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Mikey had always had a bit of a soft spot for Hanagaki Takemichi. Whether it was when they first met and he fell on his ass in front of him or now as they stood across from each other, about to fight to the death.
Manjiro didn’t want to do this. He was normally completely fine with pummeling people, but Takemichi was a whole different case entirely. “You… You’ll die for sure.” The last thing Manjiro wanted was for Takemichi to die, but he wasn’t 100% in control of himself. When he went to kick Takemichi, his attack was blocked. Blue eyes were staring at him with more determination than Mikey had ever experienced in his life. “He blocked it?” Since when did Takemichi have the skill to block one of his kicks?
Takemichi mumbled something like, “Just as I thought… It happens immediately.”
Manjiro’s head was spinning. All he wanted was for this to be over. He’d seen it before, he knew how this would ultimately play out… But he didn’t remember Takemichi ever being able to do that.
“It’s time to counter this,” Takemichi mumbled again. Manjiro Sano has experienced many different forms of Takemichi Hanagaki… This one he hadn’t ever seen before. There was a fire burning in his eyes, as if he was trying to burn holes into Mikey’s soul.
“Bring it on, Mikey!” Mikey hated it. He hated being weak, he hated showing weakness. Before he could think any further his foot was moving right at Takemichi. At this point, Mikey could fight with little to no thought. It was like muscle memory.
Mikey used a backwards kick, hoping to get a good hit in- except Takemichi saw through that too. He dodged this too?
Why is this happening?! He’s not even that fast, so how is he able to dodge me?! When Mikey went to kick him again, Takemichi moved before Mikey even began to kick. He wasn’t reading his moves at that moment. He’s dodging before I could even move?!
“Could it be?“ Manjiro felt something in his chest. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was almost calming, like the blue sea he saw so clearly in Takemichi’s eyes. “… That you know my movements?!… Can you predict the future?”
Takemichi didn’t respond to that beyond a small bristle of a movement. He looked exhausted, breathing very heavily. Manjiro felt an ache in his heart as he saw Takemichi continue to fight him, for him. Takemichi continued to completely outdo every expectation Mikey had of him.
Takemichi contradicted everything Mikey stood for. He wasn’t that strong or fast, but his mental fortitude made up for it tenfold. Mikey had always seen weakness as a problem, a hindrance, something that would hurt him, but Takemichi used his weakness as a strength.
For the longest time Mikey felt like he had to be strong. He felt as though everyone's lives depended on him being indestructible- a force that no one could take on. No one is invincible- so why did Manjiro let himself pretend to be for so long?
Maybe it was useless to continue to fight. Takemichi was going to predict all of his moves anyway. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe it was time to just rest. Manjiro was so tired. He was tired of being the invincible one. He was tired of being put up on some pedestal. He was just so exhausted and it would be so easy to just end it here.
“Here it goes!” Takemichi’s words got Mikey’s attention, but it was too late to dodge when Takemichi sent a punch his way. It slammed him forward and onto the ground and rather than moving for a second he just laid there in pure shock. It hurt.
Mikey on many occasions let others hurt him as a type of punishment. He felt like he deserved pain. He felt like it would help him feel less numb. Except when you aren't looking to be punched, when you aren’t expecting to be punched it's a whole different experience.
A part of him was almost proud. The Takemichi he’d met years ago couldn’t have landed this type of punch on him. The Takemichi he’d fought with before couldn’t either. Out of all the iterations of Takemichi Hanagaki, none of them were as stubborn, pigheaded and determined to save him .
When Manjiro turned himself on his back, the sky was beautiful. It’d been a long time since he just laid there, looking at the sky. This was the first time someone else had overpowered him like this. Maybe there was a chance of a good future.
Takemichi straddled Mikey before any more words could be exchanged. “I’m going to save you!” He lightly punched Mikey’s chest- like he was banging on a door, “I don’t care what you have to say, I told future you I’d save you, so that's what I’m going to do!”
Manjiro felt a twist in his chest, like someone was grabbing his heart and squeezing it. He hadn’t experienced this future Takemichi was talking about, but the idea of someone going so far as to go back in time to save him… There was a battle going on in Manjiro’s head.
Would it be weak of him just to give in and take Takemichi’s help? He’d never needed help before and he didn’t particularly like asking for it. Sometimes when he was stressed, he felt like a bottle that had been shaken up, and with one movement could explode all over the place.
As Mikey was about to push him off, he felt tears landing on his face. “Manjiro-”
It made Mikey freeze. Takemitchy was crying for him? Why? What was so special about him that made Takemitchy want to keep him around. Mikey would never understand it. Takemitchy didn’t want him for his strength either. Takemichi just saw him as Manjiro and didn’t care how strong he was.
