GENTLE

The house was still the same when she was there a week ago. When she woke up after being unconscious for more than two hours and found herself inside Toman's second division captain's room and right now she was sitting on the floor, her legs crossed as she was silently watching the two younger Mitsuyas draw something on a white piece of paper. Every time those two girls turned their heads and smiled at her, or even asked her if their paintings were good, she would blink and respond with a quick 'yes' or a nod.

The older Mitsuya observed that she didn't seem to be fond of children, while he was preparing their food in the kitchen. (Y/N) wanted to help him in preparing dinner, but Mitsuya would resist, and even if she tried to cut the veggies with a knife, her hands would be smacked by Mitsuya himself. She sat and waited after being told she was their guest.

"Oneesan, what do you think about this one? Which color should I go with?" Mana beamed as she held the drawing paper in front of the older girl 's face. She blinked again, unsure what to say because she couldn't understand what the girl drew.

She tried to form a smile as she replied, "Pink?" Unsure if it goes well with the colors she used in the drawing.

"Right! Pink will be good!" The younger girl replied happily as she went back to continue her art as the (h/c) haired girl leaned on the couch, a sigh escaped her lips. She sensed someone staring at her, so she shifted her (e/c) orbs towards the older Mitsuya, who smiled as soon as their gazes connected.

She averted her gaze from the older Mitsuy when she felt the hem of her jacket being pulled by someone. She immediately looked at the youngest Mitsuya who had been trying to get her attention. "(Y/N)-neesan, (Y/N)-neesan!"

"Yes, Mana?" She asked softly, her voice low but still enough for the older brother to hear. He continued to cook the dinner since the (h/c) haired girl's attention had shifted to the small girl in front of her.

"How did you learn how to fight?"

The (h/c) haired girl was surprised. Takashi, too, was taken aback by his sister's abrupt question directed at the girl, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by it. Even though he was from a different school, he had heard about the girl's reputation. He had heard that a couple of his schoolmates from the same year had been beaten by a girl from another school and he assumed that it was her.

(Y/N) paused for a second, unsure whether to tell the girl the truth or make something up, but seeing the girl's eyes, she couldn't help but curse herself for trying to lie to an innocent girl. I mean, it can't harm to tell the truth, right?

She sprang to her feet and sat comfortably on the couch as she gave the youngest Mitsuya a smile.

"Oneesan! You look pwetty when you smile!"

Her jaw slightly dropped. "Er-umm thanks, Mana?"

Luna, who was busy with her drawing, turned around to face the older girl, nodding her head in agreement with what her sister had just said.

"You usually appear as though you're about to murder someone, you look grumpy as Squidwards from Spongebob. But when you smile you look like a real princess!" Mana told her, making the older girl's jaw drop even more than before.

'Do I really look like that?' She asked herself.

"Pwincess, pwincess!"

"Pffft." Her attention was pulled to the older Mitsuya, who was trying to resist himself from laughing but failing. Her eyes narrowed as he looked at him with a questioning look of 'what-is-funny?'.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Takashi coughed and proceeded on whatever he was doing.

She rolled her eyes at him and returned her gaze to the two girls in front of her.

"You should try to smile more often, oneesan," Luna beamed, prompting a sigh from the older girl, who knew the small girl was right all along and didn't bother to protest because Mana and Luna were both just children and children don't lie.

"Smile, oneesan, smile!"

She sucked her lower lip and then formed a smile. The two girls' eyes twinkled when they saw her smile; it wasn't her best, but at least she was trying. Luna and Mana proceeded to compliment her, causing the older girl's cheeks to flush.

Takashi chuckled as he watched her smile and his sister's being comfortable around the female. It's not every day that his sisters can be comfortable with someone they've just met. Especially when his vice-captain had to wait for months before he could get the girl's trust and comfort around him. Takashi knew the reason why his sisters were so comfortable with her, since she saved them last week. They nagged him to invite the girl over, and his two sisters were overjoyed when they noticed her with their brother earlier. Takashi's mother also wanted to see her and thank her for saving Mana and Luna, but their mother was usually so busy with work that she only got home late at night.

