Chapter Text
To say Takemichi was confused would be the understatement of the year.
Seriously, what the fuck had just happened?
One moment he was wondering why his friends were ignoring him, then he was fighting an obviously stronger delinquent and now? How could he even start processing whatever the hell that happened there was?
After Mikey and Draken left the place, everyone just started to leave in an awkward silence, some of them shooting a questioning look at Takemichi, surely curious in whatever was that made the leader of Toman interested in him. It was funny because Takemichi was wondering that too and as the hours flew by the answer seemed as ambiguous as before.
But although Takemichi was still confused about whatever loving hell happened earlier, his friends couldn’t shut up about it. Even when the hours flew by and the night came, they were still deep in marvelous delight at what he did, screaming how cool he was and what an amazing feat it was to catch the eye of the top two of Touman.
If he said that didn’t boost his ego a bit he would be lying.
So, like any teenager with a sudden boost of ego, Takemichi quickly forgot everything about his doubts and joined his friends in their silly recreation of the events. Really, who cared at this point? It wasn’t like he could go back in time and undo what was already done right?
In a jolly mood, they all left the park to go back to Takemichi’s place because he still had to tend to his wound and they were all hungry. Makoto and Yamagishi helped Takuya up while Akkun helped him walk.
“It’s fine, Akkun! I’m not that hurt!” Takemichi said for the fifth time “He didn’t punch me that hard, I can still walk on my own…”
Akkun snorted, still holding him steady while walking.
“Yeah right, maybe you think that because you can’t see your face right now” Akkun laughed at Takemichi's offended gasp “Don’t be so stubborn Takemichi, just let us help you a little.”
“Yeah! You did help us a lot out there after all” Takuya said, his voice still a little weak, surely the pain from the beating he had to go through hadn’t gone away, but he smiled back at Takemichi.
Which made a question pop back on his head.
“Right, about that… I was gonna ask you guys what were you doing there? How did you know Kiyomasa?”
At this, all of his friends averted his eyes, embarrassed and that made Takemichi more confused. None of them talked for a bit until the blond's intense blue eyes nearly bored a hole on Akkun’s face.
“Well… we kinda got caught in a tramp you see… one of the upperclassmen told Yamagishi he could introduce us to someone who could let us join Touman and… well…”
Akkun felt silent and looked away, clearly uncomfortable. Takemichi glanced back and the rest had the same look on their faces; he thought for a slight second that maybe he should drop the subject but then, the pain on his face made him scratch that thought away. Yeah, he felt sorry for his friends but he just had the shit beat out of him, the least they could do for him was to tell him why it came to that.
Maybe his friends were thinking the same as him, so they continued.
“We went to meet with them and when they showed up, Kiyomasa was the one leading them. They almost beat us to death and after they were done, he forced us to become their slaves.” Yamagishi said,his voice trembling slightly.
“We didn’t invite you at the time because you were too busy with the catching up training,” Takuya continued “so we figured that once we joined Touman we’ll tell you but…”
“But after that, we agreed to not tell you anything so you wouldn’t be dragged to this…” Makoto finished “I guess that didn’t go well…”
“Yeah, how did you find out? We were so sure you didn’t know.” Akkun finally looked back at him, this time he looked less uncomfortable and more curious.
“I didn’t!” He cries “I thought you guys were mad at me or something! I saw you leave the Shibusen so I followed you and, well, then I saw those guys and… you know, that happened…”
“You followed us? What are you 5?” Makoto snorted.
“Says the ones who decided to just ignore me all of the sudden like I wouldn’t notice!”
“Alright, alright!” cut in Akkun, laughing “We’re sorry Takemichi, we tried to protect you but I guess we did a poor job. Thanks for helping us back there.”
“Seriously dude, that was some cool shit! I didn’t know you could fight like that! Who would have thought our crybaby had grown up to be such a badass!” Yamagishi jumped in with Makoto nodding with a proud look “You have to teach us those moves dude! Did you learn all that in the town you lived in before?”
“Well, it was either learn or be killed so…”
“That’s so cool!” Both Yamagishi and Makoto shrieked.
The atmosphere lightened down as the rest of his friends started making jokes and even mimicked the whole event with a few exaggerations. Takemichi’s mood lightened up, seeing his friends joking with the same carefree spirit as always; he was still very shaken and positively worried about what the future would bring, now that the feared Touman leader had taken interest in him, but seeing his friends happy and safe made everything worth it.
With laughter still in the air, the group finally reached Takemichi’s apartment complex. They were all tired and hungry so they’ll probably order something while taking care of their wounds, still though, Takemichi had this nagging feeling at the back of his head that he was forgetting something.
He shrugged, if it was something important he wouldn’t have forgotten anyways. Right?
Making their way to Takemichi’s apartment without making much effort on being quiet even though it was night already, they stood in front of his door and waited for him to open it. Akkun moved a little so Takemichi could reach for the keys in his pocket, but before he could even put the key in the look, his door flew open and a very upset looking Hina greeted them.
‘Shit, Hina!’ Takemichi screamed in his head, remembering his plans with the brunette for dinner. The rest of the boys froze up at Hina’s angry scowl as she scanned them all with her eyes, spotting every single cut and bruise on them. Trying to appease his no doubt furious best friend, Takemichi made an attempt to speak but it was cut down very fast as Hina’s shot down the angriest glare he had seen her make since they were children.
Without uttering a word, the angry brunette stepped aside so they could enter the apartment and receive the scolding of their life. They sheepishly entered, none of them daring to cross eyes with Hina again as they all sat down on the floor next to each other, waiting as Hina closed the door and made her way in front of them in a quiet manner (which was way more terrifying than having her scream at them).
To call that a scolding would be an understatement.
Takemichi didn’t remember a time when his best friend was this mad. Hina was usually a very peaceful, kind and generous soul, even though most of her group of friends were dumbasses who thought delinquents were cool, she still patiently helped them when they needed a fix after a fight or some encouraging words. Truly, Hina was an angel to them and never really got mad.
