𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒. s. manjirō ✓

十 reunion smiles.

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𝕮𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝕿𝐄𝐍
𝖗𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝖘𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬.

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IT HAD BEEN A FEW DAYS— weeks perhaps, since the unfortunate death of baji keisuke. and in those moment of solitary confinement in y/n's home, never has she ever left the thought of baji's words for her.

❚ "brainy girl, keep being the reason mikey is happy, okay?"

but she wasn't doing it.

y/n had no idea what was happening in the outside world right now, having no will to exit the house. rather, she refused to come out. she contemplated her future, the right choices, and if it was even a good idea being associated with a gang or not.

seriously, she could've ended all these with one call and a few numbers dialed to the locals like a good child, but she didn't. there was something that she enjoyed while being there. something that she didn't know.

yato was currently being punished by his father, who just came back from his business trip. so he couldn't update his sister or anything or anyone at all, including mikey, whom she was most worried about.

her deep thinking was interrupted when someone knocked on the door. y/n stared at it, feeling a familiar and warm presence behind the door before saying a soft "come in." the door opened to be met by yato himself, with a soft smile on his face.

"yo. how are you?"

the girl scanned her brother from head to toe, face twisting into worry. yato had light bruises all over his body, patches and plasters covering some of the serious ones. his long hair was let lose, messy, but the natural silkiness was still around.

"onii-san! what happened to you?!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet, wobbling in the process and ran to inspect her brother. "why are you so… beat up..?" she gently touched a bruise which caused him to wince in pain. "ah ah, not there, little one."

she backed up, "sorry. are you okay?"

"yes, i'm alright. just a few scratches that's all," he scratched his neck in awkwardness of having his younger sister worried about him. "i was in the military for two weeks. my punishment is to complete full soldier training. completed it quicker than any average military officer could."

y/n's expression of worry dropped once she heard yato's words, her stoicism reclaiming. "so you're telling me, you're basically qualified to be a military member now…?"

"mhm! ain't that cool?! dad gave me a choice of military training or taking over his company. of course i chose the manly choice," yato rubbed his nose proudly, a cheeky grin across his face.

a sweat dripped from the girl's forehead, not knowing what to say at her seventeen year old brother who basically completed a training even actual military officers take years to complete in just two weeks. now she knew her brother wasn't normal, and just a psycho at brute strength, despite looking frail.

"uhm.. congratulations."

"yea, thanks. how about you? how have you been doing?"

how has she been doing?

she didn't know how to answer that. because all she's been doing was sulk, contemplate, skipped school and meals, rejecting everyone's presence and the list goes on. y/n didn't even need to talk about how she has been doing before yato closed his eyes.

"i see. well, lucky for you, mikey is desperate to see you. so why not give life another chance to fulfill baji's request?"

ⵢ ₊ ˚ .

it was the next day after emma's birthday, and there the h/c-haired girl was, finally meeting with the blond-haired boy back in her old comfort place; the pastry shop.

it was awkward, sure, not being around each other for an amount of time could drift them apart. but slowly, with enough patience and time, the two eventually got comfortable with each other's presence.

"brainy-chan, are you okay?" mikey asked, noticing her sudden discomfort.

she shook her head, resting her chins on her palm. she wasn't going to tell him she just had flashbacks of baji's words yet again. "yes i am," she murmured softly, looking outside the busy streets, "are you though?"

time had seemed to stop all around him.

what kind of question is that? after all this time of reassurance, she comes up with a difficult question that seeks to devour any and all answers. unable for him to find the right words that would bounce off of his tongue smoothly.

that was a trick question she had been wanting to ask him ever since things around the tokyo manji gang started getting out of hand, involving bloodshed, and for her to feel this way. she knew the leader of the gang would be the one carrying the most burden for his men.

therefore, she patiently waited, eyes still watching the cars pass by and citizens walking to and back. "you can tell me your problems. i'm a good listener."

he stared at her, fingers gripping and clutching tightly to the cup of hot chocolate he held. not even bothering to express his happiness that the girl he had a crush on actually cares for him, he started off slowly. and soon, he felt a heavy weight being lifted from his soul the moment y/n thanked him with a smile.

a genuine smile.

mikey felt a blush creep up his cheeks, seeing the magical sight of the ice queen breaking one of her icebergs just to give him reassurance. he felt as if he needed to protect her at all costs after seeing her smile.

oh, how he loved her smile so much.

"keep smiling, i love it," a grin surfaced, all worries, depression and all the troubles he had before were destroyed now. mikey felt free and light while being with the girl he had fallen in love with.

she was truly his reason for being happy.

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a/n: happy birthday mikey 😻