A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on august 7th, 2022 @ 12:14am

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄,
𝖧𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗂𝗍.

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TAKEMICHI WALKED OUTSIDE AND SPOTTED Draken pinning Takeomi to the wall by his throat, shocking him as Miyasato stood nearby.

"You're not listening Akashi! If you drag Takemitchy in this mess, I will never forgive you! Do not get former Toman members involved in this!" Draken shouted.

"Draken! We should leave it up to Takemichi if he wants to join, yeah? I keep telling you this." Miyasato interfered.

"What is this about!? W-Wait... Draken-kun!" Takemichi shouted.

Draken looked in their direction for a second before he released Takeomi. "Tch!" He muttered under his breath.

"What were you guys discussing? Please... Explain it to me." Takemichi said.

"Draken intends to bring Mikey back. With Miya, it's Keiji."

Takemichi turned to see Senju with an umbrella over her head. "You are... Brahman's top..." He trailed off.

"And Brahman on the other hand, wants to defeat the gang that Mikey's leading which is the Kanto Manji Gang. Therefore, we decided to cooperate as we have similar objectives." Senju explained.

"Hanagaki. I loved the ambition the Tokyo Manji Gang had. It wasn't about wanting to be 'Japan's number 1 gang!'... Rather, it was about wanting to change the era of delinquents... That's very much like Mikey." Takeomi said. "But the Kanto Manji Gang isn't like that. They don't have an ambition. And at this point, it looks like Mikey is going to be the 'bad guy' and we're here to defeat those bad guys. That's Brahman's purpose!"

"Hanagaki Takemichi... Two big gangs watched over you, as you boldly screamed 'I will defeat Sano Manjiro.' If you do have such ambitions... Please join Brahman." Senju said. "Brahman welcomes you."

"Since I couldn't gather up my friends... I was thinking if there's any other way... For me to defeat Mikey-kun. This could be the fastest way to reach that goal!" Takemichi thought.

"No way!" Draken stepped in front of Takemichi. "If you keep tryna get Takemitchy involved, then consider me Brahman's enemy!"

"Then, wanna start fighting here?" Senju asked in a serious tone.

"Draken-kun." Takemichi said, getting Draken's attention. "If I don't make any decisions now, then nothing will change! Therefore!"

"I'll join Brahman!" Takemichi declared.

"Huh!?" Draken exclaimed.

"Draken... As much as Brahman wants to stop Kanto Manji Gang. There's no way we want to fight Mikey. That's why we need the both of you, the very people whom Mikey trusts. Facing him without getting in a fight would be for the best." Takeomi explained. "Please understand that."

"Oh, it stopped raining." Senju commented as she lets down her umbrella.

Draken lets out a sigh. "Well, that's Takemitchy for ya. Keep in mind that the only reason we're cooperating with Brahman is because of our aligning goals." He said.

"... Got it." Takemichi replied.

"Don't you forget about that." Draken extended his hand. "Welcome to Brahman, Takemitchy."

"I will definitely bring Mikey back!" Takemichi declared.

"Hmph!" Draken smiled.

"Alrighty! I've decided. Here, Hanagaki." Senju said, handing him her umbrella.

"An umbrella?" He questioned.

"From now on... You're my gofer!" Senju smiled.

"... Huh?"

"Let's meet tomorrow, 3pm at Harajuku!" Senju said.

"Eh? Wait—"

"Senju's interested in you, Hanagaki!" Takeomi called out. "Just be prepared!"

"What?" Takemichi said. "What does that mean?"

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"Takemichi, what's up?" Draken asked as he looked back at Takemichi with Miyasato right next to him.

"Ah... Sorry..." Takemichi apologized as they arrived at the brothel.

"Woah! What a throwback! You're still living here!?" Takemichi exclaimed.

"The last time I was here... was with Keiji..." Miyasato thought, recalling the memory.

"Aren't you two a little too young to be in a place like this?"

