second hand (maitake / takemikey)

the one where they talk about cat boxes

His current situation was like a box, in theory.

Whether he was outside or inside the box, he was unsure of just yet, but it was a sealed box full of radioactive substances. While in the past he had to try and avoid setting off something that would cause too much harm to the inside of his box; avoiding deaths, keeping Toman on track- it was a game of minesweeper to decide the future.

After taking the same classes three times, maybe some things stuck- including thought experiments and quantum psychics? No that's not it. He shook his head garnering the attention of his teacher, maybe he should fein attentiveness better.

That being said; maybe he was in the box. He was in limbo- alive, dead, a gang leader, a normal civilian, a shut in, all of those things- until the box was opened. Scrodingers cat. He was everything, his future was everything... limitless, until it was locked in by his choices. The future... life is just a collection of choices leading to an ending.

Takemichi had the ability to retry things, but that didn't change the value of choice. What if his choices can't override other people's choices? Should he even override other people's choices to save them?

He was staring at the clock when it happened; the bangs in the hallway slowly getting louder than the clock's ticking alerting him of their presence. He knew at this point he couldn't count on last time's events to guide him, but he could use them to make inferences if anything, "Takemitchy!"

He didn't startle it as badly as last time, but all eyes turning to him definitely caused some discomfort. He shifted under the weight, "Mikey?"

"Let's go hangout!" his smile felt like sunlight beaming down on Takemichi and after being stuck in a suffocating classroom, it was very welcomed. Seeing Mikey with a smile like that after so many bittersweet smiles and bags under his eyes. While he could see the exhaustion creeping into his features, it wasn't as prevalent- or it was being masked very well.

With a push of his chair and a scrape echoing off the floor, he closed the distance between them, "Lets go."

Draken was in the hall, "This is him?"

"Yes," Mikey chirped, "This is Takemitchy." He almost sounded proud as his hands moved to his hips and he struck a very childish pose. They were getting some strange looks from the half unconscious students littering the halls, but Mikey didn't even seem to notice.

"Takemichi?" Hina was making her way down the hall, when she saw the group. Well, at least this time he knew they wouldn't hurt her. "Who are these guys?"

"Uh-" he was very literate today.

"Manjiro Sano and Ryuguji Ken," Mikey supplied. That on it's own would have been dross, but Mikey's arm's were around him before he could even process the action, "Takemitchy's my pal ."

"Huh?!" him and Hina responded in unison. He remembered that line, but he did not expect it to reappear now, in the lower suggestive way it was said and in this type of situation.

"You two seem like good pals-" Hina scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably, while giving a supportive smile. Mikey on the other hand was returning the smile with a shit faced grin.