Sins Always Get Paid

by BL-lover23

Chifuyu died. And Kazutora can't stand living in a world where he has no purpose. Ater committing suicide, Kazutora wakes up to the day he is being released from juvie. Or, the universe is tired of Takemichi always failing on saving Mikey and the others and decided to give him a hand by making Kazutora time travel with him to right before the Bloody Halloween. Bajifuyutora.

Drinking two pots of sleeping pills and then lying in his bed, wearing Chifuyu's favorite sweatshirt and holding Baji's old jacket tight between his fingers, waiting for death to come while his vision becomes blurred by tears of joy as he senses his mind deflating, with the meds taking effect and being completely numbed by alcohol, really wasn't his proudest moment.

But hey, he left all the legal documents in order! His funeral, for whom the pet shop would go, Peke J was old and tired, almost dying and well curled up on his ribs, if it survived the next few days, the water and food bowls were automated and filled themselves.

Anyway, if no one came looking for him in the morning, one of his employees would report him missing in two or three days.

But Kazutora didn't think Peke J would live until the next morning. It was sick and very old after all. No treatment could prolong the cat's life any longer.

And that Peke J wasn't even the Peke J of Chifuyu's adolescence anymore. He was already another cat, he didn't even look like the old Peke J.

Kazutora could still remember the day Chifuyu picked him up from prison two years ago, took him to that same apartment and introduced him to Peke J while bringing him up to catch up on Toman stuff. Kazutora knew about the cat from Baji's letters, so he made a joke without thinking too much.

The silence was deep, but Chifuyu laughed, a full and genuine laugh.

Ten years really changes someone. Chifuyu learned to forgive, Kazutora improved as a person and set his mind in place.

At least his anger issues and exacerbated violence improved, he knew how to control his feelings better and deal appropriately with guilt and remorse. But depression? Ah, Kazutora was having a hard time, he had Chifuyu's support though.

But the depression felt chronic at that point. Ingrained in his soul from his earliest years, from the first time his father hit him.

It didn't matter anymore anyway. They failed. Chifuyu fought alone for ten years and Kazutora helped him for the last two.

But they failed. Chifuyu died. Kazutora helped Takemichi, but they failed too.

What timeline was that? Why did he still remember? Perhaps, why did he know about Takemichi's secret? The other man never fully told him, but hey, Kazutora believed absurd things easily, and that explained a lot. And when he spoke to Chifuyu, the boy said that Takemichi really time-traveled and had been doing it for some time.

Fuck, none of that mattered anymore. It had been twelve years since he last saw Baji Keisuke alive and three months since Chifuyu died.

Peke J stopped breathing at some point as Kazutora's own body and mind gave up on him. He continued stroking the soft fur, closing his eyes slowly.

Fuck Kisaki, fuck Mikey and the others. Everything was fucked up to the point of irreparable. Kazutora had nothing left and was no longer of use to anyone.

He wanted to see Baji again. He couldn't live without him for 12 years and he couldn't live without him now .

Fuck codependency or whatever his therapist wanted to call it. Kazutora beat it for twelve years, but damn…

It was impossible without Chifuyu. Kazutora didn't know how to live without him anymore.

Fuck, Kazutora hadn't known how to live for many years.

~~~

"Inmate number 4678, Hanemiya Kazutora."

Kazutora jumped up, looking around. He didn't know where he was, at least not at first, but that cell left deep marks on him, the cell in the Shibuya juvenile reformatory, which he shared with two other guys for half the time he was in prison. Because one of them left before Kazutora and the rest of the time, Kazutora was left alone as the other inmate stopped at the infirmary for a few months.

What the fuck. Why the fuck was he in that damn cell after he died?

"Detainee 4678." The guard called again, knocking on the door rails. Kazutora looked at him with bated breath, "I know you're anxious to get out, but gather your things first."

Kazutora nodded, the guard was the only cool one in the juvie, he was the one who always delivered his letters and teased him about having a girlfriend, until he paid attention to the sender's name and started teasing him for having a boyfriend.

Again, why the hell was he reliving his juvie memories? Especially what looked like the day of his release?

Kazutora didn't understand, he didn't understand when he actually had to take the few things he had, put on his old clothes from two years ago, nor when he left the reformatory with nothing but the clothes on his back and his old keys in his pants pocket, an apartment that certainly wasn't available to him anymore, at least, it shouldn't have been.

Kazutora still goes to the old building near the drug den, waves to the marijuana dealer in the alley who gives him a thumbs up and is greeted by the guys on the street, who celebrate his release from juvie more than himself. He climbs the stairs, hopeless, but he knows that the plaque with his family's name was still on the door and that when he turns the key, the door will open and two years' accumulation of letters would fall at his feet.

Just like that day, he was going to find out that his mother had done something decent for him and had bought the apartment Kazutora lived in with his father, in his name, as retribution for the years of neglect and abandonment. Kazutora wouldn't open her other letters, already knowing their contents, not even in the past had he tried to find out where they came from, he wouldn't waste his time reading them this time.

His mother did it because she felt guilty and wanted to feel better about herself and continue to have a beautiful and wealthy family. She broke up with his father, Kazutora didn't blame her for wanting to stay away from that man, but she left him, she said he had the right to choose, but in the end she left him alone.

Kazutora didn't remember much of his childhood when he was fifteen, his memories started with Baji and Mikey, but now at 27, he really didn't remember anything else before Toman.

Anyway, as long as the alimony money was coming into his hands, he didn't want to know anything about his mother. Just as she didn't care to know about his arrest.

Kazutora entered the apartment, not taking off his shoes, not yet. He walked to the bathroom, the house wasn't dirty, just dust from abandonment, and looked at himself in the broken mirror.

As he thought. Dark hair, pitch-black but not pretty like Baji's, two inches below his shoulder. Kazutora remembered getting a haircut and dying it as soon as he left juvie, alone, in the bathroom with the mirror broken in three.

Damn, Kazutora couldn't believe it, but the day was already over and he still hadn't completely died. Well, he definitely did, he died in the future, in twelve years. Because with every minute that passed there, Kazutora felt more grounded in the earth and the more Kazutora was sure that whatever caused Takemichi to time travel, it was contagious and he did too.

Kazutora shook his head, it was impossible. Someone like Takemichi deserved it, you know? Save your middle school girlfriend, save your friends. He deserved this power, this opportunity. People like Kazutora, no. It was a dream, his brain was playing tricks on him before finally shutting down.

He went into the living room, opened the window, dusted himself off, lay down on the sofa and fell asleep.

The next day, Kazutora watched TV and ate Yakisoba from the convenience store. Only half.

The next day, Kazutora took a shower and burned his mother's letters.

On the tenth day, Kazutora decided that yes, he was definitely in the past. Why did he suddenly believe that? Well, when you see two of your friends that you know are dead, one because he died right in front of you and it was your fault and the other that you buried, you just know . And you believe .

Nothing would explain his appearance, things happening as he remembered. Nothing explained how Baji Keisuke and Matsuno Chifuyu were still alive and looked exactly the same as when Kazutora saw them after he entered Valhalla.

Kazutora cried like he never did before, not when his father beat him, not when he killed Shinichiro, not when he killed Baji or when he buried Chifuyu. Kazutora cried three times as much as he did for all of them together, just at the brief sight of those two alive and buying a Yakisoba to share.

Hanma Shuji sought him out on the fifteenth day, wanting him to join Valhalla as captain of the anti-Toman squad. Kazutora asked to think.

And Kazutora thought. Thought a lot. Baji and Chifuyu were alive, at that point, Takemichi would have already managed to save Draken and the next on Kisaki's list were Baji and Kazutora himself, all to corrupt Mikey. Kazutora knew that the best way to expose Kisaki and destroy his reputation for Toman, preventing him from becoming captain of the third division, was from within. If Kazutora could come up with ways to prove that Kisaki was the leader of Valhalla and Hanma acted on his orders, it was definitely on the inside. Kisaki was very cautious, he would have to play the complete lunatic against Mikey for Kisaki and Hanma to believe him.

And Baji would go after Kisaki, one way or another. Kazutora wouldn't leave him alone going after Kisaki, he might not end up infiltrating Valhalla if Kazutora didn't go, but he would need to be close enough and Baji wasn't good at lying.

Chifuyu would follow without question. And the two would be in danger, they already were, in fact, without even doing anything.

When Kisaki Tetta appeared, trying to manipulate him into entering Valhalla and killing Mikey, never showing his face directly, speaking those venomous words like a snake, sounding like something out of a story of youkai deceiving naive travelers, Kazutora made a decision…

It was time to take back the sins he had committed, and if it was necessary to sacrifice his life and stain a person's destiny red...

Well, fuck it. The person was Kisaki. Kazutora would only be helping him to pay for one's sins, no?

~-~-~

The white jacket fit him well, he joined the gang before his birthday, it was almost October and Kazutora was number 3 in Valhalla. At that point, Baji already knew that he was out of juvie and had joined the rival gang.

Kazutora looked good in the jacket, but he no longer liked the delinquent pants that were in fashion in 2005. With the accumulated alimony — his mother didn't know he had been arrested, or didn't care — he bought some new clothes, similar pants with the ones he used as an adult. And new shoes, not white sneakers but black boots.

He also fixed his hair. He had never taken chemistry before juvie, he had plans to paint it, but as he recalled, they were all bad ideas. And Kazutora refused to do the same banana hair as when he was a teenager, but he didn't want the same style he had before he died that reminded him of Rogue from X-Men.

So, he decided to do as Chifuyu had suggested once. A combination of the two, but improved. Two thick blonde strands from the front and the rest of the hair with even strands, like highlights, Kazutora didn't cut it like he did the other time, in the mirror broken in three, making his hair crooked and messy, so his hair was below his shoulders. He looked more like a tiger this time.

He might be in his 15 year old body, but he was 27 and refused to dress so ridiculously. It was interesting, as all the energy Kazutora was putting out at the age of 15 became denser and he received twice as many compliments from girls with his more mature look.

That's why he almost burst out laughing when he saw Takemichi with his tacky hairstyle and piss-colored blonde.

"Hello" Kazutora calls across the room, laughter tight in his stomach, leaning in the doorway, "Who's Hanagaki Takemichi?"

Of course, he already knew who he was and it wouldn't be strange for him to know, technically speaking, of course. That's why he was looking directly at Takemichi and his friends.

Kazutora looked around the room, there was no one else there but them, "Oya, don't tell me school is already over?"

One of Takemichis friends got up, Kazutora never learned the names of any of them, "Who the hell are you? I haven't seen you around here before"

Kazutora smiled, "I'm actually your senpai."

"Huh? I never saw you before"

The little one with glasses quickly got up, startled, grabbing the black hair one by the arm. Kazutora had his jacket on, different from the last time, but they couldn't see his back, so something else identified him, "That tattoo on his neck! Takemichi, it's him!"

"V-Valhalla number 3! Hanemiya Kazutora!"

Kazutora tilts his head. Those kids were funny, but he was more focused on Takemichi, who didn't seem surprised to see him. In fact, his gaze showed relief. But also strangeness.

Kazutora furrowed his brows, but then flashed a bright smile, running over and hugging Takemichi tightly, the bell in his earring jingling and Kazutora nearly lifted Takemichi into the air. What a relief! Damn god thank you so much! Thanks for Takemichi being a terrible liar!

Thanks for Takemichi not giving up and doing the impossible again!

"How great! This is really amazing!" Kazutora exclaims, releasing Takemichi and placing his hands on his shoulders, "It's great that I found you so easy!"

Takemichi frowned, confused, "Huh??"

"Okay, Takemichi! Let's take you to Valhalla's hideout!"

"Huh?!"

Kazutora grabs Takemichi by the wrist and pulls him out of the room, smiling, "Oi! I found Takemichi!"

Outside, like the 1st time, there were two of Kazutora's subordinates. Both using crutches because their feet were in casts, it was the first thing Takemichi noticed when he saw them.

Takemichi asked, as if he didn't understand what was wrong with the situation, it definitely felt like the first time they met, but it wasn't exactly the same, "Who are they?"

Because Kazutora wasn't the same, he knew more, much more.

Kazutora turned his head, smiling, "Oh? My most trusted Kohai!"

Takemichi swallows hard, "And… what happened to them?"

"I broke their legs yesterday." he replies, shrugging.

"B-but aren't they your most trusted kohai?" Takemichi asks, just like in the past, but less hesitantly.

Kazutora hadn't explained it that time, he did this time, "They are, but yesterday they thought they could beat some kids because they didn't have any money. I needed to teach them a lesson."

Kazutora turned around, looking directly at Takemichi, "Nothing better than breaking a few bones, don't you think? Hitting a child is not a delinquent thing."

Kazutora started walking, one of his kohai threatened Takemichi, asking if he had a problem with Kazutora, who said no. Takemichi hesitated for a moment, watching the three of them walking down the hall.

"Don't be afraid Takemitchi" Kazutora says, using the nickname he knew Takemichi knew he shouldn't know, not yet, "I'll introduce you to all of them."

Fifteen minutes later, they were at Valhalla's hideout, Kazutora with a lollipop in his mouth and offering another one to Takemichi, who declined. Kazutora sighed a little, but saved the candy for later. No one inside dared to stop Kazutora, they made way for him and gave Takemichi's presence annoyed glances, but they didn't cause any problems, after all, it was Hanma's orders for the boy to be there as a witness.

Last time, in what was the only timeline Kazutora knew from his teenage years, Kazutora learned that Baji asked to join Valhalla and met with him to finalize things, so Takemichi would be the witness of his betrayal. But Baji never asked him about that — he didn't know about the previous times, his memory wasn't that good on that part, but Kazutora had avoided any encounters until that day.

So he went there because he wanted to. Baji wasn't just there for Kazutora, his main goal was always to defeat Kisaki and expose him to Mikey and the rest of Toman. He wanted to save him in the process, get him back to Toman, to home. Baji went after Kisaki already with the goal of sacrificing himself for Kazutora in mind.

The first time, seeing Chifuyu in a pool of his own blood brought him nothing but satisfaction. It was proof that Baji was on his side, that this new vice captain was not going to replace him.

Kazutora learned many years later that they didn't exist without each other. Kazutora without Baji, Baji without Kazutora, Chifuyu without one of them and them without Chifuyu. That's how they were, always had been.

He was sure Baji was the first to notice. Chifuyu, well he never found out if Chifuyu understood that. Kazutora noticed in the last few months of his life.

Suddenly, Takemichi asks in a strangled tone, "What's going on here?"

Kazutora doesn't look at the fight, his eyes and face are facing forward, as if he was, but he wasn't, his vision focused on the back of the room, behind Hanma, on the walls. He couldn't see Chifuyu getting beaten up, he didn't know how he would react if he saw Chifuyu hurt like that, "That's the captain of the first division, Baji Keisuke. The one being beaten is his vice cap, Matsuno Chifuyu."

"Why would he-..." Takemichi starts, but Kazutora cuts him off quickly, "Baji said he wants to join Valhalla, but he's a founder, you know? And he's always been loyal to Mikey like a dog. If he wants to prove that he's betraying his god Mikey and entering Valhalla... Ah, you get the point! A test of faith."

Kazutora was tired, he had slept badly since he entered Valhalla, he just didn't have the patience for the stupid teenage stuff he needed to hear most of the time and the prospect of having Baji and Chifuyu back, of having to face him. them.

It was getting on his nerves. His anxiety was reaching stratospheric levels.

"He'll be fine, your partner" Kazutora yawns, showing no interest, "We can't kill someone here anyway"

Baji rolls off Chifuyu, and then Kazutora finally looks at the damage done. A very real damage. They were all delinquents, many had done time in juvie and some in jail, they knew what a fake punch and a real one was, there was no way Baji could pretend to be hitting Chifuyu. The scene was not pretty.

Chifuyu in the puddle of his own blood, his face crumpled and swollen, his eye crushed, blood everywhere, unconscious.

A very different scene began to emerge in his mind, the scene when he saw Chifuyu's body, because of course he was the first to be called, he was responsible for Chifuyu in the same way that Chifuyu was his, one the emergency number if the other, one listed on official government documents as the first contact. It was Kazutora who spoke to the police. He was the one who filled out the investigation forms, recognized the body, went to the hospital, filled out more forms, made all the burial arrangements, chose the flowers, the suit and the memorial photo.

He can't. He can't see anymore. He can't.

Kazutora wants to throw up.

Hanma finished his speech, Kazutora looked away from Chifuyu as fast as he could, "Are you sure, Baji?"

Kazutora's golden eyes finally meet Baji's brown ones, but for a minuscule amount of time, as Kazutora's vision quickly focuses on the wall behind him.

This was the first time they had met properly, because Kazutora had avoided the confrontation they had before that day, perhaps it was a mistake, he could have borne the sight of the love of his life alive and breathing again more easily.

"We will destroy Toman…" Kazutora was good at hiding what he felt, he masked his feelings all his life, having few moments of weakness, playing crazy was easy, natural, it was still there inside his head, "And kill Mikey."

Baji had that wild determination in the air, the one that no one could shake, not even Kazutora or Chifuyu.

Kazutora didn't assimilate the following events, he just knew that at some point, Takemichi had to leave and he volunteered without a second thought, escorting him out alone. They walked in silence, Kazutora in front and Takemichi behind, until they were out of Valhalla's ears and then Kazutora was pulling Takemichi into a narrow, dark alley.

"Which one are you?" Kazutora asks, inquisitive as if it were an interrogation.

"Wh-what?" Takemichi stammered, "I don't know what-"

"Cut the shit, partner!" Kazutora snarled, pushing him against the wall by his shoulders, "Which one are you? The 14-year-old? No, you wouldn't have minded what happened today. The 26-year-old? That must be the one, you definitely know me and you know that what happened today is pure shit and more shit will happen"

Takemichi's eyes were wide, he panted, panicking, but Kazutora himself was already not very well, "But you know me. It's not your first time trying to avoid bloody halloween, is it?" Takemichi shook his head, "What happened before you came here?"

Takemichi bites his lip, thick tears running down his lips, "You died. So, I failed again. Mikey shot me and jumped off a building in the future. He… asked me for help… I stopped here after that."

"So I came after your last failure, not immediately after my death." Kazutora sighed and shook his head. He lets go of Takemichi and bangs his head against the wall, "The universe must have had enough of your shit and sent me to help."

Takemichi laughed, a pained and awkward laugh, he just cried, letting the tears go, knowing it was pointless trying to stop the flow, but he didn't say anything.

"Or maybe this is my punishment, you know, atone for my sins"

Takemichi shook his head, "No, you don't have to be punished"

Kazutora laughs, sneering, "We both know that's not true, Takemitchi"

They laugh softly, both tired, both with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Suddenly, Takemichi hugged him and Kazutora didn't tense up, he didn't tense up under Takemichi's touch, because he trusted him. And he only trusted Takemichi because Chifuyu trusted him, and Takemichi was his friend. Now, they were the only ones who knew what the other was going through, with that giant secret in their hearts.

Kazutora didn't push him, he just let him. They were two adults in their bodies from the past, trying to keep their best friends alive, stop the people they cared about the most in the world from dying.

"We should look for Chifuyu" Kazutora says, because he doesn't like silence, silence was bad, it consumed his soul. Then he started listing what they should do now, "I was your biggest problem, right? But now I don't want to kill Mikey, I won't freak out when Baji supposedly betrays me and try to kill him… But we need Chifuyu. He's the only one who will be trusted by Toman members."

"You have to talk to Baji-kun" Takemichi sniffs at his shirt, Kazutora makes a disgusted sound, "Sorry"

"Ugh… It's okay" Kazutora sighs, full of disgust, "I'll talk to Baji when he corners me tomorrow"

Takemichi looks at him confused, "What do you mean?"

"He hasn't spoken to me yet, in the past we did, but this time I ran away" Kazutora mutters, not too proud of himself, "He'll probably corner me tomorrow after school, in my apartment. He did things like this before, when we're kids."

"I'll look for Chifuyu tomorrow, I know where he'll be" Takemichi says, shaking his head.

Kazutora shrugged, but there was urgency in his voice, "Or you can talk to him now, I know where they're going to throw him."

Takemichi looked at him, then blinked, "Oh. I hadn't noticed before, but…"

"What?" Kazutora growls, just a little.

"You love him. Don't you?" Takemichi asks, his cheeks flushed from the words he was saying, Kazutora froze, looking away, "You love him. Just like you love Baji-kun, don't you?"

Kazutora took a while to answer, looking into the distance, the dark dead end between the abandoned buildings of Shibuya. His thoughts ran wild, most people couldn't read his feelings that accurately, but well, Takemichi was special. He traveled through time for people he barely knew, he saved pure strangers without a second thought, putting his life in danger again and again.

Takemichi was a hero, he would be a martyr in death to anyone blessed with knowing him.

Takemichi understood people in a unique way and bent them until people understood their own feelings, it was amazing. More magical than time travel, in Kazutora's opinion.

"Yes" Kazutora finally says, in a single breath.

There was no shame or fear, Takemichi didn't judge people like the rest of the world did, especially not for loving someone else. He didn't have flushed cheeks or a fluttering heart as he admitted that out loud, Kazutora was at peace about the absolute love he felt for Chifuyu and Baji.

There was warmth, a warm streak through his chest and happiness, as Kazutora knew that to some extent, they loved him back.

"I don't know if there's any way I couldn't fall in love with that idiot."

~~~

As he said, Kazutora knew where Chifuyu would be thrown after the celebration for Baji's entry started. He knew because Chifuyu had commented on an especially warm spring day when they both coincidentally took off work at the same time.

They were talking about camellias. Chifuyu wanted to start planting his own pink camellias and white camellias to place on Baji's grave. The conversation came casually, at random, and succeeded in creating more flowers on the small balcony they had. Kazutora wanted to plant white tulips.

Both agreed on many types of carnations, perhaps dahlias and red tulips.

Chifuyu mentioned the graffiti of dahlias on the wall where he was thrown after being beaten by Baji. Baji wouldn't be able to go after him, but he would wait for his text to see how he was doing. But well, dahlias. A graffiti of dahlias, large and colorful, Chifuyu said he stared at them for hours before he was able to get up and go home.