The two looked up to see a man at the front desk with a woman wearing a silk nightgown looking at them. Miyasato was frozen, making Keiji roll his eyes as he seemed to be the only one that wasn't fazed.

"We're looking for Draken. Is he around by any chance?" Keiji questioned.

"Oh, you're friends with our Kenny Boy?" The woman asked.

"Yeah."

"He's in his room." The man at the front desk replied, giving them directions to Draken's room.

"Thank you, sir."

Keiji grabbed his best friend's wrist before dragging him away. "You need to snap out of it, Toru." He said in a serious tone.

"Huh? Sorry." Miyasato apologized.

"Anyway, remind me never to complain about living on the streets again." Keiji said.

"Can't make proper living selling bikes just yet. They're helping me out by letting me stay." Draken explained, snapping Miyasato out of his thoughts.

"You're on... the fourth floor, right?" Takemichi asked.

"Oooh, nice memory!" Draken said.

"Let's see, fourth floor, fourth floor..." Takemichi pressed a button as he saw blood on himself.

"Blood!?"

He then realized there was nothing there. "There's nothing there! There it is again! What the hell is wrong with me!? I..." He trailed off.

"I'm home..." Draken announced.

"Oh?"

"Takemichi, meet Mr. Masamichi, the man that raised me!" Draken said.

"Ah, nice to meet you! E-Even though I've been here before..." Takemichi said as the girls soon came out of their rooms.

"Thanks for helping today, Kenny!"

"Are you doing anything else today, Kenny?"

"Uh, we'll talk later." Draken said.

"Will you let me touch your ass today, Kenny?"

"No."

"Are the same girls from before still here?" Takemichi questioned.

"Not a single one of them. Guess the world is always changing." Draken replied.

"Oh? This room's a lot bigger..." Takemichi commented once they entered Draken's room.

"Yeah. I had to leave the old one, so they gave me this old storage room." Draken explained.

"Woah, so many photos of Toman! Even I'm here!" Takemichi said, making Draken smile he then caught a picture of Emma smiling.

Draken sits on the bed. "... I still dream about her. 'You have to help Mikey.'" He said.

"Draken..."

"I need Mikey. I can't abandon him." Draken said as Kazuhiro frowned.

"Tell me, Takemichi... What is Mikey like in the future?" Draken asked.

"He looked so thin... And like he'd been sleeping terribly... He led Brahman, now a criminal organization. He told me he couldn't suppress his black urges." Takemichi replied.

"'Black urges?'" Draken repeated.

"Hina was safe. Everyone that should've died survived. Mikey promised me two years ago... 'I will protect everyone in Toman and Hina until we meet again 12 years from now.' The future came as promised, but Mikey was left unhappy." Takemichi continued.

"So it's like that... 'Black urges'... That guy... He's been looking ahead 12 years for the past 2... So that's why Mikey pushed everyone of his friends away..." Draken stated.

An image of Draken, Mitsuya, and Chifuyu were shown beaten up while Peh-yan was knocked out.

"Scratch that. He made us despise him."

"Huh? How on Earth did he do that!?" Takemichi thought.

"I don't know about these 'black urges'... But once he pushed us away, we all became better people. Maybe... All this hatred and resentment... was his way of sacrificing himself to keep your promise?" Draken guessed.

"All... for my promise?" Takemichi repeated.

"That moron... he must've been convinced, Takemichi... that you were doing the right thing." Draken said as the three began walking. "So that's why you joined Brahman. This ain't the same as the future y' know?"

"I get it. I might have already changed the past." Takemichi noted.

"We don't know what'll come from now... So are you prepared?" Draken asked.

"We're going to bring back Mikey! Let's go!"

Takemichi suddenly got bumped into as something spilled on his shirt.

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

"Tomato juice..." Takemichi realized.

"Hehe, that time of the month, Takemichi?" Draken asked as Miyasato chuckled.

"C' mon..."

"It... It should come out in the wash..."

"Hm? It looks like blood?" Takemichi raised his arm.

"This is... The vision I had before!"

"Does this mean... I can see the future?"

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1345 words.