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School Rumble (Broom and I)

Mei finally smiled after hearing Jana and Mel's brief exchange. Everything was going to be okay, as long as she had her friends and her mother's support.

***

It was time for Yoko to leave Turuga, and truthfully she had long since tired of this place since the end of the tournament. However, she had some loose ends to tie up, and tonight she would be bringing Ren home with her, despite her declining her offer to go willingly. It wouldn't be too difficult to grab her, especially when she knew where she liked to go on Friday evenings all by herself. She still had some time to speak with her ally here, one that would keep the commander of DC and her lackeys occupied while she ran off with some of her students.

Nicholas was a strange, but reliable person who had ambitions that were greater than the average teenager. He was willing to try again for what he wanted, even after being thrown in jail. However, she trusted that he would not be stupid enough to do things the harsher way this time. Hopefully he would try a more strategic approach. She wanted to hear what he had planned.

So she waited patiently at their usual meeting spot. Some dainty little cafe in the heart of Blue. At least they had good black coffee here.
 
Nicolas was not the man who murdered anyone, and Mei had been gracious enough to pardon him. He was unsure of how comfortable he had been for it, to be honest. It felt odd and strange, almost like he had completely lost and his freedom was his purgatory. In a way, he had made the way Turuga was in the first place, but nothing had really changed. The DC still patrolled the streets, keeping the fighting under a respectable control. It was made difficult because of the new blood that had rolled in, thugs from Red and filled the roster, with those stupid Korean brothers somehow managing to maintain a semblance of control, and now, Green and Blue had contributed. It was like a wildfire, they had only grown stronger for all of his struggles.

A frustrating turn of events, to say the least.

Nicolas arrived and sat without much fanfare, his blue eyes watching Yoko a moment before sighing.

"It's been a little while," he stated easily. "Leaving so soon?"
 
"I have better things to do than to hang around here, you know that. Plus the longer I wait to train the weaklings that wanted to be apart of my cause, the more difficult of a situation I put myself in. Hopefully they're all worth the effort." Yoko said passively before taking one long sip of her coffee and then putting her cup down. "Besides, I have a much more pressing matter to deal with. Reneta didn't want to come back with me, so now I have to take her back. The window of opportunity is slim when she's always around her greasy boyfriend. I'm sure my little stunt will lure him and his brother away from Turuga for a while, so your best chance to strike would be after their disappearance. They may be trashy, but one of them will at least have the brains to figure out what happened to her."
 
"You are playing with a fire you can't control, Yoko," Nicolas chuckled. "Those two may be thugs...and have an odd fear of wearing shirts, but they are far more dangerous than you give them credit for, especially Sejae. Are you sure this is the path you want to take? As I know far too well, some roads you cannot turn away from." Truthfully, even when he knew Komoku as a friend of sorts, he had always noticed the two of them. Dujae with his almost lackadaisical, lazy air...and his brother. Well, it was telling when Komoku gave the two a berth at times.

Something was wrong with that one. But in Turuga, what did that mean? So many kids got to explore all their darkest thoughts without a care in the world. And even despite that, the status quo had not changed, and still Nicolas felt the urge to fight back, even if he knew it was fruitless to do so.
 
"I don't want to control them, truthfully. However, I doubt the two of them will give me much of a problem. Not in my territory. It might be hard for you to imagine, but I have an entire army of students at the ready...and they will be my shield at a moments notice. Why bother trying to control something that won't hurt you?" Eva asked with a grin. Honestly, they were nothing but flies. Perhaps they would cause some inconvenience, but nothing would stand in her way from taking Ren home. She would learn...she would remember as soon as she saw her true birth place.

"Anyways, you should worry about yourself. I trust you have made the proper preparations for this Coup d'état of the disciplinary committee? It shouldn't be too hard now that the majority of your obstacles are out of the way.."
 
Nicolas chuckled, fingers running over the finely polished oak. In an earlier time, maybe he would have thought that too. Maybe he would have believed that there was enough left to fight.

"Do you know the story of King Pyrrhus of Epirus, Yoko?" he asked. "How no matter how victorious he was, his causalities were far too great to achieve his goal?"
 
"I have heard the story, yes. What does that have to do with what we're talking about now?" Yoko asked, though there was no curiosity in her voice. Only impatience. She wasn't in the mood to listen to his theatrics today, not when she had other things to do very soon after their little meeting.
 
"Nothing," Nicolas chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll do my part in your little story. You'll have all the time you need, but I'm telling you that you're underestimating what you're doing. You're going to get more than you bargained for." He supposed it was fine, in all honesty. There was nothing else he could do to change her mind, and he'd have one more chance to see if this plan would even work, was it worth a try? He didn't know, but...the offer to do it in the first place was inciting in of itself.
 
