akisamede

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 50

You and Chifuyu walk around a bit. You've seen a few cats, but they weren't Peke J. 

"What does Peke J even look like? I forgot..." You sigh. Chifuyu slowly looks at you and stops walking, causing you to stop walking. 

"He's a black cat with a scar on his head." He motions the spot where the scar would be located.

"That's it?" You question. He stares at you a bit before furrowing his eyebrows.

"He has a white collar... and there's a cross hanging on it right here." He adds, pointing to the center of his throat.

"Oh... See that's more helpful..." You softly bubble. Chifuyu slightly smiles and sighs. 

The two of you continue looking for the cat.

After hours pass you and Chifuyu sit on a bench feeling exhausted. You have your eyes close, listening to the breeze. 

"Do you think he got killed?" Chifuyu quietly asks. You look at him with concern on your face and quickly shake your head.

"I'm sure he's okay..." You reassure.

"Yeah- but he hasn't been gone this long before..." He sighs. You stare at him a bit trying to think of a way to cheer him up, but nothing seems to cross your mind. You look out into the distance feeling useless once again. 

Grumble...

Chifuyu slowly looks at you and you look at him.

"Are you hungry?" He asks. You sigh and slowly shake your head. "Then what was that?" He asks. You shrug and look away. He relaxes his eyes and stands up. "Come on... lets go get you something to eat..." Chifuyu motions. You frown a bit.

"No... we should keep looking for Peke-"

"When was the last time you ate?" He interrupts.

"Mmm..."

"Exactly... let's go get something to eat..." He replies and grabs your hand, pulling you with him.

You both sit outside a convenience store. Chifuyu bought the both of you instant ramen to share. He mixes the hot noodles and starts eating a bit before handing the cup to you. You mix it a bit and then begin to eat.

"Thank you for helping me look for Peke J... I really appreciate it." He sooths. You look at him and slowly swallow your food.

"Well... I'm always willing to help... I just feel like I didn't do enough to help you." You softly sigh. Chifuyu slowly looks at you and smiles. 

"Even so, I really enjoyed you being here with me. It made me feel a little better..." He softly says. You furrow your eyebrows and then start to examine the cup of noodles. "You okay?" He asks causing you to look up at him.

"Oh... Mhm... I'm just thirsty for some reason." You bubble. He nods and stands up. 

"I'll go buy you a drink." He says as he walks back into the convenience store. You look back at the cup of noodles.

Meow~

You look towards the meowing. A cat slowly approaches you and jumps beside you. 

"Hi kitty~" You softly say as you reach to pet it. The cat rubs against your hand and then over toward the cup of noodles. You look at the noodles and then back at the cat. "I don't think I can feed you this... but hold on." You quickly get up and walk into the store. Chifuyu looks at you confused as you grab some jerky. You quickly pay for it and walk back outside to where the cat was. You open the packet and broke off a piece of the jerky, handing it to the cat. The cat took it from you and starts chewing it. You smile as you watch the cat eat. 

You squint your eyes at the cats head. You slowly rub your fingers against its head, feeling the scar. 

"A black cat with a scar..." You quietly say. You tilt your head down a bit to see the cats neck. There's a white color on its neck... and a cross... "Peke J...?" You say. The cat looks up at you and jumps into the hand with the jerky, chowing down on it. 

"PEKE J?" Chifuyu shouts as he quickly walks beside you.

"This is Peke?" You ask. Chifuyu smiles and nods.

"Did he come up to you?" He asks. You slowly nod.

"He wanted the noodles so I bought the jerky for him..." You reply.

"Oh... that's why you- okay..." He pets Peke J's head. Peke continues to eat the jerky in your hand. "What a fatass... I can't believe food is what lured you out..." Chifuyu sighs. You smile at Chifuyu and then back at Peke.

"Well, we found him now. So now you should feel a little less stressed right?" You softly bubble. Chifuyu slowly looks at you and nods. 

"Yeah! Thank you, Yuki~" He bubbles back. 

The next day you slowly make your way to Baji's hospital room. You take a deep breath before walking into the room. You slowly open the door and walk in. Baji is reading a different manga this time.

"Hey..." You softly say, waving at him as you walk in.

"Hey- you not going to school today?" Baji asks, placing the manga down.

"I am... I just wanted to come before I head to school. That's all." You calmly say, sitting down on a chair beside Baji.

"What's with the face?" You look at him confused, tilting your head a bit.

"My face? What's wrong with it?" You ask.

"You look tired." He says pointing to your eyes.

"Oh- Yeah... I've been having trouble sleeping." You sigh.

"Why?" He calmly asks. You stare at him a bit then at the ground. 

"What made you become suspicious of Kisaki?" You softly ask. Baji looks at you, his eyes staring into yours. He sighs and moves his manga to the side of him.

"He does dirty shit... something I didn't want in Toman. Mikey insisted to have him join... and even after everyone declined, he still made him a member. Not only that but replaced Pah with him. Ever since Mikey started talking to that- started talking to him... everything started to become problematic. I caught him talking to Kazutora right after he got out of juvie... I was going to pick him up that day but Kisaki was there instead." Baji sighs.

"Huh? Kisaki picked Kazutora up?" You ask confused.

"Mhm... I've been following Kisaki around for a while... but no matter how much I bring it up to Mikey his response is always... we need him... tch... bullshit-" He huffs. He slowly looks up at you, staring at your tired eyes. "Why do you ask?" He questions. You furrow your eyebrows and fidget with your sleeve. 

"A friend of mine... well she was a friend- she has been talking to Kisaki... I asked her what their relationship was, and she lied to me. My other friend mentioned that she has been asking about me. Almost like she was trying to get information on me." You softly say. Baji grits his teeth and squints his eyes, looking out into the distance.

"Kazutora did the same." He comments. You look at him confused.

"What do you mean?" You ask.

"Kazutora would ask what your relationship with Mikey was... He had a salty look on his face when I didn't give him an answer... But randomly he mentioned you were his enemy... just like Mikey- It was almost like someone told him something... that or he saw something. Either way- For a while I've noticed it... ever since you got involved with Toman there's been rumors about you spreading." He adds. "I think that's where Kazutora might have gotten the idea of you being bad to him... or whatever." He sighs.

"Do you think Kisaki is the reason behind the rumors...?" You question. Baji relaxes his eyes and looks back at you.

"Yeah. Who else would be doing it?" He replies. You look at him and then down. He sighs and picks his manga back up. "I was going to ask this before... but I hadn't gotten the chance to... It was what was told to me... that day-"

"Huh? What do you mean?" You ask.

"Kazutora mentioned you were going to be Mikey's downfall... that you were going to be the reason why Toman will fall... I don't know where he got that idea from..."

"What?"

Baji stares at you a bit before continuing. "I feel like shits going to get worse... I want to go back- even though me and Mikey aren't on good terms... I want to beat the shit out of Kisaki... I don't give a shit what Mikey does to me... I would kill Kisaki if I got the chance. But- I can't walk... Heh-" Baji sighs and rubs his head. He tilts his head back a bit and smiles. "When I am able to walk again... I will break open that ugly ass smile of his..." He huffs. You stare at him with wide eyes. He picks up his manga and continues to read.

You slowly walk down the hall of your school, heading towards the home economics room. You walk in to see Mitsuya talking to a few of the club members. You see Yasuda smiling at you. You smile back. Mitsuya looks up to see you and smiles. You slowly wave at him, smiling back.

"The school festival is tomorrow... do you think you're ready?" Mitsuya calmly asks you. You watch as everyone grabs stuff and places it in containers. You slowly look at Mitsuya and kind of shrug. He stares at you a bit before speaking. "What's the matter?" He asks.

"I'm going to be a model... right? How will I do that?" You ask. He smiles and softly chuckles.

"We are practicing that today... so don't worry. Come on- we are heading to the auditorium right now." He says, pulling you with him. You follow behind him as he picks up a bin a girl was struggling with.

Once you all get to the auditorium, you help some of the girls pull things out. 

Mitsuya demonstrates how he wants you to pose and how he wants you to walk. The thought of doing all of this makes you nervous.

"She's really pretty... but she's so stiff.." A girl comments.

"Yeah-" Another girl says. You furrow your eyebrows feeling so out of it. Mitsuya looks at you and smiles. 

"Relax... You haven't done this before- so don't stress yourself out over it. Just relax... take deep breathes and smile. Your smile is pretty..." He motions. "Just have fun okay...? Don't overthink it." He adds. You look at him and softly smile. 

You continue to practice walking and posing. You still feel kind of weird doing all of this, but the girls say you gotten a little better. After practicing and helping set up it was time for lunch. You didn't bring a lunch to school today, so you decide to go and see if Mitsuya needed any help.

You slowly walk towards Mitsuya who's working on the outfit for tomorrow.

"Hey..." You softly say. He slowly looks up at you and smiles. 

"Hey."

"Is that for tomorrow?" You ask. He nods and then sighs, standing up and stretching.

"What do you think? You like it?" He asks. It's a dress. Looking closely at it... it somewhat represents the jackets toman members wear.

"Yeah. It's really pretty... You made that all by hand?" You ask. He softly smiles and nods. "Wow... you're really talented!" You bubble. He stares at you with a smile on his face and tilts his head a bit. 

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" He asks. You slowly shake your head. "You wanna eat? I can have Peh get us something to eat..."

"No its okay..." You softly say, motioning your hands no. Mitsuya stares at you with a blank expression on his face before smiling again.

"I'm calling him anyways... You not allergic to anything right...?" He says walking away and pulling out his flip phone. 

"No... I'm not." You softly reply.

You go to the front entrance of the school to meet up with Peh. As you walk down the hall you see Eli, who's holding a basket of stuff. The others in your class carry other stuff as they pass you down the hall. He stops walking and stares at you. You stare back at him, still walking down the hall. Peh walks into the school and stops walking when he sees you from a distance. Your eyes focus on him as you walk past Eli causing Eli's eyes to widen.

"Your leg looks better." Peh says pointing at your leg.

"Mhm..." You hum taking the bag from him and walking back towards the auditorium.

"OI! YOU NOT GONNA SAY HI OR THANK YOU!?" He shouts. You stop walking and look towards him. You smile and bow.

"Thank you Peh." You sooth. He looks at you shocked and then sighs and looks away.

"Yeah... yeah- whatever." He grumbles as he walks back out the school.

"Geez... he's never at school..." A voice says from behind you. You flinch a bit and quickly turn around to see Yasuda standing behind you.

"Did you follow me here?" You softly ask. She slowly nods and slightly smiles and rubs the side of her arm.

"Yeah... I wanted to talk to you about something..." She softly says.

"Oh... What did you want to talk about?" You question.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 49

You slowly push yourself on the swing as the silence fills the air.

"So... what's on your mind?" Chifuyu softly asks. You slowly look at him and then back at the ground.

"A lot..." You softly say.

"Like what?"

"Am I a push over?" You quietly ask. You slowly look up when you notice Chifuyu not responding. Your eyes slowly drift to him. He's staring down at the ground. "Chifuyu?"

"I don't know...  I don't have an answer for that..."He softly answers.

"Mmm..." You slowly nod and look back down.

"Why? Do you think you're a pushover?" 

"No... but then I don't know-" You sigh. Chifuyu looks up at you and slightly smiles.

"How has school been?" He asks. You furrow your eyebrows and look at him feeling confused.

"That was a random question..." You quietly say. 

"Yeah... I'm sorry..." He softly chuckles. You relax your eyes and look back down at the ground. 

"Remember what you said about Kasumi and Kisaki..." Chifuyu's smile slowly goes away and he looks at you confused.

"You mean that girl who has a sick sister?" 

"Mhm..."

"What about her?" He questions.

"I think she's lying to me." You quietly say.

"Mmm? What do you mean?" He drags his feet on the ground as he swings.

"I saw her at the hospital talking to Kisaki... I asked her if he was her donator..."

"and?" He stops swinging and stares at you.

"She said yeah, that he was her cousin."

"Oh- that makes sense... I guess..." He looks in front of him and begins to push himself again.

"But she told me she had no more family." Chifuyu stops swinging again. 

"She has no family but then says Kisaki is her cousin...? Sounds fishy..." He says as he stands up from the swing.

"Yeah- I thought the same." You reply, standing up too. "What should I do?" 

"Figure out the truth..." 

"And how will I do that?" You ask.

"I don't know... If she's lying to you, then you can't ask her directly. I also don't recommend talking to Kisaki." He says, scratching his head. "If this is important to you then best we can do is find a connection. We should talk to someone who may know something about your friends situation."

"Yeah... but like- who..." You softly say staring off into the distance. Chifuyu looks at you and then sighs a bit. 

"Well... does she have any friends?" 

"Friends?" You furrow your eyebrows trying to think. Your eyes widen when you think of someone. "YES, SHE DOES!" You shout, grabbing Chifuyu's hand and pulling him with you.

The two of you stand in front of someone's front door.

"Who's house is this?" Chifuyu asks, leaning his head a bit. You knock on the door, waiting for an answer. The door slowly opens and you see a little girl. She looked to be a few years old.

"Mmm-" She hums and furrows her eyebrows. 

"Hi... Uh- Is Jun'ya home?" You slowly ask.

"MAKI! I TOLD YOU TO STOP OPENING THE DOOR!" A voice yells out from the distance. A woman quickly hurries to the door with her clothes sloppily on her. Her bra was hanging out her tank top and her leggings were rolled up on one side. She is also missing a slipper and her hair is all over the place. The woman pushes the little girl to the side and then leans on the door frame, staring at the two of you.

"H-Hi..." You softly say. The woman stares at you and relaxes her eyes.

"Who are you and what do you want?" The woman says in an irritated and uninterested tone.

"Rude..." Chifuyu whispers quietly.

"Is Jun'ya home?" You ask again. The woman raises an eyebrow and leans forward towards you a bit.

"And who are you? I never seen you before..."

"I'm Jun'ya's friend... My name is Yuki Sato..." You say bowing a bit. The woman stares at you then at Chifuyu. Chifuyu hesitates a bit and then bows.

"I'm Chifuyu Matsuno." The woman stares at the two of you and then sighs. 

"Yeah... whatever- what do you want from Jun'ya?" She asks. You furrow your eyebrows a bit and look towards the woman.

"I have some questions to ask him..."

"Yeah? You not here to peg him?"

"TO WHAT?" Chifuyu shouts.

"Uh-... no?" You look at her confused and weirded out.

"Mhm... you sure?  All the nasty fucks who are friends with my son tend to-"

"I don't want to hear what other have done to your son-" Chifuyu interrupts. "I don't know why you even felt the need to want to tell us that anyways..." He quietly says.

"Yeah- Um... I just wanted to talk to him about one of his friends." You slowly say, shaking your hands slowly.

"One of his friends? Which one? The polka dot bitch?" She questions.

"Polka dot?" Chifuyu repeats in a confused tone.

"I'm assuming you're speaking about Kasumi...?" You ask. She slowly nods.

"Jun'ya is at his club thing at school... If whatever you want to ask him is important then you can wait until he gets home... or you can go looking for him." The woman responds. You slowly nod and Chifuyu looks at you.

"We can wait then." You say. The woman nods and opens the door more allowing the both of you to come in.

You and Chifuyu quietly sit in the living room. Sitting in front of a small table on the floor. The woman and the little girl had walked away for a bit, leaving just you and Chifuyu alone together. 

"This place reeks of cigarettes..." Chfiuyu sighs.

"Yeah." You slowly nod. Chifuyu leans his head a bit and closes his eyes. "You okay?" You softly ask. Chifuyu doesn't respond right away. He slowly opens his eyes and looks at you. You felt a sudden rush in your heart when he does, causing you to look away. What the fuck was that? Why did I feel like that? You think to yourself.

"Honestly... I would have preferred to go looking for this friend of yours... I feel kinda weirded out being here..." Chifuyu softly says.

"Oh..."

"Is your friend gay or something?" He asks. You slowly look at him confused.

"Why do you ask that?"

"From what his mom asked earlier..." He calmly responds.

"I don't know... why does it matter?" You question. Chifuyu slowly looks at you and slightly smiles.

"Relax... I'm not judging... I was just curious." He slowly says. You slowly nod and look around the house.

The sound of the door opens and Jun'ya slowly steps in. You and Chifuyu stare at him as he takes off his shoes. He slowly turns and stops when he sees the two of you. 

"Hi?" He quietly says looking at the two of you confused.

"Hi." You smile and wave at him.

"Sup." Chifuyu half waves and leans forward. Jun'ya furrows his eyebrows and puts his backpack down.

The three of you sit in Jun'ya's room. You watch as Jun'ya tidies up his room. Chifuyu is slowly looking around the room. You sigh and start to fidget with your sleeve.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Jun'ya softly asks as he sits down in front of the two of you. Chifuyu's eyes slowly drift towards him. You slowly nod and smile. "What's up?"

"You're friends with Kasumi... right?" You calmly ask. Jun'ya stares at you for a bit before looking away. You furrow your eyebrows, confused to his reaction. Both you and Chifuyu stare at him waiting for an answer.

"Are you going to answer? Or?" Chifuyu sighs. You glare at Chifuyu and he stares back at you.

"Why? Did something happen?" Jun'ya quietly asks. You look back at Jun'ya.

"I guess you can say that? But that's not why I came." 

"Oh..." He looks down at the ground and starts fidgeting with a bracelet around his wrist.

"You know about Kasumi's situation... with her sister... right?" You calmly ask. Jun'ya slowly nods.

"Her sister is sick... but I heard she's recovering..." He quietly says.

"Kasumi told me she doesn't have any family... so the treatment is expensive." You add.

"Yeah..." He nods.

"... Do you know her relationship with Kisaki?" Chifuyu asks. You quickly look at Chifuyu who has an irritated look on his face. Jun'ya's eyes widen and he quickly looks up at Chifuyu.

"Kisaki? I- I never heard of someone named Kisaki before..." He quietly says.

"Really?" Chifuyu huffs. 

"Are you sure? Whatever you tell me will stay between us... I promise... You don't need to worry." You comfort. Jun'ya slowly looks at you and furrows his eyebrows. He quickly shakes his head and stands up.

"I don't know who Kisaki is... If that's all you want to know then you can leave." He rasps. Chifuyu and you stand up.

"I saw Kasumi with Kisaki today at the hospital." You continue.

"Yuki- Me and Kasumi aren't friends anymore." He sighs. You look at him confused.

"Wait... since when?" You ask. Jun'ya looks away and frowns.

"If you want to know... then tell me something... Yuki." He calmly asks.

"Hmm?" You hum, waiting for his question.

"What's your relationship with the invincible Mikey?" You stare at him confused, unable to give an answer. "Whatever you're doing is the same thing Kasumi's doing. If you really want to know then figure it out yourself... I don't want any part of it."

"What do you mean? Mikey is... my friend..." You quietly say, looking down at the ground.

"Why are you friends with that asshole?" Jun'ya huffs.

"Watch your mouth..." Chifuyu seethes. Jun'ya flinches a bit and clenches his fist.

"Kasumi said the same thing to me about that Kisaki guy... But ever since she became friends with him... all she ever done was grimy shit... " Jun'ya rasps.

"Cause... she's a liar..." You sigh.

"I know she is... but- aren't you one too?"

"Huh? I'm not a liar..." You say in a confused tone. Jun'ya looks at you with sadness in his eyes. "I don't think I'm a liar..." You softly say.

"Kasumi talks about you a lot... and because of that... I started looking into you too..." 

"Why does she talk about me?" You question.

"I don't know... I think it has something to do with that Kisaki guy..." He slowly responds.  "But whatever it truly is... I don't want to have any part of it... I heard about the things you are involved in... You don't have a good reputation in school... So, people have been talking."

"What are you talking about?" Chifuyu asks. 

KNOCK KNOCK

The door opens and the little girl walks in. The mother opens the door more and stares at you and Chifuyu.

"Everything alright? Ya'll got loud..." The mom calmly says. Jun'ya nods.

"Yeah... they were just leaving." He replies. You look at Jun'ya and then at Chifuyu who's glaring at Jun'ya.

"Yeah... we were." Chifuyu responds, grabbing you by the wrist and walking past the mother. "Thank you for letting us in." Chifuyu seethes. After the two of you leave, the mother looks at Jun'ya who's staring down at the ground. 

"Were they really your friends?" The mom asks.

"I don't know who the guy was... but the girl... she- saved me one time... from some guys..." He quietly says.

"Hm? You should of told me sooner... I would have been a little nicer to her..." The mom softly says looking at the front door.

"Yeah..." Jun'ya quietly says.

You and Chifuyu both sit on the steps of the complex Chifuyu lives in. You sit quietly as you stab ants that are crawling on the stairs with a stick while Chifuyu sits beside you with his head in his hands.

"Osanai said something about Kisaki being after you..." Chifuyu sighs.

"Yeah I know." You quietly say.

"So... What it sounds like is Kasumi is only being friends with you for Kisaki."

"Yeah... I know..." Chifuyu slowly looks up at you.

"I don't understand... What does he want from you..." Chifuyu quietly questions. You stop stabbing the ants and softly sigh.

"I want to know that too..." You listlessly say. "But apparently... he- we used to be friends when we were younger..." You add. Chifuyu furrows his eyebrows.

"Why didn't you mention this before?" He asks.

"Cause I didn't know until Hina told me about it..." You softly say.

"Hina? Who's Hina?" He asks. You slowly stare at him and then back at the ants.

"An old friend." You softly say. Chifuyu sighs and puts his head back into his hands. You slowly look back at him, tilting your head. "I'm sorry..."

Chifuyu stays quiet a bit before looking at you. "Sorry about what?"

"Sorry for dragging you into this..." You quielty respond. 

"I came along... You didn't drag me into anything. I'm just stressed. Baji is paralyzed... The shit with Kisaki... and Peke J is missing... it's all stressing me out." Chifuyu sighs.

"Peke J? Baji's cat?" You question.

"No... he's not Baji's cat- He's my cat." He calmly responds.

"Oh... What happened to him?" You ask.

"I don't know... but he hasn't come home... It's been a while now." He softly says as he rubs his head. You relax your eyes and placed the stick down.

"Have you looked for him?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... Cats love being out at night. The sun is down and we have a better chance of finding him... So-" You say, standing up. Chifuyu looks up at you. "Wanna go look for him together... Partner?" You ask. He smiles at you.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 48

The next day you decide to try school again. You don't plan on talking to anyone though. You just want to go to avoid your school grades dropping way more than it is already. You get dressed and left the bakery. Your grandmother gave you breakfast for the morning. Just a soft pastry. You eat it on your way to school. Once you got to school you head towards your class. Everyone in your class stares at you when you walk in.

