Authors note: I'm back!!!! (cricket noise, coughs when noticing skeletons) oh, um... oof. Wow, It's been a while... I know. I'm sorry. Really sorry for the long, long, long ass hiatus my lovelies. But with the manga having been dropping as many M. Night Shyamalan bombs on us as it was, I didn't feel safe writing till it concluded. Now it's wrapped up, and the newest season of Tokyo Revengers is back to break all our hearts. So it's time to return and do the same! (Editor: wait wha--) Please enjoy the latest part of our story, as well as a Q/A. If you guys have any questions, or curiosities over the characters or the creation process for this series let me know by the end of Revenge but just before the dropping of the next chapter. I will do my best to answer any and all you lovelies questions. For my more shy readers who want in on this. You can go to my Tumblr at YozoraVal to anonymously ask what you wish.
August 10th, 2017 Takemichi
"How many times are you going to make me repeat myself, hmmm? Hanagaki Takemichi-kuuun?" The familiar unamused and apathetic drawl of his manager went, as Takemichi finally returned to his actual time.
"Huh? ...Manager?"
"As soon as a DVD is returned, get it back on the shelves." The woman said, causing the man a large sense of deja vu. "Now get your butt in gear already." She huffed before leaving the frozen Takemichi.
Jumping in shock, Takemichi's eyes widened as everything finally seemed to click into place, "I'm at work?" He almost yelled looking around the familiar workplace in a panic. 'Huh? Huh?! Wait. What's going on?! What am I doing back here?!' He wondered while grabbing his head, 'I thought I was fired from this job... Huh?' He continued to ponder before he realized something, 'Wait, where's Naoto? Wasn't I supposed to wake up at his place?' Takemichi confusedly thought, recalling the supposed rules that they'd established with his powers. 'Wait, my phone!' He remembered, moving to grab the device from his pocket.
'Nothing... No matter how much I search. There's nothing on the incident where Hina and Meimei died!' Takemichi quietly discovered as he stopped scrolling through his phone, 'Does that mean the time travel was also a dream?' He wondered as he began to scroll through his contacts then, 'I-I need to talk to Naoto.' He became frustrated, 'Wha– Why isn't Naoto's number registered in here?!' He screamed in his mind, 'I'm sure it was here in my—'
Onee-san (Meimei)
His eyes widened as his eyes briefly caught sight of the new contact that had seemingly replaced Naotos in his phone. Shocked at the mere glimpse, Takemichi's grip loosened and his phone fell from his hands. "Ah!" He exclaimed, reaching down to pick up the fallen device his jaw dropped, and his heart stuttered in his chest. There, on the very back of his hand, the hand he had been stabbed through was the proof...
'It wasn't a dream!' Suddenly his phone vibrated and quickly grabbed it to check the device. 'A schedule notification?' He confusedly read, "Hm? The salon? What the hell?" He thought aloud, staring at the screen for a good few seconds before making a decision.
Leaving work a bit early, Takemichi ran to the address that the notification claimed his salon appointment was to be at, coming to an abrupt stop completely out of breath just outside the supposed building his appointment was. As he came up to the store's window to look through, noting a single worker sweeping and cleaning up the store, he froze when he noted who the person was.
"Akkun..." Takemichi whispered to himself in shock as tears filled his eyes staring at his old friend. "Akkun!!" He almost wailed loudly, tapping the glass and catching the other man's attention as he looked up confused.
"Huh?"
"Akkun!!"
"The heck..." Akkun confusedly deadpan, watching his crying friend embarrassed, "What's your problem Takemichi? Why are you yelling like that?" Akkun questioned as he walked over to let the man in, "Seriously you are so embarrassing sometimes. Come in, already." He said as Takemichi quickly brushed his tears away as he quietly entered the shop. "You're here early, aren't you still supposed to be at work?"
"Uh, yeah, I left early," Takemichi admitted as he took a seat on one of the salon's waiting area couches.
