Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Revengers

Mai never got to return to the playground.

Wait, scratch that, she never intended to return to that playground ever again.

Because why would she? She wasn't that stupid— who would even want to risk being someone's lackey? Baji obviously just wants an excuse to beat someone up in the guise of having mutual consent to fight with his victim!

Well, looking back at it, what Mai did was actually pretty stupid. She should've known; it should've been obvious to a fan of the show, like her, that the people she just met were some of the founders of Toman.

Baji, she could kinda forgive herself for not recognizing him at first. At that time she was still confused at her whole taking over another kid's body from another fictional world problem before the kid came out of nowhere. That and he wasn't particularly recognizable? In all honesty, his appearance was ordinary compared to the other characters, but what did made him standout was his unpredictability. Which he did a good job of demonstrating by punching her in the first place. Such an asshole.

Mai, unfortunately, wasn't able to see Mikey properly. But to her, he just looked like a cute, regular kid. Except that he was some cute kid who just watched her get wrecked by Baji with a bored expression as if eating his dorayaki was more interesting than whatever the fuck is going on on Baji's head. Still, Mai's willing to forgive and forget what just happened just because he's cute (but she thinks she'll regret that the next time they'll meet).

On the other hand, Draken? Man was she stupid at that. Yes, he was taller than a regular kid. Yes, he had that mohawk ponytail that kids don't usually sport. And yet, he could've been just another regular kid, right? Wrong. Because the dragon tattoo on his head was already a dead giveaway. And not unless he was just a dedicated cosplayer or Mitsuya, then no, that kid was definitely Draken.

And then there she was, trading blows with honest-to-goodness Baji as if they were good, old friends having a friendly spar, which was completely wrong on many different levels because, first, there was nothing friendly in that fight and, second, neither was she friends with him nor did she plan to be.

The only good thing she got from that is that she gets to kick him in the balls… which she bets his fans back in her original world would've gone crazy jealous at her because she gets to touch the Baji Keisuke's dick, although not intentionally and, god-forbid, in a sexual way (because ew, the kid's only, like, 10… even if her current body is also around that age).

Anyway, back to the point. Baji would never find her and neither will she show herself again to them. He didn't even bother to ask for her name and, technically, he also didn't introduce himself. And then he still expects her to show up just like that? So now who's the stupid one?

Mai's avoidance to that specific playground even got to the extent where she resorted to changing her route to school despite having a thirty-minute difference from her previous one. And the gods must've been in her favor because it has been weeks since that fateful encounter and she still hasn't seen any of the characters. Hopefully, Baji already lost interest in her— their fight.

Mai sighed, tying her hair in a high ponytail.

Now, the next problem she just needed to fix was to get used to her new life. Because as soon as she got home that day (she didn't even know how she did that, she didn't even know her address in the first place), she went straight to her room, sat on her bed, and had a full-blown existential crisis.

She had a lot to think that night; how she got here, what she'll do from now on, whether she'll interfere with the plot (and up to what extent will her involvement be), where in the timeline was she (and will her appearance affect the plot in the first place), and so on.

The worst of all, however, was how she's going to explain to her new parents about her swollen face (eventually she decided to just play it off and told them that she fell on her face. Twice. Again, fuck you, Baji). By the time she had exhausted herself, it was already morning so she also had to excuse herself from school that day.

For the meantime, she settled on the best plan she could come up with— do nothing and stay away from the characters as much as possible. Because, no, she's not gonna fuck up Takemichi and Naoto's already botched up plan. Time-travelling was already a fickle thing and if she intervened, she might mess it up more (and she doesn't want to be responsible for the future deaths of other characters, thank you very much). But if she did meet anyone from them again, she'll just do what she's best at— which is to bullshit her way out of the situation.

So, in short, she didn't want to meet them because it was troublesome. And not because she chickened out at the last minute. Yeah.

"I'm heading out for my walk!" Mai called out.

