𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄━━━S. Manjiro

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

You almost started laughing, though, you managed to hold it in and simply chuckled. "Hanagaki, is that suppose to be a joke?" you opened your notebook while holding a pen with your other hand. "It's not, [Last Name]-san. I'm really serious about being Draken-kun's bodyguard." he could hear him sigh on the other side of the line. 

Right after Manjiro drove you back to your house, you immediately called Takemichi. That 'it was an accident' explanation was not enough, after everything that you went through in your original timeline, you need something some real reason that could satisfy you. "Nah, don't bother with it. More than you protecting Ken, it would probably be him protecting you instead." you started writing down a few instructions for this timeline [First Name], just in case you'd go back to your timeline suddenly. You smiled, writing down a simple sentence at the bottom of the paper.

'If you don't follow what I've written here, I'll kill someone, 'kay? Because you'd leave me with no choice but to do that.'

You lowered your head and chuckled. 'I'm not going back on my own words, [First Name].' And so, you forgot that you were still on the line with Takemichi, "[Last Name]-san, you sounded scary just now..." You paused a bit and chuckled again, a bit softly this time. "Oh really? Please ignore that and let's just go back to what we were talking about."

"Ah, yes. So when I time leaped in the future, I thought that if I talked to Mikey-kun I might be able to understand why he became like that so Naoto and I tried searching and contacting him but we couldn't. Though, we met Akkun instead."

"Atsushi Kendo?" 

"Yeah. We talked for a few minutes but... Akkun... killed himself."

You stopped writing and placed your pen down, leaning your head on your palm. "You okay?" there was a short pause on the other line before Takemichi started laughing awkwardly. "Yeah, Akkun's men didn't do anything to us so-"

"Mentally."

"... It... was painful. Until his very last moment, he looked very sad. And I couldn't do a single thing for him at all..."

"Then, Hanagaki. Save him, Hina, Ken and Manjiro."

"I was planning to do it from the start, [Last Name]-san."

You smiled, picking up your pen again. "You're determined. That's good." Seeing that you finished writing all instructions for this timeline [First Name], you sighed. 'This won't really matter if she doesn't follow it though...' you paused for a moment, 'then, should I give her a reason to do it?' and you've decided to give a brief explanation of what's happening in your original timeline.

"Oh right, [Last Name]-san. What happened to you in the future? Naoto and I couldn't contact you at all."

You hummed in response, "Well... Except for getting kidnapped, I was confined in an empty, boring room with a trashy bastard and... let's see... Ah right, the trashy bastard shot me in the shoulder."

"W-What..?! Huh?! How can you be so casual about that, [Last Name]-san? Your life was literally in danger!"

"He shot me but it's not like he could kill me. It would be troublesome for him if I die after all." you responded, "And calm down. You're too loud, it's almost midnight, you know?"

"Oh, sorry... But this 'trashy bastard' you're talking about is...?"

"It's Kisaki Tetta. He's trash."

"O-Oh... Right, he's a bastard for killing Hina and Akkun!"

"That's right." you laughed, placing down your phone. "Hanagaki-kun, I have one last thing to say to you tonight. I'm a Toman member now."

"When did you-"

"Just earlier, after the meeting. I'm on the Third Division now. So, Hanagaki. When... Will you join Toman?"

There was a short silence between the two of you. "Me, join Toman...?" he mumbled. You smiled, "I'm going to hang up now, think about it carefully, Hanagaki. Good night." And you pressed your keypad before he could even respond back. You took a deep breath and sighed, leaning on your chair tiredly. 

"It's good that you're motivated to change the future but... I won't lose when it comes to determination, Hanagaki Takemichi."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You were just taking a walk in the town. And then you met him coincidentally. Simple, right?

"Hey, Takashi." you waved your right hand a bit as he turned to look at you. "We met a few days ago but it's been a while since it's just the two of us," he replied. "True." you chuckled, 'It's been twelve years for me though...' 

"Are you heading somewhere?" you asked curiously. "Actually, I was about to pick Mikey up. Do you want to come with me?" You stared at him for a good moment before you spoke up. "You're picking Mikey up, right? Then, the three of us would have to ride together on the way back." he slightly tilts his head, "Yeah?"

You sighed, "Takashi, that's dangerous. Besides, you didn't even bring any helmet. Really dangerous." you repeated the same word. He paused for a moment before chuckling, facing forward. "You sounded like an adult just now. An annoying one." you scoffed, "Rude."

'I am an adult though.' You rode on his motorcycle, behind him and you heard Mitsuya softly laughing again. "You were just saying that it's dangerous but seems like you want to go to." you placed your bag on your lap, "I wanna see Mikey after all." Mitsuya started driving to the unknown destination. 

"I heard that you're a Toman member now and are on Pah's division." he started, to be honest, you expected him to bring this up. "Yeah, I gave Mikey an answer to his invitation a few days ago," you answered. "To be honest, I've considered joining a lot of times in the past. I didn't accept though," you added, lowering your voice a bit. "I won't ask why you change your mind but you know, you've been kind of different these days." 

You hummed then going silent for a moment. 'Well... More than Ken and Manjiro, I wanted to tell Takashi that I time leaped from the future. He's someone I can trust, the other two are trustworthy too though. It's just that, Mitsuya is someone I could rely on. In my original timeline, although we haven't met each other face-to-face for almost twelve years, and even after I cut off my ties with Toman, he still kept in contact with me and kept me updated with every important event that happened with the gang. He even leaked a few pieces of information and warned me about Kisaki just to save me and keep me away from that trash.' 

You smiled to yourself. "You might not be able to understand this now but Takashi, I was given a chance to change everything, you see." he remained silent, though, he listened closely. "I want to take this opportunity to change myself. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Well, especially Manjiro..."

Mitsuya nod. 

"Then, I hope that you won't throw away your chance. And, I'm kind of looking forward to what you are planning, [First Name]."

You grinned, "Yeah, there's no way I will let this opportunity slip away from me."

big bro takashiiii! i like my brother as he is now but i want takashi as my brother too :(

Published: June 15, 2021