Excuse me for what I'm about to put the poor Meif'wa child through this chapter. Sorry in advance.

***

NANA

It's been a whole week since I came to Tokyo.

I hoped my friends would get stuck on Dante's second task, because I needed all the time I could. I figured based on the difficulty of the clues, and how it would only escalate from there, their second task would buy me time. Finding that letter is going to be hard.

Meanwhile, ever since Grandfather found out I had the "gift", he told me not to tell my siblings or my mother about it. I learned how to conceal my claws and to change my eyes, Grandfather saying that I should keep it that way until the time was right.

Not only was I working in the gardens, but he is also "training" me I should say.

And training is hell.

"Again!" He shouted. I nodded as I jogged the full perimeter of the garden once more, which was equal to about 2 miles. Not only was there the clearing, but there was also a hidden mountain path, leading to an array of waterfalls.

I had run about fifteen laps, no water to drink during the process. I fell to my knees, and he hit my back with a stick. I choked on my breathing, coughing up blood, my black tresses sitting on my shoulders.

I had also dyed my hair black as soon as I got home. I didn't want to, but I felt this was a necessary step in finding out who I was. I couldn't determine who I was through my appearance, and by having me look like a copy of my other siblings, there was an added challenge when it came to defining myself.

"You remain strong; you do not fall." He dunked a bottle of water onto my head, the water refreshing myself. I hiccuped, on my knees, my hands on my lap, looking up to him.

"I want you to prune the branches of the Sakura trees. The upper branches are getting cluttered." He spoke coldly.

Nodding, I got up, rubbing the cold water all over my face to help with cooling down. While it was still summer, we were high up, making it extremely cold.

Climbing up the branches, sitting in the trees, I started to slowly cut off some of the smaller branches, giving the tree more oxygen so it could last longer. I sighed, wondering how long this was going to take for our family to get back onto our feet.

A thought then occurred to me, about why weren't saying in Grandfather's place for the meantime. I knew this place was symbolic, but it was a family home, so didn't that mean we could live in it?

***

ZANE

I sent a text to Nana again for the I should say the twelfth time this week. I was about to head to bed after all. It was one in the morning. Laying back, facing upwards towards the ceiling, I was afraid Nana was really in danger. It's been five days since we received the clue on where the next letter was, and we still couldn't find it at the "trash bear reserve". 

Sleep eventually took my consciousness, and I found myself standing on the street. The rain was pouring, some of the drops even hurting a little. I looked up ahead, seeing a figure standing there in the centre of the street.

Then they turned to me, their pink hair and amber eyes catching my attention. Nana's eyes widened after seeing me, and she began to run away from me. 

"Wait!" I called, running after her. I caught up to her, me being a bit faster in running speed. She however sped up, outrunning me, dashing away into the fog. I picked up my pace, reaching for her, but tripped on a pebble. I fell, my palms being stung by the pavement, and she stopped, her ear twitching. I got up, about to reach her, but she kept running.

I was closer to her this time, and I kept trying to reach for her. Then something strange caught my attention as her hood flew from her head, which was covering her hair. The ends of her hair were slowly turning form pink to black as she ran, and soon, all of her pink hair was gone. 

All of a sudden, she disappeared in the fog, and I stopped, feeling the need to turn right. It was a good thing I did, because here the fog was gone, and I saw that I would've gone off a cliff if I hadn't turned. I knew something was terribly wrong, since there was no cliff near the street.

Of course. It's a dream. I thought. I still was desperate for any sign of her. Finally catching glimpse of her again, I picked up my speed one more, a huge ravine coming up ahead. I stopped, expecting her to do so as well, since the gap was so large. 

But she jumped.

"Nana!" I yelled, she turned back, and I caught a glimpse of her eyes as she fell on her side at the other end of the ravine. It was too long for me to run around, and I watched in horror as she slammed into the dirt, rolling a few times before stopping. I heard a few coughs come from her, and I cocked my head, hoping I could get a better look of her face.

