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═══ THE GAME CONTINUES ═══
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A WHOLE WEEK PASSED BY until Akiko saw Baji and Chifuyu again. She spotted them sitting outside a convenience store, sharing a portion of peyoung yakisoba. At the mere sight of food, her stomach growled. Ever since the incident, Mr. Hoshino had kept her on a tight leash. It was horrible, just being in his presence, with those black eyes following her every move. And her mother, as always, did nothing to interfere. Akiko even skipped dinner and breakfast to escape them. Hence why she was starving.
Baji was the first to notice Akiko. He smirked and waved, resulting in Chifuyu following his gaze. He also smiled and waved her over. Hesitant at first, Akiko slowly made her way toward them.
"Hey," she mumbled.
While Baji felt no shame in eagerly finishing his portion of the peyoung yakisoba, Chifuyu found himself taking in every detail of Akiko's face. He noticed how pale she looked, and her eyes were dull.
"Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Akiko was confused for a second before she fully registered the question — she blamed the hunger for dimming her focus. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," noted Baji, wiping his mouth.
"When was the last time you ate something?" Chifuyu inquired. Something about his green eyes made her forgot how to lie.
"Uhm ... maybe during lunch break ... yesterday ... ?"
For some reason, Akiko felt a pang of guilt in her chest at the worried expression etched onto Chifuyu's face. They were still mere strangers to one another. It didn't feel right to have him worry like that.
"Here, you can have my peyoung yakisoba," Chifuyu offered.
With a shake of her head, Akiko softly declined his offer. "I can't ask you to give your food to me."
"Good thing you didn't ask," Baji interjected. Taking the food out of Chifuyu's grip, he forced it into Akiko's hands and pushed her onto the bench between himself and Chifuyu. "Eat or we'll feed it to you."
"But —"
"Baji never makes a promise he doesn't intend to keep. You should take his word for it," adviced Chifuyu, grinning.
Akiko sighed. "Fine."
Even though she made it look like she wasn't enjoying it, Akiko had to force herself to eat slowly. She was starved to the point she wanted to finish the peyoung yakisoba in one big bite.
"See? That wasn't so hard," Chifuyu said after Akiko was done.
Baji stood up, stretched his legs and threw away the empty food container. Mischief glistened in his eyes.
"Care for a ride?"
At the side of the road, two familiar bikes were parked. When Baji gestured toward them, Akiko widened her eyes and shook her head furiously. Her legs had felt like jelly the last time she rode on Chifuyu's bike. This time, she might throw up.
"We'll even go slow for you," promised Chifuyu and gave his best puppy dog eyes.
Finding herself unable to resist — she was a sucker for his eyes even when he wasn't trying to be cute — Akiko agreed. In the next second, Baji had pulled her up, slung an arm around her shoulders and dragged her toward their motorcycles.
"Hey, uhm ...," she trailed off, unsure if she should ask. "Has there been any news on Moebius?"
"You don't need to worry about them," assured Chifuyu, appearing on her other side. "They're just trying to vex Mikey. Ever since we had a conflict with them some months ago, they've been trying to engage him in a fight."
'There it was again. That name. Mikey. Baji had mentioned him the other day. Was he the leader of their gang? What was their gang even called?'
With a quick shake of her head, Akiko forced those thoughts to the back of her mind. An echo of her father's words rang in her ears. Not wanting to give her father any more reason to doubt her, Akiko slipped out of Baji's grip and stepped back.
"This isn't a good idea," she voiced her thoughts. "My father would kill me if he saw me hanging around you guys."
"What's his deal?" Baji asked, followed by an eye roll.
"If only I knew," Akiko mumbled under her breath. "He was never fond of gangs. I have no idea why. My guess is that he doesn't want any gang relations to ruin his reputation." Now it was Akiko's turn to roll her eyes.
"He sounds like a right dickhead to me," Baji stated boldy, swinging one leg over his motorcycle. "Now, hop on."
Akiko stared at him dumbfounded. "Didn't you hear me?"
"I did. I just don't give a rat's ass about it."
Suddenly, Akiko was lifted off the ground and seated on Chifuyu's bike. The boy himself smiled guiltily before he mounted the motorcycle and started the engine. Hastily, Akiko clung onto Chifuyu, wrapping her arms securely around his waist, in fear she would fall of. A moment later, they sped down the road.
"YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO GET ME INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE!" she yelled over the loud humming of the engines.
"AND YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO LIVE A LITTLE," Baji retorted, throwing a glance over his shoulder, hair whipping around his face. "YOU CAN THANK US LATER!"
Akiko cursed under her breath when they raced into a curve and she squeezed her eyes shut. Heart racing, she tightened her grip on Chifuyu. Unbeknownst to her, the blond was blushung heavily from the close proximity.
What they also failed to notice was the leopard print bike following them.
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──── ˚✩ ༘*ೄ˚ ────
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MUSASHI SHRINE WAS UP AHEAD as Baji and Chifuyu slowed down their bikes. Right away, Akiko slipped off and stumbled slightly, grateful to have solid ground beneath her feet again.
"I hate you guys."
