italicized means flashback
Seven months and counting.
Sitting behind Mikey in a piggyback ride position, Ai rested the side of her head on his shoulder. The warmth of his back radiating through her chest while his hands held the back of her knees. Ai lightly swings her feet back and forth.
"Mikey?" She softly calls out to him.
"For a moment I thought you fell asleep on me" Mikey says, chuckling softly before turning his head to take a glance at her. "What is it?"
"Do you think...we'll have days like this?" She asks, nuzzling her cheek on his back.
For a moment, Mikey was silent. In Mikey's silence, Ai wondered if she'll ever know his answer.
"I'd collect all of my days and give them to you, remember?" Mikey says, a smile painting his lips. "Want to get taiyaki?" He offers.
Ai immediately straightened her back and nodded her head happily. "Yes please!"
Mikey's smile brightened, walking faster towards his back with a destination in mind.
. . . . . . . . . . ♡
Crossing her legs in an Indian sitting position, Ai sat beside Mikey, handing to him his cold bottle of green tea, smelling the scent of milkweed, wet grass and a bit of plant fragrance.
"Are you going away too?" Mikey asks, holding onto the taiyaki in his hand, motioning it gliding up and down as if it's swimming. "Blob blob blob yes blob blob blob"
Slowly, Mikey glided his taiyaki closer to Ai and pressed the lips of his fish shaped snack to her lips. "Mwah mwah please stay with me mwah mwah". Smiling at him, Ai leaned herself closer and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Of course I'll stay with you!" Ai beams
"That's really sweet. I wish I had someone like you with me."
Both Ai and Mikey turned around and saw a boy with tan skin and light hair color sitting besides Ai. Smiling to himself as he looks at the waters.
"Who are you?" Mikey asks, placing a protective arm around Ai's waist, scooting her closer to him to which she followed.
"I'm Kurokawa Izana" The boy introduced himself, winking at Ai. Keeping her mouth shut, Ai somewhat felt like he was bad news, turning her head to look away.
"Nice motorcycle" Izana comments, looking at Mikey's bike before turning his heels and walking away.
"See you soon" were his last words to them.
Ai blinked twice before turning her head to face Mikey. "What was that about?" She asks, taking a bite on her taiyaki.
Mikey shrugs, shaking his head before taking a bite as well. "No clue. He's weird too." He says. Together, the two of them just ate and drank their snacks in silence.
. . . . . . . . . . ♡
"Where are Inupi and Koko?" Ai wonders to herself, scrolling through her phone as she sees all of her messages to them were only on delivered status. "Seriously, they can't be having fun on their own without me." She frowns to herself, closing her flip phone and placing it by her side as she returns her attention back to the friendship bracelet she is making.
Ever since Ai saw this at the department store, she took one in her hands and excitedly paid for it, wanting to make a friendship bracelet for the three of them. And as Ai started making the finishing touches, she took the letters K in red, A in pink and I in white.
"All good!" She beams to herself, admiring the three friendship bracelets she made before putting on one around her right wrist. Ai took her phone again in her hands and wondered where Inui and Koko are.
To: Ai
From: Inui
Come to the hideout. Hanagaki is with me. pm 6:30
When Ai finally received a message from Inui that night, she immediately puts on her shoes and ran towards the hideout Inui mentioned in his text. She's been there multiple times, back as to when her older brother Taiju was still the 10th generation leader of Black Dragons. Always the one who treats and cares for their bruises and wounds, the hideout serving as a place for them where they could open their hearts and be honest with themselves.
The place where their bond formed and tightened - S S Motors.
"Inui? Takemichi kun?" Ai calls, peering her head to the door before immediately jogging up to the two of them when she sees how beaten up they look.
"Now I know why you and Koko aren't replying to my messages" Ai begins to say, rummaging through the medical kit. "By the way, where is Koko? His annoying voice and face would always be the first to greet me." Ai wonders, turning her head both left and right.
"Ai...Koko joined Tenjiku." Inui breaks the news to her.
"What's Tenjiku?" Ai asks, going over to Inui first to remove the dirt off his skin with a wet wipe.
