red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xix: to save baji

"well, this is certainly not what i expected for the next time we meet."

kazua bit on her popsicle, having one hand tucked in her skirt's pocket. she just got out of the school gates after the final bell rang, and she was met by unexpected people waiting for her outside.

"heh? who are these people, kazzie?"

senju pops out behind the girl, peeking through her left shoulder with curious eyes. kazua shoved her popsicle in the girl's mouth and let her eat the rest of it. "just a few friends, frosty." kazua glanced at her, sending the message successfully. "can you walk home alone today?"

"of course, i can!" senju smiled at her. "who do you take me for?"

"you might get lured in an alley again with cherry blossom petals. that was incredibly stupid, by the way."

"hey! it was one time." senju lightly pushed the girl's shoulder with a pout. "i'll call you if something comes up. see you tomorrow."

"sure,"

kazua waves the girl goodbye and waited for her to be out of eyesight before turning her attention back to the two in front of her. both of them were patched in bandages, and her lips winced at the sight. "come on. i'll buy you guys some ice cream."

***

"you're chifuyu?!"

"you're kaz?!"

"whoa, i gotta admit, i pictured you to be taller. maybe bulkier too."

"i expected some old hag, to be honest."

a vein nearly popped at kazua's temple, teeth gritting together in slight annoyance at the blonde's remark. she had heard about chifuyu when baji took a time to hang out with her weeks ago, but she expected that baji's best friend would be a little more like him.

someone who looks like he can fight.

kazua doesn't doubt his fighting prowess, though. he is the vice commander of the 1st division, according to baji himself. he just expected that it would be more....obvious.

"i didn't expect baji to have such a pretty friend." chifuyu grinned lightly at her, rocking the swing he was sitting on. kazua looked down at him from the top of the monkey bars, clicking her tongue out playfully at him.

"sorry, i don't date kids."

"you're a kid too!"

takemichi couldn't help but chuckle. chifuyu and kazua seem to get along better than he expected, and he felt relieved that they're in common grounds right now before they discuss their plans to save baji.

after talking to chifuyu when he was beaten up by baji himself to prove his loyalty to valhalla, the vice commander demanded to meet kazua and know her plan to save baji from death. unlike takemichi, he doesn't trust her to accomplish the job even if she's a long-time friend by his captain.

this is baji's life on her hands.

"well, what do you plan to do?" chifuyu's eyes turned stern as he looked up at her, not letting her have a chance to look away. "you're saving baji, right? how?"

"well, that depends on how you two will do." kazua glared back, folding her arms over her chest. "when takemichi time leaped to that day, he failed to save baji from kazutora's sneak attack. what i need you two to do is to completely save him this time."

"we're basically doing the job. what the hell are you contributing?"

the air immediately thickened, and the positive vibe that was created just moments ago vanished completely.

"baji's still going to stab himself to save kazutora and sano. that's for sure." kazua held a sad smile. "what i'm about to tell you two is extremely important, so make sure to remember every bit of it."

she hops off the monkey bar, puffing out the sand below her. she skillfully took out a butterfly knife from her pocket, twirling it around her hand before the blade was locked in place.

"s-sada-san!"

before they knew it, she slashed the knife across her palm and let it bleed. "stop the bleeding."

"what the fuck?!"

"what are you doing, sada-san?!"

"stop the bleeding." kazua smiled sweetly at the two, putting the knife back in her pocket. she stretched her bleeding hand out at them. "stop it, or i die."