Amore Mio || Sano Manjiro [✓ ]

⋆ ˚ 𖦹ْꓸ ⋆୨ chapter eleven ᵎᵎ

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪
╰┈➤ 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 like second nature. I made sharp turns, trailing down neighborhoods and breezing past small parks. I knew where it was, from the hundreds of times I ran down with him to Amore Mio.

Everything was coming back to me. The rush of nostalgia made me quicken my pace—I needed to get there as soon as possible. The diner came up through the small patch of forest I was riding through. I didn't even care to put the kickstand down, jumping off the bicycle to run to the cliff; paying no mind to the sound of crashing pedals and gears in the background.

The beautiful ocean glimmered in the pretty golden-red light of the sunset. The high grass made shifting sounds in the soft blow of the wind. Salty air filled my lungs with a refreshed sensation. The calmness of the atmosphere caused me to collapse into a sitting position and I gave into the exhaustion from the bike ride.

The memory was so clear in my head I could practically picture the boy sitting next to me now. His short dark hair glowing in the sunlight. The soft hues of the world illuminating his deep black eyes.

"Shinichirou..." The words came out of my mouth without any hesitation. My mind had never been so sure and so clear, it was definitely him.

"So you finally remembered." Mikey's voice came from behind me. He took his place sitting beside my figure, and for a while things remained, I was confused on what he was doing here, and how he knew I remembered.

"What are you...?" I tried to piece together my thoughts, which were somewhat scrambled at this point.

"I come here to clear my head. It was my secret hideout as a kid." He chuckled in a low voice, and I took a good look at him studying his features very closely. Then I realized why he seemed so familiar.

"He was your other brother...wasn't he! Shinichirou Sano! It's why everything I do with you reminds me of childhood. You really do look just like him—the same pretty dark eyes." Mikey simply gave a melancholic smile, probably reminiscing on his own past.

"Yeah, he was my older brother. I remember him always hanging out with you. I begged and begged him to let me join you guys too, which he did occasionally."

"What? Wait so you knew it was me the whole time? Why didn't you say anything..."

"I knew it was you from the moment I saw you riding your bike down the street months ago. I waited for you to come to my house but you never did—I started to think you'd forgotten about us completely." He stopped to adjust himself, sitting up cross-legged. "But Shin is... he's not with us anymore."

The news made my heart immediately drop. It sunk deep into my chest, and a soul crushing dread made my body feel absolutely weak. Some tears started to form at the corners of my eyes, and I fought desperately to keep them from falling.