Akkun laughed at this, "Haha! You're so gonna get fired." He said before muttering under his breath, "Mei-nee is so gonna kill ya when they do..."
"What was that?" Takemichi asked not having heard the other man's muttering.
"I said you should really get your priorities straight." Akkun laughed as Takemichi could only rub the back of his neck and laugh in agreement.
"Uh... Yeah, you got me there." He admitted, before smiling as he watched his friend work from behind. "So... Akkun, you really did become a hairstylist?"
"Huh?" Akkun moved to clear up one of the last used stations, "Come on man, where's your head at? I told you I'm still in training! I'm still just an assistant."
"O-oh!" Takemichi nodded, realizing his mistake, "R-right."
"But~" Akkun drawled as he began to wipe down the station's mirror, "The reason I called you here tonight is because they're finally gonna let me start cutting people's hair next month, and I wanted you to be my hair model." Akkun explained as he finished his cleaning, "My first customer. You know, like we promised?" He grinned as Takemichi's eyes widened and tears slowly built up in his eyes remembering the promise he made with the Akkun of the past.
"But hey Akkun... Let me be your first customer." Takemichi requested as Akkun could only stare at him in shock.
"Uh... Okay."
"Awesome. I'm gonna hold you to that. So you better not forget!" Takemichi grinned before waving goodbye as he turned to run off.
"What the hell man, you didn't forget about all that did you?" The other man teasingly laughed, smiling as Takemichi had to wipe his tears away once again.
"No, you dumbass! Of course, I didn't forget!"
"Wait, are you crying?" Akkun awkwardly asked as Takemichi only seemed to cry harder.
"Idiot! Of course, I'm not crying." The crying man vehemently denied as Akkun walked away smiling.
"Man, some things never change huh, you're still such a crybaby, Takemichi."
His heart soared and the tension in his shoulders dropped. 'This proves it.' Takemichi thought grinning and crying to himself, 'I think I finally believe it! I actually changed the present! It worked! It really worked!!'
Ring~
Ring~~
Looking up from his moping, Akkun frowned, "Oi Takemichi, your phone's ringing." He loudly called to the distracted man snapping the crying Takemichi out of his euphoric state.
"Hmm?" Hearing the ringtone of his phone go off, Takemichi quickly grabbed the device to look down at the device confused. "Whose number is this?" He muttered to himself before picking up the phone. "...Hello?"
"You must've succeeded." A vaguely familiar voice said, as Takemichi's brows furrowed.
"Huh? Who's–" Takemichi trailed off as a sinking realization slowly began to set in. 'Wait–'
"And you just returned from the past right?"
"Naoto?!" Takemichi exclaimed excitedly, briefly catching Akkun's surprised attention, as he watched his friend's sudden burst of energy.
"Listen, man, it's amazing! No, fantastic!" Naoto joyously declared from the other side of the line, as he drove in his car. "You did it. You pulled it off. Thanks to you everything changed!" He told his friend, as he smiled to himself. "Takemichi-kun... Let's go see our sisters!"
"Huh?!" Takemichi gasped, as his heart began to race. "Yo-you mean H-hina...?"
'Tachibana-san?' Akkun thought eyes wide as he watched his friend give the salon's address to Hina's little brother.
"At Meimei's? That works ...Yeah... yeah... You're that close? Okay, I'll wait right outside then." Takemichi muttered as he hung up his phone and rose from his seat. "Ah, Akkun I–"
Akkun softly smiled and cut his friend off. "No need to explain my dude." He said walking over to the obviously excited Takemichi, placing his hand on the man's shoulder he patted him a few times before grinning reassuringly. "You go do what you gotta do." He said, just as Naoto seemed to miraculously pull up to the front of the shop. "Just don't be a stranger and let me know how it goes, okay." He winked teasingly, lightly shoving Takemichi out of the shop as the man became slightly flustered.
"Wha– H-hey! Hold on- It's not–"
"Sure, sure~" Akkun laughed, "Don't worry, I won't tell the guys anything... Yet~"
"Akkun!"
