Chapter Text
Hanagaki Takemichi doesn’t know what he did to deserve this.
When he’d woken up that morning to the news of his old girlfriend’s death, he’d been sad, sure. He thought about how sweet she was and how happy he’d been when he was fourteen with her, and how badly he’d treated her when they dated anyway. It also reminded him about how miserable his life was, so there’s that. And he’s already unhappy enough without thinking about Tachibana Hinata’s death, so he resolved not to, no matter how awful it was.
So, he gets up and gets dressed and goes to work and tries to think about literally anything else. Then, when he’s waiting in the subway to go home and thinking about what he would make for dinner, someone pushes him in front of the train. What the fuck.
He sees the approaching headlights, presses his eyes closed, and barely has time to think Hinata—
And then, nothing.
And then, everything. Sound bursts through his ears so suddenly he falls over, and wasn’t he already on the ground? He opens his eyes, and he’s not on the train tracks anymore but still underground, and there are people everywhere, and his heart is beating out of his chest, and someone is calling his name and—
Akkun?
Is that Atsushi? There’s Yamagishi and Yamamoto and Suzuki behind him, too. Fuck, when was the last time he even saw them? More than ten years ago, probably. Is this the afterlife? He doesn’t think his middle school friends died, but then again, how would he have known?
“Takemichi,” Akkun’s leaning over him, brow furrowed with concern. “You okay?”
“W—What’s going on?” Takemichi manages to stutter.
“You tripped and fell.” He laughs and extends his hand to help him up. He has that terrible pompadour from middle school, before everything went to shit. It makes Takemichi want to cry. “Are you crying already? Come on, we’re gonna miss the train.”
Takemichi stumbles behind Akkun to the train doors that are opening, where the rest of their friends are waiting. He hesitates in the doorway –fuck, what’s going on?!– but gets in before anyone questions him. The doors close behind him, and he leans against them, breathing heavily.
“Hey.” Takemichi looks at Yamamoto, who is frowning at him. “What's wrong with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I don’t know,” He sighs, sliding down to the floor just as he hears a mobile phone notification sound. He digs through his pocket and pulls out a flip-flop phone. What. Why would he have that. He opens the phone and sees the date and it says it’s July 4th 2005. What the fuck.
He breathes in and out slowly. He needs to calm down and think. He woke up and found out Tachibana Hinata was dead. Fact. He was pushed onto the train tracks when the train was arriving. Fact. He had seen the train in front of him and heard the gasps of the people around him. Fact. He had felt the impact. Fact. No one could survive that. Fact. His whole body hurts. Fact.
His friends are in front of him. They were the last friends he’d ever had. When he ran away when he was sixteen, he’d left everything behind, including them, and never wanted to make new friends after that. It’s been over 10 years. It was probably the last time he was happy. Fact.
This must be some sort of afterlife or dream or whatever, he decides. It’s nice, that it took him back to those times. Takemichi breathes in deeply. He should enjoy this.
He looks down at his phone and sees a message from Hinata. He breathes out. Okay.
Okay, he can do this.
He cannot do this. It turns out that whoever is in charge of the afterlife placed him in the day that Kiyomasa fucker made them into slaves. This isn’t heaven, it’s hell. He tries to think about ways to get out of it, but he’s been a coward all his life and refuses to keep running even after death, and he can’t leave his friends to face that fate alone, dream or not. He tries to make them see reason, but they’ve made up their minds. Fuck. Well, if there’s one thing he can do well, it’s taking a beating. He’ll figure out the rest later.
He barely remembers what went on that day, only the humiliation and pain he’d felt, and he’s ready for it this time. Except before he leaves, Kiyomasa tells them they’re now property of the Tokyo Manji Gang. The Tokyo Manji Gang. Isn’t that the one responsible for Hinata’s death? He’s sure of it.
But Hinata is alive here. She’s alive.
He needs to see her.
He manages to get up from the ground, pain coursing through his already hurt body, says goodbye to his friends, and runs straight to where she lived. He still remembers it, even after all this time. He’s passing the park by her house when he suddenly loses his courage. How would he go up to her after that brutal beating, looking like a train had run him over? And a train had ran him over, what the fuck? And he’d been such an awful boyfriend to her and—
“Takemichi? What are you doing here?” A sweet voice speaks from behind him. His breath gets stuck in his chest.