They must really look like shit for her to be this upset.
After Hina’s long and well deserved scolding, she calmed down a little and, crossing her arms, asked them what had happened and it was only then when they dared to speak and told her everything.
Takemichi felt his cheeks get wet and the cuts he had on them sting a little as the tears flowed freely once again as he told her his version of the events. Luckily, this seemed to calm her down a little, as she was always a little weak to Takemichi’s tears.
Sighing and with a frown still marrying her features, Hina instructed them to show her their wounds. Taking this as a white flag for the moment, they all agreed on having Takuya as the first patient, while the others, as per Hina’s command, heated the curry and set the table to eat.
By the time Hina had healed mostly all of Takuya’s and Takemichi’s wounds with her wavelengths and Akkun dressed the rest with bandages from his first aid kit, everything was set for them to finally eat and Hina’s anger, even though not completely gone, had settled enough for them to joke around about Takemichi’s crybaby-ness that even she broke into a small laugh, much to the blonde’s protest.
“Alright, it’s already late, time to go home everyone. Takemichi-kun has to rest, as you all do.” Hina announced after they finished cleaning, her tone gave no way for any objection.
Takemichi meant to tell them they could sleep in if they wanted to, but a quick glare from Hina shut him up. So instead, he walked them to the door to bid their goodbyes for the day as Makoto and Yamagishi kept on gushing about the events.
‘ Must be nice to be an idiot. ’ Takemichi thought, watching them reenact for the tenth time his interaction with Toman’s top.
“They are idiots, aren’t they?” Akkun said next to him, looking just as done at his friend’s shenanigans. Nevertheless, a relieved smile curved his lips. “But it’s been a while since I heard those two say stupid things…”
“Akkun…”
The redhead dropped his head, his expression turning bitter.
“Takemichi, you know… for a moment there, I thought about taking out my blade to stab Kiyomasa…”
Takemichi gasped. Akkun had never been a violent person and always chose to talk things down (which was surprising for a wanna be delinquent). As a weapon, Takemichi had learn while training with him that Akkun had one of the most stable wavelengths he had ever had the chance to partner up with, so for him to even consider taking out his blade against a meister (which also was a serious crime in their society) meant he felt truly desperate.
“If things continued the way they were, we were going to spend our whole lives being their slaves. Offing Kiyomasa was all I could do to stop that future, you know?” Akkun turned to look him in the eye, his bitter expression melting in a smile “Thank you Takemichi. It’s because of you standing firm against Kiyomasa that we were free from that.” Akkun's smile grew as he lightly punched him on the shoulder “You were really cool back there, you know.”
The blonde felt his eyes get a little wet at the implications of his friend’s confession because he couldn’t have imagined how much his friends were suffering without him knowing. Not wanting to cry, Takemichi coughed a little to mask it but he knew Akkun wouldn’t be fooled that easily, yet he said nothing.
“C’mon Akkun, cut it out. You’re making me blush.” He tried, honestly sheepish at his friend's earnest display. The redhead laughed and after telling him he’d see him at practice, he left.
At last, Takemichi was left alone.
For a moment, he stood there on his doorstep, watching his friends leave the apartment complex and take their own route but even after he lost sight of them, he didn’t move, the events of the days finally hitting him.
He couldn’t believe what he had done. Picking a fight with someone like Kiyomasa was bad enough, but now he had made himself the target of Toman’s Commander’s attention. What was his life gonna be from then on? Was he to become the slave of someone worse?
‘ I was noticed by that monster! I didn’t even have to concentrate to feel the pressure of his soul, and he wasn’t even using any wavelength! What am I gonna do? I’ve only had a month here and I’m already screwed… ’ he thought, panic running freely through his body. He looked back where Akkun had left and felt his stomach flip. It didn’t matter what the future would bring, he could never bring himself to regret what he did, and he would never regret helping his friends when they needed it.
But he was scared. What would he do if Sano chose to make his life a living hell? All his wishes to find a partner and become a full specialized meister felt so far away now.
Because he knew it. He felt it in his bones and deep down in his soul, that this encounter with Sano Manjirou would change his life forever.
__________________________________________
Takemichi’s body felt sore and his face, even though it wasn’t as badly swollen as he thought it would be (thank you so much Hina), felt tender to the touch.
Akkun, Takuya and Yamagishi joined him at the weaponry practice and seemed to be in the joist mood he had ever seen them even though Takuya was still a little bruised for the wear.
One thing Takemichi noticed that was different than usual was that his wavelength control felt more precise, like he had been working for weeks to tune the wavelengths of his soul with his attacks and movements. Akkun, who’d offered to be his weapon for today’s practice, also seemed to notice it, commenting on how well synchronized their souls felt with almost zero counter reaction, like it usually happened when they tried too hard to synchronize. Today it felt more natural.
At his wavelength practice was the same, every exercise his teacher told him to do he made with little effort. Takemichi didn’t think of himself as a genius or a specially talented person, but he did know that he had a good handle on his wavelengths and even his teacher had said so.
But today? Today he felt so in tune with his soul he could feel how his wavelength moved naturally where he commanded it.
His teacher, a meister specialized on wavelengths, eyed him with curiosity, seemingly wondering the same thing as Takemichi. After the practice ended, he called Takemichi to his office.
“Hanagaki-kun, did something happen to you yesterday? Or perhaps this morning?” his teacher asked, sitting on his desk and motioning him to do the same. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the cuts and bruises on your face, did you fight with someone?”
Takemichi shifted on his seat awkwardly but didn’t respond. His teacher sighed, taking his silence as a confirmation.
“Look Hanagaki-kun, you know we in the Shibusen do not approve of our students fighting each other. There’s already so many kishins and witches who want to tear us apart as it is.”
‘ Shit, am I gonna get expelled? ’ the blonde thought, feeling the panic rising in his stomach.
