Aftg react

Part36

Foxes react: chapter7 part1

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Neil didn't look up from his plate to return Wymack's stare.
"You want to tell me why you have a hard-on for antagonizing Riko?" Wymack asked.

"Wow that is something I don't want to hear ever again" said Alison her face twisted with a grimace.
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"He started it," Neil muttered into his tortilla.
"That doesn't mean you have to sink to his level. Were you listening when I told you what kind of person he is, what kind of family he's from?"
"Yes, Coach."
"You said that last night when I told you to behave," Wymack said. "Your lip-service 'yes Coach' isn't going to be enough anymore. Don't lie
to me about the important shit."
"I can't help it," Neil said. He tried to chew slower, but he was fast
running out of burrito to hide behind. He opted for deflection instead.
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Neil just looked at him, and Wymack stared back. Neil got tired of the staredown first and finished off his breakfast. He started to get up to clear away his plate, but Wymack took it from him. Wymack dumped it in the dishwasher and poured himself a second cup of coffee. Instead of returning to the table he turned and leaned against the counter as he considered Neil.
"I'm starting to think I misjudged you," Wymack said. "I just don't know how or where. I know I'm not completely wrong, but you're still not adding up right."
"Now you sound like Andrew."
"That's because they're his words," Wymack said. When Neil frowned at him, Wymack shrugged and knocked back some of his coffee. "First day of practice I told everyone Edgar Allan had transferred districts, you remember? Andrew spent that night here with me. At first I figured he was mad at Kevin for lying to him, but he was more worked up about you. I mostly tuned him out then, but I probably should have listened."
"Andrew and I are working on our trust issues. Sort of."
"He says you're a pathological liar," Wymack said. "I'm starting to believe him."
"It's what I was raised to be," Neil said.
"Attempt to tell the truth at least once," Wymack said.

A truth like that put everyone on edge, coach might had thought that it was a lie but watching the truth right in front of them it was clear that Neil was right.
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"Tell me why someone who came here early to get away from his parents and who flinched away from me the first time he thought I was going to strike him goes so far out of his way to offend someone like Riko Moriyama. I would have thought you'd have better survival instincts."
Neil slouched a little in his chair and fidgeted with the edge of the table. Wymack deserved some sort of explanation, but the only one Neil had to offer was one he'd hoped to avoid sharing.
"Riko's my age," Neil said, trying not to choke on his words. "If you knew what my parents were capable of you'd understand why I don't trust men who are old enough to be my father. I know here," Neil gestured at his temple, "that you're not going to hurt me, but it's instinctive to react. I'm sorry."

