My Love Story With A Gangster

Chapter 15: Healing

A few days passed since then, I finally mustered up the courage to leave the comfort of my home. All thanks to Banri. I'm now at school where I'm being interrogated by both Hina and Kanon, which I pretty much deserve after not telling them anything about what happened.

"Where the hell have you been?!", Hina shouted as she grabbed my shoulder.

"Did you have a fever? A cold? The chickenpox?", Kanon pushed Hina and got up in my face.

I didn't know where to begin about what happened, and I'm also afraid to even speak about it again. I've done my best to forget all of it and suppress the memories of that horrific time. Sometimes I still have nightmares in my sleep. But yesterday, Banri bought us couple necklaces and gave me the other pair. These necklaces were special, one had a button which if you press it the other necklace will light up, which lets you know that your partner is thinking about you. Everytime I feel sad or memories of that time comes back, I press it to calm myself down. Sometimes when I do, he appears at my doorstep and asks me to go on a ride on his bike with him. Don't worry, we haven't done the deed just yet. I'm not ready, I'm still a virgin. But I am thinking of losing it to him, but that's in the future. For now, I'll enjoy my days and time with my friends, and of course with him.

It didn't take long for rumours to spread. Some of the students noticed how close we have gotten lately and one of them eventually took a picture of me and Banri on a date, confirming the rumours. To my surprise, I didn't get any hate for it. The girls that had a crush on Banri just congratulated me and said that they'll take their chances if we break up, but for now they'll be supportive. However, there was someone that wasn't exactly happy with the news.

"Chidori you can't be serious! Banri is not a good match for you!", Enji grabbed my hand and shouted.

He's been like this ever since the rumours of me and Banri started, and eventually got worse when it was confirmed. Everytime, when I get out of class he confronts me and begs me to break up with Banri and choose him instead. But I keep telling him that I won't, and I even told him my reasons for choosing Banri over him, but he still wouldn't stop. It eventually got to a point where Banri caught him trying to stop me and they got into a confrontation, but thankfully it didn't escalate any further because Naoya and Raizo arrived just in time to stop them. But Enji still persists, sometimes he even comes to my house at night. But he's still my childhood friend so he's never done anything to the point that he'd hurt me physically. I feel bad for him, truly. But I already made my decision, and my decision is to be with Banri.

It's Tuesday and I was on my way to class, Banri couldn't drive us there because he had to fix his bike that had a broken engine, so I had to walk there. But it was okay since I ran into Kanon on my way and we headed to class together. When we arrived at our classroom, the Teacher was already there preparing for class. It was a regular school day, with a few tests, lessons and group projects. In the middle of class, Kanon tapped me. "Hey Chidori, wanna go to the campfire tonight? Hina and I already talked it over and some of the Eclipse Outlaws are gonna be there too, so is Banri", she said with her usual cheerful smile. As soon as I heard Banri was gonna be there I immediately agreed, "Sure I'm there."

The rest of classes went on as usual, I had a few issues at Math class since I'm not exactly a wiz at it but I managed, thanks to Kanon. When class was over, Kanon and I did as we agreed and went to the campfire which was located at the park near the school. The walk there was quiet and peaceful, with the occasional sounds of birds chirping and crickets whistling. We eventually arrived at the location, and there were already a bunch of students from our school there. The Eclipse Outlaws stood out the most, their gang jackets catching everyone's eye. "Hey you guys, you're just in time", Hina approached us with a smile and pulled us over to sit in the group circle. However my eyes were darting around, looking for Banri. I wondered where he was, but it was kinda difficult since there were lots of people here. "We miss anything?", Kanon spoke up with a smile. Kanon responds while fixing her hair, "Well you missed a few gossips but other than that nothing big yet."

Suddenly I felt someone hug me from behind, I was startled at first but when I noticed who's arms it was I calmed down and smiled. "Sorry I'm late, had to go ask Raizo's mom if it was okay for him to go out tonight", Banri's voice cut through the sound of the other students, his tone gentle and soft. "It's okay, we just got here too", I respond with a chuckle as I leaned back against him. The rest of the campfire went on well, some of the students talked about their crushes and what they wanna do after they graduate. But the story that caught my attention the most, was the story about Banri's older brother, Haru de la Vega. "Haru was a total monster back when he was leader of the Eclipse Outlaws, every gangster from every barangay knew who he was and didn't dare to cross him", Naoya told the story while drinking a can of beer. "Where's Haru now?", Kanon asked excitedly with curiosity in her eyes. Naoya looks at her and smiles, "He's currently studying abroad, which is why he left the Outlaws in Banri's care." I also listened intently to the story, wanting to know more about Banri's older brother. As I listened, I remembered that Kenshin and the other Blood Brotherhood guys also mentioned him. As I recall, they had pretty bad memories of him and even hated him. What could he have done to incur their anger like that? Was he really worse than what Banri is like? Is he that dangerous? These thoughts crossed my mind multiple times as I listened to Naoya's story. I could have simply asked Banri about it but I was afraid that they may have some bad memories that would offend Banri if I asked him to talk about it. So I decided to just settle with what Naoya was telling us, taking mental notes of every detail about Haru. "Haru de la Vega, better known in the streets as Chainz', the Dark Boss of the Eclipse Outlaws and the Malevolent King of Barangay Katipunan. He also went to school in Katipunan High School, you wouldn't believe how many times he received detention, but the Teachers didn't dare to expell him, they were too afraid", Naoya continued, enjoying his beer while leaning against a girl, most likely his girlfriend. "Chainz?", I asked, curious why he was called that. To my surprise, Naoya wasn't the one to respond, it was Banri. "He was known for forcing his men to stay loyal to him, trapping them in his world. He would beat them up or even kill them if they dare to disobey him, his members had no where to run. They called him Chainz, because of his enslavement of his own members", Banri spoke with disdain in his tone. It was clear that he didn't like how his brother treated his members, I even felt his arm stiffen as he hugged me, showing the emotions he has as he was speaking.

"Chainz was a nightmare to this Barangay, people fear of his return when he finishes his studies abroad. But you all have nothing to worry about, when the time does come, the Eclipse Outlaws will be there", Naoya concluded his story. Promising that the Outlaws will stop Haru should he do something sinister to the people of the Barangay.

But I noticed Banri's discomfort as Naoya told the story. I wish I knew what happened between the two of them. They're brothers but they don't seem to have a good relationship. I took Banri's hand and kissed it, trying to ease his discomfort. I noticed him smile at me and kissed me back on the forehead, so I'm sure he atleast calmed down. But the question still circled my mind.

What did Haru de la Vega do?