𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 :

In Tokyo, the conflict between a group named Bonten intensifies as they continue to harm the public.

Here is exclusive footage and it's members at the FNN club.

"T-that white haired guy..." I mumbled as I looked at the boy with an undercut and a familiar tattoo design on the back of his neck.

".....it's Mikey-kun..."

                -------------- 𝒏𝒐𝒘 ---------------

"Huh?! As in- Manjiro Sano??!" Sassan asked obviously shocked.

"H-he does look like him! Look!" I pointed at the TV as it showed a glimpse of him glancing at the camera.

He looked skinny and pale, and as if he hasn't been getting enough sleep.

"B-but Ken-chin said..."

"...Ever since he made Kantou.... he spiraled into a criminal....From what the news.. Bonten's been doing numerous crimes.. Prostitution, Murders, Drugs...."
I said.

"Just what happened..."

"Hmph! He left Toman just to form another gang and he didn't even think of changing the name too much! It's like he just didn't want to be friends with us anymore!" I complained as I made a pouty face.

"F/n.... you know he just did this for your futures, right?"

I sighed

"I do know... it's just that.. he didn't have to shoulder all of this shit alone.. ToMan was formed so that we could protect and help each other! And yet here he is, shouldering all the burden by himself."

"He looks so different than what I saw from your old pictures.... He still looked so content back  when you guys were teenagers.."

"I can't really blame him though... He lost all of his family.. Big-bro Shin, Keisuke, Emma, then Izana... he went through a lot."

Sassan hummed. "You're right... but this isn't the right path. He's only in his mid 20s! He should be thinking about getting married or stuff like that." She retorted.

"I wish I could just do something to bring the Mikey we loved back.."

"I haven't really met him before, but he seems like a good guy back then. Maybe he might come back to his senses and quit Bonten?"

I just hummed, I knew she was trying to cheer me up. But it's just unrealistic if we don't do anything about it. He'll have nonreason to quit..

"Well, sorry Sassan I know I said I wanted to watch a movie but I remembered that I still have to unpack." I said as I stood up.
"I'll be in my room if you need me, Okay?"

"Okay, I'll bring you food later."

And with that I already unpacked and was putting my clothes in the closet when I saw the picture of Me, Mikey, Draken, Takemichi, Hakkai, Mitsuya, Chifuyu, Peh-yan, sitting at the top of the stairs of the shrine as the Kawata twins were holding ToMan's banner.

For a few minutes, I stared at the photo longingly before kissing it and putting it in my wallet.

"If only... I could go back in time like Take..." I thought as I continued placing all my clothes in my closet.

After I was done with that, I went to my desk to eat the food Sassan gave me and washed the plates later.

It was only 9:37 pm and I wasn't sleepy yet so I just decided to find my photo album filled with pictures of when I was a kid.

Most of the contents of the book were of ToMan, Me, And Takemichi. The re were also some photos of Hina.

And after a about an hour of reminiscing about my high scool days, my eyes felt droopy so I did my night routine and went to sleep.

Of course I chatted everyone good night first before I actually slept.

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Two days have passed and I've spent it mostly with my old group of friends.

A few fans ask for my autograph when I go out sometimes but it's not that often so I didn't really mind.

Currently, me and Sassan were at Ken-chin's motorcycle shop as I was watching him repair a bike.

When suddenly, my phone rang, I looked at the caller ID and it was Take.

I wondered what he wanted before answering the call.

"Yo, what's up Lil bro?

"Nee/Nii-chan! The white haired man from the news 2 days ago looks like-"

"Mikey.... yeah I saw too..."

"O-oh.. but you guys said he was managing a restaurant overseas?!"

"Sorry Takemichi.. Ken-chin didn't want you to feel worried so we tried covering it up... of course there restaurant thing was a lie..." I explained and Takemichi's line was just silent but I could still hear his breathing.

"..in fact.. I haven't heard from Mikey since 12 years ago.."

"R-right after I went back?!"hw asked, obviously shocked.

"Unfortunately, yes.. Hey. Do you wanna meet up so that we can discuss this in person?"

"Yes, but where?"

"To the old shrine."

"Okay, I'll be there. See you, Nee/Nii-chan."

"Yeah."

And with that, I ended the call and stood up from the couch.

"So... he found out Huh?" Ken-chin asked, still not looking at me. His eyes were glad to the bike he's fixing.

"Hey, you two better not do anything rash. Bonten is a criminal organization, and I bet they won't hesitate to get rid of whoever angers them." Warned Sassan.

