Chapter Text
Stepping into the airport through the main entrance, a black haired boy sighs, adjusting the bag on his back.
He walks over to the notice board and glances at the flight times, unknowing of the three people approaching him from behind.
“Takemichi!!” A young blonde boy calls to his older brother, running up to him with his arms wide, wanting to be picked up.
“Manjiro, don’t run!” The elder shouts as he spins around in alarm, taking his eyes away from the flights. Quickly, Takemichi’s hands come to wave hazardously in front of him as Manjiro runs, trying to get the blonde to slow down.
Seeing his brothers stance, the younger just grins wildly, speeding up until he’s a meter away. Then, he jumps.
The black haired male startles and lurches forwards to catch Manjiro, yelping as he does so, the youngest’s name on his tongue.
He lands safely in his brothers arms, Takemichi’s heart beating a mile a minute. Manjiro wraps his legs around the elders waist and holds the back of his neck, finding his balance.
“You’re such a wimp ‘Mitchy!” Manjiro laughs, throwing his head back, unknowingly knocking Takemichi off balance. Thankfully, his twin is near and grabs him by the back of his shirt, giving the younger time to catch his bearings. Manjiro then lifts his head back up and meets his brothers eyes, “and it’s Mikey! Not Manjiro!”
“I’m sorry Mikey!” Takemichi says with sincerity in his eyes, smiling at him softly. That is until he gets an idea, “do you think I should make it up to him, Shin?”
Shinichiro pauses his conversation with Emma about flight times to meet eyes with his twin, watching as they sparkle with mischief. Almost immediately, the elder knows exactly what’s running through Takemichi’s brain and laughs, “yeah, you shouldn’t disrespect Mikey like that.”
“Hm, I guess I have to then.” Takemichi smirks as he begins to get closer to the boy in his arms, inching forwards until they’re a couple inches away.
“Huh? Wait! Takem—”
Mikeys protest is cut off when Takemichi lunges forwards, his lips colliding softly with the youngers flushed cheek. He squeals, trying to push his brother away as his face is showered with too much affection. Shinichiro all but cackles, not bothering to hide his laugher behind his hand.
They end up making a scene at the airport but neither of the siblings care, too in their own world to notice mundane things like that.
Eventually, Takemichi stops the onslaught of kisses he gives Mikey and pulls away, grinning at his little brothers flushed face. “Haha!” Emma giggles, pointing up at his blonde brother from where she stands on the floor, “you look like a tomato!”
“Shut up Emma!” Mikey hisses, pulling his hoodie up to his face, trying to wipe away the trace of Takemichi’s kisses.
Takemichi watches with a small frown as Emma jumps back, her bottom lip wobbling from her brothers harsh tone. The younger twin is about to scold Mikey, but Shinichiro beats him to it. He tuts and smacks Mikey lightly on his head, “hey now, this is the last time we’ll see ‘Mitchy for a while, let’s not leave a bad last impression!”
“Sorry Emma..” Mikey pouts as Takemichi puts him down. He walks over to his little sister and pulls her into a hug, patting her on the head softly. Emma positively brightens at the gesture and squeezes Mikey, her small arms wrapping around his back.
“Is anyone going to help me with all this?” Someone asks from behind Takemichi and they all turn around, “and here I was, thinking that having two strong grandsons would let me be able to take it easy.”
“Oh, grandpa!” Takemichi turns around and takes his bag out of the white haired males hand, hiking it up onto his shoulder before grabbing another, holding it in his hand. “Is this it all?” The twin asks, adjusting the straps on his shoulder.
“Yeah, that’s them,” Mansaku replies, looking the tall boy up and down, a small, proud smile on his face.
Emma grabs onto Takemichi’s jeans and pulls softly, successfully getting his attention. The elder crouches to meet his little sisters eye line, “what’s up Emma? Are you alright?”
“Why do you have to leave?! I don’t want you to!” Emma sniffles, tears quickly welling in her yellow eyes. She brings her hands up to her face and hazardously wipes the drops that fall, “why can’t you stay here like Shin?”
Mansaku is by his side before he can realise, silent and stealthy, a skill probably developed from all the time in the Dojo. “Emma, you know Takemichi is a slight.. um, recluse. Going away by himself is going to be good for him, he’ll be back before you know it,” Mansaku reassures, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he smiles softly. Takemichi protests, whining about how mean he’s being, but the elder pays no attention.
