Chapter Text
The day Shinichiro died, Mikey stared at the painful scene of his older brother being taken away on a stretcher, covered in a blanket, while two of his best friends disappeared inside a police car, bawling like little kids. But he didn’t cry. Not right then, not during the next days.
However, the Invincible Mikey turned into a blanket burrito who wouldn’t leave his bed in the next week. He didn’t play games on his phone, or listen to music, or anything. He just stayed there, staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, deep in thought.
On the seventh day, Draken couldn’t take it anymore and dragged him out of his bed, blanket and all. He put him inside a warm bath, made him get dressed, and carried him on his bicycle to a vacant lot where they sometimes played. Mikey didn’t look exactly thrilled to be there.
“Why are we here, Kenchin? Let’s go back home, come on. I’ve taken a bath as you wanted, right? Now let me go back to bed.”
“Nope! Look what I have here!”
Mikey stared at the item his friend had taken out of his backpack, baffled.
“Is that… a gun?”
“A pellet gun!” Draken grinned. “One of the girls of the brothel lent it to me.”
“Cool!” Mikey grabbed the gun and made it turn in his small hands, watching it from all the possible angles.
“I knew you’d like it! So… what about we shoot some cans?”
“Yeah, let’s!”
They gathered a good number of bottles and cans from the litter that covered some spots of the lot, and placed them in line on top of a barrel.
“I bet I can hit them from way farther than you!”
“What are you betting? Get ready to get wrecked, Kenchin!”
“Pppff, aren’t we getting cocky?”
They were entertained for about half an hour, before Mikey decided to exchange the pellet gun for stones. He’d throw small rocks at the remaining cans and bottles, making them fall down or shatter in pieces.
“To be honest, I like it better with rocks!” he said. “This way, I’m using my own strength instead of a fucking piece of metal!”
Draken admitted to himself that Mikey was a force to be reckoned with… and feared. Since he usually used his legs when he fought, hitting his opponents with those powerful kicks that were his specialty, everybody tended to forget about how strong Mikey was in general, not only his legs. Right then, his throws were incredibly fast and mighty, more than Draken would even dream of achieving. To think those skinny arms were able to rival the level of a professional baseball player… Draken stared at him with disbelief and jealousy.
“Heh, are you tired already?”
“Nah, just you wait!”
Despite the bravado, he knew Mikey was going to win without a doubt. A short while later, though, his friend got tired of the game, saving Draken’s pride from a complete and utter loss.
“Hey, let’s fight instead.”
“Huh? Fight?”
“Yeah! Hit me with all your strength, Kenchin!”
But his friend had all kinds of doubts.
“Oh, come on… It’s just a game, I need to let out some steam, and with the rest of our friends, I’m always afraid of hurting them! But you’re tougher than them, right?”
“Of course I am!” Draken stood tall in pride, but a moment later he deflated slightly. “But… don’t use your nuclear kicks on me.”
His friend just grinned from ear to ear.
“If we practice them, you can learn to dodge my kicks.”
“That’s true! Bring it on!”
The two of them smirked and went with all they had.
In the end, they dropped to their knees, exhausted, and changed positions to sit down on the ground, staring at the peach-colored sunset sky while they regained their breathing.
This feels nice, Draken thought, and was about to comment on it aloud when he felt a movement and a sudden weight on his lap: Mikey had curled up against him, resting his head on top of Draken’s legs. He had closed his eyes and, to Draken’s complete lack of surprise, not a minute later he was already softly snoring.
“Hahaha, you’re just like a little kid, Mikey!”
But he didn’t dare to wake him up just yet. Especially when he noticed the wetness on Mikey’s cheeks, along with a soft, barely audible mumbling. Holding his breath, Draken finally heard it clearly, the call for ‘Shinichiro’ mixed with little sobs.
Draken sighed and ran his hand through the short locks of bleached hair of his friend, caressing his scalp in what he hoped was a comforting way.
It’s not a bad place to rest for a while, he thought. And he let Mikey sleep a well deserved nap.