Work Text:
They are cursed to love, so they continue to meet.
In fact there is no time in which they don't. At the stairs of their run down apartment, in between frantic runs to the market, and even at the end of it all. And maybe this is due to a boy who refuses to give up, or another who refuses to live in the light.
When Takemichi returns from the future no one is surprised. Because maybe they too, understand this tale has been cursed to never conclude. Chifuyu gives him a soft smile, saying "welcome back partner"----did you fail again? did you lose us? did you lose him. When he sees Mikey again he cant help but cry, crumbling in on himself. Days fill with warmth, of wet tears, tangled limbs, and listless enjoyment.(they both know its already too late)
And if Takemichi ever decides to face himself one day, he may see the refection of a past ghost in himself.
But he never does, he continues to push towards a future that will never come to him. If Mikey gets too lost in his eyes, he may learn of Takemichi's endless torture. A torture dressed with unfathomable happiness, forever engraved within his very soul.(he never says anything about it) does nothing but ask---
"Do you love me?" and maybe he already knows the answer, perhaps this question never goes unasked. but this is Takemichi's 5th time back, and he has long grown too scared of saying any answer other than "Of course I love you." because his love rings far and wide, and the possibility of Mikey not knowing that has come to scare him more than death. Which he feels finds its way to him with terrifying ease, but maybe death gives no efforts in that regard,
And if Takemichi learns to accredit that to Toman and all it brings, he works to end it (he soon learns death is stopped by nothing). It does not end with Baji, or Emma, or Naoto;;but his tale does not end with Naoto either, he soon learns that a plead for help from the one he pines for is enough to continue his journey to happiness.
Because they are cursed to forever love,
and if they fall that night, only the stars of that future will ever know.