attakai | a. haruchiyo & k. nahoya

26 | a psychological effect

Whenever Nari was alone with her thoughts, she couldn't help but wonder where Sanzu is and what could he be doing as of the moment. Though a few days had only passed by ever since the war with Tenjiku, she wondered to herself if Sanzu was thinking about her too. Filled with no worries, cute memories and butterflies in her stomach, it was only now that Nari realized how colorful her life was with Sanzu. As much as she likes to think he was thinking about her, a small voice inside her scolded her to stop gaslighting herself for it.

Moving on is such a difficult task one can mentally and physically do. It meant letting go of the person whom she had so many memories with, she had fantasized her life so much with him so much that she once thought life was meaningless without him. Love sure can do scary things to one person.

"WHAT?!" Baji's mother, Baji Ryoko, shrieked, her hands placed on her cheeks upon hearing Nari's revelation. "You linked with the enemy back then?!" She gasps out loud, causing Baji to shush his mother, placing a finger in front of his lips.

"The neighbors will file a complaint on us." Baji says, speaking in between chews of food.

"I mean, I didn't know he's like a distant sibling of theirs!" Nari defends herself, swirling the remaining tea liquid inside her cup. "But hey, it was thanks to him I know now how to hug and hold hands with a guy without feeling flustered!"

"Stop sugarcoating yourself" Baji comments, rolling his eyes while slurping his noodles. 

"I'm not!" Nari says, huffing her cheeks. "But then again...it was only three days, two to be exact. It was really so weird seeing him again after doing all that."

"It is weird." Baji's mother agrees, lifting her legs up on the couch, a finger sandwiched in between the glossy pages of the magazine she's reading. "But I'm glad that you're changing and it's a good change, Nari!" She tells her.

"By the way" she begins to say, "White day is coming up. I know Kei isn't going to be giving anyone gifts, but what about you Nari?" She asks, a smile on her lips. "Any guy you have in mind that you wanna give a gift to?"

Nari's eyes widen slightly before closing, smiling while nodding her head. "There is one!"

Baji was immediate to widen his eyes at her. "WHOMST?!"

"It's a secret!"

"C'mon, just give me a clue!"

"Stop shouting! Your neighbors will really file a complaint!"

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"I kind of wonder what our meeting will be about" Nari says, standing between Angry and Smiley, their hair colors loud and bright against the dark of the night. If all the Toman members were to play hide and seek right now, the three of them would be easy to spot because of their hair colors.

Angry shrugs his shoulders. "Who knows. It's not like another gang is picking a war against us."

"You could have a point" Smiley responded, stretching his neck on either sides. He turned his attention to Nari who had her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm surprised you aren't a mopey mess now that the freak's gone." He teases her, poking her side which costed Nari to squirm away from him.

"Don't greet it." Nari says, covering the sensitive spots of her sides with her hands. "I might become a mopey mess now that you mentioned it." She chuckles softly.

"Aw" Smiley coos, "But trust me, Nari. You look pretty when you smile!" Smiley confesses before immediately giving her a thumbs up.

Nari blinks, slowly nodding her head. "Thanks" she smiled softly before turning her head away.

Smiley played it cool, letting out a breath and fixing his uniform before catching Angry's eyes that seemed to be saying something to him. Immediately, Smiley shook his head and turned his head away, now it was Angry who stood in between the two.

"Everyone, listen up!" Mikey shouts, signalling that meeting is about to start. "We have made a lot of sacrifices, but after defeating Tenjiku, Toman is now Japan's top gang!"

Nari mentally snickered to herself. Student by day but delinquent at night, a double life she learned how to live with. Though it was hard adjusting, she gradually learned to adapt over the days.

"Right now, we have created a great era that will be handed down to generations to come! That's why...I wanted to end it all while were at the top. As of today, Tokyo Manji Gang is disbanded!"

Nari's face scrunched, tilting her head to the right side while her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Am I...hearing right?" she asks herself.

First, it was Sanzu leaving, now Toman disbanding? What exactly is happening? Did the world's rotation moved a little faster forward or a little faster backwards? Why were the things that made Nari who she is now today leaving her one by one? Too engrossed on her thoughts and choking up the tears, Angry had to nudge Nari when she became unresponsive to Mikey's calling to her.

"Representative of Tokyo Manji Gang, Tachibana Hinari" Mikey fully said her title and full name, her teary eyes looking straight into his unreadable ones.

"I'm still sulking how you spend too much time studying and in the gym. You owe me ten boxes of dorayaki now because of that." Mikey sulked, averting his eyes while a small pout painted his lips.

Nari couldn't help but chuckle softly, wiping away the tears that fell from her cheeks. "I'll have ten boxes of dorayaki delivered to your doorstep tomorrow!" She spoke, giving Mikey a tight lipped smile before bowing her head deeply before him. "Until the very end, I will carry out your word, president!"

When the meeting was over, Nari sat besides Angry, still crying together about the disbandment.

"I can't believe it, big bro, Nari chan. Toman is no more." Angry spoke, hiccuping before frowning, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

"It feels like I faced two breaks up in one month." Nari says, her eyes puffy and red. "Is that even possible?" She asks, sniffing afterwards.

Now that Toman disbanded, what was Nari supposed to do now? No more nightly meetings where she would sneak out of the apartment, no more gang wars to face. Was this a way of the world telling her to focus on herself this time? A way to tell her to grow up? Nari felt like she's still in the prime of her teenage years, it was like the rhythm of a song that's heightening only to deflate when the good part is coming.

"Hey everyone!" Hakkai suddenly spoke, catching the attention of everyone to him. "To commemorate our disbandment, let's create a time capsule!"

"Time capsule?" Draken asks

"Sounds good!" Mikey agrees immediately, "Let's see...let's write a letter to our future selves! Let's open it twelve years later!"

"Why twelve years?" Angry asks

"Who knows? But this sounds fun!" Smiley hums

"I hope don't do anything stupid in those twelve years." Nari says, chuckling while Baji pats the top of her head.

"Remember" He tells her, "Open the flower shop besides the pet shop." He reminds her.

"Let's gather here in a week, bring your letters and whatever you think is important!" Mikey spoke, everyone agreeing to what he said after.