Barefaced

"NO ONE... I'M HERE ALONE..." Eli yells out. Draken grabs Eli's shoulder as Eli tries to approach Mikey. Mikey keeps walking towards the trees, ignoring what Eli is saying. Ren looks over at you. He looks nervous. He slowly stands up and walks out from behind the tree. Mikey stops walking and stares at Ren. Eli's eyes widen. You stay quiet as you lean against the tree listening in on them. Aimi is holding Hana, covering Hana's mouth.

"I'm here too..." Ren quavered. Mikey lifts an eyebrow when Ren spoke.

"Is there anyone else hiding behind the trees?" Mikey asks, starting to slowly move towards the trees again, walking past Ren. You, Aimi and Hana slide to the right, still trying to hide from Mikey's view.

"No..." Ren said in a calm tone. "It's only me and Eli... we chose to stay here after our friends left." Mikey stops walking, he flips open the phone to look at the picture again.

"So... is this your friend's phone?" Mikey asks.

"No... that's Eli's phone." Ren answers pointing towards Eli. Mikey looks up at Eli and nods.

"You really like the color pink... huh?" Mikey scoffs waving the pink phone. Mikey walks over towards the stairs and sits down. Pah-chin grabs Eli, making him kneel on the ground. Peh-yan tries to do the same to Ren but Ren kneels before Peh-yan approached him. "So..." Mikey smiles, looking at the phone and pressing buttons. The light from the screen is shining on his face. "Why were you both hiding behind the trees?" he asks, slowly looking up from the phone, looking at Ren and Eli.

"I-... uh..." Eli's eyes were wide and he's looking down at the ground.

"Were you trying to spy on us?" Mikey asks in a low tone. His eyes are still and blank. Looking at his eyes sent chills down Ren and Eli's back.

"N...no... t...that's not it." Eli stutters.

"Then what was it that you were doing?" Mikey asks, suspicious towards Eli's body language.

"We were just looking around..." Eli answers. He's shaking. You close your eyes scared to what will happen to Eli. Eli is making it too obvious. Mikey knows he's lying.

"They are focused on them... if we crawl towards the back of the shrine... we can jump the wall and escape..." Aimi whispers into your ear. The idea sounds good... before anything happens you have no choice but to leave. But not right now. They will notice.

"Wait... give it a second before we escape..." You whisper back. Aimi nods and Hana stays quiet, with her eyes shut and her hands covering her mouth.

"Looking around? Why?" Mikey asks. He's leaned forward, with his arms resting on his knees. His face is blank and he's staring directly at Eli. Eli starts to clench his pants.

"We were just curious. That's all..." Eli answers. Ren closes his eyes, and his eyebrows furrow.

"Eli is making it worse... he needs to shut up..." Aimi whispers.

"Curious?" Mikey questions, his voice still low. "I don't believe you." Mikey adds. Baji grabs Eli by his hair and leans closer to him.

"Who are you a spy for?" Baji asks, making the two dull fangs appear as he smiles. Eli's eyes widen and he looks away to avoid eye contact. Mikey stands up and slowly walks down the stairs towards Eli.

"Is it for... the Black Dragons? Moebius? Ragnarok? Who?" Mikey asks getting closer towards Eli. Eli shakes his head. "Fine then... I'll beat the answer out of you." Mikey exasperated in a low stern tone. Mikey kicks Eli in the stomach, causing Eli to fall over in pain. Mikey then kicks Eli in the face, knocking Eli over. Aimi, Hana, and you stare from behind the tree. Hana and Aimi's eyes are wide. They look scared.

"They are all focused on Eli... we should go now..." You whisper to them. Aimi nods and you crawl towards the back of the shrine. Aimi and Hana follow behind. Ren notices and looks towards Eli. Mikey grabs Eli by the hair, leaning close towards his face.

"Why are you here...?" Mikey asks again, in a dull but stern tone. Eli sniffled as blood starts dripping from his nose. Tears start to form in his eyes.

"we were just looking around... we aren't spying... i promise..." Eli sniffles, tears start falling from his eyes. You, Aimi, and Hana make it to the back of the shrine. You and Aimi help Hana climb over. Mikey punches Eli and then smashes Eli's face into the concrete ground.

After Hana is over the wall, you help Aimi climb the wall. Eli is coughing up blood, trying to crawl away. Baji kicks Eli back towards Mikey.

"Where do you think you're going?" Baji chuckles, walking towards Eli. Ren's eyes furrow as he looks at Eli. Mikey walks closer to Eli and crouches down, looking at Eli who's laying on the ground.

"Why are you here?" Mikey inquired.

"toth look around..." Eli whines as he tries to get up. Mikey stands back up, preparing to stomp on Eli's head. Ren takes a loud deep breath causing everyone to look at him. You watch from behind the shrine.

"Yuki... what are you doing... come on..." Aimi whispers from the other side of the wall.