"Have fun~ If things go well, let's double date kay!" Akkun continued to tease while waving, snickering as Takemichi was unable to talk back to him as Naoto honked for the male to hurry up. Watching as his friend huffed and entered the other man's car, Akkun could not help but smile contently as he turned to finish cleaning up the shop before heading home for the night. "Hmph, it's about time those two got together again." He laughed, before smiling to himself. "... Maybe I should stop by Mei-nee's cafe to see how it goes... And maybe pick up some sweets on my way home." He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone while grinning, "Better call home and see what–" The salon's door opened, and Akkun froze as a familiar man entered the store.
"Excuse me, but are you Sendo Atsushi?" The well-dressed man coldly called out before taking a drag from his cigarette. Akkun's eyes slowly widened in pure horror as he turned to face the man with the tattooed hands. Exhaling his smoke the man smirked sadistically, "So you are...Mind if we... Talk a second."
August 10th, 2017
Crash
Glass shattering, a familiar woman with short curly black hair and single braid raised her head from the documents she was looking over, as she turned to see a picture frame having fallen off the wall of her small office.
"What was that?" A dark-haired man with green eyes furrowed from his seat on her office's couch as he watched the dark-haired woman briskly walk over to pick up the frame. "Ah! Meiko-san be care–"
"Ow!"
"Ful." The man rose from his seat and quickly made his way over to her.
Sticking her finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding. Hanagaki Meiko frowned as she more carefully pulled the picture out of the now broken frame that had fallen off her cafe's office wall as she looked down at the image with a concerned frown.
"Are you okay?" The man asked as Meiko could only shake her head.
"I'm fine Chifuyu-kun." She reassured the male, as she carefully placed the picture on her desk before moving to grab a broom and dustpan from outside her door. "It's just a small cut."
"What even fell?" The grown Matsuno Chifuyu asked as he looked down at the picture his friend had put aside. "... A wedding photo?"
"Akkun's wedding photo." Meiko clarified as she lightly shooed Chifuyu out of her way so she could sweep up the broken glass and frame frowning.
"Akkun?" Chifuyu muttered, picking up the picture and frowning. The image of Akkun and his bride front and center alongside, a much longer-haired Meiko, Hanagaki Takemichi, Shimizu Yayoi, and who Chifuyu had to assume were a few other close-knit friends of either the bride or groom. "Huh, cute couple... Wonder why it fell." He mumbled before shrugging to himself as he placed the photo down. Never catching the concerned and somewhat apprehensive look that crossed the female Hanagaki's face as she put aside the broken glass and frame for later. "Loose nail maybe?"
"Yeah..." Meiko quietly whispered to herself looking up at the digital clock above her calendar, "Maybe..." She said, lightly playing with a leather charm bracelet around her left wrist. "..." Turning back to the male she began to ask, "Will that be all for today...?"
He grimaced, catching the time and nodded, "Yeah. Sorry again to bother you with this." He bowed showing his full respect and gratitude. "But you're the only one I can trust to keep these papers safe for me. I promise this will be the last time." Chifuyu declared as Meiko collected the documents off her desk before storing them away in a hollowed-out book to be stored on her bookshelf.
"It's alright." Meiko calmly brushed it off, as she looked back at the still-bowing Chifuyu. "We're partners after all, aren't we?" She asked, as the slightly younger man slowly looked up to see the woman smile serenely down at him.
August 10th, 2017 Takemichi
Driving silently down the busy Tokyo streets, Naoto could not help but quickly glance over every now and again at the silent Takemichi. The other dark hair man was deep in his own thoughts, even he thought back to how it all started.
"The dispute between the Tokyo Majin Gang has been intensifying in the city. Recently, uninvolved civilians fell victim to the dispute. Six were injured in this incident. One was sent to the hospital,"
"Wait, seriously?" Takemichi recalled when he first heard the news outlet, "Scary..."
"But is in cardiopulmonary arrest. There were three fatalities. Those who died at the scene have been identified as Tachibana Naoto-san, 25, from Shibuya, Tokyo... Tachibana-san's older sister, Tachibana Hinata-san, 26."