"Uh... Yuki- You can't participate in the class project for the festival..." A girl says behind you. You slowly turn your head towards them.

"What?" You look at her confused.

"Well, you haven't been in class to help with our classrooms activity... and like- the festival is in a couple days... so yeah... you can't help- cause we don't know where to place ya..." The girl says. You slowly nod and look towards Eli whose head was down at the desk.

"So, what... we don't have class today?" You ask.

"No... we don't have normal classes today..." Another girl says.

"We had exams last week, so we don't start a new curriculum until next week... Besides the festival is in a couple of days..." A boy says from the distance.

"Oh... yeah right." You say nodding and walking out the classroom. You walk towards the home economics room in hopes of seeing Mitsuya there. Once you made it to the room you see girls working on a few outfits. Your eyes dart towards Mitsuya who's stitching something to a piece of cloth. Your eyes widen when you remember what Kisaki said to you. You close your eyes and sigh, turning around and wanting to leave.

"Yuki!" Yasuda yells out as she quickly walks over to you. Mitsuya looks up from what he's doing and smiles at you. You stare blankly back at him which causes him to stop smiling at you. "Hey... come in..." Yasuda pulls you into the room. You look around at what the other girls were doing. 

"So... uh- what am I supposed to do?" You ask in a nervous tone. Yasuda motions towards Mitsuya. You furrow your eyebrows and slowly nod as you approach him. "Hey" You quietly say. Mitsuya looks up at you and smiles.

"Hey." He bubbles. You slightly smile. He pulls out the chair beside him and pats for you to sit down. You sit down beside him and watch him fix a stitch on the cloth he was holding.

"So, the festival... what are you all planning to do?" You calmly ask. Mitsuya puts a pin in his mouth, holding it with his teeth and pulls a string from beside him. He pulls it and takes the pin out his mouth, putting the string through the hole of the pin and begins stitching the cloth. You watch as he does so.

"There's going to be a mini fashion show... so we will be doing that. The clubs from other schools are going to go against us as like- a competition thing. There won't be prizes... it's just for fun." He replies.

"Oh... okay."

"How do you feel?" Mitsuya asks looking up at you. You stare at him for a bit before looking down. 

"I don't know... I'm confused I guess..." You softly say.

"Confused? About what?" He asks looking back at the cloth and fixing his stitch. You stare down at the table unable to give a response.

"..." Mitsuya looks back at you waiting for your response. When he notices you weren't going to answer he takes a deep breath and pulls another string out from beside him.

"I saw Baji the other day. I'm glad he's alive." He quietly says.

"Yeah..." 

"And for Kazutora... its sad honestly..." He continues. You look at him and he has a sad look on his face.

"I don't know much about Kazutora... I've only met him a few times and it wasn't good any of those times... I wonder how he is as a person for Baji to want to stick by him." You softly say. Mitsuya's eyes relax and he slightly smiles.

"I can't really tell ya honestly... I don't know Kazutora that well either... But Mikey cared about him." Mitsuya sighs and turns towards you. "Mikey cares about you too, you know... And I know you care about him. You should really go check up on Mikey-" He calmly says. You furrow your eyebrows confused to why he suggested that. But you weren't going to question it.

At the end of the day, you slowly walk outside, making your way to the bakery. A lot is on your mind. Mikey and Kazutora... if Mikey cared about Kazutora then why did he kill him?

"I read the freaking book... why the hell don't I remember anything..." You say to yourself in an irritated tone. I've become so useless...

"YUKI!" A voice shouts from behind you. You slowly turn your head to see Kasumi. It's been a while since you have seen her.

"Kasumi..."

"Hey... You haven't forgotten me... right?" She says as she skips over to you. You stare at her for a bit before shaking your head and continuing to walk.

"How has your sister been?" You calmly ask.

"Shes doing great actually... I think she's going to recover soon!" She bubbles loudly. You look at her confused and then slowly nod. 

"Has she been getting treatment?" You ask.

"Yep!"

You stop walking and turn towards Kasumi who looks back at you confused. "How have you been able to pay for treatment?" You question. Kasumi stares at you for a bit before looking away.

"Donations..."

"Donations? From who?" You ask. She looks back at you with an irritated look on her face.

"Why does that matter?" She fumes.

"Woah... relax... You don't have to respond to me like that..." You huff. Kasumi's eyes widen and she sighs as she scratches the back of her head.

"I'm sorry- I didn't meant to be rude..." 

You slowly nod and turn around, continuing to walk. Kasumi slowly follows behind you.

"What happened between you and Hana?" She calmly asks. You stop walking and look back at her again.

"Why is it when I ask you questions you act weird about them... but then you go and ask me personal questions." You ask as you cross your arms. Kasumi furrows her eyebrows and looks away.

"Am I bothering you?" She asks. You squint at her and then turn, continuing to walk. "What did I do...? I was just asking a question... All I did was not want to share something personal... why do you keep acting so meanly to me... Ever since that day your friend insulted you at the bakery you've been acting so petty to me." She rasps. You stop walking and relax your eyes.

"You're right... I'm sorry." You softly say looking back at her.

"It's whatever... I'll leave you alone. I'm sorry for bothering you..." She walks away and you watch as she does. You furrow your eyebrows and sigh, looking out into the distance.

You slowly walk into the hospital and making your way to the room Baji stays in. You decide to visit Baji instead of heading home. Maybe seeing him will brighten up your mood. You slowly open the door, walking in. Baji is sitting in the bed, reading a manga. He looks up at you and smiles.

"Hey." He bubbles.

"Why're you so smiley?" You ask, smiling back at him.

"I don't know... maybe because you came~" He sooths. You look at him a bit not knowing how to respond. He looks back at his manga and continues to read. You grab a chair and sit down on it.

"What has the doctor been saying?" You calmly ask.

"I don't really know... but I will be having surgery again... That's all I know." He answers.

"Surgery for what?"

"Surgery on my lower back... I think- I can't remember. You would have to ask my mom." He softly responds as he turns to the next page. You slowly nod and lean a bit to see what it was he was reading.

"Yuki-" You slowly look up at him to see him looking at you.

"Do you think you would have been friends with Kazutora... before everything that had happened?" He calmly asks. You look at him confused.

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean... back when we were little... If we had met back then... do you think you would of been friends with Kazutora?" 

"I don't know... I don't know Kazutora like that... So, I can't really give you an answer. Why do you ask that?"  You ask, tilting your head at him a bit. He looks up from his manga and stares at you.

"I feel like if we met back then, and you got to know Kazutora... you both would of became good friends..." He softly says. You stare at him confused. "For a while I've been thinking about it... What it would of been like if you met us when we were in grade school. Would things be different... cause you're a girl and all. I didn't like you when we first met, but now I understand why Mikey likes you a lot. You bring me a little peace." 

"I do?"

"Mhm... but you're weak as shit though-"

"Eh?" You furrow your eyebrows. "I'm not that weak... I can fight-"

"Not that- I mean... you're a push over. Stop being like that... I know you can be better- Like me... wait...not like me- I'll hate you if you were like me. Just- stop being a push over alright? It's annoying as fuck." He states, going back to reading his manga. You stare at him a bit not knowing how to respond. Instead, you sigh and nod.

"Okay."

After spending a little more time with Baji, you slowly walk down the hallway in the hospital. You pass a vending machine and think about what Katsumi said to you earlier. Is that why Hana has been like that lately too? Am I really being a bad friend? You approach the vending machine and decide to buy a drink for Kasumi's little sister. 

After buying the drink and receiving the sticker you make your way to the room Asuka was in.

You stop walking when you see someone familiar. You squint your eyes trying to make out who it was. 

"Is that Kisaki?" You question, trying to get a closer look at him.

The guy looks at you and smiles and the girl with her back towards you turns her head.

"Kasumi... Kisaki?" You look at the both of them confused. Kasumi looks at you with wide eyes and Kisaki smiles at you with relaxed eyes. You squeeze the sticker in your hand, crumpling it a bit and then quickly turned around. 

You quickly walk outside and down the alley.

"YUKI!" Kasumi yells out from behind you. You ignore her, walking faster. "YUKI! PLEASE WAIT!" She yells out, reaching out towards you and grabbing you. You yank away from her. "Can we talk..."

"What do you mean can we talk?" You fume.

"I know what you saw looks bad but-"

"Is Kisaki your donator?" You question. Kasumi looks at you in shock. "Is he?"

"Maybe..." She quietly says looking down. You scrunch up your face and then quickly turned around, walking away again. "YES! He is..." She shouts out. You stop walking and look back at her.

"What's your relationship between the two of you? He wouldn't just give you money for free..." You huff. Kasumi looks away and then fidgets with her shirt.

"He's my cousin." She quietly says. You smile in an irritated way.

"Cousin?"

"Yeah..." She looks at you with a sad look on her face.

"I thought you said you had no family..." You fume. Her eyes widen and she looks down. You sigh and shake your head. "You know what... I don't care... I don't want to deal with this bullshit- I'm not in the mood for any of it. Just leave me alone."

"I'm sorry Yuki, I just-"

"I don't like liars... You made me feel bad but in reality you were lying to me... Leave me alone. I don't care for your apology." You quickly walk away.

You slowly make your way through the park, stopping by the swings. Staring down at them.

"What a coincidence..." A voice says from behind you. You quickly turn your head feeling really nervous. Chifuyu slowly approaches you.

"Chifuyu..."

"We always end up crossing paths here." He chuckles. You slowly nod. "Knowing you- the only reason you're here is to sulk..." He says as he sits down on the swing. "Come... sit- lets talk about it." He says motioning to the other swing. You stare at him a bit and then slowly nod before sitting down on the swing beside him.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 47

"Chifuyu..." You softly place your hand on his shoulder. "Please tell me... he's not dead right?" You ask again.

"No, he's not." He listlessly replies. You feel a rush of relief go through your body. It makes you want to cry but you hold in your tears by taking deep breaths. 

"Is he okay?" You softly ask. Chifuyu slowly looks up at you and starts crying again.

"I'm so useless..."

"huh?" You look at him confused.

"I couldn't save him... even after everything you said, I still wasn't able to fully save him." Chifuyu rasps.

"What do you mean? You said he wasn't dead... I don't understand..." 

"..." Chifuyu stops crying and relaxes his eyes. "Baji might not ever be able to walk again..." He sniffles. Your eyes widen and heart drops. Even though it's better than him being dead, you still can't help but grieve. Chifuyu keeps blaming himself for something that's not his fault. You sit down beside him.

"Have you eaten yet?" You ask.

"No... I haven't..." Chifuyu sighs.

"Is Baji sleeping right now?" You ask. Chifuyu slowly nods. You slowly stand up and walk away. You went to the nearest vending machine to buy Chifuyu a snack. After buying him a snack and a drink you walk back to him. You sit back down next to him and placed the snack and drink on his lap. Chifuyu slowly grabs the snack, opening it and taking a bite out of it.

"Thank you..." He quietly says.

"You're welcome..." You softly respond. Chifuyu takes another bite of the snack and looks at you. You look back at him and sigh a bit.

"Are you supposed to be a dead maid?" He asks. You slowly nod. He smiles and nods too.

"What happened to Kazutora?" You ask. Chifuyu looks in front of him and his smile goes away. You tilt your head a bit waiting for his answer. 

"He's dead..." Chifuyu quietly answers.

"Dead? What do you mean?" You ask feeling a bunch of pain in your chest.

"He was killed..."

"By who?" You ask.

"... I can't say..." 

"What do you mean you can't say? Who killed him?" You ask again. Chifuyu looks up at you and then past you. You slowly turn your head to see Draken slowly approach the two of you.

"Baji is out of surgery?" He asks. Chifuyu nods. "Yuki... wh-"

"Who killed Kazutora?" You ask looking at Draken. Draken furrows his eyebrows and looks at Chifuyu who looks away. You look at Draken waiting for an answer. 

"I-" Draken starts.

"Was it Mikey?" You interrupt. Draken's eyes widen. You furrow your eyebrows and sigh. "Why are you both keeping the answer from me... Why can't you just tell me?" You huff.

"It's for your own good..."

"My own good? So, you will allow me to hang around the one who killed him?" You rasp. Draken furrows his eyebrows and walks up to you.

"What do you mean?" Draken seethes.

"If Mikey killed him... you will allow me to be around him?" You quietly ask.

"What makes you believe Mikey would kill him?" Draken fumes.

"Who else would? You? Chifuyu?" You rasp pointing at Chifuyu. "If you won't tell me then I'll figure it out myself." You sigh, walking away. Draken sighs and looks at Chifuyu. "I will be back..." He says as he walks after you. You walk out the hospital and down the alley.

"Dammit... I wish I had a phone..." You sigh looking down at the ground.

"Yuki!" Draken yells out. You clench your fists and continue to walk, completely ignoring him. Draken walks faster to catch up to you. He grabs your shoulder and turns you towards him.

"What?" You rasp.

"Can you relax for a bit and just talk..."

"Talk about what? Why can't you just tell me?" You sigh.

"Because I don't need to tell you everything..." He answers. You stare at him for a bit before smiling and nodding.

"You're right... I'm sorry..." You softly say. Draken furrows his eyebrows and looks at you with a confused expression on his face.

"... really?" He says in a confused tone. You roll your eyes at him and turn around. "Come on Yuki... can we not do this today?" You look back at him.

"Do what? You don't need to follow me..." You sigh.

"Then where are you going?" Draken asks.

"Home..." You softly say.

"Really?" He questions. You slowly nod.

"I'm too tired for all of this. Don't want to tell me who killed Kazutora... then fine- I don't care-" You turn around and continue down the alley. Draken sighs as he watches you walk away. Once you make it to the bakery you see someone familiar standing outside.

"What do you want?" You sigh. Kisaki turns his head towards you and smiles.

"What's with the dead look?" He asks pointing at your outfit.

"It's a Halloween costume..." You listlessly say. He slowly nods and walks towards you. "What did you want? Why are you here?" You ask. 

"I just wanted to talk to you... like old friends." He sooths. You narrow your eyes and glare at him.

"If you have something to say then just say it." You sigh. Kisaki smiles at you and leans in towards your ear. 

"Do you want to know who killed Kazutora?"He whispers into your ear. Your eyes widen and he smiles more. 

The next day you wake up staring at the wall. You struggled to sleep that night. You sigh and lay back down, staring at the wall. 

"Did he really do that?" You question. You sigh sitting up and rubbing the back of your head. "Fuck... I didn't want to be right about any of that... why did I have to be..." You stand up and get dressed. After visiting the store, you went to go visit Baji. The nurses said Baji was awake in his room. You gently open the door to his room and walk in. Baji is laying down in his bed with his eyes closed. You quietly sit down on a chair beside his bed. Baji slowly opens his eyes and looks at you. You look back at him.

"Yuki." He softly says.

"Hey... I brought you something..." You quietly say pulling out a stuffed cat. "I know its cutesy and all, but I know you like cats, so I got it for you." You say handing him the stuffed cat. "A black cat... because it reminded me of you." You softly say. He stares at you which makes you stare back. He softly smiles and rubs the cat.

"Thank you." He sooths. You softly smile and nod.

"How do you feel?" You ask. Baji's smile slowly goes away and he closes his eyes a bit before opening them again.

"I don't know... I saw my mom cry this morning... It made me cry. I feel like a shitty son... always putting her though pain and anxiety. Hehe... and now I can't walk... so that adds on to it." He relaxes his eyes and stares at the cat. "I thought they were lying to me when they said I might not be able to walk again... but I can't feel my legs..." He listlessly says. "And then I wake up to find out Kazutora is dead..." Baji chuckles in a stressful way. He turns his head and looks at you. You stare back at him unable to say anything.

"You remind me of Mikey a lot..." Baji comments.

"Why do you say that?" You ask him with a confused expression on your face.

"You always have that dead look in your eyes... Like, no light reflects in them... the window is open and lights shining on your face, yet there's no light in your eyes, they are just... blank... like Mikey's." he responds. You slowly look down. Baji smiles at you and then sighs. 

"Thank you for the cat..." He sooths then looks at you. You look back at him. "I will be okay... so stop looking at me like that. You look like my mother with that face."

"Are you really okay?" You softly ask. Baji slowly nods.

"I know my legs are fucked but I'm not giving up that easy. I will walk again..." Your eyes widen and you look at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I will walk again. Fuck what the doctor says. He said probably... I probably won't be able to walk again... and yeah, I can't feel my legs but I'm not giving up... I will walk again... so stop sulking for me... It's irritating." He bubbles.

"You're really ambitious..." You say with a hint of shock in your voice.

"I'm not... I'm just not a quitter..." He softly says. "My mom doesn't believe I will be able to walk and I doubt Chifuyu believes it either but I'm not a bitch... I will do it... so don't give up on me either." He cheeses at you which makes you feel a weird sensation in your stomach. You softly smile at him and nod which makes his eyes widen. He smiles back at you.

You lay in your bed staring at the ceiling. A lot has happened in the last two weeks. You lost your friend, you became friends with Emma, you found out you used to be old friends with Hina and Kisaki, you got caught by the black dragons but then bailed out by Kisaki, you now owe Kisaki, you fought with your... friend, Baji lost the ability to walk, Kazutora is dead...

...and his killer is Mikey...

You cover your face with your pillow feeling stressed out and then eventually falling asleep.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 46

"Here you can wear my hoodie..." He wraps his hoodie around you. You put your arms in the sleeves, and he zips it up for you. 

"Oh... Prez... you're here early..." Yasuda says as she walks into the room.

"I got out of class early..." Mitsuya sooths. Yasuda nods and looks at you. 

"Oh... Yuki is it? Hi." Yasuda says smiling at you. 

"Hi..." You softly respond.

"Is she joining us today?" Yasuda asks.

"Nah... not today... She won't be with us until after the 31st."

"Oh okay." Yasuda nods and smiles. 

"Draken is going to pick you up... alright?" Mitsuya says as he grabs a few things from a basket.

"Why?" You question.

"I thought it would be good for you to go out for a bit... I can't leave the school yet, so I called Draken... if that's okay..."

"Oh... okay..." You slowly nod.

"Oh, I also forgot... I know this is sudden and I feel kinda bad for asking you but... are you going to be busy on Halloween?" He asks you. You slowly shake your head. He slightly smiles and nods. "Can you be able to watch Mana and Luna for me that day? If not, I can ask Yuzuha... but they asked to spend that day with you." He continues.

"Yeah... that's okay." You softly answer. 

"Thank you." He smiles at you, looking you in the eyes.

"Yo... Mitsuya!" Peh-yan shouts as he walks into the room.

"NO NO GO AWAY!" Yasuda huffs as she walks over towards Peh-yan.

"Peh... you don't need to be so damn loud..." Draken sighs walking into the room. You look towards Draken and he walks over towards you. "Hi Yuki." He softly says smiling at you.

"Hi..." You sluggishly say. He furrows his eyebrows and looks towards Mitsuya. 

"Come on... lets go..." He motions. You slowly nod and follow behind him. "See ya tomorrow Mitsuya-" Draken waves with his back towards Mitsuya.

"Yeah." Mitsuya nods and goes back to what he was doing.

You slowly walk down the hall beside Draken. Draken looks down at you and then sighs. He gently grabs your arm and holds your hand which makes you feel nervous.

Once you two walk out the school he walks you to his motorcycle.

"There's some things I need to do... but before that- Have you eaten?" He asks as he gets on his bike. He turns his head towards you. You slowly shake your head and he nods. "Come on... get on." As the two of you ride off all you could think about was what happened during lunch. No wonder Yuki suffered... Did Takemichi feel this drained?  Why did Hana blame me...? Why is all of this happening... Why me? Why am I here?  The constant thoughts keep swirling in your head.

"Yuki... we're here..." Draken says trying to snap you out of it. The two of you walk into the restaurant. Draken orders udon for the two of you. You both sit at a table in the corner of the restaurant waiting for the food to be done. "You okay?" Draken says taking a sip of the water. You slowly nod. He sighs and sits back a bit.

"Mitsuya didn't entirely tell me what happened... but I can tell something happened..." He leans forward staring you in the eyes. "So, what happened?" 

"A lot.."

"Like?" You slowly look up at him. His head is tilted a bit and he's still staring you in the eyes.

"Uh..."

After hesitating a bit, you finally tell him what had happened. After you finished explaining you start to tear up and shiver. Draken sighs and makes you drink a glass of water.

"Don't tell Mikey about this..." Draken softly says. You place the cup down and furrow your eyebrows, sniffling a bit.

"Why?"

"Mikey is going through a lot right now... If he finds out you're going through it, it will only upset him more..." 

"Yeah... Toman vs Valhalla, right?"

"Yeah." 

"Does he not want to fight?"

"No... but we have no choice..." Draken sighs.

"Why is Kazutora so stuck on wanting to kill Mikey?" You ask.

"That I don't know... but maybe we can find out tomorrow..." He answers.

"Have you tried asking him?"

"No..." The waiter places the bowls of udon in front of the two of you. Draken smiles and bows his head a bit. After the waiter leaves, Draken starts eating.

"Has Mikey ever told you about the darkness inside him?" you ask.

"Huh?" Draken looks at you confused. You stare at him before shaking your head. 

"Nevermind..." You say, picking up your chopsticks and slowly eating the meat off the top of the udon. Draken furrows his eyebrows and then continues to eat.

After you both eat and leave, Draken drives to a few other places before he meets up with Mikey by a bridge. Draken stops his bike allowing you to get off. You slowly walk up to Mikey. The sound of an engine makes sound as it drives off causing you to look towards it. Draken drives away leaving you and Mikey alone.

"Hey." Mikey sooths, walking over towards you and patting your head. You place both hands on your head causing Mikey to smile at you. "You okay?... Lately you've seemed sad..." he softly says, leaning against the railing.

"I guess..." You softly reply. Mikey stares at you before looking out in the distance.

"You always seem sad but you seem worse then normal... I hope I'm not the reason..." He softly says not looking at you.

"No... I'm just- confused I guess..."

"Confused about what?"

"What my purpose is... why I'm here..." You murmur. Mikey's smile slowly disappears. He quietly takes a deep breath and nods.

"I understand what you mean..."

"You do?" you question.

"Yeah... things don't feel right... none of it does- I have this dream I want to achieve but it feels like I'm messing up..."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to create an era for delinquents... but I feel like I'm slowly losing myself... and I just started." He stressfully laughs before turning to you. "So, I'm starting to question my purpose too..." You relax your eyes and look off into the distance. 

"So, what are you going to do?" You softly ask.

"What should I do?" He answers. You shrug. He slowly nods and smiles.

