Chapter 11

Being on the rooftop this time felt strange; there was no one trying to make her jump off, which was a much-needed relief.

"So this is where you've been hiding for lunch," Arthur muttered, closing the door behind him.

"Lucas! We're here!" Amaya called out as they arrived.

"I have eyes to see, no need to scream my name yet!" he said in mock annoyance, stepping off from his little platform where he liked to nap.

"Why are you always here? Don't you ever go to class?" Amaya asked curiously. Did he just skip class whenever he felt like it? He was in his graduating year; that didn't look good.

Lucas shrugged. "Class feels like a waste of time for me. It doesn't matter if I graduate anyway."

"Do you want to hear the news or not?"

"I want to hear!"

"Well, you know how Jean was complaining a lot about number 20?"

"Number 20?" Arthur asked, raising a brow. Amaya realized she hadn't told him about it, but then again, it never really came up.

"He's this super important gang leader ranked 20th under this super cool organization called Mamuchi."

Arthur nodded in understanding. "So what about this guy?"

"Well, Jean challenged him to a fight."

"No way!" Amaya exclaimed in shock. Lucas scoffed smugly.

"Pretty cool, right? I knew you'd want to watch..."

"No! Jean is like a baby!" she said in horror. What the hell was happening right now? Wasn't Jean like sixteen? What the hell was he thinking?

Lucas was taken aback by her reaction. He thought she'd want to watch, so he even bought tickets. "Eh... so you don't want to watch?"

"Who the fuck is Jean?" Arthur asked, still out of the loop.

"Jean is this crazy strong kid from another school," Amaya explained quickly. "He's part of the same gang network Lucas is in, but he's way younger."

"And he thinks he can take on number 20?" Arthur asked, incredulous.

"Apparently," Lucas said, crossing his arms. "He's got guts, I'll give him that."

Amaya paced back and forth, worry etched on her face. "He could get seriously hurt. Why would he do something so reckless?"

"He's trying to prove himself," Lucas replied. "You know how these things go. It's all about reputation."

Amaya sighed, feeling a knot of anxiety forming in her stomach. "When is this fight supposed to happen?"

"Next week," Lucas said, pulling out the tickets. "I got us seats if you want to go."

Amaya hesitated. She didn't want to see Jean get hurt, but she also felt a responsibility to support him. "Alright, I'll go. But if things get out of hand, we need to step in."

"No Amaya, you can't interfere with this." Lucas said seriously, "this is a matter of pride and reputation, no one can interfere in this fight."

"Lucas, Jean is a kid, you said it yourself number 20 is a college aged kid, I don't care about reputation what if something bad happens to Jean?"

"That's the risk you take in a path like this, if you interfere Jean will never forgive you."

Amaya felt this was all wrong, "can we talk about this another time? Chiyo's party is this Friday and I need to get ready."

"You're going to that?" Arthur asked, "is that a good idea? I won't be there this time."

"Oh I'm not going, there's no way they'd let me, but Arthur, we have to get ready."

"Hold on, are the two of you planning to crash the party or something?" Lucas asked glaring at Arthur.

"Why not? It'll be interesting don't you think? Wanna come?"

"Eh, ok."

Arthur looked at his phone and decided it was time to head home. "I have to get back early today, my dad is going somewhere I need to go with him."

"That's cool, see you tomorrow!" Amaya said her goodbye.

"Aren't you going home either? It's getting late?" Arthur said, he worried she would get in trouble walking back at night alone. "Or is your driver picking you up?"

"No Lucas is taking me to get my nails done." She brought out her hand so he could see her fingers. "I grew them out so I could get some pretty nails." A perk of coming to a modern world, were the pretty things she enjoyed.

Arthur looked at Lucas in confusion. "Where did you get the money?" As far as he knew Lucas didn't have rich parents and a job and the kind of nails Amaya liked would probably be expensive.

Lucas frowned, "why? It's just nails?"

Arthur looked at him in exasperation. "Sure, see you tomorrow." Lucas would find out the hardest just how expensive nails can get.

·͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Meanwhile, Chiyo also had plans for Amaya, making a phone call after school to the familiar voice of Kenji

"You need to get rid of her before the party! She's back in school and she even beat up Riku."

[Don't worry, I have a plan for her, I promised you didn't I?]

