July 8th, 2005
Something was happening that got a lot of the students of the school all worked up. I had to admit that I was curious to know what everyone was staring at so I decided to go take a peak. I was a little shocked at what I saw.
"What's going on here?" I asked while I walked towards the four people that were causing the disturbance.
"Oh, hey, Kai. We came to take your brother and go hang out for a bit," Mikey said with a smile.
"Okay, but why is my brother's girlfriend involved?"
"There was a misunderstanding," he answered me, "But everything is fine now. Right, Takemichi?"
"Uh, yeah," Take said.
I stared at them before looking around us. I sighed, feeling as though we should take this outside.
--------
"What kind of misunderstanding?" I asked once we were all outside the school doors.
"I-I slapped him. I thought they were bullying Takemichi-kun," Hinata informed me.
"Pfft," I couldn't stop myself from laughing, "You slapped him? To protect my brother. I knew I liked you."
She blushed in embarrassment.
"Mikey and Draken are my friends. They know I'd be pretty pissed if they messed with my little brother. So, you don't have to worry about that."
"Oh," she looked even more embarrassed, "I had no idea they were your friends, Kairi-chan." She turned to Mikey, bowing her head, "I'm sorry I slapped you."
"It's no problem," he said, "You gave me a real good slap though."
"I'm so sorry," she said again.
"It's good to protect the people who matter to you," his eyes flickered to me for a second, "But you should be careful. Things can go wrong depending who you are dealing with. They might hit you back even if you are a girl. But I would never hit one."
"Yeah," I said, "And you can always call me if my brother is in trouble. I am his older sister after all. I'll protect him."
"Kairi~," Take whined, embarrassed. "Shouldn't I be the one protecting you?"
"You don't worry about that," Mikey said with a smile, "I got that covered. I'll protect your sister."
I watched Draken smile at Mikey's words.
"Alright, alright," I pushed my brother towards the two boys.
"Hey, Kairi."
"They came all the way here to hangout with you. Now go before you all keep disturbing the school."
"But what about our date?" He looked at Hinata.
"It's okay. Be with your friends."
"Okay," he said before turning back to me, "You aren't coming."
"Nope. It's all you, little brother. Have fun."
I waved them off, following Hinata back through the school doors.
They are a bunch of pain in the asses. I couldn't help but smile though.
------
July 10th, 2005
"That little brother of yours is something else," Mikey told me as we ate at the same restaurant we had first hung out in. Mikey had ordered me a chocolate parfait again.
"Oh?"
"He stood up to me when I was pretending to threaten his wifey," Draken said, sounding impressed, "Not many guys would do that nowadays."
"Well, good. Otherwise, I'd have to knock some sense into him," I said, happy to hear that my brother would defend his girlfriend even if he was scared. "Wait, did you say you threatened his girlfriend?"
"I just wanted to see how your brother would respond," he said. "I wasn't really going to hurt her."
"Ah, so you were testing him."
"Yeah. Something like that."
"I'd like for your brother to join us but I won't force him," Mikey said to me.
I tilted my head, "Are you asking me for permission to let my little brother join your gang?"
"Are you mad?"
I sighed, "Just keep him out of trouble. He's a good kid. Stupid most of the time. But good."
"I know," Mikey said, smiling, "Don't worry. I'll take good care of your brother if he decides to join." He looked in thought for a second, "Actually, he is my friend now so I will take care of him regardless if he joins or not."
I felt my phone buzz in the pocket of my shorts. It was Sunday so I wasn't wearing my school uniform.
"Excuse me," I checked my phone in case it was an emergency.
I read 'You busy?' It was a text from Masashi.
'With Mikey and Draken.'
'Again? Come on. Did you forget about me or something?'
'Puppy.'
"Everything alright?" Mikey asked me.
I looked at him, "It's just Masa. He wants to hang out."
"I see. Are you going to go to meet him?" Mikey asked, sounding a little upset.
"No, I-"
Buzz. Buzz.
