Chapter Text
Revenge isn’t good for the soul.
Is what Takemichi Hanagaki repeated to himself, as he laid face down in the dirt, bleeding out. This is the last and least logical conclusion he’d come to after loops of failure, but if it works out, then everything will be fine! Hina will be fine .
And if it doesn’t? Well, the ball is no longer in Takemichi’s court.
Or so he thought. He should’ve- no- what should’ve happened is that he passes away. He should be frolicking around in the afterlife (if there is even one). But no, Time and Fate (and aren’t they the same thing? Two sides of a coin. They go hand in hand. In due time, Takemichi will meet his fate.) Had such a hard on for the man that they still didn’t want to pry their greedy, grubby hands off of him even in the afterlife.
From afar, Takemichi watched his funeral go on. Hollow. Dull. Takemichi would already cry, just watching his friends and his girlfriend sob over his grave, but there’s nothing. A hollow feeling in his chest.
As if someone carved everything out of the blonde that made him, him. Leaving nothing else behind but an empty husk to roam the world. Has the world ever been this dull before? Gritty? Or perhaps, when he was alive, he subconsciously ignored all the bad in the world, but now that he’s dead, Takemichi sees it in full effect.
After everyone leaves, Draken stays back for a moment just to leave a single flower. Takemichi would’ve snorted if he could. How considerate of him, considering he didn’t know Takemichi for no longer than the time he laid bleeding out in the dirt.
( Arm pinned down underneath him. Knife in his ribs. The warm, sticky, red, and familiar metallic smell of blood trickled out of him.)
But Takemichi knows him. Much, much better than most people. He’s seen the good and bad side of Draken. The side that ended up in death row. The side who had a bike shop in the future.
Hanagaki’s footsteps are silent as he walks closer to his grave and stands above it. It’s adorned with flowers and some of his favorite shit his friends must’ve left.
Friends. Right. He doesn’t have time (but all he has is time. but it’s never enough.) to stand around and mope at his grave. What he needs is allies and information.
This time, if it doesn’t work out, then he’s done. There’s nothing he can do to help Hina and Toman.
( Time and Fate's face splits into a pearly white teeth smile. Their all-seeing eyes staring down at one lone boy. One lone man. They whisper amongst themselves, sniveling in disconjointed laughter. He’ll keep trying. Trying, trying, and trying. Only to fail, fail, and fail again.)
Being a ghost is… (world shattering and emotional, mental, and spiritual breakdown worthy) a new experience . Much different from any other time loops he’s been in, of course.
Takemichi wonders if he fails again, would time just loop back? Would he be alive? Or will he still be dead? Stuck in this translucent form. A shadow of his former self? Or maybe, hopefully, everything will. just. Stop.
“You guys are walking a pretty thin line, don’t you think?”
There was something of amusement fluttering up in his chest as the two blondes in front of him pause and slowly turn around. With both hands in his pocket, Takemichi’s lips curled into a slight smile. “What’s with the looks on your faces?” He chuckles, “You act like you’ve never seen a ghost before!”
The blood has drained from the two blonde’s faces and they seem to be in too much of a shock to even think about fighting.
“You- I- you're supposed to be dead. ” Draken strangled out.
“Well,” Takemichi brushes off the invisible dirt on his sleeves. “It apparently seems to be the case. After all, you went to my funeral. Beautiful flowers you left.”
“Then what are you? A ghost? Coming back for revenge?”
Takemichi lets out a sigh before crossing his arms across his chest. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’d think you would remember someone’s last words. R evenge isn’t good for the soul. ”
This time, it’s Mikey that speaks. “You're the boy that saved Ken-chin.”
“The one and only!” The ghost chirps.
“What’re you here for?”
Takemichi blinks. “I guess I have some unfinished business.”
Befriending had come as easily to Takemichi as breathing- er, lack of breathing. He couldn’t be around 24/7. Too busy doing other things. Planning things. Getting one step ahead.
“Y’know, a young lady like you shouldn’t be walking home by yourself.” Takemichi Hanagaki had made his next step. Standing in front of a cram school building meant for middle schoolers. He watched the blonde-haired girl lift her eyes from her phone and meet his.
Warm-colored browns meeting dull blues.
Multitudes of emotions flashes across her face. A boy she watched die right in front of with a smile on his face is now standing in front of her. Certainly looking Not Alive- but he’s there .
“Oh hell no, I’m literally getting goosebumps right now.” She rubbed her arms while Takemichi laughed.
Emma’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Don’t laugh!” She hissed, “just,” her hands flailed around in the air as she tried to search for words. “Just...how??”
“Well, when Time and Fate gets attached to a being,” Takemichi begins, fully preparing to talk about absolutely nothing, but it sounds philosophical and smart enough to sound like he is talking about the way he Is .
Takemichi watches Yamagishi's eyes roll into the back of his head and then his body slowly careening backwards. Thankfully, Makoto and Takuya caught him before the teen joined the afterlife with Takemichi.
All four of them are pale as a white sheet of paper and, respectfully, Takemichi gives them a second as his entire existence folds their thoughts on reality into a paper plane and sends it off into the atmosphere.
Then, disrespectfully, Takemichi opens up his mouth. “Can you guys do me a favor?”
( “You want us to join Toman?” Astushi questions, staring at his dead-alive-or-as-alive-as-he-could-be, best friend. “Why?
Takemichi was sitting down next to Astushi, still as a statue. Honestly, the only reason why Astushi could tell the teen was even listening was by the way his eyes moved. Staring at the cracks in the ground as if it was the most interesting thing on planet Earth.
“It’s my last chance.”
Takemichi flickers before Astushi eyes, his ghastly form looking like a dripping oil painting. The boy smiles. A smile that’s too big for his face, a smile that’s filled with teeth, a smile that’s a little too deranged. “My last chance to get at Kisaki.”)
“Personally, I think Valhalla sucks, and you should go back to Toman.”
Baji, who had declared his resignation of being a Toman member and joined Valhalla, has been plagued with an annoying roach that just won’t leave him alone.
No matter how many times he attacked the kid, his hits never landed. And he always. Always. Keep coming back, without fail.
“How long are you going to keep hovering over me?”
The blonde-haired boy trailed behind him with his hands shoved in his pants pocket. “Until you decide to go back to Toman.”
“God, you're so fucking persistent-”
“Live.” Takemichi cuts in. “Just, live. For Mikey and Kazutora’s sake. Chifuyu as well.”
The blonde’s face was serious. Yet, he could see the anxiety through the creases of his expression. But, his eyes are ablaze with determination.
Takemichi rubs at his ear. “I go to go, someone’s calling me. Just remember what I said, live . If not, I'll make you seriously regret it.”
Then the boy disappears, leaving a silent Baji with something akin to dread pooling in his stomach.
Takemichi Watches.
He Listens.
He Whispers.
Then He Plans.