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“Boss? Are you here?”
Sanzu knocked Mikey’s door quite a few times, probably more than necessary, though no answer came from the other side of it.
“Boss?” He spoke once again as he slowly opened the door, so careful as he possibly could.
The room was empty, so empty it made Sanzu uncomfortable. Mikey didn’t take the time to decorate his room, the only stuff that he took with him from his grandpa’s house were buried deep inside his closet. And as it was when he still lived in the dojo, the only thing he owned was the mattress, but this time there were no motorcycle pieces, magazines or shinichiro’s clothes around.
It was the room of an “empty” person.
Haruchiyo checked the balcony to see if Mikey was smoking outside, but panicked when he couldn’t find his boss anywhere. He needed to know where Mikey was the 24 hours of the day, that’s why he was Bonten’s number two right? To take care of the king, to make sure that nothing bad happens to him.
“Mikey?” The name of the king slipped from his mouth as he grabbed the doorknob of the bathroom.
He wasn’t the one who opened it though.
Mikey looked at him with his dark, void-like eyes, the drops falling from his wet hair fell directly on his shoulders.
Boxers on, nothing else.
“what?” The king said, returning with a few steps inside the tarnished bathroom.
Shit , Haruchiyo thought, obviously flustered, ears getting red “just came to remember you that there’s a meeting at 9, that’s all”
“Yeah, i know”, Mikey answered with a cold tone “pass me the scissors, right next to you”.
Sanzu looked at the night table next to him, in fact, there was a pair of scissors, “of course” he grabbed them and passed them to his boss.
Manjiro didn't say thanks, but Haruchiyo didn’t really care, only being close to Mikey was enough for him.
Inside the bathroom Mikey was carefully cutting strips of tape, making sure to round all the corners of it, Sanzu would say it’s kt tape but he isn’t really sure.
The corners were all rounded when he put them over his chest, pulling the material strongly and sticking it on his back, over wounds from probably past pieces of tape, because no one could’ve hurt Mikey like that, not on Sanzu’s watch.
“Do you need help with that?” Haruchiyo asked after seeing his boss struggling a little
“No I don’t”, Manjiro said, as if Sanzu’s offering was some kind of disrespect towards him.
He is the invincible Mikey, he doesn’t need help. Nor does he deserve it.
The pink haired looked disappointed at the answer “sure, i’m sorry”.
He wanted to help Mikey in any way he could, he wanted to be his right hand, a loyal dog, the only person he could trust, like Draken was before. Probably Draken helped him with this task, and the mere thought of that made him feel a mix of envy and disappointment, because he can’t help his king the way Ryuguji used to.
Draken was the queen in this chess game.
‘He’s pulling that harder than before ’, Sanzu repeated a few times in his mind as he watched the process. On the old toman days Mikey didn’t really care about that aspect of his life, he barely covered his chest some days and he went to fight shirtless, proudly showing the pieces of tape over a healthy skin.
He was respected anyway, and more importantly, he trusted toman, and toman trusted him.
Mikey doesn’t trust Bonten, and it shows with those little actions.
And maybe in his mind, the newly formed gang would not fear him enough if he showed like that.
But Manjiro trusted Haruchiyo, right? That’s why he lets him stay with him, right? Mikey doesn’t need to be ashamed of his body in front of Haruchiyo…right? Sanzu hopes that the answer is a “yes”, although he knows he’d never get that word out of Mikey’s mouth.
Haruchiyo looked at how Mikey peeled the paper off the tape, he was amazed by how those hands, who destroy everything they touch, who tore apart his face long, long ago, who have grabbed cigarettes, alcohol, guns, could do such a delicate job like binding is. Or maybe Sanzu just loved his king so much.
“The fuck are you looking at, Sanzu?” The still blonde man said, not even turning his head to look at the person he was talking to.
Now Sanzu has really fucked up, he didn’t know which was worse , to say the truth, that he was looking at his hands putting on some weird tape, or to lie saying that he was looking at literally everything else. But that lie could make him sound as if he were looking at something that he shouldn’t, which would make him look like a fetishist or some shit like that.
The green-ish eyes were in shock, he was so concerned thinking of a decent answer that he completely forgot to answer fast, which on the outside only looked like an asshole who couldn’t excuse himself. Which was the third option, looking like a fetishist without even lying.
