A new day a new dawn, a dawn in which I sat next to Tieu's Bahn Mi stand, doing my best rendition of 'Đờn ca tài tử', a famous Vietnamese folk song. Obviously, I couldn't sing any part of it without sounding like a drunk, dying sailor, but Tieu's happy hums and occasional singing aided my unfamiliar strumming somewhat.
At the very least it brought more customers than usual, taking an interest in the less-populous culture. Most of the ABB was comprised of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, to me it was humorous how curious they were in this while outright despising anything European... Not that I could really blame them given the literal Nazis at their doorstep.
"Morning, Kieu, Tieu." Mr Kiyoshi greets the two of us with a slight nod, stepping past the listening crowd as my song ends.
"Kiyoshi-san, a good morning to you too." Tieu offers.
"Would you mind if I spoke with Kieu for a moment? It is not terribly important but needs to be said."
She quirks a brow, looking between me and him, then at the customer who was pushing his cash into her face. "Very well, but I want him back. He is good for business." she sends me one last glance before attending to her morning patrons.
I'm taken down a street that's less populous than others, ABB graffiti littering the walls and even the trash-littered floor. Mr Kiyoshi had presented himself as the 'nice' ABB gangster in the area, but I didn't trust that notion all that much given.
You can kiss babies and adopt as many puppies as you want, the guy was still working for a murderous racist gang. There wasn't any moral ambiguity to be found.
"Is something wrong, Mr Kiyoshi?" I question as we stop in front of a dingy-looking bar with a name written in kanji I didn't understand.
He nods, his face creasing as he retrieves his phone and shows me a video... One of me lobbing a hammer at Leet's head. "This, is what is wrong Kieu. Has anyone spoken with you of it yet?"
"No?" I play dumb, "Why would I? I just helped a girl out." I shrug.
The hand now on my shoulders causes me to tense, but I manage to stop myself from slamming my new hammer into the guy's mouth. "Kieu, you now have many eyes on you. It might not feel like much to you, but you defended ABB territory and protected ABB-," he pauses and grinds his teeth at his next word, "Property. My boss wishes to speak with you." he gravely states.
"Who's your boss?" I question, now beginning to get worried. If it was just the PRT I'd be fine, but now the ABB was snooping around? "Are you going to take me to them?"
He shakes his head, "No... Not yet." he corrects, "My boss is someone directly under Lung, our founder. Not someone you wish to annoy... Consider this a warning from me, tell Tieu, and be careful."
"Okay...?"
Mr Kiyoshi gives a firm nod, glancing around and patting me on my back, "Enjoy the rest of your day, Kieu. Remember what I said." he says and leaves me with one thought and one thought only on my mind...
"Fuck."
--------------------------
I explained the situation to Tieu after Mr Kiyoshi's 'talk' and she took it about as well as I had. The man had clearly been trying to warn us, though what we were supposed to do with the information was anyone's guess.
My first instinct was to move somewhere else, but we had neither the means nor the money to do so, especially as we'd only just become citizens, meaning we were in a 'trial' period of sorts. If we wanted to move we'd need to alert the relevant authorities and get everything in order... Which could take months with how slow the government is.
That's not to say it's off the table, but I knew Tieu wanted to stay. Her main form of income was a 'technically' illegal food stand which she could only operate because this was gang territory. She'd also been living in this apartment for years and made it her own... Maybe it was my guilt coming through but forcing her to move for some orphan boy that was manipulating her cut at me weirdly.
Again, going anywhere near the PRT was also a no-no given my abnormal situation. Should my relationship with Tieu come to light it wasn't unlikely that she'd get tossed into prison for fraud or whatever else they could pin on her.
The third 'main' option we had was, well, making it work with our gangster overlords. For all they knew I was just some kid with a hammer, not much worth to them currently, even if my limited online presence gave me some recognition.
I sigh and look over at Tieu who was tentatively sipping tea on the opposite side of the table. I could tell she was anxious by the rate she was drinking it, I hadn't touched my cup yet and she'd gone through half the pot. "Tieu, I know you think we should leave... But, do you want to leave?" I ask seriously.
...
"I do." she says, but her pause said everything.
I shake my head, "Well, I don't. Whatever the ABB wants with me, it can't be too bad, and I'm not having you work some shit minimum wage job to make ends meet." I think it'd honestly kill her, we'd probably have to sell off all of her valuables to leave before the ABB made a move anyway. Trapping her into some rundown, piece-of-shit apartment in a random city she didn't know would be worse than killing her.
"They are not nice people, Kieu-"
"Yeah, well, that applies to basically everyone. I'm not saying we should stay forever, but throwing everything away only to end up in an even worse situation is a bad idea. We can last long enough to put some cash together, then we go."
*Knock-Knock-Knock*
The sound of someone at our front door gets both our hackles up, my adoptive mother looking as if she were about to run at it with the teapot in hand.
She gets to her feet but not as quickly as me, "I'll get it." I state firmly, leaving her to stand at the end of the hallway.
"Silly boy..." she mutters, preparing herself for would come next.
"Alright." I mutter, psyching myself up for the confrontation. I'd need to be firm yet pliable, not a sniveling coward but also not an overconfident braggart. Anything that'd hurt the pride of the gangster behind the door was a no-go, thankfully I'd be drilled by Mr Hotaro in basic Japanese slights.
