SIDE STORY: Mukuro's Past Part 1

BANG!

That was the sound of the very first gunshot the girl who would be known as Mukuro Ikusaba ever heard. She had heard of guns before, but this was the first time her young mind had ever truly registered them as real things. The shot was loud and piercing, and she could feel her ears hurt for seconds after it was fired. A moment later and the bullet’s metal casing clanged against the tiled floor as the almost intoxicating scent of gunpowder wafted through the air. People began to shout in fear and confusion shortly afterward, but even as adrenaline pumped through the five-year-old girl’s veins she clenched her fists and resolved to stay calm. She had a mission to complete, after all.

For days, she and her sisters had been wandering around, their clothes dirty and tattered, their stomachs empty. That gunshot had come from a robber of a bakery that Mukuro was drawn to by the smell, and it appears she wasn’t the only one. The bullet fired into the ceiling, so no one had been hurt - yet - and it got everyone to focus on him and let them know that he meant business. And that suited Mukuro just fine, she got what she wanted; two loaves of bread for her sisters, the only ones she cared about in the whole world.

Unfortunately, the robber complicated things. It would be one thing if his attention was solely on the owner and the cash, but Mukuro noted that he must have been just as **** for food as she was, because his own clothes were torn and stained, he had a jumpy and wild manner of looking around, like someone who knows the world was out to get them, and finally, he wasn’t demanding the money in the drawers, just that his bag be filled with donuts. His desperation and twitchy behavior would mean that he’d most likely shoot at anything that moved, and he’d definitely notice a child moving out from her hiding place behind the counter and open fire on reflex alone.

Mukuro couldn’t stay here with stolen goods, so she needed a distraction. Grabbing a phone that a panicked employee had dropped, she hurled it as strongly as she could at the robber’s head. She hit her mark flawlessly. The man screamed and cursed, flailing about as he clutched his wounded eye with the hand that held the gun. Mukuro took the opportunity to dash out via the emergency exit, and hoped no one saw her. Thankfully, she heard a struggle behind her, guaranteeing that she wouldn’t be pursued. Good; she cared about her sisters, not whatever was going on behind her, though the sound of more gunshots did quicken her pace.

It didn’t take long for her to return to Junko, who was pacing impatiently, and Ryoko, who was absentmindedly writing. The three of them had taken up residence in a nearby alleyway that was only mostly filthy, and was even protected from the rain. At the time, the only thing that seperated Mukuro from her siblings was her freckles, as they each had the same skinny bodies and short, dark black hair. Their clothes were tattered gray shirts with black sweatpants that they had taken from a second-hand shop in the last city they took refuge in.

Junko was alerted to Mukuro’s presence by the sound of a growling stomach. Turning, Junko let out a groan. “About time! What took so long?”

“Robbery. Don’t worry, I made it out fine.” Mukuro replied, pulling out two loaves of bread and handing both of them to her sisters. “Lunch is served.”

“Thank you, um… uh… Muku?” Ryoko started, clutching her head as she tried to remember her sister’s name.

“Close enough; Mukuro’s just her nickname anyway - she thinks it makes her sound cool or something,” Junko said through a mouthful of food. “So, did anything happen at the bakery? Besides the robbery?”

“Of course not.” Mukuro replied, a bit of pride slipping into her voice. “I doubt they even noticed I took anything yet.”

“But, wait… aren’t you going to eat something too?” Ryoko asked, looking up from her spot.

“I didn’t manage to get a third loaf before the robber showed up,” Mukuro explained. “Don’t worry, I can steal something later.”

“Oh. Well then here.” Ryoko responded, tearing half of her bread and offering it to Mukuro. But before either of them could do something else, Junko grabbed the offered bread and started shoving it into Ryoko’s mouth.

“Um!” Ryoko gasped, muffled by the bread stuffed in her mouth.

“You keep forgetting to feed yourself, and now you're giving away your food?! Shame on you sis! What would… you do… without us?!” Junko asked as the whole half went inside Ryoko’s mouth.

