Mason's pov
Today's a Saturday, and I'm in my home trying to solve the puzzle. How did Choji come into my world? Last time I check, he's just a background character in Tokyo Revengers, not a time-traveller.
Though, this got me thinking about whether his existence will have any impact on this mission that Allon and I are doing.
Speaking of Allon, I already asked him about his journey so far. He messaged me that South is living with Taiju thanks to him, guess we have a helper after all.
Now I remember... Today is the day that the students of Hope's Peak Academy will bring their loved ones to the school for a celebration. A celebration of the school's more than a century-old anniversary since it first opened.
Friends or family, it doesn't matter.
At least, in my timeline and not in the canon.
Guess I'll be going then.
I then changed into a typical outfit. A casual grey top with blue jeans and a pair of sports shoes. Don't mind my taste in fashion.
Teleporting from my home and arriving near the same 7-Eleven, I decided to go and buy some snacks there. After paying at the cashier, I put these items into a shopping bag and walk towards the academy itself.
But then, I then stopped walking, sensing that someone is following me. I turned around to find nobody there, or what I thought there was. Until I notice a certain yellow-hair guy appearing out of nowhere.
"So are you following me, Choji?" I asked him, recognising the man. "How do you know that?" he asked.
"Just a hunch, that's all." I responded. "Why are you following me?"
"Because I want to know how am I here. Y'know, in the year 2019, years ahead from 2005."
"I'll explain later, Choji. Do you want to come to this academy?"
"For what, exactly?"
"To celebrate the anniversary of Hope's Peak Academy."
"..."
"What is this so-call 'Hope's Peak Academy' anyways?" he asked. Should've expected this, since there's no way that the academy exists in his timeline at all. At Tokyo Revengers at all.
"Well, it is a school created to develop and research talents of exceptional high school children." I told him.
"Really? That sounds interesting."
"Well, do you want to follow me? Make some friends, at least."
"I don't know, I ain't the sociable type." he stated.
"Well, we're going regardless. Follow me."
"You sounded like we are best friends despite only being the second time we have met."
"Didn't think of that, I guess." I said. "Follow me."
I grabbed his hand and bring him to the academy, arriving in front of the entrance.
"Are you ready?" I asked him, which he hesitantly agreed.
Entering the academy, the place is filled with decorations and a lot of people. Students accompanied by their parents, students talking with their friends, and teachers gather around for a fun time.
Looking at my right is Masaru being carried by Leon as he holds Sayaka's hands, with the baseball guy dragging his cousin Kanon Nakajima, and Sayaka bringing along her idol group.
"Hey, Leon!" someone shouted, only to see that it's the weed-looking guy Hiro again. "Bro! You're here!" Leon shouted, putting Masaru back down before running to hug his bro.
"Mason-sama!" shouted Masaru before hugging me. "I'm glad that you're here too!"
"Same, little dude. Same."
"Hope that I can stay as a child forever." Masaru smiled. Glad that he is getting the help that he needs and that LeoSaya can take care of him.
"And who is that demon that is with you?" exclaimed Masaru towards Choji, which resulted in me facepalming myself. He still thinks other adults are demons, huh?
"Seriously, Masaru? He's just a friend of mine." I told him.
"Whatever. He's still a demon anyways."
"What did he mean by 'demon'?" Choji asked, before I explained that it means adults, and anyone older than kids.
"Really, kid? Jeez." Choji rolled his eyes. "What is your talent, anyway?"
"My talent? I'm the Lil'l Ultimate P.E!! The P.E King that can do every exercise ever!"
"Woah, what an interesting talent." Choji said out of sarcasm.
"Masaru, get back here! Don't just run away!" shouted a girl with shoulder-length chestnut brown hair.
"But I was just talking to Mason."
"Mason? Oh my, sorry for not noticing you."
"Same, Kanon. Same."
Kanon Nakajima, Leon's cousin. She had a deep obsession with her cousin, but Leon only look at her as a little sister and not a lover. Despite him turning her down hundreds of times, it was only when she and Yasuhiro first met each other a while back that she reconsider her obsession.
