I'd let the world burn for you... || Tokyo Revengers

Bonten (III)

As Kaiya handed the stack of money to Minato, her mind barely registered the action. She didn't need to count it; the physical act of passing it along was automatic, her body moving through the motions while her mind was elsewhere. The familiar weight of exhaustion tugged at her, but it wasn't just fatigue from a lost night—it was the deep, soul-crushing kind that made her limbs feel heavy, her thoughts sluggish. The emptiness of her apartment seemed to echo her weariness, the silence pressing in around her like a suffocating blanket. She longed for rest, but before she could allow herself the comfort of sleep, there was something she needed to do—she had to talk to her brother.

- "Kazutora?" Her voice cut through the quiet, soft yet urgent. The apartment remained still, empty, and as her calls went unanswered, a knot of concern tightened in her chest. She couldn't explain why, but something felt off. She grabbed her phone, her fingers moving more out of habit than intent, and dialed his number. He picked up immediately, his voice bringing an unexpected surge of relief.

- "Kaiya? Are you home?" His voice was tinged with worry, as if he had been waiting for her call.

- "Yeah, where are you?" she asked, her words heavy with exhaustion. She wasn't fully grasping the time or the situation.

- "I'm... at work?" Kazutora's response a bit concerned, the kind only a brother who's seen too much pain could have. His protectiveness over her had only grown since his release, and while she appreciated it, there were times when it felt stifling, like now.

- "Oh... right... work..." she mumbled, feeling disoriented, almost embarrassed that she had called him without even realizing the time. "What did you want to tell me?"

- "Nothing important," Kazutora quickly reassured her, his tone softening. "Don't worry about it, Kaiya-chan. Just rest, okay?" His words were gentle, and she could imagine him smiling on the other end of the line, trying to ease her mind before he hung up.

Kaiya stared at the phone for a moment after the call ended, feeling a strange sense of loss. Maybe he'd called earlier because he was worried about her not being home, maybe it was nothing more than that. She knew Kazutora still saw her as a child, someone he needed to protect from the world, from the men who hovered around her, but she wasn't that fragile girl anymore. None of them were kids anymore. She sighed, the weight of responsibility and emotions dragging her down, and headed for the shower, hoping the warmth of the water would wash away some of her exhaustion. It didn't. The moment she hit the bed, she was out, her dreams pulling her into a darkness she couldn't escape.

The next day, the air around the Musashi Shrine was thick with unspoken emotions. They all stood there, gathered to dig up the time capsule—Draken, Peh-yan, Mitsuya, Takemichi, the Kawata twins, Chifuyu, and Kaiya—but something was missing. Someone. Mikey. The absence of their leader, their friend, was palpable, like an open wound they were all silently nursing.

Kaiya kept her thoughts to herself, though her heart sank as they waited. She already knew. Mikey wasn't coming. There had been a time when she might have clung to hope, but that time had passed. She could see it in the way the others occasionally glanced at the path, expecting him to appear any minute, but deep down, they knew, just like she did. Mikey had become a ghost in their lives—someone they all loved but could never reach.

Chifuyu stood beside her, his usual warmth easing some of the tension she felt. He talked to her casually, his words friendly, but Kaiya couldn't shake the embarrassment that clung to her, a remnant of what had happened two nights ago with Tenshi. It gnawed at her, this feeling of being torn between two worlds. Maybe it was time for her to choose—her friends or Mikey. But the thought of leaving Mikey behind twisted something deep inside her. She had seen glimpses of the old Mikey, brief flashes of the boy she had cared for, but they were always fleeting, buried beneath the cold exterior he wore now. And yet, even though being near him and Bonten felt like walking a razor's edge, a part of her couldn't let go. Maybe it wasn't Mikey or Bonten that messed her up; maybe this darkness had always been a part of her.