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═══ LET FATE RUN ITS COURSE ═══
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Another month passed by since the visit to the hospital in Yokohama. Weekly updates were sent by Seina, although they never contained any news. Junto was still unresponsive and his condition hadn't shown any change, but the heightened brain activity remained. Doctors claimed it was only a matter of time until he would wake up. It could be hours, days, weeks, months. There was no saying how long it would take, but everyone was positive about Junto making a good recovery.

The wounds he had obtained all those years ago had fully healed. Physically, there was nothing wrong with him, yet the doctors couldn't know the full extent until he would wake up and they could run some more tests.

And no one knew the kind of toll it had taken on his psyche.

"What do you think it would be like to wake up from a coma?" Akiko thought aloud.

She was lying sprawled across Chifuyu's bed, too distracted to focus on the maths homework in front of her. Peke J was napping next to her. Blinking and rubbing her eyes as though it would cease the burning sensation of another sleepless night, Akiko yawned and snuggled her face into the cats soft fur, scattering kisses all over his little face.

"I don't know," Chifuyu shrugged, looking up from his spot on the floor, taking Akiko's question as a welcome distraction from his chemistry homework. "That's something you should ask you sister."

Akiko nodded, "You're right. Seina was always very knowledgeable when it came to science and medicine. It was really no surprise that she chose to become a doctor."

"She's pretty cool," Chifuyu admitted, "but she'd be even cooler if she were a vet."

This drew a laugh out of Akiko. "You only say that because you love animals! Have you considered working at a pet shop?"

A smirk spread across his face. "Who do you take me for? 'Course I have! But I'm waiting till high school."

He scooted closer to the bed, leaned his head on it and he stared up at the brunette through his brilliant eyes. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Her eyes returned to the empty page and the worksheet full of problems to solve.

Chifuyu frowned. He wondered why she seemed to avoid giving an answer. "You thought about what you want to do with your life, right? Where you want to go after school and all that?"

"Oh, uh, not really." She brushed the question off, eyes still focused on the blank page as her grip on the pencil tightened, threatening to break the item. "I guess there just hasn't been much time to think about it."

"Or you're too preoccupied with thinking about other people," he called her out.

"What is that supposed to mean? Is there something wrong with caring about other people?"

A sigh slipped through his lips when Akiko took a defensive stance against him. He pushed his own homework to the side before he crawled onto the bed and did the same to hers.

"Hey, I was working on that!"

"No, you weren't. You were in your own little bubble."

Akiko met his eyes with agitation. "Why does it matter?"

The tough act had never worked on deceiving Chifuyu. For some reason, he was able to see straight through most of her lies. It was a sign of his attentiveness, which admittedly made Akiko swoon internally. She had really been lucky with him.

"Because you matter and your wellbeing is important to me," he stated. "And I don't like it when you neglect yourself. You have to start thinking about what you want because no one can answer that question but you, and no one is going to dictate your future anymore. It's time that you make yourself a priority in your own life."

A moment passed in silence during which Akiko took the time to simply admire Chifuyu, from the way his soft blond hair fell onto his forehead, his eyes shone with the utmost sincerity, the corners of his mouth curled up into a soft smile. He was still wearing his uniform, the tie hung loosely from his neck and the top button was undone, the shirt itself was loosely tugged into his pants.

Blushing, Akiko sat up, now on eye level with Chifuyu.

"Sometimes I still think that someone like me doesn't deserve someone like you," she whispered, almost ashamed.

Chifuyu grinned smugly. "Don't let Baji hear that or he's going to give you an earful. And if you don't believe me, I could give him a call... "

Already pulling the device out of his pocket, he flipped open the phone and watched as Akiko's eyes widened.

She jumped forward on impulse, reaching for the phone, but she paid no mind to how closely they sat to the edge of the bed and unintentionally sent them tumbling to the floor where they formed a messy couple of limbs groaning in pain.

"Sorry," she mumbled into his shoulder.

Chifuyu retaliated with a chuckle. One of his hands came up to pat her head, gently combing through the brunette locks. "It's okay. I'm not complaining about being this close to my beautiful girlfriend."

"S-stop!"

She lifted her head up, realizing the close proximity between their faces. She had fallen on top of him and would be straddling his waist if she sat up, the thought alone made her cheeks glow in an even deeper shade of pink.

"Promise you won't tell Baji about my insecurities?" she asked. "He's too blunt and straightforward and I don't fancy being in a headlock."

"Fine," Chifuyu caved in. "We wouldn't need him anyways. Believe it or not, I'm pretty tough on my own. I used to be the number one delinquent at my school before Baji transferred there."

Akiko gawked at him. "Really? I mean, I knew you were strong but you're so nice to me all the time. I tend to forget that you're still a gang member."

Eyes wide, she gestured wildly as she tried to save herself, "I-I don't meant that in a bad way! You definitely haven't gone soft or anything a-and you can be intimidating in your own way b-but I'm just saying that - hmph!"