“We should probably move again soon. There were security cameras, and with the robber they are definitely going to get checked, and they’ll undoubtedly come looking for me.” Mukuro informed, hearing police sirens in the distance, and getting louder.

“Are you kidding?! That’s so lame! Fine, we’ll go somewhere else. But we’re keeping the cardboard box.” Junko said, looking at a cardboard box for a refrigerator that was decorated in crude drawings of horses, skulls, and other things.

Another day, another place to leave behind. But Mukuro was fine with that, so long as she had her sisters.

BANG!

That was the second gunshot Mukuro ever heard, which was a few years later. Unlike the first, however, she wasn’t in any danger, as the gunshot came from a spy who had just landed the kill in a movie she and some other children were watching. Mukuro could tell that the guns were fake, but she wondered if this was how people fought with real guns.

“Are you alright dear?” A kind, motherly voice asked.

“Huh? Oh, yes, I’m fine Ms. Hilda, thank you.” Mukuro answered.

Mukuro, Junko, and Ryoko were busy huddling inside their cardboard box during a rather nasty downpour when they had been spotted by a rather elderly woman who approached them, asking if they’d like to stay somewhere nicer; the Mirai Orphanage. The three girls, very distrustful of strangers, were about to tell her no, but before they could say anything the cardboard box had finally had enough of the violent storm and tore, drenching the three children. So, they took the old lady up on her offer, and went to the orphanage. Much to their surprise, it wasn’t some kind of trap, and the girls soon found their bellies full and for the first time in years, they were able to bathe and get into clean clothes.

That was yesterday. Today, the three were huddled around an old TV and watching an even older spy film. The other kids had already seen it so many times it had gotten stale, but for the trio of sisters, who had never been able to do this before, it was the most wonderful thing in the world.

“Well, don’t forget to share with the others. This is the only TV we have, darlings.” Hilda reminded them.

“I don’t mind sharing.” Ryoko absentmindedly stated.

“Did you come up just to tell us to stop hogging the TV, Ms. Hilda?” Junko asked.

“Oh no. There are some things you should know if you’re going to be staying with us.” Hilda responded, pausing the movie.

“First things first; while it is my sincerest hope that you all will be adopted into a loving family, it sadly isn’t guaranteed. But you can help improve your chances by behaving like proper girls; speaking, acting, and dressing as society expects.”

To punctuate her point Hilda pulled her hands behind her back, and revealed three uniforms. The sisters each took one and examined the first piece of clothing they didn’t have to steal, finding that they were all exactly the same. The three immediately got changed, but Junko went to a nearby shelf and grabbed two buttons; one was of a cute black bear, and another a beautiful white rabbit, and pinned both of them on her uniform shirt.

Hilda let out a sigh, and glared, but Junko did nothing but smile in the face of the old woman’s annoyance. Turning back to Ryoko and Mukuro, the caretaker’s smile returned.

“Now, why don’t you girls go play with the other youngins? They’re playing hide and seek, and Yasuke’s the seeker.” Hilda said, turning off the TV. When the girls didn’t move, Hilda spoke again.

“Come on girls. Don’t you want to make some friends while you’re here?”

Friends? They only had each other to rely on so far, but… maybe having some friends would be nice. The three girls went out, Mukuro leading the charge, searching for the other kids. Mukuro peered out a window and saw a boy standing in the backyard of the building, scratching his head. Nearby, in a tree, another boy was hiding, grinning as the one in the yard looked fruitlessly for him. Mukuro smiled.

“He’s in the tree!” The young girl called out. The boy, Yasuke she assumed, looked at her, then back at the place she was pointing at and yelled “Found you!”. The boy in the tree jumped down, a scowl aimed squarely at Mukuro.

“That didn’t count! That dummy told you where I was!” the hiding boy complained.

“It does count!” Yasuke argued childishly.

“Nu Uh!”

“Yea huh!”

“Only if you can catch me!” The boy who was in the tree yelled, sprinting away, but not before sticking out his tongue to Mukuro.

“Huh. Didn’t expect ya to point him out.” Junko said, peering over Mukuro’s shoulder.

