A/N: Slightly shorter chapter today, I'll be back with longer ones soon!
30. Secrets Unraveled
"I have survived.
I am here.
Confused,
Screwed up, but here."
- Laurie Halse Anderson
....... ....... ....... ....... ........
"How did you know I'm a time traveler?" You asked, narrowing your eyes and trying to sound intimidating.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I'm a time traveler myself?" He grinned maniacally, turning around and picking up soda cans to stuff into a plastic bag.
"You?" Your tone came out disbelieving.
"Yes, me."
"Still doesn't explain how you knew."
"I saw you looking through the veil just now."
"Just now?" You raised your brows, growing more suspicious of him," That happened months ago."
"That's just how time works."
"Huh," you watched as he shuffled away busily, tying up his bag.
"That's a nice bracelet you have there, better keep it safe so that it doesn't get lost."
"What do you mean by that?" You unconsciously moved your hand behind your back to hide the bracelet.
"Here's a little tip," ignoring your question, his hands picked up some extra cans," All time travelers have a special "skill"-- most of the time it's small and useless, but it's still a "power" of some sort."
"And what's yours?"
His movements stopped after your question, making you wonder if you said something wrong.
"I've said too much already. My, my, death does make a person chatty."
"Death? You mean, you know that you're gonna die?... Does that have something to do with your "skill"?"
"Yes, that's exactly it," he cackled," I'm going to get killed."
"By who?" Your fists were clenched as you swallowed dryly.
"Who?" The unkempt man turned around, a dangerous gleam in his eyes," By the brother of the boy you're trying to save now."
"Shinichiro?" You blinked when you realized the place he had been standing in mere seconds ago was empty.
"Can only stay for a short while," his voice echoed through the closed space, making your eyes dart around for the source," Just remember that you were the one who cursed me, and you'll pay for that."
Scanning the entire alleyway, you mulled over his words and lifted your wrist so that the yang bracelet was dangling in front of your eyes.
Shinichiro is going to kill him? Why? And why did he tell me to keep this bracelet safe?
Furrowing your brows, you kept staring at the black trinket until small droplets of rain interrupted your train of thought, hitting you on the shoulders and head. Saying that man seemed to know more than he was letting on was an understatement, the look in his eyes intrigued you, making you want to find out more about him and everything he knew.
The sound of cars honking could be heard from the main road, probably blocked by the gang members you assumed had gathered. Slowly making your way back towards the motorcycle, you hoped it would start so you could go back to the workshop, knowing you'd probably be of no help in case of a fight even if you went back.
Kickstarting the bike, you breathed a sigh of relief when you heard the engine come to life, revving it up before you continued on your way to DND Motors to wait for the others.
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"You're a Brahman member?!" You shouted at Draken.
The moment the three blondes entered the shop, Draken gruffly called you outside to meet Takeomi, a guy who looked to be of your future self's age with a scar running from the right of his forehead to his lips, before you even had the chance of telling them about what you had encountered on your way back. He quickly filled you in on almost everything that was happening, hoping you'd defend his case, but instead you elaborated on the part he'd been praying you'd ignore.
"Yes, but that's irrelevant right now, (y/n)."
"Like hell it is! You've never even thought about telling me about it till now?"
"Listen," the tall blonde sighed in exasperation," I'll explain later. Right now you have to help me get it through Akashi's head-- Takemichi is not going to join Brahman."
"That's not even a question, of course, he isn't."
"And who are you two to him," Takeomi inserted himself into the conversation," That you think you can decide for him?"
"We're friends who care about him," you glared back at the older man, turning on your heels and making your way towards the backdoor to show them that you were done with this conversation and there would be no changing your mind. "Draken, I have something important to tell you and Takemichi. I'll be waiting inside."
"Why don't we ask Hanagaki about that first?" You heard Takeomi say behind you, then the sound of someone being slammed into the wall and Draken shouting at him.
Not bothering to look back at them, you continued your walk while thinking about everything your friend had just told him. You felt a sense of betrayal as you realized that Draken had been lying to you for twelve years straight.
Takemichi passed you on your way back, giving you a concerned look. You ignored him, making him conclude that it would be best to leave you alone for now.
Someone blocked your path instead as you continued forward, making you glare at the person: they had light pink hair, almost white, their eyes cool and deep as they looked back at you.
"You," they spoke, their voice smooth and confident," You're 'Toman's Fallen Queen' huh?"
"Me?" You pointed at yourself, unable to help but laugh when you found out the name you were given; it sounded childish and juvenile to you. "Toman's what?"
