A Condition Called Love [Tokyo Revengers]

Chapter 15: Because Family Matters

Nana's POV (12th December 2005 at Roppongi; Time - 8:57 PM)

There was this moment of silence among my friends and the Black Dragons as they all (except Taiju) stared at me in shock and bewilderment after those words came out of Taiju Shiba's mouth - "Her cousins, the one she's been blabbering about this entire time... are none other than the Haitani brothers themselves..."

"Nana-chin... Please tell me this is a joke..." Manjiro finally spoke up, the first one to break the silence.

In response, I let out a sigh and shook my head.

"I'm not lying to you guys nor I'm gonna run away from the truth this time..." I responded back with my eyes still locked on the forms of the Haitani brothers who were casually walking away from the fighting ring. "This is the truth, the ultimate fact. Ran and Rindo Haitani are my cousins. Their mom and my Dad are actual siblings, meaning those two and I share the same flesh and blood... They're my family, my brothers..."

"This is insane!" Angry commented, still in shock.

"I know right..." Smiley added, nodding his head.

"Why didn't you ever say anything to us regarding this, Nana...?" Keisuke asked in a soft tone from my side before reaching out and gently grabbing my hand in his larger one.

"I'm sorry for never saying anything about this to you guys up until now. I just didn't like talking about it, you know..." I replied as I intertwined my fingers with Keisuke's. "Only Shin-chan and Gramps knew about this because they were the oldest ones in the Sano family. They've always known everything from the very beginning. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I hate Ran and Rindo or anything. They never caused any harm to me. I actually like them... You see the thing is, after my parents' death, the reason why the Osaki family rejected me and didn't take me in was that they were scared of me. They were scared that maybe one day I'll turn out to be like the Haitani brothers; violent and murderous. Maybe I'll cause a ton of problems for them. Maybe I'll turn out to be a disgraceful person and will ruin the name and reputation of the Osaki family... Maybe this, maybe that... All just stupid assumptions with no reality or truth behind them. They didn't even bother to give me a chance to see and understand the type of person I am. From the get-go, they believed that I'd be of no use to them simply because I'm blood-related to Ran and Rindo. They said - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree - the Haitani brothers and I, we're the same. So to prove them wrong, I created a huge distance between me and the brothers. Distancing myself from my cousins was a way to prove to the Osaki family that I'm not like them, I'm far way better than them as a person, that I'm not violent and murderous, that I don't find joy and happiness in fighting random punks on the streets. To prove myself worthy, I became more attentive to school and started to get the highest scores on every test and exam. I engaged myself in sports and other extracurricular activities and even got myself a part-time job just so I could prove to the Osaki family that I'm strong, smart, responsible, and reliable. I'm nothing like my cousins, the Haitani brothers..."

"So, you were fighting all this time, Nana-chan...? Just so you can prove your worth to your family...?" Hinata asked me in a sympathetic tone and this caused me to let out another heavy sigh.

"Yeah... that's true. I've been fighting this whole time..." I stated, trailing off for a bit, getting myself lost in thoughts. "But now, I don't know anymore... I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know why I'm even doing this. For who? For what? They rejected Ran and Rindo because Aunt Kiyoko ran away from home and got married to a mafioso. They rejected me because I'm directly blood-related to Ran and Rindo. So, what's the point anyway? Now that I think about it, the Haitani brothers and I, we're actually the same. After becoming orphans, both the brothers and I got rejected by our family for some petty excuses. I bet the Osakis didn't even want us in the first place and just came up with those excuses to banish us from the family estate. For all of these, now I don't feel like fighting anymore. I don't feel like proving my worth to that fucking family. I distanced myself from my brothers and for who? For that family who abandons their own clan members and rejects little orphans of their own clan soon after their parents die? All those hard work... Was any of my efforts worth it? Now you all know - This is the dark side of the Osaki clan. They're maybe wealthy and prestigious, they're maybe powerful and traditional, but deep down they're absolute shit and merciless."