Authors Notes: so this chapter anime-wise is nothing but the Draken back story and bonding between two mom characters, EI Draken and Meiko... and the next part two unlikely characters. This gotta do more with tone though, so enjoy.
Also!
Warning this chapter covers a bit on the topics of abuse, mental health, and bullying in a dramatic anime fashion of way. Just look at a silent voice and any other anime that even covers bullying occurring in elementary school to see what I mean. It's original content/backstory time!
July 20th, 2005 Takemichi
Exiting the hospital, the trio of Mikey, Meiko, and Draken seemingly were unaware of one Takemichi following them close behind as he hid behind one of the building entrance's many pillars. Standing there for a bit, Meiko rubbed her arms a bit with a slight hiss. 'Definitely gonna bruise.'
"You okay?" Mikey asked, frowning looking directly at the girl's covered arms as she nodded to him. His cheeks slightly colored from even just this, as the girl's words from within the hospital still muddled his mind.
"Yeah. It's nothing, really."
Draken frowned at this and gave the girl a slight bow, "Sorry Ei, that's my fault. I should have stepped in when the guy grabbed ya. I didn't think he'd hold you that tight."
Mikey glared at his friend at this, "Yeah, well if you'd just let me–"
"Hey, hey!" Meiko cut in, waving her hands as she stood between the two, "That's enough. I wasn't expecting it either so it's fine." She gave Mikey a particularly stern look as if to imply to drop his glare. "Besides the man was grieving and obviously distressed, I'm sure even he didn't realize just how tight he was holding onto me."
"Still..." Mikey tried to grumble as the girl sighed.
"Look if anything, Kenny here," she gestured to Draken who blinked a few times, surprised at the sudden new nickname that had now been thrown at him in english. "Can just make it up to me if you really feel like it's such a big deal. You don't mind helping me run some errands, right?" She looked to Draken and he nodded realizing this was her attempt to help pacify Mikey.
"Yeah, I got nothing better to do today so I'm good." Draken nodded, just as from down the road Mitsuya drove towards them on his motorcycle.
"Ah, he's here." Meiko waved as the teen pulled up, "Hey, Mitsu-kun." Mitsuya nodded at her in greeting as Mikey moved to get on the bike.
"Hey, Ei. Didn't know you were hanging out with these guys."
"Yeah... You can blame Mikey for that." Meiko shrugged, as Mikey pouted in her direction.
"You weren't complaining earlier."
"And I still ain't." Meiko shot back, flicking the boy in the forehead, "So stop pouting you, big baby."
"I'm not a baby!"
"Can you get Pah-chin to come tomorrow?" Draken asked Mitsuya, deciding to ignore the playful banter between Meiko and Mikey.
"Yeah. I'll have Peh go, too." Mitsuya agreed as Meiko looked between the two boys.
"Intervention?" She casually asked as Draken nodded.
"You can say that."
"Does the warehouse near Second MS work for you?" Mitsuya asked as Draken thought it over with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah."
Nodding Mitsuya gave Meiko a quiet farewell nod, before pushing on the gas so that he could drive forward a bit and U-turning to drive back in the direction he had originally come from with Mikey. Said blonde waving to Meiko and Draken with a "See ya."
As Meiko waved back with her own, "Bye-bye."
Silently watching the scene, Takemichi quickly hid behind the pillar he hid behind when Draken took a second to glare back towards the pillar he hid behind. Seeing where the teen glared at Meiko herself frowned, already knowing what the teen was looking for. "Ne, Draken." She watched as the teen's gaze snapped back towards her, "Should we go?" She pointed to leave, and the male frowned unsure if she realized they were being followed. As she turned to start to walk away though the blonde shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pocket and deciding to simply follow along.
"Yeah... About these errands you wanna do–"
Watching the teen's walk away, Takemichi slowly exited his hiding spot to watch as his sister and Draken left. His mind a mess of information and puzzle pieces as he stared after the pair, specifically Draken who seemed attentive and active in his and Meiko's conversation as they walked.
'There's no way Mikey and Draken would ever fight each other.' He silently thought staring after them. 'Draken dies on August 3rd. I need to find out everything I can about Moebius by then!' He determinedly thought, a plan already in his mind as he ran in the other direction to the teens. 'I need to time leap! I need to go see the young Naoto.'
July 20th, 2005 Draken
"Is this all?" Draken asked as he and Meiko wandered around the grocery store.
"Hmm..." She nodded, "There was a sale today, so I wanted to try and benefit from it." She explained, "Is there anything you want?" She asked, pointing towards the snacks and junk food aisle, "I'll get it for ya."
"Alright sweety, remember you can grab one treat from the aisle." A random mother nearby cooed as her young child cheered with joy.
Draken could not help but twitch as he realized a strange parallel occurring with how the mother spoke to her own child, and with how Meiko smiled up at him as she pointed towards the very same aisle the child ran into. "I'm good." He grunted out, "I'm not some baby needing to be coddled with treats just for behaving at a supermarket."
Humming at this Meiko tilted her head, "Okay... But, I was just meaning there seems to be a sale happening on stuff like Dorayaki and shit and I thought I'd help out with your feeding of Mikey."
Draken blushed at this, realizing that indeed there was a sale like that occurring and that if Mikey heard about it or was even still hanging around with them. 'My wallet would be crying.' Draken thought pale as Meiko giggled by his side.
"Well if that isn't a mood, I don't know what is." She laughed, as Draken sent her a small glare.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Winking at him, Meiko teasingly said, "The look on your face, it literally screamed. Damn! He'll bitch at me if I don't get this, my wallets gonna cry."
Draken stared at her for a bit before chuckling under his breath, "Alright. You got me there."
"Thought so." Meiko laughed, walking into the aisle. "Michi's the same way if I don't get him chips when I go shopping. Speaking of which, I think I just saw his favorites on sale. Better grab those too. By the way, what flavor do you like?" He stared at the girl for a bit before looking at the options, grabbing at one of the flavors before tossing it into the basket he carried for her.
"I don't mind these."
"Oh~ Black pepper, nice. You and Yai share a similar taste I see."
Paying for the purchase, Meiko split some of the Dorayaki and chips between her own bags and one for Draken. "Here you go, I'll take half the Dorayaki for myself and you can have some of the chips for you. Seem's fair?"
Looking at the bag Draken frowned, "Wasn't this supposed to be me making up for what happened in the hospital. How does buying me chips and Dorayaki for Mikey translate to me making up for that?"
Unwrapping a lollipop she got from the store, Meiko placed the treat in her mouth with a hum of delight, "Matcha Strawberry Smoothie! So good!"
"Oi!" Draken angrily snapped, as Meiko blinked up at him a few times.
"Oh... That... Honestly I don't really care about you making up for what happened. I mostly said that so Mikey wouldn't get mad. It wasn't really your fault that happened after all."
