Tokyo Manji Kai: The Dawn of the End - The Last Handshake to Save Mikey
---
"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 - Hikari — you were my light
The wind stirred the air on the rooftop.
It was an August night, yet the air against his skin was cold—like the dead of winter. The neon of Shibuya flickered far below. The rooftop of Shibuya Lanes, the bowling alley—the place where Mikey had aimed a gun that day. Takemichi stood at its center.
His whole body ached.
His ribs creaked. The old scar on his left arm throbbed dully. His lip was split, and he tasted blood. His breathing came shallow, his lungs screaming for air.
And still, his legs moved.
One step forward.
Mikey was there, in front of him.
His long blond hair swayed in the wind—that hair, carelessly half-tied back. It caught the moonlight like threads of light. But the eyes beneath it were pitch black.
No light.
(Mikey.)
Takemichi called the name in his heart.
Mikey was smiling. An innocent, childlike smile. Around the mouth, he was the same as ever. But his eyes were different. They reflected nothing. Only an empty, hollow, deep darkness lived there.
"So you came, Takemitchy."
Mikey's voice rang across the night rooftop. Low, cold—and yet somehow amused. A chill crawled down Takemichi's spine.
(No. That's not your voice.)
Takemichi clenched his fists.
"Yeah. I came, Mikey."
"Even though I told you I'd kill you?"
"Even so, I'm coming. I'm not giving up on you."
Takemichi's voice didn't waver. Strangely, the words came straight and clear from his mouth.
(It's not that I'm not scared. I'm scared as hell.)
(But more than that—)
Mikey slowly tilted his head.
"Not giving up, huh. You've always been like that. Weak as you are, you always, always got back up."
"You're the one who told me that. No matter how many times I fail, get up again and again and again. Isn't that right?"
"...Don't remember."
Mikey took a step forward.
Just that, and the air on the rooftop tightened. Killing intent. An invisible pressure stabbed at Takemichi's skin.
(Here it comes.)
A vision of the future burst in the back of his mind.
A roundhouse kick from the right. He could see the trajectory. The speed, the angle—all of it, clear.
Takemichi twisted his body by a hair's breadth.
A sharp hiss of air being torn. Mikey's kick grazed his cheek. The mere touch split his skin, and blood seeped out.
(Fast. Of course he's fast.)
But he could dodge.
"...Huh."
Mikey's smile deepened.
"So you can see the future."
"Yeah. I'll read every one of your kicks."
"Interesting. Then how about this?"
Mikey vanished.
No—he seemed to vanish. He was that fast. Takemichi's precognition flashed vision after vision. A side kick from the left. A right fist. A knee strike. A roundhouse. A three-hit combo. A four-hit combo.
(I can see it!)
Takemichi arched back, leaped aside, crossed his arms—dodging, dodging, dodging.
But—
Gah!!
The fifth strike slammed into his stomach.
"Gahh...!!"
His body flew. His back crashed into the rooftop fence. The metal screeched and warped. Takemichi crumpled to the ground.
(I saw it... but my body couldn't keep up.)
The taste of iron spread through his mouth. Bile rose. His vision went white for an instant.
"Takemitchy. You can see it, that's all. Your body can't follow."
Mikey approached slowly.
The moonlight lit his blond hair. He looked the same as he always had. Small, slender, with that innocent face.
(He's the same as back then.)
(So why does he feel so far away?)
Takemichi braced himself against the fence and stood.
His knees shook. His legs trembled.
(It hurts. It really hurts.)
(But I can stand.)
"...Not yet."
Takemichi spat out blood and looked at Mikey.
"I can still stand. Again and again, I'll get back up. That's who Hanagaki Takemichi is."
Mikey stopped.
His black eyes wavered, just slightly.
(It wavered just now.)
Takemichi hadn't missed it.
(Mikey's still in there.)
(He's not completely swallowed by the black impulse.)
Takemichi took a step forward.
