Chihiro Hanagaki

Chapter 7

"Well, this sucks." Chihiro huffed. She was having second thoughts about catching Mikey's interest. 'Now, what am I supposed to do?' She looked over at her brother to find him surrounded by his friends. Chihiro always remembered them looking so depressed. She was happy to see the big smiles on their faces. 'Takemichi saved them.' she mused. Even though he wasn't thrilled to be on Mikey's radar, he did look happier.

Not seeing any reason to stay, Chihiro started to leave. She didn't make it far when a set of hands clapped on her shoulders. Hibiki's voice giggled in her ear, "Chichi~" To say she wasn't surprised was an understatement. Tomorrow, they'd no doubt have to deal with an angry Sensei. Chihiro quirked her brow, "Aren't you supposed to be at practice?" She turned around to see a deviously smiling Hibiki. Chihiro placed a hand on her hip, "You're a glutton for punishment."

Hibiki jumped around, beaming, "Her face is so funny when she's mad." Chihiro could already envision her face bright red with anger. She'd regret her actions tomorrow. While Chihiro continued to watch her friend, the boys approached them. "Hey, Chi," Atushi called. The younger girl eyed the group curiously, "Yes?" Atsushi gestured with his thumb, "You wanna hang out for a bit?" Chihiro could already feel Hibiki was up to no good going off the sparkle in her eyes. "Ooh, Akkun and Chichi, sitting in a tree. K.I.S-ouch!" Her teasing song quickly ended with a hand chop to the head.

Atsushi sputtered, turning red-faced, "That's not how I meant it!" Chihiro gave an apologetic smile, "Ignore her." Hibiki gasped, "Hey!" Chihiro ignored Hibiki's whining, " Yeah. I can hang out with you guys for a bit. But Ikki's clingy, so she'll be coming too. Ya'll okay with that?" Hibiki was offended at the claim, while the boys looked hesitant to invite her now. Hibiki hugged Chihiro from behind, pouting, "I am not clingy!" Chihiro, unamused, shot back, "Renji says you spend more time at my house than you do at your own." Hibiki muttered something incoherent, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Who's Renji?" Takemichi questioned.

"Ikki's older brother. Remember, Take, he picked up Ikki one time from our place since she forgot her bike. If I remember correctly, he drove a black Yamaha RZ350." she recalled. Chihiro didn't know a whole lot about motorcycles. She only knew the one since it was Seishu Inui's favorite motorbike. Renji Iori is five years older than her and Hibiki. Since they were in the past, he was still a college student working a part-time job. Takemichi seemed to recall the older teen, "Oh him! I remember him! He had a scary glare." Hibiki giggled, "Renren's a big softy."

Mister know-it-all Yamagishi then gushed, "A Yamaha RZ350! The Yamaha RZ350 is a two-stroke motorcycle produced by Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha between 1983 and 1996. It's powered by a twin-carburetted reed valve-injected, liquid-cooled, 347cc parallel-twin two-stroke engine, with a bore and stroke of 64mm x 54mm." Everyone gave the bespectacled teen a strange look. 'I thought he was a know-it-all before, but that's just ridiculous.' Chihiro thought, sweat dropping. As the seven continued to hang, they split off into little groups. Yamagishi and Makoto were regaling Hibiki with the events earlier. Takemichi was busy having an existential crisis over Mikey. Chihiro sat on a bench beside Atsushi, watching Hibiki's amazed expressions. Takyua was smart enough to call the other two boys out when they were embellishing or flat-out lying to her.

Hibiki had a habit of being a little gullible. Even though she infuriated him, he still cared enough to tell her when people were messing with or deceiving her. "Can I level with you two?" Atsushi asked. Chihiro and Takemichi focused their attention on the redhead. Chihiro rested her chin on her hand, "What's up?" Atsushi looked relieved, "It's nice to see them being goofy again. It's good to hear that again." Chihiro's heart sank slightly when that happy, relieved smile turned into a deep frown. His brows knitted together, showing his frustration. Both the Hanagaki siblings looked equally worried. "Takemichi, when you were fighting. I was on the verge of stabbing Kiyomasa," he explained.