Kazutora, coincidentally, knew where it was. So he guided Takemichi around the area, to two blocks behind Valhalla's hideout and they finally found the wall with the graffiti.

There, among the garbage and some rubble, was Chifuyu, in his worst condition.

"You go" Kazutora says, they were far enough away that Chifuyu didn't notice their presence, "You help Chifuyu"

"Why not you?" Takemichi asks, frowning, "Kazutora, you don't have to stay away from them, you know that, right?"

Kazutora grimaced, "It's better this way. I was the cause of Baji's death, I'll do what I have to do and then disappear."

He had money, his father was in jail at that point, the abuse having been uncovered in the process Kazutora was arrested, and his father wouldn't be released for the next ten years or so, his mother ran away long before all that shit happened and had a good and beautiful family at the point Kazutora got out of juvie. His mother bought the apartment they lived in and passed it on to Kazutora's name, it wasn't difficult since it was in her name anyway. And she started sending fat checks with the amounts of alimony she didn't pay.

Kazutora didn't expect much from her, so he was surprised by that, it was just the woman's way of feeling better about herself, she admitted that in the letter she sent and didn't expect Kazutora to go after her, because she was a bad person. Kazutora didn't go, because he was also bad. And it won't now, because he still considers himself bad.

Money was enough for him, Kazutora didn't expect to be accepted into his mother's tv butter commercial family.

Kazutora's plan was simple: enter Valhalla, get evidence against Kisaki, help Baji and Chifuyu expose Kisaki. Don't get too close, do what you need to do in the shadows, and disappear when it's all over, leaving Takemichi to deal with whatever comes after that. Move to Miyagi maybe and adopt some cats — his first choice was Yokohama, but Tenjiku was out there and Izana would want things with him, so that was a big no.

But his plans didn't involve Toman. Not Baji. Not Chifuyu. It didn't involve being by their side, they were supposed to be together and be happy, Kazutora's presence would only hinder them.

Takemichi touched his arm, "But what about you, Kazutora-kun?"

"What about me?"

"You deserve to be happy too, Kazutora-kun. You don't have to leave, you don't must go away." Takemichi spoke with a serious and determined expression, looking deep into Kazutora's eyes, "Baji-kun needs you. Chifuyu-kun needs you. I… I need you too. I can't do this alone, Kazutora-kun."

Kazutora couldn't believe those words, nobody needed him.

It was a lie. They needed each other. Kazutora didn't exist without Baji and Chifuyu. Baji didn't exist without Kazutora and Chifuyu. Chifuyu needed Baji.

But Chifuyu only needed Kazutora in the future, because Kazutora fucked up his past.

It was a fucking codependency, he knew it, Baji knew it. Chifuyu knew. Kazutora brought this up many times with his therapist, because he still missed Baji, he and Chifuyu still acted like Baji was there by accident, but neither of them said anything. Even though it's been twelve years since his death.

And now Takemichi, carrying the weight of all those lives under his back, needed him. It wasn't fair, pushing his friends' salvation onto his shoulders and running away, Kazutora was a coward, but not to that point.

"Fine. You don't need to cry, okay?" Kazutora sighed, deliberately avoiding Takemichi's gaze, he had a soft heart for the boy, "Let's go."

Takemichi sniffed, wiped his face and nodded determinedly, "Okay!"

With quick steps, they approached the pile of garbage and looked down on Chifuyu. He was a mess, really, and maybe worse than the first time. Kazutora could barely stare, not because of the violence, but because it was Chifuyu.

"Are you awake?" Kazutora asks, looking at his face, Chifuyu's eyes were unfocused and he wasn't responding to any physical stimuli, "What do you think, Mitchi?"

"We'd better just get him out of here, he might need some time to wake up" Takemichi mumble, an ugly grimace as he surveys Chifuyu's state, "He's so… fucked up."

Kazutora chuckled, "Of course he is. Baji is strong as fuck."

Takemichi rolled his eyes, but agreed. Baji Keisuke was a monster. He fought 50 men being stabbed.

"Baji-san is amazing."

The voice was Chifuyu's, he had murmured, still half out of consciousness. Of course what got a reaction out of him was the mention of Baji. Kazutora sighed, but managed a smile, nodding, "He is."

From past information, Kazutora knew that Chifuyu hadn't broken any bones, so he went ahead with the plan of slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Chifuyu was so out of his mind that he didn't react beyond a groan. Takemichi looked amazed at how easily Kazutora did it.

"Wow…"

"What?" Kazutora furrowed his brow.

Takemichi exclaimed, "You're so strong, Kazutora-kun!"

Kazutora rolled his eyes, "I wasn't vice captain of the first division for nothing"

Takemichi gasped, "That's true!"

Kazutora sighed, Takemichi was an adult like him but still acting like he was fifteen, it was refreshing. The two left as quickly as possible out of Valhalla's territory, not wanting to risk being caught together with Chifuyu on his back. Kazutora had never been so grateful to live in one of the worst areas of Shibuya, not only did drug dealers know him, they knew not to get involved in other people's business. Going to his apartment was the most logical thing, the only one who knew where he lived was Baji — and Hanma, and Kisaki… But they didn't have any reasons to watch him anymore — and it was within the limits of Toman's territory and away from Valhalla's arcade.

Taking care of Chifuyu was easy. Kazutora was used to dealing with injuries, and although he was badly beaten, Baji didn't cause any serious damage, the main thing being his right eye, which Kazutora had to make a small cut to remove the accumulated blood and remove the swelling that made him the size of a golf ball, just so he could bandage Chifuyu and his head.

Takemichi helped, or rather tried, since despite always being injured, he didn't have a single first-aid skill, so he ended up just passing things to Kazutora and holding the bandages in place so Kazutora could tape them off.

As they cradled Chifuyu, the boy began to come out of his semi-consciousness and seemed more and more awake. For the last few minutes, he was staring at Kazutora with sharp eyes like a cat, Kazutora didn't say anything, used to the boy's stares.

Kazutora went to the kitchen, got water and painkillers and returned to them. Takemichi was paralyzed, not knowing how to cut through the growing tension between them.

Kazutora bent down, extending the pill to Chifuyu, who took it and drank it slowly. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Kazutora couldn't bear to keep quiet about his state any longer, "Keisuke is fucking stupid."

The one who choked was Takemichi who didn't drink anything, not Chifuyu with water in his mouth. Takemichi looked at him, "B-but didn't you say earlier that-"

"I know what I said." Kazutora snorted, getting to his feet, "But I've known Keisuke for years, I know how absolutely stupid he is. Betraying Toman, coming after me… It's stupid."

Takemichi was shocked, really. But it was justifiable, after all, Chifuyu looked up to Baji with all his being, and Kazutora was badmouthing him in front of Chifuyu. However, if Kazutora acted in a way as if he knew everything, Chifuyu would find it weird, Takemichi preferred to hide things, Kazutora knew how to act.

"He didn't betray Toman" Chifuyu spoke in a hoarse voice, "He wants to… expose Kisaki."

"Kisaki?" Kazutora frowned, "The 3rd division captain?"

Chifuyu snorted, "You're up to date huh"

Kazutora nodded, "Huh. I have Takemichi"

Takemichi almost burst into tears when Chifuyu glared at him with one eye, "Kazutora-kun, please don't put me in a difficult situation…"

Kazutora rolls his eyes and crouches in front of him, "Chifuyu, right?" He nods, "Hanemiya Kazutora. Baji mentioned me?"

"Of course he did… I was the one correcting his letters."

Kazutora felt his face flush, there were things in those letters. Things that Kazutora kept deep in his heart. Baji was never so cheesy as in those letters. There was no way he wouldn't feel embarrassed about such a thing, especially since Chifuyu never told him about it. Of course, Kazutora knew he helped, Baji mentioned the boy a few times, but he never really stopped to think about it.

"All of them?" Kazutora asks.

"All of them."

"Oh." Kazutora says, embarrassed.

"Oh." Chifuyu smirks.

Takemichi looks from one to the other, confused. He scratched his throat, "Should I ask?"

"No." They both snapped at the same time and Takemichi got up, startled, "Geez!"

Kazutora sat on his dusty old couch, he still hadn't cleaned the house and Chifuyu's face said a lot about how disgusting he found everything.

"Why did you enter Valhalla?" Chifuyu asked, narrowing her eye.

Kazutora looked at him, thinking how cute he looked now, all sulking, "They promised they'd help me kill Mikey."

Chifuyu didn't have any eyebrows to frown, they were underneath all the gauze and bandages, "Did you get in because of that?"

He must have been wondering why the hell his amazing Baji-san wanted to help him. Cute.

"No, I joined Valhalla because they're going to try to kill Mikey anyway, with or without me" Kazutora explained, sprawling on the sofa, "And I owe him one."

Chifuyu frowned, again, just making funny faces, "Is that so?"

Then, Takemichi joined in the conversation, "Yes! Since the attack on Draken I feel that there's something strange and since Valhalla got involved, I've become more suspicious."

"Hanma didn't directly tell me that they helped Kiyomasa use Moebius to kill Draken, but I'm not stupid" Kazutora shrugged, "Hanma going to face Mikey the same night Kiyomasa tries to kill Draken? That isn't a fucking coincidence."

Takemichi nodded, "Kazutora-kun is my senpai, so we ended up bumping into each other"

Chifuyu didn't seem to believe it and Kazutora elaborated, "The Valhalla birds were saying about the guy who interrupted the captain ceremony or something and got punched by Keisuke. I was interested."

Chifuyu wrinkled his nose, "So… You don't want to kill Mikey?"

"No"

"Or destroy Toman?"

"Nop" Kazutora made the p especially loud, like 'pop'.

Chifuyu stopped in silence, seriously thinking about what was being said to him. Takemichi was a nervous wreck, but Kazutora was cool, he knew Chifuyu was smart, but there was no reason to distrust him, not with Kazutora appearing to be sane and having taken him home and patching him up.

Chifuyu asked, "Why Hanma want to kill Mikey?"

Kazutora shook his head, "He's not the one who wants to kill Mikey, it's Valhalla's leader."

Takemichi nods, "We don't have proof, but we know that Kisaki is a spy."

Chifuyu sighed, "Based on what? Baji-san came in wanting proof that Kisaki and Valhalla are involved with each other"

"Kisaki and Hanma are friends." Kazutora says, not caring if Takemichi wanted it revealed or not, Kazutora knew more about Valhalla than Takemichi ever would, even traveling back in time, "They were both in Moebius before they turned to Valhalla and Kisaki went to Toman. It was... It was Kisaki who came to talk to me, so that I could enter Valhalla."

~-~-~

Kazutora say to Takemichi to take Chifuyu home.

'Are you sure we should go out using our information like this?' Takemichi asked apprehensively.

'Has hiding them done anything so far?' Kazutora knew better, or else Takemichi wouldn't be there again. Trying to change Bloody Halloween, again.

'But what if they want us to prove what we say? We can't do that.'

Kazutora sighed, patting him on the shoulder, 'Takemitchi, you don't have to worry about these things. I know how to get evidence to fuck with someone's life, I learned from the best'

And with that, Kazutora discreetly pointed at Chifuyu. Takemichi laughed but agreed and took Chifuyu. Chifuyu waved from afar, being taken away abruptly and not being able to say goodbye properly. Kazutora waved back and walked inside his apartment. When Kazutora looked at the mess his apartment was in, he sighed. No wonder Chifuyu had a judgmental look on his face. It was deplorable.

Kazutora took off his jacket, hung it on the hook on the door, and rolled up his shirt sleeves.

It was time for a cleaning. He had been free for over a month and still hadn't cleaned the apartment, it smelled musty and there must have been a lot of it somewhere. So the first thing to do was open the windows. All of them. Every one of them, even the little one from the bathroom. So he started with the easiest one. His room. Kazutora took the sheet off and put it on the railing to take some air, took out all the sheets to hang on the railing of the small balcony, swept, dusted, vacuumed, organized and filed a garbage bag.

Then to his father's abandoned room, he dusted it off, made a mental note to deal with alcohol bottles and mold, and started putting things that didn't have room in the apartment, but could be useful, there. It became a deposit. He wouldn't get any visits anyway. The livingroom was annoying and time consuming, the sofa was practically rotten, he almost threw it away.

The kitchen was the best place since he had been cleaned up when he arrived, but when dinner time came and went, Kazutora was still halfway there. There were piles of garbage bags by the door, and he couldn't bring them down until the next collection day, along with all the laundry he had to do.

Kazutora was tired, so he decided to end the day there and go take a shower. He slept on a sheet beside the porch, watching TV.

He didn't go to school the next day, Kazutora continued the cleaning and finished it before lunch time. He rested and took another shower, chose to wear his school uniform, grabbed two grocery bags and a wad of cash, then went shopping.

Kazutora just didn't expect that this small change in routine would lead to a big thing.

At the market, Kazutora was having a hard time deciding which butter he should choose, a tuft of lilac hair appeared at his side and a hand picked up a butter from the shelf and held it out to Kazutora.

"This one is better, it has less fat" Mitsuya said, with a smile.

Kazutora looked at him awkwardly, put the one he was holding back and grab it, "Thanks"

Mitsuya went on to grab one for himself and place it in his basket, while commenting, "I didn't expect to find Valhalla number 3 on the market today."

Kazutora sighed, he would have run away in the past, but he really wanted to finish his shopping and Mitsuya wouldn't cause him trouble in a supermarket, however, when Kazutora went after yogurts, Mitsuya followed.

When Mitsuya started to decide which ones to take, Kazutora frowned, "I thought your little sisters only liked strawberry milk."

"Well, Mom has been struggling to make a food introduction with them" Mitsuya replied in good humor and not the least bit hurt by the change of subject.

After that, they are silent, continuing their shopping, together but quietly. In the future, Kazutora was the one who needed to do the grocery shopping because Chifuyu used to be busy for many hours, but Kazutora didn't know how to do half of what an almost twenty-six year old adult should know, so it was difficult, so Chifuyu got into the habit to make a detailed list of every item Kazutora needed to pick up, so going to the market was easy.

Kazutora theoretically knew what he needed to put on his list, but he was still having immense difficulties with the products, most of the brands were different from 10 years in the future or did not have the same quality as the future. And the cleaning products, especially, were driving him crazy.

"You want help?" Mitsuya asked after seeing him suffer while staring at a huge aisle of cleaning products.

Want, because it was obvious he needed help.

Kazutora looked at his list, then Mitsuya and lastly the hallway before looking at Mitsuya again and almost begging, "Please."

Knowing Kazutora's past, Mitsuya didn't find his inability to shop alone strange. Before, they barely had money to pay the bills, because his father used everything in drinking and gambling, it was no wonder that those who fed Kazutora were his friends, every day someone gave him a some food, that's where Baji's habit of splitting the Yakisoba came from.

With Mitsuya's help, Kazutora successfully finished his shopping. Soon they were paying and leaving the market, side by side, silent again. It was less than 20 steps before they had to separate.

"Thanks for today" Kazutora says, he didn't know how to talk to Mitsuya, especially that one. In the past, he barely saw Mitsuya as an adult and before Baji died, Kazutora didn't speak to anyone from Toman besides Draken.

It was the first talk he had with Mitsuya in 12 years.

Mitsuya looked at Kazutora, a steady gaze, not hard. Almost complacent, but with a sadness that Kazutora hated when it was directed at him, it was almost pity. Kazutora knew what would come when his mouth opened again.

"Why did you join Valhalla?" Mitsuya finally asked, "Do you really want to kill Mikey?"

Kazutora turned around, looking at the sky, he didn't know how to respond. Tell the truth or keep up your act? That was Mitsuya, he would find out just by looking at him.

"I have nothing, Mitsuya." Kazutora sighed, a different truth then, "I was lost, I just wanted... Something. Anything."

Mitsuya bit her lip, clenching her hands, "You have Toman!" he exclaimed, almost shouting, "Always had and always will!"

"Mitsuya…"

"If it weren't for you, we would never have made Toman!"

Kazutora felt a lump form in his throat, memories of that day flashing through his eyes. Mikey questioning him why he didn't say he was getting beat up by the Black Dragons and how everyone decided to form Toman because of that. The founding day of the Tokyo Manji Gang.

What slipped from his lips was the painful truth, "Toman is Mikey's."

"He made it for you." Mitsuya insisted, almost pleading.

"He would have done without me" Kazutora shook his head.

Mikey wanted to be a delinquent, maybe he didn't expect everyone to agree that he should be the leader, but he was there like a shining star, there wasn't anyone else capable of that position.

"Kazutora, Toman wouldn't exist if you weren't there" Mitsuya spoke again, after a minute of silence, he was resolute, totally determined to hammer that into his head, "We made it to protect you, to protect each other."

Kazutora shakes his head, wanting to stop hearing those words, "It doesn't matter anymore! I already… I already fucked up."

Mitsuya sighed, "Oh, Tora…" it wasn't pity, Mitsuya would never pity him, he was just wistful, "You didn't know."

Becuase Mitsuya knew what Kazutora was talking about.

Kazutora didn't answer, he kept looking up because he didn't want to cry, not in the middle of the street, not in front of Mitsuya, not now. He couldn't cry now. He'd long understood that crying was part of the forgiveness process, that Kazutora could cry over Shinichiro's death, something he'd held back from for years. Because it was his fault, so he didn't deserve to be sad.

Mitsuya's voice rang out again, "You didn't answer me, do you want to kill Mikey?"

Kazutora sighed, a weight on his shoulders that was too much, he couldn't lie to Mitsuya, just like he could never lie to Baji or Chifuyu. Kazutora finally looked at him and something in them drew a sigh from Mitsuya, gave him an answer and at the same time scared him.

Kazutora approached him, enough to look awkward and uncomfortable, especially with the bags. Kazutora whispered to Mitsuya, "Be careful."

Mitsuya's eyes darkened, he trusted Kazutora enough to listen to him, which was fine, "With what?"

"It was one of yours who recruited me to Valhalla" Kazutora spoke, almost without a sound, a breath amidst the wind.

His breathing got heavier, when Mitsuya spoke, he had suppressed anger, "Who?"

So Kazutora pulled back enough to look Mitsuya in the eye, "Kisaki."

Like lots of times, there was Baji Keisuke waiting for him after school, back against the light pole, arms crossed and gaze determined. Kazutora took a deep breath, he couldn't break down now.

"You came early" Kazutora commented, using his silent feet to approach Baji, who shivers all over and stands like a statue, "Since you're here, help me with the grocery"

Baji looked at him with wide eyes, reflexively holding the bag full to the top. Kazutora walked ahead, waiting for Baji to snap out of his daze and start following him. Which he did a minute later, standing beside Kazutora as he started to open the apartment door.

"Watch your feet"

The entrance to the house was littered with garbage bags, so one could fall on Baji's head at any moment, as well as piles of Kazutora's father's junk, items that Baji recognized with a single glance.

"You're throwing it all out?" Baji asked, hopping across an old bench that Mr. Hanemiya used to support his feet.

Kazutora shrugged, "He won't need it anymore."

Baji followed him into the kitchen, where he placed the bag under the table, "Why?"

Kazutora furrowed his eyebrows, "You didn't know? When I was arrested, they found out about the abuse and investigated the old man. Mom and I testified against him, he was arrested right after me. I thought you knew..."

Baji's face clearly indicated otherwise and with Kazutora never letting him know much about his situation at home, it's clear he didn't care what happened to his parents after he was arrested.

"Cool, huh? The bastard is paying for what he did" Kazutora chuckled, small and humorless, taking the groceries out of the bag and arranging them to be stored in the fridge, "I can get us a bottle of wine if you want to celebrate-"

"Kazutora."

Kazutora stopped for a moment, but when he started moving again, he ended up hitting the butter on the wooden table too hard, making himself jump. Kazutora sighed and asked, in a weak voice, "Yes?"

"Chifuyu told me you brought him here." Baji says, giving Kazutora a piercing look, but he never returned the look, in fact, Kazutora turned around and started putting what he needed into the fridge, "He said I should talk to you as soon as possible"

"Huh… really?" Kazutora muttered, sorting out the small cheeses he bought for snacks when he left for school, "About what?"

"Kazutora, you know what this is about" Baji's voice sounded urgent, deeper than usual, "Stop ignoring me!"

Kazutora slammed the bottle down on the counter, just a little bit angry, "I'm not ignoring you. If you want to talk, just say it at once, what did Chifuyu tell you? That I patched up the shit you did to him? So what?! I just wanted to know what he knew!"

"That's not true, you're not that kind of person" Baji shook his head, walking around the table and standing beside Kazutora, "If you helped him, it was for a reason, not just to get information. You never believed that I wanted to enter Valhalla, did you? Why didn't you rat me out to Hanma?"

"What the hell did Chifuyu tell you anyway?" Kazutora puts away the juice bottle and turns to the table, picking up the cereal boxes and rice bags to put in the cupboard, he doesn't know why he was being so evasive with Baji, it wasn't good given the situation, but acting in a way sincere and transparent with Chifuyu came much more naturally than with him, "Your new vice captain can give you all the answers you want, you didn't have to come here!"

Maybe it was the guilt. After all, Kazutora hadn't given Baji a single look since meeting him again at the base of Valhalla. Until a few days ago, Baji was just a ghost.

"I don't want your information!" Baji snarled, but then began muttering awkwardly, "Well, yes, I do! But I didn't come here just for that, Kazutora!"

"Then why?!" Kazutora asked defensively.

He asks because he forgets that Baji doesn't know what he did, doesn't know that he was the cause of his life being ended sooner than it should have been in a few weeks. That Baji has no idea of the ten years of torture he and Chifuyu went through without him in their lives, suffering caused by Kazutora himself, because of his twisted mind and his fucked up trauma that made him lie so hard to himself looking for relief from his guilt, that he started to believe that lie.

Even now, without those twelve years of history about the two of them, Kazutora couldn't understand why Baji had gone after him. Why would Baji care so much about him to the point of betraying Toman — exposing Kisaki? Bullshit, Baji knew from the start that Kisaki was involved with Kazutora joining Valhalla. Baji was much more clever and smart than people thought he was.

