Summary: Takemichi was never close to his step-sister, Kagome, during their teenage years. It's one of his biggest regrets, especially after her abrupt death at 25. Going back 12 years, he found himself looking into her eyes again, and he realized that saving Hinata wasn't his only purpose. He'd do anything he could to ensure he'd get to see his sister again in the future.

Pairing: Mikey/Kagome

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Three

She knew why two didn't want her to go along with them as they handled the situation up ahead. They hadn't said anything, but she could still read the silent conversation they seemed to have had in her presence. She didn't bother to ask questions, choosing to abide by the request and forgoing any attempt to argue against it like she normally would.

Kagome could still see the entire thing clearly from where she stood as she waited for Mikey and Draken to return to her side. The noise had already faded drastically, a hush sweeping over the crowd that'd been hollering only seconds ago.

As much as she wanted to go down to check on Takemichi right then and there, she refrained from doing so. Her hands fisted into the material of her skirt as her gaze remained trained on the group below.

She wanted to give them all a piece of her mind, but she stomped down on that urge. Going down now would only lead to her getting asked questions. Not just by Takemichi, but by his friends as well.

000

"Oi. Kiyomasa. You're scarin' people."

A hushed silence had swept over the crowd. It was enough to pull Takemichi's attention from the fight he was currently in against Kiyomasa. When he did, it didn't take long for him to notice the two new faces walking freely towards them. He didn't react, but the gathered crowd did, the amassed group frozen in place. No one even spoke.

He let his gaze focus on the one who'd spoken. A mostly shaved head, the rest of his blonde hair pulled into a braided ponytail with a dragon tattoo on the side of his head. Tall, with a very intimidating air. Rumors and gossip burned in his head as he pieced together who it must've been.

"Calm down, dumbass," Draken stated.

The person behind him was quiet as they approached. He was shorter with an unreadable expression displayed. As they came to a halt, the crowd reacted. They all fell into a bow, eyes trained on the ground.

"Good day, Commander, Sir!"

Silence followed, and Takemichi observed as the shorter of the two walked ahead of Draken.

There was no mistaking who these two were. Takemichi was frozen in place for a different reason entirely.

This. He was the head of the Tokyo Manji gang.

When they reached Kiyomasa, he tried to speak to the pair, only to get swiftly kicked in the stomach by Draken. He doubled over the next second, bracing his weight on his legs so he didn't fall to his knees.

"Kiyomasa, who died and made you king?" Draken questioned in a flat tone. "Make sure you're that far down when bowing to our commander."

Kiyomasa couldn't say much in response. The only thing he managed was a wavering, "Y-Yes, Sir."

While Draken remained in front of Kiyomasa, Mikey never once bothered to stop. Takemichi was startled when Mikey abruptly got close to him, stumbling back onto the ground as he backed away out of reflex.

He stared up at him, frozen in place. Getting up from the ground wasn't even a thought that went through his mind.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"H-Hanagaki Takemichi," he responded. He didn't want to know what might happen if he didn't say anything, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

"I see," Mikey said. "So Takemitchy."

"H-Huh? Takemitchy?" It took him by surprise. He couldn't be sure if it was done on purpose or not.

"That's what Mikey said, Takemitchy," Draken stated.

Mikey smiled. It broke through his otherwise unreadable expression. He crouched so he was on his level. He reached a hand out, gripping Takemichi by the back of his head to direct his attention. "Are you… really in middle school?"

For a moment, Takemichi felt his heart stop. He didn't know how he could even know that, but he stayed silent all the same. He didn't say anything in response, not trusting what he might say at that moment. His lack of a response didn't faze Mikey in the slightest, who only smiled a bit wider.

"Starting today, you're my friend, Takemitchy," Mikey stated. "Okay?"

"Huh?" Unable to form any words, nothing more than a surprised noise came from Takemichi. Mikey let him go and stood back up, his gaze roaming to Kiyomasa finally. His smile was no longer present.

"Are you the one running these matches?" Mikey asked as he approached Kiyomasa.

"Y-Yes," Kiyomasa responded. Mikey looked at him for a second longer before he smiled again. This one was different from his prior one. His next actions were abrupt. He barely even moved as he lifted his leg and delivered a sharp kick to the front of Kiyomasa's face. As he stumbled back, Mikey reached to snatch him by his hair to keep him within reach.

"Who the fuck are you?" His smile had faded, nothing but malcontent replacing it. As he repeatedly brought his fist down on Kiyomasa's face, the frozen onlookers couldn't even move. A few seconds later, Mikey let his grip on Kiyomasa fall, and he fell all the way to the concrete. As he landed, Mikey stomped his foot down on the side of Kiyomasa's head.