"Yeah but..." Draken frowned as he watched the dark-haired girl continue to walk ahead without much a care in the world. 'What's with this chick?' He silently began to wonder, 'Ever since we met it's always been the same shit.' He thought, 'She doesn't look it, especially with how she is sometimes. But she's strangely aware of others and their emotions... scratch that.' His eyes narrowed, 'She's oddly aware of Mikey and his emotions.' He noted, before smirking slightly. 'Well most times.' He recalled the aftermath of Meiko's proclamation.
"I really like these delinquents who have kept their hearts. Especially you Mikey."
"Huh?" The blonde's eyes became wide as he gapped at the girl.
"You definitely seem to struggle, sure..." Her eyes sparkled, and Draken silently watched in awe as a blush seemed to actually form on his friend's cheeks. "But I think you've certainly got a real big heart underneath it all, Sano Manjiro-kun."
He struggled not to snicker at the memory, recalling how Mikey had to look away covering the bottom half of his face. The boy even sent him a panicked look as he seemed to struggle, for once, at a proper come back against the smiling girl. Meiko seemingly unaware of the effect her words had on the boy, as she just gestured for them to leave.
Even Draken himself could not help but feel a sense of pride and joy knowing someone else saw the good Mikey had underneath all the aloof air the guy put out. 'If nothing else... I'm really starting to like having Ei around.' He thought, recalling how Emma and Mikey both seemed to gravitate to the dark-haired girl whenever she was around.
'Especially seeing how much those two seemed to like having her around. Plus it's nice to have someone else help manage those two.' He smiled nodding to himself, recalling how now not only today at the restaurant but even back on the beach, he was not left alone in dealing with Mikey. Meiko actively seemed to take a role in helping keep the boy in line or even giving Draken a break during both occasions where he hadn't had to worry about the blonde either stealing his or other's food, or making a major scene.
"So Draken..." Meiko cut in, drawing the teen out of his thoughts. "I know this might seem late or out of left field, but tell me about yourself."
"Huh...?" Draken stared at Meiko confused. "What for?"
Pouting Meiko looked up at the sky as they walked, "I don't know." She shrugged, "I just thought, hey me and this guy are sorta friends, but like we don't know a lot about each other." She looked towards him, "So why not... You know, share a bit about one another."
Draken hummed at this, "Okay... I guess I get what you're saying. But what would you even want to know?"
At this Meiko hummed to herself, "Hmm, that's a good question... Oh!" She snapped her fingers before pointing to herself. "I got it. How about we share a bit about ourselves! You know like where we were born or, like how we grew up. Oh!" She pointed to the side of her temple where Draken's own tattoo sat. "You could tell me about your tattoo! Oh oh! Or even, how you and Mikey met!" She cheerfully rambled as Draken hummed to himself.
"I guess... So like, in turn, you would share..." He frowned trying to think of anything that he'd want to learn about her, "... How'd you and Yai met?" He asked, "More importantly how'd you two become friends? Cause no offense, outside..." His mind wandered to the bat situation from the night before, and the fireworks from the beach. "This and that... She doesn't seem like the type of person to... uh..."
"The type of person to really make friends with trouble," Meiko smirked amused as Draken smirked back towards her equally amused.
"Hey, your words, not mine."
"Hey, I'm not blind. I know what I am." She shrugged, before nudging the taller boy. "You first Pete's Draken, spill the tea. How'd the hell you get the permission to tatt half your skull and meet Mikey? Cause if we're talking about unlikely friendships, then you two could definitely count for that too."
"Who's Pete?"
"Pete's Dragon."
"...What?"
She gave him a blank stare as though he spoke in some foreign language or somehow insulted her backhandedly, "...Okay, dear sir. You and I are gonna have to have a movie night and correct this."
"Wha–"
"But that can wait! Tell me your story!"
Humming to himself, Draken decided to not question the girl's madness. He wasn't repeating that same mistake again. So instead, he thought it best to just recount his tale. Closing his eyes as the memories of his youth and past slowly washed over him as they walked. "Alright, let's see... I was born in Shibuya's red-light district. No idea who my dad was. My mom was a prostitute. She up and left when I was two. My home is a brothel."
Meiko stared up at the boy heartbroken, "Draken..."
"If you'll sign, please." Draken recalled one of the many times in his youth he had to sign for a delivery of towels.
"Sure." He was young, yes, but the delivery men knew him by then, never giving it a second thought if he were the one to sign for things.
"You're getting taller, Kenny boy." They were so used to him in fact, that he could safely say that even back then they were on friendly terms with him.
"Well, I drink milk every day." He remembered replying without much care as he handed the clipboard back, the man checking the papers over before nodding approvingly.
"Well, see you later."
"Okay." Hearing the elevator doors for the floor open, two of the brothel girls stepping out as they returned home.
"Mornin'." They greeted as they acknowledged the delivery man.
"Hey there." The man in turn greeted, this was the norm for young Draken. This was the norm even now.
"Hey."
The woman noting him smiled at him teasingly, "Get to school already, Ken Boy."
"Need a tug before class?" Her friend teased, as he remembered simply grabbing his book bag without so much as blink of the eye at what she suggested.
"Nope." He simply jogged past them, even as they smiled as he left.
"See you later."
"Yeah."
"That was my fifth-grade experience." He recounted, "I grew up around pink towels and the smell of lube." He noted how silent Meiko was, giving her a quick glance. He was a bit surprised to see that she held no pity in her eyes. Sadness, sympathy, sure. The girl's face was an open book for those emotions, yet as she looked up at him as they walked he also noted something else. Awe, perhaps even respect. "Too dark for ya?" He asked as the girl simply shook her head.
"No..." She simply said before smiling up at him. "Just realizing you gotta be a real tough son of bitch to have grown up that way and still be a respectable young man."
He laughed at this, "Respectable, now that's a word I never thought I'd hear thrown at me."
"Oh come on!" Meiko huffed, "Sure you don't look the part, but like from what I've seen you're a real sensitive and nice guy." Meiko pouted, "I mean even just today, you sympathized with those parents over their pain, and tried to teach Mikey to be more aware of other people's plights."
He couldn't help but scratch the back of his head at that, "...Maybe. I'll admit if there was one good thing about being raised in that place." His mind wandered to the many times the women of the brothel would give him legit advice or even open up to him about their issues. "It definitely made me more aware of people's issues, especially women."
"Why do I get the feeling you've had to buy some of those girls tampons or pads?" Meiko jokingly snickered as he simply snorted.
"Probably cause I have."
"Seriously!"
"Hey, I was five! They tricked me." He snapped as Meiko just laughed at his embarrassment.
"Ahahaha, well... At least it's nice to know when you get a girlfriend you'll be able to do stuff like that for her."
