Idk why but I've always imagined Nejire's mom as a black girl, or at least a very tan woman. Like I've always thought of her as a dark skinned Asian woman and I don't know why.

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The longer Nejire thought about missing people at her school, the more she thought about the way her mom would turn off the tv every time someone would go missing, or change the channel in the cafe whenever they talked about it. Mochi was always protective over Nejire.

She always wondered what was so bad about the news. She assumed it was because it was so gruesome, or devastating.

"Ryuko, are missing people ever found?" Nejire asked. They were hanging out in Ryuko's home, having one of their little sleepovers they had every now and then. Though, they hadn't had one in a few months. 

Ryuko seemed to choke at the question. Like her answer would be startling. She paused and looked at Nejire.

"What do you think?" She asked, wrapping her fingers around the mug she held for her tea. "Do you think they're found?"

"Well, y-yeah! The police and that weird Suns organization looks for them. So they have to be found at some point, right?"

"How do you know about those people?"

"The police? Well, everyone knows about them. Are you ok Ryuko?" Nejire asked, laughing a bit. Ryuko began laughing herself. "They came to my school and gave us an assembly about curfew. The guy giving the speech was pretty cute."

"Nejire he's probably thirty."

"I know..." she grumbled. Ryuko looked at her friend with a very concerned face.

"But for real, so you think they're actually found?"

"Yeah, are they not?"

"Nejire, have you ever stopped to think, maybe they aren't missing? Maybe they're criminals who ran away? Or they went off the radar for a good reason?"

"No... I've never thought about it like that I guess. But kids from my school have gone missing, what if I do too? Does that mean I'm a criminal?"

"Nejire, of course not. But you have to think sometimes, they may be criminals. Not just missing."

"Alright. So... is that what that other organization looks for? Criminals?"

"...Sure, let's go with that." Ryuko frowned, glancing away. She didn't want to finish the conversation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nejire asked, confused at what she meant.

"Oh nothing. I don't know much about them either." Ryuko said through closed teeth.

"You're a really bad liar."

"I'm not lying Nejire!" She pretended to be offended. "Anyways, it's a weekend and your curfew is later, why don't we go to a movie, or something." Ryuko asked. Nejire's eyes lit up. She always knew what to say to distract her. It was just something she had picked up in her years of babysitting Nejire.

Ryuko had known Nejire since she moved from China. That was a whole ten years ago! Ryuko was fourteen then, and Nejire was five years old. She babysat Nejire while Mochi dealt with school. She helped teach Nejire Japanese, since Mochi wanted her to learn, since Mochi was Japanese herself. Ryuko was trilingual, knowing Mandarin, Japanese, and English.

As Nejire started scrolling through good movies, Minette, Shinya's pet cat, began walking over Ryuko's body. Nejire looked over and started laughing. "She's so cute!" She gasped, reaching over to pet her white fur.

Minette began hissing at Nejire, scratching at her palm. Nejire was shocked by Minette's sudden outburst, and clearly Ryuko was as well.

"That's weird, she's usually really nice." Ryuko frowned, grabbing the kitten, who immediately calmed down when she was held by Ryuko. "Aurora loves you still!" She tried to make the situation better, knowing Nejire loved kittens.

"Ooh! Aurora? Where is she?" Nejire gasped, looking around. Aurora was Ryuko's cat. She was a white cat with green eyes. She was very welcoming.

"I don't know, she's been running away a lot." Ryuko frowned. Nejire gasped, saddened at the fact. "We honestly just wait for her to come back..."

"Ohhh! Yuyu's dog does that all the time. He's a Pitbull." Nejire laughed. Yuyu's dog's name was Felix, because he had a really deep bark, like the K-Pop idol's deep voice.

"Yeah, it's normal, but it's concerning." Ryuko pondered as she pet Minette who was completely calm now. Nejire reached her hand back to attempt to pet the kitten, but was immediately scratched.

"Ow!" Nejire winced gently and frowned. She laughed it off immediately afterwards.

"Minette!" Ryuko said, slightly spanking the kitten's thigh. Minette didn't react to it and instead cuddled closer to Ryuko. "I'm sorry, she's usually not this bitchy." Ryuko apologized. "Is it bloody?" Nejire hummed in response to her friend. "I'll go grab a bandaid and Neosporin." She said, getting up, leaving Minette on the couch with Nejire.

The cat stared at Nejire, sending Shivers down the blue haired girl's spine. "Why do you hate me?" She asked as if the kitten could respond to her. "Sorry for trying to pet you without permission Minette." She grumbled, realizing she was in the wrong for trying to touch her.

Ryuko returned with a handful of supplies, trying to take care of her small scratch. "My auntie was a doctor. She said to immediately fix up any dog scratches because they could be really gross. I guess it goes for cats too." Ryuko said, spraying whatever she had in her hand on Nejire's scratch. Nejire almost cried from the sting. Ryuko put the pastel pink bandaid on her hand and kissed it better.

"Thanks." She said all teary eyed. Her hand felt kinda numb now. "You went overboard with the antibiotics." She grumbled, puffing her round cheeks out at Ryuko.

"Sorry." Ryuko snickered. Nejire began to look around Ryuko's new place, now that it was fully decorated. She could see a few pictures around the living room, which was expected, but she didn't see Shinya in any of the pictures.

"Why's Shinya in none of these?" Nejire asked.

"Oh, he doesn't like taking photos, he's a really shy person. He took most of these actually, he loves taking my picture, it's kinda funny, but really cute." Ryuko giggled with a gentle smile. "Oh, that reminds me! You wanted me to ask if there were job offers at his workplace?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah, that would be great! I'd love that."

"I can set up a day for all of us to meet up if you want? So you can meet him? Haha." Ryuko shrugged, her laugh sounding very nervous and fake.

"Great! I can't wait to meet him!"

"Are you hungry?"

Yes.

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Loved this chapter cuz it explained how Nejire and Ryuko met, and theres a lot I have to explain about Minette. But that won't be for a while. Oh and Aurora is back.