Not sure if her yandere side would come back or not, but I'm glad that she abandoned her incest crush on Leon. If anything, I hope that her friendship with Hiro blooms, because I shipped her with the weed man.
At least she agreed to help pay off Hiro's debts soon.
"And who is that, may I ask?
"That's Choji, a friend of mine." I stated, before Choji waves his hand.
"CHOBERIBA!!" she exclaimed,
"You're a gyaru?" Choji asked.
"Yep, I'm too used to it anyways." she smiled embarrassingly, before she drag an annoyed Masaru back to the group.
"Looks like we have met again, huh?" said a familiar voice. I turned around to see Mondo Owada and his boyfriend Kiyotaka.
"Nice to meet you again, friends."
"You have arrived late for this celebration! It already started minutes ago." Taka exclaimed as he points at me.
"Jeez, and you're lecturing me just because I'm a few minutes late?" I told him annoyed. "Chill, dude. At least it ain;t an hour late or something."
"Anyway, who are you two?" asked Choji, before both Mondo and Ishimaru introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Choji, by the way." he introduced himself. "Honestly, I never actually heard of this academy before, nor the Ultimates." he admitted, which shocks both of them.
As all four of us start talking to each other, Taka said that he has to see his step-brother now, which surprises me and Choji alike. Since when did Ishimaru have a step-brother?
"Mondo, what is Taka talking about?" I asked the gang leader. "What did he mean by step-bro?"
"Oh, you didn't hear about it, didn't ya?" he asked me and Choji before we nodded our heads.
"Well, Ishimaru's step-brother is my classmate Hiro, to be exact." he explained.
"THE WEED MAN!?" I screamed, shocked by such revelation.
"Weed man? You mean the one that looks like a drug dealer?" asked Choji, confused.
"Yeah that. Apparently, my bro's dad is dating Hiro's mom." Mondo explained. I then look at Ishimaru talking to his father, Hiro and Hiro's mom.
(Takaaki here was supposed to look have greyish hair, but oh well...)
Hiroko Hagakure. A street smart, relaxed and open-minded lady with a 'you do your thing, and I'll do mine- live and let live' type of personality.
A former delinquent during her younger days, she once did something she shouldn't have and let it go on too long because she wanted to be with her husband no matter what, resulting in both her and Hiro's father breaking up after she was found out.
In the end, she was relieved, because she was finally free from her "sin". Now a divorced mother working as a nurse, while living with the son that she cared for.
Well, she will be out of the divorce phase due to the fact that she's dating Taka's father, a police officer that Mondo recognises. Sure, him finding out that his son is dating the gang leader fo the Crazy Diamonds made him intiallt
And not because of homophobia.
...
No, seriously. Only Toransuke Ishimaru is homophobic, the grandfather of Taka and the father of Takaaki. Ishimaru told me about it when I asked him about him coming out as gay to his father.
Quite a supportive father this Takaaki Ishimaru is, a serious man who looks ill physically and mentally. Heck, he even carries out his service weapon at times, which is a gun that he got from his job.
And that's all of what Mondo told me about. That's a lot, not gonna lie.
Seeing the four of them together feels like a family getting reunion. A step-family, to be precise. I wish them a happy life, one without any tragedy happening.
Thank god that I somewhat manage to prevent the Tragedy from happening.
Now, where was I?...
Oh, right.
"Choji, can you follow me to the office? We still have to discuss something." I told him, before he responded with a hesitant yes. I soon grab his hand and then dragged him into the office to meet Chisa.
"Bye, Mondo!" I last say to him before leaving the place. There are a lot of questions that I want to ask Choji.
...
Like... how did Choji end up in my world?
3rd pov
Entering the office, Mason and Choji approaches Chisa, who is celebrating over something.
"Mrs. Chisa, are you there?" Mason called out before she turned around to see her student.
"Mason, glad that you can make it for the celebration!" she cheered.
"Well, what are you celebrating about?"
