Chapter 8.- Odd Encounters

2005, third deviation

Average wasn't the right word to describe Hanagaki Takemichi's life, if he was being entirely honest, disappointing would be a better fit.

Even after living for 26 years, he couldn't really say there was a single thing he'd truly accomplished in his life. He'd gone from one shitty bad-paying job to another, never earning enough to enjoy his life, barely surviving. It was natural, he'd been an easily replaceable cog, doing something anyone else could do, just to get back to a dingy apartment he only cleaned with enough regularity to stop pests from overtaking it. As for his social life…it was worse than a dead end. After drifting away from his childhood friends, he never managed to forge any other significant relationships, and Takemichi couldn't remember when was the last time he spoke to any of his family members. Not that he'd ever been that close to them. His mother was always busy and tired, and since the woman herself was a little estranged from her own relatives, no one bothered to reach out to him when his occasional visits to his family stopped.

Unremarkable and unskilled, the man had given up on his dream and ambitions with ease. Running away from his problems was his go-to move. There was no point in putting up a fight. He wasn't smart or strong, so all he could do was accept his lot in life and be content with the fact that he'd never amount to anything other than an extremely pointless background character. His destiny was likely set in stone from the start.

But fate could be changed…in fact, it already had.

Tachibana Naoto was still alive.

Finding himself twelve years in the past after thinking he'd be run over by a train had been unbelievable enough; all Takemichi did was reminisce and soak up the few good things that happened in his life. And yet, somehow, a couple of words spoken with no real conviction and tainted with disbelief were enough to undo someone's death. Takemichi was the one who saved him. Why was he the one gifted an ability as fantastical as going back in time, he didn't know, but this was his chance to actually do something that mattered, he couldn't just run away again.

Lives were still on the line, depending on him.

Considering how lackluster Takemichi's life had been, Hina was easily the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Even now, he couldn't figure out why the girl agreed to go out with him, but she was more than he could ask for. Sitting on his hands and letting history repeat itself wasn't something he could do. Not when Naoto had placed his hopes to save her in the leaper's hands. And he couldn't forget that it was more than just his childhood girlfriend's fate on the line. Akkun and Draken-kun could be saved too. If Takemichi could somehow change that dreadful future he came from, then it didn't matter how many times he got beaten up, he would stand back up and push forth. This was the one decision he wouldn't regret.

Of course, this had probably been a really bad idea.

Maybe he should've known from the start, or maybe it was because he was still a little shocked from leaping back to find himself in a random karaoke room with an unknown girl in her underwear; still, Takemichi had utterly failed to realize why letting Hina tag along was a horrible idea. Honestly, he didn't know what he was expecting when Draken called him to come to an abandoned shrine or why the hell he believed it was okay to bring his girlfriend with him, but it was too late to do something about it. No matter how he looked at it, the crowd flooding the bottom of the stone steps, the lights of the bikes the main illumination in this place could only mean trouble. Delinquents. All of the guys were wearing a somewhat familiar black uniform, confirming what their scowling faces suggested. Glancing around, the time leaper could even spy a bunch of girls who looked like the exact type of persons who liked to hang around gangsters.

"…these people are scary," Hina said, her tone clearly unhappy.

"It'll be ok, 'cause I'm here." And he was supposed to be here, right? "Still, don't stare too much."

"Hey! This ain't a fucking exhibition, get the fuck outta here!"

One of the gangsters was stomping towards them, glare in place and fists closed. And he wasn't sure how he was supposed to prove he wasn't an unwanted guest.

"But I was told to come here…" His voice wasn't nearly as firm as he would've wanted it to be. "So…"

"Eh? This is Toman's meeting place. Who the fuck told you to come here?!"

Ok, that didn't work.

This was the correct place, right?

