*YOUR POV*

“What’s going on?” I asked as I gazed at the stupefied table.

Odagiri shook his head, amusement showing on his face, as he flicked his head in Takeda’s direction. “Our little Take is all grown up now,” he snickered as the boy blushed.

“Eh?” I still didn’t understand. Then I noticed that Takeda’s attention was completely focused on something away from the table and I followed his gaze to a pretty waitress. “Oh you’re serious?” I gaped, now realizing why the rest of the group was so amazed.

The waitress was a young girl, probably our age, wearing an outfit that reminded me of a cowgirl.

I wonder if Take has talked to her yet? “What’s her name?”

“Mizushima Maki,” he whispered quietly as if he thought she could hear us.

“You asked her for her name already?” I was surprised.

“No… it’s on her name tag,” he confessed. I rolled my eyes.

“She looks like a nice and gentle girl,” Yankumi commented, her voice coming out of nowhere. We jumped backwards, feeling completely startled at her sudden presence.

“How do you always manage to do that?” Odagiri muttered under his breath.

Just then Maki stormed up to a rough-looking customer and snatched his cup away, glaring at the man. “Please take the other customers into consideration and stop using our cups as you ash tray!”

“Girl,” he drawled, “go back to waiting on tables and leave me be.”

“Be considerate of the people who use the cup next!”

The man shoved the table away from him and left the store with angry strides. Maki instantly began cleaning off the table.

Yabuki’s mouth dropped. “Her personality and face don’t match.”

“She’s actually a really nice girl,” Takeda replied dreamily as he kept staring at her. She rushed up to a toddler who had fallen down and began comforting the kid with gentle and soothing words.

I guess I can see how Takeda fell for her.

“Hey man, you need to talk to her,” I nudged Take.

“No-no way… I… can’t…” He mumbled, his eyes casted down on the ground.

“You know, nothing’s going to start unless you talk to her,” Odagiri took a sip of his drink and poked his blushing buddy.

Tsuchiya finally had enough and dragged Take with him toward Maki. “Konnichiwa Maki-san! This is my friend Takeda Keita from Class 3-D at Kirogin Gakuen.” Takeda bowed, his entire body gushing out nervousness as Maki smiled at him.

“What type of guys do you like?” Odagiri asked innocently.

“Strong guys are my type. I despise weak guys,” came her reply.

I watched worriedly as Take and Tsuchiya bade goodbye and walked back to our table. Takeda’s shoulders were slumped and I knew that he was thinking of how he couldn’t fight and therefore was a weakling.

But he was wrong. Way wrong. Being a good fighter doesn’t prove how strong one is. Being able to stand up for what he thinks is right is true strength. I just really hope that Takeda realizes that he falls into the latter category.

I reached out and messed his carefully spiked hair up and laughed as he turned to me with a scowl plastered on his face. When he saw that I was teasing him, he finally broke out into a smile. “I’m going to head back,” I told them as I stood up. Their good-byes trailed after me as I brushed past the tables and padded onto the bustling street.

My cell phone rang and I dreaded picking it up, due to the strange calls I’ve been receiving recently. Biting my lip, I ignored the unknown number and slid the phone back into my pocket and kept walking.

And I stopped short when I saw the girl in front of me. Both of our mouths fell open as we stood there in shock. “Harumi…” I forced my face to become a mask sealing all of my emotions and I waited for her taunting to start. To my surprise though, her face was filled with fear and… regret. Her eyes darted from side to side and after making sure that a certain someone wasn’t there, she dragged me into the café that we stood next to and requested a private room.

Who was she looking for to make sure that he or she wasn’t watching?

“What’s going on?” I asked, my guard completely up as I reluctantly followed her. She kept shooting looks behind us as if she was afraid. The moment the door was closed, she let out a sigh of relief and turned to face me.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” she whispered, her eyes b with tears.

I stayed silent.

Harumi was the one who made Yuuki disappear.

“I’m sorry about what happened to Yuuki,” she said, her voice quivering.

… Did she really just say what I think she said? She’s sorry? This son of a freaking female dog…

“I didn’t mean for them to take her,” she continued on, a look of distraught on her face. I took her brief pause to study her some more.

She had lost a lot of weight since I last saw her and her eyes had a shadow under them as if she hadn’t been sleeping well. She looked… miserable.

“I’ve always been jealous of you, of how easily you got along with others. I tried to make your life miserable, but somehow you always managed to put a smile on your face and genuinely greet others like you were happy to see them. I’m truly sorry for everything I did,” she burst out into tears. “And when I threatened you… and told you that I would get rid of Yuuki if you didn’t leave, those were all dry threats. I didn’t mean them. I-I didn’t think that they would really take her.” She drew in a ragged breath.

