"That day wasn't supposed to happen. At least, that is what Toge heard as he drifted to sleep. Soon after the stabbing of Itadori Yuji, the once pink-haired man was declared dead within the hour. Yuta didn't take it well, which Toge anticipated.
It took Yuta several hours of whimpering before he fell asleep with his head in Toge's lap. Gojo was the one to break the news. He was the most qualified out of anyone who could have told Yuta, but Toge was certain the black-haired man knew far before he was told.
That day wasn't supposed to happen. Toge felt his eyes grow heavier before he inevitably crashed. It was too much for Yuta. It was too much for Fushiguro. It was too much for even Gojo, who praised the youth for his boldness. It shouldn't have happened.
Morning came quicker than Toge would have liked. His phone alarm was what woke him up. Instinctually, he reached to the bedside table and slapped the screen of his phone until it stopped making noise. Just as his eyes began to close again, Toge shot out of bed. That wasn't where he had fallen asleep.
He looked around his room, and Yuta was nowhere to be seen. The black-haired man had to be in the bathroom. There was also a chance he had taken Toge to bed after they fell asleep on the couch. The silver-haired man listened for any sound he could distinguish.
"Yuta?" Toge called out.
There was no reply. Without getting dressed, Toge ran through the apartment in search of the man he had grown fond of. There was no sign of him. No clothes were left behind. No signs of life remained other than Toge.
A strong possibility was that Yuta simply left. He was in the midst of a nightmarish crisis. Just as Yuta had begun to make good friends with the people around him, Yuta was seeing that not all of them would remain in one way or another. Even Toge was guilty of sowing seeds of doubt in the pale man.
Toge picked up his phone. It was then that he realized there shouldn't have been an alarm set. He had taken a leave to finish up his application to present to the board of directors. It was supposed to save his family company. That was the plan he had made.
He didn't have a single text other than from his father. It was a familiar message.
"Toge, I was wondering if you would be interested in moving to the creative team? Your manager told me about the different tools you had developed for your job, and I wanted to offer some support."
The only previous message was from early in the month. Then Toge realized, it was the wrong month. His heart rate increased as he felt his wrists begin to tremble. He searched through his texts. Yuta's contract was nowhere to be seen. No texts, no mentions from Gojo. No evidence they had ever met.
Toge looked down; he was wearing different underwear too. The date was wrong on his home screen. There were fewer dirty clothes in his laundry hamper. The doodle from Yuta wasn't hanging on his wall. It was all wrong.
He took a moment to recalculate. Toge closed his eyes. He wanted to picture something calm, but all he could imagine was Yuta's sharp jaw and light pink lips. Those gemstones that Yuta considered eyes were precious as they sparkled like wakes in the ocean. The image of Yuta only made it more difficult to calm down.
Toge checked the date again. Then he realized something new was wrong. Something had happened. Somehow, Toge was back to the day that Yuta had debuted in the group.
Maybe it was all a dream? That would have been an insanely detailed and long dream. No, he had to have gone back in time somehow. It was like a checkpoint in a game. But, that meant he wouldn't be able to change any events that happened. How was he supposed to do that? He didn't even remember everything that had occurred an hour after it happened.
Even if he could somehow manage to keep everything the same, he didn't want to. Toge knew that it was a chance, assuming everything had the possibility to run the same way, for him to change the events of the future. The only thing was, Yuta needed to be happy. Nothing could go wrong.
Everything didn't need to stay the same; he had the freedom of choice. That was unless his fate was predetermined. But what kind of fate would force someone else to experience life over again? Was everyone sent back in time? That meant there was a possibility Yuta was in pain anyway.
There were too many variables in the new future Toge held in his hands. He would need to test it. But he didn't know who to check with or how to ask. Out of everyone he knew, only one person came to mind who would be level-headed enough to not freak out.
Toge started a new message, "Hey Maki. How's your day?"
It was benign enough. If she too were experiencing the world over again, she would respond knowing Toge was aware. They hadn't texted each other in months. When they did, Toge never was one to ask her how she was; he always went straight to the point with her. That was something she liked."
She responded quickly, "Did you mean to send that? Was it one of those auto message things in Teams? If you figured out how to connect Teams to your phone messages, show me how today. I need that."
"Shit!" Toge shouted.
