"I got your father a job in the U.S and well he plans on taking your mother and you with him. You'll finally be far from my granddaughter and she can live a better life...without you" The old lady said. Matsuri growled and stood up
"LISTEN UP YOU OLD HAG! YOU CAN'T DO THAT! YOU CAN'T LIE TO YOUR OWN GRANDDAUGHTER! SHE CAN DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS!" Matsuri shouted
"Don't talk to me like that. Now sit down and calm down" The old lady said. Matsuri clenched her fists tightly and sat down
"But still...you can't keep lying to Taniguchi-senpai...she needs to know and I want to be with her" Matsuri said
"Do you really think I would accept you in my family? I don't want my granddaughter to be family with you Mizusawas..." The old lady said
"Why do you hate me so much?" Matsuri asked
"Have you forgotten who's fault it was in the first place?" The old lady asked
"It's not my fault..." Matsuri mumbled
"You were the one that almost killed my daughter Soha..." The old lady said
"I didn't kill her...my father did or well tried to" Matsuri said
"But you could've stopped them. You could've tried to stop the fight" The old lady said
"I couldn't. I was little..." Matsuri said
"You could've at least tried. Then you got my granddaughter in the hospital..." The old lady said
"She saved my life...it wasn't my fault...Taniguchi-senpai saved me. She could've just left me to die...then she wouldn't have gone to the hospital" Matsuri said
"It's still your fault..." The old lady said
"Why do you keep blaming me?!" Matsuri shouted
"This is all your fault you brat! If Harumi never met you she could've been happier and have a better life! But since you came into her life...you brought nothing but trouble. Since I got a job for your father in the U.S you'll have to go with them so you can stay away from my granddaughter. You could've almost killed her back there...she could have died...this is all your fault. I hope she forgets about you forever..." The old lady said harshly
"But you can't do that! You're just going to lie to her!" Matsuri said
"I'm doing what's best for her" The old lady said
"Best for her?! You're just lying to her! It'll only hurt her if you keep lying!" Matsuri shouted and clenched her fists tightly. She felt like punching the old hag and wanted this to be all over
"I'm doing what's best for her. You'll see she'll have a better life once you're out of her life. She will become a great successor just like her sister" The old lady said
"Is that it? That's why you wanted me here?" Matsuri asked
"Yes...you may leave" The old lady said. The driver then guided her out the door and Matsuri turned her head and glared at Mitsuko who had heard everything. Mitsuko sighed feeling a bit bad for her little sister. She walked up to her grandmother who picked up the pictures of Harumin and Matsuri together.
"Please burn these...I don't want Harumi to remember that brat" Her grandmother said handing Mitsuko the pictures
"Grandmother...I know you're doing this for Harumi but don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?" Mitsuko asked
"Oh please don't tell me you'll accept that brat as your sister in law who clearly got Harumi into all of this in the first place. If it weren't for her...you wouldn't have lost your parents at a young age. She almost killed Harumi...she is to be blamed for everything. This is all her fault. Now please...burn these" Her grandmother said
"Yes grandmother" Mitsuko replied and walked away and once she was out of sight. She leaned back and looked at the pictures of Harumin and Matsuri together when they were kids. Mitsuko saw how happy Harumin was with Matsuri but it all ended once their grandmother knew about their secret friendship.
Sorry grandmother but...I can't do it

Matsuri was taken back to her place. She got out of the car and went to her house and saw her parents talking about who knows what.
"Hey Matsuri. Come here I got an amazing job in the U.S" Her father said
"That's great" Matsuri said fake smiling
"We'll be leaving next week okay?" Her father said
"Hey dad...what if I don't want to go?" Matsuri asked
"Huh? You don't want to come?" Her mother asked
"W-well...it's just..." Matsuri sighed. Her parents looked at each other then back at their daughter and hugged her
"We know you're worried about her. I know she'll be okay. You can stay" Her father said
"R-really?" Matsuri asked
"Of course. I guess you're old enough to be alone since you did defeated a huge terrifying demon hehe" Her father said
"I can live alone?" Matsuri asked
"If you want to. We can ask your grandfath-"
"No no it's fine" Matsuri said smiling. After that Matsuri had dinner with her parents and went back to her dark room. Matsuri was laying down on the floor until she clenched her fists tightly.
Ugh...maybe I should go for a walk...
Matsuri stood up and grabbed her headphones then put them on and walked out of her room
"Oh Matsuri be careful okay?" Her mother said
"Yeah yeah..." Matsuri said and walked outside as she turned on her music. She was walking down the sidewalk seeing cars pass by and walked by pass people until something caught her eye.
