2005:
"So, it's all going down on Halloween," I confirmed with the blonde.
"Yeah, that's what Hanma wanted me to tell Mikey," Takemichi frowned.
"Well, that's way sooner than I expected," I pondered as we walked away.
I noticed that something else was on Takemichi's mind.
"What?"
"Kazutora," he hesitantly started. "Did he really kill Mikey's older brother?"
That definitely caught me off guard.
"I'm guessing that was Baji's reason for leaving, huh?" I looked down at the ground. "I disguised myself as a member, so I saw the majority of the initiation. I'm hoping that he's bluffing and is still on our side."
"Yeah, I hope so too," Takemichi stared at the ground before fully comprehending what I said. "Wait, you were there?!"
I ended up going home and texting Mikey. Turns out, I have some unanswered messages from him.
Mikey:
(Y/n)
(Y/n)
Where are you?
Didn't you need a ride?
Did you ditch without me? :(
(Y/n):
Sorry I left early
Takemichi was basically kidnapped by a Valhalla member and forced to be the witness to Baji's initiation. He beat up Chifuyu and Katsume, and I'm pretty sure that they're holding her hostage. Hanma had her phone.
I wanted to make sure they didn't kill him
Mikey:
WHAT!
WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME?
(Y/n):
Oops
I didn't think of that lol
But anyways, the fight is supposed to go down in the abandoned parking lot on October 31st
Mikey:
So on Halloween?
(Y/n):
Yeah
This better not interfere with trick or treating
I spent forever making my costume!
Mikey:
Don't worry
We'll beat those bastards, no sweat
(Y/n):
Yeah
I bet we will
It's getting late, so I'm going to bed
Goodnight, love you :)
Mikey:
Goodnight
I love you too
I smiled, going to bed.
The next day, I woke up to my phone buzzing.
"Hello?" I answered, tired.
"Hey, (Y/n), meet me at the playground we need to talk," Chifuyu explained.
"K, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
I got dressed, ate, brushed my teeth, and headed to the park. I made my way to the swings, seeing a heavily bandaged Chifuyu sitting on one.
"You look terrible," I commented, sitting on an empty swing. "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault," he corrected.
"Yeah, but I was there, I just arrived too late."
"Wait, you were there?" Chifuyu exclaimed.
"Yeah, I was gonna save Takemichi, but he didn't need it."
After saying that, the blonde I previously mentioned appeared. Something was telling me that Chifuyu had no idea about his girlfriend being held captive.
"Hey," Chifuyu called out, pointing to the empty swing. "Blondie, get over here! Come on over and take a seat."
Takemichi ignored him.
"Guess we both had a rough day yesterday," he said, grabbing Takemichi's attention.
"What's that?" he asked, noticing I was there too. "Oh, hey (Y/n)."
"Hi."
"That Baji, sure is awesome, isn't he," Chifuyu marveled.
"Wait, you know Baji?" Takemichi questioned. "Who are you?"
"Dude, you watched him get his face bashed in the other day," I pointed out.
"I'm in the Tokyo Manji Gang too," he revealed. "I'm one of the first division's vice-captains, along with my girlfriend, Katsume. Name's Chifuyu Matsuno."
Takemichi stumbled his way through the grass, over to us.
"You're the guy Baji beat the shit out of in Valhalla's base!" Takemichi pointed at the bandaged blonde.
"I just said that dumbass!"
"Look who's talking," Chifuyu chuckled. "You oughta thank Baji for slugging you."
"Huh?" Takemichi muttered. "Why the hell would I do that?"
"You totally ruined the ceremony to appoint the new captain for the third division," he explained.
"For that you would've been punished severely if Baji didn't do that," I added.
Takemichi took a seat on the other swing.
"The reason Baji beat me up was to get into Valhalla," he revealed. "But he didn't join Valhalla to crush Toman."
Chifuyu stood up from the swing, leaving me and Takemichi waiting to hear his reasoning.
"Baji's got something else in mind," Chifuyu continued. "It's Kisaki."
"Huh!" Takemichi and I exclaimed, standing up in shock.
"That's the reason Baji joined Valhalla in the first place, to expose Kisaki."
"I knew it!" I cheered. "I knew he was still on our side."
We left the park, and later accompanied Mikey to visit Shinichiro's grave. It was pouring rain. Chifuyu, Takemichi, Draken, and I all had our umbrellas. Mikey was praying on his knees, while I held up the umbrella over him to keep him dry. I visited his older brother's grave with him on other occasions. I never wanted him to go through this alone.
"So, I hear you know about my brother, Shinichiro," Mikey broke the silence.
"He was the ultimate badass," Draken mentioned.
"He was amazing," I smiled.
"He was," Mikey softly spoke, still kneeling.
"Hey Takemichi," Draken started. "We know how it all happened, and we know that there's nothing we can do to change it."
"Neither Baji, Kazutora, or Katsume meant for it to go down like that," I admitted.
"Yeah," Mikey mumbled, standing up. "My brother's gone, and I know nothing will bring him back, but my heart still can't accept it."
I walked up to Mikey, pulling him into a hug. I should've tried harder to stop them. I didn't think that they would actually go through with it. He hugged me back, resting his chin on my shoulder. We stayed like that for a moment in silence, before heading off.
"The CB250T Baji, Kazutora, and Rin tried to steal that night was my brother's," Mikey explained. "He was going to give it to me for my birthday. This bike is all I have left of my brother now. It's precious to me. As for Baji and Rin, it's been two years and I've forgiven them. But even if they didn't know it was his shop, and even if there is nothing we can do about it now, I will never be able to forgive Kazutora. He's the one who killed my brother. Or Baji for siding with Kazutora."