Emma smiles softly at Takemichi’s blatant lying but doesn’t seem convinced. Hesitation shines in her eyes as she looks from Mansaku to Takemichi and back again. “You’re sure?” She asks quietly.
“I won’t be gone for long Emma!” Takemichi reassures, taking her hands in his own, “you have Shin though, don’t forget that, or he might set the tickle monster on you!”
“No!!” Emma almost screams — fortunately accompanied by a laugh — in retaliation as she shakes her head, blonde locks flowing over her shoulder, “I don’t want the tickle monster!”
“Then make sure to listen to your bothers, okay? They’ll take care of you!” Takemichi continues, cupping the younger girls face to press a kiss onto her forehead. She quickly places one back, pressing her smaller lips into Takemichi’s cheek, the younger twin huffs softly, thanking her as his blue eyes sparkle.
Mansaku taps Takemichi on the back, having gotten up some time throughout the conversation, “let’s go, your flight is soon.”
With a sad sigh, Takemichi gets onto his feet and walks over to his elder twin, Shinichiro. He embraces him in a warm hug, letting a couple stray tears fall from his eyes when he realises that this is the last time he’ll hug his twin for god knows how long.
Takemichi isn’t sure how he’s going to do this, he doesn’t even think he’s been separated from Shinichiro more than two days their whole entire life, so now that he’s going to have to manage a year alone, well, that’s fucking scary. He doesn’t let it show on his face though, not wanting to worry his younger siblings, but Shinichiro has always been able to read him like a book.
The elders hand rubs up and down his back comfortingly, not wanting his twin to be sent away with so much anxiousness. It’s works, like it always does, and Takemichi lets the tension fall from his shoulders.
Pulling away, Shinichiro gives his twin a once-over, wanting to double check that he won’t have a mental breakdown as soon as he steps on the plane. Thankfully, he seems to be okay, and the elder lets him go.
After saying their final goodbyes, Takemichi walks away, heading to the boarding area of the airport — whether the boy cried after he turned his back was something only the boarding attendant would see.
As a child, Takemichi never really had any friends.. actually, he didn’t have any, which was sad to say but it was true. Sure, Takemichi had ‘friends’, friends who took advantage of his kindness for their own personal gain — not that Shinichiro would ever let them.
The only real friends he’d ever had was Shinichiro and the people from his gang. Although he was sure Takeomi didn’t like him that much, Wakasa and Benkei went out of their way to chat with him, and even went so far as to come over even when they knew Shinichiro wasn’t around, with the sole purpose of hanging out with him. It was heart warming, having people who genuinely enjoyed his company.
Takemichi often found himself hanging out with Shinichiro and his gang friends, enjoying their banter even though he hardly knew what was going on half of the time. If Takemichi was into bikes, gangs, and all stuff related, he was sure that he’d get along with them more, but he wasn’t.
Shinichiro and Takemichi always knew that they weren’t alike, well, it was painfully obvious. The elder liked motorbikes and fighting, while Takemichi liked sketching and musicals, the only thing remotely similar about them was their black hair and the fact they cried all the damn time — Mikey’s words.
But Takemichi believes that’s why they get along so well. They don’t fight, nor anything of the sort because they have such vastly different interests.
When he’d hang out with Shinichiro and his friends in the garage, Takemichi would spend most of his time with his head in his sketchbook, joining in on idle conversation when it was directed to him. He’d draw the motorbikes Shinichiro worked with, along with his twin himself, sketching him roughly before the elder moved into a different position and Takemichi lost his muse.
All in all, Takemichi was a quiet, drawn in person, always had been, always will be. At least that’s what Shinichiro thought.
So, when Takemichi came back his year long trip away with a whole new demeanour, in the way he carried himself and his general attitude towards life, Shinichiro was baffled.
“Who the fuck are you?” Was the first thing the elder twin said when Takemichi finally stopped in front of them, a suitcase trailing behind.
Emma gasps at the foul language and smacks Shinichiro’s arm, pouting playfully, “don’t say bad words Shin! I’ll tell grandpa!”
“Hello to you too?” Takemichi then promptly pulls a constipated face and quickly bursts out crying, pulling his elder twin into a bone crushing hug, burrowing his head into the junction between his shoulder and neck.
Mikey laughs from below, only a couple inches taller from the last time he saw him, reaching the twins rib area. “I think this is still ‘Mitchy, he cries the exact same way!” The blonde cackles, pretending to be unaffected by having his brother back in arms reach, but it’s obvious to others just how emotional he is.
