red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter lvi: 12 years into the future

"eighteen years from now, i will ask you to marry me." he said determinedly. "so wait for it, okay?"

"okay," kazua grins back at him, sealing a childish promise that they carelessly made. "i'll wait."

"maybe this is the world's way of punishing me...for forcing someone too good for a guy like me to be mine." mikey lifelessly sat on one of the empty seats by the hospital's lobby. "why can't it be me? what have i been doing everything wrong all this while?"

after sada kazua was announced dead at 8:15 in the evening, senju gave him one hell of a beating. unlike him, senju had the courage to visit the girl's corpse before she was moved to the morgue.

draken stood near his sitting figure, wiping his own tears away from his face as emma hugged him tightly from his side.

"excuse me...?"

tachibana hinata, takemichi's girlfriend, appeared before them. her bloodshot eyes were evidence that she knew about what happened, too, and is also in mourning for the death of a dear friend.

"can i talk to you for a little while?" the question was directed to mikey, but the blonde didn't answer. hinata's fists paled, shaking as she thought back to the things that her boyfriend told her months ago. "takemichi-kun and kazua-chan...i think they're both trying to save all of your friends."

"hey!" draken yelled, triggered by her words. "you shouldn't be saying stuff like that at times like these! are you out of your mind?!"

his arms tightened around emma's figure, trying to keep his emotions in check. "...why the hell is everyone being weird? there's takemitchy, now you. what the hell is so wrong with today?"

"i..." hinata pursed her lips. "...i will die. in twelve years, i will die."

silence

"to stop that from happening, takemichi came from the future. this whole talk might sound like a bunch of lies, but it's true." hinata said. "because you can see his desperation. he knows the future for all of us, and he wants to save all of us. kazua-chan always wanted to save mikey, too, which is why she didn't hesitate to help takemichi.

"i overheard them talking about this day when takemichi and i visited kazua-chan the day before she was discharged. emma-chan...emma-chan was supposed to die tonight."

"emma...was supposed to die?" draken asked. "does that mean...kazua saved her too? she knew that kisaki will be there?"

"i think so. when takemichi told her about it, she told him to trust her and that she will definitely save emma-chan, but i didn't know..." tears escaped her eyes once again. "...i didn't know that it would lead to her sacrificing her own life."

"kazu-neesan did all that for me?" emma weeped. "right when we just got her back, this happens? why? why does she have to die?"

"it's true."

senju walked towards the group, face filled with dried tears after she poured it all out in front of kazua's corpse. she stands between emma and hinata, looking down at mikey's depressed state.

"kazzie and hanagaki have been saving everyone's asses from death. ending up in the hospital is a small price to pay in her eyes. as long as everyone else lives, she could care less about what happens to her." she sternly said, eyes unwavering. "so, now that she's gone...now that she saved these people you cherish so much, what are you going to do in return?"

she paused for a moment, giving him a chance to answer. however, his silence wasn't enough to quell her mourning heart.

"will you let hanagaki...someone kazzie treats like her family...die too?" her teeth gritted. "are you going to let the division captains...her best friends...die?"

senju impatiently held his chin and forced him to look up at her face. "the only reason why i haven't killed you yet is because your life's too valuable after she saved you many many times. if you want to redeem yourself before her, do what you can now."

***

against izana, even after kazua taught him for a few weeks, takemichi could only do so much.

he's beaten and bloody, but he still stood tall in front of tenjiku's leader with a fist raised in the air to signify that he's yet to lose.

after what feels like hours fighting against tenjiku, he finally came.

"i told you, i won't lose." he smirked. "president!"

what shocked both parties was the appearance of the tokyo manji gang's leader. wearing his red sash with pride, he enters the battlefield and eyed his awaited opponent.

"thanks, takemitchy." mikey says.

"you're kidding me!"

"are you for real?!"

"how?!"

"mikey?!"

"he's crazy! his girlfriend literally just died!" kokonoi, who now sided with tenjiku, could only stare wide-eyed at the advancing commander. "he's supposed to be moping in despair, right?! there's no way he could've come!"

mikey walked past both izana and kisaki. "let me talk to takemitchy for a bit."

he didn't pause for an answer and only continued to walk straight past them. as he reached the bloodied vice-captain, he gently pulled him close from the back of his head in a one-armed hug.

"so you came in the end..." takemitchy sighs in relief.

"thank you, takemitchy." mikey said. "someone's here to see you."

brrrr!

draken's motorbike stopped in front of toman's crowd, showing both emma and hina riding behind him. "you two can get off now." he says.

"it still happened." takemichi realized. "the reason why sada-san didn't stop me from telling hina...she planned all of this?!"

"i'm sorry, takemichi-kun." hina got off the bike and stood in front of him. "i got myself here."