"Ok so how does this thing work again........"
Here we have your average 16 year old who's trying to learn how to drive a motorbike in a single day. In front of him, is a Yamaha-R1. The poor innocent kid has never touched a motorbike before. How hard would it be for the loner to overcome this hard challenge?
"Except it is not."
It took me some time to get used to it, and I almost banged it straight into the wall once. But anyway, thanks to the handbooks and hours of practice, I managed to get the gist of it.
It would certainly be useful. Considering the distance I might have to travel in the unforeseen future.
Regardless, I had asked Takemichi to come today as I wanted to experiment on his powers. But it was now almost evening and yet he was nowhere to be soon.
He did say he had school but it should have been long over by now. The wait was too long, so I decided to read one of the books kept in the book shelf.
As for the mysterious white book, there was something different about it. I looked at it once, and went away with some other book.
Time passed as I read the book. It was interesting to read something that contrasted with what I had been taught my entire life.
Ring
Looks like he's finally here.
After confirming through the peephole that it was indeed him, I let him enter.
"Aha sorry for the delay, I was hanging out with Mikey-kun and Draken-kun."
"Draken-kun?"
"His real name is something else, everyone refers to him because of his neck tattoo."
Oh, so he meant draken. In Katakana, the English word draken is written and thus pronounced as Doraken. Nevertheless, it seemed the people here were delinquents appearance wise too, even though they were middle schoolers or at most high schoolers.
I couldn't help and be reminded of Ryuuen who was referred to as "dragon-boy" during the encounter with Sakayanagi back then.
"What is 'draken's real name?" I asked.
"It is Ryuguji Ken."
Draken is written as Ryuu from Ryuguji, and that's probably how he got that nickname.
"So anyway, what happened today?"
"Ah I was in class and then suddenly mikey-kun and draken-kun arrived. Eh I was so confused and then they brought me with them. In the process uh.....they beat some students. But then we left for the Riverside. We sat there and talked for some time. And then here I am."
The part where Sano and Draken apparently beat some students caught my attention. How did they get away with it? Is the law and order that lenient here or is Toman that influential?
Even so, two teenagers beating up a couple of students was an extraordinary feat. It was no surprise they were at the top of the gang.
"What else did you guys talk about?"
"Mikey-kun said he took a liking into me because uh I remind him of his late brother. Always recklessly fighting. He said he wanted to create a new era of delinquents. To sum it up, I don't really think he is the type of guy who would kill Hina...."
I thought about it for a while. Trying to assess the kind of person Sano really was.
"Did anything else happen? Even anything insignificant?"
"I don't think so- oh now that I think about it, I passed by three guys. One of them was wearing a mask, the other was wearing specs and the third one was Kiyomasa-kun."
Hm?
"For some reason I felt I had seen one of the two before......"
I abruptly got up.
"Eh uh where are you going Kiyotaka-kun?"
"The question should be, where are we going. Get up."
"Uh-"
"Just follow me."
Albeit hesitantly, he started following me.
I put on my mask and helmet, and got on the bike.
"But where exactly are we going?"
"Somewhere important. Before that, do you know where Tachibana lives?"
"Ah yes of course."
"Then guide me."
He didn't question me further and guided me as we made our way to the complex where she lived.
"Do one thing, bring down Naoto here. It is important."
"But-"
I looked at Takemichi for a few seconds before he decided to go. It was time consuming to explain everything now, thus I waited for him.
A look was all it took for him to understand this.
Regardless, I waited about 50m away from the apartment entrance.
Jeez, just what is taking him so long. I looked around the rooms and finally found him Talking with Tachibana. Sadly, it was the older one.
After a few minutes, he finally returned with Naoto Tachibana.
"Uh hello, nice to meet you. I am Naoto Tachibana."
"Nice to meet you too, get on the back now."
"It is rude to not give your name."
This kid.....
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Now if you may......"
"Oh, sure."
He sat behind me and Takemichi at the end.
If they asked where I was heading to, I couldn't answer since I didn't know either.
"Tachibana, hold on to me."
It would be bad if he were to touch hands with Takemichi
I started my bike and thus began a search for artists. Yes, that was it.
"Takemichi, guide me towards some famous landmarks."
"Oh ok."
And so, I passed by several famous locations. One by one. Still far away from what I was looking for.
