Pitch black eyes stared back into the (e/c) orbs with piercing intensity. The tense atmosphere was oppressive. No one dared to speak after Mikey said those words.
Takemichi's eyes shifted to Mikey and his cousin, (Y/N), as multiple sweat beads rolled down his face.
It was terrifying to witness since none of these two had blinked their eyes yet.
"I already hate you." (Y/N) sighed, turning her back on Mikey and facing the other way where Chifuyu was standing.
Takemichi was taken aback.
Did his cousin just backed out?
He couldn't think of anything to say. His cousin was never one to back down from a fight with anyone or anything. His cousin would always face the situation with her head held high, no matter how difficult it was. Regardless of age, height, strength or gender. She refuses to give up and does not back down easily.
Don't tell me she was scared of Mikey?
Baji was surprised as well, having known the girl for four years. In a fight, she doesn't often turn away from her opponent.
"I hate your eyes, they remind me of something harsh." She tried to say it in a cold tone, but ended up sounding like she was about to stutter.
Mikey's eyes widened slightly as he contemplated what to say in response to her words. He gulped his saliva and was going to say something to her when she abruptly grabbed Chifuyu's arm and dragged him down the shrine.
"I'll see you later, Michi!" She shouted, leaving them with a confused expression on their faces.
"That girl pisses me off!" Pah-chin spoke up, his gaze fixed on the two figures retreating back down the stairs. "Why was she here in the first place?"
"Chifuyu said he helped her from a gang." Mitsuya responded with a rub of his temples. He cast a peek over at Takemichi, who remained with a confused expression. "Are you two close?"
Takemichi simply nodded his head as an answer.
"Wasn't it she who attacked Ceberus's leader?" Smiley barged in, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Cerberus?"
"No way!"
Takemichi was completely clueless of what they were talking about. Cerberus? Was that the type of a gang? He was clueless of other gangs since he is unfamiliar with them.
"Yes, someone at my school told me about her. They say the girl had (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes, and that she always had a stern expression on her face, which she did." Smiley remarked.
"There are a lot of girls in Shibuya who would fit in that description, Smiley," Peh-yan says. "She couldn't possibly be that girl."
Baji shook his head, unable to contain his laughter at his gang mates' cluelessness.
"You guys have no idea who she is."
•••
She expected Takemichi to return home with another bruise on his face that night, but she was pleasantly surprised to see none. Takemichi usually returns late at night to avoid his parents seeing his bruised face, and the only person who was able to catch him coming home was none other than (Y/N) herself.
"You're still awake?" Takemichi asked as soon as he saw her in the living room, alone with a bowl of popcorn on her arm, watching a horror movie.
She didn't even bother to glance at him when she replied. "What do you think?"
She felt something heavy beside her and she looked over to see what it was, she discovered that it was Takemichi who had sat down next to her. "You smell, Michi. Where have you been?" she asked, edging away from Takemichi due to his smell.
"Eh?" Takemichi smelled himself. "I don't smell that bad!" He defended himself.
"Yes, you do." She was adamant.
"I don't. You just have a sensitive nose!"
"It's true." She replied and turned to face him. "Ne, tell me. Why did you say you were relieved that I'm still alive?"
Takemichi became frozen in his position. He couldn't believe she remembered what he said the other night, given how easily she forgets things.
Takemichi averted his cousin's gaze by focusing his eyes on the television.
"You appeared to be in a lot of pain when you saw me that night. Can you tell me why you said that?" Her voice softened suddenly, something she rarely does. She only lowered her voice when she sensed something wasn't quite right.
Takemichi sensed his cousin's suspicions developing, but he didn't want to tell her that she would die in the future. He won't tell her since he made a vow to himself that he would change the future and save her and Hinata. He will save everyone from that dreadful future and he will do everything to change it.
"Ah, ano... I dreamt about your death before that night and I was—-" Takemichi didn't finish his sentence when he heard someone snoring beside him, when he looked over at his cousin, she had already fallen asleep which she normally does every time they had a movie night together.
Takemichi shook his head and snatched the bowl from her grip, wiped her fingers with wet tissue, and wrapped her in a blanket that he took from her room.
"Don't worry, that won't happen to you or to Hinata." Takemichi murmured after turning off the television and walked towards his room upstairs.
•••
She yawned as she walked into the school the next day. She got to her class and sat down in the back row. There was a vacant seat next to her so she put her bag in there and sat on her assigned seat. When the class started, her math teacher was talking about a math fest that would happen in two days. She wasn't interested in it, so she fell asleep, but only for a short while.
She felt someone poking her head, getting irritated by this person, so she lifted her head and stared at the person who was poking her.
The person in the seat in front of her was Yuri. Yuri was a few inches shorter than her, so she had no trouble reading the whiteboard; however, Yuri was the type of person who couldn't keep her mouth shut. During classes and even exams, she was constantly blabbering on about different topics. Because of her, (Y/N) was unable to concentrate properly, but she kept her complaint to herself.
"Ano... uh," Yuri began, a little nervous about how (Y/N) was looking at her because she was aware of her classmates' reputation both inside and outside of the school. "Someone had asked me to give this to you, Hanagaki-chan."
Yuri reached something towards her, causing her to wrinkle her brow. Her (e/c) orbs found a paper bag after following Yuri's hands. It was a brown-colored paper bag with her name written in kanji.
"Who gave it to you?" She asked, taking the bag and placing it on her table. She let her curiosity get the best of her and peered inside the bag. When she saw a slice of strawberry cake in a transparent container, her brow wrinkled even more.
She returned her gaze to Yuri, who shrugged her shoulders, as if she didn't know.
"Do you remember what he looked like?" She curiously asked.
"He was tan, tall, and wore a hoodie over his head, so that's all I know. I'm sorry, Hanagaki-chan, but he simply told me to give you this."
"Yuri-chan, don't be sorry. You made no mistakes." She flatly stated and dropped the bag to the ground.
"Aren't you going to eat that?"
"No, I don't know who gave this, and we have no idea if it was poisoned."
"But he seemed like a good guy to me," Yuri says as she reaches into her pocket for something. "I forgot there was a letter."
"Letter?" (Y/N) asked, and Yuri handed over the letter. She opened it since she had nothing better to do and the match teacher was still talking about uninteresting things, which she dislikes.
Yoyogi Park, the tree with the star sign.
Tomorrow at 6:00 pm.
-I.K
"I.K? I'm not familiar with someone with the initials I.K." She pondered whether or not to go to this park tomorrow. This could be a prank and she doesn't want to waste her time on stupid pranks. More importantly, Yoyogi Park is a long walk from the school, and she remembered the park being close to her old house.
Who could have pulled this prank on her?