SALVATORE || Sano Manjiro X Fem! Reader

*+*CHAPTER 14 || SAY SOMETHING*+*

One of the things L/n Y/n is good at is acting, not in the sense of it being an actual profession that she could take but more so of a defense mechanism whenever she's caught in situations where she's required to lie about something.

Afterall she's been doing it to her friends for years, sugar coated lies falling sweetly from her lips that it's hard to frame her of any suspicions, if they even detect anything at all. Don't get her wrong it's not like she wants to lie to them but with her connections it isn't exactly a choice, she knows who her husband is and who he is, is a wanted criminal (and by extension, she herself is one as an accomplice by not saying anything of the heinous crimes he's commited).

She's not oblivious enough to deny any of the things he's done for the sake of herself, Sachiko and his former friends, destroying every ounce of humanity he possessed so he can protect the people he holds dear in his own twisted and corrupt way.

Manjiro can never keep a secret for long, and it's not because he's bad at hiding them either, it's just Y/n picking up nervous ticks she's learned to recognize throughout the years they have been together. Once she questions him about it, he just spills.

Glancing to the side, she stares at the anxious time traveller next to her, no doubt the questions on the tip of his tongue about to spree free in search of answers.

"Takemichi," She calls and he turns to her, wide eyed like a deer caught in headlights. "You wanted to talk about something, right?" Y/n coaxed, a friendly smile stretched across her lips

Takemichi nods, his own familiar smile plastering itself on his face. "Yeah, you wouldn't mind answering some questions, would you?" He asked hesitantly almost like he's afraid she would reject the notion.

"We're here already, aren't we?" She teases. "Of course I don't mind."

A laugh bubbles from him, a little more carefree in her presence. "Right." He nods.

"Y/n-chan, I can't seem to remember it clearly but did you happen to meet Mikey-kun in the past?" Takemichi finally inquired, opening the door to the convent store and motioning for her to step in first.

Y/n blinked in shock, the tips of her shoes almost getting caught on a dent in the ground but she managed to steady her self on the metal doorframe. A stuttered breath leaves her before picks herself up again, turning to look at Takemichi with a feign look of confusion.

This wasn't exactly the questions she was expecting to receive. If anything, she was more prepared with the notion of him trying to use this as an excuse to scout her out since the time traveller didn't meet her before now.

"Mikey-kun?" The name unfamiliar on her tongue before she starts walking once more, the male following and picking up a shopping tray along the way.

Takemichi deflates a little at her confused tone and she almost wants to tell him the truth. She restrain herself however because it doesn't matter what she wants, what matters is keeping her secret just that, a secret.

"Yeah, Mikey-kun, you know, Sano Manjiro?" He prods, trying to elicit a memory that's there but isn't suppose to come to light. He must have realized that something isn't where they're suppose to be already and she wonders if it's because of Tachibana Naoto, Manjiro told her he was the trigger for the time travellers ability as well as the man responsible for giving Takemichi the basic information for missions happening in the past.

"Sano Manjiro..." Y/n pretends to think to herself for a moment, hands coming up to naturally pick out the drinks her friends favored, placing a few canned bottles into the tray Takemichi holds. "Oh! You mean the invincible one? Draken talked about him a few times before but nothing more then that, why?"

"You didn't meet him?" Takemichi answered her question with his own. "Why not?"

Y/n tilts her head, a lie gritting past her lips. "I'm not quite sure what happened but I only heard that he went away when he was 15. I met you a few months after so you didn't get to introduce us." She mentally apologised to their friends who knows about Takemichi's time travelling shenanigans, a small realization coming to mind that they probably kept him in the dark on purpose. Y/n furrows her brows for show. "Takemichi, you should know more about this then I do, you were friends with him, weren't you?"

Takemichi nodded his head before giving her an uncertain smile, shock still present in his demeanor. "I just needed my memories refreshed." He tells her before his face turned serious, seemingly spacing out as he contemplate his thoughts.

Y/n decided not to say anything after that, letting the blue eyed man, who began to mindlessly follow behind her, collect his thoughts.

---

If there is anything Sano Manjiro hates more then anything, it's when he's being interrupted from his work (that's not true, he hates plenty of other things even more), having to pause on someting so important ruining and souring his entire mood for the rest of the day.

There is, however an exception to his agitation and that's of course only plausible with the updated condition of his wife and daughter throughout the day because as much as his work is important to him, his family is even more so. His work a mere dot compared to the galaxy of his tiny Family.

It's why the furrow of his brows softened once the caller of his phone number specified his calling to him, familiar, adoring names falling on attentive ears.

Mikey makes a sound to signal one of Sanzu's men to continue with his report, stoic and not an ounce of hesitation with his words.

His softened state, did not last as long as he wanted it to when the man tells him of his wifes current whereabouts, stationed at a convenient store just right around the corner from her shop. This wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary on her part and he usually wouldn't think too much about it but with the constant lurking and watching Nirvana is currently doing, it's enough to make his nerves set ablaze with distress, 'what ifs' situations littering his brain with unwelcomed thoughts, one fleeting notion much more negative and brutal then the last.

Mikey bites the inside of his cheek, the stinging pain inflicted briefly making him taste metallic iron and grounding him back to reality. He wills the nervous bounces his legs make to stop and orders the other man to keep on eye out for anyone suspicious. He inquiries about Sachiko, sighing in relief once he realized she was still in the safe space of his wifes shop.

Hanging up, he stares intensely at the piles of documents in ahead of him, stacks upon stacks from the latest shipments, reports from missions and official contracts he needed to sign and look over right in front of his very eyes. He sighs deeply, a hand coming up to soothe the pressure point on the sides of his head.

A few weeks have passed since Kokonoi's contact with Nirvana occured and yet the meeting still hasn't happened due to the busy and tight schedules both parties possessed. The awaited meet up being pushed too far back that it's getting to the point of Mikey seriously considering tracking down the leader himself and putting a bullet through his head, it wouldn't exactly be the first time he's gotten impatient with these lowlife gangs but Nirvana's a little too high up in the hierarchy of criminals to be hasty in dealing with. Of course, they're not as dangerous as the Bonten organization but Mikey would still prefer to keep it on the downlow considering how close they are to his wife's safe bubble.

Picking up a piece of paper, he continues his work, drowning himself in papers to try to get this mind of off the tiny voice in his head telling him to be prepared for the worst to come.