"Juzo decided to come out as gay, and I can't help but feel happy about it." she smiled.
"Did he say that he has a crush on who?"
"Kinda figure out that he has a crush on Kyosuke." she said, weakening her smile at it.
Mason knew what she meant. On one hand, Chisa is happy that her close friend comes out of the closet after a long time, as Juzo struggle with his sexuality. But on the other hand, she does have a crush on Kyosuke, who just so happens to be the person that Juzo has romantic feelings for.
Mason hopes that a poly relationship can happen between the three friends, but knows that ChiSuke may likely happen than MunaSuke.
But enough talk about that, let's move on to the actual point of this conversation.
"So what do you want to meet me for?" Chisa asked. "Well, I have an issue here. Do you recognise this person?" Mason asked her, grabbing Choji's jacket as the person he's referring.
"No? I don't?" she responded, being confused.
"Well, this is Choji Ahane. An acquaintance of mine." Mason said.
"Really? After two days?" he asked, before he goes to shake Chisa's hand.
"And what's the problem with that?" Chisa asked, before Mason whispered to him.
"I'm afraid that we have someone who is not from this world." he whisper, making Chisa surprised.
"You mean-"
"Yes. He somehow ends up in this world, and I don't know how that happens."
"And what makes you think Choji's from another world?"
"He's from Tokyo Revengers. One of those background characters from Valhalla." Mason explained, before showing her a manga panel of Choji of the manga on his phone.
"...Follow me then." she said, as she start walking out of the office and go into a empty classroom. As Mason and Choji enter the classroom, she then closes the windows, turns on the lights and fans, and turns on the air conditioner before she sits on the teacher's desk.
"You're sure that the table won't crack?" Choji asked. "Don't worry, new guy. It will take a whole lot more for it to break." she replied.
"Now, Choji. Can you answer my question?"
"Uh, sure? What do you want to ask me?"
...
"How are you here?" Mason asked tensely.
"What...do you mean?" Choji asked, feeling a bit more nervous than usual. "If you're referring on how I was here, I was unconscious before I woke up here."
"And what were you doing before it happen?"
"Someone stomped on my head with his boots, before I went unconscious."
"And who was the person that stomped it?"
"That Kisaki bastard."
This was confusing for Mason. 'When did Kisaki stomp on Choji...?' he thought before remembering a minor detail.
Choji was about to attack Mikey during Bloody Halloween as one of Kisaki's orders, or "get Mikey's head" as the hoodie guy said there. He was then knocked out by Kisaki, in order to gain Toman's trust, which Mason knew it was a lie.
But then... that minor detail of Kisaki putting his shoe on Choji's head after he went unconscious...
He wasn't seen since when Baji attacked Kisaki from the back, getting everyone's attention. But he wasn't there during the incident, especially since he was with Chihiro carrying out the firework plan.
But he remembers that small detail after checking the manga on his phone, with a photo of Kisaki putting landing a foot on the head of an unconscious head.
This shocked Mason. Choji somehow appeared here all of a sudden, a mere background character somehow ended up here. While he wants more answers from him, he also wonders if Choji is lying or not.
Meanwhile, Choji was there trying to understand what was going on. First, he woke up in a place that he doesn't know, learning that he couldn't contact Kisaki or Hanma at all.
Second, he just met this random guy named Mason, who tells him that he's in May 2019, 14 years from the future. Then he learns about some kind of academy that has students with talents, a gang leader with a boyfriend which he don't mind, all leading up to here.
And all of that happened within just two day. What an confusing journey.
"Can you explain what you were doing after we met at 7-Eleven?" Mason asked Choji.
"Well, I ended up booking a night's stay at a hotel, while buying food and clothes with the money I have." he responded.
"A cheap hotel?"
"Yes, yes. A cheap one."
"Well, looks like I have no choice but to say this." he sighed, putting his hand on his hands with a stressed face. "Can you be certain that you won't tell Kisaki about it?"
