Authors note: I do not own the original story line or characters, just my added plot line.
Takemichi's POV
2017
I awoke at my job. Confusion hit me like a bus, I thought I had lost my job. My first instinct was to call Naoto but to my dismay his number wasn't even in my phone anymore. 'Was this all a dream?' I asked myself, bending down to pick up a stack of DVDs and noticed a large scar on my hand.
'It wasn't a dream!' My phone suddenly went off with a notification. 'A salon appointment?' Regardless of the oddness of the situation I still decided to go to the appointment. Following the directions to the unfamiliar salon. Walking up I looked into then tinted windows to see a man sweeping the floor. He looked over at me and I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. 'Akkun was alive.'
"Akkun....Akkun!" I put my hands on the glass, staring at him as I wept.
"What are you doing...?" Akkun said. He let me in and conintued to finish sweeping.
"Did you really become a hairstylist?" I asked right away.
"Huh? I told you I'm just an assistant right now. I called you here because they'll let me start cutting hair next month!" He said wiping the mirror down and making it shine. "I want you to be my first customer like we promised!"
Those words brought back that memory, making tears well back up. "You didn't forget did you?" He asked.
I messily wiped my eyes and shook my head. "Of course not!"
"Why are you crying...?"
"I'm not!" I shouted back.
"You're still a crybaby aren't you?" he laughed, finishing sweeping up the hair.
As I waited for Akkun to finish I let myself assess the situation. 'I actaully changed the present! I really did it!' My phone then began to ring, a number I didn't recognize.
I picked it up and answered. "Hello?"
"You succeeded I see."
"Huh? Who is this?" I asked not recognizing the voice right away.
"You just returned from the past right?"
Finally it hit. "Naoto!"
"You did it Takamichi! You changed the future!"
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'I didn't change the future.' My mind wondered. 'It all just happened again. Hina, Akkun....'
"I did my resarch on your friend." Naoto spoke up. I was surprised he'd bring this up at Hina's funeral. "Apparently he was married and had a child."
"He did? Then why on earth would he do such a thing!?" I questioned.
"It turns out his family went missing, I'm assuming they took his family hostage and then threatened him." He paused for a moment. "Did he say anything to you before he died?"
I thought back to that tragic night. "Yeah, but he just said the same thing." The more I thought back I had only more questions. 'Why was Hanma there?'
"In the end we couldn't change anything..." Naoto said, he kept his hands together as he looked towards the ground. "It was all for nothing."
"No," I stepped in. "Draken's death wasn't the reason for Toman turning evil. Instead we have to go after the source."
"What do you mean?" Naoto asked, finally looking up at me.
"I'm going to end Toman! And to do that I'll become the head of it!"
Naoto looked back down and rubbed his head.
"That's ridiculous."
"So what if it is! I'll do the impossible if it means saving Hina!" I said with determination.
"You're crazy but-" He stood up. "I feel stupid for being depressed." We both began walking through the halls as we spoke.
"So when I think about it. If Mikey and Draken and (Y/n) are together than there is no room for Kisaki. So there was no way Toman would become evil if Draken was still alive."
"It might be worth our time to see what he is doing now." Naoto said, putting his thumb to his lip in thought. "Ryuguji I mean."
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The sound of the cicadas traveled through the air, the day was bright and sunny. I waited patiently outside the Tokyo Dention Center for Naoto, my eyes glued to my phone while I waited.
"I didn't mean to keep you waiting." The voice from my right said, I turned to see Naoto dressed nicely as per usual.
"You kinda disappeared, I was wondering what had happened." I respond back, glad to see the man again regardless. "But anyways, what are we doing meeting here?"
"I had done some research. Your friend Ryuguji Ken isn't in Toman anymore. To my surprise there wasn't any records of him dying, which was no wonder why I couldn't find him." He paused before we started walking. "He's on death row."
Silence enveloped us as we made our way into the building. We were led by an officer to our designated meeting room, I could only glance at the walls lined with barred windows as we walked.
We were put into a white room, it had a separation glass screen and only a few holes in it so we could hear each other. We waited there for several minutes till the door on the opposite side opened up catching both of our attention.
Inside walked Draken, he looked the same as before except his head was fully shaved now but I'd recognize that dragon tattoo anywhere. He was dressed nicely and seemed rather put together for being on death row. He glanced over at me before sitting down in front of the separation glass across from me.
"Well, it has been awhile, hasn't it...Takemichy." Draken spoke. Though he didn't really smile I could see his lips turn up slightly. "I'm glad to see that you're okay."
I couldn't help the tears that welled up in my eyes as I looked at him. "Have you been...doing good?" I said making awkward small talk.
He shrugged. "I suppose."
Naoto stepped forward to initiate the important conversation we came here to have. "Hello, I'm Tachibana Naoto."
"Naoto is why I am able to meet with you." I explained, but it only made Draken look uncomfortable.
"Ah, so why are you here?" He asked bluntly.
Instead of answering his question I just spoke my thoughts. "I can't believe you are on death row..." I shook my head trying to make sense of the situation. "I don't understand, why would you kill someone? What happened with Toman?" I threw out my questions this time.
Draken's face dimmed, he looked down slightly as he spoke. "I don't regret what I had done and I deserve to be here." His expression became more pained as he continued. "It's my fault Toman ended up like this, all because I couldn't stop him."
'Him? Who was he talking about?'
"When we were all kids, Toman was great, all we did was fight and make our gang bigger. Toman was my life, if I could restart my life I'd still do it all over again. I don't live with regrets." He smiled finally.
