章 10: TAME HER (LIKE A DOG)
"Since when did Kiyomasa has a thing for you?" Takemichi questioned aloud as they walked by the crowded train station. It was peak hour since most high school students were on their way home.
(Y/N) shrugged as she walked into the train, clutching the strap of her bag, as Takemichi trailed behind her, never taking his gaze away from her for fear of causing more difficulty.
"Probably I beat him to a pulp that day? Who knows, I don't care," she said as she walked over to an empty seat next to two students wearing the same uniform as them.
Takemichi's mother summoned the two cousins to her workplace since they were going to eat dinner in a restaurant. Takemichi had to be dragged away from his friend's business by the (hc/c) haired female only to get him to remember what his mother had told them this morning.
"No fights today! We're going out to dinner later, and I don't want to see any bruises on your face. Takemichi, do you get it? "
He shivered as he remembered her mother's scary visage. (Y/N) furrowed her brows at him since he appeared to be about to pee in his pants, but she shrugged it off.
They arrived at Takemichi's mother's workplace, where she worked as a financial officer. Last Saturday, she received a promotion, and the family planned to celebrate at their favorite restaurant. Once the two high school students informed the guard that they were relatives of one of the employees inside the building, they immediately called Takemichi's mother, who arrived with a serious look on her face.
(Y/N) turned to face her cousin. "I guess we'll have to wait another hour or two until she finishes her work," she muttered quietly enough for the blond next to her to hum in response.
"I need to finish several papers first; it will take an hour or longer. So, I want you two to go for a stroll and meet me in the restaurant at exactly 6:30," Takemichi's mother remarked, checking her wristwatch before looking at the two. She waited for their response, but all she got were nods from the two of them.
"Don't cause a problem," she continued, her gaze narrowing on her son, who winced at the sight of her. "Especially Takemichi. Don't get into any trouble because you'll only end up dragging your cousin along with you. Remember, she's a girl."
Takemichi responded with a nod. 'If only you knew.'
If only she knew that her niece is capable of self-defense.
Takemichi's mother knew (Y/N) could fight because she's a member of the school's martial arts club and a Karate star, but for her, outside and inside fighting are two separate things.
"I'll see you two later. Please keep a watch on your cousin (Y/N)-chan and make sure he doesn't cause any problems."
"Yes auntie." The (h/c) haired female replied as they watched Takemichi's mother walk towards the elevator to return to her office. (Y/N) turned to face Takemichi, who had his lips pouting, as if protesting his mother's remarks. Who could blame him?
Takemichi, unlike his cousin, who is the school's karate champion, is poor in physical combat. But who'd have imagined it was his cousin, not him, who was the exact meaning of 'delinquent.' She was usually the one who would break school rules or even government rules, and she'd be able to get away with it like it was nothing... and no one would believe that she could do those things.
"Let's take a look around at the shops," (Y/N) said as she started walking forward, Takemichi following behind her with his hands shoved in his pockets.
His blue eyes were fixed on the back of her head, as if he was wondering what he had been missing since high school or even before that. He has no recollection of whatever they did in high school; the two lived separate lifestyles and didn't spend as much time together as any cousin would.
His thoughts strayed to the what ifs and memories he had of her in the past. When they were younger, (Y/N) and Takemichi were extremely close—so close that everyone assumed she was his older sister, despite the fact that they don't look anything alike. She was always there for him, and she used to defend him from his parents.
She used to be a lively child, but that changed when her father died when she was in middle school.
'Grade school... (Y/N) moved in with us in seventh grade after her mother was arrested. She had bruises all over her body when she arrived home...' Takemichi quickly came to a halt as he remembered something.
(Y/N) noticed the boy had stopped walking and turned around to ask him what was wrong, only to find him leaning in close to her. He had his hands on her shoulder as he examined her face, startling the (h/c) head.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Takemichi ignored her question as he scanned her face for something that popped into his mind. It's a scar. A scar. There should be a scar on her face. She suffered a knife wound in the past as a result of an incident. Takemichi had forgotten about it until today. He mentally scolded himself for forgetting such details about her, despite the fact that she was the only person who ever stood up for him and was always there for him. How could he have forgotten and ignored his cousin for so long? How could he have left her after graduating from high school?
"Your scar. It's gone."
(Y/N) gently pushed him away as her brows furrowed even more. She doesn't understand him sometimes. These past few days, she felt like Takemichi wasn't himself, like he was something else, like she doesn't know him at all. She was used to his behavior of ignoring her since she also knew the reason why Takemichi suddenly distanced himself from her. She was persistent. She was continuously telling him what he should and shouldn't do, which made him snap. He also despises it when she appears out of nowhere to save his ass over and over... which is why she acknowledged it. She acknowledged what he wanted and quit interfering with his affairs. But she still talks to him occasionally and keeps an eye out for him in the shadows.
