Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Revengers
Also, this chapter is longer than the first two, sorry.
The sounds from the brawl continued on as Mai awkwardly sat there beside the trash can, unsure of what she'll do next. She just wanted to try new hobbies and do her nightly walk with her dog, so... how did it even come to this?
The rustle of someone's clothes made her attention snap at the person in front of her. The older delinquent gave a grunt as he sat up from his previous sprawled position, still dazed from being hurled earlier by Chifuyu.
She watched the other warily, her body already tensed in anticipation as she waited for him to make the first move. Instinctively, she gave the other's form a once over, taking note of all the potential weak points that she could reach from her hiding spot in case he did attack her. Because if she could take on Baji, then this no-named delinquent will only be a piece of cake.
With bated breath, she mindlessly counted the time to lessen the anxiety of waiting.
..fourteen, fifteen...
When a few more seconds had passed without the other giving any signs that he'd attack at any moment, she eventually relaxed her muscles though she still remained vigilant for any hostile movements. She breathed out a shaky sigh of relief. Now, what to do next?
Mai had to think hard for her next plan of action. She could either: get out of here, leave Chifuyu alone, and stay clear from another character's attention to prevent any more anomaly from the original timeline or she could stay and help in fighting the remaining delinquents, and then possibly befriend Chifuyu as a contingency plan in case she she finally the heart and the guts to help in Takemichi's goal.
Decisions, decisions.
Mai hated making important decisions when she can't even make meager ones for herself… then what more if it involved the lives of multiple people in this world? Whether she'll go to an event or not could affect her social life, what she'll eat for breakfast could affect her mood for the day and, even, possibly the quality of her work. Besides, she preferred going with the flow more, at least whatever the outcome will be, people wouldn't be able to blame it on a decision she made herself.
And to think I was a law student in my previous life… pretty ironic. She smiled sardonically at herself.
She inched away from her current spot, careful to not rouse the delinquent in front. It was pretty lucky for her that the other was still out of commission. Thank you for doing all the work for me, Chifuyu. I'll leave the rest to you.
And then Maru decided to up and ruin her plan by licking the delinquent on the face, startling the latter awake.
Mai immediately froze, dreading the chain of events that could happen due to this. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time because, to be honest, she really, really loves her dog but what the actual fuck. Please, this is already the second time this day! Why does my dog want me to meet Chifuyu so bad?
Her breath hitched when the delinquent's gaze trained right at her hiding place. Grimacing, she locked eyes with him, the latter equally surprised as her. Not knowing what to do, she just put her finger on top of her lips, signaling the other to keep quiet.
Only, he had other plans and chose to be a little bitch instead.
"Who the fuck—"
Mai didn't even let the delinquent finish. In desperation to keep him quiet, she gave the other a peace sign as a quick apology before she sent a punch straight in his throat.
That should do it. Mai sighed, quickly turning away to assess the situation. If violence is the only way to get out of this situation then so be it. So much for not wanting to fight in the first place…
She turned around when she heard someone gagging, her eyes widening when she realized the terrible mistake she made.
Now, whoever made those shitty action movies should be ashamed of themselves because, apparently, making someone fall unconscious through a single strike was a big shitty lie (that or she wasn't able to give enough force in her punch, this isn't really her day…). In fact, the only thing she had accomplished was to make the delinquent angrier. So when she felt the pain from her scalp as her hair was grabbed from behind, she had already accepted that, yes, this was also partly her fault.
When I said I didn't want blonde hair earlier, I didn't mean it by this!
In turn, Mai clawed at the delinquent's hand, attempting to make him release her but their current position was preventing her to do any more than that. Thinking that he had the upper hand, the delinquent would merely pull on her hair the more she struggled.
Their scuffle lasted for a while with Mai losing more of her hair and patience as if she was an adult all over again. Her attempts were only halted when she heard a resounding crack followed by ringing pain on the entirety of her face.
Did he just— The stinging pain in her nose coupled with the taste of iron after Mai licked her lips was what confirmed her hunch. Oh no he didn't! Why is this world so violent to me!? "Did you just break my fucking nose?"
The delinquent laughed. "So you do speak our language, gaijin!"
Mai clicked her tongue. Of course the bully will just laugh after he slams someone's face on the concrete. And after he insults me for being a foreigner. So original.
"Stop hiding and come out!" Chifuyu's voice rang out.
Due to Mai's ordeal, specifically the pain resonating from her scalp and nose was what made her belatedly realize that the alley had finally quieted down, the earlier sounds of the brawl now absent.
Meanwhile, the delinquent pulled her closer to his face, so close that she could smell his breath as he made his demand. "Listen gaiijin, you're going to be my hostage if you want me to let you go."
