Authors note: This one's took forever due to editing and time issues. ;w; Anyway it's releap time which means! Awkward Emma and Takemichi content, yay~ So let it be known, that I'm trying my best to justify why either one of these kids even so much as tried doing... well what happened. And it's hard to pinpoint outside, lol dumb-hormonal kids. So if my way for trying to explain a bit Emma's logic and reasoning behind certain things feel off or wrong... Know I tried my best.

;w; Enjoy me trying to explain technically not plot holes, while also expanding on characters' relationships. Funfact this chapter is 56 pages long in google docs... thats longer then Beaches be crazy the fuck brain!

Also warning! Talks about sexual assault.

July 19th, 2017 Takemichi

"Hanagaki Takemichi-kun. You're fired." Takemichi's manager, or rather ex-manager, boredly and rather annoyedly told him as she dragged out the syllables.

"Huh!?" He stared in shock.

"Don't 'huh!?' me. It should be obvious. You missed two weeks without permission. And who do you think took the flak for that, hmmm?"

"I- I'm sor–"

"Fired." The manager simply cut in, not allowing Takemichi to even apologize.

'Right... It's been two weeks.' Takemichi thought quietly, 'If time passes while I'm in the past, time passes in the present, too. And while I did come back...' His mind wandered to the days and nights he'd spent at home mourning as Naoto had asked, to Naoto's apartment pouring over files for info on Draken, and Meiko. To finally visit the adult Yayoi, who'd taken to be waiting for him with a plate of home-cooked food or a cup of Tea as he tried to get her to tell him about his sister's lover. 'I'd completely forgotten about work till now.' He thought, before nervously looking at his ex-manager as she walked off. "Uh, about my pay..."

"Look for a direct deposit. Goodbye~"

Takemichi twitched a few times but left without further issue.

He could have cried though when he did go to check his bank account. 'My account balance is 20,580 yen...' He felt sick to his stomach, "I won't be able to pay my rent." He sulked as he pocketed the bank statement. "How am I going to live after this? I can't see tomorrow. Ahh! Why couldn't I have taken a page out of Mei-nee's page when it came to saving on the side." Takemichi sulked, recalling the manner in which his sister in the past would find change in the ground sometimes and pocket it.

"Yahoo~ Lucky!" Meiko squealed in joy, as she held up the 500 yen coin. "I'mma put you away for safekeeping." Meanwhile behind her Takemichi himself was losing his own spare change as he tripped and it fell into the gutters.

"Ah! My 500 yen!"

He quietly cried at the memory, 'We really are the complete polar opposite when it comes to things like this.' He thought. "Someone like me is gonna save Mei-nee, Hina... and Akkun? And Draken? When I can't even save myself?" His body slumped, "How depressing–"

Walking back to Naoto's apartment, Takemichi could not help but quietly think over his visits to the Shimizu Clinic and his talks with Yayoi for the past few days.

"Please!" Takemichi begged, bowing as deeply as he could before the exacerbated redhead as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm begging you, I need to know who it was that my sister was involved with."

"No, you really don't."

"I do!"

Yayoi sighed as she swirled her seat to face her back to him as she continued to look over her paperwork. "Seriously, why are you so adamant about this? What does it matter who Mei's lover is... was..." Yayoi grumbled, shaking her head, "What, are you only now, gonna try to play the overprotective brother role?"

Takemichi frowned as he sat up at this. "... It isn't about wanting to play at anything." He quietly muttered, "I just..." He quietly debated on how to tell her Naoto's theory of Meiko's lover being connected to Toman and that leading to her death. "... It's important."

Yayoi sighed and turned back to him slightly to stare him down over her shoulder. "I swear you're not gonna drop this till I tell you what you want, aren't you?"

Takemichi set his eyes in a determined glare, as he looked up at the red-haired woman. "Yeah."

"Even though you won't tell me why this is supposedly so important."

His gaze briefly shifted towards the beach picture still on her desk, before looking towards her and nodded. "Yeah."

Yayoi groaned loudly and drag her hand across her face, "Fucking Hanagaki's... I swear." She smiled solemnly, "You really have grown up since back then, finally getting that unshakable Hanagaki determination and conviction I see." Looking towards the beach photo she sighed, "... Still... I don't feel it's safe to tell you who he is."

'Because he supposedly hates me... Or because he's dangerous?' Takemichi wondered, opening his mouth to ask.

"But..." She looked back at him unemotionally, "I can see this is important to you so I'll offer you a hint."

"A hint?" Takemichi blinked in shock.

"Of course." Yayoi smiled nostalgically, "I seem to remember you were quite the problem solver back in the day. Unless you mean to tell me you no longer enjoy solving puzzles anymore. So... What do you say? Will you take it?"

Takemichi frowned, contemplating the woman's words, "Is this... the only way you'll tell me?" She nodded. "Okay. I'll take your hint."

"Alright..." Yayoi sighed, "Similar to you, Meiko met her lover in middle school." Takemichi blinked at this in shock, "Unlike you, once she and him got together they stuck."

Takemichi felt as though he were stabbed in the chest, but knew better than to take what Yayoi said to be anything against his failed love life. It was just a sad fact.

"You." She pointed to him then making the dark-haired teen blink in shock, "Know this boy now man... In fact, you and her befriended him around the same time. That's my hint."

Entering Naoto's apartment the sky was now dark, and Takemichi frowned at the memory. 'So my sister met her future lover back in middle school... and supposedly I know and befriended the guy.' His mind wandered back to his youth, as he entered Naoto's office.

"Hm, welcome back." Naoto greeted, frowning when the Hanagaki male ignored his greeting to pace back and forth. "Well okay..." Naoto grumbled, turning away back to his computer.

'But that doesn't make sense... When I ran through the list of people we knew.' He recalls naming off all his male friends from the Mizo five including Akkun and his technical childhood friend Takuya. 'She said no... So who else did me and my sister know back then that could have grown up to be her lover?' The image of Draken and Mikey flashed through his mind and he paled shivering before shaking his head.

'No, no, no! No way! Draken is dead for one so he's definitely not it, and the Mikey of this timeline is one of the whole reasons my sister and Hina died. So there's no way it could be him!' He held his head frustrated, 'Uh! What a mess! Why does this have to be so hard to figure out?! This would all be so much easier if I could just tell–' He stopped pacing. 'That's it!' He excitedly thought, looking toward Naoto. His stomach twisted into knots nervously, as he decided to share his idea. "Hey, Naoto. So random thought but... What if I told Hina and Meimei of the past about their futures? You know, just like I did with you–"

"Absolutely not. Denied." Naoto bluntly shut him down as he looked over some documents, before looking back at the older man. Takemichi gulped as he noted the scolding glare that Takemichi recognized the male shared with Hina. "Takemichi-kun, are you trying to just throw in the towel and take the easy way out?"

"No, that's not..." Takemichi nervously waved his arms around, watching as Naoto's eyes narrowed and Takemichi swallowed loudly as he began poking his fingers nervously in front of him, "I'm not trying to take the easy way out because life is hard right now or anything."

"What if my sister ends up thinking you're crazy and disliking you?" Naoto pointed out harshly, Takemichi paling as this was pointed out. "She'd never believe a story like that, would she? No one would under ordinary circumstances. How stupid are you?" Naoto sighed, exacerbated at Takemichi's leaps of logic.

"Wait... Did you just call me stupid?" He was ignored as Naoto took on a thinking pose.

"As for Mei-nee..." Naoto became contemplative, and Takemichi jumped at this.

"Do you think she'd believe me?!"

Naoto frowned, "As much as I like to believe Mei-nee is a very sound and rash individual." He looked at Takemichi a bit annoyed, "There could be a chance. Back then when I believed you at the time, it was because I was crazy about the occult at the time."

"Yeah, you were pretty sharp."

"But the reason I was so into it at the time." Naoto began to blush slightly, as he looked away from the older man. "... Was in part due to your sister."

"HUH?!" Takemichi exclaimed in shock, making the dark-haired man twitch, "Naoto! Don't tell me! Did you have a crush on my sister?!"

"It was just a schoolyard crush!" Naoto defensively shot back but did not deny Takemichi's claims. "Nothing more! She was mature and older, and I thought she was cool for liking some of the things I liked."

Takemichi struggled not to laugh, "That's so cute."

Naoto threateningly held his fist up, "Drop it."

Takemichi flinched, realizing he may have crossed a line, "Dropping!"

Sighing, Naoto rubbed his forehead, "As I was saying... at the time part of the reason I was so into it was thanks to Mei-nee. When we first met, a classmate of mine had lent me a manga focusing on the occult." Naoto's gaze became nostalgic as he recalled his and Meiko's first meeting.

"And this is my little brother Naoto." Hina excitedly introduced the pair, as the young Naoto stared up at the glasseless beauty of Meiko as she smiled down at the still shorter boy. "Naoto, this is my senpai from school, and a good friend of mine say hi."

"Uh–! Ta-Tachibana Naoto." The young Naoto stuttered, as Meiko warmly smiled down at him.

"Ah~ What a cute, oops, I mean handsome young man." Meiko teasingly said, causing the boy to blush more. "I'm Hanagaki Meiko, it's a pleasure to meet you Naoto-kun."

"Pleasure." Naoto nodded.

Naoto couldn't help but smile at the memory of his past self's nervous stuttering when first getting to know Meiko. "When Mei-nee saw the manga mixed into my school books when I'd ask for help from my sister and her for some homework..."

"Oh~" Meiko's hands reached out for the manga book, "Mind if I see."

"Uh!" Naoto exclaimed, "Th-that's not mine! A classmate lent it to me."

"Really?" Hina curiously said, "That's nice, who was it? Was it a girl?"

"N-no! It was a guy!" He stuttered out glaring at his sister as she giggled at his nervousness.

"Hmm, okay I'll be careful." Meiko misunderstood, flipping through the pages. "Hmm... Hmm... Uhuh... Oh~" She giggled, "Ah, Kitarou your the best."

"Mei-senpai...?" He stared in awe as Meiko carefully shut the book shut before handing it to him.

She smiled and Naoto felt his heart skip a beat, "It's pretty cool that you decided to read this, are you interested in the occult too?"

"Huh?" He blinked a few times, "I... Do you like the occult Mei-senpai?"

"Yes!" Meiko grinned, "I really love spooky and mysterious stuff!" She'd paled though remembering something and hugged herself, slightly shivering with fear. "Except ghosts, keep those things away from me." She quietly shuddered, as Naoto looked down at the manga shyly.

"Um... Well... I can't say if I really like occult stuff but..." He shyly looked up at her, "Do you think you could tell me a bit about some things?"

Meiko blinked a few times before brightly smiling at the boy, "Sure~! Where would you like to start? Home sweet home, China, England, Australia, or maybe America?"

"Huh?! Why are you naming off countries?!"

Meiko giggled, "Cause silly." She planted her chin in her hand and tilted her head at him. "There are stories on all sorts of occult stuff all over the world."

"Really?" Hina curiously asked, "Like what–"

"Well..."

Laughing to himself at the memory, Naoto looked at Takemichi. "Even to this day, your sister was still interested in that sort of stuff." From his slack pocket, he pulled out a charm and tossed it to Takemichi who scrambled to catch the small clothed charm. "That charm for example was just one of many she liked to give me since I joined the force," Naoto admitted as Takemichi stared down at the protection charm in awe.

Takemichi chuckled under his breath as he stared at the charm. "Of course she did... I still remember her giving me one for good luck." He in turn shared, frowning slightly. 'Though I only got it after being beaten up so much by Kiyomasa that Meimei thought I needed one after lying about falling down some stairs...' He thought, tossing the charm back to Naoto. 'But... I lost it after running away... and my past self probably didn't get one with how much I didn't like getting them from her.' He sighed before looking at Naoto again, "So in short..."

"If anyone in the past besides myself would believe in your time-leaping abilities it very likely would be her." Naoto nodded, before frowning. "The only issue of course being, proving to her that what you say is true... And that's not even considering the fact that we don't know what this could mean for your abilities."

Blinking confused, Takemichi looked at Naoto lost. "What do you mean?"

"By telling me and saving me from dying, you and I somehow set up a system for your powers to leap back and forth in time... who's to say what will happen, if you tell Mei-nee?"

Takemichi's stomach curled as he found himself sitting on the ground holding his knees close to his chest as he took all of this in. "You mean... We could accidentally change the whole way my power works, and screw not only ourselves, but Hina, Akkun, Draken, and Meimei over."

Naoto nodded sadly as he picked back up the documents he'd been looking over, "That is a risk... While I'd still vote against telling anyone else in the past what's going on... I wouldn't fault you if you tried seeking out support from your sister. Just... be careful if you do."

"Okay..." Takemichi could only nod at this solemnly, as he became lost in thought. 'Damn it, does this mean it's a no-go...? There's a lot we don't know about this power of mine, and we still don't know about how to save Draken so that Hina, Akkun, and Meimei won't die.' As his mind wandered to their reunion in the past and how she held him as he cried, his arms tighten around his leg. 'What should I do...?'

"Idiot!" He remembers Meiko shouting at him, releasing his ear after stepping in to protect him from Kiyomasa. Remembering how he froze as he looked up to see his sister's crying face. "We promised... To protect one another! How can we do that, if you keep hiding things from me!"

'Meimei...' He buried his face in his arms and knees, 'How do I keep our promise and still save you and everyone else.

'...'

Looking over his documents Naoto frowned as he put them back down. "Sendo is dead, so we won't be able to see Sano. In the end, the only way to save our sisters is to go back into the past and do something about Toman."

"So we're still stuck at the beginning... Huh?" Takemichi mumbled before sighing dejectedly. "If only Draken were alive..."

"Hmm...?" Naoto curiously hummed looking towards Takemichi.

"He was the No. 2 member a long time ago. "

"Are you talking about Ryuguji Ken?"

"Yeah." Takemichi nodded, "Have you found anything? About him or Meimei's connections to Toman outside Akkun?"

"In regards to your sister, no..." Naoto turned back to his computer and began to type away at it as Takemichi rose from the floor, "But... if we're talking about Ryuguji Ken... Then yes. Here's the newspaper from back then." Naoto stated as he pulled up the article and Takemichi came up to his side from behind. "On August 3rd, 2005, in the parking lot of Musashi Shrine in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo, fifty members of a biker gang had a brawl. A young man in his third year of middle school was beaten and stabbed in the abdomen, and later died the same day." Naoto explained solemnly, looking up to see Takemichi's face stricken in pure shock as he stared at the article. "A number of posts about the incident are still available. According to them... Because of the inner strife between the Mikey Faction and Draken Faction of Toman, Ryuguji died."

"Huh?" Takemichi blinked in shock, "Wait, hang on a sec! August 3rd is only two weeks away!"

"Correct, but twelve years ago."

"And what's this about a dispute between Mikey and Draken? There's gotta be some kind of mistake. That's absolutely impossible!" Takemichi tried to argue as Naoto stared at him contemplatively, "Draken-kun understands Mikey-kun more than anyone else! If Draken were still alive, I don't think Toman would have turned into such a horrible organization. Akkun said it too. That Mikey-kun changed when Draken died."

"So you're saying there's more to it?" Naoto asked as Takemichi became nervous.

"Huh? I-I dunno..." He nervously admitted but remained determined thinking of how the pair of Mikey and Draken were like before he'd left. "I just know that this isn't possible!"

"But it's indeed a fact that Ryuguji died that day." Naoto thought aloud, biting his thumb, "... It's also true." Takemichi stared at the younger man in shock, "That Toman's descent into evil was caused by 'Kisaki' becoming No. 2." He admitted, recalling how his research over the past few days showed most of Toman's shadier and more corrupt business began around the time of Draken's death and Kisaki's entering of the organization

"Then... You agree there has to be more to it?" Takemichi nervously asked as Naoto frowned.