No wonder he left a letter for Chifuyu. Baji entered the bloody halloween battle with his death decided.

"Why?" Kazutora groans, looking at the kitchen counter, "I don't understand… I killed him… why would you still… It would have been better if you just-"

"Kazutora" Baji called, suddenly too close, too hot and at the same time melancholy.

Baji touched his arm, over the black jacket of Kazutora's Mizu Middle School uniform, reaching down to grab his bare wrist, making Kazutora's skin burn. Baji made him let go of what he was holding, pressing his warm fingers into his icy palm

"Kazutora, please look at me."

He could not. Fuck, he couldn't, but he wanted so much. Kazutora yearned to be able to look at Baji, really look at him, into his whisky eyes and make it more real, solid, turn it into matter, outside of his subconscious.

Turn that into anything but a dream. Seeing Chifuyu alive already seemed unreal, a distorted reality, really. But seeing Baji?

Kazutora was afraid of waking up in a hospital bed.

But Baji's fingers were warm under his palm, his thumb stroking the back of his hand, patiently waiting as long as it took for Kazutora to work up enough courage to look at him. Baji was kind, he always was, too much so, and surprisingly patient with Kazutora. He waited, he held it, steadied it with sweet words he'd never admit to coming out of his mouth later, but he did.

Baji was his gravitational center for many years. Even when he was just a memory lived on his skin. He was no more, Kazutora learned to live without him, because that's what Baji wanted him to do, stay alive, like a good person. It didn't mean that Kazutora wanted that.

He took a deep breath, one, two, three. Then breathe out, four, five, six.

Kazutora first turned his body, then his face, finally he clasped Baji's hand in his and moved his eyes to his face. Finally really looking at Baji.

And what Kazutora knew would happen, happened. The dam of emotions he'd been holding inside was bursting, cracking like there was an earthquake and water began to seep out, before the dams burst in his eyes and he started to cry, chest tight, throat dry.

"I missed you so much."

Kazutora didn't know a word that could describe that feeling of nostalgia and the lack Baji had in his life. Missing was not enough, could never be.

Baji looked ready to break down, "Me too, Tora. Every day."

Kazutora couldn't take it anymore and jumped onto Baji's neck, hugging him with immense strength, burying his face in his neck, absorbing the scent of coconut soap from his hair and that awful cheap cologne with horse advertisements on tv that he insisted on to use. Baji returned the squeeze and it didn't take long for both of them to be on the kitchen floor, curled up in each other, crying like two lost children.

Too many feelings involved, too many thoughts swirling. A shitty situation was coming and they still didn't know how to face it.

Kazutora didn't know if he could say anything, would Baji take his word for it? Well, it was Baji. The one who was by his side even after a literal stab in the back. Baji, the one who never left him behind, no matter what shitty path Kazutora was taking. Was there some line where they weren't friends, that Baji wasn't by his side through thick and thin?

