A Future Without You is Soon |Mikey x OC|

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"No?" Takemichi parrots.

"It's not because I don't want to," Shiho says. "I can't. As the Vice President of Touman anything I do would lead to an all out war. I can't let that happen. I'm sorry."

"But don't you want to save Mikey~kun?" Takemichi asks.

"I do. But this one's in your hands, okay? Let me see your hard work from the back seat this time." Shiho smiles brightly.

"Alright!" Takemichi says.

"But, I'm warning you," Shiho says. "The suggestion of fighting the Black Dragons won't make it to Jirou. Ken~Chan will hardly entertain the thought."

"It'll be okay, Shiho," Chifuyu says.

She sighs. "Let's hope so. Bye, guys."

Shiho starts walking away from the two. Their conversation quickly fades into the background of the city.

Shiho pulls out her phone, and tells Mikey that she'll be at his house in a little bit. Mikey texts back a simple "ok".

The walk doesn't take as long as Shiho expected. She's surprised to find that Mikey's bike isn't parked where it usually is. She's confused at first, but quickly comes up with some sort of justification and let's it go.

"Jirou? Emma?" Shiho asks. "I'm here."

"Shiho!" Emma says tackling her in a hug. Shiho obliges her and hugs back. "Mikey isn't with you?"

Shiho hums as she unties her shoes. "No, why?"

"He got a call from Mitsuya~kun, so I assumed you were with him."

Shiho shakes her head. "I was earlier." She places her shoes by the door then looks back at Emma.

Emma waves it off. "Well, whatever," she says. "Mikey should be back soon, but until then...movie night?"

Shiho's eyes light up. "Hell yeah! Sano movie night!"

The Sano family has had this tradition for a long time. Sometime once a week, they'll all crowd in their living room and watch movies on the flat screen. Shiho was usually invited, but she couldn't always make it. She's been so busy the last couple of weeks she never had the chance to come to one.

Shiho grabs Emma's wrist and pulls her into the living room, where Mikey's grandfather sits with a smile.

"Shii~Chan," he says. "You're here."

"Hi, Gramps," Shiho says. She sits down on the Tatami mat floor. She looks at the couches around the room. There were two and a recliner, of which Gramps tended to sit in. Emma typically lays down on a full couch, despite it being large enough to hold tow people. Mikey elected to sit in the floor with Shiho most days. When Shinichiro was alive, he sat on the other couch with Baji. After Shinichiro died, Baji sat on couch alone. It just the habit they had gotten into.

Shiho's expression drops for a moment.

Baji wouldn't be here either...

Shiho looks back over at Gramps, who has a small frown on his face. "What's wrong?" Emma leans over the recliner and looks at Shiho. Shiho diverts her gaze to the floor, away from them both.

"It's...it's nothing."

"It's about Keisuke~kun, right?"

Shiho's eyes widen. She bites her lip. "S—sorry. I shouldn't be making you all upset, I can—"

"Shiho..." Emma says. "We're sad, too. It hasn't been that long. It's okay."

Shiho tries to smile, but in the end, all she can muster is a half assed, "you're right."