You hung your head low as you did the walk of shame, thankful that you still had your black hoodie and mask on. As that way, you still felt hidden despite the number of eyes pinned on you.
You could literally feel the heat of their stares and the hostility brewing in the air. You wanted to dig a hole and bury yourself in it right there and then.
"Spies?" You heard the delinquents whispering in disbelief.
"They need to be eliminated!"
Your eyes widened in horror. You didn't want to think of just howyou'd be eliminated.
"Let go of me!" Suzy shouted, kicking and flailing her arms at her captor.
"Quiet." The masked boy coolly demanded, his cold tone sending a chill to run down your spine.
As you arrived at the front where the leaders of Toman were standing with their motorcycles, you quickly cast your eyes to the floor, not even daring to risk a peek.
"Who are you guys?" Mikey asked, sitting on his motorcycle as if he was God, overseeing his subjects.
Suzy, who now had her hands restrained behind her by the masked boy, defiantly lifted her chin as she replied. "None of your business."
Mikey's lips curved upwards, "Are you really spies?"
Suzy scoffed, "Of course not."
"You've got nothing to be afraid of then. Why don't you tell us who you guys are?"
Suzy pursed her lips and remained stubborn. The rest of you remained silent too.
Mikey tilted his head to the side in contemplation, "Remove their masks."
The masked boy was already removing Suzy's mask despite her shouts of protest, and you let out a curse as you saw Matsuno, Baji and Draken approaching.
You desperately wanted to make a run for it, but as you looked around, you knew it would be futile. Toman was a big gang, boasting approximately 100 members and currently, they were all surrounding you and your friends like starved sharks. There was no room for escape. In other words, you guys were fucked.
"Let go of me!" Suzy shouted, swinging a fist at the masked blonde, only to have her hand caught by his.
It was just your luck that you had Matsuno of all people making a beeline for you. It made this whole ordeal even more mortifying since you knew him. You'd even rather that skyscraper Draken to be the one who unmasked you.
"Hold still," Matsuno said firmly yet gently, grabbing hold of your wrists to prevent you from running. Although his grip on your wrist was firm, you noticed that his touch was gentle and far from rough. You appreciated that he, at least was considerate despite the situation.
Your eyes widened as he went to remove your mask. Oh shit.He pulled the mask away from you, and if the situation weren't so dire you would've laughed your ass off when Matsuno did a double take, his head whipping around so fast you were surprised it didn't just snap off.
"L-L/n-san? What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion, looking around at your friends too.
"Chifuyu, you know these girls?" Mikey said. If he was confused as to why a group of girls had crashed his meeting, he didn't show it.
"Uhh, kinda. I don't know them very well, but we go to the same school." He answered hesitantly, sending you an apologetic look.
"Hey! You're that girl from the other day!" Baji suddenly remembered, pointing his finger at you in accusation.
You winced. Did he have to single you out like that?
"You must be mistaken!" You weakly interjected, nervously laughing.
He frowned, unsure but not fully convinced, as he took a closer look at you. "Hmm, now that you've said that you don't look...wait, I'm pretty sure..."
"Suzy!?" A guy with blonde hair and glasses called out as he stepped forward from the crowd and you instantly narrowed your eyes at him in disdain.
Suzy clenched her teeth, "Kisaki."
He frowned at her. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Kisaki," Mikey said, looking between you and your friends and Kisaki. "You know them?"
"She's my ex." He replied, directing his gaze at Suzy.
"And why is your ex here?"
"How the fu-" Kisaki quickly cleared his throat as he remembered he was talking to Mikey. "Uhm,I mean, I have no idea."
Kisaki turned to Suzy and asked again, "Why are you here?"
Suzy just stuck her tongue out at him.
Annoyed, Kisaki cursed under his breath and opened his mouth to snap back a retort, only to get interrupted by Mikey.
"Alright, enough," Mikey said firmly, his voice like a knife, cutting through the tension. His intense gaze focused on Suzy. "I'll give you one last chance. Who are you and what is your purpose of being here?"
Suzy's bravado was unravelling bit by bit, crumbling under the intensity of Mikey's stare as his soulless eyes bore into her. You sucked in a breath when you finally saw her falter and open her mouth to answer. It took a lot to unnerve Suzy so that certainly said a lot about the president of Tokyo Manji - he was not someone to be messed with.
"Alright, fine," Suzy grunted, letting out a deep sigh. "Like the asshole said," she looked over at Kisaki, who scowled at her in reply, "I'm his ex. You can call me Suzy. And they're my friends." She gestured to you, Yumi and Maki. "Annnd we're here because, if you haven't noticed, it's a public parking lot."
You couldn't help but snort, biting your bottom lip in an attempt to not burst out laughing. She was going to get you all killed. You glanced at Yumi and Maki who were doing the same. Suzy really was going to be the death of you all.
Suzy winced as the masked boy hardened his grip on her wrists in a warning.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Suzy bit back, shooting a murderous look at the boy behind her.
"Don't try to be such a smartass. It's not going to get you anywhere." The boy snapped.
"Well, don't be an asshole then. It's not going to get you anywhere either." She shot back.
Oh my god. Is she out of her mind? She's going to get herself killed!You internally sobbed.
"Sanzu," Mikey said, shaking his head.
