YOU PUSHED THE BOUQUET you had been holding towards him since coming here.
"Mikey-san, here."
Mikey looked surprised for a second, only staring at you in silence.
"This..." You cleared your throat. "This is a bouquet of flowers I had gathered myself... for Emma-san." You said. "I, um, don't know what flowers she would like, but I picked out ones I thought would be appropriate for a funeral."
You retracted the bouquet to you, staring at the flowers. "Um... These are white lilies. I heard they represent purity... or something like that." Pushing towards the bouquet to him once again, you bowed slightly. "You don't have to take care of them, but please give them to Emma-san."
Mikey stood there for while, before you felt the bouquet in your hands being taken.
"...Thanks, [Name]." Even though he looked fatigued, he managed to smile a little. "I'm sure Emma would greatly appreciate it."
You really hoped she would.
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After the priest bowed and said a few words, Draken sat in front of Emma's portrait next.
He turned to Mikey's grandfather and unexpectedly bowed down. "I loved Emma. I am very sorry." He said. "I couldn't protect her."
His words silenced the whole room.
"I see. You'd taken a liking towards her." The grandfather calmly replied, even smiling afterwards. "I'm sure she is resting well."
But in the next moment, Draken broke down. His silent sobs caused some to cry as well.
Your gaze fell to your lap, but next to you, you heard Chifuyu holding in as well. You were surprised when you turned and saw him crying.
His eyes were closed, so he didn't see you, but you quickly stared down at your lap.
I wish Mom and Papa had this many people.
Whenever you saw Emma's portrait, you couldn't help but see your mom or uncle's own portrait at their funerals.
Even you never cried then.
After a while, you all had a break, and you took this chance to head into the restroom. You sighed as you stared at a mirror of yourself.
Even though you came here to 'take a breather' as they say, the most you could do was wash your hands and stare at yourself like an idiot.
You recalled a long-lost memory.
A small young girl looked around, seeing no more than a dozen people here. Earlier, you had just overheard your supposed aunt saying that not many people came, and only a selective few relatives arrived for courtesy.
The atmosphere in the air felt suffocating, so you left for the restroom. Soon, you were done and you passed by a room with the door mildly ajar.
"Seriously, we told her he wasn't good, and she just didn't listen. She got what was coming."
"That's awful! How could you say that!? She was blindly in love!"
"Am I wrong though? Only an idiot couldn't see that her husband was manipulating her."
You peeked through the door gap, seeing two women speaking.
"Ahh, darn it, I knew I shouldn't have left her alone! Maybe I had been there, she wouldn't..." One of them said, who started sobbing.
"You're really going to cry over her? Come on, I thought we all hated her!"
This other woman wasn't in the door's line of sight, but you guessed there were three people in there.
"She was our FRIEND!! How can you treat her like crap!? She was there for us when we were at our lowest!"
You turned away from the door and tried to walk away, but immediately, you bumped into someone and fell on your butt.
Opening your eyes, you saw someone's legs, but then your gaze slowly went up, and you saw a very intimidating looking man.
His facial hair was rough, making it difficult to work out his expressions, but his eyes stared down at you like you were just an ant. His figure was twice, if not thrice, the size of your puny body, and you were too afraid to even move.
He slowly crouched down to your level, and you recognised him as your uncle, the man living with your aunt.
You had only seen him around the house, but you didn't dare look at him.
"[Name]." His deep and gruff voice spoke, making you start to tremble a little. "You hear that? Those women are talking bad about your mother. What are you going to do?" He asked.
You felt frozen in place just from him staring. What were you doing to do? What can you even do?
He spoke again, and you tensed up in suspense. "You're just going to let them insult your mother?"
Maybe you wanted to speak, maybe you didn't, but nonetheless, you kept silent.
The man sighed, shutting his eyes in defeat. "You really are a quiet kid, huh. I guess she was right." His eyes opened, and his gaze burned into you. "You're shaking, but your face barely shows fear."
"You've got guts, having surviving this far with that scummy bastard. Is it because of your mother?" He asked himself, but slowly stood up, staring at you as he did. "Get up, kid. It's time I teach you a lesson."
You quickly obeyed, standing straight.
"No one is gonna defend your mother at this moment, and no one is going to help you." He bluntly spat. "So what are you doing to do, keep letting them tarnish your precious mother's name?"
Your mouth parted slightly. "I..."
