【𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈】

【𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈】

╭─ ❝ 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑  ❞

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| BREATHING AND PANTING heavily, you finally arrived at the hospital, then only bending down to catch your breath while placing both of your hands on your knees.

You decided that you couldn't take another step forward unless you wanted to rip your lungs out, so you took a seat on the hospital stairs at the entrance.

When your irregular breathing finally turned normal you heard a random stranger say, "You alright, miss?"

You turned your gaze towards the man and answered, "Yes, I'm fine," you then shot the silver haired boy a smile and added, "thanks for asking, though."

He nodded at your response with a smile, and turned to leave.

You sighed deeply and stood up on your feet again to head towards your final destination. It barely took you two minutes and you were, at last in front of the door. You heard several voices pouring out from the closed room.

Excited, yet hesitant, you pushed the door open.

Your eyes take in the scene of Draken and the others laughing at something—you assumed—Mrs. Baji had said while her son's cheek were flushed red as though his mother just revealed his embarassing childhood story.

You smiled softly at the scene and cleared your throat slightly to catch their attention.

"Oh hey, N/N is here!" said Mikey, waving his hand in your direction. "We were missing you!"

Mrs. Baji broke into a smile as she walked towards you and enveloped you into a hug. "Long time no see, Y/N sweetie."

The sudden action caught you off guard, nevertheless, you hugged her back with a small smile dancing on your face. Hugs are awkward.

Just as she was about to pull back she said in a low whisper, "Thankyou so much." and then finally backed away, flashing you a grateful smile.

At first you didn't understand what her words meant, but when your mind finally registered them, the realisation dawned upon your face. She was referring to the Valhalla battle... which means she knows about it! I need to get more information on this topic from them.

"Now... kids, I must leave now because I have some errands to run," her hazel eyes scanned their faces before she uttered in a stern tone, "And I don't want anyone of you to get in trouble anymore, got it?"

They all nodded like loyal puppies.

Her lips lifted up in a smile once more, showing the features which she shared with her son before she bid farewell.

"Now I understand that where Baji-kun got his attitude from.." mumbled Takemichi which earned him a glare from the ravenette.

"What did you say, turd? You want a piece of me?!" he threatened with scary look on his face.

Chifuyu instantly spoke up, "It's okay, Baji-San!" he smacked the back of his blond partner's head to give his best friend some satisfaction. "He's just dumb like that."

"Stop bullying the poor kid." you spoke, suppressing a chuckle but your traitorous lips twitched and you couldn't help but grin.

Takemichi began mumbling something again and the room fell into an unbearable silence. You felt Baji's gaze on yourself which made you realise that you hadn't spoken a word to him. You scoff and look away.

"By the way, does Mrs. Baji know about Toman?" you questioned, curiosity clear in your tone.

"Nah," answered Draken, "we told her that some gang members tried to do that...you know."

That caused your mouth to form an 'O' shape. So she didn't know after all.

"Umm..how are you feeling?" you finally decided to ask the ravenette. Your eyes didn't directly stare into his, because you were angry with him and naturally so.

"Good." he answered briefly.

You nodded and then once again, there was an awkward silence.

Draken's gaze flickered back and forth between you and Baji, causing a scowl to cover his face." Why the hell are you two acting so weirdly?"

None of you two replied, Baji just shrugged.

"We are leaving now." declared Mikey which caused everyone to shot him a questioning look. He pouted and looked the other way, closing his eyes. "What? I just want some dorayaki."

Everyone sweat-dropped.

"Let's go, Ken-chin, Takemichi!" he shot them a closed eye smile while dragging them away.

"Hey, I'm joining too!" exclaimed Chifuyu raising his hand and following after them. "See you, Baji-san!"

The blond headed male shot him a smile and gave a thumbs up. "Good luck." and with that he left you two alone in the depressing hospital room. The hell did he mean by that?

You held your breath for a second thinking if you breathed , the sound would be too loud in this room.

Reluctantly , you took the seat on the chair which was resting just beside Baji's bed. "So, when are you getting discharged, Did the doctors mentioned anything?"

He nodded. "In about four days, if all the test reports are normal."

You frowned, unsure of their decision. "Are you feeling alright, though?"

The ravenette's lips pulled up into a grin as he boasted, "Of course! The doctors said I was strong so they're letting me go early." he then flexed the muscles on his forearm which caused you to give him a look of deadpan.

The silence fell once again and you didn't have anything so say.

"Are you mad at me?" He questioned.

Your grip on your handbag tightened as you replied, "What do you think?" you asked bitterly.

"Oh.. I just —nevermind." he waved it off. I will lecture him about that later.

After a brief moment of silence, he questioned with a distressed look on his face, "Y/N, do you know anything about... Kazutora and where he is now?"so he finally asked.

You glanced at him and replied," You don't need to worry...Baji, he's fine and he realised his mistakes," your eyes darted towards the window, "He's finally getting the help he needs and has moved to another city, for 'the greater good' as he implies. Kazutora decided to inform me that since nobody else was calm enough to listen to him— but you know, Neither was I, still, I managed to control the anger I felt at that moment." you admitted and shuddered as you recalled the horrors of the deadly battle.