“However,” his teacher continued and Takemichi raised his head, hopeful “it’s hard for us teachers to tell you what to do once you leave the Shibusen, and we’re well aware of the gangs surrounding Mizo. I also know that you’re not the type of student to go off on fights just for the fun of it, so I won’t say anything if you don’t want me but whatever it is that happened yesterday, your wavelengths are more in tune with you than ever.”
Now, that made Takemichi curious. He was super relieved that he wasn’t being expelled of course, but could it be what happened yesterday enough to make him improve so much on his control?
“Your control was never the problem Hanagaki-san,” his teacher said with a smile, apparently he had said his thoughts out loud “in fact, I’d say your wavelength control is better than most of the students in your year, what you lacked was confidence. You doubt everything you do and overthink every decision you make and that is what makes your wavelength so unstable.” His teacher took a notepad next to him and started scribbling down something “Whatever you did, it made you overcome your self-doubt and finally tune in your soul with your wavelength, here.”
Takemichi took the note he handed him and looked at it curiously.
“Give this to the administration office, congratulations, you’ve officially finished your introduction course, from now on you can take missions.”
The blonde blinked a few times. Did he really finish? Was he ready to begin his classes as a meister? He looked up at his teacher with the silent questions hanging in the air. His teacher nodded and he felt a few tears run down his cheeks without his permission.
Takemichi stood up and profusely thanked the meister for his time and his advice, before quickly grabbing his things and running off to administration. When he reached the door his teacher called him.
“Hanagaki-kun, I’m not trying to encourage you to go fight people outside the Shibusen, but I do want you to always remember what you felt in that fight. Always keep your heart, body and soul aligned if you want to get better and don’t doubt yourself.”
“Yes, thank you teacher!” Takemichi nodded and thanked his teacher one last time before leaving.
__________________________________________
“I wanna sleep...” murmured the blue-eyed blond, leaning on his desk with a book open so the teacher giving the lesson wouldn’t see him lounging around during classes.
After storming to administration and giving the note that had been handed to him, Takemichi nearly bounced on his feet as the lady on the desktop updated his status and information as a meister capable of taking on missions of easy and medium difficulty. When she handed him his upgraded license, he nearly started crying with excitement as he texted Hina to tell her the news.
“ That’s great Takemichi-kun! We have to celebrate! I have cram school in the afternoon so how about we go to that bakery until I have to go? ” Takemichi smiled at Hina’s enthusiasm and replied with the same excitement.
Then, the lady handed him his school schedule and instructed him to go to the common study classroom so he could receive the orientation of his new status as a meister student.
And here he was, nearly falling asleep as he heard the same lecture he heard when he started the induction course and training with the new students starting their classes on the Shibusen.
As the teacher kept on explaining why the souls of meister and weapons should be synchronized and how it works, Takemichi’s mind wandered off to what his wavelength teacher had told him and that made him think of his fight with Kiyomasa and the encounter with Sano Manjirou.
‘ Of all the people I could think of, meeting the leader of Touman… maybe I really do have bad luck, huh? What should I do… maybe I’ll just have to avoid them and he’ll forget about me. It’s not like I’m going to go out of my way to meet him… ’
Suddenly his thought process was interrupted by a commotion coming from outside.
“ Oi, you can’t just barge in here however you like! What course are you from!? ”
The ruckus got louder for a moment and then, as sudden as it started, it stopped. Then, a few minutes later the door of the classroom opened and Takemichi felt the color leave his face.
“Oh.♡ Here he is.” Entering the classroom was Sano Manjirou, smiling and completely ignoring the teacher's stunned attempt of calling him out. The light blonde found him and walked towards him “Come play with us Takemitchy! ♡”
Before he could even respond, he grabbed Takemichi’s arm and pulled him towards the door where the tall blonde with the dragon tattoo (Draken, he remembered) waited.
Out of the classroom Takemichi saw a bunch of guys lying on the floor, clearly beaten.
“What’s all this?” He couldn’t help asking, Draken only shrugged, completely unbothered.
“You mean all this trash? They pissed me off so I knocked ‘em down a peg. All of you wimps, line up right here and lay face down.” Draken ordered the guys, who obeyed even though confused as to what will happen to them “Oi, you’re too far away. This is gonna hurt you more than it hurts me, you know.”
The guys on the floor whispered to themselves, not understanding what the tall blonde was talking about. Takemichi must have had the same dumbfounded expression because he heard Sano Manjirou’s light chuckle next to him and felt his hand release the hold he had on Takemichi’s arm (which he hadn’t realized until then) and went to where the first guy of the row was lying.
Without changing his expression he stepped on the boy and jumped to the next followed closely by Draken. Jumping from guy to guy, the light blonde looked back at Takemichi with a smile still on his face.
“C’mon Takemitchy, let’s go. ♡”
Blinking at the absurdity of his situation but still not wanting to annoy the others, Takemichi fumbled with his words before following them, choosing to walk on the side of the row where there wasn’t people lying on the floor.
“I heard Udagawa’s crew is trying to gain control of Shinsen.” Draken said, unbothered.
“Cool. Let’s go kick their asses.”
‘ This dude is totally insane! As I thought Touman’s leader is a whole other thing… tormenting people is just part of their daily routine. ’
Reaching the main hallway didn’t take long and Takemichi could feel the eyes of the people there on his back, probably wondering why were the top two of Touman there and who was he to be in their presence. But Takemichi couldn’t spend much time on that thought, because he felt Draken next to him slouch to his level and put his arm around his shoulder.
“You've been good?”
“W-well, didn’t we just see each other yesterday…?” he murmured, trying his best to stay respectful.
“You’re free today, right?” The smaller blonde asked.
“Actually, I’m not…”
“Come hang out with us a bit”
“Huh, Mikey-kun, are you listening to me?
“ Hey isn’t that Hanagaki? Since when is he buddy-buddy with Mikey? ” “ We had someone like that in our course? ” “ Idiot, you’re being too loud! ” those were some of the things Takemichi could hear from the students around them. Mikey didn’t look like he was paying attention to any of them though, eyes fully focused on him and making his nerves go hardwire.
