(The ending of this chapter is ew to me, just a heads up)
Sano Manjiro looked over the city. He also saw his sister walking in with Tachibana Hinata. Both of them were extremely skilled fighters, never did he imagine that his sister could fight that well. Takemitchy predicted the whole outcome, however, Hinata was nearby as if she was trying to aid him. Maybe that was just her being a girlfriend or maybe something else…as for his little sister. Immediately she went after Hanma. He had seen her start a fight with him. She went after no one else, did she know as well…but if she did why wouldn't she tell him?
He groaned, all this thinking was going to give him a headache. But the question was clear, who were those 3?
…
Takemitchi walked back into Draken's room only to see his girlfriend a little too close to Draken for comfort. He watched in horror as she leaned in. "Hina!?" Mikasa turned over to see who called. "Oh, Takemitchi." He quickly grabbed her hand and walked outside. "What were you doing!?" "What are you talking about?" "You were going to kiss him!" Takemitchi silently yelled so as to not disturb others.
"He was telling me something…" Mikasa deadpanned. "Oh…" Now he felt embarrassed. And then suddenly felt even more embarrassed when he realized that this was the last time he was going to see her before he went back to the future and he was supposed to give her a necklace. Mikasa watched as his face got really red before he pulled out something.
He pulled out a necklace. Hinata meant: Facing the sun, so he figured buying something that had to do with the sun. But since he knew her fashion sense it was somewhat black as well.
It was a gold-colored necklace, with a rectangle that had a black background but on the top left side was a golden sun, with several rays extending from it covering the small rectangle reaching all sides at different lengths. The lining was gold with small patterns.
It cost him half of his savings to get that, but did it really matter if it was for the one he loved? I mean he traveled timelines to save her. Money really wasn't an obstacle that meant anything anymore.
Mikasa smiled at the gift and asked him to put it on her. He did so.
After Takemitchi offered to take her home, he had to go to Naoto anyway. Getting there he asked for Naoto. Mikasa apologized and stated he wasn't there but instead playing with his friends out somewhere. Takemitchi sighed but thanked her anyway and went on his way to find Naoto.
…
Mikasa sat in her room drawing away. Annie came in through the door and lifted her brow. "Mikasa, es ist fast mitten in der Nacht. Du bist schon den ganzen Tag dabei. Du brauchst eine Pause." (Mikasa it's almost the middle of the night. You've been at it all day. You need a break.)
Mikasa lifted her head. She breathed in and nodded, putting the pencil down. "Ich bin an dem Punkt, an dem ich dich aufschneide." (I'm at the part where I'm cutting you up.) Mikasa laughed a bit while Annie huffed and looked away.
"Ich gehe aus. Ich brauche neue Vorräte."(I'm going out. I need new supplies.) "So spät am Abend? Ich bezweifle, dass noch alle Geschäfte geöffnet sind." (This late at night? I doubt any stores are open.)
"Es wird alles gut werden." (It'll be fine.) Mikasa said, putting on her shoes and grabbing a coat. "Wenn es keine gibt, werde ich einfach einkaufen gehen, da wir neue Lebensmittel brauchen. Schicken Sie mir die Liste per SMS, ich habe sowieso vor zu gehen. Egal, ob es Läden gibt oder nicht." (If there aren't any I'll just go shopping since we need new groceries. Text me the list, I plan to go anyway. Whether any stores or not.) Annie nodded and Mikasa opened the door only to see Naoto.
"Oh? Naoto." Behind him was a familiar figure. A figure she hadn't seen in a long time. 12 years to be exact, not since he dumped her.
"Hanagaki." Takemitchi almost flinched at the formality. He was so used to being near her and her calling him by his first name, it sounded weird and it hurt. Her hair was longer and it was tied up. "Huh? Mikasa, you still haven't…" Annie just stood there with a blank expression while Mikasa stood there with a panicked expression.
"Mika…sa? Emma?" From Takemitchi's memories, she too looked different. Instead of it always being up it was down, but her expression remained the same. And what was with her calling her Mikasa? Like the character, Hinata showed her? Was it that Mikasa? They had also been talking to each other in German and the name Mikasa on the day Draken was stabbed.
Takemitchi looked at her more closely. She remained indifferent. The day Takemitchi broke up with her, she was heartbroken. She had given him a chance and he crushed it right in front of her. After that whole ordeal, she gave up on him and remained close to Emma, instead shifting her attention to Emma. Emma and she had been through many things together. Now she and Annie owned their own martial arts studio where they trained other women to defend themselves.