'That's right, Draken hasn't changed after all.'
"But, if I could relive my life, I'd change one thing. My one regret." His head lowered and I could see him seeth with some negative emotions.
I looked at him with anticipation. 'Was this the answer I was looking for?'
"I'd save him. I'd stop him from his own stupidity and self loathing." Draken looked like he was on the brink of tears which shocked me to no end. 'Who was he? What did he do?' My mind going over all the possibilities before finally just asking.
"Who are you talking about?"
Draken looked up from his position to me. "(Y/n)..."
I gulped. 'What on earth could (Y/n) have done? He was such a nice and caring guy.'
"What did he do?" I asked, worried about the answer I would hear.
Draken looked at me almost insulted. "He killed himself Takemichy." My whole being went cold. 'What?'
"What do you mean? (Y/n) wouldn't do that!" I said now starting to panic over an event I had no idea about.
"Are you in denial or something? You knew about this." He said almost sneering. 'Did I? I mean, I'm sure all of Toman knew. (Y/n) was one of the top 3.'
" Can you...can you please tell me what you know about it?" I asked hoping he wouldn't get more upset and I could learn more about the event.
Draken shifted in his seat. The look on his face was full of regret. "(Y/n), he was a troubled person. You'd never know by looking at him." He began. "His home life wasn't the best, I think that's what started everything. "
I mentally started taking notes as Naoto listened in. "I know things about him that I will never tell a soul. Promises I made that I won't break even after his death, he trusted me with his life." Those last words brought him to a stop, I saw a single tear slip out. He brought up his cuffed fists and slammed them on the table. "And I couldn't even save him!" He shouted, frustration and anger written all over his face. "I saw the signs and I did nothing. I kept quiet like he asked and look where it got us!?" The red light in the room suddenly turned on and he started to calm down again.
"Draken, why did he do it? Please tell me." I begged.
"I'll keep it to my grave, it's not like it can save him anymore. The only other person who knows is Mikey. He kept his letter." Draken stood up as the door on his side opened.
"But Toman changed after (Y/n) died. Nothing was the same after that." He looked at me one last time. "Mikey changed after that, he wasn't the same ever since." He then sighed. "Kisaki, that bastard fucked up Toman even worse after. You need to get the hell out of Tokyo. You were almost killed, am I wrong? And that's why you came to see me."
"Why is someone out to get me?" I asked as he walked further out.
"Kisaki admired Mikey, but when Mikey changed his admiration turned to hatred. Kisaki wants to destroy everything Mikey holds dear." Draken warned before leaving with the door slamming shut.
We walked out of the building on that note and made it back to Naoto's appartment. 'Draken is really on death row...'
"Naoto, why haven't I heard anything about (Y/n) all this time? Nobody had mentioned his name and only refered to him as him. It's obvious that this is what started Toman's fall. And then who the hell is Kisaki?" My question about (Y/n) went completely ignored.
"Kisaki is one of the most important people in Toman as of now." Naoto spoke while holding up his papers of research. "He's the acting commander and most likely the one who killed Hina." He looked up to his board covered in his evidence and research. "The police are doing everything we can to learn more about the guy, but even so we don't have any leads on him." He set the papers back down.
There was silence again, I spoke up once more. "Please, why didn't you mention (Y/n)? "
Naoto looked down at the ground as he shifted his chair in my direction. "I didn't fully know about him. I didn't know about his importance in the Tokyo Manji Gang." He explained.
"Can you do research on him now then? Find out what happened and we can work from there! I can go back in time and stop him from committing suicide!" I explained.
Naoto sighed, turning back to his laptop. "I'll do my best, do you know his full name? I'll look for a police report." I gave him (Y/n)'s full name and let him do his research.
It gave me time to think about the Kisaki situation as well. 'I haven't met him at all, not in the future or past. Not only that but we don't have any leads on him.'
After what felt like forever of thinking and waiting Naoto finally spoke up.
"I found out what I could but I don't think it will be much help." He turned to me and motioned me over. I got up and went to look at the police report. "It wasn't published publicly and kept within the police data base but..." Naoto moved out of the way a little to show me the screen. I read the report as he spoke.
"(L/n) (Y/n) was found dead on October 23rd 2005 at the Musashi Shrine at around 20 o'clock. His date of passing was October 20th 2005. Cause of death was suicide by hanging. He had been dead for several days before he was found by two of his friends. There was never a suicide note found."
My eyes widened. 'That is today!' Panic set in as I continued to read the short report. Once I finished I turned to Naoto with anxiety filling me. "Naoto! That's today, I have to go back and stop him!"
Naoto sighed and looked down, clasping his hands together in thought. "If that's the case then I'll give you two goals." He began. "Save (Y/n) and stop Kisaki from joinging Toman." He said sternly.
"Okay! I'll save (Y/n) and then....I'll become the head of Toman and stop Kisaki!" I declaired.
Naoto's eyes widened. "You were serious?"
"If I do that then I'll be able to save Draken, Akkun, and Hina and everyone else!" I said, lifting my hand out towards Naoto. "What we've done hasn't fixed anything, so I need to step up and acutally change the future! I'll first become a captain, it won't be all instantaneous but I'll do it as quick as possible."
Naoto looked at my hand. "You sound crazy, you know? But you know what? You've succeeded in every mission we've given you." He held out his hand as well. "So even though it'll be long, I'll believe in you." And with that our hands met and I made my way back to October 20th 2005.
Author's Note: As you can tell, this is where things start getting dark. I'll put trigger warnings on top of the chapters that need it. ❗️VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED❗️