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In a perfect world, Kenzaki would've returned home after a long and difficult battle, tired and wounded but victorious nonetheless. Everybody would've gathered somewhere, probably at Jacaranda, to celebrate the end of the Battle Fight and a return to an ordinary, peaceful life. Kenzaki would've dragged Hajime out of his room in the basement, handed him a drink, and made him join in the toast. Hajime would learn how it feels to be drunk, if Undeads can even be affected by alcohol. He'd probably just wonder why humans love it so much, since it tastes awful. Why the hell would anyone drink this, he'd say.
Kenzaki would teach Hajime his own half-remembered and somewhat clumsy version of slow dancing, earning a laugh from Hirose. Mutsuki would be all upset because he was still too young to drink, having been given something fizzy and child-friendly instead. The celebrations would last into the early hours of the morning, and after the sun rose, Haruka would check in to find everyone asleep in the most unconventional places they could find. She'd smile to herself and wonder what had happened that would warrant such a party.
In a perfect world, Hajime and Kenzaki would move in together. Maybe they'd rent a cheap apartment, or find some nice old house in the countryside. Or maybe they'd repair that old cabin in the woods that meant so much to both of them, make it their home that they'd share for the rest of their lives. That would be perfect, out of the city but not in the middle of nowhere, still close enough to the people that mattered the most to them, in a place filled with memories.
In a perfect world, there would be no running, no fights, no pain. They could be together, hold the other's hand without fear, not have to worry about spending the next eternity in a lonely world, alive forever but separated forever. There would be no Sealing Stone to watch over them, no looming threat of a fight to the death if they found themselves too close, no surge of adrenaline at the mention of the other's name. Hajime could think about Kenzaki all he wanted without falling into yet another spiral of guilt and emptiness, without wanting to tear off someone's (his own? Kenzaki's?) skin.
In a perfect world, their biggest worry would be taxes. Even Hajime, the Joker Undead himself, still needed to pay a sum of money every year, apparently. Death and taxes do go hand in hand, after all, one of them (most likely Kenzaki) would say with a smile. Kenzaki and Hajime would sit at the kitchen table, calculators in hand and papers everywhere, wishing they didn't have to perform this yearly ritual but knowing that worrying about taxes made their lives normal, which was a good thing.
In a perfect world, they would've gone for walks together through the quieter parts of the city, taking in the cool air, watching the yellow leaves fall to the ground. They would find somewhere to sit down for a while, just talking about whatever was on their minds. In that perfect world, an empty park bench would be an invitation, not a symbol of loneliness.
In a perfect world, evenings would be spent sitting by the fireplace, the soft melodies of Hajime's guitar playing filling the air. In the summer, on nights when it was clear, they'd lie down in the grass and look up at the stars scattered across the sky, seeming so small and distant, making whatever mundane troubles they had feel like they were miles away. Winters would be for staying inside and reading a book, and cups of hot cocoa. When spring came around, Hajime would plant the garden that he tended to every year. Every seed, every sprout was its own precious life that needed the utmost care, each one as valuable and important as the last.
In a perfect world, both Hajime and Kenzaki could help Mutsuki with his job search, attend Hirose's wedding, watch Amane graduate. Kenzaki could be present for every milestone, every event, every little moment that ended up becoming the fondest of memories. He could share those memories and moments with Hajime, and Hajime with him. No birthdays would be missed, no parties skipped, no phone calls or letters unanswered.
But this was not a perfect world. This was one where the phone kept ringing without anyone ever picking up, one where promises of a 10th birthday present were never fulfilled. A lonely, empty world where winters were colder than usual, where the sight of the stars in the night sky made one realize how insignificant they were. Where gardens that should've flourished withered, unattended to in grief and other feelings that were too hard to name.
This was a world where the city made Hajime feel unwelcome, where the yellow leaves falling to the ground reminded him of everything he'd lost.
Hajime never did do taxes. That mundane routine was something he never got to experience. Legally speaking, he didn't even exist. No birth certificate, no passport, no ID whatsoever. Just the 2 of Hearts that he kept with him at all times, just in case something happened that tore him out of that 'ordinary' existence all over again, but that too was something he'd borrowed, along with his name and his life.
In this world, there was no celebration. There was only the grim acknowledgement that their lives were changed forever, but the rest of the world would keep moving on with no idea of what had happened. The rest of the world didn't know Kazuma Kenzaki. If they did, it surely would've come to a complete stop all those years ago.