Trapped

Chapter 29- close call

"Umm... w-well...."

Takemichi stutters, he's now hardcore panicking in his mind. 'What do I do?!?!!? How do I explain?!?!! Fuck!!! Naoto T-T.... Help me......'

"Well? Acting hero is nice and all, but what is your motive?" you questioned him, eyeing him suspiciously. "No! The thing is...... I heard Kiyomasa talk about it! Yeah, that it....." Takemichi lied. "Huh? So you heard about it and decided to help? You think I'll just believe that? I'll ask you again, what's your motive" you pressed on.

"I don't have one! I just to have a good future!!!" Takemichi blurted. "What do you mean?" you confusedly look at him. That's when Takemichi realized what he had said. Now he's double panicking. "Um. What I mean is- that-" "Takemichi-kun! Let's go!"

Before Takemichi could explain further, the voice of Hina interrupted him. "This isn't over" you told him and walked away.

"Neh Mitsuya! Can you -achoo!!!- bring me home?" you ask as you approach the said lad. "Sure. By the way, here." He gave you his jacket. "Don't want you getting sick" he said. "I'll be fine!!! It'll take more than a little rain to get me sick" you rejected the jacket and sheepishly smiled.

Mitsuya could only let out a hopeless sigh at your stubbornness and took you home to the Sano house. "Arīgato Mitsuya! Also tell Luna and Mana I said hi and I'll try to visit soon!!!" you thanked. "Of course, bye y/n!" Mitsuya said, and then drove off.

You enter the house, only to find majority of the lights on. 'Huh? Why're all the lights on?' you thought as you walk towards the living room. There, you saw Grandpa Sano hugging Emma trying to calm her down again. You quickly rush over. "Jīchan, I got this. Go get some rest" you tell him and hugs Emma. He only gives you a nod and a glare that says 'better explain this' and left.

Now all your attention is on Emma. "Hey Emma.... What's wrong?" you softly ask her, knowing fully well what's wrong. "I-*sniff* I can't sleep" she cries. "And why's that?" you continue to ask in a soft voice. "Every time I try to sleep, I keep getting images of Draken" she exclaimed, crying even harder. "You heard the doctor, right? They said he's fine. He's going to be alright" you assured her, successfully calming her sown a little. "How about this, you sleep with Mikey and I tonight, and when Draken wakes up, we'll go visit him?" you suggest, in hopes of cheering her up. Emma nods and you both start walking towards Mikey's room.

"Mikey?" you look in, in hopes that he's awake like you thought. You were right. "What is it y/n-chin?" he turns to you. 'y/n-chin? He never uses that.... unless something's wrong...... Fuck! His impulse!!!' "Emma? Can you wait a little first? I need to talk to Mikey" you quickly turn to Emma, shutting her out before she could respond. "Alright, now...... what to do with you" you turn back to Mikey.

"What do you mean y/n-chin?" Mikey asks you. "Don't act innocent. Why now? What's causing this?" you ask him, hoping to get him out of his trance. "Whatever do you mean y/n-chin? I'm perfectly fine" he claims. "I know you Sano Manjiro. You better explain before I forcefully knock you out" you threatened. Just then, Mikey looks as if he's in pain and holds his head for comfort. Few minutes passed and he raises his head. "N/n? What's wrong? Did I do something?!" Mikey was confused at first, but then realized that his impulse took over.

Seeing that he's back, you relaxed and let Emma in. "It's fine Mikey, you didn't do anything" you assured him, "now let's all go to sleep. It's been a long day for all of us." As you said that, you tucked Emma next to Mikey. "Y/n-nee, can you sing us to sleep? Like you use to when we had nightmares?" Emma requested. "Sure, if it'll help" you gently smiled at her, then starts singing.

（I thought this was a good song from "Don't Disturb My Study")

When you finished, you look down to see both Mikey and Emma asleep. 'Honestly...... you've both been through so much already...... and I promised Shinichirou to look after you....'

