You slowly walk into the bakery, sitting down at the table. You stare down at your phone, thinking about what Baji said about Mikey. You frown, fidgeting with your phone.
"He should be okay... right?" You quietly say to yourself.
"Who should be okay?" Izana asks. You look up at him as he sits down beside you.
"Oh... Uh-"
"Thinking about Mikey?" He softly asks. You stare at him a bit before slowly nodding. "I wasn't going to say anything about him, but I'm not too surprised you asked anyway..."
"Why did Baji say that?" You calmly ask. Izana stares at you. "Why did he say not to worry or go looking for him?"
"..." Izana gently rubs his finger across the table and sighs. "Not long after you left... Mikey got into a fight with everyone..."
"Huh? What do you mean fought everyone?"
"He turned against everyone and beat them all down..." Izana slowly says.
"When did he do this?"
"The day after Emma's funeral..."
"...oh." You look down at the table, staring at the small patterns in the wood. The sound of the door to the bakery causes you to look up. Draken slowly walks in. Izana stands up and sighs.
"I should head to bed... be safe, alright? I will see you later." Izana motions as he walks towards the back of the bakery. You nod and stand up, turning towards Draken, who is looking down at you. He looks up behind you and then back down at you.
"Why do you still keep him around?" Draken sighs.
"Izana?" You question. He nods. "Why wouldn't I? I mean... he needed a place to belong, so I gave him one."
"Even after what he did to Emma...?" He listlessly asks.
"... you mean Kisaki...?"
"... right..." He slowly nods and then takes a deep breath. "Let's go..." He motions for the door. You nod and walk out. He gets on the motorcycle, and you climb on behind him. You wrap your arms around him, and he begins to drive off into the distance.
After driving for a bit, he stops his bike by a shop. You stare at it, feeling a bit confused. You climb off the bike, and Draken gets off with you.
"Is this your bike shop?" You ask. He nods. He unlocks the door and shows you in. You look around. The place wasn't the best-looking, but it wasn't dirty-looking...
"This place still needs some fixing... but I'm pretty happy with how the place turned out." He smiles as he motions for you to sit on the couch. You slowly walk up towards the couch, sitting down on it. He walks away for a bit before walking back to the couch and sitting down next to you. You smile at him. He takes a deep breath and leans back.
"I was worried you wouldn't come back." He calmly says as he pops open a can of soda. You look towards the door of the shop before slowly nodding.
"I can understand that..." You slowly say. "I kept a promise though..."
"I'm happy you stuck to your promise." He smiles. You smile back and nod. He takes a few sips from his drink before putting it down beside the couch.
"Anything new happened to you while you were gone?" He asks. You slowly shake your head. You cross your arms and lean back.
"Well... actually- I got to meet my father..." You softly say.
"Your father?" He raises an eyebrow as he picks up his drink again and sips from it. You slowly nod. "How was that?"
"... he told me a lot of things... Like how my mother left angry after a fight one day... and never came back..."
"Huh?" Draken looks at you, confused, causing you to awkwardly smile and scratch the back of your head.
"It's complicated... All I learned was that he's always wanted to see me but respected my mother's wishes..."
"Your mother's wishes? What were her wishes?" He asks. You stare at him a bit, then sigh. You lean to the side and rest your arms at your side.
"My mother wanted him to stay out of my life... and try not to talk to me... apparently that upset my grandmother and aunt... but they had no say in it-"
"Harsh..."
"Right...?" You relax your eyes and stare down at your shoes. "I have a question."
"I do too."
"Huh? You do?" You look up at him, and he slowly nods. "What's your question?"
"Ask yours first." He motions for you to speak. You stare at him a bit before nodding a few times. You furrow your eyebrows and flick at your fingernails.
"What happened with Mikey?" You slowly say. "Baji said to not reach out to him... and Izana mentioned a fight or something..."
"A fight? How does Izana know that?" Draken asks.
"I assume from Baji..."
"Makes sense... Baji works at the bakery with Izana... That's another question I wanted to ask."
"Hm?"
"Why do you have Izana living there... and running the place?" He asks. "Are you two together?"
"NO! NO NOT AT ALL!" You quickly shake your head. "I promised we'd be bakers... I wanted to give a place- of belonging... like... to belong somewhere..." You softly say, turning your head to the side. Your short hair slowly covers the side of your face. Draken leans forward a bit. You brush your hair back and sigh. "I was trying to be- kind... or helpful... or I cared if that makes sense."
"Mm..." He nods. You look towards him, and he leans back on the couch, sighing a bit.
"Can you answer my question?"
"You mean questions?"
"Mhm..."
"Nothing happened with Mikey... he's doing his own thing- at his own will..." Draken slowly says. He takes a deep breath and then sighs. "And about the fight situation... Mikey- it's hard to explain."
"Try to." You softly say, leaning forward. Draken stares at you for a bit before speaking again.
"He tried cutting ties with everyone, and we wouldn't let him..."
"So- what happened? You all got into a fight with him?"
"Yeah... he said things... and beat us up black and blue- he said he wanted nothing to do with us..."
"..." You stare down at your hands, wondering why Mikey did that.
