you & i would be nice

soaked in moonlight

manjiro had it all. he has a wonderful husband named ken ryuguji, finally found himself as a person and his siblings and friends are alive & well. what more could he ask for?

what he (unfortunately) doesn't know, is that in takemichi's eyes— he's still suffering.

ridiculous. as if, right? manjiro is actually happy for once! why should he be sad inside? what does he even have to be sad about?

exactly. nothing.

"loved by everyone" is what takemichi would say about mikey; because it's simply true. mikey is loved & to be treasured, there's no doubt about that. draken swore to protect and stay by manjiro's side until death does them part, and if draken promises himself something he's determined to keep that promise.

their lives have been great, fantastic even. both of them live a happy life together since they've been married to each other, they trust each other, and most importantly— love each other.

but not everything can stay like this forever.

because mikey really, really wishes he never met takemichi hanagaki.

you see, mikey and takemichi had some sort of history. a history none of them both could just easily forget or "shrug off", because it'll always be in the back of their heads. so, what is stopping them to talk about that history and finally let things go back to normal?

they're both married.

who in their right mind should even talk about something so silly that was 12 years ago? plus points if they're married!

takemichi and hina have a great life together too. hinata has been talking about wanting kids, and takemichi would be ready for that. the two are inseparable, happy and finally live a normal life.

so why can't he let go of manjiro?

the truth is, takemichi can't stand seeing what's supposed to be his just getting taken away from him. and that "thing" that's supposed to belong to him is manjiro.

what's even worse is that ever since he and hinata have been married, he feels somewhat... weird. he thought he was finally happy, he thought he would forever love her until the very end, but he's been letting himself believe those lies for the sake of finally moving on. he has been pretending to feel "complete" and "free", but most importantly, "happy".

and takemichi just knows that deep down, manjiro is suffering. he's suffering. he knows that. he feels trapped. and he wants to get him out of that terrible situation.

and that's when he realizes— he's in love with manjiro sano.

he wants to make him his.

"but what about what mikey wants?"

"what about draken?"

"what about hina?"

takemichi is a selfish man. those are questions that won't even cross his mind.

if he sets himself a goal, he's ready to reach for it. and takemichi hanagaki always wins.

manjiro is careless, even as an adult— he's still careless enough to believe takemichi isn't in love with him anymore. well, wouldn't anyone else believe that as well? it's called having senses, and mikey certainly has them. but that doesn't change the fact that he's still careless.