarmed, struggling under the iron grip she had on his arm. "What is going on?" he demanded, panicking, caught in a fit of distrust.
Her gaze softened, some of her calm making its reappearance and giving way to rationality. "You're in danger, Hiroshi. There's some sort of bounty for you in the black market and we need to get you out of here before the Mafia shows up for you."
Baffled, the younger boy found his mouth opening and closing with no words coming to mind as he struggled to process just what was happening
"I'll explain later," she promised, "but we need to go now." Turning to the rest of the children, she added, "All of you need to go. Be careful. I don't think I'll be in any position to help you for a while, so I need all of you to be on guard for everything. If you see someone from the Mafia, stick together and evade as much as you can. For now, you must all go."
"What about me?" Hiroshi asked in a frightened whisper, brown eyes wide and watery in fear.
(Y/n) shifted her hold to his hand, giving it a firm squeeze in what she hoped was reassurance. "I'll figure something out, Hiroshi. Trust me. For now, we need to get out of here."
Seemingly in a daze, Hiroshi allowed the older female to direct him to a pool of shadows collecting towards the end of the alleyway, wondering if he was being led into a trap even as he offered no resistance to the cool, unnerving sensation of the shadows surrounding him and transporting him elsewhere.
It was a disconcerting experience that left him feeling vaguely nauseous, but (Y/n) held him fast while he swayed on his feet, giving him a long moment to catch his bearings before he turned his attention from his turning stomach to his surroundings.
Hiroshi was stood in a modest apartment with the very basic of western style furnishing. The colors were all neutral browns, whites and blacks that offered no insight into the owner's personality. There were no interesting knickknacks around, nor any photographs. It wasn't a particularly unwelcoming place, but it didn't feel much like a home either. Something felt missing, but he didn't know what.
Either way, this was the most luxury he'd seen in a while, so he was still a little amazed at how clean the place was. No rats or cockroaches. Nice.
"How about you take a seat?" the elder of the two suggested, steering him towards the sofa before heading into the attached open kitchen to get him a glass of water. It hit Hiroshi that this was her home, which threw him for a loop because he couldn't quite fathom that even though he didn't know the girl beyond 'Onee-san', her status as their helper and her gift, he was now sitting in her home.
Almost like she was picking up on his thoughts, she returned and smiled awkwardly at him, like she wasn't in the practice of smiling at strangers. The uncertainty didn't suit her features, Hiroshi decided. She was somehow too much of an imposing presence to have such an unsure look on her face.
"You don't even know my name, do you?" she muttered, slowly sitting down beside him like she was trying not to startle him even though he was too occupied by thirstily downing the contents of the glass she'd handed him. "I'm (Y/n)," she began, "and I work with the Port Mafia."
It took a good amount of self control for Hiroshi not to just spit out the water in his mouth. In response to his wide eyed stare of disbelief, (Y/n) smiled wryly at him.
"Look, Hiroshi," she continued, "some foreign organization has some use for a power like yours and the Mafia has offered to work as the middleman of sorts. They want to deliver you to this organization in exchange for a very, very large sum of money."
The boy gaped at her. "And you're choosing to help me over the Mafia?" he asked incredulously. "No offense, but isn't that kind of the stupid thing to do?"
"Maybe," she admitted with a careless shrug, "but I couldn't just sit by and let them take you to who knows where so that you could be stuck in some place that sought to strip your shot at a life away from you. I'll admit, I haven't really thought this out too much, but I promise you, I will not let any harm befall you."
Before Hiroshi could ask why she was willing to go so far for him, a series of rapid, frantic knocks on the door had the both of them turning to the front door.
"(Y/n)! I know you're in here, you brat!" came in the voice of an obviously enraged male. "Open the damned door, idiot!"
"Chuuya," (Y/n) muttered to herself, cautiously approaching the door even though she knew she ought to have faith in her friend. Nevertheless, she was on guard, shadows clinging a little too close to her to be natural, as she slowly eased the door open, only to be met with a stream of mostly incoherent curse words as Chuuya invited himself, shoving past her to enter the apartment.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded. "Mori's commanded we bring you in no matter what because, apparently, you decided to go rouge without telling anyone. And all for what? Some kid off the street?"
(Y/n) frowned at the redhead. "He isn't just some random child, you know. He doesn't deserve to be shipped off to them, Chuuya, we both know that."
Pressing the heel of his palms into his eyes in frustration, Chuuya groaned. "For fuck's sake, (Y/n), it isn't our job to worry about that. This guilt and kindness bullshit is what gets people like us killed. Do you seriously think Mori will let this go?"
