BAREFACED

Chapter 73

You stand still, staring down at the water in front of you. You sigh and tilt your head as you jump from one steppingstone to the next. Chifuyu jumps to the one behind you. Then he jumps on the same one you're on causing you to stumble. He catches you and holds you tightly. You furrow your eyebrows and look back at him. He smiles at you and tilts his head. You sigh and look away.

"Yuki."

"Hmm?" You hum, preparing to jump to the next steppingstone.

"Have you ever considered having kids?" He bluntly asks.

"HUH?" You trip and fall onto the next steppingstone. You sigh and sink your knees down into the water. Chifuyu chuckles and helps you up. You squeeze the water out of your skirt and sigh.

"My bad." He laughs.

"That's not funny... I'm soaked now..."

After Chifuyu wraps his hoodie around your waist, you decide to sit on the bench while you wait for Hakkai. Chifuyu continues to play on the playground equipment.

"Yuki..." Hakkai softly says as he walks down the steps towards you.

"Hakkai." You calmly reply, slowly standing up to face him. Chifuyu jumps down off the playground equipment and walks over to the two of you.

"You're Chifuyu, right?" Hakkai asks. Chifuyu nods. "So- what's up? What did you wanna talk about?" he says, looking back at you.

You slowly look down and furrow your eyebrows a bit. You slowly look Hakkai in the eyes and sigh.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For getting you in the situation you're currently in... I mean- it's my fault afterall..."

"You don't have to apologize... It's my fault for bringing you to my house- I should have known better..." He softly says.

"So, you're a Black Dragon now... right?" Chifuyu asks as he rests his fists on his waist.

"Yeah..." Hakkai says slowly looking down.

"You seemed scared of your brother- and you seem like you didn't like the Black Dragons to begin with." You add.

"That's because I don't... My brother... well he's-"

"Abusive?" You ask. Hakkai slowly nods.

The three of you sit on the bench. Hakkai is hunched over a bit, resting his arms on his thighs. Chifuyu is sitting beside you, leaning back a bit. You slowly look at Hakkai.

"Why did you agree to being in the Black Dragon's anyway...?" You ask.

"To protect you." He softly answers.

"But- We had just met... you didn't have to do that-"

"I know... But I respect you in a way. Mitsuya seemed so fond of you... I didn't really understand at first- but when you jumped in to protect my sister- I felt... thankful. A girl like you really stood up to my brother... to protect Yuzuha- I was willing to take the sacrifice to protect you." He softly says.

"I'm surprised that's all it took..." Chifuyu comments.

"Well... my brother has been wanting me to join for a long time. I didn't want to at first and that upset him... so he tried to do anything and everything to get me to join..."

"Oh..."

"It's okay though. For some time, I've been thinking about quitting Toman to join the Black Dragons..." He adds.

"Why?" You ask.

"Well... for a long time he's caused me and my sister pain- My brother- He made us feel trapped..." He sighs and looks at both you and Chifuyu. "I want to protect my sister... Even though he no longer beats Yuzuha, he still used her for certain things..."