𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - [ʜɪᴀᴛᴜs]

𝟎𝟏𝟑: 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐭 𝟐

"Yo," you open the door to Takemichi's homeroom. His group of friend's also with him. Takemichi waves and you walk closer.

"Yamahashi, right?" You make eye contact with the glassed boy.

"Gishi..." He quietly corrects, "Yamagishi."

"Do you know Kazutora Hanemiya's homeroom?" You ask, and all the boys stare at you.

"Why would you want to know that?!" Akkun says loudly. The rest of Takemichi's friends ask the same thing, confused.

"Just tell me," you say annoyed. Yamagishi crosses his arms, "I know his homeroom," he finally answers, "But if you're trying to talk to him, he isn't at school today."

Not a shock to you, but disappointing. "Does he have friends?" You pry. "More like lackeys," the boy continues, "They should be two doors away from us. They're the ones in crutches."

"Alright then," you begin to exit the room, "Thanks, Yamaguchi."

"IT'S YAMA-"

You close the door behind you and make your way through the hallway. You peek through the rooms until you find two guys with crutches. You swiftly approach them. "You're associated with Hanemiya, right?" You ask, and one of the boys groans. "Senpai doesn't plan on attending school, so scram," he replies.

You bow and make your way out of the room, you hear them talking about how you were the seventh girl to ask for him. Which made you wonder what those other girls' intentions were.

-

"You seem tense," Hina comments, as you close your locker.

"It's exam season, everyone is," you tell her, obviously lying. "If you want, we can study after I'm done cram school," the kind girl offers, but you decline, saying you were tired.

You still opted to walk her to her cram school. Which confused her, especially after your previous answer, but you insisted. You felt bad giving Hina dry responses while she was speaking to you on the way to the building. You were still thinking of what to say to Hanemiya. More importantly, if you should even see him. When you first saw him with Takemichi, you could've sworn you saw him somewhere before. You just couldn't pin it.

"You get some rest, see you tomorrow!" Hina waves at you. You wave back and watch her enter the building. Turning around, you continue to think.

"The only reason we found out Draken was on death row was because you located his present self from an old photograph."

You remember what Takemichi said your future self could do. Maybe you didn't need to talk to him. Maybe you could just get a photo of him. How you'd get that photo is the real question. You doubt the school would give you that kind of information and since you already left school, you probably wouldn't even be able to sneak in and search for it yourself.

As you were deep in thought you bump into someone. You look up to apologize but notice a tiger tattoo painted on their neck.

"Oh, sorry," Kazutora Hanemiya smiles at you warmly. Speak of the devil, you think. You stare at the boy in shock. So much shock that he closes your mouth and tells you to check your surroundings. As he walks past you, you couldn't comprehend a thought or a feeling.

Was my mouth that open?! Did I summon him?

DO I TALK TO HIM?

"Excuse me!" You call out unconfidently, and the boy stops to turn his head at you. You stare at him awkwardly, thinking of what to say. For once, you hoped that maybe a vision will be triggered if you stare at him long enough. But nothing happens. The boy looked like he was going to say something.

"I'm a photographer!" You shout.

"I don't see a camera," he points out. With the smile on his face, you couldn't tell if he was innocently stating or being condescending. You take your flip phone out of your bag, "Who needs when technology is so advanced!" You give a fake laugh, trying to sound subtle but it's obviously not working. He walks closer to you.

"If you want a picture of me, just ask," Hanemiya tells you, his tone slightly flirty, throwing you off.

You give a thumbs up and ask him to pose. You thought he was joking around when he said that. He fixes his posture and put his hands in his pockets, turning his head, he smiles at the camera. Your phone clicks, capturing the photo. You thank him and turn around, walking as quickly as you could. You dreaded every second of that interaction.

"Wait, that's it?" You hear him. You began to walk more quickly. You turn to a corner of a building and take your phone out. The picture of him was clear. You close your phone, crossing your fingers that a vision would trigger when you look at it later. You put the phone back in your bag.

You hear a thud from right above your head.

"The model deserves some compensation, don't you think?"

What in the J-drama... you thought. Kazutora hovered over you, one arm leaning onto the building.

You stare at him blankly. What compensation is he expecting? As he awaits your answer, your vision began to fade.

Kazutora drops. His face getting rapidly hit. Everyone around stood and watched as he continued to get brutally punched. As the hits kept coming, Kazutora's face became more and more unrecognizable.

The assault finally stops. Kazutora's face was covered in blood and bruises. The one on top of him...

Was Mikey.

You blink rapidly. That's where you remember seeing Kazutora. He was in the first vision you got from Mikey. You stare at the boy again and he seemingly looked concerned.

You reach into your bag and take out your wallet. Digging into it, you hand him 1000 yen. He looks at you oddly.

Oh, I'm the weird one? You express internally, You're the one performing kabedon* in real life!

He takes his arm off the wall, using it to lower your hand holding the bill. "How 'bout you treat me out with that money?" Kazutora suggests casually, "Let's go, I'm starving!"

You follow him cautiously from behind. Still thinking about the vision. Was he still alive? Why did Mikey find it necessary to do that to him? You look at Kazutora. He still wore that vague smile on his face.

He's no idea what's coming to him.

You hear the chime of a bell while following his feet. Even without looking up, the place was brightly lit, probably a fast food chain. You see his feet stop and look at him. His face was now blank.

You look forward and see Draken and Mikey seated. Both blondes stare at you. "Nevermind," Kazutora agitatedly scoffs. He forcefully grabs your bag, causing you to jump. His smile was no longer there. Getting your wallet, he takes the 1000 yen bill you offered earlier and leaves abruptly.

"Kazutora!" Draken yells out, getting up from your seat. Mikey quietly looked out through the glass doors. His eyes lidded, visibly angered. Draken stomps past you and you grab him before processing a thought. He turns to look at you, puzzled.

"Don't!" You hurriedly blurt out. Judging by the two's reactions to seeing Kazutora, there was clearly some sort of bad blood. With their brawl happening soon and the vision you just saw, you didn't want to add more fuel to what already looked like bursted flames. Or rather, you didn't want what you just saw to happen now.

"I... already owed him that money, anyway," you excuse. He pushes your hand off, "How do you even-"

"Ken-chin," Mikey interrupts, the tone of his voice making you stop breathing for a second. As he gets up off his seat, you close your eyes tight. Expecting him to yell at you or even scold you. You weren't sure why you were thinking so irrationally.

"I'm gonna take her home."

Chapter thirteen, end.