Takemichi peaks his head out from Shinichiro’s shoulder and playfully sticks his tongue out, scrunching his nose as he does so.
The twins eventually pull away from each other, both of their faces coated in salty water trails.
Quickly, he turns his attention to his younger siblings and crouches down, pulling them both into a hug, sobbing slightly as it finally clocks that he’s home.
“Eww!” Mikey grimaces, feeling his cheek become wet from Takemichi’s tears, “wipe your face!”
“I’m sorry Mikey, I’m just so happy to see you both, god I missed you,” he rambles, pulling away from them both to see how much they’ve grown. Mikey has definitely matured, that much is true, so has Emma. She’s definitely taller than her brother, that fact is probably a soft spot for the elder so he won’t bring it up.. until they’re in private.
Mansaku then emerges from the bathroom and walks over. He looks older than Takemichi remembers him being, more wrinkled, and overall old looking, but it’s still his grandpa at the end of the day.
He’s quickly yanked into a warm hug and he melts into the embrace, sighing happily at the homely feeling Mansaku brings. “We all missed you,” he whispers into the youngers ear, “I’m glad you’re home.”
Takemichi then promptly bursts into tears again, embarrassing his brothers and sister to the point where they have to drag him out of the airport and into their car.
After that eventful reunion, nothing much happens and Takemichi readjusts to life in Japan with more confidence than he had when he left.
He meets Mikey’s new friend, Baji, along with some of Takeomi’s siblings — he never even knew he had them — but there they were, two white haired, blue eyed children who always smiled up at him with gleeful eyes, looking at him like he held the world in his hands. One had scars around his mouth, something that had worried Takemichi greatly but no one would tell them where they came from, not even Haruchiyo himself.
Life goes well for the first couple weeks he’s back until Shinichiro starts acting weird, along with Haruchiyo, who discuss something through whispered voices in the living room one day.
Takemichi enters and they go quiet, looking at him with wide eyes. “What? Did I walk in on some secret meeting?” The younger twin muses playfully, falling down on the sofa with a thud, his sketchpad clutched between his nimble fingers. His black hair splays over the back of the couch as Takemichi looks at the ceiling, letting exhaustion fall over his body like a blanket.
When neither male says anything, Takemichi looks up with a curious gaze before it clicks. “Oh, you totally were! Come on, let me in on it!” The younger twin says excitedly, despite being 23 years old. He slides off of the sofa and joins the two on the floor, looking between them excitedly.
Haruchiyo meet Shinichiro’s eyes and they seem to have a quick moment of realisation before turning to Takemichi simultaneously — creepy but nothing too weird.
“Takemichi, can I give you something?” Shinichiro asks his twin, his black eyes drilling into blue. The younger pulls his head back slightly, confusion swirling in his facial expression.
“Depends on what you’re going to give me..” he trails off, looking slightly unsettled, “I don’t want you to give me dog shit or any live animal.” Shinichiro just rolls his eyes, well used to his brothers antics by this point, while Haruchiyo looks like he’s on the edge of tears, holding in his laughter like his life depends on it.
“It’s neither of those things, do you want it or not?”
“So demanding! But sure.”
Shinichiro holds his hand out for Takemichi to grasp and he does, taking his elder brothers calloused hand in his own.
The black haired male feels a small bolt of electricity flow down and throughout his spine before Shinichiro is pulling away with an impressed face. Takemichi looks down at his hand, hoping to find something there, but is disappointed to see that Shinichiro hasn’t given him anything at all.
“So you got my hopes up about receiving a present, only to trick me out of happiness?” Takemichi accuses, jabbing his finger into the space between Shinichiro’s pecks, a scowl on his face.
The elder twin laughs before he shakes his head, “I’ll tell you what I gave you later, okay?”
“Whatever, you’re both annoying. I’m going to bother Mikey and his black haired friend.” Takemichi leaves the room feeling unsatisfied, that small bit of that electricity still vibrating up and down his spine.
Whatever was up with Shinichiro that day quickly fleets from Takemichi’s mind until a week later, when something similar happens.
Takemichi is in Tokyo’s city centre, trying to get something good for Mikey’s birthday in a weeks time. During his search, he doesn’t find anything that he thinks Mikey will like, apart from a plane that he’d have to build, but something within makes him think that’s a bad idea and he doesn’t end up choosing it.
He’s just about to head into a bar, hoping to get drunk and to find someone to chat with, when Shinichiro calls him. He opens his flip phone and answers hastily, already worried because the elder doesn’t really ring him unless it’s urgent.
