Trigger Warning: Graphic Depiction of Violence (Mutilation of face)

Shinichiro's eyes were blurry, but somehow they adjusted to the scenery around him: He was somehow back in his house, in the living room. There was a thudding sound, and when he turned to look over his face was met with a foot and his upper body lands down on the other side of the couch.

'A... a dream?' Shinichiro thought, staring at the ceiling in complete disbelief. He slowly sits up, his left arm holding onto the back of the couch for support. 'I'm... Aren't I supposed to be dead after jumping into that river...?'

"I'm the Witch of Dimensions, Ichihara Yuuko."

"What happened to your brother was fate. Changing it would mean that you won't care what happens to anyone as long as you get what you want."

"For someone who's desperate to possibly break time as we know it, you're a pretty demanding man."

Flashes of a woman start going through his mind as well as smoke. He remembers... making a deal with that woman and then everything just went cold and blank.

"Everything alright over there? You got jumped on."

Shinichiro sees Takeomi sitting in front of him. The scar on his face was still there and his long hair was tied into a bun. The tacky-looking gold chain that he wore on his neck was still on him. The pack of cigarettes that he carries around his pocket were starting to spill out. "Hey!" Takeomi turns to scold someone, probably the person who jumped on him. "You woke Shin up!"

Shinichiro's eyes land on the calendar behind Takeomi.

July 30th, 1997.

'The same date... but four years ago...?' Shinichiro had the gears spinning in his head. So the whole deal with the woman wasn't a dream.

"You usually would've avoided that." The familiar voice makes Shinichiro turn to the side. His younger brother was standing there, holding the concorde airplane that he got for his birthday as his expression was showing a bit of annoyance.

His younger brother, Manjiro, was standing right there, alive.

"You idiot, Mikey! Apologize to him!"
"But—Gah! Don't cry, Shinichiro!"

Shinichiro didn't even notice that tears were starting to fall down from his face. He didn't even hesitate to stand up from the couch and hug him in his arms. Manjiro, who wasn't used to any sort of affection after their mother died, was obviously shocked. "Huh?! What, what, what?!" The younger brother was starting to get a bit nervous, seeing as he did kick him in the face. "Did it hurt that much?! Ah, you're acting weird, Shinichiro!"

"So it wasn't a dream..." Shinichiro manages to say in a shaky voice. Manjiro was confused, patting his shoulder in an attempt to maybe comfort him. "...hey, if it did hurt that bad, I'm sorry." He apologizes, his tone showing sincerity.

"Manjiro, do you want to start riding bikes?" Shinichiro asks him. It was one of the things he wanted to teach Manjiro when he was a bit older, probably around the same time he had formed Black Dragons. "Wait... is this a trick?" Manjiro asks, sounding a bit suspicious.

"No, it's not a trick." Shinichiro pulls away from the long hug. "I'll fix up that my old bike and we can drive along the bridge."

The suspicious on Manjiro's face turned into excitement. Manjiro mentioned about riding bikes before and he even lounged around the shop sometimes. "You mean it?! You're really gonna teach me?!" There were sparkles in his eyes now. Shinichiro noticed, and there was a feeling of nostalgia coming through... those same eyes when he received the concorde airplane brought back a memory, but this time Shinichiro was determined to never let that happen again.

"Well, since we're driving, I'll get Keisuke to come with us." Takeomi stood up from the couch. "I'm sure he'll love the ride... probably."

Shinichiro never really noticed it before, but now he did. Takeomi only smiled whenever he was talking about someone else, and occasionally whenever his younger sister Senju was in the conversation. But he had never seen Takeomi make an expression whenever Haruchiyo was involved.

It rubbed him the wrong way now.

"Shin?"

"Oh, sorry. Sure, go and get Keisuke." Shinichiro says, managing to grin at him. "Like I said, I'll get my bike fixed up."

Takeomi only nods before heading off into the kitchen. 'I never even noticed Omi like this... maybe because I was too busy with grieving? Or was he always like this and I just... ignored it?'

