ai | s. manjiro & m. takashi

いち

AN: In the past setting, reader / Ai is 13. In the future setting, reader / Ai is 25. I will be following both the manga and the anime. If you spot anything unusual like Kokonoi riding a bike, please, just go with it.

Shiba Ai gracefully twirled around the center of the studio in her pink pointe shoes.

"That's it, Ai! Very good!"

Her dark ginger hair tied into a tight bun, pale skin as white paper, light and pink moisturized lips - the girl kept one foot planted on the floor, balancing herself as she demonstrated a pirouette.

"Fantastic! Turn off the music please!"

The melody of Gabriel Faure's Op 50 then stops from the audio. Ai plants her feet back on the ground, beads of sweat trickling down her skin. Turning her head to where the wall clock is placed, the time read as 7:45pm.

"Our Ai is so young yet so wonderful! If you continue to practice, practice and practice, you'll definitely find yourself at the Bolshoi Theatre!" Her instructor, Ms Yamazaki praises her, a soft and contented sigh followed after, her brown eyes looking at the young girl filled with many hopes for her.

"Though the rest of you are also good, you all should learn from her!" Ms Yamazaki raised her voice, looking at the older girls after saying those words. "Since I am in a fairly good mood, let's end today's session. Everyone is dismissed!"

All the girls, including Ai, bowed their head as Ms Yamazaki exited the space. But even though she left, the target of attention is still directed towards Ai.

"She's so annoying"

"She probably got into this school by connections"

"I really hate fakes like her"

Even though Ai is still in the studio, she could hear them talking about her. Was it her fault that she really loved ballet? Was it her fault that the first time she found a group of girls wearing pink tutu's and pointe shoes, dancing gracefully inside a studio, she wanted to be like them too?

"Hey" said an older girl as she purposefully bumped her shoulder against Ai's. "Stop being a try hard, okay? You're making all of us look bad!" She said, eyeing her up and down. "Pretentious bitch" she muttered before leaving the room.

One by one, all of them left until it was only Ai who remained. Sighing to herself, she slipped out of her tights and leotards and into her school uniform, removing the ribbons of her pointe shoes, soothing her aching feet before putting on her white socks and a pair of comfortable rubber shoes after.

Slipping the straps of her backpack around her shoulders, the sound of her notification alarm blared all over the studio, making her jump slightly in her spot. Opening her flip phone, she received a text message from her older brother.

To: Ai
From: Taiju

Got you ramen takeout for dinner. I'll be heading out. pm 8:00

Holding onto her phone, Ai left the studio and kept walking until she reached the clear doors of the building where two boys - one with sunflower blond hair and a scar on the side of his face and the other with dark, raven hair, tongue sticking out as he caught sight of Ai.

"You guys didn't have to wait for me. My brother must be looking for you two." Ai says, walking over to them.

"But your brother's the one who sent us here. Can't deny boss' orders." The boy with dark, raven hair - Hajime Kokonoi says.

The boy with sunflower blond hair  - Seishu Inui, handed his spare helmet to her. "You'll be riding with me." He plainly spoke. As his eyes darted down to her legs, noticing that she's wearing a skirt, he removed his gang jacket uniform and wrapped it around her.

"Shooting your shot already, Inupi?" Kokonoi teases, grinning at him.

"Dumbass. I'm only protecting boss' sibling." Inui reasons, holding Ai's hand as he helps her get into his bike before the three of them left her ballet school building.

The relationship of Inui, Ai and Kokonoi were much more than what the eye can only see. She knew the two of them even from before and have considered them as her best friends. Apart from ranting about her chaotic home life, academic and ballet school stress to her older sister Yuzuha, she would also vent out to them.

The reason how it came to that? It all happened when Taiju once brought Ai to a Black Dragon's gang meeting in their hideout. Though it was a terrible idea as he beat up a couple of his men for staring at Ai's legs far too long, he could only trust Kokonoi and Inui to protect her after that night.

And from that moment on, whenever Taiju couldn't pick her up, he would send the two of them to her. The three of them spending after school activities together - going to the arcades, taking photos at the photo booths (which always lead to Kokonoi and Ai arguing over which picture to get) and relaxing at cafes together. She is Taiju's favorite sibling after all. As the youngest among the Shiba siblings, Ai received a lot of preferential treatment from him alone. Though she is the favorite, Ai came to a point where she would abuse the favoritism by running around his back since Taiju was almost never home.

Whenever Taiju would "discipline" Yuzuha or Hakkai, Ai would just simply put herself in between them and the situation, blaming herself for something that she didn't do. And then Taiju would just tell her "Don't do that next time" in a soft voice while patting her head, leaving the living room to his shut himself inside his room.

As they arrived in front of her house, Inui was the first to step out of his bike to help Ai hopping off, removing his gang jacket off her waist and handing it back to him.

"It was nice seeing you two. Thank you for bringing me home safely too. Take care on your way." She says, waving her hand at them.

"Don't be too sad, little Ai. We might just come and pick you up tomorrow as well." Kokonoi says. And with that, the two of them rode off into the night. As Ai entered the house, she was first greeted by Yuzuha sitting in the living room, playing video games.

"You're home early" Yuzuha says, looking at her while removing one headphone off her ear.

"Got dismissed early. I'm dead tired." Ai whines, removing her backpack off before plopping down onto the couch. After doing so, she felt a hand slapping her butt.

"Go wash up first, Ai. I'll re heat your food." Yuzuha tapped her shoulder multiple times before getting on her feet, walking over to the kitchen.

"Where's Hakkai?" Ai asks, lifting her head up from the couch

"He already left!" Yuzuha called, the sound of the microwave beeping followed after.

Groaning and sighing to herself, Ai got off the couch, took her backpack in her hand as she makes her way to her bedroom. Stripping off her school uniform, she dumped her training clothes and uniform onto the dirty laundry bag. Stepping inside the bathroom, she took one quick, cold shower. When she was done, she slipped into her home clothes, took out her notes from her bag to review in the dining table while eating late dinner.

After that, Ai brushed her teeth and immediately went to sleep.