"I-," Kaede's voice cracked, she flinched, seemed to swallow, then she spoke again, "I'll answer anything I can…"

Naoto nodded, pulling out the chair across from her and sitting slowly. His palms were sweating so he kept his hands closed into fists in his lap. The Commissioner didn't leave the room, instead, he stood by the door dutifully. Naoto wished he would go, even if it was protocol to have two cops in the room during an interview. It wasn't like he was going to tell Kaede anything, he couldn't risk the mission to save his sister, and Kaede didn't need the mental stress. Not that she would probably even believe him. He just wanted to be alone with her, he wanted to find a way to ask how she was, maybe lessen his guilt over changing their lives. Takemichi hadn't succeeded, after all, Hinata had still died at that festival. He'd lost Kaede for nothing.

The Commissioner cleared his throat.

"Ms. Ejiri, are we correct that you were involved with Manjiro Sano?" Naoto said quickly, not daring to glance back.

"Yes...we...uhm...I don't know that it's important but we've known each other since we were little kids," Kaede said, playing with her fingers and not looking up at him.

He'd seen this before. Many people would come into the police station with information and then get nervous and shut down once they were finally in the interview room. He wondered if this is how she'd been before. It was hard to imagine the playful woman he knew twirling her fingers and casting her eyes down.

"How did you meet him?" He knew the answer, she'd told him one evening over dinner one of the times where she'd sadly reminisced about all the friends she'd lost to Toman.

She looked up suddenly, surprised by his innocent question. The corner of his mouth quirked, his best attempt at a comforting smile and she flashed a small smile back before answering, "We went to the same elementary school and we didn't live far from each other."

"I see, so you were childhood friends?"

"Yes...we were. And...well all of Toman's founding members are-or...were."

"Ms. Ejiri I hope you know we really appreciate you coming in to help us but given your close relationship with Sano it's difficult for us to trust you right away," Naoto shifted in his chair. It was hard to feed her that line. It was hard to have her bashful and unhappy to be around him. He had never imagined they'd meet again. He certainly didn't think they'd meet like this. Moreover, his mind was racing; why was she here now? When they were together she'd left Sano and Toman behind in 2015, nearly two years ago. What happened to make her so much slower? If she wasn't spurned to leave then what happened to bring her here now?

"I-I understand but...I want to do whatever you need me to do in order to gain your trust. It's just...been too long. I should have done something before now. I had so many chances to do something but I didn't do it," she stopped, mouth still slightly parted as though she was going to say something else but she went quiet.

He leaned back in his chair looking at her, she was still so beautiful despite how tired and frightened she looked. Even though she wasn't joking around, her smooth voice was the same too, always gentle and soft until she absolutely had to put her foot down. He wanted to hold her but instead, he said, "Why did you decide to come in this time?"

"They...Toman, I mean...they killed a girl I knew when I was younger...her name was Hinata-"

The Commissioner cut in, "Ms. Ejiri, one moment please."

"It's fine I-"

"Tachibana, now."

Naoto gripped his hands tighter. He didn't want to leave her again. What if this was it? What if this was the last time he'd see her? More importantly, what if she knew something about why Hinata died? It turned his stomach to think the woman he loved could have been involved even just in knowing, but if he could get information from her maybe he could do something. Give Takemichi more information or catch the person responsible in this timeline. Anything so he wasn't constantly sitting around waiting for other people to make their choices. Frustrated, he pushed up from his chair quickly, twinging when Kaede flinched.

"I-"

"Ms. Ejiri, I'll be back with you in a moment, Detective," The Commissioner led Naoto from the room, shutting the door behind them.

"I'm fine," Naoto said, working hard to keep his voice even.

"Even if you weren't lying," The Commissioner said, setting him with a cold stare, "if she's here because of your sister you can't be in on the interviews with her. It's a miracle we can even keep you on the case after what happened."

"Sir I-"

"No, Detective. You'll get transcripts of her interviews but you can't be in the room with her any longer, understood?"

