red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter lxvi: in a span of two years

remember takemitchy thinking that he will be having fun at school and no one's going to stop him?

yeah, draken and emma did the job.

before he was able to pass the gates, draken popped out of nowhere and dragged him to the nearby park. it was the same place that they hung out at when mikey and draken had a disagreement regarding pah-chin's surrender to the authorities. being back there brought a lot more memories than he expected.

"uhm...so, why am i here?"

he awkwardly sat between the two while they enjoyed their ice creams. takemitchy's was already melting, so he had to hold it out in front of him to avoid the substance to latch on his shirt.

"kaz told emma everything you two were doing a few days after you time leaped back, takemitchy." draken said. "she said that it's important for emma to know, but best not to tell anyone else. she's the last to know of you."

"yeah, that explains why you're always so determined to save the toman members." emma sighed. she finished her popsicle and flicked it right in the trash bin. "you know, mikey never comes home anymore. i'm really worried for him."

"huh?"

"takemitchy, i haven't seen him in two years." emma muttered. "the last person to see him was kazu-neesan. it was last year."

"she told us that she's going to check up on mikey and see what she can do." draken handed his empty stick to emma and let her flick it in the trash bin herself. "when she came back, she looked so hopeless. she said, i'm done."

"what?" he couldn't believe what they were saying. after all, aside from him, kazua is the most determined to save sano manjiro. she won't just give up on mikey after speaking to him once.

"did she say anything else about what happened when she visited him?"

"it was more like her barging into mikey's hideout." emma chuckled. "but no. aside from saying that it's hopeless and that we shouldn't try anymore, she didn't reveal anything from their conversation."

"she had a few bruises here and there. her cheek had a knife cut too." draken recalled her state pretty clearly. "i don't know about you, but i can't ever see mikey fighting her, even less with a knife."

"and she just...gave up?" takemitchy asks again, only to receive firm nods from the two. "so suddenly? that doesn't sound like her."

"she's been trying to save mikey for years, takemitchy. i wouldn't be surprised if she got tired after that stunt mikey pulled." draken muttered. "tell us, what is mikey like in the future?"

in an instant, an image on mikey standing on the other side of the visitation room with handcuffs on his hands flashed in his mind. "he looked so thin, and like he'd been sleeping terribly. he led brahman, now a criminal organization. he told me he couldn't suppress his black urges, which is why he surrendered himself to the authorities ten years from now.

"hina was safe. nearly everyone that should've died survived. kazua...she died on this year."

"what?"

"black urges?"

"mikey promised me two years ago...i will protect everyone in toman and hina until we meet again twelve years from now. the future came as promised, but mikey was left unhappy and kazua dead."

"black urges, huh..." draken trailed off. he had been thinking a lot to try and understand his best friend, but he would often end up meeting a wall. "that guy, he's been looking ahead twelve years for the past two. that's why mikey pushed every one of his friends away."

"no," emma intervened, "he made us despise him. these black urges, this is the first i've heard of them. though, when he pushed everyone away, we all became better people."

"maybe all this hatred and resentment was his way of sacrificing himself to keep your promise?" draken asks takemitchy. "ah, he's such a moron. he must've been hella convinced, takemitchy, that you were doing the right thing."

this was mikey's own sacrifice to make a better future for all those he cared for. because he loves them too much, he couldn't bear to have them suffer with him.

so instead of dragging them down to hell with him, he flew away alone.

making them despise him was most likely his way of forcing them to let go of him...all so that they won't feel regretful for what happens to him in the future.

but that was where he was wrong.

he wasn't able to see them, but his friends have wished for him to come back.

to come home to them and be happy together again.

"it isn't just him who's thinking ahead twelve years." takemitchy interrupted the quiet air. "kazua...i don't know what happened when they last talked, but i know that she's not done yet."

he stood from the steps they were sitting on and moved forward, turning around to face both curious lovebirds.

"i don't know what you're talking about, but kaz isn't the same as before, takemitchy." draken deadpanned. "she doesn't show herself to anyone and pushed them all away. the only reason why we know she's still alive is because of inui. she wants to live a normal life now. i don't want to drag her into this mess anymore."

"the original six has a special place in my heart."

that's right.

kazua won't give up if it's her loved ones.

not in a million years.

"tomorrow, let's meet senju."

"are you listening? she won't—"

"she will." takemitchy smiled reassuringly. "i know she'll help us. trust me, draken-kun."