“Hey Shin, you okay?” Takemichi inquires, standing outside the busy bar. The music is thumping through the wall, loud enough that he’s sure Shinichiro can hear it.
The line is silent for a while before his brother speaks, “Takemichi.. can you— can you come home? Please.” His tone is petrified, haunting, and it makes Takemichi’s blood freeze, like he’s just been dunked in minus degree water.
Instantly, the younger is walking away from the bar, heading to the nearest bus stop, which is inconveniently placed three blocks away.
“What’s wrong? Is this about the gift you ‘gave’ me last week with Haruchiyo?” Takemichi questions swiftly, putting two and two together in his head like a jigsaw puzzle.
“Yeah..” Shinichiro sighs, probably rubbing his forehead with a pained expression
“The you-didn’t-actually-give-me-anything gift?”
“Yes, that fucking gift!!” He yells down the phone, irritatedly.
Takemichi flinches, not expecting Shinichiro’s voice to come out so loud, especially since the speaker isn’t anywhere close to his ear. “Jeez sorry, just trying to lighten to mood,” the younger huffs.
Shinichiro laughs softly, his breath loud as it messes with the mic of the phone, “sorry for dragging you away from your night out.”
Takemichi chuckles quietly, accompanied by a quick roll of his eyes, “I’d drop anything for you Shin, you know this, you don’t need to apologise!” The line goes silent and the younger almost thinks he ended the call by accident. Checking quickly, Takemichi pulls the phone back, furrowing his eyebrows as he watches the call continue. Turning the corner, the younger twin puts it to his ear and carries on with that he was saying, “I love you Shin, I wouldn’t be able to function if you died.”
“I love you too.. but, can you hurry home?” Shinichiro stuffily asks, his voice sounding like his nose is blocked, “I think something bad is going to happen to me.”
That makes Takemichi’s blood run cold again, icy and painful as it spreads from his fingers to his toes. He nods his head even though Shinichiro can’t see him, “fuck, okay.. um, I’ll be back in half an hour okay? Stay with Emma and Mikey until I’m there.”
The line shuts off, caused by a loss of signal on Takemichi’s end, and he promptly sprints the rest of the way to the bus stop, adrenaline coursing though his veins.
When he gets home, Shinichiro, Mikey and Emma are nowhere to be seen. He calls for them but they don’t answer and it makes Takemichi’s brain go haywire, swimming with too many thoughts it makes him nauseous.
He checks all the downstairs rooms before heading up stairs and checking all his siblings rooms (along with his grandpa’s) before going into his.
Takemichi slowly opens the door and flicks the light on.
In front of him, a man stands with an object clasped in between his hands, swung over his head like he’s about to strike whoever enters the room. Who the fuck is this in his house?!
Takemichi looks up at the face of his potential attacker and startles. He falls onto the floor, landing with a painful thud, but that’s the last thing Takemichi focuses on.
Above, Shinichiro stands over him with a wooden bat, no doubt from the many clubs Mikey takes part in at school. Mikey screams upon seeing that it’s Takemichi and pulls Shinichiro by the arm, sending him backwards. He falls onto the floor, much like how Takemichi did a couple seconds earlier.
Whatever trance Shinichiro had himself in seemed to be broken as the pain registers. The elder looks up and meets Takemichi’s gaze before bursting into tears.
The younger twin is on his feet in seconds, racing two meters across the room to console his best friend.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay Shin. What happened? Can you tell me what happened?” Takemichi rubs his hand over Shinichiro’s back in circles while hushing him under his breath. That just seems to make the elder worse and Takemichi curses, “come on Shin, let’s take some deep breaths. You’re okay, you’re safe, it’s just me, Mikey and Emma here.” Shinichiro’s breath shudders and he takes a deep inhale, trying to soothe a panic attack on the cusp of overflowing.
It begins to work until Mikey starts walking over, eager to help his elder brother, but the sound of bare feet hitting the ground sends Shinichiro spiralling.
“Mikey, go sit on my bed and take Emma with you. Wait until I call for you.” He uses a commanding tone, something he hates using on his younger siblings, but it makes them realise just how serious Takemichi is being — he’s not sure what the hell is happening to Shinichiro, but he’s not going to risk the other two getting so close.
It takes over twenty minutes, but Shinichiro eventually calms down enough to the point he can speak. It’s not fluent, as his voice cracks and breaks at nearly every word, but Takemichi can understand him.