“You don’t need to be so nervous, jeez. We just want to hang a little!”
“Hold it right there!”
Everyone stilled, surprised at the sudden yell. Takemichi turned and saw Hina marching towards them with a scowl set on her face and passing the other students with determination on her step. The two blondes next to him also noticed, eyes turning to the brunette coming their way.
“Hah? Who’s that?” He heard Draken say.
“Hina,” Takemichi called when she got closer, he didn’t know what she was doing there but he had to get her out of there “I’m sorry… I’m a little busy today, maybe we should reschedul—”
S L A P
An astonished silence fell on the hallway.
Hina walked past him without a second glance and slapped Mikey.
‘ H-Hina-san!? ’ Without losing a beat, Hina turned and grabbed Takemichi by the arm and pulled him to the opposite direction.
“Let’s go, Takemichi-kun. Don’t let these people bully you.” She said, her voice was firm but Takemichi felt her hand tremble “I’ll protect you.”
“Hina…”
Suddenly Draken’s hand grabbed Hina’s arm, stopping her there.
“Hey, I’ll kill you brat. You’re just gonna slap someone outta nowhere and peace out? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Who do you think you are? You just waltz into a class and try to take Takemichi-kun by force, that’s not something a friend would do! Not only that, but he got injured yesterday… if that’s because of you two…” Hina said, turning around to face Draken “Then I won’t forgive you.” Her hand was still trembling but her eyes didn’t budge a bit, firm on her words.
Takemichi felt so much affection for his friend it made a knot on his stomach. Here she was, facing two guys way bigger than her and hella intimidating because she wanted to protect Takemichi.
Whatever it was they wanted from him, he would not let them hurt a single hair of Hina’s head even if it killed him. The feeling he had standing up to Kiyomasa made his soul burn once again and with a determination he didn’t know he had, Takemichi turned and gripped Draken’s shoulder.
“Let go of her.”
“Hah? What was that? I don’t think I heard you crearly!”
He knew how bad his hands were trembling and he was scared shitless but the burn on his soul gave him the impulse to raise his head and face the taller blonde.
“I said, let go of her you asshole!”
“Hey, who the fuck do you think you’re talking to!?”
Shit, Draken was really fucking scary, but there was no way in hell he would back down now. He swore right there and then he would definitely protect Hina no matter what. Takemichi didn’t let his eyes feel, stubbornly fixed on Draken’s dark eyes.
“There are things I just won’t give up on again. I’m not going to let you hurt Hina.” Backing up his words, he felt his soul beat as he unconsciously directed his wavelengths to his fists. Draken must have felt it too because he stepped back a little, letting Takemichi’s hand fall from where he was gripping his shoulder.
“Aww, and here I thought we could be friends. Too bad.” Mikey said finally, his smile and tone was easy but then, when he turned, Takemichi felt a weight had fallen on him, a pressure making his soul quiver and shrink. Mikey’s pitch black eyes stared at him with no emotion “So, how do ya wanna die?”
Takemichi felt his whole being shudder in fear. Now, he was never one of the especially sensitive ones when it came to seeing souls but he was sensitive enough to feel the wavelengths these emitted, a hidden talent as Hina liked to call it. Right now however, he was sure he could see not only Mikey’s wavelength but his soul. Pitch black like his eyes, Mikey’s soul felt heavy and suffocating and his wavelengths felt like tendrils, coiling up on his legs and making him stand still.
“You’re making a face like you won’t be able to stand on your own again.” Mikey came closer to him, smiling, as if he wasn’t practically making Takemichi fall on his knees crying.
But if Takemichi was one thing, that was stubborn. With determination, he forced his soul out of it´s frightened stupor to function again and surely, the wavelengths on his fists got their strength back. He would not be intimidated, not even by the leader of the most infamous gang in town. Takemichi distributed his wavelengths through the rest of his body and he felt the tendrils let go of his legs.
“Just… promise me one thing.” Mikey lifted an eyebrow but let him continue “Promise me that you won’t lay a hand on Hina.”
Mikey lifted his fist with a deadpan expression.
“Huh? Like I care.”
Takemichi closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come. And then—
“Just kidding. ♡”
“Huh?”
“Takemitchy, you dummy!” Mikey said, patting him on the shoulder and laughing “Like I’d ever hit a girl.”
Was he for real? Takemichi released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and felt his wavelengths calm down.
“Takemitchy… you actually threatened me there didn’t ya.” Draken put his arm on him again, but he didn’t sound annoyed at all, more like surprised.
“S-sorry…”
“It’s okay.” Huh? Was it? “There are times when you can’t give up. There aren’t many guys who’d say that about a girl these days. It’s pretty old school.” Draken let him go and followed Mikey down the hallway “I’m impressed.”
“…Um, Takemichi-kun…” Hina called then, just as confused as him, “These people are…?”
.
.
.
“I’M SO SORRY!” Hina exclaimed, bowing her head “I totally misunderstood the situation.”
“It’s fine. That was one hell of a slap, though.” Mikey replied, rubbing his cheek.
“I’m so sorry!”
“It’s fine to do your best for the people you love but don’t get too carried away. Things would have been bad if you’d hit someone that’d fight back, you know?”
“Yes!”
Takemichi wondered in what universe he was now, with Hina apologizing and being admonished by someone else, especially when that someone was the leader of a gang. He thought about what it would feel like, to be a normal person; nevertheless, he was unbelievably glad that Mikey and Draken were at least decent people.
“Okay, I’m gonna go.” She said to him, her smile back.
“Ah, sure… Wait, about this afternoon…”
“Don’t worry, we can do that another time. Your friends went out of their way to come hang out, after all.”
“Bye-bye! Don’t slap me in the face next time!” Mikey exclaimed.
Hina laughed nervously, bowing a little again as a small blush dusted her cheeks with an embarrassed look on her face as she waved them goodbye and went back inside the building.
“She seems nice, is she your girlfriend Takemitchy?”