Naoto paused, staring at him. The same Commissioner that had allowed him to continue dating Kaede before. But that was two years ago. Before a string of murders. Before the drug bust. Before Hinata. Naoto sighed and looked away, "Yes, sir."

The Commissioner nodded, then turned and opened the door, "Ms. Ejiri, I'll be continuing the interview."

For a moment her eyes caught Naoto's. Concern flashed over her face, a softening in her expression that made his chest tighten, "Is everything okay, sir?"

"Oh yes," the Commissioner responded, "Detective Tachibana just got called away that's all."

Then the door shut and Naoto leaned back against the wall, terrified for her safety but suddenly full of hope that he might get to be with her again one day if the Kaede that existed now would even want a man like him. But that was a problem for later, he thought, and headed to his office to find work to distract himself from thoughts of Kaede.

"-tan…? Kaeji-tan…? Hellloooo?"

Kaede grumbled, rolling her head to the side. She didn't want to get up. She hated that Mikey always woke up early to sneak out and insisted on waking her up to say goodbye before he did.

"Jus' go…" she muttered, trying to pull on the sheets to bundle herself up again. The longer he bugged her the harder it would be to slip back to sleep.

"No way," he said, leaning down and pressing his mouth to her neck, blowing out air that made a gross noise and an even worse sensation against her skin. She shuddered, throwing an arm up at him that he easily grabbed as he laughed.

"Ugh! Manjiro!"

He grinned down at her, still holding her wrists and straddling her body though he was on his knees and not bearing any of his weight on her. "If you just got up when I called for you so nice I wouldn't have had to take drastic measures," he said in a sing-song voice, playfully kissing her fingers. She tried to pull her hand away but Manjiro pulled it back, pressing her palm against his cheek, "say bye-bye and tell me you love me, pretty please."

"Bye-bye and I love you."

He pouted, suddenly flopping down on her making her squeak in surprise, "Don't say it so flatly."

She sighed, wrapping her arms around him, "I do love you. And you do have to go bye-bye," she glanced at her alarm clock, "like right now...oh shit...like right now, right now."

"Yeah it's a little later than usual," he said, sighing and resting against her peacefully as though it wasn't time for her brother to start getting ready for work.

"Manjiro! Now! Go!"

He looked down at her, "In my defense; I did try to wake you up."

"Manjiro!"

"Okay, okay," he said, pushing up from the bed, "I'm going."

He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers again before turning and putting his belt back on. He wasn't moving with any sense of urgency. He shrugged his coat back on his shoulders and calmly collected his shoes without a care in the world. Maybe he wanted to get caught, she thought. Maybe he wasn't over his annoyance with Makoto and wanted an excuse to get in a fight with him.

"Why are you going so slow?"

"Huh?" He blinked innocently, as though he genuinely had no idea how slowly he was moving, "If I move fast I'll make a bunch of noise, won't I?"

She sighed, sitting up. She didn't want them to fight. More specifically, she didn't want to deal with Makoto lecturing her. She didn't really want to deal with him at all. They'd never been close, he was so much older than her that he'd never even taken on a protective big brother role. He was practically an adult when she was born and their parents and the world around them had changed so much between his birth and hers it was like she was related to a complete stranger.

Manjiro smiled at her once he was ready to go, "I'll text you in a bit, okay? Maybe I'll swing by at lunch."

She nodded but didn't speak. She was too distracted by her fear that he'd get caught.

He smiled and huffed slightly, sliding the window open and carefully stepping out on the roof. She followed after him, watching as he walked to the edge confidently and hopped onto the wall around their yard like it was nothing.

"Hey! You little rat!" Makoto's voice rang out from downstairs.

Manjiro blinked and looked back, probably through the kitchen window, his face was passive, just like it always was when people tried to get into a fight with him.