"No," she answered, straight-faced.
Chuuya fell back, looking at her dubiously. "So that's it, then?" he asked, voice quieter now. "You're just going to leave? With the kid, I assume."
In the living room, Hiroshi tried not to squirm in guilt and discomfort as the weight of the risk (Y/n) was taking for his sake settled upon his shoulders. He still didn't understand why she was willing to go to such lengths, but he was grateful that she was personally ensuring that he wouldn't end up worse off than he already was.
"You know," Chuuya began, an almost bitter but knowing smile settling across his lips, "I knew you'd leave after that bastard did. That it was only a matter of time before you called it quits and left the Mafia. This kid is a very good excuse, isn't he?"
(Y/n) sighed, brushing past her friend to finally enter the living room from the entry hallways where they'd been having the conversation. "It's more than just that, Chuuya," she informed softly, pursing her lips momentarily when she caught sight of Hiroshi sitting there with a guilty look on his face. "But, yes," she continued, turning to the man, "I suppose my only choice would be to leave."
For a short while, Chuuya was quiet, staring at her with his intense gray eyes before sighing, his shoulders dropping as he clenched his jaw. "Then get out," he said finally. "Before the Mafia gets here. Get what you need and get out of Yokohama. Leave the freaking country if you can and don't come back if you can help it." When (Y/n) didn't move, watching him carefully instead, he scoffed. "Come on, small fry. You don't have all day. Go and withdraw all your cash and shit, and get out of here. I'll distract them for a while, but I can't buy you too much time without it being suspicious."
(Y/n) smiled at him, a little sad and grateful and, maybe, even a little proud as she stepped forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug. The both of them weren't really used to physical affection despite their close friendship, so it was a little strange, but the situation seemed to call for it.
"Yeah, yeah," Chuuya muttered, patting her back to signal that she let go. "You owe me one, brat."
"Thanks, Chuuya." She grinned before turning to the silent boy sitting and watching the pair in interest. The girl shortly gestured for him to wait a moment, retreating into her bedroom and returning with a black backpack. "Come on, Hiroshi. Let's get out of here."
Hiroshi looked like he was just about ready to explode with a million questions, but the fiery haired man scared him a little bit and he wasn't quite sure if he even wanted to know, so he nodded and got up obediently, eyeing (Y/n)'s outstretched hand for a moment before taking it. He decided that he liked her firm grip on him and the unnerving stillness in the air around her. It was oddly calming. Somehow similar to the aura he himself projected.
She led him to the most shadowy corner of the room, and Hiroshi braced himself for the nauseating manner of travel again, absently registering that the man named Chuuya quietly wished the both of them good luck before the shadows whisked them off to wherever (Y/n) wanted them to go.
Turns out, it was a bank.
"If we're going to fall off the grid, we're going to need all the cash we can get. No card transactions to leave traces," she explained to him, and he nodded even though it didn't make much sense to him. All he was really bothered about was making it out of this whole ordeal alive.
The pair headed inside, and he immediately concluded that he disliked the bank because he so obviously didn't belong among the people with business suits and the clacking of computer keys with his ratty clothes and greasy, messy hair. Reading his discomfort, (Y/n) put an arm around his narrow shoulders, letting him hide behind her as much as their physiques would allow while they shuffled to an unoccupied teller.
If the woman behind the counter was surprised, she didn't let it show in her dazzling smile. "How may I help you today?" she asked, skillfully ignoring Hiroshi.
"I need to make a withdrawal from my account," (Y/n) muttered, pulling out her identity proofs from the bag and a file of other paperwork that threw the twelve-year-old for a loop.
Once Mina (the lady behind the counter) was done verifying (Y/n)'s details and account number, she turned to them with a more natural smile seeing as they were genuine customers and not just a bunch of kids messing around.
Hiroshi thought that they were lucky that (Y/n) looked older than just eighteen. The maturity in her demeanor made it easy to look past her youthful face.
"How much cash are you looking to withdraw?" Mina asked, looking up from her computer screen.
"All of it," (Y/n) replied without missing a beat.
Mina looked from the girl to Hiroshi, her gaze filled with apprehension until she snapped out of it, seemingly deciding to just go with it and do as asked rather than question it.
"I would also like to close my account," (Y/n) added, and Mina nodded like she'd expected as much before asking them to wait a moment while she sorted out the paperwork and required documentation for their request.
