Away With The Fairies
Y/N was too stunned to even speak and just let herself slip into Kakucho's arms. He dragged her and they moved a little farther away from the Haitanis and hid behind a pole inside the train station thick enough to hide from the brothers.
The scarred let go of her and took a deep breath, letting the air go in and out of him in hopes of it making him calm down. He then placed his left hand on his hips and the right one massaging his temple, still breathing heavily.
"Why the fuck are you here? What kind of bullshit did you go after again, huh?"
Kakucho was raging with anger and Y/N had only now seen him in this state since she had joined Tenjiku. She admits that he's really scary, partly because she was used to his smiles and his occasional frown.
"Someone died in there, for Pete's sake! If I–if I didn't hear you talking to Kisaki Tetta over the phone the other day, I wouldn't know you'd be going to a gang fight, Y/N. I wouldn't know you'd be hiding behind torn, bulky boxes eating your goddamn sandwich and watching people beat the crap out of each other."
Kakucho whispered, his voice laced with wrath.
"Y-You heard me?"
"Yes! And I know what you've been plotting. For the love of Pete, please, stop going after Mikey! It would bring you no good. You're weak, defenseless, and most importantly, stupid. Tell me, how are you supposed to fight against him–"
Like a thread thinning, YN's patience got cut off and had given up. The crispy sound of her slapping Kakucho's cheek echoed thoroughly at the train station, causing some to turn their heads on them and watch.
Her eyes brimmed with tears as her frustration got the best of her. She didn't think of taking her eyes off of Kakucho who kept his head tilted for a few seconds, seemingly feeling the impact he just received.
She seemed to come back to her senses when a warm tear rolled down her cheek. She looked down and wiped the wetness of her cheek before looking at him again.
"Oh my god. Kaku, I'm sorry I didn't mean to–"
Y/N tried to hold his cheek to at least soothe the redness but he shoved her hand away, still looking sideways.
"Stop, okay. Stop. Just–stop."
Kakucho rummaged in his pants' pockets when his phone rang again. He picked it up and answered, then put it near his ear to hear Rindou's voice.
"H-Hello."
"Hey. Can you go to Y/N's house now? To wake her up. It's Monday and she's probably still sleeping. I know she skipped school today too, so…"
"Yeah, yeah. I already went there and she said she'll also skip this week's meeting," Kakucho gave her a sharp but tired look. She didn't even try to pursue him more because she didn't know how much longer his patience would last, so she just waited there in case he had more to say.
"Just go home, please. You might be tired and it's not the best moment to talk about what happened."
He held the phone away from the two of them before he spoke. She nodded, clearly not given a choice.
The next day then came. It's the first day of November 2005, a Tuesday.
It's been a year, huh?
Y/N decided to skip school again that day, thinking that with the amount of time she missed school, she will definitely fail this school year and will repeat her last year in high school for the second time.
Since she woke up at 1 in the afternoon, she got her brunch at the nearest food store in her neighborhood.
At 7, Izana showed up at her doorstep wearing sweatpants and an oversized shirt, saying, "go out with me."
It confused her for a moment, but then she realized that he meant to literally go outside with him.
Izana made her walk for who knows how long, going into several alleys and passing by multiple convenience stores, only to end up at the 31 branch they once went to before.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No. Now, get inside. It's on me again so you have nothing to worry about."
She chose a window spot. The ice cream shop has barely any customers since it's already 8:15 and there's only 45 minutes before the closing time.
"My feet hurt so much…"
"Have you eaten yet?"
"Yeah. Had Peyoung at 6:30. You?"
"I… I haven't."
"We're not eating here, let's go. You need to eat something that will really fill your stomach."
Y/N grabbed Izana by the hand and dragged him towards the Yakitori stall she spotted when looking outside the window. When they got nearer, she immediately talked to the seller while he sat on the side of the food cart in a frog-like posture.
Ten minutes then, the vendor handed Y/N 15 sticks of Yakitori placed in two boat-shaped containers.
"That's a lot. Where'd you get the money?"
"Rude," she handed him the 10 pieces while she kept the other five.