The morning of Halloween you wake up feeling discombobulated. You slowly look around the room confused on how you got there. You slowly push yourself off the bed. You realize you're in Mikey's room. You grab your stuff and walk out the shed. 

"Hey Yuki..." A voice says from beside you. You slowly lift your head up to see Emma.

"Hey..." 

"Are you okay? We haven't talked since that day..." She hesitantly says. You smile and nod.

"I'm okay. I'm sorry about that."

"No... it's okay." She softly chuckles. "So what are you doing today? Are you going to the fight too?"

"No... I was going to babysit Mitsuya's sisters."

"AW! WAIT- can I come with you?" She sooths.

"Yeah... I don't think Mitsuya would mind." Emma repeatedly nods and smiles at you. 

"Have you eaten yet? Come... let me make you some breakfast-" She motions back towards the house.

After leaving with Emma and arriving at Mitsuya's house, Mitsuya gets ready to leave.

"Oh- and you can take them out if you want... just be careful- okay?" Mitsuya says putting on his shoes.

"I want to go to the mall..." Luna sighs.

"I want to be a witch!" Mana shouts jumping up and down.

Mitsuya smiles and then sighs. "I made them costumes... I was planning on taking them to the Halloween festival... but yeah..."

"Don't worry I can take them." You comfort. Mitsuya smiles and nods.

"Thank you Yuki..."

"Be safe..." You say as he walks out the door. After the door closes you look at Emma whos smiling at you. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Do you like him?" She coos.

"No..." You quietly say.

"Are we going to the festival?" Luna asks.

"Do you think its a good Idea for them to go to those? I thought the festivals were more of an adult thing..." Emma states.

"Yeah... but there are some indoor events for kids." You imply.

"You think we can go to a festival tonight?" Emma asks.

"Just us?" You question looking back at her.

"Yeah... well we can invite Hina too."

"Hina? You talk to her?" You ask.

"Yeah. We got along that day." Emma sooths then she sighs a bit. "I needed more girl friends anyway... I'm so tired of all these boys... All the girls in my school avoid me."

"How come?"

"They are all scared because of my brother- I'm surprised that guy even dated me to begin with... guys are too scared to talk to me..." She pouts. 

"Well... isn't that a good thing? I mean you want Draken after all..." Emma's eyes widen and she looks up at you. "What?" You look at her confused.

"Do you think he's afraid to date me too?"

"No? He's not even afraid of Mikey-" you say. Emma sinks down a bit and sighs again.

"Ugh... men-" She pouts. You smile and furrow your eyebrows out of confusion.

"Yuki-san... can we go to the festival?" Luna asks as she tugs at your shirt sleeve.

"Yeah... sure... let's get your costumes on."

You help Luna and Mana get in their costumes. They are both dressed as Witches. Mana is a purple witch and Luna is a pink witch.

"Wait are you going to dress up too?" Emma asks. You slowly look at Emma while adjusting Mana's hat.

"Do you think I should?" You ask.

"Yeah... it would be boring if you didn't..."

"Yeah- but I don't have any costumes." You softly sigh.

"... Uh- then lets improvise." She reassures.

The four of you walk into a store. You look around in confusion.

"I thought you said we were going to improvise..." you say in a confused tone, watching Emma walk around.

"OOO- This one's cute!" Emma pointed to a maid costume.

"No- just no-"

"Aw... but you'll look so cute as a maid."

"YEAH- MAID YUKI!" Luna shouts and jumps up and down.

"What?!" You look at Luna and then sulk a bit.

"Yeah! Maid Yuki-san..." Emma coos. You narrow your eyes at her. "Come on it will look cute-" Emma says pulling you towards the changing room. You try on the maid costume. Emma, Luna, and Mana nod at the costume. After buying it the workers ask if you would like your makeup done too. Emma nods and they gave you an undead look. Emma buys a black cat outfit and they give her a black nose and whiskers. After they finish your costume makeup, Luna and Mana gawk at your look.

"You look pretty!" Mana coos.

"Scary-" Luna comments.

The four of you make your way to the festival in the mall. There were a decent number of kids there too. Almost everyone was wearing a costume. The day felt pretty long and fun. You all had some really nice treats and food. Mana and Luna got a few prizes from certain games. The day distracted you from everything that has been happening. As the day comes to an end. You carry Mana in your arms and Emma carries Luna on her back.

"Is she asleep? She suddenly gotten heavy?" Emma asks. You turn your head to see Luna's head drooped to the side. You gently move her head more on Emma's shoulder.

"Yeah... shes asleep." You smile.

"Okay..." Emma nods. "I'm so tired honestly... I wanted to go to other festivals tonight but after running around with them all day I've become so beat- My feet hurt so much right now." Emma softly sighs.

"Oh- well we are almost at Mitsuya's house." You reassure. Once you make it to his house you notice the lights are on inside. You knock on the door unsure if you want to unlock the door. Mitsuya opens the door. His face is kind of bruised.

"Oh- Come in-" He moves to the side allowing you to walk in. He grabs Mana from your arms and carries her into the room. Emma stands still in the center of the room waiting for Mitsuya to grab Luna and carry her into the room too. After he did, he closes the door to their room.

"You okay?" You ask as Mitsuya walks towards you. 

"I don't know- Not really..." 

"Is Draken and Mikey okay?" Emma asks in a worried tone.

"Yeah- I mean... I guess..." Mitsuya says in an unsure tone.

"What happened?" You ask.

"Well... Kazutora and Baji are both in the hospital..." Your eyes widen a bit after hearing that. All you could think was No...

"Huh?" Emma looks at Mitsuya confused. Mitsuya furrows his eyebrows and sighs a bit. 

"Emma you should go check up on your brother... Yuki- You should go check up on Chifuyu... you two are friends... right?" Mitsuya softly says.

"Yeah..." you slowly say.

After leaving Mitsuya's house and splitting ways with Emma you head to the hospital Baji and Chifuyu are at since Mitsuya said that Chifuyu went with Baji to the hospital. Once you walk into the hospital and ask where Baji was you head in that direction to see Chifuyu sitting in the chair leaning forward with his head dropped down. You slowly walk over towards Chifuyu. There were tears dropping from his eyes to the ground.

"Baji isn't dead... is he?" You struggle to say. Chifuyu slowly looks up at you, his eyes are pink, and his face is kind of swollen from crying so much. Bruises are covering his face and hands. "He's not dead... right?" You sniffle.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 45

The day before Halloween you decide to go back to school. Nothing really feels right anymore but you've decided to not stress out about it. You slowly walk into the school and switch out your shoes. For some reason your heart was racing, and your hands are shaking. You slowly make your way to your class. Once you made it to class you see Eli already sitting in his seat. 

"Hey..." You softly say as you sit down at your seat. Eli slowly turns his head towards you and sighs which makes your heart drop.

"Why haven't you been to school?" He asks.

"I... I don't know..." Eli furrows his eyebrows and faces forward. You sink your head down and crossed your arms, resting your head in your arms.

During lunch Eli leaves the class, leaving you alone. You stand up from your desk and slowly walk down the hallway. Not knowing where to go you decided to look for Mitsuya. As you turn the corner you see Hana which makes your heart drop. Hana is talking to Ren. They both look at you which made you stop walking. Hana rolls her eyes and turns away from you and Ren follows behind Hana. You slowly turn away and walk towards the nearest bathroom. When you walk in you see a bunch of girls. One of them being Ayame.

"Oh... wow... look who decided to finally show up..." Ayame snickers.

"Isn't that the girl who's sleeping with a bunch of thugs...?" A girl asks. Ayame laughs and nods. You clench your fist and sigh, turning away to walk out the bathroom.

"Where are you going... Yuki-" Ayame gibes. You ignore her and continue to the bathroom door. She grabs you by the arm and pulls you back towards them. You snatch your arm away and try to push past them. Ayame pushes you hard against the sink. You gasp in pain.

"Can you leave me alone..." You seethe. Ayame leans towards you and smiles.

"You smell like a slut..." She smiles in your face and laughs. Your eye twitches and you try to push past her again. One of her friends pulls you from behind. 

"Why're you trying so hard to leave... I heard you were talking shit about me... so I bet there's a lot of shit you want to say to me..." Ayame scoffs. You narrow your eyes at her not knowing what the hell she was talking about.

The bathroom door opens, and you see Hana walk in. Hana stares directly at you and then turns her head and walks into the bathroom stall.

"Hey... bitch- look at me." Ayame says in a stern tone.

"Leave me alone Ayame... I wasn't talking about you..." You huff. Ayame stands straight and takes the gum from out her mouth, sticking it on your hair.

"Trashy bitch..." She softly says as she presses the gum into your head. Your eyes widen and you grab the part of hair she stuck the gum on. You flinch when you feel the wet gum. You aggressively try to push past her, but she pushes you again. 

"Leave me alone..." You rasp. 

"Aw is she going to cry..." Another girl snickers. Ayame laughs and another girl pours their drink on your head. Your eyes widen more when you feel the ice hit your head and the cold drink soak into your shirt.

Why did I come to school... You keep repeating in your head. Your eyes fill with tears and you clench your fists.

"I always knew you were a pussy... Everyone would talk about how strong you are, but you are just sitting here acting like a scary little bitch..." Ayame gibes.

"Leave me alone Ayame..." You rasp.

"Why should I? You're gonna tell your little friends again?" Ayame snickers. "Oh yeah... you don't have any friends..." She laughs in your face and grabs you by the hair, lifting your head up a bit to make you look at her. "Slutty little bitch... just like your dead whore mother" She puckers her lips out. Your eye twitches again. You swing your arm, punching her in the mouth. She falls on her back. You plop down on top of her and start repeatedly punching her in the face. The stall by you swings open and you feel someone kick you off Ayame. You fall to the side and quickly look up to see Hana glaring down at you.

"Stop taking your petty little problems out on others." Hana fumes.

"What?" You furrow your eyebrows and stand up.

"You're so annoying... being so fucking sensitive over everything..." Hana listlessly says as she walks out the bathroom. What? Is this a bad dream or... did she really say that dumb shit...? You think to yourself. You quickly walk out the bathroom and slammed Hana into the wall. People around you gasp and turn their heads towards you. Hana turns around and moves her hair out of her face. "What the fuck was that for?"

"I didn't do anything to you..." You struggle to say.

"You just pushed me... what the fuck do you mean?" Hana says pushing you back. You push her again and she smacks you. You step back a bit and covered the part of your face that she slapped. "Stop being mad at me when you're the problem... Yuki- Wanna be mad... then go take it out somewhere else... Not me... I didn't do anything to you other then point out the truth."

"The TRUTH?! SHE WAS JUST HARRASSING ME AND YOU CALL ME PETTY! FOR WHAT? PROTECTING MYSELF!?"

"STOP YELLING AT ME! STOP BEING A BITCH! YOU WANT TO BE SUICIDAL THEN DO THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE..." Hana yells at you. Her eyes fill up with tears. Your eyes widen and then you squint at her.

"The fuck did I ever do to you to treat me so shitty?"

"Exist... I wish it were you who left instead of Aimi..." Hana rasps. "Actually... I wish your stupid little suicide attempt worked." Your heart sank and you feel sudden sickness in your stomach.

She did die... and she doesn't deserve this bullshit...You think to yourself. You shove Hana into the wall and grab her by the hair. You smash her head into a fountain and repeatedly punched her in the face. She stopped moving but you kept going. Everyone was gasping and staring at you. Tears fall from your eyes as you continue to punch Hana out of rage.

"YUKI!" Sakura the stupid student council president yells out. Eli grabs you and pulls you off of Hana making you stand up. 

"Yuki... relax..." Eli softly says. You pull your arm forward and then back into Eli's side. Eli lets go of you and holds his side in pain.

Sakura rushes over to you. You turn your body and kicked her in the head, kicking her with your non injured leg. People around you gasp. A boy grabs you from below. Sakura lays still on the ground. You repeatedly jab your elbow into the guys back.

"HEY!" A voice yells out from behind you. You slowly turn your head to see Peh-yan walking over towards you with an irritated look in his face. "THE HELL ARE YOU DOING..."

You jab your elbow really hard into the guys back causing the guy to let go of you and collapse. Peh-yan reaches for you and you punch him in the face causing him to back away holding his mouth. "The fuck-" He looks towards you with wide eyes. You walk over towards him again preparing to punch him again, but Mitsuya quickly grabs you and holds your arms down. You try to squirm out of his grip but there was no use. You gave up and droop your head down. Mitsuya sighs and looks towards Peh-yan who's wiping the blood off his face. Mitsuya turns his head in the direction Eli is. Eli stands up more, looking directly at Mitsuya. Mitsuya glares at him.

"Miss Sato... you know you can be expelled for this..." A female teacher said as she goes through an envelope full of paper. Both you and Mitsuya are in the teachers lounge.

"Expelled? She was being bullied... you're going to expel her for defending herself?" Mitsuya responds. You stare at the ground feeling out of it. The teacher sighs and looks up towards Mitsuya.

"She caused disruption and harm towards the students..."

"She has gum in her hair... They started it. If you expel her then expel the others... You can't be picking on the victim after she was just protecting herself..." Mitsuya adds. A male teacher walks up to the three of you and sighs.

"He's right... this will look bad on us." The male teacher says.

"Why do you say that?" The female teacher asks.

"Well... this isn't the first time an incident like this happened. Last time the school didn't do anything and she was in the hospital. We got charged and investigated... we can't just kick her out. It will look bad for us." The male teacher awkwardly chuckles.

"It will look even worse for news to go around about a girl beating on kids in the school."

"Is that all you guys care about... the schools reputation? What if she didn't protect herself... what if they done worse to her...?" Mitsuya huffs. Both teachers look at Mitsuya. The male teacher sighs and shakes his head. 

"Aren't you supposed to be in class...?" He asks. Mitsuya narrows his eyes and glares at the male teacher.

"Fuck this shit... lets go-" Mitsuya grabs your wrist and pulls you out the teachers lounge. Surprisingly the teachers didn't stop you two. Mitsuya pulls you down the hall before you pull your arm away from him. He turns to look at you. 

"I don't need you to talk for me... I can handle things on my own..." You softly huff.

"Yeah right... like you weren't just beating up people in front of the entire school..." You glare up at Mitsuya. "You act like Mikey..." He sighs.

"Don't compare me to him..." You rasp.

"What's up with you... why have you been so defensive lately?"

"Defensive?" You squint your eyes at him. Mitsuya sighs and puts his hands in his pockets. 

"What happened?"

"None of your business..." You walk past him in anger. Mitsuya grabs you by the shoulder and turns you towards him.

"Yuki... Can you stop running away and just talk..." He sighs loudly.

"No... now let me go-"

"Why not... Why won't you tell me?" He asks with a hint of irritation in his tone.

"Why do you care to hear?" You ask.

"How many fucking times do I have to tell you Yuki... I care about you... Why can't you just let me fucking care..." He irritably says. "If something is wrong then say it. Why do you keep pushing me away..."

"Because I don't trust you! Who knows... you might be like the rest of them and betray me too..." You sniffle. Mitsuya's eyes widen, and you yank away from him. "I don't want the fake sympathy... I don't want the stupid excuse that you care when you don't. I'm fine alo-" Mitsuya grabs you and hugs you. Your eyes widen when he does.

"Whatever it is you're dealing with... you don't have to carry the burden alone Yuki... I'm willing to be here and dealing with all this shit because I do care about you. So, stop shutting me out." Mitsuya softly says. You clench onto his hoodie and softly sobbed into his chest. He hugs you tighter and rubs your back trying to comfort you. He gently kisses your head and looks up to see Eli staring at the two of you. Mitsuya narrows his eyes at Eli and Eli sighs and turns towards the stairway. "I will kill anyone for you... Yuki- I promise you that..." Mitsuya quietly seethes.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 44

"What the fuck do you mean...?" He seethes. You look down at the ground and sigh feeling overwhelmed.

"You're right... Kisaki is trouble... but Kazutora is also trouble..." Baji's eyes narrow as he waits for you to continue. "Kazutora doesn't trust you... He thinks you're betraying him..."

"What makes you say that..."

"Kisaki... Kisaki-" You start fidgeting with your sleeve. You shouldn't be saying any of this... it's going to ruin everything...

"KISAKI WHAT... FUCKING SAY IT YUKI!" 

"KISAKI CONVINCED KAZUTORA THAT YOU ARE NO GOOD! THE PLAN IS TO KILL YOU!"

"Huh... Yuki why didn't you tell me this?" Chifuyu huffs. Baji lets go of Chifuyu and sits back, staring at the ground.

"You know too much, and Kisaki knows you know too much... so he manipulated Kazutora to be suspicious of you... which will result in your death..." You softly say.  Chifuyu stares at you before speaking.

"How do you know this..."

"I... I... Just trust me..." You softly say, pulling your legs towards your chest and shoving your face into your knees. Baji blankly stares at the ground.

"Is this really true, Yuki? Are you being serious...?" Chifuyu questions.

"Yeah..." Baji quietly answers. Chifuyu slowly looks at Baji and his eyes widen when he sees his face. Baji has an agitated and sad look in his eyes. Baji slowly stands up and grabs his jacket. "I won't die..." he says walking towards his closet.

"You say that, but I know you're lying." You imply. Baji pauses in front of his closet. You stand up and look towards him. "Death isn't the solution... your disappearance won't solve anything. Your mother will lose her child and your friends will lose you..." Chifuyu looks at both you and Baji. Baji relaxes his eyes and looks towards you. "Don't be stupid... you won't fix anything by just recklessly jumping into a fight without thinking it through..." You add. Baji bores into your eyes. You step back a bit feeling uneasy as he stares blankly at you. 

"Chifuyu... leave..." Baji rasps. Chifuyu furrows his eyebrows and then slowly nods. Baji walks Chifuyu out and then walks back into the room, closing the door behind him. You stand still, staring at the ground. Baji slowly walks towards you and stops a few steps in front of you.

"What else do you know?" 

"Huh?"

"What else do you know?"

"What do you mean?" Baji stares at you without giving you an answer.  You slightly squint at him and then sigh. "I don't know what else there is to really say... but Kisaki has a motive and it involves Mikey."

"I know that..."

"You do?" You question, looking at him confused.

"Yeah..." He sighs. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore..."

"Huh?"

"I mean... yeah I want to beat the shit out of Kisaki... kill him even... but- what you're saying is there's no way around it... He will kill me before I could kill him..." You slowly nod. He stressfully laughs before sinking down in front of his bed. "Fuck this shit... I'm done..." he says in a tired tone.

"Huh...?"

"Whatever plan Mikey has going for this new Toman he's building... I want no part of it..." Baji pulls something from out his pocket and hands it to you. It's an omamori charm. 

"Why're you giving this to me?" You softly ask. Baji sinks his head down and doesn't respond. You frown a bit and then you slowly walk towards the door. "Baji... if you aren't going to do anything to save Toman... then what will you do?" 

"Go to school..." He answers. You look at him confused. "I rather put my effort into that then to be dealing with this bullshit..." He sighs. "I want nothing to do with Toman and Mikey..."

"... you sound off... That doesn't sound like something you would say..." You comment. Baji smiles and scoffs. 

"Mikey has changed... and I can't stop him... Mikey chose to stand with Kisaki knowing what kind of guy he is... the fuck else am I supposed to do..."

"But-"

"The same shit keeps repeating... No matter how many times I try to stop Mikey... he won't listen..." Your eyes widen when you see a tear fall from Baji's eyes. Did I break something... the story is falling off script... You panic in your head. "I'm tired." Baji's head droops fully and his arms and legs drop down. His hair fully covering his face. "Tell Mikey that... That I give up being his friend..." He quietly says.

After leaving his house you slowly walk down the stairs. Chifuyu is sitting at the bottom step. You slowly sit beside him.

"How did you know Baji is planned to get killed." Chifuyu asks without looking at you.

"Baji became a threat to Kisaki's plan... just like how he planned for Draken to be killed... Baji is next..."

"So, you had a hunch this was all going to happen?" He asks you.

"Kinda..." You softly say as you fidget with the charm Baji gave you.

"What's that?" Chifuyu asks.

"A charm... I need to talk to Mikey..." You say standing up.

"Do you want me to walk with you?" Chifuyu asks. You look into the distance before looking back at him. 

"Yeah... but can you call Mikey or Draken for me?"

"Yeah..."

You slowly walk on a path towards Mikey who's crouching in front of a gravestone. Draken looks at both you and Chifuyu. Mikey slowly stands up and looks towards you.

"Yuki." He bubbles as he smiles at you. You grab his wrist and pull his hand towards you, placing the charm in his hand. Mikey's eyes widen when he sees what you placed in his hand. "Where did you get this from?"

"Baji gave that to me..." 

"... Baji still had this. Why did he give it to you?" 

"He wanted me to give this to you..." You softly say. "..." You think about the other things Baji said and didn't have the guts to say it. Mikey stares at the charm and then back at you.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm just tired... I'm going to go now..." You turn around and walk away. Chifuyu looks at you confused. Mikey watches you as you walk away.

You don't know exactly where to go but you choose to just walk. You continue walking until you reach a park. You slowly walk into the park and up to a swing. You stare at the swing before sitting down on it. You sigh and close your eyes as you push yourself back and forth a bit.

"I thought you had to talk to Mikey-" A voice said from beside you. You quickly look up to see Chifuyu. You sigh and shake your head. "What happened?"

"I feel useless..."

"What do you mean?" Chifuyu sits down on the swing beside you.

"I mean... this is all so stressful... It's so chaotic... and so many things are happening... so many problems... and everything is changing...."

"Huh?" Chifuyu looks at you confused but with concern in his face.

"I mean... all the drama... between Toman... Valhalla and Kisaki... I can understand why Baji wanted to quit... It's all so tiring..." 

"Quit? Wait Baji is quitting?" 

"Yeah, that's what he said..."

"That's what you didn't want to tell me..." You and Chifuyu's eyes widen. You turn your head back to see Mikey and Draken standing behind Chifuyu. You glare at Chifuyu.

"You didn't want to tell me they were with you?"

"No... I didn't know they followed me..."

"Well yeah... you were acting weird." Draken implies.

"You keep mentioning Kisaki... What are you not telling us, Yuki?" Mikey asks as he slowly walks over to you. "And what happened between you and the black dragons?"

You loudly groan and stand up from the swing. "If I'm not telling you something it obviously means I don't want to tell you..." You start to walk away and Mikey grabs you by the wrist. 

"What is Baji quitting?" Mikey asks in a stern tone. You glare at Mikey, making Mikey glare back at you.

"He no longer wants to be friends with you..."

"What?" Mikey's eyes widen then he stressfully laughs. "Baji doesn't get to decide that..." Mikey seethes. "Why did Baji say that?"