“Huh? Oh no, we’re childhood friends.”
Mikey hummed.
“Be sure to take care of her anyways, ‘kay?”
Huh, who would have thought, maybe this person wasn’t as bad as he first thought. Takemichi nodded, a small smile forming on his lips and feeling a little bit more at ease in front of the other. Maybe Mikey noticed too because he smiled back and threw an arm around him.
“Hey Takemitchy, you know how to ride a bike right?”
“Eh?”
.
The afternoon fell on Mizo with the usual orange and yellow shade. Takemichi felt comfortable with the wind through his hair and jacket. At his back, Mikey also seemed to be enjoying the weather and scenery around them, his light blonde hair and the jacket draped around his shoulder being slightly ruffled. Draken followed them closely on another bicycle.
Even though they weren’t talking, the air felt strangely enjoyable and comfy, which made him think of the events of the day. ‘ The only thing I had heard of him is that he’s the terrible leader of the most intimidating gang in Mizo. But maybe I misjudged him… ’
“Say, Mikey-kun…” Mikey made a noise to let him know he was hearing him “So, um… why did you take a liking to me?”
“What a dumb question.”
“Uh… sorry…”
There was a momentary silence before Mikey started talking again.
“Well, I have a brother who’s ten years older than me. He’s dead now though.” His tone was light as if he was telling Takemichi his day-to-day life, catching him by surprise at the new information “He was a reckless guy, ya know? Always calmly challenging guys’ way stronger than him to fights.”
Maybe it was because he always wanted to have a sibling or the fond way Mikey spoke about his older brother but Takemichi felt a warm feeling surrounding him.
“Ehh, he sounds like a cool person!”
“You remind me of him, Takemitchy.”
“Wh— N-no way! I’m not that cool at all no matter how you look at it!” he said sheepishly, feeling oddly flattered to be compared to such an amazing person.
“Yeah, he definitely wasn’t as lame as you, Takemitchy.” The smaller blonde laughed.
“…now, that’s just mean.”
Mikey laughed heartily at him but Takemichi didn’t take it personally. They came to a stop when Mikey told him to and he quickly jumped off the bike and walked down the cliff on the side of the road, soon followed closely by Takemichi and Draken. The sunset looked beautiful with the orange light reflecting over the water.
“Nowadays, people think delinquents are lame but when my bro was alive, there were so many biker gangs around here. It didn’t matter if they were meisters, weapons or just plain humans…” Mikey put his hands on his pockets, facing the sunset “They all acted super though and all they did was fight, but they always cleaned up their own messes and looked after themselves… what’s so lame about that?”
Takemichi didn’t dare to interrupt him, watching him now with his feathery looking hair dance in the wind alongside with his black jacket, he felt something out of this world, dare he said almost godlike. For a moment, Takemichi could swear he could see his soul once again, but this time, it didn’t feel overwhelming or intimidating and the black tendrils he saw that froze him to the ground before, curled around him, almost inviting.
“That’s why I’m gonna make a new era for delinquents.” He declared and turned to face Takemichi “I like you, Hanagaki Takemichi. You should come with me.”
His eyes widened in surprise. Him? But what could Takemichi do for someone like Mikey?
“There are plenty of guys who are good at fighting, but you know…” Draken said, as if reading his mind “standing up to anyone for something you won’t give up? There aren’t many guys like you.” He and Mikey walked towards the bikes on the side, throwing Takemichi a last glance “Think about it, Takemitchy.”
.
The walk to his house was quiet as the blonde’s mind replayed everything for the fifth time. He couldn’t believe how different Mikey was from what he had ever imagined, even though he was a delinquent like Kiyomasa, he wasn’t a bad person.
Intimidating as hell? Totally.
Eccentric? No doubt.
But Takemichi couldn’t deny there was something on the other teen that pulled him in towards his orbit and, as Takemichi surprised himself thinking, he didn’t really mind it. He wanted to give in and see what that era Mikey spoke about was like.
Even without giving them an answer, Takemichi knew that he wanted to follow Mikey on that dream.
He still wasn’t sure what it was that made them take a liking on him but who cared at that point? His teacher was right, he self-doubted himself too much. Entering his apartment and throwing himself on the couch, he came to a decision: when they asked him again, Takemichi would accept their offer. Who knows? Maybe something good would come to him along the way.
Satisfied with his decision, Takemichi pulled out his phone to answer all the messages from his friends.
__________________________________________
After the whole “Mikey incident” as people started calling it in the induction class, Takemichi became the topic of the junior course even though a few days had passed by with no news. Takemichi didn’t think much of it, after all they didn’t really give him any deadline or ultimatum nor did they give him a number or contact to call, so he figured that when the time came, they would definitely find him so what was the use of worrying?
A small voice on his brain whispered that maybe they had lost interest, after all, what could he bring to the table on a gang like that? But he quickly shushed it, not wanting to pay much mind to it.
On a more joyous news, he was now completely adjusted to his classes, so he could begin taking missions whenever he wanted. Atsushi offered to accompany him on his first job, as did Hina and the other ones which made Takemichi almost burst into tears by how touched he felt for having his friends support him so much.
But of course, life got a whole new other plan for him.
“Is this Hanagaki Takemichi’s course?” a deep voice called from the door of the classroom, making everyone shut up and turn. Takemichi almost choked on his own spit.
“D-Draken-kun!?” and wow, good job on trying to make his tone calm. Nonetheless, the tall blonde focused his eyes on him and smiled.
“Yo, Takemitchy. Are ya busy?” Takemichi blinked, clearly confused but shook his head “Great, come with me.”
And just as suddenly as he came, he left. Takemichi would have spent more time wondering what the hell had just happened if it wasn’t for Makoto and Yamagishi, nearly pushing him out of the door so he wouldn’t make Draken wait.
“The hell are you doing, Takemichi? Get the hell out!” Makoto screamed, pushing him out.
