"If you disagree then alright."

Hanma says, his serious demeanor disappearing as a grin shows again on his face.

"They can be better but I'll be the best for you."

The [h/c] girl blinked her eyes twice before laughing and clutching onto the fabric of her shirt in front of her stomach.

"How, pfft, ahaha! Cheesy." She said between laughter making the boy pout his lips again. "I mean it."

[Y/n] pats his shoulder and goes on her way once more. "Thank you for the good laugh, but I really must go now." She let out a small giggle.

Hanma lets out a small hum, a hand behind his head. "I really mean it." He repeats, striding his way towards the girl to catch up which took just about a second or two as he has long legs.

"I bet I can take on all of your friends by myself." [Y/n] raised a brow. He was getting too much ahead of himself with that kind of statement.

Stifling a laugh, the female responds with a, "One of my friends, let's say Mikey will be enough to defeat you with one kick."

She glanced at Shuji. "Should we make a bet on that?" She asked, voice sounding a bit playful and confident at the same time.

"Another bet?" The boy chuckled. "It hasn't been that long since we last made one and it's still far too early to decide who'd win on it. It's hard to know, ahaha."

'I made a bet with him...?'

The two teens stared at each other. One was playful while the other one, who also held that same kind of gaze not too long ago was now serious.

'What kind of bet was it...'

"Are you sure you wanna make another one with me?" Hanma asked while leaning his body a little towards to [Y/n] and she responds like how she did earlier, push him again.

'I don't trust him enough to tell that I have some missing parts of my memories, so I'll have to remember this said bet on my own.'

Busy with her own thoughts, Hanma chuckles at her same reaction before proceeding to open his mouth to say. "Though you better watch out because this time, I'm confident I'll win this bet."

A chuckle passed [Y/n]'s lips. "It's good to be confident but don't over do it, Mister reaper." She remarked, one of her hands patting his back.

"If we're doing this then I'm betting 100,000 on Mikey." She said and soon adds another in a confident tone and smile, "100,000. Mikey can take you down with just one kick."

"Nah, I don't want your money." Hanma retaliates, expression blank at first. "Let's bet ourselves on the line because that seems more fun, doncha think?"

His words made it seem like [Y/n] could see the heart at the end of it. Her expression went grim whilst Hanma's turned into something that was full of excitement.

"So..." the girl trails. "If one of us loses, we die?" She inquired with a look of disbelief written all over her face and Hanma couldn't help but to let out a,

"Ha..?"

"That's a bit...too much don't you think?" [Y/n] continues while giving the tall boy weird look. "Why should I bet my life on the line on a simple bet?" She said, the questionable look on her face continues to deepen.

"It's just ridiculous."

Hanma frowns. "No, you're the one who's ridiculous." He remarked. "I'm not someone who can be taken down with just one kick, ya know."

He lets out a small huff. "If you were present during the previous fight between Moebius and Toman, specifically Mikey and me," he puts his hands inside his pocket as he grins.

"That shrimp could hardly knock me down on the ground."

[Y/n] rolls her eyes and stifles a laugh. "Yeah, Yeah. Whatever floats your boat, buddy." She said before stopping and raising her hand in a stop sign.

"I have to admit." She starts off. "It was a good talk but I'm gonna have to put a stop to it now." She said, expression blank again.

"As I've said, I'm busy. I have places to be, and I don't need a bodyguard." She turns on her heel after giving a small wave of her hand. "Stop following me now, Hanma."

Said boy scratches the back of his head. "Geez, she's so cold and mean." He lets out a small sigh before a smile crept on his lips.

"Seriously," He turns around after watching the [h/c] girl's walking figure get smaller as she gets further for a couple more seconds. "Things are getting real fun."

Two different faces flashed in his mind. "And it's all getting so interesting." He said, the smile on his face turning wide. "Those two really know how make my life more exciting."

Hanma stops a few inches away from someone."Hey." He greets the person – a friend probably and someone who seems to be looking for him.

"Where've you been, man." The person asked with a small smile on his face. "Been looking all over for ya."

The person slightly tilts his head to side and it caused for his earring which has a bell ornament on the tip to ring.

Kazutora Hanemiya. A boy who recently just got out of prison stands before Hanma, and the said boy with tattooed hands walks towards his friend.

"Sorry." He said, half hearted with his apology. "I saw a friend of mine and couldn't help but to follow them." He first informed, genuinely happy as he showed a cheeky smile.

"Since they're really a fun person to be with."

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"Hello, Ryoko-san."

[Y/n] politely greets the beautiful woman in front of her with a big smile plastered on her face.

Ryoko Baji. Keisuke's mother mirrored the teen's bright smile. "My future daughter-in-law!" She squealed.

"It's been a while, come in!" The woman happily opens the door wider and lets the visitor come inside and take her shoes off.

"Keisuke!" Ryoko shouts and calls for her son. "Your future wife came for a visit!"

[Y/n] giggles when the teen Baji burst his door open, revealing his red face which reached his neck and ears.

"Mom!" The boy vociferates while his mother chuckles and smirks.

"Aw, come on!" Ryoko smacks her hand on her son's back which caused for a yelp from him. "Don't get all shy. I'm confident your dream will come true, son!"

The woman's bright smile went big and brighter while Keisuke lets out a deep sigh, too embarrassed or flustered to even care for his stinging back as he grumbled.

Keisuke dragged [Y/n] to his room as he couldn't handle his mother anymore. He just wanted to get swallowed by the ground whenever the scene which happened just a moment ago comes in mind.

