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The first name that popped into his head, was unpredictably Draken.
Of course, after he was able to save Takemichi, Kenchin would be the first he wanted to save. He didn't get to mourn Draken as he should be.
And Mikey hated himself for that.
"Mikey-kun, where are we going?" Takemichi tried to match his step, but Mikey just couldn't help himself to walk as fast as he could. The complex of buildings where Draken lived was near.
"To see Kenchin," Mikey said, chipper as ever. He was ecstatic. If the whole reset thing did work, they could essentially rewrite everything. And first thing first, Mikey had to meet Draken. If Draken didn't come to him, he would definitely go to him first.
"Mikey-kun, stop." Left behind, Takemichi was out of breath. Mikey didn't think he walked that fast, it seemed that Takemichi was just being melodramatic. He got both hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, as he looked up with pleading in his eyes. "Wait up."
Mikey stopped, stomping his shoes impatiently.
"C'mon, Takemitchy, Kenchin must be nearby."
Takemichi took a deep breath before straightening himself. "You can't go to him."
To be fair, Takemichi had been very lenient with Mikey. He followed Mikey like the good puppy that he was, making up with Baji and Sanzu, and building up the friendship he was supposed to do. Takemichi never once denied everything what Mikey asked him to do. And Mikey was happy that he didn't go back to the past alone because Takemichi was there with him.
Takemichi should have known, that Draken was important to Mikey. He had gone back in time once to save him, after all.
So, why now he wouldn't let Mikey see Draken?
He was just about to ask why, when his eyes caught a familiar figure, with a red hoodie and black backpack, walking behind Takemichi.
The unmistakably blond hair that Mikey always knew.
The boy turned into the alley before Mikey had the chance to say anything.
So, Mikey did what he needed to do.
He sprinted past Takemichi to shout, "Kench—"
The boy would hear him if Mikey wasn't suddenly being tackled to the ground by Takemichi.
They both ended up, falling to the ground, right in front of the alley where the boy was now nowhere to be seen.
"What the fuck, Takemitchy!" Mikey yelped when his attempt to get himself off the ground was sabotaged by Takemichi wrapping himself around him. "Let me go!"
Takemichi mumbled against his back. "No!" He tightened his grip. "You can't meet Draken-kun!"
Mikey grunted, but he managed to escape from the other boy, by elbowing him in the stomach. Takemichi groaned, his arms released themselves to protect his own middle.
"What's wrong with meeting Kenchin!" Mikey stood up, trying to determine which alley Draken had disappeared into. He wouldn't hesitate to leave Takemichi right here and right now if he was not gonna cooperate.
Until Takemichi got him by his leg.
"I need to tell you something, Mikey-kun! Please listen to me!"
There was urgency in his voice that caught Mikey's attention. Takemichi had time-traveled longer than him, maybe Takemichi did know something.
"Explain in five minutes, or I'll kick your ass, Takemitchy." The words seemed harsh, but Mikey offered a hand to pull Takemichi up.
Once Takemichi was off the ground, he got both hands on Mikey's shoulder, quickly entrapping him.
Takemichi's eyes were full of determination.
"No, Mikey-kun, it's not the time yet."
Mikey tried to ignore the sudden thump inside his chest at the other boy's serious face. He opted to scrunch his eyebrows, not understanding why Takemichi didn't want him to re-introduce himself to Draken.
He opened his mouth, "It's Kenchin—"
Takemichi shook his head, unyielding. "Don't you see it, Mikey-kun? He's not Draken."
Mikey snorted. "What do you mean it's not Kenchin? It's him, I know—"
Takemichi put his finger on his left temple, emphasizing. "Not yet."
His confusion didn't last long, because it suddenly dawned on him, what Takemichi meant. He recognized Draken by his hoodie and backpack. He recognized the blond hair too.
But he didn't see one prominent feature that made the boy, Draken.
The boy hadn't possessed his iconic dragon tattoo yet.
He was just ordinary Ken Ryuuguji.
He was not the Kenchin, Mikey had known.
Not yet, Takemichi had said. It was Ken Ryuuguji before he got the dragon tattoo.
Mikey wiggled himself from Takemichi. "Doesn't matter. It's Kenchin. What's wrong with me introducing myself to him?"
He could always suggest Draken to get the tattoo later. He could always tell him that a dragon would suit him. If he had managed to convince Baji and Sanzu about Takemichi being his new pal, how hard it will be to convince Draken?
But Takemichi was adamant, he gripped him again.
"Everything."
Mikey's resistance was close to showing until the tales spilled themselves off Takemichi's mouth. The stories Mikey had never heard, the histories Mikey had never known.
And it started with one name Mikey forgot to remember.
Mitsuya.
Of course, Mikey knew, Draken had been friends with Mitsuya before he met him. Draken was the one who introduced them and couldn't stop talking about his sworn brother and how he would fit into Mikey's little gang.
He just didn't know how much deeper Draken and Mitsuya's relationship was.
Takemichi recapped everything that had happened since Draken's death. He told him everything he had been missing. About the designing contest, the twin dragons' dresses, how Mitsuya initially refused to join Toman Second Generation, and how he was standing gloriously on the battlefield, showing off his dragon tattoo.
Mikey saw it, of course, he did. He wouldn't forget the mini heart attack upon seeing the tattoo again after Koko told him Draken cannot be saved.
He just didn't think it was more than just a homage.
It went deeper, so much deeper than that.
