Authors note: This might literally end up being 4 or 5 parts now, BRAIN STOP MAKING OG CONTENT AND PADDING OUT SHIT! Enjoy me trying to explain technically not plot holes, while also expanding on characters' relationships.
July 19th, 2005 Emma
"Hello~!" Meiko waved with her only free hand, as she carried a small convenience store bag in her other filled with some sweets and a drink. "Sorry to scare ya."
"Yo." Yayoi greeted from around her candy cigarettes, hands occupied by a can of Coffee and a bookstore bag full of textbooks.
"Mei-chan, Yai-chan..." Emma sighed in relief with her hand clutched over her racing heart, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh!" Meiko gestured to Yayoi as the girl held up her bag, "Well there was a flash sale happening in a bookstore nearby that Yai likes. She had cram school today, so I went and got them for her till she got out." She explained.
"We met up here so I could pay her back, and get myself some brain food," Yayoi explained, shaking her can of coffee and candy cigarettes, as Meiko hummed.
"Yep."
"I see." Emma smiled, "That's nice."
Yayoi sighed in relief, smiling, "Tell me about it. I've been waiting to get these mangas and high school cram books for weeks now. Thank god for sales!"
"Hey!" Meiko deadpanned, "I was the one who went and got them."
Yayoi happily nodded, bumping her shoulder into Meiko's, "And I will forever be grateful."
"Damn right you will," Meiko smirked, and Emma could not help feel at peace now that she had the two girls to help distract her from her woes.
"So, Em-chan. How's it going? Is everything okay with you and Draken?" Meiko concernedly asked, accidentally bringing back up the very thing that had had Emma upset. "Ah!" Meiko became slightly panicked as she noticed Emma's face become flushed, and her cheeks puff out upset. "... That bad?"
Emma couldn't help but look away embarrassed, "I don't wanna talk about it!"
"Oh, sweety." Meiko frowned, Yayoi winced sympathetically.
"Ouch. That bad?" Meiko smacked her, "Ow!" Yayoi winced, rubbing her arm. "What'd I say?" Yayoi gasped as Meiko sent her firm glare.
"There, there sweety. It's alright!" Meiko cooed, pulling Emma close, "There's no need to be embarrassed, I'm sure whatever it is that's got you upset will be okay."
Letting herself be pulled into the older girl's arms, Emma continued to pout embarrassed. "...Really?"
"Of course." Meiko nodded, holding Emma closer.
"Even if... it's sorta my fault?" Emma muttered, trying to figure out what she would do now that her original plans had been derailed.
Meiko stopped caressing the girl's head as she recognized the tone of voice Emma had taken. "Oh Emma-chan what did you do?" The tone of a child who'd just gotten into trouble.
Emma winced, realizing Meiko had quickly picked up on her guilt. "Well..." She began to open her mouth reluctantly preparing to recount her ordeal, she sighed in relief when her cell phone suddenly went off. 'Oh thank God!' She thought, pulling away from the dark-haired teen's arms to pull out the phone from the pocket of her skirt. "Oh~ Will you look at that, it's Mikey! Better pick this up! I'mma just take this right over there."
Meiko sent Emma a familiar disappointed sisterly glare, "We are not done with this talk Emma-chan." She watched Emma walk away slightly to take her call, Meiko's hands firmly on her hips as she stared the teen down.
"Has anyone ever told you you're very motherly? Even in a scary way at times." Yayoi boldly proclaimed, causing Meiko to send her redheaded friend a glare. "..." Blinking a few times Yayoi decided to loudly sip from her canned coffee and partially turn away from the Hanagaki sister's glare. 'This only proves my point.'
"Yes, Mikey?" Emma greeted, as she heard Draken speaking in the background of her brother's call.
"Oi Emma, where are you?" Mikey asked as he watched Draken talk on the phone with Takemichi.
Raising a brow at this Emma looked up and around, taking note of hers, Meiko's, and Yayoi's current location. "I'm with Yai-chan and Mei-chan a few blocks out from Musashi Shrine at a convenience store. Why?"
