red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter lxxiv: released

"kazua-chan!"

said raven looked up from her book, finding a few girls in her class standing in front of her seat with sparkling curious eyes.

"we noticed there's this cute guy who always come here to pick you up after class." one of them grinned, cheeks popping in a blush. "is he your boyfriend?! you two look so cute together!"

"right? right?!"

"a lot of guys in the upper class were jealous, you know!"

she didn't expect her classmates to fuss over her and mikey. after all, the two don't stay long at her school. the moment she comes out, mikey was already there, and they leave as soon as they spot each other.

maybe it was because of the frequency of him picking her up that they noticed. mikey was dead set on keeping her safety, after all. he didn't want anything bad happening to her.

"a-ah, you mean mikey?" she asked with an awkward smile. "we're best friends, actually. he doesn't like me walking home alone, so he comes here after their class to pick me up."

"that's so sweet!"

"i'm so jealous! i want someone like him too!"

"you're so lucky, kazua-chan!"

kazua chuckled nervously, but she had to admit that she agrees with them. she is lucky for having someone like mikey to always look after her. being an only child of a goal-obsessed family can be pretty tough on her, and no one truly checks up on her condition other than him.

mikey has always been her pillar, and his family felt more of a family than her own parents were to her.

"i hope you two last long!"

"yeah, we're rooting for you guys~"

smiling, she thanks the girls and let them return to their seats when their teacher entered the classroom. she looks out the window for a moment, smiling softly to herself as she watched the leaves turn to one direction in sync.

indeed, the sky looks brighter after he came along.

"hey, lookin' good!"

baji grinned, waving over the yellow-streaked male after he was finally released from his rehabilitation. chifuyu stands a little behind the long-haired male, cat-like eyes showing a little amount of caution for what the man could do once he reaches them.

"i don't know what kazua was thinking, giving him a chance to redeem himself." chifuyu sucked the inside of his cheek. "but she's right with the outcome. baji-san looks happy to see him back too."

after signing a few papers at the lobby, kazutora hanemiya's rehabilitation was finally over. he slowly walked towards the two with a light smile on his face, glad that they were there to pick him up.

though, there is one person missing.

she promised that she will be there for when he's released, yet he couldn't see her anywhere.

"baji, chifuyu!" he greeted. "it feels great to be out."

"technically, we can't really let the others know of you just yet." baji casually slung an arm around the shorter male and led him out of the hospital. chifuyu stood by baji's other side, smiling back at kazutora the best he could. "we have to wait for kaz's go signal."

"speaking of, where is she?" kazutora frowned. "she told me she'll be here when i get released."

in an instant, both chifuyu and baji's smiles faltered. it didn't seem like baji had the right words to say, so chifuyu did it for him after noticing.