”How dare you.”

You’ve known Manjiro, Mikey, since you were a kid, playing with his younger sister, Emma. You’ve often hung around his home and his familys Dojo, hanging around Emma.

You didn’t think you meant enough to him for this.

You could’ve sworn you stopped breathing. The scene in front of you was brutal. The boy you’d learned was named Kiyomasa was lying unconscious on the ground, his nose broken, missing teeth.. and Mikey wouldn’t stop. His fist lept coming down on his face again and again.

The spectators around the makeshift fighting ring didn’t dare make a noise as their leader pummeled Kiyomasa.

The reason he was so brutal came as a shock to most there. The reason was you.

You had accidentally been roped into the ring by a random lackey. You couldn’t fight, you weren’t gifted in combat knowledge. That made the situation ten times scarier.

You didn’t think you were gonna walk away unscathed. And really, you didn’t. The bruises on your arms and wrists from where the lackey had been keeping you in place were all it took to set off your old friend.

Finally, the crunching stopped. Red stained the blondes knuckles, but he looked back at you with the warm smile you knew so well.

“You okay?”