"Ah! Ei-chan's with you! That's perfect!" Mikey exclaimed, making Emma hum curiously as she looked back at Meiko to find her glaring at a deadpanned Yayoi. "Oi, Ken-chin! Don't bother asking Takemitchy about Ei-chan or calling her. She's with Emma." Mikey shouted on the other end of his call towards Draken, receiving only a thumbs up from the taller male.
'Interesting...' Emma thought, realizing her brother had planned to contact the dark-haired girl with her.
"So Emma, we're getting everyone together for an important meeting at the shrine. Can you come over with Ei-chan and Yaichi?" Mikey asked as Emma blinked in shock.
"Huh? A meeting at the shrine, haven't you guys already had your meeting for this month?" She asked, confused, and froze when her brother suddenly began to speak to her seriously.
"Yeah... But this meeting has to do with what happened a few nights back with Pah."
Emma's stomach dropped, at this remembering the night her brother spoke of, for it was the night they had all come back from their supposed perfect day on the beach.
"We really should do this again sometime." Meiko laughed, hugging Emma goodbye for the night, "And I don't just mean the two of us." She winked over to the guys making Baji laugh.
"If you're as fun here as you were on the beach then I'm game." He looked to Yayoi then as she and Chifuyu seemed to be talking.
"So yeah, Nana is my–"
"Especially you Yaichi!"
"Huh?" Yayoi blinked and looked at the long-haired teen confused, "Say what now–?"
Baji grinned at her, "I'm saying don't be a stranger, next time we meet. Me and Chifuyu will show you a great place to get some good Yakisoba around these parts, kay. You were actually pretty fun to blow up shit with... even if you were bossy."
Yayoi stared at the male deadpanned, "I'm sorry but why does that feel like it was both a backhanded insult and a compliment. "
Chifuyu nervously laughed from beside the older girl, "Knowing Baji-san it may very well be both."
Suddenly Pah's phone went off in the middle of his conversation with Mitsuya and Peh. "Hmm... Hold on guys, let me take this." He turned and answered the call. "Pah-chin speaking, what's up? ..."
"So Ei..." Draken nodded, as he and Mikey walked over after having their own private conversation towards Meiko and Emma, "Is Yai going back home with you, or do we need one of the guys to take her home?"
"Oh, well... We'll have to ask her–" Meiko began to say until Pah's rage-filled yell cut her off.
"WAIT SAY THAT AGAIN!?" The whole group turned to look at the bulky male, "... WHAT HOSPITAL? ... Uhuh... Uhuh... I'll be right there man!" Pah turned to Peh fuming, "Peh-yan! We gotta go!"
"Huh?!" Peh exclaimed in shock, noting the agitated and concerned mood that had overtaken his captain, "What's happened?"
"I'll tell you on the way!"
"Pah, what's wrong?" Mikey concernedly called out towards the scared teen, as the whole of the males all looked at Pah ready to jump to his aid if need be.
"Don't really know yet!" Pah growled angrily, "But a friend of mine just called, something bad happened Mikey. I gotta go see him."
"I see." Mikey muttered seriously as Draken frowned from his side.
"Pah..."
"You want us to come with you?" Baji asked frowning, watching as the male only shook his head.
"Yeah man, you know we don't mind coming to back you up." Mitsuya nodded in agreement, stepping up.
"Nah, you guys get Emma and the girls back home safe." He glared in the girl's direction, but everyone could tell from the flash of concern in his eyes that the glare was the farthest thing from hostile. "Please..." He mounted his bike with Peh.
"Pah, wait!" Mikey shouted out, "Once you know what's up–"
"I'll let you know." Pah finished nodding, "Don't worry guys, I will."
"Pah-chin!" Emma concernedly called out, as Meiko and Yayoi stared at the boy with concern. "Whatever happened... I hope that your friend's okay."
Pah smiled awkwardly, "Thanks, Emma."