"I don't know why Baji doesn't want to be friends with you anymore..." You rasp, yanking your arm away from him. "Why don't you ask him yourself-"

"Baji doesn't want to be friends anymore?" A voice says from behind you. Your eyes slowly drift towards the voice to see Mitsuya walking up to the four of you.

"..." Your eye twitches and you walk past Mitsuya towards the Bakery. Once you get to the bakery you see your grandmother working inside and some costumers sitting at a couple tables. You open the door and walk towards the back. 

"Yuki... you're back... are you alright?" Your grandmother says, stopping you before you walk up the stairs. You slowly nod and walk up the stairs. You walk into your bedroom and flop onto your bed, burying your head under the blanket. You close your eyes, forcing yourself to fall asleep.

"Yuki?" Mitsuya says as he walks into the living room. He slowly walks to your room and walks over towards you, sitting down beside you. "Yuki..." He softly says, shaking you awake. You slowly open your eyes and moved the blanket a bit to see Mitsuya.

"What?" You sigh.

"You okay?" He asks. You stare at him a bit and then shoved your head back into the blanket.

"No..." you answer. Mitsuya tilts his head a bit and lays down on his back.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asks. You slowly sit up and move the blanket from your face. Mitsuya sits up along with you.

"There's so much going on..."

"What do you mean?"

"... One of my friends left... the other one hates me... and now I believe one of them are lying to me... why am I even saying that... she's not even my friend... we've only known each other for a small period of time and I've only met her a couple times and..." You sigh. "An old friend I didn't know I was friends with became friends with me again... all the drama with Kisaki and Baji... and I feel like everything is falling apart and its all my fault..." You sniffle. Mitsuya stares at you with wide eyes.

"... honestly you said so much and I didn't really catch most of it..." Mitsuya hesitantly says. You sigh and droop your head a bit.

"I don't understand how Takemichi was able to do any of this without losing his mind..."

"Huh? Takemichi...? Who's that?" Mitsuya asks. You slowly look up at Mitsuya and slightly smile.

"A crybaby hero..." You chuckle. Mitsuya smiles at you in a confused way. You tilt your head a bit, staring Mitsuya in the eyes. "How do you do it? You deal with all this drama... run a club at school and take care of your little sisters... how do you handle all of that without falling apart." You ask. Mitsuya looks down a bit before looking at you.

"I have given up a few times... I cannot lie... but it takes a really strong person with a strong mentality to be able to do that much. I guess it's because I have a drive... there's something I want to accomplish later in life... so I keep pushing through..." He chuckles. "Even when it gets hard..." He sooths. Your eyes widen. That's why Takemichi was able to compose himself... he had a drive... You thought to yourself. You smile a bit and nod, tearing up a bit.

"I feel like I've said this already but you're really admirable Takashi-kun..." You softly bubble. Mitsuya's eyes widen a bit. You both stare at each other as silence fills the air. Mitsuya slowly leans in close towards you and gently presses his lips against yours.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 43

A few hours pass and you wake up with a bad headache. Mitsuya sits not far from you sewing something. You slowly turn your head towards him causing him to look at you.

"You sleep well?" He softly asks. You slowly nod. "Are you able to talk to me now? Last night you kind of shut down on me..." he gently places the cloth down and stands up, slowly walking into the kitchen.

"I... don't really- remember..." You say, lying again. Mitsuya raises an eyebrow to your response. He sighs and nods.

"Okay..." He slowly says as he fills a cup up with water. "Here... I want you to drink some water... and take these." He hands you the cup and places a couple of pills in your hand.

"What is this?" You ask. 

"Medicine..." You slowly nod.

After taking the medicine and drinking the entire cup of water you stand up and clean up the futon.

"I can do that." He says, taking the blanket and stuff from your hands and folding it.

"I'm going to go back home..." You softly say. Mitsuya slowly looks up at you and then hesitantly nods. 

"Okay..." He responds. You walk over to your stuff and stuffed it back in your bag. Then you put your shoe on. Mitsuya softly sighs before standing up and walking over to you. "Yuki..." He gently says causing you to look up at him. "If you ever need anyone to talk to... you know you can come to me... You know I care about you..." He had a soft and worried look in his eyes. You smile and nod causing him to slightly smile at you.

"You're a good friend Mitsuya... But I'm okay... Don't worry too much okay?" You say, standing up and wrapping your bag around your shoulder.

"... okay Yuki..." He sooths back. You walk out his house and he watches you walk off before closing the door. You walk to the complex that Chifuyu lives in. You stop outside of it.

"Damn... I don't know which apartment he lives in..." You quietly say to yourself.

"Yuki?" The voice makes you jump and turn towards it.

"Chifuyu-?" 

"What are you doing here?"

"I was actually looking for you."

"Me?" He says in a surprised tone.

"Mhm..." You hum.

"Why... what's up?" He softly asks.

"Can we talk... it's important..." He raises an eyebrow and slowly walks towards you. "It's about Kisaki..." He stops walking and then nods.

"Mmm... we can talk... but don't you have a doctors appointment today?" 

"Huh? Oh shit..." You turn around and quickly walk in the direction of the hospital.

"Uh... wait... Yuki-"

You sit in a room with Chifuyu as you wait for the doctor.

"Wait... so Kisaki paid the black dragons and now you owe him...?" Chifuyu mumbles.

"Mhm... but it still doesn't make sense to me..." You softly say as you watch your legs slowly swing back and forth.

"What doesn't?"

"How he knew..." Chifuyu's eyes widen. 

"It was like he was prepared..." He softly says. You slowly look at Chifuyu who's manspreading and leaning forward as he rests his arms on his lower thigh and drooping his head down.

"Chifuyu." He slowly looks up at you. "You are going to the fight on Halloween?" You softly ask.

"Yeah... of course."

"Kazutora has a knife now..." Chifuyu raises an eyebrow and then scrunches his eyebrows.

"What?"

"He's going to use that to kill Mikey... but I have a gut feeling he's going to kill Baji with it too..." You continue. Chifuyu's eyes widen. 

"What makes you say that...?"

Honestly... I can't remember but I have a gut feeling... You think to yourself.

"I just have a bad feeling..." You reply. 

"Okay..." He nods. "Don't worry... partner..." He smiles at you. "I trust your judgement..." He nods. The room door opens and a doctor walks in. They smile at you and side eye Chifuyu.

"Miss. Sato... How do you feel today?" The doctor asks.

"I feel good." You smile at her.

"Is this your boyfriend?" The doctor asks as she slowly lifts up your casted leg and examines it.

"Uh..."

"I will wait outside and give you two privacy." Chifuyu softly says and walks out the room. 

"The bottom of the cast is all dirty and scratched up... have you been walking on it?" She asks.

"Kinda..." You slowly say. She narrows her eyes at you and sighs.

"You need to let your leg rest...." She sighs and writes down on her clipboard. You slowly nod. "Let's give you another x-ray... okay?" You nod.

After getting an x-ray and some blood drawn, they confirm that your leg that wasn't actually broken but fractured and has healed but needs to be put in a brace for a bit. So, after taking off your cast they place a brace on your leg. At least you can walk better and can clean that part of your leg now.

You walk out towards Chifuyu who's reading a magazine in the waiting room.

"You're done?" He softly asks. You nod. The two of you walk down the hallway in the hospital. "So-"

"Let's go talk to Baji..." You interrupt.

"... Heh... I was going to say that actually..." He chuckles.

"Really?"

"Mhmm... great minds think alike... dontcha think?" He smiles at you. You smile and nod. Your eyes narrow as you see someone in the distance.

"Kisaki?" You quietly say. Chifuyu looks in the direction you're looking in.

"Why is he here?" Chifuyu whispers back. 

"I have no idea..." You quietly respond as you pull Chifuyu with you. You and him walk down another hall to avoid Kisaki. Now thinking about it... Isn't Kasumi's sister in this hospital...? You think to yourself.

"Wait... There's someone I want to go visit..." You softly say. 

"Who?" 

You grab a sticker from the vending machine that came along with the strawberry milk.

"Your friends sister needs a lot of money for treatment... I wonder what the treatment is for."

"Organ failure I think Kasumi said..." You reply to Chifuyu. The two of you walk towards the lady at the front desk.

"That's scary..." Chifuyu sighs.

"Hi... Miss... I came here to visit Asuka Yoshizawa..." You softly say to the lady. The lady looks at you confused.

"OH! Asuka... Right... Are you a friend of hers?" The lady asks. You nod. The lady nods and points into the direction of the room.

"Okay, come on Chifuyu..." You motion. Chifuyu furrows his eyes and stares off into the distance. You squint your eyes a bit and tap on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Do you think your friend and Kisaki know each other?" Chifuyu comments. You look at him confused.

"What makes you say that?" You ask. Chifuyu slowly looks at you and then back down the hall. 

"Nothing... nevermind..." He sighs and walks into the direction the lady points in. You furrow your eyebrows and follow behind Chifuyu. You and him slowly open the door to see Asuka sitting on the bed reading a book. She slowly looks up at you and smiles.

"HI!" She bubbles. "Yuki is your name... right?" She asks. You slowly nod. 

"I just came by to say hi..." You softly say smiling at her. You hand her a sticker. 

"OH!" She takes the sticker. You smile at her sudden happiness. 

"Your sister said you love those..."

"Thank you... You're the first one out of all my sister's friends who has given me something..." She coos.

"Really?"

"Mhm... the other ones don't really talk to me..." Chifuyu furrows his eyebrows and looks back at the door. You look at Chifuyu and then back at Asuka. 

"I have to go now... I came to say hi... and to see how you're doing." You sooth. She smiles and nods.

"Thank you." 

After leaving, you and Chifuyu walk towards the apartment complex Chifuyu and Baji lives in.

"Are you okay... you've been quiet since we left the hospital..." You softly say as you drink the strawberry milk. Chifuyu sighs and smiles.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be quiet like that... I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Kisaki paid the black dragons two million yen... right?" 

"Mhm..." You hum.

"How did he get that kind of money..." He furrows his eyebrows after saying that.

"I don't know..."

"Do you know how much your friend's little sister's treatment cost?"

 "... I think one million... I can't really remember... but it was a lot." You softly answer. You look at him with a confused look on your face. "Why do you ask? What are you thinking?"

"It's a bold assumption but... what if Kisaki was paying for that girls hospital bills..."

"Huh?"

"I mean she's getting treatment... otherwise she wouldn't be there..." He adds. You furrow your eyebrows and look down. "I also saw him walking down the hall towards where we were... but when he saw us, he turned away..." Your eyes widen then you shake your head.

"Maybe it was a coincidence..."

"I don't know... the things the girl was saying... the amount of money he has and all the weird bullshit he's pulling... I don't think it's a coincidence... Remember what Osanai said- he's targeting you..." he sighs. You zone out a bit trying to connect the pieces, but your brain doesn't want to point fingers at Kasumi again.

"I... I don't know." You listlessly say. Chifuyu sighs and nods.

"Let's talk to Baji first... before we jump into any more conclusions..."

"Okay..."

Chifuyu and you stand outside of Baji's front door.

"Do you think it's a good idea to be here... shouldn't we meet somewhere else?" You ask.

Chifuyu narrows his eyes and knocks on the door. Baji slowly opens the door and squints at the two of you.

"The fuck are you two doing here... didn't I tell you two to fuck off?" Baji seeths.

"We need to talk..." You softly say. Baji's eyes shift towards yours. 

"..."

Chifuyu and you sit against Baji's bed, watching Baji comb his fingers through his hair. He ties his hair up into a ponytail and sighs loudly.

"Why the hell are you two staring at me like that..." Baji huffs. Chifuyu looks down at the ground and softly sighs. "What did you both need to talk to me about? All you've two been doing is sit there and stare at me..."

"I'm at a loss for words honestly..." Chifuyu softly says. 

"So, you're just wasting my time..." Baji scoffs. "I'll beat your-"

"Baji..." You interrupt.

"What?" 

"Did Kazutora tell you about what he did with the black-" you start.

"He gave you away for a knife... yeah I know..." He sits back a bit and narrows his eyes at you. "And what happened with that? How did you get away... Did you fight them or something?" He scoffs again. You shake your head.

"Kisaki paid two million yen..." Chifuyu responds. Baji scrunches his eyebrows and looks at Chifuyu.

"Two million?" 

"Mhm." You hum. Baji squints his eyes at you.

"What else...?"

"Huh?"

"There's something you're not telling me..." He implies.

"What do you mean?"

"What are you not telling me..." He leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. You furrow your eyebrows a bit. Chifuyu looks at you confused.

"I don't understand..."

"Yuki... it's not a coincidence that you suddenly got involved in all this shit... what the hell is it that you are hiding... Are you playing me or something...?" He huffs.

"What? What makes you say that?" You ask.

"Everything that has happened... it's all tied to you-"

"What?" Chifuyu says looking at you.

"Huh?" You look at him confused. "I don't understand..." You say. Baji slowly stands up and sighs.

"I'll give you ten seconds to tell me otherwise I'll kill him..." Baji seeths. Your eyes widen.

"What... Baji-san... you'r-"

"Shut up..." Baji groans, interrupting Chifuyu. 

"I don't understand what you're talking about..." you say.

"Ten..."

"Baji I really don't understand..."

"Nine..."

"Baji-san..." Chifuyu hesitantly says.

"Eight... You aren't going to say?" You look at him feeling nervous and confused. "Seven... Six... Five..." He grabs Chifuyu by the shirt collar. "Four... Three..." Chifuyu looks at you with shock in his eyes. Baji's grip gets tighter.

"She doesn't have-" 

"THREE..." Baji slams Chifuyu down onto the ground. Your eyes widen as you watch Baji crushes his fist into Chifuyu's neck. "TWO..." Baji clenches his other hand into a fist. "ONE..." He pulls his hand back preparing to punch Chifuyu in the face. Your heart starts racing and you close your eyes trying to think up something. Then you remember what happened on Bloody Halloween in the manga... Chifuyu closes his eyes as Baji opens his mouth to say the last number and his fist starts to move. "ZE-"

"YOU ARE GOING TO DIE ON HALLOWEEN-" Baji pauses and Chifuyu's eyes widen.

"What...?" Baji slowly looks at you. Your eyes widen when you realized what you said.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 42

You watch as Kazutora disappears. Your eyes widen in fear. You slowly turn your head to look at Kokonoi. He's smiling down at you. You slowly shift your eyes away out of fear. Kokonoi tilts his head a bit, motioning the guys who were holding you down. One of the guys puts a bag over your head and you get struck in the head by something causing you to pass out.

You slowly open your eyes to see you're in a room, sitting on a concrete floor. You tilt your head to the side a bit feeling immense pain. You slowly open your eyes, looking up to see what was around you.

"You're awake..." Kokonoi says in the distance. You slowly lift your head up in his direction.

"... Who are you..." You struggle to say. Kokonoi scoffs and stands up.

"Shouldn't you be asking why you're here?" He sadistically smiles at you. "You don't need to know who I am... If you already don't." He grabs a chair from the side and pulls it towards him. He sits down on it backwards and leans on the back of it. "It's really crazy that you're a girl... killing you would be pointless... you would be worth a lot more if you were sold instead..."

"What the hell are you blabbering about..." You seeth through your thick bloody hair. Kokonoi looks down at you and smiles.

"You killed one of our members... didn't you?" He asks in a mocking way. You furrow your eyebrows at him. He relaxes his eyes at you and tilts his head a bit to the side. "I will give you an offer... You can pay me a million yen for your freedom... or I can sell you to some nasty pigs on the black market... your take~" He sooths.

"A million yen? I don't have that kind of money... Besides I didn't even kill anyone-"

"I didn't ask you all of that... I said give me money or become some old man's sex toy..." He says in a stern tone, staring at you with a blank expression on his face.

"..." You stare at him unsure how to respond. "I-"

"I don't really care if you are a girl or not... I don't care what happens to you... I want my money one way or the other... whether it's to sell you or for you to pay me that money." He sooths as he smiles at you. You grip at the rope they tied you down with.

"You are taking money instead of killing me... even after I killed one of your own? What kind of system do you even uphold..." You huff.

"So, you did kill one of my members?" He cocks his head the other way. You furrow your eyebrows and slowly look away.

"I'm speaking in general... I didn't kill anyone..." You murmur. Kokonoi stands up from the chair and grabs your hair, pulling it back.

"You have long hair... long pretty jet black hair. Hair like this can be so... expensive..." He leans closer to your face and grabs your chin, pulling your lip down to reveal your teeth. "Pretty white teeth... those can be good for a nice pair of dentures... don't you think?" You pull your face away from him. "Your heart... kidneys... lungs... brain... all of it... would cost a hefty price..." He sooths into your ear. "I guess you're right... I should just kill you..." He purrs into your ear. You pull away from him feeling uncomfortable and uneasy. Kokonoi lets go of your hair and stands up straight, looking down at you.

The door behind Kokonoi swings open. You slowly look up to see a guy with blond hair and a pink scar on his face, by his forehead and eye.

"Koko... someone's here for you." The guy says from the door. Kokonoi smiles before turning his head towards the door.

"One million yen... right?" The voice says as they approach the door and walks in. Kokonoi smiles at the guy and looks back down at you.

"Make it two million... the black dragons aren't the only ones after her... Don't pay up and I will just give her away to someone who will pay that much..." Kokonoi gibes. You squint your eyes to see who Kokonoi was talking to. The guys gray eyes bore into yours. Your eyes widen when you notice who it is.

"Fine... two million..." Kisaki replies, handing Kokonoi the money. Kokonoi smiles at Kisaki and then back at you.

"Maybe next time..." He sooths at you as he walks out the door. Kisaki narrows his eyes at you as the guy with blond hair unties you.

After the guy unties you, you walk outside with Kisaki and into an alley way. You stop walking when you hear the door you walk out of close. You slowly turn around to see Kisaki who grabs you by the shirt collar.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?" He yells in your face. You squint your eyes at him.

"Let go of me..."

"Two million yen to get you out of this... What were you thinking following Kazutora? THE ENEMY!" He huffs.

"Why are you lecturing me!" You shout pushing him away. "I don't even know you like that..." You seethe. You feel your heart beating really fast which is making you feel lightheaded. Kisaki stares at you before relaxing his eyes.

"You don't know me like that? Really?" He slowly walks closer to you. You step backwards.

"No... I don't... now fuck off..."

"Fuck off? Heh- you serious... you owe me now..." He fumes, still walking towards you. You bump into the wall behind you. You try to slide across it to get away from him but Kisaki grabs you.

"I didn't ask for you to pay for my freedom... I didn't ask you for shit..." Kisaki sighs and cocks his head down a bit. You scrunch up a bit, pushing yourself back more than you already could.

"You keep fucking things up... making it hard to do anything... I'm so close to getting rid of you."

"Yeah... then why don't you do it?" You ask, glaring at Kisaki.

"Because..." He tilts his head looking directly in your eyes. "You are the only person who can..." He pauses before finishing, letting go of you.

"Huh...? I'm the only person who can what?"

"..." Kisaki stares at you before looking to the side of him. "They are waiting for you." He quietly says.

"Who?" You question as you walk towards him. He turns and looks at you.

"You owe me..." He says in a stern tone as his eyes bore into yours. You furrow your eyebrows at him. He turns away and continues walking forward out the alley. You slowly follow behind him. Emma and Hina are both sitting down at a bench. Emma looks up towards you and her eyes widen.

"YUKI!" She yells as she jumps up and hugs you. Hina smiles and walks over to you.

"Thank you Kisaki..." Hina softly says to Kisaki, smiling a bit. Kisaki clenches his fist and sighs.

"Yeah..." He replies. You narrow your eyes at him. His eyes shift in your direction. "I'm going to go now..." He sighs as he walks away.

"Wait... you won't tell my brother about this... right?" Emma asks Kisaki. Kisaki stops walking and adjusts his glasses.

"A promise is a promise." He says with his back still towards the three of you.

"Okay... thanks..." Emma softly says as Kisaki walks away. Hina grabs your face, making you look at her.

"Are you okay?" She asks, squeezing your cheeks.

"I'm okay..." You softly reply.

"What happened... Kisaki mentioned that Kazutora-"

"Kisaki knew?" You ask interrupting Emma.

"Huh?" She looks at you confused.

"Nothing... I'm just really tired..." You softly say, walking away.

"Wait... Yuki... where are you going..." Emma asks as she walks towards you.

"I'm no longer in danger... the black dragons no longer want me..." You turn your head to look at Emma. "So... you don't need to keep following me around." You softly say as you walk away. Emma stands still, watching you walk away.

After getting off the bus, you walk towards the bakery. You slowly look up at the bakery door, staring at the dark inside. You stare down at the doorknob before grabbing it and twisting the handle. The handle is locked, which makes you sigh heavily. You slowly walk down the sidewalk towards the park before stopping and looking in the distance.

Knock Knock

"Hold on...!" A voice from the other side of the door shouts.

"Big bro... someone is at the door..." A little girl says.

"Yes... I know..." The voice replies. The door opens to reveal Mitsuya who's covered in cloth and pins. "Yuki?"

"I came to get my key... and stuff..." You listlessly say.

"Oh... uh... okay..." He says opening the door more to let you in. "You okay?" He softly asks.

"Mhm..." You softly hum.

"You sure...?"

You walk over to your bag, kneeling down a bit, opening it and looking through it to find the key.

"Yuki..." You pause, staring at the key. Mitsuya places his hand on your shoulder. "Are you really okay?" He asks again.

"My head hurts..." You softly say, rubbing the side of your head. When you pull your hand away, its covered in blood. Mitsuya grabs your wrist and then moves your hair to the side.

"What the hell happened to you?!" He yells in a panicked tone.

You slowly open your eyes. You squint, looking around the living room a bit. You are laying on a mattress futon on the floor. You lift your head to examine your surroundings. You were still in Mitsuya's house. The front door opens and Mitsuya slowly walks in looking at you.

"Hmm... you okay?" He asks, closing the door behind him.

"What time is it?" You ask.

"Uh... around 9 am... why?" You lay back down and sigh. Mitsuya takes his shoes off and walks over to you. "You okay?"

"Why do you keep asking that?" You sigh. Mitsuya stares at you before answering.

"Why? I can't be worried?" He responds, sitting down beside you. You slowly sit up and shake your head.

"I'm sorry."

"What happened to your head?" He asks. You look down and then at him.

"I can't remember" you say, lying. Mitsuya slowly nods his head before tilting his head.