Takemitchi began to cry. He remembers her kind eyes, and now they looked at him the same way they always did. He desperately wanted those kind eyes to return, those eyes that motivated him to do his best. His eyes moved down to see the necklace he had given to her so long ago. His train of thought was interrupted when Annie cleared her throat and invited Naoto and himself in. She regarded Hanagaki with a glare. Annie brought out food, while Mikasa helped set up the table. Takemitchi went over to help Hinata while Naoto went to help out Emma.
Overall it was very awkward. "Um-mm…" Mikasa lifted her head. "Yes?" "N-nice weather we're having." Mikasa nodded her head. Annie and Naoto deadpanned. "It's cloudy." Both Annie and Naoto stated. Naoto groaned. "Listen I know it's been a while since you both saw each other, but the deal?"
Annie cracked her knuckles and spoke up. "The deal is…He broke up with her for no good reason, and now 12 years later he's here at her doorstep acting like a nervous 15-year-old virgin as if he's not the one who ended things." Mikasa stayed quiet sipping her tea while Takemitchi almost choked on his.
He! He broke up with her! He couldn't believe it. Why in the hell would he ever break up with her? Naoto looked over at him with his eyebrow raised while Takemitchi shrugged desperately. He sighed and cleared his throat. "Well…that's something you all could about. Yet you" He looked over at Takemitchi. "Talk about the weather." "A-ah well, I'm nervous." Mikasa sighed as well. "And it has been a long time."
Naoto stood up straightened himself out and prepared to leave. "I'm going home." "Huh!? W-W-Wait, Naoto!" "I can't stand being in the same room as the both of you. Figure this out on your own. Goodbye."
Takemicthi clung onto his leg. "If I'm left alone with both of them, my heart will pop out of my chest, and I'll die. And worst of all, I wouldn't know if it's from the nervousness of being with Hianta again or Emma glaring at me! Naoto, do you want me to die!? And you call yourself my best friend."
"I am not your best friend." "That's so mean!" "Let go of me!" "You fiend! You demon!"
Mikasa coughed a bit to disguise her laugh. Takemitchi looked over to Hinata. "You really haven't changed at all, Hanagaki." This time he looked over to Emma who looked unamused and seemed even more embarrassed than he was.
Mikasa sighed and decided to get this over with. She stood up and walked over to Takemitchi. She extended her arm. "Do you want to go for a drive? Maybe that'll make it easier to talk." Naoto nodded. "I'll drive." Annie stood up as well and put on a coat and gave one to Mikasa as well. "Here, it'll be cold outside. Put this on." Mikasa nodded and put it on.
Naoto and Takemitchi watched as both of them dressed each other, almost like a married couple. Once they were out the door, Emma was sitting in the front with Naoto while Hinata was sitting in the back with Takemitchi.
Halfway there no one had spoken a word. Mikasa's phone suddenly rang. She pulled it out, Takemithci looked from the corner of his eye to see that name displayed on the screen. It read 'Chifuyu'
Mikasa hung up the phone, while Annie asked who it was. "It was Chifuyu. I'm assuming he wanted to confirm for tomorrow."
Annie nodded. Then Naoto's phone rang. They pulled over, it turns out Naoto was called in for work. He gave the keys over to his sister and left.
While in the car, Takemitchi was struggling to find something to talk about. "So are you going to go tomorrow?" Emma suddenly asked Hinata. Takemitchi stayed quiet. "Probably. I still want to know more about him. He's been trying to find out more about me as well. Almost like he's trying to confirm something. You were right, there is something about him that's similar. I just don't know what. I'll keep him around to find out who he is."
"U-ummm, who's Chifuyu?" "He's some guy we've known since we were in middle school. Recently he just asked Hina out on a date." Emma answered him. Takemitchi went white. "O-on a d-date?" Mikasa nodded.
Takemitchi deflated. Mikasa made a turn into a park that was all too familiar to her. They finally parked and Mikasa got out of the car and opened the door for Takemitchi and signaled him out. "I'm going to stay here."
Walking Mikasa looked around. "I haven't been here in forever." "Is this a memorable place for you?"