What Neil said had most looking like they were sick, Neil's father was a serial killer a psycho working for the mafia, Neil's mother who came from her own crime family had gotten her 10 year old son and run away, running from people that were out to kill them. It hurt to see him apologizing for something that is not his fault.
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"Why did Riko say he bought me?" Neil asked.
Kevin was silent for so long Neil almost hoped this was all a sick dream, but finally Kevin spoke. "You're not really him," Kevin said, so low Neil barely understood his words. "Tell me you aren't really Nathaniel."
Neil tried not to flinch at the sound of his real name and didn't quite succeed. "Don't call me that. It doesn't matter who I used to be. I'm Neil now."
"It is not that simple," Kevin said, louder and dismayed. "Why are you here?"
"I had nowhere else to go," Neil said. "When you showed up in Arizona I thought you'd come because you recognized me, but then you gave no sign you remembered me. I thought maybe I could stay until you figured things out."
"You thought," Kevin said, voice sharp with something too hysterical to be scorn. "You are a fucking idiot."
"I was desperate," Neil shot back.
"I can't believe your mother agreed to this."
"My mother is dead," Neil said. Kevin opened his mouth, but Neil
didn't want to hear it. "She died last year and I buried her on the west coast. I have nothing and no one else, Kevin. That's why I signed with you. I figured the chances of you remembering me were slim and I gambled on you not knowing the truth about my family."
"How could we not remember you?" Kevin asked.
Neil shook his head. "I didn't know when I came here that the Moriyamas and my father were business partners."
"They were not partners." Kevin sounded almost as offended as Riko had.
"I didn't know," Neil repeated. "Until Coach told me about the Moriyamas this May I knew nothing about Riko's family. After that I thought maybe that's why we met so long ago. I thought Riko's father and mine were discussing territories and borders. But last night Riko said my father belongs to the Moriyamas. What did he mean by that? Why did he say he bought me?"
"Don't lie to me," Kevin said. "We are in enough trouble as it is."
"My mother didn't tell me why we were running," Neil said. "I never asked her why she finally had enough. I was just glad to get away. We never talked about anything real after that. It was always about the weather or our current language or the local culture—the next time she had anything meaningful to say to me was when she was dying. Even then she didn't talk about my father. Not once did she mention the Moriyamas. If she had, I wouldn't be here right now, would I? So tell me the truth."
Kevin stared at him for an endless minute, then scrubbed fiercely at his face and muttered something in hoarse Japanese. Neil considered reaching out and shaking him, but Kevin dropped his hands to his lap and explained.
"Your father was Lord Kengo's right-hand man, the most trusted weapon in Lord Kengo's arsenal. The territory he held, he held for the Moriyamas. He was the force that kept the empire in line and the name that would take the fall if the government ever caught on.
"His power made you a loose end. You could never inherit his syndicate," Kevin said.
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"Lord Kengo handpicks his people very carefully to bolster his throne. Nepotism fractures that upward loyalty and leads families to think of their own successes first. He could have had you killed to keep things simple, but he gave you a chance to earn your keep. Your mother enrolled you in little leagues so you could learn Exy. The day you met us was your audition."
"Wait," Neil said. "Wait. What?"
"You were supposed to be like me," Kevin said. "You were a gift, another player for the master to train. You had two days to win him over: an initial scrimmage with us to show off your potential and a second scrimmage to prove you could adapt to and implement his instructions and criticisms. If afterward he decided you weren't worth his time you would be executed by your own father."

The air was thick with horror, two days to prove your worth or be killed by your father. They all had a question that they hoped was going to be answered soon.
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Neil swallowed hard. "How did I do?"

Neil asked the question everyone was dreading the answer to, they held their breath as they waited for the answer.
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"Your mother wouldn't risk failure," Kevin said. "You never made it to the second practice. She disappeared with you overnight."
The heat in Neil's stomach could have been nausea or rage, but he didn't know who he was angry at. His mother had hated his fascination with Exy his entire life. She'd told him over and over he'd never touch a racquet again but she never told him why. He couldn't understand why she had never explained the totality of what they were running from.

They released their breath but it was not that easy. Neil's mother was a mystery she took her child and run risking their lives but at the same time she beat him half to death because he kissed a girl, it made them wonder why she didn't say anything it was weird but they knew that they didn't like her, yes she did save Neil but beating him because of kissing anyone was absurd.
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"I'm going to be sick," Neil said, getting to his feet.
He was halfway up before Kevin grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Nathaniel, wait."
Neil wrenched free so hard he almost sent Kevin sprawling. "Don't call me that!"
He backed out of Kevin's reach, but Kevin got to his feet as if to follow him. Neil put out a hand to warn him off.

Most signed and shook their heads at that Kevin's tactics he never really knew when to give up, Andrew was looking at him from the side just looking with a blank stare.
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"Notoriety can't save a security risk like you," Kevin said. "You know too much. You could destroy your father's territory by speaking to the wrong people. They knew your mother would never betray her family to the Feds, but you are an unpredictable and frightened child."
Kevin shook his head and bulled on when Neil started to argue. "The master wants to salvage you. He's going to sign you to the Raven lineup in spring. So long as you keep quiet and keep your head down he won't tell the main family he's found you."
"I'm not a Raven," Neil said. "I never will be."
"Then run," Kevin insisted, low and frantic.

Some looked at Kevin with a disapproving look  "come on I meant it in a good way him staying is literally killing him, we saw how he came back after winter break" they knew that what he was saying was true and it hurt to know.