Mikey let his body rest on the wall next to him, arms crossed, tape already covering both sides of his chest, no lumps to be seen anymore “I’ve always wondered what you like”, he looked at Sanzu, who was almost having a breakdown in front of him.
“Huh?” Haruchiyo answered in confusion, not being sure what was being asked, was Mikey asking something about him? “Sorry i didn’t really catch the question”
“Y’know, guys, girls, both, none” Manjiro walked a few steps, getting more and more close to his bed, where Sanzu immediately fell, being nervous of the now little space between them.
‘You, i like you’ The pink haired longed to say, but despite his unhinged facade, Haruchiyo was still a shy person, so he kept the words to himself.
Mikey knew that Sanzu loved him, even when those diamond shaped scars hadn't moved in order to say those words.
And Sanzu knew Mikey didn’t love him back, again, he wasn’t really sad about it, Haruchiyo was aware that he hadn't earned Manjiro’s love, not yet.
He was just a pawn after all.
Mikey looked at Sanzu’s red face, placing one of his knees right between his childhood friend’s legs. A movement that made Bonten’s number two instantly shiver.
Or maybe he can be a knight, even if it’s just for a moment.
Haruchiyo wanted this, maybe more than anything, maybe he was being teased, or mocked by his leader, he didn’t care, and more, he was all for it.
The concentration slipped from him again, answering the king’s questions only with incomprehensible stuttering, such a lame answer, what a disappointment of a knight he was. He was just focused on so many things at the same time, his chin being softly grabbed with the same hand he was appreciating a few moments ago, Mikey’s body almost on top of his, and the knee confidently pressing more and more his crotch. It can sound like nothing for some people, but for Haruchiyo, it was already heaven.
The question now changed.
“Do you like me because I am a guy?- He grabbed Sanzu’s hand, not softly, but not aggressively either, Haruchiyo just let himself be guided by his leader, his hand reached Mikey’s torso, and slowly slipped down to his boxers, all guided by the blonde’s hand, who put the pawn’s thumb inside the elastic band of his underwear.
-“Or because you see me as a girl?” Mikey said with the same tone filled with indifference that he always uses towards the person below him as he looked his cheeks get even more red than before.
If Haruchiyo thought deeply about it, the answer would probably be none of them. He wouldn’t care, he wouldn’t care if Mikey was a guy, a girl, something between those options. He loved Mikey because he was Mikey.
But would this confession satisfy god? Probably not.
“I don’t think”- Sanzu pushed the saliva forming inside his mouth down his throat - “I don’t think I’ve seen you as anything but a guy” he finally said, not a lie, but not the truth either, because for him, Mikey was much more than a guy.
He was a god, a deity, his reason to live, his all.
Is that love though? Admiration, worship? A religion or an obsession? Not even Haruchiyo knows.
“Not even when we were kids” the pink haired man ended his sentence with those words, the coal eyes of his king looking directly at him.
Sanzu felt his thumb getting warmer between Mikey’s boxer and skin, he moved it slowly, side to side, like a little caress, playing with the elastic band. The rest of his fingers did the same on the outside, softly brushing Mikey’s thigh.
Would Mikey let him throw all of his hand inside the cloth? Would he let him kiss him? Touch him? Wander all across his body, unbothered by undesirable curves?
Would Mikey kiss him back? Put his slim fingers on haruchiyo’s back, making him shiver by the freezing touch? Brush with the same fingers his bubblegum hair?
Would Mikey trust him? Love him?
…The answer was too obvious for both of them.
“Good to know, otherwise i would have to beat the shit outta you” Manjiro finally answered as he pulled his body away from Sanzu’s, freeing him from the awkward position he was in.
Sanzu exhaled air he didn’t even know he was holding. Using his hands to sit correctly on the mattress again, he watched how Mikey got dressed, looking spontaneously at the mirror only to find himself disappointed by the way he looked.
Once again, Haruchiyo wasn’t enough to make Manjiro’s pain go away
“At what hour was the meeting again?” The blonde broke the silence, drying his hair again with a towel.
Ah..9, it’s at 9” Haruchiyo answered, ears still dyed in a soft red due to their previous interaction, “we still have like an hour or so”.
But that’s okay,When a pawn reaches the other end of the board it can be changed for any other piece of its own color. A knight, a rook…
A queen.
“Good”.
And he’s already the king’s favorite pawn.