"It's an old gang that's revived." Inui begins to say, leaning his back against the wall. "I don't think I've told you about Kurokawa Izana before-"
"Kurokawa Izana? I've met him yesterday with Mikey." Ai says, cutting Inui off.
Both Takemichi and Inui looked at her with wide eyes.
"Is the Izana guy bad news?" Ai asks, turning to look at them with curious wide eyes as well. "You know, he's really weird yesterday. He said he'd see us soon." Ai shrugs her shoulders, applying ointment in Inui's bruises. "I really don't know what that meant"
Takemichi nervously looked at Inui and slowly shook his head. There was something in the way Takemichi looked at Inui that made the sunflower haired boy not continue any further. Instead, Inui changed the topic.
"Ai" Inui begins to say, a small smile painting his lips. "Do you remember how the three of us met?"
The corners of Ai's lips curled up into a smile. Humming to herself before patching up Takemichi's wounds next. "Of course. How could I forget that day?"
. . . . . . . . . . ♡
Twelve year old Shiba Ai sat in the middle of the brown leather couch with an unamused expression on her face. Sitting up with her back straight, hands placed neatly on top of her lap and her long dark ginger hair tied into a high ponytail, Ai remained quiet to herself, a stoic expression clouding her face.
Though she was quiet on the inside, she wondered to herself if it was a good idea for Taiju to bring her in a place like this. In reality, Ai wanted to go home, eat dinner and lay down on her bed and shut herself down to sleep. But no, she was going to be stuck in this old motor shop that she didn't even wanted to be in the first place.
But since Taiju is here with her, she might as well see something amusing. Or at least, her brother would amuse her.
"What's a little girl like you doing in a place like this?" A ugly shit asks, bending down to peer his face closer to hers. Ai could smells the cheap cigarette he smoke probably a few minutes ago.
"Hey" another ugly shit calls out to her "Since you're here, entertain us!" Followed by a chorus of laughter.
Ai kept her stoic expression before raising her her two index fingers, forming an X sign in front of them.
"I'm sorry, but all of you are not my type!" Ai cheekily says, smiling at them with her eyes closed.
"You-" One of them raised their hand and was about to hit Ai but Taiju was quick to act on it.
"What? Say it to my face. What are you going to call my sister?" Taiju asks with a dangerous tone, a wide cynical smile on his face.
"B-boss! We didn't know she was your sister!" One of them reasons, all of them looking visibly scared.
"I saw the way you shits were looking at my sister's legs." Taiju tightens his grip on one of the guys' collars. "Let's settle this my way, alright? An eye for an eye." Before Taiju could raise his hand and have his fun, he cocked his head to the direction where Kokonoi and Inui stood.
"Keep an eye on her for me." He instructed them.
And both Kokonoi and Inui followed as instructed. Walking over to the Ai who still seated in the couch.
"Hey" Kokonoi begins to say "Wanna get out of here?" He asks, grinning down at her while sticking his tongue out.
Ai rolled her eyes in front of him, looking away. "You don't look hot when you stick your tongue out like that. Put it back inside your mouth, will you?"
A vein popped in Kokonoi's temple as he heard Ai's response. But when Ai lifted her head up to look at them, she immediately stood up and fawned at Inui.
"Your birthmark is so beautiful and unique!" She beams, batting her eyelashes as she admires the faint red birthmark. "May I touch it?" She asks
For Inui, it was the first time he ever heard someone compliment his birthmark. Touched by her words, he nodded his head.
"Let's get you out of here first. Things are going to get ugly." Inui says, before escorting her outside of the motor shop.
As the three of them were sitting outside of the old motor shop store, Ai softly sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as she felt cold.
"Man, I didn't know boss would put us to baby sitting duty now." Kokonoi says, removing his gang uniform jacket and placing it around Ai's shoulders. Inui had discarded his uniform jacket as well to cover her legs.
"You don't have to follow him if you don't want to" Ai says, staring down at the ground. "I'll just say you did what you're told when you're not even here with me." She adds.
Kokonoi just stared at Ai before breaking into a smile. "Nah." he shook his head, leaning his back a little. "I think I'll enjoy your company more than boss'."