That was the moment Toge took responsibility for the future. Yuta would be introduced later that day; until then, Toge would have time to prepare for the storm that would be coming, assuming that life would follow the same course of action.
"I heard a rumor that Geto Suguru has been seen around," Toge responded to Maki.
He saw that she read the message, but she didn't respond for a few minutes. In that time, Toge dressed himself, asked for the next few days off of work, and tried to replicate the changes he had made in his TTS application in the month that had been taken from him.
Yuta wasn't the only part of the equation. There was the problem of Fushiguro as well. Certain aspects would need to change, but others would need to stay. There was no guarantee that everything would work the way he wanted them to and no way to tell if he would get a third chance to create rifts in the future. All he needed was a drop to create ripples.
Fushiguro said that it was appropriate to dress well to impress someone. Toge couldn't remember what he had been wearing at their first meeting. There was no time to dwell on it. White only washed him out, so Toge decided it would be better to wear a black coat with lighter accents.
The day was moving faster than he wanted it to, but that made sense; there was only a finite amount of time between that day and Itadori's death. The man that killed Itadori had blue hair, which was strange, but a good token to remember what the guy looked like. However, it wasn't too much of a concern at the time since Toge's mission was calling the police. He didn't get a good look at the murderer.
Maki texted him back after several hours, "I confirmed he is on the move. Where did you hear that from?"
"A snake told me," Toge replied with a laughing emoticon.
"Cryptic as ever. I'll see you at the meeting. Don't be late," Maki responded.
On their first meeting, Toge was late. Yuta had been placed next to Maki. It was a surprise that Maki didn't get along with him better. Then again, Yuta had spent most of his free time with Toge. In that way, the silver-haired man was greedy. But, those were happy memories that couldn't be sullied. He would have to repeat them as much as he could.
The walk to the meeting hall was quiet. Toge could hear the slap of his shoes as they tapped the surface of cobblestones on the street. In a matter of minutes, Yuta would be within reach. He would be close enough to touch. The meeting would be entirely different since Toge was planning to arrive early.
Toge entered the darkened community center. He heard the whispers of his groupmates. As he approached the door, Toge felt his feet start to waver. His resolve needed to be stronger to succeed in his endeavor.
Upon entering the room, he saw most of the seats taken. Most of the regulars were chatting about seemingly normal topics. They all glanced at him as he entered. He felt their gaze; maybe they could tell that something was different. Toge never arrived early to the meetings, so it was justified to seem surprised.
Seated in the back of the room was a fuming Maki. She was not the one to approach. That meant Toge figured he should probably not expose Yuta to Maki's angry side on his first meeting with her.
In the corner was Fushiguro, with crossed arms and spikier hair than usual. Just seeing the man's emerald-green eyes was shaking Toge's mind. There was so much to change under those old fluorescent light bulbs.
Toge approached Fushiguro with a brief wave.
Fushiguro's scowl softened to a look of surprise, "Uh, hey Inumaki."
The silver-haired man wanted to be angry with Fushiguro, but he knew it wasn't the spiky-haired man's fault that they had kissed in their previous life, "We haven't talked in a long time. We should hang out sometime." Toge signed each word carefully, hoping that they would sway Fushiguro's future actions.
The surprise didn't leave Fushiguro's eyes, "Okay. Whatever you want."
Toge gave him a thumbs up.
"Just text me. You're being weird," Fushiguro said.
The silver-haired man nervously laughed, moving closer to Maki. When he took the seat, he could hear the woman muttering to herself, but none of it was clear. She spoke of Geto with hints of business with the members of the Sukuna district.
Geto was only a concern for Yuta. If the man was less present, that would give Toge more time to prepare a counterattack toward whatever the man was planning. There was a strong possibility it was political, but that was unlikely since everyone in higher circles knew the dicey past of Geto. However, no one knew about the girl he killed. Her name was Rika, and she meant everything to Yuta.
Toge waved at Maki, but she was unfazed.
He pulled the familiar notebook from his jacket pocket. It was leather-bound, a gift from his family to help him speak. Yet, it only seemed to do the opposite. It was isolating being stuck behind a barrier that babies could babble through. In the new past, it was more proof that time had reversed.
