ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺
ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺
[Living in a Dream]
"Y/N."
...
"Y/N?"
...
"Y/N!"
Your head snapped in Emma's direction, her smaller hands shaking your shoulders, trying to gain your attention. You looked around, mind hazy as you tried to remember where you were, the sound of people chattering as they walked by filled your ears.
"Come on! We gotta catch up before they leave us behind." She laughed, taking your arm and dragging you along behind her, the both of you running off in the direction Draken and Mikey had gone.
"Huh?" You mumbled, still trying to process everything around you, "W-what do you mean?" Your eyes widened at the sight of Mikey and Draken standing atop a hill, a blanket held in the taller boy's hands as he tried to nudge Mikey out of the way.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked, turning her head to glance at you worriedly, "Did you bump your head this morning when grandpa woke you up?"
"Bump...My head? ... Grandpa?" You mumbled out words, trying to make sense of the situation you were suddenly thrown into, your feet slowing down as you reached the top of the hill.
"Eh?" Mikey finally turned his attention away from the sky, looking at both you and his younger sister with a goofy smile across his face, "What took you two so long?"
You froze in your spot at the feeling of Mikey's eyes staring directly at you, his eyebrows furrowed together as he finally moved from his spot, allowing Draken to throw down the blanket for you all to sit on. Mikey took slow steps towards you, his eyes locked with yours showing no emotion behind his dark eyes, you flinched back in your spot when his hand raised, expecting to be hit. But instead you were met with the soft touch of Mikey pulling you into his arms, the both of you joining together in a hug you hadn't felt in years.
"I think Y/N hit her head or something, she zoned out real hard on our way up here." Emma explained, moving past you and her brother, taking a seat next to Draken on the blanket, a small blush dusting across her cheeks at the small smile he had sent her.
"What?!" Mikey yelled, pushing you back by your shoulders, his face moving in closer to inspect your own. "Are you okay, Y/N?! You're not hurt are you??" Mikey asked, your noses now touching as he stared into your eyes with a worried look.
"U-Um, not really..." You whispered, your eyes still wide, unsure how you should act in this scenario.
You were confused, absolutely confused.
Were you dreaming?
Were you dead?
"Should I take you to the hospital?" Mikey asked, about to lift you up off the ground, ready to run you to the emergency room if need be, but you had stopped his movements before he could even touch you.
"N-no!" You shouted, taking a large step back from the blonde male, "I mean.. No, I'm fine. Let's just sit down and watch the fireworks, okay?" You nodded your head towards Emma and Draken who's attentions were on you, staring at you as if you were a fish out of water because of your sudden outburst.
"Are you sure?" Mikey asked, raising his eyebrows in question, you nodded your head, trying to reassure the three that you were fine, when in fact you had no idea what was going on. "Okay... If you say so. Come on!" Mikey shrugged his shoulders, holding his hand out for you to take so the two of you could sit together on the blanket. You stared at his hand which was outstretched, waiting for you to take hold of.
"Yeah... Okay." You said, brushing past Mikey's hand and towards the other two, making sure to leave a good enough distance away from them before sitting down.
Mikey stood frozen in his spot, hand still hanging in the air as his eyes were still locked onto the spot where you once had been. His head turned to the side, just enough so that he could see you out of the corner of his eye, sitting at the very edge of the blanket, your head tilted down while staring at your hands. His lips tilted down into a frown, his heart clenching at your action, wondering what could possibly have changed since this morning.
"Mikey, you coming?" Draken asked, the first firework being set off right after his question, the sky exploding into different bright colors. Lighting up the night sky making Mikey's frown was replaced with a fake smile before he turned around, putting on an act as he sat down next to Draken, staring up at the fireworks in amazement.
"Woah! Look at that one Ken-Chin! It looked like you." Mikey exclaimed, sitting up onto his knees, his finger pointed up at the sky where the last firework had exploded.
"Hah?!" Draken shouted, turning his head to the side to glare at the shorter blonde male. "What the hell did you say?!" Draken raised his fist, aiming it for Mikey but stopped when Emma grabbed his arm, pulling his back into his spot.