“Well… aren’t friends supposed to help each other out? I thought, if I helped him…” The girl trailed off.

“Yea, that’s true. But the real reason, I think, is that you wanted to see how they’d react. Like me when I gave you and Ryoko plastic apples!” Junko replied.

“I hope they react better than we did. I like the idea of us having lots of friends. Mainly you, Mukuro. You’ve done a lot of nice things for Junko and me, I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends.” Ryoko pointed out.

“Yeah… I hope so too.”

BANG!

The third time Mukuro heard a gunshot, it was the starting gun for a race relay on the running track of an elementary school gym class. Mukuro knew that she should have been out there taking part in that race, trying to see if she could qualify to compete on behalf of the school. But, instead, she found herself sitting outside of the principal’s office, in trouble for the second time for getting in a fight.

Thirty minutes ago, she was trying to find somewhere to eat in the lunchroom, but simply couldn’t find a spot to sit. Mukuro was still the new kid in school, so she didn’t mesh with the tables that had an established social group. Her immediate instinct was to find and sit with her sisters, Junko and Ryoko. However, she noticed that Junko already made new friends at a table and Ryoko was nowhere to be found. Most likely at the library, reading books. Just when all seemed lost, her new friend, Sayaka, noticed her plight and waved Mukuro over to her table.

“Mukuro! Over here! Sit with me.” Sayaka said to her.

Mukuro was **** to take her offer. Sayaka always sat with the most beautiful and popular girls in the school, and that always made Mukuro feel like she stuck out even more than she normally did.

Still, without any other clear options, Mukuro reluctantly sat down and began to eat her lunch with Sayaka.

“Are you sure you want me to sit with you, Maizono? I don’t really know your friends all that well. I’m basically a stranger.” Mukuro informed her.

“Duh, of course I want you to sit next to me! And you don’t need to keep calling me by my last name. We’re alreadly close.”

“That’s not how… whatever. Do what you want.” Mukuro shrugged off Sayaka’s eagerness as she began to eat her lunch.

“So, have you heard about the new album by ‘Poppy’? I heard it’s really good, but I haven’t had the chance to listen to it yet. I was thinking about giving it a listen this weekend at my house, but my dad doesn’t like it when I invite too many people over, so maybe we could just listen to it at the music store instead.”

“Oh, um, I’m sorry, but I don’t really listen to music. Or know much about music in general.” Mukuro replied, feeling awkward about her lack of knowledge and trying to keep up with the conversation.

“That’s fine! How about this, then? You can stop by sometime for a sleepover and I can show you my music collection. Obviously, Ibuki will have to be there too since she knows my collection even better than I do. Oh, and my dad also bought me a new set of make-up that I’ve been dying to try out. Maybe I could send you some pictures so you can say if I look good or not? I’m usually pretty good about these kinds of things, but I still like a second opinion…”

Sayaka kept going on with the conversation, and while Mukuro did her best to keep up with her friend she simply talked too fast about things she knew nothing about for Mukuro to completely understand it all. She didn’t think about interrupting her, though, since she enjoyed the sound of Sayaka’s voice too much.

Ultimately, it would wind up being another one of the girls at the table who threw things off-course.

“Wow, look at that loser hanging out with Maizono,” the girl across from Mukuro scoffed. “Doesn't that bitch need to get back to the junkyard where she belongs yet?”

“Ah, this again,” Mukuro thought to herself, not responding to the girl. “Hopefully she’ll stop quickly this time… it’s always such a pain to hear the same bad jokes over and over again.”

“Hey! That wasn’t very nice, you know!” Sayaka said, standing up in her seat. “Mukuro can’t control where she comes from, you know! So why don’t you lay off and actually get the chance to get to know her?”

“Oh really now? You actually sympathize with her?” The girl turned up her nose at Sayaka. “Well, I guess it takes one motherless loser to love another, huh?”

The next thing either of them knew, Mukuro had ‘accidentally’ tossed the contents of her food tray onto the girl’s face. The girl didn’t take that very well, and that resulted in food being thrown back at Mukuro’s face. One short food fight later they were pulled apart and Mukuro ‘the troublemaker’ found herself in the main office once again.