"Seriously..." He growled, as Meiko then snorted.
"Ne, ne. Tell me, did you have to give Mikey a talk when Emma started–"
"DON'T YOU EVEN GO THERE!" He yelled with a red face as Meiko laughed harder.
"Oh god, you did! Didn't you!"
"No!"
"Ahahaha!" She only laughed harder, smacking his back. Draken, unable to do much outside glare at the girl, who found amusement at his own embarrassment. Still, the annoyance he felt was far from unfamiliar or even bad, if nothing else, Draken found comfort in knowing that his supposedly tragic backstory did not change anything between him and the girl he was starting to consider a friend.
"So... You wanted to know bout my tattoo?"
"Oh!" She stopped laughing and smiled up at him curiously. "Yeah! Tell me about that."
"Okay, here's a nice little tidbit. My name of Draken and my tattoo..." He pointed to his temple with a proud smirk, "I got in the fifth grade..."
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Ken-kun."
"It's not Ken. The name's Draken." He remembers dubbing himself one day in front of all schoolmates when he came in one day. It was that very day, in fact, he would visit the City Light Tattoo parlor to get the dragon tattoo.
"You sure about this, kid?" The owner and artist of the parlor asked when Draken came in with no more than the money and picture for his soon-to-be signature tattoo.
"Hell yeah." He'd confidently said, with his arms crossed as he sat in the chair, ready to get himself inked.
"Temples are pretty painful." The man tried to warn, in hindsight, he should have listened to the man's warning more.
"Just do it already." He'd simply ignorantly and excitedly said, as the man simply got his machine ready with a deadpan expression.
"Don't come crying later." He'd abruptly dropped the chairs back down to have Draken lying down, and placed the work light directly over top of his head and face making Draken wince at the bright light that harshly blinded him. "Let's do this." He tried to keep a straight face though, refusing to play the part of a big baby and cry like the man alluded. So even as the man tilted his head aside and prepared to begin tattooing, Draken thought he could handle it.
He thought wrong.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"
"Quit fussin'. You're a man, ain't ya?"
"Ow!"
He cried like a bitch. He'd never deny that, at least to himself.
"There, all done."
When the tattoo was done, he'd hadn't even realized that the guy had stopped till he spoke and brought up his chair. Looking at himself in the mirror that first time after he got tattooed had been a life-changer. He remembers staring in awe, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at his new ink and the realization that he'd done it. That he'd really gotten himself tattooed on the temple in the fifth grade slowly sank in. He bursted in joy like a kid in a candy shop, "Yo! This is awesome!" He'd excitedly shouted, having to get closer to the mirror just to try and get a better look at his tattoo.
"Tatted in the fifth grade." The man sighed, "Damn you're gonna be one rotten adult." He joked, and Draken could feel nothing but gratitude to the man for doing what no other parlors would.
"Thanks! I'm gonna go show this shit off!" He moved to leave the shop quickly even as the man called out to advise him on the new marking on Draken's temple.
"It's gonna take a while for the swelling to go down."
"Got it!"
"I still go back to that same shop now and again to get this baby a touch-up." Draken proudly explained.
"Woah~" Meiko gaped, "That's pretty cool." She gushed, "I wish I could get a tattoo."
"Why don't ya?" He curiously asked as Meiko paled.
"Ah... Well..." She rubbed her arm embarrassedly, "I'm... Maybe... Sorta... Kinda... Afraid of needles."
"..." He stared at her a good bit, "Like... Hospital needles."
"Yeah..."
"... Tattoo needles aren't even like those!" He yelled as she only blushed.
"I know! But my brain can't tell the difference! I hear needles, and freeze up! And besides, I don't know what I'd get! Maybe a butterfly or some shit, but like I don't know where I'd get one and I don't wanna get one alone! They sound painful and I'd wanna hold someone's hand!" She comedically cried and whined to him and Draken could not help but laugh at this.
"Seriously! Man, you are such a cry baby!"
"Shut up! I bet you cried like a bitch when you got yours!"
"I did not!" He lied, but couldn't help but laugh at the face she made at him as she glared up at him with a pout. "Okay, maybe I did a little, but it's really not that bad." He decided to try to pacify the girl, "If you want, I'll help you look into getting one if you're serious about wanting to get one."
She blinked up at him, surprised, "Woah, seriously."
"Yeah." He shrugged, "Mitsuya and me can even go with ya to hold your hand if you really need the comradery."
"Huh?" Meiko tilted her head a bit confused, "Mitsu-kun...? Why him?" Meiko asked as Draken smiled down at her.
"Simple, you can't really see it since the guy let his hair grow out. But he's got the same tattoo as me on his temple too, in fact, he was the one who gave me the design for mine. So maybe he could help you figure out one for yourself."
"Woah!" Meiko exclaimed, "Plot twist!" She nodded to herself though, "Then again I guess, that sorta makes sense if you guys are friends. Plus the guy just drips style." She muttered before pouting, "Uh... But I still would feel super awkward if I was the only one getting a tattoo."
Draken shrugged at this, "I mean... if you're really that worried why not ask Yai."
Meiko shook her head, "No... Yai already gets herself pierced as is, I don't think she'd really vibe for getting a tattoo."
"You could still ask her." Meiko hummed at this.
"I guess... I'll think it over if nothing else." She smiled in the end, as the two now waited at a crosswalk. "So that's a bit about your past, the nickname, your tattoo..." She counted down her fingers as she named off the list of things they planned to share. "So what about Mikey and you..."
Draken smiled nostalgically at that, "Oh that... Funnily enough, fifth grade turned out to be the year of all the big changes for my life."
"Oh..." He nodded and looked to the sky.
"I was taller than most of the middle school kids."
He remembers the days where he would pick fights in playgrounds. Grinning and cracking his knuckles at any punk who dared to pick a fight with him. Charging at them to knock them out with a single mean punch.
"I'm Ryuguji Ken from Fourth Elementary! Call me Draken!" He remembers arrogantly proclaiming when he'd take some guys down. "You better hide when you see this dragon."
"Since I got my tattoo in the fifth grade. Most of the middle school kids didn't mess with me after that. Though even still..."
"Ken. You're gettin' a bit too cocky lately."
"You need to lay off the middle schoolers."
"Don't make us have to kick your ass."
"Sorry."
"The Sameyama Gang dominated this neighborhood back then. They had literally beat the pants off of me before, so I couldn't disobey them."
"No way..." Meiko quietly gapped, "I can't believe that."
"Yeah, well believe it." Draken shrugged, "I was just some snot-nosed punk back then, even if I was tall for my age that didn't mean I was immune to defeat."
Meiko nodded at that, "Fair... But like... What does this have to do with Mikey?"
He smirked at this.
