Time for things to be seen and told from Meiko's and the past side of things. Though please keep in mind, that Takemichi's side of things may still need to be covered to help clarify some things with him and his sister's interactions, so a retelling aspect of the fic can't be helped this early on.
Enjoy~
July 6th, 2005 Meiko
Glaring down at the cooking pot before her, Meiko fidgeted in place. Stirring the stew she was making, while she involuntarily tapped her right foot she thought. 'Where is he?' Her eyes flew to the kitchen clock, 'Where is he?' To the stove's clock. "Where the hell is that brat?" She growled, turning off the stovetop removing the finished stew off the hot surface.
Taking off her apron she flung the garment over the kitchen counter as she picked her cell phone off the kitchen table. Flipping the device open, her brow twitched as she noticed no reply or message from her missing brother. Yet, two new unread ones from two separate persons.
From Michi's Waifu:
It happened again! Hanagaki-kun just came over! Senpai, he looked even more beat up than before. I don't know what happened, and he didn't say but... He seemed different again tonight though. Like that night a few days ago.
Sighing at her brother's girlfriend's text, Meiko could not help but frown deeply. This had become the norm for the past few days since he last called her by his nickname for her.
Eyes wide, Meiko looked down at her brother's frowning and slumped form as he begrudged ate the take-out she bought. "Wha... what the hell happen?" Meiko recalled asking, as her brother refused to meet her eyes.
"Nothing..."
"What do you mean nothing!?" Meiko growled, "You called me an hour ago crying! Was this why?" She asked.
Flinching at this news, Takemichi simply shoveled more food in his mouth. "No! Why would I do something like that?"
"Are you kidding me?" Meiko gapped, "You called me, saying how you loved me and calling me Meimei!"
At this, the young Takemichi became flushed as he snapped, "I did not! I haven't called you that dumb name in years!"
"Huh~ Are you saying I'm lying?!" Meiko snapped back, slamming her hands on the kitchen table.
"I'm saying I don't remember doing that!" Takemichi honestly shouted getting up, "And... And even if I did! There's no way I'd use that stupid nickname again." Tears were starting to form around the corners of his eyes.
"Michi-"
"And stop calling me that!" Takemichi all but yelled, grabbing the bag of chips his sister had obviously bought him as he moved to leave and go upstairs. "We're not kids anymore, so... grow up!"
"Wha-! Hey! Get back here! We're not done yet!"
"No!"
Staggering to run after the boy, Meiko stopped at the bottom of the steps to shout. "You jerk! I wasn't done talking!"
"Well, I am!"
"At least disinfect those scrapes!" She heard his bedroom door loudly slam shut and screamed in frustration. "NOT A KID MY ASS!"
Later she would leave their home's First Aid Kit outside his door, finding it used and outside her door the next day with a simple apology note, even as her brother was already long gone.
Since then he'd been ignoring her attempts to talk to him, let alone help him. With her brother coming home late, beaten black and blue. She tried speaking to their shared friend group, only to find them just as battered and tight-lipped. Leaving only her brother's girlfriend as her last resort, for any help. Though even she was at a loss of what was going on, much to her own concern and frustration.
Looking down at the ground Hinata sat beside Meiko on one of the school's steps as she sadly muttered, "He seemed fine after our talk. A bit out of it, sure, but... I just thought that was cause of the fight he was in."
"Do you know what it was about?" Meiko carefully asked, as the short-haired girl only shook her head.
"He didn't say, I thought it was just one of those stupid fights again, but now..."
"Hey," Placing her hand reassuringly on the slightly younger girl's head, Meiko softly cooed, "It's okay. Maybe it is just some stupid fights they're getting into, and they're not saying anything cause they know I'll beat- I mean discipline their asses." She lightly coughed causing Hinata to crack a smile ever so slightly. "We'll figure this out somehow. We just gotta work together, that's all."
"Yeah..."
She responded with a quick text, sending a reassurance that she would try to actually confront the boy again to Hinata. Meiko opened the next text message from her newest friend, who knew of the situation.
From Em-chan:
So is your brother still coming home beat up?
Though they'd only met recently, Meiko had found herself interacting with and communicating with her new friend Emma since the day they'd first met. Having messaged the girl once she has gotten home, to make sure she herself had gotten home safe. Emma had a vague notion of the frustration Meiko was going through, when she had tried to check in with Meiko over her situation with Takemichi.
To Em-chan:
From what his girlfriend sent me, it looks like it.
From Em-chan:
Yikes. Sorry to hear that. He still not telling you anything.
Meiko sulked as she reread the message, 'If he told me anything this wouldn't still be happening?'
To Em-chan:
No...
From Em-chan:
And none of you know what's going on?
Before she could try to respond she heard her home's front door open, as a familiar teen finally made it home at last.
"I... I'm home!"
July 6th, 2017 Takemichi
''I'm so tired.' Takemichi thought, as he absently looked through a laptop laid before him. From behind him sipping a cup of coffee, Naoto pointed at the screen from over his shoulder.
"There, that's important."
"Huh? Uh, right." Takemichi tiredly muttered, following the younger man's directions.
"And there. Did you actually read that part?" Naoto lightly reprimanded, as Takemichi struggled to keep his eyes open. "And then the next part..." So much so Naoto had to even physically pull his head back up as it started to nod off. "You've gone too far. Yes, there. Please remember that part, too." Energy drinks littered the space around Takemichi, the lack of sleep both a struggle and annoyance to the man as he tried to remain focused.
For two days, he had been locked up within Naoto's apartment with no sleep. It was safe to say it was finally getting to the blue-eyed man, as he loudly yawned into his man.
"You need to pack as much information as possible about the Tokyo Manji Gang into your head." Naoto seriously reprimanded, lacking just as much sleep as Takemichi yet somehow more alert and functional compared to his new partner in crime.
