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✧.* C H A P T E R    O N E *.✧

"...A green tea and some vegetable gyoza..."

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The restaurant was quiet for a Friday afternoon. The single mother however, scrubbed tirelessly at some graffiti lining one of the booth walls in the far corner of Chen's Noodle House. Her hands were wrinkled from the water in the bucket with soap stubs pushing into her nails, but manual labor was never a thing to deter the young woman from her job.

Her brow was creased in concentration, her eyes trained on the red marker pen as it slowly faded with every swipe of the sponge.

A frustrated sigh from behind Lyra however was loud enough to catch her attention and pull her away from her task. Her eyes landed on her manager who, with an irritated scowl, shook her head at the vandalization, her short red ponytail swaying in the motion, "Who was it this time?" She asked, her arms propped on her hips.

Lyra sat back on her heels, her own eyes returning to look back at the red graffiti, "Some boys from the north of town." She shrugged, dumping the sponge back into the bucket of lukewarm water to begin her scrubbing once more.

Her manager, Skylor Chen, daughter of the man who established this company, pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing again as she crouched down next to Lyra, "Kids these days have no manners, I swear." She tutted, her own hand reaching for the packet of sponges to retrieve one for herself. Skylor soaked it in the water, before bringing it up to the end of the vandalization and began scrubbing as well, "I sure hope AJ doesn't grow up to be like these little brats."

Lyra grinned over at her manager - her friend, her only friend, "As long as I'm his mother, you can best believe if he ever pulls a stunt like this he'll be grounded for eternity."

Skylor grunted out a laugh. She wasn't always the manager of this food chain, in fact, when Lyra began her career here, she was hired by Skylor's father, or at least a representative of her father. But after some dodgy deals and laundering money scams were brought to light, Skylor's father was sent to prison – or so the media says – and she took over to grow the business as her own.

Safe to say however, that some people weren't a fan of her father being sent to prison and subsequently losing a lot of money, and in their frustrations, somehow came up with the idea that the food chain was at fault for Chen's illegal activities. Or at least could take the blame. Often more than not, people would vent their hindrances on the restaurant, albeit in the form of graffiti or in some severe cases, a brick through the window.

"AJ's a cute kid," Skylor continued, "I can't see him hurting a fly, let alone doing something morally unjust."

Lyra smiled to herself. Like many people she enjoyed being praised for anything she did, but when people positively commented on AJ, it gave her a unique sense of being rewarded. Atlas, or, as people have taken to calling him, AJ, was easily the light in her otherwise dreary life, pushing away the cobwebs of her childhood neglect and trauma and bringing forth hope for the future. Her future.

A ringing of a bell caught the two girls' attention. Lyra raised her head to the familiar noise as a customer walked through the door to the restaurant. A regular, she noted.

"Shoot, do you wanna go deal with her?" Lyra asked, turning her head back to Skylor.

The redhead girl looked past her friend to glance a look to the customer, a knowing smile on her lips as she too recognized the customer, "No, you go." Skylor waved her off, "Mistako always asks for you to serve her anyway."

Lyra grinned, thankful for the excuse to stop scrubbing away. She placed her sponge in the bucket and stood, her hand resting on her friend's shoulder in appreciation before walking over to the hostess booth. Her hand left Skylor's body and came up to smooth out her hair and wrinkled apron, the item of clothing becoming creased with all the crouching she had endured to erase the writing on the booth wall.

"Good afternoon, Misako," Lyra greet with a smile. She couldn't recall the first time this particular customer had entered the restaurant, let alone the first time she spoke to the older woman, but for over two years now, Misako had made an appearance at the food chain at least once a week for a cup of green tea and some vegetable gyoza. "You're here late." Lyra commented, "I normally see you in the morning."

"Lyra dear, its lovely to see you again," Misako smiled, the wrinkles on her face more pronounced with the friendly action, "And yes I suppose it is a late call. My museum duties overran but I couldn't not visit my favorite green tea providers."

"Ah, well we always have some stored just for you in the back. Take a seat anywhere and I'll be right out with your tea." Lyra declared stepping back, "Vegetable gyoza as well?"

Misako nodded, "If it's not too much trouble dear."

"Never for you."

Lyra wondered past Skylor who was still scrubbing away at the booth and nudged her slightly with her foot as she passed. The redhead almost toppled over but caught herself, a shocked grin on her face as with precise agility, flicked some water onto Lyra's back as the young mother hurried away to avoid the rebuttal.

Lyra grinned as she prepared Misako drink and gyoza. Normally she would place them on the conveyer belt that ran the length of the restaurant, but Misako was a regular that provided some of Lyra's best tips, so it never hurt to give her the best customer service with table service. And besides, the food chain was weirdly quiet today, so no one would complain at the obvious favoritism she was displaying.

"A green tea and some vegetable gyoza." Lyra announced as she placed the dishes down in front of the older woman.

"You're a star, thank you dear." Misako replied as the bell above the door rang again. Lyra ignored it for a second, believing that Skylor could handle the new customer as Lyra was engaged with Misako.

"Of course, is there anything else I can get- oof!" Lyra grunted as a small form barreled into her legs. Accompanied with the boyish giggled was a mop of curly hair and Lyra instantly recognized as her son and with a quick smile down at him she returned her gaze to Misako, "Apologies, one second Misako."