"You should sleep more... maybe that will help?" He insists. You lay back down, covering your head with the blanket. Mitsuya quietly sits beside you. You slowly close your eyes, trying to hide all your stress from everything that had happened earlier.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 41

The next morning you are laying down on the bed thinking about what Mikey meant. You quickly sit up remembering something but then you immediately forget... The shed door opens to Mikey, Draken and Emma walking in.

"Good you're awake..." Mikey says walking over to you. You slowly nod.

"Hi" Emma waves at you with a soft smile on her face.

"Hi..." You wave back.

"You're staying here with Emma... Okay?" Mikey looks at you waiting for your response.

"Okay..." You nod looking towards Emma.

After Mikey and Draken left, you sit in the kitchen watching Emma make lunch.

"I didn't know you were here... My brother didn't even wake you up to eat breakfast earlier..." Emma sighs.

"You usually make the meals?" You softly ask.

"Mhm..." She hums. "I like to do this actually..."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Emma smiles and turns towards you, placing food down in front of you.

"I want to be a stay at home mom actually... A housewife..." She sooths.

"A housewife?" You raise your eyebrow.

"Mhm..." She hums again. She places food down in front of a seat across from you. "Do you want water?"

"Yes please." You respond. She smiles at you and walks over to the sink filling up a cup with water. Then she walks back to you and places the cup down in front of you. She quietly sits down across from you and picks up chopsticks. You stare at the food, furrowing your eyebrows a bit.

"I was going to ask you..." You look up to see Emma's head tilted down a bit to make you look at her.

"Ask me what?" You question.

"Do you like Mikey?" Emma softly asks.

"... Everyone keeps asking me that question." You sigh.

"It's just that... I never really seen a girl hang around my brother." Emma smiles at you a bit. "I always thought Mikey was going to grow old and lonely..."

"What makes you say that?" You ask, taking a bite of the cooked fish.

"Well... first off- he's horrible with girls... and his manners are just... tch..." Emma sighs loudly and tilts her head to the side. "He would be the worst kind of boyfriend... I feel bad for anyone who wants to be with him..." She shakes her head and takes a bite of her food. You smile at her as you take a sip of water.

"Do you like anyone?" You softly ask. Emma's eyes dart at you.

"Well... my boyfriend obviously..." She says in a strange way.

"Your boyfriend?" You raise an eyebrow. Emma sighs a bit and smiles, looking away.

"I can feel you judging me." She chuckles.

"It just doesn't seem like you do... but if you say you do then that's fine..." Emma frowns a bit and then cocks her head to the side a bit, looking off into the distance.

"Yeah... I guess you're right..." You slowly look at Emma who's frowning a bit. "Wait... why did you say that?" She asks looking back at you.

"Hmm?" You hum with food in your mouth.

"How did you know I didn't like my boyfriend?" Emma questions.

"Every time I see you with Draken, you would gush at him." You answer as you cover your mouth while you chew.

"WHAT? Wait... it's that noticeable?"

"Mhm" You hum. Emma places her hand on her face and sinks down in the chair.

"And I thought I was doing a good job hiding it..." She pouts.

"If you like Draken then why are you dating another guy?" You ask.

"BECAUSE... Draken won't pay attention to me... so I tried to make him jealous by dating another guy... but obviously... that... didn't... work..." She huffs.

"Maybe Draken is shy?" You imply.

"Or... maybe he's too in love with my brother and his bike that he doesn't even notice me... Sometimes his bike makes me so jealous... why does he like a stupid motorcycle over me..." She pouts. You stare at her unsure how to reply.

"I haven't even slept with my boyfriend... so I'm a complete virgin... I thought... maybe growing up faster and being like a real woman can make Draken want me more... but nope. When I told him I had a boyfriend all he said was... cOnGrAts..." She mocks. Her eyes are relaxed in irritation. You smile a bit, trying not to laugh. She looks at you with a confused look on her face. "What's so funny?"

"I always thought it was strange when girls wait on boys..." You respond.

"What do you mean?" She softly asks.

"I mean... you are waiting for Draken... right?"

"Well..." She looks down a bit.

"You should be the one to confess to him... Boys are stupid sometimes... you know..."

"I mean... I guess you're right... but I can't just randomly confess to him... besides... I don't even know if he likes me..." Emma pouts.

"Why don't we do this... You said you don't like your boyfriend... is that right?"

"Mhm" She hums.

"So... first off you need to break up with him..."

"Oh..."

The two of you arrive at her boyfriend's school. Students are already walking out the school.

"For some reason this school looks familiar..." You softly say.

"Oh? Really? Do you know someone who goes here?" She softly asks. You shrug unable to answer.

"Come on... lets go to him..." She says pulling you into the school gate.

"Do you go to this school?" You ask.

"No..."

"How did you meet your boyfriend?"

"Oh... Uh... at a park..." She answers. You furrow your eyebrows a bit before looking at her.

"What's his name?" You question. Emma slowly looks at you and then at the school.

"... I don't know... I can't remember his name..." She softly sighs.

"Hey... Emma..." A voice says from in front of the two of you. A guy with brown hair and brown eyes approach the two of you.

"Hey..." Emma slightly smiles and waves at him.

"What's up? Why're you here... and who is that?" He says pointing at you.

"Huh?" Emma looks at you and then back at him, smiling. "Oh... She's my friend." Emma sooths.

"Oh... What happened to her leg...?" He asks.

"You know... I'm right here... you can just ask me that instead of asking her..." You say in an irritated tone.

"Oh... yeah... right..." He slightly chuckles.

"We need to talk..." Emma comments, breaking the attention her boyfriend had on you.

"Oh... okay? Right now?" He asks. Emma nods.

"I will be right back... hold on, okay?" She softly says to you walking away with her boyfriend.

You stand still watching the people from the school leave. Your eyes moving from one person to another. But then they stop when you see a certain person.

"That person looks familiar..." You say to yourself. You slowly walk over to the person. Her hair is a pretty burnt coral color and her eyes are the same color as her hair. She has a small beauty mark below her lip. You stop beside her feeling completely shocked. Hinata....

"Hi..." She says looking at you. Your eyes widen a bit. You slowly turn around and walk away. Hina furrows her eyebrows and quickly walks over to you, grabbing your arm. "Hey... I'm sorry... you look familiar." She softly says. You turn your head to look at her.

"I do?"

"Yeah... Like I've known you from somewhere... but I can't figure out where..." She softly says.

"Oh... No... I don't think we've ever-"

"Wait... can you lift up your hair a bit?"

"My hair?" You look at her confused.

"Mhmm. Pull it up into two ponytails like this..." She grabs her own hair and lifts both sides up like they were in two ponytails. You repeat what she does, and her eyes widen.

"AHH- YOU'RE YUKI!"

"Huh? Wait... you know who I am?"

"MHM! We used to go to cram school together... remember!?" She bubbles. "I'm Hinata Tachibana..." She bubbles.

Yeah... I know who you are, but I don't remember being in cram school with you... You think to yourself.

"... I don't recall..." You say, furrowing your eyebrows a bit.

"Oh... well I remember... You were the reason I found the love of my life..." She smiles. Your eyes widen.

"Huh?" You hum. Hinata looks at you and giggles.

"It was a long time ago... So, I get why you wouldn't remember..."

"What do you mean... I was the reason why you found the love of your life?" You ask.

"Well... it was a long time ago... I remember telling you about how I found a boy at the park... He tried saving me... It was so cute and brave. I wanted to know who he was, and you found him for me... Takemichi Hanagaki... You called him the crybaby hero... That was..." Hinata's smile disappears. "Back in middle school... I don't know where he is now..." She softly says furrowing her eyebrows.

"I... did that?" You question.

"Mhm... You said I deserved a hero... so you found my hero..." She smiles at you. You furrow your eyebrows a bit feeling kind of off.

"I'm happy to see you are okay though... Last time I saw you... you didn't look too well... You were bruised and kind of out of it... I was too afraid to ask you back then If you were okay... Kisaki said you were probably just dealing with family things... but I never saw you again after that... So, I worried something bad had happened to you..." She softly says. Your eyes widen after you hear the name Kisaki.

"Kisaki?" You question.

"Mhm... You and him talked often... I remember how you both were always getting first place on the exams... You two seemed pretty close... Do you still talk to him?" She asks. You slowly shake your head.

"What happened to Takemichi?" You ask.

"Oh... I don't know... He wouldn't tell me anything and then he randomly stopped going to school... I wonder how he is nowadays..." She slowly looks up at you with a sad smile on her face. "I tried to be like you... and find him... but I couldn't..." She softly bubbles.

"Oh..."

"Yuki... I don't know if you still see me as the same... or want anything to do with me... but can we be friends again?" She asks you with a small smile on her face.

"Why?" You softly ask.

"Because... I really missed being friends with you... I guess... I'm just amazed to see you again and... I would really like to be friends again." Hinata gives you a genuine smile causing you to smile.

"Well, I mean... I guess... but I don't entirely remember our friendship..."

"That's okay... We can just start over again." Hinata bubbles and holds her hand out towards you. "HI, I'm Hinata Tachibana... Nice to meet you." You look down at her hand and then back up at Hinata's eyes.

"Hi... I'm Yuki Sato. It's nice to meet you too." You say shaking her hand.

"Can we be friends, Yuki?" She softly ask.

"Yeah. Can I call you Hina?" You softly ask. Her eyes widen and then soften.

"Of course!" She bubbles

"Wow... Yuki... I didn't expect you to be here out of all places..." Hina's eyes widen to the sudden voice from behind her and she looks behind her causing you to look too.

The guys head tilts to the side to get a better look at you. You can hear the earring jingle as his sand brown eyes bore into yours.

"Kazutora?" You look at him in confusion.

"You know him?" Hina asks.

"Yeah..." You quietly respond. Kazutora walks up to you, breaking the space between you and Hina.

"What are you doing here?" You softly ask.

"I go to school here..." Kazutora chuckles. Your eyes widen and heart drops.

How did I forget that... You think to yourself.

"Oh..."

"I was actually looking for you... I heard the black dragons have figured out who you are..." Kazutora hums as he leans into your face.

"Black dragons?" Hinata looks at the two of you confused.

"Yeah..." You quietly respond.

"I also have beef with the black dragons... So... I understand what you're going through... We should probably get going though... This isn't the place to be... especially if you're trying to hide from them..." Kazutora bubbles as he grabs your hand. You look towards the direction Emma is in. Shes still talking to her boyfriend.

"Yeah... but I can't leave... I'm supposed to be here with..." You get interrupted by Kazutora's grip as it gets tighter causing you to look at him. He has a blank look in his eyes causing you to shiver. "Okay..." You softly say causing him to smile. "Bye Hina..." You wave at her as Kazutora pulls you away. Hina waves back but she has a concerned look on her face.

Emma taps on Hina's shoulder not long after Kazutora dragged you away.

"Where's Yuki? I saw her here with you... where did she go?" Emma asks Hina.

"Uh... Are you Yuki's friend?" Hinata asks Emma.

"Yeah... I came here with her and asked her to wait for me..." Emma softly responds.

"Oh... well some guy pulled her away..." Hina responds pointing in the direction you left.

"WHAT? Wait... what guy?" Emma asks in a panicked tone. Hina looks at her with concern.

"Kazutora... I think is what she said."

"Kazutora? Seriously?"

"Mhm..." Hina hums. Emma walks past Hinata and into the direction you left. Hina fidgets with her fingers in frustration before she runs up towards Emma and pats on her shoulder. "Is Yuki in danger?" Hina asks. "I felt something off about the guy... Yuki was looking at him in a strange way... but I was too scared to do anything..."

"I don't know... but my brother is going to get mad... I was supposed to look after her... and-"

"He won't get mad... we will go get her ourselves... I will come with you." Hina comforts.

"... Okay..." Emma nods. The two of them walk off in your direction.

Kazutora pulls you into an empty parking lot where a warehouse is.

"Where are we...?" You softly ask.

"Oh... Someone wanted to see you so... I'm bringing you to them..." Kazutora says as he pulls you behind the warehouse.

"Huh?" You slowly look up to see a guy with Black hair that's combed to the right and the left side of his hair trimmed and split into three equal parts.

"I brought her like you asked... So... do we have a deal? Kokonoi-san." Kazutora bubbles. Kokonoi looks at you and smiles.

"Yeah..." He pushes a box over to Kazutora and a couple of guys grab you. "We have a deal..." He sooths.

"Sorry Yuki... But- I don't really like bitches who... betray me-" He scoffs as he opens the box, pulling out a nicely sharpened knife. "and you... are also... my enemy... along with Mikey... the bitch I'm going to kill..." Kazutora coos as he shifts his eyes at you.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 40

After arriving at an empty parking lot, Baji gets off his motorcycle. You slowly get off too. You cross your arms feeling kind of wary.

"So, Draken is coming to get me?" You ask.

"No Mikey is..." Baji sighs as he leans against his bike. 

"Oh..."

"Why didn't you tell me the black dragons were after you?" he asks, glaring at you.

"I thought you knew..." You softly respond.

"..." He sighs again and looks away. "Why did you ask about Kisaki...?" He shifts his eyes back at you.

"I wanted to know why you had to join Valhalla to get at him..."

"I didn't join Valhalla for that. There are other reasons to why I joined Valhalla."

"Which are?"

"You ask a lot of questions..." He mumbles.

"Mmm..." You hum.

"What do you know about Kisaki?" He softly asks as he looks off into the distance.

"What-"

"I know you know something... hurry and tell me before Mikey gets here." He interrupts. 

"... He's the reason why a lot of things are happening..."

"What do you mean?" He sighs in annoyance.

"Remember when Moebius jumped Draken?"

"Yeah."

"He was behind it." You say. Baji's eyes widen. 

"What do you mean." He looks at you with shock in his eyes.

"He was the reason why Moebius jumped Draken... he's also tied to Hanma..." You slowly say.

"Hanma? Hanma and Kisaki?" Baji furrows his eyebrows.

"Yeah..." You softly say looking back up at him. Baji scoffs and droops his head down a bit. He grips his bike seat tightly.

"Fucking great..." He says in an agitated voice. "So that's what Chifuyu and you were doing?" He softly asks with a bit of annoyance in his voice. 

"Yeah... we wanted to know what Kisaki's intentions were..." You softly say. Baji relaxes his eyes and looks back up at you. In a way you feel like you shouldn't have told him that. None of this feels right. It's all different though... not like how it is in the manga. But now that you think of it... what was even right?

ROOOOOOOAAARRR

A light shines in your face as another motorcycle drives up to the two of you. The bike stops and the light turns off. Mikey gets off the bike and walks over to the two of you. He slowly looks at Baji who's looking out into the distance.

"Baji..." Mikey softly says.

"Mikey..." Baji huffs.

"Do you also hate me?" Mikey asks Baji. You look up at Mikey whose face is blank.

"Maybe..."

"So, you chose to be against me... along with the one who killed Shin...?" Mikey softly asks.

"That's what it looks like..."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Baji smiles through his hair. His eyes in the direction of Mikey.

"..." Mikey looks down at Baji's feet. His face saddens a bit. Baji furrows his eyebrows. Mikey looks back up at Baji and softly smiles. "I don't want us to fight..." Mikey softly says. Baji's eyes widen. Then he laughs.

"Right... what's next? You don't want things to change? Don't want to lose anyone...? But then you easily can replace us can't you...? So why does it matter if we fight or not... we are enemies aren't we?" Baji scoffs.

"What?" Mikey furrows his eyebrows.

"You replaced Pah..." Baji says in a scornful tone.

"I didn't-"

"Then why is Kisaki third division captain...?" Baji interrupts. Mikey's eyes widen. "I have things to do... we can continue this conversation the day I destroy what we've created..." Baji scoffs as he gets back on his motorcycle.

"Baji..." 

Baji ignored Mikey and drives off. Mikey stands still staring off in the direction Baji left in. You look at Mikey who has a sad look in his eyes. 

"Mikey..." You softly say reaching towards him.

"Yuki..." he softly responds as he looks at you. He has a sad and tired smile on his face. "What am I doing wrong...?" He softly asks. He slowly walks up to you and rests his head on your shoulder as he wraps his arms around your waist.

"..." 

"Is there really no going back...? Will this continue?" He sighs. "I wonder what my big brother would do..." Mikey pulls away from you and sighs again looking up at the sky. "Sometimes I wish he were still here... He always knew what to do..." Mikey softly says.

"Mikey..." You softly repeat, furrowing your eyes with a sadden expression on your face. He looks back at you and smiles.

"I'm hungry... want to get something to eat?" He softly says as he slowly walks to his motorcycle.

Am I right about the fact things aren't the same... Is this reality really different from the manga... or am I really just forgetting things... You think to yourself. There's one thing I have to know... You slowly look at Mikey and walk up to him.

"Actually, there's somewhere I want to go..." You softly respond.

"Hm?"

After driving a bit the two of you stop at a park.

"Eh... are they Toman members?" Mikey asks looking in the direction of the guys who are sitting on stairs. 

"Mhm..." You hum. He narrows his eyes. He has an agitated look on his face. You look in the direction of the guys who are kneeling on the ground at the bottom of the stairs. They look beaten up. You slowly get off the bike and Mikey gets off too. The two of you walk over to where they are, stopping behind the beaten-up guys.

"This is what you waste your time doing?" Mikey huffs, looking in the direction of the guys on the stairs.

"Eh?" One of the guys says looking in Mikey's direction.

"UH... PRESIDENT!" Another guy yell and bows. 

"PRESIDENT!" The others yell and bow.

"..." Mikey furrows his eyebrows. "Who was it that you were looking for?" Mikey asks looking back at you a bit. You look down at the guys on the ground who are now facing you and Mikey, bowing down at him. Your eyes stop at a guy with plum colored hair.

"Akkun..." You softly say. Akkun's eyes widen and he slowly looks up at you. "Where's Takemichi?" You softly ask. Akkun looks down at the ground and furrows his eyebrows.

"I don't know... I haven't seen him in a couple of years. He stopped coming to school one day... and hasn't came back..." Akkun softly says in a shaky voice.

"Oh..." You softly sigh. You turn around and walk away feeling lost. Mikey looks down at Akkun and then back at the Toman members.

"Whatever this is... ends today..." Mikey says in a stern voice as he glares at them.

"Yes President." One of the guys bow. 

"Leave." Another guy says motioning for Akkun and the others to leave. They stand up and quickly walk away.

"I don't want to see this shit again." Mikey adds as he walks away from the Toman members.

"Yessir..." The all respond.

You stand by Mikey's bike thinking about the manga. Everything feels strange and it's starting to stress you out. 

"I was right... nothing is the same... I want to go home..." You whisper to yourself in a sad and tired tone.

"Who's Takemitchy?" Mikey asks walking over to you.

"Takemichi..." 

"Yeah... him"

"... that's hard to explain..." You respond quietly. You slowly rub your eyes as you feel tears filling up your eyes.

"Are you crying?" he asks lifting up your hair.

"No..." You shake your head and rub your eyes. "I'm just tired..." You softly sigh.

"Have you eaten yet?" Mikey asks as he rubs your back. 

"No..."

"Let's get something to eat."

He stops in front of a convenience store. The two of you walk into the store, walking down an aisle. Mikey walks right up to the isle of sweets. You look at some of the different instant ramen they have.

"Do you like spicy?" You ask as you examine one of the ramen packets.

"No... I don't like spicy food." Mikey answers. 

"Oh..." You put the instant noodles back.

"Puku puku" Mikey bubbles as he shakes a taiyaki packet in front of you. "This one's strawberry..." He says pointing to one of the taiyaki on the shelf. You look at it and the wrapper says Puku Puku Tai fish, strawberry flavor. "Do you think it will taste good?" He asks, picking up the snack and examining the wrapper.

"Maybe?" You say in an unsure tone. Mikey looks at you before shrugging. "I will try it... If I don't like it, then you'll just eat it." He walks down the aisle. You grab a sandwich and a strawberry milk. Mikey pays for everything and the two of you walk back outside towards his bike. 

"We will eat this at my place... come on..." He motions you to get on his motorcycle. 

As he drives off you close your eyes and hold onto him. You listen to the wind ripping as the motorcycle drives through the streets. You can smell the fresh cool air as it hits your face. Riding behind Mikey feels calming... it almost makes you sleepy.

He slows down his motorcycle and stops beside the shed he sleeps in. The two of you get off the bike and walk towards the shed. He unlocks the door and walks in. You walk in behind him. 

"Take off all your stuff..." He murmur's as he takes off his shoes. You slowly take off your shoe and jacket, placing the jacket on a hook by another jacket. Mikey bounces down on his couch and opens the bag. You slowly walk over to him, and he smiles up at you. "Sit." He bubbles, patting down beside him. You sit down next to him, and he hands you your sandwich and strawberry milk.

"That's all you got...? You don't really eat much..." He says, opening the wrapper with the strawberry taiyaki.

"Oh... I wasn't that hungry I guess."

"Mmm..." He hums as he fully pulls out the taiyaki from the wrapper. "You know... I find it attractive when a girl eats." He sooths, taking a bite of the taiyaki.

"What do you mean?"

"Bleh... Eugh... nasty" He spits the food in his mouth out into the wrapper and throws it back into the plastic bag. "Here..." He hands you the bitten strawberry taiyaki and continues to open a regular one.

"You eat these a lot... do you really like these?"

"Mhm..." He hums taking a bite of the taiyaki.

"You said you like girls that eat... What do you mean?"

"Mhm... I like girls that like to eat... I find it attractive when a girl eats... not many girls do that though." He sooths. You pick up the strawberry taiyaki and take a bit of it. Mikey watches you chew. "Is it good?"

"I think it's good..." You softly say.

"Mmm..." He hums. "Why were you with Baji and not Mitsuya?"

"I wanted to ask Baji something..."

"Which was?" He narrows his eyes at you. You take a deep breath and look back down at the pink taiyaki.

"I wanted to ask him about Kisaki..." You softly answer.

"... What about Kisaki?"

"I don't trust him..." You softly respond.

"... you've talked to Kisaki before?" 

"No but... I know he has a dark motive..." You softly say.

"You are saying the same thing everyone else said..." Mikey sighs, taking another bite of the taiyaki. "But... I like Kisaki... he's the only person who can... carry what's deep within me..."

"Deep within you?" You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean." Mikey relaxes his face and looks at you. He has a tired look in his eyes. 

"I don't know when it started... or how long it's been there... but it's something I can't control..." Mikey softly says, looking down at his taiyaki. You tilt your head a bit. 

"What can't you control?" You question.

"A darkness in my heart..." He looks up at you through his hair. 

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 39

"Kisaki?" Mitsuya questions.

"Yeah... Kisaki..." you repeat. Mitsuya stares at you with a blank expression on his face then he sits up straight and smiles.