"Let's look into it more." Naoto finally nodded, "Today is July 19th. We have two weeks. We need to find out how he died, and then, on August 3rd, you'll save Ryuguji Ken. That is your mission this time." Naoto explained as he broke down what they knew, "Sano Manjiro apparently changed after Ryuguji's death. Sendo Atsushi committed suicide because he feared Kisaki Tetta. Hanagaki Meiko, your sister, seemed to have some form of bonds to Toman through Sendo Atsushi, but others could have been in place such as with the unknown lover of hers. And possibly either for that reason or simply Toman becoming so brutal and evil, they killed Tachibana Hinata, my sister, alongside yours." Rising from his seat, Naoto met Takemichi's gaze with his own determined one, "If this mission is successful, we should be able to save all of them."

"Draken, Akkun, Meimei... and Hina."

"Yes." Naoto nodded, smiling hopefully.

"That's the perfect solution, then!" Takemichi smiled back determinedly, holding out his hand. "I'm going to save Draken, no matter what!"

"I'm counting on you!" Naoto clasped Takemichi's hand with a determined look in return. The world vanished around Takemichi then, body slumping into Naoto's arms, as the man returned to the past. "... Good luck."

July 19th, 2005 Takemichi

'Hmm...?' Takemichi felt himself slowly seem to wake, 'It's dark... I can't see sh–' He almost groggily thought, 'Something's really heavy... Is someone sitting on top of me?' He wondered as his vision slowly started to adjust to the dark. 'Huh?' His eyes widened, and his heart began to race as the half-naked form of a girl he did not recognize, sitting atop of him finally came into focus. "Eh?"

"No kissing!" The blonde, golden-eyed girl seemed to seductively whisper as Takemichi struggled to wrap his head around what was going on.

'Huh?!' His mind began to race and become dizzy as he became a blushing mess, 'What the?! What the hell is going on?! What's this development?! No kissing?! Exactly what else is on the menu, then?!' He panickedly thought, shaking in place, as he tried to take what little information he got from first waking up in the past into mind. 'I'm at a karaoke bar, with a big-breasted half-naked girl that I don't know on top of me!?' The room's phone rang, and both his and the girl's attention were pulled to it. He almost sighed in relief as she got off, watching as she walked towards the wall phone and picked it up.

"..." He watched her silently listen to the other line, as he realized this would be his only chance. "Sure. Could you add another 30 minutes?" She turned to smile at the place Takemichi last sat in, "Want anything to drink?" She blinked a few times realizing she was now alone, "Huh?"

Running out of the Karaoke bar and onto the streets, Takemichi's mouth flew open, "WHAAAAAA!" He panickedly and anxiously screamed as he ran through the streets. 'What the hell!? What's going on!?' He screamed mentally, continuing to scream and yell as he ran until he was so out of breath he had to stop before a convenience store to catch his breath. 'My past life changed! A forever-alone virgin like me somehow ended up at a karaoke with that cutie?' His stomach twisted into knots as he realized something, 'DID PAST ME ALMOST CHEAT ON HINA?!' He began to shake as the image of Hina's glaring and distraught face, and his sister angrily glaring down at him with disgust flashed through his mind

"Takemichi-kun, how could you?!" Imaginary Hina shouted, as his imaginary sister cracked her knuckles.

"Disgusting, I can't believe I'm related to you. You sick cheating pervert, go die!"

He almost cried at his own imagination, "I can never tell Hina and Meimei about this! I need to make sure the two never find out." He determinedly thought aloud to himself as he looked to the sky.

"Find out what?" Takemichi screamed bloody murder, as his beloved girlfriend Hina now innocently stood behind him. "Hmm?"

"Hina!" His heart raced in his chest, he looked nervously around now expecting his sister to appear as well as Hina tilted her head confusedly at the boy's sweating and nervous figure. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?!"

She frowned, realizing something must be wrong, "I'm on my way home from cram school." She explained, giving the boy the same scolding glare Takemichi noted Naoto and her shared. "What are you doing, Takemichi-kun?"

"Um," He jumped to face her fully. "I was just..." He quieted when she brought her face closer up to his, almost glaring. "Wh-what? Is there something on my face?" He stuttered touching his face in hopes he felt nothing like lip gloss or even lipstick.

"Hmph!" She looked away and turned away from him frowning with her arms crossed.

'D-don't tell me...' His mind flashed to the half-naked girl from the Karaoke, 'Does she already know?!' He panickedly thought, becoming a stuttering mess as he tried to explain himself. "E-er, about that... I don't really remember what happened."

"What are you talking about?" Hina frowned not knowing what the boy was talking about. "Takemichi-kun, you've been acting weird lately."

"Huh?"

"Mei-senpai and I talked a bit about it." Her mind wandered to Meiko apologizing to her at school not that long ago, a nervous look of concern on her face as she tried to ask Hina to give her brother sometime after the fireworks incident at her home.

"He just has something on his mind." Meiko tried to explain, "I don't really know much about it... But we had a talk so hopefully, he'll open up to at least one of us soon..." She'd bowed and Hina had felt embarrassed as she waved her arms panickedly at the girl's apology. "Please don't feel obligated to accept this excuse, I just thought... That I should try to step in as both your friend and his older sister to explain what I could."

"Mei-senapi..." Hina could not help but stare in shock at the older girl's actions.

It caused her to frown as she muttered aloud, "Today, you're the adult Takemichi-kun."

"Huh?"

Turning her back to the boy she muttered, "The night we were watching the fireworks from my roof, you suddenly panicked and went home without a word. Mei-senpai had to go right after you, and then you've been cold to me at school." She glared at the open space before her when she heard the surprised gasp from Takemichi. "Mei-senpai... She even apologized on your behalf saying something was on your mind... And yet, today you have that gentle expression."

Takemichi was left in shock at this as he realized what Hina was saying, 'That's right. Whenever I go back to the present, the me that's here in the past has no idea what's going on.'

"No Kissing!"

His mind recalled once again, the girl from the Karaoke, and he angrily twitched at his past self. 'How the hell did I end up in that situation, though?' He smacked his head a few times frustratedly, 'You're such a fool, past me! Meimei raised us better than this!' Suddenly his phone began to go off.

"Takemichi-kun, your phone's ringing." Hina pointed out, surprised as she realized that the boy had somehow drowned out the ringing.

"Huh? Oh...!" Opening the phone his eyes widened as he read the caller's idea. "Oh, it's Draken-kun." He paused for a second, 'Wait... when did I get his number?' Picking up the phone he pulled it close to his ear. "Hello?"

"Takemitchy? What're you doing right now?"

"Huh? Well, I'm–"

"Well whatever! Head over to Musashi Shrine on the Tama River. We're getting everyone together." Draken ordered as Takemichi had moved to look over at Hina.

"Huh? Now's not the best–" He tried to excuse himself, as he didn't want to end things off badly with the girl he loved, but Draken had hung up. Takemichi pulled the phone away and stared down at the device a bit annoyed, he twitched and sighed through his nose before pointing to the device as he called out to his girlfriend apologetically. "Hina, sorry. Draken-kun wants to see me."

At this Hina turned to Takemichi smiling, "Then I guess I'm going with you."

"Seriously...?"

July 19th, 2005 Emma

"Thank you come again!" The karaoke front desk employee bowed as Emma exited the place pouting. Aggressively tieing her school's sweater around her waist, she began to walk away from the building.

"What a waste of time." She huffed, glaring down at the ground as she left the district. "I thought for sure, I could use that wussy-looking boy to make Draken jealous..." She thought aloud, huffing to herself, her mind wandering to how she ended up meeting Takemichi.

She'd come to this part of town straight after school with a plan. Dressed still in her school uniform, she made sure to pop a few buttons off the front of her shirt, tousled her hair a bit more, and applied an extra sheen of lip gloss over her lips. She was a girl on a mission, that mission...

'Operation become a Woman and make Draken jealous is a go!' She nodded to herself as she began to scout out potential... partners, for her plan. Honey gold eyes moving between the different options that walked by, 'Too old... to ugly... ew, what is with his hair... nope... no... no... snore-fest. No. Ugh... . no, too clingy. Too dull. Too loud! Too cocky... Not tall enough... No, no, no, no. Ugh!'

She almost slammed her head against a wall as a good few hours passed, but nothing came of her scouting. Some boys, and even men, would come up to her and flirt... but Emma's gut would curl up in disgust, or they would just bore her to death making her leave. 'Am I being too picky...?' She shook her head aggressively, 'No! No! Of course, I'm not, if I don't find a guy believable enough for me to hook up with Draken's never gonna get jealous and I'll have wasted my virginity for nothing!' She mentally groaned as she curled up into a crouching fetal position off to the side of the street. 'DAMN YOU DRAKEN, YOU'VE MADE MY STANDARDS TOO HIGH!' She cursed her crush. 'I'm never gonna find a guy half as good as you!'

"Hey, miss." Looking up, Emma was met with the concerned gaze of the past Takemichi. Unaware of who the boy was, let alone the slight connection the two shared through the boy's sister. As she stared innocently up into his deep blue eyes as he innocently tilted his head. "You okay?" The boy asked, genuinely concerned. Emma blinked in surprise as she realized that his gaze was directly focused at her eyes and nowhere else. He held out his hand, "Do you need help?"

She blinked a few times as for a split second the image of her friend Meiko's concerned gaze overlapped with the boys. Shaking her head, she took the boy's hand and let him help her back up. "I'm fine..." She lied, and blinked a few more times, as she noted the boy's touch to be gentle. She watched as he quickly released her hand as soon as he was sure she was okay standing.

"You sure...?" Takemichi asked, "You looked a bit upset. Di-did something happen?" He got an angry, determined face, "Did some guys mess with you?"

Emma snorted at this, 'Guys mess with me... Yeah right.' She thought. She was the sister of the Invincible Mikey for Pete's sake, the Commander of Toman, the very gang that basically controlled Shibuya. If any idiots tried forcing themselves on her, any Toman who knew who she was would automatically come after them, not to mention if her brother or Draken found out. Let alone what she herself would do, if she felt threatened. Emma may not have actively been a fighter like her older brothers before her, or their friends, but her grandfather made sure that she was far from helpless.

'Still...' She thought, staring at the young Takemichi before her, noting how he didn't seem to be focusing on her looks as he prioritized her well-being. 'It's nice to see someone who doesn't know, actually care...' She thought, 'In fact...' She suppressed her urge to smirk, as she began to look down dejectedly. "N-no... No guys tried... that. I just... I'm just struggling with a broken heart right now." She pretended to stutter, watching the boy nod relieved before frowning.

"I see that's good... Ah! I mean it's good no guy tried anything bad! Not the broken heart thing, I can't believe a cute girl like you could have her heart broken like that!"

Emma slowly smirked, as she watched the nervous past Takemichi ramble and struggled to talk to her. 'Bingo~'

Emma crossed her arms, annoyed and sighing over the memory. "Ugh! Stupid wussy boy running out on me! If he really didn't want to do anything then why the hell did he even go in with me to the karaoke room and go along with my flirting!" She huffed, confused by Takemichi's actions.

"I'm pretty sure I was being obvious with what I had in mind when I said for us to go in there... wasn't I...? Ugh! Well, I sure as hell got my point across when I stripped! Ugh!" She almost screamed before covering her face with her hands to lean against another convenience store's wall dejectedly.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! This was a waste of time... I shouldn't have done this." She growled, feeling the urge to cry, "I don't want some wussy boy I can easily push around, or some cocky hotshot who thinks he can get in my pants..." She whimpered as the urge to cry grew greater. "I just want you to notice me, Draken..."

"Hmm, but I thought it was pretty obvious that he did." A familiar female voice said up close to Emma's ear, making the blonde-haired girl scream and jump. As she turned around to find a concerned Meiko and confused Yayoi coming out of the convenience store she had come to stand outside of.

"Mei-chan! Yai-chan!"

"Hello~!" Meiko waved with her only free hand, as she carried a small convenience store bag in her other filled with some sweets and a drink. "Sorry to scare ya."

"Yo." Yayoi greeted from around her candy cigarettes, hands occupied by a can of Coffee and a bookstore bag full of textbooks.

"Mei-chan, Yai-chan..." Emma sighed in relief with her hand clutched over her racing heart, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Meiko gestured to Yayoi as the girl held up her bag, "Well there was a flash sale happening in a bookstore nearby that Yai likes. She had cram school today, so I went and got them for her till she got out." She explained.

"We met up here so I could pay her back, and get myself some brain food," Yayoi explained, shaking her can of coffee and candy cigarettes, as Meiko hummed.

"Yep."

"I see." Emma smiled, "That's nice."

Yayoi sighed in relief, smiling, "Tell me about it. I've been waiting to get these mangas and high school cram books for weeks now. Thank god for sales!"

"Hey!" Meiko deadpanned, "I was the one who went and got them."

Yayoi happily nodded, bumping her shoulder into Meiko's, "And I will forever be grateful."

"Damn right you will," Meiko smirked, and Emma could not help feel at peace now that she had the two girls to help distract her from her woes.

"So, Em-chan. How's it going? Is everything okay with you and Draken?" Meiko concernedly asked, accidentally bringing back up the very thing that had had Emma upset. "Ah!" Meiko became slightly panicked as she noticed Emma's face become flushed, and her cheeks puff out upset. "... That bad?"

Emma couldn't help but look away embarrassed, "I don't wanna talk about it!"

"Oh, sweety." Meiko frowned, Yayoi winced sympathetically.

"Ouch. That bad?" Meiko smacked her, "Ow!" Yayoi winced, rubbing her arm. "What'd I say?" Yayoi gasped as Meiko sent her firm glare.

"There, there sweety. It's alright!" Meiko cooed, pulling Emma close, "There's no need to be embarrassed, I'm sure whatever it is that's got you upset will be okay."

Letting herself be pulled into the older girl's arms, Emma continued to pout embarrassed. "...Really?"

"Of course." Meiko nodded, holding Emma closer.

"Even if... it's sorta my fault?" Emma muttered, trying to figure out what she would do now that her original plans had been derailed.

Meiko stopped caressing the girl's head as she recognized the tone of voice Emma had taken. "Oh Emma-chan what did you do?" The tone of a child who'd just gotten into trouble.

Emma winced, realizing Meiko had quickly picked up on her guilt. "Well..." She began to open her mouth reluctantly preparing to recount her ordeal, she sighed in relief when her cell phone suddenly went off. 'Oh thank God!' She thought, pulling away from the dark-haired teen's arms to pull out the phone from the pocket of her skirt. "Oh~ Will you look at that, it's Mikey! Better pick this up! I'mma just take this right over there."

Meiko sent Emma a familiar disappointed sisterly glare, "We are not done with this talk Emma-chan." She watched Emma walk away slightly to take her call, Meiko's hands firmly on her hips as she stared the teen down.

"Has anyone ever told you you're very motherly? Even in a scary way at times." Yayoi boldly proclaimed, causing Meiko to send her redheaded friend a glare. "..." Blinking a few times Yayoi decided to loudly sip from her canned coffee and partially turn away from the Hanagaki sister's glare. 'This only proves my point.'

"Yes, Mikey?" Emma greeted, as she heard Draken speaking in the background of her brother's call.

"Oi Emma, where are you?" Mikey asked as he watched Draken talk on the phone with Takemichi.

Raising a brow at this Emma looked up and around, taking note of hers, Meiko's, and Yayoi's current location. "I'm with Yai-chan and Mei-chan a few blocks out from Musashi Shrine at a convenience store. Why?"

"Ah! Ei-chan's with you! That's perfect!" Mikey exclaimed, making Emma hum curiously as she looked back at Meiko to find her glaring at a deadpanned Yayoi. "Oi, Ken-chin! Don't bother asking Takemitchy about Ei-chan or calling her. She's with Emma." Mikey shouted on the other end of his call towards Draken, receiving only a thumbs up from the taller male.

'Interesting...' Emma thought, realizing her brother had planned to contact the dark-haired girl with her.

