Kindred (Manjiro "Mikey" Sano x OC)

...CHAPTER 04...

"There all done! Watch her Mikey, I'm just going to get an extra blanket." Emma told her elder brother as she finished tending to the last of the girl's injuries. He simply nodded in response, his eyes still fixated on the raven haired girl in front of him.

He couldn't stop the bouncing of his knee and his lip was bitten harshly as he looked over how terribly she was hurt. Her normally clear and smooth skin was now littered with bruises and cuts. Her bottom lip was also cut, and he could only imagine what state the rest of her body was in.

'Who the fuck would do this to a girl?'

He was absolutely livid, someone had to pay for this.

His eyes fell to her bag which was half open and he furrowed his brows when he spotted an old book. He cocked his head reading the words on the spine.

"Kingston." He hummed. He was tempted to reach for it figuring that it was photos, but before he could Kozue shifted causing him to flinch.

She woke up startled, even more so when she saw the boy from the other day and immediately jumped to her feet, dizziness coming over her as she had forgotten the events from earlier momentarily.

"Hey, hey, just take it easy." Mikey said trying to calm her down, but she didn't appear to want to listen as she reached for her bag and headed for the door.

"You don't need to worry. You're safe now!" He said grabbing her wrist to stop her and she winced slightly.

"S- sorry!" He apologised and quickly let go of her wrist. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her even more, but she was quick to take that opportunity to bolt before he could stop her.

"Hey wait!" He called out, but she had already run into the dead of night.

"What happened?!" Emma asked when she got back to Mikey's room, and he sighed slumping against the wall in defeat.

"She just bolted." He said in a daze. He felt this unease settling into the pit of his stomach. He was worried for her.

'What if she passes out again? Or worse? What if someone tried to attack her again?'

"It was probably your dumb face that scared her off." Emma chided and his jaw dropped in disbelief which left her with a satisfied smirk.

"My face isn't dumb!" He said defensively and she snorted a laugh.

"Oh yeah? Tell that to the ladies."

~*~

For the second time in his life, Mikey was all too eager to go to school.

He walked Emma to her class, not something he usually did, but he really wanted to check up on Kozue. Emma knew that was the reason why, and he didn't exactly try to hide the fact that he was worried. Thought she couldn't blame him, she too was worried after the state she saw her in. She was surprised the girl wasn't dead.

She didn't show up.

Mikey's shoulders deflated as he looked to his sister who sent him a sympathetic smile.

"I'll text you if she shows up." She said and the blonde boy hesitantly nodded his head before slowly making his way to class. He didn't care if he was late, and it's not like he would get in trouble, not that he would care either.

Mikey kept coming to Emma's class to check in on 'his sister' but he would always ask about Kozue.

"Why are you so curious about her anyway?" Emma wondered, and he looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Don't you remember the state we found her in? Are you not concerned?!" He exasperated and the blonde girl sighed apologising.

"Yeah, I guess I am too."

"Why don't you ask one of her friends?" Mikey asked and Emma's face crossed with a sad expression.

"She doesn't have any. She's new remember? She doesn't exactly try to make friends either."

Mikey can definitely see that. The cold vibe she gave off clearly indicated she didn't want to talk to people though Mikey couldn't help but feel that she must be lonely.

"Well she's going to have to, whether she likes it or not."

~*~

Kozue thought it best to stay home for the next few days until she healed up a bit. She was sore, battered and bruised, yet she still managed to tend to her own injuries.

She remembered the boy that helped her, he was the same one who talked to her that day.

'Sano Manjiro.'

She knew she should've thanked him, but she was too shocked and disorientated when she woke up to do so. She knew he was going to ask questions when she went back to school, and she dreaded it. She hated people feeling worried or sympathy for her.

'Maybe I can skip school for the rest of the year?' She snorted to herself at the ridiculous notion. Well, it wasn't ridiculous to her, but she knew it would be to her mother.

Right, her mother.

She knew she was going to be upset if she saw how bad she was, but Kozue was too tired to worry about that and soon enough, sleep consumed her for just a moment.

She woke to her mother's worried voice, sitting up to see her even more concerned face. She looked terribly upset, tears in eyes, and she sighed pulling her mother into a hug.

'Maybe I should've tried harder to hide it.'

"It's okay ma, everything is fine. I handled it." She tried to reassure her mother, but she shook her head in exasperation.

"I hate you fighting Kozue. I know that you're strong, just like your father, but not everyone can predict what could happen!" She said as she brushed a dark strand of her daughter's hair before cradling her face in her hands. "You know what happened to your father, I don't want that to happen to you. I would die if I lost my baby too."

"It's okay, I'm okay, I won't die." Kozue said reassuringly as she hugged and comforted her mother.

"Please... just don't fight anymore. I'm begging you." She said and Kozue bit her lip as she looked away for a moment.

"Alright." Kozue agreed, but deep down she knew she couldn't follow through with that.

It was in her blood after all.

~.~*~.~

Hey guys,

Just letting you know that this story will be a mixture of long and short chapters. I hope you are enjoying it so far!