"H-How you know that I was working with Kisaki?" he asked. He only mentions Kisaki's name, not the fact that he's one of Kisaki's cronies.
"Well, can you promise that whatever I'm about to tell you can be kept a secret then?" Mason asked, becoming more impatient than usual.
"No, I won't tell him about it, and I will keep this a secret." he said, assuring this Mason guy that he won't snitch on him.
Of course, Choji doesn't really like Kisaki that much. Sure, he's a friend but not as big as Kisaki's friendship with Hanma and Osanai. He's only there to fulfilled Kisaki's orders as a cronies, and he's aware of that fact.
"Good." Mason said before he proceed to tell him something that shocked Choji to the bone...
...
A plot bomb of the truth. The truth of how he's aware of Choji, and his world...
Mason's pov
I have finished explaining to Choji about everything. From telling him that his world is from an anime/manga, to getting him to catch up on the events from Bloody Halloween up till currently, and a whole lot more.
'Shit... that's a lot of information..." Choji said, looking like he had just come out from an embarrassing moment. "But how did you-"
"Because I'm a time-traveller." I interrupted him, before explaining to him my powers. Sure, Kisaki may end up knowing our plan, but I have a feeling that this Choji guy would be the type to not snitch to their master.
Especially with a bastard like Kisaki.
Besides, if he ends up snitching, then... Well, let's just say that he would definitely have a bad time right now.
...
"Well then, any questions?" I asked before seeing Chisa raising her hand. "Yes, Mrs. Chisa?"
"How do we bring him back home anyways?" she asked.
"Oh right, I forgot that one." I admitted. "Choji, do you know where you live?"
"At an apartment. Only renting there for a while."
"And how old are you?"
"17."
"17? And living alone? Not usual, but usually at the same time. Which school did you go?"
"Dropout of school after finishing middle school at 15." he finished, looking at the door. "Um... Why is somebody knocking on the door?" he said as a knocking sound was heard.
"Who's there?" I wondered before I asked Chisa to open the door. She slowly opens it, to reveal someone waiting outside.
"Oh? Mondo Owada. It's you again."
"Mondo Owada..." I mumbled before realising that my friend is outside waiting.
"Mondo, what are you doing here?" I asked him after I quickly stood up and run to the door.
"Heya, slow down for a sec there." said Mondo, who look surprised by my exhaustion. "What seems to be going on?"
"Oh, just finding out that someone from Valhalla has ended up in our world right now." I explained, which surprises Mondo.
"You mean from Tokyo Revengers?" he asked, wanting to confirm it. I then nodded, confirming the said question.
"Wait, seriously bro!?"
"Yes, exactly." I said. "Can you close the doors, please? No one should know about this."
"Sure, bro."
"Thank you." I thanked Mondo before turning towards Choji.
"Listen Choji, I will bring you back to your house." I carefully explain to him. "When you arrive at the Toman meeting, please meet a guy named Allon. I'm sure he'll understand."
"And what do you mean by 'understand'?"
"You'll know." I smiled before offering my hand. He then shake my hand as he stood back from his seat. After that, I proceed to open the portal, trying to find the place of of his house according to the address that he sent, bringing him to Winter 2005.
"Ready to go back?" I asked him, as Choji just stood their silence.
"Yes." he sighed as he breaths in and out. And then Choji went into the portal and promise to keep it all a secret, before I closed the portal.
Just as I can feel a sign of relief, I look towards the door and realise that the door isn't closed, presumably after Mondo came in.
'He didn't close the damn door, did he?' I thought as I facepalm
...
"God damn it, Mondo..."
Author-kun here.
Somehow manage to finish this chapter on time. I have a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially with the Ishimaru family headcanons.
Hope I can make a fanfic out of it, but then again I ain't one with a lot of motivation, so it depends.
Other than that, I have tried my best on the Choji storyline. Don't worry, this won't be the last time you will see him.
Till then, see you in the next chapter!
-Author-kun
𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕔 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕:
'FourFiveSeconds'
Song by Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney
Lyric Video by Ligia