"Mikey. You're trying to kill me, aren't you? Then why did you miss my vitals with that kick just now?"
"...I didn't miss. You dodged."
"No. Your kicks are faster than that. If you were serious, you could shatter my precognition along with me. But you're holding back somewhere. The you inside you is still screaming that you don't want to kill me."
"Shut up."
Mikey's voice sharpened.
"What do you know? What could you possibly know about me?!"
Mikey charged.
This time, he was fast. The precognition couldn't keep up.
(Shit.)
Takemichi threw up his arms on instinct.
Clang!!
Mikey's kick slammed into his arm. Bone made a sickening sound. His left arm—the arm with the old scar—broke.
"Guaaah!!"
Pain shot through his whole body. Takemichi collapsed to the ground.
(It's broken. My left arm.)
(But I can still stand.)
Cradling his broken left arm, Takemichi pushed himself up with one hand.
"...I know. Not everything about you, but I think I understand."
"You don't understand a thing."
"I do. How you respected your brother Shinichiro more than anyone. How after Shinichiro died, you carried Toman all alone. How you're actually the loneliest, most frightened person of all—and still you could never show your weakness."
"Stop."
"I won't stop. You try to carry everything alone, so I'm going to talk."
Takemichi drew a breath.
His lungs hurt. His broken arm hurt. His whole body hurt.
But his heart didn't.
(I know what I have to do now.)
"Mikey. The black impulse eating away at you—that's not your fault. Your brother, Sano Shinichiro, killed a homeless man in an alley long ago. As that man died, he laid a curse. 'I curse forever those who carry your blood.' After Shinichiro died, that curse passed onto you."
Mikey's movement stopped.
"...Why do you know that?"
Mikey's voice trembled for the first time.
"I have precognition. Only fragments, but I saw it. The moment of Shinichiro's sin. The homeless man's curse. The moment the black haze took root in your eyes."
"No... that's a lie..."
"It's not a lie. The darkness you've carried isn't yours alone. It's the darkness your brother created. There's no reason in the world you have to carry it by yourself."
"Shut up!!"
Mikey screamed.
Black haze poured out of his body like it was overflowing. An invisible, black, black grudge. It painted over the air of the rooftop.
(Bad. The black impulse is going out of control.)
Mikey lunged at Takemichi.
"What do you know?! What could you possibly know about me?! I—I—!!"
Mikey grabbed Takemichi by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
Gah!!
Agony shot through his back. His breath stopped.
(It hurts. But if I run now, it's over.)
Takemichi grabbed Mikey's arm.
"...I know. That you're suffering. That you're screaming for someone to help you. That you're terrified of being swallowed by the darkness alone."
"...Stop... it..."
Mikey's arm was trembling.
The hand gripping Takemichi's collar loosened, just slightly.
(Mikey's fighting back.)
(He's resisting the black impulse.)
That was when it happened.
Bang!!
The rooftop door flew open.
"Mikey!!"
His blond braid swinging, Ryuuguji Ken burst in. The dragon tattoo at his left temple rose in the moonlight. His sharp gaze pierced straight through Mikey.
"Draken...!"
"Sorry I'm late, Takemitchy. ...My bad. Even at a time like this, all I could do was stay by his side."
Draken clenched his fist.
"I told you, didn't I—I'm Mikey's heart. If his heart breaks, I'll scream in its place. So—"
Draken took a step forward.
"Mikey!! Come back!! Your heart is still here!! No matter how deep you sink into the darkness, I am your heart!! If you're going to be swallowed by the darkness alone, then I'll drag you up—darkness and all!!"
Draken's voice echoed across the rooftop.
Mikey's body jerked.
"...Ken...chin..."
A faint sound slipped from Mikey's lips.
The black haze wavered, just slightly.
"Mikey-san!"
This time, a different voice.
Takemichi turned. At the rooftop entrance stood Tachibana Naoto. Short black hair. Neatly styled. Black eyes holding a serious light. The calm bearing of a police officer. But his face was desperate now.
