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20 October 2005
THURSDAY
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"𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆," Mitsuya states as welcoming to the three boys that exited out of the bath house.
[y/n] watched as Takemichi's facial expression change into one of confusion - glancing between her and the other boys who surrounded her.
Mikey cocks his head to the side, looking back towards the boy who wore a red hoodie, "Takemichy, let's go. Gotta new third division captain to welcome," he states, before taking the lead of the group.
Takemichi's face dropped even more, muttering out a "huh?".
[y/n] took notice of his off behaviour; but however was more concerned about Mikey's decision of who was to take over the third divsion - something that he hadn't even run by her first. At this, she glances over to Draken, raising her brow.
He understood her question, and shook his head, indicating that he didn't even know either.
At his response, [y/n] cursed under her breath, before taking pace beside Takemichi.
"You okay?" [y/n] questioned the faux blonde, who still seemed in a state of shock.
Takemichi scratched his head, "y-yes, [l/n]-san," he responds with a hushed voice, following after Mikey to slide onto the back of his bike.
His choice of words, and the way he spoke and now carried himself sent [y/n] spiralling, taking long glances at the yellowed-blonde as she swung her leg over her own bike. Since Takemichi's future self departed, he was never one to stutter out of nervousness, let alone use honourifics when addressing her.
The thoughts plagued her mind; as well as who Mikey has decided to replace Pah - and without even telling anyone. It hurt [y/n] deep within her heart, but perhaps this was some sort of karma on her part. Keeping secrets leads to more hidden truths.
It wasn't long until the group arrived at the car park, and ascended up the shrine's staircase.
The sky was relatively clear; the full yellow moon's light cascading down through the parted foliage.
"Good evening, sir!" Toman's member shouted in unison, bowing deep by their waists.
[y/n] pressed a hand onto Takemichi's shoulder, before taking her position beside Draken, following close behind Mikey.
There was a beat of silence as Mikey, Draken and [y/n] made their way to the front of the large gang of boys; who were all looking up at the trio in waiting.
Draken stepped forward, "we're here to officially name the new captain of the third division!" He shouts, authority thick in his ruff voice.
[y/n] was barely paying attention - too busy scanning over the crowd in hopes to catch a glimpse of a familiar head of long ebony hair.
Takemichi began to sweat as quietened conversations between the boys rang, unsure of who will be allocated the captain position.
"Third division captain, come forward!" Mikey exclaims, and his sentiments drew back [y/n]'s focus.
From the crowd, [y/n] saw two boys making their ways to the front. The larger of the two made it his mission to shove as many people aside. The smaller one stayed silent - and [y/n] first took notice of his golden-rimmed glasses, to then his obviously dyed blonde hair.
As he passed Takemichi, [y/n] noticed how his face dropped into a complete sense of shock and utter terror.
At the expression - it was enough to make her own pit grow in her stomach.
The boy finally made his way towards the very front, taking a long glance at [y/n], before sitting down right in front of her. The sentiment of his action angered [y/n], giving a silent message of his lack of respect for her and Toman's leader.
[y/n] controlled herself; not letting her lip curl into a scowl. She already didn't like Mikey's decision.
It seemed as though the rest of Toman felt her anger as they began to shout and curse him out.
Instead of responding himself, the larger boy with a scar that ran across his cheek and nose shouted out against the crowd, "okay, listen you fuckers! Toman's new captain of the third division is sitting right behind me: Tetta Kisaki!"
[y/n] felt her world spin, eyes widening in horror.
"I know that guy! He's from Moebius!" One boy shouts from the sea of people.
No one seemed to like the idea of someone from Moebius taking a significant role within Toman - and made all their opinions known.
All [y/n] could do was stare at the back of Kisaki's head, unfamiliar emotions running rampant.
"FUCK OFF!" All of Toman began to belt out in a chorus.
"SHUT UP! That's Mikey's decision, anyone who doesn't like it, step forward!" Draken then yells, causing the crowd to quieten down once again.
[y/n] could feel herself begin to move - to be the person that stepped forward against Mikey's decision. However, Mikey began to speak before she got the chance.
"We gotta be ready to take on Valhalla! This new Valhalla we're facing is so huge that Moebius' is nothing next to them. To beat them: Toman's gotta grow too," Mikey states, and [y/n] decides to just listen on what he has to say, "Tetta Kisaki here has done a good job at keeping our generation in check while he was with Moebius. We'll need him on our side to fight Valhalla, so Kisaki is the new captain, remember that! This appointment ceremony is over!"
[y/n] began to feel opposing Mikey's decision was a good idea. Rage festered; both at his ignorance and at him not telling her about appointing him before hand.
However, before [y/n] finally took her stand, someone else decided for her.
Takemichi takes off into a sprint, landing a hard punch into Kisaki's face, knocking his glasses off.
The ordeal felt as though it went in slow motion, [y/n] watching the glasses drop at her feet and tears fall down Takemichi's cheeks.
"What in the hell? Takemichy?!" Draken yells, face morphing into one of both anger and shock.
Takemichi didn't respond, only huffing out deep breaths as he glared right into Kisaki's soul, who in response spat out a heap of blood onto the pavement.
"Woah, Takemichi?!" [y/n] then yells, tone more in worry than anger at his defiance, as now her resolution had been set in stone.
Takemichi's face begins to drop at his realisation of his mistake as Draken begins to yell, "you ain't even in Toman! What the fuck are you doin', ruining the ceremony?!"
"Draken, [l/n]-san... I-" Takemichi begins, preparing an excuse, "I-I wasn't, u-uh- I didn't..."
Mitsuya made his way up the set of stairs, "Takemichy, have you gone nuts?!" He exclaims, brows creasing exasperation.