Honestly, it didn't matter. Baji was there with him now. It was enough.

~~~

They were on the roof of the apartment, they climbed the emergency ladder that passed through Kazutora's bedroom window. They were lying down, looking at the blue sky and feeling the cold breeze of mid-autumn. Baji's black hair was being blown by the wind, since he didn't lie down completely, supporting his hands behind him.

Kazutora drew in the clouds, looking for the right words to say to Baji. But he didn't have to, Baji was far more perceptive than he looked and knew Kazutora like no other.

"You don't want to kill Mikey."

Kazutora sighed, Baji was right, he didn't want to.

Baji spoke again, "Neither destroy Toman."

"Chifuyu didn't told you?" Kazutora asked, not wanting to answer directly.

Baji shook his head, "I think he thought I wouldn't believe him"

Kazutora chuckled, "You wouldn't." Baji looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "You'd think my pretty face and cat eyes put a spell on him."

Baji rolled his eyes, pushing his shoulder, but smiled, turning his face away again. Kazutora knew it was true, he acted like a madman ready to kill Mikey in front of him, letting that dark thing out of that hidden place in his brain long enough to convince Baji. Baji could trust Chifuyu with his life, but Kazutora knew that when it came to him, Baji had doubts.

Because he knew Kazutora wasn't the same anymore.

"What guarantees you that I wouldn't believe him?" Baji teased anyway.

Kazutora smiles, "How can you? We both know that if I blink twice, anyone will fall at my feet."

"Chifuyu is not so easily caught" Baji states.

Kazutora immediately retorts, "Spare me, Baji. Even you can't resist me."

Baji then fully turned around, facing Kazutora with his brows drawn together and eyes determined. Kazutora just looked at him with a teasing smile, "What is it?"

"I doubt" Baji says, "that your dirty tricks can catch me."

By 'dirty tricks', Baji was referring to Kazutora's cat-like eyes, a look he used as a young with girls at school to get their sympathy and which he learned to constantly use on Mikey and the others when he wanted them to pay for food for him. The only one who never fell for that trick was Pah-chin, but it was because he didn't have that attraction for pretty boys like the rest of them, Mitsuya and Draken had resistance, however Kazutora was Mikey's favorite, so the other was doomed, Baji was…

Well, Kazutora can say now that he's older and wiser, that Baji was an absolute simp for him when they're eleven or twelve. Kazutora just asks and Baji does it.

Surely that still applied to that one, right? That one was in love with Chifuyu, but Kazutora still had an effect on him... right?

Kazutora sat up, having been shredded, he couldn't let it go. Looking Baji in the face. First, tucking a piece of hair back out of his face and preventing it from flying between them because of the wind, Kazutora hadn't done that in years, purposefully softening his gaze and looking at someone as if he was shy.

"Keisuke…" Kazutora called, speaking in a low and quiet voice, fakely embarrassed, blinking twice, "Do you like… me?"

Low blow, yes. But it was Baji who doubted him.

Baji's face turned red, Kazutora could almost hear his heart beating like a drum in his ribcage, he was nervous, panting, almost scared. Baji's pupils seemed to take over the brown they were so big, Kazutora would pull away, ask what was wrong or just smirk and tease him about it.

Kazutora didn't know if Takemichi's abrupt arrival was good or bad, but it happened.

"Kazutora-kun, I need to talk-" Takemichi stopped, looked at their approach and frowned, "I thought you were going to wait until 18?"

Baji frowned, "For what?"

At the same time, Kazutora showed his middle finger, "Go fuck yourself"

"You're so rude" Takemichi rolled his eyes, "Anyway I have the lines 'bring Baji back or I'll kill you' running in front of my eyes all day, we need a plan."

Baji didn't like being ignored and insisted on the question, "What about 18?"

Kazutora snorted, "And what can I do about it, Mitchy? Exactly: nothing."

"Give me an answer!" Baji shouted, grabbing Kazutora's shoulder, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "What has to wait until 18?"

Kazutora looked at Takemichi with eyes like daggers, ready to push the boy off the roof, but when that wasn't an option, Kazutora turned to look at Baji again, working up the courage to say the next words.

"He was talking about getting naked on the roof"

That only made Baji more confused, "What?"

Kazutora sighed, not being able to meet Baji's eyes, but pretending he does, "Sex, Keisuke. He was talking about sex. You're about to turn 15, how come you don't know that?"

Baji's face turned tomato red, he punched Kazutora in the arm and stood up, walking quickly to the emergency stairs and disappearing down there. Kazutora chuckled, knowing he had embarrassed Baji to the point where he ran away, then he beckoned Takemichi with his hand.

"What is the problem?" Kazutora asked, he had seen Takemichi less than a day ago, something must have happened.

"I don't know how things are going to go from here" Takemichi explained, looking scared, "With you being from the future and Baji not being in imminent danger… I don't know how Bloody Halloween is going to play out."

"I spoke with Mitsuya today at the market" Kazutora confessed, "I can't lie to him, I ended up talking too much."

Takemichi sighed, but he didn't seem surprised, "What did you say?"

"To watch out Kisaki." Kazutora muttered, knowing he shouldn't be so honest, "Taka-chan is smart, he won't act impulsively"

"Alright" Takemichi shrugs, "Mitsuya-kun can be of great help. Although Mikey-kun doesn't see Baji-kun as a traitor, it's not the same with Toman members and with Chifuyu-kun being considered his loyal right arm unto death..."

Kazutora nodded, understanding where he was going, "His authority will be challenged by the soldiers. Mitsuya is the highest ranking captain now, no one would go against his orders."

"Yes, they are already looking weird at Chifuyu." Takemichi sighed, unnaturally tired, "If we can get Mitsuya-kun on the case, Hakkai-kun comes too, it would be great to be able to get Kisaki and corner him… But I don't know how to convince Mikey-kun…"

Convincing Mikey that Kisaki was a traitor shouldn't been difficult, despite Kisaki's attempts to prove himself loyal to him, with so many people — Baji, Mitsuya, Takemichi, Kazutora being sure that even Draken didn't like Kisaki that much — that he cared to say otherwise, obviously Mikey would choose his old friends. But Kisaki knew how to manipulate someone very well, Kazutora knew that personally. Kisaki entered his troubled mind and made him act like a doll to kill Baji — because killing Mikey was never his goal in Bloody Halloween, it was just a bait for Kazutora to follow him — and be killed by Mikey in the end.

That's what happened in Takemichi's timeline, before all the time travel madness started.

"If you show him, he'll believe" Kazutora says, shrugging, Takemichi looks at him, "Mikey… he might have his reserves, but he likes you. He trusts you, Takemitchi. But he's afraid to trust too much."

"Mikey-kun scared?" Takemichi frowned, then shook his head, "From me? I think you hit your head."

Kazutora rolled his eyes, "Mikey is still human, Mitchy. You told me, Mikey asked you for help."

Takemichi narrowed his eyes, memories flooding his mind, Kazutora continued, "Mikey knows that he is strong, that many of Toman only stand up because they trust in their skills and their strength. He cannot show weakness, he cannot cry in front of others."

"I know… He waited until no one was looking… Until he was alone to cry when Draken-kun came out of surgery" Takemichi nodded, sighing heavily.

"Huh, that's pretty much his thing." Kazutora nodded in agreement, "But he trusts you, Mitchy. The problem is that you resemble Shinichiro-san so much that it makes all of us uneasy."

Takemichi's eyes get bigger, the blue of his eye sockets glow with something strange, "...I look that much like him?"

Kazutora nodded, "Not just his appearance, but his personality… Shinichiro-san was a crybaby, he wasn't the strongest either… But he never fell in a fight. He never gave up."

Takemichi was silent, watching Kazutora, who sighed heavily, as he continued to speak, "He was kind, he would risk himself for anyone, friend or not, he wanted to help the weak, so determined to the point of being stupid. I knew Shinichiro-san, from afar, but I didn't know he was Mikey's brother. Nor that SS Motors was his."

"How did you meet him?"

Kazutora mumbled, ruffling his hair, "Before my parents' divorce, we lived in a nice house, when Mom decided to leave, I know I ended up running into Shinichiro-san while I was crying."

Takemichi frowns, "You know, don't you remember?"

"It was the abuse, I erased the memories from my childhood. What I have are not memories, but things that I know happened, like the divorce, the abuse, meeting Shinichiro, breaking my arm when I was eight, I know they happened…" Kazutora shrugged, sighing wearily, "It's like a disjointed list of defining moments, but there are no real memories tied to them."

Takemichi looked at him as if he were a new species, but not in a disrespectful way, but with great curiosity, "When do your memories start then?"

Kazutora smiled, just a little shyly, "With Baji"

Suddenly, Baji's voice rang out from behind them, "Hey idiots! I'm hungry, let's eat!"

Kazutora and Takemichi were startled, they didn't think Baji would be back so soon, it was barely five minutes. But Baji must not have found anything ready to eat and decided to call them. Kazutora looked at Takemichi and Takemichi swallowed hard, both of them hoping to heaven Baji hadn't overheard the weirdest part of the conversation.

Kazutora stood up with a big smile, "Okay, I'll make Yakisoba! Call Fuyu-chan and ask him to come eat here!"

"Fuyu-chan?" Baji furrowed his eyebrows, "You really liked him, huh?"

Kazutora shrugged, "He's my type."

Baji wrinkled his nose, "Your type? What's your type?"

Kazutora didn't answer, he just jumped to the emergency stairs and went down to the window of his room in a very dangerous way, Baji was left with no answer, and ended on the mission of helping Takemichi to go down the stairs, because the boy was afraid of slipping and hitting his head. Baji did, with a big grimace on his face, Takemichi sympathized with the poor guy conflicted with the chasm of difference between the Kazutora he knew and the one in front of him and patted his shoulder, "I know what his type is."

Baji blinked in surprise, "You do?"

"Uhum, it's pretty obvious actually" Takemichi shrugs.

Baji frowns, "And what is it?"

Takemichi chuckled, "Toman attack leaders."

If Baji understood what Takemichi meant, Takemichi didn't find out at the time, but his ears were red. Takemichi was wondering if he should help those three to be together, as he had a slight intuition that Kazutora would run away.

~-~-~

"Can't you go into the future and find out how things are going to go?" Kazutora asked a few days later, "I'm not going to kill Baji, but what is Kisaki going to do about it? He won't be able to pretend to protect Mikey if I don't corner him in the middle of the cars."

"No, Kazutora" Takemichi sighed, eating his ice cream with dismay, "I'm just like you, I died before going back in time."

Kazutora looked at him with furrowed brows, "But you also died the first time, didn't you? But you talked to your girlfriend's little brother and he saved you."

"Ex girlfriend." Takemichi corrected, he broke up with Hinata right after rewinding last time.

"It's the same thing! You must already have a future where you don't die, right?"

"Yeah but… I've already shaken everyone's hand" Takemichi muttered tiredly, "Even Mikey's"

"We are both trapped here." Kazutora concludes, shaking his head, "Until the future changes completely and you don't die in 12 years."

"Or forever…" Takemichi muttered tearfully, "Sorry, my only use was time travel and now—"

"Hey, it's okay" Kazutora taps him on the shoulder, "You didn't ask to be involved in all this, nor to travel back in time. What matters is that you're not stuck here alone. We know enough to fuck up Kisaki's plans, we're going to be fine"

They knew what came next, they knew the truth: Valhalla had no leader, because Kisaki made Valhalla for Mikey to lead. Kisaki wanted Kazutora to freak out and kill Baji, because then Mikey would kill Kazutora, like he did in Takemichi's original timeline. Draken was supposed to be dead at this point, but Kisaki decided to continue with his plans. After Mikey killed Kazutora, of course Mikey would be arrested, to prevent that, Draken would sacrifice himself for him and be indicted for double homicide and end up on death row.

And Kisaki made Mikey leader of Valhalla, later they got Tenjiku and Kisaki would get rid of Emma and Izana. Cutting off all chances of good relationships for Mikey, destroying the bonds that held his sanity.

The first time, he got rid of them one at a time. In the second, he got rid of three founders in one blow. Two dead, two in prison.

Kazutora couldn't get Pah-chin out of jail, Pah-chin did what he did because he wanted to, he wanted to kill Osanai and Kazutora didn't blame him for that, but he still needed to pay for what he did and let himself got caught because he knew he was wrong.

Kazutora waited beside Baji's body for the same reason.

But Kazutora knew where to go to get certain information, connections that Takemichi would never be able to make. Fighting Kisaki in that war wasn't something Takemichi could do without help, Kisaki mainly fought with his mind, and he was smart as fuck, Takemichi didn't stand a chance.

Before, Kazutora was just a name. But after Baji and Mikey, he owned it. He got the tattoo for this reason, to not forget who he wanted to become and as a reminder of who he was.

Tora. Toman's attack tiger. And what tigers did best was hunt.

Kazutora has learned to hunt all his life for this moment, to stalk through the jungle after his prey, to hide against the wind and never to favor so as not to reveal his location, waiting until his prey has no more chance and-

Stick the snaps around your neck.

Tora. The most violent member of Toman.

'Toman's tiger has no mercy.'

"It's nice to talk to you, Mitchy" Kazutora continued, smiling in the affectionate way he exclusively booked the slow afternoons with Chifuyu, "I like you, it's like having a little brother. I'll take care of you."

Takemichi's eyes filled with tears, something normal when he felt strong emotions and the Takemichi of now had a lot of them, it was amazing that he didn't cry whenever Kazutora and he got together to talk about the next steps or their lives. Or just about that fucking timeline madness.

Takemichi must have had a funny thought, as he let out a cute little laugh that caught Kazutora's attention to the point where he frowned, "Eeeee? What is so funny?"

"Last time someone told me I looked like their brother, I was shooted." Takemichi jokes about.

Kazutora rolled his eyes, knowing what he was talking about Mikey, "Geez, Mitchy-"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Takemichi laughed heartily, it was one of the things Kazutora admired about him, his ability to always smile despite everything he's been through. It was one of the reasons why Kazutora wanted to protect Takemichi, he was very precious, a rare gem thrown into the filth of the gang world.

Takemichi was so strong. Kazutora hoped that by protecting him, he would become as strong as Takemichi.

In a small, shy voice, Takemichi asked, "Huh, if I'm your little brother, can I call you aniki or… nii-san?"

Takemichi was really adorable. Kazutora shrugged, finishing off his ice cream that now looked like melted water, "Call me whatever you want, I'm not picky"

The next time they meet for lunch during school, Takemichi calls him 'nii-san'. Kazutora just nodded, with a smile.

The day was October 24th, a week before D-Day. They were in contact until Bloody Halloween and Takemichi had already talked to Mitsuya about helping them with Kisaki in battle when he gave the signal. Kazutora wasn't stupid, his instincts had him recording Kisaki's conversation recruiting him for Valhalla and had five copies, just in case.

Kazutora couldn't spend much time with Takemichi and Chifuyu, it would be suspicious, he spoke to Takemichi at school, but always discreetly. The one who stayed with Kazutora the longest was Baji, and the two of them had been trying to find out who was the leader of Valhalla. Kazutora knew there wasn't one, but following that line of investigation, Kazutora could show Baji that Kisaki was Valhalla number 1 and that the leader position was intended for Mikey.

He and Baji were investigating Hanma, as Valhalla's captains wouldn't have any information that Kazutora didn't have.

That didn't mean Kazutora couldn't see Chifuyu from time to time, especially with Baji going to the same school as him.

Every day, Kazutora would pick up Baji from the school gate, the excuse was to make sure Baji wasn't talking to Chifuyu, Hanma wasn't interested enough in Kazutora's obsession with the raven, so he didn't care. It all end up in one thing: Kazutora wearing his best clothes to pick up Baji on his old bike that Kazutora finally got back on the road, to impress Baji? No. The girls at his school? Not even.

Kazutora lowered the hood of his coat, leather jacket, marked pants, beaming smile and flowing hair, "Fuyu-chan, you look as handsome as everyday~!"

Chifuyu's cheeks turned red, he gave them the a middle finger and ran off. Baji let go of his hair and took off his useless glasses, grimacing, "You suck."

"Eeeeeh?" Kazutora gasped in shock, "What did I do? I was just greeting Chifuyu"

At that moment, his phone beeps. Kazutora took it from his pocket and with a shake, opened it. It was a message from Chifuyu, the two exchanged messages almost every day and communicated almost always through emojis or memes of kittens.

The emoji in question was a middle finger and a message written 'you are the worst. I hate you'

Thankfully Kazutora didn't take it to heart.

Baji just looked at him in disgust, "Why are you acting like a playboy around Chifuyu?"

"Jealous, Keisuke?" Kazutora teased, putting the phone away and handing the helmet to Baji, he only had one but that wasn't a problem as Baji was going to hang it around his neck anyway, "Don't worry, I think you're pretty too"

Baji punched him in the arm, with real force but not really to hurt, "Stop that shit! If you're kidding with these things, I swear that-"

"I'm not." Kazutora cut him off, Baji looked at him with furrowed brows, but Kazutora was steady and serious, "You know how I feel about you, Baji. Two years in juvie didn't change anything, your letters only fueled it. If you don't, then it's better to say it now, with all the words."

Kazutora had confessed by accident two months before all the shit exploded, it was a simple "I like you" that anyone wouldn't even think much about, however, Baji was very good at seeing between the lines and knew exactly how Kazutora really felt. Baji didn't get a chance to answer him that day, his mother calling him to come into the house, Kazutora pretended that nothing had happened since then.

Baji's letters, however, were very illuminating. They weren't beautiful poems or elegant sentences, nor were there delicate and ornate handwriting like other love letters, in fact, Baji's handwriting was very ugly and crooked, he made a lot of spelling mistakes, and Kazutora often had to deduce what he wanted to speak in one sentence, however, the message was obvious.

Baji liked him, and sent him romantic-tinged letters every month for two years.

Kazutora still had the letters, tucked away in a metal lunch box under his bed.

However, Baji liked Chifuyu just the same, in a painfully obvious way. Of course his answer would be that one.

"You know it's not that easy. I also-" Baji bites his tongue, "Chifuyu-"

"I told you" Kazutora interrupted, he couldn't leave Baji in doubt, "Fuyu-chan is my type."

Baji frowned, expressing doubt, "You don't mind?"

"Of sharing you with him?" Kazutora asked, arms crossed, eyebrow raised and head tilted with his typical wry smile, "Come on, Keisuke. You'll be the one sharing him with me ."

Baji looked at him in disbelief, then laughed at the top of his lungs. Kazutora was surprised, he didn't expect that reaction from Baji, but hey, he got those sweet brown eyes and a smile with sharp teeth.

Baji rolled his eyes, "You're such an asshole."

Kazutora shrugs, "I know"

That day they would have a Valhalla meeting, the last one before the battle. Hanma wasn't easy to bend, there was no point in trying to get information from him, but Kazutora had a way of getting Baji to get proof that Kisaki was involved with Valhalla.

Because of that, Kazutora was unleashing that wild part of his mind again.

After the meeting, Kazutora followed Hanma to the back, Hanma liked to smoke alone outside, and Kazutora had a tape recorder in his jacket pocket.

"Draken wants to talk to me." Kazutora started the conversation, kicking a can of Coke away, he hadn't received Draken's order yet, but he would eventually, "He'll want to stop the fight"

"And you're thinking of chickening out, are you?" Hanma asked, lighting his cigarette with a precision that indicated habit.

Kazutora couldn't help thinking that Hanma was at most 16 years old. But that didn't say anything in their world, Kisaki must be only thirteen now.

Kazutora huffed, slamming his back against the wall next to Hanma, "Of course not. I'll make Mikey pay for what he did to me."

Hanma laughed, exhaling smoke through her mouth, "Yes, you will."

"That bastard... Taking my two precious years…" Kazutora gritted his teeth, in a completely normal fifteen-year-old tantrum, "But I didn't come to talk about that."

Hanma sighed, looking with those dead eyes, "You have Baji, what else do you need?"

"Just to know one thing" Kazutora pursed his lips, opening and closing his hands into fists, "That four eyes. Why is he messing up my things?"

"Huh?" Hanma frowned, "Four eyes?"

Kazutora snorted, Hanma only knew one person who wore glasses, "The one that got me in Valhalla."

"Oh, Kisaki~" Hanma nodded, as if he had been reminded of something important, taking another drag on his cigarette, "What did he do?"

Kazutora crossed the holes, biting his lower lip, "Defended some Toman dudes. Some idiots from the 1st division came after Baji, I couldn't let them think they could take what's mine."

Hanma didn't look at him, he took a drag on the cigarette and after a few seconds he released the air. Kazutora made a point of acting as if Baji was his property in front of Valhalla, he needed to maintain the image of a possessive and violent freak, or he wouldn't be able to trick Hanma.

Not that he was lying much about his possessiveness, but he wasn't that intense about it, not anymore anyway. But no one needed to know.

"You know he needs to play the role of a good captain" Hanma answered him, without much spirit, "If he wasn't infiltrated, we wouldn't have information about Toman's formation and neither about the real strength of the elite members…"

"I know how Toman works! I'm a founder!" Kazutora yelled, slamming a hand on the wall.

Hanma looked at him with nothing in his expression but a little disgust, he was just dealing with Kazutora because he was the key player in Kisaki's plans, "You went to juvie right after founding the gang"

Kazutora bit his lip to the point of blood, "So what? We have Baji, don't we? Why would Kisaki need to infiltrate Toman anyway? Wasn't it obvious that Baji would come as soon as he saw me?"

"No, it wasn't" Hanma says wearily, "Come on Kazutora, do you really think Baji would come like a little bitch when you called him?"

That somehow hit Kazutora in that ugly place of self-hatred he was working so hard to bury, Hanma noticed, of course he did, "Then why did you let him into Valhalla?"

"Because Kisaki said it would be a great way to destabilize Mikey." Hanma shrugged, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and throwing it on the ground, stepping on it right after, "A traitorous friend is enough for him to sneak in and destroy them from the inside. See if you don't get him into trouble, alright? I just haven't beaten you yet because of him."

He knew it was true, in the past, Hanma had given him a few bruises every time Kazutora lost his temper and screamed a lot. Kazutora would have to be more careful around Hanma, as his temper pisses him off to the core. It didn't matter, Hanma had given enough proof that he was involved with Kisaki and that Kisaki was involved with Valhalla. Kazutora now had more than his word.

Baji looked ready to explode as he listened to the recording, Mitsuya and Chifuyu didn't look any different. Kazutora showed it to everyone at an emergency meeting at Takemichi's house, where Kazutora played the recording while he made two more copies, just in case.

Mitsuya bit his lip, resisting the urge to punch something, "So Kisaki is the one calling the shots in Valhalla?"

Kazutora nodded in agreement, handing Takemichi a copy of the recording to keep and he quickly ran off, "Kisaki is the mastermind and Hanma his enforcer."

Chifuyu crossed her arms, lips pursed, "Is he the leader of Valhalla?"

Baji snorted, throwing himself onto Takemichi's couch, "More like Valhalla number 1."

Mitsuya and Chifuyu sighed, Takemichi came back at that moment and sat next to Kazutora, on the arm of the sofa, and Kazutora rested his head against his ribs, feeling a headache he didn't have before arriving at Takemichi's house.

"What are we talking about?" Takemichi asked, only a little surprised by Kazutora's touch, he wasn't used to being clingy.

Chifuyu gave them a look before replying, "The leader of Valhalla"

Kazutora closed his eyes, the light in the room suddenly being too bright. Takemichi's voice sounded far away, "I don't think Valhalla has a leader."

Mitsuya said, "What do you mean?"

"It's kind of obvious that Hanma and Kisaki founded Valhalla, there are many Moebius members there and we know that Hanma was from Moebius" Takemichi said, in that wilted cucumber snuff tone of his, which he has whenever a captain talks to him, "They founded Valhalla, but it has no leader. Kisaki makes the plans and Hanma follows them and acts as interim leader."

"And no one has the courage to approach Hanma, especially after he manages to defend himself from Mikey's kicks" that voice was Baji's, "I tried to talk to the other captains, no one knows who the real leader of Valhalla is, everyone assumes it is the number 1"

"So Kisaki has to be the leader" Chifuyu says, looking pissed off about that wormhole.

Mitsuya muttered, "But why does he want to kill Mikey?"

"He doesn't want to kill Mikey" Kazutora managed to say, his head felt like it was going to explode, his stomach was churning and the skin on his body was burning, "Killing Mikey was just bait."

From what little Kazutora could see, Baji's eyes grew darker, "A bait for you."

Kazutora nodded, "He must know someone who was in the same juvie as mine, and I… I wasn't in the best mindset after… After-"

Kazutora's mind could no longer formulate sentences, his ears went deaf for a moment and he couldn't feel anything but excruciating pain, a pain that Kazutora had vivid memories of, as if scars that shouldn't have been opened. His body burned, ached, he wanted to throw up, he wanted to scream, he couldn't stand that pain.

It was all too much, and his body shut down.

Kazutora wasn't used to fainting, but normally he saw it coming, the lethargy and darkness in his eyes and he could still feel his body as he fell, it took him a few minutes. It was more like lying down and falling asleep, you didn't see it or feel it.

He was confused when he woke up suddenly, in a room he had no memory of entering and still filled with strange posters of bands and anime, but after a few minutes with his eyes open, Kazutora sighed, it was Takemichi's room. After some more thought, he understood that he had passed out while talking with the others.

Next to the bed, lying on Takemichi's coffee table, were Baji and Chifuyu, close to each other, curled up like two fur balls would. Kazutora smiled at the sight, really adorable, he got up carefully, walking on tiptoe so as not to wake any of them. It was dark, it was already night and Kazutora couldn't hear anyone else in the house, he walked with light steps and went down the stairs to the living room, the tv was turned on in a cartoon with the volume low and there were dirty ramen dishes in the sink.

He looked at different rooms on the floor, before going back downstairs and coming to the conclusion that it was too late and Mitsuya had gone home, the problem was that Takemichi was supposed to be there. Deciding to get some air, Kazutora goes barefoot to the street, but as soon as he opens the door, he finds Takemichi at the entrance of the house, talking to Draken — maybe someone saw him with him, maybe with Baji, maybe Draken went to see how he was because Kazutora went to the same school as him and Kazutora was wacky for anyone outside their circle — since Kazutora didn't turn on any lights, used to making himself invisible, they hadn't noticed him at first, but as soon as opened the door, Draken's eyes found him and of course he pushed Takemichi aside and ran inside.

"DRAKEN-KUN! WAIT!"

Kazutora still had slow reflexes and Draken was fast as a bullet, in a blink he was ahead of Kazutora and if it weren't for his survival instincts, Kazutora wouldn't have reacted fast enough to protect his face with his arms, even that he had fallen backwards from the impact Draken had caused him.

"How the hell do you find out where Takemitchi lives?" Draken yelled, grabbing Kazutora by the collar and hauling him up, "What do you want with him, huh?! Isn't that enough that you want-"

"NII-SAN!" Takemichi yelled, running inside and grabbing Draken's arm, already crying, "Niisan, are you hurt?"

Kazutora wanted to slap him, but the damage was done, "I'm fine, Mitchy. I know Draken's moves like I know the sky is blue"

"Big brother?" Draken frowned, but at that moment, Baji practically flew down the stairs and jumped at Draken, causing him to let go of Kazutora, "Baji?!"

Baji didn't mind the questioning, pushing Takemichi closer to a lying Kazutora and getting between them and Draken, "Tora! Are you alright?"

Chifuyu was kneeling beside Kazutora just as fast as Baji was taking down Draken, resting a hand on his back, "Kazutora-san, are you hurt?"

Kazutora was lost by the sight of Chifuyu's puffy face, reddened eyes and a trickle of drool running down his mouth.

"Huh? Ah, no, no" Kazutora smiled, approaching Chifuyu and wiping his chin, making Chifuyu blush, "But you don't have to be so polite to me. You can call me 'Tora', Fuyu-chan~"

"What are you talking about?!" Chifuyu exclaimed, embarrassed and ready to hit him, "Don't call me that, Kazutora-san!"

"Stop flirting, you two!", Takemichi shouted, indignant, Kazutora sighed, as if he was sad and walked away from Chifuyu, who was immediately attacked by Takemichi, "Right now, Chifuyu? Really?"

Chifuyu was somewhere between embarrassed and resigned, "Partner, he distracted me!"

Takemichi exclaimed, "You've known Tora-nii for two weeks!"

Chifuyu snapped, "You too!"

Kazutora stood up, ignoring their little talk and focusing on Toman's dragon and panther, who stared at each other as if they were going to attack at any moment.

Kazutora stands beside Baji and nods, "Draken."

The crease in his forehead deepens, "Kazutora."

"What are you doing here?" Kazutora asked, because he was always better at getting information than Baji, who knocked first and asked later.

"With the recent Valhalla activity and Takemitchi gone for a few days, someone had to check on him" Draken says, so was it all a big coincidence? But why would Draken come at night to check on Takemichi?

The math wasn't adding up and it wasn't because Kazutora was bad at it.

"And what are you doing here?" Draken questioned them, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"It doesn't matter to you, Draken" Baji snarled, Kazutora gave him two pats on the shoulder, telling him to calm down.

Draken raised an eyebrow, "How not? Two members of Valhalla in Takemitchi's house? I can't let it slide."

"Ah, cut the shit. Toman doesn't even consider Baji a traitor yet" Kazutora rolled his eyes, Draken frowned, Kazutora shrugged, "But if you want to know so bad, I passed out."

Now all eyes were on him, including Baji's, confused. Draken opened his mouth, "What?"

"I got beaten up and passed out from exhaustion. Baji freaked out and called Chifuyu, who got Takemichi involved in the mess" continuing with the lie, Kazutora didn't even blink.

He didn't feel he could trust Draken with the information they had, he would have Mikey kick Kisaki out and he would go to Yokohama to meet Tenjiku, Kazutora didn't get there yet, they needed Kisaki in the battle.

Unfortunately, Takemichi and Baji made a fool of themselves long enough to make Draken suspicious, but Takemichi always looked like a fool. So it wasn't as effective as it should have been, Baji stared at him for a moment too long and then turned to face Draken.

Draken narrowed his eyes, "Can you prove it?"

Baji picked up the phone, he had to call Chifuyu earlier to meet him at Takemichi's house, the call was actually there, it said 4pm. It might be a little strange, as from what Kazutora could see, it was almost 9pm. Draken didn't look too convinced, however, Kazutora had another ace on his sleeve.

He lifted the T-shirt he was wearing up to his chest, there must have been some pretty nasty bruises all over his abdomen, along with the scars from his childhood and another one he shouldn't have for at least another five years. Everyone's eyes widened, Kazutora swore he saw Baji's eyes go dark like obsidian, reminding him of Mikey.

Draken seemed to see red, Takemichi was the least surprised, and Chifuyu was barely breathing.

Kazutora hadn't been beaten, but in the last few days, many of the scars he acquired in the long years he was imprisoned appeared out of nowhere, bringing a pain very similar to when they were created. Takemichi also has scars from the future, wounds ingrained in their souls.

Kazutora was confident that the sickly yellow and green of that morning hadn't faded.

"Is that why you fainted?" Baji asked, apprehensive, mad.

"Well, I remember my head was hurting before, and my ears, it felt like there was a siren inside my head…" Kazutora muttered, putting his clothes back in place.

"Must have been a concussion" Chifuyu says, swallowing hard, "It would explain the pain and fainting."

"And who hit you?" Draken practically snarled, "You're not weak, no piece of shit would have done that to you."

That's what happens when you're put in a cell with adults. Kazutora almost said, forgetting for a minute that he hasn't been in jail yet, hasn't been transferred at 18 to prison and has been stuck with adults who didn't like him. Kazutora bit his cheek, making a displeased sound.

Baji's hand flew up and grabbed his arm, shaking him with a violence Kazutora wasn't used to receiving from him.

"Kazutora." Baji scolds, because he knows Kazutora wants to run away, doesn't want to say who did it.

It wasn't anyone, but they can't know. They won't believe him and he needed to keep lying to Draken. Who could he blame, then? They had to be predisposed to violence, like him, but they had to be stronger. Kazutora didn't look at Baji or Draken, thankfully with his back to Chifuyu and Takemichi.

"Hanma."

It was the name that came out of his lips, memories of when he angered Hanma with his temper in a reality that was no longer his. But Kazutora didn't have many options and Hanma said earlier why he still didn't beat him up.

Baji saw red, he was furious.

"And he still says he didn't beat you?!" Baji yelled, squeezing his arm over what Kazutora knew were his cut scars, the ones he'd gotten back in prison, were relatively fresh, slowly settling into his skin.

He held back his pained expression well.

"I am fine." Kazutora says, pulling away from Baji.

Draken looked like he was about to grab Kazutora, but he just stepped closer, "Why did he do that?"

"I pissed him off" Kazutora shrugged, crossing his arms, "And I wasn't losing Valhalla's support by fighting back."

"That shit-!" Baji growled.

"Okay, okay. Enough with the drama, Keisuke" Kazutora waved his hand in annoyance, "You left the cute one there twice as bad. Be quiet."

Kazutora pointed to Chifuyu, who smart as he was, hadn't spoken any closer to Kazutora or Baji, so as not to arouse more suspicion in Draken.

Kazutora had to take advantage before Draken's brain went into overdrive, "Anyway, we're leaving."

Before he could grab Baji and leave the house, Draken stopped them, "Wait a minute."

Kazutora looked at Draken with raised eyebrows, but the dragon just looked at Takemichi, "Is it true, Takemitchi?"

Takemichi widened his eyes, surprised to be suddenly involved, "Yeah, huh… Yeah."

Draken persisted, "Didn't you find it dangerous?"

"It's just… Well, Mikey-kun said I had to take Baji-kun back…" Takemichi muttered, a little confused, "And Tora-nii was hurt, so-"

"Stop." Draken orders, "That word you said. Why do you call him brother?"

Kazutora wanted to scream at Takemichi and shove him back into his mother's womb. However, he could only take a deep breath.

Takemichi looked seriously at Draken and replied, "I don't know what you're talking about, Draken-kun. I called him Kazutora."

Kazutora opened his mouth, thankfully not in Draken's field of vision. Baji and Chifuyu looked just as confused.

Draken frowned, "Takemichi I heard you calling him 'Tora-nii', no use trying to lie."

"I didn't, right, Chifuyu?" Takemichi continued.

Chifuyu, quick thinking and very smart, nodded, "You definitely called him Kazutora."

Takemichi waves, "See? I didn't call him brother."

This time, Draken looked indignant, "Yes, you called him!"

Takemichi shook his head, "No, I didn't."

Draken turned to Baji, "Help me here?"

Baji smirked, "Draken, I think you should clean your ears better. Takemichi didn't call anyone brother."

"Man, I didn't hear wrong!" Draken yelled, "He called Kazutora niisan earlier too!"

Kazutora furrowed his brows, eyeing Draken as if he was going crazy, "Dude. What the hell are you talking about?"

With everyone going against him, Draken was confused and Kazutora and Baji quickly left. Kazutora's bike was behind Takemichi's house, they raced there and Baji took over the handle despite Kazutora's protests. But being tired and sore, Kazutora clung to Baji and let him pilot. A few moments later, they stopped in front of the building Baji and Chifuyu lived in, one on top of the other, Kazutora didn't have much to say when Baji dragged him to where he lived and threw him inside the house.

"Oh, Tora-kun?" it was Baji's mother, Ryoko. It was fair to say that Keisuke got his good looks from her, even though he looked a lot like his father, but Keisuke's brown eyes, black hair and smile came from her, and they are things that Kazutora simply adored, "Been a while, eh?"

Kazutora kicked off his shoes, stammering a bit before he managed to say, "Huh, that's true. How have you been, aunty?"

Baji Ryoko smiled, "Very well, thank you for asking. When were you released?"

Kazutora gulped, "About a month"

Ryoko raised an eyebrow, "And you didn't come visit?"

Kazutora smiled sheepishly, "I didn't think… that you would want to see me"

Ryoko smiled, a little guiltily, but crossed her arms in front of her kitchen apron, "That explains why Keisuke has been coming home happier, I thought it was because he and Fuyu-chan were finally dating, but-"

Baji immediately yelled, "MOM!"

Ryoko laughed, walking back into the kitchen, Keisuke grabbed Kazutora by the wrist and led him to his room. Kazutora hadn't gone there in the past, avoiding Baji's house as if it were a sacred place that couldn't be contaminated with his filth, because Baji's mother lived with him and Kazutora didn't want to meet any of the adults who knew him before the reformatory.

It just didn't feel right to see Keisuke's mother.

"I won't ask because I know you don't want to answer" Baji says once they're in the room, "But at least let me take care of the worst ones."

Kazutora looked at him with surprise and admiration, the 11 year old Baji would have forced him to say how it happened in very precise detail. So it was true, Baji had changed in those two years. Kazutora nodded in agreement, thus letting Baji do what he wanted.

Taking off his jacket, then his shirt, always being so close to him that Kazutora could feel his body heat and his breath hitting his skin. Baji was calm, almost gentle, he touched his body with careful calloused fingers, never saying anything, but his eyes expressed everything he wanted and Kazutora didn't need the sound of his voice to understand. Baji wanted to know when he didn't look at him enough for Kazutora to end up like that, when he was negligent and left him at Hanma's mercy.

In no moment, really, but Kazutora couldn't say otherwise, the evidence was there and telling him that it came from the future wasn't at stake. Baji would not handle this well. Kazutora didn't want to put that weight on his shoulders either.

Kazutora let Baji get too close, much closer than necessary, he didn't know when he ended up leaning against the wall, with Baji in his lap, putting medicine on an ugly bruise on his collarbone. Kazutora took a lock of black hair between his fingers, twirling the silky strands and playing with them. Kazutora loved Baji's hair since forever.

"What comes next?" Kazutora found himself asking.

Baji was focused on his work, but when Kazutora said no more, Baji asked, "What?"

Kazutora sighed, "You want to kill Kisaki, it's the only way to ensure he doesn't turn on Toman again… But you can't kill him."

Baji stopped, pulling back to face Kazutora, "What guarantees you that I can't?"

"You can't, Keisuke" Kazutora smiled, a tired smile, holding his face by the cheek, "You can't bear the blame for Shinichiro-san and I was the one who hit him."

Baji bit his lip, ready to criticize him. But Kazutora knew it was true. Taking someone's life wasn't easy. Baji blamed himself for Shinichiro and Kazutora's demise, even though he had no real involvement in Mikey's brother's death.

"If you kill him… We don't know when you're going to come out" Baji whispered, vulnerable in a way he didn't let anyone but Kazutora see.

Well, and maybe Chifuyu. But he couldn't say for sure when Baji was so proud and headstrong.

Kazutora nodded, he knew that if he killed Kisaki, he would get ten years or more. But Kazutora wasn't losing ten years of his precious youth for a little shit like that, "I need you to trust me, Keisuke."

Baji furrowed his brows, "What…"

"I won't kill him, because I don't want to spend another day away from you and I want to get to know Chifuyu better." Kazutora was sincere, as he learned how being honest with those you loved was important, "You won't either. But we're going to put that bastard through hell, whatever the cost, okay?"

Kazutora would thwart Kisaki to the limit, he would set a dazzling trap, frame him if he had to, but Kazutora wouldn't hesitate.

Baji nodded, giving one of his sharp smiles with his fluffy fangs.

~~~

"We really have to… choose customs?" Chifuyu says looking at options on a rack.

Kazutora shrugged, "If you want to go cosplaying, I don't see any problem"

Chifuyu rolled his eyes, because that's not what he was asking and Kazutora knew it. That's why Kazutora chuckled when he heard Chifuyu snort and move on to another rack.

As the fight would be on October 31st and close to Baji's fifteenth birthday, Kazutora wanted to go out to celebrate Toman's victory and Kisaki's failure at night. After all, it was Halloween and Kazutora never had the opportunity to play when he was younger and then he was in jail for a decade, nothing more fitting than putting on a costume and heading to Harajuku!

"But why?" Chifuyu asked, turning around suddenly, frowning, "We're on opposite sides and we haven't even won yet, why should we- I don't even know if I can go out on halloween!"

Kazutora looked at him doubtfully, "Chifuyu, you are a delinquent. Do you ask permission to go out at midnight to gang meetings and fights?"

Chifuyu's face got just a little pink, he turned his face away with a snort, knowing what he said was pure bullshit.

"But why do you want to go out on halloween? We'll probably be hurt and we don't even know if it's going to work…." Chifuyu asked, looking at some ugly costumes on the racks.

Kazutora wasn't having any luck either, he didn't find any pretty costumes, "First: we have everything planned out, it's going to work out. Second: I want to go out with Baji and you on a date" Kazutora explained, changing the rack for the one with costumes more tellingly, out of curiosity, "Besides, it might be my out of jail celebration."

Kazutora didn't look at Chifuyu, concentrating too hard on some outfits that looked familiar, well, the 90's anime were pretty good and Kazutora had reviewed several in his two years of freedom, but he couldn't recognize the outfit. He stood up, turning to Chifuyu, "Do you recognize this? I can't remember which character it is"

But Chifuyu was still busy assimilating Kazutora's words, his face painted red. Kazutora raised an eyebrow, not understanding the other's reaction, "Chifuyu?"

