A/N: Before we begin, I apologize for my unannounced hiatus. After the Bloody Halloween arc, I just felt like I needed a break from writing. Besides that, other things began to pique my interest :P

I am also now really busy with school... it's my first semester taking third-year uni classes and it is incredibly overwhelming. I've just been really bad at keeping up with everything p.p I am studying with the 'stu'

Anyways, thanks for reading my rant. I hope you know I currently have no plans to discontinue this story, but I may just disappear every once in a while :P

Enjoy this mess~

───── ❝ A REQUEST ❞ ─────

You were tired of it

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The sun was slowly going down, illuminating the sky in a bright, orange hue. You took in a deep breath, taking in the freshness of the cold air as you walked down the quiet path. It had been a few days since the event now known as Bloody Halloween and your mind was still unable to comprehend what transpired that day.

Seeing all your friends bloodied and bruised. How Mikey was relentlessly beaten on the head by a metal pipe of all things. Often times the scene would still haunt you. And Baji...

Oh, Baji...

You let out a sigh as memories of what happened to him flooded your mind once again. You had nearly lost a close friend that day. You didn't even want to think of what could have happened had you not made it in time - nor have you not been there at all. It terrified you to think of waking up one day to find that someone important to you was gone.

However, with memories of Baji came the memories of what you did. You kissed him. Well, on the forehead, but it was a kiss nonetheless! Your heart was once again beating a thousand miles per hour at the memory and you began slapping your forehead with your palm.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! You chanted to yourself as you did so, not realizing you were about to  bump face first into another person. Before you stumbled back, a hand caught your own and pulled you up to balance and next thing you knew, your face was mere centimeters apart with the last person you would expect to find.

"M-Manjiro!" You stuttered, eyes wide as you gazed into the blonds own dark pair. You instantly felt your heart beating faster as heat rose to your cheeks. "S-sorry, I didn't se... see you there."

The boy, who seemed surprised on his own, then smiled gently at you before letting go of your hand and taking a few steps back, "It's okay, [name]-chin. The important thing is that you're not hurt." You smiled awkwardly in response, your mind still flooded with the position you found yourself in just a moment ago. Mikey looked at you concerned, "Are you by yourself? You know you should always have someone with you... It's getting really dangerous now."

You laughed nervously and proceeded to give Mikey a semi-confident smirk, "I'm fine!" You told him, "I'm a tough girl, you see?" You laughed, flexing your arm to show him your muscles.

Although, Mikey did not seem convinced but smiled at you regardless. He couldn't help it. You just looked so cute showing off your non-existent muscles. "Of course you are." Shoving his hands in his pockets, Mikey spun around before turning his head back to you, "Come on, [name]-chin, I'll walk you home."

You blinked as you stared at Mikey as he took more and more steps away from you. Did he just... Did I hear that right? Regaining your composure, you jogged up to him until you matched his steps. "You really don't have to! You must be busy with... gang... things?" You sounded unsure but kept with it.

You heard Mikey laugh and shook his head, "It's okay, [name]-chin!"

"Are you sure?" You questioned, feeling guilty from taking him away from whatever he may have originally planned to do. "I'm perfectly fine walking on my own..."

Mikey looked over at you and gave you one of his cutest smiles, "Of course. You're more important than that anyways!"

If you were a volcano, you swear you have just erupted from the swirling of emotions coursing through your body right now. If... If I'm more important, then...

"Let's break up, [name]."

You put a hand to your chest and clenched the frabric of your shirt.

Then why? Why did you say those words to me?

"[name]-chin, what's wrong?" Mikey questioned, turning to look over at you. "You've suddenly got quiet."

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing!" You quickly told him, laughing nervously, "I'm just really tired, is all. Had a really busy day at school today..."

Mikey pouted as he eyed you with suspicion. "Is that so?... Well, you better get home and rest then." He tried to let go of the topic, but he wasn't convinced. However, he figured that if you didn't want to tell him something, who was he to bug it from you? Even if not knowing annoyed him to no end.

"How's your head?" You asked, catching the boy off guard. "It's a surprise you didn't come out of the fight with some sort of concussion..." You commented, eyeing the bandages that was wrapped around the upper part of Mikey's forehead.

Mikey put a hand up to his bandages before laughing, "It's getting better... those hits were nothing, really." The boy then smiled at you, staring right into your eyes, "I've gone through things that hurt me thousands of times more... and see?" Childishly, the boy jogged a few steps ahead of you before spinning around with his arms out wide. Mikey stopped and sent you a closed eye smile, "I'm still here, aren't I?"