“Don’t forget you’re carrying our dreams on your shoulders! So try not to fuck it up!” Yamagishi finished, firmly closing the door on his face.
And yes, he was slow but he could recognize an insult.
“Now, wait a damn minute!”
“Takemitchy, what the hell is taking you so long? Move your ass already, Mikey is waiting for us.”
“Huh? Mikey-kun is?” He said, following behind Draken “What is it? Is something wrong?”
Draken clicked his tongue, clearly displeased by whatever Mikey had had him do.
“Nothing’s wrong, just Mikey being insufferable…” He eyed Takemitchy with a little pity. “Sorry for this Takemitchy, you’re just gonna have to bear with it a little.”
Well, if Takemichi wasn’t confused before. But all forms of questions stopped as he followed Draken towards the Shibuzen’s operation office where Mikey waited for them at the door. When he saw them an easy smile curled his lips and he waved.
“Yo, Takemitchy! Glad you could come” The smaller blonde called once they got closer to him.
“Y-yeah, good to see you again Mikey-kun,” if a little part of Takemichi felt slightly relieved, well he didn’t have to know “Uh, did something happen?” he asked as his eyes drifted to the Operation office’s closed door.
Mikey chose to ignore the question and instead, wrapped one arm around Takemichi’s shoulders, smile still present.
“Say, Takemitchy, you’re a meister right?”
“Eh? Well, yes but wha—”
“And you already have a meister's license right?”
“…Yes, why?” Takemichi felt his wariness grow as he saw Mikey’s smile slightly widen. Draken sighed behind them and he wondered just how doomed he was already.
“Great! You’re coming on a mission with us!” The smaller blonde said, as if it was already decided and Takemichi’s saying in the matter didn’t matter and okay, maybe he was a little bit of a pushover but what the actual fuck?
“What!? Mission!?”
“Yup, just got the permission, mine’s and Kenchin’s are filled already” Mikey showed him his and Draken’s license with the ‘Approved’ seal on it “yours too, you just need to accept the request and we’re good to go.”
Takemichi paled and quickly searched for his license, sure enough, under his data a mission request awaited for his confirmation or decline in deep red letters.
“Oi Mikey, I told you to wait ‘til we got here to fill the application didn’t I” the taller blonde chided with annoyance, taking his license from Mikey’s hand “And when the hell did you take my license, you asshole!?”
“But I got sooo bored Kenchin,” Mikey shrugged making a pout “you should be thanking me, what if someone took the mission while we waited?”
“Like anyone would dare, besides, that’s not even the point, we agreed we’ll ask Takemitchy if he wanted to come.”
“Huh? Wasn’t that what I just did?”
Takemichi, who had been quietly processing whatever it was that just happened, felt sympathy for Draken, as he saw the taller teen rub his face with his hand, clearly annoyed at the other tactless behavior but, as he was the one suffering directly from this whole situation, his sympathy decreased significantly.
"God you're such a dick, think a little about other people's feelings would ya." Draken turned towards him and at least had the decency of looking somewhat apologetic (not nearly as much as he should but at least it was something) "Sorry about this Takemitchy but could you just come? He's being hella annoying lately."
"Kenchin, is this how you treat your commander? That 's mutiny!" Mikey pouted.
"Shut up, shrimp."
"Huh? What'd ya say, you fucking bean pole?"
"The fuck you just called me?!"
Ok, this was way too much for Takemichi's heart. He stood in between them, trying his best to separate them as he wondered what god had he crossed to end up in this shitty situation.
"H-hey now, calm down you two! We'll get in trouble if a teacher sees this," neither said anything so the blue eyed blonde took it as a good sign and turned to look at Mikey "Mikey-kun, thank you for inviting me but i can't go with you guys. I've just recently got my license and I don't even have a partner! I'll just be a liability to you…"
Mikey looked back at him with curiosity in his eyes (and a little something else that Takemichi couldn't quite recognize) as he forgot his squabble with Draken, his head tilted to the side a little.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Eh?"
Draken sighed in what it felt was the tenth time that day.
"Takemitchy, you're just coming as support. Mikey is the lead meister and I'm his main weapon." He explained, clearly exasperated.
Oohhhh.
Mikey bursted out laughing at whatever stupid expresion he was surely making and Takemichi felt his cheeks blush. It wasn't uncommon that people went to missions as group, and the Shibusen allowed those freelancers (as they called those without established partners) meisters and weapons who were licenced and had a fairly well domain on wavelengths control to go by themselves in a group as support meisters, all under the supervision of the leader of the group known as lead meister.
Of course, in theory, Takemichi knew this already, as it was something he learned on his induction course but in practice, he may have been a little too excited on actually passing the course and receiving his license, he may have forgotten about it.
"Jeez Takemitchy, if you wanted to lead you just needed to ask" Mikey wheezed, wiping tears off his eyes. Takemichi bristled, embarrassed.
"I didn't even say that! I just forgot you could go as support for a moment!"
"Yeah, right" Draken smiled, also amused and Takemichi considered if punching him would felt good enough for him to die without regrets, but he decided against it "So that means you're coming right?"
Oh, right. He still needed to accept the request.
"U-uh, well I guess so… but I don't know if I'm good enough with wavelength control to help you guys…"
"Don't be stupid Takemitchy," the smaller blonde said, finally stopping laughing "if you got the request then that means you're good to go. They're super careful with that stuff."
' Huh… well, would you look at that… ' Takemichi thought wrestling between surprise and pride? That was first. Mikey throwed his arm on his shoulders again.
"Alrighty then, hurry up Takemitchy, we got Kishins to kill and I'm getting hungry."
The blonde considered his options one last time, it wasn't like he couldn't refuse though, it did look rather difficult, if the pitch black eyes with actual sparkles on them were anything to go by, but here he was, a newbie, being invited by the two most infamously admired and feared people on the Shibusen (and on Mizo) who, for a reason alien to him, were interested in him. Yamagishi was right, this was like a dream, to be able to hang out and learn from them.
