Back to the Future (2/?)
A watch.
It was tiny, and it felt cold.
A blue hum emanated from the silvery object. He unclasped it, admiring the numbers etched in Roman numerals. On the inside of the watch’s lid, several names were engraved in kanji.
His name was among the twelve on the lid.
‘Hanagaki Takemichi’.
As he traced out his name, the hands of the watch spun forward, much faster than any normal watch could. The watch hands glowed, a brilliant white that left him unable to see. He felt something pull him forward….
….and then he woke up.
Takemichi lurched forward, gasping for air.
It felt like he was breathing for the first time.
‘What….what just happened?’
“Ah, you're awake!” A man walked up to him, a relieved look on his face. At least, that was what Takemichi thought it was, the man looked blurry. In the future, his eyesight was terrible. “You're lucky you survived that fall!”
“...Fall?” Takemichi asked hoarsely. His throat felt dry and sandy, like he’d slept for a while.
‘Was that all a dream?’
“Yes, you fell off the station platform. It's a good thing that man saved you, or else we’d have a nasty accident on our hands!” He let out an obnoxious chuckle, as if he wasn't joking about Takemichi’s possible death. “He said he wanted to see you once you woke up.”
“Who…?”
“Takemichi-kun. It's been too long.”
“....Naoto?!”
—--------
Tachibana Naoto liked to say he was a rational man.
At first, he had genuinely believed Takemichi’s ramblings on the future. However, as he grew up, he dismissed it as a prank. At the same time, the idea of protecting his family - his sister - had been the driving force behind his career aspirations.
The events last night had proved him wrong.
Takemichi had been right about the future.
He didn't give himself time to mourn his sister. He couldn't. Because if he was too late…
Just as he reached the platform, he saw someone push Takemichi onto the tracks. Just like he had predicted.
Instinctively, he stepped forward, pulling him off the tracks and onto the platform.
Takemichi seemed to have passed out from the shock. However, when Naoto checked his pulse, it was still.
It was still.
But that shouldn't be possible.
He shouldn't be dead right now. The train hadn't hit him, so why was he dead?
But then again, by all logic, Hanagaki Takemichi should not have been able to travel back in time.
‘Time travel. Somehow, he travelled exactly twelve years back in time.’
He somehow managed to convince everyone to not give Takemichi a checkup. If they realized he was dead and some time travel nonsense happened at that point, it would become a nightmare to handle.
Naoto was finally convinced some extraordinary power was at play when after five hours, Takemichi’s body showed no signs of rigor mortis. Rigor mortis was the series of post-mortem changes that occurred in the body, and the first signs showed between two to four hours. Despite the lack of a pulse and breathing rate, his body didn't seem dead.
Being a detective, Naoto was trained to collect evidence and make logical conclusions, even if the evidence itself didn't make sense. From the information he had, he could only assume that his body was in stasis till he woke up.
While he waited (for what, he didn't know), Naoto thought of the opportunities it could open up.
‘If Takemichi really is alive, and can travel back in time….could he save Hinata?’
He planned and plotted, looking through every possibility. It was the only thing he could do, after all. He had to find some way to make sure that Takemichi’s warning in the past wasn't in vain.
He had to save his sister somehow.
Finally, Takemichi woke up, looking confused as hell.
It looked like the time travel theory he had come up with based on the fantasy stories he had read as a kid was correct.
Without much of an explanation, Naoto took him to his apartment in Shibuya. He had shared it with Hinata, so there was enough space for the two of them to live in till they figured things out.
He would find a way to fix things. He owed that much to them.
—------------
“So, this is your house?” Takemichi asked, admiring the interior decoration. It had a homely look, with pastel hues painting the walls. Little knick-knacks and photos were arranged on display. He didn't expect Naoto to own a….dare he say, cute house.
“No, we're breaking into a stranger's house.” Naoto rolled his eyes. “Of course, it's my house, why else would I bring us here?”
Takemichi sighed mentally. ‘Of course, we aren't on friendly terms.’
“... I'm sorry. I shouldn't be venting my anger on you.” Naoto sighed, undoing his tie with swift fingers. “...Hinata died last night.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.” Takemichi sat down heavily. ‘I guess I couldn't change much in the end….but thank god Naoto’s alive. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't.’
“I…I have a plan. A theory, but it's better than nothing.” Naoto gestured to the papers strewn across the table. “I need your help.”
“Me? What do you want from me?”
“I need you to travel back in time again.”
“....Say what now?”
______________
'It's been two days, and I already regret everything.’
Takemichi stared at the laptop screen. Naoto was showing him a document with information on the Tokyo Manji Gang, occasionally highlighting important points with the cursor. At times, the whole screen was highlighted with the worst shade of yellow Takemichi had ever seen. He tried, he did, but he just couldn't memorize everything. Especially since he hadn't slept in the past 48 hours.
‘Yeesh, I didn't think I’d have to study again. It's almost like I’m back at school.’
“Hey, Naoto…” Takemichi couldn't take it anymore. If Naoto highlighted one more pixel of that stupid document, he might lose it. “….what's the point of all this?”
“If you're tired, drink some coffee. There's some left in the fridge.”
“No, like, how is this going to help us save Hinata?”
“Have you heard of the butterfly effect?”
“Not really.”
Naoto sighed heavily. Takemichi felt like an idiot.
