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Takemichi’s used to feeling immense pain all over his body. He has been run over by a speeding train, punched and kicked until he’s unconscious to the world, shot on the foot and chest, knifed on the hand, etc.
One thing that he’s grateful for for these godforsaken physical injuries was that he was able to build his tolerance for pain.
Gone were the days where a kick and a punch would kill they daylights out of him.
No, he was able to stay awake even with an arm broken and a concussion on his head. His legs stood, wobbly and heavy from the guilt that eats him from letting Draken die just like that. He dragged his feet towards Mikey and South, screaming for the useless fight to stop.
Both paid no heed to his words. Their fists landed punches to jaws and stomachs while their boots kicked whatever body part remained unscathed. Adrenaline coursed through their bloodstream, dictating the useless violence that left everyone mouths agape.
Takemichi finally reached Mikey once more.
The rain drowned his pleas to stop, call off the fight, and join him to visit Draken in the hospital.
Just like before, his eyes said.
Mikey’s eyes, however, looked at him - dull and devoid of life. His signature heel-kick knocked him unconscious.
Before he succumbed into the usual darkness, he watched South lose his footing and collapse on the wetness of the cement.
Dead.
——————————
Another important lesson that time leaping taught him was he was no hero. No matter how Akkun, Mikey, Draken, Chifuyu, Kaku-chan, Hina - even Kisaki - claim he was their ‘crybaby hero’, Takemichi, at the very core of his being, was not some selfless hero in red cape who saves the day.
He’s Takemichi.
The delinquent-wannabe.
The accolades bestowed upon him by god-knows-who forgot to take into account that Takemichi just so happens to be-friend Naoto and convince him to join in his crusade to save his sister. It’s just a bonus that Naoto took the initiative to become the brains of the operations while Takemichi, wearing his heart on his sleeves and naivety coating his bones, earned the trust of Mikey and Draken. Knowing their future helped in saving their comrades.
But their friendship, in every sense of the word, was not coated with the youthful spur-of-the-moment kind that can be reminisced over lonely nights or reunions.
Every word, movement, decision was all for his selfish desire to save an ex-girlfriend.
Everything was planned by him. He toyed with a lot of people’s genuine feelings.
Being a ‘hero’ was a byproduct of the said plan.
The pain on his broken arm woke his consciousness. Then he felt the cold concrete replaced by a warm body, albeit wet from the rain. Labored breaths also ghosted over his ears, like someone was carrying him to god knows where.
It must’ve taken decades before he heard familiar voices dance in the background.
“Koko? What happened?!”
“Take him to the hospital!”
“Hanagaki?”
A pang of nostalgia slapped his swollen cheeks. Takemichi wanted to open his eyes, stand, and, his bones be damned, hug Koko-kun and Inupi-kun.
Unfortunately, his body won’t cooperate.
——————————
A few seconds passed before he felt the warmth of Koko-kun’s left. He bit his bottom lip when his muscles came in contact with something soft yet sturdy. By the smell alone, he assumed that he was laid into the van parked at the back of the bike shop.
When he heard the car door shut, Takemichi stretched his fingers and curled his toes. He slowly shifted and lay on his back. Taking a deep breath, he blinked his eyes as wide as he could. The street lamp blinded him for a few seconds.
“Koko! Are you happy with this?”
Inpui-kun’s question echoed into Takemichi’s mind. His voice sounded desperate and filled with untold history that Takemichi had yet to unravel. His eyes finally adjusted to the light. Taking another deep breath, he used his good arm to prop himself and peep into the conversation.
A searing pain shot his body.
He collapsed back to the seat, lungs heaving with intense ache. Sweat and blood carved his body on the car seat. He bit back a scream, afraid that he would destroy the trance enveloping Inupi-kun and Koko-kun.
“You can live a life without thinking about Akane, you know?”
Takemichi racked his brain. Akane?
In all timelines he has been through, Koko-kun stood beside Inupi-kun; and Inupi-kun with Koko-kun. Always the two of them against the world. There was no one else.
Who is Akane then?
He didn’t hear what Koko-kun replied, nor the concerned voice of Inupi-kun. When exhaustion finally took hold of Takemichi’s consciousness, their conversation turned into a giant mush.
——————————
An unfamiliar face welcomed Takemichi. “You’re safe,” she said while gently squeezing his hand. The whiteness of the room and her pristine uniform exiting the door reminded Takemichi that ah, he’s alive and in the hospital.
“You’re awake,” a voice called that made Takemichi snap his head on the left. Inupi-kun greeted him, clad in his D&D work uniform and his eyes blackened with fatigue.
“Well not technically,” he took a seat on the stool beside his bed. “Doctor said you’re still heavily medicated. You might not hear me but---”
“Who’s Akane?”
The jolt of his shoulders and his wide orbs didn’t escape Takemichi’s eyes. He wanted to retract his question but his throat burned. Inupi-kun clasped his hands and leaned forward.
“So you heard us, huh?”