"Me too!" Meiko joined in, "Whatever happened... I hope it's nothing serious."
"Same. Please be careful." Yayoi nodded, noting how angry the boy seemed, and worrying about what that would mean for his ability to handle his motorcycle.
Pah blushed slightly at this and looked away, "Thanks Ei... Yaichi..." He looked back at the group and gave them a final nod. "I'll call you later Mikey."
Covering the receiver Emma turned her back to Meiko and Yayoi, "Is it serious?"
"Yeah... That's why we're having the meeting. You gonna be okay to come with Ei-chan and Yaichi?"
Emma frowned, "Let me just ask..." She turned back to Meiko and Yayoi, "Mei-chan, Yai-chan!"
The two girls turned back to Emma, "Yeah. Everything okay?" Meiko asked as Emma frowned slightly.
"Yeah... Just... Would you guys be okay coming with me to a gathering at the Musashi Shrine?"
"The Musashi shrine?" Yayoi muttered, "Wait, isn't that the shrine where we met up for the beach?"
Meiko frowned, crossing her arms, "I take it this is Toman related?" Emma nodded, "... Does it... have anything to do with Pah-chin?" Emma nodded again, watching as Meiko and Yayoi turned to each other silently for a bit before nodding. "Sure, I've been wondering about Pah-chin since we last saw him."
"Same." Yayoi agreed, crossing her arms. "The way things ended left a sick feeling in my gut."
"Okay then." Emma nodded, "We're good Mikey, we can meet you there."
"Great." Mikey nodded, "Make sure to stick together though, and if anything happens–"
"I'll call you or Draken." Emma sighed rolling her eyes, "I know Mikey, I know. We'll see you in a bit... Tell Draken 'hi' for me."
"Sure... Sure..." Mikey hummed, before smirking mischievously and shouting to Draken as he waited for Mikey. "Oi! Ken-chin! Emma says she loves you!"
Emma's face exploded red, "MIKEY!"
Draken only glared and shook his head at his friend as he came up to him, "Give me that!" He ripped the phone from the snickering blonde's hands, "I swear one of these days she's gonna kill you for making jokes like that!" Draken scolded and Emma, blushing face, turned deadpanned as she heard the older boy's words.
'But it's not a joke!' She angrily thought, wondering just what the hell she needed to do to get him to see her feelings for him.
"Everything alright?" Meiko asked as she came up to Emma's side.
"Yeah..." Emma muttered as Meiko frowned at the obvious lie.
"You good Emma?" Draken spoke from over the line once he finished scolding her brother.
"Yeah..." She lied through her teeth, yet again. "I just... wanted stupid Mikey to tell you Hi, and that Mei-chan and Yai-chan would be seeing you soon."
Draken nodded at this noting the slight tension in her voice, "Alright... I'll see you soon then. Be safe, okay."
Her anger simmered down at his final words, and her stomach fluttered with butterflies. "Yeah... see you soon."
Meiko stared at Emma for a few seconds, contemplating if she should ruin her friend's now brightened mood."... What did Mikey do?" Her curiosity got the better of her.
Mood darkening Emma shook in place, "I'mma kill him."
Meiko winced, "That bad huh?"
Looking between the two girls Yayoi decided to lighten the mood up again, "I know how to hide a dead body and get rid of evidence if you need help." Meiko and Emma slowly turned to look at the deadpanned Yayoi. "What...? I watch a lot of true crime stories!"
"Remind me to not let you anymore." Meiko deadpanned as Yayoi threw her arms up.
"Well remind me not to remind you!" Yayoi shot back, leading to the two girls bantering over the shows they watch, and Emma could not help but giggle at this. The tension she had been feeling all day slowly faded away as she led the two older girls to the shrine.
July 19th, 2005 Takemichi
After asking and looking for some directions for the shrine Draken had told him to meet them at, the young couple walked in a brisk yet peaceful silence. As they walked, the pair would brush up against one another every now and again.
