Shinichiro frowned, reading the packet of information. He was truly lucky, that Takeomi, his vice-president and most definitely somebody he trusts the most, could get him information. Maybe it was childish, to find information on a girl who'd just had bruises on her arm.
But he'd always been weak for girls, and he had found her in the kid's section, thin and looking to be on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. She was searching the clearance section of the boys' jackets, a frown on her face. Her jacket was thin, her eyes on guard, and when he came near she tensed up.
A lot of kids in his gang were like that. When you rule over a large gang, one with a good reputation, people will come to learn to fight, to protect themselves. Whether it be from bullying, abuse- they'll come in with black eyes and bruised arms, long sleeves and excuses, and their eyes will shine the brightest with determination. They're the ones who've seen the most, who have lived through it because they were strong enough too, and they will be some of the first to earn Shinichiro's respect.
That girl's eyes shined, just barely, with the same determination as those kids that'd show up with busted lips and broken arms.
She looked strong.
Maybe Shinichiro was observing too much, for a stranger he'd just bumped into, but while he was loud and often seen as a bit of a fool, he was smarter than others seemed to notice. Or, rather, he had always been scarily observant. Maybe it was something he got from being an older brother, or something he'd been born with.
Plus, you'd been pretty cute, and he couldn't let a cute girl fall into any harm, could he? He wouldn't be much of a gentleman, then.
So if he asks for simple reports on how you're doing each day, then that's only his and his vice-president and captains' business.
--
"What did she do today?" he asked, not having to specify who. Not too many were surprised, honestly. He'd always been rather weak to girls, and even if those girls rejected him, he'd ask for at least some information for his infatuation before getting over it. It was slightly creepy, but most of the time it was simple things like 'What high school does she go to?' or 'Did anybody bother her today?' and then soon after, Shinichiro would move on. Occasionally, the watch would go on longer, if Shinichiro is worried. More often than not, everything will be alright, and he'll stop the watch. But once in a while, his hunch- or worry- had been correct, and they'd saved a girl from her abusive boyfriend, or stopped some cruel bullies.
Only twenty people rejected him so far. This twentieth person seemed to be more concerning, somehow. Or maybe something about her just called out to him?
Shinichiro was asking for more information than usual; where she lived was a question he'd asked. He'd honestly assured them it wasn't for any weird reason, but rather he genuinely thought she was not okay.
The first day was fine. The girl had gone to school - turned out she was in the same class as one of their members, actually, he was the one usually watching her - and went on a detour to go home, make food, and then drop off food to her little brother at the park. Right after, she'd go to her after-school job (a café, where she was unexpectedly a cook who sometimes worked as a waitress). As soon as she was let out of her job, she went back to the playground, picked up her brother and usually went either straight home or shopping.
The only unusual thing was how much she seemed to stay outside of her house, but no problems had arisen, as had been reported to Shinichiro.
The next day was much the same. The girl did her usual routine, although this time they tried her cooking. It was spectacular. They reported such to Shinichiro along with handing him some sweets they'd gotten to go.
The third day, however, they heard yelling from the house. It sounded like a female's, and they'd winced from being able to hear it from the thin apartment walls. They could make out almost every word, and had fairly well noted it down. It was a confusing argument (?), though. Almost like the lady was not yelling at the girl, but rather somebody else. However, throughout the entire conversation, nothing was heard other than the lady's yells.
The fourth day was peaceful, except for today she brought her little brother to the café while she worked. The manager seemed to be a nice old lady with a soft spot for the girl, and let her little brother stay in the back doing homework. They went home with some baked goods for the night.
The fifth day was like the third, in the way that they could hear yelling once more. This time, the girl finally yelled back. Then, there was a scream and sharp silence. They lingered, concerned.
The sixth day, the girl had a bandage on her cheek, and was shopping for first aid kits. She stopped by work and apologized to her manager for needing to go, to which the manager only responded with by giving band-aids and sweets to the girl. The girl then picked up her brother from the park early, giving an excuse for the bandage on her cheek ("I tried to pet a cat, but then it scratched me.. animals don't like me too much." The lie would've been believable if not for the fact that at the bakery the girl had changed her band-aids, and there were no scratch marks from a cat.). Then, the girl went and took her brother shopping for cheap coats. It was getting colder, after all.
Shinichiro had frowned at the report on the sixth day, before asking for a closer watch on the girl's home. The members accepted his reasonable request.
And on the seventh day, they finally got the final picture.
The girl was being abused by her mother.
It left them with a sick feeling when that morning, the girl had worn long pants that just barely hid the bandages trailing up her legs, an injury that had her little brother carefully keeping his pace just barely slower in the mornings.
Shinichiro looked so terrifyingly angry when he got the seventh day's report, a stark difference from the usual smiling image of him.
Yet they understood, and were not scared. They, too, were angry.
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