Amore Mio || Sano Manjiro [✓ ]

⋆ ˚ 𖦹ْꓸ ⋆୨ chapter four ᵎᵎ

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪
╰┈➤ "𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐."

I was so plagued with thoughts of what happened yesterday night, school became hard to focus on. It's not like my teacher makes it any easier; He is always rambling on and on about boring topics, sometimes it's not even school related. It was very easy to become lost in my own mind.

I have lived alone since the start of high school. When I was younger I used to reside here, but we moved away when I started junior high. I told my parents that I wanted to move back to go to this school with my best friend, which of course wasn't a lie, but also not the complete truth. Nonetheless they were supportive of it and I even said I'd help out by getting a part-time job. Still, my main reason for coming back was to reconnect with someone from my past.

However currently, my thoughts were circling back to Sano Manjiro. Especially the meaning of his words yesterday. I didn't even get the chance to respond. It left me wondering if he really intended to use my apartment as a second home.

I really could not get him out of my head, and I was wishing for this class to end sooner. Just as I finished that thought, my wish was granted.

"Don't let these people bully you." A familiar feminine voice rang through the once silent halls of our school. It was coming from the junior high side, many of the high schools students turned their heads to see.

Others were already starting to get up and gather outside to watch the commotion. I decided to follow suit, stepping out of the door frame and down the hallway. My suspicion was confirmed when I saw my best friend, dragging her boyfriend away from another group of young men. I took my eyes away from Hina and Takemichi to get a better look at the boys behind them.

The first guy was tall and scary, his hair shaved with a dragon tattoo on the side of his head. However when I saw the second boy standing beside him I became shocked—because it was Sano Manjiro himself. He was staring hard at the two figures walking away, and within a few seconds of watching the bigger guy grabbed Hina's wrist.

"Hey, don't make me kill you brat." Even from here I could tell she was shaking. "You slap him outta nowhere, and now you're peacing out? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Who do you think you are?" Hina's fists tightened, "You waltz into a school you don't even go to, and try to take him by force. That's not something friends do! Takemichi is injured all the time lately." She paused again, this timing gritting her teeth, "And if that's because of you two.. then I'm going to put a stop to it!"

Now the guy looked pissed, I was about to jump in to back Hina up, but Takemichi put his hand on the his shoulder. The crowd of students becoming more anxious by the second. He was shaking as he said it, and I was just close enough to hear, "Let go of her." He bent down to face Takemichi—even more pissed than before.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you clearly!"

This situation was starting to get really bad.  I felt as though I should say something, but fear was holding me back. My thoughts were interrupted by Takemichi yelling again, "I said, let go of her, you asshole!"

Woah when did Takemichi grow a pair?!

Unfortunately for him, Mr. Braid seemed to be on his final straw.

"So... who do you think you're talking too?" Now his face was inches from Takemichi.

"There's things I just won't give up on ever again!" Takemichi became even louder than before. The big guy seemed to question what exactly Takemichi meant. It struck me as odd too, but then again Takemichi has always been somewhat strange. No one could dwell on the statement much longer as Mikey, who had been standing behind quietly, finally broke his silence.

"Aw... and I thought we could be friends." He was smiling slightly as he said that, but when he turned his smile faded into a menacing glare—the likes of which I hadn't seen before. Even as just a bystander, it sent chills down my spine. The Mikey I had come to know seemed childish and even goofy, so I honestly couldn't connect him being a gang leader. Seeing this side of him now however, finally opened my eyes.

"Now the question is... how do you want to die?" Mikey started slowly walking over to Takemichi. At first I really didn't want to believe Mikey, in fact I couldn't believe this situation at all. The boy I took back to my house wouldn't possibly be able to kill anyone, at least to my knowledge. Yet his attitude was hard to gauge, and I was beginning to grow more and more anxious.

"Just promise me one thing. You won't lay a finger on Hina!"

"What? Like I care." Mikey seemed almost emotionless at this point, which drained all the hope I had that this was all just a joke. I started to move toward them as Mikey lifted his fist, reaching my hand out. Mikey stopped just before hitting Takemichi. "JK!" The biggest relief washed over everyone in the crowd, myself included.  "Takemichi you dummy. There's no way I would ever lay a hand on a girl." The other guy also seemed to ease up and leaned his arm over Takemichi, praising him for sticking up for his girl. Then suddenly, Mikey's eyes flickered to myself—finally noticing my presence among the sea of people. "Huh (Nickname)?" All four of them turned toward me. I could even feel the eyes of the students behind gathering toward my figure. "You go to this school too?"

"Wait (Name) you know these people?" Hina asked me.

"Oh well I know Mikey only." I scratched the side of my cheek, now nervous that all the attention had shifted to me.

"Oi Mikey who's this chick?" The big guy spoke again.

"She's a friend of mine, Ken-chin." He said smiling, leading his friend to come over and shake my hand.

"Any buddy of Mikey's is a pal of mine too, I'm Draken." JE shook my hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm (First name)."

The group moved to outside the school. I decided to follow along, watching as Hina apologized for slapping Mikey. Takemichi went along with them to do whatever they came to pick him up for.

"Bye-bye (Nickname)! See you later!" Mikey waved to me as he got on the back of Takemichi's bike. Me and Hina make our way back inside, knowing we'd be penalized for skipping class.

"Hehe so... (Name) how do you know Mikey? He's already given you a nickname. Maybe you will finally get a boyfriend after all!" She giggled and tugged on my arm, eagerly waiting my response, and I said so without thinking.

"Oh, I offered my home to him."

•
•
•
┊
┊
╰┈➤ EDITED ♡