"Takemichi-kun..." Hina began deciding to finally end the silence, "What do you consider important?"
"Huh? Important? Uh..." Takemichi asked, humming to himself as he tried to think it over.
"For me, it's times like this." Hina explained, "We don't even need to do anything. Just the two of us walking together. Talking about nothing important. Just being able to spend time with you." Takemichi had almost slowed down fully to a stop from the shock he felt hearing his girlfriend's words to him, as she turned back to smile at him his heart both skipped a beat and clinched in regret. "I hope I get to spend even more time like this with you!"
'Time... That's right.' Takemichi thought, staring at the girl he loves, 'What's important to me is...' The image of his sister's teasing smile and scolding frown flashed through his mind, Akkun and the guys goofing around flashed through his mind as he stared at the smiling girl. ' Is all of them...' He thought.
"No kissing!"
He cringed at the memory of the girl from the karaoke flashed through his mind. 'I don't know what's going on with my past self... But I...' Hesitantly reaching out his hand, he struggled to grab onto Hina's hand. 'I hope he realizes how important everyone is cause–'
"On August 3rd, save Ryuguji Ken. That's your mission this time."
"You." Yayoi pointed to him, "Know this boy now man... In fact, you and her befriended him around the same time. That's my hint."
Pulling his hand back he clenched it into a fist as the future Naoto and Yayoi's words entered his mind once more. 'Cause in order to save Hina and Meimei, I have to identify the reason for Draken's death two weeks from now, and save him!' Takemichi determinedly thought as he and Hina stopped at the bottom of the shrine's steps, 'I need to find out the reason.'
"You guys are meeting here?" Hina curiously asked, blinking a few times as she noticed Takemichi's face set in a determined glare of deep thought before he snapped out of it to nervously smile at her.
"Yeah..." He nodded, and Hina could not help but quietly remember once more what Meiko had told her recently.
"He just has something on his mind." Meiko tried to explain, "I don't really know much about it... But we had a talk so hopefully, he'll open up to at least one of us soon..."
'Could the face Takemichi-kun was making right now, have anything to do with what Mei-nee was talking about?' Hina quietly wondered as she tried to take note of all the strangeness that had been going around with her boyfriend as of late.
Suddenly the loud noise of multiple vehicles began to fill the night air, and as the two teens turned to look down the road they both paled and stepped closer to one another as many headlights flooded the road. A large group of bikers, all wearing the same black uniform, pulled into the large open space at the bottom of the shrine's steps. Takemichi subconsciously placed Hina firmly behind him protectively as the girl nervously peeked over his shoulder at the many gang members starting to park their bikes. "...A-are you sure it's here?" Hina nervously stuttered as Takemichi stared at the gang members even more nervously and pale.
"Y-yeah."
"They look really scary. Should we call Mei-nee?" Hina nervously asked, slowly bringing out her phone to call up the older Hanagaki sibling as Takemichi shook his head.
"D-don't worry. I'm here." Takemichi tried to confidently say, "Just don't stare at them." He muttered quietly trying to follow his own advice as his heart raced through his chest. 'Who wears biker gang outfits nowadays? And there are so many of them...' Takemichi thought, wondering just who these guys were let alone where Draken and possibly Mikey were if they were supposed to meet here.
"Hey!" A random gangster shouted, causing the two teens to jump in fear as their heads whip to see a taller male angrily marching up towards them. "Who the hell d'you think yer starin' at, huh?! Scram!" Takemichi paled, feeling himself sweat bullets as the older-looking male came up to his face. "What the hell's your problem?!"
"I'll murder you!" Another gang member added coming up to back his pal.
Not knowing what else to do, Takemichi tried to explain himself. "E-er, I was just invited here, and–"
"What?!" The taller original one yelled, cutting the stuttering Takemichi off. "You got any idea where you are, punk?!" He harshly grabbed at the front of Takemichi's school shirt, almost choking the poor male, much to Hina's horror and concern.
'Takemichi-kun...!' Her hand once more reached for her cell phone, 'Should I... should I try calling Mei-nee?'