'Naoto's insane.' Takemichi thought, 'He's trying to kill me. Not even Mei-nee got on to me as hard when it came to studying.' The man thought, recalling long nights where his sister would try to help drill him over subjects for exams. Sighing aloud, he leaned back in his seat, pulling his tired eyes from the harsh monitor screen for a quick rest. Eyes wandering, his gaze landed on the framed image Naoto's office carried. A framed picture of the older Hinata.
'Five days ago on July 1st, Tachibana Hinata was caught in the crossfire during a dispute among members of the Tokyo Manji Gang and died.' Turning his gaze away, his hand grabbed onto a single loose picture, Naoto had provided of Takemichi's fully grown sister.
'My elder sister, Hanagaki Meiko, had died alongside her in that same event. A truck drove in during a festival, aiming for some stalls. Hinata was 26, Meimei was 27.' Putting the image back down beside his workstation, Takemichi went about to continue his research.
"In that report, you'll find some of what the Tokyo Manji Gang has been up to that hasn't been reported by the media." Naoto informed noting the file Takemichi had pulled up, "That's information my predecessor risked his life gathering." He ominously admitted, as Takemichi became pale and had to cover his mouth to resist puking onto the device. The image of a dead man, front and center for all to see. "That last photo is actually him."
"Huh?" Takemichi shockingly asked as he looked up at the solemn Naoto.
"He was investigating undercover when he was discovered and killed." Takemichi gasped at this reveal, "In one of his eye sockets, they found the media device that fully recorded his murder in place of his gouged-out eyeball." Naoto explained, glaring at his coffee. "I kept requesting transfers until I finally got assigned to my predecessor's position six months ago." Placing his drink down beside Meiko's picture, he moved towards one of his many boards lined with notes and pictures on Toman members and dealings. "The death of this investigator is under wraps because they didn't want to cause panic, though that's only part of the reason. The Tokyo Manji Gang was already under Kisaki Tetta's control before it happened."
Takemichi's mind could not help but wander though when he caught sight of Naoto's badge sitting close by. 'Naoto is a detective in the organized crime department. He's well informed about their internal affairs, and he's trying to fill my brain with all of the information there is about the Tokyo Manji Gang.' Sighing he couldn't help but wonder aloud, "But is this all necessary to save Tachibana and Mei-nee?"
"If there's one problem with your power, it's that you can only go back to this date twelve years ago." Naoto reminded Takemichi of their hypothesis, something they had yet to fully test.
"But that's just your observation. You're apparently alive right now, so what happened back then must be real, but I don't even know if I can go back aga-" Takemichi tried to honestly debate, only for Naoto to both angrily and determinedly cut in.
"If we can go back to the day our sisters died and keep them from going to that festival, it might be possible to save them," Naoto stated, glaring at the board before him. "But since we can't go back to the exact date we want, we'll do everything we can right now." Turning to meet Takemichi's gaze, Naoto bluntly stated, "You need to go back in time immediately, to when you were in middle school twelve years ago, and meet a certain someone."
"A certain someone?"
Slamming his hand between two pictures, Naoto continued. "Toman has two leaders. Sano Manjiro and Kisaki Tetta."
"Yikes." Takemichi fearfully shook, staring at the image of the two gang leaders.
"Sano and Kisaki... If these two had never met, the current Tokyo Manji Gang would've existed. Which means that our sisters wouldn't have to die, either." Naoto explained as Takemichi began to understand.
"I see... If I go back to being in middle school again and stop those two from meeting..." Pausing, Takemichi stood up abruptly as he realized one issue, "I-I mean, I get it, but how am I supposed to go to the past again?"
"Takemichi-kun, you said that when you came back, you shook hands with me."
"Huh? Yeah."
"That might be the trigger," Naoto concluded.
Takemichi could not help but stare down at his own hands in awe, "A handshake, huh?"
"You saved me back then. And because of that, I may have become part of your powers."
'I see.' Takemichi thought in awe, 'I thought he was a bit crazy, but Naoto really believes I can travel through time. That's why he's so serious.'
"Takemichi-kun, are you ready?" Naoto asked.
Staring down at his right hand, Takemichi thought, 'I want to save Tachibana and Meimei, too. Just as much as Naoto!' Closing it tight, he met Naoto's determined gaze with one of his own.
"Sano and Kisaki. They met in August twelve years ago. Find one of them, stay by his side, and stop the two of them from meeting." Naoto expounded, as Takemichi nervously smiled back at him.
"Yeah, I'll give it a shot."
"You're the only one who can save both our sisters." Naoto reaffirmed as he held out his hand, whether it was for his or Takemichi's own sake neither could say, but it did not matter. As Takemichi reached out and took hold of the hand, this was their only hope. He felt the sudden shift, the clicking of some sort of connection, the world went dark around him, and his place in the future was no more.
July 6th, 2005-Takemichi
Struggling to open his eyes, the world and sound returned around him. A boy around his past self's age, standing directly before with his arms raised yelling. "Come on! Let's do this!"
"Huh? Where'd Naoto go?" Blinking once, twice, in confusion Takemichi slowly started to look around, dread filling the pits of his stomach as he caught sight of the crowd all around him.
"Quit messin' around, you dumbshit!"
"Hurry up and fight!"
"Kill him!"
"Huh?! Hey, wait!" Quickly becoming more aware of how lost he was, Takemichi paled as the crowd around him and the boy went more wild. "Huh?! Hey, wait!"
"Did you eat good before you came here?!"
"Murder his ass!"
"You're puttin' me to sleep, you dumbass!
"Come on!"
"Huh?!"
"Hanagaki, you little shit! I've got a thousand yen ridin' on you!
"What?! What the hell is going on?!" Takemichi finally yelled in shock, looking back at his supposed opponent to hold out a hand as he tried reaching for his pocketed cell phone. "Hang on a second!" Flipping the phone open he was met by the familiar background, and now the date. 'July 6th, 2005!? I'm twelve years in the past!? No fucking way! It's just as Naoto said!' A text alert suddenly appeared on his screen.
