"Don't leave me
Tora."
Suddenly, you felt hands. Strong hands, picking you up. Someone threw you over their shoulder and began carrying you away.
'The police?
The police got me?'
Your mind went into the mode of an elementary school kid, carried away from a bleeding body by the police.
Your dad's body.
Out of instinct, or perhaps out of habit, you began kicking around, punching the person's back. After one more kick, a familiar groan snapped you back into reality.
"Fuck!"
"Huh?"
"Y/N! Snap out of it, goddamnit!
Jesus, fuck!"
You blinked a few times, regaining control over your sight and overall focus. You noticed you were on someone's back, running out of the warehouse, and something pink waving next to your head. Actually, it was in your mouth too, and it tickled your nose.
You reached your hand to your face, pulling away whatever the pink stuff was. When you got a better look at it, your eyebrows furrowed.
'Hair? Pink... Hair?'
Your eyes widened in realization.
"Sanzu?"
"Yeah!
Draken didn't have a third arm to drag Mikey, Peh AND you. So I take it upon myself to make sure the cops don't get you, and what do I get for it?
That's right! Kicked in the balls!"
You barely listened to his cis guy problems, you were more worried about your tickling face.
"Eeeewww!
I have you in my mouth!"
You whined, rubbing your lips with the back of your hand in an attempt to remove his long hair from your face. Your words caught him off guard, his ranting finally coming to a stop.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Y/N."
Your eyes widened because of the lack of a facemask on your face. You started feeling your face, letting out a sigh once you found your mask is hanging from one of your ears. You ripped the mask off of your face and kept it in your hand until you had the chance to hide it in your pocket.
"I'm sorry! But you can't really complain since it's kinda your job now. Your own decision."
You fake-scolded the boy, making him go rather silent again.
"Looks like you're real' talkative when you're annoyed."
You pointed out Sanzu's behavior. It's been a while since you two spent time together a lot, naturally he must've changed in some ways during that time, especially since he was working under Mucho.
"Maybe I am."
Sanzu answered shortly. You groaned while still carried by him.
"Don't get all offended, Harucchi~ I'm sorry for kicking you."
"Mhmm~"
He only hummed in response, as if he was contemplating whether you should be forgiven.
"And you should talk more. I like it.
'Talk more, punch less' will be our Divison's new policy."
You thought out loud. Despite acting annoyed, a smile was hiding underneath Sanzu's mask.
"I hate that policy already."
You inhaled to protest, but him putting you down suddenly kept you from doing anything at all.
"Get on your bike before the cop bastards get here. Are you feelin' okay enough to drive?"
"Yes, dad."
You chirped as you hopped onto your Magna, his bike was standing near yours. You looked at him one more time, meeting his narrow gaze, the electric blue of his eyes piercing you judgingly.
Before either of you could say anything else, a distant yell caught your attention.
"You there! Wait! This is the Police!"
A rather chubby male in a blue uniform appeared in the end of the alley, running towards you as he waved his baton in the air. You turned to look at Sanzu who just winked your way.
"No, I don't think we will."
Sanzu said as both of you started your motorcycles, taking off with a loud roar of your engines in harmony. Once any police officer was out of sight, you synced your speed so your bikes were next to each other on the road.
When your eyes met, you started to laugh upon remembering the running policeman. Sanzu just remained looking at you when he revved his bike, letting out a loud
"Woooohoooo~"
as he gained even more speed. You didn't let him be ahead for long as you followed his actions, just like two kids on bicycles. With the small difference that you were two teenagers on motorbikes, racing each other in the middle of traffic as if you didn't just got away from one policeman already.
The two of you rode through the streets for quite a while. The way Sanzu effortlesly pushed you into thinking about what would be a dumber, more reckless thing to do than he did only moments ago like in a game of dare, despite Mikey's direct orders not to get into trouble, made you forget about the terrific event that took place only a while ago.
You haven't even got the chance to fully process that Pah-chin got arrested because of your episode in the warehouse. All on your mind right now was outdriving Sanzu between the cars, your brain full of adrenaline and excitement.
