Loving him is like driving a new CB250T

Red.

Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes. Days and nights together, just the two of them, couldn't get out of his head. Mikey was an idiot because he kept saying and repeating to himself that it was time to let it go, he needed to move on and forget about it.

But he knows he can't.

Not when his mind doesn't seem to want to forget about Ryuguji Ken.

His love was like driving a new CB250T through the streets of Tokyo, faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly. Mikey could still hear Draken's loud laughter behind him, the engines of their motorcycles almost begging them to keep riding so fast and passing all the red lights, even though they both knew how dangerous it was.

Loving Ken was like playing with fire and Manjiro was never afraid of burning himself out. He wanted it. Their love was dangerous from the start and they both liked it that way. He put his hand in the fire when he started to love Draken and want him all to himself. No matter how many times he tried to move on and let it go, the vivid images would come back to his head, burning him all over again.

That's why he keeps spinning in Mikey's head.

Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words to one of his favorite songs. The way Ken's cheeks turned red when he heard Mikey teasing him, the way he used to frown when he was pissed off about something, or the way Draken got angry hearing the affectionate nickname Mikey gave him, but Mikey knew he liked it. Manjiro knew this because he knew Draken better than anyone. The others saw only a dangerous guy who scared anyone who crossed his path, but none of them saw Draken's other side. A highly secretive side that he showed exclusively to Mikey and no one else.

Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there was no right answer. Being two hard-tempered idiots, sometimes fights were inevitable, and often it was for meaningless things that they only realized later. And things ended with the two of them making up. One day, they were yelling at each other and the next day; Mikey and Draken completely forgot what the fight was about, how or why it happened, it wasn't like either of them could stay away from each other that long.

That's why they always came back to each other.

Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of you, but by the time Manjiro realized it, it was too late for him. He wanted to tell Draken the truth and that he never wanted things to end this way. Mikey couldn't go back in time and fix every word he said or fix his actions that weren't good at all.

After all, if he could go back in time, even for a few seconds, he would do it without a second thought.

Because losing Draken was blue.

A sad, melancholy blue, so much like the blue Mikey felt the night he finally realized Shinichiro would never come home again but, back then, Draken was there with him by his side and promising he would never leave him. Having to force himself to forget about Draken was like Mikey trying to love a person he'd never met before. A person who would never be able to love Mikey as much as Draken did. A person who wasn't like Draken because Mikey didn't want someone like Draken. He just wanted Ken and missing him was dark gray, leaving him all alone on a dark and cold night with those nightmares that wouldn't let him sleep. And even when his eyes stared at his cell phone's display for hours, or even days, feeling the urge to call Ken, he knew he wouldn't be able to do that.

Because he made a promise. He promised that he would keep everyone safe even if it took him away from his true love. He couldn't go back in time but Mikey wished someone had warned him that love could be so strong and intense like that, capable of making him feel things he never imagined he'd ever feel.

'Cause loving Draken was like driving a new CB250T down a dead-end street, faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly. And moving on seems impossible when all that remains inside Mikey's head is Draken and his burning love.