"You know who else is a cocky little shit?" The gang's leader had cockily exhaled his cigarette smoke as if he was some top boss. "The kid from Seventh Elementary."
"Oh, Mikey?"
"The kid who made a name for himself after he beat down Vatican's leader?"
He remembers hearing this had caught his attention, how the leader was unamused by this as he dropped and put out his cigarette before ordering him.
"Ken. Drag Mikey's ass over here."
"No..." Meiko gasped.
Draken grinned proudly at this, "Oh yeah..."
"They fucked up."
"Oh, believe me, they did." He laughed, "Though I hadn't really realized it at the time."
"Oh~ Do tell."
'Who is this kid?' He remembered himself excitedly thinking as he ran to find his soon-to-be best friend. 'Even I don't think I could take down a high schooler, especially a strong one! As soon as I take him over there, he's a goner! Before that happens, I wanna throw hands with Mikey first!' He'd arrogantly thought, finding the first kid around his age he could at the time in hopes to find Mikey. "Hey! You're from seventh Elementary, aren't ya?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"I'm looking for Mikey. Know where he is?"
"I just saw Mikey-kun." The kid admitted, looking in the direction he came from before shouting out with a wave as he saw the boy. "Mikey-kun!"
He'd gotten so nervous then, for all his hype and all his arrogance as soon as he knew he was gonna meet Mikey, Draken remembered his younger self almost freezing up. His gaze turning towards the direction the kid waved to, to see the very aloof young Mikey standing down the path without a care in the world.
"Hm? What?"
'That's not what I imagined at all!' The shock that followed, would be hilarious in hindsight later on. Yet at that time, all he could do was stare at his future friend in complete and utter disbelief. 'I figured he was a stacked beast way bigger than me! This dude's a runt! He's just a kid!' He'd thought as Mikey casually walked over towards him. 'He's comin' over here. Shit! Should I fight him?'
"Hey." Mikey began from around a lollipop he ate. "A bunch of the 48 positions overlap, don't they?" There was a moment of silence between them, the other kid having already ran once he realized he had a chance to escape. The only actual sound between Draken and Mikey then was Mikey's loud sucking and biting of the candy in his mouth as he boredly stared up at him.
"Huh?"
"I keep trying to count them and never get to 40. Thoughts?"
"Wh-what? What even is that?"
"So he was like that even back then." Meiko deadpanned as Draken nodded in agreement.
"The guy really needs to learn to give context."
In the end, he'd just tried to brush the strange boy's words. "Uh... You're Mikey-kun, right?"
"Yeah, I am. So what?"
The confirmation though did little to reassure him at the time, remembering how he almost seemed to stutter when speaking to the blonde. "Some middle schoolers I know wanted me to get you."
"What?" Mikey's eyes had narrowed at this, and Draken remember how that back then had made him nervous. Perhaps even back then subconsciously he knew, there was more behind the small and aloof form of Mikey.
"I mean... I'm not gonna force ya."
"Sure."
"Huh?" It was such a blunt and unhesitating response from the smaller kid, Draken remembers it throwing him off so much.
"You're the one who asked, so sure." Mikey had simply explained, "I'm gonna go set my stuff down at school." And then he turned and left Draken confused and unamused.
By the time Mikey had come back to walk with him to meet the Sameyama Gang members that wanted to confront Mikey. Draken was all but chalking up the smaller kid as a lost cause. 'What a frickin' weirdo. I don't even know how to react. I bet this pipsqueak is gonna get the stuffing kicked outta him instantly.'
"Wow..." Meiko snickered. "So young Draken, was dumb Draken." She laughed as Draken sent her a glare.
"Look, I didn't know better." Draken tried to argue. "How was I supposed to know what was about to occur?"
"Heya." He called out once he'd led Mikey to the parking lot these members liked to hang in. Behind him Mikey had been aloof, refusing to even look in the direction of the older males.
"Yo."
"I brought the kid. This is Mikey—" He stopped mid-sentence as a blur of black and blonde ran past him. Watching as Mikey charged the older males.
"At that moment, Mikey made a beeline for Sameyama..." A grin broke on his face as the memory replayed in his mind, Meiko listening in silent anticipation as the two now stood outside her home, "And jumped."
He watched as Mikey's kick landed directly at Sameyama's face, the older male being knocked clean out with only one kick. He and the rest of Sameyama's crew being left aghast, as Mikey slowly stood back up without so much of a care for what he'd just done.
Simply pulling out the lollipop he ate to better address them all, "So what do some mama's boys who gotta gang up on others want with me?" The look he sent then, had Draken shivering where he stood. A cocksure smirk, and a challenging look in his eyes that warned them all, he would take them down without effort. Sameyama's face was so swollen and bloody, Draken was almost sure Mikey had broken some of the guy's teeth with how much the male had gargled and spit out blood while on the floor. Mikey though, didn't care and Draken himself at the time...
"I'm Mikey-sama from Seventh Elementary."
Was in nothing but aw at this kid who had taken down one of the guys who'd kicked his ass.
'Holy shit!'
The rest of the Sameyama crew ran away, not even trying to grab their downed boss as Mikey walked up to Draken. "You're Draken from Fourth Elementary, right?"
"Huh?" It had surprised him as he hadn't even shared his name with the blonde back then.
"Why's a badass like you hanging out with those pieces of shit?" Mikey had seriously asked, seeming to look straight through Draken's nervous form before smiling up at him. "Let's be friends, Ken-chin! What do you say?"
"And ever since then..."
"You've been the best of friends." Meiko smiled warmly, looking up at Draken who smiled nostalgically at the tale. "Toman's big two."
"Yep."
She giggled softly, "How cute. I can see why you two stuck together for so long now." She hummed moving to unlock her front door.
"Oh yeah...?" Draken hummed in return, following the smaller girl, "And why would that be?" He asked, curious of what his small tale could have even hinted at to the girl.
Taking off her shoes, Meiko stopped to hum to herself, "Well..." She smiled as she turned back to face Draken. "You found a kindred spirit."
Draken blinked a few times in shock. "Yeah..." Slowly he smiled, "I guess we sorta did." Nodding to himself he then asked the girl, "So... What is your's and Yai's tale?"
July 20th, 2017 Yayoi
"I thought I noticed someone visiting the apartment." Stepping out onto the late-night rooftop of the apartment building she visited, Yayoi stared quietly at the back of the man who stood silently by the edge of the roof. "You're getting a bit sloppy, Mikey-san. You didn't even bring that mad dog of yours or any of your men. Kinda risky don't you think. 'Specially given this was Mei's place." She scolded lightly, as she walked forward slightly. Stopping before an abandoned photo album laid out between her and the blonde. Her gaze softened as she noticed the album was opened to a page filled with old pictures of Toman. From their middle school days, their day at the beach, and most notably, a few pictures of Draken, Emma, Baji, and Meiko pulled out of the album. Bending down she carefully collected the pulled-out photos, and gently placed them back in their respective pages. Nodding to herself, as she completed her task. 'There we go...'
