Chapter Text
Takemichi continued to cough as Shiba Taiju complained about his men having fun without him. Baji himself had done so to members of the First Division in the past, but for some reason seeing Taiju do it pissed him off. Was it because he didn't like seeing parts of himself reflected back?
No, Baji decided. It was probably because he just elbowed Takemichi in the throat and was now lifting him off the ground with relative ease.
Takemichi squirmed, but Taiju simply laughed and tossed him to the side. Hinata was horrified and tried to run to her boyfriend, but Yuzuha held her arm up to keep her away.
Baji looked at the Black Dragons, who were now standing in rapt attention. Well, at least they weren't all about to jump them.
When Kokonoi explained who Takemichi was, Taiju gave a laugh that sounded unsettlingly fake before kicking Takemichi's chin.
"Hakkai brought a Toman bastard into our family home?!" He shouted with a grin. "Even though he keeps refusing to join us no matter how many times I tell him?!"
When he turned to look at Hakkai, however, he looked completely calm.
"Beat him to death. Take responsibility as a fellow Toman member."
Hakkai froze, his earlier defiance completely gone. He lowered his head slightly as attempted to argue that Takemichi wasn't aware that the area belonged to the Black Dragons. Taiju was unmoved, however; his orders as Hakkai's older brother came before Toman. Family bonds mattered more than friends. Yuzuha protested Taiju's attempt to pressure Hakkai.
Taiju responded by punching her away. Oh, so that was what they were dealing with today.
"You may be siblings, but Yuzuha's still a girl." Takemichi had recovered at this point and glared at Taiju as he stood up. "Are you the kind of guy who beats up women?"
Baji was proud of Takemichi's standing up for Yuzuha, but his own instincts were telling him that this was not a fight he could win.
"Takemichi, let me take control."
'Huh? But you said you weren't going to fight my battles for me.'
That was true. The night they learned that it was possible, Baji had warned Takemichi that he wasn't going to help Takemichi win any fights by possessing him. At the time, Baji had meant that he wasn't going to let Takemichi take the easy way out of fights. Now that they were facing a behemoth of a delinquent, however, Baji realized that there might be situations where not stepping in would get Takemichi in even more trouble.
Unfortunately, Taiju had already resolved to "show Hakkai how it's done" in the time Baji tried to explain this to Takemichi. He slugged Takemichi in the face and began beating him.
"Takemichi!" Baji shouted, hoping that Takemichi would answer. The lack of a reply told him that Takemichi was already unconscious. He looked around to see the Yuzuha holding Hinata back from jumping in.
"Sir!" Hakkai's voice drew everyone's attention to him. "Please... let Takemitchy go."
"Offer me an equal trade, then." Taiju did not relent in his assault on Takemichi. "If you don't, this is where he dies."
Hakkai took a deep breath before saying he would quit Toman. Taiju's fist stopped in mid-air.
"I'll join the Black Dragons and support you as leader, so..." Hakkai pleaded. "In exchange... let Takemitchy go!"
Taiju's smirk faded for a second (in fact, he looked almost displeased), but it returned just as quickly as he dropped Takemichi to the ground.
Hinata rushed over to Takemichi and began checking over him. Hakkai asked Taiju if he could at least take Takemichi home. Taiju brushed him off and told him to take care of it quickly.
When Takemichi woke up, he was on Hakkai's back while Hinata walked alongside him.
"You awake?" Hakkai asked him when he let out a groan.
"Hakkai, I thought I heard you say..."
"Were you really still conscious?" Baji asked. "We could have-"
'My head is still ringing Baji, so please shut up.'
"I'm sorry, Hakkai." Takemichi said in a weak voice. "It's my fault you're leaving Toman."
"It's not your fault." Hakkai reassured him. "I'd already decided to leave awhile ago. Thanks for sticking up for Yuzuha at any rate."
He attempted to lighten the conversation for a few minutes before saying that there was something he had to do in the Black Dragons. Despite the fact that Baji was floating a few feet away and not touching Takemichi at all, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Was Hakkai going to kill his own brother? Was this what had truly happened in the timeline Takemichi just saw?
His head still hurt like hell, so once he was back home, he went straight to bed after Hinata insisted on bandaging his injuries.
As Takemichi slept, Baji heard movement downstairs. As he phased through the floor, he realized that Takemichi's friends from Mizo Junior High had let themselves in. What's more, they weren't alone; Chifuyu was with them.
"You're sure Takemitchy's gonna be cool with this?" Chifuyu asked as he walked in.
"It's cool." One of them, Takuya, grinned at him. "We've done this before."
Though he hadn't looked for very long, the sight of his vice-captain's corpse on the ground had hurt Baji deeply; seeing Chifuyu healthy and moving around would hopefully purge that sight from his memory.
"He's asleep." The one with glasses, Yamagishi, whispered as he came down the stairs.
"Eh, he'll wake up eventually. Let's head up." Makoto shrugged it off as the group went upstairs.