Takemichi may have told her to stop helping him, and she did... but she'll return to helping him once she senses he's in serious trouble.
"How did that happen?"
(Y/N) rolled her eyes as she wiped the right side of her jaw with the sleeves of her jacket. It took her two wipes until the scar that was three inches long appeared in Takemichi's sight.
She replied flatly, "I always cover it in foundation." She didn't want to talk about it any further because it would bring up unpleasant memories for her.
Takemichi rubbed his eyes dramatically, as if he had never heard of foundations before. Why did he look surprised when his mother wore it every day?
"Why are you covering your scar?" Takemichi questioned, a dumb question at that.
She groaned and looked away from him. Takemichi was always asking the dumb ones. She has no idea where he got that from. Her aunt and uncle are both intelligent and diligent, meanwhile Takemichi...
She replied, "It's unpleasant to look at," and continued her walk. "Scars are not attractive for a woman."
Her breathing became heavy as she remembered a time when she paid a visit to her mother in prison; it had been a long time, yet it was still fresh in her mind.
"For a woman, scars are undesirable. No man would ever love you if you have scars on your body, which is good for you. But honestly, I should've cut deeper." Her chuckle made her heart ache, as her mother's expression of hatred for her never left her eyes. "Don't ever think you'll get out away from this, you ungrateful we—"
"Who said that?"
When she felt Takemichi's hand on her shoulder, (Y/N) snapped back to reality.
"No one," she replied, her voice grim, and Takemichi knew better than to push her.
He followed her around while she went window shopping, sightseeing, and stopping to eat at food stalls.
Takemichi sighed as his cousin bought another food from a food stall for the sixth time. She gave him a sidelong glance, waving the food in the air as if to ask if he wanted one, but Takemichi simply shook his head no.
Takemichi muttered under his breath, a smile creeping across his lips, "She really loves eating. At least, that part of her remained unchanged. Isn't she a lover of noodle dishes? Especially ramen, spicy ramen..."
"Let's head to the arcade, Michi."
"No." Takemichi wanted to say that. He wished he could go back in time twenty minutes before she brought him into an arcade. He should've said something before they entered inside, catching the attention of some other delinquents from other schools.
Takemichi wasn't blind. His cousin was attractive enough to catch a few people's attention. Even his friends had a crush on her, but none of them dared to approach her because she was always intimidating, as if she was about to murder someone. Most of the students at their schools couldn't believe the two were related because Hanagaki (Y/N) was a well-known student even in middle school; she was always at the top of her class in academics and sports, despite being a bit lethargic. She possessed both the looks and the talents.
(Y/N) dragged him over to a video game machine that showed 'Tekken.' She had been playing for ten minutes and was completely focused on the game, while Takemichi stood by and watched. The towering male who blocked his head on the screen in front of her rudely interrupted her concentration and enjoyment of the game.
"What the fuck!"
She grabbed his frizzy hair and threw him to the floor. The male groaned angrily and aimed a glare at her, causing everyone else in the area to turn to look in their direction. Takemichi could sense the scorching gazes all around them.
"Bitch!" The man shouted as he stood up only to be shoved down to the floor with a foot pressing on his chest.
When other people within the arcade began approaching their position, Takemichi became frightened. The arcade was full with delinquent high school students, and the cousins appeared to be the only ones from the other high school.
"Mom said to stay out of trouble," he murmured as his sweats dropped when (Y/N) continued playing tekken like nothing was happening around her. "Yet (Y/N)'s a magnet of trouble!"
Takemichi was panicking as he kept his distance close to his cousin who appeared to be calm at this moment. How could she be so composed while they were about to be thrashed by a group of high school students from another school?
"Shut yer trap, Michi. I'm not the only magnet of trouble, we are." she said with a sneer, emphasizing the last two words. "I'm sorry to break it to you, but you attract more trouble than I do. But thank you for coming with me; I was really excited to test out this arcade that I'd been hearing about for the past few weeks."
"Ha?" Takemichi was dumbfounded. "You intentionally wanted to come here? B-but why?"
'What the hell are you thinking...'
"To help you improve your lame fighting skills," she replied, not bothering to look at him as she finally finished the game.
They were already surrounded by people in the arcade as soon as her game ended. The man she had shoved to the floor had already stood up and was staring her down with venom.
"You suck at fighting, you're so lame you know that? And yet you're part of a gang." She said it while smirking as if he didn't know it already.
In fact Takemichi was well aware of that.. he wasn't good at fighting nor was he intimidating enough to scare people away. There was no need to tell it to his face maam.
"That's so mean!" Takemichi pouted.
"At the very least, you have something good in you," she continued, unconcerned by the other delinquents in the room.
