𝐘𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚 - 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐲𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨!𝐬/𝐨

⊱---𝟏𝟖---⊰

"Yeah, but..."

She looked down solemnly.

"Apparently, it's really crowded because of the festival and the rain."

Wet steps could be heard gradually getting louder and louder as someone approached the small group waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Confused on who it could be, Takemichi looked up and what he saw made him freeze up, dreading to acknowledge the reason they were here even though it was obvious to him.

That one pair of footsteps turned into multiple as the group became clearer, the rain that once hid their images passing by them when they walked. They all wore similar black jumpsuits that had gold buttons lined up to their collar, all in a similar fashion as each other. He could recognize the man leading the group, the one with a constant cruel and uncaring look on his face from anywhere, and it only brought up bad memories.

'Seriously!? What's he doing here?' Takemichi thought as his face dropped downwards in a way that showed his devastation. Their timing was the worst and his thoughts spiraled out of control as he tried to figure out some way to get out of this alive.

"What the hell? Draken's not dead yet?"

"Hey, what the hell is Trashymichi doing here?"

All the members of the group began to talk at once, Hina and Emma looking over their shoulder in fear, their teary eyes being drowned out by the rain that fell from the sky.

"What do you think you're doing, you piece of shit?" Kiyomasa asked, his thunderous yet calm voice demanding for all attention to go to him.

Hina turned her body to face the group and held her arm out protectively in front of Emma and Draken, her eyes and legs shaking in fear but her mind refusing to let her back down.

"Hey, someone get me more duct tape!"

Takemichi felt a bead of sweat drip off from his face to the ground despite being smothered in rain, his lips parting to try and say something, however nothing came out, forcing him to press his lips together and shake his head back and forth.

He took a cautious step back, his eyes wide in fear as he saw how severely outmatched he was. They had clear intentions to finish off Draken and possibly himself, leaving him defeated as he grit his teeth in frustration.

'It's over.' He thought, the looming threat of disaster making his vision blur as he swayed on his feet. He could feel his eyes and nose sting, frustrated that he was so powerless. He had this miraculous ability to travel back in time, and yet he was still not changing anything with it.

But he wouldn't let this be the end. He would go down biting and thrashing before he gave up.

After all, what has he learned from dying? He learned that he was special and had the power to make a change. He was capable of it so long as he used his head and made up for his lack of brute strength. He couldn't be as strong as Mikey or as intimidating as Draken, but he could be resilient and hold his ground better than anyone.

Another thing he learned was to trust. To put his trust in others, just as he trusted Naoto with his secret and benefited by being able to travel from the future to the past at any time he pleased. What he was missing was offering this trust to a person who was so damaged and as fragile as the most historic pottery, yet strong in a sense of will and power. He had been excluding her presence in everything, but so long as he was there to help her, she would be there to help him all the same.

Kiyomasa slid out a knife from his pocket and flashed it, the metal reflecting its shine from the surface of Takemichi's eyes as he stared at it in fear. The big man began grinning madly knowing he wouldn't be playing fairly. And seeing this, Takemichi didn't hesitate as he decided he would even out the battlefield in response to the pure evil displayed in front of him.