As you gazed at Mikey, you felt your heart beating faster with every breath you took. The way the orange sky illuminated him reminded you of the boy you fell in love with all that time ago. Your grip on the strap of your bag tightened as you took a gulp, returning Mikey's smile. "Yeah... I -" You struggled coming up with the next words to say.

Would now be the wrong time to ask?

"Manjiro... why did-"

"Oohh! [name]-chin, let's drop by the convenience store first!" Mikey spoke up, interrupting what you were about to ask. "I'm craving some dorayaki!"

Without even letting you speak, Mikey had run into the store as the automatic doors closed behind him. You stayed in your spot, blinking at where the boy was just previously standing. It took you a moment to regain your composure, but once you did, you yelled after Mikey as you chased after him, "O-oi, Manjiro!"

It was an understatement to say that you had trouble controlling Mikey's craving as he stood in front of the pastry shelf, but eventually, you decided to leave him to his own devices. You brought a finger up to your chin, staring with seriousness at the chips selection.

Mikey peeked from the next aisle over, carefully observing you. His heart fluttered as you pursed your lips and glared intently at the chips in front of you and he couldn't help himself but giggle. It was short-lived as his mind travelled back to the words you were about to say.

It didn't take long for his smile to disappear as he tore his gaze away from you and returned to looking at the pastries.

"I'm sorry, [name]-chin. I'm not sure it would be the best for you to know why."

~

You lay your head on the window, gazing at the scenery as it flew by. The soft vibration of the train nearly lulled you to sleep but the robotic woman's voice announcing your approaching destination caused you to jolt right up.

Making sure you had everything you needed and brought with you, you got up and followed the other passengers as they got off the train.

You were visiting Yokohama once again to fulfill a promise you had made to a specific person a while back. Fortunately, you had the day off and managed to get to the city with no one else trailing behind you solely because Mikey didn't think you would be going anywhere. You sighed at the thought. I know he has good intentions but damn, he's really going overboard with all the protecting.

Stopping at a red light, you waited until it was safe for the pedestrians to cross before continuing on your way to your destination. It's just like back when we were dating... But worse? Does he... Does he want to... No. He broke up with you [name]! Remember that... You frowned at the thought. But it would be nice...

Deciding you didn't want to overthink too much about the topic, you let out a sigh and distracted your mind with something else. Like, the thought that you've felt like someone has been following you for a while now.

Nervously, you stopped in your tracks and scanned behind you. Fortunately, you saw no one but fellow pedestrians and the occasional annoyed stare towards you for stopping in the middle of a busy side walk.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid... You convinced yourself and turning back forward only to be frozen in place at the sight of the person in front of you.

Your heart instantly dropped to the pits of your stomach as your eyes landed on his black and white hair. You could feel your hands shake as your [e/c] eyes stare into his own red pair. Taking a step back, it took every ounce in your body for you to not turn around and start sprinting away.

The male stared at you with bored eyes and his hands in his pockets as his lollipop hang loosely from his mouth. It only took a moment to pass before his bored expression turned to an amused one, "I told you I'll see you soon, [name]-chan."

You gulped. Deciding you didn't want to get kidnapped once again, you spund around and was about to make a dash for it had the male not grabbed on to your wrist, stopping you in your place. "Leaving so soon? I wouldn't recommend causing a scene in such a public place, [name]-chan." Darren's familiar voice, though only hearing it once, was embedded in your brain in fear. Now that the very male was standing in front of you, you felt frozen in your place. You wanted to scream but nothing came out.

That's right... you can't do anything.

Feeling tears well up in your eyes, you did your best to hold them back. "Darren... please. Don't hurt me." You mumbled, refusing to turn and look at the male in the eyes.

Darren raised a brow and forced you to turn to look at him as he stared at you confused. "Why would I do that?" He questioned. You simply took a step back in response, keeping your eyes on the ground. "Oh. That." At his words, you looked up at him curiously to see him scratching the back of his neck as he stared down at the ground. "Yeah, no hard feelings about that, right?"

You looked at him weirdly. Did this fucker really just say-

"Anyways, I'm not here to do anything." Darren continued, "Us meeting is purely coincidence. I don't have plans with you..." He paused, lazily smirking as he took to lollipop out of his mouth and staring you down, "Not yet, at least."

Your eyes widened as his words registered in your mind. Finally building up the courage, you decided it was time to turn tail and run before Darren managed to do anything, when a voice interrupted you.

