Shiho couldn't help but think: 'aunt?! aunt my ass', she knew her relationship with Reno was far from being an aunt, first she was his whore and now she is his made, so seeing him say that with a smile on his face made her cringe.
But at the same time, she breathed a sigh of relief, at least he didn't embarrass her in front of her friends.
"Hi there Reno-Kun, come here and greet my friends" said Shiho like a doting aunt talking to her nephew.
Reno was laughing inwardly, especially when he called her aunt and saw her cringe.
He arrived in front of the group, smiled, and said politely: "Hi, my name is Reno Arasaki"
the group of four was taken aback, one of the women turned to look at Shiho.
"Arasaki, don't tell me.." she asked.
"Yes, he is her son, she and her husband both get caught but he managed to find me, and now he is living with me" explained Shiho.
"That must have been hard on you, I'm sure you miss your parents" she said looking at Reno with pitying eyes.
"Yes, I do miss them" replied Reno sadly but then his mood brightened up and he added: "but aunt Shiho is good to me, she helped me a lot, and because of her I have moved on, now I consider her as my mother, she never let me feel sad, she takes good care of me, especially in the night" said Reno making Shiho squeeze he legs together in unconsciously.
"Oh, you are indeed our princess Shiho, you have such a big heart" said the woman praising Shiho.
Shiho was smiling on the outside but inside she was shocked, if she didn't know Reno she would've fallen for his sweet words, today she learned another thing about him, he is a good actor, and this realization made her feel uncomfortable for some reason.
The group of four knew the parents of Reno, they were not as close to his mother as Shiho was, but they knew her nonetheless.
They remember hearing the news from Shiho that they were supposed to come to the city after a robbery, and now hearing that they were arrested and seeing their son here, they couldn't help but connect the dots and they realized that Reno has managed to escape with the money and he was the sole reason Shiho managed to get her life back.
But then again, this incident happened 9 years ago, Reno was 3 years old back then, and it's impossible to imagine him escaping the cops and heroes at such a young age when even veteran villains couldn't do so.
No matter how they looked at it, the four of them couldn't figure out the truth, but they came to a unified conclusion, the difference between Shiho who was sinking in debt, and Shiho now who looked like a duchess is Reno, he was the variable in all this and for sure he has something to do with this change.
They started planning on how to make Shiho spill the beans, and the opportunity was right before them, all they had to do was make her go high or drunk, Shiho was always light-headed and she loved to talk too much when she is high or drunk.
Reno looked at the pondering expression on their faces, and even if he didn't know what they are up to, he could guess that they wanted to uncover Shiho's secrets.
"Aunt Shiho, I will leave with your friends, it seems you have a lot of catch-ups to do, I will be in my room upstairs, feel free to ask for me whenever you need me" said Reno, then he turned to the guests and excused himself with a smile.
"he is such a nice boy, I wanted to call him cute but seeing his fit body and mature demeanor I couldn't do it" said one of the women.
"Yes, his body is strangely fit, it's like he is 18 years old, you sure feed him well Shiho" said one of the men.
Shiho just smiled and led them to another room, they started sniffing the drugs and drinking to their heart's content and soon laughter and songs filled the room, they were having a great time, especially Shiho who didn't relax and laughed like that in a while.
Soon they were all in a state of ecstasy, and Shiho was even more.
"Shiho, you outdid yourself, who would've thought that you not only solve your problems but also make your life much better than before, I'm very impressed".
"Yes Shiho, as expected from our ace, you are full of surprised".
Shiho's ego got boosted by all the praise, and she raised her head high.
"Of course I'm awesome, who did you take me for" said Shiho arrogantly.
"But Shiho, how did you manage such a thing" seeing that Shiho was in a state of ecstasy, and losing control over her tongue, they pressed the matter and asked the question they were most curious about.
"Well, it's all because of Reno, he is just awesome, he is more reliable than most of the men out there" said Shiho, she simply stated what was in her mind without hiding anything, and the expression she wore while saying that was of pure admiration, she looked like a high school girl in love.
the four of them were dumbfounded, they didn't understand the meaning behind her words.
"Can you elaborate on that?!".
"Well, he robbed a bank for me, he even killed a pro hero for my sake, he gave me money, food, drugs, and shelter, he even said that he will burn the word for me, oh my god he is so cool" said Shiho while holding her cheeks and drooling.
the group of four were shocked when they heard her, they saw the news and they knew about the bank robbery and the fall of Kamui Woods, but they couldn't bring themselves to link that incident with the little teenager they saw earlier, who can blame them, no one will suspect a 12-year-old to be a mass murderer.
And looking at Shiho who was drooling and acting like a maiden in love, they all had a frown on their face, they couldn't help but think that Shiho was trolling them.