His mouth dropped open, babbling confusedly, Chifuyu put his hand to his face, looking away from Kazutora, "Um… date?"

"Huh, yes" Kazutora shook his head, "Don't you want to go?"

Chifuyu exclaimed, almost screaming, "That's not it!"

Kazutora blinked, he knew that being direct about his feelings was something the adult Chifuyu was much better at. Chifuyu wasn't even fourteen yet, he was just a teenager. He was sincere about Baji, he was sincere with him even when he had to fight him. But Chifuyu couldn't be like the one Kazutora really knows.

Perhaps Kazutora miscalculated. He wanted to go on a date with the two of them just once, that's all, his plans to leave Tokyo never having faded completely. Kazutora didn't deserve to be with them after bloody halloween.

"I understand you wanting to go on a date with Baji-san" Chifuyu bit his lip, Kazutora approached him, his voice so low it was hard to understand what he was saying. Chifuyu took a deep breath, "You like each other. You two are in love."

Kazutora felt a strange tightness in his chest, of course, if Chifuyu helped Baji with his letters, obviously he saw the tone of the raven's words, saw the affection expressed in each sentence. They were love letters disguised with everyday moments. Of Baji's thoughts. Thoughts covered by Kazutora. It's what kept him sane in many timelines, but also what made him so deeply obsessed with Baji. Kazutora firmly believed that Baji couldn't betray him if he loved him.

Kazutora also never hid his appreciation for him. Maybe he revealed too much, even with the plan to leave, he didn't want to, obviously he didn't want to. If he could ask for anything in the world, Kazutora would ask to stay with Baji and Chifuyu. Even so, Kazutora was sincere and acted as he wanted, he hugged, smiled, flirted and did things he never could with Baji in the past. And because of Baji's temporary betrayal and how dangerous it was to be seen together, Chifuyu needed to move away, especially after Draken caught them at Takemichi's house.

Chifuyu hadn't seen them since that night, on Monday, and now it was Friday. Kazutora spent the week busy with Valhalla stuff.

"But- Why do you want me there?" Chifuyu said in one breath, pressure rising through his body, blood pumping like a steam engine, "I understand you wanting to protect Toman and Baji-san. I can understand why you need me, Takemichi and Mitsuya. But-" Chifuyu looked at Kazutora with those hard eyes that Kazutora hated.

Chifuyu always looked at him kindly in the time after he got out of jail, he smiled and was careful, Chifuyu looked at him like that when the pain of losing Baji was too much and Chifuyu never wanted to be around when that happened. Not out of disgust, but because Chifuyu didn't want to hurt him.

"How can you be so cruel?"

Kazutora's heart felt like it was about to burst out of his mouth, he could feel it pounding in his throat.

Chifuyu wasted no time, not letting Kazutora reply, "Why take me? I always knew Baji was in love with you, but I thought you'd never come back. Not after what happened with Shinichiro."

Did Chifuyu know about Shinichiro? Why did this Chifuyu know this? Did he always know this? Kazutora's heart was pounding inside him, reverberating in his ears, so high. His chest rose and fell at a fast pace. Chifuyu couldn't know. His mouth felt dry. He told the Chifuyu of the future, he said he didn't know. Kazutora's tongue felt too big for his mouth, damn, he could feel your teeth. It was too much.

"But you came. And I accepted it. Baji-san would never forget you. I accepted it." Chifuyu looked angry, hurt, upset, "There's no way you wouldn't know. Everyone knows. I like Baji-san, and I know I won't have him because he loves you. I also have… feelings for you… but you love Baji-san. I accepted all of that." Chifuyu was almost crying at that point, Kazutora's ears about to explode, "But you don't have to throw in my face that I'm so easily discarded!"

Kazutora was panicking, he couldn't believe it. Was it his fault? Baji said something to Chifuyu? He said something? Why did Chifuyu think that? What was happening?

"I saw you two." Chifuyu sniffed, "At Baji's room. I ran there as soon as Draken left us alone, Aunt Ryoko let me in… And you…"

"You saw Baji on top of me." Kazutora gulped, his hands were sweating, his ears were ringing, he hadn't felt that destructive need in years, "But we didn't do anything."

"No need to" Chifuyu cut in, in a snap, "Damn, it's so obvious. Even in the smallest things, it's so obvious that there's no room for anyone else there."

"It's not-"

"Then you don't have to play your stupid games! I get it!"

Kazutora couldn't bear it, a vein burst in his head and Kazutora jumped on Chifuyu, taking them both to the ground with two macaws beside them.

"Stop! Stop! Stop it! You don't understand anything!" Kazutora grabbed his arms, in a desperate attempt to hold Chifuyu, not to let go, not to let Chifuyu go.

Chifuyu fought back, flailing and hitting Kazutora with little force, because in the end, they didn't want to get the other hurt, "How can I not understand?! There's no way of not understand when you guys keep throwing it in my face that I-"

"There is no Baji without you!! I don't exist without you!" Kazutora screamed, trapping Chifuyu with his arms and legs, getting punched in the chin and biting his tongue, they rolled on clothes and hangers, Kazutora hit his head on one of the racks and saw fucking stars, but he didn't give up, "I can't lose you again, Chifuyu!"

Chifuyu's eyes sparkled like the two precious jewels they were, his mouth opened in an 'o' and Kazutora knew he was crying, because a tear trickled down his chin and landed on Chifuyu's red cheek.

Half an hour later, they were being let out of the security room. Fortunately, with the two crying faces and the witnesses, they didn't have too many problems, Kazutora couldn't get involved in anything even remotely legal for the next year, it would be too risky having just gotten out of juvie. But as soon as the mall security guard dropped them off at the entrance, Kazutora grabbed Chifuyu's hand and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Chifuyu looked at him, red nose and puffy eyes, "Who are you calling?"

"Stupid Keisuke!" Kazutora sniffed, putting the phone to his ear, "How did you…. dare say you're discarded. You are mine. Keisuke is mine. None can be replaced."

Kazutora's grip was firm and he left dragging Chifuyu out, the poor security guard just sighed, tired of all the bullshit, "Young people these days"

~-~-~

Kazutora had a well-laid plan. A plan he ran a marathon to make happen, he remembered names and addresses on colorful post-its on the investigation wall of his old apartment, post-its written by Chifuyu, pasted in a specific order, all to help Takemichi when he go back to the future. It was amazing how Chifuyu never blamed Takemichi for not saving Baji, never asked Takemichi to do more than he already did, which was already the impossible. Kazutora took everything he learned, every name, every death, every alternative, all of Chifuyu's research stored in his mind since he decided to follow him on that path.

For Toman, for Mikey. For the guilt that had been gnawing at his chest for a decade.

For Baji. For Chifuyu. To atone, even minimally, his sins.

For the memory of Shinichiro.

He raced through Shibuya, Shinjuku, Yokohama. He talked to people he didn't want to, played cards and drank green tea. Kazutora did business, exchanged information. Kazutora got some friends of Osanai to tell how Kisaki used to be his adviser, and spoke to the Haitani brothers to get information about Tenjiku. He had recordings, Kisaki couldn't do anything against Hanma's recording confirming his participation in Valhalla's plans.

Kazutora met with Kakuchou and warned him of Kisaki's plans to enter Tenjiku just to kill them. What would they do about it, Kazutora wasn't interested.

Kazutora thought beyond what he had now, he calmly thought about how Kisaki would act: mad, angry, composed, if he would go after him, if he would play the fool. Takemichi might not win in intellect even traveling through time, but that was because he never had the resources to do so.

He could only travel twelve years into the past, even into the future, Hinata's bratty brother Naoto couldn't know everything. No one knew what shit Kisaki did before Takemichi time traveled. Well, besides Kisaki and Hanma themselves.

Kazutora was waiting for the day. Just that, he already had everything prepared.

Takemichi didn't win before because he was too pure, he couldn't take someone's life. Takemichi didn't have the necessary strength, the dark heart enough.

Kazutora had. That's why he didn't want to stay when things were over, when Kisaki got out of the way and events unfolded without his interference. Takemichi could handle Taiju better than before, with Izana better than before. Kazutora wasn't needed after that. Kazutora didn't want to contaminate Baji and Chifuyu.

He was upfront about his feelings, didn't lie about sharing Chifuyu with Baji, he acted as he wanted because he had no expectations of permanence. Kazutora seriously thought of just killing Kisaki, but he didn't go through with the plan as he didn't want to go back to prison, he didn't want to be away from them again.

It had always been like this, confused between his thoughts and his actions. Determined to one thing and doing another.

Kazutora's first instinct was always to attack and when he couldn't attack, he would run. Kazutora never had a normal mind in the first place.

But in none of the alternatives he imagined, he would be with Chifuyu in a park, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baji, while holding Chifuyu's hand tightly for long minutes.

"What did you mean earlier?"

Chifuyu's voice broke the tense silence they were in, sitting next to each other on the park benches. Kazutora looked at him with raised eyebrows, not knowing which part Chifuyu was referring to.

"You said you couldn't lose me again." Chifuyu clarifies, effortlessly understanding the unspoken question, "What do you mean by that?"

Kazutora averted his eyes, he should have been more careful with his words. But Chifuyu found out once, he could find out again, right? Kazutora sighed, squeezing Chifuyu's hand, yet knowing that Chifuyu accepted the truth from Takemichi, who believed him to death, Kazutora was still afraid.

What guarantees that Chifuyu would believe him?

"Kazutora-san." Chifuyu called, squeezing his hand back, he waited until Kazutora looked at him again, "You were crying. Please, tell me."

Kazutora sucked in his lip, he couldn't lie if he wanted to, Chifuyu had that effect on him. Emerald eyes that read his soul, saw all his dirt and crooked and ugly things in him, but never judged him, just watched and waited, Kazutora was never forced into anything by Chifuyu, not even when he was getting hurt by it. Chifuyu waited, gently pushed him from time to time, but constantly supported him.

"You know how… I know things I shouldn't?" Kazutora muttered, tapping his foot in a fast pace, his heart pounding painfully in his chest.

Chifuyu nodded, Kazutora took a deep breath, once and twice. Okay, it was now or never, "I… am from the future."

Kazutora said that looking at Chifuyu, in her eyes, with a little fear, his hands were sweating and trembling, "I came from 12 years in the future."

Chifuyu didn't do anything, he just waited, even though he looked like he wanted to laugh in his face. But Chifuyu knew better, he looked at Kazutora and waited for him to say more. Kazutora sucked in a breath, it was hard, he didn't want to get into his lungs properly, "I came from a future… where Kisaki took advantage of my troubled mind… and used me for Bloody Halloween to happen. I really wanted to kill Mikey, so nothing mattered."

"I didn't know right and wrong, I was crazy, I can say that. The fight happened and… Baji died."

Chifuyu clasped Kazutora's trembling hands, swallowing hard, reminding himself that Kazutora had just called Baji, that Baji was alive and well. Chifuyu sighed, remaining calm, "Who killed him?"

Kazutora shook his head, working up the courage to explain to Chifuyu the order of events, carefully, he continued, "I stabbed him, in the back. Mikey tried to kill me for it, but Baji didn't want us to continue in the cycle of hate and stabbed himself. Baji died because of me. I was convicted of it."

Chifuyu nodded, the thought of living without Baji haunting him, making him afraid, Chifuyu bit his cheek, taking a deep breath, "And then what?"

Kazutora sniffed, he didn't want to cry, but it was inevitable, talking about it made him vulnerable, and Chifuyu made him feel safe, "I spent ten years in jail, I had my sentence reduced because Mikey and the others gave me favorable testimonies and I was catatonic for most of the whole thing. When I got out…"

Kazutora felt embarrassed, a small smile forming in his lips, "You were there to pick me up."

Chifuyu gasped, surprised at himself, Kazutora was impressed, really. Not thinking that Chifuyu could stay by his side after all that was revealed, he expected screams, disgust, but there was none of that.

"You let me live with you, we even opened a pet shop. You gave me purpose and in exchange, I helped you with your investigations."

"Did I become a cop?" Chifuyu furrowed his eyebrows.

"No, you became Toman 2st. But you're investigating what happened to the others" Kazutora says, "...Kisaki. He got rid of everyone close to Mikey."

Chifuyu widened his eyes, "What?"

"Draken, Pah-chin, Baji, Mitsuya and me. Even the other captains and vices. Kisaki got rid of them all, one way or another, he even killed Emma." Kazutora explained, somber, feeling tired, drained, "Kisaki got rid of everyone who kept Mikey's sanity, he left him alone. Because that way he could make Mikey leader of the biggest gang in Japan and only he would be by Mikey's side."

"But why?"

"Because he likes Tachibana Hinata." Kazutora laughed humorlessly, throwing his head back, "Because he liked a girl when he was 8 years old!"

Chifuyu clenched his jaw, Kazutora sighed and continued, "I survived because I was in jail, you did everything you could because you trusted Takemichi."

"Takemichi?"

"Huh. He is able to time travel, he was the one who prevented Draken from dying and if it weren't for his changes, Mikey would have killed me... He travels back in time for almost a year, he saw all possible futures... We helped him as much as we could." Kazutora bit his lip, letting go of Chifuyu's hands, "But then, you- You died. And I… I couldn't…"

Kazutora sobbed, "I couldn't live anymore."

"Kazutora-san, you…" before Chifuyu could finish, Kazutora nodded, rolling up his shirt sleeves, the scars were already there, solid and ugly, white lines superimposed all over his arm, Chifuyu looked shocked, helpless. He didn't know what to say. He took his arm carefully, running his fingers over his trembling wrist, "When did you do this?"

Kazutora groaned, hiding his skin again, "In the future, while in prison. We don't know why, but the scars that we have in the future have started to show here, I think it's because we're stuck."

Chifuyu sighed, "Stuck?"

"Takemichi can't go back, he also died over there" Kazutora explained.

This seems to have given Chifuyu a hammer in the head, "You killed yourself."

Kazutora gave him a guilty smile, "I couldn't live in a world without you. It was hard enough without Baji, but without you too… I couldn't."

Chifuyu couldn't bear to look at him, it was so obvious, he was shaking and looked like he was about to run or throw up. Kazutora thought he would run away, but Chifuyu wasn't a coward, he didn't run away when he had a difficult situation to deal with. He wasn't like Kazutora, he was strong and bright but controlled, perfect to be with Baji. Kazutora was twisted, crumpled and cold.

Chifuyu still hugged him anyway, he grabbed Kazutora by the shoulders and hugged him tightly and tightly, he buried Kazutora's head in the crook of his neck, he sobbed on top of his head, Chifuyu wept with Kazutora, for Kaztora. He cried because Kazutrora hadn't done anything wrong yet. And if he from the future where Kazutora did didn't hate him too, then it was because he knew that Baji's death was Baji's decision, knew that he had forgiven him because that's what Baji wanted. Because the way the words came out of Kazutora's lips, it was so sincere, the way Kazutora spoke about them.

"I won't leave you," Chifuyu says, crying, but he would die before admitting he was crying, "I-I don't know if I can be your Chifuyu, but I'm not leaving. I'll be right here, Kazutora-san."

Kazutora's tears arrive like an endless tsunami, his arms wrapping around Chifuyu's body back and letting himself go. So what if they were two teenagers on a bench in public crying like two lost children? If Kazutora had cared about every crooked look he received on the street, he would never have regained his sanity.

"You are him. There's nothing I would change" Kazutora smiled, going to Chifuyu's ear, because he couldn't miss the opportunity, "Even the way you blush"

The earlobe was painted pink and Chifuyu's laugh echoed in Kazutora's head, it was genuine, cheerful and infectious. Kazutora felt that thing rising in his chest and his own laughter followed his. They rocked together, laughing and crying like two crazy idiots.

Kazutora felt alive and complete for the first time in a while.

"Kazutora! Chifuyu!" Baji came running in, that ridiculous suit he wore to impress his mother, fortunately open, he was out of breath, escaped from school and looking confused and scared, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

But when Kazutora and Chifuyu continued to shed thick tears amid crooked smiles throughout the hiccups and sniffles, Baji started to panic outright, "What the hell happened? You said you were only going to steal Chifuyu in the morning to go shopping! "

Kazutora looked at Chifuyu, they communicated without a single word being necessary, as they did so well in the future that Kazutora was very hopeful of having Baji with them, and thus, Kazutora made a decision. He wiped his face as best he could and grabbed Baji by the hideous tie and pulled him towards him, finally feeling those lips he had dreamed of for over a decade.

Kazutora kissed Baji, a little hard and with chattering teeth, clumsy and disastrous, mainly because Baji didn't expect any of it, not with the scene he got when he arrived, not with everything going on in their lives. When Kazutora released Baji, panting and blushed, Kazutora dove to Chifuyu's lips, this kiss was less aggressive, less painful and sweeter.

Kazutora never let go of Baji's tie. He kissed Chifuyu until he was breathless again and when he finally let go, his lips were swollen and red, Kazutora was panting heavily and he had never felt so embarrassed in his life.

He might be from the future, but his heart belonged exclusively to Baji and Chifuyu, Kazutora was never with anyone else.

Kazutora gasped, catching his breath, he looked from Chifuyu to Baji, Chifuyu was turning violently red as he stared at Baji, who continued with that stupid surprised idiot face, "Keisuke, you better kiss Chifuyu before I give you a fucking punch."

Chifuyu sniffed, he was ready to give up, "Kazutora-san, if Baji-san doesn't want to, I-"

Baji grabbed his face with both hands, "Shut up."

Baji kissed Chifuyu worse than he kissed Kazutora, too nervous, too inexperienced, too hungry and too eager. Kazutora watched as they devoured each other's mouths, how Baji was an asshole who left no room for a fight. As Chifuyu arched his spine, Kazutora pulled him by the waist, gluing the bodies together again. Chifuyu pulled away, breathless and with swollen red lips, a thread of saliva still connecting the two.

"You guys are horrible." Chifuyu says, hiding his face in his hands and sighing, Kazutora laughed, Baji had that smug smile, Chifuyu knew that, so he hissed louder, "Absolutely terrible!"

Kazutora tightens his arm around Chifuyu, resting his chin on Chifuyu's shoulder, "And you only complain after you've been kissed?

So Kazutora received an elbow in the stomach and a glare from Chifuyu, Baji chuckled and sat down on the free side, leaving the youngest in the middle.

"You still haven't told me why you were crying" Baji reminds them, making them aware that they won't get away with the explanation, "And why you made me run out of school"

Chifuyu stammered, "Oh, huh…" he looked at Kazutora again, not knowing how to proceed with the conversation, Kazutora just looked back, they understood each other without words, and Chifuyu blinked, he knew what he shouldn't do, "We were kicked out of the mall because we were fighting."

Baji raised his eyebrows, taking his tie off his neck and using the longer part to wipe Chifuyu's face, with traces of tears and a little snot, "And what the hell happened to make you two fight? Kazutora idolizes you, no way he hit you"

Kazutora growled behind Chifuyu, "We didn't fight physically."

Baji snorted impatiently, "Stop the bullshit and explain already!"

Kazutora squeezed Chifuyu's waist, "I said I wanted to take you two on a date, but our little genius here" Kazutora made an annoying voice at 'genius' making Chifuyu snort and roll his eyes, "Got it wrong. Like, everything "

Baji turned his tie, leaning down to wipe Kazutora off, leaving Chifuyu staring at his chest, "Everything?"

"Aham" Kazutora agreed closing his eyes and letting Baji work, "He thought I wanted to rub it in his face that you were going to choose me."

Baji pulled back to look at Chifuyu, "What? Why?"

Chifuyu's cheeks heated up, he bit his lip and spoke in a small voice, "How could I not? You acted like we were something else, but you made me correct your letters. Goddamn love letters!"

Baji made a constipated face, "I-"

But Chifuyu continued, "Then the one you made then for shows up and you look so… hopelessly in love. As if Kazutora was the only thing that mattered in the whole world. And you act like it. How I'm supposed to… to believe you aren't going to forget about me?"

Baji obviously felt guilty, so he sat up straight on the bench, looking at Chifuyu sternly, listening and hearing all of Chifuyu's complaints.

"I always thought…" Chifuyu bit his cheek, breathing in and out, Kazutora patted his back, supporting him to get it all out, "I always assumed I was just… a replacement. And… fuck. You two are so stupid. Even someone blind can see how you two love each other deeply. You guys act like two years haven't passed, so close, so intimate when I saw you at Baji's house, I-" Chifuyu groaned in sheer frustration, Baji looked at Kazutora with an eyebrow raised and Kazutora moved his lips slowly, explaining that Chifuyu was talking about the other day. Chifuyu sighed, leaning halfway against the bench, half against Kazutora, "Of course I thought my feelings were justified. And the worst was, I can't get angry. It's all Kazutora-san's fault"

"Eeeh? My fault?" Kazutora says, wroth, "What have I done?"

Chifuyu crossed his arms, "As if you didn't know! Smiling at me and using your cat eyes to seduce me whenever we see each other."

Kazutora opened his mouth, but Chifuyu accused faster, "You pervert!"

"I'm not a pervert!" Kazutora complained.

"Sounds like one to me," Baji agrees, nodding.

"I'm not!" Kazutora yells, "And anyway, I didn't do anything wrong. It's Keisuke's fault!"

Baji opened his mouth, "Mine?"

Kazutora nodded several times, "That's right! If you hadn't made the boy in love with you correct your sappy letters to a criminal- OUCH!"

Baji had pinched his cheek hard, Kazutora opened his eyes to see Baji with an angry grimace that was embarrassment and with red ears, "They aren't sappy!"

Chifuyu snorted, pushing Baji away before he squashed him, "Yes, they were, Baji-san. I didn't know whether to be jealous or nauseous at how sweet they were."

"Is that so? So, prove it!!" Baji yelled, outraged and feeling wronged.

Drama, really.

Kazutora and Chifuyu looked at each other, Kazutora then smiled at Baji and cleared his throat, "My dearest, Tora. It's been so long since I last saw you, a lot of things have happened"

Kazutora started to recite, including the important commas and doing the voice of one of those period movie troubadours, Baji immediately blushed and jumped up to try to stop him, but Chifuyu pushed Baji and let Kazutora run away behind the bench, never failing to recite the letter that he remembered word for word, "...you're the only one that really understands me and could help me with that stupid idiots from our division- Oops!"

