Gangster Cinderella

Chapter Fifty Two: ⚠️Don't Go Where I Can't Follow⚠️

TW: violence, evil Mikey, major fucking spoilers, themes of abuse/portrayal of a toxic relationship and Mikey threatening Chieko. (I can see how people will interpret what I'm about to write as an abusive relationship and the point is that it is. I adore Mikey but I need to keep him true to his character in this future arc and I'd like to say here that I do not condone what I'm going to make Mikey do in this chapter. If someone threatening to kill their romantic partner is a trigger for you, just skip. No judgement.)

I blankly stare at Mikey's picture on the TV screen; my ex boyfriend is now a wanted man for the murder of our friends...and yet he cruelly left me alive to deal with the fallout of his actions. The TV is suddenly shut off and I turn around to see my mother standing behind me with the remote. She walks over and sits next me before cradling me in her arms.

"Chieko...do you need to talk about what happened? You haven't eaten a thing since you got here and all you do is watch the News coverage of...what happened. I'm worried about you."

I shut my eyes and breathe in her familiar scent of jasmine tea and honey, "I'm just trying to understand what happened myself...I'm sorry for moving in on you out of the blue. I just couldn't stand being in that penthouse..."

"I know and it's not a problem at all, I'm just concerned." She quietly says to me. "Do you want me to send Takeomi or Hoang over to get your stuff?"

"Not...not yet. I'm sorry."

She pulls away and gently touches my cheek, "It's ok, we can do this at your pace. By the way, I stopped by your penthouse to pick up your mail. I figured you'd want that letter about moving out from your landlord."

"Thanks mom, where did you put it?" I just want to get this part of my life done.

"It's on the kitchen table...Chieko." Just as I'm getting up to collect my mail, my mother calls after me. "I want you to know that if you need anything you can come ask me, ok?"

"I know...I'm just trying to figure everything out right now. Everything just feels so jumbled inside of me...I don't know what I need right now to be honest."

"I understand."

I silently walk over to the kitchen and start to sort through my mail; the usual stuff about insurance and the light bill until I come across an envelope with familiar handwriting. My heart stops and I find myself frozen staring at Mikey's messy handwriting. I hold the letter close to my chest before going upstairs to my room to tear open the envelope. After hurriedly locking the door behind me, I slump my back against the wood of the door and sink down to the floor. The night Mikey left starts to sneak up on me yet again as my heart tightens and races...

💀💀💀Two Days Ago💀💀💀

Takemitchy had left Toman today without so much as a word to Mikey. I could hardly even blame him for leaving...and to be honest I envy him for having the guts to leave this whole mess behind. Mikey has drastically changed since middle school; he's always been violent but he's taken that violence to the next level with killing anybody who goes against him. Right now only Draken and Mitsuya are what's left of the original members of Toman; and I'm somehow still by his side...but I have no idea how much more bloodshed I can take before snapping.

Mikey is trying to find Takemitchy to bring him back but Draken and Mitsuya are having none of it, "Stop it Mikey." Draken tells his leader.

Mikey simply gives him that dreaded look he's given to everyone before killing them. "Ha? Why are you ordering me around?"

"I agree with Draken." Mitsuya chimes in.

"Mitsuya." He hisses at his subordinate.

"He is no longer apart of Toman now." Mitsuya say before kneeling with Draken before Mikey.

I silently gasp and stare at Mikey, hoping he would at least spare his friends. Draken speaks up, "Mikey, you chose a path of violence, from now on Mitsuya and I put our lives in your hands. It's our choice."

"But Mikey..." Mitsuya looks up at his boss, "Takemitchy is our leader, I don't want him to end up like us."

"Don't mix him up in our mess." Draken pleads with him.

Mikey silently flicks open his knife; I grab his arm and beg him, "Mikey don't do this! Please...no more bloodshed! They're our friends damn it!"

But it's no use, he silently shoves me aside and quickly advances towards Mitsuya and stabs him to death. I watch on frozen in terror as he chokes Draken with his own hand; he watches as the light goes out from his best friend's eyes. I suddenly notice that I'm shaking and tears start to pour as I slowly stand up.

"I can't do this anymore..."

"...what do you mean?" His cold voice echoes through the abandoned building.

"Mikey...I can no longer follow you any further." The words I've been holding within me just start pouring out clumsily from my mouth. "You killed all of our friends! Do you really think Takemitchy would want to come back to Toman when you're like this?! It's madness!!" In the blink of an eye I'm pinned to the ground with the cold metal of a gun pointed to my forehead. And for some reason the thing that bothers me most are those empty dead eyes staring at me as though I mean nothing to him. I take a deep breath before calmly speaking, "If you're going to kill me then you better do it as your true self, I refuse to die at the hands of a stranger."

Then something unexpected happens; a single tear slips from his eye and falls on my cheek. He quickly stands up and turns his back to me. "Leave."

I head towards the exit but I stop to say one final thing, "I barely even recognize you anymore..."

🥀🥀🥀Present🥀🥀🥀

I have to smoke some pot to power through my PTSD episode; my mind and heart finally starts to slow down. I pick myself back up and walk towards my bed to read Mikey's letter. A simple piece of paper is all it takes to leave me shaking and scared...how the mighty have fallen. Finally feeling numb from the marijuana, I open the letter to read:

Dear Cinderella

I want to write you this while I still have some grip on my sanity. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. There are no excuses for what happened and I wasn't strong enough to keep my promises to you. Do you remember what you told me when Baji died? All that stuff about supernovas and turning into a black hole or a neutron star? In the end I guess I turned into a black hole and sucked everything around me into darkness; that unfortunately included you. I'm going to go somewhere far away, I hope that someday you'll heal from all the damage I inflicted on you and find someone who can properly love you.

Love Mikey

Tears slide down my cheeks as I loudly sob knowing that Mikey was truly lost within his own darkness.