Rearranging Fate | Tokyo Revengers x OC

75 • Devotion

Fortunately, breakfast wasn't awkward.

Also, Inui turned out to be a decent cook even if he struggled to keep his eyes away from the fire, so seemingly entranced that Kokonoi had to knock or poke his shoulder.

"I apologize for sleeping in." Safe to say, Inui was pretty embarrassed when he found himself curled up on the guest room bed, the embarrassment intensifying when he saw Reina already up and awake by the time he got out of bed.

"You were injured. I'd be even more concerned if you didn't sleep in." They had given her the summary of what happened with Mucho; got kidnapped, got beaten up—Reina had praised Inui for biting Mucho, but immediately told him to brush his teeth—and coerced, got dragged to the quartet of the first division, got beaten up and coerced again, and finally got saved by her.

She must say that the outcome was pretty mild considering she had expected Tenjiku to incapacitate them. Akise had also told her that Baji and the others were fine and discharged, so the chances of them still fighting in the upcoming battle were high.

"When we were with Mucho, he told us Izana was planning on using my financial power, Kisaki's brains, Mikey's charisma, and your experience," Kokonoi informed her. "Doesn't that mean he won't try to kill you?"

"He's trying to drag me to the underworld again, then." Rolling the lollipop in her mouth, Reina pressed her temples together, laughing bitterly. "Goddammit, is it really that hard to escape that path?"

"This isn't going the same path the time leaper told you."

"Who knows if it will?" Shrugging, Reina internally hoped that the future Takemichi mentioned wouldn't happen. But she knew where she stood in the face of time and fate. "Sometimes, I feel like it's already written by fate...feels like no matter how hard I try, I always end up at that bloody path."

"Will you keep on trying though?"

She should say she could. She should be a good leader to Inui and tell him she definitely could. But even if she wanted to, she didn't think she could swim upwards again. She had drowned once and was still stuck in the water. She didn't think she could take it if she drowned a second time.

It was fine for Kokonoi or Inui to make a wrong decision because she would be there to set them straight before they could fall into the water. But she couldn't say the same for herself. If she drowned, there was no guarantee anybody could reach her.

"To be honest, I don't think I can," she admitted, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "Anyway, the fight is tomorrow and if they're not after my head, then we need to find out whose head they're after."

There was no time to mull over a future that could or could not happen, and she knew she would do anything to change that future.

"We know Mikey will die and you'll...that." Kokonoi cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "If they have a gun, it certainly will be easy to kill even Mikey. But if the target is neither of you, then they shouldn't need a gun, right?"

"Why not?"

"Coming from someone who's never held a gun before, won't they think it's too risky?" Hypothesized the advisor. "They don't have any experience and the chances of them missing and killing someone other than their target is high."

"They don't care about that though."

"What if that 'someone else' is Mikey or you?"

Nibbling her knuckles, Reina could find some logic in Kokonoi's theory. As someone experienced with guns, she was confident that not even her crappy eyesight could prevent her from firing a clean headshot. But Kisaki was different, and perhaps that was why she was getting nowhere. She had been putting Kisaki on the same level of experience as her and thought of too many complex scenarios when he didn't have the power to do most of them.