"... What do you want, Yaichi?" Mikey unemotionally asked, not even so much as sparing the red-haired woman a glance.
"..." Looking away from the pictures, she moved herself forward to where the blonde male stood overlooking the city. "..." Sitting in silence, Yayoi carefully flipped through the abandoned album, eyes passing through newer and older photos before they landed on a single shot of herself with the now-deceased Meiko from their Elementary days. "... Well this thing sure takes me back... Do you mind if I tell you a story?" She received no reply, but smiled to herself. "It's not really a fun story... Probably not even a story you'd even care for..." She admitted, caressing the old photo. "But it's a story... that led me to Meiko."
"Ah~" A young teen girl exclaimed as she and her lover were handed their newborn daughter in her arms, "Look at her! I can't believe we made this, Yasuo look, we made this!" The red-haired girl exclaimed tiredly as her dirty blonde-haired lover smiled down at the whimpering child in his lover's arms.
"She's gorgeous Reina." He smiled to his love, "An absolute cutie, just like her mom."
"Huh?!" The girl, known as Reina exclaimed, "No way! Are you saying I'm so ugly I'm cute?"
"...Reina, don't say that about our baby."
"But babies are so ugly that they loop back around to being cute, Yasuo! Just look at her!"
"I was born in Okinawa to two high school dropouts. My parents having quit school and ran away together when they discovered my mother was pregnant at the age of sixteen. Supposedly back then, my mother was under the impression that if my grandparents knew about her pregnancy that they'd have either disowned her or make her get an abortion or give me up. My father was an orphan himself, and they thought themselves wise and independent beyond their years. So they ran away, eloped, and had me."
"Papapapapa." A young baby Yayoi crawled to her tired father, the dirty blonde-haired boy turned man groaning in his young wife's lap after a long day of work.
"Oof!" He exclaimed as the year-old Yayoi flopped herself on his stomach, "Ah... Coming to see your old man. Yayoi-chan sure loves her uh... what was that term you're teaching her?"
"Papi." Reina laughed, "And you're not that old you dork."
"Pfft... Well, I feel it."
Baby Yayoi cooed, burying her face into her father's stomach as the man used one hand to pull his little girl fully onto his chest.
"There we go." Yasuo cooed, "Just lay on me."
"You'd think being so young would have caused issues between my parents, but honestly from what little I can remember they were a happy pair. I'm sure they fought and struggled, but they were happy." Yayoi hummed to herself as she tried to recall her childhood. "My father worked at a small textile shop, and my mom stayed at home to raise me. We weren't the most well-off family, but..." Smiling sadly, Yayoi stared off into the city.
"One, two, three, woah~" Yayoi squealed as her father threw her into the air before catching her, "One, two, three, woah~" She laughed louder as her father repeated the process her mother happily staring at her husband and daughter as the small family of three picnics on the beach.
"We were a happy family, a close family, until..."
Yayoi heard the sound of glass breaking, looking up from her drawing on the bedroom floor she sat on. A small five-year-old Yayoi running from her small bedroom to check on her mother. "Mami...?" She stopped outside their small home's kitchen, her mother's face pale and running with tears as a broken plate laid beside her, their home's landline receiver on the ground. "Mami... What's wrong?"
"My father... was a sickly man. He didn't have the best constitution and was prone to getting sick a lot. That was actually how they met, him being a patient of our family's clinic..." Yayoi smiled bitterly as she looked down at the passersby down below.
A small Yayoi watched as her mother wailed and cried by her father's side, his face covered by a white cloth. "We're sorry." The doctor quietly muttered, "It seems he had caught a cold that had turned into pneumonia. We tried everything we could."
"My father got sick one day, and passed away..."
"Mami...?" Yayoi stared at her mother longly, the woman's eyes almost seeming permanently stained with silent tears as she quietly stared at the shrine for her late husband.
The house was cold and unkempt, young Yayoi scared and unsure. Their happy home and family were no more.
Bitterly, Yayoi's hands clutched the album close to her chest, "For a time... my mother was... ill... she wasn't all there really... if she wasn't crying and struggling to take care of me... She-"
Yayoi frowned as her mother cuddled her close, "Oh look at you!" Reina cooed, "You look so handsome, just like your papa Yayoi-chan. Do you like it?"
Yayoi frowned at this, staring at the male yukata her mother had made her. Yet as she looked up at her mother's green eyes, she almost whimpered as she noticed the trance-like state her mother was in as she looked down at her. Yayoi's head dropped down as she quietly lied to her, "Yes..."
"She struggled for a time... Since I was small, I'd always resembled my father... I think... back then... to cope... Something broke in her... and she tried pushing the image of my father... on me."
"Yayoi~" Reina cooed while gesturing for her daughter to come close. "Here~" She put a small hair clip into her daughter's hair to push her bangs away from her daughter's eyes. "There, much better. Wouldn't want my little girl to trip and fall."
"From time to time I wasn't her little girl... I was her little boy..."
"When you grow up. I just know you'll be as beautiful as your papa." Reina joyfully smiled, her daughter now dressed in boy clothes clutching tightly to the shorts she wore as she struggled to not cry at the trance-like look her mother gazed at her with.
"I didn't like what my mother was doing. I loved my father... as a child I might have even wanted to be like him as I grew up... He was my idol, my hero, but..." She was silent for a second before she wet her lips. "I was still a girl. I still liked what other girls liked. It hurt when a part of me was being denied, it confused me to all hell. I didn't mind playing with boys' stuff or even dressing like one here and there... but... The longer my mother had episodes, the harder it became... for me to accept them when another part of me was being pushed aside."
"Yayoi!" Yayoi shrieked, dropping her mother's lipstick. She'd been left alone at home as her mother worked as a waitress at a small tea shop nearby during her school hours. Her mother had seemed to be out later, and Yayoi was curious about the make-up her mother used to paint her face. She thought to play with the cosmetics the same way she'd seen her mother do so. She was in awe of the bright shadows, and beautiful blushes, but the lips sticks themselves made Yayoi squirm in place as she tried to mimic her mother by applying the crimson color. "What are you doing?"
Looking up at her wide-eyed Yayoi starred in fear as she saw her mother frowning down at her. "I-I..." She struggled to stutter out seeing the familiar unfocused look in her mother's eyes as she shook and tears built up in the corner of her eyes. "I just-"
"That isn't a toy!" Her mother snapped, snatching the offending lipstick from her child's hand, "Boy's shouldn't play with makeup!" Her mother yelled and Yayoi's eyes went wide as something seemed to snap inside her.