Though your voice was soft and barely a whisper, the man looked visibly surprised, not expecting you to speak.
"I-I... Mom..." Your voice was still very soft, but it was enough that he could hear.
You heard soft footsteps coming, interrupting you. You both turned, and you saw your aunt walking this direction.
Without a moment waiting, she slid the door open, and the argument in the room immediately came to a stop.
"Get out." Your aunt glared at the two women.
"H-Huh?" They stammered.
"I said, get out." She didn't mince her words. "If you're not here to pay respects, then get the hell out." Your aunt glanced at you for a second before she stared back at the women. It seemed to you that she was holding back.
"Sorry, we didn't know―"
"Get out!" Your aunt finally snapped.
The two women ran out in a panic.
This was the first time you had seen your aunt raising her voice, so even that scared you a little.
She had always been a little stoic and strict but to see her lose her cool was something you didn't expect.
There was only another woman left who hadn't run, and she came up to your aunt apologising profusely.
"I'm so, so sorry. Oh god, I knew they were always a little unfriendly, but I didn't think they'd go that far." She even bowed as she apologised, as if she was the one who badmouthed. "I'll go now, I'm so sorry―"
"You can stay." Your aunt said. "You... defended her, so you're welcome to stay if you'd like." She heaved a sigh, raising her hand to rub her temple. "I'm just... going to finish the rest of my work." She turned her heel to leave, but just before she did, she crouched to your eye level.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, [Name]." She apologised sincerely before she left.
And so did the other woman, who also apologised to you about her rudeness.
Which leaves only you and your uncle. Your uncle turned to you, "You didn't do anything, but you did better than how you always were." He brought his hand closer, and for a moment, you shuddered to think what he was going to do.
But his hand stayed hovered above your head for a while, as if hesitant, before patting your head and pulling back.
"You get what I'm saying, right?" Your uncle said. "If she hadn't intervened, then no one would've. This time, you were just lucky." There was a pause. "Eventually, you'll be subjected to the same treatment, and at this state, you're just going to stand there and take it."
You said nothing, and he started walking away, leaving you with his words.
"If you're not going to take the first step, when will you?"
And... just a couple of months later, he committed suicide.
"Haah... What am I doing...?" You asked yourself, staring down at the sink. "It's not good to think about this."
Mom... Papa...
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After the funeral, Toman abruptly disbanded. Mikey said they should end it while they're at the top. Takemichi was distraught in many ways, but knew it was the best choice he could've ever made.
Tokyo Manji Gang was created to protect its comrades, but through its journey to make a new era for delinquents, many tragedies struck, all because of an intelligent but lovesick teenager.
Takemichi extended his hand to Naoto. "Since we had our first handshake here at this park, let's have our last handshake here too."
Without future Naoto's help, he wouldn't have gotten as far as he did back when Tenjiku was still rising.
"So... does this mean both me and my sister... are saved?" The young boy asked.
"Yup, definitely!" He confidently spoke. "Let's shake hands, Naoto." Just as he did, he turned to Chifuyu and Hinata, making eye contact with both. "Chifuyu, Hina, let's meet in the future!"
...
The next thing he knew, he was staring at himself in a mirror. He took in his surroundings and saw that he was in the restroom, but no sooner when he came out, he was dragged away by Hinata, claiming they were going to be late for the "wedding." She dragged him all the way to the main venue, and feasted his eyes.
Everyone he knew, everyone who died in the previous timeline ― they're right here.
Overwhelmed by emotions, he couldn't stop the tears from coming.
Chifuyu, Draken, Mitsuya, Hakkai, Yuzuha, Naoto, Mikey... Everyone. However... he noticed that someone else was missing from the list too.
"Hey, where's [Last Name]-san?" He asked Chifuyu and Draken. "The wedding's almost over and I still haven't seen her..." Takemichi looked around, only seeing dozens of other people at the event.
"[Last Name] couldn't make it." Draken smiled. "She's off somewhere right now."
"I see..." Takemichi nodded. She must be working then.
While Takemichi was off in thought, Chifuyu gave Draken a look, where he nodded in return.
Suddenly, Takemichi felt an arm sling over his shoulder and someone weighing down him. "Maaan, I wish [Name] could've come. Don't you?" Takemichi turned, seeing Mikey's face.
"Yeah, too bad she's not here." Takemichi agreed.
In his joy, he couldn't see past the lies his friends fed him.