Within the next few minutes, Gojo entered the room. His white hair hung over one of his crystal-blue eyes. He was dressed in a dress shirt with a loosened tie. Gojo hadn't been supportive of Yuta's friendship with Toge, but that would probably need to change in the new future. Everything was too much to think about. Yet, if Toge were to talk about it, someone would surely think he was losing his sanity.
Then, Yuta entered the room. His frame was skinnier than Toge remembered it being. Then again, the frame Toge felt against him was after Yuta had started healing. It was the body of someone trying to do his best. Seeing Yuta in a state of disarray was more difficult than Toge thought it would be.
Gojo looked around the room as Maki yelled, "Late again! What the hell, Gojo!"
"Someone's got a case of the Mondays," Gojo smirked.
"It's Tuesday!" Maki snarled.
Gojo turned to face Yuta, "Let's see, you should go sit by-"
Before Gojo could finish his sentence, Toge began patting the seat to his right.
Gojo smiled, "Go sit with Inumaki. He doesn't really talk, so don't expect a conversation from him."
Yuta was radiant even then. He was in a white hoodie with a black t-shirt that barely peeked out underneath. A cold smile ran across Yuta's pink lips, the lips that tasted savory and rich. Lips Toge wanted again.
Toge felt his throat tighten, almost blurting out a greeting in pure excitement to see the face of Yuta. That would have brought entirely too much attention to himself; luckily, his brain caught his tongue before it could move. Toge offered a wave instead.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Okkotsu Yuta," Yuta said.
Hearing those words hurt. It wasn't until that moment Toge realized that Yuta didn't remember anything either. There were no memories of their laughs, nor of their trip to the fair. He wasn't the man that had spent all that time with Toge. The black-haired man with brilliant blue eyes in front of Toge was Okkotsu, not Yuta.
Toge felt his throat tighten. He reached for the pen in his pocket, writing a brief note on a page in his notebook. Okkotsu took a seat next to Toge as he had been instructed.
"My name is Inumaki Toge. Nice to meet you. I can't really talk. This is the best I can do," was written at the top of the page as he passed the notebook over to Okkotsu.
The black-haired man's hair swept across his forehead like an oily wave. His eyes were tired and red. Toge hadn't noticed that he was so broken that first day. The only reason he thought to talk to Okkotsu was because of the brief introduction the man gave. Gojo was likely to do the same thing. Which meant, Gojo would have to read from Toge's notebook again to avoid any unnecessary scrutiny.
Some of the members of their group were supposed to be involved with the plan Gojo had to distract from Geto. It was equally likely that someone else in the group was tied to Geto. No one distinctly stood out as a contender in Geto's plan to retaliate against Gojo other than the outward opposition to Gojo who carried around a panda plush.
"Oh, so you communicate through this book. That's pretty cool. I wouldn't have thought of that," Okkotsu said.
Toge nodded, holding out a hand to take the notebook back.
"I didn't know what to expect coming here. Gojo is such a character that I didn't exactly want to turn him down," Okkotsu's voice was softer than it had been when they were together.
Toge couldn't help but feel a little selfish. The man was so different when they first met. He wasn't so bold as to ask for a glass of water. Was that what it felt like to be greedy? Toge hadn't seen of the changes that Okkotsu had made. Suddenly the thought of Fushiguro's shirtless body flooded Toge's mind as a pit formed in the silver-haired man's stomach.
Fushiguro was also trying to be better. They were both competing for Toge's attention, but Okkotsu had never seen it that way. That was one thing Toge liked most about the black-haired man.
Gojo began his introduction as usual, "Hello everyone. Glad to see we could all make it today. We have a few new faces, so I want you all to do introductions. I'll start. I am Gojo Satoru, I am a psychologist and one of your local officials."
The man with the panda plush shouted, "I didn't vote for you!"
"This isn't a place for politics. If it were, then I might have to digivolve into my ultimate form just to change your mind," Gojo smiled with his rounded, pillowy lips.
If it weren't for his odd personality, Gojo would have been a perfectly amazing crush. However, there were more than enough strange scenarios that the man had taken the initiative in that made him seem like a good guy. It wasn't clear though.
The circle continued until they arrived at Okkotsu, "Hi. I'm one of the new faces. I'm Okkotsu Yuta. I came here because Gojo broke-"
Gojo cut him off, "No, don't blame your reasoning on others. Say what you want to get out of the experience."