“Mikey,” Takemichi catches Mikey’s attention, causing the younger boy to turn from where he was looking at the wall, trying to block out all the painful sounds Shinichiro was making. “Can you take Emma to your room? Take my laptop and put on a movie, we’ll come through in a minute.”
Almost robotically, Mikey does as he’s told, pulling Emma behind him with the laptop clasped under his arm. Takemichi spares a quick, worried glance at Emma who’d stayed uncharacteristically quiet this whole time. Fortunately, she seems fine, as fine as anyone can be in a situation like this, and he sends her a small smile.
“Fuck,” Takemichi whispers when they’ve left the room, closing the wooden door behind them. He puts his head in his hands and lets out a deep exhale.
“I’m sorry,” Shinichiro apologises weakly, leaning into Takemichi’s side. He almost limp, which worries the younger. It’s clear it’s from exhaustion, evident in the way Shinichiro can’t stop trembling.
Takemichi leans his head on top of his brothers, almost nuzzling into his identical black hair. For a couple seconds, the blue eyed boy can’t find any words to speak, until he settles upon, “it’s alright Shin, I’m just glad you’re okay..”
When the two twins have calmed down enough, they separate and sit in front of one another. The only sound in the room is their shallow breathing. Takemichi feels overwhelmed and he just wants to crawl into his bed and hide away, subconsciously slipping into the habits of his younger self. All the while, Shinichiro can’t stop thinking about what came over him, why did he try and kill his brother?
With a shuddering breath, Shinichiro finally speaks, “I think something bad is going to happen to me, ‘Mitchy.. so, I’m going to tell you what I did.”
“Huh? What— what you did?” Takemichi questions, his eyebrows rising in pure confusion, “what did you do?”
“I’m— I’m gonna tell you, okay? Just.. give me a second, and please don’t interrupt.” He demands quickly, looking down at his hands before looking back up.
And so he starts.
Shinichiro tells him all about the time leaping, about killing the homeless man for the power, about the power he gave him. He explains what happened with Mikey, his death, Emma running away, Mansaku dying. And never once does he break eye contact with him, so Takemichi knows he’s not lying.
Even if he was lying about the first part, Shinichiro would never joke about their siblings dying, nor their grandpa, they meant too much to him to do such a thing, and Takemichi knew that.
Once he finishes, ending on the note of how Haruchiyo’s scars appeared, Takemichi sucks in a deep breath and admits, “this is fucking insane Shin.. but I know you, and I know that you wouldn’t joke like this.” The younger meets his brother eyes, watching as they water with relief, “so I believe you.”
“Ah,” is all Shinichiro says before he breaks into tears, jumping to tackle his twin to the floor, “I love you, ‘Mitchy, I love you so much.”
“I love you too Shin. Now, what do you mean with all this ‘something bad is going to happen to me’ talk?”
Shinichiro lifts his head up from its place on Takemichi’s chest meets his twin’s eyes, “I think my punishment is nearing, the punishment I’m going to get for killing that homeless man.”
“How.. how do you know?”
“I’m not really sure. It’s like a gut feeling, like something under my skin,” he confesses, looking down at his hands like they’re cursed, “I don’t know what will happen to me, but I gave you my time travelling power, just incase.”
“Do you want it back?” Takemichi questions, sitting up with an amused laugh, causing the elder to sit up as well. They end up in the same position as earlier.
Shinichiro looks disgusted at the thought and recoils, “Fuck no! You keep that shit away from me.” He lights up at the sound of Takemichi’s boisterous laughter, watching as his twin throws his head back, a trait they all subconsciously copied from their father. “But ‘Mitchy, I want you to use the power wisely,” he starts, fiddling with the hem of his long sleeved top, causing Takemichi to become serious once again, “I know this is a lot to ask, but don’t use the power if I die, use it for something worthwhile.”
Takemichi can’t help but protest, those words falling from his brothers lips making him upset, “but you are worthwhile Shin, you’re my twin..” The elder of the two just smiles and ruffles his hair.
After a couple minutes of more hushed talking, Shinichiro and Takemichi get up and make their way to Mikey’s bedroom.
When they enter, the two blondes are watching a Barbie movie that Takemichi doesn’t know the name of — obviously by Emma’s request — and they join them on the bed. Takemichi and Shinichiro lay on the sides of the bed, while the two youngest lay in the middle, snuggling into the warmth of their siblings.
A week later, Sano Shinichiro dies by a blow to the head, meeting the same fate as the old man he’d killed in a separate timeline.