27th December, 2005
"So this is where he lives." Said Y/n as they stood outside Chifuyu's door with Hanagaki.
Takemichi knocked and both of them waited. After a few seconds the knob twisted and the door opened. An excited grin spread on his face when he saw his friend but quickly got replaced with a frown when his eyes fell upon the uninvited guest. Without even hesitating, he immediately shut the door on their faces.
"Hehhh!?" Takemichi exclaimed as Y/n just let out a small laugh saying, "See? I told you."
"He'll pay for that." Takemichi replied looking at them and turning back to the door.
"Oi! Chifuyu open up!"
"Why have you brought them!?"
"Because I wanted to explain to you about us! Weren't you curious!?"
"No I wasn't! I ain't even interested to hear, go back!"
"Chifuyu this is important! Understand me!"
"Nah Takemitchy I ain't takin' shit from you today."
Y/n sighed. 'Looks like I'm the middle man of every argument today..'
Suddenly, they heard a purr sound from behind them. They turned around curiously, and found a Black cat looking up at them. It had a cross charm hanging from its leash and it looked like an ordinary local breed. The cat meowed at them.
"You're bored of the argument of stupids too, right, goth kitty?" Y/n talked as they bent down in front of it. The cat responded with silence and diverted it's attention to Chifuyu's door. After a few seconds of watching Hanagaki bang on it, the cat decided to take matters into its paws.
It casually stood up, walked towards the door and meowed loudly.
The door immediately opened but only enough for the cat to enter inside. It was as if the cat had spoken the magic words to move the big rock to enter the cave like in tales. Y/n found this funny.
Meanwhile, Takemichi grabbed the door and pulled it with his whole might to create enough gap to pass through; and he successfully did. He kept it like that as Y/n also made their way inside.
And Chifuyu, the owner of this apartment-was caught up in a human-cat wrestling on his floor.
Both of the guests sighed as they finally got inside.
"So this is the best welcome you promised me about, Hanagaki." Y/n said in a funny tone rather than a complaining one and Takemichi just awkwardly looked away.
"Get the fuck off from me Peke J!"
"Meowww!"
"Ugh!"
Grumbles and aggresive purrs echoed as Y/n decided to put an end to it.
"Peke J, my goth kitten, come to me please.." Y/n lured in the aggressive cat as they bent down in front of it with their arms stretched out.
The cat got attentive upon hearing its name and quickly turned around to see Y/n welcoming it. It stared at their face for a couple of seconds, making a tough decision. Then it looked back at its owner. And immediately after, jumped into Y/n's arms. Takemichi let out a loud laugh.
"Your cat just picked a random stranger over you Chifuyu!"
"Shut the fuck up dumb-mitchy." He retorted getting up from floor and snatching his cat from Y/n.
"Very nice way to thank me for saving you." Y/n commented acquiring a seat on their hater's bed. They just received an annoyed 'humph' in return. Takemichi joined them on the bed as Chifuyu sat on his chair with Peke J.
"Now tell me what you gotta explain."
"Y/n's a close friend of Hina. I met them through her a while ago. And they aren't a traitor as you think, they may sell information for money but that's just their job and since they haven't joined any gangs, they aren't obliged to not share any info to other gangs. They aren't a traitor at heart, in fact they helped me patch up with Hina." The boy explained as jis friend's face stayed monotonous.
Chifuyu took a hot minute to contemplate on this information, judging if Y/n was a potential threat to them or not. And after deciding, he spoke up.
"I see."
"I think I'm convinced...but I ain't trusting them this soon."
"Fine by us." Hanagaki and Y/n both replied in unison. Then, Takemichi turned to face Y/n.
"Y/n-san. About Christmas, how did you suddenly show up there? You seemed to be pretty good friends with members of Black Dragon.."
"My friend just invited me there randomly to oversee the fight but you made it so interesting that I decided to join in." Y/n lied with full confidence as they usually did. The two boys seemed to believe them.