The group made themselves comfortable on the floor while Chifuyu awkwardly took a seat in the desk chair. He grabbed a manga from Takemichi's desk and started reading while the others pulled out a deck of cards. For awhile, the mood was relatively relaxed. Baji had seen plenty of the Mizo Middle Gang during the days after he'd gotten attached to Takemichi, so the group dynamic wasn't a surprise to him. Chifuyu didn't seem to have fully acclimated himself with them yet, but he was at least comfortable enough to exchange banter with them. Hopefully that would change as time passed.
Finally, Takemichi let out a soft groan that none of the others noticed. He didn't immediately sit up, but Baji could see his eyes were open.
'I'm starting to understand what happened in the future.' He said mentally. 'Hakkai's gonna kill his brother, then join forces with Toman, and it'll result in the future we saw.'
"But even if we stop Hakkai from killing Taiju, the Black Dragons are clearly gonna become a problem for Toman at some point."
With a leader like that, there was no way some peace treaty was going to last, especially since it sounded like Taiju had already been hassling Hakkai to join the Black Dragons for awhile. Did that mean Takemichi was going to fight them head on? Of course not.
'First Kisaki, now the Black Dragons... The problems sure are piling up.'
"Hey, you agreed to deal with them when you started time leaping. You don't get to bitch now."
"Yeah, and I gotta deal with them on my own."
"What are you mumbling about?"
Before Baji could protest that he was with Takemichi, the others noticed that he was awake, which in turn caused Takemichi to realize that they were even there.
"What are you guys doing here?!"
"We came to check on you, what else?!"
"Get some self-awareness as our captain."
"We won't be able to keep the First Division together if you keep being reckless."
The realization that his friends had joined Toman was a surprise to Takemichi.
"You're the one who invited them." Chifuyu turned around the chair.
"Chifuyu..."
Ah, right. Takemichi hadn't seen Chifuyu yet, and given that he'd actually watched him die, it was a surprise that he hadn't already burst into tears. Chifuyu himself seemed a bit confused as to why Takemichi was staring at him in the first place, but didn't push the issue. There were far bigger concerns than that.
"With over 450 members, beating up one of Toman's captains is sure to cause a conflict." Takuya noted.
"Yeah, and it's gonna be unlike anything we've dealt with before." Chifuyu agreed. "The Black Dragons are known for their Homicide Sqaud."
The current leader, Shiba Taiju, revived the Black Dragons when they should have faded out after their clash with Toman two years earlier. What's more, he changed their uniforms and started training them to act like an army.
"He's not much older than us, though, right?" Akkun asked.
"Just two years." Chifuyu nodded. "But the thing is, he sells his violence."
Taiju, according to Chifuyu, has ties to the wealthy and makes money in exchange for the Black Dragons' violence.
"That sounds familiar." Baji said wryly.
'Kazutora said that's what they were doing, and they did end up bringing that with them when they merged with Toman.'
"The current Black Dragons are totally different from the Ninth Generation. If Toman were to fight them now..."
"There'll be casualties." Akkun finished.
"You guys don't have to fight."
All eyes turned to Takemichi.
"This is between me and them. Toman has nothing to do with it."
With an intense look on his face, Takemichi declared that he would handle it on his own.
"Takemichi..." Baji frowned. Hadn't he just told him he wasn't alone hours earlier?
Fortunately, Chifuyu took notice of this and invited Takemichi outside for a ride. Baji was pleased to see that Chifuyu had kept his Goki in good condition. After a quick drive, Chifuyu came to a spot where the two of them had frequently hung around.
"Nice bike, isn't it? It's a memento from Baji." Chifuyu said with a smile.
"I did say I wanted him to take care of Goki if anything ever happened to me." Baji grinned, remembering the exact conversation. "He got mad at me for saying that, but look where we are now."
"I know what you're gonna say, Chifuyu." Takemichi didn't look at Chifuyu or Baji. "You're gonna tell me not to take this on all by myself."
'But that future was too awful.' He thought.
"I know you wanna say my friends are all here for me!"
Baji saw flashes of Chifuyu and Akkun's deaths.
'It has to be me.'
"Takemichi!" Baji shouted, ready to throw another punch, no matter how pointless it was.
Chifuyu, however, just laughed and said that that wasn't what he brought him out here to say.
"Have fun with all this, okay?" He said, his smile turning into a grin. "Baji didn't leave Toman to you because he wanted to stress you out."
"No, I didn't." Baji agreed.
"He'd be so mad at you if he saw you right now." Chifuyu laughed. "He'd be like "Cheer the hell up, Shittymichi" or something like that!"
That was exactly what Baji would say under normal circumstances, but given that Baji was fully aware of what Takemichi was actually going through, such words would actually be kind of insensitive. This wasn't simply a brawl between delinquents anymore: It was a situation that had to be navigated carefully if they wanted to protect the lives of their friends, including the vice-captain standing before them. Still, it seemed that Chifuyu's words DID have an effect on Takemichi, who looked deeply moved. Hopefully this would persuade him to lean on his friends a little instead of trying to do it all with only the advice of a dead guy for assistance.
"Chifuyu, I..." Takemichi began. "I came from the future!"
