INTRO

fuckin investigative fuckin journalist.

BACKGROUND

Rain's home life wasn't bad, per se. Xe wasn't neglected or anything. Xe got to eat three meals a day, went to a good school, was disciplined non-corporally, et cetera. It's just that xer parents were never really there. Like, sure, they were there physically. But they weren't there. Rain boiled it down to "they're important, they must be busy, it's okay." But xer siblings always took up their time. Rain's parents were there for zer siblings. They went to all of Kimberly's ice hockey matches. All of Lincoln's dance recitals. But if Rain wanted to show them something xe's written? "Yeah, that's great, honey," they'd say, not even looking away from their screens. If Rain wanted help on a school project? "You should know how to do it yourself." If Rain needed new clothes? "Here's a $100 bill, do it yourself."
Then xer grandfather London Kill died, and Lincoln killed his uncle for ownership of the family museum.
Rain crashed at xer friend Paige's place, where xe actually still lives. Paige wasn't a fan of Rain living in her apartment without even paying rent, so, Paige being Paige, they pulled strings, got xem an ID that stated that Rain was apparently 21, and told Rain to get a job and pay a quarter of the rent. Naturally, Rain made a completely fabricated resumé and applied to xer favorite news companies. Xe kind of did it as a joke, and didn't particularly expect to get hired. But, lo and behold, xe landed a spot at Evergreen Daily.
So, Rain left home and lives out of xer friend's apartment while writing articles that consistently end up at the back of the newspaper. Pathetic, right?
Well, one day, the person who wrote the crime section fell ill. The higher-ups at Evergreen Daily really liked Rain. Xe was eccentric. Xe hardly made any spelling errors. Xe pumped out a lot of articles. So that's why the weekly criminal column was given to Rain.
Xe didn't know where to start. Ze could cover some local robbery, but that would be boring, wouldn't it? The other person covered all sorts of crimes, from a ten year old Pokémon trafficker to infamous names finally getting arrested. So, Rain started looking into other things. And xe found something very, very interesting.
Reports of mafia activity. "The East Coast Disasters," they called themselves. Ran by a boy barely eighteen and his even younger sister, Rain immediately took interest. Xe was sure xe'd get quite the promotion for this. Maybe ze could buy a guitar like the one xe had back home.
But, when the article was released, something happened.

Paige was out that day. Rain was typing up another article on xer laptop, when a gun was put to its head.
It was the leaders of the East Coast Disasters themselves. Xe almost would've asked to interview them, had xer mouth not been taped shut.
The mafia leader, Axel, and his sister, Reba, made a deal with Rain. If xe dug up information about their rivaling gang, LM, then they wouldn't tell Rain's parents where xe was.
Which. Wow. That was a low blow. But what was Rain supposed to do? Xe accepted the deal.
Ironic, isn't it? Rain left home to stop living in xer siblings' shadows. Now, xe's at the mercy of the vile personifications of shadows.

I know that last line probably made 0 sense. I thought it would sound cool lmao