Looking around the bank dully, Hiroshi frowned as two figures by the entrance caught his eye. Peering closer had the boy's blood running cold and he immediately tugged on his elder companion's hand to get her attention. "By the door," he old her frantically when she shot him a quizzical look.
His suspicions were confirmed when (Y/n) followed his line of sight and cursed as she locked onto who he was referring to.
The Mafia had found them.
It was clear from the way the two people by the door straightened in attention that they'd been spotted as well, but rather than trying to hide, (Y/n) let go of Hiroshi's hand and strode forward to confront them.
"What are you doing?" Hiroshi hissed. He knew that (Y/n) was good at handling the goons that targeted the children on the street, but he also knew that she was quite young. He didn't think she could've been too high up in the Mafia. Wouldn't a confrontation with scary guys like the ones at the door just get her killed?
But (Y/n) didn't waver. Her gait was confident and strong, and it was a little hard to look away from her when she looked like some sort of goddess on a warpath. "If the Mafia thinks they can overpower me like this, they've forgotten their place," she muttered, more to herself than to Hiroshi as evident by the thinly veiled malice in her tone of voice that was reminiscent of the cool edge of a knife on one's skin. "Perhaps it's time I remind them of why they fear me in the first place."
As tempted as he was to ask, Hiroshi was a little scared too. He didn't know this side of (Y/n). Yes, he'd seen flashes of it here and there, but the gravity of the iciness she was exuding was a lot more prominent when he was this close. The kids had long since agreed that their Onee-san looked like a well made statue of some sort with a face that looked like it was carefully crafted from stone. Right now, though, Hiroshi wondered if she was made of knives.
Maybe he didn't know (Y/n) as well as he thought he did after the many nights she spent hanging out with the kids. Or, at least, he didn't know this (Y/n)-- the one who was in the Mafia and was probably way more deadly than any of them had given her credit for when she smiled at them like they were her own younger siblings.
"(L/n)-sama," an elderly male greeted, dipping his head in an obvious display of respect, making Hiroshi's eyes widen.
(Y/n) looked unfazed, however, and only nodded in acknowledgment, smoothly pushing her younger companion behind her so as to hide him. "I'm surprised you came yourself, Hirotsu-san," she told him. "I was under the impression that the Black Lizard had more pressing matters at hand."
"Boss wants you brought back more urgently than our prior engagements," Hirotsu Ryuro informed patiently, his sharp gaze finding Hiroshi easily. "I suppose this is the boy," he added, lips turning upwards into some grim semblance to a smile that had the boy whimpering and hunkering down even further.
The girl studied the elderly male and the blonde woman accompanying him before suggesting, "How about we move this discussion outside?"
Now, the blonde woman looked a little surprised. "You intend to fight?" she asked, immediately looking like she regretted speaking when the man's head turned sharply in her direction almost like a silent command to shut up.
"I intend to win," (Y/n) corrected coldly.
Ryuro sighed. "I'd predicted as much," he admitted. "We do have reinforcements, you know, (L/n)-sama. I owed you the courtesy given your prowess."
"I wouldn't have expected anything less from you, Hirotsu-san," she smiled wryly, "but I do believe I have made my intentions clear."
The man stared at her before nodding, a carefully manicured smile gracing his sharp features. "Very well then," he pushed the door open. "The Black Lizard will give its best."
With utmost civility, in a fashion that Hiroshi would not have expected from the Mafia which was known for its brashness and brazen brutality, the four of them left the bank and moved to the alleyways two buildings down from it.
In this time, he stuck as close to (Y/n) as he could without tripping her or himself, all the while trying to get a read on what she was thinking past her lack of expression. She looked somehow grim and resigned, and he wondered what that meant for him.
They came to a stop in a dead end alleyways, and before he could even process it, their exits were cut off by a large group of subordinate mafiosi. Hiroshi's heartbeat sped up in fear as he looked around wildly, praying to whichever omnipotent deity would still bother listening to him to let him survive this.
"I do wish you'd just come back with us, (L/n)-sama," the old man said, smiling wryly. "This is all such a hassle."
(Y/n) smiled an empty, wry smile that somehow filled Hiroshi with even more fear. "Don't worry, Hirotsu-san," she assured coldly. "This won't last long."
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
don't underestimate my
ability to turn you into ruins.
i will shatter your soul
into pieces like you did mine
i will burn your sanctuary
destroy everything you own.
don't ask the gods
to help you because they're
afraid of me
their fear will rain
upon the earth
your kingdom is over
and i will wear your crown too
-- don't test me || a.a.m.l