I sighed, looking at my phone.
'Alright. Fine. I'll leave you alone with your boyfriend.'
My cheeks flushed as I read that.
'Neither of them is my boyfriend, idiot.'
'Oh, but you want one to be right ;p'
'I am going to kill you.'
'I knew it. It's the only thing that makes sense why you would ditch me all the time.'
'1: we never officially made plans. 2: I am allowed to have other friends than you. And 3: shut the fuck up.'
It wasn't like I liked either of them like that. I just loved spending time with them. That's all. There was nothing wrong with that.
'Denial.'
'Ignoring.'
I put my phone away again.
"What is it?" Mikey asked me, "You are looking a little red. What did he say that made you blush like that?"
"Nothing. He was just being an idiot again," I said, pouting as I focused my attention back to the parfait in front of me. I took a bit trying to calm myself.
Stupid, Masa.
"Really?" he did not seem convinced at all. "So, you aren't leaving to go meet him?"
"What? I'm already hanging out with you, aren't I?"
"Hear that, Ken-chin," Mikey said to the taller boy with a smile, "She likes spending time with me more."
"She didn't say that, Mikey. And you know it."
Mikey turned to me, "But you do, right? You like being with me more."
What is happening right now?
It was true. The only time I had spent with Masa was two days ago when Mikey was already busy with my brother. Masa and I had gone to the karaoke alone together to chat and party like we used to do. We had fun. We told each other about our new lives and it was great to spend time with him. He was like family to me.
Why did I keep hanging out with Mikey and Draken over Masa, the person who I had grown up with and was closest to?
My cheeks were heating up, "That- I- I have to go to the washroom!"
A confused Mikey moved out of the booth to let me out. I ran to the washroom as quickly as I could.
Masa, you jerk. What have you put in my head?
-----
After splashing my face with cold water to calm down, I left the safety of the washroom to get back to my friends but there was one more person I did not expect to see them standing at the end of the table staring down at them.
"Masa?" I was shocked to see him there.
"Hey, Kai," he smiled at me as I came closer.
"What are you doing here? I told you that I'm busy."
"I'm here to see the commander of Toman right now."
"Huh? What do you want with Mikey?"
Mikey stood up from the booth, his eyes never leaving Masa. He had an air of authority. He had his commander-of-a-gang mode turned on.
"Kai, go sit down."
"Uh, okay" I let out, moving to go slide in the booth.
Mikey sat back down beside me, "I'm listening."
"Cool," Masa said before taking a chair from a table nearby and sitting on it with the back facing his front. He crossed his arms on top of it. "The Rising Phoenix gang would like a truce with the Tokyo Manji gang."
"Ha?" Mikey said, sounded suspicious.
"What does the Rising Phoenix gang get out of something like that?" Draken questioned him, just as suspicious.
I could tell that my friends' guards were up. I mean, Masa was an enemy commander. It made sense.
"Nothing really. But if our gangs were ever to get into a fight, Kai would be sad. And I don't want to make her sad. I doubt she would like to see her friends fighting each other."
What.
I mean he wasn't wrong. But still. What.
Mikey smirked in a cold way, "How about you give me your territory and your members. And you can have her."
What are you doing, Mikey? This didn't seem like something he would ever say.
Masa shot up, "What the fuck?" He looked at me, "This is the kind of guys you hang out with now? Jackasses that treat you like some kind of prize they can just give away?" He stared down at Mikey, "Fucking move. I'm taking her. She's too good for you."
"Ha?"
"Move."
Mikey suddenly smiled at him, "Alright. Toman is on a truce with Rising Phoenix."
"Huh?" Masa looked dumbfounded, "What? Wait. Were you testing me just now?"
Draken smiled, "Like Mikey would ever treat Kai like she was an object like that, dumbass."
Yeah, I did think it was weird.
Masa sat back down, "Oh, man. I feel stupid."
"You are," I said to him, sticking my tongue out at him, "Idiot."
