The rest of their weekend together was peaceful, aside from Kazutora attempting to make cookies and burning them to cinders. But within two weeks things changed, suddenly he was around less. At first she let it happen, didn't question him too much, figuring whatever he had going on with this gang of his he was trying to keep her away from. But today was different. As despite him not being in class all day she saw him, with two guys on crutches following him, come into school. She'd become curious and so doing what most girls in her situation may do, she went and found him. Quietly watching him as he spoke to two underclassmen girls about someone named Takemichi. He thanked them and he as well as his two broken legged companions made their way to a classroom. Only Kazutora entered though, with the two goonish looking guys on crutches remaining outside the classroom which allowed her no closer.
Rei cursed her luck and waited, slipping into a small alcove with vending machines doing her best to press herself against the wall in order to not be noticed if and when he came back this way. It only took a few minutes until she heard him step out of the classroom, talking to what she could only assume was Takemichi. "These are my most trusted kohai." She heard him say and felt curious, he trusted those guys? They were his kohai? Weird. But she continued to listen. "What happened to their legs?" An unknown voice, presumably Takemichi asked and Kazutoras response absolutely chilled her. "Oh, I broke them." Her stomach curled horribly at the thought, she tried not to let the mental imagery flow through her mind but it did regardless. She heard nothing beyond that her mind simply fixated on that statement. 'Oh, I broke them.' so casual, so unbothered, so…sociopathic. Eventually the group walked by her, Rei debated following them and made the choice to do so. Allowing them to get a bit ahead of her before she did. Even if he did notice her so long as they were on school grounds she could play it off as though she had just gotten out of class.
Luckily the guys on crutches seemed to slow their walking speed a bit. Rei couldn't help but to wonder who this Takemichi person was and why Kazutora had been trying to find him. It took awhile to reach the location, an old arcade that appeared abandoned. Rei knew without a doubt this was some kind of gang location and didn't dare to set foot inside. So instead she hid just outside, she'd wait for them to come out. However long it took, she needed answers and she still had none.
After a while of waiting she heard footsteps approaching her, Rei stood up and peeked out of her hiding place only to come face to face with some guy wearing a white jacket. "Oh? What the hell are you doing here sneaking around?" He asked, grabbing her by the hair causing her to yelp as she was dragged from her hiding place. "H-hey let me go!" She yelled and the guy laughed a bit, continuing to drag her along as she tried to get her feet under her so she wasn't entirely being dragged. "Not a chance in hell, you gotta be some kinda spy. We'll let the captain decide what to do with you." Reis' heart was going a mile a minute as she was dragged by the hair into the building. The first thing to hit her was the smell of cigarette smoke, oh how badly she wanted a smoke right now. The second thing was there were more people here than she would've thought, and all of them were dressed in white jackets with a headless angel emblazoned in black on the back. "Hey! Found this girl sneaking around outside!" She was lifted by the hair entirely off her feet, and she tried in vain to kick at the guy holding her.
She tried to get a look at her surroundings, in front of her was Shuji Hanma who was standing looking at the crowd of thugs. Not too far from him stood Kazutora and a blonde kid she presumed to be Takemichi, to her shock though Baji was here as well looking as though he'd just been in a fight knuckles bloody and bruised. No one said anything for a moment, she could feel all eyes on her but the ones she was most focused on were Shuji Hanmas. His golden gaze appraised her with a smile creeping across his face. "Please put the lady down Raido, while I appreciate your diligence, this isn't how we should treat women. Especially ones who are friends with our associates." The guy dropped her rather unceremoniously to the ground and Rei popped back up dusting herself off. "Rude, you could have at least set me on my feet." She grumbled dusting off her school uniform, all eyes were still on hers and she could feel Kazutora and Bajis absolutely burning through her. Oh she was so stupid for following him here. It was only then that she noted someone, battered and bloody, laying on the floor. Her stomach churned as she realized who it was, the guy from the convenience store, Chifuyu.