The two had been quiet for the most part.
After wandering around for half an hour, I finally found it.
"Takemichi, listen carefully to what I have to say."
He both became attentive.
"This is important, if you want to succeed, so take this seriously."
I tool him a little away from Tachibana and whispered something in his ears.
"Do you think it is possible?"
"It will take some time. I am not expecting it to be perfect either. Just as long as it is recognizable, it is fine."
"Do you think I can do it?" He asked.
I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes.
"Takemichi, this is not a joke. Look at me."
"Yes....I understand."
"Do you want to save Hinata Tachibana?"
"I do..."
"Then etch that face in your memory. You shall forget yourself but not that face. For that face belongs to someone who took everything away from you."
"Yes......I get it Kiyotaka-kun."
I patted on his shoulder.
"Just follow the path I have set for you, and you will succeed. Go now, it depends on you."
He nodded and went towards Tachibana.
"Naoto-kun. Let's shake hands." Hanagaki said that with an outstretched hand.
"Huh? Alright I guess."
Their hands connected. I saw a faint spark which for some reason the passerby ignored.
Watching and experiencing a time leap, I sure am lucky. Makes me think about the scientists who spent their lives theorising about time travel. An-
Huh......?
I fell down and suddenly felt my body weight decreasing. Tachibana didn't even look at me despite me falling down.
There was no point trying to figure out what was happening right now. Instead-
"Naoto!!"
I yelled at the top of my lungs. Finally he looked at me.
"No matter.....what happens....keep Takemichi here...."
That was the last thing I said before everything around me turned dark.
Change in POV
7th July, 2017.
"Woah!"
Looks like I time leaped. Anyway, I need to do this as soon as possible.
"Naoto-kun! Naoto-kun! Where are ya?" I shouted, trying to call out to him.
"Takemichi-kun? You are finally back??"
"Uh yes, I am. But that's not the thing, there's something I want you to do."
"Wait a minute, if you are here, that means the time leap was successful."
"It was, I can return to the exact day 12 years ago. I understand everything about it."
Naoto-kun gave me a look of disbelief.
"Since when did you become so smart and calm?"
"Ughhhhh... that's not the concern here."
I didn't want to waste even the tiniest amount of time. I quickly got up and made my way to the display board.
I ran my finger throughout till it landed on the thing I was looking for.
"Do you want to save Hinata Tachibana?"
I do.
"Etch that face in your memory."
I will.
This person. He took away everything from me.
"Kisaki Tetta, I will not forgive you......"
Closing my eyes, imagining the picture, looking at it again. I repeated it for a few minutes. Naoto-kun just looked at me confused.
"Ok, it is time to go."
"Wait Takemitchi-kun, just what are you doing?"
"I will explain everything later, but for now, I need information."
"What type of information?" He asked.
"12 years ago, did any major fight take place? Did any person related to Toman die?"
"I will have to search on the Internet." He replied.
"Please, be quick."
So far, I had been following Kiyotaka-kun's orders. I trust him. It felt like he was a-
"Found it."
Naoto-kun broke my chain of thoughts and I looked closer on the screen.
"Apparently, on 3rd August 2005, Ryuguji Ken died due to an infighting in Toman."
"D-d-draken-kun?? How is this possible?!"
"Calm down Takemichi-kun, it has already happened. But you have the chance to save him."
"N-no, that's not it. If Kiyotaka-kun was there, shouldn't he have done sleuthing.....?"
"Kiyotaka-kun?"
"Don't tell me you don't know him?!"
Just what the hell is happening here... We both looked at each other for a while and that was enough for me to realize this wasn't a prank.
"It is the first time I have heard about him. I never once saw his name being mentioned in any documents. Nor is he present on the internet."
"Use the map online. Look on the west block, next to the railway tracks."
I was getting nervous. If Kiyotaka-kun isn't here, then I would lose my only ally from the past..
"It's........."
Naoto-kun pointed at the area I was referring to.
"..........it's empty."
I backed away and sat on the hospital bed.
"Just why is this happening?! Naoto-kun, 12 years ago, do you remember what happened that day? Kiyotaka-kun took us both to the museum next to the river."
"I think I remember.....but wasn't it actually you who drove me there? And after shaking hands with me, we both stayed there for some time."