"M-Musashi Shrine..."
"Who the hell would invite a pissant like you to a Toman gathering, huh?!"
"Violence is wrong!" Hina finally shouted as she watched her boyfriend be shaken. 'But we just might need it, I need to–'
Hearing the girl's yell, Mitsuya looked up from talking with his second in command to see Takemichi being shaken by some of Toman's guys with Hina close behind. His eyes narrowed for a split second before going wide, "Hang on... isn't that–"
Meiko and Yayoi cooed at the image of Mitsuya's younger twin sisters in his phone. "They're so cute!" Meiko squealed. "Twins!! Yai look, they're twins! They're so adorable!! It's double the cuteness!
"You mean double the trouble." Yayoi jokes as Emma laughs from close by.
"They're honestly not that bad, I'd argue Mikey's worse." Draken snorted and nodded in agreement.
"Most kids are better behaved compared to Mikey."
"Rude!" Mikey almost shouted, muffled by the food in his mouth as Draken smacked the boy behind his back.
"Chew, swallow, then talk dumbass!"
"Ah~" Meiko couldn't help but continue to squeal, "But they're just too cute~ I wish Michi was still so small and adorable!"
"I take it Ei likes kids." Baji boldly noted as Yayoi nodded to him.
"Girl's a sucker for the tiny crotch goblins," Yayoi muttered as Meiko sent her a teasing grin.
"Oh please, I'm not the only one. Yai's literally a kid magnet as much as she likes to keep a resting bitch face to keep people away. Kids are just naturally drawn to her, her grandmother has to use her to calm kids down when parents bring them in for checkups."
"I still don't get how that works!" Yai darkly muttered as Pah and Peh could only stare at the redhead in awe.
"So cool!"
"So is she a child-whisperer?"
"That's not a thing!"
"I take it your brother is close to our age then?" Mitsuya asked Meiko, as she nodded.
"Yeah, technically we're Irish twins."
"Irish twins?" Chifuyu asked as Pah looked up from his food.
"Their Irish?"
"Whoa~" Peh stared in awe as Meiko giggled at the boy's stupidity.
"No, no. They're not literally Irish." Yayoi shook her head. "Irish twins just refers to the phenomena of when a mom has her kids in the span of twelve or less months apart."
"Yep!" Meiko happily nodded, "In the case of Michi and me, we're exactly one whole year apart."
"Whoa!" Peh shouted, "I never knew babies could be born so close together... Or would it be far apart?"
"Yes." Meiko and Yayoi said in unison. "Jinx!"
"So does this mean the two of you share a birthday?" Chifuyu asked as Meiko nodded.
"Yep." She cheerfully admitted before going deadpanned as she muttered, "He still owes me my first birthday."
"You really are never gonna let him live that down aren't ya?" Yayoi deadpanned in return as Meiko threw her arms in the air.
"Never!!" She shouted before pulling out her cell phone and showing it to Mitsuya, "I mean look at this majestic cry baby bitch! The fucking audacity! Worst first birthday present ever!" Meiko pouted, causing Mitsuya to snort as he realized she was just joking as she insulted the boy in the picture she showed him. Looking at the image of the blonde-haired Takemichi being easily pinned down by Meiko on the beach as some of their guy friends cheered and laughed around them.
"Takemitchy!" Mitsuya called out, catching the four teens' attention as they all turned to him confused.
"Y-yes..." Takemichi stuttered, confused at who this new stranger was that seemed to know him.
At this confirmation, Mitsuya felt his eyes twitch in annoyance as he walked over to the group, "What're you scarin' the commander's guest for?" He angrily said, kicking the idiot who still held Takemichi even after he had called out the boy's name, and watched the boy be released.
"T-terribly sorry, sir!" They scrambled away.
Takemichi's hand flew to his chest as he coughed and gasped a few times from the rough treatment he'd experienced. "Are you okay, Takemichi-kun?" Hina concernedly asked, hand hesitantly coming up to try and touch the boy's neck, only to stop when he finally calmed his coughing fits down and smiled at her.