Draken was the one who called him here, so there's no way the address was wrong. If the tattooed delinquent told him to come, it meant Mikey wanted him to be here. Gray-blue eyes flickered around the gathering mob, and only Hina's presence behind him got him to stay still. He could always try to call Draken and have him explain the situation, but judging from the steady thrum of anger building up around them, he wouldn't have the time to get out his flip phone. Throwing around the vice president's name was always an option, but Takemichi didn't look like the sort of person who'd be invited to a meeting by one of their leaders. No, these people would probably accuse him of lying and beat him up no matter what he said. If he left now, however, it'd be the same as ignoring Mikey's summon. The shorter blond may not be the bloodthirsty yakuza boss Naoto warned him about, but the time leaper certainly didn't want to find out if rejecting an invitation was enough to earn some violent retaliation.

Besides, he couldn't run away now.

Willing some bravery into his frame, the blond squared his shoulders; it might not be pretty, but he would —

A lavender-haired delinquent placed a hand on the shoulder of the guy who was yelling on his face. Whatever angered remarks were about to be spouted died down as the rude gangster turned around.

"Could it be that you're…" The newcomer's voice trailed off, sharp gaze studying him. "Takemichi?"

"Y-yes."

"Why're you threatening the president's guest?" A frown and a light kick emphasized the clearly more important delinquent's words. "Follow me, Takemichi."

A slight tug on his shirt made him turn around. Hina was looking at him, a silent question in her eyes. Mustering the most reassuring smile he could, the time leaper nodded as he began to trail after his new apparent guide for the afternoon, turning around every so often to make sure the girl didn't get lost in the crowd. The sea of gangsters shuffled as they passed through. Whoever this guy was, he wasn't bottom of the ladder. In only moments, they were in the center of the group, right where Sano Manjiro and Ryuuguji Ken were, half resting on their bikes.

"Yo, Take-micchi." Mikey gave him a lazy wave. "Sorry about calling you here all of a sudden."

"Why the hell did you bring your girlfriend?" Disbelief dripped from Draken's voice, and really, he couldn't blame him.

"Sorry, I had no idea it'd be like this."Takemichi forced out a laugh.

"Oh, Hina-chan, sorry about before." The taller delinquent said, turning towards the girl. His attitude doing a 180 in just moments before looking around. "Oi, Emma!"

Giving his girlfriend a sheepish smile, Takemichi turned only to feel a ton of freezing water crashing against him, rolling him over.

Well, now he had a name for the face of the girl he ran away from earlier today. Same blond hair, same yellow eyes. No matter how much he'd tried to erase that moment from his memory, he knew for sure that he wasn't mistaking this girl for someone else. His memory had never been that great, but there was no way he'd ever forget doing that with a random stranger. This girl was new. Clearly, his stupid 14-year-old self was enough of an idiot to try and cheat on his one and only girlfriend. Earlier, he'd tried to calm down by reassuring himself that now that he was here; Takemichi wouldn't allow that to happen, ever. No lines were crossed, so he tried to convince himself that as long as he did't to think about what almost (but most certainly did not) happen. Everything would be fine. He knew for a fact that he'd never get lucky enough to get another girl like Hina, so ruining the best relationship he'd ever had was nowhere in his plans. Never seeing that mystery girl again was a given, so why the hell…

Perhaps she wouldn't remember him? They couldn't have interacted for too long.

"This girl is Takemichi's girlfriend, so be sure to protect her."

"Got it." Bored eyes passed through Hina only to gain a shine as Emma got a good look at him. "Yo, 'lil coward."

Oh shit.

She did remember him. Of course she fucking remembered him, it happened less than an hour ago. Panicked, his gaze dared to slide to the side…what were the odds of lying his way out of this? What about the chances of Hina not noticing?

"Who's a 'lil coward?" His girlfriend's voice was eerily calm as she directed her stare at him.

"Do you…" Shit, Draken was joining in now. Why the hell was he joining in? "…know Emma?"

"What do you mean by 'lil coward?"

Rapid-fire questions gave him no time to think up an excuse, and of course, the blond girl ignored his silent pleas for salvation.

Hina was a nice girl.

