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1.
"This place is...cute," Takemichi's voice trailed over the edge when he observed the exterior of the daycare Izana owns. Yeah, a daycare should be cute and light for children to feel comfortable, but Takemichi couldn't guess how Izana said yes to these colours. He knows Kakucho wouldn't mind but Izana? Oh, Izana. But, he's just elated he's living a dear and placid life.
"I know, right?" Mikey chuckled. He then tucked his hands in his jean pockets and looked up at the sign, smiling. "It's very refreshing, though."
Takemichi nodded in response. The pearl-haired man then reached out his hand towards the taller male, his lips curling up into a diminutive smile. Takemichi looked at the hand and took it gladly. They went inside, and they were greeted with the adorable scent of strawberries. A man with brown skin and lilac eyes was by the playground, holding what seems to be Draken and Emma's son. When he heard the bell ring he rotated his head towards the door and a smile lift up his face.
"Takemichi! Mikey!" He greeted happily, then stood up with the little boy in his arms. He opened the small gate of the playground and strode towards the two, the little child then resting his head on Izana's shoulder, playing with the small yellow dragon in his hand. "Glad to see you here!"
"I came here to drop off a child," Takemichi glanced at Mikey then turned his gaze towards Izana. "He's a bit lonely."
"Oh, I see," Izana mocked, Then looking at Mikey like a small child. "Come with me, sweet pea."
"I'm not a child!" Mikey puffed, stomping one foot. "We just came here to visit."
"I was just joking," Izana laughed. "Come this way."
...
This is the office, and the colours were more mature than the pastel blue, yellow, and pink outside. In the middle of the room was a round white table, with three paired chairs around it. They sat down by one of them, the baby boy still in Izana's arms, asleep. The eldest male in the room prepared iced tea and some dorayaki (for his baby brother) to eat.
"It's been a while since I saw you two," Izana started. "You two are together again?"
"Yeah," Takemichi said. "Did you know Mikey cried when he saw me?"
"He-" Izana tried to compel his laugh.
"Stop that," Mikey snatched a dorayaki and bit a large portion of it.
"How is Shin-nii?" Izana asked, a smile still on his face. The baby moved a little and groaned, squinting his eyes a little. Izana felt the sudden movement and patted his back. The baby with blonde hair then went back to sleep. "I heard he became the leader of Bonten."
"You don't have contact with him?" Takemichi looked at him. Izana shook his head in response.
"I haven't heard his voice for two years," he answered. "Also Mikey. So, it was a relief to see him being the childish baby brother I had."
Izana then took Mikey's cheek and pinched it, earning a groan from Mikey.
"Well, Shinichiro doesn't know what's going on," Takemichi stated. "But I think Wakasa-san and Takeomi-san know. I wonder where was Benkei-san though..."
"Benkei-san?" Izana then realized. "Yeah...where is he? Should he be in Bonten if Wakasa-san and Takeomi-san are there?"
"That's the reason why Aniki started Bonten," Mikey said, crossing his leg on top of the other. He crossed one arm over the other, still holding the dorayaki.
"Did you know what happened, Mikey?" Takemichi gazed at Mikey, who then looked at Izana. "Do you know as well?"
"Me?" Izana blinked two times. "No."
"The reason why Aniki formed Bonten because..."
"..."
Izana and Takemichi were shocked by the information, "Wait...what?!"
"Totoo ba yan?" Izana spoke, he didn't think that would be the reason Shinichiro became corrupted. "I mean, baka may iba pang nangyari...? Kilala kita, baka pinagloloko mo lang kami." (Is that true? I mean, maybe something else happened? I know you, you may be joking.)
"Hindi nga." (Nope, that's what happened.)
"Imposible naman yun!" Takemichi spoke. (It's impossible that happened!)
"Walang imposible, lalo na 'pag ganito and pinaguusapan natin, Takemitchy," Mikey answered. (Nothing's impossible, especially if we're talking about things like these.)
Izana sighed, "Akala ko naman nainfluence siya o namanipulate. So, he did that of his own free will?" (and I thought he got influenced by somebody or at least been manipulated.)
Mikey nodded his head.
"Paano?" Takemichi raised a question. (How though?)
"Walang nakakaalam," Mikey shook his head. "Kaya nga naging ganto si Kuya dahil dun." (Nobody knows. That's the reason why Aniki is now who he is.)
"That's concerning," Izana muttered.
"Right now, Wakasa and Takeomi are trying to keep it a secret," Mikey said. "I hope you do as well."
2.
"Wakasa, we can't hide this information forever to protect Shinichiro!" Takeomi opened his arms, his face looking furious. "He somehow needs to know!"
"Look," Wakasa growled as he shifted his body towards Takeomi. "What happened is terrible! Even I don't want to remember what happened!"
The shorter one ambled closer to the taller one, "It's better if Shin-chan knows nothing rather than knowing the truth."
"But-"
"Right now, Shin-chan isn't doing anything harmful and he's busy right now, helping Takemichi find Hinata-chan. Let him focus on that for now. And besides, do you want him to fall into darkness once again? Takemichi has done a lot, and all that we can do is not screw up the future so that he won't come back to the past to fix it all over again! He needs some rest, and now he's still going because his precious Hinata is missing. Have some sympathy, Takeomi. I don't want Shin-chan and Takemichi to fall once again."
Takeomi then sighed, "Fine."
Shinichiro was behind the door, about to go in. His suspicions are now growing stronger.
...
Another day in Shinichiro's office, as Wakasa sat close to his lover's lap, snuggled together. Shinichiro held the lilac-orbed male's waist, his other hand holding a cigarette between his fingers. Spring was quite nippy these days, the sun's warmth being outweighed by the frigid breeze. By the window, you can see the evergreen leaves hover in the wind, reeling and whistling softly as they pass through. Maya blue besmeared the sky, cotton-white clouds danced in the ocean sky. The garden seen by Shinichiro's window coloured every path with pastel and vivid colours of roses and other types of flowers.
"Wakasa, can you tell me something?"
"Hm, what is it?" Wakasa said, leaning down by Shinichiro's nape and he curled closer to his lap.
"About what you and Takeomi fight about all the time...what made me fall into darkness?"
The white leopard froze, eyes wide. He then shot up and looked at Shinichiro, who was looking at him seriously.
"That's nothing, Shin-chan," he muttered, going back to his chest. "No need to worry about that."
"I can't rest properly until you tell me what's going on," He said. "What is going on, Wakasa."
"I'll tell you after we find Hinata-chan," he answered. "End of discussion."
hello! seiji here, and I actually wrote this yesterday but I didn't publish it because I was tired after updating 3 stories continuously. I'm actually animating an izana manga panel but I'll put it in the next chapter for I'm on my laptop and this doesn't have my editing application :"D
and yes, did you wonder why benkei's not in bonten or something? i won't reveal it though, probably make omi slip and make waka rage but it'll look funny.
no notes, for now, i already added the english translation after the sentence but i feel like its too robot-like
thank you for reading chapter 9 and see you in the next chapter! bye~
and thank you for 702 reads on wattpad and (idk bc I'm not logged in on my acc) on fanfiction! thank you for all the library saves as well T^T ilu all!
-seiji playlist