Your eyes slowly open as you smell something warm and mouth-watering. You slowly sit up, looking towards the window that's covered with a curtain. You turn your head towards the kitchen, where Draken is making breakfast.
Draken looks up towards you, a smile on his face. You shiver a bit when he looks at you. You smile back at him. You push yourself up from the couch, walking towards Draken.
"Good morning." Draken smiles.
"Good morning." You reply. You sit down on a chair at the counter. He smiles more when he hears your tired voice.
"How did you sleep?" He asks.
"I slept well." You nod.
"That's good." He turns and grabs a few things. You look towards the window again, staring at the curtain. Draken places a plate of food down in front of you and then looks towards the window you're staring at.
"I closed the window so that the light isn't shining in your face."
"Oh..." You slowly say, looking at him.
"You should eat." He shows you to the plate of food. You stare down at it, smiling. You look at him, smiling more.
"Thank you." You say, placing your hands together and bowing slightly. You begin to eat your food. Draken watches as you do. You notice him staring and slowly look up at him.
"How did you sleep?" You muffle, covering your mouth as you have food in your mouth.
"I slept ok."
"Mm... what are you planning on doing today?" You ask.
"I'd normally work, but since you're here, it would be nice if we spent time with each other." He smiles.
"Mmm."
Bzzz Bzzz
Draken looks towards his phone, which is on the other counter. He grabs it and looks at it. You see the smile on his face disappear, and his expression changes into a more upset look.
"I'll be back." He walks out of the kitchen and into his room, closing the door behind him. You stare towards the door and then back at your food. You slowly continue eating.
Five minutes pass, and Draken still hasn't come out of the room. You furrow your eyebrows, wondering if he's okay. You flinch when the bedroom door opens. Draken walks out with an irritated look on his face.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Are you going to the wedding today?"
"I want to... but Izana made it seem like I couldn't... I should call my cousin." You softly say.
"Yeah. Do that, call her."
"So you used to like Shinichiro?"
Hikari smiles and then laughs at Sanzu's statement. "When I was younger..." Her eyes go soft, and she sighs.
"Ah. I never knew that. So my brother basically met you through Shin then." He laughs.
"Yeah." Hikari smiles.
"Haha... I didn't know that." Sanzu smiles, looking at Takeomi. Takeomi narrows his eyes at Sanzu and smiles slightly, looking towards Hikari.
"You're Yuki's Aunt, right?" Sanzu asks. Takeomi's eyes slowly widen, then narrow.
"Yeah. You know Yuki?" She asks.
"Yeah... I've met her a few times." He smiles. "I'm confused why she didn't come to the dinner last night, especially since you both were close. Is she coming to the wedding? It would be nice to see her again." His smile widens more.
"Oh... well-"
Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz
"Oh... hold on- I'm getting a call." Hikari stands up and walks off with the phone in her hand. She answers the phone and holds it up to her ear.
"Hello?" Hikari softly says.
"Hikari..."
"Yuki? What happened last-"
"Can I talk to Takeomi?" You interrupt. Hikari looks towards Takeomi and sighs.
"Someone wants to talk to you." She says, holding her phone to him. Takeomi looks at Sanzu, who's smiling at him still. He takes the phone and walks away, putting the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Takeomi."
"Why're you calling Hikari's phone?"
"Because she's my Aunt...? Why did Izana tell me that I should go back to Osaka?" You ask.
"Huh? Did you not go?" He asks.
"No. Why should I?" You ask. Takeomi sighs, pinching the arch of his nose and then sighing.
"I'll tell Hikari that you went home due to an emergency. Don't come." The phone hangs up.
"What happened?" Hikari asks.
"She's not coming." Takeomi says, looking at Hikari. Hikari's eyes relax, and she sighs.
"I'm not exactly shocked... but that's okay."
Sanzu slowly looks towards Takeomi with dull eyes. He stands up and walks past Takeomi.
"I don't know why you told her not to come... I already know she's here- Keep playing against Mikey, and I'll kill you- I don't care if you're family." Sanzu whispers. Takeomi's eyes relax. Sanzu turns to look at Hikari and smiles.
"Well, I have to go now. It was nice to meet you, Hikari."
"It was nice to meet you, too, Haruchiyo-san." Hikari smiles. Sanzu nods and turns away.
You stare down at your phone and sigh, placing it down on the counter.
"I guess not?" Draken asks.
"No... apparently not." You sigh. Draken's eyes relax, and then he sighs. He leans on the counter beside you, looking down at you.
"Baji called me earlier and said something concerning."
"Concerning, what do you mean?" You ask.