"Now," He turned as if nothing had happened, ignoring the splatter of blood on his face. "Kenchin, let's go," Mikey stated. His smile had returned despite what he'd done just seconds ago. Completely unbothered. "These fight clubs are lame."

He turned to leave, Draken falling into step with him. "Don't do dumb shit that'll ruin Toman's name," he stated in a warning to the group.

"Oh! Takemitchy," Mikey called out to him, and he promptly froze. He glanced back at him, that same smile still fixed on his face. "See you later, okay?"

Nothing but dread filled him at the thought of running into him a second time.

"Don't just stand there lookin' like a bunch of idiots," Draken flicked his hand as he walked behind Mikey. "This thing's over with. Scram already."

000

As the pair returned to where they left her, Kagome met them halfway. Just as she expected, nothing seemed out of place with them. Well, aside from the few specks of blood now on Mikey's cheek- blood that definitely wasn't his own.

"See?" Mikey chimed as she came up to his side. "It's all dealt with."

Kagome sighed and nodded. She tugged a cloth from her pocket automatically, reaching up to dab the blood from his face. Mikey didn't shift away from her. Instead, he leaned more into her touch. Though the fighting had been forcibly ended by the pair, she still felt a little uneasy about it all. She realized it must've shown on her face when Draken came up on her other side, letting his arm fall to rest on her shoulders. The familiar weight was comforting and she leaned more into his towering frame.

"There's nothing to worry about," Draken commented. She nodded in response, letting her hand fall once the last of the blood had been cleared from Mikey's face. She didn't know how to explain it wasn't just the fight that had left her unsettled lately, so she didn't.

She'd just have to talk to him later tonight. One thing she knew for certain, however. When the aura of time travel lingered around Takemichi, he acted differently than the version she was familiar with. She wasn't sure if it was something she should be wary of or not.

She, however, was very aware that toying with the past won't always have the effects you desire. Deep down, she couldn't take the nagging feeling that it was something Takemichi was oblivious to currently.

"I can't believe it…" Takemichi had repeated those words so many times at this point, yet the weight of the situation had yet to fade from his shoulders. "I go from one bad situation right into an even worse one…!"

From being Kiyomasa's slave to the plaything of that eccentric monster…- it just got even worse for him!

Still…- the more and more it lingered in his mind, there was something he couldn't quite shake. Sano Manjiro was Mikey, and Mikey was…- It couldn't just be a coincidence, he knew.

"Mikey's Nee-chan's boyfriend. She's dead because of him."

In the depths of his mind, the picture he'd seen while with Naoto flared to life.

Sano Manjiro, one of the two leaders of the Tokyo Manji, was Mikey, the very same person who was at fault for Kagome's death in the future. Once again, the wonder of how she ever managed to get mixed up with that monster was plaguing his thoughts. She just didn't seem like the type of girl to willingly get herself into that kind of situation long enough to become trapped. Had she been deceived somehow? Or threatened? Or forced? Or…?

Every situation that formed made his stomach twist worse than the prior.

He had to think of a way to warn her, but he knew just saying it outright would only confuse her. There was no telling when she met him, after all, but if he prevented it then maybe she won't get involved with them at all.

Upon making it home, he walked in and gently shut the door behind him. At first, silence filled the building, but he was soon able to hear something from the kitchen. Additionally, a sweet smell hung in the air. With both the sound and smell, he was lured closer. He peered into the kitchen. Just as he did, he watched Kagome set the cookie sheet on the counter as she closed the oven.

He was aware of the state he was in, but he didn't let it stop him from coming to join her in the kitchen.

"Are those chocolate chip?" he asked, unable to stop himself. His chest felt tight all of a sudden. In the past, he could remember always swiping a few in passing when he noticed they were made by her. He was left remembering just how long it'd been for him to have one. The taste couldn't even be remembered.

"Yeah!" Kagome chimed as she turned around. "They're your favorite, right?" she asked. Unable to do anything else, he nodded. Her smile brightened. "You've just seemed to be in a rough spot lately. I suppose I'm a little worried about you," she admitted. "I know it won't fix anything, but maybe it'll at least make you feel a bit better," she added as a faint, soft-spoken thought.

Her comments made him feel guilty. "Can I have one now?" he asked, and Kagome glanced at the pan.

"They might still be too hot, but sure," she cautioned.

Takemichi threw caution to the wind as he picked one up. It burned his fingers, but he wasn't fazed by it. The first bite made him freeze, a hauntingly familiar taste settling on his tongue. Once more, that same tight feeling formed within his chest. There was no warning as tears formed in his eyes, overflowing and falling down his bruised cheeks.