Baji stared at Takemichi slack-jawed. Chifuyu gave him a puzzled look and asked what he meant. This caused the floodgates to open, and Takemichi was soon spilling nearly everything that had happened so far. How he'd been pushed in front of a train, why he'd joined Toman, what happened in the future they'd just seen, and how the time leaps worked. The only thing he left out was Baji being a ghost. The insane part was... Baji could tell that Chifuyu believed him.
He knew Chifuyu well enough to know that he wasn't just humoring Takemichi's story. Even when Takemichi, upon realizing that he'd just told him nearly everything, tried to brush it off as a joke, Chifuyu just shook his head.
"Somehow... I always kind of knew."
There had always been something a little off about Takemichi, he explained. At times, Takemichi seemed almost like a different person.
"And before the fight with Valhalla, you told Baji not to die. I didn't hear all the details because I wasn't standing close enough, but I heard that much."
Knowing that Takemichi knew Baji was going to die, his desperation made sense to him now.
"It wasn't enough, though. I wasn't able to save him."
"Takemichi, if you're telling him about the time leaping, then tell him I'm here! If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to both of us together!" Baji exclaimed.
"You're pretty incredible."
"Huh?"
Baji nodded as Chifuyu noted that Takemichi had been fighting basically alone the whole with nobody praising him or anything.
"Be proud of yourself, Takemitchy! What matters is how it ends!"
Even if nobody was watching, Takemichi still stood and didn't run. That was something that Chifuyu respected.
"I'm watching you." Baji spoke up. "And I'm waiting for you to let Chifuyu know that."
"In a second!" Takemichi snapped, the tears threatening his cheeks beginning to dry up. "I don't want to just dump THAT part on him without a warning!"
"...What are you talking about?" Chifuyu gave Takemichi a concerned look. "Is there something else you gotta tell me?"
"...Yeah. There's one more thing that's really important." Takemichi nodded, wiping his eyes. "The truth is, I actually DO sort of have proof."
Chifuyu stiffened, waiting for Takemichi to show him whatever it was.
"Chifuyu, Baji's here."
Chifuyu blinked, then tilted his head at Takemichi curiously.
"Yeah, he's always with us."
"I'm not speaking metaphorically! He's been haunting me since the fight with Valhalla!"
"Just grab his hand!"
Rather than do so, however, Takemichi held his hand out and gestured for Chifuyu to take it. Chifuyu's eyes widened slightly, but he did accept. His gaze moved to Takemichi's right, where Baji was standing.
"Hey. It's been awhile."
Chifuyu let go of Takemichi's hand and stepped back, now staring at him with eyes that looked like they were about to jump out of their sockets.
"Hey!"
After a few seconds, Chifuyu grabbed Takemichi's hand again.
"Are you ready to talk to me?"
Chifuyu reached out his other hand and attempted to touch Baji, only for his hand to pass through. He shuddered slightly, but didn't show much of a reaction to that.
"Y-You're really here." He whispered.
"Yep. Can't say I'm "in the flesh" anymore, but I'm still me."
Now it was Chifuyu's turn to tear up. Baji turned to look at Takemichi, who was unsurprisingly on the verge of tears himself again.
Great. Now Baji had to deal with two crying people. Getting Chifuyu to stop would be one thing, but over the past 24 hours Baji had learned that he was not good at drying Takemichi's tears.
(Not that it bothered him. So what if Naoto and now Chifuyu had done a better job of consoling Takemichi than he had? That warm fuzzy crap wasn't Baji's forte anyway.)
"I'm gonna punch you for keeping this from me...!" Chifuyu sobbed.
"I'm sorryyyy!" Takemichi bawled.
This was a rather pathetic sight. Anyone walking by would probably think this was some sort of lovers' quarrel.
"Both you knock it off!"
Chifuyu instantly snapped to attention, though Baji could tell he hadn't actually stopped crying or let go of Takemichi's hand. Takemichi, meanwhile, showed no regard for Baji's order and simply cried like Baji hadn't even said anything. If Baji didn't know better, he'd think Takemichi was deliberately ignoring his command.
Eventually, they both finally stopped crying and went to a convenience store to get something to eat. Under most circumstances, Chifuyu probably would have gotten yakisoba or instant ramen, but he decided to purchase a couple nikuman so the conversation could continue with all three of them speaking. Takemichi was privately relieved at this, since he'd eaten enough peyoung yakisoba over the past month that he was almost sick of it.
The day after the Bloody Halloween, he and Baji discovered that while Baji couldn't and didn't need to eat, he could sort of "taste" whatever Takemichi ate. Unsurprisingly, this led to Baji making frequent "requests" for peyoung yakisoba on the nights Takemichi was at home alone.
"So Kisaki's really gonna kill me?" Chifuyu said, not looking at either Takemichi or Baji. "That pisses me off!"
"I heard him say directly say that he planned Baji's death." Takemichi nodded before biting into his nikuman.
"I'll kill him!" Chifuyu growled. "...Eventually."