His bronze eyes staring intently at your face. You tried to shrug of the sick feeling inside your stomach and continued,"I'm so glad you're here, among us and all well," you tried hard to hold back the words that threatened to escape your mouth next but couldn't. "We all were really worried and stressed about you, you were barely breathing and we didn't know what to think of that besides holding dim hope in our hearts." you quickly blinked away the tears that threatened to escape, and swallowed thickly holding yourself together.

By the time you were done, Baji who had been staring at you silently, clenched his fists and mumbled with a frown on his face," I'm sorry.. "

"You acted recklessly without giving a single thought about anyone else.. "

"I'm sorry." He repeated , clenching his fists so tightly that the knuckles turned white.

You could see he was regretting. You felt bad for reminding him about it all after he just woke up. You felt shitty but you did not stop.

"You hurt me. A lot." You say.

He did not respond.

"And you know, if I was in your place I could never hurt you with those cruel words in front of everyone." You force yourself to unclench your jaw.

"Sorry. I would never repeat it, I swear." He said taking your hand in his which caught you off guard for a second.

You maintain the eye contact this time. "You swear it?"

He nodded.

You stare quietly at his face, analysing his expressions. You knew he was being genuine.

"Okay."

None of you said anything for a while so you decided it was enough for now.

"and yeah.." you unzipped the bag which your hand clutched and took out something, veiled from the ravenette's eyes.

"Happy very belated birthday," opening your palm you revealed to him a black bracelet which was made up of multiple threads.

He took it from your grasp and eyed the initials of his name which were threaded from white colour : B. K.

"....thank you." He murmured. "You made this yourself?"

You clear your throat, refreshing the words away from your mind. "Yes."

You tried searching through the online market but didn't find anything suitable for your ravenette and when you did, it was expensive and you were broke.

"This is so cool." he smiled, brown eyes sparkling as they eyed the newly presented gift. "How much time did it take? Also can you tie it up around my wrist?"

Your face brightened as you stood up from your chair and moved towards Baji who was seated on his bed. "You liked it?" you spoke tying the bracelet around his left wrist. "And it took me 6 hours in total, I guess." you spoke, a bit flustered.

His proximity worked in strange ways.

He mumbled a thanks.

When you were done tying it, you noticed Baji's face turning a light shade of pink as he began, "hey."

"Yeah?" You directed all the attention to him.

"Call me Keisuke."

Your stomach did a somersault at that. "Huh—? I mean yeah, Sure." Well, you certainly didn't see that coming.

When you were about to pull away, he wrapped his fingers around your arm and pulled you into a hug, resting his chin on your shoulder.

It took your brain a few seconds to register Baji—Keisuke's actions. You slowly placed your hand on his back, returning his gesture.

"Can you say it once?" He requested softly

Your breath hitched in your throat and you tried your best to summon all the confidence you had left. "Keisuke." you merely whispered the name, unsure. The way his name rolled out from your tongue made his heart beat a little faster.

"I don't know how to thank you in words for everything you have done for me."

"Just never pull that stunt again," you hesitate before finishing the sentence. "And don't push me away."

He slightly pulled back from the hug, enough to look at your face. There was a small smile on his lips. "I'd never, in my million years think of ever hurting you. [Name] , you're ... someone really special to me.   I mean it." He said.

Then there was a feathery sensation on your cheek, it merely lasted for a second before he pulled back.

You stared dumbfounded.

Did Baji Keisuke just...?

You felt your face burning.

"We are back!" Mikey's voice jolted you out of your trance , causing you to jump back as they barged inside the door, gripping packets of snacks and dorayakis.

Draken dumped the sack on the table beside Keisuke's bed and rose a suspicious eyebrow at his fellow friend. He pointed an accusing finger at him and asked, "Why the hell are you blushing?"

The raven head gritted his teeth together. "I-I'm not blushing!" he snapped, staring at the wall nearby with a frown.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw Chifuyu grinning.

"Of course he's blushing after all N/N is here," Mikey said with a closed eye smile and then glanced at Draken, "Just like you who blushes whenever I mention Emma."

"I don't!" he exclaimed while blushing and then smacked the back of Mikey's head.

"Yes you do, Draken-kun." the silent figure of Takemichi had finally spoken up.

Draken's forehead vein popped out as he cracked his knuckles. "Did you say something? Don't act like you're not a simp for Hina-Chan."

"Sorry." the blond grumbled, intimidated.

You and Keisuke exhaled deeply at the scene while Draken continued to bully Takemichi asking him to meet him after school at the parking lot and Takemichi mumbling apologies, bowing down.

Chifuyu sighed. "Must be nice having a gf."

"Gfs are boring. Try to get stronger, it's more fun." Said Mikey, taking a bite from his snack.

You stared at the scene with a bright smile on your face, grateful that everyone was well, happy and healthy and hoped that nothing ever taints this perfect picture, hopefully..

─────────────Edited.

Word count : 2055

IT'S ALMOST GOING TO END GUYS.

Wait for the epilogue.

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-Mary 🌸