Bittersweet ||Chifuyu x Reader||

Fifteen || Apple Slices

-Art by lan on Twitter-

[Reference to chapters 145-149]

The late February air was finally getting to me. I could do nothing but shiver at the cold air carried by the harsh wind right before sunrise. The weather had become a lot worse, as shown by the heavy storm I got caught in just last week, implying that the winter season was at it's peak.

Sighing, I gave my attention back to Mikey. He called an emergency Toman meeting, tonight of all nights. It was due to the situation which occurred early last week where many got jumped by the Tenjiku gang, including myself and many of the first division.

In addition, there was also news about the fifth division captain and vice-captain who turned out to be traitors after what they did to Inui and Takemichi. There was a lot to unpack tonight.

But funnily enough at that moment my main concern was not any of the issues our captain was talking about, instead it was the fact that I was standing in front of the second division alone. Mitsuya wasn't with me. He hadn't text or called me saying he'd be absent; in fact he didn't contact me at all. It was unsettling.

My attention switched to Draken as he stepped forward and took over Mikey's speech. "Today on the twenty-second of February, Tenjiku and Toman will have a full on confrontation. The war is finally starting." The strong boy said seriously. "They will use dirty tricks."

The crowd was quiet, everybody concentrating on the vice-captain, until a certain somebody stepped shoved his way through the gang. I looked to my right to see Hakkai standing menacingly, a fierce anger in his eyes- I hadn't seen him that mad since the fight with the Black Dragons on Christmas. "Then Toman must do the same! Fuck them up with dirty tricks." He said.

Takemichi gasped his name from the distance but Hakkai continued with a vein of sheer anger bulging from his forehead, "On the way here, Taka-chan got attacked! Smiley-kun too!"

The whole gang began murmuring, clearly nobody expected that. But I, on the other hand, just stared at my childhood friend with wide eyes at the news. He kept yelling but I stopped comprehending his words after he mentioned Mitsuya was in the hospital. He was there, all by himself. Mitsuya, the one who meant the world to me, was lying in a hospital bed without anybody by his side. The things Hakkai said repeated again and again in my head as the heartbreaking images replayed in my mind.

I was too busy stating at the cobblestone under my shoes while Peh-Yan was giving his own deceleration. My fists clenched on their own as he finished off by referring the topic back to Mikey. Before our leader could speak, I raised my head. "Mikey! I'm going to Takashi!"

Said boy who was stood at the top of the staircase raised his eyebrows down to where I stood. But I kept my hardened face to show I was serious. The others in my division gasped at my sudden words; it was unexpected of me to willingly ignore the war with Tenjiku just so I could stay by Mitsuya's side.

"Alright." Mikey said calmly. More gasps erupted from the crowd, mostly disturbed members claiming they couldn't go against Tenjiku without their division captain and vice-captain present.

And, much to my surprise, another voice interrupted. "I'm going with (Y/N)!"

"Eh!? Chifuyu!?" Takemichi shouted in confusion. I too joined the boy in questioning why Chifuyu had suddenly stepped forward saying he was going with me to see Mitsuya.

He stepped away from his position behind Takemichi and made his way to me. Those stern green eyes filled with a desire I knew nobody could overthrow lingered on my own before he turned around to look up at Mikey. "Smiley and Mitsuya are the kind of guys that are gonna try and jump to fight even though they're injured. We need to stop that from happening. I'm going with (Y/N) to ensure that." As he spoke, I felt that same strong demeanor he had the day not too long agp that he told me to be selfish and protect myself for him. Chifuyu was being cool.