Lyra bent down to AJ's level and kissed his forehead, "Hey buddy, I'm just serving this nice lady, do you want to go ask Aunt Skylor for some juice? She's just over there." Lyra suggested pointing over to Skylor who had risen from the floor and gesturing for the small boy to follow her. AJ grinned up at Lyra before darting over to Skylor who collected him in a hug. The young mother then turned to the front door, mouthing a quick thankyou to the woman who dropped him off, that being one of AJ's friends mothers, who took sympathy on Lyra and offered to walk AJ to the restaurant after school as it was on route to her own home.

Lyra then turned back to Misako and apologetic smile on her face, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize he'd be dropped off so early. Um.. Is there anything else I can get you?"

Misako, who was placing down her hot mug of green tea smiled up at the younger woman, "Don't apologize dear, he's a cute kid, a brother I assume?"

Lyra stiffened at the question. Teenage pregnancy was not something people looked upon with respect. She had once before been spat on by a customer when this very situation happened a year ago, but Skylor was quick to remove the woman and ban her from stepping foot in any of her restaurants ever again.

The young woman looked down to her feet, she wetted her lips, "Um... Son, actually."

"Oh gosh," Misako explain, "I apologize, I didn't mean to suggest anything. I had no idea you had a child?"

The sound of AJ giggling caught Lyra's attention as her head swiveled around to look at the small boy sat on one of the bar stools. Skylor sat next to him, a plate of dumplings and cup of some orange liquid just in front of the pair as they talked amongst themselves. Lyra's smile grew again at the sight, Skylor really was a great aunt to the boy.

"Yeah, it was a teen pregnancy. Happy accident." Lyra returned her gaze to the woman, expectant of a barrage of insults in mocking tones, but instead was greeted with neither.

"Well, he seems like a very respectful young man," Misako smiled, "You've done a fantastic job at raising him."

"Thank you." Lyra smiled back, her eyes blinking several times to banish the building of tears growing just behind her sockets.

Misako left shortly after, as did the rest of the customer's as closing time was just around the corner. AJ helped with the cleaning, or at least he tried to help – his ability to clean wasn't exactly at the standard needed to upkeep their five-star hygiene rating, but it was definitely the thought that counts. His small hands grasped a hold of the dry towel as he tried his hardest to dry the tables Lyra had wiped down, not that he really needed to do that, they were normally air dried, but he was eager to help his mother and Skylor.

The three exited the restaurant after the closing procedure was completed, Skylor hugging both of them before walking off into the darkened streets back to her apartment.

"So, how was big boy school today?" Lyra asked AJ as she took hold of his hand and began the walk back to their own home. It was quite the trek, over twenty minutes of walking, but Atlas never complained, not when he could spend the time talking about his day at school.

"It was fun, we did maths." He said excitedly, "I know how to do maths now."

Lyra chuckled, "Wow! You learn how to do all of maths in one day?"

AJ nodded confidently, "Ms. Patrick said I'm the best in the class." He looked down to his hand, fiddling around with his fingers before holding up four of his gloved digits, "This is four. See I know maths."

"Well, aren't you just the smartest boy there ever was."

AJ grinned up at his mother, but his reply was lost to her ears as she became acutely aware of a figure following closely behind the pair. He was dressed in all black, a mask covering his face bar two eye holes. His right hand was hidden behind his back, and as AJ kept prattling on about his school day, Lyra subtly began to walk a little faster, her anxiety building up in her chest like a ball of hot oil.

It was nearing the end of autumn, the days drawing shorter with each rotation of the earth and the nights getting longer. Unfortunately, that meant that the sky was dark, and the only light was the yellow artificial ones above their heads, but even those did little to brighten up the secluded side street the mother and son walked down.

Lyra didn't panic – or at least she didn't show her panic.

For all she knew, this person was just walking in the same direction without a single malicious intent.

However, that thought was tossed from her head when after another minute of walking, another man suddenly stepped out from the shadows up ahead. He dressed in similar fashion from the first, black from head-to-toe bar two eye holes and a hand concealed behind his back as well.

Lyra wasn't an idiot. She could see the writing on the wall. But that didn't mean she wouldn't act. Quickly, she steered AJ down an alley way as to not be confronted with the man walking towards them. Her son didn't seem confused at all at the sudden direction change and still talked about his school day without a single ounce of recollection at the situation they were in.

His constant chat only stopped when he looked ahead, "Mama? Why are we in an alley?"

Lyra however was too busy blinking away tears as a grave mistake became startlingly apparent. The alley she had directed them down just so happened to be a dead end, nothing but a few dumpsters lined one wall and a nearby fire escape on the other – one that she couldn't reach.

She spun on her heel, pushing AJ behind her as she back up as far as she could. Now, the mouth of the alley had been blocked by not only the two men who had been following her, but also four more had seemed to join the party, all six of them lining he exit and blocking the way out.

By now, AJ had sensed the tension and danger, small tears built up in his eyes as Lyra kept him firmly behind her.

"What do you want?" She demanded.

The man in the middle stood forward. He removed his mask with one quick flick, his dark hair and odd purple eyes portraying the evilness he seemed to emit with a cruel smile.

"Revenge."

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