"Yeah."
'So this is Takemitchy...' Mitsuya thought, 'I wonder how he caught Mikey's attention.' He wondered as he tried comparing the two Hanagaki siblings in his mind. 'Not the time.' He shook his head with a sigh, "Come with me."
"Huh?" Takemichi watched the silver begin to walk away, "Uh, sure..." His eyes became wide though as he realized something, 'Wait! He's one of the guys from the picture!' He thought, his mind flashing to the beach photo from the adult Yayoi's office, 'C-could this guy be–' He started to pale wondering if this was possible the person the adult Yayoi talked of being his sister's future lover. That was until a slight rumbling of a stationary motorcycle caught his ear and stopped his mind from wandering further into conspiracies. Looking up he was met with the smiling figure of Mikey dressed like the Commander of Toman he was, and sitting atop a bike.
"Heya, Takemitchy." Takemichi's eyes became wide, as the realization slowly sunk in. "Sorry for inviting you here out of the blue."
'All of them...' Takemichi's eyes wander, catching sight of Baji grinning at Chifuyu whose back faced Takemichi's. To Peh and Pah looking over towards him with stiff glare, to Mitsuya and Draken proudly standing on either side of Mikey. 'All those guys were a part of Toman! Mei-nee what did you do?!' Takemichi panickedly thought, staring at the teens.
Draken frowned as he looked towards Takemichi and noted the nervous Hina sticking close by to her boyfriend in shock. "Why'd you bring your wifey here?"
"Ah, sorry." Takemichi quickly responded, snapping out of his shocked thoughts, "I had no idea it'd be like this." He admitted scratching the back of his head, as Draken walked over to them.
"Guess that can't be helped. Hina-chan..." He smiled and bent down slightly to better accommodate for the smaller girl's stature. "Sorry for scaring you the other day."
"Oh," Hina almost laughed nervously, recalling her first meeting with these two boys. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." She smiled in return, realizing she and Draken had never apologized the same way she and Mikey had. "Also, I'm sorry, too."
"It's fine." Draken simply politely waved off before giving Takemichi a smirk, "Gotta surprise for you by the way."
"Huh?" Takemichi blinked a few times, confused as Draken looked away.
"Oi, Emma, Ei, Yai!"
"Mei-nee!" Takemichi all but exclaimed in shock as he and Hina's gaze turned towards the direction Draken was shouting towards. 'Huh?! Why is she here too?'
"Yahoo~" Meiko greeted walking towards her brother and Hina smiling with Yayoi nervously close by. "Good to see you two together again, Michi."
"Senpai?!" Hina gasped as Yayoi waved to the two.
"Ello~"
It was the girl who came up behind the two older girls though, that had Takemichi freezing in place though in shock. "Yeah?" Emma boredly replied looking off to the side as she knew Draken would have only called for if he needed her.
"This is Ei's brother, Takemitchy," Draken stated, pointing to Takemichi, "and his wifey, so make sure you protect her."
"Oi, oi!" Meiko huffed glaring up at Draken, "Don't just shift my brother's responsibilities to Hina off on Emma-chan." Meiko crossed her arms, "If you want someone to watch her, then I'll do it." She tried to argue as Emma finally came up to her side.
"Roger." Emma nonetheless agreed with a sigh, moving her curious gaze to see her friend's supposed beloved stupid brother, and froze as she realized who it was. "Huh?"
'It's him!'
'It's her!'
The two teens thought at once as Meiko gestured to Takemichi smiling at Emma, "Emma-chan I'd like you to meet–"
Emma suddenly smiled brightly and waved to the fake blonde, "Yo, wussy boy!" She flirtatiously called out, quietly thinking to herself. 'I have no other choice! If I'm going down, you'll be coming down with me wussy!'
Takemichi's jaw dropped.
Yayoi's eyes became wide as she stared between the two teens. "Oh..."