"What? Why did we stay there?"
"I don't know but-"
Naoto-kun held his head in his hands.
"No matter what happens, keep Takemichi here." He said in a monotonous voice and then looked at me.
"Takemichi-kun, I don't know why I am saying these words, or why I asked you to stay that day, but I feel like you should return. This time leap thing is confusing.....but it appears things won't change unless you act. And so-" He stretched out his hands. "Go back to the past."
Without hesitation, I replied affirmatively and so, our hands connected.
Kiyotaka-kun, wait for me.
7th July, 2005
"Hah.....Hah....kiyo-"
"What's wrong Takemichi?"
"Y-you...you are fine. Thank God."
"What would happen to me?"
"Uh....no no, don't worry. It is nothing."
I finally caught my breath and calmed down.
"Did you do what I wanted you to, though?"
"Oh right. I did. I did. Let's get into it."
We both went towards a lone man, who seemed to be sitting and gazing at the landscape.
"Hello there. We would like to draw a portrait."
"Oh? Which one of you?"
"Um well.........."
Kiyotaka-kun somehow managed to convince the artist to do it for us.
He's smart. His arguments were sound.
"Fine, I will do it. Describe it to me."
I sat down in front of him and closed my eyes.
"Etch this face into your mind."
I opened my eyes and started giving detailed descriptions. It was honestly hard and at times really confusing. My hand gestures made me look like I was playing dumb charades.
"Finally. It's done."
"Woah! I wanna see it."
"Uh here you go."
I thought back to the people I had passed earlier today.
"There's no doubt about it........it is him."
My fists tightened and I almost tore the paper if not for another hand stopping me.
"You did well Takemichi. Let me handle it from now on."
"Oh....my bad. Sorry."
He nodded and took the portrait from me.
"It is him, are you sure?"
"Mhm. He is the same guy I saw today, there's no doubt about it. Except the hairstyle was different."
"Very well then."
He went on to pay the artist and then got on the bike. I and Naoto-kun soon followed.
"Thanks for your help, Tachibana." Kiyotaka-kun said.
"Oh uh, welcome I guess."
The ride way back was silent. Soon enough, we reached Naoto-kun's apartment. And after dropping him off, we went to my house.
"You are a genius Kiyotaka-kun, I could have never thought of something like that."
His skills were on par, if not better than Naoto-kun's. I mean, no offense to Naoto-kun, but Kiyotaka-kun is way too smart. He managed to figure out things about my power as well as come up with this.
"It wasn't anything special. Really."
"Ah there you go with your humble self. Oh by the way I was wondering, how did you know that the guy I saw today was Kisaki?"
"It's not like I was sure it was him. It was just a hunch. I was going to make you do this nevertheless. As for my hunch, well you described him to be wearing glasses, and he was also along with this kiyomasa person."
"Just him wearing specs and being with Kiyomasa-kun was all you needed to conclude that???"
"Sigh, I keep saying this. It was a hunch. Though him being with Kiyomasa could possibly lead to trouble in the future......"
Trouble in the future huh. Oh right-
"Kiyotaka-kun, There's something important I wanted to tell you."
While I was still confused about how he disappeared and reappeared, there was something even more important I wanted to tell him.
"Draken-kun.......is dead....".
I looked him in the eye. But to my surprise, he answered with a blank face.
"I see. Remember yesterday you were telling me about your story and how you were saved by Sano and Ryuguji?"
"Uh yes, Draken-kun kicked Kiyomasa-kun and so did Mikey-kun."
"Very well. I will figure something out. Till then, give me more details."
About three and a half weeks from now.
"On 3rd August, Ryuguji Ken would die due to an infighting in Toman."
"I see. Is that all?"
"Uh yes. But...."
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
I trusted him. He was exactly what I needed in my quest. But how could he not even show a reaction to something like that?
"Anyway. Goodnight I guess."
"Goodnight."
I bid him farewell. I wanted to tell him that he had somehow disappeared in the future, but I decided against it. He was right in front of me. He wouldn't just disappear out of nowhere. But.....
Argh....no point thinking about that. I have to save Hina. That's the only reason why I am doing this after all.
Change in POV
Ryuguji Ken dies on 3rd August due to an infighting. Kisaki Tetta who is the second leader of future Toman was seen with Kiyomasa.
