red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xii: eye-to-eye

"what's going on here?"

kazua was on her way home after extra clarinet practice hours, finding a familiar friend getting ganged up in a secluded alleyway. it was fairly dark, so it was difficult to identify the gang, but she knows healthy long locks when she sees one.

one of her hands held her instrument case as she neared, the other tucked in her skirt's pocket.

"heh? a little girl?"

"why don't we have some fun with her, hichi?"

"yeah, she brought herself in this, anyway!"

kazua didn't need to know everything. these people are  obviously gang members who have the most ill intentions to innocent people. she assumes that her friend was caught up in their mess accidentally.

well, knowing him, he'd gladly throw a punch back when provoked.

she entered the little circle the gang formed around her laying friend and held a hand out for him to take. "kei," she sighs, "get up."

"kaz, you shouldn't be here." he grumbled, taking her hand. "mikey's going to get mad. why are you out so late?"

"practice," was all she said before taking her instrument case off of her shoulder. she pulls him up to his feet easily and handed him her case. "take care of this for a bit. don't drop it."

"wha—"

before baji could argue, she got to the nearest gang member and chopped at his neck with a firm hand, forcing him back to create more space for her to move.

"ack—!"

"oh, save me~" kazua sarcastically whined for help.

she kicked two members down the ground, then elbowed the last one in the gut. both moves were strong enough for them to begin vomiting up their last meal on the ground.

"tsk, that's hella messy." she sighed, turning back to face a bewildered baji. even he couldn't knock down one of those men, and they were college dropouts, much older than both of them. supposedly, they're much stronger than them too.

"how the fuc—"

"thanks for protecting my claire, kei!" she grinned, taking the case back from his hands. she shouldered it easily and tucked her hands inside her pockets. "come on. let's go home."

as she mindlessly walked past the unconscious men, baji stepped on their limbs as his way of getting back at them after being saved. he follows behind the girl, a small frown on his lips.

"mikey said you can't fight." he began.

"that's because i can't." she smiles over her shoulder. "please keep it a secret, kei."

"huh? why not? wouldn't it be better if mikey knows?" baji quickened his pace to match hers. "he'll be more relieved when you walk home alone if he does. that bastard keeps talking about how you can't defend yourself when in danger."

it took awhile for the girl to answer, trying to come up with a better way to explain it to him. "well, i think it's better if mikey sees me that way." her soft smile lingered. "i want him to see me as a girl, you know?"

"what?" baji began laughing loudly at her response. "what the hell is that reason?! you want him to see you as a girl?!"

"hey! don't laugh about it!" she slapped his bicep lightly, glaring up at the taller male. "he won't like me if he knows i can fight."

"i don't know what you're on, kaz, but mikey will like you either way." baji casually slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, grinning down at her to add reassurance to his words. "mikey likes you the way you are, but if you so badly want to keep this side of you from him, then i'll shut my trap. you can tell him yourself when you're ready."

"thanks, kei."  she wrapped an arm around his waist, pressing on the bruise on his side that made him wince. "i'm walking you home and i'll treat this before leaving. no buts."

"what the fuck?! that hurts!"

"you're such a baby."

"what'd ya say?!"

"here,"

kazua snaps out of her reverie, finding a cool can of grape soda on her open palm. she looks up to see mikey's eyes focused on the ground, but it was his voice that called to her earlier.

"thank you," he mumbled, "for saving ken-chin and takemitchy."

her lips pursed, silently accepting the drink by popping it open. "it's nothing." she said back. "hanagaki-san was the one who asked for my help. you should thank him."

"still," mikey sighed, "what happened to your...uhm."

kazua side-glances him, finding the blonde pointing to his own chest rather comically. she quickly looked away, hiding the faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"n-nothing. just a preference."

"ah," he nodded awkwardly, "it...suits you?"

across the seats, hinata and emma stood together. takemichi and his friends went out to check on the other toman members since they weren't all allowed to enter the hospital at the same time.

"it's been so long." emma says, softly smiling at the two sitting across them. she can sense that they're tense, but seeing the two together after three long years put her heart at ease a little.

"hm?" hinata looks at her, then followed her eyes to the two. "ah, mikey-kun and sada-san?"

"yeah, this is the closest they've been after three years." she responded. "trust me, they sit closer than that before. they literally sleep on top of each other after mikey's martial arts lessons. it was so cute."

hinata smiles at the sight of emma reminiscing the past. it did seem like the two had a significant effect on her. "what was sada-san like, emma-chan?"

"she's the kindest." emma giggled. "she speaks sarcasm, but she's always the first by my side when i'm down. her and mikey. we used to have weekend hangouts all the time too. it always ends with mikey and kazu-neesan fighting over the last taiyaki we buy. in the end, i split it in half for both of them."

"it sounds like you're older than both of them."

"yeah, but they fight over the head part of the taiyaki when i split it. mikey ends up giving it to her, though."

"those were such good times, huh?" hinata smiles. she didn't want to ask what happened that made those times disappear, seeing how emma's yearning for it all to go back to normal.

"it was. i really miss it." emma sighs.

the thickening silence was cut short when the doors slid open. two surgeons who were assigned to save draken came walking out, one of them taking their mask off after such a long procedure.

mikey and kazua stood from their seats, walking up to the surgeon to hear all about the surgery.

"we managed to save his life."

drop!

"the operation....was a success."