Chasing You

1

As a kid, I wasn't given a normal childhood.

"GET UP! GET UP! TIME IS TICKING!" My father yells at me as I struggle to get over the wooden wall. I lost balance and fell hard on the ground. I open my eyes to see his disappointed look. "You're dead."

My father was in the military. He trained many soldiers before he came home. When he did, he married my mom and somehow gave birth to seven sons. My father was in joy when my brothers were born. But when I was born a girl, he didn't even want to hold me.

My father began to train my brothers into proper soldiers. My mother forbids my father to make me look like a boy to make him train me. He already despised me enough that he ignores my existence.

"Daddy look! I got a hundred on my math test!" I smile at him. He didn't move his eyes away from the TV. "Dad! I got a hundred on my science test!" One of my brothers showed him. "Keep up the good work," Dad replied. It hurt me that my father didn't acknowledge me just because of my gender.

Not only did I not have my father's love, but my brothers treat me like crap. All but one.

"Keep away!" One of my brothers laugh. "Hey! Give her back!" I tried jumping to reach my toy. I began to cry as they wouldn't stop. "That's enough! How can you treat your sister like that?!" Yuji shouts. He grabs my toys and hands them back to me. "Jeez, it was just a harmless joke." "So sensitive." "We do the same to each other. What difference does it make?" Yuji ignores them and takes me inside. On our way to my room, we both hear mom coughing harshly. I look up at Yuji, who just gave a small smile. "Mom is going to get better."

My mom was sick. I wasn't sure what she had since no one cared to tell me. Yuji also kept it hidden from me.

Unfortunately, mom did pass away and I was stuck with Dad and my horrible six brothers. Dad cut my hair and changed everything about me. Including my name. Luckily, it wasn't legal since that old bastard didn't know how it works.

I trained with my brothers. It got harder and harder. When I think I was done...there was more to come. I wanted it to stop. I couldn't take much more of it.

"You have to keep going. You want to show Dad that you're better than him. Show our brothers that you're better than them. You have to keep pushing. I know you can do it." Yuji says.

As the years went by, I was getting better. Better at everything that my father threw at me. I was going to finally prove to him that I was strong enough as a man and as a woman.

However, he and my six horrible brothers went out. Didn't know where and I didn't care. Yuji stayed behind since he had exams the next day. I watched the seven of them leave and that was the last time I saw them.

There was nothing about them on the news. It was like they simply disappeared. Yuji and I didn't mind. Though, we did lose the house and move into a sh*tty apartment. He found a job to be able to carry us from time to time, but it wasn't enough to keep us stable.

So my only solution was to steal. I pickpocket people that look like they have money to spare. I mostly go to Roppongi since it's closer to my home and a lot of tourists and people go there. Yuji found out and he didn't like the idea of my stealing, but I had a counterargument against him and I won.

When I was walking around to find my next victims, I heard a conversation between two delinquents.

"Have you heard about the Underground?" One asks. "What the hell is that?" The other asks. "I heard it's an underground cage fight where people bet on fighters that compete. Usually, the winner gets a prize. You know what the prize is?" "What?" "For every fighter that wins a match, they get a hundred bucks." "A hundred?!" The first guy covered the other guy's mouth to keep him quiet. I looked away as his head turn to me. "Yeah, but get this. As each fighter moves up, they battle bigger and worse fighters. When they reach to the top, they get the honor of being called the Top Champion and getting about almost a million dollars." My eyes widen at the sound of that. "You can sign me up already." The other guy says as he starts to get pumped up. The first one laughs. "As if you can win a million bucks." "I would be good with just a hundred." They both drove on their motorcycles. I thought about it but knew that I was still average on fighting.

"No," Yuji said. "What?! C'mon! This is the only way to get out of this sh*thole!" I retorted. "Language! My final answer is no. I'm letting my little sister go fight strangers that could end her life." He argues. "But you teaching me how to fight will not get me killed! Please! Please! I'll cook your favorite meal! I'll do the chores! I'll even wash your smelly clothes for a year!" I beg. He thinks about it. "Make it as many years until you finally master fighting and parkour. Is it a deal?" I didn't like that he choose me to clean his dirty clothes. "Fine." I shook his hand. "Your training begins after school." I nod. "Hai!"

From then on I trained from after school to almost ten. I was losing a lot of sleep, but I still managed to get back up. Fighting against him was harder than I thought. He was like a shadow tripping me up from behind. Parkour was even harder since every time I passed a certain level, the height grew higher.

I eventually mastered both when I turned 15.

"I have one last gift for you." Yuji then pulled out a patch that has a design of a skull and rose. "Your pass to the Underground." He smiles. I smile widely and hug him. "Thank you! I won't let you down!" I went to get ready but he held me back. "Slow your roll there, girl. Just because you have that doesn't mean your training is done." I looked at him confused. "B-But I mastered everything! What more do I need?" I ask. "Something to defend yourself with. I did more research on this so-called Underground, and people get to bring their weapons. People get killed at these things." He said with a stern look. "But I know how to take away a knife from someone. Hell, even a gun." I told him. "That's not enough." I watch as he took something out of his pocket. He handed it to me. "What's this?" I ask. "Tap the top part of it." I went to do it, but he pushed my hand the other way. "Away from people and yourself." He warns. I tap the top and jump as it expanded. He laughs a bit and pats my head. "It's called a pocket bo. I know a friend that can teach you how to use one of these. When you're ready then you can fight." He tells me. I nod and took on the challenge. "I won't let you down."