You were riding next to each other, much slower now. You were near your house, but you didn't feel like going home just yet. You turned to look at Sanzu. His hair was waving over his shoulders and just above his back, it's pink color matching the tint of the sky behind him, as the sun was soon to begin to set.
He looked at you, meeting your eyes that lied on him for a minute now. The way his eyes narrowed told you he was either grinning or smiling at you. It was a normal thing between you two to read expressions just based off one's eyes.
"Follow me."
You ordered before you took a turn that lead to a bridge, going over the river, your favorite to observe. There was a sidewalk on the bridge, you parked your bike just on the edge of the road right next to it. You got off your bike and walked over to the railing.
Soon enough, Sanzu caught up and left his bike behind yours, proceeding to walk over to you as you stared off into the sparkles on the water's surface as the sun that was seemingly very close to sinking into the river spilled it's colors, letting the sky gain shades of orange and pink.
You heard shuffling of clothes from next to you. When you took your eyes off of the sight in front of you and turned your gaze to your side, your eyes landed upon Sanzu pulling a small box out of his pocket.
"Never had you for the type to smoke."
You turned around, letting your back lean over the metal railing slightly, your elbows resting on the cold surface by your sides. Sanzu let the cigarette he pulled out of the box hang from his lips as he put the box back into his pocket, looking for something else.
"Only when I'm stressed."
The boy uttered casually as he felt his sides for the possible content of his pant's pockets.
"I never saw you smoke."
"Well, it's kinda hard to do during 'work hours' with a mask on..."
His hands traveled onto his back pockets. When he found they were empty as well his eyes met the sky with a melodic
"Hnmm~..."
as he pondered. You watched as his brain tried to process the missing object, finding his characterictic gestures you had the chance to observe adorable in a way.
His gaze fell from void of the sky above him down onto you, with a simple question on mind.
"Do you perhaps have a..."
Without him even finishing his sentce, you already pulled out your [color] lighter from your hoodies pocket, holding it almost uncomfortably close to his face.
"...that."
Sanzu finished his sentence just for the sake of finishing it. He leaned forward so the cigarette hanging from his lips hovered right above the lighter in your hand as he waited for fire, only for nothing to come. His puppy-like eyes looked up into yours from his nearly bowing stance.
"Please?~"
He dragged out his word coated with a sweet tone. Finally, you let him have a bit of your fire as you teased.
"Smokeeer... and a dumb one."
The boy inhaled through his cigarette, drawing the fire to light his cigarrette faster. Proceeding to straighten up his posture, he let out a deep exhale, forming a cloud of smoke in front of his scarred face.
"You smoke?"
The pink-head asked curiously as you observed the lighter in your hands.
"Nah. Never have."
He raised a brow at your answer.
"Why carry a lighter then?"
Sanzu asked again, drawing on the rolled up paper between his fingers once more.
"In case Baji goes ape shit and needs a lighter for arson..."
You answered as you imagined Keisuke dancing around a car in flames caveman style. The thought amused yet weirded you out so you just proceeded to put the lighter back into your pocket in silence.
Sanzu nodded at your answer, bouncing his head side to side as if there was music playing inside his head that he could vibe to.
While your hand was still in your pocket, you grabbed another object, your phone, and pulled it out. There was multiple messages from different people. Your eyebrows furrowed as you went through them.
Sanzu observed your face as it got flooded by troubleness by the passing second. He let you look into your phone as he turned around to face the slowly setting sun, leaning over the railing supporting himself with his elbows.
You cursed the order you opened those in. You sneakily took a picture of Sanzu from the side, his bangs very conveniently covered majority of his face. You sent the photo as proof to your mom.
You sighed deeply as you turned around putting your phone away, your posture very similar to that one of your friend next to you. He looked at your face again before putting his hand closer to you, offering to share his cigarette.
"You seem stressed."
You looked at his hand and then at Sanzu, his blue orbs remaining on you. Averting your gaze, you spoke unimpressedly.
"No thanks."
"Why not?"
Sanzu chirped, retreating his hand.
"I don't wanna die by twenty."
"You're not gonna die."