From Meimei: Oi! Where are you?! We really need to...
'Oh crap!' Takemichi silently panicked, too much was going on. He'd time traveled, again, he was in the middle of a fight in some park, and now his sister was trying to contact him! Hearing a yell from behind he turned and tried to speak out to the opponent that charged at him, "W-wait a min-" Only to be punched and his lights knocked out with that single blow. All he could do was think, 'I really did go back in time again.'
He remembers giggling, laughing as he ran after his sister after school. They were young, just freshly having entered elementary school now alongside her. Trying to keep up with his older sister back then had never been the easiest. Even though he grew to be taller than her by middle school, he never stopped struggling to keep up with her.
"Meimei! Wait!" He tried calling out with a whine, "You're going too fast!"
"You're just slow!" She giggled looking back at him but hardly slowed down. "Come on Michi! Hurry up!"
"Nuh, uh! It's cause you're- ah!" Falling down on his face, the dark-haired young boy fell silent. Slowly tears tried to well up, as his knees and elbows began to burn from the scrapes and as he opened his mouth to start crying.
"Michi!" His sister was already by his side, sitting the sobbing boy up as she knelt by his side. "Oh... Oh gosh!" He only continued to cry as she looked over his scrapes, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have run so far ahead." Doing her best to whip his tears away she cooed and gently held his sobbing form. Once he had calmed to simple whimpers and stuttered sobs, she moved away from him. Kneeling before him as she offered her back, "Here. Get on." She'd smiled, and it made everything okay. "I'll get us back home, and we can get momma to help patch you up." Even as she struggled to carry him back home, and was later scolded by their mother for not taking better care of him. His sister did not falter, and her affection for him held strong.
"I'm sorry..." He shamefully said, after their mother had left to collect the first aid kit.
She only smiled though, patting his head as she said. "It's fine."
"But momma-"
"I'm the big sis!" She cut off, bending down a bit as she had still been taller than him. "I'm supposed to be looking out for ya."
"But I was the one who asked to race! How come you're the one in trouble?" He tried to fight back, frowning as his sister only shook her head.
"You're just a kid."
"So are you!" He shot back.
"But a big kid." She finished with a pout, "And you're the little brother. So I gotta take respos... responsib-" Shaking her head she huffed as she struggled to word her sentence she corrected, "I gotta make sure you're alright. I have to protect you!"
"But..." Looking down at his battered knees, the smaller Takemichi asked, "Who's gonna protect you?"
Giggling, Meiko once again patted her brother's head, "You dummy. That's-"
Gasping awake, Takemichi found himself still on the ground and his vision unfocused. The sun now setting as his tormentors were gathered waiting for his return to the land of the living from his unconscious state.
"Oi, Hanagaki's awake."
'Did I... pass out?' Takemichi disorientedly wondered, his vision still struggling to come into focus, as he continued to think. 'Is this what Meimei see's when she tries to read without her glasses?'
"You fuckhead, that was a one-hit ko. We're all bettin' money here!" One of the smoking teens annoyedly snapped at him, as he loomed over Takemichi's still downed body while smoking.
"Talk about a lame-ass match." The older male's companion grumbled as Takemichi's vision finally stabilized, but he continued to be confused.
'...Match?'
"Ain't that right, Kiyomasa?"
Sitting quickly up from the ground, Takemichi's gaze shifted over to the leader of this group. Kiyomasa stoically sat and smoking, as he counted away at the money they'd earned.
For Takemichi though, this was the first time he actually realized who this man was. 'A scarred eyebrow, the top delinquent of Shibuya Third Middle School... Kiyomizu Masataka!'
Pocketing their earnings for the day, Kiyomasa directed his apathetic gaze towards Takemichi. "Even though I gathered up all those spectators, I had to end the fight. If people stop coming to these fight club matches to bet, there's no point."
'Underground fight!? Oh, right. People were betting on that fight.' Takemichi thought, 'Now I remember. These guys were in charge of that!'
"For now, teach that piece of trash a lesson." Kiyomasa ordered, causing the two thugs closest to Takemichi to begin beating him, as the blonde could do nothing but curl into a ball and cover his head in an attempt to shield his most vital areas as he was kicked repeatedly.
"Hey! What are you, a fucking turtle!? Stand up, fucker! Get up, damn it! So I can teach you a proper lesson! I'mma beat some fucking guts into ya!"
Yet Takemichi did not move, the trauma and fear of this whole event both in his past and now freezing him. 'That's right... I'm their slave! I did whatever they told me to...'
"What's with this stupid turtle?" The kicker out of breath asked aloud, another of his companions coming over with a malicious smile as he said.
"Leave me somewhere to punch, Red."
Thus the beating worsened and continued.
"Holy shit, you're pathetic!"
Continuing till the sky was red, and Takemichi's body was beaten black and blue. Barely able to even remain conscious, though it was more than likely he had simply regained consciousness and not even noticed he'd been knocked out with how much pain he was in. 'Being forced to fight guys we don't even know... And if we lose, we get "toughened up." Day after day after every damn day... It was a living hell. And that's why I ran away.' Struggling to get back up, he grunted in pain barely able to even rise to his knees. 'I abandoned my friends, Tachibana, even my sister, Meiko.' His last meeting with Hinata flashed through his mind, as he desperately glared at the ground. "Tachibana..." His sister's forgotten text, his last phone call, he remembered these too. "Meimei..." He muttered.
"Next time try a little harder." The one known as Red taunted as he and Kiyomasa's group began to walk away. "You were really fucking pathetic today."
"Let's go home."
"Should we get some ramen?"
Though his body ached, and some part of him wished to just stop, Takemichi rose to his feet to call back out to the group. "Hey.."
"Damn, you're actually conscious? Wow, you're persistent."