"I guess I am here because my friend-" Okkotsu was cut off again.
"Okay, Okkotsu. I see what you're getting at. Maybe think about it as we go around the circle and then we can come back to you at the end," Gojo said.
That was rough to watch. Okkotsu was dealing with so much of his personal baggage that the man didn't know what Gojo wanted. Then again, when Toge had first started at the group-when it was smaller-the reason was difficult to discern too. When Okkotsu and Toge had met in their previous life, Toge was less serious about everything. Okkotsu needed all the support he could get, and rather than wait for Itadori to arrive in a week's time, Toge decided to lead by example.
He wrote out a note in his book, then passed it to Okkotsu, finally pointing at Gojo.
"Oh, pass it along," Okkotsu said to himself.
Gojo received the notebook and began to read, "Man, Inumaki! Is this the freakin' deathnote? This thing is filled with so many pages! Anyway, he said, Hello everyone, my name is Inumaki Toge. I struggle to speak; it's probably one of my biggest weaknesses. However, recently." Gojo paused, glancing up from the text at Inumaki with a quiet smile, "I recently realized just how greedy of a person I have been. I want to make myself a better person. Not only for myself but for the people around me who would benefit from me being the best possible me I could be."
"Jeez, Inumaki. Save some of the emotional stuff for the rest of us," Fushiguro said.
There was a general grumble of laughter. It was warm. That wasn't a feeling that Toge was used to when it came to the meetings. Fushiguro was never one to speak out unless it was to add onto the conversation. The spiky-haired man must have felt more comfortable. That meant things were starting to change.
Okkotsu said, "Actually, is it okay if I go now?"
"If you feel like you're ready too," Gojo said.
Okkotsu turned toward Toge with a gentle smile. It was genuine. The man couldn't help but sparkle even in his dreary condition.
"My name is Okkotsu Yuta. I am here because I want to help myself. If it's not too much, I had a friend die in front of me when I was a kid. It stuck with me to this day. More than anything I want to learn how not to feel lonely," Okkotsu said.
"There you go! I knew you'd get what I meant eventually. I just didn't think it would be Inumaki who got through to you," Gojo grinned.
Maki was next, "Men who speak less are wiser. So, Gojo, maybe you should learn to shut up a little more huh? Anyway, name is Zen'in Maki. Just call me Maki. I hate my family, my family hates me, that's why I hate myself. That's why I am here."
She was brief but effective. Gojo even seemed a little hurt by the statement. If anything, she at least gave his pride a flesh wound.
The only notable speaker left was Fushiguro, "My name is Fushiguro Megumi. My parents abandoned me and my sister. Now my sister is in and out of the hospital. Bills are getting harder to pay, and it's just a lot of stress. I don't really like people, but I'm here to figure out how to be better about that."
"Did Inumaki give you all the blue pill? You are all so off-guard today. It's kind of not fun," Gojo said.
"It's not supposed to be fun, Gojo; it's supposed to be therapy," Maki said.
The rest of the session went on almost entirely differently. Gojo seemed a little confused by the sudden sentimentality among his group. Toge couldn't help but feel a little responsible, but he figured it had more to do with Okkotsu. After all, he was the one to start the chain reaction of openness.
When the meeting was over, Toge scribbled his number, a note, and a doodle of a spaceman on a torn-off corner of his notebook's paper. That was how he invited Okkotsu over to hang out, though that was reliant on Okkotsu making the first move again. It was a bit too uncontrollable, but Toge wanted Okkotsu to hang the scrap on his fridge door again. It was a reminder of how they met, but it wouldn't be the same.
Toge tapped Okoostu on the shoulder to get his attention as the group began to leave.
"Oh, hey. Thanks for giving me a push. I think I like this group a bit more than I expected."
Toge crushed the corner of paper in his hand before pulling out his cellphone.
"You want my number?" Okkotsu asked.
Toge smiled and nodded.
"Sure. Honestly, this is the first time anyone has asked me for my number," Okkotsu blushed.
The black-haired man was too cute. Toge would have hugged him if they were in their past life. Things were going to be different the second time around. Okkotsu wouldn't have to feel the pain that he did, and Itadori wouldn't die. That was the plan. The first step was to get Okkotsu to spend the night.