"Mikey, we'll be back to pick him up later, okay?" Emma stood by the car waving her brother goodbye.
"Ryu, look after your uncle, make sure he isn't up to no good," Draken advises his twelve-year-old son. Glancing at Mikey, "Don't get him into any trouble, you hear?"
The pre-teen with golden blonde hair like Emma and dark eyes like Draken, stood next to his Uncle Manjiro. They were almost the same height since he took after his father's height.
"Go on Ken-chin, we'll be fine," Mikey reassures his long-time friend.
Draken, Emma, and his nephew Ryu had traveled to the Philippians for the week to visit him. The two had been married a few years after Emma had graduated from high school. One or two years later she was pregnant with Ryu. Mikey was ecstatic to hear the good news. Anticipating the years he would watch his nephew grow old. Now, his hair had grown long enough to fall down his back midway. He kept it braided back into a french braid with a few stray hairs to frame his aging face.
"There they go," Mikey stood next to Ryu, watching as the taxi drive off from his bike shop. "Off to make another baby." he jokes.
"Gross!" Ryu makes up his face in distaste.
Mikey laughs lightly at the reaction of his nephew, he was always fun to tease. "I'm glad you decided to help me out today instead of going off with your parents. I have a lot of bikes to repair today," he says with hands behind his back, walking off to the open garage.
"Actually uncle, I wanted to know if you could teach me how to ride a bike." Ryu follows eagerly after him.
"After you help me in the shop first. Okay?" He looks over his shoulder.
Ryu gives him an energetic nod of approval, buzzing with excitement. He loves his uncle, Mikey, whenever he visits him, he always has the best stories, visiting him every month allows him to breathe from his father's sheltering rules.
The two find shelter inside the shop's garage from the Phillipean heat. Summertime is always the hottest time of year, it was easy to tan if you weren't prepared with sunscreen or an umbrella. Ryu sat on the side next to a toolbox watching as his small uncle work on a motorcycle.
"If I asked you for a motorcycle for my next birthday, what are the chances of me getting one." Ryu kicks his legs in a back and forth motion.
"Extremely slim, you know how strick your father can be." Mikey chuckles. "He doesn't you to be like us when we were your age."
"But, you guys were so cool! I want to ride around on a bike with my friends too!" Ryu whines.
"Wrench." Mikey holds his hand out, waiting for the tool to be handed to him.
"All my friends want do is to stay inside and play video games or go to an internet cafe after school."
"Times have changed Ryu, playing video games at home is way safer than riding around on a motorcycle," Mikey advises.
Hearing the young boy groan brings a soft smile to his lips. Mikey was Draken on this one, having Ryu stay home away from danger is the best option. Too many awful things happened in the past that he wouldn't want to experience again.
"Then why'd you agree to teach me how to ride a motorcycle." Ryu slumps his shoulders.
"You never said anything about riding a motorcycle."
"Then what did you think I was meaning?" Ryu frowns.
Mikey shifts his gaze to a cycling bicycle with two wheels, Ryu follows his gaze and pouts, folding his arms, "not funny."
Mikey laughs at the little boy's reaction. "I just repaired that one, I need someone to test ride it."
Ryu takes a look around the shop, shiny motorcycles, cycling bicycles, and even children's bikes were standing on its kickstand inside the shop. It reminded him of his father's own shop back home in Tokyo.
The pre-teen didn't know much about his uncle's love life, his uncle didn't really speak much about dating when he was younger. He was curious as to what his answer would be if he asked.
"Uncle Mikey…"
"Hm?" Mikey acknowledges his nephew with a hum, not breaking his concentration from working on the gears of the motor scooter he's working on.
"Who was your first love?" The boy innocently asked.
Mikey nearly froze when he heard this question. Who was his first love? Well, it was Hanagaki Takemichi of course. The blonde-haired blue-eyed crybaby that everyone adored. Mikey hadn't thought about Takemichi in a while, he wonder how he and Hina were doing, they probably started a family of their own after they got married.
"I wouldn't call it love,...it was a silly crush." Mikey lies.
"What did she look like? Was she pretty? Kind? Had big bazookas?" Ryu uses his hands to put emphasis on the bazookas.
Mikey scoffs, shaking his head at Ryu's silly gesture. She? Takemichi was no female, he's a male. But- back in his days' homosexuality wasn't a big thing, it was frowned upon by the views of the public. It's not like Takemichi was ever going to reciprocate his feelings. He was head over heels in love with Hinata.