She was always kind and patient with him, even though the girl had never been a fan of him getting into fights, constantly worried about his multitude of bruises and cuts. In hindsight, she was far more than he deserved, putting up with all of his bullshit and antics despite how inattentive his 14-years old self could be. But she was not and had never been a pushover. Hell, the girl had outright slapped Mikey when the gang leader boldly invaded their school. Scared and trembling, Hina stood up for him, refusing to stay quiet. That stern temper of hers was one of the things he liked the most about her. Because she was too precious to let any random asshole walk all over her, Takemichi included. Still, this version of him wasn't the one who almost cheated on her. It was unfair. Not that he could even try to explain what truly happened.

Vague and lame explanations stammered from his tongue as the time leaper raised his hands and shuffled backward. His pride was easily thrown off a cliff as his gaze flickered in panicked desperation to the people around him in search of help…that absolutely no one was willing to offer.

Damn, how did he forget Hina could be this scary?

Kneeling and begging for forgiveness really wasn't that big of a punishment for his other self's shitty behavior. He needed to figure out a way to ensure this didn't happen again after he leaped back to the right time. That said, blue-gray eyes landed on the huffing blond. Going as far as she did just to make Draken jealous was a little too much, in his humble opinion, but then again, who was he to judge when his life had been such a mess.

"Is everyone here?"

"Nah," Mikey answered, not particularly bothered. "They probably got caught on their way out."

"Whose turn was it today?' His previous guide asked, holding back laughter.

"Baji," Draken snorted.

Just when Takemichi managed to recover enough focus to ask what was going on, not at all as a way to escape the leftover tension with the two girls blatantly (and probably rightfully) judging him, the roar of an engine drowned the ongoing chatter. The sea of people moved away in a hurry to let a loud bike drift onto the center of the crows. He felt it then, something tugging at him, a sudden and undeniable sense that something was…off. Not about the guy driving the bike.

The boy looked every bit the gangster as anyone else gathered at the shrine, wearing the same black uniform, shoulder-height hair let loose, making the scowl on his face look even darker. The newcomer was clearly a big name too; there was nothing wrong with him. The shorter figure riding behind the boy, on the other hand…

A girl jumped off the bike in one fluid move.

She was different.

Unlike the small group of girls hanging on the outskirts of the shrine grounds, her appearance didn't seem to fit with the rest of the people here. For one, her clothes were something he'd expect to see on someone from a nice neighborhood. White, long-sleeved shirt, light pink skirt, white thighs, a white satchel with black bundle of fabric thrown over it, every piece of clothing screamed she was an outsider to this world. Still, a quick scan of the crowd showed him no surprised expressions or frowns thrown her way. In fact, a fair number of gangsters were nodding at her as she smiled in return, before placing a long, black jacket over her shoulders. No leers, no whistling, no one complained about girlfriends being brought to official meetings. It was a common occurrence.

Takemichi couldn't stop his gaze from following her as she walked over.

"Sorry we're late," the girl said, her voice bright and without a hint of nervousness. "Jii-chan got us on the stairs."

"Get me off the damn roster." The newcomer was definitely not happy, though.

"Hold on…" Draken trailed off as he got closer to the other biker. "What is that?"

"Off the fucking roster!"

"I did tell you we could ignore him, I could've moved those boxes on the weekend." Despite the girl's amused grin, all Baji did was snort and turn around. "A box got turned over, and it may or may not have been full of spiders."

"Oi!"

"And I may or may not have managed to get a photo," the girl said, taking out a light blue flip phone.

"You little!"

With a yelp, the unnamed girl ducked the boy's frantic hands and ran the last bit of the distance between them, weaving through people. Everyone here knew her; that much was obvious. There's no way to deny the familiarity she had with the leaders as she dove behind Mikey, quickly passing the phone in her hand to his. Loud laughter erupted from the delinquent leader, forcing Baji to come to a stop with a defeated groan. Even Draken and the still unnamed gangster leaned over to peek at the photo, snickering at it before shaking their heads.

This wasn't Hina's uncomfortable determination, and there was nothing of the slightly cautious distance the girls on the outskirts kept. Despite the fact that she should look more out of place than Takemichi himself, she acted right at home.