"So..." Nervously holding his arm, Takemichi took a chance. "You guys belong to the Tokyo Manji Gang, right? I'd like to meet one of the leaders. Someone called either Sano or Kisaki... I was wondering if that'd be possible somehow." Takemichi asked, before noting the suddenly shocked expressions from two of Kiyomasa's lackeys, not really noticing the twitch from the man he had just upset. "Ah. If it's not possible then that's okay.
Snapping his cigarette stick in hand, Kiyomasa turned a murderous glare down to not only his subordinates but directly Takemichi as he ordered. "Bring me my bat."
The beating was more savage this time, even if he tried to curl up and shield himself. Kiyomasa would just find a way, hitting him harder in one place so he'd falter in his curled-up state. Only to then hit him in a place that could very well kill Takemichi, and no amount of begging or apologizing would stop it. "I-I'm sor..." Images of his time in the future, all his apologies flash through his mind. His sister's original words of care and affection ringing bitterly and hollow in his ears.
"Geez, there you go apologizing again. I've told you! If you're not gonna do something about it, then don't apologize for it."
So he stopped, unable to say the words that always seem to be his go-to when they really would do him no good. Simply shutting his eyes tight, and accepting his fate to be beaten upon.
Uncomfortably watching the scene before them, Kiyomasa's men started to whisper among themselves. "H-Hey... Maybe we should stop him soon."
"Uh... Yeah..."
"Kiyomasa! Dude, stop! You're gonna kill him!" They ran, trying to pull their boss away, trying to stop him from going too far, but it was almost to no avail.
By the time he stopped, it was dark, Takemichi's body now bloody and unconscious. Yet the brutish thug did not care. "Hey. Wake your ass up, Hanagaki!" Simply kicking onto his back before planting his foot upon the teen's stomach. It worked, Takemichi being forced awake and struggling to even sit up, as he looked up at the man with a bloody and bruised face in fear. The look in Kiyomasa's eyes was that of a killer. "The next time Sano-kun's name comes outta your mouth... You get it, don't you? I'll fucking kill you."
'Scary!' Takemichi almost seemed to burst out in tears at this, crying in fear as the man and his minions walked away mentally screaming. 'What the hell is his problem?! You can't even talk to him! This is impossible! How am I supposed to meet them? He said he'd kill me if I ever said that name again! I really will die! Is this guy seriously in middle school?!' His tears ran free, and he scrambled painfully to his feet. Doing a mixture of running and limping as he fled the scene, 'Get in touch with the leaders of the Tokyo Manji Gang!? Me, who's basically a slave!?'
Barely stopping himself from tripping he could no longer hold back his doubts. "I can't!" He yelled, "I can't do this! That's impossible! It's impossible Naoto!"
Limping through the city, the people around Takemichi stared in shock as he walked by. The boy's head down, shoulder slumped, blood dried, glare directed to the ground before him. His mind was a storm of bitter emotions as he wandered the bustling dark streets. 'I forgot...'
"Oh my gosh!"
"Whoa! He's covered in wounds!"
'I'd totally forgotten! I'm just me.' He solemnly thought tears welling up, 'Even in my second life, a failure's still going to be a failure. I should just go home. To the future.' He painfully cried as he stopped mid limp. "But how can I get back, though?" He silently whispered, slouching and curling his arms more tightly around himself. 'Oh yeah... Naoto told me. That a handshake is the trigger. If I go see Naoto...' Phone vibrating within his pocket, Takemichi ignored the device as he continued on his way. The guilt over another missed call from his elder sister, would not be anything new for the man who planned to run away.
Arriving at the Tachibana residence, Takemichi rang the apartment's doorbell. When receiving no response, he sighed out of breath. "Wait, are they not home?" He wondered aloud, 'It's definitely Naoto. As long as I shake hands with Naoto, I can return to the future.'
"You are the only one who can save our sisters."
Remembering the future Naoto's words, Takemichi felt his phone go off again. The teen's right hand touched the pocket the phone resided in, staring blankly off into space as he wondered. 'Am I running away again?' Clenching his hand in a fist, he shamefully glared down at the floor before him.
"Huh? Hanagaki-kun?" Seemingly just arriving home, Tachibana Hinata had arrived.
"Tachibana! Why are you here?" Takemichi alarmedly asked as she gave him a slightly unamused and confused look.
"Uh, why...?" She pointed to her apartment door, "Because that's my house."
"..."
"..."
A moment of silence passed, "...Oh, yeah. That's ri-"
Eyes widening as she finally took note of her boyfriend's battered state, she ran up to the teen and started to become visibly agitated. "Did you get into a fight again?"
Faced with her stern glare, Takemichi could only shamefully rub the back of his head."Sorry..."
Softening her gaze she became more openly concerned as she took in more and more of his appearance. "You're beat up more than usual today. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, uh... I'm totally fine!" Takemichi lied, sending her a big close-eyed grin and thumbs up.
She sighed at this though, seeing right through the blanted lie, but did nothing to confront the boy as she walked past him. "Why do boys insist on fighting so much?" Leaning back onto the wall outside her apartment door she huffed. "If only I were a boy, too."
"Huh?"
Smiling, Hinata sent the confused boy a huge grin. "If I was, I'd go... Hiyah!" She excitedly punched the air in front of her. "Take that! And I'd protect you!" Pulling her fist back she blushed as she openly smiled at the boy. "I know karate, so if I was a guy, I'd be super strong!"
Smiling back at the girl, he placed himself directly beside her before punching in the same direction she had. "In that case, I'll protect you, too, Hina." Pausing, the boy began to become flustered as he realized what he had said, refusing to look as he caught sight of the girl being shocked and flustered from the corner of his eyes. 'Ah. I just accidentally called her "Hina".' He embarrassedly though, having to rub the back of his head again as he struggled to hold back a flushed and derpy grin.