"Izana..." Draken sighs and takes a deep breath. "That bakery you used to live at."
"Oh, the bakery my grandmother owned...? Izana owns it now." You reply.
"It burned down last night."
"HUH? AGAIN?!" You look at him in shock.
"And Izana was found inside... deceased..."
"HUH?" Your mouth opens as you look at Draken in disbelief. Draken sighs, looking down at the floor.
"I'm sorry..." He says in a low voice. You stare at him for a bit and slowly look towards the counter, staring down at it. Your hands squeeze and then relax. You sigh and rub your head.
"Sorry for what?" You softly ask. Draken sighs and stands up straight.
"Baji wants to talk to you, though, so I'm going to drive you to him." He says, walking towards his room. "If that's ok? I need to check up on a few things, too."
"Sure." You nod.
After Draken and you leave, you arrive at a shop in the back corner of a street. You get off Draken's bike, staring up at the store in front of you.
"XJ Land?" You question.
"Yep, this is the place Baji works at." Draken says, parking his motorcycle. He grabs the door and walks in; you follow in behind him. Chifuyu looks up to see you walking in. He has a cat in his arms. His eyes widen when he notices it was you.
"Yuki!?" He bubbles loudly.
"Where's Baji?" Draken asks. Chifuyu takes a deep breath and pets the cat's head, placing the cat down.
"He stepped out for a bit. Did you want me to let him know you came?" Chifuyu asks.
"No. I came to drop off Yuki... Tell Baji I'll check out what he's talking about." Draken turns towards the door. He slowly looks at you and smiles. "Next time, let's make it a date, without interruption." He smiles. You smile and nod.
"Thank you, Draken."
"Bye." He smiles at you. "See ya, Chifuyu." Draken says, waving as he walks out the door. You turn towards Chifuyu, who's checking on another cat.
"Heh." He smiles, laughing in an awkward, short laugh.
"What's funny?" You ask.
"Nothing... I just don't understand why I feel so nervous seeing you again." He smiles.
"Nervous because of me?" You ask.
"Something like that." His face becomes flushed. The sound of the door opening causes you and Chifuyu to look towards it. Baji walks in, his eyes looking at you right away.
"I missed Draken?" Baji asks Chifuyu.
"Yeah." Chifuyu nods. Baji sighs and looks at you again.
"You wanted to talk?" You ask.
"Yeah, come on." Baji motions for you to follow him to the back. Chifuyu raises an eyebrow and sighs as he opens a treat packet, holding it out to feed the cat.
You stand beside a chair as Baji takes off his jacket.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"You came back to Tokyo because of what again?" He asks, looking up towards you. You stare at him a bit before sighing and looking down at your shoes.
"I came to attend my Aunt's wedding... but now I don't even know."
"Your Aunt?"
"My Aunt Hikari." You reply.
"Mm..." He hums.
"Are you okay?"
"No. Not really."
"Not really? What's wrong?"
"..." Baji stares down at the floor. His hands are holding onto the edge of the table as he leans back against it, holding his weight with his arms.
"You shouldn't have come to Tokyo..."
"But why?"
"I didn't know you came until yesterday... but it makes sense now." He sighs, talking to himself.
"What does?" You ask. Baji sighs and pushes himself off from the table, walking up toward you. You back up towards the wall, feeling nervous. He learns forward, getting to your level.
"Were you ever gonna come back if it weren't for your Aunt's wedding?" He asks. You stare at him a bit, then look away, a wave of shame fills your chest.
"I want to say yes, but I don't really know." You quietly say.
"Mmm..." Baji stands up straight and leans against the table again.
"Have you read that letter Mikey gave you?" He asks.
"Letter Mikey gave me? When did Mikey give me a letter?" You ask.
"Remember the letter that I told you to take."
"Mikey's letter? I thought it was just his letter... not a letter he gave me."
"Did you read it at all?" He asks. "The letter said to Yuki, from Mikey." Baji says in a low tone. Your eyes widen as you put your hand in your pocket. You pull the letter out of your pocket and flip it over, reading it.
"To Yuki... From Mikey..." You say in a quiet tone as you read it. The writing on the letter looked sloppy, almost like a drunk person wrote it.
"I wasn't going to give it to you when I saw that you came... but-" He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "If you haven't read it... then read it."
"Now? Out loud?"
"If you don't mind." Baji motions. You stare at Baji, then at the letter, slowly opening it. You take a deep breath, preparing to read.
"Hi Yuki, I hope you've done well in the last ten years... if you're reading this, then that means you're in Tokyo..." You pause, looking at the next line.
"If you are, you should go back home."