"The food is ready!" Mitsuya yelled as his two sisters leapt to their feet, eagerly leaving their drawings on the floor and rushing to the table. (Y/N) sat across from Takashi, with Luna to his left and Mana to her right.

"Itadakimasu!" They all muttered that at the same time and began chewing on the food Takashi had made.

Takashi stayed quiet the whole time, while his sisters tried to engage the older girl in conversation by asking her questions like Disney princesses or Barbie movies, which she surprisingly knew about. Mitsuya assumed the girl wasn't interested in that kind of thing because she seemed like she was more into the action genre.

'Don't judge a book by its cover.' He reminded himself as he continued to listen to the three girls in his presence and responded when they spoke to him. He felt as if his own sisters were neglecting him at their own house.

After they finished eating, the (h/c) haired girl offered to help him clean the table and insisted on doing the dishes, which Mitsuya refused. But (Y/N), being stubborn, walked straight to the sink and started washing the dishes; the two began to argue as they pushed each other's sides, but none of them wanted to give up the dishes. Finally, the two small girls chastised them, and so they washed the dishes together.

"You're teenagers, yet you're still acting like kids!" Luna scolded the two teens, a disappointed expression on her face. "Seriously!" The girl returned to her position next to her sister, Mana, who was still drawing on her paper, while the middle child was now doing her homework.

The two teenagers exchanged a giggle as they saw Mana's maturity in scolding the two of them who were clearly older than her. When they were done cleaning up, they sat on the couch and watched the two small girls go about their business.

"I nearly forgot," Mitsuya said as he rose out of his seat and walked inside his room to get something. He returned a few minutes later with a paper bag in his hand. "I'm not sure what your measurements are, but I'm hoping this fits." He handed her the paperbag, which she just stared at, and he added, "I think you're about the same size as Yuhuza."

"What's that?" She asked, still refusing to accept the paperbag in front of her since she dislikes people giving her gifts.

"Your uniform for tomorrow," he said as he sat next to her with a one-meter gap between them, placing the paperbag in her foot.

Her eyebrow raised as she repeated. "For tomorrow?"

"You'll be officially introduced tomorrow in front of everyone so you'll have to wear this."

She suddenly remembered the black outfit she had seen the first time she was in their meeting, of course it wasn't intentional. Her typically stern look had been replaced by a grimace upon remembering the uniform they were wearing that night.

"Do I have to put it on for tomorrow?" She questioned, and the lilac-haired man next to him responded with a nod of his head, making her face grimace even more. Unbeknownst to her, the lavender haired male was the one who designed the Toman's uniform, and it saddened him a little that she seemed like she didn't like it.

She checked the uniform in front of her after taking it out of the paperbag.

"Who the fuck designed this in the first place?" she asked. Mitsuya had been silent the entire time, so she turned to face him and realized something, covering her lips in disbelief. "Oh my god, you made this? I'm sorry!" She hastily added, desperately trying to think of anything to say to the lilac-haired boy. She cursed herself for being so blunt when Mitsuya had been so nice to her the entire time and she made him feel this way.

She stood abruptly and bowed her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were the one who designed it." She said sincerely. She may be stern at times, but she would never want to devalue someone's efforts, especially when Mitsuya had already done so much for her.

The three Mitsuya were both taken aback by her sudden action.

"What did you do to (Y/N)-neesan, Oniichan?" Luna asked her brother, who was looking at the (h/c) head with a shocked expression on his face.

"I'm the one who did awful to your niichan," (Y/N) confessed embarrassedly as she turned around to face the younger Mitsuya before returning her gaze towards the male. "I'm sorry for offending you."

Mana and Luna exchanged a glance and they looked at their older brother. "Niichan! Why aren't you saying anything when (Y/N)-neesan already apologizes? "

Takashi chuckled, now that he was back to his usual self after being stuck in a surprise state. "It's all right. That was made while I was in middle school, so I'm aware it's not very good."

"No, no. I didn't mean that. It's just that..." she trailed off, looking for the exact words. "It's not my thing."

The lilac-haired man hummed, having just witnessed the normally stern girl with the other side of her. It would be an understatement to say he was amused by her.

"It's okay. You didn't want to join Toman in the first place anyway."