Not only was Kisaki currently the captain of the Third Division, but there was also the Sixth Division comprised of the former Valhalla members. That was going to be an obvious hurdle for them to get through.
"And you guys haven't been the leaders of the First Division for long." Baji added.
"It's a big gap between them and us." Takemichi nodded.
"I'm kinda pumped, actually!" Chifuyu turned to Takemichi with a grin. "You're gonna make the First Division unbeatable."
Even if Takemichi was starting from nothing, Chifuyu was sure he would pull it off. Whether it was the Black Dragons, Kisaki, or whoever, Chifuyu would have his back.
"That's my answer to you." Chifuyu's tone grew more serious, but he was still smiling. "Both for telling me everything and for letting me talk to Baji again."
Baji glanced at Takemichi. There were no tears in his eyes anymore, and he returned Chifuyu's smile.
"Let's do this, partner!"
After they finished their nikuman, Chifuyu took Takemichi home. Once they were in front of the Hanagaki house, Baji spoke.
"Takemichi, let me possess you for a second."
Takemichi didn't seem surprised by this request, and simply nodded with a smile. He closed his eyes and focused as Baji interposed himself over Takemichi.
"Chifuyu." He said when the possession was complete.
"What happened to your... voice?" Chifuyu turned around from getting back on his bike, only for his eyes to widen.
Considering that this was Takemichi's body, Baji knew he probably looked (and sounded) stupid, but he still couldn't help but grin at Chifuyu in the same way he had on the day they met. Chifuyu gasped, and the next thing Baji knew, Takemichi's body was being slammed into. Chifuyu's arms were tight enough around him that he could barely breathe.
"This time..." Chifuyu's voice was cracking, but he didn't seem to be crying yet. "This time I promise I'll protect you both!"
Baji didn't say anything in response to Chifuyu's words. He simply stroked his back until Chifuyu decided to let go. He returned Takemichi's body to him and moved to the side as he and Chifuyu said goodnight.
Despite it only having been an hour or two since he woke up, Takemichi was still exhausted when he entered his house. He'd only gotten a few hours of sleep in the past 24 hours, after all.
"What a day, huh?" He laughed weakly as he climbed the stairs.
"No kidding. You got the shit beat out of you in the present AND the future."
"Sure did." Takemichi smiled dryly.
Sensing that the topic was something of a sore spot for Takemichi, Baji tried to change the subject.
"At least we know what to do when you time leap now!" He grinned. "Hopefully next time I'll actually get to see everyone, since I didn't this time."
Takemichi stopped in front of his bedroom door and looked down at his feet.
"To be honest, I'm kind of glad you didn't see most of that."
At first glance, it didn't seem like the others had changed all that much, but after hearing about what Toman had been doing from Kazutora, the whole thing felt... disgusting to Takemichi. Like none of them really cared what Toman had become. The disconnect between the Hakkai that Takemichi met in 2017 and the Hakkai he met in 2005 was jarring and it only made him feel worse about how the future had gone.
"Knowing that I basically turned my back on everything I promised you and Chifuyu makes me want to puke."
The one person Takemichi should have been able to understand was his own past self. The fact that he didn't almost made him feel like an alien.
"I think a small part of me actually wanted Kisaki to finish me off."
Normally Baji would have immediately protested such words, but he had a feeling that Takemichi wouldn't listen to him about that, which was beyond frustrating. He wanted to change the subject again, but he couldn't think of a way to do so without making it too obvious. Worse yet, Takemichi wasn't talking in his head, which told Baji that he was deliberately concealing his thoughts from him.
"It was pretty hard seeing you and Chifuyu like that." He said. "To be honest, I'm surprised my emotions didn't overwhelm you at that moment."
"I think... I might HAVE felt your emotions, but... I was kind of overwhelmed myself."
Come to think of it, Takemichi didn't even seem to realize Baji had returned to his side until after Kazutora had rescued him.
"I guess that's to be expected. It WAS a pretty intense situation."
The conversation trailed off as Takemichi finally entered his room with Baji following behind him. Before he could get back into bed, his phone rang.
"Hey, Takemitchy!" Mikey's voice was loud when Takemichi answered. "I heard what happened this afternoon. Are you okay?"
Either Hakkai or Chifuyu must have told him. Baji wasn't surprised that Mikey called him almost right away. Hopefully the conversation would cheer Takemichi up, or at least take his mind off of what had happened.
"Got it. Thanks. You too." Takemichi said before hanging up and letting out a sigh.
There was going to be a meeting about what happened in the next day or so. Mikey wanted Takemichi to call him in the morning to see how he was feeling. If he felt up to it, the meeting would happen the next day. If not, it could wait for the day after.
"He's gonna want all the admins to hear what happened from you and Hakkai." Finally, Baji could say something in confidence.
"And Hakkai's probably gonna quit at the meeting." Takemichi groaned.
Fuck.
"Let's stop talking about the Black Dragons for now!" Baji exclaimed. Takemichi turned to look at him in confusion before moving toward the bed.
"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"
Baji floundered for a few seconds before saying,
"Kazutora looked healthy."