"Stop it you two." Emma sighed, "Or I'll send Y/N after you both!" Your head snapped up in their direction at the mention of your name, all three of them now looking at your wide eyes expression.
"Huh?"
"Y/N did you even watch the fireworks?" Emma whined, letting go of Draken's arm, turning to you with a small pout on her face.
"Fireworks?" You asked, looking up at the dark night sky, "They started already?"
The three of them deadpanned at your question, taking a moment to look you over before responding. While your physical appearance may have been the same, the light you had in your eyes not even two hours ago, was now gone, instead replaced with a pit of darkness that seemed to have no end. Your usual smile was upside down, displaying a deep frown, eyebrows knitted together in permanent thought.
"Ahh... Maybe it's time we head home." Draken spoke, nodding towards the other two who stood up from the blanket and began to walk away, not bothering to stop and help the Draken pick up their belongings.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go home." You said, quickly standing up from the blanket and walking in the opposite direction down the hill, Draken staring at you in confusion as you began to walk in the opposite direction of your own home.
"Wait, Y/N, your apartment's the other-" Draken tried to say, but stopped seeing as you were already too far, your feet carrying down the hill and towards the direction of a certain shop. Draken shrugged his shoulders, folding up the blanket before tucking it under his arms, beginning to walk towards Emma and Mikey who were waiting at the bottom of the hill.
"Where's Y/N?" Mikey asked, tilting his head to the side, glancing around the taller male to see if you were behind him, but instead found the spot empty with you nowhere in sight.
"She said she was going home." Draken replied, walking past Mikey and towards Emma who was impatiently waiting for them to hurry up. "Though she went the other way, I don't know maybe she had something to do?"
"I don't know Ken-Chin... I think there's something wrong with her." Mikey said, looking at the hill where you all had just been, his suspicions growing at your unusual behavior.
"Just leave her alone guys, it's probably just girl things." Emma chimed in, rolling her eyes at their words, feeling worried about you herself, but knowing that if she showed it, Mikey would only make a bigger deal about it.
"Ewww!"
~
You stood outside the lit up shop, the light from inside peaking through the windows allowing you to see both Wakasa and Benki lounging in their usual spot. Takeomi was lurking near the oldest Sano sibling who was laying on the floor messing with a bike, occasionally asking for a different tool. Your eyes widened at the sight, having been years since you've last seen these four men.
Now you knew for sure that this wasn't real.
Your hand reached out for the door, slowly opening it, your fingers just barely holding onto it when you heard the sound of a bell go off.
And that was when the dam broke.
You stood in the doorway with tears falling down your cheeks, blurring your vision as you stook small steps into the shop. All eyes quickly fell onto you who stood in the front of the shop, sobbing until you had fallen to your knees.
"W-What? Y/N?" Shinichiro sat up from his lying position, confusion falling upon each of the four men at your sudden appearance. "What's wrong?" He quickly stood up to approach you but was suddenly knocked back down as you tackled him into a tight hug.
"Shin-nii!!" You cried into his chest, your tears leaving visible wet splotches on his shirt. "I've missed you so much!" You sobbed, clutching onto his shirt as he looked up at the other three in confusion, each of them shrugging their shoulders, unsure of what was happening.
"Y/N? We saw each other this morning, you missed me already?" Shinichiro laughed, his own arms moving to wrap around you, reciprocating your hug which only made you cry even harder. "What's wrong?" He asked, putting his hands on your shoulders to push you away from him slightly, but the moment your eyes landed on his face more tears fell.
"Hey now kid, don't just come in here crying without telling us what's wrong." Takeomi said, crouching down and brushing a piece of hair away from your eyes. You lifted your head up, meeting Takeomi's eyes, another sob flowing from your lips as you flung yourself from Shinichiro into Takeomi's arms. "Woah!" He stiffly wrapped his arms around you, not quite sure what to do, or how to comfort you.