"You should worry about yourself," Yoko said as she slowly got up from her chair. "Make sure everyone here is too distracted by your bullshit to figure out where my recruits disappeared to..." Kitten had no parents here to worry about her, but it would be troublesome if any of the adults here somehow figured out their children had been brought to another country that had...tight relations. As long as she brought no trouble to her father, he didn't care what she did.
 
"I'll make sure of it," Nicolas murmured easily. "Hope you enjoy your new tourists, Yoko. They'll make quite the entrance." he grinned. In a way, it was sort of refreshing to know that he was not the only one who wished to see the status quo change, but she was here for something else. If there was one truth he knew, it's that Mei had formed a loyal little ring of people who would not back down no matter what. In a way, it'd be a true test. She had fought from nothing and had DC in the palm of her hand.

All of that aside, he had heard about Komoku. It was a shame, really. Komoku had always been a friend of sorts, he wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone. Which brought him to another quandry of his own, but he supposed he'd deal with that as the time came.
 
"Hmph." Yoko smirked, turning on her heel and exiting the cafe. She trusted Nicholas to be a suitable distraction...however he talked too much. Perhaps that would come back to be something she'd regret. Still, it didn't matter. None of it would matter once she accomplished everything she had set out to do.

***

It wasn't uncommon for Kitten to be in the park at a late hour. Normally, it was when she couldn't sleep. Unfortunately ever since the tournament had ended, she was here at the same time every night like clockwork. Sejae and the others new where she was going, and they didn't stop her. She had done the same thing her first few weeks living with the brothers, in a strange place that she didn't know. It took a while for her to stop missing Shi and Zhao. She had missed the warmth of them at night, she had missed the days where everything was simple. For a long time, she wasn't sure if she wanted to think for herself.

Now she wasn't sure if she had made the right decision to stay. Yoko didn't seem like she was faking her concern, but neither did the twins. She was confused again, and the only thing that ever made sense were the cats that gathered around her while she sat on her bench and fed them. She was curious, but scared. Her thoughts were once again contradicting her just like before. On one had, she really did want to stay with her friends. However, she was curious about her family as well. The only thing that was stopping her was fear. Fear of once again having her entire life turned upside down, and having to adjust all over again. What if..what if her memories never came back to her? What if her parents would always be strangers to her?

...But what if going home did give her back what she lost? What if it made her a person again? A real one who had greater ambitions. Real ambitions...what if she used to be someone who liked thinking for herself?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps behind her and she stood up immediately. The cats did not like that very much and took off all at once. She turned slowly, but when she saw who it was she relaxed a little. Why? She didn't know.

"I didn't mean to scare them away, but cats don't like me much anyway." Yoko stated passively as she watched the last of them make their way into the bushes. "I'm assuming this is why they call you Kitten?"

"Shi and Zhao called me Kitten long before I started liking them." Kitten answered softly before she decided to sit again. Even if she didn't remember Yoko, she didn't feel threatened. She should have, but she didn't.

"You've always liked them. You had one back home. Big fluffy white thing. Never liked me either. You named her Icing...because she was your present on your eighth birthday." Yoko found it strange that Kitten wasn't on guard with her like before. Perhaps she was beginning to remember?

"Icing..." Kitten said softly. A familiar name...and the rare times she dreamed, she occasionally saw a white, long haired cat. Was that Icing? For a moment, she tried to picture it, but the memory never formed. It was extremely frustrating. "...You're here because you're not taking no for an answer, right?"

Yoko was about to come closer, but she stopped herself upon hearing that. Interesting, if she knew why she was here, then her letting her guard down really did not make sense. "Unfortunately, that is truly the case. I could never lie to you, Renata. I need you home. I have missed you ever since you were stolen away. I thought I would never see you again, and I can't go home thinking that. So, now that I've told you this, will you struggle?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them as Kitten thought it over. She should fight back, she knew that she should have. She loved Sejae. She loved her friends. She didn't want to go with someone who wanted to make her do things she didn't want to do. Still, is that what she really wanted? Or did she tell herself that, because that's what everyone around her would tell her?

"Nothing...makes sense in my life. Nothing except that I like the people I am with. I love Sejae, a lot. I don't want to leave him, but..."

"You know you don't belong here. You know that you are different. Most of all, you know that I don't want to hurt you." Yoko finished for her. She didn't want to admit it, but she was right.

"I don't know how I know that last part. Maybe it's because...you look at me differently than everyone else. You aren't a good person though, are you?" Kitten questioned, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"I suppose not." Yoko admitted blankly before she moved towards her. It made Kitten tense up, but she made no move to stand. "You saw what I did to Eva Kishi. She deserved it...flaunting her fire tricks as if she was something special. Most of all though, she has such a poor taste in partners. What that blonde bitch did to you was infuriating and it took everything in my power not to jump in and deal with her myself. I knew you had it under control though. Like you should have had your last fight under control."

