Chapter Text
Takemichi blinked as his blood matted hair stuck to his face as he laid there on the cold and wet ground- which got warmer and warmer as time passed by.
His first thought was- why was Mikey still hitting him? Because that was logical to think at a situation like this, wasn't it?
The curly-blonde had lost count of how many times he had gotten hit, but by how dizzy he felt- he knew that it was much more than he could take.
There was a ringing at the back of his head, and his head felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton.
He felt as if he was floating- the pain of the blows mixing together with every hit that he had taken till now through out all his life.
He knew, that there were others around them- watching them- watching Mikey as he landed hits over and over again, never letting him take a break.
Takemichi wondered at that moment why no one was moving to stop Mikey?
When he had tried to save all of them, putting his life on the line to just protect them and their futures... why was there no one beside him now?
His eyes drifted to the side, as he looked at everyone that stood there- frozen.
The little princess of Brahman stared at the two of them as she held on to her passed out brother on the ground. Other members of Brahman came and Takemichi watched, his heart feeling both heavy and light with the fact that they would be safe now, that he had saved them from dying today at the hands of Mikey.
Koko and Inui were glued to their places next to Sanzu, on the ground and unable to move. It was to be expected he guessed- after all, he had been scared of Mikey the first time he had seen him too...
His gaze drifted to the other side, and Takemichi knew, that if he had any more tears left to cry- he would have done so as soon as his eyes landed on his old friend. Kaku was also crying, as he struggled to get out of the hold that the Haitani brothers had on him, as they tried to drag him away from the fight. It made him relieved somewhat, to see that he wasn't leaving Kaku alone, that he had those around him that cared for him at the end of the day...
His gaze lingered after them for a while, before he turned towards the broken boy that stood in front of him, as he delivered his punches without a break.
Even though it was Mikey who was on top of him, with every punch that blocked his vision- he changed to those that Takemichi failed.
One second, Mikey faded away to Baji, before Hinata, Chifuyu, Emma, Izana, Draken... and so on.
He felt his lips twitch, as he thought about how funny it was- that the person that he had wanted to save the most was going to kill him once again.
Right- Takemichi was dying… again...
He blinked slowly, and stared at the clearing grey sky.
''Takamichi, please save everyone.
Save Hinata,
Save Draken,
Save Baji,
Save Kazutora,
Save Mikey,
Save Souya,
Save Mitsuya,
Save Naoto,
Toman founding members are my treasure,
Mikey and Toman, I'm leaving them in your hands...
I leave Baji-san's and Toman's will to you, partner
I'll do all I can do
It's over, all my life I have been suffering...
Please... save me,
Please take care of Mikey, okay?,
You are my pride...
I leave the princess of Brahman to you,
Our crybaby hero,
Takamichi, tell this to Mikey... I've done, all I can do... I'm dying. You saved me, so I'll gladly put my life on the line for you... Please take care of Mikey.
Tell me, how would you like to die?
Not like this, not with unkept promise's, not without having been able to see them have their happy endings...
The blue eyed boy had been so tired lately, had felt empty and hopeless for the last couple of days- or maybe he had felt like that ever since Baji’s death…
And even though he had unkept promises, the knowledge that he was going to die soon brought some kind of relief to him.
He had seen too many futures that had ended up cruelly, too many times where he had wished to take back something that he had done... Too many times that he had wished for all of it to end.
The blonde wasn't sure when he had become the way he had, just when he had started to wish for everything to dissappear- but he knew that he wouldn't be thinking like this, if he hadn't messed up that much in the past, only if he had managed to save Baji- he wouldn't have doomed all of them with the cruel fate that lied in front of them.
He hadn’t cared about what happened to him ever since Hina had died right in front of his eyes… The only important thing had been protecting everyone, making sure that they got their deserved happy ever after in the end… but now-
But maybe, every thing would have still gotten messed up one way or another. Maybe there was no way of escaping this cycle of pain and loneliness from the beginning.
He guessed that the only thing that had kept him going had been the promises that he had made in the last couple of years. Because there was nothing else to keep going for.
No one had really cared about him after all,
Naoto had asked him to save Hinata, and had only cared about her safety from the beginning.
Draken had only been there because of Mikey's interest in him- just like the rest of Toman.
And Mikey had only been interested in him because of how much he had resembled his brother- and nothing else.
Takemichi had always been lonely, in the past, the future and would be lonely where ever he went.
Because that was the thing.
He was cursed to be a lonely from the moment that he had been born, till the moment that he died.
The only ones that had reached out to him had done so because of how he had seemed reliable in their eyes, because they had thought that they could trust him with his promises...
And Takamichi had kept his promises to some extent, hadn't he?
He had looked after them, had given his best just to save everyone…
The weak boy blinked, and looked back at Mikey, who was now looking up at the sky.
He looked the boy over a couple of times, and slowly blinked once again as he struggled to breath. The curly-blonde realized that Mikey must have landed a couple hits to his chest too, from the way that his insides burned.
THe boy that layed on the ground tried to take a deep breath, only to cough up blood instead.
Blood spilled from his lips and onto his chest- the small cough shaking his weak body to it's core.
That seemed to gain the blonde's attention, as Mikey looked down on him, his gaze screaming bloodshed and promising pain to whatever his sight landed on.
And lucky for him, Takemitchy was the only one that he could see at that moment.
The long haired boy raised his hand up to the air, to continue where he had left off... but all the strength left Takemichi before the hit landed and blue eyes fluttered close slowly, to never shine ever again...
Mikey's hits still fell on the boy's body however, as the blonde did not stop to realise that the boy under him was long gone.
More hits fell on his lifeless face, chest and torso... before the victorious boy finally stopped, letting out a scream that resembled a feral animal.
For the first time in years, Manjiro Sano cried in front of others, not caring what they thought... not caring that it seemed as if it seemed like he had lost the fight...
And yet his cries were unheard by Takemichi, as the boy keept on laying there, long gone- thinking that Mikey had hated him during his last moments... While Mikey stayed on top of him, his tears not stopping for what felt like hours...