You stand outside the bakery, thinking about what Draken told you. Your hand rests on the door, gripping it. You pull the door open, locking it behind you. You rush up the stairs and into the living room. You stop when you see Izana sleeping soundly on a futon. You quietly walk past him and into the room, gently closing the door behind you. You plop down in the bed, burrowing your face into the pillow and forcing yourself to fall asleep.
The morning comes, and the sun shines in your face. You roll to your side trying to hide the light from beaming in your eyes.
Knock Knock
Your eyes slowly flutter open to someone knocking on the door. You slowly push yourself up, squinting your eyes a bit.
"Izana?" You softly say.
"Nope." The voice responds. You narrow your eyes, squinting at the door. You push yourself off the bed, slowly approaching the door.
"Who is it?" You question. The door slides open, causing you to flinch. You stand outside the door, looking at the person standing in front of you. You tilt your head, feeling confused.
"Um... do I know you?" You calmly ask.
"We've met once before... I'm hurt you don't remember." He says, a smile on his face. He has peach curly hair with a lot of volume. You stare at him for a bit, feeling weird by his constant smiling.
"I don't have a good memory..." You softly say.
"That's okay. Izana mentioned you'd be asleep and to wake you. My brother is downstairs running the bakery at the moment..."
"Wait... why did he want you to wake me?" You question. He hands you a note. You stare at the note before taking it from his hands. You gently open it, reading the contents.
I know you wouldn't be very happy with the idea of one of the Kawata brothers waking you... but something was brought to my attention... You might want to get up and give Baji a visit... he works as a server at a cafe deeper in Tokyo...
- From Izana
You flip the letter to its backside, reading the address of where Baji works.
"If Izana was going to leave this... then why didn't he just wake me up and tell me?"
"Oh- no... he said this on a call this morning... he didn't have enough time to come here, so he told me to pass this message on to you... I wrote it down." He says in a kind tone. You stare at him before sighing and nodding.
"Okay." You reply.
"Alright... goodbye-" He turns, walking towards the stairs.
"Wait... what's your name?" You ask. He looks back at you, a smile still on his face. You furrow your eyebrows a bit. It's like he never stopped smiling... nor have I seen him open his eyes. You think to yourself.
"Nahoya." He smiles.
"Oh... Nice to meet you, Nahoya." You bow a bit. He nods and turns away, walking down the stairs. You sigh, rubbing your shoulder.
"Is it always gonna be this way?" You question.
After taking a shower and getting dressed, you quickly make your way down the stairs. You stop and look at both Nahoya and his brother prepping more baked goods. You quietly turn away, grabbing onto the doorknob.
"Hey- Yuki... do you need a ride to where you have to go?" Nahoya asks. You slowly turn towards his voice. Both of them are looking at you.
"Sure... if you're able to." You slowly say.
"Yeah." Nahoya nods. "My brother can take you." He rubs the back of his brother's shoulder. "It's not busy today, so it's no problem."
"Okay, thank you." You nod, walking out the back of the Bakery.
You stand outside, waiting for the other brother to come out. When you hear the back door open, you move to the side a bit. The brother adjusts his shirt while pulling something out of his pocket.
"Okay, let's go." He motions for you to follow. You get on his bike, sitting behind him. He lifts his foot up a few times, sighing a bit. You stare at him through the mirror of his bike. He has an angry look on his face. Does he have a resting bitch face, or is he upset to drive me somewhere? You question.
"You know... you don't have to take me." You quietly say.
"I don't mind..." He answers. He lifts his foot for a final time. The motorcycle revs and starts moving out of the back alley slowly. He drives onto the street, slowly picking up speed.
"Do you know where Baji works? I haven't told you..." You yell over the ripping wind passing both of you.
"Yeah. I have been there a few times already." He shouts back. You stare at the back of his blue hair before looking away.
Once he stops outside the destination, you slowly climb off. You stretch, looking in the direction of the cafe.
"I should get going now." He says, placing his foot up again.
"What's your name?" You ask. He slowly looks at you, his face still in a snarl. You clench your sleeve, pulling it down past your palms.
"Souya..." He answers.
"Nice to meet you, Souya."