"Y-yeah, he did." Takemichi paused for a second before adding. "I guess he really did keep his promise to Draken."
He grinned for a second before getting a thoughtful look on his face.
"I wonder why he seemed so weird about the promise I made to him." He mused. "I get being mad that I didn't keep it, but he seemed so embarrassed when I brought it up."
"Now THAT'S something I can answer." Baji smirked. "I'm pretty sure Kazutora wanted to be friends with you."
"What?"
The night Baji left Toman, he'd met with Kazutora and told him of what had happened. When Kazutora asked about the guy he'd punched, Baji had given him Takemichi's name and mentioned that he went to Mizo Junior High. Kazutora had been pleasantly surprised by this, which Baji found encouraging. Since Baji would need a witness for his initiation, Kazutora was going to find a random Toman member to act as one, and of course the guy he'd beaten up would be the ideal choice. Since Takemichi went to the same junior high as Kazutora, it would save him time looking for him.
"Of course, my plan was that he'd be your senpai after re-joining Toman. It'd be good for him to have a kouhai at school."
"He already had two kouhai at Mizo."
"Those guys were chumps." Baji waved his hand dismissively. "Besides, he broke their legs the same day I left Toman."
Come to think of it, Kazutora never did tell either Baji OR Takemichi why he'd done that. The two Valhalla members had been polite enough to Baji for the ten days he was with the gang, but he could tell that it was only because Kazutora was friendly with him. He hadn't caught sight of either of them around Kazutora much during the fight on Halloween, though admittedly he didn't exactly have much time to look around.
"I mean... I don't see how Kazutora wanted to be friends with me. It sounds like you wanted us to be friends."
"I wasn't joking about the hamster thing, you know. He thought you were adorable." Baji insisted as he crossed his arms. "It kinda pissed him off, actually. He said you were probably going to be miserable in Toman."
"Well THAT'S certainly a blow to my ego." Despite Takemichi's words, he WAS at least smiling. "What about you? Do you think I look like a hamster?"
"A little bit, but you actually look more like a sad, wet dog that got thrown into a pool when it doesn't like swimming in my opinion."
Takemichi grabbed his pillow and threw it at Baji, only for it to pass through him. Baji could only smirk in response. It may not have been perfect, but he at least got him to smile. Plus, now that Chifuyu was involved, it'd hopefully be easier to cheer Takemichi up.
The next day, Chifuyu arrived at Takemichi's house to strategize how to keep Hakkai from leaving. They had wanted to plan it the night before, but by the time evening had changed into night, they were both too exhausted emotionally.
"I've got a plan!" Chifuyu said confidently. "In fact, I have several plans!"
"That's reassuring." Takemichi was impressed.
Baji wasn't so sure about that. Chifuyu was dedicated and eager to assist, but his ideas weren't always the best.
"Mikey's the critical point." Chifuyu explained. "He's our boss, so Hakkai can't leave if Mikey doesn't accept it. And I know his weakness!"
Chifuyu pulled out a dorayaki he'd purchased on the way.
"Dorayaki!"
Yep. This plan was going to be a disaster. Baji knew that even before Chifuyu handed over a notepad with a backup plan that Baji had no doubt only had something like "be brave" or "guts!" written in it. That was not going to help when Mikey inevitably tossed the dorayaki to side to eat later. Baji knew his childhood friend, and he knew that Mikey was childish, but he wasn't going to be bribed into forcing Hakkai to stay with dorayaki.
Baji was now faced with a dilemma. On one hand, this plan was going to fail. On the other hand, it would be funny to see it fail. Besides, he suspected that keeping Hakkai from quitting Toman wasn't going to be as simple as getting Mikey to refuse his resignation. Whatever issues the Shiba family had clearly ran too deep for that.
So far, neither of them had asked for Baji's input, and part of him was actually a little relieved, if also a bit left out. Even if the idea was stupid, Takemichi and Chifuyu were at least acting on their own without relying on him for guidance. Not only that, but Chifuyu had been in a good mood ever since he arrived, and it reminded Baji of how he'd acted when he first joined Toman. It hadn't even taken him long to get used to holding Takemichi's hand to hear Baji's voice.
This was another night where Takemichi was on his own for dinner, so he invited Chifuyu to eat with him.
"Any suggestions on what I make?"
"Peyou-"
"Besides peyoung yakisoba."
The following day, Takemichi arrived at Toman's hideout where the other admins were waiting. Hakkai was also outside. He greeted Takemichi with a smile, but turned serious as he turned toward the door.
"Enter!" Mikey's voice was in his commander tone. Takemichi and Hakkai obeyed and entered the hideout where Chifuyu and the admins were waiting, including Kisaki and Hanma. Baji, knowing that punching would do no good, opted to simply float toward Kisaki and pass through him. Kisaki shivered and wrapped his arms around himself for a moment. It wasn't much, but it was at least some form of revenge.
'Are you gonna do that every time we see him?'
"It's all I can do. Let me have this much."