Takemichi reddened a little. "What is it?"
(Y/N) shifted her gaze to avoid her cousin's questioning gaze at her.
"You don't know how to give up," she replied calmly, "Even though you're so weak, your will is so strong, and that's what makes you so cool."
Takemichi reddened even more. It was unusual for her to say something like that. But Takemichi is Takemichi, and he is easily swayed by words.
"Really? Am I really that cool?" He looked like he forgot where they were and forgot what they had to deal with.
(Y/N) rolled her eyes for the nth time as she faced the person who was leading these delinquents who were surrounding them.
"Would you like a punch in the face?" She said, and began tying her hair up in a ponytail with an unusual smile on her face.
"(Y/N)!" Takemichi yelled her name as he tried to grap the back of her collar to hold her when he was abruptly jerked away by someone. When a fist landed on his cheek, he was unable to react and fell to the ground. He couldn't get back on his feet since the punch was so strong and damn... it was painful.
"This is fucking lame!" As he grabbed Takemichi by the collar of his uniform and pulled him up, the guy with the buzz cut and a little tattoo on the side of his left eye shouted. Everyone laughed at Takemichi, who had his left eye closed, as they humiliated him. A foot landed on the buzz cut man's face, causing him to release his grasp on Takemichi's collar.
As he slowly turned to face the person who had kicked the man, the blue-eyed boy was taken aback. Draken, not his cousin, was the one who kicked the man.
"Mikey-kun? Draken?" He was surprised to see the two of them.
"Takemitchy, are you still letting people beat you up?" As he walked over to him, Mikey casually said. "Your cousin's too busy with beating those over there," he continued as they turned to face the (h/c) haired girl who, indeed, was busy fighting those other males. Takemichi realized it was because of his two friends who arrived that the rest of the delinquents had already been knocked senseless on the ground.
"You're a man, Takemitchy," Draken spoke as he slammed his foot into the other man's face. "But, you're leaving the fighting to your cousin."
Takemichi instantly remembered what Akkun had told him the previous day when he accidentally leapt back in time and went to speak with his friend.
Takemichi stood a few meters away from his friend, who was already positioned on the edge of the building, talking about the past.
"After Draken died, Mikey changed... and after Rouge left Toman, he changed even more. "After that, the gang was different," Akkun added, a faint grin on his face as he looked over his shoulder. "Hanagaki-chan shouldn't have died in the first place. I used to admire her and adore her from afar, knowing well that I'm not cut out for someone like her. Of course, everyone thought the same thing; your cousin is in a different league."
"What are you talking about?" Takemichi confusedly asked. He only wanted to know what happened to Mikey and where he was. He was curious as to why Toman had changed. Why did Toman become the way it is now? But he didn't expect to learn about his cousin from someone who had become a part of Toman, from someone he called a friend.
"Hanagaki-chan died because of Toman," Akkun replied. "From the gang she used to protect."
Takemichi's eyes widened as he saw his cousin continued beating them up, a smile lingering on her face. Maybe it was his first time seeing her fight like this... maybe it was his first time seeing her fight with a smirk on her lips. Her lips tugging upwards as she continued hitting their faces told him she was having a good time. She enjoyed beating them.
Was this the same cousin he used to know?
Or was this a side of her he was unaware of?
Takemichi was once Kiyoma's slave, but thanks to Mikey, he was set free from Kiyoma and became friends with Toman's commander. Maybe he's changing the course of history, maybe he's getting to know and understand her better.
"From the gang she used to protect."
Does this mean that (Y/N) will join Toman?
(Y/N) dislikes gangs, from what he remembers. In fact, she despises them. So why did Akkun tell him that Toman was once protected by his cousin? What did he mean when he said that?
Was (Y/N) ever a member of Toman?
But why... if she used to be one of them, why did they kill her?
Questions after questions.
Takemichi didn't know where to start. He first believed that all he needed to do was prevent Kisaki and Mikey from meeting and take over Toman. Then, in order to keep Draken from dying, he must stop the fight between Toman and Moebius.
"Woah, that's a powerful punch." Mikey cooed as his attention was drawn to the (h/c) haired female, who aroused his curiosity even more. Draken, on the other hand, had his eyes narrowed at the female, and even Takemichi could tell he wasn't entertained at all.
"She could be a great addition to our gang. Ken-chin, don't you agree?" Mikey asked the tall blond next to him.
"Mikey, she could be a handful for us." Draken replied, "We should think about it."
Mikey frowned at his response. "Not if we tame her."
'Tame her? What does he mean by that?' Takemichi pondered, confused by the two guys standing alongside him.
Mikey suddenly turned around to face Takemichi, who still had a confused expression on his bruised face.
"Takemitchy, we should invite your cousin to join our gang!"
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