"That's random..." He chuckles.

"Random? How?" You adjust yourself a bit.

"You asking about him is random... Do you know him or something?" He stands up and walks back into the kitchen.

"Maybe..." 

"Maybe?" He repeats as he grabs the same towel to dry the dishes and putting them away. "What do you know about him?" He questions.

"..." You sit quietly. You stare at the ground furrowing your eyebrows trying to remember who Kisaki is.

Kisaki... Kisaki... Kisaki... You repeat in your head. Mitsuya slowly looks at you. 

"Yuki?" 

"Hm? Oh... yeah Kisaki... why did Mikey make him a part of Toman?" You ask.

"I don't know... ask him yourself..." Mitsuya replies. You narrow your eyes at him and then sigh. Mitsuya quickly looks back at you. "Wait... I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry... I meant you should ask Mikey. Only he knows that..."

"Okay..." 

"Why? What's up?" 

"Do you trust him?" You softly ask.

"..." Mitsuya puts the last dish away and hangs the towel up. "I guess... Mikey trusts him, so I trust him too..."

"..." You sit quietly staring at the floor. Mitsuya slowly walks over to you. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason..." You sigh.

"You sure?" Mitsuya asks. You slowly nod.

"Tomorrow... I'm going to see Chifuyu... there's a few things I need to talk to him about..." You softly say standing up.

"Uh... oh... okay-" Mitsuya hesitantly says.

"What? Why're you making that face." You ask. Mitsuya has a nervous look on his face. He takes a deep breath.

"Well, I was going to ask if you can do me a favor..."

"What's the favor?" You question, tilting your head a bit. Mitsuya smiles a bit.

The next day; You slowly walk to the park holding Mana and Luna's hand.

"Babysitting basically..." Chifuyu chuckles.

"Yup..."

"Pretty Yuki... are you making dinner tonight?" Mana asks.

"Yeah... your brother asked me to do that... Why? Is there something specific you want for dinner?"

"MEAT!" Luna shouts.

"Meat?" You repeat.

"MHM... I WANT MEAT!"

"Okay... Then I will make something with meat."

"YAY!" Luna shouts as she runs to play on the park equipment.

"YAY!" Mana repeats as she runs behind Luna.

"Cute..." Chifuyu mumbles.

"Huh?" You turn to look at him. He smiles and shakes his head.

"You with kids... it's cute." He softly says.

"What makes you say that?" You ask with a confused look on your face. He softly chuckles and smiles at you.

"You seem motherly..." He responds. 

"Motherly?"

"Mhm..." He hums.

"So, you think I'll make a good mother?" You bubble leaning towards him and nudging him a bit.

"Yeah... I do..." He sooths. You smile at him, and he smiles back.

"Do you want to be a father one day?" You softly ask.

"Yeah... but I need a girl first."

"Of course..."

"Do you want to be a mother?" He asks.

"Maybe..."

"..." You look into the distance, watching Luna and Mana jump around on the playground equipment.

"Chifuyu..." You softly say causing him to look at you.

"Yeah?"

"There's someone I want us to go visit..." You softly say.

"Who?"

"Hanma..."

"Hanma?! The acting leader of Valhalla?!" Chifuyu says in a confused tone. You slowly nod. "What the hell... why?"

"There's something I want to ask him..."

"That's a bad idea..."

"Why?" You look at him confused.

"We already know Hanma and Kisaki have ties... going to Hanma will only cause problems..."

"Then lets talk to Kisaki..." You respond.

"..." Chifuyu looks at you with a tired smile. 

"..."

"What's on your mind...?" He softly asks.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something..." You softly say. You look back at Mana and Luna.

"What do you mean?"

"Something about Kisaki... I feel like there's something I'm forgetting..."

"Like?"

"His motive..." You softly say.

"His motive?" Chifuyu looks at you confused.

"Mhm..."

"I don't understand..." Chifuyu sighs.

"Remember Osanai said Kisaki tried to get Draken killed... but by who?... Who was going to kill him?" You question.

"..." Chifuyu furrows his eyebrows. "Does Draken know?"

"I was with Draken... the only person who tried to kill him was Peh-yan and the rest of Moebius... but I don't get it... I remember..." I pause.

"You remember?" Chifuyu turns towards you with concern on his face.

"They knocked him out in front of me... They then took me..."

"Who's they?" 

"H...Hanma-"

"WHAT?" Chifuyu shouts. "Wait... why didn't you say this before... what happened? Why did he take you?"

"I don't remember..." You sigh. Chifuyu stares at you for a bit before sighing.

"So, you're saying that the motive changed?"

"Yeah... cause... if they were to kill Draken then they could have already done it... but they didn't... He wasn't killed they just left him..."

"... Kisaki planned on killing Draken to take his place but didn't kill him... so something had to change his mind..." Chifuyu says.

"Yeah but that's what confuses me... what changed his mind?" You question. Chifuyu shrugs. "Thats why I want to talk to Kisaki..."

"... If you talk to Kisaki then I don't think I should go with you..."

"Why do you say that?" You ask.

"I never spoke to him before... he will think something's off if I went with you... but if he's targeting you then maybe it won't be as bad if you went alone... But I still think you shouldn't talk to him." Chifuyu states.

"Okay then... I won't" You softly say. He looks at you again. He notices the look on your face.

"... You have something else in mind?" He asks.

"Yeah..." You slowly nod. He smiles and sighs.

"Whatever you do... be careful..." He says patting your head. "I don't want anything bad happening to my partner..." He chuckles.

A few hours after you made dinner for Mana and Luna and put them to bed, Mitsuya finally came back home. You tell him you needed to go visit a friend really quick and he tells you to not be out too late. You slowly make your way up the stairs and softly knock on the front door. The front door slowly opens and the first thing you see is someone's bare abs. You slowly look up to soaking wet jet-black hair and a sweaty face.

"..."

"What the hell do you want?" Baji sighs, slowly wiping his face with a shirt.

"I wanted to talk to you..." You softly say.

"Didn't I tell you not to talk to me until I come to you."

"Yeah... but I need to talk to you..."

"About what?" He sighs.

"Kisaki..."

"..." Baji furrows his eyebrows and narrows his eyes at you. You stand still feeling your heart beat out your chest.

"Come in... you're letting the flies in." Baji motions you to walk into the apartment. You slowly walk in and stand not far from him. "Go into my room and wait for me to get out the shower..." He says guiding you into his room. After he closes the door and you hear him walk away you stand still in his room, slowly looking around. 

Meow

You look down to see a black cat rub against you.

Purrrr...

"Aw hi cutie..." You bubble leaning down a bit to pet the cat. 

After a bit the cat finally sits on your lap and slowly falls asleep. You slowly pet its head and smile as you wait for Baji.

"Oh... Peke J..." You flinch a little to the sudden speaking. You slowly look up to see Baji in boxer briefs. 

"Peke J? That's the cat's name?" You softly ask.

"Mhm... Hi Peke J..." He bubbles petting the cat's head.

"You named the cat Peke J?" You question with a confused look on your face.

"Why? What's wrong with his name?" Baji glares at you.

"... Nothing I guess... Just a different name..." You say in an unsure tone.

"Pft... it's better than Excalibur.."

"Excalibur? Who named him that?"

"Chifuyu..." He replies, gently scratching the cats neck.

"Excalibur... he really named it that?"

"Yeah... why would I lie about it?" He sighs.

"Maybe to make your name not sound so bad..." You chuckle.

"Peke J is not a bad name... You're just a hater-"

"Am not..."

"Mhm..." He hums. You softly pet Peke J's head before he stretched and got up. Peke J walked passed the curtains and disappeared.

"... I didn't know your window was open..." You softly say.

"Why do you want to know about Kisaki?" Baji asks as he goes through his dresser. "And why did you come to me about it?" Baji sighs, cocking his head back towards you a bit.

"You joined Valhalla to get at Kisaki... right?" Baji narrows his eyes and close his dresser. He aggressively throws down his clothes and walks over to you. He slowly crouches down towards you.

"What the hell are you getting at?" He huffs.

"Are you trying to get at Kisaki or no?" You huff back.

"..." Baji sighs and tilts his head to the side. "You've been hanging around Chifuyu too long..." He sighs standing back up.

"What do you mean?" You ask adjusting yourself a bit before standing up.

"You're asking me the same thing Chifuyu has been asking me... What the hell are you two doing?" Baji softly huffs, turning back to look at you.

"... What makes you believe we are doing anything?" You murmur.

"Cause all the sudden you two are hanging out with each other..."

"How did you know that? Have you been following me around?" You huff.

"Yeah... actually I have..." Baji scoffs.

"..." You furrow your eyebrows a bit and softly sigh. Baji turns to face you.

"You being here irritates me so if that's all you have to ask me then you can go..." Baji says pointing to the bedroom door.

"..." You look towards the door and then back at Baji. "... Is it true that Valhalla and Toman are going to be fighting soon?" You softly ask.

"Yeah... why...?" 

"Promise me you won't get yourself killed..." You softly say.

"Killed? Why the-" Baji pauses and looks towards the window before looking back at you. "Yuki..." He softly sooths. "I can't promise you anything... alright...?" He walks closer to you. "But... if say something like that happens can you do me one thing?"

"Huh... Why are you saying this as if you know you're going to die..." You spazz out.

"Shut up... I'm not saying I'm going to die... I'm just saying in case..." He sighs.

"...In case you die...?" You softly continue. He glares at you.

"Yeah... whatever... In case that happens... promise me you will take care of Mikey..." He softly says. "I trust you to keep him from going down the wrong path..." 

"... You can do that yourself... Just don't get yourself-" Baji kisses you on the lips causing you to stop talking. You slowly pull away feeling your heart pound. He softly places his hands on your shoulders and slowly goes down your arms stopping at your hands. He slowly looks up at you and stops at your eyes.

"I wanted to take you on a ride with me after everything and just have a small conversation with you, but I don't know if we can really do that anymore..." He sighs and then softly laughs to himself. "I wish I knew you when we were younger... I could have gotten to know you better... maybe we could have gotten more time..." he sighs. He leans in and kisses you on the lips again. He slowly moves his hand up your arm and holds the back of your head.

You slowly kiss him back causing him to push you towards his bed. He softly pushes you down and hovers above you, still kissing you. 

BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZ

He stops and pulls away, grabbing his phone from his bed.

"Hello?" He slowly looks at you and furrow his eyebrows. "Yeah... She's with me... Why the hell do you want to know... What's up? What do you want Draken?" He huffs. Silence fills the air and his eyes widen. He slowly shifts his eyes towards you. "When the fuck did this happen?" he grumbles turning his back towards you. "And what the fuck do you want me to do... I don't fucking associate with Toman... We are enemies remember... So why the fuck are you calling me?" He turns his head a bit narrowing his eyes at you. "I'll drop her off... don't be late... I don't got the time to be waiting for yall..." He sighs as he pulls his phone from his face and closes it shut. He walks over to his closet and grabs a jacket from it.

"You okay?" you softly ask. Baji pauses before closing the closet and looks at you.

"The Black Dragons found out who you are..."

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 38

"Mitsuya?" Chifuyu stops in front of Mitsuya. 

"Hey... since when did you two start hanging out?" Mitsuya asks pointing at the two of you.

"Since today." Chifuyu replies.

"Heh... everyone is starting to like Yuki I see..." Mitsuya chuckles.

"Why are you here?" You softly ask, slowly dropping down to your feet.

"I came to pick you up... didn't Draken tell you?" Mitsuya replies.

"Huh?" Chifuyu turns to look at you.

"Oh... yeah..." You slowly nod and walk towards the bakery door.

"Wait... where are you two going?" Chifuyu asks.

"To my place... she's going to be staying with me for a bit." Mitsuya responds.

"Huh? Why?" 

"It's because of the black dragons, right?" You slowly look at Mitsuya. Mitsuya nods.

"The black dragons?" Chifuyu looks at both you and Mitsuya confused.

"Black Dragons are targeting V..." Mitsuya comments.

"Huh...? Why? What did I miss?" Chifuyu's eyes widen, and there's a hint of panic is in his tone.

"Someone's pretending to be V and started attacking other gangs... like the Black Dragons..." Chifuyu furrows his eyebrows after Mitsuya answers his question. "Don't worry... they don't know who V is yet... I think... So, we should be fine for now..." Mitsuya adds. Chifuyu slowly nods and looks at you.

"Okay then... well... I will see you later- partner." He smiles waving at you and walking away.

"Partner?" Mitsuya raises an eyebrow and looks at you. You stare back at him. 

"Mhm..." You hum. Mitsuya slowly nods and looks towards the bakery door. 

"You should pack a good amount of clothes... you will be staying at my place for a while." Mitsuya motions towards the door.

"Wait... a while? Will your mother be okay with that?" You ask. Mitsuya nods.

"My mother is rarely at home... So, when we leave in the morning to go to school she would be asleep... Besides I told her you will be Luna and Mana's babysitter for a bit since I will be busy with... designer stuff..." Mitsuya smiles at you.

"Designer stuff?" You raise an eyebrow to his comment. Mitsuya nods and looks you in the eyes, smiling more.

"You should hurry up and pack... I have to go pick up Luna and Mana soon..." Mitsuya motions to the door again. 

"Oh... okay..." You open the door to the bakery and walk in. You make your way up the stairs into the living room and then into your bedroom. Mitsuya follows behind you staring at the small decoration in your room.

"Why don't you live with your grandparents?" 

"Huh?" You slowly turn to look at Mitsuya who's standing beside your bed.

"You have your grandparents so why do you live here instead of with them...?" He asks again.

"Oh... well... I guess it's because this has always been my home... I didn't want to leave it, so I chose to stay here." You respond.

"I see..." He nods looking around the room again. You smile at him and continue to pull clothes out your dresser. Mitsuya smiles back at you. 

"Do you need help?" He asks walking closer to you.

"Uh... If you want to help... can you grab my crutches and school stuff and pack them too?" You softly ask pointing towards your closet. Mitsuya nods and walks over to your closet. He grabs your crutches and school uniform and places them on the bed. He lifts up your uniform and examines it.

"Uh... do you ever iron your clothes?" He asks looking up at you.

"No..." You slowly say looking back at him. 

"Okay... I'm ironing this when we get to my place." He says pointing to your uniform.

After packing your stuff you close everything in your living space before walking down the stairs. Mitsuya carries your crutches as you carry your stuff in a big bag on your back.

"I was going to ask... When are you going back to the doctor's to get your leg checked?" Mitsuya asks walking behind you.

"Uh... I think October 28th..." You reply.

"Mmm... a few days before Halloween... well... I'm going to take you to that too." he adds.

"Huh? Why?" You question.

"Well... I'm taking care of you aren't I?"

"I guess."

"So, I have to make sure you get to where you need to be safely..." He says in a mellow tone. You slowly nod. "And start using your crutches more... Walking on an injured leg will only mess up the healing process..." Mitsuya says handing you the crutches. You slowly take the crutches and adjust yourself on them.

"It hurts using them though." You sigh.

"It does? How?" Mitsuya slowly walks beside you. 

"It hurts my under arms..." Mitsuya looks down at you before softly sighing.

After walking a bit the two of you walk into an aftercare. 

"They have aftercare on weekends?" You question.

"Yeah for a few hrs..." Mitsuya walks in where Luna and Mana are. "Luna... Mana... come on..." Mitsuya says, motioning them to come over towards him.

"Big bro!" Luna shouts skipping over towards Mitsuya.

"Big bro!" Mana repeats. 

"Hey. Get your stuff so we can go..." Mitsuya says pointing to their cubbies. 

"Oh... It's the pretty lady..." Mana says pointing at you.

"It's Yuki!" Luna shouts as she jumps over to you.

"It's Yuki!" Mana repeats.

"You remember my name?" You ask smiling down at Luna.

"Mhm... Yup... Big bro talks about you all the time!" Luna bubbles. You slowly look at Mitsuya whose eyes are wide. 

"Uh... heh... yeah- I keep mentioning the outfit I want you to wear at the school festival. They keep asking so I kept telling them it's what you're going to wear..." Mitsuya comments.

"Oh..."

"Pretty Yuki... are you coming to our house again?" Mana asks holding your hand. 

"Yes..." You reply smiling at Mana.

"What happened to your leg?" Luna questions.

"I... uh... fell really hard and hurt it." You bluff.

"Oh no..." Mana says rubbing your cast. You smile at her.

"It's okay... It doesn't hurt much anymore..." You sooth.

"What are these?" Luna says touching the crutches.

"Those are crutches... they help you walk." Mitsuya says grabbing Mana's shoes.

"Oh." Mana softly says.

"Can you walk upstairs with crutches?" Luna asks as she puts her shoes on. You slowly nod. Mana grabs Mitsuya's hair to balance as he puts her shoes on.

"Ouch... Mana you're going to pull my hair out." Mana's grip tightens as she struggles to stand up straight on one foot.

"I'm sorry..." She softly says. You move one of the crutches near Mana, holding it securly.

"Here hold onto this..." You motion to Mana. Mana moves her hand from Mitsuya's hair to the crutch. Mitsuya looks up at you and slightly smiles. After he gets Mana's shoes on the four of you walk out the building.

"What are we having for dinner." Luna asks Mitsuya as she kicks her feet as she walks.

"Uh... stew..." He hesitantly says.

"Ew stew..." Luna sticks out her tongue making a disgusted face.

"Ew stew..." Mana repeats. Mitsuya relaxes his eyes and sigh.

"I don't want stew..." Luna whines.

"Then you don't have to eat stew..." Mitsuya sighs.

"So we can eat something else?" Luna asks smiling up at Mitsuya.

"Nope... you can bathe and go to bed hungry." Mitsuya says with a satisfied smile on his face.

"UH!" Luna looks at Mitsuya with shock in her face and then sighs loudly. "No fair... I like mommy's food more..." Mitsuya raises an eyebrow at Luna.

"Then you can ask mom to cook for you..." Luna furrows her eyebrows and pouts.

Once you all reach Mitsuya's house. You sit on the floor beside Mana and Luna who are coloring. Mitsuya is in the kitchen cooking dinner.

"So you do this every night?" You softly ask Mitsuya.

"Pretty much... Sometimes I would have Yuzuha make their dinner."

"Yuzuha?" You tilt your head in confusion. You furrow your eyebrows as that name sounds familiar.

"Oh... yeah... you haven't met her yet." Mitsuya softly smiles.

"Who is she?" You ask.

"Big Bro's girlfriend." Luna gives Mitsuya an evil smile. Mitsuya furrows his eyebrows and sighs. You smile at Luna who's giggling.

"Are you sleeping here?" Mana asks as she touches your bag. You slowly nod.

"REALLY?" Luna jumps up a bit. You smile and nod again. "SLEEP OVER!!" Luna jumps up and down.

"SLEEP OVER!" Mana repeats as she jumps up and down. Mitsuya sighs and turns off the stove.

"Dinner is done... clean the table off." He says while pulling out a couple of bowls.

The four of you sit at the table. Mitsuya places a bowl in front of Mana and Luna. Luna sinks down a bit and sighs. She tilts her head to the side and lays her head on the table.

"Nasty..." Luna sighs.

"You don't have to eat... you can just go get ready for bed then..." Mitsuya says, placing a bowl in front of you and then sitting down beside you.

"Why do we need to eat this... Only you like it..." Luna pouts.

"Mana is eating it." Mitsuya points to Mana who's scooping some into her mouth. Then he looks at you. You slowly look at him and then down at the food. You pick up a spoon and scoop some into your mouth.

"Mmm... very yummy." You smile taking another scoop of the food. Luna slowly picks her head up a bit and picks up her spoon. She scoops the food and takes a bite. Mitsuya smiles at Luna and Luna looks away from him. 

"It's good isn't it..." Mitsuya asks Luna. Luna furrows her eyebrows and doesn't respond to Mitsuya.

After dinner Mana and Luna are playing around while Mitsuya is washing the dishes. You slowly stand up and walk over to Mitsuya. 

"Do you need any help?" You softly ask. Mitsuya slowly looks at you then back at the dishes.

"No... it's okay..." He softly smiles. 

"You sure? I can help..." You say walking beside him. Mitsuya looks at you again and shakes his head. You look down at his pink wet hands. One hand is holding a sponge, and the other is holding a bowl. You slowly look up at him, making eye contact with him. 

"I can help..." You repeat.

"I made dinner so I should clean up afterwards." Mitsuya smiles at you. "Besides you're the guest..."

"Yeah, but you're allowing me to live here for a bit. So let me help out at least..." You softly respond. "As a way of saying thanks." Mitsuya's smile softens and he tilts his head a bit.

"As a way of saying thanks?" He questions.

"Mhm... like repaying you for your kindness..." He stares you in the eyes for a bit before slowly looking down at your lips. Your stomach gets tingly when he does that.

"You can repay me another way..." Mitsuya softly responds looking back into your eyes.

"Which is?" You softly ask.

"You can-"

"OUCH!" Luna screams out. Mitsuya turns to look at Luna who rubbing her arm. 

"What happened?" Mitsuya says in a stern voice. Luna turns and pushes Mana causing Mana to fall.

"HEY!" Mitsuya yells dropping the stuff in the sink and walking over to Luna. You slowly look down feeling kind of off.

I can't tell if it's because I'm tired or because it's... it's... you furrow your eyebrows feeling confused. There's something you want to remember but your brain isn't letting you remember it.

"Mana say sorry to Luna and Luna say sorry to Mana..." Mitsuya says motioning to Mana. 

"Sorry Luna..." Mana softly says.

"..."

"Say sorry Luna..." Mitsuya motions to Mana again.

"I didn't even do anything..." Luna replies. Mitsuya sighs and stands up. 

"Get ready for bed."

"WHA! NO..." 

"You have school in the morning... so yeah..." Mitsuya says in a stern voice. Luna sighs loudly and storms into the bedroom. You stand quietly looking at Mitsuya. "I'll be right back." Mitsuya says to you as he walks into the bedroom. You sit down on the floor by the table. Luna walks into the bathroom arguing with Mitsuya and Mana follows Mitsuya around. You slowly rest your head on your arm, leaning on the table.

You slowly open your eyes to the sound of a spoon falling on the ground. Mitsuya picks up the spoon and cleans it again. You sit your head up a bit to look at him. He put the spoon into the drying rack and turns to grab a towel. He looks at you and pauses.

"I'm sorry... Did I wake you up?" He softly asks.

"No..." You sleepily shake your head.

"You okay?" He places the towel back down as he slowly walks over to you.

"Yeah... just a little tired..." You softly reply.

"Mmm..." He sits down beside you. He places his back hand on your forehead and then leans back a bit. 