"Naoto...! Why are you here too..."
"I couldn't leave you alone, Hanagaki-san. And besides—"
Naoto looked at Mikey.
"Sano Manjirou-san. The man who saved you wouldn't break in a place like this."
Naoto stood beside Takemichi.
"Hanagaki-san. Shake my hand."
Naoto held out his hand.
The trigger for time-leaping. That handshake connected Takemichi and Naoto across past and present.
With his unbroken right hand, Takemichi gripped Naoto's.
It was warm.
(Ah, that's right. I'm not alone.)
"Mikey. The guy who saved you isn't going to break in a place like this. I will never, ever give up on you."
"...Man, what a show-off."
A voice.
From the shadow of the rubble, Matsuno Chifuyu staggered to his feet. Two-tone hair, blond and black. The piercing in his left ear caught the moonlight. His whole body was covered in wounds, his clothes torn, blood seeping through. And still, Chifuyu was smiling.
"Chifuyu?! You were unconscious—"
"Yeah, I just came to. Man, you owe me for putting me through this, Mikey-san."
Chifuyu stood on Takemichi's other side.
"I decided I'd protect what Baji-san wanted to protect. The Toman comrades Baji-san risked his life for. Mikey-san, you're the person Baji-san wanted to protect more than anyone. So I won't abandon you."
Chifuyu's voice rang across the rooftop.
Four voices overlapped.
Draken's shout. Naoto's straight words. Chifuyu's laughter. And Takemichi's resolve.
Little by little, they pushed the black haze back.
"...All of you... why me..."
Mikey's voice was shaking.
The black haze swirled violently.
(Not yet. It's not enough.)
Takemichi took a step toward Mikey.
"Mikey. Back in middle school, you gave me the name Takemitchy. That was the first time I felt like I was acknowledged. You gave me a name. You made me one of your own. So this time, it's my turn to acknowledge you."
Takemichi gripped both of Mikey's shoulders.
"No matter how far you fall into the darkness, I won't forget you. I will never forget the day you called me Takemitchy. So—"
Takemichi embraced Mikey.
"I'll take all of your darkness. Don't carry it alone. Your curse, your sins, your pain—I'll carry all of it. So don't let yourself be swallowed by the darkness alone anymore."
Mikey's body went rigid.
"...Stop... you'll break too..."
Mikey's voice leaked out, pained.
"I won't break. I'm here to save you. If you're about to break, I'll hold you up. If you're about to fall, I'll catch you. So, Mikey—"
Takemichi held Mikey even tighter.
"If you want help, then say so. I'll help you. If you're scared of being swallowed by the darkness alone, I'll be right beside you. So you don't have to fight alone anymore."
The strength drained from Mikey's body.
His rigid shoulders trembled as he leaned against Takemichi's chest.
"...I was... I was scared... of being swallowed by the darkness alone... of no one stopping me... of not being me anymore..."
Mikey's voice was wet with tears.
"I know. I know all of it. So it's okay. I'm here. Draken's here. Chifuyu and Naoto too—everyone's here. You're not alone."
In Takemichi's arms, Mikey's body kept trembling, small and slight.
And that trembling slowly, slowly subsided.
The black haze thinned.
The black, heavy air that had covered the rooftop was carried off by the wind and vanished.
(Ah...)
Takemichi felt it.
The black haze scattering from Mikey's body.
The curse being severed.
"...I... I tried to... kill you..."
Mikey buried his face in Takemichi's chest and sobbed.
"It's okay now. You're not alone. I'm here. Draken's here. Chifuyu and Naoto too—everyone's here. So it's okay now."
"Takemitchy... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... thank you..."
Mikey forced the words out.
Takemichi shook his head.
"There's nothing to apologize for. You did well. You fought all alone for so long. That's enough now."
A gentle wind blew across the rooftop.
A lukewarm summer-night wind.
The clamor of Shibuya drifted fro
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.