red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter lxxiii: yokohama bay

"this meeting is pointless."

"we all need to be honest here. we just want to crush each other, don't we? why not do it now?!"

"you're the one who started this fight, terano." mikey glared at the representative of rokuhara tandai. "why did you even spark up a fight among us in the first place?"

the meeting began the moment south terano arrived along with the haitani brothers and kakucho behind him. the leaders themselves were having a heated discussion, and their assistants are yet to contribute to their arguments. no one dared to speak up when they noticed the tension between the three leaders.

"brahman's members over there threatened my unit. you expect us to just sit here and have tea?" terano pointed a sharp finger at senju's seat.

"hold the phone." senju put her legs back down and slammed her hands on the table. "it was your men who attacked me and takemitchy that night! don't go turning the situation around now."

"the hell are you talking about?" the two glared at each other, and it didn't seem like any of them are willing to back out.

"if this is between your gangs, then why drag mine into it?" mikey grumbled. "i don't even have anything to do with you two."

"you don't have anything to do with this?" senju scoffed. "it was your men who attacked kazzie! you're just as involved as this dumbo right here!"

"i already told you that i have no idea what you're talking about. i never gave those commands to my crew." mikey scorns.

"wow, so you're making my gang the cause of this shit when it was your gangs who first threatened us?" senju forcefully pushed the table with her hands, planting them on her hips right after it moved by an inch.

"technically, we were the ones who were supposed to declare war." takemitchy thought, a sweat rolling down his forehead. "but we can't say that in this situation."

"can we backtrack a little bit?" kokonoi braved himself to speak up in an attempt to calm the three. "we're all a little lost right now. where did this all begin again?"

"my men were attacked—"

"takemitchy and i were attacked—"

senju and terano glared at each other again, leaving kantou manji's assistant to sigh in defeat.

"don't you dare fabricate this in your favor." senju grumbled. "it was your men who attacked me and takemitchy three days ago with guns. you were out to kill my crew member."

"my men's report says otherwise."

"then, shouldn't you check on your men yourself? goodness, you're no different from mikey over there who doesn't even have a clue that his members were out to kill someone."

senju had enough of their nonsense, turning to takeomi with a dangerous look on her face. sighing, he takes out the bagged gun from his pocket and handed it over to her. senju tossed it in the middle of the table and let the rest see for themselves.

"there. that's only one of the guns used to kill takemitchy." she said. "you noticed the mark. didn't you, terano? it's registered in your gang."

the man himself grabbed the ziplock bag and inspected the gun sealed inside. there is no doubt that it was theirs when he spotted the logo by the grip handle. his eyebrows knitted together, both in anger and confusion.

his own men tricked him, after all.

it boils his blood to think that they had the nerve to fool him.

"and you," senju turned to mikey, "why don't you ask onii-san over there what's really happening? you're loyal to your king. aren't you, sanzu?"

eyes fell on kantou manji's top two, but his own were only glaring right at senju's figure.

mikey looks over his shoulder to face sanzu. "i really don't want to believe her over you." he said. "so you better tell me the truth now while i'm lenient."

the room was filled with anticipation, and even rokuhara tandai was expecting an answer from sanzu even when they weren't involved in the matter.

"it's true." sanzu admitted. "i tried to annihilate sada kazua for your sake, boss."

kick!

mikey's movements were too fast to follow through the human eye. one moment he was sitting, and he's already in a post-kicking position in another. sanzu's body crushed the floor due to the impact of mikey's nuclear kick, and it's a wonder how he's still alive.

no ordinary person could have survived his kicks.

kick!

kick!

kick!

sanzu's body could have been mistaken for a soccer ball with the way mikey was easily tossing him in the air with his feet. the final blow sent him flying to the other side of the room, leaving the rest in the room to gape in awe at kantou manji gang's leader.

"it appears that my subordinates are the first to taunt your gang." mikey began, his back still turned to the leaders and their assistants. "but even so, the three of us are already in conflict. waging into war means that we're also risking our relations with the businesses we have contracted with."

neither of the three could afford to withdraw from the battle now that they were all put in the middle. it will damage their reputation, and business relations are what keep their organizations going.

the last one left standing will gain control over the rest of the businesses the three gangs have contracted.

"so, how are we going to settle this?" mikey turned around, his eyes dangerously blank. "shall we have the leaders duke it all out?"

"we're on the right path." senju thought. "kazzie, we're getting there."

"i suggest we have the strongest to represent our gangs." she says.

"are you saying that you're not the strongest in brahman, senju?" terano smirked smugly. "what, scared that mikey can finish you with one kick?"

"i can pulverize you down to hell and never let you get up, terano." senju smiled sweetly at him. "you'll have to find out when this battle begins."

"alright. the strongest will represent each gang." mikey confirmed. "the last one standing wins the battle of the three deities."

"let's get right on it. tomorrow by yokohama bay." terano rose from his seat. "10 pm sharp."

he was the first to leave, followed by the haitani brothers and kakucho right behind him.

"we should get going too." senju told her members. none of them objected, and they followed her to the opened door.

"senju,"

she stops at mikey's call, looking over her shoulder to find the blonde standing from his seat. "what..."

both his wrists had red shoestrings tied around them. "kazzie removed hers, then he got two. did they meet without me knowing?"

"is she alright?"

he couldn't help but ask. after all, he knows how dangerous sanzu is. his loyalty to him can go through extreme measures, and he's not kidding when he says that sanzu would kill for him.

"who are you to know?" senju scoffs, fully turning her back on him to finally leave. takemitchy was the last to exit the room, and he looked back one last time to see mikey watching them all walk away.

"mikey-kun," he called, "we'll save you...the way she wanted to save you."

then, he leaves.

"wanted?" mikey's eyebrows furrowed. "why's he talking like she's already gone?"