"Tachibana Hi... Hinata--"
"And finally, from Shibuya as well. Hanagaki Meiko-san, 27. The MPD is on high alert."
"Onee...-chan."
'Back then, all I could do was stare at the TV.' Takemichi thought, looking back down at his cell phone where his sister's number now showed, 'But now, I can actually talk to my Mei-nee and see her.' His smile widened. 'I can actually go see Hina. They're both alive!' Takemichi joyously thought, as his heart continued to soar with the euphoria of his victory.
"After doing some research, it looks like the incident that killed both our sisters never even happened." Naoto suddenly informed, catching the attention of the unaware Takemichi.
"What?" He'd gasped, "You mean Toman never fought?"
"Yeah," Naoto sighed in relief, "Still I'm surprised. I can't believe you actually pulled this off." Naoto flippantly admitted as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Huh?" Takemichi subtly twitched as he narrowed his eyes at his friend, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Naoto stifles a laugh at this as he grinned, "Well come on dude. You are kind of a loser."
Smiling at the other man's insult, Takemichi threateningly held a fist up as he gave Naoto a closed eye smile while twitching. "Okay, are you trying to pick a fight?" He gritted out as Naoto only openly laughed the other man's threat off.
"Haha! What does it matter? You're about to see not only your sister, but mine." Naoto continued to grin as Takemichi gasped as he was reminded of this.
'That's right.' He thought, settling back into his seat, "... I have to admit. I'm actually super excited about this Naoto." Takemichi admitted as Naoto briefly looked over to him. "Being able to see Hina in the present is like a dream." Takemichi's smile widened as he added, "Even Meimei... You were totally right about her believing in me Naoto!" Takemichi grinned, "I told her everything and she not only believed me but helped me make all this a reality!" He joyously proclaimed as Naoto smiled warmly at this.
"Is that so...? Then I guess I have another person to thank now." He said as he turned to pull into a communal parking lot. "Alright. The cafe's just down the street." He told Takemichi as he parked and turned off the car before getting out. "Come on." He said, already making his way out the parking lot and down the emptying Shibuya street. All the while Takemichi gulped in nervous anticipation before taking a calming deep breath and following the other man close behind.
"I wonder if Hina's changed at all." Takemichi wondered aloud as they neared the cafe.
Stopping somewhat just outside the door, Naoto looked back at the obviously still nervous Takemichi amused. "Well, of course, she's changed. It's been twelve years since the two of you broke up. She's become a fine upstanding adult." Naoto proudly proclaimed.
'An upstanding adult...?' Takemichi couldn't help but wonder as Naoto's smile became much brighter.
"She's got a job as a grade school teacher." Naoto continued to reveal to Takemichi as they made their way up the complex.
"Oh." Takemichi acknowledged even as his mind wandered off into a fantasy of what his and Hina's first meeting after twelve long years could go like.
"Takemichi-kun!" He imagines a breathtakingly gorgeous and mature Hina to exclaim once they'd reunited. Throwing herself into his arms as she proclaimed, "I've missed you!!"
"Hey, come on, now, Hina." He would smoothly reply even if he were caught off guard.
"Perhaps you two should get a room." Naoto would surely respond, as Takemichi held his lost love closer in his arms.
"Let's go inside. Naoto's watching."
Ding
Snapping out of his little daydream as Naoto opened the cafe door, Takemichi stared wide-eyed as Naoto gave him a raised brow look. "Uh, you coming?"
"Uh– Right! Sorry!" He embarrassedly stuttered out, quickly scrambling inside just as the doors closed behind him. 'Uh!! What the hell's wrong with me?' Takemichi angrily thought to himself. 'Like any of that is likely to happen when she sees me!'
"Let's... break up." His mind hazily remembered how their relationship came to an end. Recalling the tired, almost sad way she said this before walking away. Even though his mind struggled to clearly remember why it happened, and around when exactly, he could remember one thing most clearly.
