red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xlii: cold hands

three days after christmas.

three days after sada kazua fell into coma.

and three days of sano manjiro visiting the hospital right at the beginning of visiting hours up to the last minute.

he stayed by her side, talking to her for hours without even missing a beat. all the memories that they created since they were children were looked back on, and mikey realized how much of an impact she truly was to him.

reflecting on it, he realized that he's not the same person he was before when they were still together.

mikey isn't half as happy as he once was.

"we're still wearing the matching sweaters on new years, right?" he hunched over his seat, gently smiling at the girl's pale stature that laid on the hospital bed. she was hooked in wires, ones that scare the hell out of mikey for what could possibly happen if those were taken off. "i doubt you'll be out of this place during new years, so i'll come here instead. i'll bring mine, then i can ask senju if she can bring yours."

carefully, he takes her cold hands in both of his, feeling how icy her touch was. "ah, you're really cold, sazu. why aren't you telling me?" he chuckled. "here. i'll warm you up a little. feels better, doesn't it?"

he was met with nothing but silence, and the room became utterly quiet. its ambience only made mikey anxious. he had been on edge since christmas eve, and he told himself that he won't be missing a day until she wakes up with him as the first person she sees.

"should i buy tempura and cold soba too?" he continued to talk to her, his smile never leaving. "i told emma to make ozouni too. grandpa said he'll help make more so that you won't go hungry. he misses you, you know? i'll take you to the dojo when you wake up. you should show me your own moves. i'm kind of sad that i didn't know you could fight. how come senju and baji did? why didn't you tell me?"

he sighs. it felt like he doesn't really know the girl at all. she looks the same, a little taller and more mature, but she looked the same to him. though, it was obvious that she had changed a lot too.

why did she change?

what made her change?

was it for the better, or for worse?

"whenever i train with senju, baji, and emma, all you ever do is sit by the sidelines and read. you'd laugh whenever baji fails a kick and he falls over, but you encourage emma and senju the best you can whenever they fail a move." he grinned. one of his hands let go of hers to wipe a stray tear from the corner of his left eye. "and me, heh. you'd always say i'm showing off. i mean, i honestly was just showing off. you were there, after all! i wanted you to see how cool i am and how i can protect you...you're such a softie, though. you say all that, but you end up letting me sleep on your lap after i shower."

the littlest things that she did for him, those were the ones that stuck to him the most. she'd always subtly show how much she loves and cares for him, more than he ever realized. kazua portrays herself as someone aloof and cold, but she really isn't with those she open her heart to.

such innocent and sweet memories, slowly turning bitter as they grow older.

his yearning for those times to go back increased immensely.

he wants to be a kid all over again, stay that way to his heart's content.

"your parents were never around, so we had many sleepovers. emma steals you away to make midnight snacks and i end up watching you two. your taiyaki's still the best in the world." his thumb rubbed circles around her freezing hand. "when you wake up, teach me how to make taiyaki. i'll listen this time, i promise."

his eyes landed on the shoestring messily piled by the table. it had to be taken off during surgery, and a bit of blood stained them. mikey cleaned it off immediately.

because it's currently off of her wrist, he can clearly see the taiyaki tattoo she kept all along. "heh, you never named this little guy." he carefully turned her hand around to trace the tattoo. "blob blob was really sad all these years, looking for bb junior."

a lone tear plucked down her wrist.

"i wonder how she could tolerate how stupid you are."

"shut up."

mikey didn't have to look up to know who just entered the room. her voice was enough for him to pinpoint.

"mikey, the nurse told me you've been visiting for three days straight. have you even been eating while you're here?"

"a bit. sazu won't like it if i don't."

senju sighs, closing the door behind her silently. she walked  towards the bedside table and put in fresh flowers on the empty vase, picking it up after to take to the bathroom. she kept the door open as she filled the vase with water halfway. "she'll wake up."

even when she said that kazua might give up on life too fast, the fact that she survived the surgery was enough for her to start hoping. "kazzie said that she wants to join an e-games club in her last year of high school." she shut the bathroom door after exiting, then walked back to the table. "it's been a coping mechanism for her. computer games. it's only recently since she started showing how serious she was with it."

"really?" mikey continued to stare solemnly at the sleeping beauty.

"yeah. she joked about how she'll become a professional gamer instead of being a businesswoman like her parents wanted." senju giggled. "but i think she was serious at the time. she doesn't see herself in business, so maybe when she wakes up, she could pursue it."

"yeah." mikey muttered. "senju?"

"hmm?"

"how did sazu know?"

"huh?"

senju walked around to the other side of the bed, taking the stool and sitting across mikey.

"draken might have died that day...but she was there to save him." mikey began. "baji was going to die, too, but she was there. then, there's mitsuya against the black dragon. she said takemitchy was the one who asked for her help, but why did she trust takemitchy in the first place? they never knew each other."

senju hums, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling. "they've met." she said. "thrice, and we both know what that means. kazzie followed her gut feeling then and there. the third time she met hanagaki was the night draken was stabbed. kazzie said that hanagaki needs her help because draken's in danger. come to think of it, it's weird. how did hanagaki know that draken was in danger?"

"he knew all about the dispute before it happened too." mikey raised kazua's hand to his lips, kissing the back of her palm tenderly. "do you think sazu has something to do with it? does she know something about takemitchy that we don't?"

"well, the only way to find out is when she wakes up." senju said. "until then, all questions will be hanging on thin air."