BAREFACED

Chapter 83

You slowly make your way down the sidewalk and quickly across the street. In the distance you see Aimi. She's standing at the railing looking out into the distance.

"Aimi..." You softly say. Aimi slowly turns around and looks at you. A smile growing on her face.

"Yuki." She softly bubbles. You approach her, surprise in your eyes. She looks different.

"Wow... You look..."

"Different?" She softly says.

"Mhm."

"That's what my brother said too." She chuckles.

"So- how was school in America?" You ask, looking off into the distance. Aimi goes quiet. The quietness makes you look back at her. "Aimi?"

"I love it actually..."

"Really?"

"American culture is really cool... I made a lot of cool friends... I even have a boyfriend." She smiles a lot. You smile after seeing her smile.

"That's cool."

"Mhm." She nods.

It's been so long since you spoke to her. It feels extremely awkward. Her skin looks so good and she looks a lot healthier now. Not as skinny as she used to be. The dark circles under her eyes aren't as visible as they were before... and she has gained a bit of weight. It looks nice on her. You smile a bit to her beauty. You're happy your friend is happier and healthier now.

"Do you still speak to Hana?" Aimi asks.

"Oh- No... I don't." you slowly shake your head.

"I figured."

"Hm?" You look at her confused.

"I had a feeling you both would split after the whole Toman thing." She responds.

"What do you mean...?" She takes a deep breath. Her breath being visible in front of her, it's cold outside.

"Hana would always mention how you are changing way too much. It obviously bothered her, and she begin to throw small fussy fits when I was with her. Constantly saying that you were being weird and that she thinks that the boy was changing you."

"The boy? You mean Mikey?" You ask. She nods. You furrow your eyebrows and look down at the river in front of you.

"I had told her I believed you were just in love. You seemed as if... like you were in love with the Mikey boy." She softly bubbles.

"Mikey..."

"Do you still talk to him?"

Your eyes relax as you try to avoid thinking about him.

"Let's talk about you." You softly say as your eyes slowly look at her.

"Me?"

"Mhm... you said you have a boyfriend."

"Right. Haha... I do."

"How is he?" You ask.

"He's really sweet. He's so cuuute~" She smiles and looks off to the distance. "He makes me feel really special... Oh... and he has a such a cute baby sister."

"What does he look like?"

"He's Japanese... but he was born in America. His family is very cultural... It makes me feel very at home when I go over to their house."

"That's good."

"Mhm..." her eyes relax and she slowly looks at you.

"Yuki-"

"Hm?" 

"Hana is very-" She pauses and bites her bottom lip. She has a worried look on her face. You look at her confused, not only because of how she looks but for the fact she randomly brought Hana back up.

"What about Hana?" You question. She sighs and puts her hands in her pocket.

"Remember... why Ayame left us?"

"Huh?" You look at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"... Ayame... She was our friend once ago... don't you remember?" Your eyes widen. 

Wait... was that a real memory...? You think to yourself, thinking about the weird memory you had when you blacked out during the fight in the church.

"No... I can't really remember why Ayame left."

"Oh... Well-" Aimi looks off into the distance again. "You and Ayame were friends with Hana before I was. When we were at that sleep over you and Ayame got into a huge fight over Hana. Hana didn't do anything... and so then Ayame left..."

"Oh."

"A conversation I had with Ren before I left has been making me feel really odd..."

"Odd why?" You ask. She takes a deep breath and looks back at you.

"Ayame seems oddly obsessed with you... So obsessed she went out of her way to sabotage you."

"Huh?"

"I don't quite understand it to be honest... but he kept apologizing. He said it was his fault or what not... saying he's been listening to Ayame because he grew jealous of Mikey..."

"I don't understand." You slowly say.

"I don't know... how to explain it but be careful." She slowly looks at you.

"Why do you say that?"

"She..." She pauses and furrows her eyebrows. She relaxes her face and looks down. "I don't know how to explain it... I'm sorry... I just... am worried she will do something bad to you- that's all."

"Oh..."

"It's sad what happened to her- I get she lost her parents... and all- but she basks in your failure. It's almost like she wants something really bad to happen to you." She softly says looking back towards you.

"Her parents?"

"Mhm... They passed away- remember? We were younger. Our last year in elementary school I believe is when it happened... not long after we met Ren. Her parents and older brother got into a fatal car accident... and so then her and her little sister got separated into different foster homes. Ren was her little shield back then and she would use him for everything... even when she tried to make it look like you were hurting her, he would always step up and defend her." She takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky.

"I feel sorry for her... but that doesn't mean she should try and ruin your life... you are also suffering... even after the loss of your mother... she was happy about it. I don't really know why she hates you so much... but even so- Yuki... please be careful." She softly smiles.

"Yeah..." You slowly nod. "Thank you, Aimi."

"Oh... And you don't have to keep calling me that... you can just call me Manami..."

"Manami..."

"That was the name my mother named me..." She softly smiles. "I'm not Aimi... I'm Manami... that's my real name." Your eyes widen.

"Okay... thank you... Manami." You softly say, smiling back at her.

After speaking a bit more to... Manami, you slowly make your way back to your grandparents house. The thought of what Manami told you runs through your mind. 

"Her parents and older brother died in a fatal accident... why does that sound so oddly familiar?" You quietly say to yourself. You stopped abruptly and your eyes widen. "No... fucking... way..." Your heart begins to thump. Your eyes begin to tear. You pull your phone out your pocket and quickly make your way in another direction.

You stand in front of the front door, squeezing your phone. Your breath hitches a bit before you knock on the door. Your eyes relax and you sigh as you look down at your shoes.

"Eh... Yuki?" A voice says from beside you. Your eyes widen when you recognize the voice. Your eyes slowly look in the direction of the voice.

"Draken?" You say quietly.