You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, his hand said against Inupi-kun’s. The latter shook his head and rested his elbows on the bedside. He rested his head at the edge of Takemichi’s bed, shielding his solemn confession from the ears of the hospital wall.
“Akane’s my sister and Koko loved her.”
He began.
——————————
It may have been obvious from the beginning but the third, and, hopfelly, the last lesson that time leaping taught Takemichi was that he had a chance to alter the future. The results may be against his whims more often than he likes but at least he bore the advantage that no one on the planet possesses.
Maybe this is god’s way of apologizing for toying half of his life. He gave him a slice of his divine power - his own sick way of redeeming himself in the eyes of Takemichi while not forgoing the amusement that goes with tormenting humans.
He must’ve enjoyed watching Koko-kun and Inupi-kun re-open up their wounds that rainy night - removing the scab of their healing injuries and licking the blood that oozed from their flesh.
Takemichi had no power to absolve the sin that Inupi-kun carried. He was no priest. He doesn’t even know if Inupi-kun should consider the selfish desire to monopolize Koko-kun for himself a sin.
‘Of course, I can’t compete with my sister,’ he said, biting down the tears from escaping. ‘She’s my sister. Who am I to stand in between those two lovebirds?’
Takemichi looked at the ceiling, knowing all too well the same feeling of being completely worthless in the eyes of the ones you love. He prayed that should Hina break-up with him for the second time and find someone better, the new boyfriend would treasure her - even more than he could.
Mikey-kun, too. Should he find someone to share his lifetime with, a partner worthy to stand beside him as an equal, shower him with the praises and love that Takemichi failed to do in all those timelines.
Ah, if only he could exchange his ability of gambling with time with sealing happiness in a bottle and letting people relive their happiest moments without fucking the timeline, he would’ve saved Kazutora from juvie, Emma-chan, Izana-kun and Mikey-kun from the loneliness of losing their older brother; and Draken-kun and Koko-kun from not saving the love of their lives.
Even the softest kiss that Koko-kun gave Inupi-kun when he was asleep can be re-lived by the latter during his bluest of nights.
“You’re awake. You’ve been asleep for three days,” Koko-kun’s voice reverberated against the beeping of the machines surrounding Takemichi’s bed. He glanced on his left and true enough, it has been three days since they last saw each other. Koko-kun wore his white polo shirt, his earrings swaying while he explained the clean-up of the gang war.
Takemichi tried grasping what he could of the narrative - of Senju bowing herself to save his life, of Brahman’s disbandment, of Mikey-kun standing at the top once again.
But amidst the news, Inupi-kun’s confession rang against Takemichi’s ears. He can picture him sitting in between him and Koko-kun, listening and nodding his head. He would propose ways to move forward, probably using the Black Dragon’s influence as their primary mechanism to fight the Kanto gang. Koko-kun volunteered to be their spy but they both rejected the idea.
It’s better to lose a finger than your life, Inupi-kun would reason.
The scene dissolved into smoke when Koko-kun stood and bid him farewell. “See ya,” he said and slid the door open.
“Wait,” Takemichi called in a raspy voice. Koko-kun turned with his eyebrows arched. “Inupi-kun needs you.”
The latter scoffed. “We’re adults now. He doesn’t need my support.”
“You’re wrong.”
A scowl immediately painted Koko-kun’s face. He stomps his foot on the tile and almost yanks Takemichi from his hospital gown, detaching his limbs from the tubes. He managed to control his temper just a few inches away from Takemichi’s body.
“You don’t know anything”, he whispered while resigning on the stool again. A long heavy sigh escaped his lips. With outstretched legs and an arm covering his eyes, Koko-kun turned his back and laid his head at the edge of Takemichi’s bed. The tips of his fingers untangled the end of his black hair.
The air conditioning hummed at the silence of the room.
“Inupi-kun needs you,” he repeated. Koko-kun scoffed at his declaration. “He’s all alone now.”
“He has you.” Koko-kun argued. “He has friends. He has a life.”
Takemichi shook his head. “It’s not the same.”
“Hm, and why’s that?”
Takemichi gulped, not trusting the words that would come out of his tongue next. He can write an essay instead, describing at length the way Inupi-kun narrated his sins against two of his most loved persons. Alternatively, he could just invite Inupi-kun over and let them resolve the tension in the privacy of his room.
Regardless of how he says it, he would be, once again, gambling someone’s happiness and chance to live a normal life. He would be changing the timeline without a guarantee of saving what remained of the 11th Black Dragons.
But an itch at the back of his throat wanted him to confide in Koko-kun - to disclose the sentiments long represented by their common friend.
Takemichi is a time-leaper who gambled with chances and people’s lives - and this time, he wanted to put forth the happiness of one his most loyal guards before his. With clenched fists, he laid his eyes on the top of Koko-kun’s head.
“Inupi-kun loves you.”
With a shaky laugh and a lone tear across his cheek, Koko-kun asked. “So how much do you need in exchange for this information?”
“Nothing. Just thought you ought to know before we die because of Mikey.”