Barefaced

You slowly turn around to look at the boy who's still kneeling on the ground. His eyes are full of tears and he's slightly shivering. You slowly walk over to him, still staggering a bit.

"Are you okay?" You ask. The boy looks up at you and frowns.

"You are bleeding..." He sniffled. You touch your head. It hurts. You look at your hand thats now covered in blood.

"It's okay..." You quietly respond. "Are you okay?" You ask again. The boy nods and stands up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Why were they bothering you?" You ask. The boy looks at you and rubs his arm, looking away.

"They bother me because they found me cross dressing one time at a karaoke lounge with my... old friends." He sniffles. "They said I looked like one of those fem boys and started calling me gay." Tears fill his eyes.

"Are you gay?" You question. The boy shakes his head.

"No... I just wanted to wear one of my favorite characters outfits while I sang... but they came across me and touched me and..." Tears start to fall from his eyes. You frown and hug him.

"I'm sorry they did that to you..." He starts to cry into your shoulder. "Let's leave... before they wake up." You quietly say. You lost a lot of energy after being hit in the head. Your head is throbbing and you're exhausted.

The two of you walk out the alley and onto the sidewalk.

"Thank you for helping me out of that situation." The boy says bowing at you.

"You're welcome..." You respond. The boy looks up and smiles.

"Your name is V? C...can we be friends...?" The boy asks. You smile at him and nod.

"Yeah... What's your name?" You ask him. He smiles.

"Jun'ya..." He chirped.

"Can I walk you home, Jun'ya?... I want to make sure you get home safe." You smile. He nods.

You walk him home; he asks you questions and talks to you about the things he likes to do or watch. You enjoy your peaceful walk with him... but your head still aches.

After walking him home, he bows and says thank you again. Once he walks into his house you go home.

You sit inside your bathroom, sitting on a stool, washing the wound on your head and watching the blood wash in with the water. Your eyes burn and your head hurts a lot. You question whether you should sleep or not. You don't think it's a good idea since you got hit in the head... but you're so tired. You open the shampoo bottle and start to scrub your hair again. It burns, making your eyes water a lot. After washing up you wrap your head in a towel and you lay down on the couch, slowly falling asleep.

You wake up early the next morning to a knot on your head by your ear. That's where you got hit in the head. You don't know whether you should worry about it or not. When you press it, it hurts. You take some ice and you hold it against the wound. A couple hours later you start putting your clothes and shoes on. When doing your hair, you notice the bump isn't noticeable unless you touch the spot you got hit at, so you weren't too bothered by it... but if it gets worse you promised yourself that you will go to the hospital. You left the house to head to school. Your grandma gives you a small box filled with Daifuku mochi. You take a bite out of one, curious to what your grandmother put inside them. It was filled with Anko; red bean paste. You slowly walk to school, holding the box in your hands.

As you approach the school you see Ren in the distance. He waves at you and walks up to you.

"Hey... can I go to your grandparent's again today?" He asks. You nod. He raises an eyebrow and squints his eyes at you. "Are you okay?" He asks. You nod. "Okay then..." The two of you walk into the school, changing into your school shoes. Ren says bye and goes towards the art room. You walk up the stairs to your homeroom class. As you walk in you see Aimi clicking her pen constantly at her desk. You sit down at your desk and tap her shoulder.

"Hey." You say smiling.

"Hey..." She mumbles. Your smile goes away, and you look down at your desk. Aimi looks at you and smiles. "I'm sorry... I'm just thinking about a lot..." She says. You turn to look at her.

"What are you thinking about?" You ask.

"About something my father had said to me..." She say's.

"What did he say?" You ask. Aimi looks at you and sighs. She has sadness in her eyes, which worries you.

"Well he said-" she starts.

"OHHHH IS THAT DAIFUKU!!!!" Hana shouts out as she walks up to you two.

"Hana? Your hair..." Aimi questions.

"I know... It's cute... don't you like it?" She says flipping her hair with her hand. Her hair is dyed a very light blond. Aimi looks at her shocked.

"It's very... different..." Aimi comments. You furrow your eyebrows and slowly nod repeatedly.

"..." Hana looks at Aimi with a blank expression on her face. "Honestly... I hate it." She says sinking down in Eli's desk.

"Then why did you dye it?" Aimi asks.

"They know what I look like... I couldn't risk it..." Hana whispers and then sighs hanging her head back over the chair, causing her hair to be all over Aimi's desk.

"You dyed your hair because of the picture he saw on your phone...?" Aimi questions with a straight face.

"I'm pretty sure they don't remember what you look like Hana..." You say.

"UGHHH... WHY TELL ME THAT NOW YUKIIIIIII...." Hana groans. Aimi starts playing with Hana's hair.

"Why don't you dye it another color..." You suggest.

"Because the school said natural colors only. I wanted to dye it light pink... but apparently pink isn't natural..." Hana sighs.

"That's because pink isn't a natural color Hana..." Aimi comments in a sarcastic tone.

"Why don't you dye it ginger...?" You ask.

"AHHH... GOOD IDEA YUKI..." Hana jumps up and hugs you. "YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!" She bubbles as she nuzzles her face into your head, still hugging you.

"OW!" You yelp, flinching away. Hana lets go of you and looks at you with confusion on her face.

"What was that noise? Did I hurt you?" Hana asks in a worried tone.