"So Emma, we're getting everyone together for an important meeting at the shrine. Can you come over with Ei-chan and Yaichi?" Mikey asked as Emma blinked in shock.

"Huh? A meeting at the shrine, haven't you guys already had your meeting for this month?" She asked, confused, and froze when her brother suddenly began to speak to her seriously.

"Yeah... But this meeting has to do with what happened a few nights back with Pah."

Emma's stomach dropped, at this remembering the night her brother spoke of, for it was the night they had all come back from their supposed perfect day on the beach.

"We really should do this again sometime." Meiko laughed, hugging Emma goodbye for the night, "And I don't just mean the two of us." She winked over to the guys making Baji laugh.

"If you're as fun here as you were on the beach then I'm game." He looked to Yayoi then as she and Chifuyu seemed to be talking.

"So yeah, Nana is my–"

"Especially you Yaichi!"

"Huh?" Yayoi blinked and looked at the long-haired teen confused, "Say what now–?"

Baji grinned at her, "I'm saying don't be a stranger, next time we meet. Me and Chifuyu will show you a great place to get some good Yakisoba around these parts, kay. You were actually pretty fun to blow up shit with... even if you were bossy."

Yayoi stared at the male deadpanned, "I'm sorry but why does that feel like it was both a backhanded insult and a compliment. "

Chifuyu nervously laughed from beside the older girl, "Knowing Baji-san it may very well be both."

Suddenly Pah's phone went off in the middle of his conversation with Mitsuya and Peh. "Hmm... Hold on guys, let me take this." He turned and answered the call. "Pah-chin speaking, what's up? ..."

"So Ei..." Draken nodded, as he and Mikey walked over after having their own private conversation towards Meiko and Emma, "Is Yai going back home with you, or do we need one of the guys to take her home?"

"Oh, well... We'll have to ask her–" Meiko began to say until Pah's rage-filled yell cut her off.

"WAIT SAY THAT AGAIN!?" The whole group turned to look at the bulky male, "... WHAT HOSPITAL? ... Uhuh... Uhuh... I'll be right there man!" Pah turned to Peh fuming, "Peh-yan! We gotta go!"

"Huh?!" Peh exclaimed in shock, noting the agitated and concerned mood that had overtaken his captain, "What's happened?"

"I'll tell you on the way!"

"Pah, what's wrong?" Mikey concernedly called out towards the scared teen, as the whole of the males all looked at Pah ready to jump to his aid if need be.

"Don't really know yet!" Pah growled angrily, "But a friend of mine just called, something bad happened Mikey. I gotta go see him."

"I see." Mikey muttered seriously as Draken frowned from his side.

"Pah..."

"You want us to come with you?" Baji asked frowning, watching as the male only shook his head.

"Yeah man, you know we don't mind coming to back you up." Mitsuya nodded in agreement, stepping up.

"Nah, you guys get Emma and the girls back home safe." He glared in the girl's direction, but everyone could tell from the flash of concern in his eyes that the glare was the farthest thing from hostile. "Please..." He mounted his bike with Peh.

"Pah, wait!" Mikey shouted out, "Once you know what's up–"

"I'll let you know." Pah finished nodding, "Don't worry guys, I will."

"Pah-chin!" Emma concernedly called out, as Meiko and Yayoi stared at the boy with concern. "Whatever happened... I hope that your friend's okay."

Pah smiled awkwardly, "Thanks, Emma."

"Me too!" Meiko joined in, "Whatever happened... I hope it's nothing serious."

"Same. Please be careful." Yayoi nodded, noting how angry the boy seemed, and worrying about what that would mean for his ability to handle his motorcycle.

Pah blushed slightly at this and looked away, "Thanks Ei... Yaichi..." He looked back at the group and gave them a final nod. "I'll call you later Mikey."

Covering the receiver Emma turned her back to Meiko and Yayoi, "Is it serious?"

"Yeah... That's why we're having the meeting. You gonna be okay to come with Ei-chan and Yaichi?"

Emma frowned, "Let me just ask..." She turned back to Meiko and Yayoi, "Mei-chan, Yai-chan!"

The two girls turned back to Emma, "Yeah. Everything okay?" Meiko asked as Emma frowned slightly.

"Yeah... Just... Would you guys be okay coming with me to a gathering at the Musashi Shrine?"

"The Musashi shrine?" Yayoi muttered, "Wait, isn't that the shrine where we met up for the beach?"

Meiko frowned, crossing her arms, "I take it this is Toman related?" Emma nodded, "... Does it... have anything to do with Pah-chin?" Emma nodded again, watching as Meiko and Yayoi turned to each other silently for a bit before nodding. "Sure, I've been wondering about Pah-chin since we last saw him."

"Same." Yayoi agreed, crossing her arms. "The way things ended left a sick feeling in my gut."

"Okay then." Emma nodded, "We're good Mikey, we can meet you there."

"Great." Mikey nodded, "Make sure to stick together though, and if anything happens–"

"I'll call you or Draken." Emma sighed rolling her eyes, "I know Mikey, I know. We'll see you in a bit... Tell Draken 'hi' for me."

"Sure... Sure..." Mikey hummed, before smirking mischievously and shouting to Draken as he waited for Mikey. "Oi! Ken-chin! Emma says she loves you!"

Emma's face exploded red, "MIKEY!"

Draken only glared and shook his head at his friend as he came up to him, "Give me that!" He ripped the phone from the snickering blonde's hands, "I swear one of these days she's gonna kill you for making jokes like that!" Draken scolded and Emma, blushing face, turned deadpanned as she heard the older boy's words.

'But it's not a joke!' She angrily thought, wondering just what the hell she needed to do to get him to see her feelings for him.

"Everything alright?" Meiko asked as she came up to Emma's side.

"Yeah..." Emma muttered as Meiko frowned at the obvious lie.

"You good Emma?" Draken spoke from over the line once he finished scolding her brother.

"Yeah..." She lied through her teeth, yet again. "I just... wanted stupid Mikey to tell you Hi, and that Mei-chan and Yai-chan would be seeing you soon."

Draken nodded at this noting the slight tension in her voice, "Alright... I'll see you soon then. Be safe, okay."

Her anger simmered down at his final words, and her stomach fluttered with butterflies. "Yeah... see you soon."

Meiko stared at Emma for a few seconds, contemplating if she should ruin her friend's now brightened mood."... What did Mikey do?" Her curiosity got the better of her.

Mood darkening Emma shook in place, "I'mma kill him."

Meiko winced, "That bad huh?"

Looking between the two girls Yayoi decided to lighten the mood up again, "I know how to hide a dead body and get rid of evidence if you need help." Meiko and Emma slowly turned to look at the deadpanned Yayoi. "What...? I watch a lot of true crime stories!"

"Remind me to not let you anymore." Meiko deadpanned as Yayoi threw her arms up.

"Well remind me not to remind you!" Yayoi shot back, leading to the two girls bantering over the shows they watch, and Emma could not help but giggle at this. The tension she had been feeling all day slowly faded away as she led the two older girls to the shrine.

July 19th, 2005 Takemichi

After asking and looking for some directions for the shrine Draken had told him to meet them at, the young couple walked in a brisk yet peaceful silence. As they walked, the pair would brush up against one another every now and again.

"Takemichi-kun..." Hina began deciding to finally end the silence, "What do you consider important?"

"Huh? Important? Uh..." Takemichi asked, humming to himself as he tried to think it over.

"For me, it's times like this." Hina explained, "We don't even need to do anything. Just the two of us walking together. Talking about nothing important. Just being able to spend time with you." Takemichi had almost slowed down fully to a stop from the shock he felt hearing his girlfriend's words to him, as she turned back to smile at him his heart both skipped a beat and clinched in regret. "I hope I get to spend even more time like this with you!"

'Time... That's right.' Takemichi thought, staring at the girl he loves, 'What's important to me is...' The image of his sister's teasing smile and scolding frown flashed through his mind, Akkun and the guys goofing around flashed through his mind as he stared at the smiling girl. ' Is all of them...' He thought.

"No kissing!"

He cringed at the memory of the girl from the karaoke flashed through his mind. 'I don't know what's going on with my past self... But I...' Hesitantly reaching out his hand, he struggled to grab onto Hina's hand. 'I hope he realizes how important everyone is cause–'

"On August 3rd, save Ryuguji Ken. That's your mission this time."

"You." Yayoi pointed to him, "Know this boy now man... In fact, you and her befriended him around the same time. That's my hint."

Pulling his hand back he clenched it into a fist as the future Naoto and Yayoi's words entered his mind once more. 'Cause in order to save Hina and Meimei, I have to identify the reason for Draken's death two weeks from now, and save him!' Takemichi determinedly thought as he and Hina stopped at the bottom of the shrine's steps, 'I need to find out the reason.'

"You guys are meeting here?" Hina curiously asked, blinking a few times as she noticed Takemichi's face set in a determined glare of deep thought before he snapped out of it to nervously smile at her.

"Yeah..." He nodded, and Hina could not help but quietly remember once more what Meiko had told her recently.

"He just has something on his mind." Meiko tried to explain, "I don't really know much about it... But we had a talk so hopefully, he'll open up to at least one of us soon..."

'Could the face Takemichi-kun was making right now, have anything to do with what Mei-nee was talking about?' Hina quietly wondered as she tried to take note of all the strangeness that had been going around with her boyfriend as of late.

Suddenly the loud noise of multiple vehicles began to fill the night air, and as the two teens turned to look down the road they both paled and stepped closer to one another as many headlights flooded the road. A large group of bikers, all wearing the same black uniform, pulled into the large open space at the bottom of the shrine's steps. Takemichi subconsciously placed Hina firmly behind him protectively as the girl nervously peeked over his shoulder at the many gang members starting to park their bikes. "...A-are you sure it's here?" Hina nervously stuttered as Takemichi stared at the gang members even more nervously and pale.

"Y-yeah."

"They look really scary. Should we call Mei-nee?" Hina nervously asked, slowly bringing out her phone to call up the older Hanagaki sibling as Takemichi shook his head.

"D-don't worry. I'm here." Takemichi tried to confidently say, "Just don't stare at them." He muttered quietly trying to follow his own advice as his heart raced through his chest. 'Who wears biker gang outfits nowadays? And there are so many of them...' Takemichi thought, wondering just who these guys were let alone where Draken and possibly Mikey were if they were supposed to meet here.

"Hey!" A random gangster shouted, causing the two teens to jump in fear as their heads whip to see a taller male angrily marching up towards them. "Who the hell d'you think yer starin' at, huh?! Scram!" Takemichi paled, feeling himself sweat bullets as the older-looking male came up to his face. "What the hell's your problem?!"

"I'll murder you!" Another gang member added coming up to back his pal.

Not knowing what else to do, Takemichi tried to explain himself. "E-er, I was just invited here, and–"

"What?!" The taller original one yelled, cutting the stuttering Takemichi off. "You got any idea where you are, punk?!" He harshly grabbed at the front of Takemichi's school shirt, almost choking the poor male, much to Hina's horror and concern.

'Takemichi-kun...!' Her hand once more reached for her cell phone, 'Should I... should I try calling Mei-nee?'

"M-Musashi Shrine..."

"Who the hell would invite a pissant like you to a Toman gathering, huh?!"

"Violence is wrong!" Hina finally shouted as she watched her boyfriend be shaken. 'But we just might need it, I need to–'

Hearing the girl's yell, Mitsuya looked up from talking with his second in command to see Takemichi being shaken by some of Toman's guys with Hina close behind. His eyes narrowed for a split second before going wide, "Hang on... isn't that–"

Meiko and Yayoi cooed at the image of Mitsuya's younger twin sisters in his phone. "They're so cute!" Meiko squealed. "Twins! Yai look, they're twins! They're so adorable! It's double the cuteness!

"You mean double the trouble." Yayoi jokes as Emma laughs from close by.

"They're honestly not that bad, I'd argue Mikey's worse." Draken snorted and nodded in agreement.

"Most kids are better behaved compared to Mikey."

"Rude!" Mikey almost shouted, muffled by the food in his mouth as Draken smacked the boy behind his back.

"Chew, swallow, then talk dumbass!"

"Ah~" Meiko couldn't help but continue to squeal, "But they're just too cute~ I wish Michi was still so small and adorable!"

"I take it Ei likes kids." Baji boldly noted as Yayoi nodded to him.

"Girl's a sucker for the tiny crotch goblins," Yayoi muttered as Meiko sent her a teasing grin.

"Oh please, I'm not the only one. Yai's literally a kid magnet as much as she likes to keep a resting bitch face to keep people away. Kids are just naturally drawn to her, her grandmother has to use her to calm kids down when parents bring them in for checkups."

"I still don't get how that works!" Yai darkly muttered as Pah and Peh could only stare at the redhead in awe.

"So cool!"

"So is she a child-whisperer?"

"That's not a thing!"

"I take it your brother is close to our age then?" Mitsuya asked Meiko, as she nodded.

"Yeah, technically we're Irish twins."

"Irish twins?" Chifuyu asked as Pah looked up from his food.

"Their Irish?"

"Whoa~" Peh stared in awe as Meiko giggled at the boy's stupidity.

"No, no. They're not literally Irish." Yayoi shook her head. "Irish twins just refers to the phenomena of when a mom has her kids in the span of twelve or less months apart."

"Yep!" Meiko happily nodded, "In the case of Michi and me, we're exactly one whole year apart."

"Whoa!" Peh shouted, "I never knew babies could be born so close together... Or would it be far apart?"

"Yes." Meiko and Yayoi said in unison. "Jinx!"

"So does this mean the two of you share a birthday?" Chifuyu asked as Meiko nodded.

"Yep." She cheerfully admitted before going deadpanned as she muttered, "He still owes me my first birthday."

"You really are never gonna let him live that down aren't ya?" Yayoi deadpanned in return as Meiko threw her arms in the air.

"Never!" She shouted before pulling out her cell phone and showing it to Mitsuya, "I mean look at this majestic cry baby bitch! The fucking audacity! Worst first birthday present ever!" Meiko pouted, causing Mitsuya to snort as he realized she was just joking as she insulted the boy in the picture she showed him. Looking at the image of the blonde-haired Takemichi being easily pinned down by Meiko on the beach as some of their guy friends cheered and laughed around them.

"Takemitchy!" Mitsuya called out, catching the four teens' attention as they all turned to him confused.

"Y-yes..." Takemichi stuttered, confused at who this new stranger was that seemed to know him.

At this confirmation, Mitsuya felt his eyes twitch in annoyance as he walked over to the group, "What're you scarin' the commander's guest for?" He angrily said, kicking the idiot who still held Takemichi even after he had called out the boy's name, and watched the boy be released.

"T-terribly sorry, sir!" They scrambled away.

Takemichi's hand flew to his chest as he coughed and gasped a few times from the rough treatment he'd experienced. "Are you okay, Takemichi-kun?" Hina concernedly asked, hand hesitantly coming up to try and touch the boy's neck, only to stop when he finally calmed his coughing fits down and smiled at her.

"Yeah."

'So this is Takemitchy...' Mitsuya thought, 'I wonder how he caught Mikey's attention.' He wondered as he tried comparing the two Hanagaki siblings in his mind. 'Not the time.' He shook his head with a sigh, "Come with me."

"Huh?" Takemichi watched the silver begin to walk away, "Uh, sure..." His eyes became wide though as he realized something, 'Wait! He's one of the guys from the picture!' He thought, his mind flashing to the beach photo from the adult Yayoi's office, 'C-could this guy be–' He started to pale wondering if this was possible the person the adult Yayoi talked of being his sister's future lover. That was until a slight rumbling of a stationary motorcycle caught his ear and stopped his mind from wandering further into conspiracies. Looking up he was met with the smiling figure of Mikey dressed like the Commander of Toman he was, and sitting atop a bike.

"Heya, Takemitchy." Takemichi's eyes became wide, as the realization slowly sunk in. "Sorry for inviting you here out of the blue."