"Um.. Uh, calm down, Y/N... You're gonna make yourself sick if you keep crying like that." Shinichiro said, one of his hands rubbing your back, trying to calm you down. "Did something happen?"
You lifted your head from Takeomi's shoulder, hesitating for a moment before you shook your head no.
"Did my brother do something stupid again?"
You shook your head again, keeping your head down low as you stood up from Takeomi's lap, walking over to the side where Wakasa and Benki sat, wedging yourself in between them.
"You just missed me so much that you started crying?" Shinichiro asked, sending you a smile as he stood back up from the position you had knocked him down in. You nodded your head, keeping your gaze down to your lap in silence. Shinichiro hummed in thought, moving back to the desk where his cigarettes sat, pulling one from the carton he placed it between his lips before lighting it. "How about I end things early tonight and walk you home?" Nodding your head, you looked up with a small smile, the other three standing up to gather their things before leaving.
"Can't believe you came crying cuz you missed Shin." Wakasa laughed, ruffling your head as he stood next to you.
"Shut up." You grumbled, swatting at his hand while sending him a soft glare. Wakasa displayed faux surprise as he just barely lifted his hand to cover his mouth.
"She talks!"
"Leave her alone, Wakasa." Benki said, moving to stand on the other side of you, waiting for the other two to pack up the tools before leaving.
"Yeah Waka, leave me alone." You said, sticking your tongue out at the male, Shinichiro and Takeomi chuckling as they walked out of the backroom.
"You ready?" Shinichiro asked, holding his hand out for you to take, the small smile you had on your face dropping at the sight, being reminded about how Mikey had wanted you to take his hand earlier.
"...Yeah." You whispered, moving across the room to grab his hand, all five of you walking out of the shop before Shinichiro turned around and locked it. The two of you standing on one side while the other three stood on the other.
"I'll see you guy's tomorrow." Shin said, tugging on your smaller arm in the direction of your apartment. They each nodded to his statement before turning around and beginning to walk away.
"Bye OmiOmi, bye Benki, ye Waka." You said, before following Shinichiro down the sidewalk.
Two of the three men paused in their spots, eyes wide as they slowly turned their heads to look back at you.
"She finally said my name..."
"She said bye to me!"
~
"So..." Shinichiro started, tilting his head down to look at you, you gaze stuck staring ahead, knowing that if you were to look at him again you wouldn't be able to hold back the tears. "You gonna tell me what that was all about?" He asked, gently squeezing your hand, trying to reassure you that no one else would find out about this conversation, it would stay just between the two of you.
"It was nothing... Really. I just missed you." You whispered, a part of you still questioning the situation you were in... Why were you seeing all of this?
Why were you here?
Had you finally died?
"If you say so... But I still believe there's more to it that you're not telling me." He laughed lightly, the both of you stopping at a crosswalk, checking both ways before crossing the street.
It was silent the rest of the way to your apartment, Shinichiro would occasionally hum the tune of a song until he got to one specific part where he would trail off, seemingly forgetting how the rest went before restarting from the beginning.
Once at your apartment door, Shinichiro finally let go of your hand, staring down at you with a smile as you pulled out your key and unlocked the door.
"Welp, this is where we part ways." He said, crouching down to bring you into a hug, your fists clenched his shirt as you breathed in his scent. The faint smell of motor oil and cigarettes lingered on his clothes, bringing you a sense of comfort.
"I love you Shin-nii." You sniffled against his shoulder, the tiniest of tears bubbling up in the pits of your eyes, "You're the best big brother." You removed yourself out of the man's grasp, not being able to bring yourself to look at him before walking into the dark apartment and closing the door behind you.
Shinichiro was stuck in his spot, eyes wide from the shock of your words, his heart thumping a little quicker as he let what you said sink in. His own eyes watered slightly, staring at the door which was now closed, a smile gracing itself across his face.
He was happy.
Happy knowing that he was able to fill in one of your missing pieces.
Becoming the older brother you had always sought for.
ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺
You silently laid in your bed, staring up at the plain white ceiling. The air in your apartment was turned up to the max, creating a much cooler temperature than you were used to, but you were grateful for it due to the scalding heat from outside. Next to your bed was a small table, containing your phone which had been going off non-stop all morning, and a small picture frame of you and the Sano family from your days of living with them.
Your phone rings.
Someone was calling you, but for some reason you couldn't drag yourself to answer it, so instead you let it go to voicemail.
But then it rings again.
And again.
And again.
It rings until you finally pick it up, the nagging voice of your neighbor on the other end of the phone, followed by two other's shouting your name in the background.
"Y/N! We've been knocking at your door for the past thirty minutes! Where the hell are you? We have a meeting soon." Baji spoke through the phone, the banging on your door becoming ever so present now that he had mentioned it.
"Oh... I'll be there in a minute." You sighed, hanging up the call and setting your phone back down. Your feet slid over the edge of the bed, pushing yourself to stand up, the pajama pants you had fell way past your feet, showing that they were not your size, but it's not like you cared enough to change them.
Making your way down the hall, you could hear the loud voices coming from the boys in the hall, already knowing there would be a complaint filed about the six rowdy boys who were always wreaking havoc in the building. You unlocked the door before your hand grabbed hold of the doorknob, pulling it open to reveal your sloppy appearance to the boys.
"Eh? Y/N, you're not even in your uniform yetttt." Mikey whined, getting pushed to the side by Pah who quickly barged into the apartment and made his way towards the kitchen cabinets. From the doorway, you could see him searching through the cabinet that held your secret stash of snacks before moving over to the couch and turning on the tv.
"Y/N are you ready for-" Mikey started, moving back to the door but was cut off as he was pushed to the side again, his face disappearing from the doorway momentarily.
"Pah! Don't just barge in like that." Draken scolded, pushing Mikey away so he could make his way into the apartment, slightly nodding at you as he walked by. Mikey's smile had faltered slightly before growing wide again, gripping the doorway so he wouldn't be pushed out of the way again.
"Y/N-"
"Ahhhh! Y/N it feels like it's been forever since I've last seen you!" Kazutora yelled, his elbow nudging Mikey out of his way as he threw himself into your arms. Mikey weakly held his hand up, ready to intervene but was stopped by Baji standing in the doorway, now blocking his path.
"Shut up Kazutora, you just saw her yesterday." Baji said, pushing his friend further into the apartment so they could sit down and relax.
Mikey stood off to the side, glaring at Mitsuya who only stared back with an innocent look. Mikey smiled once again, moving into the doorway, ready to finally get his words out.
"Y/N are you rea-"
"Here, Y/N. I brought you this, my sisters and I made them this morning." Mitsuya said, interrupting Mikey's words with a small smirk, holding up a container of muffins for you to have. Mitsuya squeezed past Mikey, handing you the container before going towards Draken who sat next to Pah on the couch.
You stared down at the container in silence for a moment before looking back up to Mikey, a discouraged look on his face from being interrupted so many times, but the look soon faded away now that he could speak with no one to stop him.
"Y/N are you ready for today's meet-"
Using your foot, you closed the door in his face, the end of his sentence becoming muffled from behind the door. The laughs from the rest of the guys putting a small smile on your face as you moved over to the kitchen, setting the container down on the counter.
The door opened, revealing a pouting Mikey, his shoulders slouched as he walked through the doorway, closing the door behind him.
"That was so mean, Y/N." Mikey said, moving over to the couch where three of the boys sat, flopping over to lay on them.
"Mikey!"
"Mikeyyy!"
"MIKEY!!"
They all pushed Mikey off of their laps, his body tumbling to the floor near where Baji and Kazutora sat. All of them were laughing at Mikey, who just laid in the spot, pouting like a little kid.
"Y/N, come sit next to me!" Kazutora said, patting the spot on the other side of him.
