NIGHTMARE

chapter 46

As soon as I had heard Y/n talking to my grandfather through the earpiece, I had arranged our escape.

It was just a misfortune that gunfire had broken out before we had the chance to escape.

I gripped Y/N's hand within my own, her touch was comforting to me, it calmed my heart and stopped it from racing.

She was my foundation, and I needed her with me always.

"Mikey," she stopped at the top of the staircase and gripped my other hand within her own, staring into my eyes.

Her expression was soft and delicate, like an innocent puppy, or a small child who was still new to the world and all its hardships and pains.

"It'll be alright, I know it, we'll work through it together," she whispered in my ear, pulling me in close to her chest.

Her warmth spread through my body, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

She was home. She was my home.

"Don't lie to me Y/N," I whispered back hoarsely, "you can't see into the future. You don't know what's going to happen," I told her honestly.

She sighed and moved her hands around my back, comforting me.

"I'm not lying, I know you're smarter than they are, and I know you can analyze situations better than they can," she told me.

But how could she know? It had merely been a few months since we had met, and the two of us had only ever been on two major operations together.

"Y/N, you can't make that judgement," I whispered back, running my hands through her hair, enjoying the tactile feel of it.

"What do you need me to say, then? What do you need me to do?" she whispered back, vulnerable.

I stayed silent for a few moments before sighing and moving my head away, dropping my hands and breaking the hug, leaning against the door of the plane.

"Tell me what to say," she instructed, running a soft finger against the burn on my face, her eyes roaming around my body, trying to assess the injuries.

"I want you to tell me that if I lose it out there that you'll still love me, that you won't be scared of me and the monster that I am truly, that you'll understand me," I whispered, feeling like a little boy again, begging for people to love me and stay with me, complaining to my mother about my lack of friends and support.

She took my hands again and looked even deeper into my eyes, touching something deep down inside my soul and making it blossom into feelings of love and security.

"Sano Manjiro, I love you with everything that I am. I'll admit, and I have no shame in it, I thought you were the rudest, most egotistical piece of shit in the world when I first met you, and I hated you with everything that I was. But now," she sighed and looked up at the stars, "I wouldn't trade it for a thing because when the mask fell off, I fell in love with the man underneath the Bonten boss, and I know you can put on a scary face when you need to. But I will always look past that because I know that you're so much more than that," "I love you," I let out a weak smile, feeling slightly giddy inside, she was my everything.

"You two!" Our heads shot around inside the plane. Sanzu stood at the bar and raised his glass.

"When you finish having your little romantic chit-chat, some of us would like to survive the night and make it back to Italy," he smirked.

"I should really have dismissed him a while ago," I smiled down at the ground, Y/N shrugged.

"He's one of the few good men in this hellhole, let it go," she smiled toothlessly back up at me, wiping a string of fallen hair from her face.

She turned on her heels and padded inside the plane, I followed, knowing that we really did have to go before someone found us and opened fire.

"We've set course for Italy, again, should take around fourteen hours so strap yourselves in for the ride. I do recommend the wine, the Hachiouzi Nayuta's have good taste," Ran offered a slight smile before calling Y/N forward.

I relaxed and sat down, only now, noticing how much my burns stung from the blast in the hotel room.

I gritted my teeth and let out a low hiss in my pain, setting my crutches down beside me on the floor and closing my eyes.

Y/N's POV.

I walked slowly towards Ran, who pulled me into the next room of the plane, which just so happened to resemble a small and very basic lounge room.

Almost as if it had come out of a hotel room.

"What is it?" I inquired curiously; it wasn't often that Ran and I were engaging in private conversations without the presence of Mikey and Others.

"I," he sighed deeply, putting both hands on his hips, and staring aggressively up at the roof, "I just think you should be cautious with what you're getting yourself into," Was Ran giving me life advice right now?

"What are you talking about? What do you mean?" I questioned, shaking my head.

"I'm just saying that you should be careful. The Bonten is a dangerous business, and it's a very likely possibility that you could wind up dead in this fight," he told me.

"What am I doing that is making you worry?" I asked.

"I overheard you telling Mikey that it was going to be alright before, and I don't think you realize how dangerous this situation is. You don't know Mikey's family; they're monsters, and very skilled criminal men," he told me, turning around so that his back was towards me.

"I know that all organizations are dangerous," he wasn't telling me anything I didn't know.

"No, you don't," he told me, putting his hands over his head, and reefing at his shirt, pulling it over his head.

I gasped heavily at the sight.

His back was covered in raised scars and tortured skin.

I reached out a soft hand and ran my fingers down it; the bumps and messiness were almost unfathomable. 

It was as though he had been whipped.