'All of them...' Takemichi's eyes wander, catching sight of Baji grinning at Chifuyu whose back faced Takemichi's. To Peh and Pah looking over towards him with stiff glare, to Mitsuya and Draken proudly standing on either side of Mikey. 'All those guys were a part of Toman! Mei-nee what did you do?!' Takemichi panickedly thought, staring at the teens.

Draken frowned as he looked towards Takemichi and noted the nervous Hina sticking close by to her boyfriend in shock. "Why'd you bring your wifey here?"

"Ah, sorry." Takemichi quickly responded, snapping out of his shocked thoughts, "I had no idea it'd be like this." He admitted scratching the back of his head, as Draken walked over to them.

"Guess that can't be helped. Hina-chan..." He smiled and bent down slightly to better accommodate for the smaller girl's stature. "Sorry for scaring you the other day."

"Oh," Hina almost laughed nervously, recalling her first meeting with these two boys. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." She smiled in return, realizing she and Draken had never apologized the same way she and Mikey had. "Also, I'm sorry, too."

"It's fine." Draken simply politely waved off before giving Takemichi a smirk, "Gotta surprise for you by the way."

"Huh?" Takemichi blinked a few times, confused as Draken looked away.

"Oi, Emma, Ei, Yai!"

"Mei-nee!" Takemichi all but exclaimed in shock as he and Hina's gaze turned towards the direction Draken was shouting towards. 'Huh?! Why is she here too?'

"Yahoo~" Meiko greeted walking towards her brother and Hina smiling with Yayoi nervously close by. "Good to see you two together again, Michi."

"Senpai?!" Hina gasped as Yayoi waved to the two.

"Ello~"

It was the girl who came up behind the two older girls though, that had Takemichi freezing in place though in shock. "Yeah?" Emma boredly replied looking off to the side as she knew Draken would have only called for if he needed her.

"This is Ei's brother, Takemitchy," Draken stated, pointing to Takemichi, "and his wifey, so make sure you protect her."

"Oi, oi!" Meiko huffed glaring up at Draken, "Don't just shift my brother's responsibilities to Hina off on Emma-chan." Meiko crossed her arms, "If you want someone to watch her, then I'll do it." She tried to argue as Emma finally came up to her side.

"Roger." Emma nonetheless agreed with a sigh, moving her curious gaze to see her friend's supposed beloved stupid brother, and froze as she realized who it was. "Huh?"

'It's him!'

'It's her!'

The two teens thought at once as Meiko gestured to Takemichi smiling at Emma, "Emma-chan I'd like you to meet–"

Emma suddenly smiled brightly and waved to the fake blonde, "Yo, wussy boy!" She flirtatiously called out, quietly thinking to herself. 'I have no other choice! If I'm going down, you'll be coming down with me wussy!'

Takemichi's jaw dropped.

Yayoi's eyes became wide as she stared between the two teens. "Oh..."

Hina twitched a bit annoyed, noting how this obviously attractive female both not only knew, but seemed to be openly flirting with her boyfriend with her tone of voice. "Why is she calling you 'wussy boy'?"

"What?" Draken and Meiko both seemed to frown looking towards their respective teens.

"You know Emma?"

"You know Michi?"

Both Draken and Meiko respectively asked the teen standing next to them, as Takemichi's frightened and nervous gaze now snapped towards his sister's surprised one, before snapping towards his quietly fuming girlfriend. "Y-you've got the wrong idea, Hina!" He turned to Draken and his sister both as the pair now stared him down with open glares. "Draken-kun, Mei-nee, I don't remember a thing that happened!"

Yayoi facepalmed at the boy's stuttering excuse, "Ay ve, I can't believe this. What is this? A telenovela!" She quietly muttered, as snuck a glance between the teens. "... Actually, now I can't look away."

"Michi..." Meiko threatenly began, making Takemichi pale. "Did you fuck up?"

"Uh...I... uh... What even is fucking up–" Takemichi began to stutter out as his sister cut him off.

"Eeee!" Meiko shouted like a buzzer, already calling out his bullshit. As a dark aura seemed to cover her and Hina. "You fucked up!"

"He managed to get me down to my underwear, then ran away."

"Oh~ So you did something like that, huh?" Hina angrily shook as Takemichi tried to look at the two females as innocently as he could.

"You know, I'm not sure. I really don't remember!" He tried to explain eyes focusing on his possibly soon to be Ex as she cracked her neck, and knuckles. "Huh?! Hina-san?!"

Yayoi popped up behind her handing the angry teen a bat, "Here use this."

"Eap!" Takemichi flinched back, begging some form of god to save him.

"Hina-chan!" Hearing his sister's voice suddenly no longer with an angry tone, Takemichi almost cried looking towards her with a fuming Hina.

"Meimei!" He cried out hopeful, believing his sister might mercifully save him. 'I'm saved!'

Meiko stared at the teen with a disappointed deadpan stare, before smiling brightly and running her dumb across her neck execution style. "Give him a quick death!" She cheerfully said as Yayoi pulled out her phone from behind the smiling Meiko to take pictures.

"Say 'Dumbass.'" Yayoi boredly cooed as the remaining teens watched Hina release her anger against the boy while she took some pictures. "Oof, that's gotta hurt..."

"Where'd you even get the bat from?" Draken muttered, eyeing the beating Takemichi took, feeling equal parts impressed and concerned given how easily Hina seemed to be able to handle beating the boy.

Yayoi gestured casually to the gang still standing behind them, "Oh you know, I just... batted my eyes to someone and asked nicely." Meiko snickered from her friend's side and subtly high-fived her as Draken realized the pun she had made with a deadpan stare. "Why?"

"No reason." Draken twitched a few times at this, resisting the impulse to groan at the girl's joke, as he looked back at the group. "Just... needing to know for future reference."

Sighing annoyed, Meiko glared at the domestic dispute occurring between her brother and Hina, "God damn Baka-michi! I would be killing him myself if Hina-chan didn't have obvious dibs! I thought I raised him better than this!" She grounded out, dragging her hand down her face.

"To be fair, it is your fault he's so weak to girls," Yayoi muttered as Meiko sent her a glare.

"Teaching a boy to respect women, and to treat them as you'd wish to be treated and to never hit a girl unless absolutely necessary, does not mean I purposely raised a boy weak against girls!"

"Isn't that a contradiction?" Draken muttered as Meiko smirked at him viciously.

"Not when I'm a woman who knows how to kick most guys asses seven ways to hell and back it isn't."

"Women are just as capable as men at being abusive or violent pieces of shit." Yayoi nodded, as Emma seemed to hum in agreement. "But that's not what I meant. I mean the fact he obviously now has a fetish for girls that can obviously kick his ass." Yayoi pointed out as Hina threw the bat away huffing as she glared down at the boy.

"He does not." Meiko huffed, "He obviously just likes girls with a no-nonsense attitude and can still be nice and fun."

'Denial.' Yayoi, Draken, and Emma all thought before Draken sighed and turned to Emma.

"Oi!" She jumped, but Emma kept a practically cool face as she looked up at the much taller male.

"Yes, Draken?"

"Were you seriously just messing around with Takemitchy?" He asked, eyes narrowing, as Emma slightly shook inside under his critical gaze.

'Is this it?' She hopefully wondered, 'Is he finally going to notice me...' She turned to him and held her chin up high, "And if I was!" She boldly challenged playing with her hair, Yayoi and Meiko now focused on them as they looked between the two.

The two teens stared each other down for a good few seconds, Draken's eyes racking down Emma's body as if checking for signs of... something. Before settling on her eyes when he noticed nothing off. He took a glance to Takemichi as the boy now sat on his knees beaten as Hina stared him down, then to Meiko and Yayoi who both seemed to focus on Emma with contemplative looks of their own. Settling his gaze back onto Emma he finally took note of her tell, seeing a lack of proper pride or mirth in her gaze or posture. He felt his nerves calm as he realized nothing serious must have happened between the two. He clicked his tongue, "Tsk, whatever. Just be careful not to let Mikey find out."

"Wait seriously!" Yayoi almost seemed to snap, as the male began to walk away. "So wait. She just said she was in nothing but her underwear in front of Takemichi-kun. And all he has to say to this is 'don't let Mikey find out?' Shouldn't he be, I don't know... concerned about this?" Yayoi asked Meiko as the girl hummed unimpressed.

'Oh, definitely.' Meiko thought, frowning. 'But it seems he doesn't plan to show it.' She notes watching Draken walk away with a slight stiffness to his back before she glanced at Emma and noted how the girl's eyes flashed with hurt before a mask came into place as she redirected her gaze back to Takemichi and Hina. 'These two... have some serious communication problems.' Meiko sighed before also focusing her attention back onto the actual couple of their group.

"I'b sowwy. I won't do it again." Takemichi struggled to mutter out as Hina simply turned her back to him and began to walk away fuming.

"Jerk! I don't care!" She almost seemed to shout, almost close to tears of anger as she marched away.

Noting this, Meiko's heart clenched with concern. "Hina-chan! Wai–" Meiko called out, reaching out for the girl, but was stopped when Yayoi placed her hands over hers with a shake of her head.

"I'll go. I know you two are close, but I don't think she'd really like the sister of the idiot who just cheated on her." Yayoi sent Takemichi a disgusted look at this, before looking back to Meiko. "Coming to comfort her."

Meiko frowned a bit dejectedly, "... Yeah, you're right." Looking over at her almost crying brother, Meiko sighed through her nose, "And I guess I should make sure he's alright."

"Yeah... Yeah... You should..." Yayoi rolled her eyes without sympathy for the boy, "I'll just go help Hinata-chan calm down, while you–" She secretly gestured to Emma and Takemichi as the girl awkwardly came over to the beaten boy. "See what's going on there like the good big sister you are. I don't think Draken really took what Emma said as seriously as he should have." Yayoi frowned as Meiko nodded in agreement.

"Yeah... I know what you mean."

Looking down at the bowed and kneeling Takemichi, Emma winced internally, unsure what to say to the boy she just got beaten by his own girlfriend. Then again, he did follow her to the Karaoke room of his own accord... "Yikes... I'm surprised you went along with me when you've got a girl like that. Especially with Mei-chan as your big sister, I know I haven't known her for long, but I'm sorta surprised you took a swing at me now given the way she must have helped raise you."

Takemichi twitched at this, 'You and me both! Just what was my past self-thinking!'

"But don't get the wrong idea." Emma awkwardly muttered, catching the teen's full attention. "I don't like you or anything. You were just the easiest one to go along with..."

"Huh?" Takemichi looked up at the girl, surprised, noting a longing gaze off towards the distance.

"I just wanted to grow up faster and become an adult, that's all." Takemichi turned his gaze towards the direction she looked at frowning, "He won't even look at me." Emma quietly began to become upset, staring at Draken and her brother talking without a care in the world. "All he ever cares about is Mikey, bikes, and fighting." Her heart cracked as she looked down at the ground, "I thought he'd at least get a little angry."

'I see.' Takemichi thought, 'She was trying to make Draken-kun jealous... Yeah, I don't understand girls at all.' He sighed, just as Meiko joined the pair angrily.

"Sano Emma-chan!" Emma jumped and stood up straight in shock, "Hanagaki Takemichi-kun!" Takemichi did the same shrieking, the two teens staring at the glaring, crossed-armed Meiko, in shock as it then hit them. She had just heard everything Emma said. "... Everything that was just said... was it true?"

Takemichi shook in his place, "Ah... Ah... I-" He didn't know what to say.

Emma on the other hand frowned, embarrassed, and had to look away. After all, she had almost seduced and slept with her new friend's slightly younger brother without knowing. Emma's stomach twisted into knots now, realizing just why Takemichi's eyes and somewhat kind personality when they first met had first stood out for her.

"Well..." Meiko seriously said, "Did you guys really almost fool around just because you wanted to grow up?" Her eyes narrowed and Takemichi almost cried under his sister's disappointed gaze.

'It's just as bad as dad's!' He thought, as Emma looked at her feet.

"Maybe..." She quietly muttered upset, hands clenched into fists by her side as she thought. 'Why didn't Draken at least get sorta upset like this?'

Swallowing his own saliva, Takemichi bowed to his sister, "Mei-nee, I'm sorry! I really don't remember what happened?! I... I just..." He struggled to not panic and ramble, 'What do I say?! I can't just tell her I don't remember because I'm from the future– What do I do?!'

'Doesn't remember...' Meiko thought, 'Could this mean he had another–'

Having noted the near tear-like state Takemichi had taken from being under Meiko's harsh glare and even the honest confusion that continued to plague the boy since he suddenly blackout on her before waking up with her on top as she checked him, Emma felt her guilt overtake her and she bowed as well.

"It's my fault Meiko-chan!"

"Huh?" Takemichi's gaze snapped towards Emma in shock.

"I... I was the one who talked wussy boy– I mean Takemitchy–"

'It's Takemichi...' Takemichi wanted to cry, as it started to become apparent that almost no one called him by his actual name since he met Mikey.

"Into joining me for Karaoke to cheer me up." Standing up Emma looked into the older dark-haired teen's eyes and struggled to not fidget in place as she realized the girl's gaze was almost like that of a firm parent whose child had messed up. "I... I was just looking for a way to become a woman already, and get Draken's attention... Your brother was just the one I found the easiest to talk to, and to try to get what I want..."

"I see." Meiko frowned, walking up closer to the two teens. "And did anything... happen?"

"We didn't kiss... We didn't even really touch... I stripped without much warning after flirting between a few rounds of songs, but nothing happened before he ran." Emma admitted, looking away thinking. 'At this point, I wonder if the idiot even had any idea what I was trying to do now...'

Meiko looked between the two and sighed, pinching her nose, "Of course... I should have known my brother's inheritance of our mother's puppy dog eyed face–"

"Huh?" Takemichi blinked a few times, confused.

"Would somehow get him into trouble someday." Meiko sighed frustratedly, "These are the days I wish he got our father's resting bitch face like me."

The two younger siblings of their respective families turned to look at one another confused, 'She has a resting bitch face?' Suddenly the two were firmly, but not too harshly, smacked on their heads.

"Ah!"

"Ow!"

"What was that for?!" Emma angrily snapped, flinching when Meiko's finger and face came up close to hers.

"Obviously for being such dummies, ya dummies! Grow up faster? What bull! Emma-chan, you're thirteen. You shouldn't be rushing to grow up, especially not for a stupid guy! And you–" Her gaze snapped to Takemichi's making him yelp, "You're fourteen and have a girlfriend! What were you even thinking of going off with a girl randomly to a karaoke! I know you're not that oblivious about sex just cause your a cherry boy!" She almost shouted, making him blush, "I've seen the dirty mags Makoto and Yamagishi have stashed in your room. You should have known better!" He paled at this.

"You... You know about those?"

Meiko sent him an unimpressed glare, "I clean your room dumbass. Seriously neither of you should even be thinking about having sex..."

"But!" Emma jumped in, "The age of consent is–"

"Yes, yes, I know the age of consent." Meiko cut her off, covering her eyes "But that doesn't mean you have to go and have sex to make yourself an adult Emma-chan." Meiko moaned, "Look, I'm not your mom or dad, so I can't really tell you not to have sex if you want to." Secretly under her breath, Meiko muttered, "And honestly I can't really stop ya if that's your choice."

"Then don't!" Emma tried to argue only to bite her tongue when fierce blue met gold.

Meiko looked Emma firmly in the eyes sympathetically. "But what you did could have been dangerous Emma-chan, for a lot of reasons and that worries me as your friend." Meiko desperately explained, causing the Sano female to flinch in shock as she noticed a misty gleam entering the Hanagaki girl's eyes. "Emma, you're a beautiful, strong, kind, smart young girl." Meiko gently laid out cupping the girl's face in her hands, "You deserve better than having some loser rando off the street be your first time in some dirty karaoke room... No offense Michi."

"None taken." Takemichi could only nod, understanding his sister was trying to make a point, and honestly agreeing with her as he looked at Emma sympathetically. 'Even if I don't get a woman's heart, at least Meimei does. She's honestly making a lot of fair points...' He thought.