He looked at me with narrowed eyes, "Hey, I don't need that from you."
"I guess Kai is important to you if you had the guts to come all this way to ask for a truce with me without your guys around," Mikey said to him, leaning back as if to show he was no longer on guard.
"Yeah, man. She's the most important person in this entire world to me. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her."
Mikey smiled, "Too bad. Because I will be the one to make her happy."
Huh? Why would he say something like that?
Masa genuinely smiled at Mikey, "Good." Masa's features turned serious, "Because if you ever hurt her or make her cry I will not hesitate to break the truce just to kill you."
Masa stood up and put the chair back in its place, "See ya, Kai."
Buzz. Buzz.
I quickly checked my phone.
'I approve' - Masa.
I hate you.
Mikey turned to me, he seemed worried, "You know I'd never give you away for anything, right? I was just..."
I shook my head, "I didn't question you at all. I just wondered why you would say that. But it makes sense you were testing him. I know you'd never treat me like an object. I know you aren't like that. I trust you. So, don't worry. I'm not upset."
He smiled gently at me, "Good."
That smile... It's different from the other smiles... It really suits him.
I hoped that I would see more of that smile.
------------
July 20th, 2005
"You're Hanagaki Kairi, right?"
I looked at a boy with short light lilac colored hair standing at the entrance of my school.
"Yeah?"
The boy was wearing a biker gang uniform. It was the Toman one. I looked around, trying to find Mikey.
"Mikey can't make it. Something came up so I will be walking you home today," the boy said to me.
"Huh? He could have just told me he wasn't coming. He has my phone number. He didn't have to send someone to walk me home either."
The boy smiled at me, "Well, he wanted to make sure you got home safe."
This felt completely unnecessary to me. The last few months I have been training my body in the early morning and even at night. I was still at where I used to be but I could definitely take better care of myself in a fight. I didn't need someone to protect me.
"Hm," I hummed, starting my walk back home. The boy followed a few steps behind me. "What's your name?"
"Huh? Oh. It's Mitsuya Takashi."
"I don't suppose if I told you to just go that you'd just do that, right?"
"No. Mikey was really serious when he told me to make sure you got home safe today."
I looked over my shoulder, "You can walk beside me you know."
He blinked at me but did as I told him.
"I'm guessing something serious happened for this to happen."
"I'm not really supposed to say," he told me.
I looked to see him staring at me, "What is it?"
He seemed to wake up from a trance, "Oh, nothing. Was just wondering what kind of girl would have Mikey so worried that he would send me to escort her home. That's all. You aren't really what I was expecting."
"What were you expecting?"
He shrugged, "I honestly have no idea. Mikey's never shown interest in girls before. You're the first. How did you meet?"
"Ah, some guys were messing with me," I started recalling that day.
"And Mikey came and stopped them?"
I laughed, "No. I basically told him to stay out of it and beat them up myself."
"Wait, really?"
I nodded and smiled, "Yep. And Mikey wanted to be friends. Been friends ever since."
"Everything makes sense now," Mitsuya said with his own smile.
"Yeah," I let out, "I'm still confused why he would think I needed someone to protect me when I can take care of myself but I trust him."
Somehow we started talking about Mikey. He told me a few stories of the 'old days' when they had first started Toman. And I told him stories of when I hung out with Mikey and Draken. We then began talking about food and fighting. Mitsuya was easy to talk to.
"Well, this is me," I said to Mitsuya. I smiled. "Thanks for walking me home."
He nodded with his own smile, "Yeah. No problem. Glad I could meet the girl Mikey is so interested in." He turned to walk away, "Be sure to stay inside tonight."
"Sure."
I wonder what he meant by that. Ugh, I am thinking too deeply into this. He literally told you you are the only female friend Mikey has ever had. That's what he meant.
I went inside the house, sending a quick text to Mikey to let him know that his friend had brought me home safely. I wasn't sure when he would be able to see it but I felt the need to do it.