I— what!?
Again, Mai just wanted to do her nightly walk with her dog, so why is she now being forced into a damsel in distress situation? I'd rather be a lackey than be forced into this!
The delinquent might've taken Mai's silence as an affirmation because he just casually came out of their spot beside the trash can, as if dragging a girl with him through her hair was normal.
The last time Mai had taken notice of the brawl earlier, right before she made eye contact and hid from Chifuyu, most of the delinquents were still trying to subdue the latter. However, in the brief time that she hid, she noticed that it was only down between Chifuyu and one remaining delinquent.
Mai couldn't help but give a low whistle, acknowledging Chifuyu's handiwork. If this is what Chifuyu is capable of then how much more can the others do?
Unsatisfied with Mai's act as the hostage, the delinquent pulled her hair harshly.
Fucking ass. Mai cleared her throat. "I mean, help, help." She begged in the most unenthusiastic voice that she could muster.
"If you want me to let go of your little girlfriend then give up and eat shit!" The delinquent laughed behind her before he declared his demands proudly as if keeping her as leverage just settled the fight in his favor.
"I think eating shit is better than smelling your breath again..." Mai muttered.
She earned a kick on the back of her leg for that. Lmao, worth it.
"How do I know you're not one of them?" Chifuyu asked with a sidelong glance, not even bothering to look at them as he proceeded to give his current opponent, the other remaining delinquent, a front kick.
Mai made a face (which was painful by the way, how is she even going to explain this to her parents again?) "Ah, I appreciate you being cautious but can't you tell by how my face is already fucked up?" Also, how can he even see properly with that kind of hairstyle?
Her reply seemed to have intrigued the other because Chifuyu finally faced her. His eyes trailed at her up and down as if gauging her if she could be a threat in the first place.
She cleared her throat again, feeling conscious at the attention.
Chifuyu gave a confused look as if he just noticed her predicament. "Do you need help?"
You think? Mai gave him a pointed look at the senseless question before shrugging. "Not really, just ignore him. I'm just here to get my dog."
Not liking her reply, the delinquent behind her pulled her hair harshly again. "What do you mean by that, you bitch!?"
You know what? Fuck this. Mai was starting to get annoyed at the way she was being treated because if this world (and Maru) wanted Chifuyu to meet her then she'll do it in style and not while being dragged by a no-named delinquent.
Determined with her plan, she took a quick glance at her surroundings and noticed that, yes, her current position compared to where she was compromised earlier had better chances to retaliate and free herself. Now, to bullshit her way out of the situation.
Although Mai learned a couple of self-defenses in her previous life, she wasn't able to put them into practice due to the lack of her physical capabilities (in short, she's lazy). Instead, she just decided to learn them out of curiosity and precaution. So despite having experienced it before with her fight with Baji, it still took her by surprise when her body moved as if she knew how to fight all her life.
And frankly? It was exhilarating and, dangerously, quite addicting especially with the idea that her body would perform exactly like what she just imagined. Now I kinda get why people like Hanma and the Haitani brothers loved doing shit like this.
Quickly, Mai gripped the delinquent's wrist to limit her attacker's control of her following movements. And then in fluid, consecutive moves, she turned her back to face him before she used her body weight to gain more strength, and with her advantage of surprise, to drop both herself and the other's body to the ground.
"I swear I'm going to beat you black and blue—"
"Oh, piss off." Mai didn't allow him to recover when he attempted to disentangle himself from her hold, and proceeded to twist his arm before breaking his elbow in the process. The sound of cracking someone's bones has never been this satisfying to her before. Damn, if my body did this earlier then I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place! I really need to keep up with this violent world…
When she deemed that the other can't attack her any further, she promptly dropped her previous stance to catch her breath. Grimacing, she hunched down but not before she propped her hands on her knees to support herself. While she liked the high which came with this feature in her new body, a disadvantage from it was that it doesn't come with endurance. Which was a shame, really.
"What—" Chifuyu started.
"Just shut up for a moment," She glared at him, still heaving from the strain she put her body in. "I can explain, just.. give me time to rest."
Chifuyu frowned. "I don't need your explanation, I just want to know what dog you're talking about."
Mai blinked.
"Are you blind? She's with…" Her voice trailed, also confused with the now absent leash in her hand. "…me? Maru?"
Apparently, while Mai was busy pulling hair with the delinquent earlier, she forgot about Maru and accidentally let her go. Now, her dog was on the other side of the alley which surprised both her and Chifuyu.
Chifuyu stared at Maru, also confused. "You brought a dog in a fight?"
Maru only barked in approval.
