red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter liii: what needs to be done

on february 22nd, sano emma will die.

that was what takemichi told kazua when she was resting at the hospital. and today, she will prevent it from happening.

she watches from afar as takemichi and inui paid respects to sano shinichiro's grave, the founder of the black dragon himself. tucking her hands in her oversized hoodie's pockets, she leaned back against the building's brick wall with one foot planted flat against it.

takemichi told her what was going to happen, and she watched it all unfold. izana made an appearance, inui was furious and demanded an answer regarding kokonoi's condition after he willingly joined tenjiku, then mikey and emma arrived at the scene.

"my, what a surprise this is."

"i'm gonna cut to the chase. there's no need for us to have idle chitchats."

"heh, and here i thought you're going to beat me up! after all, i had a feeling that you figured out what i'm planning before i even do it."

kazua's hands balled underneath her pockets, and she intently watched as takemichi led emma out of the cemetery. they both stood by the gates, watching as the three now confronted each other in front of the sano family grave.

"let's not lie to ourselves and be as civilized as we can. shall we, kurokawa izana?"

"shinichiro wasn't lying when he said you're pretty straightforward. he did say you were fun, though. was that a lie?"

"i think we both have different definitions of fun. we won't be meeting like this if we didn't."

kazua took out her hair stick and tied her hair in a bun as she walked towards the two, preparing herself for what is to come. this is what she got herself into, and she will end all of it with her own hands.

"hey, you two!" kazua pulled a wide smile from her closet of fake smiles, waving at the two as if her presence there was purely coincidental.

"oh, kazu-neesan!" emma happily greeted back with a smile, excitedly waving her over. when she got near enough, she engulfed him in a hug. kazua savored the girl's warmth, tightly embracing her back.

"hey, emma. what are you guys doing here?"

"oh, mikey and i were supposed to visit big bro shin." emma pulled away. "but we bumped into izana."

"i see." kazua looked over the gate that was shorter than her and found the three discussing amongst each other. "hey, takemitchy?"

"yes?" takemichi raised an eyebrow. this is the first she's ever referred to him by that nickname. "what's up?"

"can you go take emma to the convenience store and buy some mint choco popsicles?" kazua grinned. "five sticks for the five of us, including that ex-black dragon guy. inui, right?"

"uhm..." takemichi nervously glanced at her, not knowing what she was truly planning. she didn't tell him what she was going to do with this part of the plan. all she did tell him was to trust her, again.

it's always trusting her.

"...sure. their talk could take awhile. emma-chan, shall we?"

"hm? okay." emma nodded back. "watch over mikey for me, kazu-neesan?"

"of course," kazua waved the two off with a gentle smile as she watched them leave the danger zone. sighing, she turned back to the cemetery and blankly watched. she didn't even bother trying to decipher what they were talking about. it's irrelevant.

"what makes you so sure that we're planning to do that? you could be giving us ideas instead."

"please, with a guy like kisaki, it's easy to read him after a few observations."

"hmm, you aren't wrong. even i figured him out quick!"

"good for you. you're letting him use him for the same reason, right?"

lilac eyes locked with dull black for a brief moment, coming to a silent agreement that this really is happening.

"it must be infuriating letting him use you all you want. don't you want to use him a little bit too?"

"what makes you think that i believe you? as if i'd ever listen to someone who loves sano manjiro."

"love him? haha! what a joke."

"well, don't you?"

"tonight at 8 pm, come to the 7th pier at yokohama bay with the whole toman gang. it's the final battle between tenjiku and toman." izana told mikey with a light smirk. "let's end this, okay? mikey..."

"i despise sano manjiro. besides, my idea will bring him more pain than you could ever imagine. it's not even worth killing sano emma when you think about it."

"what, so all those years being by his side was you making him believe that you care for him? laying out your own life to make him despair...you hate him that much?"

"we aren't that different, aren't we? we're both risking our lives just to see sano manjiro crumble and suffer."

"oh, look! isn't that your girlfriend?" izana pointed at her direction, making mikey look over his shoulder and find her in his vision. she smiles, lightly waving at him.

"what is she doing here?" mikey muttered. "is she visiting aniki too?"

vrooom!

"HAAAAAA!"

crack!

kazua didn't pay attention to the motorbike zooming right towards her, and she didn't pay attention to the bat that hit her head.

"give this to kisaki starting today. it's a supplement that will give him more strength. i'm afraid that with his present condition, he won't be able to actually kill me."

"alright, then. i've been wanting to kill you so bad, too, but this is better. i won't be dirtying my own hands!"

"heh, you could kill me right here if you want. i'm right in front of you."

"nah, it'll be more fun watching mikey scream in despair with my own eyes when you die in front of him."

her body falls on the ground as the motorbike swiftly escaped, her vision turning black.

"with my death, tenjiku will surely win against toman, and you'll be able to kill sano manjiro."

"SAZU!"