towards the playground. His body no longer ached or felt sore from carrying the blonde around after seeing the bruises and marks that littered his friend's skin from afar.

AHHH SCREW TAKEMICHI AND HIS STUBBORNNESS!!!

Finally reaching the playground, Manjiro wasted no time in jumping off Keisuke's back and delivering a strong kick to one of the older kids head's, effectively knocking him out cold. Without deterring his momentum, Keisuke tackles one of the boy's to the ground—a surprised scream erupts from his target's throat.

Keisuke's fanged grin began spreading across his face as he watched the middle schooler squirm underneath him. The feral boy was unable to make out the words that fell from his victim's lips—his rage canceled out everyone and everything as he fixed the middle schooler with a heated glare.

"THIS IS OUR TERRITORY, GOT IT YOU BASTARDS?!" Without waiting for a response, Keisuke began throwing punches at the guy's face—his fists landing with a satisfying crunch. The electric buzz that coursed through his veins upon impact caused Keisuke's smile to broaden.

Who knew middle schoolers could be so dumb?! How many times does Keisuke and Manjiro have to curb stomp them in order to get the message across? They had no right to be on their turf, no right to be in their neighborhood, and no right to be beating up Keisuke's new friend.

This was all their fault. Now Takemichi's gonna have to hide away in his apartment cause a couple a guys decided to be a bunch of pricks. These guys will pay for taking his friend away, for hurting and beating him, for knocking him around like he's some doll to be played with.

They'll pay, they'll pay-

"Baji. They're all knocked out."

Keisuke's mind finally registered the hands holding him back from further attacking his opponent. Whipping his head around to snap at whoever dared to stop him, Keisuke was immediately met with Manjiro's blank black irises.

"You sure did a number on him," Manjiro commented offhandedly, gesturing to the body underneath Keisuke's. The bronze-eyed boy looked down at his work of art and—oh my god, yeah, a number was an understatement.

The middle schoolers face was almost covered in blood. His nose was without a doubt broken, lip completely busted, and both eyes were swollen shut.

Thankfully, he was still breathing.

Keisuke couldn't find it in himself to feel any shred of sympathy for the middle schooler. Shaking off Manjiro's hands, Keisuke reluctantly got up on his feet and glared down at the boy he had so brutally beaten.

"I haven't seen you this worked up in a while Baji!" Manjiro exclaimed with a closed eye smile as he pulled Keisuke away from the passed out middle schooler. The other two companions were also knocked out with dark purple bruises and bloody noses— courtesy of Manjiro. Just as Keisuke was about to gloat over their victory, a curly haired boy appeared in the corner of his eye.

Keisuke turns to face Takemichi who was staring slack jawed at the two boys. His dark blue eyes were wide and brimming with unshed tears as he gripped the hem of his shirt. His face was once again littered in bruises, but it wasn't as bad as Keisuke thought it would be.

Takemichi was ok.

With a bright smile on his face, Keisuke approached the injured boy and pulled him into a headlock, playfully messing up his unruly hair.

"Jeez Michi! I'm starting to think you like getting beat up!" Keisuke exclaimed as Takemichi tried and failed to escape from the feral boy's wrath.

"It wasn't my fault!" Takemichi shouts frustratedly, gripping onto Keisuke's arm that had a strong hold around his neck. "They just showed up outta nowhere and started messing with me!" Keisuke couldn't help but laugh at Takemichi's luck.

"Do I need to be your bodyguard or something?"

"No way!"

Keisuke finally relented and allowed Takemichi to escape from his headlock. Takemichi glared childishly at Keisuke before moving his gaze to stare at something past Keisuke's shoulder. Turning around, Keisuke made eye contact with Manjiro who was eyeing the pair curiously.

Keisuke's eyes lit up. I can finally introduce the two!!

Manjiro approached the two boys with a mischievous smile on his face, making Takemichi step closer to Keisuke. To keep Takemichi from moving away, he swung an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders and pulled him into his side.

Keisuke ignored the frightened look Takemichi was sending his way and smiled brightly at Manjiro. "This is m-"

Before anyone could react, Takemichi was suddenly yanked out of Keisuke's grasp; Manjiro had one hand on his shoulder while the other held onto the curly hair behind Takemichi's head. The blonde stared deeply into Takemichi's petrified blue eyes and Keisuke could do nothing but watch his friends in shock.

What on earth is Manjiro doing?!

"So you're Baji's new friend, huh?" Manjiro asked as he slowly tilted Takemichi's head, like he was trying to get a more thorough look at the curly haired boy. Takemichi's body was frozen under Manjiro's hold, allowing the blonde to move his head any way he liked.

Manjiro frowned. "Hellooo? I asked you a question..." Takemichi finally snapped out of whatever trance he was in and Keisuke could only stand there and hope that Manjiro approved of his new friend.

"Y-Yeah! We're n-neighbors!" Takemichi exclaimed a little too loudly.

Manjiro's frown disappeared and was replaced with his trademark grin. "What's your name?"

"T-Takemichi Hanagaki!!!"

Manjiro continued to bore his gaze into Takemichi's soul for just a few seconds before finally releasing his grip on the injured boy's hair. Instead, Manjiro placed both his hands on Takemichi's shoulders (guess he still refused to let his new prey go).

"I'm Manjiro Sano, and—from now on—we're friends, ok Takemitchy?"

Just as Takemichi's face distorted into a look of shock, Keisuke internally fist bumped the air.

LETS GOOOO!!! NOW WE CAN ALL HANG OUT TOGETHER!!!

Apparently Manjiro didn't wait for a response before putting his arm around Takemichi's shoulders and pulling him towards Keisuke. Manjiro looked at his best friend with a shimmering glint in his eye, making Keisuke raise an eyebrow.

"Let's bring Takemitchy to the Dojo. I wanna get to know him better!" Manjiro exclaimed while tightening his hold around Michi's shoulders. (Keisuke was a bit taken aback by how the two boys were around the same height—he hadn't noticed before due to his shell shocked brain.)

Keisuke moved to Takemichi's other side and swung his arm around the smaller boy's shoulder—successfully trapping him between the two boys.

"Yeah! Lead the way Manjiro!!!"

"W-Wait! I need to tell my mo-"

Keisuke and Manjiro turned a deaf ear to whatever protest fell from Takemichi's mouth as they made their way to the Sano's dojo down the street.

Keisuke smiled happily at the two smaller boys at his side.

Looks like they'll get along just fine.

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