The girl sat back on the couch and placed the uniform back on the paper bag. The two younger Mitsuya's went back on their stuff and let the two teenagers talk to each other.

"Is that really obvious?" She started. "I'm not a big fan of gangs. My cousin is a member of your gang, which surprised me at first. He's not that capable of fighting."

"Takemichi? He's not officially a member yet." Takashi replied, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned back on the couch.

The girl beside him was surprised. She thought that Takemichi was part of Toman and she just didn't know it until she saw him that night. She accepted Mikey's bet because of that reason too. She wanted to know what her cousin was up to so she could support him. So why was Takemichi there in the first place?

And then she remembered the conversation she had with Baji just a few days before.

"I know you've been working all alone but it's not that bad to have people behind you. Toman is the place where you can reach for someone for help, and we'll be there right away to lend our strength for you." Baji said in an unsurprisingly different tone of voice that made her somewhat confused. She was confused as to why her long haired friend was talking like this right now. They normally had conversations talking about motorbikes or bickering each other that would usually end up with both of them fighting.

"You really love your gang, huh?" she murmured, slipping her arms around his waist to keep from falling off the bike because Baji was driving too fast. There was one time when they crashed into a tree, luckily none of them was seriously injured as they flew into the garbage dumps. She saw Baji grinned through the mirror.

"They're my life." He replied, making the girl's heart saddened for a brief moment. "Toman's goal is to protect the people we care about. We don't fight for the sake of winning or pleasure beating people up. We fight to protect our friends."

When she heard a voice at the door, (Y/N) snapped back to reality. The two little Mitsuyas sprung to their feet and dashed towards the older woman with the same hair colors as the three Mitsuya siblings, leading her to believe she was their mother.

"Okaasan, okaeri!"

"Okaeri, okaeri!"

Takashi grabbed the bags that their mother was holding and placed them inside her room. The older woman took notice of the guest, who was now standing with her hands on her both sides.

"I didn't know we were having a visitor." The oldest Mitsuya said as she walked towards the living room. "Are you perhaps Takashi's girlfriend?"

Takashi's mother's question caused the (Y/N)'s eyes to widen. Takashi, who had just walked out of his mother's room, was caught off guard by his mother's unexpected question to their guest.

"Mom, stop!" He growled as he spoke, his cheeks flushed from the embarrassment he felt.

His mother laughed and came over to the female.

"I know, I know. You must be Hanagaki (Y/N)-chan? Thank you for saving my daughters last week." She said, smiling. "You're really pretty. Are you sure you and Takashi aren't dating?"

Takashi's cheeks became extremely red. He expected the (h/c) haired female to ignore his mother's question but he was shocked when she lowered her head slightly.

"I apologize for being rude. My name is Hanagaki (Y/N), and I'm actually just a friend of your son, Takashi-kun," she answered respectfully, her smile catching the lilac-haired man off surprise. Her smile wasn't forced, but it was genuine. Even more shocking to the male was the fact that she addressed him as a friend. He never thought that she would call him a friend.

"Is that so? That's a pity, I think you two would look great together." Mitsuya's mother responded, smiling from ear to ear. Takashi's cheeks flushed with a deep blush as his sisters agreed with their mother.

"Come on, you guys stop. I'm not dating Hanagaki-chan—" He was cut off.

Takashi's eyes widened in disbelief as the (h/c) haired girl replied, "I agree." While smiling as if to tease the male.

Is she saying that she agrees with his mother?

Mitsuya gave her a lift home that night since it was already late and his mother had ordered him to send her home. His sisters were disappointed since they still wanted to be with her, but the (h/c) haired female told them that she would come back, so the two were thrilled and escorted her outside their house.

After twenty minutes of riding, they arrived at the Hanagaki residence. She hopped off his motorbike and voiced her thanks.

"Take care on the road, Takashi-kun. Thank you very much for the dinner. By the way, I enjoyed it. Goodbye!" As she stood beside him and his bike, the girl replied in her typical blunt tone.

"We'll be seeing each other tomorrow anyway so you don't have to say goodbye." Mitsuya told her with a smile on his lips. Almost forgetting what occurred earlier at their house until the girl turned her back on him and started walking towards their house.

