red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xxxvii: took too long

"thanks, tsukaki. i don't know when senju will come, but never approach her first." kazua smiles lightly after taking a paper bag of bread and pastries that she finished paying for. the redhead was both concerned and confused as she held the piece of paper on her hand, but she didn't pry into it anymore. kazua isn't the type to tell her what goes on in her life, after all.

"if you need help, you can tell me, kazua." she says.

"i know," kazua nods, "trust me. it's just a little something i prepared for her."

"alright, then. head home safe!"

"thanks!"

kazua leaves the bakery, letting out a heavy sigh after her face turned away from the girl. as she walked, her eyes slid to the corner, sensing the presence that has been following her for a full two weeks now. "i've been sleeping in a separate apartment to avoid any contact with senju. who knows what this creep would do to her?" she was cursing at the stalker in her mind. she indeed had been avoiding senju to keep her out of trouble, and that's also the reason why she nearly destroyed her phone accidentally to have a reason to bring it to the phone services.

"how many more men does he even have?" kazua thought, gritting her teeth. she pulls her black mask up her nose and entered the subway. just a few nights ago, three men came barging in her apartment in hopes of taking advantage of her, but she was highly alert. kazua beat the three up and tried to get any information on who's trying to get a hold of her, but it led to no avail.

danger is like kazua's unwanted best friend, and it follows her everywhere she goes.

"i was wondering when you're gonna finally show your face." she smirks, spitting out a bit of blood from her mouth as she raised her fists in a defensive stance.

"heh, you surely are a strong woman." he grinned sadistically. "but you don't have unlimited stamina like mikey. that's why you prefer to deal with problems without getting into a fight, right?"

she stayed quiet.

she doesn't know what this man is capable of, but what she does know is that he was able to withstand her high kicks, and that's saying something. he can react pretty quick too. if she wasn't trained since she was young, she was sure that he would have beaten her already.

"this bastard stabbed me right on my side and had the audacity to tell me my stamina depletes quick?" she scoffed, glaring right at the amused man.

"hanma, aren't you?" she asked, trying to remember the name he used to introduce himself earlier before their fight broke out. "you can still fight even with a broken arm. i'm impressed, to be honest."

"hngh," his smirk never left his face, "and you can still fight even with a knife on your side? don't you want to take it out? tempting, isn't it?"

"i'm not a dumb chick." she rolled her eyes, vision slowly blurring as the fatigue and the pain enters her system.

"figured." hanma raised his fists. "that's why i was playing safe."

he came zooming right towards her, swinging his good arm back to deliver a powerful punch to the face. kazua raised both her arms up and blocked his attack, skidding back a little. she stopped herself from falling on her back, wincing a little when her side stung.

"tsk,"

***

"there's so many people here. how are we supposed to know where she is?"

mikey and senju walked through the bustling streets, trying to find the slightest hint of kazua being here. senju has a point. they both have no idea where to go now.

all there was on the paper is a coordinate, but why were they led here in the first place?

mikey continued to fast wall, eyes squinting at every little thing it lands on.

then, it hit him.

"there's a tree dedicated for wishes this year." he said, stopping for a brief moment. "she could've left something there."

he bolted right towards the temple.

"h-hey! wait!"

senju immediately went after him, not wanting to lose sight of his blonde locks. she can't afford to split away from him right now, not when kazua needs them.

"over here." mikey stops in front of a giant leafless tree that already has a few wishes hanging on its branches. he takes a step forward and reached up on one wish, abandoning it to check the others too.

senju follows his lead and began looking through the wishes as well. though, they were receiving a few stares from people passing by. it is pretty uncommon for others to check on another's wish.

"here," mikey's eyes jumped at the sight of it.

visit the nezu shrine
- kazzie

"sazu," he smiles lightly, tracing his thumb over her familiar writing. "senju, she's at nezu shrine."

"that's only a few minutes away from here." senju says, walking towards him to check the wish on her own.

"yeah, i can hear her impulse now." he muttered. "let's hurry."