"No! She's going to sit next to me." Baji scoffed while patting the spot on the other side of him, a smirk growing across his face when he saw you begin to walk towards him. But instead of stopping next to him, you kept moving until you had walked across the room, taking a seat in the chair no one had bothered to occupy.
"Wah... Y/N, why didn't you sit next to me?!" Kazutora and Baji cried at the same time, the both of them joining Mikey by pouting.
"I'll sit over here..." You said, turning your attention away from them, now looking at the tv, seeing that Pah had put on the cartoons that play every single morning.
Silence had fallen upon the room as you all got into the show on the tv, all except Mikey who appeared to be passed out on the floor.
One episode soon turned into four, and four turned into Draken yelling at everyone that you all were going to be late for the Toman meeting. They all stood up except for you and Mikey, the blonde male still laid on the floor, his lips parted slightly as drool had slowly began to drip down the side of his face.
"Mikey, come on." Draken said, using his foot to nudge Mikey's side, startling the shorter male awake. "We gotta go or we're gonna be late."
"Huh?" Mikey asked, looking around the room as he slowly blinked, trying to get used to the light shining down from the ceiling.
"The meeting, we're going to be late." Draken said, leaving Mikey on the floor while he went to join the others outside in the hallway. You stood up from the chair, about to walk past Mikey when he whined out your name. You paused to look down at the blonde male, one of his hands outstretched towards you, begging for you to help him stand up. Complaining that his back was all stiff because of how uncomfortable your floor is.
You stared down at his hand, your fingers twitching as you slowly began to reach for his own. You flinched the moment your warm hands came in contact with his cold ones, the pout on his face disappearing, being replaced with a sincere smile.
"Thank you, Y/N!" Mikey said, stretching his body after fully standing up, his bones popping back into place before grabbing your hand once more and dragging you towards the door. "So, as I was trying to say earlier, are you ready for today's meeting?"
"Sure?" You shrugged your shoulders, unsure of why today's meeting would be any different than the others, but before he could pull you out of the apartment you stopped and ripped your hand out of his grasp. His smile fell as you did so, his eyebrows furrowing as his eyes glanced up to meet yours. "Y/N?"
"I'll meet you guys there, I still have to get changed." You said, grabbing hold of the door and beginning to close it, only to be stopped by Mikey's foot in the doorway.
"Are you sure you're okay, Y/N?" Mikey asked, using his foot to open the door a little more so he could see your whole face. "My brother told me that you went to see him last night, he wouldn't tell me anything more, but he said he was worried about you."
"I'm fine." You said, turning to look away from Mikey, "I just decided to stop by on my way home."
"You can talk to me, you know?"
You wanted to laugh at his words, laugh and tell him how much of a liar he was, but you bite your tongue, keeping those words back, knowing that if you were to speak them he would only be confused.
"...Yeah, thanks, Mikey." Mikey smiled at your response, pulling you into a small hug which made your body tense up.
"We'll see you there-" Mikey spoke, pulling away, the last part of his sentence becoming silent. His lips moved but no sound came out making your eyebrows furrow, head spinning as you looked around the room.
"Y/N!"
You took a step back, eyes widening in horror at the loud voice shouting your name. Mikey looked at you in confusion, his lips moving once again speaking, but you couldn't hear what he was saying.
"Y/N you have to-"
You covered your ears, your body falling to the ground as you tried to block out the voice calling your name. Mikey's eyes widened as he followed you to the ground, his hands moving around rapidly, trying to check you for any injuries. His head poked out the doorway into the hall, yelling for the guys to come back and help him.
You could feel the vibrations of their feet pounding against the floor, each of them gathering around you, shouting your name but in the end you couldn't hear a thing.
"Y/N! You need to wake up!"
"Wake up, please!"
You shook your head no.
You didn't want to wake up.
You didn't want to go back.
You wanted to stay here.
Where nothing bad has happened.
Where everyone was still alive.
Where you could pretend everything was okay.
You wanted to stay here...
Where you had felt the smallest ounce of happiness.
But no, instead you were quickly heading towards the light of consciousness.
Because in the end, this would only be a dream.
ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