Bumping her forehead against the Sano girl, Meiko whispered, "I get that you really like Draken, I do. And I support you on that. Like one hundred and twenty percent. Hell, your brother does too I'm sure." Meiko slightly gestured over to Mikey as the boy and Draken, though too far away to know what the trio spoke of, did seem to be paying somewhat attention to the interactions occurring between them. "But do you really want to get Draken's attention by hurting yourself... How do you think Draken would feel if he found that out, huh? The fact you slept with someone just to make him jealous. Hell, what if Draken was the one who slept with someone to make you jealous?" Emma's eyes slightly misted at the thought alone, the mere thought of either scenario hurting her.

"But... How else am I supposed to make him see me?" She quietly muttered, leaning into the older Hanagaki female's arms as she now hugged the girl. "He doesn't even care."

"He cares." Meiko sighed, glaring over to the boys. "He's probably just being a dumb boy... He's not that much older than you or me after all, and he's friends with your brother so that should say something. Even if he does seem to be the more mature one."

Emma snorted in laughter at this, "Yeah... They can be real idiots when they're left alone. I'd even say they share a brain cell sometimes."

"I bet." Meiko kindly smiled, caressing the top of the girl's head. "And it's no wonder you're so frustrated. People will do a lot of stupid and crazy things when they're in love, but you know..." Takemichi could not help but stare in awe of his sister as she pulled Emma away from her embrace to look her in the eyes. "It also makes you stronger, so don't just throw in the towel and give up and get desperate without reason." She brushed Emma's hair out of her face, "I'll admit I've never been in love before... But... you need to love yourself too Emma, and know that we'll be here to help you fight for your love. So you shouldn't risk yourself like that when we could think of better options to catch Draken's attention that don't include screwing the first easy guy you find." Meiko nodded, making the blonde blush.

"Really... You-You'd help me with that?"

"Course! What are friends for?" Meiko smiled.

"So... you're not mad at me for doing what I did? Or want to stop being my friend?" Emma shyly asked.

"Oh, I'm mad." Meiko bluntly stated flicking the Sano girl in the forehead, making her squeak, "But, I'm definitely still your friend~!" She pulled her into a hug again, "Besides it takes two to tango, and it's obvious you both are feeling as stupid as you were acting. So... I'll forgive you. For now."

"Mei-chan..." Emma cuddled closer into the older girl's arms.

"Meimei..." Takemichi stared at his older sister with awe, only to flinch back as she gave him a glare.

"As for you! The two of us have a long talk ahead of us once we get home."

'Of course...' He mentally cried 'Cause it can never be that easy for me.'

"Now." Meiko huffed, "I'm sure Yai's probably calmed Hina down some by now. You wanna go and see if we can't salvage things between all of us? You were the one wanting to meet and befriend her, remember." Meiko recounted as Emma frowned.

She thought for a good few seconds before nodding, "Yeah. I... I'd really like to apologize to her, if I'd known Takemitchy here was your brother, let alone dating someone, I'd have never pulled him to the karaoke."

Meiko smiled, "I know. I'm sure Hina will understand too if we explain things right. Let's go." She led the girl away, looking back at her brother one last time to give him the stink eye. "And you! You better be planning a proper apology for her too! You're such a total dumbass and undeserving of her at this point!"

"Ye-yeah... I know." Takemichi nodded without much argument. 'I really couldn't have said it better myself, Meimei...'

July 19th, 2005

Watching his sister be led away by Meiko, Mikey hummed to himself as he laid his head on his arms on his bike. "Ken-chin...?"

"Hmm?"

"Mind telling what that was all about?" Mikey asked, taking note of how he'd watched both Emma and Takemichi seemingly be scolded by the older Hanagaki sibling before the girl seemingly went to start comforting Emma and leading her away from Takemichi. "It's been a while since I've seen someone scold Emma that way..." He muttered and watched Draken frown.

"Not much to really say... as his sister put it, Takemitchy fucked up, and Emma apparently had a part in it." He refused to further clarify past this.

"I see, I guess that's why his wifey and Yaichi ran off then?" Though Draken far from had to clarify anything to Mikey, as the Sano male could only already guess what his little sister must have done. She wasn't the wildest of them, nor was she the most irresponsible or immature, but Emma was still his baby sister, and as such Mikey made it a habit to know and even try and understand the girl better than anyone. He had made it his duty to better act as an older brother once their eldest had passed away. Even if he was busy with Toman and goofing around, he still did his best to be there for her and understand.

He knew that whatever had occurred probably wasn't the best and that he should probably step in and talk to the girl. Yet watching Meiko lead the girl away, he couldn't help the slight warmth he felt watching as his sister found support in someone else who could probably better understand her. Someone outside Toman or in connection to himself, someone who obviously had strong maternal or familial instincts. Someone like Hanagaki Meiko, who seemed to never stop surprising and entertaining Mikey with her honest way of being.

He smiled at the memories of his interactions with the Hanagaki female, from his first sight of her knocking someone out, to her flipping him off, to catching his arm and calling out his bluff. Her seeming to understand of his dream for a new era of delinquents, to seeing her knock her own brother out with her own shoe, to her blushing expression whenever he called her cute. Till finally, their last interactions during their beach day ended the walk through memory lane, Mikey found all these memories to be special and notable. As even with so few interactions between them, the Hanagaki female had set up roots in his mind, and a desire within to further expand on their interactions.

Coming out of his thoughts Mikey frowned as he noticed Pah agitatedly pacing back and forth close by. "Ken-chin..." He became serious and nodded to the taller male, his friend nodding in return knowing the single he was giving him.

"Understood." Draken looked over at the silent Hanagaki male and called out to him. "Takemitchy! You done?"

The blonde-haired boy jumped, realizing he had been called over. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" He began to run over, as Mikey got off his bike.

"All right, gather 'round, everyone! We're startin' our meeting!" Draken loudly announced, and Mikey silently watched as Toman's division members led by their vice-captains slowly started to move up the steps to take their positions for the meeting.

Emma and the girls quietly waited on the side by the bottom steps, till Mikey led Draken, Takemichi, and the divisions up the steps. Emma only giving the girls the okay to go up with her once she saw her brother reach the top of the steps, and nod down to her.

"That's the signal." Emma gestured to the three girls, "We'll be allowed to watch, but we gotta stay back and not cause too much noise okay?"

Hina frowned and could only turn her back to the small group, "I-I'll stay here." She quietly muttered, though no longer livid, still upset with her boyfriend and the blonde girl who seemed to be a friend of said boyfriend's sister. "I don't feel comfortable going up there after... what happened."

"Hina-chan..." Meiko sadly frowned, wishing they had been given the time to clear things up. "If you stay then I'll–"

"Go up," Yayoi ordered, making Meiko, Hina, and Emma all look at her surprised.

"Huh?"

"Yai-chan?"

"Senpai?"

Pushing Meiko up the steps a bit, Yayoi turned to face the confused Hina and Emma with her arms crossed. "We're gonna have a small intervention down here."

"Wait seriously!" The three other girls were barely able to shout over the Toman members' greetings.

"Good evening, Commander!"

"Ah! The meeting's about to start!" Emma exclaimed as Meiko looked at her redheaded friend frowning.

"Yai, stop playing around. Emma-chan obviously needs to–"

"Needs to talk with Hinata-chan here over what happened with that idiot brother of yours." Yayoi deadpanned, "Especially if you want to keep being friends with both of them." She watched Meiko wilt at this argument. "I'm an unbiased arbitrator here you see, I don't really care for Takemichi-kun, and I like you two," She pointed to Hina and Emma, "about the same as one another, and have nothing to skew my opinion, in fact, I can be a right old bitch if I have to." Yayoi nodded to herself, as Meiko looked between the two girls and up the shrine steps.

"Uh... Well, that's true but... Wouldn't it be better if we did this some other time together?"

"You're too biased with your connections to these two." Yayoi deadpanned, gesturing to the confused Hina and Emma. "So leave me to handle this telenovela scenario, while you keep an eye on the idiot hanging ten with the literal biker gang up there." She gestured up the steps, "After all knowing your dumbass brother, he's likely to get himself put in hospital sticking his nose somewhere he shouldn't."

"He wouldn't–" Hina began to try jumping to defend her boyfriend, wincing though as she recalled the very reason she first fell for him. "He... Mei-nee, maybe you should go up there for him."

"That bad?" Emma winced seeing the light brown-haired girl nod.

"Yeah..."

Meiko winced thinking of all the times her brother has run, metaphorically, into fire. "Yeah... I think I'll just–" She vaguely gestured up the steps, and Yayoi nodded.

"Yeah, you should."

"Just..." Meiko jogged slightly in place looking at the two awkward teens who Yayoi kept from going up the steps, "Please don't push any buttons."

"Oh please, I'm not you."

"Fair enough! I'll let you guys know what happened once the meeting's over! Yai, make sure you guys stay safe." She waved and quickly skipped a few steps up to the top. Reaching the top, Meiko's eyes became wide as all the members covered the Shrine path.

"Woah!" Eyes scanning the crowd, Meiko tried to pick out the familiar faces of anyone she knew, or even her brother. "Where are... Shit..." She jumped in place a few times trying to look past some of the taller males lining the back, "Curse. You. Tall. Ass. Holes!" Meiko huffed, stopping when she found a small gap between the guys to stand in and finally caught sight of Mikey and Draken looking down at the group from another set of steps.

'Woah...' Meiko silently gasped, staring up at the shirtless commanding male, though it was far from the way he dressed that caught her attention. 'His eyes...' She brought a hand close to her chest and stared up at Mikey. 'They're completely different from what I've been used to seeing.' She thought, staring in awe, 'The whole mood's different from what it was down there.' She glanced back over down the steps where she noted Emma bowing and Hina waving her arms as Yayoi scratched the back of her head. 'Even now, comparing the atmosphere down there to this...' She shifted her gaze back over to the Toman commander, hardly noting the blush that came to her face when Mikey's gaze landed on her for a split second. 'This is the commanding might of Toman's Commander, this is the 'Invincible Mikey' everyone respects and fears.' She thought, remembering how the Mizo five members had talked about the blonde, keeping her gaze on the male. '... I can't help but wonder... how much all of this must weigh on him...'

"We're gathered here today to talk about Moebius. If they go against us, it'll turn into a huge conflict." Mikey firmly and clearly spoke out to the crowd, Meiko's eyes narrowing as Takemichi who'd stood closest off to the side by the steps Mikey spoke from flinched.

'Moebius? What's this about a conflict? No one told me about this.' He blinked a few times, surprised.

'Wait but wasn't this meeting supposed to have something to do with Pah-chin?' Meiko thought, concernedly remembering what Emma had told Yayoi and her. 'Why bring up another gang and conflict unless...' Her stomach twisted into knots, as her eyes went wide. 'Don't tell me...'

"So... tell me what you all think." Mikey smiled at the group, as he sat down on the steps.

Draken noting Takemichi's confusion motioned Mitsuya towards the teen, "Explain to Takemitchy."

"Aight." Mitsuya walked up to the blonde and nodded to him. "Listen closely. Moebius is a biker gang two generations older than us who's been controlling Shinjuku."

"Huh!?" Takemichi exclaimed in shock, "Toman isn't the one controlling this place!?"

"Toman is over Shibuya. Shinjuku is a different story." Mitsuya clarified between the areas, "Plus, Toman is still a new gang."

'What a shock... there are actually biker gangs larger than toman in this era... Even though they're the strongest in the future...' Takemichi gaped in shock.

"And about the dispute..." Mitsuya began to try and explain, as Meiko rounded the corner of the gathered teens about to call out for her brother only to gasp in shock.

"Michi!"

"Whoa!" Takemichi yelled in shock as he was kicked from behind landing face first, he quickly scrambled to get back up as he looked back at his supposed attacker. "Ow! That fucking hurt. What's the big–" He froze as he was met with Pah's glaring face, and Peh bending down so up close that his own glaring face was right in Takemichi's.

"Hah? You got a problem?" Peh challenged.

"You're Hanagaki Takemitchy, aren't you?" Pah asked, glaring down at the boy. 'He's got the same last name as Ei.' He thought, seemingly not putting two and two together even as he glared at the younger Hanagaki sibling.

"Heard you took real good care of our boy, Kiyomasa," Peh shouted, as Pah glared harder down at the boy.

"How're you gonna pay for that, huh?"

"P-pay for it?" Takemichi stuttered confused, just as his sister finally reached them from having run over to defend him.

"Pah-chin, Peh-yan!" Meiko angrily shouted, rounding the two boys to put herself between them and her brother's arms spread out protectively. "What the hell are you two doing?"

"Mei-nee...?" Takemichi gapped, "Do you know these guys?"

"Get out of the way Ei!" Pah glared, "This Hanagaki kid's gotta pay for messing with my guy!"

"Your guy..." Meiko muttered before glaring at the two males, "If you're talking about that Kiyo-what's his face then it was me who took him down before Mikey came around, not my brother!" Meiko snapped, glaring at the boys.

"Huh?! This wimpy ass is your twin?" Peh exclaimed in shock, "I don't see the resemblance!"

"Cause we're not twin's dumbasses!" Meiko snapped back.

"Who are you calling a dumbass?!" Pah yelled, and Meiko held her ground unafraid.

"I am! Now if you got a problem with my Michi then you've got a problem with me!" Meiko protectively snapped as her brother stared up at her in awe.

'I can't believe Meimei is literally standing up to these guys... No wait... yes I can. Is she insane?' Takemichi panickedly thought, 'Fighting with two gang members while their whole gang's around, I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one Meimei!'

"Are you trying to pick a fight?!" Pah shouted as Meiko snapped back.

"Nah! But I'll fricken end one if you try me!" She lowered her arms and began to shift her stance into a more aggressive state. "So back. The hell up. Now." Meiko warned, eyes sparking with burning rage screaming that she would fight if provoked.

Watching this scene Mikey's eyes narrowed, as Draken took a step towards the group. "Don't." Mikey bluntly ordered stopping the taller teen, "Mitsuya's got this."

"Cut it out!" Mitsuya angrily snapped, quickly stepping in between Meiko and the other two boys as he realized just how serious the older Hanagaki sibling was about protecting her brother against the other boys. 'I can't let this escalate further.' He thought sending Pah and Peh scolding glares. "Pah, Peh. Don't start a fight with Ei and her brother, they're supposed to be the Commander's guests. I thought you were over this with how well we all got along at the beach, you should have known Ei was related to that incident, so why get pissed off now." Mitsuya rhetorically questioned, though his mind was quickly filling in the blanks.

'They didn't think a girl like Ei could have been the Hanagaki Draken talked about socking Kiyomasa.' He sent a quick glance to Takemichi as he remained seated on the ground staring wide-eyed between Mitsuya and Meiko. 'So instead they've shifted their frustrations on this guy, they didn't even realize they were siblings.' Mitsuya almost sighed in frustration, as he once again focused his stern gaze on his fellow captain and his vice-captain. "The Kiyomasa incident was nothing but him using Toman's name as he pleased to set up some underground fights. We're supposed to drop it."

"Hah!? I ain't know anything about that shit because I'm fucking dumb." Pah shouted getting into Mitsuya's face.

"Pah-chin's brain is just jello. Okay?" Peh shouted in agreement.

Meiko's eye twitched at this, "Are you serious! Then why the fuck are you getting mad!" She yelled as Mitsuya himself snapped with her at the two proud idiots.

"If you don't know, then don't butt in, you dumbass."

"Ken-chin." Mikey gave Draken the signal then, he'd had enough of watching his friends snapping at one another for nothing more than deadbeat trash.

"Hey, Pah!" Draken called out, catching the blonde male's attention. "Keep your mouth shut." He coldly glared, his warning was clear as day though, for the Toman members, any more arguments would lead to him stepping in.

Peh bowed to him at this, "Sorry, Draken!"