Kagome was startled at the sight of them, looking from him and to the cookies. She bit her thumbnail in concern. "A-Are they that bad…?" she asked in hesitation. She'd used her usual recipe and everything so she wasn't sure where she might've gone wrong…-

"N-No," Takemichi assured her, lifting his other hand to brush the tears away. "I-I just…" Kagome looked at him with concern in her eyes. What he wanted to say died on his tongue. It'd been so long since he last had one, and he wasn't prepared for the wave of sadness he'd feel at the realization. He didn't realize just how much he missed her cooking until she wasn't there anymore. "They're really good," he eventually managed to say. The smile that replaced her concern also brought him a wave of happiness. "Can you make more sometime soon?"

"Yeah, I don't mind!" she responded.

As she said those words, he didn't miss the way her blue stare lingered on his bruised and beat-up face. He wanted to say something, but she was quicker than him.

"Why don't you sit down?" she suggested. It came out as a request, but he got the sinking feeling that she was ordering him. He wasn't able to say anything as he took a seat. She grabbed the first-aid kit that'd been placed on the counter, but before he could question why it was out of its usual place, Kagome sat down across from him with a somber light reflected in her eyes. Her hand gripped the handle of the kit tightly, tight enough for her knuckles to turn paper-white.

"Kagome…-?"

"What are you doing, Takemichi?" she cut him off as she lifted her gaze to his face. He was frozen. It was like she was looking right through him. "You're…-" She caught herself then, going silent. It looked as if she was struggling with saying something.

"W-What do you mean?" he asked. Kagome frowned.

"You know exactly what I'm referring to," she said then, voice barely straying above a whisper. A jolt like electricity shot through him.

There was no way…- Right?

"K-Kagome… I-I…-"

"You're no good at fighting," she cut him off with a sigh. He went silent. "So why do you keep going around and picking fights with people?" she continued. As offended as he should've been, he only felt a wave of relief. So that's what she was talking about.

"You know, maybe you're right," he responded with a faint laugh.

"Why don't you let me do the fighting for the both of us?" she suggested, much to his surprise.

"H-Huh!?"

Kagome smiled, sticking her tongue out in a playful manner. "I'm plenty tough," she stated. He almost laughed at her playful tone. "Tougher than you, at least."

"Hey!" he responded, a smile flashing across his face when she bursted out giggling. It was such a soothing sound. A second later, she popped the lid on the kit and the routine from prior nights started.

Careful, meticulous, gentle…- she was that and more as she worked on patching him up. A lingering thought in his mind came back, and a foreboding feeling formed within his chest. He attempted to keep it to himself, but Kagome seemed to have tuned into it without any clues needed.

"What's eating at you?" she asked after a second. Takemichi blinked as he realized he was found out. He sighed and shook his head, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

"It's nothing, really," he said. Even so, as those words left his lips, the feeling grew worse. She frowned. The thought of lying to her made him feel scummy. Still, he couldn't just tell her everything. "I just…" he paused, carefully putting the words he needed together before saying them out loud. "If you ever get mixed up with some really bad guys, you know you can come to me, right?" he asked. "I don't care who or what happens ten years down the road," he continued. "No matter what, you can always come to me and I'll protect you."

She was silent for a long time. After a few seconds, he managed to meet her stare. Her gaze was sharp, keen intuition he knew he would never be capable of having reflected in the blue hues.

"What brought this on?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Just…" He shook his head and forced a smile he hoped she wouldn't see through. "Just in case, you know?" he managed to say. "There's no telling what could happen in the future."

Kagome nodded, but he got the sinking suspicion that there was something she wanted to say, yet she held back. She reorganized the kit's supplies and closed the lid again.

"Before it gets too late, I was gonna go meet up with Akkun and the guys," Takemichi said as he stood up. "Do you wanna come with?" he offered. He grinned. "I'm sure they'd love to see you."

Kagome hesitated for a moment before nodding. She stood up and stretched. "Ah… sure, why not?" she responded. She glanced over her shoulder at the spread of cookies she'd made. "I'll bring a few for them, while I'm at it," she added as an afterthought. She'd made quite a bit, and they could do with a little less.

Takemichi nodded, grinning. "Great!"

Auroua-chan: So, Kagome tried to broach the subject of Takemichi's time traveling, but she couldn't bring herself to fully do it. After all, how would she explain how she knew? She got a weird feeling after her talk with Takemichi, especially his little warning towards the end of it.

Takemichi is all worried about Kagome getting mixed up with Mikey, that he hasn't considered the possibility that she's known Mikey longer than she's known him. Either way, soon enough (in the next chapter, actually) Takemichi will end up confronting Mikey about her- more so a request that he never does anything to her.

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~