A Future Without You is Soon |Mikey x OC|

Chapter Eighteen

   Shiho sits on the roof of her apartment building. There's no more time to think. The battle is tomorrow. Mikey has elected for some alone time, and Shiho happily obliged. But...now she wants someone to talk to.

   Shiho pulls out her phone and stares at the contact. She needs to get this off her chest.

Shio:
Ken~Chan, are you busy?

Ken~:
Nah.
Why?

Shio:
I wanna talk to someone and Jirou's being edgy.

Ken~:
Ww
Fine. Gimme a second.
Where are you?

Shio:
The roof of my apartment building.

   Shiho closes her phone and sets it behind her. She sighs. She stands and runs inside and grabs the last two cans of beer in her fridge and brings them up to the roof. They weren't horribly good—in fact Shiho hates the way they taste—but it's the best she can find for when her friends come over. Not like any of them care a whole lot anyway.

   Shiho lays down and waits for Draken, but she doesn't have to wait too long.

   "Shiho!"

   "Right here, dipshit."

   "Oh."

   Draken walks over and sits down. He grabs a can and opens it. Shiho follows promptly after him.

   "What did you want?" Draken asks.

   Shiho looks over at him. "I just wanted to talk to someone. If Jirou's alone, then I assumed you would be too."

   Draken chuckles. "Good point."

   A comfortable silence falls between them as they sip on the cans.

   "I think..." Shiho says, shattering the fragile silence. "I think I'm gonna tell Jirou I like him."

   Draken raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Eh? That's the third time you've told me that."

   Despite Draken's teasing manner of words, Shiho stays serious. "I might not get a chance if I don't do it now." Shiho flops on to her back, giving Draken a side glance. "What if...I told you that Jirou could change? Would change?"

   Draken looks at her after taking another sip from his can. "I dunno. It's Mikey, so it can't be that bad."

   "I don't know..." Shiho says. Takemichi's words play loudly in her skull. Mikey will change. It's just a matter of when. "I would tell him now...but he's to worried for that."

   Draken sighs. "It's about time you said something to him. I'm sure he likes you back."

   "Everyone always tells me that!" Shiho says with a laugh. "Emma says it all the time. So does Smiley and...Kei~Chan." Shiho sighs a bit. "Is this really going to be okay? After all of this?"

   Draken doesn't say anything else. Shiho doesn't expect him to. He doesn't know. And that's okay. Nothing he could've said would help her anyway.

   Draken stays for another little while, then tells Shiho he should get home to get ready for the battle. Shiho nods and lets him leave.

   Shiho takes one last swig of her can and sighs once he's gone. "I need to get more drunk...but I don't have time. Sleep it is...!"

   So Shiho drags herself into her house and gets to sleep while envisioning the oncoming disaster.