Being with Mikey was easy. Breathing was easier, everything stopped feeling so fucked, and Takemichi felt his worries wash away.
Sure, an impromptu sleepover had not been his smartest of ideas, especially considering that he and Mikey had known each other for quite a short time. Still, the leader of Toman could not look more excited.
Soon after they left the vicinity of Takemichi's house and he was able to calm down, Mikey started talking, and never really stopped. He seemed stoked at the idea of a sleepover, going off on possible things to do instead of sleeping. He wanted to show Takemichi his collection of video games, do a little house tour, maybe bake something sweet and buy lots of snacks to stay up all night. He kept on insisting that his grandpa won't care if they make too much noise, because he sleeps like the dead, but that they'll have to bribe his sister with sweets to not bother them. Despite his jokey tone, the fondness Mikey had for his relatives was obvious, and Takemichi found himself laughing at his proposals, slowly letting out the tension from his shoulders. He did not know much about the Sano family apart from the dead brother, any and all information was new.
They talked about everything and anything. At some point, they began discussing their music tastes and Takemichi had to be careful to not mention any artists or songs that had not been released yet, so simply made a casual comment that he listened to a little bit of everything. Mikey mentioned how he's been starting to like 90s American hip hop, but that rock was still his favorite genre. That did not surprise Takemichi at all, Mikey always had that sort of "bad boy" vibe going for him, even though his personality did not exactly always match that. Takemichi asked what bands he liked but Mikey just responded that he'll show him his CDs once they were there.
With how hot the day had been, the sudden cold wind hit even harder. A shiver traveled down Takemichi's spine, almost making his teeth tremble due to the chill. How he wished he had worn a jacket. In a sudden awareness of his environment, he looked up to the dotted sky full of stars, a sight that had disappeared in his time due to the rising pollution. A small part of him knew that Mikey was still talking about something, but the only thing occupying his mind was the night sky, distinctly reminding him of the night he spent walking with Baji. Part of him still felt trapped in that cafeteria, in that suffocating bathroom, in his bloodied kitchen. He grabbed the hem of Mikey's jacket, stopping both of them from walking any further.
"Let's hurry up a bit," Takemichi said in forced calmness. He was briefly aware that he had interrupted Mikey, but Mikey did not seem to mind at all. Instead, he hummed, looking ahead at the moon-lit street. With a small twist, he grabbed Takemichi's wrist.
"If we keep walking so slowly it's gonna take a while to arrive. But I know a shortcut."
It wasn't an actual shortcut, instead, Mikey somehow located one of those parking places for bikes and started rummaging through them. It looked shady and, knowing Mikey, probably was like that intentionally.
"Is this a good idea?" Takemichi asked, not sure if to just look or join Mikey in his search.
Mikey nodded as he roughly shook every bike and checked for locks. "Yeah. I always find at least one bike to "borrow"." Takemichi admired his audacity, not looking ashamed at all as he did not give up on his little search. His face then lit up like he had struck gold, he paused in his rummaging to slowly drag out a bike with him. It was quite impressive, how little time it had taken.
The bike would have been emerald green if it were not for the coat of dirt hiding the bright color. It was like it had been unused for decades, rattling as it got dragged. In its prime, it might have been a mighty fine sports bicycle, capable of traversing through mountainous landscapes and grassy fields, but now it looked like it would fall apart at the weakest gust of wind. Honestly, they were probably doing a favor to the poor bloke that owned the bike, taking it out on one final trip before it disintegrated into dust.