"Why did you do that?" You ask, touching the top of your head.

"You look very pink so I thought you were feeling hot or something." He answers.

"Oh..." 

"You sure you're okay?" He asks leaning closer to you.

"..." You look up at him and back down again. "Have you ever wanted to remember something that you feel is really important but can't remember?" Mitsuya lifts an eyebrow and looks forward. 

"Yeah..."

"What do you do to remember...?" You ask.

"Retrace my steps..." He answers.

"..."

"You forgot about something...?" Mitsuya asks tilting his head a bit and giving you a concerned but serious face.

"... Yeah ..." 

"You'll eventually remember but don't stress yourself out too much..." Mitsuya smiles at you. "If you ever need a way to destress... you can always talk to me... I know of many ways to destress..." 

"You know many ways?" You smile at him.

"Mhm..." He smiles back at you.

"Like what?" You smile more as you tilt your head to the side.

"Wanna find out?" He tilts his head a little in the same direction as you. You blush a bit leaning a bit towards him and he does the same but then you stop and your smile slowly disappears. His smile disappears after watching your smile go away. 

"You okay?"

"Mhm..." You hum staring at the ground. "How do you feel about Kisaki?" You softly ask, looking up at him.

"Huh?" 

"Kisaki... how do you feel about him?" You repeat. Mitsuya's eyes widen as he stares back into your eyes.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 37

You and Chifuyu sit across from each other, slowly eating curry.

"You fell from the second floor?" You say in shock, taking a bite of your food. Chifuyu nods and smiles.

"Yeah." Chifuyu chuckles. 

"Did it hurt?" You ask.

"Hell yeah... surprisingly though I wasn't injured..."

"You weren't injured? No scratches or cuts?" You question.

"Nope... none..." He answers. You stare at him with a confused look on your face. "I was pretty lucky... haha..." He chuckles scratching the back of his head. You slowly nod looking down at your food.

"Do you think Baji is planning something?" You softly ask. Chifuyu stares at you with a blank expression on his face before looking down at his plate of food. He places his spoon back down and slowly nods. "Do you know what it is?" 

"..." Chifuyu slowly rubs his hands up and down his leg. "Have you heard about the guy who recently joined Toman?"

"...I think so... but I can't remember his name..." 

"Kisaki." Chifuyu says looking back up at you.

"Yeah... what about him..." You ask furrowing your eyebrows.

"Baji joined Valhalla to get at Kisaki..." he says in a stern tone.

"What? Why?"

"Baji joined Valhalla to do his own investigation..."

"Because of Kisaki?" You ask.

"Mhm..."

"Kisaki... I haven't met him yet... Wait... why is he investigating him? Is Kisaki and Valhalla connected or something?" 

"Maybe... If Baji is investigating from in Valhalla then I want to help him from the outside..." Chifuyu says in a calm and genuine tone. You tilt your head a bit.

"Did Baji tell you this himself?" You question as you take a sip of water.

"No... but I know how he thinks... I've known him for a long time..." He smiles at you. Your eyes widen as you stare at his lips curve into a smile. "What I want is simple... I want... to help Baji-san. Wouldn't you Yuki?"

"..." You sit quietly thinking about Baji and the situation.

""Wait for me... ok?"" - Baji

"Yeah... I want to help Baji too..." You softly respond.

"Really?" Chifuyu leans forward and smiles at you. You look down at his smile again and smile back.

"Yes... I will help you..." You sooth.

"Okay..." He nods and tilts his head. His eyes were smiling along with his smile. "Then let's do this together... Partner..." he holds his hand out.

"Partner?" You tilt your head a bit staring down at his hand. Chifuyu's smile fades a bit before it comes back. He chuckles and scratches the back of his head.

"Yeah... like a partner in crime... as in we work on this together." He looks kind of nervous through his smile. You softly sigh and smile back.

"Okay! Then let's do this together then- partner..." You respond. Chifuyu's eyes widen and glisten a bit when you agreed to it. He jumps up excited and nods. 

"Okay... lets go then..." Chifuyu holds his hand out towards you waiting for you to grab it. You stand up and grab his hand.

"Wait where are we going?" You ask following behind Chifuyu as he leads you out the restaurant.

"I wanna check something out real quick... a little investigation."

"An investigation between Kisaki and Valhalla?" You question tilting your head a bit. Chifuyu grips your hand and looks back at you.

"Mhm... there's someone I want to talk to." Chifuyu sooths.

After walking a while you and Chifuyu make your way into a building in the city. A man sitting behind a desk who's clipping leather looks up at the two of you.

"mmm... what's up? You here to pick something up?" The man asks. Chifuyu shakes his head.

"No... we are here to talk to Osanai..." Chifuyu replies in a mellow tone. The man nods and places down the leather.

"HEY... YOU GOT VISITORS!" The man yells out. The man points into the direction that Osanai was in. Chifuyu pulls you in the direction. You and Chifuyu walk into a room where Osanai is sitting on a small stool in front of a short-legged table. He turns his head to look back at the two of you. He narrows his eyes and furrow his eyebrows. He has a few nails hanging out his mouth and a piece of wood in his hand.

"Mm? Who the hell are you two...?" He muffles as he pulls the nails out his mouth.

"I'm Chifuyu Matsuno and this is Yuki Sato..." Chifuyu bows a bit and so do you. Osanai places the wood down and stands up taking the headband off his head. 

"So what do you want?" He asks wiping the dust off his hands.

"Do you know a guy named Kisaki?" Chifuyu asks looking up at Osanai. Osanai's eyes widen and then he furrows his eyebrows.

"Come- let's talk out here..." He motions. You and Chifuyu follow behind him. Osanai sits down on a stack of wood and looks up at the two of you. "I heard about you." Osanai motions towards you and lighting a cigarette. 

"Huh? You have?" You question.

"Mhm... The girl who beat up moebius members..." He muffles as he takes a puff of the cigarette. You look down at the floor and Chifuyu steps forward a bit.

"So... you know about Kisaki?" He asks. Osanai nods.

"Yeah I know him... Honestly I thought he was some weird kid..." He says flicking the cigarette. "I beat up those I didn't like... I ran shit on my own. But when I was alone, that's when Kisaki approached me." He sighs taking another puff. "Strangely though when I did whatever that kid told me to do everything went well... smoothly actually..." He adds. He looks up at Chifuyu and chuckles.

"It took a year... I went from someone who was only good at fighting to that guy who was in charge of Shinjuku..." He says narrowing his eyes at Chifuyu. You furrow your eyebrows at him. Chifuyu's eyes widen a bit.

"So... you became the leader of Moebius because of Kisaki?" Chifuyu asks.

"Mhm... All I was good at was winning fights... can't be a leader when that's all you got going for you." He comments.

"So you and Kisaki were close?" Chifuyu says tilting his head a bit. Osanai clenched his jaw and scrunched up his eyebrows.

"I was nothing but his fucking toy... a stepping stone... after that fight back in August... I realized I wasn't shit to him... He was only using me..."

"The fight in August? The one where they jumped me and Draken?" You question.

"Mhm... that fight was planned... by Kisaki. Kisaki was the reason that Pah-chin thing happened... causing the whole infighting with Peh-yan... Kisaki did all of that... and blamed it all on me..." He huffs.

"Kisaki... did all of that?" Chifuyu mumbles.

"Mhm... and after I got stabbed he went to Mikey and told Mikey he didn't like how I did things. Then he said he'd get Pah-chin released earlier to make it up to Mikey..." Osanai continues.

"Why would Kisaki trouble himself to do that?" Chifuyu asks with a shocked expression on his face.

"Kisaki's plan was to get Draken killed and-" Osanai pauses when he looks at you. He slowly shakes his head. "...and to take Draken's place..." Osanai sighs.

"..."

"Kisaki left me and replaced me with his new weapon. A crazy punk with a destructive force... Shuji Hanma..." He adds.

"HUH?!" Your eyes widen. "Hanma?" 

"You know Hanma?" Chifuyu asks looking at you.

"Mhm..." You nod. Chifuyu looks at you confused. Osanai slowly looks up at you and sighs.

"Your broken leg... was also his plan... Yuki-" Osanai motions towards your leg.

"Huh?" You furrow your eyebrows confused.

"What do you mean?" Chifuyu questions.

"Kisaki is the reason your leg got broken. Something about... vulnerability... weakening you and you being the cause of it all. He also mentioned that you weren't supposed to be here..." Osanai replies.

"The cause of it all?" Chifuyu repeats.

"That she's the main objective or something. His next target basically." Osanai adds.

"The main objective..." You mumble quietly. Chifuyu furrows his eyebrows and looks at you. Then he looks back at Osanai. "Hanma is the acting leader of Valhalla, right?" You ask Osanai.

"Yeah." He replies.

"..." Chifuyu's eyes widen then he narrows his eyes at Osanai. "If you know so much then why haven't you done something yet? Even after Kisaki used and abandoned you..." Chifuyu questions.

"Honestly... if he was some punk who was good at fighting or a little bit crazy, I would have dealt with him..." Osanai clenches his fist. "But Kisaki... he's... he's way worse than I can explain. He's the kinda guy who can kill someone without getting his hands dirty... If I even tried to do something... who knows what could happen to me... but I won't be getting the light end of it."  You and Chifuyu stare are him with shock on your face.

"Besides... I'm done with him... I want nothing else to do with that freak-"

You are sitting on a bench outside a convenience store blanking out and staring out into the distance... You look down at the cast on your leg and furrow your eyebrows.

"Here... I got us melon flavor..." Chifuyu says breaking the popsicle into two and handing you one of them. 

"Thank you." You softly say taking the popsicle. Chifuyu nods and sits next to you. You lick the tip of the popsicle before taking a bite of it.

"Honestly..." You slowly look at Chifuyu as he takes a deep breath. "I wasn't expecting that... but- one thing we do know is that the real leader of Valhalla... the one no one knows of... must be Kisaki..." Chifuyu says as he takes a bite of the popsicle.

"What makes you say that?" You ask, taking another bite of the popsicle.

"Kisaki is in Toman right now... that's why Valhalla has no leader..." Chifuyu replies.

"But... then why did Kisaki join Toman?" You quietly ask. Chifuyu slowly lifts up his head and looks at you. "Why does he want to fight Valhalla if he was the leader...?" You slowly look at Chifuyu. "What is Kisaki really trying to do?" You softly add. Chifuyu's eyes widen, and he sighs looking back down at his popsicle.

"I... don't know..." Chifuyu slowly replies.

You and Chifuyu walk to the bakery. Your leg is feeling kind of sore from putting so much pressure on it. Chifuyu notices you limping a bit and grabs your sweater sleeve pulling you a bit.

"Hmm?" You look at him confused. 

"I've dragged you around with me all day... your leg must be tired..." He leans down a bit in front of you. "So let me give you a piggyback ride to make up for it."

"No no... it's okay..." You shake your hands. 

"Come on... just let me do this for you... as your partner... I want to do something for you as you did when you helped me today." Chifuyu says motioning you to get on his back. You sigh and grab onto his shoulders. Chifuyu grabs your thigh underneath your butt and lifts you up on his back. You hold onto him as he walks you to the bakery.

"Oh and... Thank you by the way..." Chifuyu comments.

"Thank you for what?" 

"For being with me today... for being my partner in crime..." Chifuyu smiles. You smile back and softly sigh.

Chifuyu turns the corner towards the bakery and stops walking. You slowly lift your head to see Mitsuya standing outside the bakery staring at the two of you.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 36

The next morning Draken drives you to Mikey's house. Once you get there Draken carries you in. As you walk in you see a girl on her way out. Strangely she looks familiar.

"Emma... Is Mikey in his room?" Draken asks the girl. The girl slowly looks at Draken and then nods.

"Who is that?" She says pointing towards you.

"Oh shit... I had forgot you two haven't met... " He replies. "This is Yuki..." Draken says moving his body a bit to show you more.

"Yuki? Is she your girlfriend...?" Emma asks.

"NO... no she's not... she's just a friend..." Draken sighs. Emma looks at you with wide eyes and then smiles.

"You're really pretty..." She coos walking over towards the two of you. "I'm Emma... When you aren't so busy with my brother and his dumb friends... we should hang out... ok?~" She says walking off a bit.

"Yeah- sure..." You reply. Emma hums and walks away. Draken watches her walk away and smiles as he turns back towards the house. "You like her..." You coo.

"Eh?" Draken furrows his eyebrows and rasps.

"Emma... you like her... don't you..." You sooth as you rest your head on his shoulder and looking at him.

"She has a boyfriend..." Draken replies.

"Okay? So?" You respond. 

"So... there's your answer-"

"That's not even an answer... you're just dodging the question..." You huff.

Draken walks into Mikey's room. Mikey is sleeping underneath his blanket on the bed. Draken sighs and slowly places you on the couch.

"Mikey..." Draken says walking towards the lump underneath the blanket.

"mmm-" Mikey groans. You watch the blankets shuffle as Mikey slides across his bed. He bumps into the wall and goes still. Draken groans and grabs the blanket, pulling it off Mikey. Mikey slowly sits up and rubs his eyes. "ugh- Ken-chin... let me sleep a little longer..." He groans as he curls up holding onto a towel.

"... Is that a towel?" You ask tilting your head a bit. "And are we in a shed?" You say looking around the room.

"Yeah... It used to be the shed Shinichiro would work in..." Draken sooths.

"Shin- Shinichiro?" You slide off the couch, standing on your uninjured foot.

"Yeah... I forgot- Mikey hasn't told you about Shin... has he?"

"mm-mm" You hum, shaking your head a bit. 

"Shinichiro... is... my big brother..." Mikey says yawning and sitting up.

"An older brother and little sister... You don't talk about your family much... Mikey..." You sigh. 

"You don't talk about your family either..." Mikey says sliding off his bed and then stretching.

"Do you suck on that towel or something... why is it wet on the tip of it... the part you're holding..." You question pointing at the towel. Mikey stares at you with tired eyes and starts to fidget with the wet part. "...mmm..." You hum and make a semi disgusted face towards sleepy Mikey and his beaten-up looking towel. Mikey slowly walks up to you, looking at you. You stare at him feeling a little uneasy.

"I missed you..." He says resting his head on your shoulder. You slowly look at Draken who's staring back at you.

"I... mi- Wait... I never met your brother before..." You say pulling away from Mikey. Mikey's eyes widen and then relax when he looks at you.

"Yeah... you haven't..." He says in a low tone.

"Would I be able to meet him too?" You ask. Mikey stares at you with a blank expression on his face.

"He passed away two years ago..." Mikey replies. Your eyes widen. You completely forgotten about that... you've been so caught up with everything that you forgot he was deceased.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." You softly say. Mikey sighs and sits down on his couch. 

"It wasn't your fault... so don't apologize..." Mikey says leaning back a bit on the couch.

"If you don't... mind me asking... What happened to him?" You slowly ask. Mikey stares off into the distance and then shifts his eyes to you.

"Kazutora... killed him" He answers. 

"..." You stare down at the ground. "Is that why you and Kazutora are-"

"I don't want to fight Kazutora..." Mikey interrupts. You look up at him. "It happened and I can't change what happened... I don't forgive him... but I don't want to fight him either..." Mikey softly sighs. You nod to Mikey's answer.

"Did you figure out anything about the black dragon rumor?" Draken asks as he walks into Mikey's view. Mikey nods, sits up a bit, and crosses his legs. "And?"

"The rumor isn't a rumor... someone really did kill a black dragon member... and then framed Yuki-" Mikey states.

"Are the black dragon's looking for me?" You ask. Mikey shrugs.

"I don't know... Maybe... I don't think they know who V is... but they will eventually find out..." Mikey replies.

"..."

"But that's not a problem right now... you spoke to Kazutora...?" Mikey asks. He looks up at you and into your eyes. You slowly nod. "What did you talk to him about?" Mikey asks.

"Nothing much... he took me to this place though..." You reply.

"What place?" He asks.

"Valhalla's hideout..." You respond.

"Their hideout... was Baji there?" He questions. His eyes are relaxed. You can see his dull black eyes beaming at you through his blonde hair.

"Yeah... Baji was there..." You reply. Mikey slowly nods. 

"Did you see what happened?" He asks.

"Baji joining Valhalla? Him beating up Chifuyu... yeah... I saw it all..." You say slowly looking down.

"..." 

"You still go to school right..." Mikey says jumping off the couch. You slowly nod. "I told Mitsuya to look after you... so when you see him let him know." Mikey bubbles.

"Mm." 

"Oh- also... if Kazutora comes across you.... can you pass a message to him for me..." Mikey asks.

"Yeah? What's the message?"

"I don't want to fight... that's all..." Mikey softly says.

You're sitting at a table across from Hana and Kasumi in your grandmother's bakery.

"So... a gang named the black dragons are looking for V because someone used your name to kill someone...?" Hana questions as she adds decoration to a light stick.

"Basically..." You sluggishly respond sinking down on the table more.

"Just sounds like a bunch of drama... why do you even get yourself into problems like this?" Hana sighs.

"Huh?" You raise an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" Kasumi questions Hana. Hana slowly looks at Kasumi and then you.

"Why is she here again?" Hana asks.

"Kasumi wanted to hangout so I invited her to come along..." You reply with your face down.

"This was supposed to be a you and me thing..." Hana sighs. You slowly nod.

"Why are we doing this?" You ask.

"It's your zodiac birthday..." She replies with a smile on her face. Kasumi looks at the two of you confused.

"I meant like... why are we still doing this?" You ask again.

"Huh?" Hana's smile slowly disappears. 

"We are in high school... and you still want to play this game..." You softly say in a disappointed tone.

"Okay? You act like we can't... there's still boys who still play their stupid little card games. Why can't we?" Hana replies.

"Yeah but-"

"What...? You find this boring now...?" Hana sighs

"Kinda..." You reply.

"Of course... why? Because of those boys?" Hana huffs.

"You keep bringing them up... why?" You ask in a frustrated tone.

"Because that's all you've been worried about... Toman... Mikey... Baji... that's all you talk about..." Hana responds back in a harsh tone.

"Okay? You talk about Ren a lot but I don't get upset about that..." You fume.

"OKAY? AT LEAST REN ISN'T A FUCKING THUG!" Hana shouts. 

"You're right... he's worse than a thug-" You rasp back.

"PFT... How... how is he worse..." Hana scoffs. You narrow your eyes at her. "Exactly... you don't have a reasoning... Not surprising coming from a whore..." Hana seethes.

"What the hell... I'm a whore now?" You squint your eyes at Hana.

"Yeah..." She says leaning in towards you. "I know you slept with all those street rats... Might as well get gang banged... probably already did..." Hana says shoving the light stick into you. "I hope that gang finds your ass and gives you what you deserve... a trashy hoe... will always be a trashy hoe." Hana fumes as she walks out the bakery. You watch her walk off into the distance and then you relax your eyes when you can no longer see her. Kasumi relaxes her eyes and narrows them towards you. She then relaxes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Yuki..." Kasumi softly says reaching out towards you.

"Hmm?" You look at Kasumi.

"Uh... I'm sorry to intrude... but... why did she say your birthday was today when your birthday is in December... by Christmas I thought..." Kasumi asks.

"It's a stupid game we played when we-" You pause and your eyes widen as you slowly look at Kasumi. "You know a lot about me..." You softly say. 

"Huh?" Kasumi looks at you confused. You stare at her for a bit before sighing and placing the light stick on the table.

"Can we hangout another day? I'm no longer in the mood to hang out right now..." You listlessly say. Kasumi slowly nods and stands up from the table. 

"I will leave you alone... but if you ever want to talk about it, you can always contact me..." Kasumi comforts.

"Thanks..." You sluggishly reply. She walks out the bakery and you sit down at the table. You look around the bakery feeling kind of irritated. The bakery is always so empty... you thought to yourself. Your grandmother hasn't opened it in a few days now thinking about it. 

"I wonder where she is..." You sigh. You stand up from the table and then you walk out the bakery, locking the door behind you. You walk down the sidewalk and towards the park. You slowly walk up to a swing and gently sit down on it. You close your eyes as you push yourself a bit using your healthy leg. 

You feel empty... just like how you did after your mother's death. But you don't want to cry... you just feel... mentally tired. Like you want to get into bed, crawl under your blanket and stay there forever.

"You okay?" A voice says from beside you. You slowly turn your head to see a blond-haired guy with bandages on his face. You squint your eyes trying to see who it was.

"Chifuyu?" You say in an unsure tone.

"Heh... you remember me" He bubbles.

"Your face is all beaten up... you okay?" You question.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." he replies as he sits down on the swing beside you.

"I saw what happened to you..." You softly comment.

"Oh... yeah... so you saw me get my ass beat..." Chifuyu chuckles.

"Mhm..." You hum. Chifuyu nods and smiles.

"Baji is so bad ass..." Chifuyu bubbles.

"Bad ass for beating you up?" You say looking at him confused.

"Yup..." He replies.

"..." You stare at him with a semi smile on your face. He looks back at you. "You're strange..." You softly laugh.

"How?" He asks, laughing back and feeling confused to your comment.

"I never heard anyone say that someone was badass for beating them up." You chuckle. Chifuyu smiles and sighs.

"I meant in general... Baji is just a bad ass... Don't you think?" Chifuyu questions. You shrug and stop swinging a bit.

"I haven't been around Baji enough to give an opinion..." You sigh.

"Last time I spoke to Baji... he mentioned you..." Chifuyu comments.

"What do you mean?" You question. Chifuyu shrugs.

"He said to just to look after you... but he believes you're strong enough to take care of yourself..." Chifuyu replies.

"Mmm..." You hum.

"You okay? When I came over here you looked like you were sulking..."

"I don't know... I feel like I'm losing everyone around me..." You listlessly say. 

"Oh..." 

"Yuki-" Chifuyu looks at you which makes you look at him. "Do you like spicy food?" He asks.

"Yeah." You answer.

"Good." He bubbles as he stands up from the swing. "I know this place that makes really good spicy curry..." He says holding his hand out. You stare at his hand. "Curry is really good when it's cold outside..." He sooths. You slowly reach out and take his hand.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 35

"What are you doing here?" You ask in confusion.

"I came to see you~" Kazutora bubbles.

"See me?" You look at him confused. He slowly walks up to you. He stands in front of you, looking you up and down. He smiles a bit before looking at the bakery.

"I heard you live here in this bakery..." Kazutora sooths.

"You heard that? From where?" You ask. Kazutora smiles and looks back at you.

"Everyone knows..." He replies.

"Everyone? What do you mean every-"

"Are you really V?" Kazutora asks grabbing your hand.

"Huh?" You sigh.

