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

confrontations with tooru and black dragon worries

"Michi, you need to tell me what's going on with you."

Takemichi did not expect to be interrogated by his wife once they sent Keisuke and the Haitanis off to school. Sure, he expected the conversation to come up since they've married but he wasn't sure if he could tell the whole story without sounding like a lunatic. Chifuyu spoiled him with his undying loyalty and trust.

"There's nothing wrong with me, Tooru, I swear," Takemichi tried to calm the situation but that only seemed to make it worse.

"Bullshit! I know you get nightmares and I've seen the scars! Something happened to you Michi... You don't have to tell me the whole story but I want to know something, anything," Ah, shit. Tooru looked like she was going to cry. Did Takeichi really worry her that much when doesn't say anything? How could he explain this without all the time travel bullshit?! "We're married now, aren't we? I won't judge or be mad at what you are trying to hide..."

Takemichi put his back against the wall with his hands over his face and slid down so he was sitting on the floor, "Damn it, Tooru..."

Tooru said nothing and just sat down next to Takemichi, pulled his arms away, and tucked her head into the crook of his neck. Takemichi sighed and took a deep breath before speaking, his hand raking through Tooru's hair.

"How do I start this... I used to be a delinquent when I was younger — in junior high. It was some big deal gang that got caught up in some real bad shit when I left. Most of them stayed out of gangs after high school but there was one that didn't. He always talked about creating a new era of delinquents and if you knew him you would believe it," Takemichi laughs emptily, "Didn't work out in the end, you see. He became a hardened criminal and I thought he wouldn't hurt me and confronted him. I think the fact that he actually shot me hurt more than the wound itself. Long story short, he killed himself. I tried to pull him up but he just let go..."

"Michi..." Tooru was crying. Her husband hid it so well. "If you ever get pulled into something like that again, I'll help."

"You can't-"

"It doesn't matter. I will because I love you. Just... Just don't leave me out ever again. I'm right here." It was Takemichi's turn to cry. The couple was sharing tears as Takemichi babbled more about his adventures, though not giving too much information. They sat there — Tooru giving small comforts to the other — for a while until they felt that what had been said was said and what needed to be done was finished.

Later on, Takemichi would ask Tooru what prompted the confrontation. She shyly admits to hearing his breakdown and realized that they had to have a talk. Takemichi was so lucky to have a girl like Tooru, he would do anything so that she would not have a reason to worry like that ever again. They'll talk it out and try to explain everything from now on. He stared at her with fond eyes and shifted themselves so he could hold her close. Placing a soft kiss on her forehead, he pulled Tooru so that she was on his lap and moved so that he could put his chin on top of his head.

"I really love you, Tooru. You know that?"

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE?!"

"I MEAN I CAN'T FIND HIM, SHIN!" Takeomi was hyperventilating.

"Omi. Calm down." Shinichiro clutched his phone and tried to help his friend, "Tell me what exactly happened."

"We took him back home from the hospital, right? Haruchiyo was acting off — wouldn't talk or come out of his room and shit, which is reasonable because of what happened-" He paused and took a deep breath, "A week later and the kid disappears. No note, nothing. I'm sure he ran away... Home life's not that great, I'm not that great of a brother and," Takeomi groans, "I think that situation may have pushed it..."

"Oh, Omi... I'm so sorry. We'll help you find Haruchiyo," Shinichiro felt guilty for what his brother had done. Manjiro was a good kid — destructive but good. Grandpa Sano would always drill it into their minds that violence should be used to protect. He couldn't believe that Manjiro would harm Haruchiyo over some plastic toy plane...

Takeomi sighs on the other line, "It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine. If only I was a better brother-"

"Omi... Shut the fuck up," Takeomi froze and Shinichiro used that time to speak, "It's not your fault. You tried raising those kids while getting as bad of a hand as you got. Life fucked you all, don't blame yourself."

Takeomi took a deep breath, "Okay... I'm calm. You're right. We'll find Haruchiyo and I'll treat him ten times better — no, 20 times. I'll be a good big brother..."

"That's right. We'll find him and make sure he feels safe in his home."

"Yeah..."

"I'll talk to you soon, Omi," Shinichiro paused for a second, "We'll find him, okay."

"Bye, Shin," The line cut, and Shinichiro sighed.

Everything is going to shit. Mikey seems to have developed some type of impulse. Haruchiyo was a victim of said impulses and is now missing. How were they going to find a kid in fucking Tokyo? Takeomi has probably already filed a missing person report but that is not always guaranteed to find the kid. Maybe with the growing influence of Black Dragon he could have more people looking for the kid. If only he knew someone-

HOLY SHIT!

HE DID KNOW SOMEONE WITH INFLUENCE!

Shinichiro mentally gave himself a high five. Why didn't he think of this earlier? Takemichi is an adult with a platform and some connections. Connections that he should probably question, but connections nonetheless. Takemichi seemed to always know what was happening in the delinquent world even though he doesn't seem to be involved with any gangs. If he could use some of those connections to help find Haruchiyo that would be enough. The man was also there when the event happened. Oh, fuck, he was there... Would he want to cut contact since he saw how violent Manjiro could be? No... He wouldn't. Shinichiro knew he wouldn't. With a heavy sigh, he called the man.

"Hello, Shinichiro-kun! Is something the matter?" Shinichiro chuckled — polite as always.

"I need your help to find Haruchiyo," He decided it was best not to beat around the bush.

"Haruchiyo? What happened? Did something go wrong at the hospital?!" Takemichi was more than concerned. He basically treated those kids as his own.

The younger hesitated for a second, "No, Haruchiyo got out of the hospital just fine. We believe he ran away a while back."

Takemichi's breath hitched, "Ran away...?"

"Yeah, he didn't leave anything behind though. Omi's worried as fuck and I didn't know who else to turn to..."

Takemichi finally computed what he was trying to say, "So you called me to see if I could help find him." His voice was shaky, "Of course, yeah."

"Thank you, Hanagaki-san."

"Anytime, Shinichiro-kun."

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It's been weeks and Takemichi got nothing. He's been everywhere searching for Haruchiyo. Even Ran and Rindou didn't find anything. It was as if the boy vanished from the face of the earth. Takemichi groaned and cursed his lack of knowledge on the Akashi family. If only he knew Haruchiyo would have run away, he could have stopped him. Now he's somewhere in Tokyo — or maybe not — trying to fend for his life. At least he could be comforted by the fact that Haruchiyo would come back but under the name Sanzu Haruchiyo.