Trojan Horse

10 - Truths Come Out

Minna finished her shower and dried off, inspecting her face in the mirror. She changed into her travel clothes, and then exited, to speak to Ichirou.

"Minna Day," Ichirou said. "Finally."

"Young master," Minna said, lowering her head in respect.

"Relax. I'm just here to talk."

Minna couldn't help the dubious expression, but let him speak.

His words were long and by the time he'd finished, the entire team had joined them in the main room. Minna refrained from interrupting, and eventually, Ichirou let her go. He left the locker room and Minna spun around to face Rhemann. He gave them a speech, then everyone face Minna, eager for her explanation.

"I'm misplaced property," she said as quickly as she could.

"What the fuck?" Ethan said. This prompted echoes around the room and demands for a better explanation.

"The Moriyamas are an immigrated yakuza group. They're the Japanese mafia. Riko and Tetsuji are part of the castoff family, which is why they're estranged and Tetsuji had the freedom to create Exy with my mother. When she died, Kengo sent me and Kevin to live with Riko and Tetsuji, on the assumption that we'd pay off whatever debts we might owe through fame and playing. Um... yeah, you know what the mafia does? Murder. You know where they do it? Castle Evermore. The only way this should impact you is through the Ravens. But if you get too close to me you'll get hurt and that's why I was pushing you away."

Jae clenched his fingers. "Fucking hell. Minna, you should've told us."

She frowned at him. "I didn't tell you to protect you as long as possible. Never say anything about the Moriyamas to anyone outside of this team. Don't let anyone hear you talking about them. If you do, we'll all get in trouble and trouble with Kengo and Ichirou means almost certain death."

Caiden frowned. "Why now?"

"Ichirou just came to fucking talk to me!" Minna shouted. She jabbed her finger out the door. "Do you know what means? They're keeping track of me and that means they're watching Kevin and if they're watching us that means that we're liable to die — at any moment if we do something wrong!"

Mish reached out. "Minna, slow down. What did he tell you?"

"There was too much to say. He told me he'd call me in about a week to talk about this. We're gambling with my life, guys. My life."

"You should've told us sooner," Robin agreed. "We can help protect you."

"You aren't Andrew," Minna snapped. "Andrew, at least, scares Riko. You know who will come for me? Riko. Why? Because I fucking belong to him. And guess what? My flight leaves in thirty minutes and I'm going to be late if I don't go now. Guys, come on."

Minna gripped her suitcase and Laila, Cat, Jeremy, and Rhemann snapped out of it and followed her out the door.

The car ride was mostly silent, but as they were getting out of the car, Laila held Minna's shoulders to look her in the eyes, and then hugged her gently. Minna let her, and then broke free with a sad smile.

Laila squeezed her hands, then let go and grabbed her suitcase.

"Minna," Jeremy said. "C'mon."

The younger girl closed the trunk and chased after her teammates and coach. They checked their three bags — Jeremy and Minna had shared one, Cat and Laila, and then Rhemann had taken his own. They rushed through security and as their group was being called to board, they arrived.

"C'mon, boarding passes," Rhemann said as he ushered them closer to the line. They merged in, and Minna was first. She scanned her pass, and waited while the other four did the same.

When Minna checked her seat, she was the window, with Jeremy and Rhemann on her left. She clenched her fist, took a deep breath, and asked if she could take the aisle. Rhemann went in first, sticking Jeremy in the middle seat, and then Minna sat down, feeling the tension in her chest recede. Just barely, but she could breathe again.

"Does that have anything to do with Riko?" Jeremy murmured.

Minna cast him a disapproving look before affirming.

Jeremy closed his eyes, clenching his firsts on the armrests. Minna couldn't help the shock that came with realizing he cared about her — that he was upset about something that had happened before they'd ever met.

"Nothing could've stopped it. Riko liked to be in control. He expressed it by asserting control over us. Kevin hates the middle but he likes to feel protected which gives him little choice in the matter — I'd rather be able to escape."

"Minna..." Jeremy sighed.

Minna squeezed his hand lightly. "Don't worry about it."

The captain gave her a side eye when she stuffed her earphones in and turned on her music. She fell asleep, and woke halfway through the flight on Jeremy's shoulder. A bag of cookies was in her lap and she tucked it into her bag, looking around the plane in faint confusion. Once she had gotten her bearings, she turned her head and went back to sleep.

Something had triggered her dreams into something dark and twisted and Minna guessed it was the plane, because she dreamt of Ichirou and Riko playing Exy against her with guns and daggers. Minna had to block and dodge the weapons as they came at her and whenever she got hit, Tetsuji would stab Kevin. She shot awake again, breathing heavily. Jeremy jolted awake by her sudden movements and Minna pulled her earphones out, ignoring the slight twinging. She grabbed whatever seemed most stable — which happened to be Jeremy — and inhaled the scent of the lavender oil in her carryon.

"Minna?" Jeremy asked. She waved him off, still trying to catch her breath. Her pushed her head down between her legs to help her steady herself and she let go of his arm.

Her breathing steadied and she leaned back, still clutching the lavender oil.

"Nightmares?" Jeremy asked gently.

Minna nodded, easing back into her seat.

"Wanna talk?"

"Absolutely not. Go to sleep, we won't get any before the show."

"Minna —"

"I'll be fine, Jeremy. Go back to sleep."

The captain clenched his jaw and sighed, then leaned back and closed his eyes.

Minna curled her knees up to her chest and stared across the way through a window. The night was passing by and Minna sighed through her nose before closing her eyes once more and letting sleep overtake her one last time.

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Disclaimer: this is not a Jeremy fic. It may seem like it right now, but it's really not.