red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter iv: super slaps

"which high school did you come from?!"

"get the hell out!"

while takemichi was busy brainstorming on what to do with the new information he got this morning, drowning out the lecture that his teacher is giving them as of the moment, loud whining from the other side of their classroom's door interrupted both the lecture and his thoughts.

he glanced up from his desk. "oh ,right."

"hey, there he is." the invincible mikey himself slid the door open and walked in the room without a worry at all. it didn't matter to him that he's in a school that he wasn't enrolled in, not at all. "come play with us, takemitchy."

even the teacher was in awe.

"um, we're in the middle of class right now..." he tries to keep the blonde from taking one of his students away.

"he still is totally insane." takemichi sweat dropped.

he rises from his seat and excused himself from his teacher, saying that mikey won't leave unless he goes with them. the teacher didn't seem to have an argument to use. one look at mikey and he's already intimidated by what the boy could do.

when takemichi walked out of his classroom, he saw the rest of his upperclassmen beaten up in the hallways. "o-of course."

"you wimps, line up." draken ordered, making them stepping stones for them to use as they walk to the stairs. while draken and mikey were harassing the troublesome third years, takemichi still chose to walk to the side that wasn't occupied by their bodies.

"you're free today, right?"

"right!"

he wasn't here for school.

he was here on the most important mission of his life: to save all of his friends and reunite with all of them twelve years from now.

"yes, i am." he answers with a smile, having draken's arm slung around his shoulders.

while they were talking by the stairs, some of the middle schoolers noticed them and began eavesdropping from edges.

mikey was there, and because of his charisma, everyone in the hallway knows about him. takemichi would be willing to bet that some of the girls even like him.

"well, shall we go?"

"wait a minute!"

"dang it."

tachibana hinata came marching towards the three with a brave face on, her eyes focused on mikey as she pulled takemichi behind her.

"hina, wai--"

slap!

the painful sound of her palm meeting mikey's face echoed around the halls. everyone in takemichi's middle school froze while draken was beyond pissed at what the pinkette just did.

"let's go, takemichi. don't let these people bully you." hinata grabbed his hand and tried to walk away with him before mikey decides to do something back.

"hina, wait. i'm friends with--"

"hold up." draken grabbed hinata's wrist and stopped both of them from walking away.

when they turned, mikey was already readying his fist towards the girl.

"mikey--"

"joke~!" mikey grinned, stopping his own momentum.

"h-huh?"

"jeez! you're so gullible, takemitchy!" mikey playfully patted his shoulder, but his hand was obviously heavier than most would expect. takemichi was surprised that his shoulder's still intact. "like i'd ever hit a girl."

"right, mikey would never." takemichi sighed. "they're good people."

***

"i'm sorry!" hinata bowed apologetically in front of mikey after they got out of the school. "i read the situation wrong! i was wrong about you two!"

"it's alright." mikey smiled back at her. "that was one hell of a slap, though."

"i'm so sorry!"

mikey chuckles, shaking his head. "nah, it's really alright. there's someone who slapped me harder than that before. no offense."

"i-i don't know if that was meant to be an offense or a praise to himself for getting slapped harder in the past?" was hinata's thought.

"it's fine for you to do things for the one you like, but don't push yourself too much. things can't go really well depending on who you're going against."

"r-right!" hinata turned to takemichi. "you go with your friends now. let's have our date on another day."

"are you sure?"

"of course. they came here to see you, after all." that was the last thing she said before returning inside the school building, leaving takemichi with draken and mikey.

"bye-bye. don't slap me in the face next time." mikey's calm smile never left his face. "she seems nice. it's rare to find someone like her. make sure you take good care of her."

those words definitely came from the heart. mikey sounded as if he was talking more to himself than to takemichi, and his eyes were reminiscing.

"girls who can slap like that are the best." mikey grinned. "they won't hesitate to slap anyone just to protect you, y'know? of course, hers are worse."

"hers?"