𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - s. ᴍᴀɴᴊɪʀᴏ

𝟎𝟐𝟕: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

"There's this thing that's been bothering me..." Mikey says. "Sometimes... I don't know who I am. Like I become a different person."

"What do you mean by that?" You ask.

"Remember when I told you I wanted to kill Kazutora?" You nodded. "While the fight was going down, and I had him under me, my mind went blank. But my body kept going. Punching him as brutally as I could. I had no remorse for him. Until Takemitchy stopped me. And when I fought Taiju on Christmas, I felt it try to consume me again."

You look over at him, "Consume you?"

"The darkness," he replies, "There's this darkness in my heart that I can feel slowly growing."

"Why?" You ask. You felt the air feel tense. Like you should be afraid of what he was telling you. But you continued to stay next to him anyway.

"I don't know," he admits. Mikey sounded genuinely scared. "I thought that maybe I needed a guide. If someone knew how to control that part of me, maybe it would be less confusing."

You wondered if he was referring to Kisaki. Seeing that almost all the future timelines, the two have been seemingly close. "After meeting Takemitchy and how similar he is to Shinichiro, I thought maybe I needed him to guide me instead. Like big brother would," Mikey continued. "I still don't know what I need. My thoughts keep contradicting themselves. Like it's fighting with each other. I don't know which half of me is the real me."

Mikey seemed genuinely shaken. You can see his eyes twitching, holding back his tears. You never realized he was fighting an inner war with himself.

"I'm worried that... maybe this darkness will drive you away."

You scoot closer to him, leaning on his shoulder. "Remember when the two of us went to write on ema's?" Mikey replied that he did, wondering why you'd ask that out of the blue. "I wrote that I wished to remain by your side," you tell him.

"Why?" He asks. His voice sounded surprised, in disbelief that you would wish that. You smile, "I love you."

You lift your head off of him to look at him, but he was already looking at you. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes grew big. You realized what you just said. Even though Mikey was the one who got confessed to, you were the one blushing.

"You know!" You stutter, "Like a... Like a friend would! 'Cause I love my friends and-"

Mikey forcefully closes your lips with his fingers. "You seem to have a habit of falling, you know?" He suddenly says.

"Falling on your ass during our fight with Moebius. Falling on the ice. Falling in the church, even though you weren't the one who got hit. And even now, you fell on top of me."

You wondered where he was going with this. "You always seem to give an excuse for it," he adds. You tilt your head, "What do you mean?"

"Is it so wrong to admit you've fallen for me?"

You fell silent. Your dumbstruck expression seemed to lighten his mood as he began to chuckle.

"Well?" He leans closer, "Did you?" He grins teasingly. "No!" You deny, turning your head away. Mikey laughs.

"Hey," you start and Mikey turns his head to listen to you. "Thank you for telling me that."

"Hm?"

"About the darkness that you feel," you elaborate. "I think it's very brave of you to open up to me about it."

"You're brave too," he says, "Telling me you fell in love with me."

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT !" you deny and he laughs. "But seriously, I'm glad you told me. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must be, keeping that in."

Mikey sighs, leaning his head back on the couch. "If the leader is weakened, the rest of the team falls," he says, "Toman relies on me to guide them." You frown, "But who's going to guide you?" He shrugs.

You lay your head next to his, he turns to face you. "I'm not leaving you," you reassure him. He smiles a sad smile. "You will eventually..." You look at him pitifully. Mikey turns away from you, "Everyone I love seems to leave me. My parents, big brother, Baji..."

You lift your head up. You grab Mikey's face with both your hands, forcing him to do the same. His face was squished as you looked at him. "I'm not leaving you," you repeated, sternly. "I don't care if you believe me or not, I'm staying by you. I don't care if you're Toman's leader. Or the Invincible Mikey. Or that you're a martial arts prodigy. I see you for you."

"Manjiro, I love you for you."

Mikey's eyes begin to sparkle. Not just because they were watering, but as if there was light in his eyes. Like you gave him hope. He turns away quickly as he feels your hands loosen at the sides of his face. "You don't need to act tough around me," you say softly, "You're allowed to cry."

Before you could react, Mikey brings you into a tight hug. You can feel your shoulder get wet, as he buries his face in your neck. His breathing was muffled, but you could feel his chest jump up and down. You hold onto him as well. Letting him cry. You let him stay in between your arms as long as he needed. As long as he wanted.

It wasn't a guide that he needed. It was love. His darkness was just a void that kept growing. The more he lost, the more it grew. The more he suppressed it, the more it grew. Nothing can guide that darkness. Nothing can control it. It was empty. Starving. Needing something to fill that void. No amount of bloodshed or money can fill it. But love can. And love was all he needed. Wanted. He just hasn't realized it yet.

He loosens his grip around your body. You can feel him wiping his face behind you, so you wouldn't see his tears. As he lifts his head off you, you could see his eyes and nose were red, but you decided not to comment.

"Thank you," he says quietly. You smile, "Anytime."

"Don't tell anyone about this," he turns to you, his tone was oddly childish. You chuckle, promising you wouldn't.

"I wrote on my ema that I would protect everyone I hold dear," he suddenly says. "You told me yours, so I told you mine," he smiles.

You smile back at him, "I think you'll do just fine at that."

Mikey gets up and stretches, "Well..." He says awkwardly, not knowing what to do after confessing to you about everything, "Food?"

-

The both of you began to drive to your place. Mikey took you to a popular fast-food restaurant. He couldn't stop complaining about not getting the toy he wanted in his meal.

Finally, he stops at the front of your apartment. You get off the bike and thank him. "You can come over anytime, by the way," he says, "I'm sure Gramps wouldn't mind."

"Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't..." You reply, remember how the old man boasted about him as if he were advertising Mikey to be the perfect boyfriend.

Mikey waves over to come closer to him. He kept doing that until you were inches away. Mikey caresses the side of your face before pulling you in. Kissing you.

"I love you too."

Chapter twenty-seven, end.