"So Hasegawa Rei, what brings you to Valhalla?" Shuji Hanma asked as he approached her and she felt chills once again run down her spine, she decided to answer honestly. "I was just following Kazutora, he's been ignoring me, I got worried...didn't really expect this. Though I suppose I should have." She stood with her hands held in front of her, staring straight at Hanma. She refused to take her eyes off of him even for a second. Hanma barked out a laugh, his grin widened so much she wondered if it might crack his skin. "Aren't you a loyal friend? Well then Kazutora what do you have to say about all this?" Hanma asked looking over at him, Rei also took the moment to look at him and boy did he look angry, Baji on the other hand merely looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Never would have thought she'd follow me here, didn't think she was stupid enough to do that." Rei shook her head looking away from him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Granted she'd had the exact same thought when she'd been dragged in here but to hear Kazutora say it stung. "Well now that she's here, what do you say, should we extend her an invitation to join? Afterall we just got one new member, why not make it two!" Hanma looked over at her with a smile, oh hell no. "Yeah no I'm good. I appreciate the offer and all but I really don't fuck with this whole gang shit. I just happen to have some stupid friends who do." She shot a pointed look at both Kazutora and Baji and she heard Hanma chuckle again. She returned her attention to him and he was a bit closer to her, Rei couldn't help but to again cast her glance to Chifuyu, she had to find a way to get him and herself out of here. "I find that hard to believe, considering who your mother was." Her head snapped back to Hanma, his face was entirely placid. Somehow the calm of his face was even more terrifying than the grin. "Hasegawa Akira, the Crimson Butterfly. Your mother was quite the force to be reckoned with back in the day wasn't she?" Rei felt her hands tighten around her arms which she still had crossed in front of her chest. Hanma had her full and undivided attention despite the murmurs running through the crowd of gangsters behind her. "Though she left the gang she was affiliated with, a little bit over seventeen years ago." Rei bit the inside of her cheek, she only knew very small details about her mom's time in the gang life. It was something she hadn't liked to speak on, though they'd spoken about it a few times. "No one really knew why, it was presumed due to a gang war that killed her close friend, but I think the answer is a bit deeper than that." The little curl of his lips was infuriating her, Rei could feel that anger bubbling up in her. "Don't talk about my mother." Her tone was clipped and cold, while she had been afraid before she wasn't anymore. She was furious, this man had researched her, knew things about her no one else did. To be on display for all these fuckers to see was infuriating. "I didn't know her personally but I know quite a good deal about her, and your father as well. You are the spitting image of Takahashi Shoto. Funny the child of a notorious gangster and a detective and you're just…an average school girl." Rei wanted to punch him, right across his smug ass face. She despised how much she looked like her father, the only trait she had from her mother was the color of her eyes. She knew she couldn't actually hit him though, if she did no doubt it wouldn't get far. She'd probably just step close to him and everyone in this room would be on her. If that happened she wondered if either of her so-called friends would come to her defense, Baji probably would. "Yeah I'm just an average school girl. Are you done going over my family tree? I'd like to be on my way. I'll be taking him with me as well." The room was dead silent, as though nobody was even breathing, or maybe she simply couldn't hear over the roar of her pulse in her ears. All she knew was she needed to get both herself and Chifuyu out of there. Hanma still looked totally chill, she couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing. "You're bold hmm? You're free to leave at any time, Rei. No one is going to hold you here." She nodded and stepped towards Chifuyu, in spite of her instincts she looked away from Hanma. Her focus was now on getting the guy in front of her out of here. She could worry about everything that had just happened later. No doubt Kazutora would be coming to find her. "Hey, are you conscious?" She asked, kneeling down and giving his shoulder a light shake, close up she realized his face was entirely worked over. Knowing that Baji did that made her stomach roll. Chifuyu nodded but said nothing and she grabbed him by the hand. Taking her cue he pulled and managed to stand himself up, noting he was a bit unsteady on his feet she threw his arm over her shoulder. "You should be more careful not to be caught sneaking about next time Rei Hasegawa." Hanma said with a smile and a wave in her direction, at which she rolled her eyes. Making the choice to not respond as she and Chifuyu made their way outside. In no way did she intend to have a next time. She passed right by Kazutora and Baji who were both staring at her, Kazutora still looked angry while Bajis expression was still entirely unreadable. She got the feeling they'd both have something to say to her later but right now she didn't care.
