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Fighting is the best way to get through to people. That’s what he’s learned so far, fighting together, winning and losing together, letting it all out physically, it’s the best way to understand another person. He knew once upon a time; the other boy felt the same way. He was the reason why he felt this way in the first place.
Now though. He thinks that this boy fights just to fight, just to feel something. When you’re so untouchable the one thing you crave is to be touched. That’s his best guess for now, at least. He's touched upon the invincible skin, held his hand as he choked on his own blood, he was able to see the real him in the tears that streaked down his face. It was a horrible memory, but it made him smile. It made him remember the purpose he had, why he was here, why he was even breathing. He just made him happy.
Ever since it happened, he's been refraining from using his name, the name he knows him by, loves him by. He hopes that he's been doing the same. He doesn't want to taint the memories he last had of him. Not with the image of his shit getting rocked by the same boy who pouted over flags not being in his food. He replays that moment in his head, trying to remember if the fist pounding into his cheeks uttered a word to him. If they had any meaning or if it just hurt. He hoped to hear a hidden I miss you, I want you here, why did you ever leave me, please come back. He did not get that.
When he knocked out Kakucho with one punch, and Mikey looked shocked, his feet felt light, he could have been flying, when he told Mikey he was next, he felt excited. This, of course, was before Kakucho got up, and before Sanzu managed to get a secret degree in fucking train conducting. And, before Sanzu said the words "time leaper" and followed that by, "too?", he didn't know what to think. He wasn't really thinking at all in fact, he might've had three thoughts while this whole thing was happening, and it was along the lines of, we need to win, shit, and fuck.
He had no clue how to stop a train, he was pressing every single button frantically, panic tears starting to well up in his eyes. This was pretty fucking bad, he couldn't even process words that were being said at him, nothing at all. When the train finally comes to a screeching halt, he puts his hand on his chest and collapses onto the dirty floor. As he slowly climbed his body up, he's met with dark eyes, covered in little splats of blood that most definitely isn't his. He feels waves crash against his back, as if he was standing under a running waterfall. He gulped, and he ran out of the train on clumsy messy feet.
"Manjirou!" His voice felt hoarse, his body felt heavy, and his heart on fire, his hands were clammy. It was like asking a boy to meet you after class and confessing to him. Not something he'd had a lot of experience in but has read enough of Chifuyu's shoujo manga's to be familiar with. He had no clue what to say, he had spent a considerable amount of time in the shower going over what exactly he would say to get this boy to stop in his tracks and call off the battle, but his mouth went dry. "You." it felt weird to be addressed so distantly, there was no Takemitchy with a smile painted across his lips. No excited chatter, no loud laughter, no immaturity. He acted as if he had no history with him, like he was just a thorn in his side. It pissed him off, but he couldn't really register that as an emotion.
He walked closer and closer to the boy, no, to the man. The man began to get ready to fight but Takemichi just grabbed his wrists. The man was stunned. "I had so many ideas of what I wanted to say to you, but all I can think of is how much of an idiot you truly are." The man started to move his legs, getting ready to pull out a lightning-fast kick, but Takemichi got closer to him. Closer than Mikey did when they first met. He was centimeters away from his face.
“Why are you doing this? Or, What is this?” Mikey was moving, and fast, he didn’t have time to do anything but block as best as he could. “I don’t understand Manjirou! Help me understand, that’s all i’ve ever wanted!” He stops.
“How can you be such an idiot.” Takemichi is at a blank, unsure of what to even say to that. Words aren’t fighting, he wasn’t used to someone talking back to him in his tangents on why someone should change. He was more used to “Shut the hell up” or “Eat shit and die runt!” not whatever this was.
Takemichi was at a loss for words when his words mattered more than they ever would.
“Then help me not be an idiot, Manjirou. Please.” The other boy inhaled sharply, like saying his name as please was the equivalent as ripping off a bandaid that’s been stuck to you for weeks. It looks like he’s in pain. But he’s probably alway in pain.
“I’m the other time leaper.”
And Takemichi’s world crashes in on itself.
“Only I’m not just leaping through time, i’m leaping through universes. It’s why every future you go to is so shit, because I ruin it, because it’s me.”
It doesn’t make sense, why would Mikey intentionally fuck up his own life? Because he’s sad? Takemichi has dealt with fucking up your own life. He should be the king of it at this point. But he doesn’t understand killing all your friends, ruining life long friendships, isolating yourself completely and becoming the worlds most wanted criminal. He doesn’t understand endorsing things like hard drugs, murder, and rape. He doesn’t understand this as hard as he wills himself to.
“Why?”
Mikey laughs. Takemichi grabs his wrist, “tell me why.”
“A long time ago, I tried to save my brother, save Draken, save Emma, save Baji, even Izana. Every time I would fail. One would die, or all would die, or they would go down the wrong path, something. I couldn’t live without these people. I knew i needed them, I thought I had been given the chance to make my life okay again. Make everything perfect. I was wrong.”
Takemichi holds his tongue, despite wanting to tell him that he does live, that he can go on, that it isn’t that way really.
“I realized, what if I was given this gift not to fix anything at all? That those people were meant to be dead to corrupt me. I was supposed to be the villain. I didn’t like that. But I became the villain I was supposed to be, so that a hero could come swooping by. But I can’t let you win. I’m never going to let you beat me, because the same world that wanted me to be the villain, that pushed me to this, is the world that wants you to win.”
Takemichi feels his heart break.
“In my original life, I never knew you. When I started to jump from universe to universe with more and more memories of you, I was intrigued. When I was left with the memory of you telling me you were a time leaper, I knew the universe sent me their hero.”
This isn’t the Mikey he knew. This really is Manjirou. But it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t care, saving Manjirou means saving Mikey. It doesn’t matter. He has to save him. He has to save him no matter what.
Because he loves his Mikey. He loves the man who made him who he is today. He doesn’t even know where he would be today without his Mikey. He wouldn’t stand half as strong.
“Don’t you see how pointless all of this is? How none of it matters, how in every universe it will always end badly? It’s not worth it. By destroying every reality i walk into, im getting my revenge. Don’t you understand what that means?”
“No! No, I don’t understand! For every fucked up irredeemable future and universe their is, I hope there’s thousands, no, millions! Millions of universes that are perfect and peaceful and lovely! Where every single person is happy, and every single person feels content with the choices they’ve come to make! I can’t understand your revenge! Because this isn’t your revenge, this is you making yourself believe that there is no good in this world. My revenge is remembering that you were the good, no the best, in my world.”
They were both panting, and not a fist has been raised. Takemichi looks deep into Mikey’s eyes “I love you. Can’t you understand that? I love you, Mikey.” His eyes look lighter, it reminds him of when he was clinging onto him for dear life, not allowing Mikey to kill himself.
Mikey begins to cry, and Takemichi just knows how to hold him. He hushes him, and scolds him for all his actions. He kisses the top of his head, and hums. Everyone around them in gawking. Does this mean that Toman won…?