She nodded. "I came here with a person who I didn't like in the beginning. But after seeing him try so hard I gave him a genuine chance." Mikasa stopped to look at the river. "On Christmas when he crushed all of my efforts, my genuine feelings that little by little had begun to grow. All on that day he crushed it right in front of me, when he broke up with me."
"H-huh? Someone actually broke up with you…?" Takemitchi tried to lighten the mood. "To this day I wonder why he did that." She turned around to face him. "Why did you crush all of my efforts…Takemitchi?" The name made him have butterflies. It was strange hearing her say it. Her voice was different from before, but somehow it sounded even better.
He stared at her. Her dull eyes searching for an answer, almost like a puppy. He looked down. Why would he break up with her? God, he wanted to go back and just punch his younger self for making such a stupid decision. She sighed and extended her hand. He breathed in… "I-I have to go to the bathroom!" He suddenly shouted. But before he could go she grabbed his wrist. Her eyes now looked unamused with him and indifferent. "O-or maybe n-not…"
Together they walked back to the car. Nearing the space where the bathroom was, Takemitchi stopped and looked down. "Tachibana- no, Hinata. I'm sorry, I really am. I can't offer you an answer because I don't have one. Truth is…I don't know why I broke up with you." He decided he was going to be honest with her. "Maybe it's because you were just so great and I was…just me. I believe you deserve someone better. Maybe this Chifuyu guy… Maybe he's a better fit for you. Even if you were everything I wanted, I love you so much it hurts. I suppose that's why. Because you deserve so much better." He grabbed both of her hands and looked up with tears in his eyes. "But…I want to be selfish with you. I don't want you to go on that date with Chifuyu! I want to be with you!" Mikasa stood still. She breathed in and gave him a small smile and thanked him.
"I'll be right back, I'll meet you in the car…I need just a bit of time to process." He sucked in a breath and nodded.
Inside the bathroom, Mikasa splashed her face with water and looked into the mirror. The whole time she was debating with herself. Sighing, she decided to ultimately reject him…for the time being. Her first mission was to find out who Chifuyu is, then she could figure out if she wanted to continue with Takemitchi.
Hearing a toilet flush, she looked over to see Annie. "Annie?" Annie washed her hands and dried them off. "What happened?" "He didn't give me a clear answer but told me it was because he thought I deserved better. But now he wants to be selfish and be with me. It was nice." "So your answer?" Mikasa sighed and they both made their way to the door. "I haven't told him, but I'm deciding to reject him. I want to find out who Chifuyu is first, then I'll see how my feelings are then."
Emma bumped into a tall figure. "Huh? You both aren't in the car. This sucks, I at least hope he's in it." He turned and walked away, putting his hand on top of his head, it revealed a tattoo in kanji reading: 'Punishment'
Annie's breath hitched. "Hanma" She breathed out. Mikasa gasped. "The car, Takemithci!" Annie and Mikasa ran as fast as they could. Luckily she saw Takemitchi was barely getting into the car. "Hanagki! Get out of the car!" Annie yelled while Mikasa didn't stop running. Annie was hot on her tail. Takemitchi tilted his head and got out, but stood in front of the car.
Inside the car, Akkun was breathing hard. Suicide along with killing your best friend wasn't easy to do. He hoped to god that Takemitchi was in the car and so was Hinata and Emma. But yet he also wished the opposite.
He couldn't see. It would be blind. He counted to three closing his eyes.
1… The flashlight of the car turned on. Mikasa and Annie were almost there.
2… Akkun turned on the engine. Takemitchi looked over at the flashlights.
3… Akkun stepped on the petals. They were almost there.
Mikasa felt electricity overtake her body. She ran faster than she had ever run. Annie was slightly ahead, she saw the car coming, and everything was visible, she looked at the both of them, there was no way she would be able to save the both of them and herself. She grabbed Annie swung her in front of herself and pushed with all that she could. The feeling of previous Ackermans pushing along with her own strengths, launched Annie forward, knocking her into Takemitchi, pushing them both out of the way.
The car sped into her brother's car, and that car sent her crashing against the wall. Takemitchi and Annie looked over to her. There was a dent in the wall to see just how hard the impact hit her.
"H-Hina!" "Mikasa!" They both screamed. Just as they were getting to her, Takemitchi heard someone familiar.
