𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄━━━S. Manjiro

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆-𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲

The familiar noise of a motorcycle exhaust stopped you from dozing off on the swing. You raised your head and saw Manjiro approaching you. His hair was still messy but you could see the effort he did to fix it up though.

"Hey, [First Name]."

You nod tiredly. You were still wide awake when you called him earlier but the coldness in the place did make you sleepy. "Come on, you made me wake up so stop dozing off." He pats your head. "So, why did you suddenly want to stay in my place?" He asked curiously, pulling his hand back.

"I ran away from home... My family kinda found out about the fight with Moebius the other day and grounded me this morning. I snuck out this afternoon..." You keep nodding off and you were only trying your best to keep your eyes open. Manjiro grabbed your hand, and as well as the plastic bag on your lap.

"Don't fall asleep here, you'll catch a cold. So why did you sneak out?" He glanced over his shoulder as he dragged you to his motorcycle. He didn't do it roughly though.

" ...It felt so stuffy in the house. My mom scolded me for four hours straight, that I couldn't even eat breakfast. Then my dad made me study for six hours non-stop as a punishment." Manjiro rode the motorcycle first and you sat on the space behind him. "Don't fall asleep or something, you'll fall." He reminded. "I ain't that sleepy, don't worry." You chuckled softly, leaning your head on his back.

"I'm really sorry to trouble you like this, Mikey. I even woke you up from your sleep." You mumbled, closing your eyes.

"You're more important than sleep."

"You say that but you yawned just now."

Manjiro flinched. "Of course, you're more important but I'm also still sleepy," he argued.

'Manjiro loves sleeping after all.' you chuckled. "Since you won't accept my apology," you smiled, wrapping your hands around him. "I'll thank you instead. Thanks for helping me out, Mikey."

"... Yeah."

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"Well, that was surprising. Your CB250T is pretty loud, I expected Emma or your grandpa to check what's with the ruckus but..."

Manjiro tucked himself in his favorite blanket. "Toman's meetings are usually held late at night so they're probably used to it." You nod to yourself, pulling your blanket up to your face, "They'd be probably be surprised tomorrow." You replied, turning to your side and faced Mikey.

He didn't let you stay in the living room, saying it was too cold there. You were surprised by the fact that he still remembers the fact that you can't handle cold well. You remember telling him about that five years ago.

"Futons are comfortable... My mom changed mine to a bed last year..." You closed your eyes. "Last time I slept here was during our first year in middle school, right? There was Ken, Keisuke, Mitsuya, Haruki, Emma and..." You stopped yourself, 'Kazutora too... We all slept over here three years ago, right before the first day of school.'

Hearing no response from the boy beside you, you opened your eyes curiously. Thanks to the moonlight that entered through the window, you found Manjiro who already fell asleep. 'That... was fast.' you softly chuckled. 'I feel guilty for waking him up now. How the fight with Moebius ended the other day might've been bothering him. Not to mention, Manjiro and Ken are against each other right now...'

Once again, you closed your eyes.

'Manjiro must be feeling tired these days. We lost Pah like that and Toman ended up splitting apart. As the leader, it's tough for him for sure.'

But this is only the start. You already know what will happen in the near future. From the battle against Moebius on August 3 to Toman's war with Valhalla on October 31. Manjiro will go through a lot of hardships in the future. And it is your job to support him through any means.

'I will protect you from every pain and sufferings. I'll guide you to the right path so that you'll live happily. I will do anything, even if I have to risk my life just so that you won't live a life you'll regret.'

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The moment you opened your eyes, the first thing you've seen was Manjiro. However, it seems like he seems closer to you than yesterday. It took you a while to process the situation and then when you realized it, you could only mentally sigh.

"... Manjiro... This futon is too small for the two of us to fit so please go back to yours..."

His head was on your arm, therefore you couldn't move it at all. In fact, you can no longer feel your arm. "Manjiro." You don't want to wake him up too roughly, but your arm is important too.

You gently pushed his hair back from his face, "Manjiro." You called him out again.

"... But it's more comfortable in your futon. So let me sleep for a while longer, [Nickname]..." He mumbled. You don't even know if he's just talking in his sleep or he's actually replying to you. But after hearing the last word from his statement, you could care less about your numbing arm.

'Didn't he say that [First Name] made him stop calling her by that nickname?' you didn't say anything else for a few seconds. You went closer to him and narrowed the space between you and him, and with your other hand, you brushed off his hair from his face.

"... Mikey, wake up. It may be summer vacation but you shouldn't laze around." You softened your voice as much as possible. You did the same thing and called him by his nickname this time. Manjiro muttered a few words, however, you couldn't understand what he was saying. Though, as soon as he finished muttering, he opened his eyes. "... [First Name], you're too close."

"Then please move your head from my arm. I can't feel it anymore, Mikey."

"Ah! When did I-" he jolt up and backed away immediately after the realization. You also sat up, shaking your numbing arm. You raised your head and looked at him, who is unusually wide awake and flustered.

You chuckled, "Good morning, Mikey. Did you sleep well?"

"Is that... What you can just say after all this?" He mumbled, looking away with a disappointed pout. "It's been three years since you last slept over like this so I thought you would be also excited like me..."

You stared at him blankly.

To be honest, you didn't really understand what he meant by that but, if you won't say anything, he would feel even worse. "I don't want to waste my energy getting excited for sleeping over like this, Mikey." You saw his expression getting even sadder.

"Since I'll be with you all day today, I'll save up every bit of energy I have so that we can have fun with all our might later." You grabbed his hand and stood up. "Come on, we're going out today so let's have breakfast first."

Just by hearing those words from you, Manjiro suddenly felt happy.

"You're really going to stay with me today?"

"Yes, yes."

It felt as if the thoughts he had for the past few days, regarding the stuff related to both Toman and Moebius, disappeared. The heavy feeling he was carrying for days was lifted off from him.

For him, it really felt comfortable whenever he was with you.

A.
hallo. shira is still alive, y'all.

Published: August 28, 2021