stuck in 1991, getting jobs, meeting girls, and saving the timeline

a baji-sano dinner? only good things will happen

"KEISUKE! HURRY UP! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Tooru yelled as she grabbed her purse.

Keisuke grunted, "I'M TRYING MA' BUT YOU WANTED ME TO FIX MY HAIR!"

Takemichi watched as his girlfriend huffed. There was no doubt that their neighbors heard. They received a couple of noise complaints when they first moved in but they haven't gotten any more since Takemichi may or may not have paid for their silence on the matter.

"Hey, Michi, can you help Keisuke with his hair?" Tooru asked, "If he takes any longer we'll be late."

Takemichi smiled and nodded before walking into the bathroom Keisuke was in. He was on a stool raking water through his hair with his hand but he couldn't part his hair correctly.

Pulling the boy's hand away from his hair, Takemichi grabs the brush by the sink and does a simple middle part, brushing out the sides a bit more and patting out some of the water with a towel. Keisuke looked at Takemichi through the mirror but didn't oppose as he did his hair. The family never had to dress up nicely too often but Keisuke liked when Takemichi did his hair. On these rare occasions, he would revel in them. There was a calming atmosphere between the two of them but it was quickly interrupted.

"HEY, YOU TWO, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Takemichi laughed and Keisuke grumbled.

The man moved a piece of stray hair from Keisuke's face, "Let's not keep your mother waiting, yeah?"

Keisuke snorted, "You're right. If she waits for longer she might go grey."

Takemichi lightly hit his shoulder muttering a soft, "Smartass..." and the kid laughed it off and ran to the door.

The group got into the car — Tooru buckled Keisuke into a booster seat while Takemichi started up the car — and drove to the Sano household. Keisuke immediately jumped out of the car once they parked and knocked at the door repeatedly. The older Sano opened the door to let the family in. Keisuke ran into the house to find Mikey after greeting the older man, dutifully ignoring his mother's shouts of his name.

Tooru makes an indignant face and greets the man with a small bow, "Hello, I'm Baji Tooru and this is my boyfriend."

The older Sano looks at Takemichi and he greets him similarly to his girlfriend, "Hanagaki Takemichi. Thank you for inviting us, Sano-san."

He let out a hearty laugh, "The pleasure is ours! We don't get too many people over and these rascals are getting a little too hard to care for!"

Tooru sighs in relief, "I'm glad we're not too much of a bother."

"We'll help out as much as possible as newfound friends." Takemichi smiled at the man who looked like he could drop in relief just at those words.

"Same here. Anyway, let's not keep you waiting. Dinner's ready and the children are probably already at the table." Sano led them to their dining room — the kids already sitting down.

Shinichiro was glaring at the two boys and Mikey stuck his tongue out at him. Keisuke was literally vibrating in his chair and Takemichi doesn't even want to know what happened. Sano casually walked into the dining room as if this was a normal occurrence. They made quick thanks before grabbing at the food on the table and shifting to dinner conversations.

"Sano-kun, can you pass the salt?"

"Just call me Shinichiro, Hanagaki-san!"

"Okay, Shinichiro-kun."

"Close enough!"

"Keisuke! Eat the vegetables!"

"WHAT? NO!"

"I swear-"

"BAHAHAHA BAJI'S GETTING YELLED AT!"

"Manjiro, eat yours too."

"Bleh."

Dinner was very...active. Although Takemichi would say they have a wonderful friendship, why did they have to be so chaotic as children. The table calmed down once everyone settled and the kids were stuffing their faces full.

"What do you both do for work, if you don't mind me asking?" Sano decided to start a more civil conversation.

Tooru swallowed before talking, "I work as a waiter and Michi does modeling. The cafe I work at is really cute... We should go there on your next day off, Michi!"

"Of course, I'll clear my schedule sometime next week."

"Sweet!" Tooru pumped her fist before lowering it out of embarrassment.

"Eeeeew!" Keisuke blew a raspberry, "Do your lovey-dovey stuff when you're alone!"

"Keisuke-"

"Hey, Shinichiro-kun, you're in your last year of junior high, right?" Takemichi interrupted, not ready for another shouting match, "Tell me about it."

Dinner went on as normal and there weren't too many mishaps at the table. When everyone was done Mikey and Keisuke ran to Mikey's room. Shinichiro stayed at the table to grab and wash the dishes. When it seemed like he was about to drop his stack, Takemichi swooped in and grabbed a few. Shinichiro protested but Takemichi never faltered — he was going to help the boy with the dishes. Helping out turned to Takemichi completely doing it while Shinichiro talked to him about bikes.

"Y'know, I want to own a bike shop when I'm older! I'll be doing what I like and I'll control my own hours!" It was obvious that Shinichiro was passionate about the topic. "My friends say that'll be kinda cool but to be honest, I want to make sure all my siblings are living happily before I leave..."

"That's a mature thought, Shinichiro-kun." It really was for someone his age.

"Just call me Shin!" He grinned before looking at the man, "What do you think, Hanagaki-san?"

"Hmm, I think you can do both."

"Both?" Shinichiro looked up at Takemichi, eyes filled with curiosity.

"Yeah — take care of your siblings and do what you love. As long as you don't lose track of either one, I think you can do it. Focus on what you love most but don't forget to tend to all carefully. Not too much or too little, you know?" Shinichiro nodded slowly and stayed quiet but Takemichi noticed the not-so-subtle glances in his direction. He was too young to understand the full length of the words.

Now that Takemichi thinks about it, didn't the future Shinichiro own a bike shop?

"That sounds nice, Shin-kun," he really meant it. If only he could have met the man in the future.

Wait...

That could all change now.

He had a second chance.