"Uh.. she actually brought herself here?"
Unfortunately, that was the least of Mai's concerns. While Chifuyu briefly looked away from his fight because of Maru's appearance, the remaining delinquent he kicked earlier used the distraction to grab a broken glass bottle.
Mai and Chifuyu only had a second to process the situation when Maru charged straight to the commotion like a goddamn superhero and bit the delinquent.
"Argh!" The delinquent startled, wildly swinging the bottle in the process and narrowly hitting Chifuyu and Maru. Taking advantage of the distraction, Chifuyu extended a leg before tripping the other which only served for the latter's loss of balance as a way for him to get closer to Maru. "Stupid mutt!"
No!
When Maru was about to be hit with the bottle, Mai decided that enough was enough. Without much thinking, she scrambled forward and grabbed the nearest thing she could hold onto and threw it at her dog's attacker. Said thing was the metal lid of the trash can which went straight for the delinquent's head.
Luckily, Chifuyu had fast reflexes and was able to grab Maru on time before they both dodged the metal lid. The lid fell on the concrete with a clang along with the now unconscious body of the delinquent.
Silence engulfed the alley as soon as the fight ended.
Meanwhile, Mai plopped straight on the dirty concrete to stretch her legs and collect herself while Chifuyu gave another kick at the delinquent just to be sure.
When Chifuyu deemed that the delinquent was actually down, he suddenly faced her with a big grin. And then he gave her a big thumbs up. "Nice fight."
Mai had to look away because what's with that one-eighty degree change in personality? Her heart can't handle it! Instead, she groaned loudly, internally cursing herself. "I'm in so much trouble."
"Huh?" Chifuyu's eyes widened. "Why? Were you hurt?"
Before Mai could voice out her reply because no, you're actually the trouble I'm talking about, the sound of a whistle pierced the air.
Chifuyu glanced around the area, checking if any of the delinquents were still conscious. "I'm pretty sure I knocked them all out."
Was that— "The police!"
The people outside the alley might've gotten suspicious that a brawl was happening and called the authorities to check it out. See, one of the perks of living in a slightly more peaceful country is that a little skirmish could already lead to people calling the authorities in an instant (although Mai did notice after watching TR is that they only get on the scene only after the fights, just like what's happening right now… weird plot armor).
Not risking the idea of getting caught, Mai grabbed the other remaining conscious participants with her before dragging them out of the alley, agilely avoiding the slumped bodies of the older delinquents.
People were already starting to crowd outside so she had no choice but to shove her way through, pointedly ignoring the glares sent her way. And unfortunately, Mai had no choice but to break into a run when someone finally took notice that they were the exact reason why they were crowding in the first place.
"Please don't follow me."
Mai begged the person with her for the umpeenth time. She was in so much of a hurry in escaping the authorities that she forgot that she accidentally brought one of the reasons why she wanted to escape the brawl in the first place. She really can't get away from this, huh?
Chifuyu was a few steps behind them, hands in his pockets and taking his sweet time walking as if he was here to sightsee the neighborhood with her. When he heard Mai plead with him again, he just gave her a bored look. "I'm not? Also, I'm at least a meter away from you so stop accusing me."
Mai rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean you're not following me in any way."
Maru whined in disagreement.
"Tch, I think you're the stalker here since you're the one who followed me in the alley." Chifuyu grumbled.
Mai glanced at the other boy before looking away to watch Maru happily trailing beside them. "Yeah, whatever." A pause and then, "Are you okay?"
Chifuyu paused to look behind him before looking back at Mai with a confused look. "…Yes? Why'd you ask?"
Mai furrowed her eyebrows. "Actually, I was just asking Maru but you do you, I guess."
"Okay?" Chifuyu faltered, scratching his head awkwardly. "Wait, who's Maru?"
"Only the bestest dog in the world."
Silence reigned again as they walked for a couple more blocks.
Mai didn't know what to do with Chifuyu. She knew that she'll eventually meet him back in the alley (because of the shitshow that just happened back there and mainly because of Maru's insistence) but she obviously didn't expect that he'll accompany her for this long.
It was only until Mai was nearing her neighborhood when she noticed the addition in her group. Chifuyu made his appearance known while she was worrying about coming up with an excuse for running late for her dinner and how she's going to explain (again) to her parents her shitty appearance. Weirdly enough, he randomly offered her some tissues to help remove the forgotten dried blood on her face and then proceeded to follow her out of nowhere. Hence, her current plight with the boy.
"Does this mean you're going to be my girlfriend?" Chifuyu asked all of a sudden which made Mai immediately stop to face the other again. This led to Chifuyu almost bumping into her and for the both of them to almost lose their footing together.