Once she'd managed to make her way outside the trek back to the school was a long one. But eventually they arrived and she managed to get her vans back door open and help Chifuyu inside. "I'll patch you up in a second ok? We're just gonna get outta here first." Without waiting for a response she started the van and drove out of the parking lot, she wasn't about to wait around for Kazutora to come find her. No doubt he would eventually she wasn't about to make it easy for him. She made her way to a large building that seemed quiet and had a few cars parked in the parking lot. Parking in the secluded corner of the lot she turned off the van and made her way into the back, removing her sunshades to allow her some light. She grabbed her first aid kit and got to work. Chifuyu was a good patient, not complaining even when she swapped his wounds with alcohol wipes. One of his eyes was swollen closed and the work was tedious as she had to clean the blood off his face in order to truly see the damage. "Keisuke worked you over pretty good huh?" She asked quietly and his one good eye met hers. "He had to, I was his test of faith." Rei nodded, despite not being involved in the gang life she knew in order to switch sides they needed to prove loyalty. Truly sever their ties with the other side, no doubt Chifuyu was someone close to Baji if he had been the one to be picked. "What you did back there was brave." Chifuyu commented and she laughed, the sound was hollow and empty. She hadn't been brave, she'd been angry and scared shitless. "Don't praise me. I was terrified, the anxiety will hit me eventually. I'm currently just functioning on autopilot." She said as she began pressing bandages onto his eye. Once that was done she grabbed her gauze and began wrapping his head. "Being brave isn't about not being scared. It's about being scared and doing it anyway." The words were kind, he seemed like a nice guy. Rei didn't say anything, just continued patching him up. "Baji said you guys were friends a long time ago. I guess you were friends with Kazutora too?" He asked and Rei sighed, she wasn't ready for these questions. "Are, we are friends. Even if they are stupid assholes." She put down the medical supplies, slowly putting them back in her kit and pulling out some pain medicine. "You should take one of these, I'll give you a few more. Just use them sparingly, they aren't Tylenol." She placed one into her hand, shaking out five more and putting them into the cellophane from her pack of smokes. Burning it closed before she handed it to him, Chifuyu dry swallowed the pill she had handed him. "Thanks. I appreciate it." He said tucking the cellophane into his pocket, Rei nodded she could feel the anxiety starting to hit her now. She didn't know what she was going to do when Kazutora found her, it was only a matter of time now. "You know Baji didn't actually join them right?" Chifuyu sounded so serious and her gaze flicked over to him. "Oh? Enlighten me, cuz it seems like he did. Considering what he did to your face." She scoffed, but at the same time she wanted to believe him. Chifuyu had clearly been around Baji in the period of time she had not been. He very well could know more than her so she listened.
The two talked for at least two hours, about Toman, Baji, and Kisaki. Rei in return talked about Kazutora and Baji, the years in which she had known the both of them. In the end she felt as though she had a better understanding of both Baji and what he was trying to do, as did Chifuyu. "So he's trying to not only stop Kisaki but save Kazutora as well." Rei nodded, she had come to the conclusion as well that was exactly what he was doing. The question was why was he doing it alone? "Keisukes' stubborn but I can't believe he'd try and do this all by himself. The idiot is going to get himself killed." She said, shaking her head, she needed to try and talk to him. Rei knew from experience she wouldn't change his mind. Keisuke was without doubt the most stubborn, charge headfirst through brick walls, human being she had ever met. But she at least had to try. "Listen I will do what I can do on my end. You should as well. See if maybe you being removed from the situation doesn't get you a bit more progress with Baji and Kazutora." Rei nodded, this wasn't going to be easy. Not at all, both of her friends were involved in shit that was beyond what she had expected. "Kazutora is going to be furious that I followed him. I think me doing what I did today is only going to make everything much,much harder." Chifuyu nodded in understanding, giving her shoulder a gentle but firm pat. It was the first time in a long time Rei felt as though she had an actual ally in all of this. "All you can do is be honest. You followed him cuz you love him right?" Her face turned bright red and she began to sputter. Had he seriously seen through her that easily? "How did you know?" She asked, feeling embarrassed he had seen through her so easily. Chifuyu laughed and immediately flinched, clearly laughing had hurt his head. "It's written all over your face, don't worry I'm not judging you. Just use that to your advantage. I don't know Kazutora, other than what you told me and what I've heard. But it sounds like he has a soft spot for you. Use it." Rei nodded, she felt bad exploiting his emotions like that but clearly she had no choice. "Alright team save the dumbasses is now unified. Let's exchange contact information, that way we can talk if need be." The pair exchanged numbers and Rei brought Chifuyu home once she was once again by herself she checked the missed calls she had swiped away when she'd taken down his number. '50 Missed Calls Tora' she also noted a few voicemails, her heart lurched but she drove and put the phone to her ear in order to listen to them. 'What the fuck Rei?! What the hell were you thinking?! You absolute fucking idiot!' the first voicemail ended and moved onto the next. 'I can't believe you, I can't believe you'd follow me. I can't believe you'd put yourself in danger like this! After All the time I spent trying to protect you?!' His voice was angry, the angriest she had ever heard him. Practically screaming into his phone. Yet a third voicemail. 'You're seriously going to dodge my calls now?! First smart fucking thing you've done today!' ouch now that stung, it was also worrying. 'I'm going to find you eventually. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do when I find you aren't just going to run away and hide from me. I don't care if I spend all night looking.' Rei sighed, she made the choice to go to his apartment, if he was out looking for her presumably his own apartment would be the last place he would think to look. Hopefully he would exhaust some of his rage by then. She turned up her music hoping to drown out her own thoughts.
Please stop calling
You've been dishonest
I've been through enough
Two face promise
Scars and traumas
You put me through enough
Yeah I've been through, through
Enough with you.