Gutter Trash

[madimpossibledreamer]

Miyamoto's thinking about stuff, and the timing for that is vague, but the points she's flashing back to are before any of the rest of the works.
Cast of Characters: Miyamoto Suna (Xander), Matriarch of the Miyamoto-gumi/Miyamoto Family, past Captain of the Kumai-gumi, past member of the Hisamatsu-gumi
Natsukawa Renyo (Buffy), Chairwoman of the Amaya-kai, daughter of the previous Chairwoman
Amaya-kai, the Yakuza Clan they all belong in
Natsukawa Akeru (Dawn), Matriarch of the Natsukawa-gumi, daughter of the previous Chairwoman, past member of the Natsukawa-gumi
Maki Akiharu (Giles), Advisor to the previous and current Chairwomen
Akiyama Yoko (Willow), Matriarch of the Akiyama-gumi, past Captain of the Aiki Consortium
Kumai Atae (Jesse), former Matriarch of the Kumai-gumi, past member of the Hisamatsu-gumi
Author's Notes: In this universe, Japan is run by the women.  I already referenced this in the author's notes for an Average AU (Persona 4) fic, but bullying in Japan is...intense.  (Add the layers of societal pressure to fit in and the desire to not let people lose face, like parents whose children are bullies, and you get some really bad results.  Plus the high Japan suicide rates.  Not good.)  Kansai-ben, the "more slangy" version of Japanese compared to Kanto-ben (spoken in Tokyo), makes an appearance again.  -han is the Kansai-ben for -san.  Karaage is fried chicken, crepes are generally dessert in Japan (though that covers a wide range as they have shrimp ice cream), and boba are the tapioca-balls that go in boba tea.  Shimai means young or, more to the point, lower rank yakuza.  I added 'past' to indicate what their status was at the end of the flashback (it starts when they're kids and have no rank because they haven't joined the yakuza yet).  The Hisamatsu-gumi was dissolved after betraying the Clan, but by that point Kumai was a Captain with a Family of her own and brought Miyamoto with her as the Kumai-gumi was promoted to a higher-ranked Family in the Amaya.
Fic-specific Author's Notes: I may have overused the word ain't
More author's notes: background notes

Main Points:
Buffy/Yakuza AU (Bloody Petals)
Chapter Summary: It's all a bloody tragedy.  (I took canon family dynamics and pushed it just one step further.)
Word Count: 465
Rating: Teen
Warning: brief thoughts of suicide, bullying, parental abuse, minor character death, if you need help don't hesitate to talk to someone!  You matter!

          Miyamoto calls herself an orphan, but that ain’t it.  The Natsukawa girls, they’re the real orphans.  Least, if all the idiots jawin’ about Maki-han are just blowin’ hot air.  If they ain’t, well.  It ain’t like Maki-han can just yell it to the world, so it don’t make one lick ‘a difference.  She’s just, well.  She wishes she was.  An orphan, she means.  An’ Yoko, she’s as good as.  Brainiac types all wringin’ their hands at their little girl hangin’ out with the gutter spawn ‘a yakuza, but never there ta stop her, an’ willin’ ta throw her out on her ass when she didn’t play the good little girl an’ do as she was told.  Not that Yoko cared; well, sure, she cried about the jackasses not lovin’ her, but that ain’t nothin’ new.
          Suna, though.  She don’t remember clearly.  The blood, the body, stretched out like some kinda goddamn still life.  Sometimes she remembers her ma, finally losin’ it at the drunkard an’ stabbin’ him with the kitchen knife.  Sometimes in her nightmares it’s her da, finally gone too far an’ pushed her ma, blood stainin’ the chair in an ever-growin’ pool.  Both are vivid enough she ain’t got no clue what’s real.  Remembers hidin’ in her room, though, sneakin’ out the window at the poundin’.  Tuckin’ herself into a little corner on a nearby roof an’ watchin’ the lights an’ sirens come.  It had taken one cop a good long while ta talk her down, once they’d found her, that an’ the promise of anythin’ she wanted ta eat, anythin’ at all.  She’d been starvin’ fer days, an’ once she was convinced someone who was really gonna feed her and not just say so, it was a small hop, step, an’ a jump ta the idea the cop ain’t a bad lady.  The last half hour was just her tryin’ ta decide what she wanted.  Decisions’re always harder when she’s hungry.  She finally sells out for chicken karaage and crepes and a boba tea, an’ for the first time she actually got ta eat all the boba.
          The other children ain’t sure themselves, an’ the adults know, only they talk in vague whispers when they think she ain’t listenin’.  Bullyin’s a fact ‘a life, and if Yoko and Renyo hadn’t been around, well, she just might’ve taken a short walk off a tall building. 
          Sometimes the other shimai tease her, just like the kids had, but one ‘a her senpai, Atae-senpai, well, she took a shine ta her.  Told her sure, long as it didn’t interfere with yakuza work, the next time they said that she should own it, ‘cause she’s got no ties.  Nothin’ weighin’ her down.  Took her under her wing, just like the little fledgling crime gal she was.