Tmr is my first day of school. Back to the kitchen I go (。_。)
BUT HEY!! I might make a cake for Kazutora's birthday!!
[my cake where?]
~·~·~·~
For the past two weeks, you hadn't put on your disguise as Kashi. You were with Baji's mother during the mourning, some Toman members came and paid their respects. Draken and Mikey had personally come to apologize on the first day.
But she didn't hold any resentment towards anyone. In fact... she just comforted everyone. Keisuke was like his mother, wild personality and most of all, loyal and loving. Keisuke got most of his traits from her.
"Thank you for staying with me, (Y/N)-chan." she said, kneeling by the shrine she placed inside Keisuke's room. "I'm sure that Kei's glad you stayed with him till the end..."
"....I hope he is." you put on a smile, looking at the grinning face of Keisuke in the picture. "I'll be going now, Kei."
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Chifuyu sniffled as he wiped his tears. It would be a bit shameful to meet up with their leader and the intelligence officer with tears, crying like a baby, and in front of their friend too.
Right after visiting Baji's grave, he was going to meet up with those two to discuss what their next course of action was going to be. This had to be discussed since he's the vice-captain of the first division. Without the captain, naturally, he'll take over. But he has other plans in mind...
"You know, Keisuke found a really good friend." Chifuyu quietly gasped, surprised by the presence beside him. "I'm sure Keisuke will love what you offered him, Chifuyu."
"...You're... that girl from before the fight!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at the girl sitting next to him. "You were the one with Baji-san! Who are you!?"
"Hehe, calm down. I'm not going to eat you." The unknown girl chuckled, standing up and offering a hand to Chifuyu. "My name is (L/N)(Y/N), I'm Baji Keisuke's childhood friend, and well, the rest of Toman's founders."
"A-ah... is that so..." Chifuyu suddenly felt embarrassment rush through him. Right in front of him stood such a cute girl and someone who knew him too. Baji must've talked about him with this... BAJI TALKED ABOUT HIM WITH SUCH A CUTE GIRL!?! "A-ah!! N-NICE TO MEET YOU!! I'm Matsuno Chifuyu! Nice to meet you!"
"I know." You chuckled awkwardly, not used to Chifuyu acting like an embarrassed twelve year old in front of his crush. "Right, I almost forgot. I'm also known by another name. A name you know." The boy blinked for a few moments in confusion trying to rack his brain. "I'm also known as Kashi."
Chifuyu froze up. His world seems to have stopped the moment you told him your identity. He seems to be still processing what you said. Was he going deaf? Was that his imagination? Or is he so depressed that his mind is making up so much bullshit?
"Is it that hard to believe?" You asked with a little laugh. Finding his reaction funny. He snapped out of his frozen state and gawked at you, he was determined something. "I'm a girl. Kashi is the identity I use whenever I'm with the gang, an identity Baji gave me. I wanted to tell you about it..."
"Kashi? Baji-san? (Y/N)?" Yep. This guy was a lost cause.
"Chifuyu, since you trusted him until the very end. I too will trust you until the very end. Kashi will therefore be working with you whenever you need help. If you need me, all you have to do is ask."
"....." Chifuyu stared at you. Now that he was looking properly, you and Kashi really were one and the same. But not in a physical sense, what he was thinking about was... your way of talking? Or your aura? It was something about you entirely. "....Thank you..."
"No. I should be thanking you. For staying with Baji."
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"Are you sure that you wanted to do that?" Draken asked as the two of you walked side by side. You nodded, a calm smile on your face. "Well, it's your decision anyway. As long as you think it's right, you do what you want."
"Of course my decision was right. I'm Kashi, after all." You boasted, placing your hands on your hips, making Draken laugh.
"What? Since when did you learn to be so arrogant?"
"Hehe, I learned from the best!" You put on a grin, a familiar grin. Draken didn't ask any more questions and just gave you a pat on the head, giving you a compliment for finally gaining more confidence in yourself.
As you and Draken talked about things, like what to give a certain someone for her upcoming birthday, you two finally arrived at your destination. And the one waiting for you two by the door was none other than the one who helped more during the fight against Valhalla. Well, not in terms of fighting capabilities.
"Yo. Takemitchy, you're here early!" Draken greeted the guy who was preoccupied with his phone.
"O-oh! Draken-kun!!" Takemitchy stuttered, putting his phone away and facing the guy. But the moment he did, he saw you. It took every being in his body to not give you a greeting. "Gooooooooand hello...!?" He screamed, scratching his head, making you sigh in disappointment. "Who might you be!?"
"Right. Takemitchy, there's someone you should meet." Draken began, ushering you forward to meet the guy you already and already know you were. Takemichi better lay this smooth. "This is (L/N)(Y/N), she's a childhood friend of the Toman founders."
"Nice to meet you, Takemichi-kun." You bowed your head, playing this perfectly like it was the first time you two ever met.
"A-ah... yes! Nice to meet you- you!" Takemichi, on the other hand, was making it too obvious. "I'm Hanagaki Takemichi, from the second division! Nice to meet you!"
"...Okay..." Draken muttered, a bit confused with the way Takemichi was acting. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the guy. He better not be what Draken thinks he is. "Also, she's my little sister. You better not think of making any moves."
"What!? No! I-I wasn't thinking that at all! I have a-"
"Just kidding. Also, this is Kashi." Draken cut him off with a straight face. Takemichi shut his mouth close, not a single peep, not a single 'oh really' coming out. "Why aren't you surprised?"
"OH! I mean- WOW!? Really!? I didn't- You aren't believing me, aren't you?"