"Come on," the girl laughed. "They weren't that big."

"Like hell they weren't!" Baji shouted but contented himself with crossing his arms scowling even harder.

"Oh, what's the biggest, then?" Expertly ignoring the black-haired boy, the delinquent leader was entirely focused on the girl.

"Some legends say…" Bright blue eyes flickered to the screaming delinquent before going back to Mikey. "Big enough to squash an entire town."

Playful and cheerful, this wasn't a new interaction for any of them.

Before leaping back this time, Naoto did his best to cram as much information about Tetta Kisaki and Sano Manjiro into the struggling Takemichi's brain as possible. That said, they were working with a strict deadline, so they had no choice but to focus only on the details related to the evolution of Toman as a criminal organization, so there were quite a number of holes in his info. Wracking his brain, Takemichi could only draw a blank. According to his admittedly flawed memories, no women were involved with the yakuza clan. Of course, that didn't really mean a thing. Relationships could be fickle; he was the living proof of it, and twelve years was a long time. More than enough for the girl to distance herself from Toman. Hell, he wouldn't blame her for running in the opposite direction once blood was spilled.

"Don't even think about it, you 'lil coward," from his left, Emma scoffed.

"Eh?"

"That's Mikey's girl," the girl said, nodding in the group's direction. "Not that she'd give you the time of day, but you'll truly regret it if you try to get lucky with her."

"N-no way! That's not…!" Takemichi stammered, panic creeping into his voice as he felt Hina's gaze turn into a glare.

"Oh?" Blue eyes, bright and piercing, were staring straight at him. No, she wasn't a foreigner, maybe a half, if her eye color was natural. Nothing about her should feel special, and yet… "Are you a new member?"

"Right! Take-micchi, this is…!" Mikey's excited introduction was quickly muffled.

Was…was something like this allowed?

If Mikey's reaction to Hina slapping him was a grin and a compliment, it's not like he was expecting the gangster to overreact now, but surely there was a difference now that every single Toman member was gathered here. The president's girlfriend or not, openly disrespecting the boy by slapping her hand on his mouth to shut him up, muffling the rest of his words should be too much…right? But Draken just rolled his eyes, and the lavender-haired gangster was snickering under his breath while Baji huffed and stormed off to the bottom of the shrine steps. Daring one glance towards the gang's president, the boy didn't even look annoyed, not in the slightest. This behavior was normal. Expected.

"Kagome, my name is Kagome." Without letting go of her boyfriend, the girl tried her best to give a respectful bow. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Hmm, I still don't like it," Mikey said, finally managing to move his head back. All of his attention was on her.

"And it's still my name." Kagome was smiling as she rolled her eyes before turning to face the leaper once again. "Anyway, no need to bother with formalities."

"I-I'm Hanagaki Takemichi. This is my girlfriend, Hina." His voice was a little awkward, suddenly trying to remember his manners.

"Take…wait, you're that Takemichi?" Blue eyes widened, surprise written all over her face before she gave another quick bow. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea he'd actually go to your school."

"Ah, no, it's fine."

"You never complain when I go to your school."

"Because Kagome-chan is a saint," Draken scoffed at his leader's comment. "If we're done with this, we should get this started."

"Sorry for the delay," Takemichi added, head lowering a bit, but the tall blond waved him off.

"Gather 'round!" The vice president's voice rang through the entry, drowning the chatter. "We're going to start the meeting!"

One order.

That's all it took to get the crowd of rowdy teenagers to shut up and get themselves lined up. In less than a minute, all the delinquents were bowing their heads, letting the shout of "Good work president!" echo throughout the shrine grounds. This was nothing like the little gang Takemichi was still technically a part of. This was the group that'd eventually become one of Japan's greatest criminal organizations. Fighting off his uncertainty, the time leaper followed the duo of blonds to the start of the steps. Behind them, Emma was leading Hina to the relative safety of the outer grounds. But Kagome kept walking with them, her arm intertwined with Mikey's, completely unconcerned by how unconventional this was. The cheerful tones and lighthearted laughter were gone now, replaced by softer comments the time he couldn't quite overhear when his unnamed guide pointed at a spot for him to stop. Ahead of them, the couple reached the top of the stairs, and Kagome finally let go of the president's arm to sit down on the last step, right next to Mikey. Once again, no one seemed shocked by her presence in a place that had been should've been reserved only for their leader.