Shinichiro shook his thoughts away. He'll think about it later after the drive.

The drive across the streets of Shibuya were comforting. Shinichiro didn't even flinch when Manjiro almost floored the engine just to get ahead of Baji and Takeomi.

'This ain't a dream.' Shinichiro could feel himself smiling as the cold air hits his face. 'I'm suddenly living the exact same day four years ago, when I should've been dead!'

Shinichiro did really leap through time, and therefore he was—no, he will fix this life.

"What happened to your brother was fate."

Fate can shove itself in a ditch. He won't just fix his life: He'll be fixing fate.

This time, he'll protect Manjiro.

The drive ended as soon as they got back to the Sano Dojo. Baji looked... terrified, to say the least. Takeomi wasn't exactly a "gentle driver" as Wakasa would comment most of the time since his motorcycle had full of scratches. Benkei would offer in fixing it but Takeomi would be insistent on not fixing it all. At the time, Shinichiro thought it was a friendly gesture. But now remembering the look on Benkei's face, it wasn't a friendly gesture at all. It was out of distaste.

Speaking of Wakasa and Benkei... he hadn't really seen them after the disbandment. They kept in touch, sure. But the texts were pretty much empty.

It made him think for a bit... who came to his funeral?

Obviously, Haruchiyo would be one of them. Considering that he was the one who found him like that... Baji would also he there, since he practically lived with him when he got kicked out of his own house... Wakasa and Benkei wouldn't miss the funeral, even if Benkei was radio silent after what happened.

Did Takeomi even go to his funeral?

Manjiro and Baji went inside once they saw Senju outside the door, waiting for them. Shinichiro and Takeomi stayed behind. Shinichiro felt the pack of Malboro Lights in his pocket before pulling a stick out. "Hey, Omi, can I get a light?"

Takeomi had lit up his own stick, handing the lighter to Shinichiro. "Lost the lighter I gave you already?" He asks in a teasing tone.

"Aww, c'mon." Shinichiro chuckles. "I'm not that irresponsible like you."

Shinichiro didn't even mean to say that in a passive-aggressive tone. Maybe he was just trying to get out his frustrations towards him. Takeomi still had the cigarette stick in his hand, his expression unfazed. "It's no wonder Hitomiko broke up with you."

Shinichiro stayed silent. For one, ouch, his best friend didn't have to open that old wound and two, he hadn't heard that name in a long time.

Now he wonders if Hitomiko came to his funeral, but he probably doubted it anyway.

"What does this have to do with Hitomiko?" Shinichiro asks him.

"You started it." Takeomi takes another inhale from the stick and puffs it out before throwing it on the ground, stomping on it to stop the flame. "I'm not irresponsible. I'm just teaching Haruchiyo what to do—" "Even though you're basically depriving him of his childhood?" Shinichiro cuts him off, looking at him now. "Takeomi, you should no better than acting like your mom—"

"At least I have a mom."

Oh boy, he had done it now.

"Takeomi—your mom abandoned you."
"Yeah? And your mom left you too early."

Takeomi was still staring at Shinichiro with an unfazed expression. "Really?" Shinichiro lets out a dry laugh. "We're going to argue with this? Again? If you're only going to salt in the wound then don't bother in talking with me."

"Fine." Takeomi's tone was bitter as he said that, and that's when he said the ultimatum. "You take care of Haruchiyo. I'm done."

Shinichiro couldn't even believe this. He just watched Takeomi get on his motorcycle and leave.

How did Shinichiro ignore the signs? Did he choose to ignore the signs? Or maybe he noticed it for quite some time but never had the guts to open it up? Come to think of it, he was the only one who didn't like the sudden disbandment of the Black Dragons. Wakasa and Benkei must've took the signs of something bad and decided on not contacting either of them.

Maybe that's why everything went dead silent.

