Reckless

11. Friends

It's been two days since my fight with Draken. I haven't left Bajis house because I'm not mentally ready to face any of my friends. Most of them have reached out via text and tried calling but I've been ignoring them all. Emma has blown my phone up the most and I let her know I just needed some time to myself to think.

Baji left early this morning, letting me know there's a Toman meeting if I wanted to get out and see Emma without having to see Mikey or Draken. Deciding it might be good to get out, I made my way to the Sano house.

I stood at the front door for a minute before unlocking the door and walking in. Emma was sitting on the couch watching anime. "Hey Em." I quietly said not wanting to scare her. Her head whipped around, shocked at my presence. She practically fell off the couch as she ran to me, embracing me in a tight hug. "Oh my god Kiyoko. I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm glad to see you too. I'm sorry I've been MIA. I needed some time to myself." Emma smiled back at me like I hadn't done anything wrong. "It's okay Kiyoko. I was so worried about you. You don't have to explain anything to me if you don't want to, but I-" she paused unsure if she should continue. "I do think you need to talk to Draken. He hasn't been the same since Christmas." My heart sank at her words. She's right but I just can't stomach looking him in the eye after everything that happened. "I know." I sighed, "I don't think I'll ever be ready for that, but I promise I will."

We spent the rest of the day gossiping and watching anime. It felt good to feel like life was semi normal again. It felt good to forget about all my problems even if it was just for a little bit.

As the sun started to set, I heard the front door unlock. Mikey walked in and panic washed over his face as Draken walked in behind him. My body went numb at the sight of his swollen, black and blue eye and cheek bone. Damn, Ran really got him good. It was completely silent as the four of us just stared at each other, nobody wanting to be the first to break the silence.

"Emma, I think we should-" Mikey pointed to the kitchen as they both walked away, leaving Draken and I alone. Draken stood with his jaw clenched and head turned away from me. I couldn't peel my eyes from his injured face. It felt like an eternity passed as we stayed quiet. He's to stubborn to be the first to say something. He's gonna force me to be the first one to talk.

"Are you okay?" Shocked at the sound of my own voice like I'd never heard it before. Draken let out an unamused laugh. "Am I okay? Seriously Kiyoko," scoffing at me, Draken was now looking at me. "Where have you been the past two days? I know you've been ignoring everyone." I could tell he was trying to hide the pain in his voice. "Baji has been letting me stay at his place." Draken almost seemed shocked at that statement. He probably thought I was at Rans.

"Can I please explain to you-" He cut me off before I could finish. "I don't need you to share the details with me. I can't escape the images of- I just need you to be honest with me. Why him?" His jaw unclenched as he relaxed a little bit. I know he's been holding back but now I don't think he's gonna. "I don't know," is all I could manage to say. I can't even figure it out myself. Draken has been nothing but good to me, so why did I cling to Ran? "That's not good enough Kiyoko. Did I do something?" Raising his voice but quickly bringing it back down.

He's right, I need to be honest with him. "Draken... You have been nothing but perfect to me for the past who knows how many years at this point but..." pausing to give myself a chance to compose my thoughts. I can't back down now, he needs to know how I feel. "I just think I need some time to figure out how I feel. I don't want to rush into anything. I just felt drawn to Ran. I didn't do it to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you." My heart is about to jump out of chest. Draken is now staring at the ground. "Draken, please look at me. I can't lose you. You mean everything to me."

"If I mean everything to you, then why? Why did you give yourself to Ran. I thought you were better than this Ki." his black eyes were piercing my soul. "What does that even mean? Better than what? A slut?" His words sent anger coursing through my body. "That's not what I meant." Relaxing his shoulders as he sighed.

"You aren't gonna lose me Kiyoko. Ran was right." What does he mean Ran was right? He finally looked back up at me. "You aren't something that can be claimed. You have every right to be with him or anyone you want to be with for that matter. I just hated how he put you on display and how cocky he was about it." He swallowed hard, "I shouldn't have left you alone that night. I followed Mikey around while we tried to dig for info on the delinquent world. There were so many connections for us to make at that party. I just thought you'd hang around Emma and Hina. I should've talked to you about it." 

"Not communicating with each other is what we do best though." I said, surprisingly we both laughed at that. "We're pretty good at pissing each other off too." He joked back. The tension in the room released a little bit. "I can't believe you punched a Haitani." Both laughing again, Draken brought his hand to his face. "Eh, I've been through worse. I'd do it again too, but I am sorry I took it that far." Stepping towards him I took his hands in mine. "Friends?" I questioned him, staring into his black eyes. Taking in a deep breathe, "Friends," he answered, giving me a tight hug. We held the hug for longer than I think either of us anticipated. 

"Looks like you've kissed and made up." Mikey said sarcastically interrupting our moment. "We haven't made it to the kissing yet, but we have made up." Draken joked. Gasping, I punched him in the arm. The feeling of a weight being lifted off my shoulders allowed me to relax. I don't know why I was so scared of talking to Draken. We always worked through our fights, even when we both said or did horrible things to each other.

After hanging out with Emma, Mikey, and Draken for a few more hours, I headed home. Draken stayed at Mikey's. Exiting the elevator on the fourth floor Sakura greeted me. "Hey gorgeous, you've got something behind the desk." Confused by what she meant, I waited for her to get me the mystery item. "Haru said someone dropped this off for you yesterday." She said handing me a perfectly wrapped gift box. There was no tag on it that showed who it was from. Skeptical, I thanked Sakura and rushed to my room before an interrogation started. Locking the door behind me, I sat on the ground. Who could this possibly be from? It looks too nice to have come from anybody I know. 

Untying the ribbon and peeling the paper off to reveal a sleek black box. Nervous to open it up, I slowly popped the top off. Inside the box sat a small note with something wrapped in tissue paper underneath. Setting the box to the side, the note read As promised, a replacement. If you need New Years Eve plans, you know where to find me -Ran 

My mouth dropped open as I stared at the box. Picking it back up, removing the tissue paper. A set of red lingerie sat neatly folded. Did Ran Haitani really keep his word? Am I being punked? There's only a handful of people that know what actually went down on Christmas. None of my friends are brave enough to pull something like this and that only leaves Ran because his brother not amused with our actions.

I laid in my bed unable to fall asleep for hours. My mind replayed every interaction I've had with Ran. From the time I first saw him on Halloween to the last time I saw him holding his jaw after being punched by Draken. Still able to feel his touch and hear his deep voice as if he was right next to me. I clutched the note in my hands, against my chest.

I have three days to figure out if I'm going to take Rans offer. 

This is going to be the longest three days of my life, since my mind is already made up.