She got up in a way that looked as if she was badly hurt. She turned to look at me, tears in her eyes, her pupils as slits, blood staining her chin as it came out of her mouth. The fog came once more, and I lost her amongst it.

***

NANA

"I never thought you would make the jump." Grandfather examined, nodding in approval.

I sat up, looking at him from the other side of the ravine. I was running through the waterfall paths when I came up to this gap, but I had too much momentum, forcing myself to jump it. I never did think I would actually make it, and I wondered what was going through my head at my time.

I got up, walking towards the stream of water, looking at my reflection. The slits in my eyes, as well as my claws, were still there. I sighed. I wanted to keep it in, but I inhaled once more, the taste of blood clouding my tongue. 

"What time is it?" I asked my grandfather, tilting my head to look at him. I wanted to know how much I had left of this hellish day.

"One in the afternoon." he replied. He seemed less irritated with me ever since I found out I had some sort of gift, as well as after I dyed my hair black. 

Nodding, I got up, starting to jog somehow to find a path that he'd back to the clearing, where I could meet up with Grandfather. 

***

"Sadao is dead." My mother's words shattered the air.

Aiko, who was sitting next to me, felt her eyes widen, tears forming in her eyes. She shrieked, sobbing and hugging me. Cho turned away, not wanting to cry. I sat there, speechless, that another one of. my family members was gone, just like that.

"How?.." Daisuke choked on his words.

"Hit by a car. Coincidence." our mother remained cold. She was very good at burying her emotions through repetitive yelling and scolding her children. For some reason, I couldn't cry. I just hung my head in shame. My younger brother was gone, just like that. The brother who was born after I was. 

"Children, something is off and I know it. We must be careful wherever we go nowadays. You will have to stop going to school Cho." Mother told her.

"I-" Cho started. "I still want to go!" 

"It's too dangerous. I never thought that this would happen in a million years, but it's an unfortunate event." 

"What is it then?" Tama asked, worried for his mother and siblings.

"I believe.. someone is trying to kill us." 

I sat up, my eyes widening in confusion. I had been through this before. People tried to detain me, and they tried to kill my friends. 

"You see, the Nakamura clan is not a pure one. The Meif'wa of our clan sometimes have the ability to manifest claws and strength, changing our eyes to slits. We used this ability, and we became assassins. We did terrible things for money." Mother spoke, saddened.

"Your grandfather Ozaru was the very last assassin of the clan." she added on. "He hoped that there would be an heir to this ability, but alas, I believe that none of you are capable of it."

"Someone is trying to put a stop to us, even though our family has discontinued the inherited business."

"The Guardian Forces?" I asked, terrified.

"How ignorant of you Nana. The guardian forces would never burn down a building over one family, and end up killing over fifty people. The car accident was staged. Sadao's death was planned. This is not the work of the guardian forces. You should know better." Mother hissed, narrowing her eyes at me.

I nodded, looking down at the ground in shame. 

"Do you know of this other clan?" Takura asked, tilting her head. She was the next born child after Sadao. 

"Of course. The Takahashi Clan is for sure behind this. Their methods are reckless. Why are they doing all of this now though?" Mother asked herself, puzzled.

I froze, because I knew exactly why.

"Dismissed." she refocused, directing us away from her.

As soon as everyone else left, I approached her. "Ma, I want to talk." I spoke clearly.

"Nana, leave my presence." she didn't bother to look at me.

"I'm not going anywhere. We need to talk."

"Nana, you need to le-"

"It's me."

Mother's ears twitched in alarm, and she slowly turned to look at me.

"What do you mean?" she scowled.

"I'm the reason they're after us." I told her. I wanted to cry, but I knew I had to keep it together. 

"I survived everything that happened at Starlight. I am a witness of the horrors I had to face." I touched my chest where the gash I received was at its deepest point. "I survived a blade that went through me."

Mother turned her ears away, flatly.

"The Takahashi clan believes that our family still has the ability." I finished.