Sanzu informed with too much certainty in his voice before inhaling through the devilish device. You snickered sarcastically, the way he seemed so sure about what he said almost offended you.
"And how can you know that?"
Sanzu's droopy eyes turned to look at you, his expression remaining completely unfazed.
"I won't let you."
Smoke spilling from his mouth along with his words caused his voice to sound rather hoarse, but didn't cause him to choke on his words like a beginner smoker would.
For some reason you remained with your glance pointed to him, his lightning-like blue eyes with light eyelashes acting like clouds staring back into yours. The silence was an invite for him to continue, or rather, it was a chance to clarify his reasoning, to prevent you from getting the wrong idea.
Or the correct idea?
Sanzu broke the eye-contact, a gesture very typical for his situation according self-proclaimed psychologists.
"You said it yourself. It's my job now. I brought it upon myself."
He extented his arm above the drop leading to the river snaking beneath the bridge; watching the content of his hand burn away, threatening to burn his own fingers in a matter of maybe few minutes.
You turned your own gaze away from him, perhaps a little disappointed. Maybe you were expecting something more to unravel from behind his words.
"I guess I did say that..."
You stepped back a little as you leaned onto the railing, allowing your head to rest on your crossed arms as you watched the sky with the setting sun.
Sanzu felt as though he inconvenienced himself by explaining himself a little too much, so he decided to make you explain yourself instead.
"So who's this 'Tora', hm?"
Your eyes widened slightly at the strange question.
"What the hell are you on about?"
Sanzu raised a brow at your reaction. He rolled his eyes to look away from you and shifted in his position.
"While you were trippin' balls in the warehouse you rambled what I assume is a name when I came to get you."
Sanzu was holding his cigaratte near his lips while talking in a rather grotesque tone. Perhaps he did feel a little bothered by the fact it wasn't his name you called out in danger.
It wasn't fair.
"Give it here."
You stole the cigarette from between his fingers and copied his actions from moments ago. His eyes grew wide in surprise, he was quite impressed. Once the smoke hit the back of your mouth, it started to burn through your entire throat.
You tried to hold in your caughing that threated to come out, causing tears to fill half of your vision. You gave up and started to choke loudly. Sanzu took the cigarette from your hand before you could drop it into the river bellow.
The pink-heaired boy awaited you to stop caughing, howeverhe couldn't help but feel a little bad for you. Placing his free hand onto your back, a faint smile creeped up his face.
"My, my..."
His hand moved in circles across your upper back, bringing you strange sense of comfort despite his usual lack of empathy. He chose to continue when you started breathing again.
"Well, you weren't talking about an actual 'tiger', I figured that much..."
Suddenly, the word clicked everything together. Boy with a tiger tattoo.
Hanemiya Kazutora.
"...your childhood friend?"
Sanzu mumbled to himself as you wiped the tears spilling down your face using your sleeves pulled over your hands.
"Congrats, Sherlock, you want a medal?"
Sanzu's eyebrows furrowed, he realized he probably said too much. That didn't kill the curiousity within him though. The same boy who has been in juvie for two years, he was the one on your mind? The murderer of Mikey's brother, a delinquent you admired just as much as Sanzu admired you.
If someone was to take your life in such way, Sanzu would never forgive them. In fact, he would never forgive himself for allowing it to happen, either. The best solution he could come up with in that situation would be a murder-suicide.
The sudden wind passing by the two of you knocked the cigarette out of Sanzu's hand in the moment of preoccupation. The boy put it out with one step on it, not paying it too much thought.
"Oi, you're zoning out."
Sanzu blinked rapidly when he realized your hand was waving only few inches away from his face.
"My apologies..."
"Don't sweat it."
You gave his cheek a few light pats before retreating your hand again.
"I suppose I'm just overthinking it..."
You started, causing Sanzu's eyes to widen in surprise slightly. He thought you were mad at him only seconds ago, but your sudden willingness to talk about it gave him back hope. Losing the place he finally felt like he belonged would be worse than dying.
"Hmm?"
He hummed, inviting you to continue.