"Huh?" Matsuri looked at an alley and saw someone wearing a hoodie and a mask. That person was beating up some gangster then left running leaving the guy on the ground. Matsuri felt a bit curious and followed the shadow figure towards the forest. Matsuri kept following it not losing sight but then stopped when she realized she lost sight of it. Matsuri took her headphones off from her ears and looked around. She could hear voices and mumbles until suddenly the person in the hoodie wearing a mask came up to her. Matsuri backed away and got in her fighting position
"Hey hey wait...pl-please don't hurt me" The person said who sound like a girl. The girl pulled her hoodie down revealing her curly brown long hair and took off her mask.
"I-it's really you..." The girl said walking up to her
"H-huh? Wait who are you?" Matsuri asked
"I'm Manila Ari" Ari said
"Oh...nice to meet you and do you know me?" Matsuri asked
"I'm not the only one here" Ari said and that's when people wearing hoodies and masks came out surrounding Matsuri. Matsuri looked around and felt a bit creeped out
"Wh-what's going on here?" Matsuri asked
"We admire you..." Ari said
"What do you mean?" Matsuri asked
"We understand you. We know how it feels like to suffer. People punching us and kicking us thinking of us like their punching bag or something. We're all outcasts and some of us don't fit in with anyone. Some of us here have families that abandoned us. We all had nothing to live for in this world...we lost people who we love and our lovers replaced us with someone better than us. We all just wanted to die...but when I saw you fight those gangsters. I saw a savior. I saw a hero. I saw a...leader" Ari said
"W-wait...you're talking about me?" Matsuri asked
"Yes. That day...when I saw you fight. I believed that you could become our leader. We all understand each other here and we are all family here. We help each other and take care for each other. I've been wanting to meet you in person for a long time but...I was too shy to even talk to you" Ari said blushing a bit.
"Oh well hehe okay so all of you here have been through a lot right?" Matsuri asked. Everyone nodded and some teared up remembering their past
"Please accept this..." Ari said and that when there was a box handed it to Matsuri. Matsuri grabbed the box and opened it revealing a mask
"Become one of us...become A Midnight Assassin" Ari said
"A Midnight Assassin?" Matsuri asked
"We called our group The Midnight Assassin since we kill for revenge at midnight" Ari explained. Matsuri looked at the mask and it had a creepy design. It had sharp teeth to make it look creepy.
"Please Matsuri...become our leader. We admire you. You make us believe that us the outcasts are strong and that we need no one else but each other" Ari said. Matsuri looked at her mask and shut her eyes tightly. She didn't know what to choose. She suddenly had flashbacks of all her suffering...her crying...her screams...the cuts...the blood...blood...blood...BLOOD! Matsuri shook her head and looked at everyone who had their mask. They all looked different and she stared at them deeply in their eyes. She could feel their pain and suffering as well. It was silent for a moment and the outcasts waited for Matsuri to whether or not she was going to become one of them. Without hesitating Matsuri grabbed the mask from the box and she putted on. The mask covered her mouth and with the design it looked like Matsuri had sharp teeth.
"I accept to become your leader. We will show the people out there that happens when they mess with The Midnight Assassins. We will not let them bring us down no more! We don't need anyone else all we need is each other! We will have revenge to all those bullies who have made us suffer and used us as punching bags! We may be weak by ourselves but being together...we're strong!" Matsuri said. The crowd cheered and they all jumped excitedly and happily.
"Who are we?!" Matsuri shouted
"The Midnight Assassins!" The crowd shouted
"I can't hear you! Say it like you mean it!" Matsuri shouted
"THE MIDNIGHT ASSASSINS!!" The crowd shouted louder
"That's more like it!" Matsuri said. Ari then jumped up to Matsuri hugging her
"Thank you...you're our savior" Ari said. Matsuri smiled behind her mask and hugged her back. She felt happy and felt like she finally belonged.
This is my new home...my new friends...my new life
"Hey Matsuri come here. We actually found an abandoned house in the forest" Ari said. Matsuri was the guided by her new friends and saw an old house that sorta looked like a mansion
"We found this place but for some reason there is a security system that won't let us open the door" Ari said
"Let me try" Matsuri said walking to the front door seeing a hand scanner.
"Just place your hand in there" Ari said. Matsuri reached out and placed her hand in the hand scanner. Suddenly it turned green and opened the door. The people looked at her amazed and some cheered. Matsuri walked inside and so did the rest looking around.
"This place is huge!"
"Wow! This place is amazing!"
Matsuri found the place a bit broken and had a few blood stains.
