Barefaced

Draken furrows his eyebrows looking down at Eli. "What are you doing here?" He huffs. You stare at Eli who's now looking at Draken. 

"Eli..." You softly say, letting go of the knocker and moving towards him. Mikey grabs your arm, stopping you from going down the stairs. 

"What are you doing here?" Mikey asks.

"I wanted to talk to Yuki..." Eli replies. Mikey stares blankly at Eli.

The four of you are in your grandparent's house in front of your mother's altar. You kneel quietly in front of the altar with your eyes closed. Your grandfather walks in and sits down next to you. He has a calm look on his face. "You look just like your mother..." he sooths. You smile to his comment. Draken walks out the room to give you and your grandfather some space. Mikey follows behind him. 

"Oi... Eli..." Draken quietly says motioning Eli to walk out the room. Eli follows behind them. They stop outside the room, far enough so that no one can hear them. 

"What did you want to talk to Yuki about?" Mikey asks Eli. Eli looks at Mikey with a nervous look on his face.

"I've just been worried about her... that's all. There's been a lot going on... like the rumors and drama- I wanted to make sure she's okay." Eli replies.

"What do you mean by rumors?" Draken questions. Eli looks around the room and then takes a deep breath.

"Rumors that Yuki has been sleeping with the leader of Toman." Eli responds. Mikey smiles a bit after hearing that.

"Ah? Is that it?" Draken asks.

"Well... there's also rumor going around that Yuki is V..." Eli adds.

"V?" Mikey stares at Eli with a blank dull expression on his face. Eli slowly nods.

"How did anyone find out about that?" Draken leans down towards Eli, giving off an agitated look. 

"I don't know... That's all I have heard." Eli quavered, staring off into the distance.

"Oh? You sure you don't know? It wasn't you... was it?" Mikey asks leaning in towards Eli with a sadistic smile on his face.

"No... I know I talk to much sometimes... But I would never start a rumor about Yuki- I would never start a rumor about anyone. I... I'm not like that." Eli stutters. Mikey tilts his head to the side and stands up straight. You walk out the room and stare at them in the hallway. Mikey sighs and looks at Draken. Draken turns to look at you.

"Yuki... we have to go." Draken says walking up to you. 

"Go where?" You ask.

"To take care of some business..." Draken responds. You slowly nod. Mikey smiles at you making you feel nervous. 

"I will see you later." He sooths. They walk towards the front door. You and Eli follow behind them.

"Thank you for letting us in." Draken says bowing at your grandfather.

"Thank you for the dorayaki... it was yummy." Mikey bubbles. Your grandpa bows back at them.

"You're welcome."

 Mikey looks back at you and waves. "Bye Bye" He sooths walking out the door. Draken walks out behind him. Once your grandfather closes the door behind them, he turns and smiles at you.

"What nice boys." He says smiling at you.

"Yeah... nice-" Eli sighs with an awkward smile on his face. You fake a smile back. 

You are sitting down on the floor in front of a short-legged table with juice and rice balls in front of you. Eli is sitting across from you.

"Are you going to be coming back to school?" Eli asks.

"I don't know." You reply.

"Your grades are going to start dropping." Eli adds. You nod to his statement.

"How has Hana and Aimi been?" You slowly ask looking up at Eli. Eli shrugs.

"They haven't been talking to you?" He asks.

"No... They haven't been answering my calls." You reply.

"Weird..." Eli looks down at the rice ball on the napkin in front of him. You stare down at your hands that are on your lap.

"Try going to school tomorrow..." Eli crooned. You look up at him and nod. Eli smiles at you making you smile back a bit.

The next morning in your room, you debate on whether you should go to school or not. You want to see your friends, but you don't know if you're up to going. You slowly slide off the bed and walk towards your closet. You stare at your uniform that's hanging up. You sigh, slowly grabbing it and putting it on.

You slowly walk to school contemplating everything. Your hands are shaking. You want to turn back around. You stop in front of your school staring at everyone walking into the school. You feel like you're hyperventilating but you don't know why. Are these Yuki's emotions? You think to yourself. It must be her emotions. Ever since you saw Ayame yesterday and heard about the rumors, you have felt nothing but anxiety.