"But I'm not a boy! Yayoi-chan is a girl! Why do I have to be like Papi, why can't I be like ma-"
Smack
Yayoi's face snapped to the side, eyes wide as tears slowly began to form in her eyes as her pale freckled cheek slowly burned red from her mother's slap. Slowly, the realization set in, and Yayoi whimpered loudly, before finally opening her mouth wide as she began to cry. "Wa...WAAAAH~! AHHHH!" She loudly sobbed and cried, her mother snapping out of her trance as she realized what she had just done and said.
"Yayoi!" Reina fell to her knees, hands reaching out for her child, "I-" Yayoi cried louder, crawling away from her mother. Reina's heart broke, her gaze looking around her and her daughters' shared room, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she noticed the unkempt state of the room. The lack of her daughter's old drawings, the abandonment of toys from when her husband still lived, the shrine of her husband covered in dust and unattended outside the odd pieces of candy Yayoi had offered as offerings, specifically the candy cigarettes Yayoi enjoyed with her father.
"AHHH! I HATE YOU!" Yayoi cried, "I HATE MAMI! I WANT PAPI!" Yayoi loudly wailed, hands flying to her face as snot and tears ran down her face.
Reina sobbed at this, jumping to pull her wailing daughter close as she cried into her hair. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Mami is so sorry! I'm sorry!"
Wind blowing between the two neither Mikey or Yayoi spoke a word to one another as Yayoi tried to think of what to say next. "She wasn't a bad mother... She was hurt... And in turn, she'd hurt me. When my mother realized just how ill she'd become... She tried to do right by me."
"Reina..?" Yayoi's grandmother stared wide-eyed at her long-missing daughter, "REINA!" She cried running and pulling the tired Reina close. Yayoi silently looked between the strange woman, and her mother as Reina broke down in her mother's arms.
"Mama!"
"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD US!" Yayoi flinched at the loud yell from inside the room she sat curled up outside of, clutching tightly at the stuffed teddy bear she held onto. "How could you just run away! We would have supported you, did you really think us so cold we would not still love and accept you and your child!"
"Mi Amour, please-"
"No Juan! This is not okay, seven years. Our child, she-"
"She brought me to Tokyo, to meet my grandparents..." Yayoi recounted, "Nana was mad and hurt, but my Abuelo he... He was always the softer one between the two of them... So he'd helped smooth things over the best he could."
"Stay right there." Yayoi watched as her grandfather set up a few fireworks, watching as he lit them up before quickly moving back to her side. "Cover your ears." He grinned and she quickly did as she was told, watching as her grandfather's work went off.
Her eyes sparkled with awe at this, her mother quietly smiling and watching from a distance as her father bonded with his granddaughter.
"And then..." Yayoi's eyes drooped as her grandmother read her to sleep. Quietly Reina watched from the bedroom door, smiling solemnly as she stared at the two.
"... She made sure I was fine with them... Before leaving to get help..."
"Do you like it here with your grandparents?" Reina asked as she brushed a young Yayoi's hair out of her eyes.
"Uhuh..." Yayoi shyly nodded, as her mother smiled at her. "... Do you like it here to Mami?"
Reina smiled solemnly, "Yes... I do... I've missed being home. It's... Nice to not have to be alone right?"
Yayoi smiled at her mother as she curled onto her side towards her, "Uhuh! I wish... I wish Papi could have been here with us..." She nervously admitted, unsure if this would set off her mother.
Reina's eyes misted with unshed tears, "... I wish he was here too." Kissing her daughter on the forehead Reina whispered to the small girl. "Yayoi."
"Hmm..."
"I... I'm so sorry... mami was bad, mami was... was..."
"Sad?" Yayoi asked as Reina struggled not to cry. "Nana said... That was why you weren't... you..."
Reina's voice cracked as she held her daughter close, "Yeah... mami... mami was really sad... Yayoi I–"
"I'm sad too." Yayoi quietly admitted curling up to her mother more, making the woman freeze up. "I miss Papi..."
Reina sobbed, holding her daughter closer. "I know... I miss him too... I'm sorry I—" She kissed her head one last time, "I promise... Mami is never, ever, gonna hurt you like that again. Mami loves Yayoi-chan just the way you are, boy or girl. All I want, all your Papi and I ever wanted was for you to be you and happy. I should have never lost sight of that..." Yayoi sleepily nodded, cuddling closer into her mother's warmth.
"It's okay... I... I forgiv-" She fell asleep, and her mother mournfully tucked her in.
"She lied." Yayoi bitterly laughed, "Never hurt me like that again... The next morning she was gone... My grandparents explained it as her needing help, her needing to find herself outside me and my dad, and redeem herself for her sins against me. What utter bull shit..." Yayoi scoffed. "..." Her eyes softened as she remembered the feeling of abandonment she felt with her mother's sudden departure. "She left me... And while she came back in the end, it was years before she did, and the damage she did far from stopped just cause she left..."
Walking silently to school, Yayoi paused as she noticed a small group of housewives gossiping with one another.
"Poor Shimizu... Having her own bastard of a granddaughter dropped on her."
"It's her own fault for marrying a foreigner. Just look at the daughter they had, running away, dropping school, and then coming back with a bastard child just to leave with them to raise. Ha! I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't just spreading her legs now and–."
Yayoi closed her eyes shut tight and ran past the group of women.
It was no better at school.
"Hey!" Yayoi quietly looked up at a particularly smug-looking pair of kids. "Is it true? Is it true?" Yayoi frowned at this, as the kids laughed. "Is it true your mom abandoned you?" Yayoi's hands tightened into fists at this but she refused to say anything.
"I was such a dumb kid..." Yayoi reminisced. "I was bullied... but that was all I noticed."
"I heard my mom say, they don't even know who her dad is."
The bullying began when she refused to react. It always came from the same small group.
"My mom said her mom's loose."
"Do you think she's okay?" A seat neighbor whispered not far from Yayoi.
Thumbtack in her shoes.
"Look at her hair!"
"Shimizu-chan's hair is kinda pretty." One girl gushed as they played outside. "It looks really soft."
Notebooks thrown in the girl's bathroom sink.
"Those freckles are gross."
"They look like little specks of stars, are they real?"
Being tripped as she walked to her seat.
"What's with that accent? Hahaha, she can't even speak good Japanese!"
"I think the way she talks is really cute!"
Yayoi took it all and refused to fight.
"Even her own mom didn't love her."
"Her grandparents sound so cool! Did you know her grandpa makes fireworks!"
"Why can't Nozo and her friends stop?"
Her mother's leaving hurt her more than anything ever had. Her father's death was crushing but she'd thought she'd be fine so long as she still had her mother...
'I wish...' She silently cried one night in her room, 'I wish you never died papa. I want to be with you again!' She'd thought. 'I miss...'
She missed her father.
She missed her mother.
She missed their home in Okinawa.