Baji jumped to the other side of the bench and Kazutora ran over, Chifuyu just laughed and watched the two idiots who looked like they were five years old, Kazutora couldn't stop talking, "I miss you every single day, you're like the light of my life, the sun-"

Somehow, Baji's shoe landed in Kazutora's face, Chifuyu burst out laughing when it happened and Baji smirked triumphantly, "Gotcha you piece of shit!"

If Kazutora retaliated and they started fighting in the park, running all over the place, throwing shoes, sand, enveloping Chifuyu and making him angry, rolling around in the grass and laughing like a bunch of crazy people, it was nobody's problem. Kazutora felt lighter with Chifuyu and Baji alive, knowing he was there to help them stay alive, but that was the first time he truly felt alive since arriving in the past.

Blood running like a race, heart pounding, a warm cloud in your stomach and a genuine smile. Kazutora felt happy, relieved, hopeful and alive. As if nothing could destroy that moment, as if time could and should stop there.

Kazutora was in love, that was the truth. He loved Baji and Chifuyu.

It was good to get a reply from Baji.

It was good to know that Chifuyu wanted to be with him.

If later they were walking back to Chifuyu's apartment dirty, smiling and holding hands, that was their problem.

Even later, when Baji had them squeeze onto Chifuyu's bed, legs tangled, hands everywhere, but in a strange, warm, comfortable, good harmony. Baji quickly fell asleep on Kazutora's shoulder, drooling as expected, nothing unusual for him. But Chifuyu and Kazutora stare at each other for a moment longer, Chifuyu smiling in satisfaction, he had a firm hand on Baji's shirt and his face on Kazutora's chest, listening to his heart.

Suddenly, Chifuyu looked at Kazutora, somewhat confused. Kazutora smiled, "What is it, Fuyu-chan?"

Chifuyu furrowed his eyebrows, "If you're from 12 years in the future…" Kazutora nodded, listening carefully, Baji snored behind Kazutora and that made Chifuyu continue, "Are you 27 years old?"

Kazutora pondered, but nodded, "Technically yes"

Chifuyu pulled back a little, glaring at him, then closed his eye — he still had a bandage on the right side — and returned to his previous position, snuggling up to sleep, "You big pervert."

Kazutora chuckled, "Eeh? Why?"

"You know, idiot"

