BAREFACED

Chapter 65

Some days pass and you start to feel a little better. Eli had told you and Chifuyu that his grandmother had made her way to Tokyo after getting a call. Eli hasn't met his grandmother until the other day. Emi is recovering after getting restitched and Ena... the baby is in NICU... and for Eli's mother...

"Rest in peace... Aya Heiya." A woman says in front of a grave. You stand beside Chifuyu, staring down at the wet grass below you. Eli stands on the other side of you with a sad look on his face. He slowly turns away, walking down the hill and towards the parking lot. You and Chifuyu follow behind him.

"Eli..." You softly say. Eli leans against a bike rack and takes a deep breath.

"I hope she's no longer in pain." He quietly says. You slowly nod. He looks at you with a sad look in his eyes. "Me and my sisters are going to be moving in with our grandmother in Osaka..."

"When are you leaving?" You softly ask. 

"A few weeks from now... after court stuff finally goes through and... when Ena is healthy enough to get out of the hospital." 

"I see..." You slowly nod. Eli stares at you a bit before taking a deep breath. 

"I wanted to ask- Yuki... before I leave... Can we hang out one last time?"

"Huh? You say that like we aren't going to be seeing each other again..." You slowly reply.

"Heheh... I'm not going to say that's true or not-... but- I want to spend some time with you before I leave... cause I don't know when I will be able to do that again." He implies. You slowly nod and softly smile.

"Okay..." You softly say.

You and Chifuyu walk down the sidewalk quietly. You still feel kinda drained... but not as much as you did before.

"Baji is home now..." Chifuyu quietly says.

"He is?" You look at Chifuyu and he nods.

"Yeah. Wanna go see him?" He asks. 

"Yeah." You softly reply.

You both stand in Baji's room, staring at him. He stares back at the both of you with relaxed eyes.

"Why are you both standing like that? And why are you both dressed like someone died... It's depressing." Baji comments.

"That's because someone did die..." Chifuyu replies. Baji quickly scrunches his eyebrows and looks at Chiufyu confused. Chifuyu sighs and explains everything to Baji.

"Oh... I see- that sounds chaotic as fuck..." 

"Mhm...." Chifuyu hums.

"Wanna play a game?" Baji asks. You slowly shake your head and Chifuyu stares at the ground. "Come on man... Why did yall come here if yall were gonna be depressing. Stop sulking or else imma run you over." He says patting his wheelchair.

The three of you sit on Baji's bed as Chifuyu shuffles the deck of cards.

"So- what happened with Toman?" Chifuyu asks handing out the cards amongst the three of you.

"Me and Mikey talked about it- He agreed to leave us alone as long as we leave them alone..." Baji answers, picking up his cards.

"That's it?" Chifuyu questions.

"Mhm..."

"Are you no longer friends with Mikey?" You softly asks, looking at Baji. Baji relaxes his eyes and places a card down.

"No- Not anymore..." He quietly says.

"Really?" Chifuyu asks in a shocked tone. You and Chifuyu stare at Baji waiting for him to say more.

"Yeah... It's better that way-" He replies. You furrow your eyebrows and tilt your head a bit.

"Weren't you and Mikey friends for a long time? Isn't it kinda painful to just not be friends with him...?" You ask. Baji furrows his eyebrows a bit and slowly looks up at you.

"Me and Mikey had been falling off for a while now... so not being friends doesn't make a difference to me... Besides- I've got this one right here!" He bubbles, smacking his hand down hard on Chifuyu's shoulder. "And you too of course..." He sooths, smiling at you. You softly smile back.

A few days pass and you slowly walk to school. You stare at the ground as you walk. Your eyes following your feet as you walk over cracks in the sidewalk. You think over all the things that happened in the past week. Finding out someone killed Yuki... Mikey killing Kazutora... Eli and his father... and the Toman betrayal thing. So much has happened and you still feel extremely tired. You slowly look up as you enter the gates of your school, but then you stop walking when you see a familiar face.

"Hana..." You quietly say. Hana frowns a bit and walks up to you.

"Can we... talk?"

You slowly nod.

The two of you decide to skip school. You sit down across from her in a cafe. You stare down at the table, and she stares at you.

"You look tired..." She quietly says.

"I am tired..." You quietly reply.

"I heard what happened with Eli..." 

"Yeah..."

"Are you okay?" She asks. You slowly nod. She takes a deep breath and nods. "I'm sorry for how I've been treating you lately..."

"Huh?" You look back up at her.

"I've been petty lately... to you. I guess it's because I've been feeling very lost. You started changing a lot and you no longer hung out with me as much as you did before... It wasn't much of a problem before but- After Aimi left it deeply affected me. I felt very lonely and angry... So, I lashed out at you- cause- I felt replaced." She sniffles.

"oh..." You quietly say.

"I haven't been a good friend to you... I haven't been a good friend to any of you- and I apologize... I'm sorry Yuki- I shouldn't have said those things to you... I'm- really sorry." 

You stare at her a bit not really feeling much emotion to it all. You stare down at your hands, flicking your nails as you try to think. You softly smile at her, with a tired look on your face. 

"It's okay." You softly reply.

"Really?" She says with shock in her face. You slowly nod, holding that smile on your face. "Does it mean you forgive me?" She asks.

"Yeah. I forgive you." You say standing up. "But I don't think we should continue being friends..." You add. Her eyes widen and tear up. Then they relax and she slowly nods.

"Okay... I understand." She softly says. 

"Bye... Hana..." You slowly as you walk out the cafe. You slowly walk down the street feeling somewhat empty but tired at the same time. You cross the street heading towards the park you always go to. Your eyes look around the streets as you slowly make your way to the park. Once you make it to the park you grab onto the swing and sit down on it... hoping someone will randomly show up like always. 

Minutes pass and still no one shows up. You slowly close your eyes feeling empty... and tired. Getting sleep has been hard lately... everything has been feeling- hard lately. Nothing has been making you feel better at the least. You just want to bury yourself under your blankets and sleep forever.

"It feels like everything is falling apart..." You sniffle. The swing beside you moves as someone sits down on it.

"I agree... Life feels like its falling apart... and yet the boys in my life wouldn't even notice... but wants me to listen to every stupid little thing they say." A person huffs from beside you. You furrow your eyebrows and slowly look to your side to see who had said that.

"Emma?" You say in a confused tone.

"Hi Yuki." She softly bubbles.