red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xx: pressure

"w-w-what the actual fuck?!" chifuyu immediately ran towards the girl and held her hand, checking to see if the cut was deep. there's definitely a lot of blood leaking from it, and it only made him panic more.

"step one," kazua patted his head with her other hand, "don't fucking panic. baji's dead by the time you pull your shit together."

"i-i-i'm calling the hospital!" takemichi jumped out of the swing and pulled his phone out.

"good, good. when baji's stabbed, immediately call for an ambulance." kazua nodded in approval. "then, the next step is?"

"how the hell are you so calm?! you're losing blood!"

"then, hurry the hell up." kazua annoyingly looked at chifuyu. "do you really need a step-by-step procedure? rip a piece of your shirt."

chifuyu mindlessly did as she said, easily ripping off a piece of his clothing because of the adrenaline kicking in. he instinctively wrapped it around the wound and began applying pressure on it to stop the bleeding.

kazua winced a little, but nodded for him to keep going until the blood clots. "you, bitch. you're crazy!" chifuyu yelled. "are you feeling dizzy? eyes blurry?"

"nah, keep at it." kazua casually took her phone out and began shopping for clothes.

"you—"

***

"good, now you both know what to do if baji ever takes the knife out." kazua looked at her bandaged hand, impressed that chifuyu really was able to stop the bleeding before she passed out. "now, if baji doesn't take the knife out--"

"hold it!"

chifuyu angrily marched towards her and grabbed her collar, pushing her back against the monkey bars. "if you even think about stabbing yourself in the gut just for your little demonstration, i'm gonna—"

"dude, chill. i'm not that crazy." kazua rolled her eyes. she easily pried his hand off of her and pushed him back a little, but not enough to make him tumble down the ground. "as i was saying, if baji leaves the knife in the stab wound, then the job will be easier. don't pull it out because it will be the only thing keeping him alive at that point."

"sada-san," takemichi was still in shock, but he was slowly pulling himself together from what happened, "why are you going through such lengths? you could just tell us."

"well," kazua easily hoisted herself up the monkey bar with one good hand, sitting atop once again, "just as chifuyu here can't trust me in saving baji, i can't easily trust the two of you to stop the bleeding."

the two went silent.

after all, kazua knew baji more than both of them combined. she's the most worried out of the three.

"so, shall i continue?"

"whatever," chifuyu huffed, sitting back down the swing beside takemichi. "the knife's not pulled out, so what do we do?"

"stop the leak around the knife." kazua said. "never pull the knife out. once baji passes out, i need the both of you to act like he's dead. knock some sense into sano just like how you did before, hanagaki-san. once the attention is away from baji, i'll take over."

"what are you gonna do? the police can't know about the fight location."

kazua smiles again. "they won't. well, by the time i get baji out of there, that is."

takemichi's eyes couldn't take themselves away from her bandaged hand. her blood stained through the expertly wrapped bandages. after chifuyu stopped it, kazua did the bandaging herself. it gave him an idea that maybe she does have some knowledge when it comes to such wounds.

was it because she used to be involved in it, or did she train for when moments like this happen?

he doesn't know, and it's beginning to bug him. though, he can't be too disrespectful at her. takemichi knows his limits, and while kazua looks like a pretty carefree person, he was sure that she has her own secrets.

like how he can't read mikey, he can't read sada kazua.

both of them have such mysterious pasts that he can't just overstep.

"i know that we're saving baji tomorrow, and i'm confident that we will be able to." she reassured. "but you two, take care of yourselves out there. the fights toman involve themselves in are no joke. they fight against gangs who commit illegal stuff, people who won't hesitate to pull a knife out when they feel threatened. one is stupid to believe that it's all fists out there."

kazua hopped down the monkey bars and walked towards them, standing right in front of the two. she planted her hands on their head and offered a small smile. "i'll be watching the fight from the crowd, so if you two are put in a life-threatening situation, trust me to have your backs."

chifuyu bit his inner cheek, convinced that kazua only does have the best intentions for toman. if baji can trust her so much that he once put his life on her hands, chifuyu can do it too. "fine."

"great! now, let's go get some taiyaki before i walk you two home." she clapped her hands together, then winced when she remembered the wound she made on herself. "that stings."

"yeah, wonder what kind of crazy bitch slashes her own hand for a demonstration?"

"hey, we're past that!"