"Right. Ja'ne! " She shouted as he watched her enter their house clutching a paper bag in her right hand. "Tadaima! " He heard her exclaim inside the house, and he could hear a boy's voice say 'welcome home,' which he guessed was Takemichi, since she lived in the same house as Mikey's new friend, that was according to what he remembered from their last conversation last week.

"Ja'ne." He whispered and rode back home.

It was saturday. It was finally her official day as a member of the Tokyo Manji Gang, better known as Toman, and she would be introduced to all of the gang's members later that evening. She spent the entire day watching anime and sometimes stopped to read the most recent manga update on her favorite manga website. She would also halt whenever she heard loud noises coming from Takemichi's room, assuming that his friends were with him and were playing around in his room. Whenever they don't have school, they normally do this. They did it so frequently that it went on her nerves because they were so loud and didn't realize there was someone else in the house.

"(Y/N)-chan! Someone is waiting for you outside!"

She was watching her favorite anime show on the computer screen when she heard Takemichi's mother shout on the stairs. Before getting up from the swivel chair and heading downstairs, she reached out to move her computer mouse, clicked the screen, and paused the show. She was unaware of the fact that it was now night and that there were only 29 minutes till the clock struck eight.

"Auntie, who was it?" She asked Takemichi's mother, who was now inside the kitchen, wearing her usual pink apron, preparing dinner.

"I couldn't remember his name." She said, chopping some vegetables on the cutting board, "He just told me he's taking you somewhere. I told him to come inside, but he said he'd prefer to wait outside."

'He? Who might it be? 'She pondered who that person would be outside of their house, as she had no idea of anyone telling her that they would pay her a visit.' She didn't remember it because she didn't believe it was a big deal... to put it another way, she forgot about it.

"Thank you," the girl said as she walked to the front door. Before grasping the doorknob and opening the door, she changed from her inside slippers to her outside slippers. As she was wearing patterned sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, the cool night wind greeted her barely exposed flesh as she went outside.

She noticed a person dressed in the Toman's uniform standing on a black motorbike with three red stripes on its fuel tank as she walked outside their house.

"It took you so long to come out," the lilac-haired male said, smiling.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her gaze shifting from side to side to check there were no other persons in the area. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She was well aware that she appeared haggard at the moment, since she hadn't had a shower since this morning and the sky had already darkened a few hours before. Her hair was in a very sloppy bun, and she had an oily face as she faced the lilac head.

"Have you forgotten? This is the night that Mikey will introduce you to the whole gang." Mitsuya said with furrowed brows as he couldn't believe that the girl had forgotten about it.

She made an 'o' shape on her mouth as she just remembered that.

"Come inside for a while. I need to take a shower first." She told him as she signaled with her head for him to enter inside their house. Mitsuya was about to refuse when she stopped him. "Nuh uh, if you stand outside, the bugs will bite you. Besides, I promise it'll only take fifteen minutes," she added, raising her right hand as if to assure him that she was telling the truth.

"If that's what you want, then," Mitsuya accepted, and he waited inside their house while (Y/N) spent her time and energy showering and doing other things. Mitsuya had already finished the tea that Takemichi's mother had served him while he waited for the (h/c) haired girl, therefore it took her about thirty minutes to come down.

"Fifteen minutes, huh?" Mitsuya stated after she finally came down the stairs. He couldn't help but choke on his own spit when he saw her dressed in a Toman uniform. Her hair was dry, thanks to her hair dryer that she didn't have to wait an hour for it to dry and she was now putting it up in a ponytail. She felt a set of eyes on her and turned to face Mitsuya, who had been staring at her.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow at him, making the male cough.

Mitsuya informed her, "You didn't wear the uniform properly."

She checked her open chest, which was draped in a sarashi all the way down to her stomach, with the unbuttoned upper uniform of Toman slung over her shoulders.

"The upper is too big." She told him, "Auntie, I'm going outside with my friend. I'll come home later."

"Okay, be careful. I'll leave you some food to eat."

"Thank you auntie." The girl replied as she faced the lilac head who was still sitting on the couch. "Let's go."