"You're lying." Mother spat. "You're a lying child Nana. You said it was a fishing hook that caused the gash." She turned to me, and I was facing down, ashamed of looking at her.

"It's true." I choked out those words, hoping not to cry.

"Tell me everything then. Prove to me you aren't lying about all of this." she spoke darkly.

I turned to look at her, and from the expression on her face, I knew that my eyes had become slits once again.

And for the first time, other than our reunion, emotion broke through, and her face softened, as I broke down sobbing, telling her everything.

***

ZANE

I rapidly knocked on the door, hoping for an answer.

Katelyn opened it, surprised to see me. "Zane, what are you doing here?" she asked, puzzled.

"Let me in." I spoke. "I need to check something."

"Is something wrong? You seem really urgent about this."

"That's because I am!" I replied, annoyed she hadn't picked up on it yet.

"Okay okay! Let me move out of the way." she moved aside, and I walked inside, dashing up the stairs, entering Nana's room.

Going to her desk, I opened a few drawers, scanning through them for any sign of something.

"What are you doing? Just because she's your girlfriend doesn't mean you have the right to look through her stu-" she paused, as I stopped, holding a photo album in my hand.

I flipped through the pages, hoping to find a specific photo, perhaps of when Nana was young. Most of the photos of her had her with pink hair, until I finally spotted what I was looking for.

"It's true." I exhaled, shuddering from thinking about the dream. "Her hair used to be black."

"Huh?" she came up, sitting down next to me, as I delicately passed the photo over. It showed her and another black-haired Meif'wa, her older sister it seemed, laughing as they held flowers in their hands together. Their hair was quite short, only reaching the top of their chests, and it was black for sure.

FLASHBACK

"Welcome to my room!" Nana squealed.

Katelyn had gone out of the house to do something, probably grocery shopping of some sort, so Nana thought it would be a good idea to invite me over, so we could have a little privacy and so Katelyn wouldn't have to deal with us.

"It's very... pink." I answered.

She couldn't help but laugh a little. It wasn't Kawaii~Chan's laugh, it was Nana's laugh. A gentle, warm laughter that made me smile under my mask.

"So there's my bed, and over here is my desk and wardrobe, and over here is the bean bag and Pikachu rug!" she seemed genuinely happy as she spoke, giggling at my puzzled expressions as I looked at everything. 

"What's this?" I picked up a book from her desk. It had somewhat of an important aura or vibe to it, and Nana turned, looking at what I was holding, her eyes widening.

"O-oh! That's nothing important. Here. L-let me put it away." she grinned, reaching for it, but I pulled away.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" I asked her. She slowly nodded. "So why do you have it then?"

Nana sighed, grabbing it from me. She opened up to the first few pages, pointing to some of the images. 

"This is a photo album that I have, of all of us on the street... and my family." she confessed, her expression becoming sadder from every page she turned to. "It's a reminder of what I can never become. I'll never become as great as them. I'll never achieve something of their level."

"Nana," I started. She cut me off. "Even for all of you. Aphmau and Aaron, Lucinda, Garroth, even you. You've all done amazing things, and I haven't done anything to impact the neighbourhood. Everyone else made a contribution except me."

"Nana, stop." I raised my voice without noticing at first.

"You know how it feels? I wanted to be the relic! I wanted to help! You wouldn't let me, and then you went through trauma! I didn't want that for you!" she cried out, tears starting to stream down her face.

"Nana!" I called out to her, but she shook her head.

"No." her tone changed, becoming cold. She looked out her window, where Aaron and Aphmau were, and she closed the curtains, as if seeing them was a reminder of what she couldn't become.

"I was hoping to die becoming a relic. I thought then it would redeem myself. I wanted to be as good as all of you at least, hoping I could die trying at least."

I stood there, horrified.

"Yet, I can't to anything, because I'm the weak one. I'm that anime girl who isn't a fighter, who isn't a witch, who can't get great ideas. I'm overshadowed by everyone." she spat out.

"I said that I was never always this unique, but I take it back. I'm still not enough." 

