𝒫𝑅𝒪𝒫𝐸𝑅; 𝒯𝑜𝓀𝓎𝑜 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝓈

Father Dearest

TW: This chapter contains talks about substance abuse and neglect. Don't read if you aren't comfortable! LOVE YOU ALL TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES.

The ride is peaceful, Takemitchy and Draken manoeuvre the bikes while I and Mikey sit on the back of them, Mikey with Takemitchy and Me with Draken. I can see the river Mikey was talking about, it seems bluer than most other rivers I've seen, I turn my attention back to the sky, The sun is nearly set.

"Mikey?" Takemitchy spoke all of a sudden, receiving a "Hm?" from him.

"So, uh... Why did you take a liking to me?" He asks.

"What a dumb question" Mikey replied. I shoot him a look. Was that really necessary?

"O-oh, Sorry"

"Well..." Mikey started.

"I have a brother who's ten years older than me...... He's dead now" he said calmly. Earning a gasp from Takemitchy.

I only met Shinichiro a few times. He was the most reliable person I'd ever meet, He always had your back no matter what happened. Sure he has a tendency to take fights that he wasn't ready for. But that was just who he was. When he died, Mikey was a mess. He wasn't his happy, cheerful self. Something changed in him, I think it was the first time I've seen him truly upset..

"He was reckless, he had no problem picking fights with guys way stronger than him" he continued.

"I see... He must have been pretty cool"

"You remind me of my brother, Takemitchy," the blonde reminisces.

"B-but I'm not nearly that cool!"

I huffed a shallow laugh.

I wonder if I'll be able to do that, Talk about them without seeing.... That... No! Get out of that headspace, this is a happy moment, a rare peaceful one. I should enjoy it.

"Yeah, he definitely wasn't lame like you, Takemitchy," I state. A small smile sneaks its way onto my face. Mikey turns to me, his signature grin plastered on his face.

"Now that's just mean" The boy sighs in defeat.

A breath of laughter escapes me. Mikey and Draken turn their attention my way. I slap Draken's back.

"Eyes on the road!" I stress. I am not dying at the hands of this man.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Been a while since I heard you laugh like that" Draken tells me.

I only nod to this. It's true I guess.

We stop at a spot close to the river. Mikey takes a few steps forward.

"Nowadays, people just think delinquents are lame," Mikey says.

"When my big bro was alive, There were so many biker gangs around here. You could always hear their super-loud bikes as they went by. They all acted super tough. They fought all the time... But they always cleaned up their own messes. So what's lame about that?"

I remember that. She would pull me away from them whenever we were in town. She tried to hide it from me, but kids see things. I remember, I thought they looked free, No rules, able to do what they want, ride in all hours of the night. Fight freely, no rules or routines.

Mikey sits down on the grass hill.

"That's why I'm going to make a new era for delinquents. You should come with me." He tells Takemichi

"I like you, Hanagaki Takemichi."

"Plenty of people know how to fight," I tell the unnatural blonde.