"And this all happened after Emma's funeral... I thought he was just... going through grief." He takes a deep breath and grabs his soda, finishing it and throwing it away. "But- he meant every word he said..." He shakes his head before grabbing another drink. "Do you want one?"
"Sure..." He grabs another and hands it to you before sitting down. He cracks it open and drinks out of it.
"... Did he really?"
"... yes." He listlessly replies. You slowly nod and crack open your can. You stare down at the little fizzles that came out of the small opening.
"What about your question... you had one- didn't you?" You ask. Draken takes another drink and then places his can back down.
"You with anyone right now?" He questions. You look at him, feeling a lump in your throat as his eyes bore into yours. You furrow your eyebrows. His eyes have a strange look in them, making you feel nervous.
"No... why?"
"Just wondering." He calmly says, looking away from you. You stare at him a bit before looking away. You look around the shop again.
"Do you live here?"
"No- I still live at the Brothel..." He answers. "Actually... you just reminded me- wanna swing by there for a bit? I want to give you something." He calmly asks. You look at him, a bit of nervousness in your chest.
"Sure."
When arriving at the Brothel. You watch as he presses the button for floor four. You stand quietly beside him, looking around the elevator. When the elevator pings, the door opens. You and Draken walk out, stopping at the front desk.
"I'm home..."
"Mm...?" A man turns in his chair to look at you and Draken.
"This is my friend, Yuki... Yuki, this is Mr. Masamichi." Draken says, smiling at you.
"Oh... Nice to meet you." You softly say, bowing a bit.
"She your girl?" Mr. Masamichi asks.
"Just a friend." Draken answers. "Come on Yuki, this way." He motions. You bow a few times at Mr. Masamichi before following Draken. You tug at your hoodie sleeves, feeling anxious. Draken opens the door to his room, showing you in.
"Yup... still living in this place... just for now though- eventually I'll move out... when I make enough money." He says as he closes his room door.
"Your room looks a bit different... bigger too." You say. You look around his room. It looks more like a storage room. There are folded towels, cleaning supplies, and boxes. The piping is very clear in this room... There's a simple bed to the left of the door. You stop when you see a board hung up. You stare at it, seeing photos on it. Many photos of Toman... and a few of Emma. Your eyes stop at one with you and Emma. Your eyes furrow when you look at it.
"Emma... she's so pretty." You softly say. Draken sits down on the bed behind you.
"Yeah... she was." He quietly replies.
"I was hoping- to see her again... It hurts to hear that... I still haven't processed the fact that she passed."
"..." Draken stares at the back of your head. You turn your head, frowning. Draken's eyes relax, and he sighs. He stands up and grabs a box before sitting back down. He opens it and shuffles through it before stopping and sighing again.
"Here." He holds out his hand. You open your hand, and he places something in your hand. You pull your hand towards you. Your eyes widen when you see it. It's the bear charm... Emma's bear charm. The head is gone...
"What happened to its head? Did it break again?"
"... I had dropped it, and it broke... I felt horrible, so... I planned on fixing it the next day, but it must have flown out of my pocket... or something... I don't know-" He slowly says. His eyes dim. "I broke it the same night- that Emma died..."
Your eyes widen. You stare down at the headless bear.
"I'm sorry..." He frowns.
"Is this what you wanted to give me?" You ask. He looks up at you and shakes his head.
"No... I wanted to give this to you." He pulls a small box out of the box. He holds it out for you to grab. You grab it, opening it. Your eyes widen when you stare at it. It's a necklace.
"It's pretty..." You softly say, examining it. "Was this for Emma?" You ask.
"No."
"No?" You look up at him.
"I got that for you... it was a gift I wanted to give you when you came back. An appreciation gift."
"Oh..." You stare down at it and smile.
"Put it on." He smiles. You pull it out and unclip it. He puts the box down and stands up to help you put it on. You feel him gently clip it and push your hair back in place. You turn around to show him the necklace on you. He softly smiles at you. You smile back at him.
"You look cute." He softly says. Your eyes widen, and your throat feels tight.
"Thank you." You blush, looking away. He smiles more. He sits down on his bed and sighs.
"So... Yuki- what are you planning on doing now that you're back in Tokyo?" He asks. You look at him before looking down at the necklace.
"I came back to go to college... but I also-"
"Hm?"
"I wonder how Mikey is..."
"... yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Do you still love Mikey?" Draken asks.
"..." Your eyes relax, and you slowly look towards him. "I don't know... but- I'm worried about him."
"So am I..." Draken nods and sighs, leaning forward a bit.
"..." You relax your hands, letting go of the necklace. He leans back, holding his weight with his hands.
"But... it's best to leave Mikey alone."
"Why do you say that? Baji said the same thing..." You slowly ask.
"Mikey isn't the same... he's changed."
"Changed how?"
"..." You stare at him, waiting for an answer. "He's not the same Mikey... when he made Toman, he wanted to create an era... he had a goal- and that goal wasn't murderous..."
"Murderous?" You look at him, confused.
"It's hard to say... Mikey... well, all the former Toman members are good people... but Mikey - he is the opposite. That's why we went our separate ways... He wants to pursue the opposite of what Toman was..."
"What does that mean?" You ask.
"He'd kill you... without holding back..."
TO BE CONTINUED JANUARY 11TH!