Suspicious Minds

The New Girl In Town

Morioh, located within Japan's M Prefecture in the city of S.

A quaint little town with a small population and a relatively peaceful place, possessing various landmarks. The city that quickly developed during the 1980s and made home to every man, woman and child, from the young to the elderly.

A large moving van was parked outside a nice looking house, on a part of the neighbourhood of Jōzenji Road, meaning a new family had just moved in. Boxes were emptied, the furniture was carried in by moving men and a couple and an old woman were admiring their new home.

"Well Sumika, we finally did it." The husband beamed at his beloved wife, his arm around her waist as they admired their new home. "A new home and a new life."

Sumika smiled back as she kissed her husband on the cheek. "Yes, Kenshiro. First you got that job as warden in Morioh Penitentiary, now a new house. It's as if we have begun a new life."

The old woman placed a hand on Sumika's. "Do you think it'll be better for Mirai?"

Sumika nodded. "We'll go ask her, mom."

Upstairs in her new bedroom, a girl of sixteen, with shoulder length hair, white as a dove and eyes, a shade of emerald green, had just finished unpacking her things in neat order.

"And that was Savage Garden there, listeners with I Want You. Every day is great when you're listening to the sweet sounds of Morioh Cho Radio. Coming next is ELO with a tune fit for bumping and jiving and we'll play some smooth relaxing tunes in the late evening."

A knock on her bedroom door sounded.

"Mirai, honey. May we come in?"

Mirai sat down on her bed. "Yes, mom."

Her bedroom door opened and her mother entered, followed by her father and grandmother. Sumika sat next to her daughter on the edge of her bed.

"Hey, dear." Kenshiro greeted. "I know moving to a new place isn't as easy as you think it may be but I hope you'll be okay with it."

"I'll be fine, dad." Replied Mirai. "Besides, they moved you to Morioh Penitentiary as a new prison warden so it's okay."

"That's wonderful, sweetheart." Mirai's grandmother, beamed with pride. "Plus you'll also be attending a new school, starting on Monday. You might find some new friends." The old woman added, giving a cheeky wink. "Maybe even a boyfriend."

Kenshiro stiffened as he heard the one word, a father wouldn't want to hear. "Hey, watch it, Ryoko."

"Kenshi!" Sumika scolded her husband, before turning softly to her daughter. "Oh and Mirai, would you mind getting some items at the convenience store, we passed, while we get dinner sorted?"

"Okay, mom." Mirai got up off her bed.

"Be careful out there and make sure to be home before it gets dark." Ryoko advised her, being the wise grandmother, she is.

"Yeah, sure, grandma. Love you guys." Mirai called out as she left the house.

"Love you too." Kenshiro called back.

~~~

"Thank you for your purchase and welcome to Morioh."

Mirai thanked the cashier and went on her way home. She took a moment to look around the neighbourhood, at all the different houses behind walls and fences. She was the new girl in town and she felt like a bit of a stranger in a strange land. If she were to meet someone, a person would be filled with many possible opportunities. A friend or enemy, someone she hated or her true love.

"Hey, punk! We're in the middle of a mugging, so piss off!"

"Yeah, get out! And take that ugly Elvis looking knockoff pompadour with you!"

Mirai's train of thought was interrupted as she peered around a wall to witness what looked to be a mugging. There were two large males, a frightened young couple and someone that caught her eye, upon hearing a voice laced with anger.

"What the fuck did you say about my hair?!"

A tall young male who looked the same age as Mirai, wearing what seemed to be a dark blue male school uniform but was modified. The jacket was held open, unbuttoned and pinned aside with two pins, a peace sign on the left and a heart on the right. Underneath was a yellow shirt with a short zipper on each side of his chest. The collar was also pinned, two small hearts on his right and an anchor on his left. He was also wearing a pair of Bally shoes that looked very expensive and a small stud on each of his ears. His eyes were ocean blue and the most defining feature was his black well-maintained pompadour. The kind of hair, Mirai saw on Elvis Presley that Ryoko told her about, since her grandmother was a fan.

However, there was something, her dad warned her about. Anyone with a pompadour would be a gang member, a thug, a member of the yakuza, the bōsōzoku and other similar groups, including the yankii, high school hoodlums. Mirai knew better to steer clear of them, especially if that boy happened to be a delinquent.

The male had a glow around him, a mix of light blue and purple. A light manifested into a muscular looking arm, the flesh a shade of bubblegum pink, covered in light blue or silver armour-like plates. The arm threw a massive punch to the one mugger who made that insulting remark. His partner stood, shaking in fear as the couple ran away with their valuables intact. Mirai was smart enough to watch from a safe distance.

"My face! You broke my fucking face!" The unfortunate mugger yelled, through his hand to cover his now bloody nose.

"Talk shit about my hair again and you got yourself a one way ticket to pain." The male teen remarked, rudely. "Plus I can't allow you to go around attacking innocent people around Morioh!"

Falling to his knees, his partner pleaded desperately. "Please forgive us! We'll turn ourselves in! If only we had known..."

The lead mugger slowly removed his hand to discover that his nose had healed back into place from where he got punched.

"You got some nerve, going out to rob others for your sick kicks. So how do you plan on getting away with it as well as insulting my hair? HUH?!"

The two muggers got to their feet as they met the teen's eyes, that held a spark of intimidating anger and started to run off, in fear.

Mirai, who had been watching this entire time, ducked behind the corner of the wall from where she stood. She did not want to get involved, even when there was crime abounding in Morioh.

"Shit, I'm gonna be late home. Mom's gonna kill me."

Mirai peeked around the corner and saw the boy walk off into the distance, on his way home. Manifesting from him was a humanoid being with a powerful build and tall stature, about two heads above its owner. It was clad in tall headgear, part of a mask and large armour-like plates on many large surfaces of its body. There were cables joining the back of its head to its upper back. Between the top of its head, its chin, shoulders, celiac plexus, belt and knees bore a heart motif and there were pairs of short spikes protruding from its shoulders and ankles. Its eyes were the same colour as its owner's.

The mysterious being turned its head and gazed at Mirai for a moment before it disappeared as its owner turned a corner.

The white haired girl stood, lost for words for a moment before she remembered to be home for dinner. She went off on her way back to her new home.

But little does she know, her life was about to change forever upon her move to Morioh.