"As you know, a few days ago, Takemitchy was beaten by the head of the Black Dragons." Draken announced. "He committed violence against Takemitchy despite knowing he was one of our captains. This means that it was a declaration of war by the Black Dragons."
The captains of the fourth and fifth divisions, Kawata Nahoya (known as "Smiley") and Mutou Yasuhiro (known as "Mucho") were confident about Toman's chances, but Mitsuya was skeptical.
"We beat the Ninth Generation before, but the Tenth Generation is completely different."
"That's not the point!" Smiley said with his signature grin. "It wasn't Takemitchy's fault that he didn't know where the Black Dragons' turf was. Why the hell did you take him there, Hakkai?"
That... had absolutely nothing to do with Smiley's original statement, which was that Toman should simply stomp the Black Dragons' asses.
"Yeah, he does that sometimes." Baji nodded as Mucho walked toward Hakkai. "He'll suggest something, then pretend he didn't when someone else points out an issue with it."
"Are you acting as a spy for the Black Dragons, Hakkai?!" Mucho demanded accusingly.
"You're the boss's little brother, aren't ya?" Nahoya added.
When Mucho suggested that Hakkai had tried to hide that from them, Takemichi tried to speak up in his defense, only for Mucho to tell him to shut up.
'I'm the one who got beat up! Why are they telling me to be quiet?'
"I won't make excuses." Hakkai said as he knelt on the ground. "Hate me, beat me, do whatever you want. As his little brother, I'm prepared to accept whatever consequences you deem fit."
He turned to Mikey.
"I, Shiba Hakkai, Vice-Captain of the Tokyo Manji Gang's Second Division... request permission to leave Toman!"
"...Is that really what you want?" Mikey asked.
The room was silent. None of the admins had anything to say, and Hakkai himself didn't seem able to answer. It seemed like it was Takemichi's time to speak up.
"I object!" He exclaimed, causing all eyes to move to him.
"Takemitchy..." Hakkai looked genuinely surprised.
Takemichi stepped forward and asked if Mikey had considered dorayaki as he pulled out the snack in question. Mikey stared at it for a few seconds before grabbing it and tossing it to the side and telling Takemichi not to interrupt.
"Do you think this is a joke?!" Baji laughed as Draken added his own opinion on Takemichi's behavior.
Several of the others either looked annoyed or rolled their eyes. Hakkai, meanwhile, looked distressed, presumably under the impression that his brother had given Takemichi some sort of brain damage. Baji glanced over at Takemichi, who was now flipping through Chifuyu's notes. He looked up with a horrified expression as he turned his gaze to Chifuyu, who gave him a thumbs up.
'I forgot... Chifuyu's an idiot.'
"I told you before he was a dumbass."
'And you just let us go through with this?!'
By now, Draken and Mikey had decided to ignore Takemichi and return to business.
"What's your decision, Mikey?"
"I'll leave it to Mitsuya, since he's the Second Division Captain."
As Mitsuya stepped forward, Hakkai apologized, saying that his mind was made up. After a moment, Mitsuya spoke up.
"Don't look so sad, Hakkai. I understand."
Hakkai stood up and bowed.
"Taka! It was a pleasure working with you!" He shouted, his voice cracking slightly.
'Things can't go on like this!'
"Don't worry. I know Mitsuya."
"I didn't say you could leave." Mitsuya said without turning around.
"Huh?"
Mitsuya finally turned to face Hakkai and said that he would talk to Taiju.
Mikey ended the meeting so Mitsuya and Hakkai could leave to speak with Taiju. As Takemichi and Chifuyu wordlessly decided to follow, Baji watched Mikey pick up the discarded dorayaki and open the packaging before shamelessly digging in.
Baji let out a snort before following Takemichi.
"Taka... I don't think it's a good idea to meet with Taiju." Hakkai said quietly as the group made their way to a building that apparently acted as a sort of headquarters for the Black Dragons. "Nothing you say will get a good result out of him. He's... trash."
"You always try to handle things yourself." Mitsuya sighed in annoyance. "By the way, why are you two tagging along?"
Now put on the spot, Takemichi and Chifuyu both offered reasons.
"I was there when it happened!"
"And I have to keep an eye on him." Chifuyu pointed at Takemichi. "'Cause he's a moron."
Takemichi protested that that terrible plan was Chifuyu's idea, but Chifuyu simply said it all worked out in the end. Hakkai was silent for a moment before asking if Takemichi's head was really okay.
"Oh, yeah!" Takemichi grinned at Hakkai in an attempt to lighten Hakkai's mood. "The ringing eventually stopped enough for me to get to sleep."
Those words caused Mitsuya to stop in his tracks. He turned to look at Takemichi in alarm.
"You went to sleep after a beating like that?"
"Hoo boy, here we go." Baji rolled his eyes. "Time for a lecture from the nurse's kid."
By the time they arrived at the building, Mitsuya had effectively talked Takemichi's ears off regarding the dangers of going to sleep with a concussion.
"I should have warned you about talking about head injuries in front of him like that. Sorry."