She missed the simpler days where she wasn't bullied.
She missed the days where she didn't feel so alone or abandoned.
"I was scared." Yayoi admitted leaning against the roof's railing, "Scared of getting close, scared of being hurt and abandoned. I was bullied for sure, but that was all I noticed. There were nice people too... But my hurt blinded me to it." She pushed back from the railing. "My grandparents knew this, and they struggled to connect with me... They feared pushing me only for me to shut down... So they didn't... and I was alone for a while." She closed her eyes enjoying the night breeze to sweep over her, "All alone... That was until..."
"Shut up!" She'd snapped finally one day after school, unable to take the bullying anymore. "Leave me alone! What did I ever do to you! Why can't you leave me alone!"
She couldn't remember why she snapped, this group of kids were the ones she usually had to lag behind or walk ahead of when going home. But they were the major instigators, she could remember that. Something was said, something was done, and she snapped at them finally.
She was on the ground next thing she knew, pinned by the two boys as the girls giggled and laughed grabbing at her red hair. "It's so icky!"
"Real ugly!"
"Ne, ne, Baka-Shizu." A girl snickered, "Want a haircut?"
Yayoi's eyes became wide and her eyes filled with tears, struggling to push the kids off her. "Lemme go!"
Snip
Snip
Snip
"She came." Mikey seemed to finish for Yayoi, realizing where the tale was partially going as the woman smiled nostalgically.
"Mm-hmm."
The main girl who chopped at Yayoi's hair laughed, pulling away. She looked down at Yayoi's messily cut hair and laughed. "Now you look like a boy!"
"She's even uglier!" Her friends laughed, and Yayoi shook in the laughing boy's hold as she quietly cried.
'No...' She whimpered, mind flashing to how that was the one thing, the one thing her mother had never taken from her even as she had her episodes. One of the one things her father gushed and praised her for at all times while he still lived, the way he'd do her and her mother's hair for festivals while she'd fight with her mother to do his. '... Papa.' Silent tears ran down her face.
Suddenly a bright purple backpack came flying from nowhere slamming into the scissor-wielding girl's face, with a loud.
WHAP
"KYAH!"
"Rika-chan!"
"Huh?!"
The boys' hold on Yayoi loosened and the sound of rapid footsteps approached from behind her, barely looking back. Yayoi's eyes went wide, as a small curly pigtailed girl with black hair flew by in a flying kick, hitting one of them down to the ground. Before she picked up a handful of dirt from the park ground and threw it into one of the other girls' eyes.
"AH!"
"NOZO-CHAN!"
"You–" The other boy froze in shock, shrieking as Yayoi stared up in shock at her dark-haired savior as she glared venomously at the boy. She stomped her foot menacingly towards the boy's direction and he screamed in fear, letting go of Yayoi's other arm as he tried to crawl away.
"Ha..Ha... HANAGAKI MEIKO!" The boy screamed in fear, as the pigtailed girl glared down at the boy unimpressed.
"What... are you jerks doing?" Meiko growled, looking towards the other girl she had not touched. The girl shrieked, shaking in place.
"We... we..."
Meiko's hands coming up to crack her fist, as she mockingly said. "We... we... Shut up!" The uninjured pair screamed, "I'll tell you what you were doing! You were harassing poor Yai-chan!"
'Ya... Yai-chan?' Yayoi's head tilted in confusion and shock.
"You scum." She heard the boy she kicked in the face groan and stomped harshly on his back making him scream. "You trash! Picking on the weak! I hate bullies like you!" She harshly grabbed the boy by the back of his school back and shoved him towards the girl she'd blinded making the girl scream. "It's people like you!" She shook where she stood, "Who really... Piss me off!" She shouted in broken English pushing her hoodie sleeve up, "You have five seconds to apologize and get lost and never bother Yai-chan again!"
'Huh?' Yayoi gapped, 'Is she serious?'
"If you don't." She cracked her knuckles, "Well... you can't say I didn't warn you... One!"
'She can't be–"
"Two!"
'I don't even know this girl–'
"THREE!" Meiko stomped her foot as the small group of bullies scrambled to get to their feet.
'Why is she–'
"FIVE!" She skipped four, winding up her fist as she prepared to hit one of the bullies only for the group to burst into tears crying and screaming as they ran yelling.
"We're sorry!"
"Don't hurt me!"
"MOMMY!"
"Apparently back then..." Yayoi laughed softly, "Meiko was known as the Chibi Komainu around our elementary school. She was known for getting into fights with bullies, and in particular, was fiercely protective of Takemichi-kun and Takuya-kun. We weren't in the same class back then, so she didn't know about the bullying happening to me, and since I was new... It took her a while to hear about it." Yayoi recounted fondly, "But when she found out this was happening, and that the teachers had done nothing to stop it yet..."
"YEAH, YOU BETTER RUN!" Young Meiko shouted, waving her fist, "NEXT TIME I'LL MAKE YOU PEE YOUR DUMB PANTS OFF!"
'Wha... what just happened?' Yayoi wondered as suddenly she froze up in fear, as Meiko's bright blue eyes snapped towards her. "Eap!"
Meiko's angry pout vanished, and her eyes softened as she got down on her knees. "Are you okay?" Her hands hovered around Yayoi's frozen form, "Ah! You're hair! There was so much! Ohhhh! Those bastards! How could they!" Meiko raged, before looking at Yayoi guiltily. "I'm so sorry! I should have gotten here sooner, but I had to tell my brother to go home without me, and then I almost got lost while trying to tail you guys to see if you were really getting bullied."
'What is she a stalker?!' Yayoi gapped, doing her best to lean away from Meiko even as the girl seemed to do nothing but invade her personal space without a care. 'Why would she even–' Shaking her head Yayoi slapped Meiko's hands away. "Get away from me!"
Meiko stared at the girl for a good few seconds, "You're crying..." She muttered, and Yayoi's face became red as she tried pushing the girl away harshly.
"I said go away!" She tried curling into herself, "Leave me alone." Yayoi sobbed, "I wanna be alone."
Meiko frowned at this, "That's sad... Why do you want to be alone?"
Clutching tightly onto the album in her arms, Yayoi whispered. "I was scared." She quietly admitted, "So scared to accept others into my life... So scared to be left behind... I convinced myself... It was better to suffer alone..." A silent tear ran down her face.
Snip
Snip
Yayoi sniffled, hearing the sounds of scissors cutting, looking up and she froze at what she saw.
Holding up her pigtail, Meiko struggled to cut through the hair. "Stupid... Safety... Scissors..."
Yayoi gapped at the girl quietly confused at what she saw, "Wh... what are you— Why?"
Looking away from the hair she was cutting, Meiko looked at the girl smiling brightly as she said. "So you're not alone."
Yayoi's eyes became wide.