"Okay!" Hinata excitedly exclaimed, pushing off the wall to happily look back at the flustered boy.
"I-I was just going with the flow." Takemichi tried to explain, while silently and happily thinking. 'Oh man, she tricked me into that.'
Smiling at him still though, Hinata happily exclaimed."I want you to call me that!" Causing the blonde to stare, before a smile broke onto his face, and a short laugh escaped his lips as he grinned with pride. That shift in mood, and seeing an honest smile on his face, allowed Hina's heart to swell with pride of her own. As she returned to her leaned back position with a smile. "But I'm going to be the one who protects you."
"Huh?"
"Well," She blushed and kept her gaze away from him. "Mei-senpai... No, Mei-chan is always saying how much of a crybaby Takemichi-kun is and she isn't wrong. If I were a guy or anything like Mei-senpai, I'd definitely be stronger than you." Hinata mildly teased blushing, causing the blonde to become more flustered.
"Oi, oi! That ain't true, you know! When you and Mei-nee say 'Crybaby'. You're talking about what happened the other day ain'tcha!? Hina whatever Mei-nee has told you is a lie!"
Giggling, the girl turned her back to him, "Are you sure? So you didn't share a bed with Mei-chan when you'd cry and get scared as a kid."
"Why would she- Please forget she ever said that! Forget the other day too!" Takemichi exclaimed embarrassedly even as his girlfriend remained amused and giggly.
"Nope! I'm never going to forget. In fact, I think I'll even ask 'Mei-nee' for even more cute stories about you."
"Hina!"
The girl only laughed though, and the boy could not help but laugh with her. Talking for some time more after till finally.
"Bye-bye! See you tomorrow!" She waved goodbye as Takemichi smiled back.
"Yeah." Turning to walk away, he listened as she entered her house.
"I'm home!"
His smile dropped, looking back to the apartment door with a solemn gaze, before finally walking away. Yet as he left the apartment complex he couldn't help but take one more glance back to the building, stopping as he caught sight of his girlfriend watching from the railing of her floor. She blushed realizing she'd been caught. Smiling and sending him off with another wave, only to frown when she noticed him become slump and turn away.
Biting her bottom lip, she turned and returned inside, quickly making it to her room and picking up her cell phone. She shuffled through her contacts till she found the one she looked for.
To Mei-Senpai:
...
As he silently walked home, Takemichi could not help but get lost in his thoughts once more. 'Twelve years from now, Hina and I won't be dating. We hadn't seen each other in years.' He paused in the middle of a crosswalk, 'I abandoned Meimei too, I told her I hated her. I hurt her to push her away. Even if I should be trying for my sister I'm not obligated to save Hina. Who's to even say, Mei-nee would accept my efforts.'
"I'm going to protect you, Hanagaki-kun!"
He remembered Hina's words to him, and felt tears well up.
"I gotta make sure you're alright. I have to protect you!"
"But... Who's gonna protect you?"
His dream from when he was knocked out replayed in his mind.
"But they..." The dam broke, hand clutching tight to his chest, as his other hand flew up to try and stop his tears as he cried. "They're not supposed to die!" He sobbed, remembering the missing part of his dream.
"I'll do it!" The younger Takemichi sobbed, stopping his sister before she could brush him off. "I'll protect you too, Meimei! Even if you don't want me to! I'll be your hero!"
Meiko stared in shock, at his bold tear-filled claim, then smiled as threw her arms around him laughing. "Okay! I'll protect my hero, and you can protect me!"
"Mnn!"
The siblings clung tightly to one another as the elder of the two rubbed their faces together, "No matter what, we'll always be together! Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
His eyes slowly widened though, as the memory faded as quickly as it came, and the familiar guilt for his past washed over him. "Mei...mei." Looking up he realized something, as tears continued streaming down his face. "I haven't met Meimei face to face... in years." Hearing the timer for the crosswalk ticking down, Takemichi's heart raced. Almost tripping over himself and his still slightly twisted ankle, as he rushed down the street. 'Home! I haven't been home in years!'
Left
Right
Three houses down
Left
It had been years since he had been to his childhood home, years since he ran from the only stability and comfort he had ever known.
"I HATE YOU, AND EVERYONE IN THIS STUPID TOWN! I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU AGAIN!"
"TAKEMICHI!"
"That... I really love ya! And that you're the best big sister, a guy could ever ask! And... I'm sorry for not saying it more!"
"... You spaz. You really had me worried there, you dummy."
Slamming into the corner that led into his childhood home's front yard, Takemichi gasped for air. Slowly looking up, as he noticed house lights still on... and like a moth to a flame it beckoned him close. 'Home... Meimei...'
Rubbing his eyes dry, he pushed himself towards the door. Stopping at it with his hand raised up, it shook. Mouth dry, he'd tried swallowing, using his other hand to stabilize his hand as he reached out, and opened the unlocked door, and stepped in. "I... I'm home!"
July 6th, 2005 Meiko
Taking a deep breath, Meiko quickly put aside her cell phone, as she began to make her way towards her home's front door hallway. 'Okay Mei, you can do this.' She thought, 'Just keep your cool, you know Michi doesn't respond well when you push. So let's try the more subtle approach this time.' Nodding to herself with a quick fist pump, she dramatically swung herself through the open door frame with a bright smile on her face.
"Welcome home Michi, dinner's- Oh my god! What happened?!" And promptly dropped it as she noted her brother's bloody and bruised up state.
"Meimei..." Takemichi whispered, as his eyes took in the older sister he had not physically seen in so many years. 'It's her... It's really her!'
"How... when... who?!" Almost running to his side, Meiko hands fretted around his frame, looking him over head to toe. "What the hell happened?!"
