affinity. takashi mitsuya.

SEVEN

july 20th, 2005.

the golden hour left a nice glow on her skin as hitoka walked down the street to mitsuya's home. when school was over, hitoka rushed home to change into something more comfortable and grab her stuff. she would finally see takashi today.

hitoka would spend the night at his place. both his mother and his sisters have been asking to see her again for some time. deciding to surprise them, hitoka made a decision to cook dinner for them tonight. before meeting takashi at his place, she made a quick run to a grocery store. twenty minutes after she was out with three bags full of groceries.

"hitoka-san!" takemichi called out to her. hitoka saw him nervously standing with a pissed hinata by his side. he must have seen her and decided to call her over to save his ass, hitoka thought.

they exchanged hellos, and hitoka started conversing with hinata. out of the corner of her eye, hitoka saw takemichi fishing out his phone.

"hina, hitoka-san... draken-kun wants me to meet up with him for a while," hinata and hitoka looked at each other and back at takemichi, "we'll come along."

hitoka let the kids walk in front of her, giving them privacy. she wondered what the call was about, but if it meant she would see takashi earlier, she was all for it.

"you're supposed to meet him here?" hitoka spoke for the first time in a few minutes.

takemichi managed to let out a small agreement before various bikes arrived at the scene, blinding them with the headlights.

hinata latched herself onto takemichi's arm, and hitoka stood in front of them protectively.

"what the fuck do you want? this is toman's meeting place! who the fuck told you to come here?" of course someone they didn't know had to get to them first. takemichi looked like he was about to shit himself, so hitoka stepped out. she knew nothing would happen to her, and if it did, whoever hurt her would regret it.

"lay off, bastard! he was told to come here!" takashi heard the familiar voice and started looking for hitoka. he noticed her just as she was getting ready to let her groceries fall to the ground to give him a piece of her mind.

hitoka felt a hand place itself on top of her head, relaxing at the familiar touch, "hi," she greeted takashi smiling.

he smiled back at her before turning to takemichi, "could it be that you're takemichi? follow me," and takemichi followed him like a lost puppy with hinata closely behind.

"yo, takemitchy, toka-chan," mikey greeted them. hitoka was immediately hoarded by some of the toman members she had met, all of them greeting her. takemichi was washed over by confusion as to why hitoka knew so many gang members. he would ask her later.

"why the hell did you bring your girlfriend?" draken asked takemichi as he put an arm over hitoka's shoulder. hitoka flinched before saying sorry, realizing it was only draken.

he called a girl named emma over, and hitoka pushed him off, introducing herself to her. hitoka was glad there was another girl she could talk to.

hitoka caught takashi's eyes. he motioned her to stay where she was.

the meeting shouldn't take long. as draken turned to leave, hitoka bumped emma's shoulder, "you have the hots for each other, huh?" she asked jokingly.

"i could say the same thing about you and mitsuya-kun," emma shot back at her and the girls started laughing and bickering together.

draken and takashi watched them from a distance, "seems like our girls are stealing each other away from us," mitsuya chuckled and draken blushed a little, mumbling something about emma not being his girl.

-

toman's meeting was over, and takashi's mother was currently watching hitoka familiarize herself with his kitchen. when they arrived, she was met with the sight of his smiling baby sisters, and she was almost as happy to see them as they were.

takashi told them to go play in the living room, and he followed soon after, leaving hitoka to fend for herself. his mother insisted on helping hitoka cook, but she refused, telling the oldest mitsuya to rest.

"you and takashi are good for each other. he likes you a lot," mitsuya-san leaned forward in her chair, a teasing smile on her face.

hitoka blushed, "i like him too. he makes me happy, mitsuya-san," she quietly confessed, not wanting takashi to hear her confession.

"nonsense! call me mom," those words alone made hitoka's eyes water a bit.

takashi shouldn't have heard what hitoka said, but he did. her words made his head spin. hitoka made him happy too. nothing felt better than seeing his mother and his girl getting along. all he wanted was to see them both happy.

he felt bad when he realized that happiness would soon be gone. takashi and hitoka needed to talk.

-

letting go of hitoka's hand, takashi told her to sit on his bed before crouching in front of her, "we have to talk."

hitoka felt herself freeze. those words never meant anything good.

"last week, when toman came to your house. they told me about your dad. why didn't you tell me?" takashi softly asked her, taking her hand in his to comfort her.

she felt a knot form in her throat. knowing she had to get it out, hitoka started speaking before her sobs drowned out any word that tried to come out.

"i am sorry for not telling you takashi-chan! i really am. but it's so hard to talk about it," she quickly said. hitoka feared he would leave her if she opened herself up about it, never having anyone to comfort her.

"before i met you, i had no one. it was so lonely, day after day. i learned how to pick myself up and never trust anyone. but then i met you!" she said with a shaky voice.

"you made me feel so comfortable. i've never trusted anyone the way i trust you. then you introduced me to your friends. everyone accepted me, and it made me feel so loved, all because of you," hitoka's tears were steadily flowing, and she was slipping into a panic attack.

"i am endlessly thankful to you, takashi-chan! you showed me it was okay to care and to be happy again, after being sad for so long," she stood up and bowed to takashi, "please continue taking care of me!"

takashi's heart broke at the sound of her sobs. he was furious that life had treated her so badly. he promised himself he would never let anyone hurt her ever again. as long as she was by his side, she would be safe.

he wanted to find her father and bash his face in, but his priority right now was making sure hitoka calmed down. the gang's members would fill him in about it later. takashi hugged her, one hand around her waist and the other cradling her head, "nobody is going to hurt you like that ever again, sweet girl. i'll make sure of it."

they spent the night whispering quiet confessions to one another in an embrace. making promises and building their own, sweet world. learning about new possibilities that appeared with loving each other. it felt good, knowing that they had someone who understood them better than they understood themselves. 

author's note – august 9th

i feel like this scene is so rushed, but i almost had a stroke multiple times while writing this book so this will do for a while.