"I mean... you can't do much with a broken leg..." he says pulling you towards him. You hear a motorcycle approaching. You slowly turn your head to see Draken stop in front of the bakery.

"Draken?" You softly say as Draken turns off his bike and gets off.

"Tch..." Kazutora slowly turns towards Draken with an irritated look on his face.

"Kazutora? What are you doing here?" Draken asks.

"pft... why are you here? Draken..." Kazutora scoffs.

"I'm Yuki's friend..." Draken adds.

"So am I-" Kazutora responds. You push past Kazutora and into the bakery closing the door behind you. Kazutora looks at you and then back at Draken. You sit down at a table and rest your head in your arms feeling stressed about the day and not wanting to be involved in anymore drama. Within a few minutes you drift off into sleep.

After a bit you are waken up by someone shaking you. You slowly look up to see Draken towering over you.

"Hm?" You hum. 

"We need to talk..." Draken says.

"About?" You question.

"About everything that is going on..." Draken says helping you up. You pull away from him causing him to look at you with a hint of irritation and shock.

"Then we can talk here..." You sigh.

"No... I came here to take you somewhere else for the night... It's not safe for you to stay here..." Draken says.

"What do you mean?" You pull at your sweater sleeve frowning a bit.

"Rumor is being spread around about you." Draken sighs.

"What rumor?" You say in a tired tone.

"About V..." Draken states.

"What about V?" You ask.

"About... V killing a black dragon member..." Draken adds.

"HUH?" You say in a panicked tone.

"I figured..."

"Figured what?" You question walking up to him. 

"You had no idea what I'm talking about... I figured you wouldn't know. Mikey thought the same." Draken sighs rubbing the back of his head. 

"..." You look down feeling kind of weird that people are using your name to cause havoc. Now thinking about it... why did you use that name... V...

"Is there anything you need to grab from your place before we go... like clothes or...?" Draken says as he puts his hands in his pockets and leans back a bit.

"Where am I going to stay?" You ask.

"At my place... it's more convenient." Draken responds. You nod and head towards the stairs. Draken sighs and sits down at one of the tables waiting for you. 

You walk into your bedroom and go into your dresser grabbing a few outfits. Then you grab some wash products and shoved them into a bag. You stop at the big book on the table. You look at the book before taking it and putting it in your bag. 

You slowly walk back downstairs and towards Draken. 

"I'm ready..." You softly say. Draken nods and motions you to keep walking as he gets up and walks behind you. He gets on his bike and helps you on behind him. You hold onto him as he drives off. You zone out thinking about a few things that don't seem to make sense to you... You used the name V but where did that idea come from... and what is a zodiac birthday... it sounds familiar, but it doesn't at the same time...? Who's causing you all these problems for you while using your code name... why did you even get involved in any of this...

Why are you even here...

Draken drives to a spot and stops in a space. He then locks up his bike.

"We are going to have to walk the rest of the way there... you okay with that?" He asks. 

"Yeah..." You say getting off his bike. Once the foot with the broken leg touched the ground you feel a sudden sharp pain in your hip and thigh causing you to collapse to the ground. 

"You good?" Draken says walking towards you.

"Y-yeah..." You say trying to get back up, but it hurt too much. "Nope... I can't- ouch- it hurts..." You groan. Draken lifts you up and carries you on his back. He carries you into the city and then into a building. You can't recognize where you are. He walks into an elevator and presses a button.

"You're okay with carrying me like this?" You ask as the elevator goes up.

"Yeah. You aren't heavy so I don't have a problem with carrying you like this." Draken responds. The elevator door opens, and Draken walks in. You look at the pictures on the walls. There are pictures of different women and a list of rules. You look at the man behind the front desk and a couple of women standing at the desk talking to the man.

"huh-" The lady in a pink see-through dress hums. 

"Kenny... finally you're back... can you help me with something real quick..." The other woman sooths. You look at her. She has long wavy brown hair and soft brown eyes. The woman looks up at you and tilts her head. "Who's the girl on your back?" The woman asks.

"She's pretty " The lady says as she sucks on a lolly pop.

"Are you hooking up with her or something?" The woman asks.

"No... I'm not- and I can't help you right now... give me a bit." Draken sighs as he carries you away.

"Where are we... a brothel?" You quietly ask Draken. 

"Yeah..." he answers. Draken carries you into a room and closes the door behind him. You look around the room. It's clean and nicely decorated. Draken sits you down on a bed. You look at the pictures of Draken and his friends on the wall. "You live here?" You ask. Draken looks at you and sighs. 

"Yeah..." He responds.

"..." You look at his sweaters that are hung up... They all... look the same but with different designs... slightly different. "Why do you have a bunch of the same sweater?" You ask pointing to the rack of tops. Draken looks in the direction you're pointing.

"Do you have a problem with it?" He asks.

"No wonder you always look like you're wearing the same thing every time I see you" You listlessly say, squinting at him. Draken stares at you with no response.

"Your leg is still fucked up... right?" He says applying pressure on it causing you to cringe and fall over.

After a while you and him are both sitting on his bed. Draken is gently rubbing the parts of your leg that's not in a cast.

"You rubbing my leg feels weird..." You say pushing his hand away.

"You need to rest your leg more, Yuki..." Draken sighs. You move your leg a bit and sigh leaning your back against the wall. You slowly look at Draken causing him to look at you.

"What did you and Kazutora talk about?" You ask.

"Personal stuff..." Draken says standing up and walking over to his dresser.

"mmm..." You hum and sink down onto the bed.

"Did you bring anything to sleep in?" Draken asks. You slowly look at him.

"No- Damn... I forgot about that..." You softly groan. Draken narrows his eyes at you and grabs a shirt from his dresser. Then he grabs you and throws you over his shoulder.

"Augh... wait... what are you doing?" You ask. 

"You aren't sleeping in my bed in street clothes..." Draken responds carrying you out the room.

You are sitting down on a small bench in a shower room. Draken wraps a bag around your cast.

"When are you going to go back in to get your leg checked?" Draken asks tightening the bag.

"I don't know... Around Halloween I think..." You sigh.

"You think?" Draken responds.

"Yeah..." You sigh again.

"I was going to ask earlier... about that name... V... Why did you use that name?" Draken says standing up and opening the door leaning over a bit and grabbing something from the other side.

"..." You sit still staring off into the distance thinking about that. You aren't entirely sure why you used that name. You zone out a bit trying to think about it.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." Draken says handing you a towel.

"When I was younger... Hana and I- we used to play pretend a lot..." You say.

"Eh?" Draken raises an eyebrow. Now thinking about it, that's true. It all started off as a game when you and Hana were younger. You both were really into wizards and magic and the two of you were obsessed with a story called Zodiac Magical Girls. Your name was V and Hana's was Cosmic Strawberry Pocky... Now thinking about that name, it sounds incredibly lame... She would refer to herself as just Pocky... like the treat... Hana kept mentioning your zodiac birthday even though your birthday isn't tomorrow. But now it makes sense. You both had a whole backstory on your characters. Which is why Hana says your birthday is tomorrow. Your mother used to go along with your imagination and got involved with it, by buying you things and celebrating certain things with you. Aimi was also a part of it... She didn't get to choose a name like you or Hana... since she was your sidekick, you gave Aimi her name... Aimi's real name isn't Aimi... but you have called her Aimi since you met her. So has everyone else. Now thinking about it... what was her real name?

Back then that's how you met Eli and Aimi... Hana and you both started that pretend game since you both were 4... after watching Zodiac Magical Girls the both of you imagined yourselves as magical beings with cosmic powers. Hana and you argued with each other about not wanting to work with each other anymore. You both would ignore each other for days when your parents would hang out. You decided to find a replacement and that's when you met Aimi, making Aimi your sidekick which pissed Hana off. Hana then found Eli who was playing at the park with his cousins and older sister, dragging him off the play equipment and forcing him to be her sidekick. 

You smile to the thought of all of it.

"Why're you smiling?" Draken asks making you snap out of it.

"Oh... uh... I was just thinking about things." You reply.

"What did you mean by play pretend?" He asks.

"We would pretend to be wizards..." You reply. "My nickname was V and Hana's nickname was Pocky..." You say.

"Pocky? Like the snack?" He asks. You nod. He smiles and shakes his head. "What a nerd" He chuckles. You furrow your eyebrows.

"Nerd?" You tilt your head to the side.

"Yeah... Wizards? Really?" He says smiling at you. You squint your eyes at him.

"You're acting like you weren't weird when you were younger..." You say pointing up at him.

"Nah... not like that- and what a lame ass name... V? That's all...? Pocky sounds a lot better than V..." Draken teases.

"Her full name was Cosmic Strawberry Pocky..." You reply. Draken stops laughing and looks at you with a weird face then he bursts out laughing. You smile at him laughing.

"Stop- It's not even that funny..." You say trying to hold in your laugh.

"BAHAHAAA" 

You stand still in the shower with your eyes closed.

"I don't normally shower with other people like this so don't mention this to anyone." Draken sighs as he scrubs your back.

"... What's going to happen to me since there's a rumor going around that I killed a black dragon...?" You ask. Draken stops scrubbing your back causing you to look over your shoulder. Draken leans his face closer towards you and sighs as he places his hand on the wall, leaning on it a bit.

"I don't know..." Draken replies.

"Do you think they will be after me now?" You ask.

"Yeah." He answers. "The thing about them though is that they would actually kill you..." Draken says.

"Is that why I'm here?" You ask.

"Yeah, Mikey wanted me to watch you until he's ready to meet up..." 

"Is he busy?" You question turning around to get a better look at Draken.

"Him and Mitsuya are trying to figure out what's going on... there's so much shit going on at once though... There's Baji leaving Toman, the thing with Kazutora... Valhalla... and now this..." Draken groans leaning his head back a bit and moving a bit to let the hot water hit his hair and face.

"I'm sorry..." You softly say. Draken looks down at you.

"Why're you sorry?" He asks.

"I'm causing you all a lot of trouble... You should just let me take the fall for it and leave me instead of taking the heat" You sigh looking down. Draken places his hand on your head and moves it a bit to make you look up at him. 

"Yuki... You're special to us... to Toman... to Mikey... We are willing to take this kind of heat for you... Stop being a baby about it and be tough... I know you're a girl but don't cry about it... Just show us the love we are showing you... that's all we want." Draken says rubbing your hair and pushing it down a bit. 

"Are you sure?" You quaver.

"You mean a lot to Mikey... Mikey doesn't just like anyone... If Mikey likes you then you're special. It might not seem like it, but I care about you Yuki..." He moves your hair from in front of your face. "You're Toman's girl..." He says smiling at you. You slowly nod still looking down. "So don't cry... I don't like when girls cry... It's ugly-" He adds. "Okay?" 

"..." You furrow your eyebrows a bit causing Draken to raise an eyebrow.

"Did you even hear what I said...?" He huffs.

"Draken..." You softly say.

"Eh?"

"You're hard..." You slowly say. Why did I say that...

"..." He looks down at himself and then back at you. You slowly look up at him. You both stare at each other for a brief moment.

"I think I'm clean enough." You say breaking the silence.

"Yeah... Come on... let's get out..." He says turning off the shower and walking out, throwing a soft pink towel at you.

[akisamede]

BAREFACED - Chapter 34

"WAIT- KASUMI!" You yell out as you hop out the bakery after Kasumi.

"Why are you chasing after me..." Kasumi says as she continues to walk across the street.

"Kasumi- Please... stop." You pant as you try to catch up to her. Kasumi ignores you and continues to walk away. "Kasu- AHHH-" You scream out as you trip and fall. Kasumi stops and turns around to see why you screamed. You slowly get up. You sit down on the ground, rubbing your scratched up palms. 

"Are you okay?" She asks slowly approaching you. Your eyes start to tear up as you look up at her.

"Y-yeah... just... it just burns..." You softly say as you hop back up. Kasumi stares at you with a soft expression on her face.

"Why did you chase me out here?" Kasumi asks.

"I'm sorry..." You say.

"You don't have to apologize... I already said it was okay..." Kasumi replies.

"You say it's okay but then walk out like it bothered you." You comment. Kasumi stands quiet staring at you. "I didn't mean to seem like I'm trying to find dirt on you... it's just that- lately people have been appearing out of nowhere and getting close to me... things haven't felt really... normal. Like something is off... And when you befriended me, I got scared that-" You continue.

"I was a spy?" Kasumi finishes your sentence.

"Something like that..." You reply.

"I mean... I get it. You are involved with a bunch of gang members... of course you have to be skeptical of others..." Kasumi states.

"Yeah..."

"I'm not here to spy or use you-" Kasumi pauses and clenches onto her bag and then slightly smiles. "I really want to be friends with you... I want to get to know you- I struggle to make friends... and- you gave me a chance so... I'm sorry... If I am causing you that much anxiety then we should just leave it as that." Kasumi sighs and turns around.

"NO- Kasumi... I'm sorry... please- Let's be friends..." You shout out, reaching towards her shoulder. Kasumi slowly turns back around.

"You're only saying that because you feel sorry..." She responds.

"No. I really mean it. I like making new friends and you seem very interesting... I was just worried... but I trust you-" You softly say. Kasumi's eyes widen and she grips onto her bag tighter.

"Yuki-"

"Tell me about yourself... I want to get to know you more... a friend to a friend..." You say holding out your hand. "Let's start over... on the right note this time..." You softly add. Kasumi squeezes her bag tighter and then loosens her grip completely letting go of the bag. She slowly reaches her hand out towards you and shakes your hand.

"Hi..." You smile. "I'm Yuki-" You bubble. Kasumi's eyes glisten when you say that causing her to relax and tear up a bit.

"I'm Kasumi..." She quietly says looking down at her feet. You tilt your head to the side causing her to look back at you. You smile again at her causing her to slightly smile back.

"Are you going somewhere?" You hesitate to ask.

"... kinda but I can wait until later if I need to..." Kasumi softly responds.

"Where were you going to go?" You ask. Kasumi looks out into the distance a bit before looking back at you. 

"The hospital..." Kasumi quietly says.

"Oh... Is someone sick?" You ask. Kasumi nods slowly. You furrow your eyebrows a bit.

After arriving at the hospital, you and Kasumi walk down a hall and you both stop in front of a door that has the number 011 on it. Kasumi opens the door and walks in, you walk in behind her. 

"SISSY!" The girl on the bed bubbles loudly.

"Suki..." Kasumi bubbles.

"Who is she?" The girl says pointing towards you.

"My new friend... Yuki."

"Yuki? Hi Yuki... I'm Asuka..." The girl softly says. 

"She's my little sister..." Kasumi softly says. Asuka furrows her eyebrows at Kasumi and then smiles at you.

"I'm happy my sister is making friends..." Asuka says.

"Why do you say that?" You ask.

"Yeah... why do you say that?" Kasumi questions. Asuka chuckles and then sighs, tilting her head a bit.

"Ever since we moved to Tokyo... sissy has been struggling to make friends..." Asuka replies.

"NO- That's not true..." Kasumi huffs. Asuka sighs and shakes her head. You look at Kasumi whose ears are turning red. "It's just that people are very boring..."

"That's not what you said earlier-" You tease.

"I MEANT AS IN I STRUGGLE TO LIKE PEOPLE" Kasumi sighs loudly.

"Aw... so... what? Am I special or something?" You coo, leaning in towards her a bit. Kasumi slowly looks at you.

"PFT- HAHAHA!" You and Kasumi slowly look at Asuka who's cracking up.

"What's so funny?" Kasumi asks.

"You and Yuki remind me of how you and Shin used to be..." Asuka chuckles.

"Shin?" You ask confused.

"Yeah... Shin-" Kasumi says in a low and quiet voice.

"Who's Shin?" You ask.

"Our older brother..." Asuka bubbles.

"Oh- Wow... You have an older brother... how many siblings do you have?" You ask.

"One." Kasumi replies.

"One?" You question. Kasumi stands up and sighs.

"I will be back Asuka... Me and Yuki will go and buy some strawberry milk for you..." Kasumi says.

"OH! AND CAN YOU GET ME A STICKER TOO!" Asuka shouts. "I want to add to my collection..." She coos.

"Yeah... I will try-" Kasumi says pulling you out the room with her. 

After pulling you a bit she stops and turns and faces you. You look at her confused.

"I'm sorry..." Kasumi sighs leaning against the wall.

"Huh?" You look at her puzzled.

"I've been stressing out... A lot lately..." Kasumi says sliding down to the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"About Asuka... Why do you think she's here?" Kasumi says looking at you.

"She's sick..." You reply.

"Yeah..."

"Why did you say you only have one sibling if-"

"My brother passed away two years ago..." Kasumi interrupts.

"Wait... what?" You furrow your eyebrows a bit.

"It's only me and Asuka..." Kasumi adds.

"Only? Where are your parent's...?" You ask.

"Dead..." Kasumi answers.

"..."

"They passed away together... It was after my brothers game... They were driving home afterwards and got into an accident..." Kasumi's eyes filled up with tears. "Asuka and I were with our grandmother at the time..." Kasumi continues. "I remember how my grandmother's face looked horrified when she got the call." 

"..."

"My grandmother... was our last family... but she passed away last year. She had a stroke and died a couple days later..." Kasumi sniffles.

"Where do you live now?" You softly ask.

"In a foster home... but they don't give a shit about us..." She says wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You don't have any family?" You ask.

"No... It's just me and Asuka... My mother was an only child and so was my father... My grandparents didn't have siblings either... so I don't have great aunts or uncles..." Kasumi replies. 

That's... depressing... so her bloodline is almost gone... You thought to yourself.

"Asuka is your only family then..." You say. Kasumi nods.

"And she's dying..." She adds.

"Dying?" You look at her with a bit of shock and sadness in your face.

"Her organs are shutting down and she struggles to walk or do anything active... Apparently she has always had a weak body, but it wasn't noticeable until after her 10th birthday..." Kasumi quietly replies.

"Is she being treated?" You ask.

"Not really... they are only keeping her alive... that's how I see it... but if one of her major organs fail... they won't help her... Treatment costs a lot... we can't afford it..." Kasumi bewailed. She pulls her legs closer towards her chest. "I would do anything... anything to get the money for her treatment..." Kasumi adds before shoving her face into her knees and sobbing. You slowly approach her and sit down next to her silently.

After a few minutes you place your hand on her arm causing her to look up at you.

"How much does it cost?" You ask.

"What?" She looks at you confused.

"The treatment... how much does it cost?" You ask again.

"..." Kasumi looks forward and then down. "one million yen..." She sniffles.

"A million... yen." You say in a worried tone. "That's a lot..." You softly say.

"I know..." She replies. You look at her, she has a sad look on her face. You look down at your scratched up hands. Your eyes widen when you think of something.

"Let's earn that money..." You say.

"Huh?" Kasumi looks at you confused again.

"A million yen is a lot... but we can earn it..." You add.

"We won't be able to earn that much money in a small period of time..." Kasumi replies.

"My grandmother has been talking about wanting to go on vacation with my grandfather... she always brings up me working in the bakery while she is on vacation... Maybe... we can work in the bakery and earn that money for you... and then we can use everything we earn for your sister..." You continue.

"... I doubt it will be enough..." She sighs looking away.

"But at least it's something..." You respond. "Come on... please?" You plead leaning in towards her. Kasumi looks up at you again.

"Why are you trying to help... we just met... You're willing to give that kind of money to a stranger?" Kasumi asks.

"I don't want to see anything happen to your sister..." You reply. Kasumi's eyes soften. "I'm willing to help you get that much money... if it means saving your sister..." You add.

Kasumi looks back down at the ground.

"I lost someone too..." You say. "I know how much it hurts to lose someone..." You continue. "I wouldn't want anyone going through that pain... Your sister deserves to live... and you deserve to have a sister... so what ever it takes... I'm willing to help you." You comfort. Kasumi's eyes glisten and get glossy. She looks down at the ground again and she furrows her eyebrows clenching her fists.

"You... are... very kind Yuki..." She quietly says. 

"I just care that's all..." You say standing up. "So... let me help you Kasumi..." You say holding your hand out. Kasumi's lip quivers and then she smiles and nods as she grabs onto your hand. You pull her up and she hugs you. 

"Thank you Yuki..." She softly says. You smile and hug her back.

The two of you make way to the vending machine. Kasumi buys a strawberry milk and a sticker from a small machine next to it.

"She likes any kind of stickers or just those?" You ask watching Kasumi grab the sticker that fell out the slot.

"She likes all kinds of stickers..." Kasumi replies. You smile and look at the machine. Kasumi looks back up at you and smiles. You look out the window from the distance, noticing that it was pitch black outside. 

"SHIT... It's getting dark... there was something I had to do... I will see you later." You say waving at Kasumi and walking away. Kasumi watches you walk off.

Kasumi slowly walks back to the room, slowly closing the door behind her as she walks in.

"Hi... pawn~" A voice says. Kasumi slowly turns towards the voice. Hanma is sitting down on the chair in the corner of the room and Kisaki is sitting beside Asuka's bed.

"What are you doing here?" Kasumi asks.

"You aren't snitching... are you?" Hanma asks, cheesing at Kasumi.

"No..." Kasumi replies placing the strawberry milk down on the bedside table.

"Where's Asuka?" Kasumi asks.

"A nurse came and got her... said she needed to get some testing done since one of the exams failed." Kisaki replies.

"..."

"Did you get any more information on Yuki?" Kisaki asks.

"Why are you here...?" Kasumi asks.

"I had free time so I came here to see how Asuka was doing..." Kisaki replies. Kasumi stares down at the ground.

"Girl~ Didn't Kisaki ask you a question?" Hanma sooths. Kasumi looks up at Hanma and then at Kisaki. She then thinks about what Yuki said and her offer. Can she really help me? Kasumi thought to herself. Yuki's smile and soft hug flashes through Kasumi's mind. Then her parent's and brother's funeral flashes through her mind. She clenches her fists and sighs.

"What bullshit..." Kasumi whispers to herself.

"What?" Hanma says standing up and leaning towards Kasumi. 

"Yeah... I have more information... It's in that bag beside Asuka's bed... " Kasumi says pointing towards the bag. Hanma grabs the bag and tosses it to Kisaki. Kisaki opens the bag and pulls out the folded piece of paper Kasumi ripped out the book. Kisaki drops the bag to the ground and unfolds the paper, slowly reading it. A smile grows across his face before looking up at Kasumi.

You walk down the sidewalk towards the bakery. Your hands sting way more than it did before. You turn the corner and stop, jumping back a bit when you see the person standing outside the bakery. The person slowly turns their head. The sound of a bell jingles as they turn their head.

"Kazutora?" You say in a confused tone.

"Yuki~"