Shinichiro flips through his phone, looking through his contacts. There was Manjiro's number, along with Baji's mom's number. Wakasa's and Benkei's were also there, much to his relief. Even Hitomiko's number was there, still listed as, "Miko-chan ❤️"

'Hitomiko...'

Shinichiro shook his head. Thinking about it would make his heart feel even heavier. He just takes off his shoes, opening the door to the house and the smell of udon and tempura entered his nostrils. 'That's weird, Manjiro can't cook yet... so that means...!'

Shinichiro frantically ran inside, past the living room and into the kitchen. Standing there were two faces he never thought he would see again.

"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Shin-nii?"

'Gramps... Emma...' Shinichiro had tears coming out of his eyes again but he wipes them off. He was just happy in seeing them again, alive and well.

Sano Mansaku passed away a year after Manjiro turned twelve, and Emma ran away a few months after. Shinichiro saw her with Izana once but he didn't have the courage to approach and apologize.

"Let me help you cook!" Shinichiro exclaims.

"Oh boy, are you trying to kill us?" Mansaku asks jokingly.

"You've never even held a kitchen knife before!" Emma added.

Oh, right. Shinichiro was a horrible cook. The best he could make was onigiri and even then it would still look bad.

But he didn't mind it. Shinichiro only laughs. "Then I'll start cleaning!"

Emma and Mansaku look at each other as the older Sano was already cleaning the hallway floors. Mansaku only chuckles. "At he's back to his normal self..."

"Yeah, I guess...?" Emma laughs awkwardly. "I guess breakups are a good thing...?"

Shinichiro pretended he didn't hear that. But right now he wanted to treasure this moment just a little longer.

"STOP, MIKEY!"

Shinichiro almost tripped, hearing Baji's scared voice. He stood up, not even caring that he would slip or not. Outside was Haruchiyo on the ground as Manjiro was punching him. Baji was trying to stop him despite the attempts being useless. Senju was just cowering behind one of the doors, begging Manjiro to stop hurting him.

Shinichiro was frozen, but only momentarily before finally going up to them to hold Manjiro by the waist. "Manjiro, stop it! You're going to break—!"

"LET ME GO!" Manjiro's voice sounded... distorted. Like Shinichiro wasn't talking to his younger brother.

It was like he was walking to a monster.

"HARU-NII!!!"

His thoughts were broken. Manjiro was already holding onto Haruchiyo's cheeks like he was about to remove something from him. Shinichiro's grip on his younger brother's waist tightened. He and Baji were pulling him off. The sounds of Haruchiyo crying was only making it worse.

Then, Haruchiyo screamed.

There was skin being forcibly peeled off of the younger boy's face. Haruchiyo's screams only grew louder. When Shinichiro and Baji finally managed to get Manjiro away, that's when they noticed the diamond-shaped wounds on both sides of Haruchiyo's face. He started crying, getting on his knees as he tries to stop the bleeding with his hands. Manjiro was just standing there, panting heavily as his own hands were covered in blood.

And those hands were holding pieces of Haruchiyo's skin.

"Smile, Haruchiyo." Manjiro's tone was cold, colder than ice itself. "And laugh."

As if Baji and Senju weren't scared enough, they were absolutely horrified.

"He... hehe..." Shinichiro shuddered at hearing Haruchiyo laugh like that. He had heard Haruchiyo's laugh before, and it was genuine. But this? This laughter?

This was horror.

"Ahahahaha....!"

"I'm warning you," The tall figure looks at Shinichiro with disgust in his eyes. "You will face consequences."

The tall figure from Shinichiro's memories start to come back. The kiseru that emitted black smoke, the painful punches and kicks he endured, the warnings he heeded... everything was starting to flood back.

"What happened to your brother was fate," Yuuko says to him, the grin still not leaving her face. "Changing it would mean that you won't care what happens to anyone else as long as you get what you want."

'Was this... just the start of the consequences...?' Shinichiro felt himself tremble in fear.

If this one of the consequences he was getting, what more would come at the cost of this timeline...?