Maybe that’s why he loved Takemichi Hanagaki.
Maybe that’s why he decided to give in.
“Takemitchy,” Takemichi froze at Mikey interrupting his mumbling, “ Okay .”
“What?” Takemichi looked like hell as he spoke. Mikey felt a wave of guilt as he actually assessed the person on top of him. There was both blood and tears falling onto him.
“I said okay,” Manjiro repeated, before taking a second, “Please, help me Takemitchy.”
The blond’s face lit up momentarily, before he got serious again. “Really?” Takemichi asked, putting a hand on the ground near his head and using it to stay propped up as he got closer to Manjiro’s face.
“Yes,” Manjiro took a breath. He was tired, he was lonely, and most of all being around Takemichi felt like bathing in the sun. He’d been in the dark far too long for the exposure he was getting right now to feel anything but overwhelming and uncomfortable.
There was a static in the air between them and a spark somewhere in Takemichi’s eyes. “Good,” Takemichi replied, slowly leaning down, causing Mikey’s breath to hitch. He fell onto Mikey’s chest, “I’m just gonna rest right here so you can’t leave-“
Takemichi’s words came out woosy, he definitely needed medical attention. “Call an ambulance!” Mikey yelled to the peanut gallery of Toman and Kanto members.
After things stabilized again years went by in a flash. There was no normal to return to for Manjiro Sano, so he had to find a place he belonged, find home somewhere. Everyday Manjiro continued tearing down the label of invincible, mostly the label he forced upon himself . It wasn’t an easy journey and sometimes he really felt like he should just put the mask back on; become ‘The Invincible Mikey’ again. Sometimes it felt like that would be easier than trying to let himself be vulnerable. “Manjiro?”
Manjiro looked over to Takemitchy standing at the door. They were living together now in a run down apartment near the city. Takemitchy would always make him coffee in the morning, sit and hold his hand if he had a nightmare. He did the little things that actually mattered at the end of the day.
Takemitchy smiled fondly holding up a phone, “Want to order in and watch a movie?”
“Depends,” Manjiro joked, standing up and walking over to him. The world was cruel and somehow he was still shorter than Takemitchy. He got close to Takemitchy’s shoulder to speak into his ear, “What movie are we watching?”
“Whatever you want to watch I’m fine with,” Takemitchy grinned back, his face turning slightly pink.
“Let’s watch something scary then,” Manjiro giggled. He knew Takemitchy wouldn’t like watching something scary, but Manjiro really wanted to see his reaction to it.
It almost seemed like Takemitchy was going to protest, but instead he replied with a small, “Okay…”
They ended up on the couch, Manjiro falling asleep against Takemitchy’s chest as loud jump scares played in the background. This type of thing didn’t scare Mikey. He was fine with jump scares, fine with gore- the one thing that actually bothered him was the thought of losing people. Especially losing Takemitchy. The same Takemitchy who was jumping at almost every jumpscare. It almost made Manjiro feel bad.
It was comfortable with Takemitchy. Manjiro had never really felt comfortable with another person like he did with Takemitchy. Maybe it was because he was a living contradiction to a lot of harmful thoughts Mikey had. He was the strength in the weak, the heart of the fights, he was light even if Takemitchy had mentioned feeling like he was stuck in greyscale. He was determined to stay in Manjiro’s life. If it were anyone but Takemitchy who’d tried to stick to him like glue, they’d probably be dead.
Mikey was almost asleep when he heard Takemitchy say, “I love you, Manjiro.”
“You what?” When Manjiro looked up in shock, Takemitchy jumped. They looked at each other for a moment, both surprised until Takemitchy broke the silence.
“You were supposed to be sleeping!” Takemitchy whined. Manjiro Sano was extremely fond of his friend, who’s eyes looked like the ocean with the sun shining on it. Takemitchy’s presence calmed him instantly
“Right…” Mikey put his head back on Takemitchy’s chest, “I love you too.”
When Takemitchy replied with a ‘What?’ similar to how Mikey had minutes before, Mikey ignored it. It should have been obvious by this point that he loved Takemichi Hanagaki.
Manjiro Sano had lived through many futures. He remembered bits and pieces of it all. He remembered the timeline Takemichi had fought him and lost- Mikey crying the first tears he’d cried in years over a dead body. He remembered the timeline he isolated himself and no one came to rescue him. He remembered so many different sequences of events and somehow they all led back to Takemichi Hanagaki.