Rearranging Fate | Tokyo Revengers x OC

179 • Battle of the Legends #8

"You keep talking about ending this and ending that, but what are you even trying to end?"

An ending. That seemed to be the main goal of hers. But the problem was that Hokusei Reina talked in weird analogies most of the time, and Mikey couldn't get a read on her. If she was doing it on purpose, then it was working. But Mikey had a feeling she was just weird like that. Still, it didn't change the fact that he was kept in the dark.

"Manjiro, have ever read a crappy novel?" Reina asked instead, leaning on her feet with a hand on her hip as if they weren't in the middle of a fight. "A novel with a great beginning and an unsatisfying ending. A novel with a boring beginning that never gets exciting until the ending. A novel with a drawn-out middle and no ending in sight." Reina wasn't picky with her reading list, but she did encounter a few books like that. "I doubt it, but have you perhaps read novels like that?"

What was she trying to say? Mikey may be a genius in martial arts, but he was by no means a fan of literature. The only books he would read were bike magazines and maybe something related to martial arts. He had stumbled upon adult magazines, but that was beside the point. Mikey didn't remember ever reading a novel, that was if he had even touched one.

"I take it you haven't." Something about the way Reina shrugged and talked made him clench his fists. But he only gritted his teeth because the girl was willingly talking, and Mikey needed to know the truth behind her schemes. "Well, that's fine too. Zana doesn't like to read novels either."

"I read 'Journey to the West' when I was a kid, thank you very much."

"I'll rephrase it to your suiting." Reina, like the wonderful little sister she was, chose to ignore Izana. Just because he read one classic Chinese novel, which inspired him to create Tenjiku, didn't mean he was a literature enthusiast. "Manjiro, what will you do if you find a crappy bike with a good engine?"

Mikey narrowed his eyes because it was clear that Reina knew nothing about bikes. The soul of a bike was its engine. The outer appearance could be altered however its users see fit, but it was the engine that was crucial. As long as the engine was good, then—

"I'll fix the bike."

Oh.

"And I will fix the novel." Grinning, Reina placed a hand over her chest because this was it. Mikey didn't need to know everything, but she would be very dissatisfied if he remained blissfully ignorant. Reina wasn't kind enough to let him live in blissful ignorance. "I've considered just changing the ending, but I realized I needed to change some of the novel's plot to do that."

She thought it was fine as long as she just made sure nobody died. But while that would ruin the original plot, that wouldn't fix anything. That was why she needed to change the root of the problem. For the novel to proceed, a problem was still needed, a villain was still needed. If Kisaki was too dangerous for the villain role, then she simply needed to become the villain and control the plot.

"So, I decided to change the entire plot."

The characters would remain the same, but she would remake the plot that was their life in this timeline. She was becoming just like Ryou, and while it still disgusted her, Reina learned to not think too deeply about things. It helped that she wasn't alone. If she was, she was sure she would've lost her mind a long time ago.

"Only the ending remains."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Mikey, seemingly having enough of her bullshit, finally lunged straight to punch her. Reina stepped to the side, dodging his punch while swinging her leg. But Mikey easily grabbed her ankle, roaring as he threw her off his shoulders and into Izana, sending both of them toppling off the car.