Seconds stretched, silence falling over the crowd.

It changed. The atmosphere, the air itself around the boy, it was nothing like what it had been before. This was not the energetic guy he'd met before. This was the head of Toman, the one who'd brought thousands of people together, climbing up the ranks of power in just a few years. This wasn't the man responsible for Hina's death; this version of Mikey hadn't harmed countless people yet, but he could see why so many people were willing to follow him.

Draken's death was the cause of Toman's spiral into corruption. Akkun wouldn't have lied to him, but no matter how he looked at it, that wasn't the main issue right now.

Mobius… that wasn't a name he'd seen in Naoto's file, but this conflict clearly wasn't an insignificant event. Plus, the date of the dispute overlapped with the day that the taller blond was supposed to die. Not that the reason for the conflict with Mobius was something that should be dismissed either. Family members and romantic partners were meant to be off limits, regardless of disagreements between opposing gangs. To go as far as to do…that…it was unforgivable. Something had to be done.

All of Toman had risen up, outraged and all too willing to fight. It had been a pleasant surprise to see Mikey let the decision of whether to go ahead and clash with the older gang, a little less shocking than seeing Kagome-chan speak, encouraging Pah to say what he really wanted to do. For as disastrous as the night started, things ended quite well. Though Takemichi had gone to bed somewhat conflicted at the realization that while Toman was now righteously upset at Mobius' actions, they'd do far worse in the future. Somehow, 12 years didn't feel long enough for such a massive change to happen. All because of friction between factions that didn't even exist today. After a sleepless night and a morning spent going in circles, the time leaper finally decided there was no point in pushing his lackluster deductive skills when there was an easier solution to deal with it.

Why bother trying to predict whether the fight with Möbius or against clash between the factions when he could just be there as a bodyguard?

Or so he thought…

Right now, he was feeling more like a stalker than anything else. A single rejection wasn't enough to dissuade him, so here he was, entering a hospital after Draken-san and Mikey-kun. At the very least, this little observation exercise had served to reinforce his conviction to change the future. This version of Mikey may not be the kindest person ever — the boy did beat up a bunch of guys from his school for basically no reason — but he wasn't a bad person. He was impulsive and childish, clearly relying on Draken to deal with complicated (and not so complicated) things, nothing like what Takemichi imagined him to be, and Draken was far more awesome than he'd thought too.

"A hospital?" Mikey sounded as confused as the time leaper felt. "What are we here for?"

"…a little visit."

His footsteps sounded unnaturally loud inside the white walls, somehow beating the humming and beeping of machinery. He was intruding, and yet, he couldn't stop his feet from following the pair until they were in front of a room with a wide glass window. Peeking from the corner of a hallway. There was someone in there, lying on a bed, tubes covering a young girl, making her look even smaller. Another unknown face.

"Who's that."

"That's Pah's friend's girlfriend." Drake's voice was serious and low. "Seven stitches in her head, broken teeth, detached retina on her left eye, beatings all over her body left her with broken ribs, and she's been unconscious for days.

"That's how Mobius treats its victims. A passerby found her collapsed on the streets and reported what happened," the taller boy finished explaining.

Going to that extent just for such a trifling thing. This wasn't fair, if only…!

"What the hell are you doing?!" A middle-aged man shouted from the end of the hallway., anger dripping from his every word. "How dare you waltz in here after putting my daughter in the ICU?! Get out! Get out!"

Blunt nails dug into his flesh, clenched fists trembling at his sides. Neither boy was wearing the gang's uniform, but even their regular appearance was enough for the man to lash out. Toman wasn't the one who did this. A part of him wanted to come out of his hiding spot, try to explain the situation, and…!

Draken was bowing his head, real low.