A pair of lips cut off her rambling.

"I'm starting to think that this is the only way you'll stop overthinking everything," Chifuyu mumbled into the kiss.

Suddenly, Akiko was lying on her back and stared up at Chifuyu with tinted cheeks and shocked eyes, subconsciously touching her lips as though she was still trying to grasp at reality.

"You're pretty cute when you get all shy and flustered with me," he whispered. His face hovered over hers, noses touching. He only had to lean forward a little more for their lips to lock in another kiss.

Akiko was surprised by his bold moves. "I, uh, I'm sorry ...?"

He gave a breathy laugh. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know."

What she did know was that she craved another one of his kisses, she just didn't know how to express or show it as though her mind was foggy. Embarrassed, she turned her head away and covered her face with both hands. Chifuyu continued to laugh. He stood up, pulling Akiko with him, his arms circled around her waist as he hugged her tightly against his chest.

"You have no idea how much I love you," he mumbled into her hair.

Akiko wanted to say it back, desperately so, but in that moment she was contented with staying in his arms.

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──── ˚✩ ༘*ೄ˚ ────
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After sundown, Toman was meeting up at Musashi Shrine, with Shinichiro and Inupi being the special guests.

"As you all know, our fight against Pandemonium, Valhalla and Moebius was a victory, but their members are still scattered all over Tokyo. We have to be cautious and stay on the lookout," Mikey told them.

Akiko was standing off to the side listening intensely. She wasn't particularly interested in any gang business, but she preferred being informed about their activities in case another tragedy were to unfold or anyone she cared about was in danger. After all, Toman had done too much for her to allow Akiko to simply turn her back on them.

"The same applies to the former executives of Pandemonium," added Shinichiro, his black eyes swept over the crowd. "Black Dragon and Fengari have agreed to keep an eye out for them, but we cannot interfere with any official investigation."

Ever since Pandemonium was beaten and scattered, the Hoshino's trading company had been shut down momentarily due to the investigation. The authorities were busy uncovering all the shady business deals Pandemonium had dragged the company into. Akiko silently cursed them for tainting the Hoshino legacy like that.

She wondered if she could restore it, but it would require her to follow Junto's will and become the company's new face, and she was uncertain about that very decision. Naturally, every fibre of her being rebelled after Ken had painted such a grim picture of her future and initially she didn't want to be associated with the name Hoshino at all.

It awakened a curiosity about what the company had been like when Ken and Junto's father had owned it, as well as what Junto's plans had been, seeing as he was supposed to inherit it.

Now, it was in her hands what would become of the company, as long as it wouldn't be shut down for good.

The resources would provide a foundation for doing several good deeds for the people, but did she have the strength to build it from the ground and deal with the criticism? She couldn't say.

Little over three years were left on the clock until Akiko would have to make a decision. Once she would turn eighteen, it would be serious.

"Hey kid, why are you frowning?"

Shinichiro slung an arm around her shoulders, "Penny for your thoughts?"

The black uniform suited him well and he appeared happier than before. Apparently, resuming his position as the leader has done him well. He was looking down at his cousin with a sincere smile.

Not wanting to trample on ravenette's good mood, Akiko was quick to wave his question off. "The mention of Pandemonium still upsets me, that's all."

"Well, in case you need any cheering up, you can accompany me to a Black Dragon meeting. Inupi told me that you two had a pretty good conversation the last time you talked. Maybe it would do you good to meet new people."

Seconds later, Shinichiro had waved toward said blonde and Inui Seishu joined the conversation.

"Do you think the others would mind if we brought Akiko along?"

Inui looked at the brunette and smiled gently. "I don't think they would. Kokonoi's been curious about her, actually."

"Great! Let's go then!" Shinichiro grinned as he pulled Akiko toward his motorcycle.

"Wait! Are you sure I won't just be an intruder? Aren't you discussing important gang business? There must be some kind of information that isn't meant for my ears!"

"Don't worry," Inui assured her, "it's just a routine meeting. Even Hanagaki joins us at times."

Akiko quirked a brow at him. "You know Takemichi?"

He nodded. "Believe it or not, but Hanagaki will be a great leader one day. Both Kokonoi and I look up to him."

"Yeah, he's a great guy."

"He reminds me of myself sometimes," chimed in Shinichiro. "If he weren't already in Toman, I would have invited him to join Black Dragon."

To say she was surprised was an understatement. Hanagaki Takemichi had always only been an awkward classmate to her, one that was admittedly quite brave for his crybaby nature, although she refrained from judging someone for displaying their emotions - it was an act of courage in itself to be fair. But she was unaware of the amount of appreciation and even admiration the blonde received among the ranks of different gangs.

She was starting to see why Hinata was interested in him.

The voice of Shinichiro anchored her thoughts in the present moment again, "Are you ready?"

Akiko's eyes flickered toward the ravenette and she realized that he was waiting for her to mount his motorcycle. She hurriedly did so, circled her arms around his waist from behind and held on tightly.

"I'm ready."