"Everyone! Let's clean this place up!" Ari said. Everyone got to work and grabbed some cleaning supplies that they stole to clean up the place. Matsuri helped as well cleaning the mysterious mansion.

One week later...
Yuzu and Mei were both at the hospital checking on Harumin hoping she'll wake up soon since a week has passed. Yuzu held Harumin's hand then sighed sadly
"Please wake up soon Harumin..." Yuzu whispered. Yuzu sighed remembering when Matsuri told her that she had to leave with her family to the U.S. Yuzu couldn't help but feel like Matsuri lied to her about it. Suddenly they heard a knock and it was Harumin's parents, grandmother, and her older sister
"She's still not awake?" Her mother asked. Yuzu shook her head. Soha looked at her daughter and walked up to her stroking her hair softly. Yuzu was about to stand up until she felt a squeeze in her hand.
"H-harumin?" Yuzu asked. Harumin's eyes slowly opened and her vision was a blur but it slowly became clear
"Wh-where...am I?" Harumin asked while mumbling
"She's awake!"
"Mitsuko go get the doctor please"
Mistuko nodded and went out of the room to find the doctor. Harumin looked at Yuzu and Mei then looked confused
"Wh-who are you?" Harumin asked
"Wait...you don't remember me?" Yuzu asked
"Y-yeah..." Harumin said rubbing her head. Harumin's grandmother went up to Yuzu placing her hand on her shoulder
"Dear can we have a talk outside in private" The old lady said
"H-huh? Oh sure well I'll be right back Harumin hopefully you can remember your best friend" Yuzu said rubbing her head
"Best friend? Hehe...alright I'll try" Harumin said
"Ah by the way I'm Aihara Yuzu! But you always called me Yuzucchi!" Yuzu said as she walked out the door with the old lady.
"So...I wanted to talk about that little girl um...what is it ah yes Matsuri" The old lady said
"What about her?" Yuzu asked
"I just wanted you to promise me never to remind Harumi about her" The old lady said
"Wait...why not?" Yuzu asked a hit suspicious
"Because I don't want Harumi to feel heartbroken about her. Matsuri told me she never felt anything for her and was just using her" The old lady said. Yuzu's eyes widen and she glared at the old lady
"That's a lie. Matsuri loves Harumin and I know she still does" Yuzu said
"Dear...believe me. It was hard for me to believe that but didn't she lie to everyone about her secret life?" The old lady asked
"Well y-yeah but...no Matsuri would never lie about th-that" Yuzu said and sighed remembering Matsuri tried to set Mei up with someone else so she could have Yuzu all to herself. Yuzu shook her head not wanting to believe it
"Do Harumin's parents know about this?" Yuzu asked
"Yes they know. Matsuri told them and it hurt them really bad...so it's best not to mention her" The old lady said
"Well...alright" Yuzu said
"Promise me dear that you won't say a word to her" The old lady said
"I promise. I just hope Matsuri realizes that what she did is wrong" Yuzu said. Yuzu then walked back to Harumin's room and the bold lady chuckled
My granddaughter is finally safe from...that Mizusawa...

Matsuri was sitting on a tree branch and saw her new family playing around. Matsuri smiled and felt happy where she was but couldn't help but feel bad at the same time. Matsuri has lied to everyone which made her feel terrible. She lied to her friends telling them that she left to the U.S.
"Matsuri...I was wondering if I can hang out with you more often" Ari said blushing a bit
"Of course you can" Matsuri said. Ari smiled and climbed up the tree sitting next to Matsuri
"Um...Matsuri-san mind if you explain to me your story. Well more about what happened to you" Ari said
"Well...it's a really long story of suffering and pain" Matsuri said. Matsuri then started explaining to Ari about her whole life and how it started. She talked about her live life as well and what happened to her. Ari looked at Matsuri with worried eyes and once Matsuri finished her story she got closer to her and hugged her
"Don't worry...I understand. I'm here for you..." Ari said. Matsuri smiled and turned to look at her and so did Ari. They looked at each other and slowly leaned in like they were about to kiss but someone interrupted them
"Hey leader! We're heading out to bring food! Mind coming with us?" A guy asked
"Y-yeah sure. Sorry Ari...w-we can talk later" Matsuri said and jumped from the tree landing safely using her ninja powers. Matsuri blushed and shook her head not believing what she was about to do back there with Ari
Maybe it's best to move on...the old hag might be right. Taniguchi-senpai will have a better life...without me in it...

Don't worry I've been working on the second book and might publish it today once I'm done with the first chapter