"You think bowing is gonna solve this, you little worm?! My daughter almost died because of you bastards!"

"Don't bow with her, Ken-chin." Mikey remained upright, stance unchanged, uncaring. "We did nothing wrong. Why's this old man taking it out on us anyway?"

"Get out, you slimy little worms!"

"Huh?" Now, annoyance was beginning to creep into the gang leader's voice. "Who're you calling a worm?"

There was no mistaking it, Mikey wasn't going to obediently listen to the man's insults. In all fairness, Takemichi could understand why. Having to bite their tongue and let someone else yell at them for something as vile as that when it wasn't their fault couldn't be easy. Of course, this wasn't the place to pick up a fight with the parents of a victim. Before Takemichi could step out, one of Draken's hands landed on Mikey's hand, forcing the young leader into a reluctant bow before accepting full responsibility for the incident, only to be screamed at again. Standing still felt like being asked not to move while standing on fire; frustration was burning his insides. But when it looked like the delinquent leader was about to voice his complaints, Draken shut him up once again. Angered screams filled the halls once more. They didn't last long this time though, Takemichi could hear the pain finally breaking through the anger. Tears were bleeding through.

Oh…this was just a father…

A father who was forced to watch his daughter be treated right in front of his eyes. Blaming Toman was unfair, for sure, but the more Takemichi thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't find any words that could help anyone in this situation. This was…likely why Draken was simply shutting up, head bowed, giving a desperate man an outlet for his grief and anxiety. There was nothing else any of them could do as the man finally let his wife lead him away.

"We're going to fight Mobius soon. We'll deal with our problems in our own world," Draken finally said after a beat of silence. "All our members have family, people they care about. We can't let any outsiders get harmed; we can't make their friends and families cry."

"Me-chan—

"Knowing her, Kagome-chan is likely safer sticking with us, but we both know she's an exception, not the rule." It looked like the taller delinquent was expecting this argument. "Vey few families have that kind of safety." He shook his head. "You don't even have to bow, just care about others… have a heart."

"You're so kind, Ken-chin…sorry." Mikey's voice was subdued, calm. "I'm…glad you're here with me."

Following those two was pointless. Naoto's information had to be wrong. The idea they would fight, whatever caused the vice president's death had to be something else. He'd have to go back to his time, figure out what happened on August 3rd, and then find a way to stop it, no matter what. At this point, Takemichi wasn't sure how everything fit together. Draken was Toman's heart; that much was obvious. He had 14 days to investigate all the pieces he gathered here. Mobius was way too important to be unrelated to Draken's death, and then, there was Kagome.

He hadn't expected her name to come up again. But Mikey's response made it obvious how attached he was to the girl, and while Takemichi had only seen them together once, but they seemed to get along more than just fine. The girl had been kind, taking some time to talk to Hina before they left the meeting, apologizing once more for the delinquents' previous disturbance, and she clearly had influence over the delinquent leader's actions. How much, Takemichi wasn't sure yet, but it was hard to believe that Mikey would push her away or completely refuse to listen to her after Draken's death. That odd feeling he got from her was also something he should try to look into, even if it had nothing to do with anything else, though he wasn't sure there was a way to investigate that.

Either way, his decision wouldn't change.

Blue-gray eyes glanced at the sky. It was already late afternoon. Naoto should already be home, right?

A/N: Massive time skip, I know.

Honestly, I considered just going through the story in a more chronological order until I realized if I did that we'd spend way too many chapters before we get to the actual plot.

Of course, I was already planning on showing parts of different timelines as they become relevant, so I'll be adding the more important scenes that were skipped here as we go in the same way. In a way I think it'll fit better, at least that's the hope. Regardless, Takemichi has entered the stage now and things are gonna get a bit messier for everyone involved.

As for the changes to the story, some things will change for the better, for sure, and some things will probably end up changing for the worse too. That's just how it goes considering I'm getting rid of the last minute magical fix from canon.

Thank you guys so much for reading and any and all review/comment/criticism is greatly, greatly appreciated.