The Promised Revenge [Manjiro Sano]

29

The family sat in silence at the dining table, eating the delicious home-cooked meal.

The head of the family remained still and proud in his chair, enjoying the meal and seeming impressed by the granddaughter's culinary skills. Meanwhile, the eldest son sat in front of them, his eyes fixed on the food he hadn't touched, lost in his own thoughts, his food moving back and forth.

Noticing the young man's wandering thoughts, he let out a loud cough, breaking the stillness of the room and waking the boy from his daydream. It had been a week since his grandson had lost a precious friend of his and the last thing he wanted to see was him mourning the loss.

The guy looked up, realizing that he had gotten lost in his thoughts during a moment of silence at the family dinner. He looked around, acknowledging the surroundings and his family, then, with a shake of his head, he adjusted his position in the chair and the moment passed without any words being said.

The silence filled the room once again, Emma stared at her little family with her glowy yellow eyes and rosy puffy cheeks as she chewed the unswallowed bites filling her mouth. "How cha fiwd diwer guws?"

"God, Emma!" Mikey spoke, a disgusted tone controlling his words. "Shut your mouth when you chew, you look like a pig. Do you do this on dates too?"

Emma and her old man stared at him confused by the sudden attitude. He seemed bothered, and they thought it would be because of his grief. But that was not his way of showing sadness, and they didn't think that they would be victims of whatever angered him as well.

"You know that I don't go on dates," Emma answered, swallowing the munched food.

"Well, there's a reason why no one takes you on dates," he returned his judging stares back down at his plate, quietly murmuring to himself.

"You are literally the reason why. You forbid me from going to any!"

"Did anyone ask you out though?"

"Damn it, Mikey!" she groaned, slamming her hands on the table, his words irritating her. "Who hurt you today?"

"No one..." he murmured, not daring to meet her in the eye and still focused on the vegetables that he kept on smashing instead of eating.

The grandfather watched silently, before leaning to his granddaughter whispering. "Did someone anger him? Maybe a girl or something?"

"Does he even know any girls?" Emma whispered back, sighing while trying to think of a reasonable explanation for why her older brother would ruin such a peaceful dinner night.

Manjiro wasn't the type to let himself down, and she knew that since the moment she first met him, and noticed how cocky he would act in his grandfather's dojo for being the best. He always showed himself as the not-easily-affected type of guy.

It didn't take her too long to get it. Mikey indeed did not know that many girls in his life, and even if he did, she knew well that he wouldn't tell her, afraid that she would keep buzzing him about it. But, at least, she knew the one he sure was taking dearly.

"So, Mikey," she called, a sneaky smirk drawing on her face as she wiped her mouth with her napkin, hardly trying to hide it. "Have you talked to Y/n lately?"

"No, have you?" he instantly replied, facing her again, showing as much concern as he sounded. "Is she okay? Where is she? Why isn't she answering her phone?"

Welp, that was a surprising reaction... was all Emma could think about at that moment. "Wow, brother," she let out with wide eyes and a napkin still on her hand close to her moving lips. "You are so easy to read..."