Did she really think I would fall for her trick like this?

“They promised me that they would only kidnap her for a day to scare you and that they would release her immediately. _________, you have to believe me! I’ve been looking for her ever since. I snooped around, desperate to find her and make things right. I still haven’t found her yet though.”

Wait. She doesn't know where Yuuki is?

“I did find out one thing though- the reason they took her for was because of Kazuki. He paid them a lot of money, a lot of money and they accepted.” Her desperate eyes bore into mine and I had to finally accept reality- she was being serious.

“Kazuki is the one who’s truly behind all of this then…?” I questioned slowly.

She nodded.

“Why are you still going out with him then?”

“He told me that he’d pay the gang to kidnap me as well if I broke up with him.”

She keeps mentioning a “they” and a gang.

“What’s this gang?” I asked, leaning forward.

She furiously shook her head. “I’ll die if I tell you!” I could feel the stark fear radiating from her trembling body and gently patted her back.

“It’s okay. You can stay at my grandfather’s place for the time being if you feel like you’re not safe,” I reassured her. “Please tell me. You have to tell me.”

The silence stretched into long minutes as she deliberated inside her head. Finally she took a deep breath, typed into her phone, and held it up for me to see.

Kyosodan

“Are you being serious?” I couldn’t believe my eyes. She nodded again. “Come on, let’s go to see my grandfather.”

I called Sho and asked him if he could pick me up. He agreed instantly and moments later Harumi and I hid near the front entrance waiting for his car to appear.

While we were waiting however, I could feel dangerous eyes scoping out the store as if they were waiting for us. After telling Harumi to stay low and stay where she was, I snuck upstairs and peeked out the window. Ten guys dressed in black were stationed in different locations around the building, failing miserably at hiding themselves. I called Sho again.

“There’s ten guys waiting for us outside,” I kept my eyes on them.

“Why?”

“Harumi told me the truth behind Yuuki’s disappearance and I have a feeling that it has to do with the gang these men are in. Do you know the markings of the Kyosodan Group?”

He exhaled a sharp breath. “They all have a dragon on their left shoulder. Don’t tell me that they’re the ones who messed with your friend.”

“Them and Kazuki,” I confirmed.

“Stay with Harumi and whatever you do, don’t let them see you! I’ll be there soon. Actually, is there a backdoor you guys can get out through?”

“I’ll check. How bad, exactly, is this gang?”

“They’re probably almost on the same level as us, except they’re not respected. They’re the exact opposite: deadly dangerous killers.”

I found my way to the backdoor and, after checking around and making sure the coast was clear, I opened it slightly and glanced around. “The backdoor leads to the alleyway and it seems like the coast is clear.”

“Okay. Don’t go that way, they’re probably secretly watching it,” Sho instructed.

“How do we get out?”

“You don’t.” He uttered a dry laugh. “This is going to be messy.”

“There’s got to be a way out without them seeing us.”

Then it hit me.

We don’t need a way out without them seeing us. We just need to find a way so that they see us without truly “seeing” us.

“Disguise,” I breathed.

“You’re a genius,” he laughed.

I checked up on the shaky Harumi and told her of the plan. Her eyes finally filled up with hope and we rushed to the kitchen to ask for help. After explaining the situation, the chefs immediately agreed to assist us and instantly we were the new chefs at the restaurant. Our clothes were carefully concealed under the aprons and our hair disappeared under the gigantic hat. The stay ends were covered in flour and our faces were likewise patted down and whitened. One of the female staff let us use her makeup and soon we looked like clowns. They handed us a couple of empty to-go boxes and we thanked them with all our might. I had a feeling that they just saved our lives.

Sho’s car carefully pulled up beside the door and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the ten men hadn’t recognized the vehicle or the man inside. Harumi ascended into the car first.

Nothing happened.

I stepped out soon after, sat onto the car, and slid the door closed. Sho pulled away from the curb and I twisted my body back and forth as if I were stretching, secretly making sure that no one was following us.

We were safe.  

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A/N:: I feel like this was a crappy chapter >.<

I kept getting interrupted by my family.. but I didn't want to try rewriting it :3 

It serves its purpose of moving the story along though, *sigh. 

@maknae13: The creeper will show his face soon. I think. Maybe. (; 

@YoruxRuki: Seriously, right? Odagiri needs to learn a lesson.. that just gave me an idea... LOL. 

@mrswoojiho: I made Hiro to annoy Odagiri, but I'm starting to really like him. I might let him have an important role in the story, teeheehe.

LALALA, this was a kinda long chapter :3 

I kinda liked the end though :D 

BADABING,BADABOOM: Harumi is a good girl? D: 

Who saw that coming? I didn't.

I wonder if she's really telling the truth? Or is she lying? 

I dunnos, lolololol.