Snip~
"Ah! I got it!" Meiko dropped the cut-off tail, pulling her hair tie out before moving to the next one. "Now the other–"
"Stop!" Yayoi threw herself towards the girl and froze as the other pigtail was more easily cut through. "Ah–"
"..." Meiko blinked a few times before smiling, "Whoa! That one was actually easier, thanks Yai-chan!"
Staring down at the mix of black and red chopped off hair, Yayoi's eyes slowly went back up towards the smiling Meiko. "Yai...-chan?"
"It's my nickname for ya!" Meiko proudly nodded, "I heard you're new and haven't been able to make a lotta friends in your class." She frowned, puffing up her cheeks, "And then of course there were those bullies... Hmph." She shook her head, "So I thought, hey! Why don't I come in, and help!" She grinned, flexing her arm proudly. "I'm pretty strong if I say so myself, so I thought– I'm gonna help Yai-chan, and be your friend."
'Friend...' Yayoi thought before bitterly looking away, "No thanks... I don't... I don't want friends."
Meiko stared at the girl in shock before puffing up her cheeks. "Denied!" She shouted, making Yayoi turn to her in shock.
"Huh?"
"I said, I deny your rejection!"
Yayoi blinked at her a few times, "... Huh! What do you mean you deny my rejection, you can't do that!"
"I just did!" Meiko stubbornly huffed, crossing her arms.
"Are you insane?"
Laughing to herself in the future, Yayoi looked to Mikey, "She was crazy even back then, stubborn, crazy..." She looked to the sky, "And loyal and determined beyond all belief."
"Yai-chan! Good morning!" Meiko shouted waving to the red-haired girl outside their school.
Bam
The whole class jumped as their classroom door slammed open. Popping her head in Meiko began to energetically wave at Yayoi, "Yai-chan! Let's have lunch together!"
"Hanagaki-san! Why are you out of your class!"
"Opps..."
"Don't just opps me! How did your teacher–"
"Granted she was a lot more wild back then, final year of elementary school and all. But she was determined..."
"Why won't you leave me alone...?" Yayoi whispered one day, as the pair sat in the shade during a sports festival.
Meiko hummed to herself, looking over to her crying brother. Watching as their mother was the only one of their parents to attend the event tried to tend to hurt the boy. "Cause it hurts..." Yayoi slowly looked up from her crossed arms at the girl. "It hurts being alone..." Looking down at Yayoi, Meiko smiled sadly, "At least... that's what I thought when I saw your eyes."
"She pushed... cause no one else did," Yayoi whispered. "She pushed... and it got harder and harder... to not see that I wasn't alone."
"Oh my!" Yayoi's grandmother exclaimed, seeing her granddaughter's chopped hair. "Yayoi, what happened?"
BAM
Yayoi jumped as she watched her grandmother growl at the school's principal and teacher. "I demand you do something! Look at my granddaughter! How could you have allowed things to reach such extremes."
"Well, what do you think? It's nice, si." Her grandfather smiled down at her as he showed her his shop. "Want to help your abuelo plan some fireworks?"
"Sensei! Sensei! Nozo-chan just stole Shimizu's pencil case!"
"Huh?! I did not! This is mine." The girl tried to lie as Yayoi stared wide-eyed as some of her classmates tried taking back the new pencil case she'd gotten.
"Yeah huh, I saw her do it!"
"Me too!"
Walking out of class, Yayoi stopped as she noticed Meiko lightly scolding her pouting little brother before noticing her. "Ah! Yai-chan! Hey! Wanna hang out with me and Michi? Ne ne, Michi! This is the friend I was telling you about, see? We both got short hair to prove it too." Meiko grinned at her confused little brother, as the still dark-haired boy looked between the two girls curiously.
"Um... I still don't get why having short hair would make you friends."
"Dummy! I told you it was so Yai-chan wouldn't feel alone." Meiko hissed at the boy pinching his arm.
"Ah! Hey, that hurt."
"Oh, cry me a river! It wasn't that bad."
Yayoi stared at the now short-haired girl, lips trembling; she struggled to smile back instead, walking up to the two siblings and shyly grabbing onto the slightly shorter girl's sleeve. "A.. Ah..." Opening and closing her mouth as her cheeks became flushed, "...I..." She stopped, feeling a gentle hand on her head. She blinked a few times as she looked up to see Meiko smiling at her as she rubbed her head.
"Eheh, It's okay, it's okay. I understand, Yai-chan."
Yayoi stared up at her in awe, smiling shyly as she let Meiko take her hand into hers.
July 20th, 2017 Mikey
"Is there a point to this story..." Mikey coldly cut in, as Yayoi simply pulled out a small photo from the album to hold out to him.
"The point is... That I understand you're in pain... Your friends... understand you're in pain..." The picture was of Toman's founders, making Mikey's eyes narrow in frustration. "So–" She stopped as the collar of her shirt was harshly grabbed by him, "Ga–" She paled, as she was met with the deathly dark stare in his eyes.
"Do you wanna die?" He almost seemed to hiss, as he stared into Yayoi's terror-filled orbs. "None of you–"
"MIKEY!" A long silver-lilac-haired male called out, as he stepped onto the roof. His lavender eyes widening as he notices the scene before him. Most notably the look in the male's eyes as he tightly held onto Yayoi's collar. "Mikey..." The man began to cautiously walk onto the rooftop.
"What are you doing here Mitsuya..." Mikey coldly asked, not even redirecting his gaze towards the dragon tattooed male.
The adult Mitsuya looked between Mikey and the frozen Yayoi. Wetting his lips before he spoke, "I got a call from Yayoi... Mikey, Kisaki's on the move." At this, he quickly and harshly released Yayoi's collar with a shove.
Yayoi coughed a few times while holding her throat.
Mikey's dark gaze became even more grim and fierce as he looked over at the male, "Where?"
"... Yokohama. Least that's what our intel says–" Mitsuya stopped as the male calmly yet quickly walked past him on a warpath.
"Call the others." Mikey coldly ordered, neither looking back as he heard Yayoi fall to her knees or even how Mitsuya turned to run to her side. He had only thought on his mind, "Kisaki Tetta..." He almost growled.
The image of Meiko's smiling face as she held up the ultra-sound of their unborn child flashed through his mind.
His sister Emma's last smile to him as she all but died in his arms.
Baji's fallen body, his killer's blood on Mikey's hand as he killed him, and finally...
"NO!" He stared in shock, at the scene before him. His sister, wailing on the hospital floor. Meiko barely catching the girl as she collapsed crying with her, the members of Toman by his side all bursting into their own shock, rage, or tears as the words repeated in his mind. "No! Draken! Draken!"
"We're sorry... but it was too late. Ryuguji Ken is–"
"I will kill you!" The murderous impulse runs through his veins at full force, nothing would stop him from getting his revenge.