"He's right... we were here out of curiosity... We aren't spy's... we are just normal high school nerds..." Ren states. "I have never been involved in a gang before... all I do is paint... and Eli... he's too much of an idiot to be a part of a gang." Ren adds. Mikey looks blankly at Ren. Mikey walks towards Ren.

"Curious about what?" Mikey asks.

"About Toman." Ren answers. Mikey furrows his eyebrows. "I have always been curious about Toman. I hear a lot about Toman, about the Invincible Mikey and his acting leader... Draken. I always wanted to be a part of Toman... but I don't seem like gang material... so I never tried to join." Ren adds. Mikey stands still, staring at Ren. His eyebrows are still narrowed. "I brought my friends here because of me... the girls have already left." Ren says staring towards the trees you all hid behind. Mikey looks towards the direction Ren looked. Draken walks towards the trees. You turn towards the wall, jumping the wall.

Draken looks behind the trees and then walks back over to Ren. Mikey looks back at Ren.

"Me and Eli stayed... but... we didn't know you would come... so we hid because we got startled." Ren says. Mikey stands still and quiet. He has a straight face, staring down at Ren.

"You want to join Toman?" Mikey asks. Ren nods. Mikey smiles and crouches down towards Ren. "How do you view delinquents?" Mikey asks. Ren looks up at Mikey when he asks the question.

You, Aimi, and Hana make it down the hill and out from the trees onto a sidewalk.

"THAT IDIOT!" Hana yells. "WE WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE IF HE DIDNT WALK OUT!" She cries out.

"It happened... let's not focus on it..." Aimi comments.

"Yeah... but I'm worried." Hana sighs. She has a hint of sadness on her face. Aimi nods.

"Worried about Eli? I am worried too... he was bleeding so-" Aimi starts.

"POOR REN! HE HAD TO JUMP IN AND SAVE ELI'S DUMBASS... I hope Ren is okay." Interrupted Hana. Aimi raises an eyebrow.

"Ren seemed like he was prepared for the worst..." You say looking down at your feet.

"Why do you say that?" Aimi asks.

"After you two jumped the fence... I heard Ren tell Mikey that he wanted to join Toman... and I think they are buying it..." You imply.

"Yeah... but I'm worried... that's not something Ren is into... Ren is smart, so I assume he said that to protect Eli... but... knowing Ren I'm still worried." Aimi looks down at her feet and slowly start to take off her gloves. Hana looks at Aimi.

"Ren is strong... I believe he will be okay. Besides... If anything were to happen... V, Dango, and Ai can protect him." You say with a semi smile on your face. Aimi smiles and nods and so does Hana.

"Yeah, you're right..." Aimi nods. The three of you stand still and quietly. Then Hana sighs loudly.

"AUGH... ALL THIS STRESS IS MAKING ME HUNGRY... I WANT SOME UDON. UDON WITH EXTRA MEAT AND EGGS!!!" Hana groans out loud. Aimi chuckles.

"When do you not think about food..." Aimi smiles. Hana smiles back. Them smiling makes you smile.

"Then let's get Udon..." you suggest.

A few hours later, the three of you are in your room eating Ramen.

"It sucks that the restaurant that we always go to shut down... I loved their Udon." Hana groans as she slurps down the ramen.

"Yeah... I remember we went all the time when we were in elementary." Aimi adds.

"I wonder where Ren is..." Hana comments. You wonder the same. You wonder where Ren and Eli are at. The thought of something happening to them worries you. "And my phone..." Hana pouts. Aimi pats Hana's head and Hana leans her head against Aimi's shoulders.

After eating and talking a bit, the three of you fall asleep in your bed.

BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZ

The sound of a phone vibrating wakes you and Aimi up. Aimi grabs her phone to see who's calling her. She flips her phone open and answers the call.

"Hello? Huh...?!" Aimi jumps up from the bed and walks towards to the front door.

"Who is it..." You ask.

"Ren..." Aimi answers opening the door. When she opens the door you see a wet and beaten up Eli and a wet Ren. Aimi and you move to the side to let them in. Ren takes off his shoes. Ren walks towards the kitchen and stands in the kitchen. He then starts to undress himself.

"Wait... what are you doing?" Aimi asks.

"Just taking off the heavy clothes I'm wearing..." He answers, pulling off his hoodie. He rubs his hair. His hair reminds you of a jelly fish. The top part is cut short, and the back part is long. The red highlights make his hair look even more jelly fish like.

"Where's Hana?" Ren asks.

"She's sleeping..." Aimi answers. Ren looks tired in the eyes. "You should get some sleep... Ren..." Ren nods. "Eli... your face needs medicine..." Eli stands blankly by the door staring off at the ground.

"What happened?" You ask.

"..." Ren looks at the ground with a blank expression on his face. "We are members of Toman now..."

"WHAT?"