Today Takemichi and I agreed to meet up and find Baji. I texted Takemichi that I was outside his school, but I got no response. So I decided to take things into my own hands and look inside. I looked for a while before opening a classroom door.

"TAKE-" I stopped in my tracks, noticing that there were four boys there instead. I kicked the door in frustration. We don't have time to play around Takemichi. Mikey said Toman and Valhalla would clash soon, and we've already wasted enough time.

"Why are you looking for Takemichi?" A boy with red hair walked up to me.

"Akkun don't-" a boy with glasses said with a look of worry.

"What's it to you?" I responded guardedly, giving back the same energy of hostility I was receiving.

A taller guy with black hair steps forward to back up Akkun. The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Before either one of us can do anything, the boy with glasses steps between us.

"GUYS, THAT'S LITERALLY THE RED SPIDER!" The boy responded with both fear and excitement. The rest of the boys just stared back in confusion.

"ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS," the boy with glasses says in disbelief and anger, "SHE ONLY LIKE ONE OF THE COOLEST DELIQUIENTS THEIR ARE, NEXT TO MIKEY!"

"Uh, do I know you?" I responded. He doesn't seem familiar to me, yet he seems to know a lot about me.

"I WISH, but no, you don't. BUT I KNOW YOU!" He said.

What is up with this guy? Is he like a fan or something? I'm not even well known to regular people; I'm only well known to people in gangs, and he doesn't seem like he would be in one.

"Thank you?" I didn't know how to respond. "Do you mind telling me where Takemichi is?"

"Oh, he just left with someone just now," he replied.

"DUDE!" Akkun yelled, getting in front of the boy with glasses to stop him from saying anything else. "WHAT IF SHE WANTS TO HURT TAKEMICHI, YOU IDIOT!" He said, smacking the boy.

"Huh? I'm just here to get Takemichi because Mikey ordered us to do something for him." I replied.

"WAIT, YOU'RE IN TOMAN NOW? YOU NOT SOLO ANYMORE!" The boy with glasses said, pushing Akkun back to be face to face with me.

"No, I'm just doing businesses with- WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?" I said. I checked my phone to see if Takemichi texted me back, but nothing. Crap, I have to hope I can catch up with Takemichi and whoever he left with. "Sorry, I have to go," I said, rushing out the door, but before I went sprinting down the halls, I ran back to the classroom. "Thank you, uh-" I realized I didn't know the boy's name "thanks, glasses."

"SHE CALLED ME GLASSES!" I could hear him yell with joy as I ran.

I run through the halls, almost slipping on my feet with each turn until I finally reach the front of the school. Out of breath, I lean against the entrance, looking around to see if I could see Takemichi. Crap, I don't see him. I hear a ding coming from my phone on cue; when I check my phone, instead of Takemichi's name popping up, it was Hanma. The message wrote 'Hey, come over to the place. I want you to meet our new recruit.'

I internally sighed. Fine, if Takemichi is going to be MIA, I'll do this myself; I don't need anyone else.

*******

I walk through the door of Valhalla's 'hideout.' When I walk in, I see a bunch of guys gathered around in a circle. Upon further inspection, I saw Hanma and Baji in the middle of the crowd.

"This guy betrayed his own kind to be here. Let's give him a round of applause," Hanma said.

The crowds of people roared in victory. In between the crowd of people, Hanma spotted me in the back.

"Heyyy!" Hanma said, the crowd making space for Hanna to walk through. "I'm so glad you came to meet our new recruit," he said, stepping closer to be with Baji not far behind. Hanma leans into my ear, "I knew you would come for your friend here, little stray."

He sounded so sinister that I felt goosebumps rush all other my body, but my face didn't falter. Even though my body reacted differently, I looked at him with a stone-cold expression. Behind Hanma, I could see Baji with a sour face each time Hanma got closer to me.

"I came here because you asked me too, nothing else" I stared at him, not breaking eye contact; with each passing minute, the tension only grew.

"Anyways!" Hanma said, finally breaking eye contact. "You made it just in time for the initiation ceremony!" He said with arms stretched out and a grin on his face as if to welcome me to the show. "Bring him in, boys."

Two guys came out dragging in someone. I couldn't see who it was because their head was hanging low. The guys threw them on the ground; when he landed on the floor, I could see his face. No way. It was Chifuyu.

"Now, Baji," Hanma said, turning and walking towards him. "For your initiation, you need to prove your loyalty to Valhalla by beating your ex vice-captain half to death."

I bit the inside of my cheek; my nerves were getting to me. I need to calm down. What do I do in this situation? What can I do! I looked around to estimate how many people were there. Maybe 100, no more like 200 people. Even if Chifuyu, Baji, and I fought together, we would still be severely outnumbered, not to mention Hanma's strength and the strength of the three guys who are always by his side. I feel useless. I can't do anything to stop this!