“The butterfly effect is a part of chaos theory. There is an intrinsic observable pattern inside the disorder of time, of actions that have happened and will happen. Small actions in the past result in significant changes in the future.” Naoto went to the whiteboard, drawing out a basic timeline of events with a black marker. “In the first ‘timeline’, so to speak, we all went our separate ways. We all ended up dying.”
“However,” Naoto drew an arrow which led from the end of the first line and moved back to the beginning. From Takemichi’s point of view, he looked very much like a mad scientist. “Somehow, while shattering almost every known concept of time travel, you went twelve years into the past, spoke to my younger self and informed him of the future. That small action led to me creating a different timeline where the two of us survived. We know that we can’t choose where you land in the past. But, if we make more changes to the timeline, then maybe-"
“Naoto, I understand why you want to go back to the past.” Takemichi had to put a stop to Naoto’s train of thought. Especially since there was an easier route they could take. His last remaining brain cells couldn't handle the exercise. “But why study the Tokyo Manji Gang? Why can't we just tell Hinata what's going to happen so that she'll be okay?”
“Do you want her to send you to the mental hospital personally?” Naoto tsked. “Or do you want the police to test you for underage drinking and recreational drug use?”
“Well, you didn't seem to think I was crazy!” Takemichi protested.
“You were lucky that I was into fiction and the occult back then.”
“....Owch.”
“That document you’re reading has information on the Tokyo Manji Gang that the public can't access.” Naoto scrolled down to the last few pages of the document.
The screen now depicted a rather gruesome corpse. Its eyes were gouged out, blood seeping out of the empty eye sockets.
‘What the actual…’ Takemichi squeezed his eyes shut.
“That’s my predecessor. His cover was blown during one of his investigations into the Tokyo Manji Gang. In retaliation…” Naoto sighed. “They recorded the entire ordeal. The recording device was in one of his eye sockets, and his body was left on his family’s doorstep.”
“God….” He felt sick.
“After countless requests, I finally managed to start my own investigation on them. I’ll admit, when I grew up, I was rather sceptical of your message, but after this week’s events….” Naoto shook his head. “We managed to change the timeline drastically just by a little bit of information. If we learn more about the Tokyo Manji Gang, not only will we have a better chance of saving my sister, but we’ll also be helping people like my predecessor and his family. Knowledge is power, after all.”
‘Naoto’s showing me all of this information he’s collected so that we can change the future for the better. He’s this serious because he believes I can time travel. In that case…’
“How do I go back?”
Naoto glanced at Takemichi, surprised to hear the determination in his voice.
“...Do you remember how you came back to the present?”
“Uh, yeah. We shook hands or something?”
“Well, simply put, yes,” Naoto grimaced. “I think that because you told me about the future, I got involved in your time travel ability. It would explain why you were able to get back to the present without…dying.”
“Wait, so if we just shook hands, I’d go back twelve years into the past?” Takemichi asked, feeling very confused. “Huh. I thought that time travel would be a lot more difficult.”
“Why do you think I’ve been so irritated? You literally- Oh my god. None of this makes any sense.” Naoto grumbled, his head in his hands. “I’ve just been working with what we’ve got so far. Please, just take the theory. My head hurts thinking about it.”
Takemichi laughed awkwardly. ‘Looks like I broke the rules of time, life and death…twice….and we’re planning on doing it again….’
“So, the plan is to go back to the past….and do what exactly?”
“I was wondering when you’d ask. At one point, I thought you were going to improvise everything.”
Takemichi sweat-dropped, refusing to look Naoto in the eye.
“Wait…don’t tell me you were planning to do that.”
“.....”
“...Takemichi.”
Ah yes, the tone of utter disappointment.
“....I’m sorry….”
“...I’m surprised you survived this long as an adult.”
“Me too.”
“What- never mind.” Naoto moved to yet another whiteboard. This time, the whiteboard had pictures of several people. “From what we know about your abilities, you’ll be returning to your middle school years. What we can do in that time is rather limited. For now, we’ll have to stop the creation of the Tokyo Manji Gang.”
“....Eh? I think I misheard you, Naoto-kun. You just said that we couldn’t do much in the past, and now you’re saying you want to destroy one of the largest mafia gangs in Japan before it even rises to power?!” The last of Takemichi’s brain cells proceeded to combust. If only he had amassed a few more of those in the past. Oh well, he had an additional twelve years to work through that problem.
“It’s easier than you think. If you had read through the document, you’d know that the Tokyo Manji Gang became influential and powerful only when its current leaders met in August, 2005. When you get back to the past, you’ll have to prevent them from meeting at all costs.” Naoto snickered slightly at the dumbfounded look on Takemichi’s face.
“I have a feeling that it’s easier said than done….” Takemichi sighed. He remembered reading about the leaders at the beginning of the document. “Their names are Sano Manjiro and Tetta Kisaki, right?”
“Good, I guess you’re not as hopeless as I thought.”
“Oi, rude! I can be smart when I want to be.”
Naoto sighed. “Alright. I guess it’s about time we started our operation. You’re the only one who can save my sister, Takemichi-kun. I hope this works.”
Takemichi nodded. “I’ll do my best. Hopefully, the timeline's changed by the time I’m back.”
The two of them shook hands, and time rewinded one more.