Had Takemichi not just gotten a taste of how fierce Mitsuya could be outside of a fight, he might have thought Baji's apology was silly. Indeed, it had been so sincere that there was no doubt in Takemichi's mind that Baji had been on the receiving end of such scoldings numerous times before.
"All of us founders were. He actually hit Mikey in the face one time when Mikey tried to brush it off."
That sounded counterproductive, but not too surprising. Mitsuya was easily the kindest of the Toman founders, but Takemichi had already seen his anger first-hand. That it might occasionally override his better judgement wasn't that odd.
"And a severe enough blow to the head can even cause blindness!" Mitsuya continued with no regard to what was going on.
"Taka, we're here." Hakkai's words sounded like they were spoken through gritted teeth, which told Takemichi that even he had gotten sick of listening to the lecture.
After several minutes, Mitsuya was seated on a couch opposite to Taiju. While Takemichi, Chifuyu, and Hakkai stood behind Mitsuya's couch, Kokonoi and Inui stood behind Taiju's.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Taiju."
"You're that fucker that's been manipulating my little brother!"
"Those are the first words out of his mouth?"
'This is gonna be a productive meeting.' Takemichi groaned inwardly.
"That's quite the accusation." Mitsuya did not lose his smile, even when Taiju threatened to "kill his ass".
Taiju's body language was relaxed (he even had his bare feet on the table, for goodness sake), but he was watching Mitsuya with a calculating expression.
"What is it you wanted to tell me? Keep it short."
"I'll give Hakkai to the Black Dragons and won't see him again."
"What?!"
"You can't be serious, Mitsuya!"
Taiju also seemed surprised by Mitsuya's declaration, but he quickly recovered.
"Didn't you come here to prevent that?" He asked with a sneer.
"In exchange, I want you to set Yuzuha free."
That wiped the smirk off of Taiju's face.
"Taka, why are you..."
"You're having Yuzuha do something, aren't you?"
Mitsuya explained that Hakkai had been protecting Yuzuha from Taiju's domestic violence. His leaving Toman was another case of that, rather than because he was afraid of Taiju. Instead of defending himself, Taiju lunged over the table and swung his fist at Mitsuya's face. There was the sound of flesh meeting something, but when Takemichi rushed around the side of the couch, he saw that Mitsuya had blocked Taiju's fist with his arm. Taiju seemed impressed by this, but Mitsuya was irritated.
"I'll say it again!" He exclaimed. "I'll give Hakkai to the Black Dragons, so let Yuzuha go!"
If Taiju accepted those terms, Toman would leave the Black Dragons alone.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then it'll be an all-out war."
Baji moved so he could see Mitsuya's face, and it was obvious that Mitsuya's almost relaxed demeanor was gone now. He was deliberately maintaining eye contact with Taiju, presumably because he was worried that Taiju or his cronies might start swinging at his three juniors behind him. In hindsight, tagging along might have things harder for Mitsuya.
Eventually, though, Taiju smirked and extended his hand to shake Mitsuya's, saying they had a truce. He insisted that he didn't commit domestic violence, but vowed to not hit Yuzuha ever again.
"If he keeps that promise, then I'm Natori Yuko."
In the end, they weren't able to stop Hakkai from going to the Black Dragons. The meeting DID confirm one thing to Takemichi, however: If Hakkai was going to kill Taiju, it was going to be for Yuzuha's sake.
Ahead of them, Hakkai thanked Mitsuya for his help. Mitsuya looked back at Hakkai and told him,
"No matter how hard things get, only use your strength to protect. And don't hate the situation you're born into."
Takemichi and Chifuyu parted ways with Mitsuya and Hakkai and walked near a park.
"I'm thinking of heading back to the future." Takemichi announced.
"Huh? Why?" Chifuyu looked surprised.
Hakkai was going to kill Taiju for Yuzuha's sake, but now that Mitsuya had gotten Yuzuha freed, Hakkai no longer had a reason to kill him. That meant the future likely changed.
"But what if it didn't?"
"Maybe, but what if nothing's changed?"
Takemichi let out a sigh before taking a seat on the bench and gesturing for Chifuyu to hold his hand so all three of them could talk.
"If nothing's changed, then I'll come back."
"You said you were in jail." Chifuyu said with a raised eyebrow. "How are you gonna shake Naoto's hand in that case?"
"It's too risky." Baji agreed.
Chifuyu argued that Mitsuya was the one who freed Yuzuha, not Takemichi. If Takemichi didn't change anything, then the future probably wouldn't, either.
"That's... a good point."
"I'm proud of you, Chifuyu. You said something smart!"
Chifuyu grinned at Baji's praise, but resumed scolding Takemichi, asking if he was really 26.
"It would have been the end if I'd gone back, huh." Takemichi laughed nervously.
"Takemitchy, there you are!"
The three turned to see Hakkai walking toward them.
"I've been looking for you! Taka went to go see the Commander about something and..." He sounded happy to see them, but stopped in his tracks when he got close enough. "Am I... interrupting?"
Takemichi was confused by Hakkai's sudden awkwardness until he remembered that he and Chifuyu were still holding hands.
