☆ ⨾ letters to toman

[2]

Dear Chifuyu,

My cool partner! When I give this to you, I'll most likely have told you not to open it until you deem it necessary. So, if you've opened it now, I need you to know a few things. It's strange writing to you when I could always just tell you, but I feel like this is the best way to go. Besides, you never know who's listening, right? Now onto the stuff you gotta know!

The main thing, the important thing, I'm a time traveler. Crazy, right? You probably won't believe this, you'll look at this letter and think I'm joking. I'm not, I swear.

I kept going back in attempts to save Hina... you know how much I care for her. But she's always... dying. Then I met you, and Baji, and Mikey, and everyone else. It got so complicated. But I'm not blaming you for anything! I'm not complaining either— I don't regret meeting you. But I kept going back and every future was messed up.

One way or another, you all died. And you... you died right in front of my eyes, Chifuyu. It was terrible, seeing your body on the floor. I vowed to save you, so I came back and you were added to the people who I wanted to save. The list grew.

I wanted to save Baji.

I wanted to be able to save him for everyone's sake. But somehow every single factor that was important was screwed over. Somehow Baji was the one who had... had dug the knife into himself. Kazutora who originally was supposed to die by Mikey's hands was now alive and put in jail. I won't lie to you when I felt a little relief when Mikey didn't kill Kazutora, but then I saw you... your broken expression and tears when Baji died, and I felt guilty. Why did I feel relief when someone who I wanted to save had died?

I know you've blamed yourself, Chifuyu. It isn't your fault. It was never your fault. Please remember that.

Now, onto the other point of this letter. Why am I writing it in the first place? Well, since you're my best friend, you get special privileges. In a previous future— a more recent one— I was shot by Kisaki. A good friend of mine pushed me out of the way and took most of the bullets for me, but I still got shot. He.. that good friend of mine, I'm not sure whether he made it or not because he shook hands with me. For a final time, he shook hands with me and saved me by making me come back.

What does that have to do with this? I thought about it and well, I feel as though eventually I'm gonna reach an end to this journey. Whether I saved you all or not, I know something might happen to me. I barely escaped death because of that friend, and other instances where I should have been dead... I've always been saved by someone. But how long until my luck runs out? There won't always be someone to save me, so I'm writing this as a "just in case" type of thing.

In case I don't make it. In case I meddle too much. Messing around with gangs, especially ones that are strong and have powerful leaders, those gangs will one day get the best of me. So I'm taking the time to explain all of this to you, so that you don't feel any guilt when you aren't able to save me. I'm willing to make a sacrifice. The sacrifice of my own life in order for the rest of you— whom I love with all my heart— to have a good future where everything is alright.

You'll probably curse me out, calling me a dumbass for being okay with dying. Scolding me because I didn't have to sacrifice myself and leave you alone. But you have Toman. That will always be your family, Chifuyu. You will never be alone. Me doing all of this will guarantee that you won't be left alone. Not again.

This is probably a lot to take in, but I know you'll understand it. You're Chifuyu Matsuno, my right hand man! I think you're the only one who I'll go deep into explanation with. So if you want to tell the others... I wont mind. They deserve to know, of course. Just make sure they don't feel guilty too, okay? I'm counting on you for that and that only.

Even after all this— now knowing that I had the power to change the way the future came out— I hope we're still friends, I hope you don't mind.

Thanks for giving me the best years of my life,
Hanagaki Takemichi.