When they reached this conclusion, they sighed and didn't want to press the matter further since it might annoy her, but they didn't give up entirely, they just have to bring the topic again the next time.
And so they all continued talking, laughing, singing, and doing all the stupid stuff until they passed out and fall asleep.
....
....
Shiho slowly woke up and she couldn't help but clench her head, she felt a terrible headache.
'ugh! my head hurt, I went all out last night, what a terrible hangover' thought Shiho inwardly, then she looked around and found herself in a dark room.
'This is weird, I spent all night partying with my friends, and then slept like a bear in hibernation, it should be day already, so why is it all dark here'
She kept looking around until her eyes widened when she saw the four of her friends tied to the chairs they were sitting in.
Shiho's heart started pounding and she immediately sobered up, she didn't understand what was going on.
Soon the group of four started showing signs of waking up, their eyebrows twitched and they slowly opened their eyes.
"ugh! I feel terrible"
"We sure overdid it last night"
"Yes, it has been a long time since I felt like this, that was a wild night, but it seems like this is strangely a long night, I mean it's still dark in here"
"guys....why are we tied?!!"
Soon they discovered the situation they were in and they tried to free themselves but to no avail.
"What the hell is going on here" screamed the man, frustrated by the situation he found himself in.
Soon he heard the sound of footsteps, and they all looked toward it and saw Reno walking toward them slowly.
"Good morning everyone, I hope you had a good night" said Reno while smiling like a good boy.
"Hey boy, are you the one who tied us up?" asked the man, his frown only deepened.
"Yes" Reno answered simply, the smile never leaving his face.
"Reno-Kun, this is not funny, your Aunt Shiho will be mad at you if she discovers this, so quickly set us free" said one woman, and ironically she was the one who found him cute yesterday, but now this thought didn't cross her mind at all.
"Aunt Shiho?! she is already here, look over there" said Reno and pointed to a sofa where Shiho was sitting.
When they saw her they started screaming.
"Hey Shiho what's the meaning of this?!".
"Are you still drunk, this is not funny, hurry up and set us free"
"Yeah, what do you think you are doing?"
"This dark place is creepy, hurry up and untie us"
they all started screaming at Shiho and asking her what's the point of all this.
"I'm just like you, I don't know what's going on" Shiho said quickly, she didn't like the sight of her friends now, and she didn't want to upset them, getting praise for them was a pleasure, but getting screamed at was a bad feeling that she didn't want to feel, especially after having a fun night after a long time of solitude.
"Reno, why don't you set my friends free, I don't know what are you trying to achieve by doing this?" said Shiho, her voice was soft and trembling, barely hearable, one can say for sure that she was begging him instead of ordering him, which was weird due to the age difference between them.
"What I'm trying to achieve?!" Reno looked and Shiho.
"Of course, I'm trying to teach you, this scene here is called the school of life, I will be the teacher, you will be my student, and your friends will be the subject" said Reno.
All of them were dumbfounded but soon the man couldn't hold it anymore.
"What nonsense are you talking about you retarded idiot, hurry up and untie me you stupid little shit before I turn your life to hell" the man exploded with rage.
Reno looked at him, he was unfazed by his antics, when he spoke with Shiho yesterday about her friends he asked her about their quirks, and they were all trash.
"Oh! you are quite the brave one, aren't you! bullying a teenager like me" said Reno, then he started walking away slowly.
"I will come back in no time, I forgot to show you something guys, make sure to stay enraged until I come back" said Reno while walking, then he stopped and turned to look at Shiho.
"Shiho, don't move an inch from your seat until I'm back, do you understand" said Reno, his smile disappeared and his eyes grow cold, a look that Shiho didn't see in a long time.
when Shiho saw his look her body shook violently and she lowered her eyes, she knew that nothing good comes out of that look, she couldn't keep staring at his eyes.
"I..I...I understand" muttered Shiho.
"Good" said Reno and walked away.
And soon after he left her friends exploded at Shiho.
"Hey Shiho, what are waiting for, come here and untie us now"
"Don't tell me you will do what this boy told you, hurry up and come here, I started to lose my patience"
"Shiho, this boy is a retard, you need to give him a good spanking later, now come and untie me, I didn't pee since I woke up"
But no matter how hard they screamed, Shiho Didn't move from her place, she was sitting there sweating and shaking violently, her mind was a mess, she loved her friends and she wanted to go release them, but she remembered Reno's words and she didn't dare to go against them.
seeing her shaking and sweating the man who screamed at Reno before narrowed his eyes.
"Hey Shiho, don't tell me you are afraid of that kid, since when did you become a coward?!" he screamed and vented his frustration on Shiho.
'If you only knew, if you only knew' was the thoughts of Shiho who didn't respond to her friend and avoided looking him in the eyes.