At the very least, she was spared the indignity of having to talk to the principal first this time. Right now, it was the girl who had harassed Sayaka who was in there being scolded by the old man. Mukuro could hear him perfectly, but she didn’t bother to listen; she’d heard it all before, and she’d hear it all again in just a few minutes.

But then, much to her surprise, the front door to the office waiting area and Sayaka stuck her head curiously inside.

“Hmm? What are you doing here?” Mukuro asked, sitting up in her chair for the first time. “Don’t tell me little miss perfect managed to get in trouble too.”

“Teehee! Of course not! I’m just here to see you, of course!” Sayaka walked in and sat down next to Mukuro, her light blue dress shining like frosting. “I mean, you did defend my honor back there, even if it was a bit more… rough than I would have liked. I owe you now!”

“Whatever… I didn’t really accomplish anything; I just made a big mess.” Mukuro crossed her arms trying to look cool and kicked her foot against the ground and wiped off some of the tomato that was still on her shirt. “Look, it’s best that you keep your distance from now on, Cupcake. It’s no wonder that the other girls don’t want you hanging out with me. Even just being close to me is going to ruin your reputation sooner or later.”

At this, Sayaka just giggled to herself even more.

“You don’t really expect a line like that to scare me off, do you, Kuro? You might be able to frighten everyone else away, but that’s not going to work on me!” Sayaka smiled sweetly and scooted closer to Mukuro. “Besides, I never got to be popular by caring too much about what others think! So you're stuck with me, you hear?”

“Did you just call me ‘Kuro’?” Mukuro asked.

“Of course! I think it’s a much nicer name for you than ‘corpse’,” Sayaka replied. “Why? Do you not like that?”

“N-no, I don’t have a problem with that. It’s just that… well… no one has ever called me that before.” Mukuro turned her head away from Sayaka, hiding the blush on her face. “I suppose that’s better than the teacher, who refuses to call me by my name at all.”

“So, assuming that you don’t get detention for the next week, is there anything that you wanted to do after school? There’s this one one place nearby that I’d love to go shopping at; don’t worry if you can’t afford anything, I’m sure I can find you something to take home.”

“Heh… you know, it’s a bad habit to try and change the subject as often as you do,” Mukuro chuckled bitterly. “Though, I do appreciate you trying to help me forget about my problems.”

“No, not forget; move past!” Sayaka grabbed Mukuro’s hand and held it tight. “I mean, if you dress better, then that means the teachers are less likely to be hard on you, right? And if people are treating you nicely, then you’ll feel better about yourself and be less likely to be in a fight!”

“Hmm…” Mukuro paused and thought back to all those lessons on being a ‘good girl’ that Ms. Hilda had taught her. “Alright, I suppose I can give it a shot.”

“Great! I’ll see you after class then!” Sayaka said, heading to the door just as they both heard the principal finish up with the other girl. “See you soon!”

BANG!

The next time Mukuro had heard a real gunshot, it was actually her who fired it that time.

It was roughly a year after the lunchroom incident, and Mukuro was now thirteen years old. Miraculously, she had managed to make it that long without getting kicked out of school, but her home life was starting to get tense. Her stepparents’ constant fighting and their neglect of Mukuro and her sisters meant that things likely weren’t going to last much longer at that household. She knew by then there wasn’t anything she could do to hasten or delay the inevitable by that point, so she was mostly just looking for a way to get her mind off things.

Eventually, that opportunity came in the form of Sayaka and her father inviting them to a camping trip out in the desert wilderness surrounding the city. There, they set up camp beside the shallow river that ran through the desert and immediately began various camping activities. Redheaded Ryoko began to sew and crochet, blonde Junko began fishing with Sayaka’s father, but dark-haired Mukuro and Sayaka decided on doing something a little less orthodox;

Target practice.

