House of Memories | Sano Manjiro "Mikey"

I

Looking back at the past years, you can't help but smile, the once happy memories only bringing tears of regret and sadness to your eyes, cheeks stained with the tears you've been shedding for the past minutes, lips trembling as you try to smile.

~~~~~

The summer's blazing heat beats down on you as you try your best to run away from Manjiro's tiny prying hands, your own holding tightly onto the taiyaki that you've only had the chance to bite onto once. It was unexpectedly scary for little you, having to run away from your shorter 5 year old best friend named Sano Manjiro who can kick you to sleep in a second if he really wanted. But alas, you had to protect your precious snack that Shinichiro graciously gave you after his trip to the grocery store.

"Just let me have one bite! You don't even like taiyaki, I'm the one who likes taiyaki more! I deserve to get at least 2 bites!" The short blond yells from behind you, eyes narrowing onto a glare for a split second before turning back to their original shape.

Shaking your head, you swerve to the right, heading straight to the garage where you knew Shinichiro was. "As if I'll ever believe you! You take one bite from my taiyaki and before I know it, you'll have the whole thing in your mouth!" You jump over the chair before hastily knocking on the garage door. Looking back, you see your friend closing in on you. Panicking, you bang on the door and scream for Shinichiro. "Shinichi-nii! 'Jiro's trying to steal my taiyaki! Help! Shinichi-nii!"

Taking another look back, you let out a surprised squeak when you see Manjiro only an arm's length away from you. Shuffling to the side, you hastily shove the taiyaki in your pocket.

Manjiro groans at your actions, stomping a little before charging at you. Huffing, you noticed the door to the garage slowly opening, the dark-haired male taking a peek before quirking an eyebrow at you once he noticed your predicament. With the little energy you had left from your earlier practice in the dojo, you sprinted towards the older male, slipping into the tiny crack of the door and up Shinichiro's thin body, your form quickly perching on top of his shoulders, with your hands gripping onto his hair, legs firmly pressed on his chest as you smirk down on Mikey who stomps at what you did.

Chuckling, you removed the taiyaki from your pocket, some crumbs falling to the floor as you tauntingly showed the delicious treat to your friend, "I win~"

Huffing, Manjiro pushes the door wide open before plopping himself on the couch, arms crossed as he glares at you and his brother,

"It's not fair. I just wanted 1 bite. You're so selfish. Hmph." He looks away, cheeks puffing out as Shinichiro sighs. Back hunching a bit as he slowly makes his way to his bike, carefully sitting on the floor and putting his hands under your armpits in order to carefully remove you from his back.

"Manjiro, I already gave you your own taiyaki. I even gave you 3, just let Y/N have hers." Shinichiro tries to reason with the stubborn blond, but your friend wouldn't even look in your direction, only letting out a huff before hugging his legs. Defeated, Shinichiro just shrugs his shoulders before turning back to you who's peacefully munching on the taiyaki, finally not having to run around in order to protect said snack. "Say Y/N, mind if I have a bite?" The brunet gives you a small smile, waiting for your answer.

Nodding, you happily hand the snack over, not noticing how Manjiro's eyes widened at your betrayal. Chuckling, Shinichiro gently holds onto the fish-bread before biting the tail off. "Thank you~"

Humming, you skip over to the couch, next to the still sulking Manjiro who now glares at his older brother who only shrugged him off, going back to his bike. Turning his glare to you, he stares at you with slightly teary eyes before spouting out his next words.

"Let's break up, Y/N-chan."

"Eh?" You peer at Manjiro, before looking down on your half-eaten bread. "Break up? You want to break me?" Still confused, you look at Shinichiro who started watching the two of you ever since Manjiro's earlier words.

"Is he gonna kick me, Shinichi-nii?"

The older Sano chuckled at that before shaking his head at you, assuring you that his younger brother will not, in fact, kick you because you didn't share your taiyaki. (He actually would if you weren't his best friend.)

"Where'd you hear that from?" Shinichiro questioned, eyes following his younger brother who's slowly coming out of his balled up form and shuffling closer to you who finally decided that you'll trust him once and let him take a bite.

Taking one huge bite out of the bottom part of the bread where the tail used to be, Manjiro quickly swallows the food before facing his brother, a glare now replacing the soft look that he was giving you earlier. "I heard it from one of the movies that you and your friends watched the other night. I think Takeomi and Wakasa were there."

"Oh, long hair and mr. sleepy. I like mr. sleepy. A lot." You add, munching on the last bits of the taiyaki before wiping your hands on Manjiro's arm who silently started licking it. Scrunching your face at the sight, you immediately took the hem of his shirt and wiped the saliva off of his arm. "You're ew."

You see him roll his eyes at what you said before leaning his head on your shoulder, eyes still trained towards his older brother who could only sigh at both of you.

"They're older than you two, at least try to call them by their names. And you're not allowed to have a crush on Wakasa." He directs the last part to you but you can only shrug your shoulders.

"Can't help it, he gives me snacks every time he sees me." Manjiro rolls his eyes beside you, clearly not liking your little crush on his brother's friend. "The best I can do is call them Omi-nii and Waka-nii. Take it or leave it." You bargained, arms crossed while ignoring Manjiro's excessive tugging on your hand.

"I'll just call them #1 and #2." Manjiro butts in, only making Shinichiro sigh.

Shaking his head, he opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when his phone started ringing. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he looked at the caller idea before immediately answering. Signaling for the two of you to quiet down, he puts the phone to his ear, nodding along to whatever the person was saying on the other side. "Alright, I'll be there soon." Putting his phone back in his pocket, he went to his closet and removed his clean white shirt only to replace it with a worn out looking black shirt, "Hey, I'll be out for a bit, boss called and told me he needs me at the shop, can you two tell grandpa? I'll be home by 6. If Takeomi or Wakasa comes over, please call them by their names and not some weird nicknames. Also, remember to thank Wakasa if he gives you any snacks, okay?"

Nodding, you stand up from the couch, forcing Manjiro to stand up as well as you wave Shinichiro out of his garage room. Once he's out of sight, you turn to Manjiro who happens to be a few feet away from you, an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"The first one to tell grandpa gets to have the last ice cream in the fridge!" Manjiro takes off running as soon as he yells out the last words.

"Not fair!" You yell out, running after him.