red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter liv: a desperate cry

"SAZU!"

mikey never sprinted so fast in his life, and tears were threatening to fall from his eyes as he reached the girl lying on the asphalt.

he knelt down beside her unconscious body, the blood seeping out of her head rapidly only making his heart race faster than he could imagine.

what should he do?

what just happened?

is she dead?

"inui!" he yelled for his friend's help. "come on. we're taking her to the hospital."

"r-right!"

the albino carefully lifted the girl from the ground, propping her on mikey's back after he knelt down the ground. as the two were desperately acting to save her life, izana gave her body one last look before leaving.

"that was indeed a really hard hit on the head." izana thought. "so, this is it, sada kazua. i'll be sure to make mikey kneel down on his knees, both for yours and my contentment."

"what happened?!"

takemichi and emma just arrived with a plastic bag full of ice cream, and they were shocked when they say mikey walking through the streets with a bleeding kazua on his back.

"sada-san?" takemichi's eyes widened. "she didn't..."

"k-kazu-neesan!" emma ran to mikey's side, checking on her pulse carefully as she followed mikey to the hospital. behind them, inui and mikey were following. they didn't know what to do.

it all happened so fast, and none of them were able to predict it.

"manji..."

"don't talk." mikey immediately said, tears already streaming down his face rapidly. he was relieved to hear her voice. though it was weak, he had hope.

he needed her reassurance.

she can't go.

"please, don't push yourself. we'll be at the hospital soon, sazu." he croaked, forcing a smile on his face. "that nurse, emi-neesan, right? she'll be really mad at you for going back there."

"hngh, sorry." kazua tiredly rested her head on his shoulder. "i'm...an idiot."

"no, you aren't." mikey chortled. "you're hella smart. you're always competing with that one guy for top in class back in elementary, right? i forgot his name."

kazua stayed silent, focusing on fighting against unconsciousness.

"hey,"

"hmm?"

"that future we were talking about...back at the port." kazua lightly smiled. "do you think we can do all that in a minute?"

"what do you mean? a minute won't be enough for me to kiss you all over." mikey grinned. "besides, it takes nine months for a baby to be born. we can't have a kid in just a minute! so, stay awake for me. got that, love?"

"silly," kazua weakly laughed, "we can get married under a minute, though. can we?"

"but we don't have a priest. emma's not in her maid of honor outfit, your second maid of honor senju isn't here, and so is draken. he's supposed to be my best man." mikey argued back, tears endlessly flowing. "i don't even have a ring for you yet."

beside him, emma couldn't stop herself from crying. hearing the two talking about their future at a situation like that was just too cruel for her, and seeing mikey clinging on to an invisible string of hope was too painful for her to witness.

kazua's condition is bad, really bad.

she lost a lot of blood already, and she only just recovered from a recent injury.

there is no telling what might happen this time around.

"i've always imagined what you would look like when you walk down the aisle, you know?" mikey began. "i bet you're still gonna wear that red hair stick aniki gave you on your birthday. you'll wear the best wedding dress in japan, and the red string will stay around your wrist during our wedding ceremony.

"i've always had this idea. i didn't want to tell you until our wedding, but i guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you now. when you reach the altar, we tie our strings together and connect our pinkies, just like an actual red string of fate. the entire ceremony, we'll have the string tied to us, even during the vows and when we put each other's rings. we'll keep it on even during the reception!"

"mikey-kun..."

takemichi's eyes were just as wet as the sano siblings, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking back to when he first met kazua.

most of the time, she's pretty serious and all they ever really talked about was how to save everyone.

but there were moments when she'd be a little carefree, when she'd let herself loose and treat takemichi just like how she treated her close friends.

she saw him as her family, protected him and even taught him how to protect himself.

she's done so much for them.

what have they done for her?

"ah, sazu? you fell asleep." mikey continued to smile painfully. "don't sleep yet, love. we're nearly there."

but he was met with nothing but silence.

"takemitchy..."

"y-yes?"

"can you check on sazu for me?" mikey's eyes were blank and wide, a pained smile on his quivering lips. "sazu...is cold."