"I lost fair and square." Kitten said quickly.

"You were holding back." Yoko shot back before she placed her hand on her shoulder. "Please don't make this hard for me, Renata." Once again, there was a long silence as Kitten stared at the ground. She moved her hand towards the zip block bag at her side and dumped out the cat food she had taken with her for the night. They would need...all the food they could get. She knew, deep in her heart that she would not be coming back to feed them any time soon.

"I have to, or it won't feel right." Kitten finally said before rising to her feet. Yoko's hand slipped off her shoulder and she frowned at that. "This time...I won't hold back, Yoko. I might be confused about a lot of things, but...I don't want you to make me do something I'm not absolutely sure about. If I go with you, it's because I have no choice."

"if that would make it easier on you, so be it." Yoko said, her features hardening as she prepared herself for a...difficult fight. After all, this was one of the few people she wouldn't take pleasure in hurting.

It was to be expected, however. She knew Renata better than Renata knew herself. This would be over quickly, if only because of the fact that she didn't remember. She didn't know how to fight like before.
 
He knew something was wrong when he didn't feel the familiar weight of her against his side when he woke up, and he didn't hear her calming hum from the kitchen as she dutifully cooked. They had talked about maybe once things settled down, that Komoku could give her a few more lessons. But she was learning rather well on her own, turned out Emma knew a thing or two about cooking...but instead, the apartment felt cold and empty. His sleepiness left in the moment the thought hit him, and he was out the door before his brother would ever be awake.

He knew where to go, because the news was blaring about it. The local park had some kind of huge brawl, and some of the images he saw weren't pleasant to think about. Going to see it in person was enough to make his already frigid blood go colder. The police were already there, talking to witnesses and discussing what happened. Nobody was hurt, but he knew that. Kitten would sooner let herself get hurt before someone else did. It was a wreck, however...he knew those melt marks anywhere. Kitten was fighting, actually fighting. Solid impacts dotted the terrain, some of the trees were still crackling faintly with simmering heat. Someone fought Kitten, willingly? Why?

He crossed his arms with a faint frown, his brain already starting to turn gears. Nobody would be dumb enough to fight Kitten, but...he did remember Jana saying something about that one girl, Yoko calling her Ren, Kitten expressed as much as well. His finger tapped gently against his bicep, the implications settling into a pit of cold fury in his stomach. Was that woman really strong enough to fight Kitten off? Maybe he needed answers, and maybe he noticed a familiar face in the line of police. Wasn't too surprising, before the streak of goodwill that they had accumulated. Komoku and the Jae Hoon brothers had quite the police record on them.

He would find his answers one way or another.
 
Ceasar had been called there early in the morning, and they were wrapping up their investigation since none of their witnesses actually saw who had been involved. It must not have been hard to see the fight from far away, or hear it for that matter. This wasn't just a some fight between two kids having a disagreement, this was more than that. The strange part was that there didn't seem to be any trace of a second element, so unless they were both lava users, the other person involved was strong enough to over power their opponent with just their strength. Judging by the craters in the ground everywhere, and the fallen trees...that wasn't such an unbelievable theory.

He had to consider the possibility of an adult being possibly involved, but it didn't exactly make the most sense. An adult who wanted a child would have no problem taking them without so much of a struggle. He couldn't see two adults being involved, because the damage would have been twice, if not three times as great as it was.

His train of thought was interrupted when he saw a familiar face. An angry one, he wasn't used to seeing that from Sejae. He was much more calmer than his brother, so for him to be upset about something, he had to have known something. "Sejae...it's been a while." He casually greeted. And it had. He hadn't seen much of any of his normal trouble makers after Mei had given them something to do at DC.
 
"Detective," Sejae murmured faintly, arms crossed. Not every cop was a bad one, even if being a cop meant that the very nature of them interlined with the kind of shit they used to do on a daily basis. "What have you found out so far?" Like it or not, he did know more than he was putting on, but he wasn't telling him anything unless he heard something in return. Not that he needed his help, all things considered, Sejae could find out on his own. This would just speed up the process.
 
"Not much," Ceasar said with a faint sigh before looking back on the scene. "It's clear that this was a struggle, but if it were just a case of two kids fighting, one of them would still be here. Both of them are gone, the witnesses who came to see what was happening didn't get here in time to see a damn thing except for black car driving away. Could have been a coincidence, or it could have been related. No one got any license plate info, so it's a dead end. Why? Do you think you know something about this?"
 
"Maybe," Sejae grunted in irritation, rubbing his chin in thought. "That woman, Yoko...she's from somewhere else, isn't she?" She seemed particularly interested in Kitten, and Kitten seemed interested in her, but this? This seemed different, why would they fight? Sejae didn't claim to understand why Kitten would want to go anyway, but...what would have caused them to do this? She was taken, that much was very clear. "Volaysia?"
 
