Toman's Little Sister

23 | Pressure

"THE MEETING ON THE FIGHT WITH VALHALLA BEGINS NOW!!"

Everyone looked at Draken and immediately hushed as Mikey walked to the front of the shrine in the centre of everyone's view.

You crossed your arms, making eye contact with Takemichi and Chifuyu. Furrowed brow, shifting weight from foot to foot, sweating... You held up a hand to tell them that it'd be okay, and they flinched.

Y/N-chan already knew? Takemichi questioned.

You looked at Mikey, secretly wishing you were at home, asleep. You knew that Mikey didn't actually want to fight Baji, and you knew that. Of course, you were rather annoyed that you had to go through it again if you already knew the results.

What you wanted to do was get to when you wanted to change things.

"I'm glad to see you all here today. As you know, we're here to talk about our fight with Valhalla on Halloween." He glanced at you and you shook your head, then he nodded. "They picked this fight with us... there's nothing for us to gain! Also, Baji has joined Valhalla and gone against Toman. And we don't take traitors lightly."

He gave you one more look and you shrugged. It was always something the two of you could do; a completely silent conversation.

"I just want to be a kid." He sat down on the steps before his stunned gang members.

"I don't want to fight Baji. So here's my solution. Lend me your strength! Tomorrow, we'll crush Valhalla and take Baji back!"

The crowd roared and you turned around, walking off into the darkness of the night. A small smile was on your face, but it was rather bittersweet. If this, all this, was a success, you'd return to the present.

In the present, you didn't really have any friend, anyone to look out for. No one to look out for you.

Your mom, like in the past, is never home. Your father, still no where to be seen. Toman was the only friends you had. No, they were the only family you had. If you somehow manage to save Baji by some miracle, what exactly would change?

"God..." You leaned on a tree, sinking down to the ground as you held your head in your hands. You hated crying. It made you feel like you were weak, or burdensome. But nobody was there.

You felt tears fill your eyes, thinking about all the outcomes that could come from this.

You were the strategist. The thinker of the gang. This was your job. But you wished that it didn't come so naturally.

The tears forming in your eyes became too much to handle as tears streamed down your cheeks. It was too much pressure. It felt like the entire fate of Toman was on your back, and one wrong move could cause it to collapse.

You wondered how Takemichi felt. All he wanted to do was save Hina and he got caught up in all this. Was he really okay with it?

You buried your face in your knees and took a shaky breath. Everything felt like you were stepping on glass. One wrong move is all that's needed.

"Y/N?"

You lifted your head and for a moment, in the darkness of the night, you thought you saw Shinichiro. But when you let your teary eyes adjust, you saw the blonde hair, realizing it was Chifuyu.

"O-Oh, Chifu-chan." You wiped away your tears and smiled. "What's up?"

"Why were you crying?"

Wow, straight to it, huh? "Um, it's nothing." He tilted his head and sat down in front of me. "You don't normally leave a meeting like that. Mikey told me to check on you."

Your eyes softened. That was the Mikey you knew. So what happened to him?

"I'm fine." You sniffled and stood up, wiping away the lingering tears in your eyes. "I just was... stressed about the fight. That's all. And my parents and I haven't really made up. It's a bit stressful, is all."

Then you realized how much you actually had to cry for, and it really only wanted to make you cry more.

"Oh. Alright then..." You followed him back to the shrine and Draken rushed up in front of you. "What happened? Are you sick? Did you get a call from your parents?"

You stared at the past face of the boy you spoke to back in the present. But he was in handcuffs behind glass, with a charge for murder on his head. This caring person killed people.

Thoughts started swirling around in your head before you could answer and it caught Mikey's attention.

"Y/N-chin? Is something up?"

"I-I... no, nothing's up. I'm just tired."

Draken pulled at your cheeks gently. "You were crying, I ain't stupid." You swatted at his hands. "Oi, back off!" You laughed and let your eyes flicker to Takemichi.

He knew what was going on, but he still gave you an encouraging smile.

That's right. You weren't alone. Takemichi was there, and Naoto was waiting back in the present. And it's not like you were doing this for nothing.

Mikey, Draken, Baji, Chifuyu, Pah, Mitsuya, all of them. Even Hina and Akkun. You were doing this for them. For your gang. And you needed to remember that.