"I-it's not what it looks like!" He stuttered as he let go. "We forgot our gloves and it's cold!"
"Okay..." Hakkai didn't look convinced, but he didn't push the subject.
Takemichi, Chifuyu, and Baji moved to sit on the playground equipment while Hakkai took a seat on the bench.
"Can you guys tell Taka I said thanks again?"
"Sure, but... why?"
Hakkai explained that his home life was complicated: He didn't have a mom, and his father had barely been home since he was little. As a result, Taiju, the eldest, was the one in charge. While he was certainly bigger and stronger than the other kids, his real strength was his ability to gather followers. He was also an expert at using violence, not pulling any punches, even with his own family.
"I thought that love was supposed to be painful because that was how I was raised." Hakkai's voice was solemn, but he smiled. "Meeting Taka turned my whole world upside down."
Even though he could have been playing, Mitsuya was looking after his two younger sisters. It was obvious that his home life was hard, but he was smiling.
"When I ate the food he made, I cried like a baby. I just said it was really salty."
The memory made him laugh softly, and he recalled that Mitsuya told him to use violence to protect.
"Back then, I swore I'd protect my family." He said, before pausing. "Since then... I've been taking Yuzuha's beatings for her. I've... protected her this whole time."
However, Taiju didn't keep his promise and hit Yuzuha like always, arguing that Hakkai was trying to shield Yuzuha from her own family. She needed to be taught a lesson.
All three in Hakkai's audience reacted in disgust, and Hakkai nodded.
"You get it now, right? He doesn't think anything of his agreement with Taka. He won't let Yuzuha go free."
"Then how do we free her?" Takemichi asked.
Hakkai looked down.
"It's embarrassing to admit, but even now, standing before Taiju makes me shake. I can't do anything."
He admitted that that was why he'd wanted to quit Toman, so that Toman wouldn't get a bad name from what he was going to do.
"To protect my family, I'm going to use violence." Hakkai took a deep breath as he stood up. "I'm going to kill Taiju."
"Hakkai!" Takemichi stood up, ready to argue.
"I'm prepared to get arrested for it, too." He looked at Takemichi with a smile. "So you don't need to worry about me."
Both Takemichi and Chifuyu were standing up now, but only Takemichi was able to speak.
"Why are you telling us this?"
Hakkai seemed to ponder this before answering
"I guess I'm putting my determination into words."
If he didn't, he'd get too scared. He was weak like that.
"We didn't know each other for long, but it was fun, Takemitchy." He said sadly as he walked up the stairs. "I'm sorry for... interrupting you guys."
"Dammit, Hakkai, it's not like that!"
After a quick back and forth, Hakkai departed. Once he was out of earshot, Takemichi spoke.
"It pisses me off, you know."
"Huh?"
"Hakkai feels so cornered by his own brother that he feels like he has to kill him." Takemichi turned to look at Chifuyu with a determined face. "We can't let Shiba Taiju get away with this!"
The sight of Takemichi's determined face made Baji happy. After the past couple days, it felt good to see his successor stepping up to do what was right. He had a pretty good idea of what Takemichi was about to say.
"We're gonna crush the Black Dragons!"
Chifuyu didn't answer right away, but when he did, he called Takemichi an idiot.
"Don't you think there's a better way to stop Hakkai from killing Taiju?"
He reached out to grab Takemichi's hand so that he could see Baji's face. Baji simply gave him a toothy grin in response and said,
"You two are the ones leading the First Division. I'm just an advisor."
Chifuyu groaned when he looked back at Takemichi's face, which hadn't changed at all.
"Get that look off your face! I get it!" He looked away and sighed before returning Takemichi's gaze. "If we crush the Black Dragons, the future is sure to change, right? Count me in!"
Takemichi and Chifuyu called the other captains to a family restaurant to discuss what to do about the Black Dragons.
"Then..." Draken began after Takemichi finished his explanation. "You want to fight the Black Dragons?"
"Yes!"
"Quit fuckin' with us!" Smiley protested. "I've already said "I'll kill ya" a million times already!"
"And if we actually killed someone every time you said that, you'd end the world, idiot." Mucho rolled his eyes.
Both of them rejected Takemichi's proposal. Kisaki said nothing, but Hanma just called the situation boring. When Smiley asked Draken for his opinion, he seemed to think about it for a moment. Unfortunately, he too decided to reject the motion.
"Takemitchy, I know you probably have your own reasons for wanting to do this..."
"He has no idea." Baji sighed.
Draken pointed out that going after the Black Dragons would ruin the peace treaty Mitsuya set up, which would in turn ruin his reputation. When neither Takemichi nor Chifuyu could come up with a rebuttal to that, Draken dismissed the meeting. Once the other captains left, Chifuyu started talking.
"Yeah, I guess it would ruin Mitsuya's reputation. There's really no good way to do this."
"It's gonna just have to be the three of us to solve this."
Hearing Takemichi say "the three of us" made Baji happy, but his joy was short lived when someone else asked to join in. The person in question was someone unexpected.
"...Kisaki!?"