𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - s. ᴍᴀɴᴊɪʀᴏ

𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐰𝐨-𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐱

Maybe calling my fortune stupid was a bad idea.

You listen to the banging at the front of your door. The pattern was painfully obvious who was causing it.

"What happened now..." You swing the door open. You wondered if Takemichi faces any drawbacks from time-leaping so often.

The blonde seemed saddened to see you, on the verge of tears. "Future you told me to warn you about something," Takemichi says, sounding serious. You let him in.

"Don't be soft," he says, "You need to be blunt with Mikey no matter what."

You weren't expecting that to be the warning. Then again, you did find yourself almost sounding more gentle with Mikey, out of fear you'd offend or hurt him. You nod, "Okay... Is that all?" Takemichi finally began to cry, his tears falling rapidly.

"I'm sorry!" His voice was shaky, "I'm so sorry..."

The boy slowly kneels, his forehead centimetres away from the floor. You were even more confused. What happened in the future?

"I... I didn't know how hard it was for you..." he speaks again, "I forget... You guys actually have to live through all those 12 years... And I... I..."

You sit on the floor, right in front of the boy. "Takemichi, what happened?" You ask, lifting him up from the shoulders. He began to hiccup.

Future Naoto told him what happened to you. How you visited Mikey in Manila after he killed everyone in Toman. "Why would he do that?" You interrupt. Takemichi finally gets up from his position, sitting on his knees in front of you. "Apparently he said they were in his way..."

"You also said, me leaving Toman left a big impact on Mikey," He adds. You nodded, "I foresaw that actually... Mikey tried getting you back but Draken and Mitsuya stopped him."

Takemichi's eyes widened, "Why'd they stop me?"

"They respected your decision and didn't want you to turn out like them," you answer. You gesture for him to take a seat on the couch with you. Takemichi continues to tell you what happened.

It was hard to handle the news. Not only did you die, but Mikey killed everyone. You didn't know whether to be saddened or angered. How did that even escalate?

"So... then what?" You ask him, "What are you gonna do here?"

"I already talked to Chifuyu about this a while ago," he says, "I have to beat Mikey and become Toman's number one!"

"That's your solution?" You question, your tone sounded slightly rude, "Everyone's dead right, even Kisaki?" Takemichi nods in response. "As I've said before, Kisaki can't be the only thing corrupting Mikey. I think Mikey's already gone dark."

Your words seemed to have discouraged Takemichi. "There's still a chance though," you try to reassure the boy, "If you succeed at being number one, the real 14-year-old you wouldn't have a reason to leave Toman!"

Takemichi perks up, "You're right! I gotta start upping my rank!"

Even though he's 26, he gets cheered up easily like a child...

"I'm sure Chifuyu would have better ideas with that," You smile, "Even after hearing about that depressing future, I'm glad you're back, 'Michi."

The blonde was surprised. "You're actually fun to talk to," you added, "The only one I can kind of relate with too."

Takemichi began to cry again and it took a while for him to calm down. "Let's go to Chifuyu's place over the weekend!" He says, putting on his shoes. You question why you'd be relevant since it's Toman business they're talking about. Takemichi says Chifuyu can be stupid sometimes, so you needed to be the "middle man."

-

You walk out of the school with Hina, as usual. Every time Takemichi comes back to the future, she can't help but comment about how "mature" he can be sometimes. You can't say anything though, since the Takemichi who's supposed to be in the past was a pain.

The roaring of a motorbike catches everyone's attention, you already knew who it would be. You approach the CB250T. "You here to kidnap me?" You ask bluntly.

Mikey pouts, "Borrow. I came to borrow you."

Hina giggles, "I'll let you two go ahead," patting you on the shoulder, she waves the two of you goodbye. You sigh, "Where are you taking me this time?" You ask, getting on his bike.

"My place."

"TO DO WHAT?!" You shout bashfully. Mikey drives off after receiving weird stares from students around. "It wasn't my idea!" Mikey says, sounding embarrassed. "Emma asked if I knew you were free, so I picked you up."

"You don't even know if I'm free right now!" You scold. Mikey turns to look at you, "You aren't?" You were. You stayed silent because you knew he'd boast about being right.

-

"Woah, this is your place?" You were greeted with a gate. You both walked in and there were a few places around. Mikey told you the areas, the biggest one being the dojo his grandpa used to teach.

"I'm home!" Mikey calls, taking off his shoes. You do the same. You hear footsteps rushing over. It was Emma. "You're here!"

She immediately takes you by the hand and drags you upstairs. You asked her why she needed you as she closed the door to her room.

"Draken asked me out and I still haven't decided on an outfit!"

You sit on her bed in disbelief as she tells you all the options she can't choose from. You wondered if this was a normal thing to worry about, so you asked her straight up. "Of course it is! This is the first in a while since he asked me out one-on-one!"

You smile at her, "I'm sure you'd look great in anything," you tell her honestly. Emma ignores you though, and starts laying out a bunch of clothes from her closet, all very fashionable. They were very colourful and feminine. "These look kind of western," you say, looking at a few of the items.

"That's 'cause they are!" Emma responds, "There's this shop in the city that sells a lot of clothes from America."

"Oh yeah, you're half, right?" You ask and the girl nods. "I only found out I had half brothers after my mom dropped me off here when I was three."

Dropped off? You wondered what that would mean. "I was really sad that my mom would leave me, but Mikey made it better," she adds. Emma continued to tell you about her childhood. How she met Mikey, Shinichiro and even Baji. How Mikey started going by 'Mikey' because he thought she felt alienated about being foreign.

"He still seems slow when it comes to girls," she sighs, "He still hasn't asked you out!" You wave it off, thinking it wasn't a big deal, but she disagrees. "Mikey talks about you a lot, you know."

You were surprised to hear that. "It's so boring here! I wonder what [Y/N]'s doing?" Emma quotes in a mocking voice. Lifting the front of her hair, mimicking Mikey's signature hairstyle.

Emma looks at the time, "Oh no! I'm gonna be late!" You notice her swarm around, looking for anything at this point. As she changes, you pick up a fluffy, checkered-print jacket. You hand it to her, "The weather's still pretty chilly, I wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

She takes it and giggles, "You're so sweet. Me, you, Draken and Mikey should go on a double date some time!"

"I would love that," you smile.

You walk her to the front door and tell her to have fun. She waves you goodbye before leaving. "Where is she going?" A hoarse voice calls out, you turn around and it was a very short old man.

Mikey's grandpa's home?!

Chapter twenty-five, end.