Kazutora laughed some more, but Chifuyu was already ready to sleep again, so Kazutora settled down and closed his eyes, ready to sleep on that human sandwich.

~~~

"Why'd you wanna meet me here out of the blue, Draken?"

He said the same thing as the last time, Draken was already there when Kazutora arrived, because Kazutora had been a few minutes late, partially on purpose, partially because he was having movie night with Baji and Chifuyu — and Takemichi, the poor guy was a nervous wreck and nearly having a heart attack from the nerves — what about your two — ha, boyfriends? He didn't know yet — they were too clingy, Baji being spoiled and Chifuyu not knowing how things were going to play out the next day — Kazutora reassured him, he needed to go over exactly how his brief meeting with Draken would go and promised him he'd be back in probably an hour.

Draken turned to him, "You literally were at Takemitchi's earlier in the week."

Kazutora smiles and tilts his head, the bell of his earring jingling, "Oh, that's right. Is that why you wanted to see me?"

Perhaps because he was still annoyed at being obviously gaslighted by all of them, or because he saw that Kazutora was unwilling to talk more about what happened that day, Draken rolled his eyes and huffed, hands in his jacket pockets, "No, it's useless anyway."

Kazutora waited for a few seconds, before Draken finally asked, "Why don't we stop this fight?"

Kazutora was silent, but he didn't change his expression at all, he was starting to get tired of pretending to be mentally unstable again — not that he was stable, it was just that he wasn't psychotic — and since Draken didn't look at him, he could just stand still.

"I'm not gonna be smiling whether we win or lose against you." Draken says, calm as ever, after all, it takes the patience of a saint to stand by someone like Sano Manjiro, "I don't get it, Kazutora. Why the hell do you hate Mikey so much?"

For some reason, that hit Kazutora again. It had back then, because Draken affected people like that, and at the age of 15, Kazutora was constantly trying to convince himself that it wasn't his fault what happened to Shinichiro, he couldn't bear the thought of having killed him even by accident, he had to blame it on something, on somebody, ot Kazutora would break, and there would be no way to fix him.

"Mikey spoke in your favor. That's why you got out of juvie early."

He knew, he'd known for the past 12 years, but it still didn't make him able to face that wound deeper, to look at Mikey again. With each passing hour, Kazutora's heart felt like it was being squeezed into a box from all sides and it kept beating too fast, too hard. When Takemichi got nervous, he would shake and cry, he would express his fear. Kazutora kept everything locked up, his chest ached, his stomach churned, he felt every fiber in his body tense, but he didn't do anything.

He didn't want to face Mikey. If he could, Kazutora wouldn't.

"Do you have any idea how he-"

No. Even now, he didn't want to know what Draken was going to say. Kazutora couldn't stand it.

"Shut up!"

Draken wasn't waiting, Kazutora knew he must be sounding insane again, his voice came out more aggressive and louder than he wanted and with his heart pounding in his throat, Kazutora had to take a deep breath, closing his hand into a fist before speaking, "Two years… I was imprisoned for two years. You have no idea what happened."

Kazutora looked at Draken, "I'm not the same as before."

But Draken didn't back down, "But you're still part of my crew."

Kazutora sighed, walking past him and stopping Draken's back, he couldn't look at him anymore. The next words were heartfelt, "That's exactly what I don't like about you, Draken."

Draken doesn't say anything, Kazutora breathes deeply, "We're going to crush Toman in battle the day after tomorrow."

By 'us' he meant he and those involved plan affectionately dubbed 'fuck with Kisaki' and the 'crush Tomam in battle' was not the same as what Draken was thinking. Maybe Kazutora would take the opportunity to reveal that Mucho was a traitor too, that would be excellent since he would be throwing a lot of shit at the fan.

Draken yelled, "This isn't what Mikey wants!"

Kazutora put his hands in his pockets, "I know."

And he left. Draken would leave soon after, meeting up with Mikey, of course, Kazutora knew them too well not to know that Draken came to talk to him at Mikey's request - he just didn't want to see that in the past and Takemichi assured him it was true.

Kazutora was so blind in the past, but it was out of fear. Fear of guilt. Fear of Mikey's reaction, fear of what Toman has become in his time in prison.

Kazutora wanted to feel anything but fear. And didn't that fit some kind of PTSD?

It didn't matter anymore, he needed to stop rambling and go home soon, before Chifuyu called him.

October 31. Day of the battle.

Kazutora's phone rings – Toxic, don't think about it too much, he's always been a Britney fan – and he answers it almost before the call ends, very fumbling with his shopping bags and trying to get it out of his pocket. As soon as he sees the name on the screen, he smiles and answers excitedly.

"Hi, sweetie~"

However, Baji on the other end of the line was not happy, "Where THE FUCK are you?"

Kazutora sighed, "Not a bit of love, I see."

Baji kept yelling, "You're late!"

"For like, ten minutes, relax" Kazutora rolled his eyes, he was already close anyway, "I'll be there in… five!"

Baji, pissed off at him, got angrier if possible, "COME IN TWO YOU IDI-"

Kazutora hung up, stuffed the meat bun in his mouth, and walked faster to the junkyard. Five minutes later, he finally arrived. At a glance, it looked much like the last time, a bunch of shit-thinking, observant vultures, big guys like the Haitani Brothers. Toman on one side, Valhalla on the other. Kazutora entered the junkyard drinking a mango boba and with slow steps, in the distance, Baji was jumping over cars to get to him, but Hanma was faster.

Kazutora took a punch, and he wasn't even fighting Toman. Hanma was at his side in a few strides, a punch hitting his left cheek and turning his face away, Kazutora didn't try to defend himself, accepting the blow as if he was already used to it.

Hanma grabbed his face, pinching his cheeks and pulling him to face him, "You're late."

That was why Kazutora wasn't in any hurry to go into the fight. That's why he had shopping bags from famous stores in the nearby Shinjuku area, hot meat buns and two bobas and an americano. He was late on purpose because it would piss off Hanma. Easily irritable and prone to violence, but which one wasn't? But Hanma didn't like Kazutora, he wanted to hit him whenever he saw him.

Baji grabbed one of Hanma's arms and pulled him away from Kazutora, placing himself between the two, "Don't touch him."

Hanma looked at Baji for a moment. He snorted and glared at Kazutora, eyes that promised a spanking if he screwed up, before walking away. Soon, Baji turned around and placed a hand on Kazutora's face, "Are you alright?"

"It hurts" Kazutora grumbled, "But I'm fine."

On the other side of the scene, Chifuyu and Takemichi were shocked as they watched things unfold, they couldn't dare to ruin everything by rushing towards Kazutora, they had to hold their ground until Kisaki was caught. Mikey approached, watching Kazutora with those dull, lifeless black eyes, eyes that Kazutora knew had similar ones.

They were both dead inside, one way or another.

Kazutora heard the crowd whispering about what happened, many questioning why they waited until he arrived. Kazutora was the cause of the fight, simple as that. But Toman would no longer be waiting for Valhalla's goodwill to initiate this. While looking at Mikey, Kazutora shifted his eyes towards Kisaki, but it could easily be mistaken for him looking at Mitsuya, which wouldn't be strange considering they were old friends.

It was strange to see how the founders of Toman seemed irritated with the way Hanma treated Kazutora.

"Thank you for agreeing to observe today's fight, Hansen-kun" Mikey greets the man from Criminal Black Member.

Hansen snorts, "If this fight sucks, I'm taking both of you down"

"REPRESENTATIVES FROM BOTH GANGS, STEP FORWARD!"

Kazutora sighed, they could have waited a little longer, my looked at Baji again, "Return to your position"

"But Tora-"

"I have to go. Give this to someone else to hold, away from that pig over there" Kazutora handed him the bags and pointed at Leanman, who couldn't stop eating.

Baji picked up the bags confused, how many stores had he been to?

"Tora what is all this?"

"You'll find out later" Kazutora says with a small smile, and before Baji opens his mouth again, he gives him a quick peck, not caring about the eyes directed at them and leaving him surprised, "Go now"

Baji nods, embarrassed and unresponsive, he turns and goes looking for someone to entrust Kazutora's bags with, disappearing into the cars afterward. Kazutora smiled in amusement as he went to meet Draken. First, because Baji hiding in the cars and Toman wanting to retrieve him reminded him a lot of a fairy tale of imprisoned princesses. Second, there wasn't a single person who didn't look shocked or disgusted by what happened, not even Takemichi managed to hold his mouth, having let out a loud grunt.

Chifuyu looked at him with knitted brows, not surprised, but a little disappointed that he couldn't do the same.

Draken had his mouth open, looking at Kazutora in surprise, "You kissed Baji."

Kazutora shrugs, "It's what boyfriends usually do." he stated, but his response only made Draken and Toman look more confused, "Don't worry, when you get your head out of your ass and confess to Emma-chan you'll understand"

Draken frowned, "I won't-"

"You sure are going. Only a blind person can't see that Emma-chan has you wrapped around her finger" Kazutora rolled his eyes. It was so obvious that Draken liked Emma, he didn't know why Draken was dragging the girl around so much, she was the same age as Takemichi and was more responsible than most of them, who were a couple of years older, "I'll judge your fault of relationships later, let's get this started soon."

Draken narrowed his eyes, "I want to know why you were late."

"It's none of your business." Kazutora growled.

He wasn't fucking going to say in front of everyone that he went almost to Shinjuku by train just to get a good costume because he wanted to look cool for Baji and Chifuyu on their date.

Hansen was also tired of that nonsense, "Let's start the deals now. A five-on-five with your best guys… Or an all-out melee with everyone" he looked from Kazutora to Draken, "What you guys wanna do?"

Draken says, "Valhalla brought this fight to us. You guys decide, Kazutora"

Kazutora tilts his head, frowning, "Huh?"

"We only have one condition" Draken continued, Kazutora knew what was coming, so he had to force the surprise a bit, "Baji Keisuke's return. If Toman wins this battle, we'll be taking Baji back. That's all.

Kazutora smirked, "Huh? Keisuke came to us on his own. There's nothing to return."

Kazutora felt nervous, not with the plan he needed to complete or else Baji and the future would be at stake, but with Mikey. He was directly behind Draken and Mikey's sight was starting to disturb Kazutora. Mikey glared at him and Kazutora often glanced at him. It had been so long, Kazutora had only caught glimpses of him on security cameras in the future, never in person. It had been twelve years since Kazutora had seen such a clear picture of him.

Kazutora felt that strange feeling again, the bubbling fervor of violence, which made his judgment distort, his mind clouded by the will to fight. Kazutora hasn't felt that for at least 8 years.

He said without thinking, "Baji is mine."

Draken was irreducible, "We'll be taking Baji back. That's all."

The look on Draken's face, his voice rough and resolute. Kazutora didn't see it back then, maybe he did, maybe that's why he got so angry about it. When Valhalla lost, they would end up being taken as part of the Toman anyway, why did Draken have to make it clear in the fight conditions that they were taking Baji back?

Kazutora's mind raced like crazy, fury building inside him as the realization hit him.

He clenched his right fist, "Got it. You don't want to take Baji out of Valhalla..." His whole body seemed to tremble with rage, Kazutora couldn't believe it, but hey, it gave him the energy he needed to continue that sick act, "You want to get him away from me."

Draken watched him unchangingly, but his brow twitched. Well, let's get that cool face off of him.

"You jackass… Bring it on."

Hansen made the bad decision to talk at that moment, "Hey, you guys gonna fight he-"

Kazutora punched him in the face with his right hand, before Hansen fell to his side, he punched him in the stomach with his left, leaving him lying on the ground in a crouch and writhing in pain. There were many there who didn't know who Kazutora was, of course, he was famous for killing one person and going to reform school for only two years, in addition to being a founder of Toman. However, most have never seen him fight, perhaps a small handful of them, mostly senior Toman members.

No one knew how strong he was, throwing two punches hard to not knock someone out, but just to let them writhe in pain, well that indicated a great deal of control of his strength. Being able to do that with Hansen who was older and from a criminal organization, not to mention the main observer of the fight, said a lot about him. Draken's stunned expression was indicative that he hadn't expected this, that he didn't recognize the boy in front of him.

Kazutora hated knowing precisely what position Chifuyu was taking with Takemichi at that moment, as his eyes immediately flew to it. Chifuyu looked at him with a mixture of shock, fear and surprise. And maybe, something like admiration.

He suddenly remembered the brief conversation two days ago, during the forced sleepover at Kazutora's house, Chifuyu asked him who was stronger between him and Baji.

"I have more stamina and better reflexes, but Keisuke is physically stronger. In a fair fight… Well, the last time we fought we were 11 years old and Draken and Mitsuya had to separate us after two hours of punching. So I don't know how that would happen."

Chifuyu tilts his head, "You think you lose?"

"Being honest? I think. Keisuke is a monster."

They laughed after that. Kazutora wondered if he shouldn't have told Chifuyu that he was the one with the reputation of a monster among the gangs.

Kazutora smirked, levantando o rosto para Draken, "Give me a break. Overseeing this fight? Conditions? You guys come here to play house or some shit?!"

Kazutora spread his arms wide, laughing like a fucking maniac, "We came here to beat the shit outta you until you're dead!"

Hanma took a step forward, "Let's finally start this shit, ok, Mikey?"

Mikey looked at Hanma like he was fucking possessed by a demon. The chaos of hell began with the war cry, "Let's go, Toman!"

Mitsuya did as he was instructed: he sent a bunch of men towards Kazutora, making it possible for him to disappear between Valhalla and Toman's men. Of course, that wouldn't get Mikey and Draken off his back, but Hanma knew that Kazutora wanted to ambush Mikey in the cars and that he should take care of Draken — there were no suspicions. Hanma attacked Draken when he came after him, Kazutora taunted Mikey through the crowd.

The same chase from the past happened again, with Kazutora leaving Mikey confused looking for him through the crowd, it was a pity, even if Kazutora didn't want to fight Mikey, there was only one chance to be close enough to Kisaki.

Climbing up the cars, Mikey yelled, "Kazutora! Are you just going to run away from me?!"

Kazutora looked down, Mikey was angry with the futile chase. Mikey jumped over another car, but Chonbo kicked him in the air just like last time. So Mikey landed in a car further down and Chome and Chonbo took their positions beside him.

Kazutora smiles at Mikey, "What's wrong, Mikey? You shouldn't be on your knees like that."

He shouldn't, Mikey shouldn't be surprised by someone as low as they are.

Chonbo laughed, "I'm surprised he managed to defend against that surprise attack."

Chome shrugs, "I'm sure it was just luck. With most guys, rumors about 'em being strong are just that."

"Kazutora, seriously?" Mikey says, standing up and gritting his teeth, "You can't even fight one-on-one?"

Kazutora wasn't proud of himself for doing this again, but he needed time and to lose Mikey. And he was never foolish enough to believe that he could beat Mikey, even though he was on the same level as Baji, and the two were evenly matched with Draken, there was a whole cliff of power between the three of them and Mikey.

"One-on-one? Who the hell promised that?" Kazutora puts his hands on his hips, bowing his head like he used to when he was younger and was caught doing stupid things, "These guys are fighting experts I gathered for my own use, they're the strongest when I was in juvie."

Mikey narrowed his eyes, something strange going through those pitch-black sockets, "You really have changed."

Yes. The 12-year-old would never fight a three-on-one against anyone. Kazutora fought his battles alone, he always had, even when he was small and weak, even getting beaten and shaking with fear against guys three years older and twice his size who reminded him of his father. Kazutora was never a coward.

When Chonbo attacked and Mikey defended, he didn't move, when Chome yelled at Chonbo to get out of there and Mikey kicked a car that got dented, Kazutora just watched. The two captains of Valhalla soon understood that Mikey was not just a rumor, that his nickname 'Invincible' was no joke.

"Wanna know why I lured you here, Mikey?" Kazutora asks, being glared at by the other boy. Fuck, those eyes really sent shivers down his spine, "With your foot being so unstable, I guess you won't be able to easily land your nuclear missile kicks"

Mikey was pissed, he didn't like ambushes, fair fighting was one of Toman's fundamentals. Kazutora wasn't a fan of ambushes either, but now they were necessary. He looked out over the battlefield, the Toman was being slaughtered, Valhalla not only had twice as many men, but they were all older and bigger than the Toman guys. Fortunately, he and Chifuyu helped Takemichi to have a more solid foundation and to throw real punches, combined with the fighting experiences he acquired traveling through time, it was enough for the boy not to get so beaten as usual — no fighting inability that Takemichi has born with could be thwarted by training and experience, he was still terrible, but a little less so. And with his unwavering determination, Takemichi would ignite Toman's flame again, like the last time. Hanma would soon be crushed by Draken, Chifuyu was helping his men, Kisaki… Well, he was getting ready to put on his show.

Chome attacked Mikey again. The two on one continued, Kazutora took the moment to signal to Mitsuya, who had been waiting for the signal since the beginning of the battle. A simple sign that indicated a countdown. Kazutora picked up the piece of metal next to his foot. Ten years in prison made you learn to turn off your feelings, to focus solely on the task at hand and to get it over with so you could get on with your life and pretend it never happened. Kazutora swallowed the lump in his throat and did what he had to do.

Hitting Mikey with a piece of steel, seeing him fall, the blood pouring from his head, the Draken scream. Seeing Mikey get down on his knees again and ask the question that made his stomach flutter.

"Just tell me one thing, Kazutora. Am I… Am I your enemy?"

"When Mikey falls, the guy with the mask will attack him with a club, Kisaki will jump in the middle to play the savior."

Kazutora said those words which he no longer believed. Those crazy, nonsensical things that were etched into the mind of a child troubled by guilt and abuse, abandonment, betrayal. A twisted excuse made up by the voices in your mind, when you're 12 years old and you end up killing someone, someone important to your friend who accepted all your pains, who gave you a reason to go on living, who gave you everything and more, when you kill your friend's brother, of course you'll never get well again.

Kazutora wishes he'd never met Mikey sometimes. Mikey would have had less trouble that well.

"You need to move as soon as I start attacking Mikey, understand?"

On top of the cars, Kazutora spread his arms to the heavens, the battlefield was looking at him now, he shouted, "But if you kill your enemy…" Kazutora turned around, tapping his earring lightly with his finger, the signal to Mitsuya hurry up , and smiled at Mikey, "You're a hero!"

"Be there first, Mitsuya."

The next few moments are a blur, Mikey trapped by his arms and legs, the blows he landed on his head, blood flying everywhere, hitting his face red from Hanma's punch, Mikey's words. Kazutora dodged the kick that took Chonbo to the ground, his two henchmen falling faint under different cars, Kazutora looked at Mikey, not even feigning surprise, letting Mikey hit him with a punch on his face and fell backwards, his nose bleeding, ears buzzing.

Fuck, he'd forgotten how Mikey's punches hurt like hell.

Kazutora's back hurt when he hit the car, a big thud. One, two, three. Mikey was on his knees, still. Four, five, six. Choji started to run towards the mountain of cars. Complete cacophony. Seven, eight. An insane group of Valhalla members should already be intercepting the third division by now, per Baji's orders — Kazutora couldn't leave such a charismatic leader without soldiers, after all — and even if Kisaki overtook them, it would be too late. Nine, Kazutora had his eyes wide open, ready to stop Choji himself if necessary.

Fortunately, Mitsuya had that big brother complex that made him keep all his promises.

"I'm taking their commander's head!"

Ten. Purple hair gleamed in the sun, Mitsuya's punch was fatal, soldiers from the first and second divisions teaming up to beat anyone who tried to climb on the cars.

Mitsuya snorts, "As if I would let you touch him."

Kazutora smiled at the sight of Mitsuya protecting Mikey, he shouted for as many as possible to join in to take down anyone who dared to come near Mikey. Hakkai was soon at his side, giving him a worried look, Kazutora smiled and gave a small thumbs-up that only he could see, since Kazutora was hidden from the public.

Toman cheered, a new gas giving them energy thanks to Mitsuya. Kazutora has never been more proud of his friends.

Kazutora saw Kisaki approach with his vice captain, his men fanning out on all sides. Mitsuya and Chifuyu had already instructed the 1st and 2nd Division not to attack Baji, no matter the circumstances, so Kazutora was cool about his guys.

Kisaki comes up to Mitsuya saying, "Mitsuya-san, I can take care of the commander, they need you down there!"

Mitsuya looked at him with a coldness that was unusual for him, "Mikey's been my friend since we were brats, you can take your men to finally do something useful in this fight."

The third division had done almost nothing so far, thanks to Kisaki's orders, he wanted them to be fresh for that moment, and the few who fought were in an absurd act. Now, his men had been hit for real, because the men that Kazutora gave Baji were under his jurisdiction and he ordered that any order from Baji should be treated as a direct order from him, so they didn't give Kisaki's men an easy fight. There wasn't a single Valhalla soldier who knew Kisaki's secret, Kazutora knew this time because he didn't accept Hanma's offer and Kisaki needed Kazutora to be his scapegoat. Kisaki couldn't order them to stop even if he wanted to, he would be exposing all of his plans.

From fifty men, they had dwindled down to just over twenty as far as Kazutora could count looking around.

Kisaki try to bargain, "Mitsuya-san, the president-"

But Draken's scream cuts him, "I'M LEAVING MIKEY TO YOU, MITSUYA!!"

Mitsuya smiles and raises his fist in the air, confirming that he heard Draken. Then he turns to Kisaki, his smile slowly getting more smug. Kisaki bites his tongue, thinking of how he could pull the spotlight on him, but at that moment, flying from behind the cars, Baji came up with a piece of steel and hit him square in the head. Not even Mitsuya expected that, Kisaki was thrown to a car beside, lying with his head bleeding.

Mitsuya yelled in horror, "Baji!"

Kisaki's vice-captain grabbed Baji by the jacket and threw him away, Baji flew a few before landing painfully on a car, at the base of the scrap metal mountain, Kazutora bit his lip, he needed to wait a little longer.

The hit on Kisaki's head was pretty hard, that was a fact. Kazutora just didn't expect it to be strong enough for him to forget that Mitsuya was right beside him, "Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz… Like a damn fly darting around me" Kisaki complained, getting up. He looked to where Baji was on his knees, "Swat him dead."

Silent, Mitsuya stomped his foot, drawing Kisaki's attention to him. Kazutora almost laughed at the startled expression on his face, "What did you just said?"

Kisaki opened his mouth in shock, "I… Mitsuya-san, he's our enemy!"

Mitsuya doesn't get mad easily, you have to fuck up really bad to make Mitsuya absolutely furious. Saying you're going to kill one of his bestfriends was one of the worst ways, "You told him to kill Baji. You said he was a fly on your ear. I heard it."

Kisaki shook his head, "Mitsuya-san, I didn't mean that-"

"Hakkai!" Mitsuya turned to his vice-captain, "I heard that right, didn't I?"

Hakkai nodded, "Yes, Captain."

Mitsuya wasn't speaking quietly, he was yelling at Kisaki, many soldiers from both sides heard him. Chifuyu and Takemichi must have already taken their positions beside Baji down below.

Ok, time to get up.

Kazutora leaned against the car and pushed himself up, Kazutora wiped the blood from his nose with his jacket sleeve, taking two shaky steps to Mitsuya's side, "Oi, oi..."

Kazutora clenched his hands into fists, glaring at Kisaki with rage, "What the hell is this, you son of a bitch?"

Good thing Kazutora made it clear that Baji was his.

And that he was absolutely obsessive.

Kisaki squeezed his hand, gritting his teeth, Kisaki finally understood that Kazutora knew everything from the beginning. It took longer than Kazutora expect, but that's okay, Baji was really hard to believe and he could easily betray Kisaki, but Kazutora? Mikey's brother's killer completely deranged? Kisaki thought he just had to let Kazutora play around in Valhalla with his Toman toy until he eliminated both of them.

What a miscalculation on his part.

Kazutora swayed back and forth, shouting through a manic laughter, "I knew you were suspicious. Infiltrating Toman? Bullshit! Hanma really thought that was going to trick me?!"

Kazutora saw it, people were looking at them, Mitsuya looked suitably surprised and yelled at Kisaki, "What is he talking about?"

"I don't know! He's crazy, Mitsuya-san!" Kisaki yelled back, pointing at Kazutora.

"Crazy?" Kazutora jumped into the car below, getting ahead of Kisaki.

The vice captain, a pawn Kazutora never learned the name, jumped at him, "Don't go near-!"

Kazutora punches him in the stomach, then spins around and delivers a super sonic kick, courtesy of the days when Mikey would teach him how to fight, sending the guy flying, Kazutora didn't pay attention to where he ended up, it was just a fly crushed.

"I understood. That's your real plan, you never meant to kill Mikey… That was to kill Baji wasn't it, you bastard?! You wanted me as a scapegoat!" Kazutora shouted at the top of his lungs, Kisaki trembled with rage and jumped up to attack him.

Kazutora let himself be taken by the third punch of the day, "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about!"

His punch was good, but it wasn't even close to Hanma or Mikey, Kazutora didn't even flinch. He smirked, sneering oozing like venom, "Is that all you got?"

Kazutora raised his fist, "I expected much more from you, LEADER!"

He taught Kisaki what a real punch was. Kisaki backed away, but managed to keep his balance. Baji was making his way through the mountain of cars, using an iron to defeat anyone who tried to stop him, his strength was unparalleled, absolutely thunderous. There was no one able to stop Baji now that he was determined, he smashed windshields and made a rain of shrapnel. He kicked, punched, hit and climbed at a steady and fast pace.

Baji was close to them again, "KISAKI!"

Kazutora looks at Baji, and he looks like a tsunami destroying everything in its path. Hanma and Draken were still fighting, Hanma preventing Draken from going to them. The fight was taking too long, Toman's men were exhausted and there were so many people from Valhalla yet to be defeated.

Baji now stands in front of Kazutora, with the tip of the iron at Kisaki's throat, "Checkmate."

Kisaki rosnou, "Just try it, asshole!"

Mitsuya gets closer and demands, "Hakkai take him."

Hakkai immediately obeys, he goes down and with Baji threatening to shove the iron across his throat, Kisaki couldn't move, one misstep and he's dead. Hakkai takes Kisaki by the arms, immobilizing him.

"Mitsuya!" Kisaki yelled, "What's your problem?!"

"Shut up!" Mitsuya yelled back, shaking with rage, "Kill Baji? Leader? Do you think I'm so stupid that I don't understand what's going on here?"

Kisaki still didn't give up, "I have no reason to kill Baji! Why do you believe in Kazutora? Kazutora used Valhalla to kill Mikey!"

"Huh?" Kazutora tilts his head, "You were the one who recruited me, you bastard. You followed me to my house and chased me until I entered Valhalla!"

Kisaki was furious, the last part was actually Kazutora's exaggeration, Kisaki didn't do it personally, but Kazutora was followed by Valhalla members for almost two weeks, before he joined and after, "Can you prove it, bitch?!'

Baji presses the steel cable to his throat, drawing out a trickle of blood, "Watch your tongue."

"Is it true, Kazutora?"

Kazutora felt his body go numb, his muscles tense as Mikey stood up behind him. They turned around, seeing Mikey standing there with blood all over his face, blond hair stained, Mikey looked him deep in the eyes, "Is it true that he is a traitor?"

Kazutora nodded, "I never meant to kill you, Mikey. I was going to live my life away from all of you, but Hanma came and then Kisaki…" Kazutora clenched his fists, if Kazutora was like in the past, he would have fallen to Kisaki's lip like a duckling, "They promised to help me kill you, Chome and Chonbo met me in juvie and I was insane in the first year, I blamed you for fear of accepting the reality. Kisaki misjudged my current state and tried to use me to make today's battle happen."

"This is nonsense! I have never met Hanma before today." Kisaki exclaims, "Mikey, you can't believe him! Kazutora is crazy-"

Three people yelled at him, "Shut up!"

Mitsuya, Baji and Mikey order. Not only did the higher ranking people in Toman, but one had a steel pipe ready to pierce his jugular, Kisaki was reduced to biting his tongue.

Mikey approaches Kazutora, who can't help but get more tense than he already was. He didn't trust that Mikey, that Mikey scared him. Maybe he noticed that Kazutora was shaking and his shoulders hunched and didn't take another step forward, just standing where he was, "What about Baji?"

"I never trusted Kisaki," Baji declared, never taking his eyes off the younger man, "I infiltrated Valhalla because I suspected they were involved, Tora was the deciding factor."

Mikey nodded, "And the results?"

"Kisaki Tetta is the leader of Valhalla, better known as Valhalla number 1. Kazutora was in Valhalla for the same purpose as me." Baji started reporting, there was no way Mikey could not believe Baji, he went into that fight wanting to take Baji back, "Me and Kazutora have been working with Mitsuya, Chifuyu and Takemichi to gather evidence and figure out Kisaki's plans."

Mikey looked at Mitsuya who shrugged, "Kazutora looked like a puppy kicked to the street when I met him for the 1st time, of course I melted"

Kazutora let out a snort mixed with a laugh, but he was shy, Mitsuya had the energy of an older brother, "Did I look so lost looking at butter?"

"Yes." Mitsuya giggled.

Mikey looked satisfied as he looked from one to the other, then got serious again, "And what did Kisaki want with today's fight?"

"That I can answer" Kazutora says, taking a deep breath so he can face Mikey, "Kisaki had a goal today: kill Baji and blame me. There are a few ways things could go after that, but what mattered was that we were both dead at the end of the day."

Mikey gritted his teeth, "And the result of the fight?"

Kazutora shook his head, "He doesn't care about that. If Toman won, Valhalla would be your subordinate, if Valhalla won, he would hand it over to you to lead."

Mikey furrowed his eyebrows with a scowl, Mikey wasn't the type to follow anyone's orders, so Toman wasn't going to join Valhalla as a subordinate. And if Kisaki tried to hand Valhalla to him on a silver platter, he would have his neck kicked out. So Mikey looked at Kisaki like he was a worm, "What do you have to say about that, Kisaki?"

He wouldn't miss that opportunity to defend himself, Kisaki started babbling his nonsense, "Mikey, you are my commander, I would never do anything to you. Why would I kill Baji when he's so important to you? Why would I associate with someone like Hanma? Everything they are accusing me of is baseless!" he had a point and he knew it, Kisaki hasn't made himself suspicious of anyone in Toman other than Baji since he took on the role of captain, and Kazutora was the guy who killed Mikey's brother and wanted to kill him until 10 minutes ago, Mikey didn't had to hear a single word come out of his mouth, "Besides, Kazutora changed his personality too quickly, you can't just believe him!"

"But I do."

Kazutora's eyes widened, his body trembled, his chest tightened. Mikey… Believe him? Okay, Kazutora had been using his collaboration with Mitsuya and Baji to get Mikey to at least listen to him before trying to kill him, but really believe him? Kazutora was simply incredulous, Mikey couldn't-

He at least shouldn't. Kazutora wasn't a good person.

Mikey didn't stop there, getting so many pairs of surprised eyes, "I believe in Tora."

Kisaki wasn't happy, "Why?! And the things he said to you?"

Mikey sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and looking up at the sky, "I believe in him because I know him, I know when he's angry, happy and determined to win a fight. Tora looked… sad when he told me those things."

Kazutora had his mouth open, eyes flickering with tears. Fuck, did Mikey really notice that?

"And he held back when he hit me" Mikey concluded, turning to face Kisaki, "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Kisaki. You're right, I can't just believe an accusation like that without proof."

Kisaki smiled triumphantly, believing that there was no way he could be blamed now. But Baji didn't move and none of the three looked nervous. In fact, Kazutora smiled brightly and walked to the edge of the car he was in, he leaned against the car beside him and looked down, one hand next to his mouth and the other waving in the air.

"OIII! FUYU-CHAN!"

He could see Chifuyu's cheeks turn red and Takemichi teasing him, receiving an elbow. It was unnerving to see how other people were looking at them as if they had blue skin and horns on their heads.

Gods, he turned this fight into a circus and didn't regret it one bit.

"Is the sound ready?" Kazutora asked, Chifuyu gives a thumbs up with both hands, "What about the Moebius guys?" he waves his hands, Kazutora returns the thumbs up and turns to their group, "Fuyu-chan is going to give your proof now, Mikey"

"Fuyu-chan?" Mikey asked, looking from Kazutora to Baji, "Didn't you kiss Baji earlier?"

Kazutora smiled, "Well, Chifuyu is so cute, I couldn't resist."

"But what about Baji?" Mitsuya asks, as confused as Mikey is, he's missed the last few chapters of the three's lives.

"What about me?" Baji looked at them, "I like them, they like me, they like each other. We are dating"

"What?" say Mitsuya and Mikey.

Kazutora shook his head, "We're not."

Baji furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean no?"

Kazutora rolled his eyes, "Chifuyu deserves a real proposal, you idiot."

"Chifuyu doesn't care about these things." Baji says, confused, but the look on Kazutora's face makes him less believe what he said, "...he doesn't care, right?"

"With the amount of shoujo manga he reads?" Kazutora sighed, putting a hand to his face, "And I thought Mikey was stupid for not noticing how Mitchy likes him."

Mitsuya nodded, "Me too, me too."

Mikey opened his mouth, gleam back in his eye, "Takemitchi what?"

"What about me?"

Takemichi had finished climbing the pile of cars, a boombox in hand, Chifuyu right behind with two guys from Moebius. Mikey looked at Takemichi for a moment and looked away, Takemichi blinked in confusion, staring at Kazutora.

"Nii-san?" Takemichi asks, but Kazutora shaked his head, "Okay. I have it maxed out and the pendrive plugged in."

"Why is Baji-san still threatening Kisaki?" Chifuyu asks as soon as he gets close to them, "I thought we agreed to leave things to you"

"Because he's an idiot" Kazutora rolled his eyes, moving closer to give Chifuyu a kiss, but he put his hand on his face, stopping him an arm's length away, "Fuyu-chan?"

"Not in public" Chifuyu rolled his eyes, pushing Kazutora away, "Let's start with those guys, partner"

Takemichi nods in agreement. Chifuyu beckons them to go upstairs and so they do, Kazutora smiles at them, waving his hand, "Hello~ Thanks for coming today!"

"It was nothing…" one of them grumbled, they had taken a beating from him a few days ago when they tried to back out of going to the fight, "Hope I can help."

Mikey approaches them, "Who are they?"

Chifuyu is the one who replies, "They were Moebius captains."

Mikey nodded and Chifuyu signals for them to start talking, the older of them gulps, looking at Kisaki and then at Mikey, "Huh, well… I'm from Osanai's generation, I joined the gang with him. A few months ago, Kisaki joined us at the same time as Hanma. Despite being stronger than Osanai, Hanma-kun was not interested in the position of leader, in fact, he just wanted to fight."

The younger one nodded, "Kisaki… He's very smart, one day, he gave me a tip on how to pursue a fight and I accepted it, because there was no reason not to try, I had already decided that there was no way to win, but… we won. In gratitude I spoke well of him to the boss. The boss was interested, Kisaki gave him some tips and everything always worked out, so he quickly grew up in the gang."

"It got to the point that whatever Osanai did he consulted with Kisaki first" the older man commented, feeling bitter, "Nothing else mattered, if Kisaki said so it was done. We captains had no voice and if we were against Osanai would punish us by hurting the younger ones, we couldn't let them suffer so we just followed orders."

The younger sighed, shivering, "Most liked Kisaki's ideas anyway, we were gaining power, until..."

They looked at each other, Mikey crossed his arms, "Until what?"

The older one scratched his throat, "Kisaki said we had to defeat you and take Shibuya for ourselves."

"He said hitting one of your guys should be enough to incite the fight, things happened and after boss went to the hospital, he decided not to stay in the gang anymore and Kisaki took over as the 9th boss." the younger explained, hands clasped, rubbing nervously together, "Kisaki ordered me to reach out to Kiyomasa, at the same time, Moebius turned into Valhalla."

Mikey narrowed his eyes, "Hanma being there that night wasn't a coincidence."

Kisaki couldn't let that continue, "Mikey! Don't believe them! I was at Moebius, it's true, but these guys were jealous of my position, that's all. Osanai asked ne things, but I didn't have any power in his decisions-"

The look Mikey gave him said it all: no matter what he said, Mikey wouldn't believe a single word of it. Toman's founders were everything to Mikey, for Baji to betray Toman to infiltrate the rival gang, it took a lot more than not liking someone. Mitsuya collaborating behind his back wouldn't happen in normal situations, Takemichi, the guy who was kind to everyone he meets, hated Kisaki since day 1, and Kazutora returned to the gang world only to find out what the hell Valhalla was planning. Now he found out that Kisaki was behind Draken's murderer attempt? And did he intend to bring Baji to the same end?

Kisaki was lucky to still be alive.

"We have one more proof, Mikey-kun" Takemichi says, drawing his attention, he had placed the speaker, which was small, but looked brand new, "Listen to this."

The first audio to play was when Kisaki went to his house to personally recruit him to Valhalla, Kazutora started recording very late, he did it with the old camera that was in the living room, abandoned for two years, it was a miracle the audio be understandable and it sucked to extract it from the video. Kazutora could see Mikey's anger levels rise exponentially, the second, was his most recent conversation with Hanma.

"Because Kisaki said it would be an excellent way to destabilize Mikey. A traitor friend is enough of a loophole for him to sneak in and destroy them from the inside. Make sure you don't get him in trouble, all right? I just haven't spanked you yet because of him."

At that moment, Kisaki understood that he was fucked.

Mikey saw red.

"Ne, Kazutora. Has Hanma ever hit you like today?" Mikey asked, approaching Kazutora.

"Huh, no…" Kazutora wanted to deny it, but Chifuyu was quicker to shout, "Yes! He even had horrible bruises and a concussion."

"Chifuyu!" Kazutora exclaimed in despair, he could have witnesses to his injuries, but damn, he didn't want Mikey to know. Chifuyu had other ideas, "Draken-kun saw it too, that's why he's hitting Hanma hard"

"When?" Mikey asked, looking at Chifuyu, knowing Kazutora wouldn't answer with the truth.

"A little over a week ago, when Draken came to my house" Takemichi explained, turning off the audio, "Kazutora passed out from his concussion in the middle of our last meeting."

"Is that what he had? Why none of you told me?" Mitsuya groaned in exasperation.

Mikey didn't need anything else, he went for Kisaki and Hakkai released him, stepping away in time for Mikey to kick Kisaki in the stomach and send him flying to the ground, it was a bad fall and Kisaki probably passed out when he landed.

Baji glared at Mikey, "I was going to kill him!"

"You don't have the nerve for it, Baji" Mikey snapped, making Baji roll his eyes, "Let's get this fight over with."

"Draken hasn't even taken down Hanma yet" Baji grumbled, looking at the situation on the battlefield.

"He fought more than 50 alone, of course he's tired after all this time" Mitsuya says, standing beside them, there were still many Valhalla members standing, "Damn, I feel like I can't move a finger…"

"I think I broke my wrist." admitted Baji, with a pointed smile.

Mikey shrugs, "I can scare them all with one kick."

"You're bleeding man, you're not fucking going to keep fighting" Mitsuya scolded him, if they didn't stop Mikey now, they would have their ears full of Draken later.

"So what? It's no big deal" Mikey looked at Mitsuya, like a child who didn't understand the problem of what he did.

"Mikey, you are in no condition to fight!"

"I'm fine"

With the discussion going on endlessly, Kazutora sighed and nudged Takemichi, "Go on"

"Me?!" Takemichi points to himself, his mouth open.

Kazutora rolled his eyes and gave him a push, "I told you before, if you ask, Mikey will do it"

Takemichi frowned and pursed his lips. He didn't believe Kazutora one bit, but he knew he wouldn't get out of this without talking to Mikey.

Takemichi walks over and pokes his bare back, the skin hot, he withdraws his hand immediately after, as if burned, "M-Mikey-kun…"

Mikey turned around, his eyes infinitely softer when he saw Takemichi, "What Mitchy?"

Takemichi gulped, suddenly everyone expected Takemichi to make Mikey back off, "Y-you're hurt, the others can handle it… Please rest for now."

Mikey looked at him for a full minute, before he blinked and nodded, "Fine."

Takemichi sighed in relief and smiled sweetly at Mikey. It was tooth-rotting.

"Then Baji will-"

Kazutora acted faster. There must have been about 50 or so Valhalla members left, the only ones standing on the Toman were their captains and deputies and few others around the junkyard. Kazutora took a few steps forward and pulled Baji's hair before he could stop him, "Hey! What's that for?"

Kazutora was tying his own hair, leaving the front two blonde strands free, "You watch"

"Since when do I run away from a fight?" Baji snarled, pushing his hair out of his face.

Kazutora gives him a scolding look, one that Baji instinctively knew meant trouble, Baji crossed his arms, looking away, giving up on facing him. Mitsuya chuckled, "He's got you wrapped around his finger, huh?"

Baji growls, "Fuck off!"

Mikey frowns as he takes off Valhalla's jacket, his scars being revealed to anyone to see, "Kazutora?"

"Don't look at me like that, Mikey" Kazutora doesn't smile, doesn't get sad, resigned maybe, he was okay with them seeing his scars, all of them. His scars could still hurt sometimes, a ghost pain, but they're proof he was alive, he won one more time, "I'm just paying for my sins."

"Kazutora-" Mikey asks, but Kazutora turned and walked towards Chifuyu.

Kazutora threw his jacket under their heads, Chifuyu couldn't even run away when he was caught by surprise, Kazutora grabs him by the wrist, pulls him close and gives him a quick kiss and pulls away before Chifuyu can hit him.

"I'll be back in ten!" Kazutora shouted, running and jumping through the cars.

Chifuyu took the jacket off his head, screaming, "That idiot!"

Kazutora ran through the junkyard towards Hanma and Draken's fight, when a guy was going to attack Draken from behind, Kazutora accelerated his pace and jumped, hitting the enemy right in the face. Kazutora posed precisely, his heart pounding against his ribcage, the expression on Hanma and Draken's faces, priceless. Kazutora showed the middle finger to Hanma and stuck out his tongue to Draken who rolled his eyes with a smile, gaining more energy to finish Hanma off.

Then, Kazutora turned to the more than fifty Valhalla men, smiling wider, he stretched the muscles in his back.

Those guys would be a great warm-up.

Kazutora wasn't the type to use weapons, he liked his fists. The way the muscles stretch and contract, the contact with the skin. Kazutora was a tiger and he liked two claws. It was exhilarating, running between them, punching them, kicking them, throwing them at each other, Kazutora was unstoppable, without a drop of mercy in his actions, he fought to kill, punching who he knew was a piece of shit with more strength, climbed on top of him and punching nonstop, scaring the most cowardly.

He learned to kick with Mikey, to dodge with Mitsuya, to punch with Baji and to hold a blow with Draken. Without them, Kazutora would never be what he was now.

Fifteen minutes later, Kazutora was on top of a pile of men and yelled, "VALHALLA LOST! TOMAN WINS!"

The members of Toman looked at their leader, Draken had taken down Hanma and Mikey had Baji at his side, Mikey raised his fist. They shouted in a war scream.

That was it, Toman won. Bloody Halloween is over. Kisaki would be expelled from Toman and Kazutora had already made contact with Tenjiku and with what the Haitani brothers saw today, Kisaki would be unlucky in Yokohama.

Chifuyu was talking to Baji, Takemichi receiving compliments from Mitsuya. Kazutora was going to them, thinking about how Baji was alive. How the battle was over and Chifuyu didn't have his heart broken, Mikey didn't lose a piece of his soul.

Kazutora wasn't guilty of anything that day. Then, Mikey and Draken were talking on the side, explaining to Draken what had just happened. Draken looked furious, but Mitsuya was there to make everyone calm. Baji goes with them. Chifuyu and Takemichi stayed talking, whispering things the others shouldn't know, Kazutora walked to them, he really wanted to hug Takemichi right now, nothing of this would be possible if it wasn't for him.

Then, Kazutora saw him.

Kisaki was up, a steel cable in hand. His target? Kazutora didn't care, it was either Chifuyu or Takemichi.

Kazutora ran. Fortunately, he wasn't that far from them, so he ran the fastest he could, jumping in front of Kisaki. Kazutora took the blow on the side of his head. A buzzing filled his ears, his skull seemed to shake. Kazutora felt consciousness come and go several times, a hum that shook his brain.

Blood oozed from the cut on his head, a lot of it. The hit was dangerously close to his temple. He almost ended up in an ambulance in the next few minutes.

"Kazutora!" Someone screams. Takemichi? Chifuyu? Baji? Mikey?

All of them? Fuck it, he couldn't know. But Kazutora didn't fall. Chifuyu got him, Kazutora didn't let his legs stop working, he sustained himself up. He just needed a moment.

His head was hurting, but it would take more than that to knock him out.

"Kazutora-san" Chifuyu calls, helping him to stand straight, "Fuck, there's so much blood…"

Kazutora wiped the blood from his eye with his hand, his vision was a little red, in the literal sense of the thing. Baji and Mikey were about to hit Kisaki when he raised his arm, causing them to stop, "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time... Don't ruin it."

Baji growled, holding his arm, "Kazutora, you can't-"

But Kazutora's eyes were cold and focused solely on Kisaki, on the ground for one punch from Draken, Kazutora would hear no more. Kazutora was focused on killing. Like an animal chasing its prey.

Kazutora let go of Baji, walking slowly to Kisaki. He ran his hand over his face again, cleaning more of the blood, but his hand was already dirty, so his face had red marks from side to side, his lips painted like he was using lipstick. Kisaki was standing up again, his eyes looked huge and about to explode.

"It's all your fault!" Kisaki shouted, attacking Kazutora with the steel, Kazutora deflected with ease, Kisaki spun his body around, trying to hit him again, but Kazutora's reflexes matched Mikey, it was no use, "If you hadn't interviewed- You wanted to kill Mikey just a few months ago!"

"You've been watching me, huh?" Kazutora smirks, dodging another attack from Kisaki.

Kisaki growled, lunging at Kazutora. He was fast, his blows strong and precise, and Kazutora was slowing, his head not stopping bleeding.

When the steel flew to his head once again, Kazutora defended with his arm, not being able to avoid grimacing and grunting in pain, that shit was going to turn on a sickening purple later.

"You son of a bitch..." Kisaki growled, forcing the iron harder, wanting to shove Kazutora, "If you hadn't meddled, you could go on living!"

"Living?" Kazutora grabbed the steel with his other hand, forcing a grip on the weapon, "You think I've lived for the last two years?" Kazutora shouted, his legs steady, using his whole body to push the cable to the other side, "You watched the lives of each of us, but missed this very important detail?!"

Kisaki's eyes widened as Kazutora began to push him backwards, causing him to lose his balance and strength on the steel cable, "Baji is mine!"

Kazutora shouted, furious. He pulls the steel cable from Kisaki's hands, he doesn't let go and Kazutora drags him along, "I'm his!"

Kazutora pulls the steel further to his side, like a useless tug-of-war, "Got it!"

Kisaki was red from the effort, he wasn't strong enough to fight with Kazutora, "You fucking lunatic!"

"Yeah! I'm! I'ma fucking psycho! A maniac!" Kazutora shouted, positioning his hands better on the handle and acting fast. First pull and then kick, launching Kisaki back, "But one doesn't exist without the other!"

Kazutora threw the cable away. He hated using weapons. It gave him a bad taste in his mouth, reminded him of that day when everything collapsed. Kazutora kicks Kisaki, making him fall and then steps hard on his stomach, Kisaki throws up something green and disgusting, bile, Kazutora stands over him, knees one on each side.

"That one is for trying to kill Draken." Kazutora says, before punching Kisaki in the face.

"For your disgusting ideas with Hina-chan." Kazutora punched, he knew the girl in the future and she was no less than a sweet person, "And her bratty brother."

"For Takemitchy." His fist comes down again, there is blood in Kisaki's mouth, on his dented nose. Dripping from Kazutora to his face.

"For daring to think I would kill my Keisuke." Kazutora growled, punching harder, he had his other hand gripping Kisaki's collar, hard, his body weighing down his lungs.

"For my Chifuyu"

"For Mikey"

Izana.

Kakuchou.

Emma-chan.

Everyone who suffered because of you.

Everyone whose life you destroyed.

Everyone you killed.

Chifuyu's death.

Mikey's dark future.

The suffering marked on Takemichi's soul.

Kazutora's mind was blank, everything was dark, his vision was red. Kazutora had only one thing that moved his body: his hatred. He hated Kisaki. From heart, body and soul. His fist descended without mercy, the memories of Chifuyu's lifeless body, Baji in his arms. The graves of the Sano family, including Izana, Draken's grave, Chifuyu's warm hand on his back as he cried for Emma and Ken.

The memories of the other timelines. He learned about the others he didn't know, from Takemichi, the things the boy did to save them.

He punched without stopping, his breathing was labored, his hand hurt, his fingers were numb. There was blood, lots of blood, Kisaki's eyes were unfocused, he was barely breathing, Kisaki had already passed out, but Kazutora didn't stop. His ears were deaf, his eyes were blind, his body was weightless.

Kazutora only partially regained his senses when he was pulled off Kisaki, he could barely stand, it was as if he had no control over his own body. Kazutora was thrown upwards, his feet off the ground, his hands working less than his legs. But he could feel the hands on him, the wind whipping his face too fast.

The sirens rang in his head.

It brought him back.

"Kei..." Kazutora muttered, he was in Baji's arms, everyone running away from the junkyard, running from the police, "Kei... Fuyu..."

Keisuke understood what he meant, scooping him up on his lap and running to the down street, where he knew there was a passage to a building under construction that should be sealed off, but it wasn't, "He went to get the bike with the others"

Kazutora sighed, his eyes were heavy, but he kept awake. When Baji got him to his feet, Kazutora leaned on his shoulder, they sneaked into the building through a space in the wooden planks. Baji walked slowly until they found a place where no one could see them.

"Looks like none of our guys got caught" Baji says, looking at the phone, "An ambulance has already been called, Hanma and the captains got away"

Kazutora nodded, he was tired.

"Chifuyu will be here in a few minutes"

Kazutora frowned, "On your bike?"

"You really thought I would let Takemichi ride my baby?" Baji jokes, sitting down next to him, "Are you okay?"

Kazutora agreed. Baji slung his arm around his shoulders, "What happened there, Tora? You said you weren't going to kill him."

Kazutora tensed, biting his lip, but they were painted with blood and Kazutora hated the metallic taste, "I wasn't going to. I didn't want to... But then... He... Fuyu... I couldn't-"

"Shhh, shhh... It's okay. It's okay." Baji comforts him, bringing him closer, "Let's focus on getting you to a hospital, all right?"

Kazutora nodded, rubbing his hands on his shirt, wanting to clean the blood, "Is it that bad?"

Baji takes a moment to answer, Kazutora felt his fingers poking at his hair and now that the adrenaline was gone, the wound hurt like hell, "You'll need stitches"

"Really?" Kazutora mutters and Baji nods, "Fuck…"

"Think of the good things" Baji says, and Kazutora looks at him annoyed, there was nothing good about going to the hospital, "Draken will have an excuse to drag Mikey there"

Kazutora gave a small smile, it would be funny to see Mikey being forced to go to the hospital to have his head checked.

However, Kazutora remembered one important detail, "We won't be able to go to Harajuku. I was late for nothing."

Baji looked at him, "What are you talking about?"

Kazutora shrugged, "If I really need stitches, we can't go out and I even got late so I could get a nice costume..."

"You were late because of that?" Baji was obviously thinking it was bullshit, he hated being late to fights, "Since when do you care about such things?"

"I don't know..." Kazutora muttered, shrugging, it was something that came really late in life, after being out of jail and living with Chifuyu, discovering himself again but this time in freedom, "I like to feel pretty sometimes..."

Baji was silent, Kazutora had his eyes closed because his head was throbbing and he felt like he could sleep for a few centuries.

"What's the costume?" Baji asked, suddenly.

Kazutora blinked hard, turning his head to him and taking a long moment before he could answer, "Do you know those... Bunny girl outfits?"

Baji nodded very slowly, his expression twisted in confusion, "Yeah..."

"Make it kitty."

Maybe he broke Baji, but he wouldn't know until later, because Kazutora had closed his eyes and caught up on sleep.

~-~-~

With stitches in his head and the certainty that neither Mikey nor Kazutora had cracks their skulls, Kazutora ended up blacking out from pain medication, which caused him to miss Halloween. Wanting to make new memories, this time happy ones with Baji and Chifuyu on a date, Kazutora was very upset about this, but decided not to say anything about it. Kazutora was living with Takemichi for the last two days, they're very attached to each other after everything and they're letting Toman take care of the Valhalla members who would be subordinate to Toman now that they had lost, neither of them were really part of the gang, so it wasn't their problems.

Toman went from 150 members to 450. It was a huge number, really. A very big step for Tokyo's leadership.

Now, they're together on the couch, watching a movie that wasn't good at all while eating snacks, cuddling in a warm blanket, when Takemichi suddenly says,

"Baji-kun is alive"

Kazutora stopped eating his yogurt, turning his head to Takemichi, "What?"

"Baji-kun is alive!" Takemichi spoke louder, Kazutora began to understand what he was getting at, "Tomorrow is his birthday! He's alive!"

That's when Kazutora's mind came crashing down. The same way Takemichi's did fallen moments before. Kazutora gasped, "Keisuke is alive."

Takemichi yelled, "Baji-kun is alive!!!"

Kazutora's smile widened even more, "Tomorrow he turns fifteen!"

"Yes! He does!" Takemichi noddeds, jumping of excitement, "And Mikey isn't mad at you!"

Kazutora blinked, shock running through her entire body, "Mikey isn't mad at me?"

"No! He's not!" Takemichi yelled louder, tears invading his eyes but not being shed yet, "And Kisaki is gone, he can't even go to Tenjiku anymore!"

It takes a while, but Kazutora and Takemichi are finally hit with what that meant to them. Saving Baji, saving Kazutora, his relationship with Mikey, and unmasking Kisaki.

"We did it, Mitchy." Kazutora finally says, and he definitely wasn't crying, but his eyes were burning and what he felt was indescribable.

"We changed the fucking future."

Takemichi hugged Kazutora tightly, Kazutora let the boy cry in his arms, how many times has Takemichi seen the bloody halloween? Baji's death? His death? Chifuyu's? Kazutora would never know, damn it, Takemichi must have already fucked up the timeline so badly that was why Kazutora was able to go back in time as well. But none of that mattered anymore, Kazutora did what he had to and fucked up Kisaki's life and plans.

Kazutora only hoped that would be enough to pay for his sins.