"Yeah... See you later."
You watch as he drives off. You sigh, slowly taking deep breaths. What a strange duo... You turn to walk towards the cafe, placing your hand on the door, and walking in. The place smells of coffee. It's a nice smell. A girl at the front smiles at you, and you smile back.
"Hi, how may I help you?" She says in a cute tone.
"Uh. I'm looking for someone who works here." You answer. Her smile disappears. She has a confused look on her face.
"Who?"
"Kei- uh... Baji." You furrow your eyebrows when you realize you forgot his first name.
"Ah, Keisuke Baji?" She questions, you nod. She smiles and disappears towards the back. You stand still, waiting for her to come back. You look around the cafe, staring at a bunch of different things on the wall. You quickly look back towards the counter when you see a motion coming from it. Baji walks out with a hand towel in his hand. He folds it and places it on the counter. The girl quickly grabs it and disappears into the back.
Your eyes widen when looking at Baji. His hair is tied back. He's wearing a tight white dress shirt and a black apron over it. He's more handsome than before.
"I assume Izana told you to come here?" He asks.
"Mhm." You hum. Baji sighs and nods, motioning you to follow him.
"IMMA TAKE MY BREAK NOW!" He shouts. He takes off his apron, placing it on a chair beside the counter.
"OKAY!" The girl shouts back. Baji walks out of the cafe, and you follow behind him. He walks into an alley and leans against the wall, pulling his hair out of the ponytail and putting it on his wrist. He runs his hands through his hair a few times, shivering from the feeling. He sighs and looks towards you.
"When are you starting college?" He asks.
"A few weeks from now." You answer. He nods and leans against the wall.
"You spoke to Draken?" He asks.
"Mhm."
"Did Draken tell you about Mikey?"
"Kinda... But I still have questions..."
"Like?"
You look up at him. His eyes bore down at yours. You take a deep breath, crossing your arms.
"What Draken meant by murderous... Mikey has murderous intent?"
"..." Baji stares at you before sighing and rubbing his shoulder. "Mikey is slowly becoming a yakuza... something like one... or well- that's what I heard... Do you remember how bad the Black Dragons were?"
"Yeah." You nod.
"Yeah... he's like that but a bit worse... if he continues, it will only get worse..."
"So basically bad bad..." You ask. He nods. "..." You stare down at your shoes, frowning a bit.
"... I want to get in contact with Mikey." Baji adds. You slowly look towards him, your eyes widening a bit.
"You do?"
"Yeah..." He crosses his arms and sighs. "I want a rematch... from last time- I still was recovering from the incident... so I couldn't fight him at my best... I feel much better now... I'd definitely whoop his ass."
"Wait- really?" You look at him, confused.
"No..." He sighs. You furrow your eyebrows and tilt your head. He smiles at you and shakes his head. "I wouldn't actually- well, I would fight him, but I wouldn't win... Mikey has always been stronger... Both Mikey and Draken are stronger- it pisses me off, but yeah..." He laughs, then sighs. His smile disappears, and he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"I just want to talk to him... I want to know why he's doing this... I thought things would get better, but it hasn't." He opens his eyes and looks at you. "If I could beat his ass I would have done that a long time ago... but knowing how he is now- he'd just kill me instead of talk..." He clenches his shirt and tilts his head to the side, his hair drooping in the same direction. "I want to talk to my friend..."
"I want to talk to Mikey too..." You agree. Baji nods a few times and then narrows his eyes at you.
"There's a few things I need to tell you..."
"What do you mean...?"
"Kisaki."
"Huh?"
"Kisaki is still alive." Baji says, his eyes piercing yours. "I don't know where he is... but he's still alive- and possibly active... Hanma is nowhere to be found either..." He furrows his eyebrows and stares down at the ground. "But that's not the bigger issue... and I assume word hasn't gone to Draken- or he just didn't tell you..."
"What do you mean?"
"Mikey knows you're back."
"How do you know?"
"Words spreading like wildfire... everyone knows... and so there are a lot of people looking for you." He answers.
"Like who?" You question.
"Apparently... all three dieties."
"All three dieties?"
TO BE CONTINUED JANUARY 18TH!