"Sure. If it's a fight you want, I'll entertain you," Baji said, facing Chifuyu. "Get up, Chifuyu, and fight me."

Chifuyu stood up. "I not going to fight you, Baj-"

Baji punched Chifuyu in the face to stop him from finishing his sentence.

"KEISUKE!" I blurted out.

Everyone turned to me; even Baji and Chifuyu stopped to look at me. I walked over to him, my head looking down, so Baji didn't see the amount of anger in my face. He was going to throw everything away, all the good, and for what. When I finally reached Baji, I lifted my hand and slapped him across the face.

"Wake up," I said in a low voice.

I could hear the crowd of people grumbling and booing, they wanted to see blood, but I could care less what they wanted.

"Y/N, it's rude to ruin the ceremony for our new member," Hanma said, walking towards me, but I didn't bother looking back. When I didn't look back, Hanma grabbed my shoulders roughly "it would be in your best interest not to interrupt this initiation." Shivers were sent down my spine. "Now, why don't you join me on the side and quietly watch," Hanma pulled me back and kept a tight grip on me to keep me in check. "Now continue, Baji, I apologize for her inappropriate behavior," he gripped me tighter when he finished that last sentence, I felt his fingers dig into my skin, and I wince in pain.

Chifuyu kept refusing to fight his former partner, so he just kept getting punched again and again and again. At one point, he fell on the ground, and Baji got on top and kept beating him. I felt that he was getting further and further away from Toman with each punch. I tried to move, but Hanma just gripped me harder. When I couldn't move, I just turned my head to stop watching this horrid scene. I couldn't watch it anymore.

"Oh no, no, no. You need to watch, and I want you to see, this is important." He said, grabbing my face forcing me to watch.

I've hit rock bottom before, and this was pretty close to it. Feeling stuck and not being able to do something about a situation right in front of you is one of the worst feelings in the world. I could hear footsteps, but I couldn't turn my head to see who it was.

"Kazutora, what the hell is going on here? What is this?" Takemichi said.

Takemichi? What is he doing here? How did he even find this place?

"What does it looks like? It's a test of faith," Kazutora responded.

"What for?"

"To test Baji's commitment to Valhalla. Going from Toman to us is like changing religions. You have to prove to us you really mean it. The guy Baji is beating on right now is Toman's first division vice-captain. He was Baji's most trusted lieutenant."

"The first division vice-captain!" Takemichi said in shock.

"Toman is Valhalla's enemy," Kazutora said, justifying Baji's act. "If he's going to betray his former god Mikey, he's gotta stomp out his own beliefs."

The scene in front of us was horrifying, blood splattered everywhere, bruises forming on Chifuyus skin. Baji was panting from how long he was punching Chifuyu, and in that whole time, he didn't even bat an eye. I don't even know if Chifuyu is still alive; he stopped moving a while ago.

"Well then, was that good enough for you? What'd say? Am I in Valhalla now, Hanma." Baji said.

"Hmm," Hanma grinned, "Kazutora."

"Hey, boss," Kazutora replied.

"You all set now?"

"Yeah, let me present Takemichi Hanagaki; he's the newest member of Toman."

Hanma let go of me and made his way to Takemichi. The shame I felt made me not want to move.

"So your Hanagaki?" Hanma asked, "Step forward."

Takemichi was so stunt with fear he couldn't move, so; someone pushed him in Baji's direction.

"You again, dumbass, did you come here to get killed?" Baji asked.

"KILL HIM," someone from the crowd said, then they all slowly started chanting it.

Hanma raised his hand, and the once shouting crowds fell quiet. "One of Toman's founding members and first division captain, Keisuke Baji! He now says he wants to leave Toman behind and join Valhalla."

The Valhalla members whisper among themselves with doubts about Baji joining Valhalla.

Hanma spoke up, "for all of you wondering, the fact is this is one hell of a deal. With Baji here, it will be a huge up on our plan to finally crush Toman! But for right now, there is still one more thing we need to be absolutely sure of because, for all we know, he might be a Toman spy. Which is why we took the extra precaution of having Kazutora bring us a witness. THIS COURT WILL NOW SUMMON THE WITNESS TO TESTIFY! Takemichi Hanagaki."

"Uh, yes?" Takemichi replied, unsure of himself.

"Will you tell his court exactly what words you heard Baji here say at the last Toman meeting," Hanma said.

"Well, he, he said he quit, and from that day on, Toman would be his enemy," he replied.

"Y/N? Can you confirm this statement," Hanma turned to me.

"I can confirm that what Takemichi said is indeed true," I replied.

"And Kazutora, what do you think?" Hanma asked.

