ラーメン (Ramen)

R.C., Milo, and Codea all stood on the elevator. There was an awkward silence between them. Codea refused to make eye contact with R.C. and just stood in the corner with her arms crossed.

Milo suddenly signed something with his hands to his sister. She huffed, "do we have to? I'm tired of seeing his face today."

"You know, it's rude to talk about someone when they're right in front of you." R.C. said.

Codea looked at her brother then over at R.C.. She shook her head.

"Milo wants to know if you want to come with us to get ramen. He says he's buying."

R.C. was instantly on board.

"Sure! Lucky for you two, I'm completely broke, so I'll definitely take you up on that offer."

Milo let out his typical silent laugh and held out his fist. R.C. reciprocated and the two fist bumped.

Codea just stood hanging her head. She mumbled to herself.

"Do I really have to hang out with this idiot?"

...

The three left the C.A.N. Collector Union compound. It was beginning to get dark out. They made their way over to a nearby parking lot.

There were only a handful of cars in the lot. Milo pulled a key fob from his pocket and double clicked a button. The headlights of an orange cargo van blinked, as it proceeded to pull itself out of its parking spot and drive up to them. The side door of the van had a huge Jatorade logo on it.

They all got in the van. Milo sat in the driver's seat and Codea in the passenger seat. R.C. sat in the back. There was no back seat, so he just sat on the floor. The back of the van was loaded with miscellaneous junk.

"This is your guys' ride?" R.C. asked.

"Its my brother's. It's a bit clunky to drive around in, but it's actually pretty useful in our line of work." Codea responded.

R.C. looked around the back of the van for a moment. He noticed something a bit peculiar.

"Hm. Interesting. What's with the tarp with the dried blood all over it. You two wouldn't happen to be murderers would you?" He asked.

"Well considering the person whose blood that belongs to is sitting behind me, I'd say we're pretty bad murderers." She replied.

"Oh, so this is how you guys got me out of there when I was bleeding out."

"Yeah pretty much."

*BUMP*

Milo drove over a speed bump without even attempting to slow down. R.C. flew up a few inches.

He drives just like me, R.C. thought.

Soon the van stopped, everyone got out. They were parked curbside in front of a small shop that didn't particularly stand out. It simply had a small wooden sign out front that said ラーメン (ramen) vertically in black letters.

They walked in. Inside was just as small as the outside. There was only a counter with a handful of stools. It was decorated in a typical Japanese aesthetic. An old guy manned the stove behind the counter.

Milo and Codea were obviously regulars. Milo simply held up three fingers and the old man began cooking. Within a few minutes there was a bowl of ramen in front of each of them.

R.C. began scarfing it down. The bowl was loaded with noodles and pork. The broth tasted like miso.

Codea, who unlike R.C., was eating at the pace of a regular person. She suddenly spoke up.

"don't take this the wrong way, but why are you such an asshole? It seems like you can't help, but get yourself in trouble."

R.C. just smirked.

"You're not the first person to tell me that and probably not the last... This might be a surprise to both of you, but believe it or not I was a spoiled rich kid growing up."

"If you were a rich kid, then how the hell did you end up a S.C.R.A.P.?" Codea responded.

"It's true! My full name is Royce Crown. I'm the middle son of Roy Crown, the owner and founder of Regal Crown Cola Co..

Growing up, I’ll admit I was a bit of a trouble maker, but that's only because it gets kind of boring being so rich that you can have anything you want.

My dad only ever focused on running the Co. and my older brother was the one set to take it over anyway, so he never particularly cared what I did.

I got away with things like wrecking yachts, "accidentally" burning down a mansion, even destroying priceless artwork.

There was one incident though that ended up sending him over the edge."

Milo and Codea just sat listening. Their mouths hung open over the insane story they were hearing.

R.C. continued on.

"So one day About five years ago, I got bored. I wandered around our penthouse for a while, when I got an idea. There was a helipad on the roof and no one was using the helicopter at the moment.

I decided I was going to screw with my dad a bit. I flew the helicopter over to one of our factories. My plan was t.p. my dad's factory from the sky.

Unfortunately... I sort of... Accidentally lost control. I parachuted out, but the helicopter ended up crashing into the factory. A holding tank of cola burst open and it flooded an entire city district.

My dad got sued for millions and I got arrested. He was able to get me off, but he let the courts designate me a S.C.R.A.P.. After that he completely disowned me and kicked me out. Since then I've been on my own."

"... Part of me doesn't want to believe you, but I remember that whole Cola flooding incident on the news a few years ago. To be honest I don't think your dad was in the wrong." Codea responded.

Milo had a grin and was laughing. He seemed to be impressed by R.C.'s antics. He put up his hand and high-fived him.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't rub off on my little brother." Codea said.

"So how about you two, how did you guys become S.C.R.A.P.? I doubt it's anywhere as interesting as how I did." R.C. asked.

"You're right it's nothing all that interesting. As you know, due to the city's social credit system, children of S.C.R.A.P. receive the same designation at birth.

Our parents were essentially deadbeats who died when we were young. Because of that we got stuck with their same social status.

Our uncle ended up taking us in and taking care of us. We got into C.A.N. Collecting because Old Man Pipp happened to be an old friend of his."

"I was right, that wasn't nearly as interesting as my story! There's one last thing I was wondering. Why is Milo mute."

"He was just born that way. It's never really bothered him."

Milo nodded with a smile. He fist bumped R.C. again, as if he were his best friend. Codea pretended like she was annoyed, but deep down she was enjoying herself.

They all finished eating and Milo paid the tab. The three then drove back to the compound to get some rest for the next day.