"The fuck did you stop for?" Chifuyu frowned.
"What do you mean— where did you even get that idea from?"
"Huh?" Chifuyu tilted his head, looking totally lost at the moment before his expression switched into one of enthusiasm, complete with the twinkling eyes and the sparkling aura. "Oh! I read it in this one manga I just got this week! After the main lead saved his classmate they got to know each other and then—"
Of course. Of course, how could she forget that Chifuyu was into mangas? Mai gave him a deadpanned look. "You mean you got that idea from a shoujo manga, right?"
"What about it?" Chifuyu defended his hobby, all the while looking as if he was trying not to pout at her accusation.
"Eh, nothing much." Mai shrugged before continuing her path home while still maintaining her distance with the other just in case he did turn into her stalker. She doesn't have anything against the shoujo genre— it was just that she didn't know that he'll be into it this early in his life. Honestly, she thought it was a Takemichi bonding thing.
"I mean, shouldn't it be the other way around? It's me who saved you, remember?"
Chifuyu huffed at that. "I could've taken them all down even if you didn't appear!"
"But you didn't."
When Mai saw her house coming into view, she hurriedly jogged toward it, eager to lose her unwanted company. Sadly, Chifuyu also sped up to keep up with her.
Stop following me?
"Doesn't matter." He retorted, as if he didn't just chase her down in order to continue their conversation. He paused before his eyes widened as if he had a sudden realization. "Wait, does this mean you'll be the one who'll ask me out!?"
Where does he even get these ideas? Oh, right. Mangas. "No." Mai immediately shut that idea down, not even bothering to give a glance at Chifuyu's dejected look. "Besides, I know your prin(cess) will be someone with long, luscious black hair and mine's obviously not black."
"How'd you even know that—"
"Plus, you don't even know me." Mai ended abruptly. She was already in front of her porch but Chifuyu didn't even seem to notice that fact (that or he was purposely ignoring her, Mai didn't want to know).
Chifuyu casually leaned on her porch, crossing his hands in front of him. "What do you mean? You're Hanakawa, right? Unless there's another blonde girl in our neighborhood."
Huh.
Huh?
"Can you repeat that for me?" Mai asked with a painful look, dreading whatever the next reply would be.
"That you're Hanakawa?" Chifuyu regarded her skeptically as if she's the crazy one and not him for knowing her name in the first place. "Or do you go by Andāson now?"
Mai's mouth was set in a grim line. Anderson— her father's surname.
Just when she was about to interrogate the other, a booming voice interrupted them. Startled, both her and Chifuyu snapped their heads at the source of the voice.
"Chifuyu-kun, it's been a while! How's your mother?" A tall man with the same blonde hair and lighter complexion as Mai's, came out from the house to greet Chifuyu.
Mai gawked at her dad's sudden appearance.
"Andāson-san." Chifuyu acknowledged her dad with a slight nod of his head. "Mom's fine, just late again from work."
"That's good to hear!" Her dad grinned before ruffling Chifuyu's hair, messing up his hairstyle. "I haven't seen her in a while, we thought your family was ignoring us on purpose."
Funnily, Chifuyu merely took her dad's eagerness with a stoic face.
Mai would've laughed at Chifuyu's state if her mind wasn't buffering right now. Instead, she just stood there, looking incredibly stressed as the exchange between the two progressed.
Hold up, hold up! This can't be happening! "Dad, you know him?" She asked incredulously, perplexed at the turn of events.
Now, it was her dad's turn to look at Mai incredulously. "Know him? He's our neighbor! You two used to be together when you were little kids. Best friends, I believe? I think you even go to the same school?"
Bro, whatchu mean by that? You mean the empty house I passed earlier was Chifuyu's?
Wait—
"We do?" Mai and Chifuyu asked in unison.
Mai turned her head to glare at Chifuyu before giving him a swift kick in the ankle, the latter almost tripping on the steps of their porch. "How come you don't know?"
"I don't see you in school," Chifuyu also glared in return. Then, he cleared his throat, adding hastily. "—and I skip classes most of the time..."
That still doesn't explain it! Mai pointed a finger at Chifuyu accusingly, horrified at the other's flimsy excuse. "Then why wear a uniform in the first place? You're just making it easier for the teachers to know that you're skipping class!"
Mai's dad frowned. "Your mom's going to be disappointed in you."
Chifuyu's face slightly turned red as he was admonished by the two. "Heh. I haven't thought about that," He admitted sheepishly.
Maru, then, proceeded to lick Chifuyu's hand as if trying to console him.
