Help.
"Hey!" you flinch with the loud noise.
As expected, it's none other than Yumeri, the loudest of all. She barges in without knocking, as if she's entering her own domain. You look at her sitting on your couch comfortably. Her legs are crossed and she is raising her left eyebrow.
To your surprise, it's not only Yumeri. Mikey came along with her. The guy is hugging a paper bag with... probably dorayaki inside. He, as well, is seated on the sofa beside his best friend. It looks like Yumeri bribed Mikey to come with her.
"What?" you simply ask, finishing whatever you were doing. You walk towards them and sit across Mikey.
"What about Takemichi and Izana?" Yumeri crosses her arms as well. "Do you know about it?"
You nod and sigh, prepared for what's coming. The reason why you kept it from her is half intentional and half unintentional. You didn't purposely hid it because you forgot to inform her. You were too occupied thinking about it that you didn't realize she doesn't know anything about it. It's half intentional because she would've probably spill it to Izana if she knew.
"How could you not tell me?!" of course, this is exactly what you expected. "Did you know, that Takemichi is probably dead by now?"
"What do you mean? I didn't punch him," you are confused.
"It's just my gut, but it's strong. I can't be wrong about this."
"She thinks Izana heard everything from Takemitchy," Mikey butts in.
"Why don't we check on him then?" Yumeri says, frowning.
"I don't want to come with you anymore," Mikey attempts to escape but Yumeri grabs his arm. "Oh, come on! I just want to eat these in peace!"
"I am not sure, Yume-chan. Maybe you're overreacting. I don't think Izana would do such things. Plus he didn't mention Takemichi yesterday."
"Oh, so you're on a mission to observe him?!" Yumeri's face is becoming so red, she looks like an angry emoji. "Why am I not involve? Why are you so mean? I want to have a mission too."
"Because we don't want a megaphone on our team," Mikey bursts into laughter with your response.
"I hate you," Yumeri pouts. "I just want to help."
"We haven't done anything yet, Yume-chan. Stop with that face. You're getting uglier."
"I'm mad," she informs.
"We can see that," you reply. "Thanks for informing. Now, if you don't have anything to say, you can both go home."
"Thank you!" Mikey cheers.
"No! Let's just... Let's visit Takemichi-kun," Yumeri whines. "Please? I just want to make sure."
"I'm going home," Mikey.
"Michael, we don't know where he lives!" Yumeri.
Mikey groans. "Ugh, fine! But you're going to ride with her. I don't want you in my babu anymore."
"Whatever."
Without even asking if you want to come with them, you are dragged down to your shared motorcycle. You just closed the door and didn't lock it. Yumeri said she just wanted to check up on Takemichi so you thought she wouldn't be long.
You drive, following Manjiro's bike. You could feel Yumeri tightening her embrace. Her heartbeat is on fire. It seems that she isn't lying about her gut. Her shaking arms prove how scared and worried she's feeling. With constant sighing, she's like screaming inside.
As planned, you and Mikey wait for Yumeri. She is talking to Takemichi's mother. Unfortunately, it seems that she is taking too long. You turn to look at Mikey, worried if he's feeling cold, with him wearing his blue yukata. He notices your gaze, then immediately tightens his hug on his bag of food.
"Takemichi-kun isn't home yet," Yumeri announces without her usual energy.
"Maybe he went somewhere," Mikey.
"Can we try and ask Chifuyu?" Yumeri puts her pleading expression again. "Maybe he knows, right?"
"You're wasting my time, Yu-chin! Let me go home!" Mikey.
"Fine..." Yumeri gives up.
She once again hops on your bike and hugs you. You can feel her aura sucking your energy. This is one of Yumeri's ability. She can lift up or bring down the atmosphere. Now, that's she's sad, you can't help but to feel sad too.
"Just text Chifuyu," Mikey groans. "God, I hate you, Yu-chin."
Yumeri slowly picks up her phone from her pocket. She looks for Chifuyu's caller id and dials it. Yumeri's second ability is to share whatever she's feeling. Now that you're waiting for Chifuyu to pick up, the three of you feel nervous.
"Hello?" Chifuyu greets. "Good evening, Yumeri-san."
"Chifuyu!" you immediately block your ears because of Yumeri. "If you're holding Takemichi hidden, give up now or I will kill you!"
"What do you mean, Yumeri-san? We aren't together right now. He went back home after talking to me." Chifuyu.
"He's not home!" Yumeri.
"She thinks Izana will kill Takemitchy," Mikey butts in again, earning a smack from Yumeri.
"Don't be so loud. We're in front of their house," Yumeri.
"Wow, I'm ashamed of you." Mikey.
"I'll meet you right now. Where are you?" Chifuyu asks.
"Head straight to my apartment, Chifuyu-san," now, you answer so the other two would stop their loud mouths. "This is (Y/N), by the way."
"Oh, you're with them, (L/N)-san?" Chifuyu.