The sharp pain, and heartache at the loss of the very first girl he loved, and how the bitter tears of heartbreak would only fuel the despair and pain that had begun to swallow him whole during those dark days.
'Even if I meet up with Hina, it's not going to be anything like I'm imagining.' Takemichi thought as he continued to quietly follow behind Naoto. 'It's not like with Meimei...' Takemichi thought as he continued to mentally spiral downward in silence. 'There's nothing there keeping me and Hina connected like with Meimei.' He thought negatively as he lagged behind at the cafe's door. "Hey, Naoto–"
"Ah, Naokun! Takemichi! What a surprise." A suddenly all too familiar woman's voice called out snapping Takemichi out of his self-loathing thoughts. "I never thought I'd see the two of you come in together. And at closing at that?" The woman almost seemed to laugh as Takemichi heard the soft clacking of heels slowly walk towards him and Naoto as he slowly looked up in shock. "Here for some free pastries? Or do you need a quick pick me up before a long night at the precinct?"
Takemichi's mouth dropped, blue met blue, and for just a second it was the Meiko of the past that stood before Takemichi. "Mei...nee?"
Naoto smiled at this, "Oh no, nothing like that. We actually came to see you today." The man said as he quickly eyed the obviously stunned Takemichi. "And well my sister, I asked her to come, meet us here. Is that okay?"
Meiko rolled her eyes at this, "Of course. You know I'd never turn a friend in need away." She joked, flicking Naoto's forehead. "Though maybe ask next time before you just do it, I could have had some drinks and treats already prepared for you boys ahead of time." She teased as Naoto laughed a bit abashedly.
"Right. Sorry. My bad."
"Hmm?" Meiko hummed tilting her head, as she finally noted how silent her brother was being. "What's wrong Michi?" Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she almost seemed to pout, as Takemichi finally took in the full appearance of the now fully grown adult Meiko. "Please tell me you didn't get in trouble at work again." She crossed her arms sighing, "Cause if you have, I am not helping smooth things over again. You said you wanted to adult on your own, so do it." She huffed as Takemichi's eyes watered up watching as his sister turned to leave him in Naoto.
'It's her...'
"But where are my manners? Take a seat, most of my staff has already taken most of the really good treats home, but I always make sure to save some in case of some late-night visitors."
'It's really her. She hasn't changed a bit!' Takemichi thought, struggling to hold back his tears. 'She's really all grown up!'
"If nothing to your liking I can whip you guys something up quick," She smiled teasingly looking back, "Though... it'll definitely cost you then. If you know what I mean."
'She's... She hasn't change a bit.' Takemichi almost sobbed, "Meimei!" He watched as Meiko froze suddenly.
Stopping mid-step around her counter, Meiko froze. Slowly looking back her eyes widened as she noted Takemichi's now tear-filled eyes. "Mi...chi–"
"I'm..." Takemichi cut in, taking a nervous step forward to the surprised Meiko. "It's been a long time..." He finally shakenly declared.
"Huh–"
"Meimei." He once again cut the older woman off, "I'm home!"
Staring at the crying Takemichi in shock, "Home...?" Meiko's eyes ever so slightly began to widen. "Michi...?" A slow smile broke out upon her face, and tears prickled the corner of her eyes. "Michi! The future, no, the other Michi!"
Takemichi gasped as he felt his sister suddenly throw herself into his arms to hug him. "Meimei!"
"Michi! Michi!" She laughed as Naoto happily smiled watching the pair of siblings reunite once more."Welcome home!" She cried, Takemichi feeling his tears well up as they fell more harshly at her words.
'Home...' He thought, feeling his sister's warm and secure embrace once again, recalling the first day he ever went home after time leaping for the first time. And the hug they'd shared back then. 'That's right...' He cried, finally returning the hug, 'I'm really home!' He tightly held his older sister as he cried into her neck.
"Welcome back," Meiko quietly repeated as the two siblings held each other tight. "Michi."
"It's great to be back, Onee-san."