Tokyo Manji Kai: The Dawn of the End - The Last Handshake to Save Mikey
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"I'll save him. Even if it kills me again."
Hanagaki Takemichi, 26, part-timer, failure at life. He spends his days avoiding the news—because every broadcast brings another crime committed by Bonten, the criminal empire built by the man he once swore to save: Sano Manjirou. Mikey. The friend who gave a weak, worthless kid a name worth fighting for. The friend now soaked in blood.
But when Matsuno Chifuyu appears at his door with a confession—*"We've been lying to you, Takemitchy"*—the fra
Tokyo Manji Kai: The Dawn of the End - The Last Handshake to Save Mikey - The Weakest Man's Final Resolve
The voice from the television seemed to pierce through the thin walls and echo directly into his brain.
"—Early this morning, a man's body was discovered in an abandoned warehouse in the Kanto region. Based on the circumstances at the scene, authorities suspect the involvement of 'Bonten,' a criminal organization of a scale comparable to a designated violent gang. Bonten is believed to be led by Sano Manjirou, former head of the disbanded biker gang Tokyo Manji Kai—"
Hanagaki Takemichi couldn't even bring himself to sit up from his futon. He just stared at the stain on the ceiling.
(Mikey...)
The name caught in his chest. Something seemed to cling to the back of his throat, making it hard to breathe.
The room was a mess. Convenience store bento boxes, unwashed cup noodle containers, black track jackets left where they'd been tossed. The cramped one-room apartment had soaked up more than enough signs of daily life for a 26-year-old part-timer. The calendar on the wall was still turned to two months ago. The alarm clock on the desk kept blaring relentlessly.
Takemichi finally forced himself upright. He ran a hand through his messy black hair—wild from sleep—and tugged at the collar of his worn white T-shirt. On his left arm, an old scar from middle school days faintly surfaced under the pale fluorescent light.
On the screen, the newscaster was reading from his script with a serious expression. In the corner of the screen was a photo of a man's back, wearing a black hoodie. His face wasn't visible. But Takemichi knew. He knew whose back that was.
"...I don't want to see this."
His own voice came out shockingly thin.
He reached for the remote. But his fingertips trembled and he couldn't press the button.
(I can't turn it off. If I turn it off, I'll just be running from reality again.)
Takemichi bit down hard on his back teeth.
Tokyo. Shibuya. The city where they'd once run wild. Now, Bonten—the massive criminal organization Mikey had built—sat at the apex of the underworld. Every day the news reported Bonten-related incidents. Turf wars, extortion, drugs, and murder.
Mikey had killed his own comrades.
That fact tightened around Takemichi's chest.
(I couldn't do anything.)
Takemichi stood and headed to the sink. The face reflected in the mirror was far more exhausted than he'd expected. Only his deep brown eyes, filled with a stubborn strength, remained as they'd always been. The hair sticking up around his ears was a remnant of the pompadour he'd worn in middle school. Back then, he'd slicked his blond pompadour into place with all the spirit he had, living every day desperately.
He turned the faucet and splashed cold water on his face.
(The me now is just a part-timer.)
Drifting from one day-labor job to the next, his head always full of whether he'd have enough to eat—a good-for-nothing.
Wiping his dripping face with a towel, Takemichi looked at the television again. The screen had already switched to a different news story.
That was when he heard the knock on the door.
Knock, knock.
Twice. Reserved, but with a definite firmness.
Takemichi checked through the peephole.
Standing there was a man with a striking two-block haircut—blond on top, black on the sides. His strong amber eyes stared straight back through the peephole. His lean, toned frame—five foot nine—was wrapped in a black leather rider's jacket.
Matsuno Chifuyu.
Takemichi's partner, and the man who had once been vice-captain of Tokyo Manji Kai's First Division. Now he worked at a pet shop, and every so often, he'd show up at Takemichi's apartment like this.
Takemichi opened the door.
"Yo, Takemitchy. Were you still asleep?"
