Ren Kanzaki, a songbird's story

[Sapphoria]

***This is the first chapter of Ren's story. Some of the content is PG-13 and makes reference to illicit substances. Swearing has been left out. Two more chapters will come before the back-story is caught up with where Ren is now. If you would like to be a part of her story, feel free to contact Ren-Kanzaki in game. Enjoy!***

I was only thirteen when I first met him. Tall, handsome, obviously wealthy, he took an interest in me. We were at a dingy dive-bar on Planet Kyushu, and I had been nursing a soda-water with lime all evening. Now I was treated to something far nicer as this man, who introduced himself as Hideyo Takahashi, listened to my story with rapt attention, buying me several drinks as I did so. I prattled on about how my grandfather was terrible to me and my sister, how we were forced to live with him since my parents died, how I was dedicated to the idea of running away. He mostly just prompted me to keep talking, and when I secretively told him my age he laughed.

"You're joking, surely. You're at least seventeen."

"No, Sir. Just thirteen. But that doesn't mean I can't look out after myself. I'm strong, and smart," I insisted, putting on a defiant look. He just laughed and ruffled my hair. He was so friendly, and at the time I didn't notice the men who were keeping an eye on him, with ear-pieces in and guns beneath their jackets.

The next few months were very exciting for me. I had gone back in Hideyo's private limousine and was staying at an impressive mansion with him and several others, many girls as well ranging from my age to their early twenties. This was under the notion that "I needed a safe place to stay until I got over being angry at my grandfather and went home". I made few friends, for I was the new favorite. Hideyo bought me fancy dresses, diamonds, expensive perfume, jewelery, and other frivolous niceties. Every day I had personal attendants, hair-stylists, my own makeup artist. I ate the finest foods and was doted on at every occasion.

Then there were the drugs, of course. I didn't know much about any of them, but I knew that to accept whatever was given to me was to rebel against my grandfather's wishes, and I liked that. They also made me feel very, very good. The lifestyle was intoxicating, and I was completely swallowed up by it. Months turned to years, and while I didn't remain the newest, most favorite girl of Hideyo's, he generally kept me closer than the others. For a while.

I can barely even remember the details of my life, other than that they involved an awful lot of money, expensive things, men, a few women, danger, and far too many drugs to keep my mind intact. Things did begin to sour, however. It seemed to me as though I had gone to sleep young and happy and woken up twenty years old, in an abusive and neglectful psuedo-relationship with a gangster. Sure, he was a prominent figure within Samura, but his department was extortion, smuggling, bribery, and the occasional execution.

It was after a particularly nasty fight with Hideyo, for I had not prepared his sukiyaki to perfection, that I finally stood up to him. My face was still stinging from where he had hit me and an angry bruise was welling up under my eye. My eyes streamed with tears of anger and my skin flushed as I shouted, "You don't even deserve someone like me! I'm leaving, and your own men will help me! They don't respect you, and they love me!"

Hideyo just sat back in his chair, folded his hands, and surveyed me for several long seconds. Then he began to laugh. "You think you can just walk out of here? Come now, Ren. You are too soft, who will buy you the things you want? Who will treat you like a queen?"

"I don't need any of that rubbish!" I screamed, "I can live happily on my own without YOU around to treat me like an animal!"

"An animal?" he laughed louder now, mirthlessly. "But my dear, you are. And you belong to me, don't you see? Where will you get your precious cardamine? You know what you get like without it. You NEED me to survive. But go ahead, run away. Just like you did with your grandfather. Turn your back on those you owe everything."

I glared at him with every ounce of hate I possessed. "You know nothing about my grandfa-"

"Other than that he's now dead? Oh, did I forget to mention that? It's on the neural-net. Take a look. Oh, and when you get around to running away since you're so strong and independent, do try to remember who pays my men. They may love looking at you when you walk by, but they know what true loyalty is. Remember that if you think they'll help you."