Fearing where to grab, questioning if she could, and noting more and more just how dirtied and bloody he had actually come home this time. Meiko's heart plummeted to her stomach. 'She wasn't kidding.' Meiko concernedly realized, 'He really is worse tonight.' Eye's threatening to fill with tears of rage, her hands flew up to his face. Turning to glare and demanding an answer from the bloody boy, she froze as she felt his tear-streaked face, and met his tear-filled gaze.
Sobbing out loud, Takemichi stuttered out. "Mei...mei..." Before flinging himself into her arms, and pulling her tight into a hug as he buried himself in her shoulder. "Meimei! Mei-nee! Meiko!" He heartbreakingly whaled, feeling the strength leave his legs as he dropped. Dragging his sister down to their knees at their home's entrance as he clung to his sister's form. 'Meimei! It's really her! She's really here!' He whaled harder as he tried to bury his face more into her, 'I'm home! I'm sorry I ran away, I'm sorry for leaving you behind!' He quietly cried, unable to voice those words no matter how hard he tried. 'I'm sorry I didn't stay! I'm sorry I didn't protect you! Meimei!'
Feeling tears slowly streamed down her shocked face, Meiko felt her heartbreak, and pure rage simmered beneath her skin. Wrapping her arms aggressively around her little brother, and held him close. "Shhh." She shifted them, keeping him close as she rocked him back and forth, never letting him go as she caressed the back of his head. "It's okay." She whispered cooing, "It's okay now, I've got ya Michi. I'm right here." Turning her gaze away from the sobbing and whaling blonde in her arms though, her gaze became murderous and dark as she glared at the front door.
'And I swear, whoever did this... Is as good as dead.' She angrily thought, none the wiser on how much of Takemichi's pain and sorrow was actually from grief and guilt than any of the actual wounds he still carried. Nonetheless, she held him as he cried, she held him for as long as he needed her, and silently cried for him. Once his cries had subsided enough, she waited for the blonde to pull away.
Finally meeting his sister's gaze once more, Takemichi struggled to not cry again. Noting his sister now tear-stained cheeks as she gently took a hold of his face again. "Hey."
"... Hey." He struggled not to choke.
"Feeling better?" She gently asked, brushing away any unshed tear from his uninjured eye.
He nodded hesitantly, "Yeah."
"Do you want me to help you clean up?" He nodded. "You hungry?" His stomach growled at this, making him blush as his sister softly giggled at the noise. "Okay, do you think you can serve yourself and eat while I get you a change of clothes and the first aid kit?"
"Yeah..." Takemichi embarrassedly nodded, "Though I'm not a kid you know." He flinched as he felt her gently ruffle his head as she got up.
"Maybe to you, but you're still my crybaby brother."
Watching her walk away, Takemichi felt his heart start to soothe as everything began to set in, 'I really did miss you... Meimei.'
Watching from across the table, Meiko happily watched as her now bandaged and clean-up brother devoured the meal before him. "Wow, you're inhaling it tonight. Is it really that good, or did you forget to eat your lunch today?" Meiko teased, as Takemichi struggled to not cry as ate away more and more of the meal his sister had prepared.
'It's so good!' He mentally yelled, 'It's been so long since I'd had a proper home-cooked meal, let alone Meimei's cooking.' Swallowing, he sent his sister the happiest grin he could muster without crying again, "It's cause your cooking's always the best Meimei!"
Blushing at her brothers' sudden praise she scoffed, "Tch, don't think that just cause you praise my cooking you can get out doing your dishes, or that-"
"Done!" Takemichi suddenly exclaimed, cutting his sister off, as he suddenly stood up. "Let me do the dishes."
Meiko's eyes became wide as she noted the boy grabbing not only his but her finished dishes. "Michi-"
He smiled embarrassedly as he looked down at his elder sister, "You already put my uniform to wash and helped patch me up, and you worked hard on today's meal. So let me help you out, kay. I mean I do still owe you those two months of chores right?"
"Mnn." Meiko quietly nodded, turning in her seat to watch as her usually stubborn and slobbish little brother. Actively washed, dried, and put away not only his dishes, but hers, and the dirty pot she had left soaking while they ate.
"Hey! Do we have any dessert?" Takemichi suddenly asked as he turned to grin at his sister's still shocked form.
"Uh... Yeah, I bought some purin this afternoon after my parkour."
"Can we share some?"
Meiko actively stared at the boy as if he had grown a second head, nodding with a noise of confirmation as the boy almost seemed to obliviously go to grab them both some cups of the custard dessert from the fridge. 'He's... different.' Meiko couldn't help but think, 'Not in a bad way... I think... And it doesn't look like he's trying to force himself.'
"Here!" Holding out the cupped dessert, Takemichi waited for his sister to take hold of the sweet before now taking a seat at her side.
'But it's still... so different.' Meiko thought, 'And yet...' Taking a bite out of her favored sweet dessert, she happily hummed as she savored the creamy sweet. 'So familiar.' In her mind the happier days of her and Takemichi's youth passed through her mind, she and he happily sitting across from their parents back in their elementary days, as they ate this same dessert together.
Finishing the sweet at the same time, the siblings happily sighed as they simultaneously said. "Ah~ That hit the spot." Freezing the two teens turned their similar blue eyes to one another in shock, "Jinx!" They shouted pointing at one another, before snorting and laughing as they realized they had once again spoken in unison.
'It's so warm.' Takemichi thought, 'How long has it been... since I felt so warm and at home?' His gaze became solemn as their laughter died, 'That's right, even back then... this was my safe haven. Home with Meimei.' Takemichi thought, 'Even if it was hell on earth, I always knew if I just got home. If I just made it through the day, I'd be home and safe...'
Noting her brother's sudden shift to a solemn mood, Meiko's smile fell. '... It's time.' Looking down at her empty dessert cup, Meiko took a deep breath before she spoke. "So... You wanna tell me why you suddenly came home looking like a bloody pulp." She caught him stiffening from the corner of her eye, "Or maybe why you and the guys keep seeming to be getting more and more beat up, over the past few days?" Leaning onto their kitchen table, Meiko tilted her head towards her little brother while she rested it on her hand. "Well, Takemichi... I'm waiting."