Shinichiro was such a cool person. He would've been proud to see Mikey now.
"Takemichi, I'm pretty sure I asked you to bring Baji back to me. So, what's one of Baji's vice-captains doing here instead of him? What are you trying to pull here, Takemichi? Do you really want to die?"
"No, I-" Takemichi stuttered.
"Is that really necessary?" I sweatdropped, clinging to Mikey's arm.
"Mikey!" Takemichi bellowed, walking up to him. "I wanna become the head of Toman and I'll make you acknowledge me as the boss someday, because that's what I really want."
Mikey looked pretty shocked at that revelation. Takemichi definitely has multiple screws loose. If he wants to become the head of Toman, then he should probably learn how to not make enemies first.
"Oh yeah?" Draken chuckled. "What a dumbass."
"Dream on!" I giggled.
"Yeah," Mikey smiled sadly.
The tension in the air was thick, so we all went our separate ways. Chifuyu and Takemichi were hanging out and asked me to join them. I declined, seeing that Mikey needed me more than they did. The bike ride to Mikey's house was also silent. He never was that talkative about his brother after he passed. We made our way to his room, sitting on his bed, still in silence.
"Wanna watch a movie or something?" I suggested, breaking the silence.
He nodded, keeping his eyes to the floor. As I was about to speak again, he pulled me into a hug, burying his face in my chest.
"Kazutora," he silently growled. "Why did Baji have to go with him?"
"I'm not sure," I whispered, gently stroking his head. "But my best guess is that he's spying on one of our enemies. Chifuyu did mention that Baji wanted to expose Kisaki, so don't lose faith in him just yet, okay?"
"He better come back."
I kissed his head, then dragged him to the living room.
"Come on, a movie will help get your mind off of things for a while," I smiled.
"I guess you're right," he agreed. "Why don't we watch the Tim Burton movie that came out last month?"
"Yeah, I think it's called Corpse Bride," I corrected, making my way to the kitchen to put some popcorn in the microwave.
Luckily, we had the disc already, since Emma was planning on watching it too. I forced Mikey to invite her to watch with us. I returned to the couch with two bowls of popcorn. One for Emma on the one couch, and the other for me and Mikey on the other. Emma turned the lights out and hit play on the DVD player. I sat up straight with the popcorn bowl in my lap and Mikey leaning his head on my shoulder.
2017:
(In this timeline, (Y/n) does not get killed in the supermarket. She was able to escape the murderer and contact the police)
"I was so worried about you, (Y/n)!" Mikey shakily breathed, constricting me in a hug.
Everything happened too fast. One second me and my best friend were shopping for snacks, the next was her severed head in a freezer and me being escorted home by a police officer.
"You're not leaving my side again!" he declared, not loosening his grip.
I wanted to ask him about how he knew about what was going to happen, but I think I already knew the answer. It was the Tokyo Manji Gang. I fell asleep that night in Mikey's arms but woke up alone. I turned over to grab my phone, seeing a note from my husband.
(Y/n),
Sorry to leave without saying anything, but I need to handle something at work. I shouldn't be too long. I love you.
Love, Mikey :)
Well at least he said something this time. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, soon noticing that my phone was ringing. A random number? I answered it anyway, figuring it could've been the police.
"Hello?" I answered.
"(Y/n)," a familiar voice greeted me. "Long time no see."
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked.
"Oh, it's Takemichi," he replied. "I wanted to know if I could speak to you about Hina."
I stayed silent. It turns out that Hinata also died the same night as Katsume, but in a car accident. Something's telling me that Toman is responsible for this too. I also didn't really talk to Takemichi that much after their breakup.
"Fine, what did you want to ask?"
"Do you remember the gang they called Valhalla?" Takemichi started. "They had a leader that no one knew, right?"
"Yeah."
"And their leader was Kisaki, wasn't it."
Idiot, he should know the answer to this, he was a member during the whole dispute.
"No, it was Mikey," I corrected. "Valhalla was put together specifically for him."
"What? There's no way!" Takemichi panicked. "Impossible! Mikey is the head of Toman, that would make Valhalla his sworn enemy!"
"Impossible?" I retorted. "How could you have forgotten that day? It all happened twelve years ago on October 31st, Bloody Halloween," I explained. "Toman was taken over by Valhalla and it was reformed with Valhalla as the parent organization. That's the current Toman."
"Does that mean on the day of the battle between Toman and Valhalla?"
"Yes, that was the first time Toman's ever lost a fight."
"What? Toman's gonna lose that fight?" Takemichi yelled. "How can that be when they have the invincible Mikey?"
"Mikey was the very reason why we lost the fight," I revealed.
"They lost because of him? No way!"
"I thought I knew Mikey well, but maybe I was wrong," I admitted.
"(Y/n), I'm home," Mikey yelled from the front door.
"Is that Mikey?" Takemichi questioned.
"Look, if I were you, I wouldn't call this number again. Getting yourself out of Tokyo's a good idea too. You should stop trying to investigate Hina's death. It's suicide to piss off the top brass of Toman. Even if you quit Toman, it doesn't mean you're free."
What I didn't tell him was that Mikey killed Kazutora and Kisaki made someone else take the blame for it. Baji also died. That was when he started to spiral into the darkness he's in now. I hung up, just as Mikey opened the door.
"Who were you talking to?" he asked, unbuttoning his shirt.
"Just a coworker," I lied. "They wanted to know if I could take their shift tonight, and I declined."
"Oh, alright," he smiled, giving me a kiss. "I'm going to take a shower."
As he slipped his shirt off, I could see specs of blood on his back. He had no injuries on himself, which made me realize. He just killed someone.