I glanced at the picture.
Kisaki Tetta contrasts with Sano. He is quick witted. Toman already had several strong people. They needed someone smart. Someone who made Toman the way it is 12 years later.
According to Hanagaki, Sano isn't the type of person who would kill Tachibana.
Putting this issue aside, there was something else that was more concerning. I turned off the lights and got in the bed. I set up an alarm to wake up a few hours later. After all that, a single thought came to my mind.
"Sigh, poor cat. Has to suffer the consequences of human imagination."
Author Notes.
Ok so guys I am sure you all are confused. But don't worry, I have an explanation for it.
I have tried to explain it as well as I can. But in case you are in no mood of reading complicated shit, then I would give you a brief idea.
Ayanokouji's existence is tied by Takemitchi's powers. He can only act when Takemitchi himself is in the past. For now, understanding this much should be enough.
Now here comes the complicated part.
Whenever an event is changed in the past, a new parallel universe is formed. Because it is impossible to change what has already happened in the existing verse. But TR unfortunately doesn't follow the concept.
Now the main reason why I had to make use of this is;
Ayanokouji is capable of solving things on his own, even without Takemitchi's help. That is why, if Takemitchi goes to the future, everything would be solved. Because Ayanokouji must have fixed things in the past.
This would make things way too easy. So that's why I had to nerf it down, to make the plot more interesting.
(Note:- everything below this is not Canon(at least as of yet). The time leap rules have been altered by me.)
Let us assume the line at the very bottom is the timeline where Ayanokouji "disappeared".
When Takemitchi time leaps, he doesn't time leap in the same verse, he travels to an alternate reality. That means, he can return to a world with the same setting but not the same world.
Which is why, in the original timeline, Ayanokouji disappeared. And so, in the future, there was not a single record about him. Naoto remembered Ayanokouji after being reminded because of what he said before disappearing (keep hanagaki here).
There's something called Predestinatuon paradox. Basically, no matter how much you time travel, you can't change the events because time travelling was part of the events.
But in TR verse, fate can be changed. And that is why nothing is predestined. Which is why, Ayanokouji disappeared, because Takemitchi's powers won't allow him to travel back to the same timeline.
But when Takemitchi time leaped again, he entered a new timeline. By time leaping, he changed Ayanokouji's fate, and thus in the new timeline, he was alive. In fact, in the new timeline, he had never disappeared at all.
I know this all sounds complicated. So for now, just understand that Takemitchi can time leap and change people's fate. His time leaps makes him move from one timeline to another, and thus, he would have to keep coming back to the past to change the future. He can't leave everything to Ayanokouji and go back to the future.
That was complicated asf, but I hope you guys understood the gist of it.
Anyway. There are three questions left unanswered, but don't worry they are quite simple.
Q1) Does Ayanokouji remember what happened in the original timeline? I.e, him disappearing.
Ans) He does. From his POV, he disappeared, he didn't feel anything for as long as Takemitchi was in the future. Once Takemitchi time leaped again, his consciousness shifted to the other timeline. At the exact time where Naoto and Takemitchi had shaken hands. The reason why he didn't disappear in that timeline was because Takemitchi was going to return for sure.
Q2) What happens to the other timelines?
Ans) Now you guys know that it is impossible for every timeline to have a happy ending. In fact, there can only be one. So that is why, due to the weird nature of Takemitchi's powers where he time leaps into different timelines, the only timeline that exists, is the one he is present in.
So basically, the future timeline where no one knew Ayanokouji and the past timeline where Ayanokouji disappeared, no longer exist. The only one that does is the one which was shown at the end of the chapter.
In later chapters, something similar would happen. Thus I felt it was necessary to do this as soon as possible.
Q3) What exactly did Ayanokouji mean at the end by "poor cat, has to suffer the consequences of human imagination."?
I will leave that to your imagination.
Well jokes apart, it is one of the closest real life thought experimentation to explain what happened to Ayanokouji. It also serves as a metophor for him.
I wanted to avoid overexplaining stuff as that ruins the fun for the readers. But this timeline thing was complicated.
There was another reason why this timeline thing was made by me. In fact it is very important. But I guess that is for another day.
Thanks for reading the chapter. Do look forward to the next one.