Annie ignored Takemitchi moving elsewhere and went to her best friend. "Mikasa! Los, komm! Steh auf!" (Mikasa! Come on! Get up!) Annie yelled. She tried to push the car backward. An explosion sounded, waking Mikasa up.
"Wha-?" She looked down and saw the lower part of herself crushed. "Mikasa, come on! Ackerman! Get up!"
"Hinata…" Takemitchi looked down at her lower half which was crushed.
"Annie…Takemitchi" She coughed out a bit of blood. "Leave, I…I can't feel anything anymore. Even if you got me out I would bleed out."
Takemitchi lunged at her. She groaned in pain but hugged him back. "In the future…In the past…Always and forever… I've always loved you!" Mikasa stayed quiet. Hugging him tight then pushed him back with all of his force. Finally, Mikasa looked over to Annie who walked back almost tripping over her own legs. "Tut mir leid, Annie." (Sorry, Annie.) A spark sounded and the car blew up along with Mikasa. She felt the fire burn her, almost screaming until the fire turned cold against her skin. She looked up and smiled. Finally breathing her last breath, again.
…
Tears flowed freely from his green eyes. His office was a mess, his desk was flipped, and the walls had holes in them. "Dammit…It was her, Dammit I knew it! I knew it was her, I was going to tell her that day and she's dead now!" He screamed out throwing a chair towards his door. "I lost her…again!" He fell to the ground crying. "Then my next target is her." He breathed in shut the door behind him and went to his old hometown.
…
Mikasa and Annie sit in the living room as Annie looks over Mikasa's shoulder. "No, you had a red scarf, not a black one," Annie argued. "Annie, it was black." This wasn't their first argument on how certain people looked from their past lives. First was the argument on what color eyes Armin had, and whether it was blue or hazel. Annie argued blue while Mikasa argued that they were hazel. Next was Eren, Annie said he had brown hair, while Mikasa said he had darker hair.
After finalizing their arguing about the scarf they moved on to draw Petra. Mikasa was drawing her and once she was done she went to grab a blue, one to start off with her eyes first. "What are you doing, Petra has no blue on her whatsoever, unless it's the Survey Corps logo, which isn't drawn on here. Mikasa looked at her with a deadpan expression. "Annie, she had blue eyes and blonde hair." Annie scowled a bit. "No, she had brown hair and brown eyes."
Mikasa sighed in annoyance. "Again? She did not. She had blonde hair and blue eyes." Outside the door, Mikey was outside when he heard rustling. 'It's probably Emma.' He thought to himself. That was until they heard yelling. "I was the one who spent more time with her! I know what she looks like!"
That wasn't Emma's voice. Mikey quickly inserted the key and opened the door just to hear Emma yell out. "Mikasa, um Himmels willen, ich war derjenige, der sie getötet hat, ich weiß, wie sie aussieht!" (Mikasa, for god sake I was the one who killed her, I know what she looks like!)
"Wenn Sie das wüssten, wüssten Sie, dass sie blonde Haare und blaue Augen hatte." (Well if you did you would know she had blonde hair and blue eyes.) Mikasa yellout.
"Ich erinnere mich an jedes Merkmal jeder Person, die ich jemals getötet habe! Die ganze Zeit im Kristall war ich von Schuldgefühlen geplagt, aber das war egal, denn ich musste die Mission erfüllen. Ich erinnere mich an jeden, von Marco bis zu den vergangenen Titanen auf Erens Rücken! Ich weiß, wovon ich spreche!"(I remember every feature of every person I've ever killed! All that time in the crystal I was consumed by guilt, but it didn't matter because I had to complete the mission. I remember everyone, from Marco to those past titans on Eren's back! I know what I'm talking about!)
"Nein, hast du nicht, du warst zu sehr im Rausch!" Mikasa yelled. ("No you don't, you were too much in a frenzy!")
"Das warst du auch! Du hast mich aufgeschlitzt! Du hast mir in die Kniekehle geschnitten und ich bin mit dem Nacken auf den Boden gefallen! Und ich erinnere mich deutlich daran, dass ich die Levi-Truppe getötet habe, ich erinnere mich daran, dass ich Gunter getötet habe in…" ("You were too! You cut me up! You cut the back of my knee and I fell down covering my nape! And I clearly remember killing the Levi squad, I remember killing Gunter in…")Annie's voice died down as she noticed the look on Mikasa's face. She looked behind her to see her brother's confused face.