The female stares at her black haired friend with a smirk on her face.

'I feel an ominous gaze...' Baji notices as he turns around. His face immediately went bright red once again when he and [Y/n] locked gazes.

"You better not let what mom said get in your head!" The boy suddenly shouted. "I don't like ya, especially when you cause me chest pains!!"

'Chest pains???' The girl thought, concern now showing in her eyes. "Are you alright? Does Ryoko-san knows about that? Have you gotten yourself checked at the hospital?" She asked all of her questions in one go with expression and voice both soft.

The worried female stride towards Keisuke and he could only lean his face back as [Y/n]'s face was inches away from his. She was genuinely worried for his well being.

He shouldn't have said that.

He let out a small, 'urgh' as his point of view told a different story. "I'm fine!" The raven haired yells, face bright red once again as he turned on his back with a huff.

'Why's he getting all worked up for?' [Y/n] thought, eyes squinting as she found him suspicious before suddenly coming into realization. 'Is he lying about his condition?'

"I told you I'm fine, so quit staring!" Baji exclaims, a red hue spreading across his cheeks. "Anyways, as I said, don't mind what mom said – as a matter of fact forget about it!"

The [h/c] blinks her eyes and stare at her shouting friend. "I don't like you, and I especially don't wanna m-ma-marry you because you're my best friend!!"

Baji sees [Y/n] nodding her head while being stared at so innocently. He felt his energy getting drained. He felt glum.

'I'm done...'

As the boy dejectedly thinks, [Y/n] watches him do so. She gave him a weird look for suddenly going quiet and...gloomy.

"Yeah, I know." She replied with a little hum to finally break the deafening silence. "I just let your mom did that because it was funny and cute at the same time seeing you all red or flustered." She beamed a smile as she let out a laugh.

"Ah, seriously I'm done." Keisuke mumbled which left her confused.

'I friend zoned the girl I like and even lied to her about not liking her!' He clenches his teeth and fists due to being angry at himself.

'Even though...' Keisuke stares the girl in front of him, who's now once again giving him a weird look.

'I'm madly in love with her that I even went as far as to think about having a married life with her in the future!'

The boy clutches onto his beautiful raven locks and ruffles it while letting out a frustrating scream which didn't fail to startle [Y/n].

"Has he gone crazy...?" She muttered which earned a sharp glare from Kei.

To answer that question, yes. It's partly her fault.

After a moment of silence between the two, Baji lets out a sigh and flops down onto his bed. "What're you doing here anyway?" He first asked.

"You were there during that time when I quit and announced at the same time that Toman will be my enemy." He blankly stares at the ceiling as he states those words with an aching heart.

"And I'm sure I specifically told you that I didn't wanna be friends anymore." He hesitated to say those words because it's a lie. That the girl could tell.

"Toman...your friends are my enemy now." Keisuke stares at the ceiling for a second. "Since I'm in Valhalla..now."

"Yeah, but I didn't agreed to cutting ties." [Y/n] replied as a cheeky grin shows on her face. "I'm not easy to get rid off by those kind of words, especially..." she let out a small laugh, a confident look visible on her face as her eyes showed mirth in them.

"When the words you told me were nothing but a lie." She finished while flopping down on the bed next to him and it only became quiet between the two once more for a couple of seconds as they both got immersed in their own thoughts.

"You don't actually mean it. I can see right through you, Kei." [Y/n] uttered with a faint smile. "Chifuyu, too." She adds, eyes closing.

"The reason why you joined Valhalla is to take down Kisaki, right?" Keisuke stays quiet but he does glances at her from time to time. "Chifuyu knows that. He and Takemichi are doing their own investigation about Kisaki as we speak."

A soft chuckle passed her curling lips. "If you're wondering how he is, he's alright." She said with a tender smile. "Though I didn't see him." She sighs out.

"I went to him first, to see with my own two eyes on he's doing but since he's back on his feet after getting beat up by you, yeah Chifuyu's fine." She laughed a little.

"I was supposed to visit you two yesterday but something...came up." [Y/n] smiled sheepishly after shaking the replaying memory away.

Hearing a small rustle and moving on her side, the female sees Keisuke on top of her with a frown visible on his charming face.

"You keep talking about Chifuyu this and Chifuyu that. You even mentioned Takemichi." The boy uttered with a click of his tongue.

"What...?" [Y/n] whispered, eyes slightly wide to see her friend on top with an intimidating look. "The hell you saying? I barely mentioned him and what's up with you getting on top of me?"

"Stop talkin' about other guys with that kind of look on your face." He said which caused for the [h/c] to give a quizzical expression. "And don't just lay on my bed so casually." he adds as he leans slightly first.

"Don't forget that I'm still a guy." They locked gazes and instead of the boy breaking eye contact, he reminded still despite feeling like his heart would burst just for getting a little close to her face.

'She's so damn beautiful.'

[Y/n] noticed the same look her friend showed. It was similar to Hanma's and she can't figure out why on earth would there be a reason for them have such expressions on their faces.

Why are they jealous?

"Do me a favor," Keisuke's breaths in. "When it's just the two of us..." he paused, his expression turning soft as the red hue on his cheeks shows itself again.

"I want you to only focus on me."

The atmosphere felt different because of the boy's gaze and words. They weren't failed to be noticed by [Y/n], though she just wonders with an incredulous look written on her face, lips slightly gape as she feels like her friend was getting a little too close.

'How did things end up this way???'