"Okay, geez. Me and Lil bro are only gonna talk about Mikey. And people rarely visit that shrine. I bet no one would even hear us."

"But F/n-chin... if Takemicchi really decides to look into Bonten or Mikey, Stop him. Like Sassan said, They're a criminal organization now.." Ken-chin started. "We've lost too many people already, First Shin, Baji, Emma, then Mikey. I don't want to add you to that list too."

"Ken-chin...." I mumbled as I stared at him. He stopped his work and was now just staying still and looking down. I hugged him from behind and whispered,

"Don't worry, Ken-chin.. we'll be careful. I promise I won't die, and If I do, you can scold me. Okay?"

He held my hand and squeezed it a bit tightly, but not enough to hurt me.

"Dumbass... be careful." He said quietly and let me go.

"Okay! I'm gonna go now. Bye-bye!" Running out of the shop, I made my way to the shrine.

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"Take! Over here!" I called and waved my hand in the air to call out to my younger brother.

"Oh! Nee/Nii-chan, hello." He ran up to me.

"Let's sit here." I instructed and sat down the top of the stairs, Take did the same.

"So.... about Mikey-kun...Is that guy really Mikey?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, He looked a lot like Izana. And the tattoo on his nape resembles Izana's earrings too!"

"What are you getting at?"

"I-I-is Izana-kun alive and is Mikey-kun...dead..?" He asked with a horrified expression.

Silence fell upon the two of us as we just stared at each other.

Until I started laughing at him.

"Hahaha! Damn, you are as dumb as always, Bakamichi!" I beamed.

"Hahaha- oop- sorry- Kyahaha!" I continued

"Nee/Nii-chan! What's so funny?!" He asked, obviously bamboozled.

He kept asking me the same question as my laughter died down.

"Hmm.. Izana can't be alive silly, he passed away at the Kantou incident  remember?"

"Oh...then what about Mikey-kun?"

My face went back to serious mode again.

"Ok.. so as I told you, we haven't seen him since you time traveled back to now. But after he disbanded ToMan, he made another gang called Kantou Manji Gang. And they became Bonten now."

"Bonten is real dangerous now. They're a criminal organization, not a mere gang..... What should we do, Take?"

"W-what?"

"I want to bring our old Mikey back. I don't like this depressed malnourished criminal. I miss the childish blonde yet reliable president of Toman. I miss Mikey... so what do you think we could do?"

"Wait. I'll go to Naoto! I could go back in time and try to save Mikey-kun! It could be the only way!"

"You're right! Call him and ask to meet up. I'll go back to Draken's shop though. I'm helping him plan for our little reunion at the tree!"

He hummed excitedly. "I'll look forward to it!"

He dialed Naoto's number but I remembered Ken-chin's words.

"O-oh, Take.... one more thing... Draken said not to look into Bonten since it's really dangerous... Should we still do it..?"

"Nee/Nii-chan.. It was hard, but I've succeeded in saving almost everyone.. and Mikey-kun won't just suddenly leave Bonten if we don't do anything. So we have to do something about it." He said through eyes that were full of determination.

"If we want our Mikey-kun, we shouldn't give up. And besides, 'giving up' doesn't exist in our dictionary, right?" He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

His words and actions never fail to make me smile...

"Yeah.. Let's do this... for Mikey!"

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After a few hours Takemichi called me to Chifu's pet shop and told us that he can't Time-leap anymore.

We discussed things again about Mikey and Chifuyu revealed that he also did some research as soon as Mikey disappeared. Unfortunately, he didn't get a single clue.

"Surely, Mikey found the path in life he's looking for. He's living in his own way." Chifu said. "Therefore, I chose the path I wanted to walk too, and decoded to live with it. F/n Nee/Nii-chan did the same too and now look! He's/She's/They're a world famous idol!"

"Aww come on Chifu, I'm not that famous..." I blushed.

Chifu continued,

"Right now, you and Hina are walking down an important path to happiness! You're not a kid anymore you know?" He smiled as he  wrapped an arm around Take's shoulders.

Kazutora just listened and stared at us in silence.

"I have an Idea tho..." I started, and they looked at me expectantly.

"W-well... what if we reunite ToMan?" I suggested nervously. They're eyes widened and they're pupils dilated.

"What?!" They shouted in unison, making me jump.

"S-sorry F/n-chin but it's gonna hard. ToMan lost most of its members to Bonten already." Kazutora commented.

"Yeah...and most of us already have a peaceful life now. I don't think they'd want to risk it for a the gang.." added Chifuyu.