"Che!" Pah though simply turned his back on the trio to walk back to his place. Peh quickly and quietly following close behind, though he did take one final glance at the other teen's before doing so.

Helping her brother up off the ground, Meiko sent an apprehensive glare towards Draken, "What was that all about?"

"Don't hold it against them."

"What an absurd guy." Takemichi quietly muttered, staring after the two teens before looking to his sister. "And you know them...?"

"They weren't like this when we first met." Meiko frowned, 'But I did see glimpses of this that night.' She thought.

"Pah's just on edge right now." Draken tried to explain, as Meiko looked up at him frowning.

"Cause of Moebius?" Draken could only nod his head.

"Moebius' leader is a guy named 'Osanai'." Mitsuya began to explain, "He got into a fight with Pah's best friend over some trifling thing. So... the Moebius members ganged up on Pah's friend... " He was unable to meet Meiko's gaze as he informed them of what followed, "Then they raped his girlfriend right in front of him." Meiko's and Takemichi's hearts dropped to their stomachs disgust. Meiko even gasped and had to cover her mouth, as she tried not to imagine the horror of what the boy described. "Then to top it off they went after his family and took their money." Mitsuya almost growled in disgust, his own nerves on edge just thinking about what Moebius had done. "So, as a last resort, he came to Pah for advice. That isn't just a child's fight, now is it?"

"Those bastards!" Meiko angrily sobbed, "H-how could they– They didn't even have anything to do with that stupid beef between Pah's friend and Osanai did they!?"

"Yeah..." Mitsuya darkly glared alongside Draken, "They dragged innocent people into their own shit for no good reason. Moebius is that sort of gang."

Meiko sobbed harder in rage, Takemichi gently pulling his sister close to let her cry her quiet frustrations as he himself shook in shock and disgust. "... How awful..." He whispered, unable to do anything but try to help comfort his sister as he looked towards where Pah now bowed to Mikey. 'I see... Around this time, there was an even bigger gang than Toman... What's more...' He sent a glance to his sister as she struggled to hold back her tears of anger. 'They're like the Toman of the future... Bad news.'

"So... What do you wanna do, Pah?" Mikey seriously asked his quietly seething friend. "We gonna fight?"

"They're two generations above our gang." Pah quietly seethed as he replied, his body shaking ever so slightly as the events of the night he received a call from his friend flashed through his mind. "Toman's not gonna walk away unscathed." He tried stating all the cons this declaration of war could cause. "I'd end up making trouble for all of you guys." Tears of frustration built up in his eyes, "But... I'm so pissed off, Mikey... It's so frustrating!" He grounded out struggling not to cry as he shook in place.

"That's not what I asked." Mikey bluntly stated, "Are we gonna fight, or what?" He clearly asked this time, watching his friend's eyes glare up at him with frustration before he could no longer hold in his pain.

"I wanna do it!" Pah shouted shutting his eyes tight, "I wanna murder all those sons of bitches!" He yelled, voice cracking slightly, meeting Mikey's gaze again now with a determined glare.

Mikey smiled understandingly at his friend and chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I figured."

"Huh?" Pah gapped, realizing what Mikey had done.

Everyone stood in silence as the Commander rose to his feet. A cool summer breeze passed through the group as everyone stood silently, their full attention directed to what the Leader of Toman would say and do next. "Is there anyone who thinks it'd be too much trouble if Toman helped out Pah's good friend!?" Mikey seriously asked, "Is there anyone who is on the fence about Moebius, even though they fucked up Pah's friend?" Slowly the Toman members all began to smirk and grin vindictively as some even laughed at the mere thought of any of them not helping their brother in arms. "See? There's no one!" Mikey shouted proudly grinning at Pah, the teen sniffling as more tears built up, realizing all of Toman would be standing by his side for this grudge.

The Hanagaki siblings stared in awe, Meiko's own tears seeming to finally stop as she heard Mikey's rally cry to his men. "We're gonna crush Moebius!" The crowd broke into cheers as the members all threw up their fists. Mikey turned his back to his men as he walked towards the actual shrine to mark the end of their meeting. "August 3rd! The Musashi Festival is where it's all gonna go down!" He declared and all of Toman roared with life.

'So just like that...' Meiko thought, staring at the back of Mikey's jacket as it moved with him and the wind. 'You'll throw yourself into a war...' Her eyes snuck a glance to Pah, watching as the teen tried to wipe his tears away with his sleeves before Baji and even Mitsuya came up behind to pat and comfort the young man. She watched as Emma and the other girls finally seemed to appear from the shrine steps, Hina and Yayoi staying by the gates concernedly looking towards Meiko and her brother over the hyped boys. As Emma quickly moved her way through the crowd to her brother and Draken who now silently talked by the actual shrine building. Emma gestured towards the rallying Toman members and crying Pah, as Mikey and Draken seemed to gently reveal to the blonde what had passed.

Meiko's stomach twisted into knots, one hand moving to clutch her brother's hand while the other clutched her racing heart. "Meimei...?" Takemichi concernedly asked as he noticed a slight flush crossing his sister's cheek as her bangs covered her eyes. 'Was this too much for her...?' He worriedly thought, squeezing his sister's hand back in support before gently pulling her away towards his girlfriend and Yayoi. "Hey, let's go meet back up with Hina and Yayoi-san. It's been a... rough night."

Sneaking another glance towards the Sano siblings and Draken, Meiko watched as Emma shared a similar reaction to her to the news of Pah's friend, and was pulled close by a seemingly apathetic Mikey for comfort. Her hand clutching more tightly to her heart as she caught the male's gaze slightly. 'Mikey... I think... You're actually the special one.' She silently thought, watching the male send her a subtle wave with a small smile from the distance even as he and Draken made sure to comfort and calm the upset Emma. 'And I can't help but wonder...'

She quietly waved back with her own awkward smile, as everyone slowly began to file down the steps. 'How much you're really shouldering...' Her mind flashed to the commanding figure he took, as he'd addressed the whole of Toman, the image of the childish boy she'd been slowly getting to know and hear about through Emma and her own interactions with him, slowly blurring and melding with the image of the Toman Commander. '... How much like me are you?' She wondered, the image of Mikey smiling with blood splattered on his face from their first meeting, and Mikey laughing as he'd thrown her in the water with Draken flashed through her mind. 'How much have you had to grow up...' His usually dull and almost lifeless coal eyes flashed through her mind, 'Even though you're still just a kid too...'

July 20th, 2005 Takemichi

Laying in his bed unable to sleep, Takemichi quietly glared at his own ceiling in deep thought. 'Naoto said that August 3rd is when the Mikey faction and the Draken faction have a conflict where Draken dies. And now that I've come back twelve years, a conflict between Toman and Moebius is about to go down.' He quietly thought as he slowly became more and more upset. "Which means..." He almost yelled as he began to tossel his own hair in frustration, "I'm not smart enough to figure all this out!" He almost yelled, groaning.

Turning onto his side with a huff and a slight grumble, he stared at his wall. 'What's more, there's no denying it now. Meimei had connections to Toman.' He thought, recalling how his sister had appeared so casually with Emma and Yayoi at the meeting, how she'd jumped into her nurturing and strict ways when she scolded Emma and him, before comforting the girl over Draken. The way she knew Pah, Peh, and Mitsuya, and if the picture of the future and what he saw today was anything to go by... she knew more members than him. 'But is this because of me like with Akkun... or did Meimei somehow get involved some other way?' He quietly wondered before he shook his head frustratedly in denial. 'Ugh! No! No! Even if Meimei did have connections to Toman now, there's no way she knowingly or willingly had them in the future.' He angrily thought, mind flashing to his sister's reactions to finding out about the rape of Pah's friend's girlfriend and how the teen's family had been attacked.

Clenching his fist he threw his bedsheets off his body and had to get out of bed. 'There's just no way.' He thought, exiting his room. 'No way.'

Knock, Knock

He softly knocked on his sister's door, before quietly opening the door. Peeking inside to see his sister, sitting up in her bed contemplatively holding one of her stuffed animals close. "Meimei..." He called out, and Meiko's gaze snapped out of her deep thoughts as she looked towards him in shock.

"Michi... What's wrong? Can't sleep?" She asked frowning, watching as her brother nodded quietly.

"Yeah..."

"Thought so..." She said, smiling at the boy's tired, honest admittance. She shifted herself closer to her bed's wall of plushies and opened the covers by her side to pat at the space beside her. "Wanna come sleep next to your Meimei~?" She seemed to tease, hoping to push away whatever clouded the younger Hanagaki's mind.

Staring at the spot though, Takemichi's heart clenched as he recalled days from his youth where he would come crying into his sister's room begging to be let in, to sleep by her side. Silently he made his way over and dropped face-first by her side.

Meiko bounced on the bed as he landed, looking down at the quiet teen slightly in shock, before humming softly as she reached over to softly run her fingers through her brother's hair. "That bad...?" Takemichi grumbled into her pillow. "I see..." She continued to run her fingers through his hair and began to hum softly.

Feeling all the familiar forms of smell, sound, and touch from his childhood, Takemichi's eyes finally began to droop. Turning himself onto his side to face his sister as she quietly continued to comfort Takemichi's solemn form. 'Meimei...' He tiredly thought, 'I'm so lost on what to do...' He silently told her in his mind, 'I'm all alone here in the past, and don't have Naoto to help me know what to do... I came here to save you... Draken... Hina... and Akkun...' He thought curling up more. 'But I don't even know where to begin...'

"Michi...?"

'All I know... is that I have to...' Takemichi thought slowly drifting off. 'I have to save him... and find out how you're connected to Toman...'

Meiko smiled as she heard a quiet snore leave her brother's mouth. "Works every time." She muttered, quietly pulling the covers up over his chest before softly kissing his forehead. "Sleep tight Michi..." She quietly whispered before laying down on her back to stare up at her ceiling, 'At least one of us should...' She thought. The night's events were never far from her mind, as she quietly wondered about Pah, his friend, his friend's girlfriend and family, and finally Mikey, Toman, and the conflict about to erupt between them and Moebius. 'I have... a real bad feeling about all this.' Then she drifted off to sleep, the two Hanagaki siblings remaining close together even as they slept through their own internal turmoil over recent events. The siblings even now still knowing subconsciously that they could try to lean on one another for some form of support, even as they seemed to lack the ability to open up to one another fully.

July 20th, 2005 Meiko

It was a peaceful morning in the Hanagaki household.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" Meiko shouted, scrambling around her room without her glasses.

She checked her desk. "Where...!"

Unmade her bed. "Are...!"

Threw open her draws. "They!"

Looked all around her and her brothers shared the bathroom. "AGGGHHH!" Yet she found no traces of the eye frames she used in her daily life. She screamed in frustration into one of her pillows as she fell onto her bed. 'Where are my glasses?!' She mentally cried, looking up she glared at one of her turned-over plushies. 'I know I took them off last night... I put them beside my bed like I usually do... but they're not here!' Burying her face back into her pillow she moaned again. 'Damn it those were my spares too, damn it! I don't wanna use my contacts!' She cried, 'Where did they go!' Stopping mid groan, she almost jumped from her lying position. "Hold on..."

She looked around her room.

Then her brothers.

The kitchen.

The living room.

The front yard.

Meiko growled to herself, "Oh that no good son of a–!" Meiko shouted to herself slamming her bedroom door. Marching to her bed she grabbed her phone and messenger bag off the back of her desks chair, she growled as she quickly changed from her sleep clothes. "The one time! One time! I choose to sleep in, and that brat steals my glasses! What? Was parking his fat ass on my first pair last month not enough!" She seethed, pulling on her shorts. "He knows I hate my contacts! Why the heck did he have to steal my spares?! He knows I'm not getting my new ones till mom comes back!" She growled, tying her hair up. Looking herself over her mirror she gave herself a nod, before looking to the dreaded contacts she despised. "... Fuck that shit! Evil! Evil little glorified ant killers." She glared, turning her back to the offending eyewear, flipping them off as she grabbed her things and began to march out of her home. 'Now... Where did that bitch baby go?'

Calling everyone she thought the boy could be with made Meiko's head hurt as she wandered the town.

From Akkun who was apparently with Takuya running errands.

"Nah, haven't seen him."

"We tried inviting him to come with us, but he said he was busy."

No Takemichi.

To Yamagishi and Makoto hanging out somewhere in Shinjuku.

"Damn, he did that?"

"Does he have a death wish?!"

"But yeah we haven't heard from him... Maybe try Tachibana-san?"

So she called Hina and was pleasantly surprised by what she heard in the background.

"Huh? Takemichi-kuns missing with your glasses?"

"Wait, seriously." Emma's voice came from the other side, "What the hell is that about?"

"Knowing that boy, something either utterly stupid, or suicidal." Yayoi's tired voice grumbled.

"Are you guys hanging out?" Meiko asked, distracted from her original plans as she looked down at her phone in shock.

"Um..." Hina began until Yayoi's voice came over the phone.

"It's more like we ran into each other while doing errands and decided to stick together. Naoto-kun's here too."

"H-hello Mei-senpai."

"Oh..." Meiko blinked a few times. "Everything going okay?" She awkwardly asked, as Yayoi and Naoto both loudly groaned.

"You mean outside the boy talk these two have gotten into."

"It's torture!" Naoto shouted.

"Hey!" Hina shouted in return, as Emma seemed to giggle at the siblings' bantering.

"It's fine," Yayoi responded having seemingly taken Hina's phone as Meiko heard the Tachibana siblings arguing in the background. "Now that Hina knows Emma was trying to make Draken jealous, and Emma apologized, the two seemed to be hitting it off over complaining about the stupidity of the male species and the men who stole their hearts. Of course, this was after Hina also freaked out about Emma's plan being dangerous but honestly, that was still the hilarious highlight of our intervention."

"Why do I get the feeling you will never let me live this down?" Emma deadpanned eying the red-haired teen.

"Cause it's hilarious and if we are gonna be friends I retain the right to remind everyone of their own stupidity."

"You say that but then you get all pouty when I do it to you." Meiko teased, as Yayoi grumbled into the receiver.

"...You bitch."

"Love ya too~" Hearing an incoming call to her phone, Meiko frowned as she pulled the device away from her ear to look down at the caller ID. "Hmm... Mikey...?"

"What was that?"

"I'm getting a call from Mikey," Meiko explained casually, jumping when this somehow caused an uproar.

"My brother!"

"Wait seriously? What's he calling for?" Yayoi asked as Emma and her pressed close to one another to listen in on the device as Hina and Naoto stopped arguing to stare at the two girls.

"I-I don't know!" Meiko exclaimed, a bit shocked at the accusatory tone Yayoi had spoken to her in. "He just is."

"Well pick up!" Emma all but shouted, "It might have to do with how you cried last night!"

"Mei-senpai cried?!" Naoto and Hina exclaimed in shock as Yayoi whipped her head towards Emma in shock.

"Um excuse me, but why am I only hearing about this now?! Who made Mei cry?!"

"Oh, right we never talked about why the meeting happened-"

"Why were you crying?!" Naoto shouted into the phone struggling to reach for it as Yayoi held it out of his reach, "Hey, give it! That's my sister's!"

"Can't you see we're busy!"

"Mei-nee! Was that why Takemichi-kun was holding your hand last night! Is everything okay?" Hina's worried voice rose over Yayoi and Naoto's bantering as Emma kept trying to talk over the two to stop.

"I–" She blinked, realizing Mikey's call had been missed, "Oop, missed his call." She jumped when the device once more began to beep with Mikey trying to get through, "Oh, never mind he's calling back again."

"HE IS?!" Meiko winced as Emma seemed to have stolen the phone now if Yayoi's yelling 'hey' was anything to go by. "Mei-chan you need to pick up now!"

"Huh?! Why?"

"Because this is Mikey! That boy doesn't willingly call anyone without reason!" Emma explained, "He'll call me sure. But most times if he wants to see someone or talk, he'll have Draken call them up or go see them himself!"

