red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xlix: babu 2.0

"i don't understand what i'm doing here."

"whew. i'm beat! done yet, ken-chin?"

"just a little more."

"i still don't understand why i'm here."

"hey, mikey. try the engine."

brrrmm!

"it started!"

"i really don't understand why i'm here."

"hell yeah!"

kazua defeatedly sighed as she watched the two high-five each other, taking a small bite of her taiyaki as she sat by the engawa of the sano household.

"sazu! look, it worked!"

"congrats." she glanced at the motorbike that they were fixing. from what she's seen, they were trying to fix the motorbike by themselves and they succeeded. that was all she ever understood after sitting there for two hours just watching them tinker.

it has been two days, and the moment she was discharged earlier this morning, mikey dragged her to his home and had her watch them fix the motorbike.

"so, like, why do i need to be here again?"

"moral support." draken answers with a light grin, sitting beside her. he takes a taiyaki from the plate on the other side of the girl and munched on it.

"hey, ken-chin! that was mine!"

"ha? let's just split it."

"but..."

kazua sighed, shoving the rest of her taiyaki in the pouting child's mouth before he could continue complaining. "there. i'll go make more."

"thank you, sazu! while you're at it, i'm gonna go call takemichi in!"

as mikey runs off, kazua hopped off the edge of the engawa and dusted her pants. she's wrapped in bandages from chest down to her hips, a thick winter coat somehow keeping her warm.

yes, it's mikey's.

poor kazua wasn't even able to stop by her house when mikey picked her up from the hospital. he went straight to his home.

"so, how are you two?" draken asks as she picked up the plate from the engawa. she glances at him, stopping herself from walking back inside the house to make more taiyaki.

"what do you mean?"

"don't tell me your near-death isn't enough to knock you both into your senses?" draken snorts.

"we..." kazua looked at the gate that mikey went through. "...haven't talked about it yet. he said he's taking me home everyday from now on, though, so i guess we're kind of alright? for now, i mean."

that wasn't the answer he was hoping for, but it was better than nothing. he lets out a chuckle and laid down the flooring, his hands serving as a pillow under his head. "you know, mikey never stopped talking about you." he said. "he keeps saying things like do you think she's alright? or maybe we should take the route to her school and check up on her. that guy's crazy stupid for you."

redness crept up her cheeks, and kazua turned away to avoid draken from seeing it. "liar,"

"i wouldn't say this if i was." draken rolled his eyes. "it's obvious that you're still in love with that idiot too. no matter. as long as you two are better than before, then i'm happy for you guys."

kazua let a soft smile play her lips, shaking her head lightly. draken has always looked out for her and mikey. he was more of a big brother to both of them who'd always tease them in front of each other, and that was one reason why their feelings weren't kept hidden.