Gun restrictions were much looser in this city, so Sayaka’s father owned both a handgun and human-shaped targets to practice with. Sayaka had already been taught how to properly use it by her father, but for Mukuro, this was her very first experience even holding a real weapon, let alone a gun. When she fired at the target, she wasn’t expecting the kickback to be as strong as it was, and the gun nearly hit her in the face as a result. The shot was even louder than she thought it would be, and she suspected she would have hurt her ears if it wasn’t for the protection they were wearing. All this combined with the disorientation caused by the flash, meant that the shot sent Mukuro stumbling to the ground and the shot went wide and struck uselessly in the orange desert soil.

“Ah! Mukuro! Are you alright?” Sayaka quickly rushed to Mukuro’s side and helped her to her feet. “Jeez, that went even worse than I was afraid it would. Maybe we should try something safer, like cooking on the fire, or birdwatching, or-”

“No… I’m fine, Sayaka.” Mukuro was panting, but unharmed, and the shakiness in her legs slowly went away as she stood back up on her feet. “I can keep going just fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean, it’s not like guns are things girls our age should be using stuff like this anyay…” Sayaka said, clearly uncomfortable with this subject.

“Don’t worry, I’ve dealt with stuff that’s a lot more dangerous than this already,” Mukuro insisted. “Besides, this was my idea anyway. I’m not about to turn tail and run just yet.”

Sayaka let out a long sigh. “Your determination can be so bothersome sometimes, you know? Alright; this time, make sure to keep your feet planted on the ground, but keep your arm loose enough that it naturally absorbs the revoil without hurting you. If you just tense up completely, you’ll probably wind up on the ground again.”

Mukuro heeded her friend’s advice, took careful aim, and pulled the trigger. This time she didn’t even stumble, and the shot managed to hit the paper target though its lower left abdomen - one point, according to the numbers on the target.

“Wow, you actually managed to hit it this time! Great job!” Sayaka praised effusively.

“Tch…” Mukuro scoffed and flicked the safety of the gun on. “You say that, but coming from a perfectionist like you it can’t help but sound a little ****. I know you’d never accept such sloppy work from yourself. Remember that time I had to help you stop freaking out because you got a B+ once?”

“Eheh, yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sayaka nervously tried to laugh off Mukuro’s comments. “But even so, the fact that you’ve never held a gun before means the fact that you hit on the second shot is really impressive! You should be beaming with pride right now, not worrying about how you didn’t do perfectly.”

“Maybe… but if this were a real fight, that hit wouldn’t have been fatal and I’d probably wind up shot by my opponent right now,” Mukuro pointed out.

“Gasp! Oh no!” Sayaka placed a hand in front of her mouth exaggeratedly. “Don’t worry, I promise to make your imaginary funeral very pretty, and dedicate my life to tracking down your imaginary killer!”

“Heh, thanks, that means a lot to me.” Mukuro flicked the safety on her gun off and took aim to resume her practice. As this happened, Sayaka wrapped her arms around Mukuro from behind, helping to keep her aim and body steady through the next few shots.

“Say, Sayaka… do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” Mukuro asked halfway through her magazine.

“Shoot,” Sayaka replied.

“Why is it that you spend so much time with me?” Mukuro asked bluntly. “I know you have other friends, like those popular girls, or Ibuki, and you could have invited any of them to go camping instead. I’m just some dumb street kid from the south side of town who can’t keep her nose out of trouble.”

“Augh, this again?” Sayaka groaned. “I told you before, it doesn’t matter to me where you’re from or what your circumstances were! What’s important is what you are right now, and that… is my friend! Besides, I can tell that you have a good heart, even if you don’t have a high opinion of yourself; no one with a singing voice as good as yours can be all bad!”

“Hmmm…” Mukuro was thankful that Sayaka was behind her, because otherwise the blush on her freckled face would have been unhidable. “I should have known that I wouldn’t get a straight answer from you… but that’s just fine. I was sick of it just being me and my sisters anyway.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sayaka cheered. “Now, aim a bit higher this time, okay? I think this time, you’ll be able to shoot it straight through the heart!”

Mukuro nodded, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger once more.