"Hey... you spittin' in Mikey's eye, huh?! That what you doin'?!" Nahoya questions, his smile one step close to being a scowl.
"NO! Honest, you guys I-" Takemichi states, still heaving in ragged breaths, "I wasn't trying to-"
"Eh? So whats going on here?"
[y/n] felt a new emotion run through her; feeling her hands turn ice hold as she turned to face Keisuke Baji, lips curled up into his signature grin, "looks like I nearly missed the fun..."
"Oi, Baji, you shouldn't be here," Yasuhiro states, lip twitching in annoyance.
As a response, Baji took into a sprint, landing a punch onto Takemichi face, and another right hook up into his nose.
[y/n] grabbed his arm, hooking her elbow with his, "alright, Keisuke, thats enough," she states, glaring at him as if daring for him to go against her.
"Let go, [y/n]," Baji states, although made no move to unwrap his arm from hers.
[y/n] nods her chin, "what is it Keisuke? What are you doin' here?" She feigns ignorance, and Baji took the hint - now also knowing the answer to his proposal.
Baji turns to face Mikey, "hey, Mikey!" He yells, causing the blonde to turn from where he stood a few meters away.
"Why are you here, Baji? You've been banned from attending our meetings, remember?" Mikey states, face holding nothing that gave away what he was thinking.
"Yeah I do," Baji counters, voice laced with playfulness, "and I just slugged this twit in the face. So does that mean... I'm finally gonna be fired, huh? For ruining your precious meeting," Baji mocks, giving a small pout.
"Baji..." Mikey states, and [y/n] could hear the small warning behind the way he spoke his name.
Baji just scrunches his nose up, "fine. I'm joining Valhalla. You don't want anyone causing trouble for you, do you Mikey?" He questions.
At his declaration, Mikey turns fully to face him, "BAJI!" He screams, using his anger to hide behind his hurt.
"So your first division captain... will just go ahead and resign. So starting now, Toman's former captain becomes its enemy."
Even though [y/n] knew that every word Baji spoke was just a lie - just hearing it was enough to feel the betrayal. Looking in between of all of Toman's faces and reactions; [y/n] had no idea how Baji was able to keep a straight face.
"Don't sweat it Mikey, this is just how it is," Draken calls, staring off at Baji.
"Keisuke..." [y/n] begins, making her presence known to Baji, allowing him to rope her into his plan, "why are you doing this?"
[y/n] took a glance at Takemichi, and her cause was further driven.
"Oh come on, [y/n]?! Toman is a complete mess; they show no respect, and you know that first hand," Baji states, crossing his arms matter-of-factly.
At his statement, [y/n] creased her brows, playing into what he was saying, "the hell are you getting at?" She asks, irritation weaved through.
"Don't worry about it, [y/n]," Draken calls over to her, and Mitsuya just places a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, you know what I'm talking about, [y/n]. No one here truely listens to you," Baji then counters, and [y/n] could already see where he was getting at, "Valhalla, on the other hand, well they don't care where you're from, male or female, they just care if you're strong or weak."
Although [y/n] knew it was an act on Baji's part, she also know the words he spoke on Toman's behalf was true. No one truely took her seriously; except for her closer friends.
"BAJI! THATS ENOUGH!!" Draken screams.
[y/n] knew that Draken wasn't defending her - but was for Mikey, and his reputation as a leader.
Raw emotions ran through [y/n], and she looked towards the leader, "Mikey?" She mutters, looking for some sort of defence on her behalf - on her own honour as sharing vice-leader with Draken.
She knew that he wouldn't say anything, and she played into that. But it still hurt when he just looked at her, not uttering a single word.
[y/n]'s face turned into one of pure rage, "FUCK THIS!" She yells out, and she could tell that her reaction wasn't anything that anyone was expecting.
Especially since she was known for her calm persona - even under pressure and dire situations.
She shoved Mitsuya's hand off her shoulder in a violent motion, turning on her heals to storm away.
"Woah... is vice-leader leaving Toman as well?"
Whispers began to ring throughout the crowd, which seemed to further anger [y/n].
"Hold on a second... [y/n]!" Mitsuya calls, but [y/n] just ignored him.
She continued her strides, not noticing that Baji had now started to follow her up behind her.
"The hell? [y/n], what are you doing?!" Draken then calls out.
[y/n] huffs out as she turned back, feeling the white hot outrage, "don't think I want to hang around supposed friends who won't even respect me; let alone defend me as a vice-leader of Toman."
Another lie to add to the burning pit.
It was then sorrow began to slither its way through [y/n]'s anger, taking a new form as it brought on an onslaught of insecurities. Without giving a second thought, she rips off her Toman jacket, scrunching it up into a ball to toss it into Takemichi's arms.
"Go fuck yourselves," was [y/n]'s final statement, before ramming her shoulder into Nahoya as she passed.
The crowd of boys seemed to part like the sea for Moses as [y/n] and Baji left.
As they got to the end, [y/n] took off into a sprint down the stairs, not wanting Baji to witness the tears that finally worked its way out from her eyes.
"Woah, slow down [y/n]!" Baji calls out for her, but she made no move to slow down her running.
After a while of running, she sat behind a tree, sliding down to tuck her knees into her chest. Guilt was all she could feel as the tears continued to come down, as she tugged at her hair by the scalp, chest heaving at being unable to breath properly.
[y/n] then felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and she glanced to find Baji, who crouched down next to her.
"They couldn't hate you," was all Baji states as he wrapped an arm over her shoulders, bringing her head into his chest.
She could hear no pity behind Baji's tone; only understanding. And it was all [y/n] could ask for, as she let her emotions crumble out of her system.
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