She cleared her throat while Mikasa stood up covering her drawing. Everyone stood there in awkwardness. "What are you doing here? I thought you had a meeting with Toman?" "I did…It ended. More importantly, what were you and Takemitchy's girlfriend arguing about, and in what language? And you can speak a different language?" Mikey was finding out new things about his sister every day. This was getting concerning. Did he really not pay that much attention to her?
"We were talking about a girl and whether she had blue hair and blonde hair, or if she had brown eyes and brown hair. She had brown hair and brown eyes." Annie told her brother. "An-Emma. She had blue hair and blue eyes." Hinata huffed out frustrated.
Annie breathed in before yelling at her once more. "Nein, das hat sie nicht! Ich erinnere mich, dass sie rückwärts von mir wegflog und ich sprang und sie gegen einen Baum drückte. Ihr Rücken stand in einem seltsamen Winkel und Blut kam aus ihrer Nase und ihrem Mund. Es befleckte ihr BRAUNES Haar und ihre BRAUNEN Augen waren leblos!" (No she didn't! I remember her flying away from me backwards and I jumped and crushed her against a tree. Her back was at a weird angle and blood was coming out of her nose and mouth. It was staining her BROWN hair and her BROWN eyes were lifeless!)
Mikasa looked at her disgusted by the description. Mikasa sighed picked up her supplies and excused herself and stated she was going home. "Tachibana" Mikey called out. "Stay for dinner, I probably bought too much anyway." Annie stared over at Mikasa and she did the same. Images flashed before her eyes, exposed muscle tissue, with noticeably limited skin coverage, and fingers made out of bone. The face, is laden with muscle lining, notably underneath the cheeks, along with yellowish teeth. The physically fit, body bearing a lean build with visible muscle definition. Blood covered its body, its mouth opening wide tearing Eren out of his titan form.
She had the urge to throw up. She shook her head to Mikey's offer. "I'd rather not." "You don't have to eat, just stay. It's been a while since Emma's actually had a friend besides me and my older brother."
"Yeah, Hinata. Stay." She pronounced her name with each syllable. Annie knew what she saw. Her female titan form. Those same eyes she saw when everyone looked at her form when she hunted down Eren.
Loathing, fear, disgust and so many more flashed through Mikasa's eyes.
They all sat at the table. Mikasa nor Annie touched their food. "So…How was the meetup?" Annie asked, playing around with the meat on her plate. "It was fine. Takemitchy punched our newest division captain and Baji left."
"Baji? He left?" Mikey nodded. "Why did Takemitchi punch the newest division captain?" Mikasa asked. Mikey shrugged his shoulders. "He wouldn't say. And tonight he became our newest member of Toman." Mikasa stood up. "What?" Mikey looked up. "Is there a problem with that?" "Yes. He doesn't know how to fight and he's in a gang?!"
"He'll be fine."
No, he wouldn't be. Mikasa was about to stand up when she stopped. She couldn't be involved with gangs. Not only was her father a policeman but she couldn't risk her little brother getting dragged into all of this. Still, she could barely process the words coming out of her mouth.
"Then let me join as well. Put me in the same division as him." Mikey stopped eating. "No." "Why?" "Because Takemitchi chose to become a member, you are doing it because you have to. I won't recruit someone without their free will."
"I am doing it of my own free will! He is simply a driving force." "And if he dies?" "I won't let him. As long as I'm there I won't let him die prematurely." "And if he dies?" Mikey questioned again. "He won't." "What if you can't keep going?" "If I can't, then he dies. That will be on me. If I win then he'll live. If I don't fight, I can't win."
"And if you die?" "I won't. I won't allow myself to die. Takemitchi isn't my only driving force. I have others I want to protect." For a second her eyes shifted over to Annie then went back to Mikey. Mikey caught this.
He sighed. "Alright then, If he isn't your only driving force, then it shouldn't be a problem being under the first division, while he's in the second division under Mitsuya." Annie looked over to her brother.
"Shorty you're testing your luck." "That's fine." Mikey shrugged. "Alright then. Welcome to Toman."
"If she's going then I'll go as well." "Umm, no." Mikey shut down that idea fast. "You will never be joining." "Why?" "Because you are my sister. My sister does not belong in a gang." Mikasa nodded alongside him. She didn't want Annie to be in any more danger than she already had to be.
After the whole ordeal, Mikasa excused herself and thanked Mikey.