"It's been two years since I saw my best friend, if I can even call him that. They could release him any time soon now... 'What is he like now? Who is he now?' I wonder...
But what really scares me is..."
"̶I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶M̶i̶k̶e̶y̶.̶.̶.̶"̶
Sanzu raised his eyebrows, eager to listen further.
"What is it?"
"It's... nothing.
Nothing."
You weren't ready to open up to just anybody, especially not Sanzu. Your concerns about Kazutora were similar to those about Sanzu. It's been a while since you two really had each other's back, how could you be sure he isn't loyal to Mucho? What if Sanzu coming back was one of Mucho's plots and you're going to get stabbed in the back?
"If you say so..."
Sanzu decided not to push you any further, you opening up at least a little bit was a sign you were starting to trust him again.
The two of you lost contact almost completely during his service under Mucho. He thought you would ruin his efforts of training Sanzu into his follower. He would often use Mikey's name and orders to keep you at a safe distance.
You felt a little curious yourself in this oppurtunity.
"Say, Sanzu, what is Mucho like as a captain?"
Sanzu tilted his head in thought as he watched the sky, remembering those days that ended with today.
"It's probably gonna disappoint you, boss, but you two aren't too different."
"Heeh? What do you mean?"
You smiled to yourself, fake offended.
"The day Mikey dragged me to you askin' if you're gonna handle me for him, you told him 'the only proper way to train a bad dog is by using rewards and punishments, guys like him are no different' or something like that"
"And after Mikey left, you told me 'What would a bitch like you know about that?'."
You interupted Sanzu with a sentimental smile. He only laughed awkwardly.
"Yeah. And I got my punishment for it. Deserved one at that.
You nearly punched my teeth out and then took me to get ice cream with you."
You choined his short laughter, smile not disappearing from your face. You could still recall those moments clear as day.
"Now, be a good boy and I'll even pay for yours. ♡ "
"You- you will...?!"
"I'm surprised you still remember that."
Sanzu smiled to himself at your honesty.
"How could I forget?
I think Mucho is using the same approach, or at least tries to. He would just beat me up if I got in trouble."
You frowned slightly as the boy spoke.
"But in reality, Mucho is soft, and weak.
When I got tired of getting beat up or lectured, all it took for him to let his guard down was to be all nice to him like the rest of his ass-kissing Division. I still hate half of those fuckers for betraying their actual Captain."
The spite in his eyes and his frown quite surprised you. Pleasantly, even. Maybe you really didn't have a reason to doubt his loyalty after all.
"Mucho ate all of it. So much he made me his right hand in no time.
You aren't like that.
People really gotta earn your trust.
Plus you can really read people. Unlike Mucho."
Sanzu went really quiet all of a sudden, causing you to turn your head to look at him. His face seemed troubled, his eyebrows furrowed and lips curved into the opposite of a smile.
"Y/N, I... I don't think he's loyal to Mikey...
That's also why I didn't like workin' for him."
The message of his words was no surprise to you.
"So you've got the same feeling from him, huh..."
Sanzu's eyes widened hearing your reaction, his gaze turned to you. You were smiling, staring off to the sky.
"Guess I taught you well."
You noted, stretching your back. Proceeding to turn around in your bike's direction, you patted the boy's shoulder.
"Thanks for savin' my ass today, Sanzu. It was nice having a chance to hang out again."
You passed by him and got onto your motorcycle seat. Before you rode off to rest at home like the others, you gave the boy one last close-eyed smile.
"Take care,
Vice-Captain ♡ "
A/N: Come get your food, my dear Sanzu simps! Almost 4K words for a chapter with no one else but our fav psycho
What do you think Sanzu souds like? If you have any guesses for his future VA, leave em in the comments! I'm thinking like, Okamoto Nobuhiko, perhaps? AKA the voice of Bakugo/Nishinoya/Karma/many others! I don't really want him to have too deep of a voice personally
I also hope he's not too much out of character in this story, he is the hardest character for me to write so far :')
ALSO, THANK YOU FOR OVER 20K READS AND 1K VOTES!
PS: I kinda want to write a oneshot chapter of how Y/N and Sanzu met hmmm