HIS PRIDE ⇀ Manjiro Sano

Part 16

"Wait so you're telling me that ten different people offered to donate blood?" Akira asked, folding his arms over his chest as he looked to Asahi who nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Turns out, saving Draken makes you pretty popular in Toman." Asahi chuckled causing Akira to scoff and shake his head, mumbling an 'I didn't save him.'

"Shorty not been in here yet?" Asahi asked, sitting in one of the chairs in the hospital room causing Akira to shake his head, gnawing on his bottom lip. He hadn't seen nor heard from the boy since he'd heard him yell to him at the battle against Mobius.

"I mean, everyone else has come to see me- You, Mitsuya, and Baji basically take shifts living here with me. I just... I don't know what I did to Mikey." Akira mumbled causing Asahi to sigh, leaning forwards and placing his hand on the boy's leg.

"He'll come, Aki. I know it-" Asahi said before the room went silent, both boys somewhat retracting into themselves. It felt like a huge weight had laced the air in the room. There was something that needed to be talked about but had been avoided in the past week of Akira being in the hospital.

"No one touches Kota," Akira spoke, breaking the silence causing Asahi's heart to drop. He knew the boy would be stubborn in this desision Kota had been friends with Akira just as long as Asahi had been, his family let him stay under their roof, fed him, the two were brothers, just as Asahi and Akira were.

"Akira-" Asahi stated before he was cut off by Akira's head snapping to him, slight anger in his eyes. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to, Asahi knew what the look meant causing him to sigh.

"You didn't see yourself, Aki. When I found you in that alley... you looked dead already. blood was everywhere- your hair was covering your face. I can't get it out of my head, it's there every time I close my eyes. It was the worst feeling in the world and someone needs to pay for that, they just have to." Asahi spoke, folding his arms across his chest as he reminisced on the worst night of his life.

"I lost one best friend that night, I couldn't lose the other- we started at five and now we're at two. What a joke." Asahi sighed, rubbing his face as Akira looked down, silently agreeing with the boy.

"Kota will pay, I promise. I just- I need to find out why he did it." Akira spoke causing Asahi to nod, understanding where the boy was coming from.

"Oh, I'm not interrupting am I?" A new voice asked from the door dragging both boys attention to snap to it, Draken standing there. Akira smiled at the boy, happy that he was up and moving.

"Draken. No, no you're not. What's up?" Akira asked, Asahi standing up and going to help his friend who shrugged him off, telling him he was fine. The tall boy made his way to the foot of the bed, standing tall in front of the two boys.

"First of all, Asahi. If you hadn't found me in that parking lot when those shits tried to jump me, I would've been in a lot worse shape. Even if you only did take out a measly nine." Draken joked causing Asahi to nod and smile at his friend before the tattooed boy shifted his focus to Akira.

"That same night- me and Takemichi were dead. I was sure of it. Sure, Takemichi took out Kiyomasa and saved us in the first place, and I have thanked him for that. But there was no way we could've taken on four more guys." Draken spoke, looking at the boy who stared up at him, clenching his jaw at the memory.

"That night I saw something, I saw you rise from the dead and kick four guys asses when three minutes before that, you were unconscious and on the brink of death. I've never seen anyone do that. You'd been stabbed In a fatal spot and you'd lost more blood than me, yet you still looked untouchable when I could barely stand. I've never seen anything like it." Draken spoke making Akira's nose twitch, curious as to what the boy would say next.