"Sorry, boss," The boy, now identified as Sanzu replied. "I didn't like the way she was disrespecting you."
"I was literally just stating the truth-" Suzy suddenly stopped, plastering a big smile on her face as Mikey shot her a warning look.
"Hey, L/n-san," Matsuno whispered in your ear. "You should probably just tell Mikey the truth. Despite what everyone else says, he's actually quite nice - he'll understand."
You pulled a face. "Uhh, are you sure about that? He looks like he's about to murder someone!" You whispered back.
"Trust me!" Chifuyu replied in a pleading tone.
You knew Suzy was going to be stubborn to the end, no doubt resulting in all of you being wiped off the face of the earth, so you were left with no choice but to trust Chifuyu.
"If I die, you're paying for my funeral." You sighed.
"You sure you wanna die before knowing how Cloud 9 ends?"
"You did not just-" You gasped quietly, "And hey, who's fault is it that I can't read the latest volume?"
"Ahhh," Chifuyu rubbed his neck, looking at the floor in embarrassment. "Once again, L/n-san, I'm really reallysorry about that! I promise that I've been trying my best to find it. I've searched everywhere in my house, but I'll look again -"
You winced, not intending to upset him. "I was just joking, Matsuno-kun! Please don't take it to heart. I'm sure I can find another copy!"
"But-"
"I'm over it, trust me!" Lie.
Not convinced by your overly cheerful tone yet not wanting to push you, he nodded. "I'm still sorry, though."
"You're forgiven. Apologise anymore and I'll revoke my forgiveness."
Chifuyu let out a quiet laugh. "Gotcha."
"Alright, let's end this with your leader so that me and my friends can make it out of here alive."
You cleared your throat and straightened your stance to make yourself seem taller.
"H-Hey, Mikey!"
Mikey looked over at you, his brows raised. You gulped.
"You talking to me?"
"Yes. If I tell you everything, will you let us go?"
The blonde gang leader put a hand to his chin, thinking deeply. "Hmm...depends on what you say."
Motherfuck-
Nodding, you took a deep breath to calm yourself, "Fair enough."
"Y/n! Mfmgh-" Sanzu's hand covered Suzy's mouth much to her irritation.
You shot a small and quick wink at Suzy, reassuring her that you weren't going to betray the real reason why you guys were here. "Alright, to tell you the truth we were just admiring you guys from afar," You said, flashing Mikey a big toothy smile that you hoped looked convincing.
"We were just walking past the car park when we spotted your gang and we freaked out because we're massive fans of Toman!"
Mikey raised his brows, his facial expression unreadable.
You sweatdropped. Mikey did not look impressed at all.
"L/n-san," Chifuyu softly warned into your ear.
"Honestly! We've been fans of Toman since...forever!" You nodded fervently to your friends, who reluctantly, yet just as enthusiastically nodded in agreement.
You jerked your head in Mikey's direction, "Suzy, tell 'em,"
Without hesitation, Suzy started spouting random and trivial facts about each Toman member, ranging from Mikey's unmatched love for his towel (you were confused - as were many and Mikey punched Draken for laughing) to how Draken's dream was toto have a half motorcycle body (Draken punched Mikey back for laughing) to how Chifuyu likes reading Ai Yazawa's works.
The last fact made your eyes widen, "Wait, is that true!?" You whispered to him, your mouth agape.
He blushed, scratching the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah! I love Ai Yazawa's works. Nanaand Paradise Kissare my favourites."
Your jaw dropped and you fought the urge to squeal in excitement. "No way! They're my favourites, too! Matsuno Chifuyu, you have such good taste!"
"You really think so?" He replied, his face reddening even more if that was possible.
"Yes, for sure!" You grinned, nodding. "I didn't know you liked shoujo mangas!"
Chifuyu's face was serious yet his eyes sparkled with passion. "L/n-san, Ilove shoujo mangas!The way how love, relationships and youth are portrayed! The emotions they evoke-"
"Exactly!" you exclaimed, momentarily forgetting where you currently were. "The heartbreaks and longings — the angst! It all feels so real. You can literally feel the character's pain and can't help but feel for them."
His lips tugged into a delighted smile."Right? And also the cute little moments like holding hands or the shy glances whenever they think the other isn't watching."
You couldn't help but stare at his smile for a few seconds too long. It light up his whole face.It was the prettiest thing you've seen!
Blinking, you snapped out of it. "Oh my god, yes! And how one of them confesses something while the other is sleeping, but turns out they were awake the whole time!"
Chifuyu grinned, "Yeah! I usually end upscreaming at the pages for them to just get together already!"
You couldn't help but laugh softly. "To be completely honest, I never expected someone like you to be into shoujo manga."
A nervous chuckle escaped his lips as Chifuyu stammered over his next words. "Y-Yeah haha, it's not exactly delinquent material, is it?"
"I think it's cool," You reassured him, "In fact, it's making me like you even more."
Chifuyu's entire face and neck flushed strawberry red, "Wha-"
"Are you two seriously flirting right now?" Draken interrupted, his face intimidating and serious, though you swore you could hear a hint of amusement in his voice.
You and Chifuyu turned your attention back to the gang...to find them all staring.
Sure, there were times where it felt nice to be the centre of attention, but wasn't this a bit of an overkill!?