"...she had blonde hair, slightly darker than your mom's, ocean blue eyes, and no, she didn't have big bazookas. They were small, flat-chested almost."
"No big bazookas? Did she have a nice personality at least?" Ryu pouts, disappointed that his uncle crush didn't have a big chest as he'd imagine.
"Her personality is the best. She's kind, loyal, trustworthy, and fun to be around. She's very goal-oriented too. Once she sets her mind on something...she does everything she can to reach it."
A memory floods Mikey's memory, "I'll save you at any cost, no matter how many times I have to travel back to the past, I will save you!" Those words Takemichi said to him that day he planned to kill himself on the rooftop warmed his heart.
"He's the reason why I'm alive today." Mikey unconsciously places a hand on his heart.
"He?" Ryu cocks a brow.
"I meant she, sorry."
"When last you saw her? Is she doing well?" Ryu brushes off Mikey's small mistake and presses further.
"I left after I heard about her engagement." Mikey proceeds to work on the bike.
"Ouch, that must've sucked."
"...yup."
"Well it's her loss, you're a pretty cool guy Uncle Mikey. You would've made a great husband and an even better father." Ryu compliments him.
Hearing Ryu state this made Mikey imagine what his life would be like if he'd confess his feelings for Takemichi. Would there be some hope that Takemichi felt the same way about him? Would they have been years into their marriage adopting kids together? Would he have stayed in Japan and went into business with Ken-chin? These questions pondered his mind.
Whatever the answer may be, it was all just hopes and dreams anyway. He couldn't dwell on those CRUSHED hopes and dreams. It was the past and he got over his feelings for Takemichi. The man had a wife for goodness sake...probably kids too.
Ryu changes the topic and starts talking about video games, entertaining Mikey with his storytelling on how he couldn't pass a certain level in a game, how it angered him when his friends had abandoned him to fight the final boss by myself.
They talked until the sun was starting to set. Mikey had finished working on his bike and was now outside helping Ryu keep his balance on the two-wheeled cycling bike. The sound of a car engine gets their attention and they look to see the taxi traveling towards them. Mikey helps Ryu steer clear of the oncoming car.
The car had stopped in front of the shop, it must be Emma and Draken. "You're parents are here." Mikey informs the young boy.
The two married couple exits the vehicle and thanks the driver, as the car drove off they walk over to Mikey and Ryu.
"Ryu, did you have a good time today?" Emma asks, hugging her son.
"Yup!" The boy stood at the same height of his mother, returning her warm embrace.
"Mikey, you won't believe who we ran into today." Draken engages Mikey into the conversation.
"Bruno Mars?" mikey asks excitedly. Bruno Mars was his favorite artist of all time. The celebrity always travels down to the Philippians from time to time. He'd only been lucky to see him in person twice in his life.
"No…" Emma chuckles at her older brother fanboying.
In the distance, another taxi had pulled up in front of the shop, Mikey looked confused. He didn't open up his shop today. Was it the wrong address the driver rode to?
The car door opens on both sides, a head full of black hair appears from one side and another head emergers, light brown hair this one. As the taller individual turns around Mikey felt his heart skip a beat.
"Takemitchy?" Mikey asks in disbelief.
Tackemichi turns around, a bright smile stretching on his aging face. He closes the door and walks over to the other rider who had light brown hair. He thanks the driver and takes the smaller man in hand, walking towards the group.
"It's been a while Mikey-kun." tears pricking the corner of Takemichi's eyes.
"We ran into Takemitchy while shopping around at the market. He's here on a business trip. We'd mention we were here to visit you and he wanted to see you." Draken informs the man in the dark.
"Ah, this is my son, Hanagaki Akio." Takemichi introduces Mikey to the smaller boy whose shoulders he rests his hands on.
Mikey stares down at Akio, he'd look exactly like Takemichi but, only with light brown hair that belonged to Hinata. Mikey forced himself to smile, he knew Takemichi had a family now, but it still stung his heart a little. "Nice to meet you, I'm Mikey."
"My dad talks a lot about you. It's good to see you in the flesh." Akio gives Mikey a bright smile.
Takemichi blushes out of embarrassment, "Ha, ha, oh look, there's Ryu. Go say hi." Takemichi pushes Akio past the adults and over to the boy standing by the bike.
Mikey's painful smile fades into a genuine one. Takemichi had been talking about him? He was happy to hear that.
"Let's sit inside and catch up shall we?" Emma looks between the three men, ushering them towards the garage.