"Oh..." Meiko blinked, "Is that so... Wait, how does he even know I cried last night?"

"Duh! He noticed." Emma huffed, "He asked Draken about it while we were driving home. So maybe he's worried about you...?" Emma quietly whispered to herself near the end, her expression becoming curious and inquisitive as she thought over how her brother took interest in Meiko's well-being. "Anyway! I say see what he wants and if he wants to hang out go for it!" Emma encouraged, a fierce determination entering her eyes as a plan started to hatch in her mind.

"Huh, but my glasses–"

Snatching the phone from Emma's hand Yayoi quickly spoke into the device. "Forget your glasses! If your stupid brother has them, I'm sure he'll show back up with them. Go do something outside worrying about that boy!"

"But–"

"Give me that!" Hina took her phone back finally from the older teen, she sent Emma and Yayoi both a scolding look as the two girls looked away trying to act innocently. Huffing Hina turned her back to the pair, "Mei-nee, Emma-chan, and Yayoi-chan are right."

"We are?" The girls unanimously asked as they looked at one another.

"I'm sure you're itching to go after Takemichi-kun to get your glasses back, but no one's seen him all day!" Hina pointed out, "You'd have better luck looking for a needle in a haystack than finding him. Especially if he realizes how mad you'll be over your glasses, he'll actively try to lay low."

Meiko frowned and grumbled at this, "I hate that you're right about that." Pulling the phone away from her ear she noted once more she'd missed Mikey's call, "Missed again. I don't thi–"

"Is he calling again?"

"Ye-"

"Good, then I'm hanging up and you can see what Mikey-kun wants. Have fun Mei-nee!"

"Wait wha–" Hearing the familiar sound of the line going dead only for her phone to still be ringing Meiko stared confusedly at the device. "Okay... What the hell is going on today? Is everyone just in a mood or something?" She grumbled before finally picking up the phone. "He–"

"Ei-chan! Finally!" Mikey loudly exclaimed as Meiko had to pull her phone, once again, away from her ear. "I've been trying to call you for like a bajillion times already!"

"Mikey this is the third time you called me, in less than five minutes."

"Exactly!" Mikey huffed, "I was starting to wonder if you were ignoring me Ei-chan. That was so mean!"

Pinching the bridge of her nose Meiko sighed through her nose, "I was already talking to someone on the other line, Mikey. What did you want me to do? Drop everything just to pick up for you?"

"Yes." Mikey boldly replied, making Meiko twitch even as she struggled to not laugh or smile at the blunt response.

"Yeah... No, either wait your turn or wait till I call back next time. Your choice."

"Uh! But Ei-!" Mikey began to whine, making Meiko

"Uh! Uh! Uh! None of that young man!" Meiko playfully scolded, as Mikey whined louder from the other line.

"But I want your attention now!"

"Well," Mieko snorted, "When you put it like that... how can I say no~"

"Yay!"

"Plus I already finished my other call."

"So mean!" Mikey exclaimed, pouting, "I would drop everything for you Ei-chan!" He huffed before his eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed. 'Wait, what did I just say–' Mikey embarrassedly began to think until Meiko's laughter caught his ears.

"Ahahahaha! I'll keep that in mind for next time." Meiko giggled before she leaned back on a random crosswalk light, "So~ Why the sudden insistence in calling me?" She asked, looking up to the sky. "Not that I don't mind getting a call from friends, but you're not really the type to randomly call someone up, right?" She asked, wanting to confirm Emma's words to her.

"You're right." Mikey nodded still a bit flustered, as he leaned back against the building he stood outside of. "I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out with me and Ken-chin."

Blinking at the boy's words, Meiko pushed off the crosswalk light, "Wait seriously... I guess Emma-chan was right..." She secretly muttered away from the receiver as Mikey nodded to himself.

"Yeah! Think of it as a way to make up for last night."

"Huh?" Meiko muttered confused, "Make up for what?"

Looking up at the sky himself Mikey frowned, recalling how he'd caught Meiko breaking into tears from the corner of his eyes as Mitsuya and Draken recounted Moebius' crimes against Pah's friend. The way his chest hurt, seeing the girl needing to be comforted by her brother as she felt for the people Moebius had hurt, and how the sight had made him want to try and offer comfort to her like he did Pah and later Emma once he and Draken were able to share with her what had occurred. Shaking his head he simply smiled, and brushed away those thoughts. "Oh you know, just for everything. Pah and Peh's messing with Takemitchy, Emma's... whatever that was with Takemitchy." Meiko quietly twitched at that, "And just the whole Moebius crap." Mikey hummed to himself, "It must have been a lot, and we didn't even get to say Hi or hang out."

Frowning at his words, Meiko could only nod to herself as she stared down at her feet, "You're not... inaccurate." Meiko reluctantly admitted, "But... None of that's really your fault either." She quietly muttered to herself, frowning at how Mikey seemed to be taking responsibility for everything that had occurred the night before. Shaking her head, she bookmarked this interesting development away for later. "Though I guess I could do with a good distraction after the morning I've been having, and I got nothing better to do... Alright, where do you wanna meet up?" Meiko shrugged, deciding to go along with what the others had said to her and just try to enjoy her day, even if she was missing her glasses.

"Great!" Mikey smiled, "How do you feel about Joying-sun?"

"Hmm?"

July 20th, 2005 Takemichi

'Okay. So plan A of becoming Draken's bodyguard didn't work.' Takemichi silently thought to himself, tailing after Draken. 'But I'm not going to give up so easily!' He thought determinedly, 'Plan B! From now until August third, I'm gonna keep my eyes on him the whole time!' Takemichi thought, 'And to make sure I don't get recognized...' He pulled out the glasses he'd borrowed from his sister and put them on. 'I'll use these as a disguise to hide in plain sight!' He gave himself a once over in a store window before nodding to himself, "This plan is full proof." He proudly smirked, before quickly going after Draken again who had made a good distance. 'Now to just–"

"Huh?! What the hell?" Draken's annoyed yell causing Takemichi to jump.

'Shit! Have I been spotted?' Nervously looking around the corner, Takemichi felt his whole body turn to stone as his jaw dropped. 'Ah–'

"Yo, Ken-chin! Hope you don't mind, but I invited Ei-chan along." Mikey greeted grinning as he proudly waved from beside Meiko.

"Hey, Draken." Meiko casually waved in turn.

"Ei," Draken nodded to the girl politely before glaring at the grinning Mikey. "What is Ei doing here Mikey?"

"Oh, you know. Got bored, so I thought I'd invite Ei-chan since we're just hanging out." Mikey nonchalantly answered, seeming to not note, or more accurately, care about the annoyed twitching from Draken's eye as he looked between the two short individuals.

"You cheeky bastard..." Draken growled, struggling to not just grab his shorter friend by his shirt, "You know full well I had plans for us today."

"Well, now those plans can include Ei-chan." Mikey grinned looking at Meiko, "Right, Ei-chan?"

'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!' Takemichi silently screamed in his mind, clutching onto the store corners wall tightly. 'Why is Meimei here with these two?!' Takemichi stressfully thought, struggling not to make a scene as he stared at the three teens interacting.

"Um, I guess..." Meiko awkwardly chuckles, before looking at Draken. "That is of course if Draken here doesn't mind."

"Of course not!" Mikey happily exclaimed, stopping the taller teen from speaking, "Ken-chin and I are always hanging out, so it's no big deal if you join us." He grabbed Meiko's hand and began to lead her inside the restaurant. "So let's go in and eat! You're hungry right?"

"Now that you mention it..." Meiko hummed, allowing the boy to lead her inside, as Draken smacked himself in the face to grumble over his friend blatantly ignoring him.

"Goddamn, it Mikey..." Sighing into his hand, Draken took a deep breath through his nose as he calmed himself down. "Okay, no. No. You can work with this..." Draken muttered to himself as he moved to follow after the two other teens, "If nothing else..." He smiled as he caught sight of Mikey letting Meiko enter the booth first before sitting next to her excitedly. 'This might actually be a good thing.' He thought to himself, 'I can work with this.'

"Oi, Ken-chin! Over here!" Mikey childishly waved his friend over as Meiko seemed to struggle to not laugh at how the restaurant go-ers were reacting to the grown teen's loud excitement. "Hurry it up, you slowpoke!"

Watching as Draken entered the facility Takemichi collapsed to his knees in shock, "I don't get it..." He quietly muttered to himself, "I really don't get it..." He put his head in his hands, "Why is... Why is Meimei seemingly so close to Draken-kun and Mikey-kun?! What the heck happened while I was in the future?!" He thought aloud, shaking his head he quickly scrambled to follow the teens in. "No! Not the time, I need to go in and keep an eye on Draken. Maybe... Maybe doing that will help explain things, yeah! Yeah! That can work... I hope..."

Sitting quietly sipping his own drink with his back turned to the trio table Takemichi silently listened as they conversed while waiting for their orders. Sweat dripping down his brows as he realized a key mistake with his borrowing of his sister's glasses for a makeshift disguise.

"And I'm one hundred percent sure he took my glasses!" Meiko angrily huffed from around her own drink, as Draken stared at her with sympathy.

"Wow... and he knew you still didn't have your replacements?" Draken asked as Meiko huffed.

"Of course, he knew! He was the one who sat on my first pair to begin with and had to explain to our mom why I was suddenly down a pair!" She huffed.

"Damn..." Mikey whistled lowly, "Talk about a dick move. So seeing how you had to hold the menu away from yourself, does that mean you're not wearing your contacts?"

"Are my eyes red, puffy, or agitated?"

"No." The boys both shook their heads.

"There's your answer." Meiko sighed, "If I were wearing them, I'd have struggled to get them in for a good twenty minutes and before crying... a lot. Like my crybaby brother levels of crying..." The boys snorted at this and Meiko slammed her fist on the table with an embarrassed blush as she glared at them. "Listen you try sticking a tiny plastic disc thing in your eyes with your fingers and tell me it doesn't feel weird or creepy... or just downright wrong! You have no room to make fun of me!"

'Shit...' Takemichi thought pale, 'Did that actually happen?! I don't remember breaking her glasses!' He panickedly thought, 'Not unless she means–' His mind went blank and he slammed his face into his table. 'The day after our birthday! Shit, I forgot!' Takemichi thought, panicking, 'Right, around this time I accidentally sat on her glasses!' He mentally cried, remembering the events that had led to the incident.

On a rare occasion where he had woken up before his sister, the past Takemichi smirked mischievously as he planned to scare her awake. Sneaking into her room, quietly and swiftly made his way by her bedside and–

"RAWR!"

"AHH!"

THONK

Had his sister sucker punch him in the face with her fist when she bolted up screaming in fear. He was sent back, hitting her desk, and knocking over her glasses on the floor. His mind spun from the hit, and he fell back. The sickening crack as he landed and broke her glasses echoing throughout the room as the two stared blankly in shock at the air before them.

"Uh... oh..."

A dark aura seemed to surround his sister as she looked at him with her disheveled hair making her look like onryo from the Ju-on series. "Ta-ke-mi-chi!" Takemichi whimpered in his place, before scrambling to try and flee screaming with tears.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Takemichi shivered and cringed in place as the memory of the beating he took from that event finally reentered his mind. 'I fucked up!'

Suddenly a yell broke from the trio's table causing Takemichi to sit up straight in his seat.

"What the hell, man?!"

'A fight?!' Takemichi panickly thought looking back towards the group.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Meiko exclaimed in shock, looking towards Mikey a bit concernedly.

"I'll never forgive this."

"Huh?" Draken deadpanned, as Takemichi stared at the group shaking,

'...Is this where the inner strife starts?'

"There's no flag!" Mikey grumpily exclaimed pointing down towards his kids' meal.

'Huh?' Takemichi's sister's glasses slightly slid off his face as he stared at the scene in shock.

Lightly smacking Mikey in the back of the head, Meiko's eye twitched, "Seriously! You're causing a scene over that! Stop being a drama queen!"

Head having moved a bit due to Meiko's smack, Mikey whipped his head towards her with his cheeks puffed out as he whined to her. "I am not being a drama queen! I got the kid's meal because I was excited for the flag!"

"I'm terribly sorry. I'll get one for y–" Meiko cut the man off with a shake of her head.

"Don't even, I don't think he'd even accept it from you." She sighed while thinking, 'Like a spoiled brat.'

"Hmph, damn right I won't." Mikey pouted, as Draken calmly and without really looking pulled a small flag from his short sleeve to put on Mikey's kid's meal.

"Look, Mikey. A flag."

At this Mikey, eyes sparkled to life as he cheered with pure childish joy, "Waaa! Way to go, Ken-chin!"

'Where'd he get that from?' Takemichi awkwardly thought, 'Draken you scare me...'

Meiko snorted and struggled to not smile as Mikey seemed to now excitedly eat his kids' meal. Instead, she turned to Draken with a knowing and teasing look and said, "Why do I get the feeling you're the reason he's so spoiled?"

Twitching at this Draken clicked his tongue, "Tch, I am no–"

"Ken-chin is the best! He always carries a spare flag for me, and makes sure I eat." Mikey happily sighed as spoke from around his spoon.

Covering her mouth Meiko struggled to not laugh as Draken glared at Mikey before turning to glare at her, "Not a wo–"

"Draken Mama." Meiko accidentally muttered aloud, making Draken slam his fist on the table.

"AS IF YOUR ON TO TALK! MS. TIGER MOM!"

"OI! I'M NOT A TIGER!"

"THAT'S YOUR ISSUE?!"

Mikey simply ate his meal with a happy smile, looking between his best friend and Meiko as they seemed to argue over their, in his mind, mothering habits. Takemichi himself could only awkwardly turn away from the scene and quietly sip at his soda.

'Well... At least they seem to be getting along?' He slammed his face once more on his table, making a waitress nearby jump and stare at him confused. 'DAMN IT, WHY ARE YOU GETTING ALONG?!'

Another good ten to fifteen minutes passed before the next scare occurred.

"Aaagh! That's it! I've had it!" Draken angrily yelled, as Takemichi once more looked back to see what was going on.

'What now? Are they actually fighting?' Looking over though, Takemichi just stared in shock at the scene before him.

Meiko's arm raised up as if she was under arrest, Draken glaring down at her, more specifically the asleep boy using her lap as a pillow.

"Ew... I think he's drooling." Meiko shivered, before looking up at Draken. "Also why am I suddenly a pillow?"

'He's asleep?' Takemichi deadpanned before hearing a loud snore, 'Is he... snoring too loud?'

"Would you stop falling asleep right after you eat?" Draken angrily muttered staring down at the teen, as Meiko then hesitantly placed her hands on top of Mikey's head.

Her eyes sparkled to life, hand gently running through the boy's soft silky blonde lock, she looked up at Draken smiling. "His hair is so soft!"

Mikey smiled in his sleep, turning in the booth, he pushed himself closer to Meiko's warmth and touch. "Mmmm. I can't eat any more..." He sleepily muttered, as Draken twitched at the teen's sleep talk.

"Jeez. What am I gonna do with you?"

Mieko could only smile, continuing to run her fingers through the boy's hair with the same hum she'd use to lull her brother to sleep. "You know... He's actually kinda cute when he's like this."

"Weren't you the one complaining about me spoiling him before..." Draken deadpanned.

"Aw~ But Ken-chin look at him." Meiko cooed, "He looks so sweet and innocent when he's asleep."

"Yeah, and when he's awake he's right old pain in the–"

"Noooo..." Mikey sleepily whined wrapping his arms around Meiko's waist making her squeak in shock. "That's my Taiyaki... you can't have it."

"... Um Draken, help!" Meiko began to panic, becoming pale, "I'm scared he's gonna start trying to eat me, thinking I'm a giant Taikyaki or something."

Draken stared at her for a bit, before scratching the back of his head as he looked away. "The sad part is, he's actually done that once before to Baji... and me."

There was a moment of silence, Meiko's eye slowly almost appearing to become glassy as she looked up at Draken begging. "Help... Me..." She whimpered comedically, as Draken gave her a nod of solidarity.

