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═══ SECRECY ═══

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MID-DAY ROLLED AROUND too slowly for her liking. Sitting in class, forced to remain seated in a room full of people who continuously eyed her with a mixture of curiosity and judgement, did nothing to sooth her anxious mind. Had she cared any less, she would have up and left. But the last thing she wanted to do was to upset her mother by misbehaving and drawing even more unwanted attention.

Soon as the bell rang to announce the end of the school day, Akiko shot out of her seat, yelled a quick goodbye at Hinata and a promise to call her later to talk about the details for their girls night, and she sprinted out of the classroom as though her behind had caught on fire.

"Excuse me! Sorry! Out of the way!"

She weaved her way through masses of students, shouting apology after apology. At the gates, a familiar ravenette was awaiting her, and as he leaned casually against his motorcycle he made no effort to contain his laughter at the sight of Akiko running toward him.

"You look like you've got bees in your bum," he joked and gave a carefree laugh. "Couldn't wait to see me?"

"Don't let your ego get too big, Baji," retorted Akiko as the corner of her mouth lifted into a smile. "Today, I get to see my mum again. I haven't seen her for a week."

At the sight of a crease forming between the brunette's eyebrows, Baji characteristically chuckled and patted her on the back, a confident grin on his face. "You worry too much. She'll be fine. Now, hop on. I know you want to. At some point you'll have to admit that there ain't many things that feel as great as riding on the back of my motorcycle."

Following his command, Akiko gave a breathy laugh and slung her arms around his torso. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad, huh?" With one last glance over his shoulder, Baji let the engine roar and the motorcycle shot forward into traffic, forcing Akiko to tighten her hold on the ravenette if she wanted to avoid slipping off. She squealed in surprise, which quickly turned into a laugh as she felt the wind moving through her hair, imagining all her worries packed onto a tiny boat made of paper, floating away on the waves of wind, leaving her feeling light and lively.

"You're not sad that Chifuyu couldn't pick you up?" wondered Baji as they briefly stopped at a red light.

Akiko shook her head. "No. He said that Peke J hasn't been feeling well and that he's taking him to the vet. As long as the little guy gets well soon, I don't mind going a couple days without seeing Chifuyu."

"Besides, he's been spending so much of his time with me, I don't want to be a burden or turn into a reason for his performance in school to suffer," she added quietly.

The ride was silent from then on, both Baji and Akiko hanging onto the thoughts circling their minds.

Once they reached the Hoshino residence, Akiko swiftly slipped off the bike and offered Baji a sincere smile. "Thank you for the ride."

Just as she had turned her back on him, Baji stopped her. "Do you want to grab some peyoung yakisoba with me? You seem like you could use a friend right now."

Instantly, Akiko felt her heart swell. On an everyday basis, Baji Keisuke was not a person to speak of emotional or touchy subjects, but when it came to the bond of friendship, there were little to no limits to how far he would go to ensure his friends' wellbeing. He had proven so on multiple occasions. She turned back around to meet his eyes, taking note of the usual mischief having softened into an expression of worry, though it was faint enough to make Akiko question whether she was imagining it.

"I can't tell you how long this will take. You shouldn't have to waste your time like that," Akiko said. "Unless you want to join?"

To that, Baji turned off the engine and dismounted his motorcycle, ready to follow Akiko inside and step foot into the Hoshino house for the very first time - and most probably the last time.

Soon as Akiko had unlocked and pushed open the front door, the voice of her mother echoed throughout the house. She was down the hallway in the kitchen, talking on the phone. When they inched closer, Akiko caught a few snippets of the conversation. And what she heard raised many question and curiosity.

"... the times I visited and talked to him, there was never a change in his condition. Given the current circumstances and the past events, it is a very odd timing. Are you sure there wasn't something wrong with the machine?"

'What visits? And who is that 'he' that she's talking about? Who's on the other end of the line?'

Baji furrowed his eyebrows when Akiko put a finger against her lips, telling him to keep quiet and stay out of sight as they continued to listen in on the phone call. Something deep within Akiko told her to respect her mother's privacy, yet experiences of the past and the knowledge that her family had kept many secrets, had made Akiko weary. She felt almost as though she had to prepare and protect herself for whatever may come in future years. It was only when Mayu hung up the phone and Akiko became aware of herself again, that she noticed how tightly she was gripping onto the hem of her uniform shirt, leaving it wrinkled when she quickly pulled away her hands.

Then, she breathed in and out and entered the kitchen, closely followed by Baji.

"Hey mum. Who were you talking to?"

Mayu spun around, a perplexed expression etched onto her face, which she quickly played off with a laugh, "Akiko, you scared me. I didn't expect you to arrive this soon."

Then, her eyes drifted toward Baji and her lips stretched into a smile. "Who's this handsome young man?"

The ravenette laughed. "The name's Baji Keisuke. It's a pleasure to finally meet the woman that gave Akiko her beauty."

While Mayu chuckled at Baji's obvious attempt at trying to seem charming and laid-back at the same time, Akiko blushed and playfully hit his shoulder, hissing at him to stop being embarrassing. But the boy merely shrugged it off with a smirk.

"Well, I'm happy to see that my daughter is in good company," admitted Mayu, ruffling Akiko's chestnut brown hair.