"Ok, I'll leave it to you."

She needed to get rid of Amaya before anyone found out she was the true Suzuki heiress. This week would be her last!

·͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Downtown in the city of kurasuno prefecture, the cities were full of people despite the darkness, students could be spotted coming back from cram school and office workers coming back from work. In the midst of the liveliness was a Deadman walking. Lucas - who looked like his soul had been sucked out of him - was walking next to a skipping Amaya as she admired her brand new nails.

At least she has happened, she had been staring at them and skipping around like a Disney princess so even if his wallet bled it was fine.

"Thank you for the nails, they look so pretty."

"Ha ha, I'm glad you like them." He said dryly trying to compose himself. It's too late now to take it back, he could only sigh and research properly before agreeing to get a girl something. "Are you hungry? We can get something to eat."

"Alright, my treat this time!" She wasn't mean enough to ask him to pay, he may be eighteen but he's still a highschool kid.

Lucas picked out a convenience store, despite her encouragement to pick somewhere better he ultimately preferred the variety and comfort of junk food.

As they walked in they spotted a familiar face with a bowl of ramen.

"Jean!"

The young boy perked up as his name and smiled at Amaya who ran over to give him a hug.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have a curfew?"

Her words caused him to get flustered, "I am the top four of kurasuno, how could I possibly have a curfew!?"

"So you're hiding from your retainer?" Lucas asked embarrassing the kid more.

Jean gave a glare to Lucas"What are you guys doing here, are you on a date?" Now it was Lucas's turn to be embarrassed.

"N-No way!"

"If you're not on a date then go away, leave the pretty nee-chan to me."

Lucas's reaction was unsightly but Amaya found it cute pinching his cheeks. "Jean I heard you're gonna fight number 20."

"Yeah! You'd better come and watch, I'll show you how amazing I am." He was definitely cocky and proud of himself. Amaya wanted to pull his cheeks fiercely, where are his parents letting him fight adults willynilly.

"Jean, you can't possibly think this is a good idea."

Jean shrugged, leaning back in his chair with a serious expression. "I have a reputation to withhold, I'm not doing this for jokes. Those guys are dealing in my territory without permission, it's not cool."

"This is serious, Jean," Lucas said seriously. "Number 20 is dangerous. This isn't some schoolyard brawl."

Jean's grin faltered for a moment before he shrugged again. "I can handle it. Besides, if pretty nee-chan comes to cheer for me I think I can win!"

Amaya sighed, "Jean I really don't want to see you in the hospital or worse, a morgue."

"Don't worry, pretty nee-chan. I'll be fine."

Lucas rolled his eyes, grabbing a tray of food. "Let's just eat." He couldn't stand the kid flirting up and down.

They sat down together, the conversation turning to lighter topics.

"So, what did you get your nails done for?" Jean asked, glancing at Amaya's hands.

Amaya beamed, showing off her nails. "Well they're my fight nails, Lucas treated me. Aren't they pretty?"

Jean nodded approvingly. "They look great. Lucas has good taste."

Lucas grumbled, "Yeah, yeah, just eat your ramen."

As they ate, Amaya couldn't shake the feeling of worry for Jean. He was young and brash, and the thought of him facing someone as dangerous as Number 20 made her uneasy. But right now the best way to help would be to rescue him if it got bad.

After they finished eating, they watched Jean leave with his hand in his pockets in the same carefree manner he was always in.

"He's going to get himself killed one day," Amaya muttered as they walked back.

"Maybe," Lucas said softly. "But you can't protect him from everything. Sometimes people need to make their own mistakes."

Amaya frowned, this kind of mistake felt too costly to make.

Finally, they reached Amaya's house. She turned to Lucas, giving him a small smile. "Thanks for tonight. I had fun."

Lucas managed a smile in return. "Me too. And don't worry about Jean. He's tougher than he looks."

Amaya nodded, though she still felt a lingering worry. "Goodnight, Lucas."

"Goodnight, Amaya."

She watched as he walked away, disappearing into the night. Then she turned and went inside, only to be met with the stern look of her father.

"Welcome home." He said in his scary voice, if she didn't know his personality she would have thought he was planning to end her life, he was so scary.

"I'm home!" She said cheerfully.

"You should go upstairs to change, we have visitors."

"Oh? Who is it?"

"Your sister's fiance."