"We did a test of faith, and we heard witnesses, so I think it's good enough. Baji could be very useful for us. He knows what's new with Toman since I've been gone. He's definitely worth having in Valhalla."

Hanma looked at Kazutora, contemplating his answer.

"So, are you sure, Baji? Because we are going to crush Toman, and in the process, Mikey is going to die," Kazutora stated.

"Yeah, I'll help you do that, Kazutora," Baji said.

I felt like I had been shot; a cold rush struck every inch of my body.

"Well, then I think it's decided," Kazutora continued.

"Yeah!" The members cheered.

"And from this day on, Keisuke Baji is officially part of Valhalla," Hanma exclaimed.

NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE. I've gone through this in my head over and over and over again, but it just doesn't- 'Do you trust me?' Why do I remember what Baji said now? That's when it finally clicked, not entirely, but I would leave my life in Baji's hands, so I might as well play my part in this show, and if he needs me, he'll call for me. For now, I just need to trust him. Even if what Baji is saying right now is true, I will help him with whatever he needs. In the midst of wanting what's best for him, I never stopped to think about what he wanted.

"Hold on, just a second! Baji, you're one of the founding members of Toman along with Mikey its that right! Why are you betraying them?" Takemichi asked.

"What's being a founder have to do with anything?" Baji questioned back. "Anyone can change sides. You know nothing about it. If you did, you'd know he's a founding member too," Baji says, pointing to Kazutora.

I knew that there were six members! Knowing that he must have done something terrible to get kicked out, right?"

"Kazutora has an old grudge against Toman. I'll never forget it. The summer of 2003 when I was a first-year in middle school."

Baji goes on to explain how close the founding members were. Then one day, Baji and Kazutora wanted to give Mikey a motorcycle he's always wanted; they planned to steal one at one of the stores nearby. When they went back to the store later that night, there was an accident. Apparently, the store owner was Mikey's older brother. When Baji got caught by Mikey's older brother Kazutora thought Baji was in trouble, so Kazutora swung a pipe at him and killed Shinichiro instantly. Now Kazutora blames Mikey for that day.

There was a time I couldn't see Baji. He just stopped showing up to see me, and then when he came back one day out of the blue. I asked him what had happened, but he didn't want to talk about it. I understand why he couldn't see me and why he didn't talk about it now. My face was visibly saddened hearing Baji's story. And Kazutora was so distraught by what he had done that the only way he could make sense of it all was blaming the person who made them want to steal the bike in the first place.

"After that, Mikey and I went our separate ways," Kazutora said.

"Kazutora defended me in court, that's the only reason why I didn't go to juvie, and since then, I was just waiting for him to be a free man again," Baji said.

Does that mean that Baji was never loyal to Mikey or Toman? Or is this a facade he's putting on? Whatever the case may be that just made this mission ten times harder. If he has a reason to stay in Valhalla, I need to find a reason for him to want to go back to Toman.

"That one hell of a story," Hanma remarked, "and that kind of dedication is always welcomed here. Baji you get a Valhalla jacket! When you go back to reporting to Mikey, tell him one week from right now on October 31, the fight everyone has been waiting for Valhalla vs. Toman."

After Hanma said that the meet was over and everyone went back to what they were doing and congratulated their new member. I ran up to Takemichi before he left and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, what the hell? You just ditched me at your school!" I said, frustrated.

"I'm sorry, Y/N, but Kazutora showed up at my school and said he could help and-"

"So you just walk off with any random person," I groaned in anger before taking a deep breath in "listen, Takemichi, if we aren't going to work together, we should part ways now."

"HOLD ON, WHAT DO YOU MEAN Y/N!"

"I mean, if you can trust a total stranger but not me, it's best if we just not work together. Anyways go report back to Mikey. I still need to do something."

"Wait, you're not coming with me! WHAT IF HE KILLS ME!"

"He won't. He's not the type to do that. He probably just said that, so you would try your best to get Baji back...... Hopefully.

"HOPEFULLY!"

"You'll be fine. Now go."

As I watch Takemichi leave, I try to think about what to say next. I walked up to Baji, who was with Hanma and Kazutora.

"Keisuke."

He turns to me in confusion. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Is this what you want? Remember, once you perceive yourself one way to people, it's hard to prove them otherwise." I hid a subliminal message, and I hope he'll understand what I mean. If I were to say what I really wanted to say, it would sound like 'You may not really be against Toman, but everyone will think you are including your friends, and on October 31, you'll have to go against them. Are you prepared for that?' Maybe I'm putting too much hope into that subliminal message.

"I'm fine with that as long as I get what I want at the end of it all," Baji replied.

That's the end of He hates me🌻, He hates me not🌻 MikeyXReader Chapter 10

I'm sorry I haven't posted. I was put on new medication, and I had some bad side effects. I should be able to post normally again though （＾∀＾●）ﾉｼ