"Do you know Mikey-kun?"
"Mikey? Nope."
"You greeted him Merry Christmas and even had a chat when I was making up with Hina."
"Oh that. I just greeted him for no reason. Maybe because I wanted to catch his attention since that was my first time meeting him. And the little chat we had...well it was about me joining Toman." The last part caught Takemichi and Chifuyu both by surprise.
"You're joining Toman!?" Hanagaki exclaimed, clearly shocked.
"How? Why? When?"
Y/n sighed for the millionth time today.
"Calm down, I'm telling." Suddenly their demeanor changed, to a soft one as they looked at Takemichi with a small smile.
"I decided to leave being an informant."
'HUH!?' Takemichi mentally exclaimed and waited for them to talk further.
"And you know why? Because I want to follow your path. You showed me what true loyalty and friendship means." They looked at him with a soft smile.
"All these years...I was lost in my own greed. But you, as well as Hina, made me find happiness among people." Y/n said as their eyes gleamed with a sense of sincerity and admiration. The room fell silent for a couple of seconds as Y/n then noticed Takemichi's eyes shine. He looked at them emotionally.
"I'm so happy to be that person to you, Y/n-san. I never knew you thought of me like that...I thought you found me stupid and over-caring."
"I did and still do..." Said Y/n with seriousness.
"...and that's so cool to me." They completed with a grin. Takemichi reciprocated with a wider one.
"If you guys have finished your romance, can I have the chance to exchange few words with the celebrity?" Chifuyu broke their moment with a sarcastic tone, shading Y/n. The duo shifted their gaze towards him as he began.
"Has Mikey approved of you? Does he even know that you're THE Y/n among gangs? Did he even take in account that you could be a potential threat to Toman? Just how did he let you in?"
"Dude, at least breathe in between." Hanagaki butted in. And Y/n let out a sigh.
"How about you ask that to your president yourself, Matsuno? I ain't got that much energy left to answer all of those right now." Chifuyu responded with a grunt and stood up to go to his kitchen. Takemichi laid on the bed comfortably.
After a few seconds, Chifuyu came back with a big bag of chips and three cold drink cans. He sat down on his old seat and passed the snacks to the two.
"I was waiting for this only. Open the bag and let's dig in!" Takemichi got excited as Y/n tore open the plastic which caught the blue eyed boy's attention.
"What happened to your hand?" He asked looking at the back of their hand which was freshly bruised.
"Nothing, me and my friends had a fun fight at my karate academy." They lied casually munching on the potato chips as both the boys in the room gave them a sceptical look.
"But it looks fresh. And wait- did you just say you go to a Karate academy? Woah that's awesome! No wonder how you got all those moves!" Takemichi exclaimed.
"I hate to admit this but you've got some top-notch moves. I kinda feel jealous." Chifuyu said looking away from them to avoid getting embarrassed. Y/n just laughed at him.
"Since when do you go there?"
"Since I turned 9 I guess, before joining here, I used to train at another dojo when I was 7."
"Damn. That's a long time..."
"You must've been the strongest kid there, right?" Hanagaki asked expecting a yes from them but surprisingly, that wasn't the case.
"Nah. I was the second best. And I hated that to death."
"Then who was the first?"
"A sly blondie. Though we were friends, I had a love-hate relationship with him because of my jealousy."
"Damn that blonde must've grown out to be a strong guy now."
"Who knows, strength isn't a trait in someone. It can grow and die with time."
"If that's so then how come i've never been strong even after training and fighting with many?" Quizzed Hanagaki.
"Who told you, you weren't strong? Strength doesn't solely mean physical one. Emotional strength matters just as much, and from my experience, you're the strongest person emotionally."
"They're right." Chifuyu agreed as Takemichi started to feel motivated.
"Hell yeah!" He exclaimed with a proud look.
"Now tone down crybaby. You look funny." Chifuyu threw a comment, laughing at him as Y/n joined him.
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Word count : 1,624