The look Mai gave her dog was etched with betrayal. Of all the revelations that she would have to be surprised about this day, the fact that Maru is a Chifuyu simp, of all things, really took the cake.
It took a moment before Chifuyu looked at her with a frown. "Wait, how come you also don't know?"
Because I'm not the same person you knew. Mai internally flinched as her mind supplied the unsolicited answer before muttering lowly. "Maybe because your stupid hairstyle warns my brain to not involve myself with you in the first place."
Unfortunately, Chifuyu heard her quip. "Hah? You keep my hair out of your issues!"
"But if I didn't then who'll be kind enough to tell you about how shitty it looks?" Mai retorted smugly. "I mean, did you just woke up one day and told yourself that you wanted a rooster as your hair?"
Annoyed, Chifuyu's eye twitched. "Then I'll just beat the shit out of that person."
"Is that a challenge?" Mai raised a brow at that. "Because I can take you."
The other cracked his knuckles, ready to throw hands. "You wanna bet?"
"Kids, kids, let's just settle this over dinner." Mai's dad interrupted, successfully cutting off their banter. Which was fortunate because if it wasn't for him, Mai and Chifuyu would have continued all night as if they were old friends (which they were, ew).
It only took a glance at her dad's face before Mai decided that , no, arguing further with Chifuyu wouldn't be worth getting the wrath of her parents. "Yeah, yeah. I'm starving."
Pursuing her lips, she headed to her house before stopping at their door when she noticed that her dad still hadn't moved. "Dad? Let's go?"
"What about you, Chifuyu-kun? You want to join us?" Her dad offered.
Chifuyu remained at the porch, unsure of the sudden invitation. He directed his gaze at Mai before giving the latter a look that almost looked pleading.
Pitying the other, Mai sighed. "He's obviously busy, dad."
"Nonsense, I insist." Her dad said with a shake of his head. Maybe this is where she got her stubbornness? "Come join dinner with us, we'll give some food for your mom too so that she wouldn't need to cook when he goes home."
"Dad let's not force him—"
And just like that, Chifuyu caved at her dad's kind gesture. He gave a small smile. "She'd like that. Thank you for the offer, Andāson-san."
"Don't be so formal with me, kid." Her dad chuckled, before entering the house, already heading ahead from Mai. "But not before Mai takes a shower."
She gave them a confused look. "What? Why?"
Her dad only gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, hun but you smell like you just dumped trash on yourself—"
Ack, is that why Chifuyu was keeping his distance from me. When she glanced at Chifuyu and saw the smirk on his face, Mai knew that her guess was right. Damn.
"—and is that dried blood on your face?"
"Maru got into a fight with the stray dogs." She quickly lied to divert the attention away from the current state of her face. She didn't want her parents to worry for her further because if Wakui Ken didn't want to give his characters good relationships with their families, then she will try her best to break that streak.
"Yes, that was actually the reason why we accidentally met earlier." Chifuyu backed her up.
"I see." Her dad said. "Well, c'mon in, dinner has been ready since an hour ago." He cheerfully added before he headed inside the house to help with the preparations for their guest.
Mai breathed a sigh of relief. Her dad might still be suspicious of them because of that pathetic excuse but it was better than straight up telling him that she was in a fight with delinquents earlier.
She was about to give Chifuyu a grateful look when the latter gave him a a close-eyed smile before mouthing 'you owe me one,' indicating his original intention for helping her.
I thought so. Mai only gave him the finger before also heading inside, Chifuyu and Maru on her trail.
So that's that.
Earlier, Mai wasn't sure what to do with Chifuyu, with her accidentally encountering him in the first place and then dragging him with her during her escape. Now, it was clear to her that she still knows jackshit on what to do with him, her plans of not interacting further with any more characters was immediately derailed by his appearance… though it doesn't mean that Chifuyu being her next-door neighbor will also guarantee her that she'll be involved with this world's plot— Mai didn't want to be there and witness firsthand the rise and fall of Toman, and even the inevitable tragedies that Takemichi and Mikey will experience. It'll be too painful and bothersome.
But she thinks she can still work this out eventually, she's good at bullshitting her way out of a sticky situation anyway. And this slight miscalculation with Chifuyu will be the last one.
A/N: I hope I did Chifuyu justice? I had a hard time writing him, idk why. Also, my naming sense sucks? So sorry for that.
On another note, I won't be able to promise that I will be able to post new chapters as quickly because of school (the backlogs are just overwhelming) but I already have plans with the future chapters, I just need the time and effort to write it down lol.
Again, thank you for the all the reviews, likes, and favorites! I really appreciate it :) If you have any suggestions, criticisms, etc. feel free to tell me!