"I asked him, why's the change of heart," Takemichi sighed as if he hated to remember the story because it was too sad. "And Mitsuya-kun told me, that Draken would have wanted to help me, he would have wanted to save you too. And if it wasn't for Draken, Mitsuya-kun wouldn't be there, so he needed to do this on his behalf. Fighting the fight Draken had been doing, finishing the unfinished."
Mikey went silent. He always knew about Mitsuya's feelings towards Draken. Mikey might be dense sometimes, but even Mitsuya's quiet respect and admiration didn't escape his attention.
He just never thought, it was that deep.
Mitsuya was as broken as he was when Draken died.
Maybe even worse.
"The dragon tattoo ... it was Mitsuya-kun's mural back when he was young. He told me, Draken-kun traded the dragon with a pack of Karubidon, only to have Mitsuya-kun get the same tattoo," Takemichi chuckled, but it sounded melancholic. "They met before Draken-kun met you, and they had been inseparable ever since. Mitsuya-kun told me that the Mitsuya we always know was the Mitsuya that Draken changed that day. In the same way, the Draken that we know was the one that found Mitsuya-kun's artwork, the one that Mitsuya-kun changed too."
Takemichi looked up, Mikey couldn't take his eyes off the other boy.
"We can not ruin that," he said softly. "We couldn't take that bond of Draken-kun and Mitsuya-kun."
Takemichi should have anticipated that Mikey would want to see Draken immediately.
He just didn't know how bad Mikey want it.
Takemichi had done numerous mistakes throughout his life, in various timelines. He wouldn't want to make another mistake by letting go of Mikey to see Draken.
So he did what he had to do.
Takemichi told Mikey about the twin dragons' story, a tale that Mitsuya spilled to him when he was asked the reason he changed his mind.
Takemichi told Mikey the story of how and why Draken was so important to Mitsuya, and how his death nearly destroyed him. How Draken was everything to Mitsuya, how Mitsuya was Mitsuya because of him.
Because Mikey needed to know, he needed to understand.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Draken, Takemichi."
He recalled that memory as clearly as the day. The way Mitsuya smiled, but the smile didn't reflect happiness, only sadness.
Mitsuya never told him to keep those stories a secret, but it felt too personal that even Takemichi didn't tell Chifuyu about it.
And yet, here he was, spilling all those tales to Mikey.
Because Takemichi knew, there was something that was never meant to be changed and this was one of them.
Mikey needed to know that too.
"They wouldn't be the people you have known if you changed them."
Mikey didn't respond for a while. Takemichi lifted his hands off his arms, he was sure Mikey wouldn't run after Draken anymore if his silence was any indication.
The other boy went to sit down on the ground, resting his back against the wall in the alley they were in.
He looked up to the sky and Takemichi could almost see a glint in his eyes, but Mikey quickly blinked his eyes.
"I remember," he started. "Kenchin talked about his sworn brother immediately, right after our first meeting."
Takemichi went to sit by his side.
"Sworn brother?"
"Yep. The cider guy, I used to call him that." Mikey snickered. "Kenchin just wouldn't shut up about him. 'He's a great guy! You will definitely like him!' He advertised him. Kenchin told me that he wanted to be a proper delinquent because of his sworn brother.
"He promised his sworn brother that he would teach him how to be a proper delinquent. The delinquent that cared about their family. Kenchin told me that meeting me was the way to have a proper teacher."
Mikey watched the road where young Ryuuguji had disappeared. "Kenchin was a sore loser back then, but he was serious about this thing. Maybe that's why I was interested to be his friend."
Takemichi did hear about Mikey essentially saving Draken from his old gang. 'I wasn't even a member, I was just their butler,' Draken snorted when Takemichi asked him if it was true. 'Kick their asses after Toman was big enough, though.'
"Kenchin means a lot to me, Takemichi," Mikey's voice was so soft and quiet, it caught him off guard.
Takemichi patted his knee.
"I know, Mikey-kun. He means a lot to many people too. But he will not be the 'Kenchin' you know if you meet him right now."
Takemichi had time-traveled enough to know that there was something that he couldn't and shouldn't change.
There was something that should mean to happen, for everything else to follow. The past, the present, and the future were interconnecting in a sophisticated weave of events. If they were to change one thing, it would result in two ends: either they fixed it or they ruined it.
They were sent to the past to repair the things that need to be mended. They were given a chance to alter the things that needed fixing.
But, this time, there was nothing to fix.
This time instead, it was something that they couldn't ruin.
That Ken Ryuuguji had to meet Takashi Mitsuya first. They had to be what they were meant to be, the Twin Dragons, the sworn brothers.
Takemichi and Mikey couldn't and shouldn't intervene in their fate.
Or they won't be the Draken and Mitsuya that they both know.
"Can't wait, then!"
Takemichi yelped in surprise when Mikey suddenly hauled him by his shoulder. He didn't expect to see his grinning face so close to his.
"For what?"
"For us to meet the Twin Dragons."
Mikey looked up to the sky, smile didn't fade from his face as he brought Takemichi closer.
Takemichi recalled the memory of himself sitting in front of the very first fashion show he had ever attended. Watching the representation of Draken and Mitsuya in a dress.
One dragon soared to heaven, but the other fell to the earth.
He could change that, by not changing anything in the past.
Takemichi thumped his temple to Mikey's.
"Yes, Mikey-kun. This time, we'll make sure they will soar together until the end."