For the whole five minutes, they ate in silence. No one dared to talk as they were both busy eating, and it would also be awkward as they don't really get along pretty well. It was a wonder that they manage to go out without slashing each other's throat unlike how they were a year ago.
Come to think of it. Izana has been nice to me for the past months, and he continues to be nice to me. I wonder what he has in mind. And also, does he still remember what happened...a year ago?
"Hey–" she was about to ask him when she felt her phone buzzing. She groped for it in her pockets and quickly pulled it up to see who it was.
Kisaki Tetta Calling…
Kisaki Tetta Calling…
Kisaki Tetta Calling…
She unheedingly handed the remaining Yakitoris to Izana and left him with his eyes following her while chewing.
"Eating Yakitori with Kurokawa Izana must be nice. I'm jealous~ Do you mind if I have some of yours?"
"Fuck off."
"Just kidding. Baji Keisuke died less than two days ago so maybe you still remember?"
"Remember what?"
"We're one step closer to our goal, yay! Aren't you excited?"
"My friend just died yesterday so I don't know if I should be mourning or happy right now. But like, I guess, kinda?"
"If that's the case then, you wouldn't mind involving more people, right?"
"The hell is wrong with you, Kisaki? I'm not killing anyone!"
"Calm down, we ain't killing anyone. Yet. However, I see now that Izana is with you. He looks pretty cool. What can you say about him, huh?"
"Well, yeah he's kinda good right now. What is it with him, anyway?"
"He can be a big part of the plan. I mean, he'd be a useful steppingstone. I need you to have your fingers around him. I know it's not easy, but it would be if he has his guard down. Which I find really down for now."
"Are you still thinking straight or not? Because based on how you envision things, I could tell you're high."
Y/N was about to close the phone when Kisaki spoke again.
"Wait wait, I'm not yet done. You have to do it as soon as possible. I don't know and I don't care how you'll do it, but you have to take care of that matter."
"What if I don't want to? You can't do anything about it, too."
"Telling Kurokawa Izana that you're a snake in the grass won't hurt me. Not me, but you. Think about the consequences of your actions sometimes."
Kisaki hung up on her, leaving her speechless. Pissed, she came back to Izana who's on his eighth stick of Yakitori. She stood there and watched him watching her standing up.
"Hurry up, I'm taking you somewhere."
"Can't we just do whatever we'll do wherever we're going? You also haven't finished your food, you're wasting food."
Izana handed her the somewhat cooling Yakitori. She took the two sticks in both of her hands and recklessly pulled them into her mouth. For five seconds, Y/N struggled to chew and swallow the meat even though it's making her nauseous.
"Done."
"That's gross. Why did you do that?"
Still chewing, she made him stand up and made him force the remaining meat to his mouth just like what she did. She pulled him to go somewhere as her feet began moving by themselves. He was choking but she could care less.
What do I do, what do I do. Where should I bring him? 31? No, it's already closing. It can't be the headquarters nor my house. Haitanis' place? No. What about the riverbank? Yeah, that's the best spot. But...what would I tell him? Tell him to be my accomplice? No no no. He'd slap me. Shit, is he choking? I have no water with me right now.
"Hey wait up–" he hit her back hard when he finally choked. Y/N began agitating as Izana turned purple like his eyes. Not knowing what to do, she slapped his back as hard as she could.
"Putangina tulong…"
"I'm sorry I was panicking are you okay–"
"Do you by any means have the plan to kill me tonight?"
"N-No."
"I was dying, oh my lord. Why did you bring me here while I'm in need of life support?"
That made her purse her lips. The thing is, she doesn't know either.
"Uh…"
"What? Tell me."
"Can you…"
"Can I do what? I won’t know if you don’t tell me."
"Can you be my boyfriend…?"
November first of two thousand and five, Y/N asked Izana to become her, apparently, boyfriend. She met his also panicking wide, purple orbs staring straight to her widened eyes. Both of them are in irreparable shock for the whole minute. Well, anyone would be surprised too if they were asked to go out while suffocating.