She heard clattering downstairs, the sounds of Makoto running from the kitchen to the front door. Manjiro looked up at her, his expression was subtle, one she knew she only understood because she'd known him for so long. Because things like this had happened before. He was asking permission to get into a fight. She shook her head sharply, pointing at him and then up the road. He held her gaze for a moment before sighing loud enough that he dropped his head back and then he jumped off the wall and jogged down the street.

Makoto burst out the front door and through the gate but he didn't chase Manjiro, "Trash! Running away like the criminal you are! Come back around here again and I'll have you arrested, you useless punk!"

She knew it probably made Manjiro furious. He didn't take that sort of talk lightly, but he didn't turn around, and soon he was gone around the corner. Makoto stood huffing in the street, staring after Manjiro for a moment like he thought he might come back then he turned and looked up into the window staring at Kaede. Somehow his anger made him look more like their father, it aged him and brought out his eyes and the lines around his mouth that she remembered seeing on their last visit with their dad. She knew he wasn't satisfied yelling at Manjiro and when he stomped back into the house she knew he was coming for her.

The fireworks were so beautiful, every time one went off Hina would react with amazement or joy, the lights reflecting in her eyes. He knew he would have to go back soon. As soon as he figured out how to keep Mikey and Kisaki apart, but at least for now, he was on the right path. He knew Mikey now and Mikey called him a friend. He introduced him to his girlfriend. So maybe it was okay to enjoy this little moment. This time where Hina was happy and alive and with him. The fireworks had drawn quite a large crowd to the roof, but he remembered Mikey's confidence and how he'd held and kissed Kaede without any fear in the middle of the schoolyard. Maybe he could at least hold Hina's hand.

He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath to gather his nerves, and reached out. His hand was shaking but he easily found a small, soft hand. It was so warm and he lingered in the moment briefly before he turned to look at her.

"Hina…" he said, but it wasn't Hina. Instead looking up at him was Naoto, "huh?"

"H-hi," Naoto offered awkwardly, leaving his hand in Takemichi's despite his obvious discomfort.

"Naoto?" Takemichi didn't even know he'd come up to the roof. More importantly, why hadn't he pulled his hand away. Then Takemichi remembered suddenly; the trigger. "Naoto?!"

"Oh, you were up here too, Naoto?" Hina asked from where she was leaning on the railing.

"Yeah," Naoto said, for some reason still leaving his hand in Takemichi's.

It was unbelievable. Like some sort of divine comedy. He wanted to scream and cry but instead, as yet another firework shot off above them he felt the strange electric pulse as he shot forward into his adult body.

He threw himself forward, screaming in annoyance.

"Takemichi?!" Naoto called, rushing from his desk across the room.

"Damn it!" Takemichi cried, "take me back!"

"Huh? So it's real! You did go to the past and the handshake really is the trigger!"

"What the hell were you doing there, man?!"

"Huh?" Naoto blinked, "What are you talking about?" When Takemichi rested his head in his hand Naoto continued, "Anyway this means our hypothesis wasn't wrong!"

"Yeah, yeah," Takemichi muttered, "good for you, I guess."

"And now you're back. So how did things go? You must have come back because something changed, right?" Naoto looked hopeful, maybe even close to smiling.

"Well…" Takemichi's voice shook with nerves, there's no way Naoto would take this well, "I was on the roof with Hina and I reached for her hand but I...kinda...sorta...grabbed yours and haha...uh here I am."

"You shook my hand by mistake?!" Naoto's hands gripped into fists and he leaned forward yelling at Takemichi, "You need to take this seriously!"

Takemichi flinched back, "I'm sorry! I am! It was an accident!"

Naoto frowned but then took a deep breath, exhaling deeply as he turned around, "Fine...Now that you've been to the past twice we've learned a little more. Last time I wasn't around to see it since I had already died, but you went back to the past in the moments before you were struck by a train. You lived an entire day in the past but given I don't think you can survive death I can only assume the changes you made had an instantaneous effect. That's how you were able to tell me about the future allowing me to avoid dying."