~~~

"Kazutora" Mikey called him.

They were having a party for Toman's victory and Baji's return, and of course, his 15t birthday. It was a big celebration, one of the things Toman planned while Kazutora rested with Takemichi, the best part? Baji made everyone dress up like a late Halloween party. Unfortunately, nobody could make Baji admit that he chose a costume party because he didn't want to see Kazutora upset for missing Halloween.

Kazutora actually thought Baji chose it so he could see him in the bunny suit he bought.

A black bodysuit with tights and really long gloves, all to hide his scars, matching tabby ears and tail and a bell around his neck — rabbit didn't suit him after all. He was pretty, really, even though he got teased about his lack of breasts, but Kazutora thought they were funny anyway, so it wasn't a problem. And he wasn't the only one with strange clothes, Mikey was literally dressed in Little Red Riding Hood with a dress, cape and apron!

And a bottle to threaten the jokers. But still adorable, in Kazutora's opinion.

Mitsuya was Doctor Frankenstein and Draken was Frankenstein himself, Baji was some kind of wolf and Chifuyu was a witch cat or something and he was really cute.

The party started two hours ago, but Kazutora was getting tired easily because of the pain medicine he kept taking and he needed to be very careful with his stitches, so Kazutora was in a corner with a bottle of soda, Baji and Chifuyu were enjoying the party some with the 1st division guys. Takemichi was nowhere to be found and Mitsuya checked on him five minutes ago.

Kazutora hoped to come and go silently, unnoticed by the party. It was difficult with his costume, but Kazutora didn't know how to interact with Toman, even if it was a party for the division leaders and only a few of Baji's closest subordinates were present, there was still that uneasy feeling between them.

Mikey had other plans for him, though. He came from nowhere and asked first, before coming closer, "Can I talk to you?"

Kazutora looks at him, his throat dry. He nods, "Sure"

Mikey waved with his head once, walking away from the others. Kazutora gets up and follows him to a quiet place, the stairs of the shrine, far enough so anyone would hear them and they wouldn't be interrupted. They sat, Mikey was looking at the sky, it was a clear night and the stars were bright points deep dark blue. It was early in the night, the sun got down just minutes ago, the party started right after everyone was out of school, because Baji was going to celebrate with his mother that night.

Mikey was silent for a long moment, Kazutora waited for him, calmly. He'd waited twelve years, he could wait a little longer, there's no problem.

He was looking at his hands when Mikey finally said, "Thank you."

Kazutora nearly choked on his soda, his eyes widening, he gulped down his drink, coughing as he tried to speak, "What?"

Mikey smiled, with something Kazutora couldn't understand, so he repeated what he said, "Thank you for everything, Kazutora."

Okay, now he was choking. Kazutora shook his head, trying to brush it off, "No need to say that! I didn't do anything, I just helped Baji and-"

"Tora." Mikey interrupts, effectively silencing him. Mikey turned his head, those black eyes glittering, not in hatred like he used to, Mikey was happy. A look on his face Kazutora never thought he would see again, not for him, at least, "If you weren't there, if you weren't on Baji's side, things would have gone very wrong."

Kazutora felt that his lips were sealed, Mikey always managed to shut him up, leaving him at a loss for what to do.

"So thanks for doing all this for Toman." Mikey finishes, leaning back, looking up at the sky.

Kazutora couldn't accept it.

Kazutora shook his head, putting the can aside, he twisted his patched fingers together and bit his lip hard, "I don't deserve your gratitude."

Mikey looked at him out of the corner of his eye, his face didn't say anything, as usual. Mikey was so hard to read most of the time, Kazutora always struggled with that.

But he simply asked, "Why?"

Kazutora sighed heavily, he couldn't explain the things he did, nor that he was a time traveler trying to avoid things that were his fault. He took a deep breath, thinking carefully of what he was going to say.

"I… was just paying my sins." Kazutora slips, breathless as he speaks, "Mikey, I will never ask your forgiveness for what I did, Shinichiro-san's death is something I will carry on my shoulders for the rest of my life and I-"

"I forgive you."

Kazutora turned around in a snap, staring at Mikey as if he had uttered utter nonsense. Mikey stood, hands in his pockets, his red cap shivering in the wind, which made Kazutora shiver in the cold — he had a lot of skin uncovered, it was okay while they're in the shrine, and he could always steal some part of his friends' costumes.

Mikey spoke, "At first, I really hated you, I wanted to kill you… But Baji scolded me every time, saying it wasn't fair. That if that was the case, I should kill him too."

Kazutora gulped, talking about Shinichiro made him sensitive, doing that with Mikey sent him straight to that hellish night. The police lights, the sirens, the wrench, Shinichiro's body, the blood .

Mikey turned back, "Don't worry about anything anymore, Kazutora. You belong to me."

Kazutora's eyes glisten, at this point in his life Kazutora wondered if spending so much time with Takemichi had turned him into a crybaby too. But Kazutora didn't cry, he looked at Mikey expectantly, those words from the past be repeated again.

"That's why your pain and suffering... All of it. It's mine."

Mikey extended his hand, and once again, Kazutora took it.

When they returned, Mikey took him by the hand and when Kazutora shivered with cold, Mikey laughed but handed Kazutora his red hood and forced Kazutora to use it, well, whoever noticed didn't say a peep about it. They also ignore Kazutora cleaning his face with trembling hands.

That night, Mikey gathered the men and announced Kazutora's return to Toman. Taking back his former position and reasserting his authority as a founder. Kazutora almost punched Mikey when he said that Chifuyu would be stepping down from his position as vice captain of the 1st division, but Mikey was faster to avoid the wrath of many troublesome people.

"Chifuyu doesn't care!" Mikey yelled.

"I'm going to shove a log up your ass-" Kazutora threatened.

"Hey! I need a new captain for the third division" Mikey explained. Kazutora lowered his fist, "Chifuyu, if you want, the position is yours."

Chifuyu took a step forward, he already made up his mind, "I don't think I'm worthy… but I can accept the position of vice captain, commander."

Mikey raised an eyebrow, "And who would you suggest as the new captain?"

Chifuyu didn't hesitate to pull Takemichi and put his arm around his shoulders, "My partner, of course!"

Mikey nodded, "I have nothing against that. Anyone?"

"Takemitchi helped us a lot against Kisaki" Mitsuya nodded, "And if wasn't for him, our man wouldn't get up again"

Baji agreed, "He has his worth, but he need to learn to fight"

Mucho shrugged, not caring about the decision. Smile expressed his agreement with a shout.

Draken agreed, "It's a good arrangement. Takemitchy deserves it after today"

With the captains agreement, Mikey smiled, "We'll do the official announcement next meeting!"

That night, on November 3, Kazutora became the key that opened the doors to a future that Takemichi had no idea what would become, as they're stuck in the past together. But Toman was almost complete. None of its founders were dead, and their relationships were only stronger.

They would be fine, Kazutora knew.

He might not know how things would develop from there, what would change or not. But that was okay, he was on Chifuyu and Baji's side this time. Baji was alive. Takemichi was not traveling through time alone. Mikey challenging him at karaoke after Baji's party with Aunt Ryoko — yes, the Baji had three parties in a row and Kazutora had a feeling Ryoko would get complaints from the neighbors for all the noise they made, this because only the founders and special members, Hakkai, Takemichi and Chifuyu went to Baji's apartment, otherwise the police would have been triggered — both of them out of tune to the point where their ears hurt.

Kazutora knew, he could feel, almost see, that their future was bright.

Black Dragons. Tenjiku. They would deal with it eventually.

This time, Toman would be the real Toman of Mikey's dreams, of all of them, when they settled atop Tokyo and ruled Japan.

Notes:

~ At the hospital ~

Kazutora refusing to let any of the nurses or doctors touch him for tests or stitches (because you know, grow ups are scary) for like 45 minutes*

Chifuyu: What about my mom?

Kazutora: What about her?

Chifuyu: You would let her touch you?

Kazutora: If it's your mom...

Draken almost bought Chifuyu an island for saving the day (he was about to punch Kazutora out, the poor boy can't deal with two brats)

--

~ At some point ~

Mitchy: Tora-nii, help me with this!

Tora: Ok!

Draken watching the interactions and suddenly, a light goes on in his head.

Draken, shocked and with his mouth open: YOU GASLIGHTED ME!

Mitchy and Tora: ...

Mitchy: It took you all this time to notice? Wow, I thought you're the smart one, Draken-kun...

Draken is hurted. But he says nothing, just watchs Mitchy leaving with his mouth open.

--

About torafuyu garden:

Dahlia - conveys the lasting bond and commitment between two people

Red Tulips - Tulips mean perfect love. Red tulips are even more specific, and symbolize true love, making them an ideal gift for the love of your life.

White Tupils - Used to show dignity and ask for forgiveness, thus making it a great flower for when you need to offer an apology.

Carnations - convey love, fascination and admiration, although the color of the carnation can slightly change its meaning: carnation red conveys admiration; dark red expresses love and affection; white represents pure love; pink is linked to the eternal love of a mother.

Camellia - General meaning of camellia is love, affection and admiration. However, the white camellia represents adoration for someone and the pink camellia conveys missing someone.