"[surname]-san? Is that you?"

In an instant, relief washed over you and you turned around to see the, red wearing boys that you had planned to meet today. "Kurokawa-san... Kakucho-san..." You smiled happily at the two but their eyes weren't on you. Instead, they were cautiously looking over at the black and white haired male that you were just previously conversing with.

The two approached you and hesitantly took their eyes off the boy. "What are you guys doing here? I thought we were going to meet at the lake?" You questioned, trying to forget the presence of your former kidnapper behind you.

"I-Izana got impatient and decided he wanted to meet you halfway there..." Kakucho explained, his eyes going back and forth between you and Darren. In a significantly lower voice, he continued, "And it seems we were right to do so. Who is-"

"Who are you?" Izana's voice caught both you and Kakucho off guard as you turned your heads to see him glaring Darren down from where he stood. "What did you do to [name]?"

Darren stared at the three of you with a bored expression, before smirking at him. "Chill, dude. I'm just a friend of hers." He said before briefly looking at his phone. He tapped away on the device before tucking his phone away in his pocket. "Anyways, I gotta get going. Meeting another friend of mine." Darren looked at you and smiled what seemed to be a genuine smile, "I'll see you around, [name]-chan!"

Before you could even process what was happening, Darren had turned around and was already walking further and further away.

~

"You're sure he didn't do anything weird to you, [surname]-san?" Kakucho asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time as you, him and Izana continued to walk around the city.

Taking a gulp, you grabbed onto one of your arms with your opposite hand and fumbled with your thumbs. "Y-yeah... We just talked. That's all..." Despite trying your best to sound positive, you couldn't help the fear that sounded in your voice.

You met face to face once again with the leader of the group that had kidnapped you not so long ago. Just when you thought you were fine and safe travelling on your own, you were proven wrong once again. And once again, you didn't feel safe until someone was there to protect you.

"[surname]-san? Are you okay?" Kakucho's voice sounded out, pulling you away from your negative thoughts.

"O-oh, yeah... I'm fine." You mumbled, nodding your head as you continued to look down at the ground. Although you said you were fine, you were anything but.

"[name], do you have the photo?" Izana asked, caused you to look at him and be met with a gentle smile on his face.

Your eyes widened in realization and you dug through your bag before pulling out a a printed copy of the photo you had taken of Izana on the day you met. You admired it a little, taking in both the scenery and how serene Izana looked before handing it to him.

"Here. Sorry it took so long..." You apologized, closing up your bag once more, "There was just a lot of things going on in my life..."

"So I've heard..." Izana mumbled as he stared intensely at the photo. You raised a brow at his words, tilting your head in curiousity, but before you could question it, Kakucho had elbowed the white haired male in the stomach and was looking at you nervously.

"A-anyways, [surname]-san, look, there's a park there!" Kakucho pointed towards the park that the three of you had walked nearby, "Did you want to visit it?"

You smiled happily at the sight and instantly nodded your head, "Of course! You know, I used to live here as a child? I used to come to this park all the time!" You had to stop yourself from skipping towards the familiar structure, "I used to play with these two boys whenever I would come here..."

At your words, Kakucho's expression quickly shifted, "O-oh, really? Do you remember their names?" He questioned, looking at you with curiousity. From behind him, Izana also stared at you intently.

Sitting on one of the swings, you placed a finger to your chin in thought, "Funny enough, although we used to play all the time together, I never did get their names..." The realization dawned on you and a saddened feeling wiped over you, "I wonder how they are now..."

You stared intensely at the ground, so focused that you weren't aware of the knowing glances that Izana and Kakucho shared. After a moment of silence, Kakucho finally built up the courage to talk only to be interrupted by you speaking up first.

"Actually, there's something I wanted to request from the both of you..." You started, hands latching on to each other as you rested them on your lap.

"And that is?"

"I- I know this is random and probably am crossing the line when it comes to personal space but..." You took a gulp. You couldn't back out now. Standing up, you bowed down ninety degrees to the two boys. "Please, teach me how to fight!"

Kakucho's eyes widened while Izana raised a brow, intrigued by your odd request. "[surname]-san, why would you th-... what?" Kakucho seemed to be at a lost for words as he tried to connect dots in his mind.

Standing up straight, you looked at them dead in the eyes. "On our first meeting, you guys were wearing these red uniforms that are the same to those I've seen have been roaming around the city. I guess through my experience, I can safely say you guys are part of a gang... am I correct?"