Naoto was like a professor. So sure of himself in his khakis. Takemichi realized even if Naoto was a little crazy for believing him he must truly be very smart.

"Uh..okay sure. Why...does that matter?"

Naoto stared at him flatly and then sighed, rolling his eyes, "Because this time it wasn't instantaneous. The same amount of time passed here as you spent in the past," he walked to a whiteboard and drew a chart, "You spent about a week in the past and about a week happened here, with your body in suspended animation the whole time."

Takemichi blinked, glancing down at the IV Naoto must have put in his hand. He shuddered, realizing Naoto had taught himself, and wondering how he'd even gotten the solution but he decided it was better not to ask.

"So this was different from your first trip to the past, perhaps because I'm here now, and I wonder if the next trip will be different now that there's an established pattern," Naoto held his chin thinking.

"Hey go back does that mean...I was dead?"

"No, more...you were empty. Your consciousness traveled in time and took over your young body but your young consciousness didn't come forward and take over your adult body if that makes sense."

"Uh...no?"

"Just," Naoto sighed, "I don't know that this is going to be the rule, but let's make sure I'm able to get you somewhere if it is. We can't have your empty body becoming a spectacle of the scientific world."

"...uh...sure!"

Naoto rolled his eyes, capping the marker and setting it on the tray, "So. How did your mission to keep Kisaki and Mikey apart go?"

"Uh...well...I met Mikey…"

"Mikey? Oh...you mean Sano."

"But listen to this, Naoto! Mikey might be a delinquent but he's a really good guy!"

Suddenly intense anger flashed on Naoto's face, "What?" he said, his voice going dark, "Why didn't you kill him?"

"Wha-? Kill?"

"You're trying to tell me the guy that killed my sister is a good person? Did he pull one over on you in the past?!"

"No!"

He wanted to explain, but Naoto cut him off again, slapping his hand against the whiteboard for emphasis, "Listen! That 'Mikey' is so involved in various crimes now that the police can't even handle him! If I could...I would kill him with my own two hands!"

Naoto seemed to struggle for a moment with something he didn't say, his face pinched together and then he slammed his fist backward against the whiteboard breathing deeply. Takemichi slowly walked to the couch, he sat down and let the moment linger. There probably wasn't a good time to ask but if he was going to do this, if they were going to work together, he needed to know.

"Why…didn't you tell me?"

"What?" Naoto turned to him.

"About Kaede...you must have known right that...she and Mikey...they were…"

Naoto looked away. He looked pained, he took a deep breath and straightened, letting his head drop back against the whiteboard. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling as he answered, "I knew."

"Does that seem like...something you should have told me?"

"Kaede didn't do anything!" Naoto turned suddenly, defensively drawing in, "She was there but she isn't the one that committed crime after crime! She's not the one that killed my sister!"

"I…," Takemichi was taken aback. He hadn't known Naoto for long but he'd always seemed so level-headed it was weird to see him being so reactive. He realized then how much Naoto must love her, and how much more painful giving her up must have been. "I wasn't trying to say that it's just...I met her and it was really shocking. I didn't know she was related to Toman at all."

Naoto sighed, dropping back into his desk chair, he put his head in his hands, "I'm sorry. I should have told you. I guess...I just foolishly hoped that this could all be resolved without involving her."

Takemichi nodded, "That I can understand."

Naoto looked up and stared at him for a long beat before he spoke again, "Obviously I don't know what happened to Kaede in the first timeline when I died at the festival. But the first time I didn't, when I saved you from the tracks? That time...Kaede turned informant in 2015. We really did meet at a convenience store coffee counter. I wasn't lying about that."