With a brand new determination fuelling his soul, Takemichi pressed the 'Confirm' button on the request and after a second the same 'Approved' seal appeared next to his name.
"Alright, let's go to the checkpoint already then." The tall blonde turned and walked ahead, then Mikey released Takemichi so they could follow.
"Everyone wants to be the leader today," Mikey joked, looking back at him who stumbled just a little.
"Sorry about that…"
"Nah, it 's fine. It was pretty funny though," he giggled and Takemichi laughed with no real amusement "So this will be the first mission you'll go to?"
"Officially, yes" Mikey's eyes widened a little with surprise and he tilted his head again, asking silently "well, back where I lived before we were taught on the practice so they usually just throw us into the battlefield whether we were ready or not…" a chill runned down his spine at the memory.
"Huuuh, that sounds pretty chaotic, how did you manage?"
Takemichi was a little taken aback for a second because he didn't really expect Mikey to be interested enough to ask again, but he quickly recovered and continued.
"To be honest I have no idea… by all means I should be wounded or worse but I guess the 'learn on the fly' exists for a reason…"
"That means you're pretty tough then, Takemitchy" Mikey chuckled lightly "not everyone can survive something like that."
And even though he tried to deflect it, Takemichi blushed.
"I… I guess so…"
"Hey you two, the portal's ready. Stop fooling around and let's go." Draken called from the checkpoint, where the portal to wherever the mission was.
As they reached it, Takemichi felt the same pressure from that day when he thought Mikey would punch him, but this time it wasn't suffocating. It actually felt a little reassuring. He looked back at Mikey and saw black tendrils curl around his and Draken's legs.
They presented their licenses to the side screen and when the portal turned grey, they crossed it.
.
.
.
They arrived in a secluded place surrounded by trees and Takemichi could already feel the chilling sensation threatening to run through his body. The air felt grim and menacing but there was nothing there for the eye to see but trees. ‘ They must be hiding then,’ Takemichi thought, glancing cautiously at his surroundings, his body memory kicking in and unconsciously taking a defensive pose.
“Don’t worry Takemitchy,” Mikey patted his shoulder, his voice was easy and light but his stance firm and imposing, just like he was that day at the fighting circle “This is an easy one, maybe three or four lower class kishins. I’m sure you faced worse.”
And he did have a point there but Takemichi had been out of the field for too long so he rather be careful and keep an eye out. Mikey stared a little longer before shrugging.
“They’re probably hiding, the brief said they liked to attack people from the trees…” Draken looked around, stretching his arms “So what’s the plan?”
“That’s easy, we’re just gonna force ‘em out and beat them.”
“Aight. Sounds easy enough…”
Must be nice to be that relaxed, Takemichi thought.
Draken crouched as the telltale white light of a weapon’s transmutation surrounded his body and, after a flash of light, a long Naginata twirled imposingly towards Mikey’s open hand. The blonde’s arm moved just a bit to accommodate the impossibly long weapon, spinning the staff with an expertise that made Takemichi stare in awe at the masterful display. Once the weapon was comfortably set, Mikey turned to address him.
“Takemitchy, listen here, me and Kenchin are gonna stir them up a little, since they’re quite a few. I need you to send them back to us and keep an eye on the surroundings, think you can do that?"
The blonde took a look at the long blade of the Naginata, who glistened proudly in the dim light that filtered through the trees before looking back at Mikey’s calm black eyes. Feeling a renewed sense of duty, Takemichi nodded, it sounded easy enough to trust himself not to fuck up. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the sizzling feeling of his wavelengths surrounding his body and concentrating on his fist.
He felt strangely confident, his soul throbbing with an unknown vigor as a completely different sensation than the one he felt that day fighting Kiyomasa surrounded him. He wasn’t too sure if it was because this time he actually stood a chance or because of the influence Mikey and Draken brought, but when he looked back at Mikey he saw him smile pleased.
“You give me the signal, Mikey-kun.” Wow, even his voice sounded confident.
Mikey nodded and turned around to the trees at their left, with a skillful twirl of the Naginata in his hands, Takemichi watched as a silver string came out of the tip of the staff and impacted on one of the trees and Mikey, without missing a beat, dragged it so it could collide with the trees on the side. The small blonde twisted the staff and pulled the string, which Takemichi could now see was a silver chain, to wrap around his bicep and hand and pull.
The chain tensed for a moment but Mikey twisted his body for momentum and pulled again, this time, at the end of it a kishin got pulled out towards Mikey.
The kishin, a black and grey thing with long spider-like arms and legs all tangled in the chain, made a shrilling noise with its jagged beak as it was dragged towards them, but Mikey swiftly swung Draken’s blade and sliced its ugly head; the kishin's body falling to the ground as it began to disintegrate.. The trees started moving as the other kishins, alerted by the noise and the presence of their wavelengths, stirred up.
“Now, Takemitchy!”
Before he could synchronize his mind with his body, he launched at Mikey’s signal toward the moving trees. From above, the silver chain whistled with speed and then crashed into what was in the treetops. Two kishins jumped out, dodging the hit of the chain as Mikey pulled it back but Takemichi was prepared and, before the monsters could land, he punched them. The contact between his wavelength-filled fist and the kishin’s corrupted form sent a spark of red and the kishins screamed in pain.
Takemichi grabbed one kishin by the leg, always making sure his hands were protected with a thick layer of his wavelengths, and threw it with all of his force towards Mikey. The other kishin who had recovered more quickly, stood and launched itself at Takemichi who was already expecting it, connecting a kick to its side and directing him to the other blonde.
Mikey flung the chain to meet the first kishin Takemichi tossed halfway, the thing tried to fight back by digging the nails at the ends of its limbs deep on the ground, tensing the chain and causing him to stumble forward a bit with the force of the recoil. Clicking his tongue, Mikey lifted his leg and stomped hard on the chain, feeling Kenchin grumble through their bond at the rough treatment, surely there would be a scolding after this was over.