"That's what they've been calling you." Taking a few steps towards you, they continued," The person who has been holding the Invincible Mikey up has fallen, taking him along with her. Tell me, when will you get back up again?"
"Who are you, anyway?" You asked, curious but also getting defensive.
"I'm Brahman's top: Kawaragi Senju. I'll be seeing you around, hopefully."
And with that they left you standing and looking at their departing figure. Shaking your head, you started making your way towards the backdoor of the workshop, deciding to look for Inui so he could further explain everything to you.
You found him staring pensively into his empty glass bottle as he sat on the sofa. Glancing up as you walked across the room and sat down across from him, he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Did you know about this?" Your direct question made him gulp as he slowly nodded. "Why did neither of you ever tell me?"
"Mikey-kun," he hesitantly started after carefully weighing his words in his head," Pushed you away because he wanted to keep you safe."
"He pushed everyone away because of that, I know."
"No, he pushed you away," Inui said in a tone that made him sound so sure it surprised you. "As for the rest...he did all he could to make them hate him. He even went as far as to beat them up until they lost consciousness.
"We've always made it a point to keep this from you till now, but Draken told me to fill you in on our way back." Inui placed his empty bottle down on the table," It was clear Mikey-kun couldn't bear the thought of you hating him."
Taking a deep breath, you fiddled with your fingers and slowly nodded.
"I can see that happening," you gave a strained, quiet laugh.
"Yeah, he told Draken and the others to make sure you stay out of harm," Inui gave you a small smile," That was the last thing he told them. The others have tried their best to do just that for him."
"By joining a gang?" You asked as a half jab, half joke.
"Brahman wants to defeat Kantou Manji Gang, while Draken wants to get Mikey back...their objectives were the same, that's the only reason he joined the gang."
"So...Draken has always wanted to get Mikey back, huh?" You thought about how quickly he had agreed with your idea about finding the latter blonde in the future.
"There are many things you don't know about that Draken has been doing for you," Takeomi's voice came from behind you, near the door you had entered through a few minutes ago.
Quickly crossing his way over to where you and Inui were sitting, he took his place a few feet from the other boy before he continued.
"Did you think that gangs wouldn't try to use Sano Manjiro's ex-lover as leverage against him, especially since it's well-known how much you meant to him?" He looked you up and down, as if inspecting you. "Another agreement Ryuguji Ken made when he joined Brahman was to keep you safe from any threat without you ever finding out about it."
The room was silent as they allowed you to process everything they had just told to you.
"I didn't know about that," you finally said after a long pause. "So...everyone has been looking out for me, huh?" All the anger and feelings of betrayal you felt towards Draken disappeared as everything finally sank in.
"You were in a pretty dark place," Inupi offered comfortingly.
"No, I struggled while everyone moved on as best they could."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just..." You gave a dry laugh," Everyone else went through the same thing, but I'm the only one who struggled this hard. Makes me feel kinda weak."
"That's one way to look at it," Takeomi interjected.
"What else is there?"
"Lemme be honest with you, kid," he said, making your eyebrow irk with the knowledge that you were the same age as him," From what I've heard, you come from a great family who offered security and comfort, not saying that you don't have any problems or that your life is perfect. But unlike us who grew up in shitty homes with shitty people surrounding us, this was something your mind never even prepared itself for.
"The fact is, the world of delinquency and your world are too far apart to consider and compare anything that happens between them, or even form conclusions and ideas from it."
"Hmm, that's probably true," you gave them a genuine but tired smile as you heard the same door open and close for the third time within the past ten minutes.
Three pairs of footsteps could be heard entering with it.
"Idiot Takemichi joined Brahman, (y/n)," Draken grumbled as he plopped himself down beside you," You said you had something to tell me?"
"Maybe later," you referred to all the people present in the room, making all of them beg you to just say it out right then and there, and it took you another ten minutes to make them let it go.
Once that was done you got up to leave, realizing how late it was and deciding to just text Draken and Takemichi about the homeless man later, and Inupi offered to drive you home.
You felt a sense of nostalgia washing over as you rode through the familiar streets of Tokyo. The sights of all the places you'd forgotten about flooded back into your memory as you saw them again for the second time in your life.
Waving as you stood watching Inui drive away in your front yard, you finally decided on what you were going to do about everything next.
"I cursed him, huh? What does that even mean?"
I'll do everything to make sure you won't have to go through this again, Mikey, I promise you.
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