"I got ya." Working together to untangle the sleeping boy off Meiko's person, Meiko helped Draken get the boy on his back before using both her and Draken's money to pay for their meal and drinks. "You know I could have covered for you, right?" Draken asked, as she and him slowly made their way out of the restaurant.

"Oh, I'm sure, but I think you're already doing enough if you're always paying for Mikey. Besides I was the one who insisted on getting a parfait... How'd you like yours by the way?"

"It was good seeing as I had someone to help keep this dumbass from stealing it all." Draken actually smiled happily just as Mikey muttered in his ear.

"Mmmmm, I'll take all Ken-chins desserts..."

Meiko watched as the taller teen twitched in annoyance, "This–" He stopped as he felt Meiko place her hand sympathetically on his arm.

"Just call me up if you ever need a free day away from him."

"What, like you'll take care of him while I dick around? Or just you and me hang out?"

"Yes!" Meiko only nodded, and Draken seemed to understand what she meant as he only sighed with relief as they left the restaurant.

"You know... I'm starting to really like having you around."

"Aw~" Meiko cooed, before smirking up at the male playfully, "You're just saying that cause I'm currently not being a complete and utter chaotic gremlin right now."

Draken smiled back to her arrogantly, "Yep."

"Fair enough." She laughed, "So tell me was this all you guys were planning to do today?"

"Actually–" Door closing behind, Takemichi watched as they walked away outside.

Takemichi quietly twitched and stared in utter awe and confusion, 'I guess that's how Mikey-kun usually is. Just like a little kid.' He mentally wondered, before quickly paying and going after the trio as they conversed from a far enough distance he couldn't really make out what they were saying in such hushed voices. 'Draken-kun is pretty amazing though. He's supporting a guy like Mikey-kun every day.' He thought, barely noticing as his sister looked up at Draken shocked over something he said. Nor how Draken looked down at her seriously and a slight bow of his head, before Meiko seemed to frown in deep thought before smiling solemnly as she nodded in agreement with something. 'But if he were to ever lose it...' He quietly thought, watching as Draken and Meiko both stopped and the girl softly but firmly began to shake the boy on Draken's shoulder.

"Mikey! Wakey wakey!"

"Mikey, we're here." Draken sighed, as he felt Mikey stir but grumble to not awaken.

Tiredly opening his eyes, Mikey moved his head away from his best friend's shoulder to look up at where the trio had now ended up, a hospital. "What are we doing here?" Meiko's hand on Mikey's back, tightened into a fist. The teen's tired coal eyes moved to look at the girl as he tiredly noted the solemn look in her eyes as she eyed the medical facility.

"We're making a little visit."

Takemichi's stomach dropped, as he realized where the three teens were entering.

A hospital.

July 20th, 2005 Meiko

The soft beeping of the heart monitor, the ventilator, and the repetitive dripping from the IV bag, all met the trio's sight and ears. Meiko's hand moved to cover her mouth in shock, as she struggled to not cry at the sight of the battered and abused girl who lay comatose on the hospital bed connected to all those machines.

"How horrible..." She quietly whimpered, and Mikey could not help but feel confused as the familiar feelings from the night before came over him. He stared at the beaten girl and while perhaps feeling a surface level of bad for her, could not help but be confused as to why they were even here looking at her.

"Who's this?"

"Pah's buddy's girlfriend." Draken clarified as he gently placed a hand onto Meiko's head as comfort for the girl.

Takemichi's stomach twisted from around the hall corner, having to step back and look away from the horrid scene as his mind raced with everything he knew and saw. 'The reason this conflict with Moebius started...'

Draken looked at a chart hanging outside by the girl's intensive unit but hardly blinked at it. He'd already looked into what had occurred to the girl, and it made his stomach knot and twist in disgust. "She's been unconscious for five days."

"What?" Meiko gasped, "But Pah's friend..."

"Only got the nerve to call up Pah, less than three days ago. I know..." Draken muttered, "To be fair... The guy was beaten and in shock for a bit of what happened but..." Tightening his fist in his pant pockets he stared at the beaten girl as a honey-eyed golden-haired girl flashed through his mind. "Seven stitches in her head. Broken teeth. Detached retina on her left eye." He began listing off the damage that was done to the poor girl as Meiko stared up at him in horror, and Mikey silently stared at the unconscious girl's body. "Beating all over her body left her with broken ribs, she'd been like this ever since..."

"That's horrible..." Meiko sobbed, voicing her brother's thoughts aloud as he watched in shock. Though she had agreed to come with Draken to have Mikey see Moebius' victim in regards to the small gang fight Mikey wished to allow between Toman and Moebius, seeing the actual damage they had done to one of their victims was almost too much. The girl shook with rage and sadness as she looked between the hospitalized female and the quiet almost unemotional male beside her. Noting how, though cold, Mikey's eyes never left the victim, though apathetic, he did see what was before him, 'He just doesn't seem to be putting the two and two together on why he should care, he's yet to realize... How easily this could have been me, Yai, Hina...' Meiko's stomach twisted into knots as one specific female then came to mind. 'Or Emma-chan.' She quietly noted as she saw him frown.

"This is how Moebius treats its victims. A passerby found her collapsed on the street, and reported what had happened."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" A growling fuming older male voice yelled, as the teens all glanced to see an aged man marching towards them with his wife painicky following close behind. "How dare you waltz in here after putting my daughter in the ICU?!" He shouted.

"Honey, please!" His wife tried to beg.

"Get out! Get out you scumbags! Out!" He shouted to Draken and Mikey, hardly noticing the shocked Meiko being hidden by Draken's larger frame. The teens all turned to fully stand before the two parents, Draken and Mikey taking center front as Meiko hanged back in shock at the older man's accusations. 'But they didn't–"

Draken bowed in respect, Mikey remaining cold and apathetic to the older male's fury. "What do you think you're doing?" The man growled, gaze focused on only Mikey and Draken. "You think bowing is gonna solve this, you little worms?! My daughter almost died... Thanks to you Bastards! Because of trash like you!" He screamed, and Meiko jumped back in shock as watched the man's wife repeatedly try to calm her fuming husband.

'But it wasn't them!' Meiko's mind screamed as she stared at the mourning man, 'They didn't do this, how can he even say that! For all he knows we're just classmates of his daughter!' She angrily thought, feeling for the man's pain but the injustice being done against those she had started to consider her friend slowly eating away at her.

"Don't bow to him, ken-chin. We didn't do anything wrong." Mikey huffed, "Why's this old man taking it out on us, anyway?"

The older man shook, "You vermin!"

"Don't!" His wife tried to yell over him.

"You're nothing but trash! Causing a ruckus every single night!"

"Please stop, dear." The man's wife tried once more to yell.

Mikey's eyes narrowed as the man's words finally registered in his mind, "What?" He asked, feeling his anger rise.

"You cause so much trouble for others and hurt them, then think you can get away with it as adults because you were just kids then?! Like hell, you punks!"

"Enough! Please stop!" Meiko exclaimed, noting the anger starting to build in Mikey's form. She tried standing up between him and the raging husband.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Mikey angrily began to take a step forward, hand reaching to move Meiko aside as a familiar male's hand came up to force him to bow. "Hey, what're you doing?!" Mikey exclaimed as Draken forced his head down in a bow.

"We're very sorry about what happened. This is completely our responsibility." Draken seriously stated as Mikey struggled against the taller male's grip.

"Hey!"

"Please stop!" The wife had now moved to do what Meiko was and tried to stand before her husband as he lightly shoved her aside.

"YOU THINKING BOWING WILL MAKE MY DAUGHTER BETTER YOU TWO PIECES OF SHIT?! YOU'RE A STAIN ON SOCIETY! YOU'RE TRASH! FILTH! GARBAGE!"

"What?!" Mikey angrily tried to shove off Drakens hand as the bow only tightened his hold.

"Shut your mouth, Mikey!"

"That's enough!" Meiko finally shouted, stepping protectively before the two Toman leaders with her arms stretched out much to the two male's shock. "You're completely out of line!"

"Ei..." Draken tried to hiss, as Meiko only shook her head.

"These boys... These boys had nothing to do with what occurred to your daughter!" Meiko snapped, "What right do you have to call them trash or even compare them to the actual monsters that did this?! You don't know them, they're innocent!" Meiko shouted up to the man, as the man angrily glared down at her.

"What is there to know! That hair, that tattoo, obviously they're delinquents!"

"That's all superficial–" Meiko tried to argue, flinching as the man took a step towards her yelling.

"IT WAS SCUM LIKE THEM THAT DEFILED MY DAUGHTER!"

Takemichi frowned and shook from his hiding spot as he was forced to witness all this, 'But she's not wrong.' Takemichi silently thought, 'Meimei's not wrong. They didn't do anything.' He solemnly thought, unsure what to feel in this whole situation as he was stuck listening to all this happen. Especially now that his sister had jumped in, 'Meimei...'

"..." Lip quivering Meiko could only steady her glare in retaliation as she replied. "But they aren't that scum. You have the right to be angry... But not with them! What right do you have to take out your anger on innocent people!"

"Dear, please..." The man's wife almost seemed to sob as the man angrily stared Meiko down.

"I don't need to explain myself to a child like you!" The man snapped, "The fact you're defending them, you must be a part of their group too! Aren't you?!" Before she could even deny the man's claim, the man marched his way forward and firmly clamped his arms on top of her arms.

"Oi!" Mikey tried to break free from his friend's hold at this sudden action, finding Draken grip even tighter as the teen struggled to hold him in place. "Ken-chin let me–"

"Pipe down, Mikey!" Draken hissed, noting already what Mikey didn't.

Meiko had not flinched, her eyes trained on the angry father's eyes, she watched as they misted with unshed tears as he shook her. "How can you defend this! Do you not realize that associating with these boys will end you up in the same place!" His voice began to crack, "Look at her!" He almost sobbed angrily, "That will be you if you stay with these scum." Both Mikey's and Takemichi's eyes widened at the man's words, for Takemichi the sick feeling from his memories of the future making him ill. "My daughter's been in a coma ever since... Why? My sweet little girl's face... and her body... have been battered and bruised." The man cried, shaking as he painfully tightened his hold on Meiko's arms. She flinched ever so slightly, feeling the bruising grip but said nothing as the man tearfully yelled at her. "She never did anything to deserve this! How long do you think it will be before it is you on that bed?!" The man snapped as he tried to warn Meiko away from the two delinquents she defended, and his wife broke down in tears sobbing.

Mikey's stomach twisted in knots, a mix of anger and shock all swirling inside him as his eyes took a quick glance back up at the comatose girl. His hands clenched into fists as instead of the stranger girl it was Meiko, battered and bruised, instead of Meiko it was his sister, Emma. The urge to break something, someone, anything built inside him at the thought. The image of a familiar grave flashed through his mind, as Draken's grip loosened but his hand still remained on his head in solidarity. This was the reality he needed Mikey to face, this was the harsh truth that easily could have been if they weren't careful.

"I don't know..." Meiko finally replied seriously, causing Takemichi's head to snap and to look around the corner he hid behind in shock.

"Ei-chan..." Mikey muttered as he looked up slightly from his forced bow in shock at the girl.

Her eyes were sympathetic, tears running down her cheeks as she stared at the mourning parents. "I don't know how long it will be before it's me on that bed... or even just me in the dirt."

Takemichi's stomach lurched at this, 'Meimei!' The image of the wreck that killed her and Hina, his sister's grave, the letter, everything of the dark future hit him at these words. 'Don't say that...' He shook, struggling to not cry, 'Don't say that please!' He wanted to shout and scream, hand clenching into fists at his side. '...'

"Life isn't the black and white you adults always try to make it out to seem." She muttered, "It's true that associating with these guys will just lead me into trouble. I'm not naive enough not to know that a delinquent's life isn't one filled with violence and struggle." Moving her hands up she pried the man's hands off her arms but held onto them tight as she said. "But that's not to say life isn't the same way... No matter what society or world we live in, nothing is perfect, you may be right in that being with these guys is what will lead me to suffer a similar fate to your daughter... But I could suffer the same fate just by being like her–"

"Wha–"

Cutting the older man off, Meiko tugged the man's hands as she glared up at him, "She had nothing to do with delinquents! Right?" She almost seemed to ask, as the sobbing mother nodded in acknowledgment. "Yet this still happened... Because innocent people... Will always suffer because of someone or something... It doesn't matter." Meiko seriously frowned, as to Takemichi the news coverage from the future replayed in his mind.

"The dispute between the Tokyo Majin Gang has been intensifying in the city. Recently, uninvolved civilians fell victim to the dispute. Six were injured in this incident. One was sent to the hospital but is in cardiopulmonary arrest. There were three fatalities. "

"The difference here, between her and I... Is just that I know what I'm walking into if I stick with these guys. Your daughter didn't get that choice, the monsters who did this never gave her a choice. Monsters never do."

The man was silent, pulling his hands away, he turned his back on Meiko as he realized she, in his mind, could not be reasoned with. "Please leave... We never want to see you here again." Turning to his sobbing wife he gently took her by the shoulders and led her away. Leaving the three teens alone to stew on the events.

Meiko's own arm moved to hold herself as she felt the bruises forming under her short sleeve cardigan, tears slowly falling from her eyes as she bowed like the boys. She knew she'd crossed a line, but could do nothing more than bow in apology. She did not regret her choice but she could at least try to sympathize with the grieving father who only wished to do to her what he couldn't for his daughter, protect her.

"We're going to fight Moebius soon." Removing his hand from Mikey's head, Draken glared down at the floor stewing over everything. He didn't know what to think of what he and Mikey had witnessed, his plan to show Mikey the reality of everything so he understood the weight of his declaration was still in act, but it seemed more had been added to it with the Hanagaki girl's presence. "We'll deal with our problems in our own world. All of our crew have families and people important to them." Draken seriously muttered as Mikey's eyes were covered by his bangs. "We can't let innocent people get dragged into this. We can't make their friends and family cry. You don't have to bow your head. Just have a heart that cares for others."

Taking in his words soft yet stern words of wisdom Mikey finally spoke. "I'm sorry, Ken-chin." Mikey quietly responded, as everything finally seemed to click into place for him. "You're so nice, Ken-chin. I'm... glad to have you by my side."

'I think I'm starting to understand now,' Takemichi quietly thought, 'Why Mikey changed after Draken died, and how Toman twelve years in the future became such an evil organization.' He remembered Akkun's words.

"He wasn't supposed to die."

'Draken is Mikey's heart. He compensates for what Mikey lacks.' He thought, not hearing or seeing as his sister and the teens turned to face one another.

"You say... you want to make a new era for delinquents right?" Meiko quietly asked as Mikey looked up at the still tear-stained face of the dark-haired teen.

"Yeah..."

Closing her eyes, Meiko brought her hand to her chest over her heart. "...To make that era a reality then... you should take what Draken says to heart."

"Ei..." Draken stared wide-eyed as the girl solemnly smiled at them. He smiled as he noted the sincerity in the girl's eyes, as she looked directly at them.

"That will be the key, I'm sure." She simply stated, "The key to that new era... Is to not be like the other gangs." She smiled, "I know it probably doesn't mean much from someone like me who barely knows anything about Toman or even you guys, but..." Her eyes met Mikey's and he felt everything around them almost fade away as he focused solely on the girl's next words. "From what you've said, from what I've seen, Toman... Toman feels like a crew who cares about one another and their people's loved ones. They're completely different, from a lot of the delinquents running around nowadays." Tilting her head, Meiko's smile seemed to brighten to Mikey, "I really like these delinquents who have kept their hearts. Especially you Mikey."

"Huh?" The blonde's eyes became wide as he gapped at the girl.

"You definitely seem to struggle, sure..." Her eyes sparkled, and Mikey felt his heart skip a beat. "But I think you've certainly got a real big heart underneath it all, Sano Manjiro-kun."