The kishin tilted forward, still gripping the dirt to avoid being pulled and Mikey spun around and stomped the other leg with the same force, tightening the hold of the chain around the kishin. From the corner of his eye, he saw the other blonde kick the other kishin and send it at him so Mikey, spinning his body once more, twisted the staff on his hand and brought it down hard at it, slicing the kishin in half. His foot closed on the chain, tightening it more as the Kishin in his hold squeaked in pain.
“Mikey-kun on your right!” Takemichi yelled and from the trees, a fourth Kishin leaped down with its claws out.
Not intimidated in the least, the small blond didn't move and let it approach until it was almost on top of him. Then, suddenly, Takemichi saw the black tendrils he had seen earlier burst out of Mikey's jacket, and shot out to pierce the kishin with sharp, hard, jet black spikes.
The spikes retreated back to Mikey’s jacket and with a last long swing, Mikey brought the blade down to slash at the two remaining kishins. Once the chain loosened when the kishin's body disintegrated, Mikey pulled it back and wrapped it around his arm. He then turned to Takemichi.
“Good job there Takemitchy! I was impressed, that was one hell of a kick.”
Takemichi blushed a little, having someone like Mikey praising him made him feel giddy. However, as he was about to return the compliment, his words got stuck in his throat as a grim sense of dread filled the air, this time much more menacing than before.
Mikey turned, alarmed by the change of atmosphere and found a single kishin, this one a little larger than the others, standing there. This one was different and they could both feel it, Mikey quickly took an attack position and Takemichi strengthened the wavelengths on his fist.
Moving slowly, Takemichi saw a black, oil-like substance ooze out of the kishin's body and his alarm grew to near panic.
"Mikey-kun, don't let Draken-kun touch it!" He screamed, running to his direction "It's madness! That kishin is infected with madness! Get away from it!"
Mikey cursed and retreated a couple of steps back, but the kishin, startled by the sudden movement and noise, screeched and lunged forward in a crazy haze, limbs and body contorting in different ways.Takemichi, arriving just in time, grabbed Mikey's wrist and pulled him behind him, squaring his fist ready to meet the kishin's attack with a wave release.
When the wavelength hit it, it let the most vicious snarl but Takemichi didn't relent, keeping his posture as he tried to maintain the control on his attack long enough so he could finish it without using more force.
Luckily for them, the wavelength release worked perfectly and the kishin halted its movement, since in the blink of an eye, its body began to disintegrate as well. As the last pieces crumbled to the ground, Takemichi turned to check on Mikey, who had a surprised expression on his face.
"Are you ok Mikey-kun?" His strained voice seemed to wake Mikey from his stupor, frowning a little.
"Me? Are you ok? That was an insane amount of wavelengths, how the hell did you do it?"
"Ah, I'm ok don't worry" Takemichi laughed sheepishly, his worry melting away seeing the other looking fine "it's a technique I learned where I used to live, there's more meisters there than weapons so they have to make do somehow I guess… it's been a while since I've used it, thank goodness it was a low class kishin."
Mikey hummed, eyes looking at him up and down with interest. He let go of the Naginata's staff as it started to shine and it turned back into Draken who also had the same surprised expression.
"That was insane Takemitchy. I've never seen someone face a madness infestation, how'd you know how to handle it?" Takemichi scratched his cheek, a little uncomfortable at the attention.
"Well, they're more common in the countryside since more witches tend to hide there, so the meisters tend to be better at wavelength control…"
"That felt like a pro move though, did they teach you that?" Mikey was again invading his personal space but Takemichi didn't mind as much this time.
"I don't think 'teaching' is the right way to call it… it was more like, either learn or suffer the consequences…"
Draken whistled, impressed and Mikey smiled excitedly.
"That was really cool Takemitchy, you really saved us there."
"Yeah, if either Mikey or I had touched that nasty shit it would have been ugly since weapons are more sensible to it."
"Yeaahh, it sucks that we're the ones who get the worst part, it's totally unfair."
Takemichi laughed at Mikey's pout.
"Well it can't be helped since weapons have two types of wavelengths and… meisters don't… wait, did you just say 'we'?"
Mikey and Draken looked at him as if he had grown another head.
"Well duh," the smaller blonde said matter of factly "I'm also a weapon after all."
Huh?
"What!? You're a weapon!?"
The other two shared a look of fond annoyance. Mikey put his arm on his shoulders once again and Draken rested one arm on his head, both of them laughing at the other's dumbfounded look.
"Jeez Takemitchy, how can you be so sharp for some things and so slow for others."
"Seriously, you just saw me solidify my wavelength Takemitchy."
' Oohhh, so that's what that black thing was… ' he dumbly thought, Draken and Mikey laughed again.
"You're really interesting Takemitchy," Mikey patted his shoulder. "How 'bout you come to Touman's meeting with us?"
"E-eh? Can I?"
"I'll say, after helping us out here you're welcome to come."
"Then it's decided! You'll come with us, Takemitchy! Kenchin, let's eat the souls and get outta here."
Takemichi blinked and looked at the little shiny red orbs floating where the kishin's bodies had faded.
"You're gonna eat them?" he said with a little aversion but Mikey and Draken had already moved to grab two souls each.
"Of course," Mikey was already munching on one of the souls, swallowing it with a satisfied sigh "nothing beats eating the soul of the kishin you just finished."
Takemichi grimaced a little. "Does it taste that good?"
Mikey hummed for a moment, pondering on his answer "It's more like a sensation than a taste… you could say it's a unique feeling."
"Hey Mikey, I counted four but I don't see the soul of the one infected, we have to report it back to the Shibusen."
"Ahh, kishins infected with madness have no souls Draken-kun. The virus destroys their souls." Takemichi explained.
"No wonder why I couldn't see it," he heard Mikey whisper under his breath, "leave it Kenchin, they'll look into it anyway. Let's go back."
Draken called out the same portal from the Shibusen and when it appeared, Mikey stood there and looked at Takemichi.
"C'mon Takemitchy, I'll introduce you to the rest of Touman."