"Not a fat chance." You and Draken answered with an empty look, but that empty look told Takemichi that you two were beyond disappointed. Draken turned to you, raising his brow, wanting an explanation. "Uhhh. I'll explain later. Let's go meet with Kazutora first."
A few days ago, you had gotten news of Kazutora's sentence and you relayed the news to Draken, since he's been waiting to visit him. And today, you arranged to meet with Kazutora.
Arriving at the detention center, the officers asked for identification, and the three of you handed it over. They inspected it and asked you about who you were going to be seeing. Once they got a name, you were transferred to a receiving room. A room where a giant, thick mirror was in the way. You were about to complain about it, but then, Kazutora finally walked in, removing your complaint about the wall.
"...." There was an awkward silence at first, no one saying anything. Out of the three, Takemichi showed his discomfort the most. But thankfully, Kazutora broke the tension, "I was told to expect at least ten years. I guess that's still short for what I did..."
The way Kazutora said that... the pain and regret in his voice made your heart clench. He sounded so sad and so glum. Perhaps reality has him too hard.
"I won't run away anymore. I've got to face up to this. He taught me that." He continued, his face still glued to the ground. He hasn't looked at anyone in the face. And you know what that means... "I wanna get proper rehabilitation this time around."
'Draken...' You tug on Draken's arm, gaining his attention. He glanced over to you, wondering what it is. But the way you looked at Kazutora with pity and worry, it was enough to tell him what you wanted to say.
"Don't die, Kazutora." At Draken's words, Kazutora finally looked up to face you three, his eyes wide. You smiled, heaving a sigh of relief when you saw the way his eyes shone. "We know what you're thinking. You better not try to make up for this by killing yourself. Got it?"
"But... What else... what else am I supposed to do..?" Kazutora was lost. What else was he supposed to do other than atone with his own life? He killed two people, and those people were people that Mikey had kept close to his heart, everyone had kept close to their hearts. "I just... Don't know anymore..."
"Kazutora." You spoke up, making him look at you. He was anxious, you can see that. So you gave him a calm smile. "I have a message from Mikey." he perked up, along with Takemichi, curious as to what the leader had to say. "'From now and forever, Kazutora is part of Toman. I forgive you.'"
I forgive you. Those were the words that Kazutora needed to hear the most. These were the only words he needed to save himself. And he has finally gotten it from the person he had hurt the most.
"-Ah, you're crying..." Draken whispered, watching as you quietly sobbed, along with your friend behind the glass wall. He sighed, recalling the past, 'These two crybabies... they never grow, do they...'
After finally relaying Mikey's words, it was time to leave. Well, you should've left with those two, but you had to stay behind to say a few more words to Kazutora.
"What is it, (Y/N)?" Kazutora asked, his eyes narrowed after crying. You two share the same face. It was hard to tell for Kazutora, but he was the same as you. Easy to cry.
"....Um... You and... Uh... You and Baji... exchanged letters, right?" You asked, scratching your cheek in embarrassment. Why was this embarrassing? You've practiced this line all night.
"Letters? Yeah... Why?" Kazutora pondered for a few moments. Why would you ask that? He knows that you still take your education seriously, so you wouldn't have time for such silly things.
"Do you... wanna... Exchange letters... with me..." You had your head down, but still looking over to him. You were quite nervous that he wouldn't accept this. "I wanna be... pen pals... like you and Baji..."
"Pen pals?"
"Y-yeah... I'll write you a letter every day... Tell you about what's happening and all that stuff... then you reply... and that thing... and um.... And uhh... UHHMMM..." Your head felt like it was spinning widely. HOW COME THIS WAS SO EMBARRASSING TO ASK!? "You know!! Write..!? Thing..!? LETTER!?"
GAHHH!! And just when you finally felt confident!! You suddenly return to that stuttering mess of a little girl!! You just wanted to lessen Kazutora's miserable life in prison by sending him letters! But now you're feeling ashamed asking to be his pen pal!? WHAT KIND OF FUCKERY IS THIS!? GOD- you just wanna-
"Pft-" You stopped, looking at your friend who was giggling slightly. "(Y/N)... you're still as cute even when you're panicking."
"C-cute...!?" God you felt your heart squeezing again. It does that whenever you get compliments or your friends smile in front of you. "...I-I'm not-"
"Alright. Let's be penpals." Kazutora cuts you off, giving you a grin. "I'm looking forward to your letters, (Y/N)."
"...." Slowly, you felt all of your worries wash away. And the next second, you had a big smile on your face, your happiness transferring over to Kazuttora behind the glass. "Then, I'll go buy those stationary papers! And stickers! I'll get you tiger stickers too!! I'll send you pictures sometimes too! Oh- or when you have a request, I can give it to you! I'm sure I can do that! And then- And then when you get out- we can read through the letters we exchanged!! That'll be fun!"
Kazutora felt warm-hearted. You being excited and showing it on your face was something you only do in front of your closest friends, and it rarely happens. So seeing it here makes him happy. And it's all because you can exchange letters with him.
Despite what he did... Despite taking away two people that you loved, he could still make you happy with something as small as letters... he's glad...
"I'll see you next time, Kazutora!"
Kazutora has memorized that smile you gave him that day. The very last day he was able to see such a smile.... [K1, hands up. It'll be on sight you little shit.]
||A.N||
Next update will be a double update!! One for a chapter and the other for the previews!! Hehe, you'll see a glimpse of the future chapters too hehehe ☆⌒(*＾-゜)v
[WHAT DOES THE LAST PHRASE MEAN!?=?¿?=]