-Flashback-

"Hey y/n" Shinichirou calls out to you. "What is it?" you answer, trying to hide from Mikey and Emma. "Can you promise me something?" he asks you. "Depends on what it is. And what's with the gloom in your tone? You sound like you're about to die and whatever you say is gonna be your last words" you questioned, not liking whatever he's trying to tell you.

"When I die-""What?" you cut him off. "It's just-""No. Why're you saying when you die? Is something wrong?" you frantically ask him. "No, nothings wron-""Then why the hell are you saying, 'when I die'?! Bitch you're worrying me!" you cut him off again, yelling at him. "Language" he scolds. "Then explain" you counteract.

"I'm just saying this incase I don't get the chance to..." Shinichirou looks away from your gaze. "If I ever die, can you promise to take care of Emma and Manjiro?" "Why?" you glare at him. "It's just...... I have a bad feeling. It feels like something bad is going to happen to me...... and I want reassurance that if I'm ever gone, they would at least have someone with them" he explains.

Shinichirou turns to you with hopeful eyes. "Can you just promise that you'll look after them?" You were silent. You don't know how to respond from this. The more you look into his eyes, the more you see that he's not kidding. "I..... I promise......" you finally said. "But you also have to promise!"

"And that is?" he asks you. "You have to promise that you'll always be here! That you'll always be with us!" you stated, pointing at him. "Hahaha...... Then wouldn't that defeat the purpose of my promise?" he laughs. "Don't care! Promise!" you demanded. "Ok ok, I promise" he sticks out his pinkie.

"What are you doing?" you question his gesture. "You don't know what a pinkie promise is?" he asks you. You shook your head. He smiles gently and explains, "This is a pinkie promise. *he grabs your hand and wraps your pinkies together* This way, whoever breaks the promise gets to cut the other's pinkie off." You look at him, confused. "Does that mean every time when dad had me cut off the prisoner's pinkie, it meant that they broke a promise? What about the other fingers? Do they mean something when cut off?" you ask him. Shinichirou looks at you, stunned.

"Umm..." 'Damn it! How could she say such things with such an innocent face!!!' Shinichirou sweat drops. "Aha! Found you n/n! Emma!!! She's with nii-san!!!" Mikey came yelled. "Shit! Gotta run Shin! You better keep you promise!" you exclaimed as you run off, with Mikey and Emma following you trail.

-End of flashback-

'Yet in the end, you still broke yours...' you thought, as tears streamed down your face. 'Eh? What am I doing? Am I....... crying? Why am I crying? I shouldn't cry! Crying is weak for the l/n family! I can't...... cry....'

Two arms wrapped around you, pulling you into them. "You finally cried...." the voice said. "Grandpa...." you shakily said, burying your head into the crook of his neck. "W-what's wrong with me? I-I'm n-not supposed to cry! Crying is weak in the whole l/n family! So why..." you ask him through sniffles. "You're not a l/n anymore, are you?" he asks, "you may have their blood, but are you really a l/n now?" You kept silent, letting more tears flow. "You're a Sano now. And a Sano can cry! So don't bottle it up" he continues.

"But-" "No buts!" Grandpa Sano interrupts you. "You've had a rough childhood, and I can't imagine what they did to you to make you emotionless before. But here in this house, you can feel safe.... Let your emotions out.... We won't do anything to you." That's when you felt it, Grandpa Sano was also crying. "You don't know how mad I was when Shinichirou told me your story. But when I saw you, when I saw you smiling in this house, I was beyond happy knowing you could be saved. So please....... don't bottle yourself up anymore..."

You stayed in his embrace, crying until you had fallen asleep. Grandpa Sano felt your breathing steady and placed you between Emma and Mikey. 'Sleep tight my little angels, you've all been through quite a lot' Giving all three of you a kiss on the head and closing the lights, he left the room quietly.