"Yuki." A voice says behind you. You slowly turn around to see Aimi... with black hair.

"Aimi?" You softly say looking at her.

"You came to school..." She says walking up to you. You slowly nod to her statement. 

"You dyed your hair..." You look at the hair on her head. She has always been naturally black but to see her hair black is strange. 

"Yeah. I wanted my original hair color back... so I dyed it back to black." She replies. "Have you talked to Hana recently?" Aimi asks. You slowly shake your head. Aimi looks down at the ground with a sadden look on her face. You look at her confused. 

"Is everything okay?" You ask.

"She has been skipping school the last two days... remember her grandma...?" Aimi looks at you waiting for a response.

"Yeah." You reply. Hana's grandma is a very strange old lady. She loves to collect and sell a lot of strange things and owns a shop in some village by the mountains. She sells a bunch of creepy looking dolls too. There's a faint memory of a doll in a black dress laying in a casket. The doll looks like a vampire or something like that... but the doll overall looks creepy. Yuki's memory of Hana's grandmother's store.

"Her grandma passed away the other day... so Hana has been feeling depressed." Aimi states. "Hana wanted to go to her grandmother's ceremony but her mother doesn't want to go." She adds.

"Why?" You question.

"A stupid family feud." She replies. "Hana has always been very close to her grandmother... so the fact she can't go to the ceremony bothers her a lot. I wanted to take her, but my dad won't drive us that far." Aimi continues. You look down feeling bad. Why is everyone dying...? You think to yourself.

"I can try asking my grandma." You say, slowly looking back up. Aimi smiles and nods.

"Okay!"

The two of you walk into school. Nothing out of the normal. You and Aimi walk into your classroom. The second you walk in everyone looks up, staring directly at you. You look back at them in confusion. Aimi also notices them staring. You sit down at your desk, looking down at your hands again. Aimi sits down still looking at everyone. People start whispering and constantly glancing back at you. Eli walks in the room and walks over towards his desk. He smiles when he sees you but then his smile kind of disappears when he sees you looking down with a sad look on your face.

"Yuki... you okay?" Eli asks sitting down at his desk and turning around to look at you. You slowly nod still looking down. Eli looks around to see people staring at you. He looks at Aimi who's looking at Eli. Eli sighs and turns around.

"HEY! Do you all have a staring problem or something?" Eli yells out. The people in the class look away. Eli leans back and relaxes his eyes in irritation.

"Why is everyone being so weird?" Aimi asks Eli.

"A rumor..." Eli sighs.

"A rumor about Yuki?" Aimi asks.

"Yeah." He replies.

"What rumor?" Aimi asks looking at you. You look up at Aimi and then you shrug.

"Rumor about her beating up gang members and that she is also having sex with Toman's leader." Eli comments. Aimi's eyes widen. 

"Wait... are those rumors true?" Aimi questions quietly, leaning towards you. You look at her hesitant to answer. 

"Doesn't matter if they are true or not... I can't believe that jerk let that bitch spread those rumors." Eli huffs. Aimi looks back at Eli.

"Who spread the rumors?" Aimi asks. Eli looks back at Aimi and sighs. 

"Ayame..." He replies.

"AYAME?!?" Aimi screeches. Everyone in the class turn back looking at Aimi.

"Miss Hayashi- no need to be so loud." The teacher says walking into the classroom. Everyone looks forward. You sigh laying your head down.

"This conversation isn't over yet..." Aimi whispers at Eli. "We are continuing this at lunch..." 

Morning lessons felt long and boring. You wanted to fall asleep, but you are so behind in class that you couldn't. After a lot of writing and lecture, it was finally lunch time. Some people get up and walks out of class, others pull out their lunch and eat at their desk. You stare down at your desk realizing that you forgot to bring a lunch.

"Yuki... Are you okay?" Aimi asks. She is holding a bento box with chopsticks on it. You nod, leaning back and closing your eyes. "Where's your lunch?" She asks.

"I didn't bring it." You reply. Eli stares at you when you say that. He opens the paper bag he's holding and pulls out a rice ball he bought from the convenience store. 