I had never seen her have an outburst, sobbing as she turned away from me, ashamed.

"I'm sorry I'm still not enough." she started.

"You are more than enough Nana." I walked towards her, touching her shoulder. 

She clung onto me, pulling me into a hug. She sniffed her tears drying gradually. She looked up at me, smiling sadly.

"Are you sure I am good enough? Are you saying that to make me feel better?" she choked out, scared that I was speaking lies.

Pulling down my scarf, I connected our lips, hoping she would catch on. She eventually did, her hands finding my face, tilting it so that we interlocked better.

She finally let go, looking up at me.

"You are more than enough for me." I strongly replied, saying each word slowly so it could sink in.

She looked down, grabbing my hand with hers.

"Prove it."

I grabbed her by the waist, spinning us around, losing balance, us landing on her bed with a soft "oomph". She was underneath me, and I adjusted my arms so I wouldn't put weight on her.

She then realized what I was getting it, grabbing my collar and pulling me to her, our lips crashing together once again.

*** (Yea Imma stop here before I start cringing from how bad this is XD)

"She said she started acting cuter from what she told me." I observed. "She never said she started to look cuter either." 

Katelyn stood up, the expression on her face saying that she was probably thinking of something. 

"We can't tell the others about this either." Katelyn shivered. "However, if you find anything, anything at all...

...don't tell me."

"Huh?" I asked, wondering what she was getting at.

"All of this worries me, and while I am her roommate, you're the only person who really should be getting into this, since you two are intimate." she exhaled, sad. "Whatever you find, keep it to yourself. I am scared, but I don't want to be scared even more." With that, she exited the room, leaving me kneeling on the ground, holding the photo, the album on the floor.

I gently put it back in before putting the album back in its place in the drawer. Walking out myself, exiting their house, I crossed the street, where Garroth was calling out to me.

"Zane! Do you want to watch 'It'?" he grinned. "Maybe it'll cheer you up!"

"Sure. I'll be there in a se-" I stopped dead in my tracks.

The sewers. the paper boat and the sewers. There was a large network of pipes near the raccoon's residence.

"I know where we need to search for the next clue!" I turned around to face Katelyn, her eyes widening. "We need to search in the sewers!" I cracked a smile, realization hitting me.

"You're right! The raccoons go down there sometimes as well, and there's a lot of junk down there!" Katelyn smiled, Aphmau popping her head out from the door, peeking out of the commotion.

"You know where we need to go next?" she exclaimed, relieved. "Finally!"

"You're brilliant Garroth! Maybe you aren't as stupid as I think you are."

"Awww thanks baby bro- hey!"

We all laughed as we gathered in a close group, discussing our plans for the next day and the hunt for the letter.

***

This chapter is over 3000 words. I was in the mood to write so I didn't force myself. it felt good being able to smoothly type without hesitation.

@SevenWritesStuff stated that this is a fanfic, and it should have some Zane~Chan content, and while I want to stick to the plot and what I have drafted, I wholeheartedly agree.

So to make it up to you all, starting from this chapter I will be adding Zane~Chan flashbacks like the one in this chapter. These are things that happened after S6, made up scenarios, so like one shots scattered throughout a chapter-by-chapter fan fiction. 

I hope this satisfies your Zane~Chan cravings XD! The good thing about these flashbacks is that they relate to the plot, so thanks you once again for reminding me.

Also, I am going to want you all. This book may play with your emotions going forward, if it hasn't already. Ever since being diagnosed with my sadistic personality disorder, I've felt like writing more dark literature. 

So WARNING! This book will most likely be as dark and depressing as MyStreet S6 When Angels Fall, if not than more. Sensitive topics will be covered, and if you wish to proceed, you're going on a roller coaster. (Unless you're heartless and you don't cry like me. Like, seriously. I didn't shed a single tear during S4 or S6, and I burst out laughing after seeing Aaron's face when Aphmau died.)

I wish you all luck! Have at least a few tissues or a stuffed animal if you think you need it!