"But hey! Some might still be interested!" Take said, backing me up.

"Yeah! And I already think I have a good meeting place!" I beamed. "I'll ask Sassan to think the remaining former ToMan members and invite them to a mini reunion concert!"

"A concert?" Chifu asked.

"Yeah! I've got a new song called "Crybaby", it's dedicated to Take and ToMan! It hasn't been released yet though."

"C-crybaby? 😰🤡" Take asked, as the rest of us laughed.

"Haha, hey! It's not all about crying. I meant  as you being our Crybaby hero. You cry a lot." I explained.

"But he is a quite a Crybaby." Teased Kazutora.

"Agreed" Chufuyu mumbled.

"But what are you gonna do?"

"Well, we'll invite the former ToMan members and maybe even some of Brahman! Senju-Chan might help us too! After I sang my song, everyone's gonna feel inspired!"

"That's unrealistic but okay 😒"

"Oh come on Kazu! I have the lyrics on my phone! If you read it, you'll see that it's meaningful!"

"Sure show me then"

"Here." I took my phone and went to my notes, showed him the lyrics of Crybaby.

"F/n-san, what about after you sing?" Chifuyu asked as he looked through Kazu's shoulder to read the lyrics too.

"We'll announce our goal! Those who want to join will and those who don't want to.. well that's okay. As long as we tried. There are many members in Brahman, and they're all very dedicated to Senju-Chan. If we could ask her to join, they might too!"
I explained with determination.

"Brahman?" Take asked

"Oh, right- you don't remember.. well, Brahman is one of the so-called deities from 10 years ago. This gang is led by a girl named Akashi Senju, and she is a good friend of ours. You two eere really close back then."

"R-really?"

"Yeah, Takemicchi. How cpuld you forget her?" Kazutora asked, thinking that Takemichi is acting sussy.

"Oh! I- I uhh" Take stuttered, feeling cornered and a second close to being expose.

"He's probably been too busy with Hina. Of course he doesn't want her to feel jealous." Chifuyu covered for him.

'Thank you, Chifuyu!! 😭' I could practically hear Takemichi yell through his thoughts.

"Yeah!"

"Hmm whatever."

Phew, at least he dropped the subject. Who knows what his reaction might be if he found out Take could time travel. He might punch the poor boy thinking that we're messing with him..

"Also F/n-san, this song is actually good... And your plan might work too. But let's not do it, Draken's right. It is too dangerous." Chifuyu scolded.

"Take it easy you two! Go back to your houses and rest." He added.

"Hey, as far as I remember, I'm the older one here so I get to decide whether I rest or not!" I complained jokingly as I pouted and they just laughed.

We walked out the store and bid our goodbyes.

"So... what do we do, Nee/Nii-chan?"

"...Mikey-kun is walking down his own path in life, I have no objections... but-"

"But I can't accept Mikey as he is." A familiar voice said.

"Who's there?!" Take yelled.

We both turned around to see Kazutora leaning on a wall.

"Kazu-kun/Kazutora-kun?!?!" Me and Takemichi yelled in surprise.

"Jeez! Don't scare me like that you idiot!" I yelled and put a hand on the part of my chest where my heart was. It was beating loudly due to surprise.

"Sorry.......For 10 years... it's as if time froze in prison..and as soon as I came out, ToManwas not there anymore.. " Kazu stated.

"With no Mikey around, and everyone having fun, it's just like the tale of Ushirama Taro."

(*said tale is a story about a fisherman who went to the sea with a princess, spends a few days there, and came back to his village only to find out he's been goon for a  hundred years* the more you know. 😊)

Me and Take just stared at him.

"Kazu-kun..."I mumbled.

"But there's one thing that I'm sure of, and it's that Mikey hasn't changed at all." He smiled.

"He's not the type to show his vulnerability to others,-" He continued but I cut him to the chase.

"He keeps everything to himself.." I finished.

"The life that Mikey is living now.. is not a life that he chose." Stated Kazutora as I looked down.

I knew that... yet I was just too emotionally drained about Mikey that I just wanted to believe that he's actually doing good.. and  being happy with his life choices..

"I got your backs, Hanagaki Takemichi and F/n." He smiled.

Then that means... we can work together... to bring back Mikey!

"Let's start by meeting old acquaintances!" He walked away.

"See you two later!"

"Sure!" We said unison.

No matter how it'll take... we'll save you, Mikey. I silently vowed to myself, and I'm pretty sure Take did the same. We Hangaki's will never give up.

<----- 𝑻𝒐 𝑩𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅!!! -----