"You can have this... I have two of them." He says, handing it to you. You slowly take it and open it up.

"Aw... how nice of you..." Aimi coos smirking at Eli. Eli squints at Aimi. You take a bite of the rice ball. It tastes so much better than it usually does... maybe because you're so hungry.

"So... Ayame is back..." Aimi says opening her bento box.

"Yep... I wish that bitch never came back." Eli sighs.

"Ugh... why is he so obsessed with that girl... Is it because she's tall with a big butt?" Aimi asks with a concerned look on her face. You furrow your eyebrows at Aimi and Eli tilts his head to the side. 

"Uh- okay..." He takes another bite of his food. "You like him don't you..." Eli muffles with food in his mouth.

"Ren?" She asks. Eli nods. "WHAT? NO!" She shouts, causing everyone to look at her. She slides down a bit in her chair feeling embarrassed. You smile to her reaction. 

"Mhmmm... sure." Eli hums taking another bite of his food. 

"Um... excuse me." A soft voice says from beside you. You look up to see a small boy with brown hair and brown eyes. He is holding a box of chocolates. 

"Hi..." You say looking up at him. He blushes and smiles looking down at the box. 

"I don't think you remember me but... I wanted to give you this as a thank you gift." The boy sooths.

"A thank you gift?" You question.

"Are you a first year?" Eli asks. The boy smiles and nods. You look down at your hands, narrowing your eyes.

"Yes... I am..." He replies.

"Why are you here?" Eli asks.

"Oh... Yeah... I uh... I heard that V went to the school I went to and found out she was my senpai. Well, I didn't know V was girl... I actually thought she was a guy... but still... I wanted to give her a gift to say thank you for helping me but she wasn't here... so I kept the gift on me until she came back to school." He bubbles, looking down at the box. Now that you look at him he looks familiar.

"Jun'ya?" You say looking up at him.

"AH! YES! YOU REMEMBER ME!" He bubbles, smiling really hard. You slowly nod. He looks a bit different then the last time you saw him. 

"You wanted to give that to me? Why?" You ask.

"For saving me that day!" He replies putting the box on your desk. "Are we still friends?" He asks fidgeting with his shirt sleeve. You smile and nod. He smiles and nods back. "OKAY! Great... can I be able to get your number... I want to keep in contact with you." He sooths. You nod giving him your number. But then your face changes when you remember you broke your phone. "I have to go now... bye" He says waving. You wave back, watching him leave.

"Aw what a cutie..." Aimi says mixing her food.

"Your face changed so fast when you gave him your number... did you not want to give it to him?" Eli asks.

"It's not that. I forgot I broke my phone." You say quietly.

"AGAIN?" Aimi shouts. Everyone looks at Aimi again. Aimi sighs and looks down.

"What's been up with you today? You're acting like Hana now." Eli chuckles.

"What no..." She shakes her head looking away. You grab the box and open it. There's a bunch of different chocolates in it.

"You saved him? From what?" Eli asks looking at you. 

"Moebius members." You reply picking up one of the chocolates and eating it.

"Aw... so he admires you now... That so cute..." Aimi coos. She takes one of her chopsticks and stabs it into a tomato. You raise an eyebrow at what she's doing. Aimi notices and smiles pointing the tomato at you.

"Tomato..." She speaks. You slowly nod. She chuckles and eats the tomato. "I love when you smile... It makes me happy." She softly bubbles. You smile back at her. Eli also smiles. Aimi's smile goes away, and she looks down at her food. "After school come with me..."

"Come with you?" You question.

"Yes, to see Hana... She would be very happy if you came..." She answers. You nod and smile. 

"Okay!"

"Oh... and you too Eli..." Aimi adds.

"Me too?" He muffles with his mouth full of food.

"Come with us too..." she says.

"What? Why?" he gives Aimi a puzzled look.

"You will make her feel better if you were there..." Aimi implies.

"Wouldn't I just piss her off?" Eli asks. Aimi looks at you and smiles and then back at Eli and shrugs. Eli sighs and nods.

"Yeah... fine... whatever." Eli says.