"What woman? Who are you talking about?" Ceasar asked, his brow furrowing. "Did you see anything, Sejae?" He wasn't sure, but out of his mumbling he heard him mention Volaysia, a smaller, newer country that Turuga didn't have the best relations with. He needed more information, but he hoped that this didn't involve an investigation out of he country. Especially that country.
 
"There was a girl at the tournament, her name was Yoko," Sejae explained. "She mentioned something about Kitten, they seemed to know each other....where is Volaysia?" he asked. "It's north, isn't it?" If they had taken her there, there was only one way to know for sure. But if it was Yoko, what did that mean? Did that mean Kitten was actually from there? Did she have family? Were people missing her?

It made him uncomfortable to think about, but one thing he did know was that she was obviously taken against her will.
 
"Volaysia is north from here, yes. But Sejae, you have to slow down. Do you think Yoko girl took Kitten? Did you see her do it?" Well, he had his missing girl. Kitten, he had heard of her. She had always been a mystery. He had run into her before, when she first turned up at the station after being involved in some small time theft a few years ago. He had never found any clues about who she was. He just figured she was an orphan, and her parents did a good job of keeping her off the books.
 
"No," Sejae murmured. "But I know that's where she is, so that's where I'm going." he stated simply. "Thanks for your help, Detective." Volaysia, he didn't know much about it, to be honest. Not many in Turuga really talked a whole lot about it, supposedly they had some problem with Turuga, or vice versa...hard to tell with the Council and formerly Kishi running things, for all Sejae knew, they started something they couldn't finish. It didn't really matter though, if Kitten was there, that's where he was headed, end of story.

Getting into another nation would be tricky, but when did that ever stop them?
 
Ceasar sighed heavily and scratched the back of his neck. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop him, not when he had that look in his eye. "Just...promise me you'll go there legally. Stay out of trouble. They don't like us over there and will treat you like shit if you piss them off. I don't know how much I can find evidence wise, but I'll do everything I can to build a case here."
 
"I can go there legally," Sejae murmured, turning to leave with a lazy shrug. "But since when have we ever been good at not causing trouble, Detective?" Once, they used to be some of the worst thugs in Turuga with Komoku, that never really changed, it was just directed to more positive aspects, and really...it's not like he missed the old days when the new ones were just as busy, if not more. But some roots you couldn't get rid of, they'd always just be alley dogs biting at other people's heels.

Maybe it was time he bit somewhere else for a change. Someone had taken her from him, and they would regret that when he found them.

--

It wasn't really like Sejae to not be a morning person, he always was, in fact he knew that he was. But this morning felt different, as...different as it could be when his apartment was still jammed with Cat and Emma, who seemed perfectly content with staying with them as long as Cat did. He'd say he wasn't a fan of it, but Emma seemed to lack the modesty that Cat enjoyed and...well, that was...that was nice, right? It was strange though, when Sejae texted him. In retrospect, maybe it was just out of some kind of brotherly bond, or Sejae wanted someone to know...or...something else that Dujae couldn't think of.

I'm going out of town, I'll be gone for a while. Dujae's thoughts shifted immediately away from the conversation going on in the kitchen, his thumb already working across the keypad. Sejae never went out of town anymore.

What? Why? What's up? he asked curiously.

Don't worry about it, okay? I'll be back before you know it. he replied back.

What? Come on, Sejae, where are you going? No answer, he waited...and waited, and nothing. He frowned, swiping his phone to call him. It rang until voicemail and Dujae hung up, staring at his phone. The hell was going on...? Why was Sejae going out of town, and why the hell wasn't he telling him about it. All he knew, it got a bad feeling in his gut about it.
 
"Dujae? What's up?" Catalina asked curiously when she walked out of the shower, still drying her hair. It was strange to seem him clinging to his phone like that, normally he was eating breakfast by now. It was usually made already, cold because Kitten got up early to make it, but still good. Today she didn't smell a hint of food in the house, did that mean Kitten and Sejae had gone out earlier? If it was that simple, then why Dujae look so upset?
 
"...Sejae," He mumbled faintly. "He's going out of town, but he won't say why."

"...So?" Emma said curiously, brow arched as she sipped her morning tea. "That not normal?"

"No, not even a little bit," Dujae said, tapping his phone on the table with a frown. "He's never hidden much from me anymore, but he didn't even answer when I asked."
 
"I wonder if it had something to do with Kitten..." Catalina said with a frown. What didn't make sense was why neither of them would tell anyone where they were going. It seemed strange, it wasn't like either of them were particularly secretive. "I don't like this, Dujae. I've got a bad feeling."
 
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