She heard the sound of the stove being turned off, the light patter of footsteps against wooden floors, and then finally her new mother's head peeked out from the entranceway leading to their kitchen.

Her mother had the appearance of a typical Japanese woman; straight, black hair and dark eyes, sallow complexion, and a lower stature. And boy was Mai jealous of her mother's features, specifically the latter's hair.

It had come to Mai's conclusion that her current blonde hair and lighter complexion, which she inherited from her foreign father, would do her no good if she wanted less attention. And based on her brief experience in this body, the curious gazes she gets whenever she goes out was enough proof that she'll not be able to achieve her wish.

Why couldn't she have gotten her black hair from her previous life? Was this part of the package where the moment you get transferred to Tokyo Revengers, you also automatically become blonde just like the other characters? Mai would like to complain to whoever deity sent her here in the first place because what the fuck.

"You're bringing Maru with you, right?" Her mother asked, bringing Mai out of her sulking.

At the mention of her name, Maru barked loudly. She sat up before looking at Mai expectantly, wagging her tail.

One good thing she got in this new life was that she got a dog for herself, something that she couldn't indulge in her previous life because of her hectic schedule. Apparently, Maru, a shiba inu and a chubby one at that (hence, the name), was given to her on her recent birthday. And to Mai, she was one of the best things she got in her life so far (next to money, of course); she just can't wait to spend the rest of her new life playing with Maru while avoiding her responsibilities!

"Of course, she's the reason I'm heading out anyway." Mai grinned before ruffling the dog's head. "You're a good girl, right Maru?"

Maru gave another enthusiastic bark before heading straight out of their house, giddy with their walk.

"Yes, she is." Her mother smiled, her eyes still lingering at where Maru was once. When she finally faced Mai, her smile turned wry. "Be careful, okay? Be back before dinner is ready."

Mai merely gave a nod before also heading to the genkan, following her dog. She stayed there for a while, leaning on the wall while staring blankly at the shoes neatly aligned at the doormat.

Mai and her new mother's relationship were tense. To Mai, it was still awkward for her to call her new mother, her mother. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it's more like she's guilty to call her that, especially since she, as the new owner of this body, wasn't the same person her new mother knew was. She was just a fake, an impostor. And it wasn't fair for her new mother to be given false hope of being able to reunite with her daughter again.

And although her new mother didn't pry that much, Mai knows that the former knows that there was something wrong with her daughter the day she returned home with a swollen face. Unfortunately, Mai didn't know the extent of her change was from her previous personality so she can't really do much about it.

The sound of the stove being turned on again snapped Mai out of her thoughts. After a quick glance at the room she just came in, she just heaved a sigh of disappointment before deciding to head out for real.

Wherever you are, original owner of Mai, I'll take care of your body and your family until you come back. Mai thought glumly as she wore her shoes. And if that opportunity does come, I'll gladly return it back to you.

As soon as she got out of their porch, she let her muscle memory take the lead. She went ahead, with Maru on her side, and proceeded with their nightly walk. When they passed by their neighbor's house she noticed that the lights were still closed despite the already darkening sky.

I guess no one's in there again.

She tugged lightly at Maru's leash, signaling the other to pick up the pace. No matter how many times she had done this, this feature in her new life still fascinated her— it was really convenient that she could get around their neighbourhood without actually having memories of it; it made the adjustment in her new life much easier and far less awkward.

Mai wasn't like this in her previous life. She didn't do walks (nor punch minors out of spite), mainly because her country was not safe enough for activities such as this. But this was Japan, and despite not being a perfect country, it's a lot more peaceful than her previous one. And hey, new life, new you. Except in her case, it was literally a new life then might as well try out new hobbies.

When they passed a convenience store, a couple of blocks away from her house and a landmark which signaled the nearing end of the route of their walk, Maru suddenly stopped.

"Maru, what's wrong?" Mai called out, gently tugging at the leash.

Maru only whimpered, resisting Mai's attempt to make her move. She tilted her head to the side as if listening to something that Mai couldn't hear.

