Not Alone Anymore (Tokyo Revengers fanfiction) ~English~

Prologue

Deep down, Takemichi knew that saving Mikey wasn't something he would be able to do, not under the currently existing circumstances.

Nonetheless, he never gave up. (Recently, he questioned this decision more and more frequently.) He would be lying however, if he said the thought never crossed his mind.

It happened for the first time when Draken died. He was overcome with the feeling that all his efforts were pointless, that he was constantly making things worse, no matter what he tried to do, no matter how much he wanted the best for his friends. For a split second, a question surfaced in his mind; what if he just stopped playing the hero? This role has pretty spectacularly rejected his whole being, so why bother if it always ends with the same results? Kneeling beside Draken's weakening body, he felt as if no matter what he did after this, he could no longer experience true victory, that the vision he had dreamed of was steadily creeping away from him, until it was just an elusive, distant dot on the horizon. He felt lost, defeated and useless. However, he had no choice and had to stand up and save what could still be saved. (He didn't want to notice the emptiness in his soul, which was growing after each death, but he couldn't ignore the accusing words of the deceased, even though he knew they weren't real, not really.)

Takemichi made a promise. He couldn't give up, so he had no choice but to keep going, even if he had no idea what the next right step would be.

The moment he placed his hand on South's chest and felt the young man's heart stop beating, he knew that Mikey was lost, that the better future he had tried to achieve for so long had fallen apart for good this time, now truly out of reach. Despite this, he still led the Second Generation of Toman, recruited members and then led the gang into battle; into a fight that was a last, weak gleam of hope for all of them, a doomed plan, an impossible task.

A fatal mistake.

He considered himself lucky when Kaku-chan came to his aid after he decided to track down Sanzu, but if he had known what his childhood friend would have to pay for that, he certainly wouldn't have accepted his help. As Takemichi stood next to Kaku-chan's corpse, almost obsessively searching for the pulse of his now clearly dead friend, the thought that what he was doing was not right in the first place emerged in his mind; that even a bright future for Mikey is not worth the sacrifice of innocent people. People who actually had a future. (Those whom Takemichi deprived of their future during his futile, hopeless endeavors.) Indeed, Draken lost his life protecting him; his death was ultimately his fault. (Chifuyu was right all along, there must be something seriously wrong with him.) Kaku-chan also protected him when he suffered his fatal injury; although Sanzu wielded the sword, Takemichi felt the blood of his childhood friend (and everyone else he could have saved but was too weak to do anything useful) stick to his hands.

Taiju's sudden appearance on the battlefield surprised everyone, and he was no exception; the overwhelming, incredible shock and the short but motivating speech of his former enemy managed to push his doubts, fears and his own pain into the back of his mind again. (He knew that if he didn't try to do something now, it would all be over.)

Takemichi knew that regardless of the arrival of his new ally, his former goal was still unachievable; nothing could change that fact... But maybe, if he didn't give up, he could fix things somewhat.. That's what he thought. (His indescribable level of naivety, which has been shown to be indestructible, proved to be dangerous this time as well.)

He made another mistake (he was only capable of doing this, lately) when he gave his full attention to Mikey, completely forgetting about Sanzu and Hanma; the pink haired's weapon shed blood again, this time Taiju's. And although the young man got back on his feet with the help of his younger brother, the rapidly growing red puddle on the ground under him made it clear that he would not be able to pull through. (Another life that will be lost thanks to his continuous carelessness and weakness...)

In the end, Mikey released his Dark Impulses..

It didn't matter that many Toman members were standing anew, Mikey sent everyone back to the dust, one after the other, not sparing even his own allies. It only took a few moments, and the Invincible Mikey stood victorious once again. He stared blankly ahead of him, then like an emotionless puppet, he slowly turned his head towards Takemichi and gazed at him silently for a short while.

The second their eyes met, Takemichi knew he wasn't going to survive this time. The thought didn't terrify him, his feet weren't rooted to the ground, the fear he was waiting for wasn't there. Somewhat taken aback (Who would have thought that right before his death his mind wouldn't be filled with terror?), he waited with a calm heart for Mikey to reach him.

His worries and problems were almost dispelled, and a kind of quiet contentment settled over his slightly foggy mind; he did everything, he tried ceaselessly. Although it wasn't enough, he was filled with a bit of happiness. He found it timely that he would finally get some closure; not the kind he fought and bled for, but at least he will be able to finally rest... Yeah, that didn't sound bad at all. It was time to finally give up this hopeless struggle.

He just hoped that no one else would lose his life but him. That his death would adequately satisfy Mikey's Dark Impulses.

As his would-be killer approached him, he heard some people calling his name, but he tried to ignore it. (He didn't want his last memory to be the desperate cries of his friends in addition to the pain Mikey caused.)

Soon, Takemichi waited patiently for the series of merciless, powerful blows to be replaced by the familiar darkness. He hoped he wouldn't have to wake up ever again..

I hope that if you have found this fanfic, you will give it a chance! :)

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The Beta Reader: AmiChan369 (ao3)