Caged By Legacy -- All for the game AU

Chapter 1. The weight of a name

It had been raining for hours, drops of water came down in relentless sheets, each drop hammering against the window like the ticking of a countdown. One that Kayleigh Day couldn’t escape. She sat on the edge of her bed, one that she hadn’t shared with anyone after she had left the USA, now residing in Japan. The long shadows cast all around her room were a great reminder of how late it was, how her room had only been lit by her small, singular lamp so as to not wake her son up. The message she had to send was clear in her thoughts, her mind. But the words felt too heavy to type.

Her phone let out a small sound, a notification, a quiet reminder of how little time she had left. Her eyes flickered to it, the name sending a chill through her spine. Moriyama. Her hand clenched the phone tightly as if to prevent them from shaking. The family she could never escape. The family that had promised the world once, only to trap her in it. Like a fish in a birdcage, she did not belong.

Kayleigh knew her time was approaching. She had known for months, ever since she overheard Kengo Moriyama – Riko’s father – talking about dealing with loose ends. She was a loose end. She had become a liability the moment she tried to shield her son from the cruel world they were trying to push him into, when she realized their true intentions, it was far too late for her. They wouldn’t let her walk away so easily.

Kevin stirred in the other room. His quiet breaths reminded her that she had more to lose, than just her life. Her soft eyes lingered on the doorway, the door that was creaked open just a little bit, for once she wished she could protect him by just watching over him. But protecting meant more than keeping him out of Moriyama's family business. It meant giving him a future. And only one person in this world could succeed.

Her hands shook as he scrolled to the number she hadn’t called in a week. David Wymack. She never mentioned Kevin’s father to him, she knew of his dream to be a Coach, and she didn’t want him to give it up just to help her raise Kevin. But the urgency now overrules the fear. She had no one else. Kevin had no one else. He was a growing promise of a player, but if he stayed here, his future would be as a puppet, a pawn. He deserved more than that.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and dialed the number. It rang once. Twice. Thrice. Her heart was beating fast, each beat louder than the last. When it rang again, she wanted to hang up, but then there was a click. His voice. Gruff, surprised, but as warm as always. It was unmistakably him.

‘Kayleigh?’

Her eyes closed. It was a voice from another life, an easier life, one she barely remembered. ‘David,’ her voice sounded gently, ‘I need your help.’

Silence. Pure silence overtook for a minute. She could hear the questions piling up on the other end, but then he spoke. He finally spoke. His voice was lower, cautious.

‘Is it Kevin?’

It was time to tell him the truth. He deserved to know it. ‘There is something you need to know. I shouldn’t have lied to you, David, but I didn’t want you to throw your career away.’

Kayleigh’s voice cracked, she gripped the phone tighter and before Wymack could ask, spoke out again. ‘He’s your son. Kevin is yours.’

The words hung in the air, the weight of them heavy enough to crush her. She could only picture Wymack on the other end, surprised, perhaps enraged? Maybe content? When he spoke out again, there was sharpness in his tone.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

She didn’t have time for this. She wanted to speak but her voice failed her, she let out a shaky, tired breath as her hand ran through her hair, bundling it up into one of her fists, tugging at it. Why did he have to be like this?

‘Kayleigh–’ His voice was rougher, filled with disbelief and confusion. But she interrupted him, she wasn’t going to waste any more time.

‘The Moriyamas…’ Her breath hitching as the full weight of her fear pressed down on her. ‘They’ll come for him, David. They want to turn him into a pawn, a toy. I don’t know how much longer I can keep him safe.’

Wymack didn’t respond immediately. She could hear him taking the information in, trying to piece this all together like a puzzle. He wasn’t a man easily rattled, but this was different.

‘Where are you?’

‘Japan. Still.’

‘I know that.’ His frustration was barely masked. ‘Where in Japan, Kayleigh? Why are you telling me this now? After all this time?’

She swallowed, her gaze locking onto Kevin’s room again. The soft glow of his nightlight spilled into the hallway. ‘Because I don’t have much time, David. I can’t protect him anymore. I need you to take him.’

‘When?’

‘As soon as you can,’ she whispered. ‘Before they take him.’

His voice was gruff but steady, she knew she could trust him. ‘I’ll find a way.’

She hung up, her hands trembling as the weight of what she had done settled in. It wasn’t just Kevin she needed to save. It was Riko, too. Riko Moriyama, the heir to the empire. Just a child. Kevin’s age.

Kayleigh stared at her phone, wondering if she would live long enough to finish what she started. She stood and moved to Kevin’s room, finally walking inside, pushing the door open quietly. Kevin lay curled up in his bed, lost in dreams. Without a single idea of the storm that was about to come.

She settled down on the edge of his bed, her soft fingers brushing strands of black hair away from his face, tucking it behind his hair as she watched the fading mark of a number two on his cheek. Her heart ached. ‘I'm doing this for you, I’m so sorry baby.’
If she didn’t, he’d grow up like Riko–trapped in a legacy that bled anyone who dared defy it.

And she couldn’t let that happen.