Oh no, I have a bad feeling about this.

And then Maru bolted away.

"No, wait!" Mai called out, chasing after her dog.

The chase lasted for another few minutes with her almost bumping into people walking home from work. Finally, Maru stopped in front of an alley that Mai was sure she hadn't been before. The alley was dark, suspicious, and practically screamed of danger.

Maru only barked happily, proudly showing her where she just led them.

Nope, Mai stood there, aghast. No, I'm not doing this right now. She immediately turned around, not even bothering to look inside.

But Maru remained unmoving in the alley's entranceway, now whining as if urging her to check it out.

Mai glared at her dog before glaring at the ally. "Maru, bad dog. You know we have to get back early, right?"

Mai really didn't want to enter the alley because it looked exactly like a place where you'd 'accidentally' meet a character from a story such as Tokyo Revengers. In fact, the more she stayed there, the more she could make out the sounds of panting and flesh hitting flesh, indicating that there was an ongoing fight inside (and hopefully not something else because that'd be disgusting to witness).

"C'mon, Maru," She tugged again at the dog's leash but to no avail. "Mom's gonna be sad if we get ourselves in trouble again." Also, my face just got better! It's not ready to be punched again!

But luck was not on her side tonight.

A loud crash echoed from inside, making Maru run toward its source.

Damn it!

"Hold him down! That first year won't be able to do shit if he can't move!"

Mai was torn, she really didn't want to go but at the same time she couldn't risk Maru getting hurt. See, she just had Maru for a few weeks but if anything happens to her dog, she's ready to deck anyone, wanting to be diplomatic in the first place be damned. That's how much she loves Maru (even more than she loves herself).

And then when she heard Maru's whine again from the inside, Mai knew that she already made up her mind.

I swear to god that I'm going to lose it if I really meet another character.

The stench of the trash was what Mai first noticed when she entered the alley. But since she was here for Maru, she just covered her nose and trudged forward. The plan was to grab Maru the moment she sees her and get the hell out of the place.

And luckily, Maru hasn't gotten that far inside and was just sitting next to the trash can, scratching her head with her hind foot without a care as if she just didn't bring them into trouble. Even luckier was that both of them were still unseen by the group.

"Maru!" Mai hissed, trying to call her dog over but the latter only looked at her curiously. She approached her dog slowly, mindful of anything that might attract any more attention to them.

The alley was dark but the street light from the entranceway was enough for Mai to let her get the gist of what was happening at the other end. The brawl she heard earlier was still in full swing and, horrifyingly, a lone boy was being ganged up on by a group of older delinquents. However, the fight wasn't going the way she had expected.

Because right in the middle of the fight was as a boy in an unkempt school uniform which was awfully familiar. He had a choppy undercut hairstyle with the top hair dyed blonde, and despite the advantage in numbers of his opponents, he was totally owning this fight.

Mai did a double take.

Wait, is that—

Mai was able to make eye contact with Matsuno Chifuyu just in time when he gave an uppercut to one of his opponents, and right before she hid herself and Maru beside the trash can.

Fuck. When she thought that the stench of the alley was bad earlier then it reeked even more up close. Still, she just sucked it up and clutched Maru tightly next to her. Okay, no need to panic Mai, Chifuyu wasn't made Vice Captain in Toman for nothing. I just need to get out of here and—

Just when she was about to run for it, something crashed next to them, making Maru yelp and, at the same time, making the contents of the trash can spill to the ground. Mai was barely able to bite her inner cheek in time to prevent a gasp when some of the garbage spilled on them, and even more when she realized that one of the delinquents was sprawled right in front of them.

Oh shit, I'm in so much trouble.

A/N:

Sorry for the wait, I got confused with the timeline of TR so I had to make some adjustments here and there. Also, no Baji at the moment but in return I give you (possibly) Chifuyu!

Thank you for the all the good feedback so far! I really appreciate it especially the reviews, likes, and favorites :) Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with your expectations (of the story not being cringe lol).