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Sometimes Anri is so quiet that they don’t include her in their conversations. They don’t mean to, but as nervous as she gets when they ask her direct questions, sometimes it’s kinder not to bother her, and to just let her do her own thing and let her look about the city at her leisure.
“I wonder though, how it must have felt Mikado.” Masaomi mused. He has his hands behind his head as he walks, looking ridiculously relaxed.
“To get stabbed?” Mikado laughs, “It wasn’t fun.” He just got cleared to leave the hospital fairly recently. His parents hadn’t wanted to leave him, but he had insisted. He knew Anri and Masaomi would take care of him.
“I mean to get injured seriously at all. Other than my head injury awhile back, I really haven’t been seriously injured, really ever. Like what does it feel like to get stabbed or have a lot of bones broken?”
He’s referring to when he confronted his old gang, and discovered they weren’t his crew anymore. Mikado’s not sure why his friend isn’t counting getting hit in the head with a flying crowbar as a ‘serious injury’ but it’s no use arguing with a musing Masaomi.
“Don’t be so morbid. If you talk like that, you’ll jinx all of us.” Mikado says lightly instead.
“Still, I always have a pretty girl to comfort me if I do get hurt again.” The former leader of the Yellow Scarves sighs, happily. “Saki is so dreamy! You have to make a move on this fine chika, so you know what it’s like!”
Anri and Mikado both exclaim loudly. They aren’t really dating, but they both like each other, and they both know it.
“C’mon! You can’t just say stuff like that, it’s embarrassing!” Mikado argues, rather heatedly.
“You’re never going to know what kissing a girl feels like until you give it a shot!”
“Masaomi!!” Anri scolds. Her cheeks feel really hot.
“Listen, there’s a crepe truck over there. I say we get some. What do you want Anri?” Masaomi offers boldly, “my treat!”
It’s interesting that he offers her a free treat, but not Mikado, but they both know the offer is more friendly than flirtatious. Supposedly.
“Um… I’m not sure.” Anri stammers. “But I think I should be getting home now.” She takes off at a decent speed.
“Great!” Mikado grumbles, “you scared her away with your nonsense.”
“Go after her then. Cheer her up!” Masaomi says seriously. It dawns on Mikado that this was probably his friends reason for teasing them all along, to further the cause of pushing them together.
He takes off after her, feeling a little irritated at his scheming friend.
He makes it seem like he’s a jokester, but he always has a motive.
Anri is a few blocks away by the time he finds her. She’s sitting at a bench playing with her phone.
“So… not going home then?” he asks pointedly.
“Oh! Well, I…” She looks like a deer in the headlights.
“I’m sorry he made you uncomfortable.” Mikado says. He sits down beside her. She softens a bit at his words, but doesn’t fully relax.
“It’s okay, Mikado. I just… don’t know if I’m ready for things to change.”
These words are hard, because they don’t feel like a yes, or a no.
“I know it’s scary. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way. But you don’t always volunteer your thoughts or feelings. It’s hard for you to do so, right?”
She nods, “I’m not used to this sort of thing. Having friends, or potentially more. Talking about my life feels so… intimate.”
Mikado tries not to blush at her choice of wording.
“How about we start small? Tell me a few things we don’t know about you. I promise not to get upset at anything.”
Anri doesn’t say anything. She looks at her feet. A minute passes. Then another one. At about 5 or 6 minutes he’s starting to wonder if maybe he should just leave.
“I…” She finally starts, “I know what it’s like to be seriously injured. I’ve been beaten up before.”
His relief at her finally speaking pops violently like a bubble as anger starts to boil in his belly.
“Who?” He’ll kill them. He’ll reinstate the Dollars to bring them to justice.
“My parents came across Saika in their antiques shop, and my mom used it to kill them both after my dad attacked me. He did a lot of drugs, and became very aggressive.”
Good riddance is what Mikado thinks. Wait a second…
“Is that how you came to wield Saika?”
“Mhmm,” she confirms softly.
What can he say to that to ease her pain? Nothing really. Nothing he said would ever make that feel better. He feels helpless.
“I’m sorry. That must be really painful.”
It feels like it isn’t enough, but what else can he say? He would rather get stabbed a dozen more times than have anything like that ever happen to her ever again.
Another few minutes of awkward silence pass.
“I know what it’s like to kiss a girl.” Anri says quietly. Mikado chokes on his own spit. What a subject change! She looks at him and smiles mischievously.
“What?! So you’re…? Is that why you don’t want to date me?” Mikado exclaims, before cursing himself. Anri giggles and it’s so cute that he forgets his surprise.
“Mika Harima and I kissed once. It was fun. I think I like both. Girls and boys, I mean.”
“Wow! Well, good for you.” The image is totally in his head now, “Thanks for telling me. Don’t uh, worry I won’t tell anyone.” He finishes lamely.
She keeps smiling at him. He senses his opportunity.
“So… one last thing?” Mikado prompts,
“Yes?” Anri squeaks.
“What kind of crepe do you want from that truck? I know Masaomi told you he’d get you one, but it’s on me, okay?”
Anri blinks, a little bit of surprise on her face. She finally softens entirely, body relaxed and eyes bright as she stands up.
She loops her arm in his.
“I’m thinking maybe…. Cinnamon sugar?”
“What, you don’t want any fruit?”
“It’s more expensive with fruit.” Her arm is warm around his. He can feel his stitches tugging in his skin but he doesn’t care.
“You can get whatever you want. You can have anything.”
“But… Mikado!!”
“You can have anything.” He repeats firmly.
She really can.