With a surprised expression, Kakucho exchanged glances with a straight faced Izana before both returned their eyes on you. "What does that have to do with you wanting to learn how to fight?"

"I... If you're a part of a gang, you should know about my affiliation with a certain group... cause it seems every gang member does." You sighed, not realizing Izana's suddenly clenched fists. "And with this affiliation comes danger... I... I don't want to have to depend on anyone to feel safe."

You clenched your fists as memories of your friends getting beaten black and blue in various situations came back — specifically when it was all because of you. They got beaten because you were incapable of defending yourself.

And you were tired of it.

"I highly doubt my friends will teach me if they knew why I was doing it." You continued to explain, your eyes glued on the ground as you tried to keep a stable voice. "And I know this is just our second meeting but please... teach me how to fight! Even just the basics!"

The two boys didn't say anything for a while, and you were embarassed to no end. You were sure your face was as red as a tomato and you did not have the guts to look them in the eyes. You held your hands together in front of you, your thumbs fiddling with each other. As time passed, you were beginning to take their silence as a no and you slowly felt your heart begin to drop.

"I- I know it's too much to ask, so I understand if you-"

"Okay. We'll do it."

Your eyes widened and you looked straight up at Izana who was staring at you with a serious face. From beside him, you could even see Kakucho looking at him with surprise but you paid no mind to it. Your smile brightened and you had to stop yourself from jumping from joy. "Really?!"

Izana nodded, his earrings and hair swaying along with his head. "But you have to understand that it will be tough. I will not go easy on you." 

You instantly nodded your head, and Kakucho sighed. He knew from your expression that Izana's words went in one ear and out the other. "Well, I don't completely agree with it but if that's what Izana wants..." The boy mumbled, feeling defeated. Was teaching you how to fight something he really wanted to do? Never-the-less, it would mean more time spent with you and that was a good enough reason for him.

A ding coming from your pocket caught the attention of all three of you and you quickly pulled out your phone. Once seeing the time, your face dropped. "Oh my gosh, look at the time. I gotta go!"

Kakucho's eyes widened as he watched you get up from the swing, "Already?"

You smiled apologetically at him and nodded, "Unfortunately, yes. I also have plans to meet with a friend of mine and he's getting really impatient..." You sighed, "Anyways, thank you guys again for accepting my request. I really appreciate it." Smiling gently at the two, you gave them a curt bow before turning to walk away. "I hope you like your picture, Kurokawa-san! I'll see you guys soon!"

With those final words, you made your exit, leaving the two boys in silence once again as they watched you leave. When you disappeared from their sight, Kakucho raised a brow at Izana.

"Why did you agree?" He inquired.

Izana was quiet for a moment, simply staring at the photo that he had in his hands. Then, in one of those rare moments, Izana smiled. It was a soft smile, opposite to his usualy personality.

"I couldn't help it." The white-haired male explained. "She still looked the same."

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[OMAKE]

The three children were silent as they stood at the foot of the slide. The black haired boy was staring wide eyed at the girl, unable to come up with the words to say.

"Please... let me play with you!" The girl asked once again, her face red as a tomato. She held her tiny hands together in front of her as she fiddled her thumbs together out of embarassment. Or maybe it was nervousness.

The young boy felt his own heart race and he was sure his face was beginning to turn red as well. "W-why should we do that?!" He had asked, but he didn't know why. He wanted the girl to play with them, but he alsow wanted to look cool and angsty. He was in that age after all.

At his words, the young girl pouted and tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. She began to tremble as she held back her cries, "No one ever wants to play with me..." She mumbled, her head hung low before looking straight up at the two boys in front of her, "Please let me play with you! I promise I won't cry."

The black haired male wanted to agree badly, but he didn't think that's what his friend wanted. Turning his head for approval, his eyes widened at the sight.

"There, there," The white haired boy muttered gently, patting the young girl's head in comfort. "Don't cry. Of course you can play with us!"

"R-really?" The girl stuttered.

"Of course!"

As the conversation went on, the black haired male was confused. Happy that his friend had agreed, but confused that his friend had agreed.

That was the first time he's witnessed his friend be so kind, much less to a stranger.

A stranger that neither of them knew would become so much more as time went on.

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plz ignore the plot holes I am choosing to do that and it is killing me but I am too lazy to fix it or try to make sense of it u.u

Hope you enjoyed :P

If anyone is confused or have any questions, feel free to comment or shoot me a message! If I feel it's alright to answer it, I will :D