Chifuyu's voice was calm. But Takemichi could sense something different lurking behind those amber eyes.
"Chifuyu... what's going on, showing up out of nowhere?"
"Can I come in?"
"Y-yeah. It's a mess, though."
Chifuyu stepped out of his shoes and came in, glancing around the cluttered room before letting out a small sigh.
"Same as always, huh. There's not even a place to step."
"Shut up. It's been a busy week."
"Busy, huh. You worked two day-labor jobs and spent the rest of the time lying around your apartment."
"How do you even know that..."
"I've got your daily routine memorized."
Chifuyu stepped around the plastic bottles at his feet and unfolded a folding chair in the corner of the room.
Silence fell.
Only the sound of the television filled the room.
Takemichi sat on the edge of his bed and looked at Chifuyu's face.
(This guy's got something today. That's not the face of someone who came to shoot the breeze.)
Chifuyu was quiet for a while. He stared at the back of his own hand, then shifted his gaze outside the window.
"Did you see the news?"
Takemichi's heart lurched.
"...I saw it."
"Bonten has started moving. Mikey-san has reached a point where he can't be stopped anymore."
Chifuyu's voice was quiet. But that quietness was somehow more frightening.
Takemichi couldn't say anything.
"Takemitchy. We've been lying to you all this time."
"...Lying?"
"That story about the Toman guys running restaurants overseas. All of it was a lie."
Takemichi's eyes went wide.
"Huh...? What do you mean? Draken-kun, Mitsuya-kun, Pah-chin—they all went overseas..."
"No. They're all still in Japan. We made all that up to hide what's happening with Mikey-san."
Chifuyu pulled a cigarette from his pocket, started to light it, then stopped.
"Mikey-san disbanded Toman and created Bonten. He started going after his old comrades, one after another. We didn't want you—of all people—to find out."
"Why..."
"You looked up to Mikey-san more than anyone. You tried to save him more than anyone. We figured if you saw what he's become now, you'd do something reckless again. That's what we thought."
Takemichi clenched his fists.
(Me, do something reckless...)
The words stabbed into his chest.
"But we can't keep this up anymore. We can't keep lying. Mikey-san's dark impulse is far stronger than before. At this rate, he really will go somewhere he can't come back from."
Chifuyu looked Takemichi straight in the eye.
"Takemitchy. You're the only one who can save Mikey-san."
The air in the room grew taut.
Takemichi couldn't speak. His mind went blank, and Chifuyu's words just spun around and around inside it.
Chifuyu pulled a single photograph from the inner pocket of his jacket.
"Look at this."
Takemichi took it with trembling hands.
In the photo were a blond, long-haired boy grinning innocently, and beside him, a blond pompadour boy smiling shyly.
Mikey, and me.
Us, back in middle school.
Mikey was smiling the same way he had back then. Eyes crinkled, mouth wide open, looking like he was having the time of his life.
The me beside him had Mikey's arm around his shoulder, looking awkward but happy.
(So nostalgic...)
Something warm spread through his chest.
He turned the photo over. Written in blue pen was "2005.8.20."
"I took this."
"...You did, Chifuyu?"
"That day, Mikey-san suddenly said he wanted to take a photo. I borrowed a camera and took it. You were so nervous, we had to reshoot it over and over."
Chifuyu's voice softened, just a little.
"Those were good times. Everyone was smiling. Mikey-san, you, me, Baji-san too."
Baji Keisuke.
The man Chifuyu had looked up to more than anyone. Gone now.
Takemichi stared at the photograph.
(Mikey...)
How much loneliness had been hidden behind that smile?
Now, he understood.
Mikey had always smiled in front of everyone. As the leader, as the pillar, never showing weakness. But the truth was, he'd been fighting the darkness alone all along.
The curse of the homeless man his brother Shinichiro had killed.
The dark impulse.
It had eaten away at Mikey's heart, bit by bit.
Takemichi had seen that darkness so many times.
