A Future Without You is Soon |Mikey x OC|

Chapter Forty-Six

   After Senju parted ways with Takemichi and he saw the vision of her laying in the ground as she slowly bled out, he admittedly had spaced a little. What the hell even was it?

   The image of Senju on the ground, smiling up at him in a way that seems morbid...

   It's burned into his eyes. What was it?

   "Takemicchi!" Draken says. Takemichi looks up at Draken. "What's up?"

   "Ah, sorry..." Takemichi says. "I was...thinking about something."

   Draken raises a brow. "Well, whatever," he says. "We're here." Just like the last time he was here, Takemichi is suprised by the brothel. The outside looks the same as he remembers it.

   "You're still living here?" Takemichi asks. The enter the building. Draken presses the key to open the elevator door, light following the outline around it.

   "I can't make a living selling bikes yet," Draken explains. "They're letting me stay until then."

   "Fourth floor, right?"

   "Wow, nice memory."

   Takemichi looks at the panel. It takes him a moment to find the fourth floor. "Let's see... Ah, there it is." Takemichi presses the button. Just like with Senju, his vision blurs for a moment.

   His hand is red. Blood? Maybe. It's on his shirts too.  And it's no small amount. Takemichi can almost feel its warmth on his hand.

   "Huh?" Takemichi says, snapping himself out of it and Draken's attention to him. Takemichi claws at his shirt, but...

   Nothing.

   It's clean.

   "What...?" He mutters to himself.

   "You good?" Draken asks. Takemichi perks and looks at his friend. Draken's face is contorted in confusion. Takemichi isn't sure what he should say. He's fine, but...rattled.

   "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," he says. What was that though? It happened twice, which might not mean anything. The stuff he saw...what if it's...

   No, it's probably nothing. He should worry about it later.

   The dinging of the elevator pull Takemichi from his shallow thoughts.

   "I'm home!" Draken calls.

    "Oh?" A man at the counter asks. He's got blonde hair and a dark goatee.

   "Takemicchi, meet Masamichi~san. He's the one who raised me," Draken says, leaning in the wall by the opening to the counter. Takemichi bows deeply.

   "Nice to meet you! Even though I've been here before," Takemichi says.

   Draken waves at Takemichi to follow him. He does after an awkward wave to the man Draken just introduced him to. Draken walks down a hallway. Women peek out from their rooms. They greet Draken several ways—mostly thanks and asking about plans. One even asks to touch his abs. Takemichi's expression flattens. He doesn't get how Draken keeps his sanity and lives here, but if this is normal to him, who's Takemichi to judge.

   He's twenty-six and from the future, after all.

   Takemichi doesn't see the girl who mistook him for a client though. "Are the same girls from last time here?" Takemichi finds himself asking out of curiosity. They make it to a room at the end of the hallway. Draken takes out his keys as he hums.

   "Not a single one," Draken says. "Guess everything is changing."

   Draken pushes the door open. It bigger than the last room Draken had here. Or at least, the last one Takemichi saw. It also seems to be the storage room. It's got freshly folded—or just folded, Takemichi doubts they're fresh—sheets on several shelves around the room. Different boxes and what appears to be a humidifier sit on the shelves, too. In the center of one of them, a small board is held. Upon looking a little closer, Takemichi find it old photos of Touman members.