Baji gave another boisterous laugh. "Nah, you love us. You just don't know it yet."
"Care to enlightening me on what we're doing at a shrine?"
Chifuyu jumped in to answer. "This is Toman's meeting place. Mikey called us here to discuss about Moebius."
At the prospect of being faced with a whole gang instead of just those two delinquents, Akiko drew in a sharp breath. If Mr. Hoshino found out about this, nothing good would come of it.
"Why did you bring me here?" She glared at the boys accusingly.
"She has a point, Baji-san," Chifuyu admitted, scratching the back of his neck. He had been eager to see Akiko again, she had left an impression on him. But thinking about it, it really was a terrible idea to drag her further into the gang's business.
"Hold on," Akiko held up a hand, the name Toman sounding familiar to her. "Did you say Toman? As in Tokyo Manji Gang?"
A proud smile adorned Baji's face. "Damn right."
"I thought you were part of a small gang! Not one of the influential ones!"
Pulling at her hair, Akiko began pacing the parking lot, earning herself questionable glances from Chifuyu and Baji.
"Father is going to kill me!"
Then, stopping abruptly, she turned to Chifuyu. "Take me back. Now."
"Calm down. You're safe with us," Baji claimed.
Akiko glared daggers at him. "Calm down?! You haven't met my father! Clearly, you don't know anything about the Hoshino family!"
Their little banter was interrupted by footsteps approaching fast. Everything that followed happened in the blink of an eye. A foot collided with the side of Baji's head, kicking the boy down. Next, a fist made contact with Chifuyu's face, and with a groan of pain he joined Baji on the ground.
"Oh my! When I offered little Akiko as a trophy, I didn't expect you to grow attached to her," chuckled Hanma, barely out of breath. His golden eyes were screaming crazy, reflecting his insanity. And suddenly, they were staring straight at her.
Akiko's first instinct was to run, but Hanma was one step ahead. Hands grabbed her from behind, holding her firmly in place. With slow strides, Hanma approached her and smirked at her obvious discomfort.
"When I chose you," he said, close to her face, "I didn't think you would be this valuable. You got Toman's first division captain and vice-captain wrapped around your finger and you're a Hoshino. I wonder how much money daddy would pay to get you back."
Stomach turned upside down, Akiko failed to contain the humorless laugh emitting from her throat, partly to mask the sadness weighing down her heart. She met Hanma's eyes.
"Not a single dime."
Hanma grinned nevertheless. "The black sheep in the family, I assume?"
"HANMA!" Baji yelled, absolutely furious. A little trickle of blood ran down the side of his face, whereas Chifuyu was wiping some from his nose. "I WARNED YOU!"
Both came at the tall brunette simultaneously. With combined forces they kept Hanma on his toes. All the while, Akiko fought against the other guy who still had a death grip on her. The bruises Hanma had given her had just begun to fade. She wasn't eager to earn some new ones.
"Let me go!" she growled. She could already feel her chest tightening with panic. Tears stung behind her eyes, but she was reluctant to let them fall.
'Don't show any weakness!'
Even as a little kid, whenever Akiko would shed a tear her father had scolded her. Not even as a kid was she allowed to be careless, to do whatever her heart desired. And with every passing day, her desire to break free grew stronger. One day she would escape his clutches.
When her attempt at breaking free proved utterly fruitless, Akiko sighed deeply and glanced toward the fight in full swing. Still, Baji and Chifuyu were coming at Hanma from both sides, yet the tall boy was fast and managed to dodge many of their blows, while also dealing out some kicks and punches of his own.
"Stop it!" Akiko begged. But when they ignored her, she had to do something.
'Ugh, damn it!'
With that thought in mind, Akiko swung her head back, hitting her captor in the face. For a few seconds, his grip loosened. The brunette took her chance and finally broke free. In a swift movement, she turned around, pulled her arm back and threw a punch at the guy's face. The element of surprise seemed to be on her side. Nonetheless, the punch hurt her hand more than it hurt the boy's face.
Anger had taken a hold of Akiko. Years of enduring the constant criticism and being pushed around. All of it had found a crack in her facade and escaped into the outside world. Akiko saw red. She punched and punched and punched. Even when the guy was down on the ground, she punched with tears streaming down her face.
She hated being weak.
"Akiko!"
Somewhere on the edge of consciousness, Akiko heard Chifuyu calling out to here.
"Stop it, Akiko!"
Blood coated her fists, warm and red, tainting her soft pale skin. As she breathed heavily, Akiko's sight was fixed on her hands. Slowly, she was returning back to normal and the realisation of what she had done hit her as though she had run into a brick wall. With a jerk she pulled herself away from the boy's bloodied face, staring in horror at what she had done.
Somewhere in the distance, a hoard of bikes rolled into sight. They approached fast, catching Hanma's attention. A little blood on his face, a couple bruises in several places, he couldn't have looked any more mad with his golden eyes sparkling as though this was absolutely thrilling to him.
"Guess we have to reschedule our date, boys!"
As fast as he had come, Hanma grabbed the other boy off the ground, hopped on his bike and sped off, disappearing around the next corner.