Turning his wide blue eyes to his elder sister, Takemichi almost shook in place. 'She knows... Of course, she does. She knew back then too...' The image of his sister's concerned face, and angrily yelling at him back in those days flash through his mind. 'But I never told her anything about it the first time around...' He regretfully recalled, 'I'd banked on her prepping for high school entrance exams, and trying to keep her grades up during her final year of middle school to keep her off my back.' He thought, 'But she'd still tried...'
"Michi." Noting the darkening of his mood, Meiko tried calling out to him again. Noting the boy refused to meet her gaze as he looked down at his hands and lap. "Please... whatever it is, let me help you!" She firmly yet gently tried to demand, even removing her head from her hand as she slammed her fist onto the table.
'Should I...' Clenching his hands tightly into a fist, Takemichi almost trembled in place. 'Meimei has always been strong.' His mind recalled their youth and how she'd been able to carry him for the longest time over her back till he had finally outgrown her in height. 'And compared to me, she was always the more studious and quick-witted when it came to problem-solving...' He recalled how she threw her shoe just to stop their cousin from taking his bike, and how quick she was to beat him up. 'Hell, she was even the better fighter between us.'
"Kickboxing?" He recalled their mother exclaiming, "You let her sign up for kickboxing!"
"She made a sound argument." Their father nervously defended, "She swore it was just for self-defense!"
"Then why not Karate... or even Judo! Or-"
'Maybe I should tell her... Maybe she could help?' He thought. Nervously opening his mouth to speak, "I... it's a sorta long story."
"I have time." Meiko nodded.
"It's getting late, and we have school tomorrow."
"Nothing, we haven't done before."
"... I... Part of this is our own fault."
"Yeah, I can believe that." His sister bluntly replied, making Takemichi feel as if he were stabbed through the heart.
'Ouch! Though she isn't wrong to think that.' He mentally cried, before sighing to himself. 'Get it together man, you're stalling! Just... Just tell her what she wants.' Takemichi angrily scolded himself with an aggressive shake of his head. "I... You see... It all started when we talked to Masaru-kun." Takemichi began to explain, Meiko's eyes sparkling with joy as he started to open himself to her. "We were asking about his gang an-" She had placed her hand over the top of his tight-fisted hands and he froze.
A sudden spark blinded his sight, and a focused vision flashed through his mind.
Kiyomasa's bat slammed against the side of Meiko's head with a sudden crack! Takemichi and his friend's cried out in shock. He watched as his sister's body dropped, and blood began to fall from her head. Before Kiyomasa murderously glared down at her fallen form with a bloody nose, and split lip, and proceeded to bring down the wooden bat down towards the down girl.
"Die."
Flinching back, Takemichi lept away from his sister's touch, chair knocking over to the group as both siblings openly stared at one another in shock.
"Wha-what's wrong?" Meiko concernedly questioned as she quickly rose from her seat noticing the sudden paleness and fear upon her brother's face as he struggled to breathe. "Michi?"
'No.' Takemichi fearfully thought confused and disoriented with what he saw. 'No I can't tell her. I can't drag her into this!' He panickedly thought, 'She'll confront him!' He flinched back when she tried to reach out to him. 'She'll fight him!'
"Michi, calm down, talk to me!" Meiko almost seemed to panic too, noting how her brother's eyes remained unfocused as he stared at her.
"I'll fucking kill you."
'HE'LL KILL HER!' Takemichi's eyes shut tight, unshed tears brimming in the corner of his eyes. 'Or worse!' Shaking his head, he bolted and ran away again.
"Takemichi!" Meiko concernedly exclaimed, trying to run after the boy, only to hear the familiar sound of his bedroom door slam shut and lock. Unshed tears filled her own eyes as she stared up the steps, "Oh Michi... What happened to you?"
Upstairs in his room, Takemichi slid down the back of his old bedroom door. Clutching tight to his head, as he struggled to make sense of what he saw, and what he felt. 'Wha... What was that?! Was that my mind... Or was that a-' He struggled to not cry, the mere notion of his mind conjuring the image of his sister being battered, or that he'd somehow had a vision doing nothing to help salvage his frazzled mind. 'No... It doesn't matter what that was, because that was exactly what I wanted to avoid.' Takemichi thought, 'That was why I never spoke up. I didn't want to risk Meimei being dragged into my mess, I didn't want her being beaten or even-' He shivered, unable to finish that line of thought. 'None of us could.' He recalled the image of he and the rest of his friends swearing their enslavement to Kiyomasa and his group a secret and away from Meiko's ears. 'It was the one secret we were able to keep, it was the one thing we tried to hide up until I ran away.' Slamming his head back on his door, Takemichi silently cried, "I can't tell her...'
Back downstairs Meiko picked up the fallen chair Takemichi had knocked over as she silently stood in their home's kitchen lost in thought. 'Before he shut down. He'd mention Baka-Masa, and his supposed gang...' Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed hold of her cellphone and slowly began to make her way upstairs as well to get ready for bed. 'But... What does Baka-Masa have to do with him and the boys being beaten up?' Entering her bedroom, she closed her eyes as she began to undress, only to pause. 'Wait... just a few days ago...
July 1, 2005 Meiko
It had been lunchtime, and Meiko had decided to take a nap after she'd finished off eating and cleaning her bento. Even with the room abustle with noise from some of her classmates, she thought to try and gain some respite from a late night of binging movies with her brother. 'Note to self.' She tiredly thought, 'Don't get into a petty test of courage with Baby Michi, over the last bag of potato chips... I think my throat and ears still hurt as much as I feel tired from those horror movie binges.' She almost whimpered in her arms, ears perking up as a pair of males reentered the classroom.
"Did you hear?"