“Hinata.” Takemichi says breathlessly, turning around slowly. She’s so young.
He starts crying immediately.
“Takemichi?!” Hinata rushes forward and hugs him. “Are you okay?! What happened to you? You look awful.”
“Nothing. Y—You don’t need to worry.”
“Of course I worry. I’m your girlfriend. You need to tell me what happened, please.” She begs. He pulls back to look at her. She’s so young. And he’s her boyfriend. Except he’s not, not really. Her boyfriend is fourteen-year-old Takemichi, not whoever he is right now. If he is to stay here, he needs to break up with her.
“Hinata… I’m sorry.”
“For what? You haven’t done anything wrong. If anyone is giving you a hard time, tell me, and I’ll fix it, I promise.” She gives him that look of determination he had forgotten, and he’s so happy she’s alive. Who would be evil enough to kill a girl like her?
“No, I’m sorry. I just thought— I think we should break up.” He swallows as he watches her face fall. “I’m not being fair to you, and I’m sorry. I do love you, but I think it’s more like a friendly love, and I don’t want to string you along. I’m sorry… I hope you can find it in you to stay friends with me, anyway.”
“Takemichi…” She’s crying now, fuck. He hates that, but it’s better than staying with her. He’d feel like such a creep. “It’s okay, I understand. And I love you too. We are friends but… I think I’ll need some space.”
“I understand. I’m sorry.” He watches as she runs back to her house. He can’t get over how young she looks and how she’ll die before she turns thirty if he doesn’t do anything about it. But what can he do?
“Hey!” Takemichi cries out. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, ganging up on a kid like that?!”
“Huh? Who the fuck are you, punk?” One of the thugs that was harassing the little kid says. Honestly, the kid looks like he’s nine years old, for fucks’ sake, what is he doing outside this late?
Takemichi picks up a beer bottle from the ground and breaks it against the swing's metal pole. “Fucking try me.” Where is he getting this confidence from? Must be one death’s secondary effects, to stop giving a fuck. Whatever it is, it scares the thugs enough to leave.
“T—Thank you,” The kid mumbles out once Takemichi is near enough.
“It’s okay…. You know, you’re young, but you need to learn how to stand your ground. Otherwise, people will take advantage of you all your life and— eh? Aren’t you Hinata’s little brother?”
“Yes, I’m Tachibana Naoto.” The kid perks up, looking up at him with the same big, sweet eyes of his sister. “How did you know? Do you know my sister?”
Takemichi meets his eyes and remembers that Hinata dies with her brother, who is just a kid who probably had to watch his sister die.
Fuck.
“Yes. Well,” Takemichi winces. “Uh, we were a couple? Not anymore but… Tell me, Tachibana. Do you believe in premonitions?”
“What?” Poor kid. He looks so confused.
“Never mind about that. I need you to promise me something. Let’s say it’s in exchange for me saving you right now, yeah?”
“Um. Okay?”
“This is very important,” Takemichi insists, taking him by the shoulders with a serious expression. Maybe if he does this one thing, he could reach the real afterlife instead of being stuck in this hell. “I had one of those. It was like a nightmare. Twelve years from now, on July 1st 2017, something bad will happen to you and your sister. And a few days later, I'll get pushed in front of a train, how crazy is that?” He laughs bitterly. How fucking pathetic can his life be?
“What.”
“Anyway, you need to be careful and not get into anything dangerous. I know you probably don’t believe me, and I don’t really care. But you need to remember this date, even if it’s just to laugh at me in the future, yeah? Put it on a calendar or your diary or whatever but don’t forget. It’s very, very important.”
Tachibana blinks rapidly. He has an ugly looking bruise on the apple of his cheek, and he’s so thin and small. If Hinata looked young, Naoto is like a baby. Takemichi probably shouldn’t have told him anything.
But he’s desperate, and he doesn't know what to do.
He releases his shoulder to be able to extend a hand to him. “Promise me. Please.”
“Okay,” Tachibana says softly. He doesn’t look at Takemichi like he’s crazy. He just takes what he threw at him and promises. Hinata’s brother, indeed. “July 1st 2017. I’ll remember. I promise.”
Tachibana extends his hand.
As soon as their hands touch, all Takemichi knows is pain.