red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter lviii: brothers

"how long are you going to decide things on your own?"

mikey didn't know for how long they've been fighting.

ten minutes, maybe thirty.

who knows? it could have been an hour already.

though, one thing is for sure. izana's moves are getting sloppier and weaker. getting many hits on mikey surely wore down his stamina, and when it comes to a battle of stamina, mikey was known to never lose.

"shinichiro and kazua are dead now. soon, i'll kill emma too." izana said. "aren't you alone too?!

the next kick he tried to deliver was easily blocked this time, and it surprised him.

"you're wrong, izana." mikey said. "you still have a brother. and i, too, have a brother."

he lowered his blocking hand along with izana's leg, dusting off the dirt from his coat. "i just want to save you, izana." he said. "that's what kazua would want me to do too. she's all about saving people."

"shut the hell up!"

izana desperately tried to punch and kick the younger, but his moves are getting weaker and weaker by the second. mikey can easily predict his moves, dodge when he needs to, and wear him down.

"you're starting to miss."

it was his turn.

with a powerful uppercut, izana was tossed up in the air and was forcefully brought back down the ground with a nuclear kick from sano manjiro himself.

he stood before the older, waiting for him to get up as he coughed out blood.

"so you had it in you all this time, huh?" izana chuckled. "this is getting fun! say, wanna know why kazua was there?"

mikey easily stepped to the side, evading izana's incoming fist. he retorted with a kick of his own, sending the albino a few meters back before he forced his feet to hold his ground.

"she came to me." izana smirked. "and told me that she hates you so much...she wanted to see you despair when you watch the love of your life die right in front of you."

though he didn't show it, mikey faltered at his words. "no, that can't be right." he convinced himself to stop listening to izana's words. he wouldn't let himself be fed with lies.

"ironic. the one you claim to love is the one who wants to see your crumble the most! ah, she must be so satisfied when you looked so vulnerable! say, why don't you cry and despair right now? she'd love to see that!"

"he's wrong." mikey knows kazua better than anyone. she wouldn't want to hurt him. hell, nothing she does could ever hurt him.

all kazua meant to do to him is to protect his heart and help him fall in love with life again.

though he couldn't explain why kazua was there, mikey was sure that she didn't mean to hurt him.

izana is wrong.

kazua loves him more than anyone.

his only friends and family left still breathing is proof of that love.

mikey dodges izana's fist again and punched his gut. "why did you become like this?! why can't you love your own siblings?!" he yelled back at the albino. "if only you could've opened up your heart...emma and i would've been happy to take you in! why, izana?!"

as much as izana tried to fight back, mikey had him dancing on his palm already.

he lost.

it's over.