𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - s. ᴍᴀɴᴊɪʀᴏ

𝟎𝟎𝟗: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟑𝐫𝐝

"He's going to say yes..." Emma reassures Hina. The three of you hung out for a bit, before making your way to the park Takemichi would be at. You saw the boys from Mizo Mid as well as Mikey and Draken.

"Hina?" Takemichi immediately notices her entrance. Emma nudges her, encouraging her to ask him. Hina proceeds to ask Takemichi to go to the August 3rd festival at the shrine, and he accepts. You look at him suspiciously and he cocks his head over to Mikey and Draken, who seem to be chill with each other. Emma notices and asks the two and they seem to be oblivious that they were fighting at all.

You sat beside Hina and Emma watching the boys play soccer as they talked about the festival. You watch as Mikey, obviously showing off, passes the ball between both his feet, causing Takuya to trip a bit, before passing through him. It seemed like everyone was having fun. You felt that you should be too, but even if Mikey and Draken made up, wouldn't Kiyomasa still go through with his plan?

Kiyomasa's involvement made you more confused, since you've never seen him and Draken interact before. You think of possibilities while watching the boys play soccer. Maybe Kiyomasa has some sort of beef with Draken? Maybe someone else manipulated him to?

You feel a tap on your shoulder and it was Hina. "Are you okay?" You snap from your thoughts looking at the girls who had worried expressions on their faces. You fix your posture and give a reassuring smile, "Just lost in thought, I'm fine."

"Lost in thought or checking out my brother?" Emma asks with one brow raised. You didn't know whether to be appalled or disgusted by her suspicion. Either way, it would contradict Hina's perception of you having a crush on him. "Lost in thought," you look away, "Genuinely."

The boys continued to play soccer. Two of them, Yamagishi and Makoto, were seemingly drawing on the sand. "Are you doing anything on August 3rd?" Hina starts a conversation. You already know she's asking if you're going to the festival. You aren't even sure if you should. With Mikey and Draken making up, would that change anything? Is Draken really safe?

"We'll see," you finally answer, "I don't know if I'm really up to losing rigged games." Your joke makes the two girls laugh. Emma chimes in, "Could always ask my brother? Not like he does much in his free time anyway," she chuckles. You contemplate that thought. Ever since that night at the bridge, you've been feeling kind of awkward around him. Though you wondered who he really is behind his teasing personality, you wondered how he views you at all.

Mikey shoots the ball into the net. Half the boys cheer and the rest of the half groan in defeat. Mikey smiles in victory. You watch as his eyes squint and his mouth curves up. You couldn't tell if it was your mind playing tricks or the sun was just hitting him, but he really did look so bright. As you continue to admire him, he notices and makes eye contact with you.

You immediately break it.

-

It's August 3rd. Though, a few days ago, Hina and Emma encouraged you to come to the festival, suggesting to bring Mikey. You gave them the excuse that you need to study.

You lay fully on the couch as an ad on TV interrupts the show you were watching. The whole evening after coming to school was boring. You wondered if you should've gone to the festival. You get up and go out the front door, checking the weather. The sky was clear and dark, it wasn't windy either.

You let out a sigh, seeing there was nothing else better to do.

Even before arriving at the festival, the crowds were loud enough to hear from a mile away and the lights stuck out from the darkness like a sore thumb. You've tried to call Hina a few times, but she hasn't responded. You make your way up the stairs and to the entrance.

Unsurprisingly, the event was crowded with mostly couples, groups of teens and families. You couldn't spot a single person who was alone at the festival other than yourself. Which made you want to leave, but that would waste your time even further.

"How much is six pieces?" You ask the takoyaki vendor.

"700 yen."

You continue to roam around, you look at all the people around you. Visions come at you almost immediately.

Vendors becoming bankrupt.

Siblings drifting from each other in the future.

A wife finding out her husband is unfaithful.

A boy proposing to a different girl he's with right now.

A man winning a lottery.

A kid getting a scholarship.

Draken stabbed at the parking lot.

You drop your half-eaten takoyaki, snapping out of the overwhelming frenzy of people's futures. Only trying to process the last one, looking around the hoards of people, you finally spot Draken. You try to rush over. This was your last chance at warning him. You didn't care if you sounded crazy, there was no other possible way of warning him.

You bump into someone and lose your balance. They curse at you as your ass hits the ground. You get up immediately, searching for him. Pushing people aside, you frantically look around for Draken. With his prominent height and dragon tattoo, there was no way you couldn't spot him.

As you continued to search, you felt small beads of water hit your face, which didn't bother you at first, until it started to pour harder. Everyone At the festival was squirming around, trying to exit, but you kept going further into the area.

You arrive at the back of the shrine, filled with enough trees to block most of the rain. You huff as you wipe your wet face with both your hands. As you catch your breath, you worry if you're too late. Your mind can't choose whether to keep looking for him or give up.

"Hina, wait here for a bit! I'll be right back!"

You hear a familiar voice yell not too far from you. You ran towards where it came from. You see Hina, who immediately turned to you, hearing your feet hit the wet grass,

"[Y/N]?! What are you-"

"Where's he headed?" You cut her off, breathlessly.

Hina looks at you, even more confused. "I'm not sure... When did you get-"

"Nevermind!" You began to sprint forward. You hear Hina yelling for you, but you ignore it.

From a distance, you hear the roaring sounds of motorcycles. The noise catches your attention and you immediately follow it. You rush down the steep hill, not wanting to waste any time finding the stairs. You try to regain your balance as you finally meet with the sidewalk. You begin to run around the perimeter of the shrine. Some bikes are already parked.

"It's just around the corner, Takemitchy!"

You immediately turn your head. You see Takemichi running and someone else following. You rush to see, trying to keep your distance.

The two boys in front of you stop. You looked ahead from them and there were a pile of bodies on the floor, all wearing the white same uniform. As Takemichi yells, you spot Draken. His head was bloody and he was clearly out of breath. Draken drops the man he had grabbed by the hair after noticing the two boys in front. More men in white uniforms show up. You stand there, your mind was not able to think of a clear thought.

Are all three really gonna fight all those guys? Will they survive? Should I help them?

WHAT CAN I DO?!

You hide and watch, they all seem to be arguing with someone with a Tokyo Manji uniform. A familiar revving catches your attention.

It was Mikey's CB250T.

Before you could even think, you ran. There was no way you could help. You beat yourself up for getting this far involved. What help would you be compared to them? As you ran the opposite way, more motorbikes began to race toward the parking lot. All of them were wearing the black Toman uniform. You stop to catch your breath until you saw him.

Kiyomasa.

Chapter nine, end.