𝓖𝓪𝓷𝓰 𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 ~ (𝓐𝓼𝓱 𝓛𝔂𝓷𝔁 𝓧 𝓞𝓒)

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 3

"Does this happen often?" Ibe questions. "Being sent to prison without a trial?"

"It's legally possible, but rare," Charlie replies and I nod.

"What's gonna happen to Ash?" I ask and Charlie lowers his head.

"Well-" Before he can finish he gets cut off by a booming voice.

"Wassup, Shunichi!" A large man shouts and I look up, watching as he makes his way over to us. Ibe stands up and smiles,

"Yo, Max," He says, hugging the guy. 

"Long time no see, man," Max laughs out.

"You're such an idiot, ending up in prison," Ibe responds and they release. "I heard you punched a cop. Do you realize what you put us through?" Max just laughs and looks away.

"My bad," He looks back over and is greeted with Charlie, staring him down. "What's with the long face, Charlie?" He mocks but doesn't get an answer. The three sit back down and explain the situation to Max, who doesn't look pleased. "You're crazy," He slams his fists down on the table and I jump in shock. "I have a hard enough time looking after my own ass here. What can I do against those rough-housers with my delicate arms, huh?" His complaining is met by an exasperated Charlie, putting his fist down on the table loudly.

"I know, but we need your help," He speaks angrily.

"Yeah, but man..." Max trails off.

"Please," I interrupt, causing him to look at me. "He saved my life, I'm begging you to protect him," He turns back, looking at the table and groans.

~𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬~ 

The next day, we went back to the prison so that Charlie could meet up with Max and I could see Ash. When Ash walked through the door, I waved him over and gave him a huge smile, him returning a soft one. He sat down and Ibe joined us.

"I'm glad you came, Natsuko," He tells me and I blush.

"I was glad to hear you wanted to see me. After what happened to Skip because of me," I trail off as he stands up, walking over and he puts an arm around my shoulders.

"It's not your fault, dummy," He says to me. "Japanese people think so strangely!" I giggle a bit and look at him, raising a brow.

"You think so?" I question and he smiles. He stands up, letting go of me and he turns to Ibe.

"I heard you're still taking pictures," He speaks. "How are my boys," The way he says that reminds me of Momma from back home. Although she's only a year older than most of us, she always cares about us and practically acts like our mother.

~𝐹𝓁𝒶𝓈𝒽𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀~(This is going to be in italics and underlined only because they're speaking Japanese. Italics means thoughts, and both Italics and underlined means speaking in another language.)

"Momma," I knock on her office door, letting myself in.

"Dagger, dear," She says with a warm tone and I smile, taking a seat in front of her desk. "What can I do for ya?"

"Well, remember the other week when I asked you about the photography internship?" I remind her and she nods. "Well, Ibe wants us to go to New York to interview a street gang there," I push my nervousness down and continue. "Is it okay if I go?" I await her answer and she smiles.

"Of course, I think it would be great for you to get out there," I sigh in relief and thank her repeatedly. "Just be safe and I want to hear all about it when you get back, okay?" She laughs and says her goodbyes as I leave the office.