"Mm, we're currently in front of Takemichi's house but we're heading to my house. See you there."
"Okay. Careful on your way. Bye."
With that, you start the engine and lead the way back. Mikey, who wanted to go home earlier, stops and goes into your house.
To your surprise, the door is now open. You hear familiar voices inside so you slowly tiptoe your way. You peek inside and find out those are your cousins. You enter the apartment and look at them.
Four of you stare at each other, not saying anything. You can now hear Yumeri's voice, arguing with Mikey. She enters the house and makes it loud.
"Oh, your bitch friend is here?"
"Oh, you bought a punching bag, (N/N)-chan?" Yumeri fights back.
"Why are you here?" you ask, uninterested.
"We're looking for aunt and uncle. They're not home. Do you know where they are?"
"Move, it's my seat," Mikey hits the shoulder of one of your cousins and she immediately sit in a different space.
"I have no idea," you cross your arm and yawn. "Can you please bother someone else?"
"I know what you're up to!" Yumeri butts in. "You are here only to annoy her. You obviously know she doesn't keep in touch with her parents."
"So? What's your point?"
"My point is this," Yumeri attempts to poke your cousin's eye using her index finger. It's a bluff. "My point is, if you want to annoy someone, that should be me."
"We're obviously here because we can't contact them. They're not home either. Stop jumping to conclusions, dumb bitch."
"They're probably in the office. Don't ask me because I obviously don't know," you reply.
"You're really useless," they stand up together and left, as if they didn't just trespass at your house.
After them leaving, Chifuyu arrives. Yumeri tells him everything she just found out. Of course, Chifuyu already knows this. The last thing that Yumeri told him is about what's worrying her. This, as well, made Chifuyu nervous.
He tries contacting his partner but no use. No one answers the phone. No one responds. Chifuyu is weighing whether he should tell or she should keep what his discussion with Takemichi earlier was about. Mikey notices this.
"Is it hard to tell us?" Manjiro asks. "I didn't even think it would come to this. I must stop him. If he does something bad, I'm not sure what will happen to him."
Chifuyu sighs. "Mikey-kun..."
Chifuyu tells everything to them. This isn't considered betrayal, he just wants to help his partner. You are shocked to hear the details. Your parents are now in danger and it's because of you.
Izana is one of the people who makes you happy but it's still your parents. You're definitely not gonna forgive him if he lays his hands on your parents. You're more than disappointed but not mad. You kinda understand why Izana is doing this and you know what you have to tell him.
After hearing the information from Chifuyu, Toman's president immediately called the captains. He isn't gonna waste time because not only he doesn't want Takemichi to die, but also because he doesn't want the future to be ruined.
Only the captains are called because the president doesn't want to treat his brother as an enemy again. The shrine where Toman holds their meeting is currently getting filled with gangsters.
While waiting for the late captains, Chifuyu approaches you. You are sitting on the side and minding your own business, drowning yourself in anxiety. He sits beside you so you look at him.
"You're thinking too much," Chifuyu says. "Calm down. You have asthma, right? You shouldn't have panic attacks at times like this."
"Thanks, Chifuyu," you reply, smiling lightly at him.
"Can I hold you?" he asks politely. "So I can comfort you."
You don't know what he meant by hold, but you still let him anyways. He wraps his arm around your shoulder and pulls you closer to his body. Your head is now on his shoulder. He softly rubs your shoulder to calm your shaking body.
His scent gives you a comfortable feeling, it lifts up your mood. His warmth is enough to make feel you safe and to assure you that everything will be fine. But even with these, you can still feel the stiffness of his muscles. You know that he is also nervous and worried so you admire him for being tough and being able to comfort anyone else.
"I think Izana-kun will listen to you," he says. "You're his friend, after all."
"I don't know what's happening right now. I'm lost," you admit.
"We're here. We're in this together. We'll make sure that everyone is safe."
You were never close with Chifuyu. You talked to him few times but never really saw him as a friend. Now, in this situation, anyone would need someone like him.
------
"Hey," the voice echoes through the room. "You awake?"
"Izana-kun—"
Takemichi feels the pain on his left cheek as Izana's fist landed and bruised it. The tanned person smirks at him, opening and closing his hands repeatedly. He feels good.
"You like being a hero?" Izana asks. "You think you are a hero?!"
To make it balanced, Takemichi's right cheek is also bruised, now that Izana landed a kick on it.
Takemichi couldn't talk. He couldn't move. He's blindfolded so darkness surrounds him. I don't think he could also feel his body since the pain is taking over.
"Heroes always get beaten up," Izana punches Takemichi's face again. "So let me help you become a hero."
Takemichi's chair fell. He starts coughing blood. His breathing pattern becomes unstable. He feels another kick on his stomach.
Now that Takemichi is on the floor, Izana has more access on his body. He starts beating up the poor guy, with nonstop punches and kicks.
"Just don't die yet. I want you to see how you fail being a hero."