"But she was near the police station because-"

"Because she was trying to get them to take her as a witness. At the time I hadn't taken over yet, my predecessor hadn't been murdered. I was barred from getting much information but I think she knew about the plan to kill him and it was too much for her," Naoto ran a hand over his hair and rubbed the back of his neck, "I knew Kaede well, but there were a lot of things we had to be careful about. We were allowed to be together by my boss on very special conditions. I had regular meetings to clear me of any improper information gathering, she was regularly tested in interviews. Ultimately we weren't allowed to discuss Toman much and with that, we couldn't talk about Sano. So...yes I knew she had dated him for a long time...but I didn't know the details and I didn't want to. He and his organization were a cause of suffering for her. As far as I'm concerned all Sano ever did was cause two of the women I cared about most in the world incredible pain."

Takemichi let Naoto's words hang in the air. He could understand why he didn't bring Kaede up. It sounded like maybe he didn't even know when they had begun dating and it wasn't like Takemichi had known her before he knew Mikey. It probably would have confused him to hear about Kaede being Mikey's old girlfriend before he met her in the past, just as much as it confused him to suddenly meet her after seeing her first in the future. Honestly, everything about time travel made his head ache and nothing felt like the right thing to do.

"Let's go talk to Mikey."

"It's too dangerous!"

"I want to see him and talk to him in person!"

"There's no point in talking to him!"

Takemichi frowned up at him, "Mikey is someone we can trust. I want to talk to him and see why Toman changed," he stood, "I want to know that before I go back into the past again."

Naoto grimaced but didn't speak so Takemichi continued, "Help me find Mikey. Please, Naoto."

Naoto met his eye, frowning. Then he brought his hands to his hips, and sighed, "I don't know what happened in the past, but you've changed, Takemichi," he said as he walked around the whiteboard to his computer.

"Huh?" Takemichi said, following after him, "You think so? Like how?"

"Your weak side seems to be gone now," Naoto said, smiling at him ever so slightly, "Well...at least a little bit of it."

Takemichi pointed at himself, "Does that mean I'm cool now?"

Naoto ignored him, sitting in his desk chair as he spoke, "Right, let's try to figure out how to meet with Mikey."

"Hey now. Do you mean to say that I'm super cool now? Is that it? Oh now come on, don't stop now."

Naoto frowned over his shoulder, "You get carried away way too easily. Now organize these documents."

They worked in silence for a while. Naoto searching on his computer and Takemichi sorting through file after file but Takemichi got distracted with thoughts of Kaede, the woman he'd met over breakfast and the much more serious girl Mikey had introduced him to.

"She...Kaede I mean...she was really nice. As like...as a teenager, I mean. But it was sort of funny...she was kinda like you when she was a girl," Takemichi suddenly offered.

He saw Naoto's shoulders tighten, he stopped what he was doing but he didn't turn around, "That so…?"

"Yeah, she was way more serious than she was in the present. Mikey would try and joke around and she'd chide him or fuss at him. Stuff like that."

Naoto turned around, frowning slightly, "That's what you think of me?"

"Well…"

Naoto frowned deeper but didn't argue, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I dunno, I just thought...you said you didn't know how she was back then. Or like much about her and if I didn't know stuff about Hina then I think if someone could tell me it would make me feel better? I know you say Mikey changed and Toman changed and things were bad for her before she met you but...at least when she was a girl I think she was happy…"

Naoto took a deep breath and hung his head. They sat in silence for a long while before Naoto turned, tears pricking in his eyes that he refused to let fall, and smiled just slightly. A thin melancholy sort of smile.

"Thank you, Takemichi, that is nice to know…" he said, before turning back to his computer and continuing to work.

Takemichi had a million questions. He wondered if Naoto knew where present-day Kaede was, he assumed they weren't together in this timeline or Naoto would have mentioned it. Then again, Naoto hadn't wanted him to see her the first time so maybe he wouldn't. He was torn between defending Mikey and his pity for Naoto having lost his relationship with Kaede. She'd been so different but she'd genuinely seemed happy with both of them and as he shuffled through papers he wondered where she was and how much more his time travel would change before he could finally stop. He knew Hina was worth it, knew she deserved it, but for the first time, he felt a deep, cold fear about the price they'd all have to pay to save her and that kept his mind racing for hours as he worked.