𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - s. ᴍᴀɴᴊɪʀᴏ

𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲

After putting on his glasses, the man was just as surprised to see you. You bow immediately, telling him your name and informing him you were friends with his grandchildren. He then asked why you stayed back and why Emma left.

"Oh, Mikey's the one who invited me, so-"

"MANJIRO!!!" The old man yells, swinging the front door open. You didn't expect the man to have such energy at his age.

Mikey comes running out of a garage, "What?!"

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND, MANJIRO!!!"

"HUH?!"

-

"It's rude to just leave guests alone, you know!" Mikey's grandpa continues to scold him. The three of you were sitting at the dinner table.

"It's nice to finally meet Manjiro's girlfriend," the old man's voice finally softened after speaking with you. You look over to Mikey, who seemed to have zoned out. "Actually, sir..." You start, "I'm not his girlfriend."

The old man huffs, "Why not?"

What's that supposed to mean?!

"My grandson is a genius y'know!" The man shouts, getting up off his seat and puffing his chest. "He was the best student I had when I used to teach. Fastest learner. Manjiro even surpassed the older kids and continues to be stronger than everyone he faces!" He continues to brag.

Mikey urges his grandpa to take a seat and the old man does. "There's no better man, after all, he is my grandson!" He continues to boast.

"We're gonna go to my room now," Mikey finally speaks, even though he looked calm, he seemed to be embarrassed.

"AND DO WHAT?!" His grandpa yells again.

"Just hanging out..." Mikey groans, "Let's go, [Y/N]."

You thank Grandpa Sano for letting you stay before leaving the main house. You and Mikey walk to the garage. "This used to be where Shinichiro fixed his bike a lot, Ken-chin and I used to watch him. We never got tired of it!"

You walked in and it still had a garage feel to it. Mikey seemed to have left everything Shinichiro had in here the same. "You prefer to sleep in here than in the home?" You ask, Mikey nods. "It's more private," he says. "Plus, gramps' snores used to keep me up all night!" You noticed he had a superhero figure up on display.

He notices you look around, "That was a gift from my dad, he bought it after work one day."

"This too?" You Point at the model airplane. He tells you that one was from Shinichiro. "You keep everything people give you?" You ask the boy. He takes out the charm Baji left behind from one of the shelves, "Everything. I cherish everything given to me."

Mikey picks up a dirty towel, "Even this!" One of the ends looked brittle, you asked why that was. He proudly tells you that he kneads at that end, "I've had this towel my whole life!"

"I can tell..." You say, covering your nose. He puts it down and takes something out of a box, "I still have this, by the way." It was the photo booth photos the two of you took together.

You blushed, "I think that's the only photo we have together," you say. Mikey rummages through more boxes. "Aha!" He exclaims, taking out an old film camera. He opens it up, "It still has some film!"

You asked if it used to be Shinichiro's and he nodded. Mikey takes the camera to his eyes, facing the lenses to you, "Say cheese!"

"Huh?" You blurt out. He clicks the camera.

"HEY, I WASN'T READY!" You yell. The film prints and he tries to protect it from you. Mikey laughs, "You look so stupid!"

You try to grab the photo from him but he continues to protect it. One hand waving the photo around and the other trying to stop you from getting closer. While trying to retrieve the embarrassing photo, you tripped on the leg of the couch. Pushing Mikey down with you.

The blonde continues to laugh. You lift yourself up, realizing you were on top of him, you blush. You couldn't help but notice how beautiful he looked. His eyes scrunched, his blonde locks spread out on the couch and his mouth curved up, laughing. Even his laugh was attractive, contagious even. You couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Click.

"HUH?!" You snap out of your thoughts. Mikey waits for the photo to develop. "You snapped another photo of me?!" You say shocked.

"Huh?" Mikey exclaims in confusion, "I thought you smiled for this one."

You take the camera that was resting on his chest, "My turn!" You say, playfully. You snap a picture of him, feeling proud. You took the camera away from his face and he was grinning. "You wanted a photo of me that badly?"

"Shut up!" You lightly palmed his face. You set the photo and the camera down, lifting yourself off of him. Mikey stops you, holding you by the hips.

Why'd he stop me?

Your heart began to rapidly beat, as the two of you made eye contact. His eyes began to trail around your body.

Mikey quickly takes his hands off you. He shifts his body from under you, so you wouldn't be on top of him. "Sorry," he says, not looking at you.

The two of you fell silent for a bit, still holding onto the photos you took of each other. "How much film is left?" You spoke. Mikey said there were two more pictures you could take. "Shinichiro must've used that up, huh?" You ask and Mikey smiles.

"You might be surprised, but my big brother used to be the first-generation Black Dragons leader."

It was a surprise to you. Not the whole gang leader thing, but that it was Black Dragons specifically. Shinichiro, being the founder. "Didn't Toman form because of Black Dragons?" Mikey nods at your question, "How did Shinichiro feel about that?"

"He didn't care," he says, "We faced the ninth generation, so it was already out of his hands. He intended to leave the gang for me."

"And you didn't take it?" You were surprised when he shook his head, "At the time, I wasn't all that interested in it. But after our first brawl, my goal was to create a new era for delinquents!"

You asked what he meant, "A gang that's one for all and all for one," he quotes his late friend. "After the eighth generations Black Dragon's leader, almost all gangs in Tokyo became malicious."

That you already knew. That was what you assumed all gangs to be. Drugs, violence, assault, kidnapping. Toman was the first gang you saw who actually had morals.

You smiled at the blonde, "I think you're doing well at reaching it." Mikey laughs, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "You think so?" He asks insecurely, you nodded.

"Remember when you cried about not knowing who you were?" He suddenly asked. That day felt so long ago. You nodded.

"I relate to that actually."

Chapter twenty-six, end.