"How about we all go out to eat?" she proposed. "You can invite your boyfriend, too."

Akiko made a mental note on her mother evading the question about the phone call, thinking there must be something she doesn't want her daughter to know about. The feeling she had about her mother living alone in the Hoshino residence would hopefully prove to be a false alarm. Whatever Mayu was hiding, Akiko truly hoped it wouldn't come back to bite her.

"Chifuyu can't come. His cat got sick," Akiko sighed.

"I'm way better company anyways," bragged Baji, winking at Akiko.

"Why don't you wait by the car while I lock up?" suggested Mayu, glancing at the phone still clutched in her hand.

"Sure." Taking Baji by the arm, Akiko dragged him toward the front door, ready to share her thoughts on the situation.

When she opened the door, she found a note on the doormat. Frowning, she bent down to pick it up.

"What's that?" asked the ravenette, glaring at the folded piece of paper.

"I don't know." Hesitant at first, Akiko stared at the note for a few seconds before she unfolded it.

Her breath hitched.

She recognized the handwriting.

And she recognized the address.

Baji glanced over her shoulder, his eyes quickly skimmed the note, surprised. "Where do you think that place is? Did your mother write that down?"

Slowly, Akiko shook her head. "No, this is Itachi's handwriting and that's the address of a hospital in Yokohama."

Connecting the dots was easy for Baji, though it left him confused. "Isn't that where Seina works? Why would he need that address?"

"I'm not sure... unless there's something there," Akiko voiced her suspicion. "If Itachi only worked for Pandemonium to gather intel on them, and Ken obviously knew where Seina worked, then there must be something else there. If only I knew what it is."

"Couldn't it be just a coincidence?" Baji gave the brunette a sideways glance. "Pandemonium no longer exists. Hoshino is gone. Moebius and Valhalla were defeated again. What else could there be?"

Akiko's shoulders slumped. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm seeing things where there is nothing to see."

Behind them, the doors opened to reveal Mayu, now wearing a warm jacket and shoes. Akiko hastily crumpled up the note and hid it behind her back.

"Are you ready to leave?"

"As long as there's some peyoung yakisoba, I'm always ready," joked Baji.

As he engaged Mayu in conversation, Akiko couldn't help wondering if the sudden appearance of the note and her mother's secretive behaviour were somehow connected.

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After a day, the youngest Hoshino was still caught up in her thoughts. This nagging feeling was clinging onto her and there was nothing she could do to shake it off. Although she did feel guilty for being mentally absent during the girls night with Hinata and Emma.

"It's not fair if you keep thinking about Chifuyu when this is supposed to be our girl time," pouted Emma. Hinata chuckled.

"That's not it."

The two girls ceased their giggles soon as they saw the gloominess on Akiko's face.

"You've got something on your mind," recognized Hinata. "I know that look. Something is bothering you."

"We're family, Kiko. You can trust us," assured Emma.

Both of them scooted closer to the brunette.

Akiko smiled, relieved that she would always have these amazing girls to fall back on when things were tough. "Thank you. But I'm not sure what to make of it. After everything that happened the past month, it's just a very odd timing."

Emma and Hinata exchanged confused glances.

"I found this on the doormat at my old house," she said. She pulled out the note, still crumpled, and laid it on the carpet.

"What does it say?"

"Only the address of the hospital where Seina works. It's Itachi's handwriting."

"And what does that mean?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, but it just doesn't make any sense. Something doesn't add up. I feel as though I'm missing out on something important."

"Are you sure you're not just trying to give more meaning to Itachi's death? Do you really think he left behind a riddle for you to solve?" inquired Hinata, carefully placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"That's the thing. I don't think this is Itachi's doing. Obviously because he's... gone, and my mother has also been acting very secretive about something," Akiko explained. "It has to be someone who has access to Itachi's belongings, but they're currently still being investigated because of Pandemonium."

"That really does sound confusing," Emma mumbled, brows furrowed in deep thought. "Did you talk to Seina about it? I mean, if she works there she might know why Itachi scribbled down the hospital's address."

"She's a new doctor and pretty busy. She said she'd call some time this week. Maybe I'll ask her about it," contemplated Akiko.

"But now," Emma said with a cheerful smile, "it is time for us girls to have some fun!"

"Plus, your birthday is coming up soon. We have to start planning what we'll do," Hinata joined in.

Akiko's eyes widened. "You mean like a birthday party?"

"Exactly!" Hinata nodded enthusiastically. "Mr Hoshino never let you have one. We have to make up for that!"

Emma gawked at the brunette. "YOU NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY?!"

The door creaked open, revealing a short blonde with black eyes. "Who never had a birthday party?"

Shinichiro appeared behind Mikey. Both their faces were smeared with oil. They had probably spent the past hours working on their bikes in Shinichiro's shop.

When Emma pointed at Akiko, the raven-haired man grinned. "Guess we'll have to change that, don't we, Mikey?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah"

"Guys, that's really not necessary. I've never been a people person anyways."

"Come on, Kiko-chan! It'll be fun!" Hinata and Emma gave their best puppy dog eyes, silently pleading.

Akiko sighed. "Fine. But I don't want anything big or fancy, got it?"

The girls clapped and threw themselves at Akiko, tumbling to the floor in a messy hug.