"N...no it's okay... uh... Daifuku... want one?" You splutter, opening up the box of Daifuku and showing it to Hana. Hana squints at you and slowly nods, slowly reaching towards the box and then grabs your chin and holds your face as Aimi moves your hair and rubs the side of your head. "OW! OW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" You yell out.

"There's a bump on your head... and there's a cut on the bump... what happened?" Aimi says examining your head. You push them away and then you rub your head. Both Aimi and Hana stare at you with a confused look on their face.

"Ew... she turned blond..." teased Eli as he walks towards his desk. Hana looks at Eli and scoffs.

"Ew... he's still alive." Hana replies. Eli narrows his eyebrows and leans back in his chair.

"Go back to your class shitty hair... class is about to start." Eli huffed. Hana touches her hair and rolls her eyes as she walks out the class. "Why did she dye her hair?" Eli asks still looking forwards in his chair.

"Because she wanted to..." Aimi responds.

"Mhmm..." Eli hums and turns to look at you. "I need to talk to you after school." Eli says.

"Why?" You respond.

"There's something important I need to talk to you about." He says.

"Important like what?" You ask. Eli sighs and turns back around.

"Just meet me after school." He replies. You sigh and lay your head down on your desk, covering your head with your arms.

After school you wait outside for Ren. You see Eli walk outside. He smiles and walks over to you.

"Ren said he has to go do something in the art room so he can't come with you to your grandparent's." Eli says approaching you.

"Okay... what is it that you wanted to talk about?" You ask. Eli looks around and then back at you.

"Walk with me... I have to meet someone at the park... we can talk on our way there." Eli says. You nod and follow beside him. After walking a bit Eli finally speaks up.

"Give up on the whole Toman thing..." He say's

"Why?" You ask.

"I was with them last night when some guys attacked me and Baji... It's not a good Idea... Those guys are really dangerous... They can and will kill you." He implies. "Baji is strong... very strong... Imagine how strong Mikey is... It's just a bad idea... So please... drop it." He continues. You relax your eyes and rub your head. Eli looks at you when you do that.

"What happened to you?" He asks.

"What do you mean?" You look at him and he looks forward.

"I saw Aimi and Hana attacking you earlier, and I heard them mention a bump and cut on your head. Now you're rubbing the side of your head. So, I'm asking you what happened." He adds, looking back at you. You look down at the ground as you walk. Purposely trying to avoid walking on the cracks in the sidewalk. "Did you get hurt?" He asks.

"Who are you meeting with at the park?" You ask, ignoring his question. He sighs and looks forward.

"Chifuyu..." He answers. Chifuyu? He's meeting with Chifuyu?

"Who is that?" You question, playing it off.

"He's Baji's friend, he's also a part of Toman..." Eli states. "Under the first division behind Baji." You slowly nod.

As the two of you approach the park you see a boy with short blond hair sitting on the swings, slowly swinging and dragging his feet on the ground.

"Chifuyu..." Eli says. The guy looks up at Eli and waves. He stands up and walks over to you both.

"Sup..." He says smiling at Eli, with his hands in his pockets approaching the two of you. "Who's this?" He asks looking at you.

"Oh... uh my friend Yuki..." Eli says looking at you. "She was just leaving... right?" Eli adds nodding at you. You hesitate and then nod smiling.

"Yeah..." You quietly say. Chifuyu chuckles.

"I don't bite... If you wanted to stay you can." Chifuyu smiles, looking at you.

"Yeah its just-" Eli starts.

"What's your name?" Chifuyu asks.

"Uh... Yuki." You respond. Eli narrows his eyebrows and quietly sighs.

"Cute name... we have similar names..." Chifuyu comments. "Your name means snow... right?" He asks. You nod. He smiles. "My name means a thousand winters..." Chifuyu adds. You smile and nod. Chifuyu leans in and whispers to Eli. "Do you like her?"

"NO..." Eli whispers loudly. You furrow your eyebrows. Eli looks at you and then looks away. Chifuyu chuckles and then looks at you.

"How old are you?" Chifuyu asks still smiling at you. To think about it you never wondered how old Yuki was. Yuki's birthday is December 20th and she's 16...

"I'm 16." You say.

"Oh... A second year or first year?" Chifuyu asks.

"Second year." You say. Chifuyu smiles and nods.

"You're my Junior." He sooths. You nod and smile. Eli scrunches up his face and squints his eyes.

"Chifuyu... why did you want to meet up?" Eli says in a semi-irritated tone. Chifuyu turns to look at Eli.

"Oh yeah." Chifuyu says still smiling. Then his smile disappeared. "Apparently someone attacked some Moebius members and threatened to tear them down. They believe it was a member of Toman... That's why they attacked us last night..." Chifuyu says with a serious look on his face. "They are threatening us..." he adds.

"Seriously? Wait why did you tell me this?" Eli asks. Chifuyu silently sighs.

"Mikey wants all Toman members to meet at the shrine tonight... I wanted to meet with you before then." Chifuyu says.

"Yeah... but is there a reason why you wanted to meet with me?" Eli asks.

"I remember you mentioning something before... about Toman member's jumping you and a guy named V saving you..." Chifuyu states.

"Yeah... I remember telling you that." Eli replies nodding. You furrow your eyebrows looking at Eli.

Why the hell would he tell him that... You thought to yourself.

"The person who attacked those Moebius members said their name was V... so I had thought... maybe you know who V is..." Eli's eyes widen and you clench your fist.

Eli talks to damn much... You thought to yourself.