I open the door and-... Blink at Susan, my social worker, and another woman I didn't yet know.
"Hello, Kieu, could we come inside for a moment?" Susan asks as the tension leaves my body.
"Sure, but-, who's this?" I ask.
"This? This is Theresa, she's here from the PRT to speak with you about something." she says, herself appearing somewhat confused at the woman's presence.
Theresa nods, "Hello Kieu, could we sit somewhere? I assure you this won't be long."
...
"Yeah... Here." I bring them to the low table and sit next to Tieu, who'd acquired some more cups for the guests.
"What brings you here? I thought we didn't have another appointment until Wednesday." Tieu inquires.
Susan nods, "Well, we're here to discuss Kieu's recent actions... The event involving two capes and a hammer?"
I rub the bridge of my nose in sheer consternation, no acting required this time, "Why does everyone care so much about me stopping some thugs."
"We don't, it's merely the popularity of the video that concerns us." Theresa adds, "The PRT fears retaliation against you and your family."
"So, what? Are we gonna get the witness protection treatment?" I ask, actually kinda hopeful.
Theresa shakes her head, "Unfortunately that's not quite in the cards at the moment. Our risk assessment has decided you aren't in enough danger to warrant it." she says, getting a perturbed look from Susan.
"'Enough danger'? Any danger at all, I believe warrants it." the social worker interjects.
"I'm sure, but it's not you or I who dictate that, not unless you wish to fund such an excursion out of pocket?" Theresa asks and Susan looks at the table and chews her lip, "Indeed..." the woman turns her attention to me, "We do have some questions for you, however, Kieu."
"Okay?"
She retrieves something from her bag and slides it in front of me, "Do you know what this is?"
Printed on the paper is a picture of the Omega symbol, the same one tattooed on my wrist. I force my face to remain neutral as I look it over. It'd come up in my research, a reason I'd taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts to cover it.
It was something that marked most Case 53's, capes who had noticeable mutations and or have significant portions of their memories missing. Most looked completely monstrous, big balls of slime, giant masses of tentacles, Frankensteinian abomination-look alikes... I exhibited none of those descriptors aside from my memory loss though, so I'd be pushing off the issue until I found something of use to make sense of it all.
The public didn't like them, and the only one the PRT did 'like' was called 'Weld', a metal man who fused with any metallic object he came into contact with. They bandied him around a lot, but that's only because he was one of the more human-looking ones.
Looking up from the picture, I give a shrug to the PRT officer, "It's the thing you see on the monster capes."
Theresa nods, reaching for her tea-, then abruptly pulling the sleeve on my left wrist to reveal the tattoo, "It is."
...
My eyes shoot to Susan, "This counts as assault, right?"
She slowly nods, "Uh, yes-, but? Under certain circumstances-"
Theresa sighs, "Let's cut to the chase 'Kieu', who are you and why do you have that mark?"
"Excuse me! You can't just barge into our home and throw stupid accusations miss!" Tieu exclaims, "We allowed you in as guests, but you are taking advantage of our hospitality!"
"They haven't given any indication of hosti-" Susan starts but gets shut up as Theresa raises a hand at her.
"I have half a mind to regard this as a PRT matter. 'Kieu' never existed prior to a few weeks ago, and the mark on his arm could mean anything." she stares at Tieu, "For all we know, you could be mastered by some shapeshifting villain."
Tieu gives a harsh scoff, "A villain who saves women in the street? I promise you, Miss Theresa, Kieu has been nothing but perfect ever since I brought him into this world. For you to come here, without evidence and accuse my son of something not even you are certain of, the door is that way. Please leave." she points toward the hallway with a scowl.
...
"I want an answer, why do you have that mark?" Theresa all but orders, keeping her eyes on me.
"Will you please lea-"
"Mom." I interject, "It's fine." I look to the PRT officer, "I got it tattooed with some friends a few years ago, it was part of our 'gang' initiation because 'monsters are cool' or something." I shrug, "It started because our leader did it to sympathize with the Case 53's and the rest of us followed along. That good enough for you?" I ask after my monumental feat of bullshitting.
"But you need to be eighteen to get-" Susan starts but I interrupt with a sniff, "You think people in this neighborhood care about what's illegal or not? This is ABB territory, which you know already considering you were sent for being Asian yourself." I gesture at her, sending a part-Asian was smart given the hostility the locals had for everyone else. She wouldn't be working here long otherwise.
"No thanks to you guys." I add, speaking to the PRT agent.
She bites back her response, leaving the room in silence for a minute or so, she obviously didn't believe my explanation but couldn't argue against it with no evidence. She'd probably turned up here expecting either a clueless kid with powers or a cartoonishly evil Villain who'd shout his plans from the rooftops.
Now that I think about it, she had to have some backup in case shit hit the fan... I stop myself from looking towards the window.
Susan awkwardly sips her tea. "Um, the tea's good..."
"Thank you, dear. Next time you visit, would you leave the strays outside?" Tieu asks, resting her now-empty cup on a coaster.
A couple more seconds of passive-aggressive glaring and Theresa finally relents, standing and exiting the apartment.
"Have them send someone sensible next time." Tieu adds as the door closes. I wish I could see that PRT bitch seething in the hallway.
Mirthfully chuckling, I focus on Susan, "So, about those tests? I hope this won't affect my chances at a scholarship?"