"About the fight clubs being run by that gang in Shibuya?"
"Yeah, apparently a bunch of guys from different schools participates in them for cash."
"Seriously? You mean there's gambling?"
"Yeah! My sister's boyfriend goes to the same school where the main directors of the fight go, Shibuya Third Middle School."
She had drifted off around then, no longer hearing about the fight club. Nor caring to look into or get involved with it and its supposed gang connections. After all, it didn't involve her, nor did it affect her own life or the lives of anyone she cared for... or so she thought .
July 6th, 2005 Meiko
Eyes flashing open, Meiko felt the hairs of the back of her head tingle, "Shibuya... Third Middle School... That's..." Rage welds up inside her, "That's the school Baka-Masa goes to!" Shaking her head though she tried to calm her anger. "Wait, no, there's no actual way Baka-Masa could be involved in those fights, the guy's a total pushover in a fight! And besides, he's not that stupid to drag Michi- wait, no he is." She angrily twitched as she began to pace about her room in only her T-shirt, biting the back of her left thumbnail she growled. "But you can't just accuse the asshole of anything without any legit proof. I mean, Baka-Masa, in a gang." Her mind conjured the unappealing image of her idiot cousin cowering and flinching away from Meiko at family gatherings. 'The guy's a total no-good wannabe gangster monkey-faced loser!' She mentally ranted, never having been close or even gotten along with the male closest to her age as they'd grown up. His habit of pushing around, and trying to boss her little brother around in their youth, having burnt any goodwill when he failed to learn from his mistakes, or even take responsibility for them. "Hold on." Grabbing hold of her cell phone again, Meiko muttered. "Emma says she hangs in Shibuya a lot, maybe she's heard something?"
Quickly typing a new message for the slightly younger girl, Meiko patiently waited for a response with bated breath. 'Let's just hope she hasn't gone to bed yet.'
To Em-chan:
Hey, have you by any chance heard any rumors about a fight club being run by a Shibuya gang.
Having been getting a drink before bed, honey gold eyes became wide, as Sano Emma almost spit out her drink as she saw the new text Meiko had finally replied to her with. From behind her the two boys that walked by the kitchen stopped, as they noticed her sudden coughing fit.
"Oi~ Emma, what's wrong? Did it go down the wrong pipe?" The smaller of the two asked, as his much taller tattooed friend came up to pat her on the back.
"Hey, you okay?"
Coughing up her drink Emma shook her head, holding up the universal sign to wait with her drink hand as she quickly began to type a response.
To Mei-chan:
A fight club run by a Shibuya gang! What are you talking about?
From Mei-chan:
It's a rumor I overheard at school, apparently, there's this lame-ass fight club being run by a gang in Shibuya. Specifically by some guys at Shibuya Third Middle School.
From Mei-chan:
I finally got my little brother to open up to me a bit before he shut down. He mentioned our stupid cousin, and a gang he was part of.
From Mei-chan:
He's a student at that school! Michi actually came back home bloody, and sobbing and crying his tears out to me tonight! What if he's part of a fight club because of that damn bastard and this gang!?
Staring down at the text with concern, Emma turned to the two males. "Hey, Mikey, Draken... Do you guys know anything about a fight club being run by a gang in Toman Territory?"
"A fight club?" The taller tattooed male known as Draken frowned, "In Toman space?"
Frowning alongside his taller companion, the blonde male known as Mikey walked up to Emma with his hand held out. "Where'd you hear this?"
Handing over her phone Emma concernedly stared down at the device as the two males looked through it, "My friend... The girl I told you about."
Perking up at the girl's words Mikey, hummed. "Ah! The girl from the train!"
Nodding, she continued to explain, "Her younger brother seems to have gotten mixed up in some things for the past few days since we met. He hasn't said anything, till tonight it seems, and she now thinks it may have something to do with a rumor she heard at her school."
"... Now that you mention it there have been some weird rumors floating around about gambling and fight clubs. Pretty sure some of Pah's guys even go to this school." Draken noted as Mikey hummed in deep thought.
"Is that so..." Lightly tossing back the phone into Emma's hands, Mikey turned to leave. "Guess we'll have to look into it tomorrow after school." Turning back to the surprised Emma he added with a reassuring grin, "Just let your friend know not to worry, we'll get to the bottom of this."
"Mikey..." She smiled at his words.
"Though!" He childishly pointed a finger back towards Emma, "In return! You gotta let us meet this girl! After all, any friend of my little sister is a friend of mine." He almost seemed to sing as Emma sent him pouted glare.
"What? No way! Get your own friends!"
"Come on! I share mine!"
"No! Let me have my own friends!" Emma shot back, as Mikey simply turned away with a wave.
"Yeah, yeah. Remember I wanna meet her."
"Mikey!" Feeling a hand be placed at the top of her shoulder, Emma blushed as she slowly looked at a tired Draken as he shook his head. "Draken?"
"Just let it go, Emma. You know how stubborn Mikey gets, once something's caught his interest."
Pouting once more she nodded reluctantly, "Yeah..."
"And don't worry about your friend's brother." Draken added, "We'll look into this rumor. If there's any validity then Mikey and I will put a stop to this."
Smiling, Emma nodded up at the taller teen. "Thanks, Draken. I know I can count on you two."
Laying unmoving in bed, Meiko jumped as she heard a text response alert go off on her phone. Picking the charging device up from beside her mountain of cryptid and yokai plushies, and pillows, Meiko's eyes scanned Emma's final text response for the night.
From Em-chan:
Don't worry. I've asked my older brother and our friend. They said they'll look into it.
Staring at the screen though, Meiko could not help but frown, 'I'm sorry Emma-chan, but I can't do that.'
To Em-chan:
Thank you so much! Please tell them both I really appreciate it!
'I can't just sit idly by as a bystander anymore.' Flipping the phone shut, she placed it back down. 'I will protect, Michi.'