Time-leaping into the past, trying to save Mikey, failing again and again, being killed again and again—and still getting back up.
(Mikey saved me.)
In middle school, I was the weakest.
Treated like a slave by Kiyomasa, trembling every day, unable to do anything but shake.
And Mikey said to me:
"Starting today, you're Takemitchy."
How much those words saved me.
He was the first to acknowledge the weakest me as a friend.
"Takemitchy, you're weak. But a weak guy who keeps fighting is way cooler than a strong guy."
Mikey's smile lit a fire in my heart.
From that day on, I changed.
I struggled and fought to change.
But in the end, I couldn't save Mikey.
Mikey fell into darkness, Toman disbanded, and everyone scattered.
"Chifuyu..."
Takemichi's voice was hoarse.
"What?"
"I couldn't do anything for Mikey. He saved me, and I just..."
Chifuyu was silent for a moment, then let out a soft breath.
"It's not that you couldn't do anything. You fought to the very end. I know. I know you time-leaped over and over, trying to save Mikey-san."
"...You knew?"
"Naoto-san told me everything. That shaking hands with Tachibana Naoto lets you jump to the past. That if the trigger dies, you can't return to the present."
Takemichi lowered his eyes.
"Takemitchy. You've already fought enough. It hurts me to put more on your shoulders. But there's no other way."
Chifuyu's voice was shaking.
"Please, save Mikey-san. Don't leave him alone."
Chifuyu's amber eyes looked faintly wet.
Takemichi gripped the photograph.
His fingertips trembled.
(Just one more time...)
Words welled up from the depths of his heart.
"I'm going to save Mikey. Just one more time."
The words slipped from his mouth so naturally it surprised even him.
Chifuyu raised his head.
"Takemitchy..."
"I've been running all this time. I was too scared to think about Mikey, I couldn't stand watching the news, I turned my eyes away from reality. But I'm not running anymore. I won't give up until I save Mikey. Never."
A fierce light settled in Takemichi's deep brown eyes.
Chifuyu looked at them and gave a small smile.
"When you make that face, you really will do anything, huh. You haven't changed since back then."
"Cut it out, that's embarrassing."
"Haha, don't be shy. I believe in that stupidly honest heart of yours."
Chifuyu stood.
"I'll protect the place you come back to. I'll do what I can in the present. You go save Mikey-san in the past. And then come back. No matter what."
"Yeah. I'll definitely come back."
The two bumped their fists together.
A dull thud echoed through the quiet room.
After Chifuyu left, Takemichi stayed in the room alone.
In his hand, the old photograph.
Mikey's smile was looking at him.
(Mikey...)
Takemichi pressed the photo to his chest and closed his eyes.
Memories of middle school came flooding back, vivid and clear.
Called out by Kiyomasa, beaten, knocked down onto the dirt.
"You're trash. No one will ever need you your whole life."
Kiyomasa's voice still lingered in the back of his ears.
Back then, I really was weak.
Couldn't fight, could only run.
But Mikey was different.
"Hey, you. What's your name?"
"Ha-Hanagaki... Takemichi, sir..."
"Hmm. Starting today, you're Takemitchy."
"Eh...?"
"Good name, right? I came up with it. Be grateful."
Mikey said that and laughed.
That smile saved me.
(Mikey saved me, over and over.)
Through all the time leaps, so many times.
There were times Mikey killed me, too.
Consumed by the dark impulse, Mikey took my life.
But I don't hold a grudge.
Because that wasn't the real Mikey.
The dark impulse had just taken him over.
The real Mikey is a kind man who treasures his friends more than anything.
Takemichi couldn't take his eyes off the photograph.
(I want to see Mikey's smile again.)
He felt it from the bottom of his heart.
Takemichi picked up his smartphone.
With trembling fingers, he scrolled through his contacts.
One name appeared on the screen.
Tachibana Naoto.
The trigger for time-leaping.
Takemichi stared at the number.
(If I shake hands with Naoto, I can jump to t
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