Save Me (Ken “Draken” Ryuguji) 03 – Found Him

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''“They had eyes like knives, I had nowhere to hide. Yeah, this world can cut you open. But all my scars, they prove that I fought my way through, So I always keep ’em showin’.”'' The Cab – Stand Up

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I walked until my legs grew tired. I didn't know how much time had passed, but the moon was at its peak against the dark sky, illuminating the darkness of the empty street. When I turned the corner, I saw a small park a few feet away from a school and I decided I would rest there for a bit. It's not like I have anywhere else to go. Maybe it was safer to stick with Draken and his crew… or maybe it would have led me to a quicker death. Those guys are obviously trouble, but… how bad could they really be if Draken was so kind to me, a stranger he's never even met before?

I groaned. "Life sucks!"

"Tell me about it."

My shoulders tensed and my head snapped toward the voice, eyes wide. Sitting on the swing was a young boy, his dyed blonde hair swept back and away from his face. He looked oddly familiar, but it was hard to see him clearly through the dark and the bruises that marred his face. Great, another fucking delinquent.

He leaned forward, eyes squinted through the darkness. "Hey… have we met before?" That's what I'm wondering. What's with that familiar ass voice? Despite my better judgment, I slowly moved closer to him. For a solid minute, we just stared at each other, trying to place a name or location with a face and a voice. A sudden flash of the man from the train station flickered through my mind and my eyes widened just as his did.

"It's you!" We chorused, each pointing a finger at one another.

Anger boiled inside of me. My life was in shambles right now because of this guy and he's just chilling in the park?! "You… you…" I had so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to ask, but there was so much shit going through my mind that it was hard to pinpoint one thing. "You son of a bitch! What did you do?"

He frowned, giving me an apologetic look. "You got sucked in, too, huh?"

"That's all you have to say?!"

His frown turned into a scowl. "I'm sorry, okay! It's not like I knew this was going to happen. You think I wanted this?" He groaned, leaning over and holding his hands in his head. "Like hell I wanted to remember this part of my life…"

"Wait a minute…" I frowned, stepping around the low metal bar so I could get a closer look at him. "Why are you so… young?"

His brow furrowed at the question. "This is me ten years in the past… you look exactly the same, what the hell?"

"So… we both got sent to the past instead of dying…" I brought my hand to my forehead. "But you arrived as yourself ten years in the past… so why am I the exact same as the present?"

"I… don't know." He scowled angrily, standing up and smacking his hand against the metal pole of the swing, wincing in pain. "I don't know anything!"

Well, shit. I felt hopeful that if I was able to find this guy, all of my questions would be answered and I'd be able to return to the present, but like is never that simple, is it? I hung my head, shuffling over to sit on the swing, frowning at my shoes. "Where do we go from here?"

He fell onto the swing to my left with a sigh. "Hell if I know." He shifted, the metal creaking under his weight. "I really am sorry… for grabbing you. I didn't mean to."

I was still pissed but… I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing in his shoes. When you fall, it's just instinct to try and grab onto anything you can to catch your fall. "It's… okay, I guess."

A moment of silence.

"Were you born here?"

"What?" I blinked at him in confusion.

"In Japan," he clarified, waving his hand. "Where were you ten years ago?"

"No, I wasn't here. I was back in the states… why?"

"Maybe… maybe that has something to do with it?"

I snorted. "You think time travel is region locked?"

He scowled. "I don't know, maybe!"

We stared at each other for a moment before he cracked a smile and started to laugh. I tried not to let it infect me but I ended up laughing along with him until my sides fucking hurt. I hadn't laughed like this in so long… it felt nice. And for whatever reason, I didn't feel nervous around this guy at all. Maybe it's just because he's the only thing left that ties me to the future and affirms that I'm not crazy.

"And you're in middle school? You sure are big. How tall are you?"

My laughter ended abruptly and I looked over my shoulder, seeing three guys surrounding a fourth who looked scared. Really? What the fuck is with this time period, man.

"Let's sit down," the man ordered lightly, but his voice got annoyed when the boy didn't listen. "I said sit down." One of the other guys grabbed the boy's shoulder and shoved him onto his knees. "You probably drink milk every day, huh?"

Blondie slowly turned his swing so he could look at them, his eyes widening. "Is he Tachibana's brother?"

"Who?" I whispered, scared that if I raised my voice, they'd notice us.

"Give us some money," the man demanded, forcefully removing the boy's messenger bag before rifling through it, dumping the contents all over the ground. "There's some." Blondie slowly stood up, using his hands to smooth out his hair. Oh no… tell me he's not gonna do what I think he's gonna do…

"Oi, are you crazy?" I jumped up, grabbing for the sleeve of his white shirt but he just waved me off before imitating the look of a delinquent. Very poorly, might I add. He shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning against the pole that kept the swing upright. "Oi, oi! What the hell are you doing with a middle school kid?"

My eyes widened. Wait, so that guy really is in middle school?? He's fuckin' huge! How can someone that big even get bullied? Though, judging from how timid he seems, it makes sense. Those guys probably feel better about themselves getting such a big buy to bow to them, even if he is just a kid. What dirty bastards. I glanced at blondie. He honestly didn't look like much, bordering on scrawny, and if the wounds on his face were any indication, he had gotten his ass royally kicked recently. Then again, these guys don't look much better. They're not very big and they don't give off a dangerous aura like the gorilla or Draken. Maybe he can pull this off?

"Huh?" The leader pulled a cigarette from his mouth, finally noticing us. I resisted the urge to hide behind blondie. Power in numbers right? "Who the hell are you?"

"Get lost, you little brat." Blondie jerked his chin back for emphasis.

I could feel sweat forming on my temple and I was glad that it was so dark because I doubt he would be quite so convincing if they could see the way his arms were trembling.

"Brat?!" One of them replied in disbelief, leaning forward as if to get a better look.

"He thinks he's so cool. Trying to impress his little girlfriend."

And here goes the guilty by association, damn it.

"I'm emotionally unstable for a number of reasons," Blondie called to them, his voice trembling. Oh, he's playing the crazy card? I can get behind that.

I balled my hands into tight fists, focusing on how fucked this whole situation is. I thought about the gorilla and the way his friend had grabbed me… now that I'm not in the moment, my fear can be morphed into anger. I thought about how terrified that boy must be, how he must be begging for someone to help him. My fists were clenched so tight that I could feel my nails through the bandage. "Don't fuck with us, bitch!" I snarled angrily, making Blondie jump, his wide eyes staring at me. "We've been through fuckin' hell and we'll fuck you up!"

"Yeah…" Blondie breathed out with a nod, his voice gaining confidence. "Yeah! We'll kill you, dammit!" He turned around and with a yell of anger, he kicked the swing as hard as he could before turning to face them again. It would have been cool… if the swing didn't come back with the same force, slamming into the back of his head.

I winced as he fell forward, eyes in the back of his head. This bitch just got KO'd by a motherfucking swing… my hopes are slowly dying again.

The guys were quiet for a moment before bursting out laughing, pointing at him as if he were some freak at the zoo. "What an idiot!"

The leader shook his head, stealing money from the boy's wallet before tossing it on the ground. "Let's go, boys."

"O-Oi, you can't j-just -"

The guy half-turned, his eyes narrowed at me and my body went cold, my gaze instantly dropping to the ground. Man, I'm just as useless as Blondie is! I waited for them to disappear from sight before I shakily approached the boy, still on his knees.

"A-Are you… okay?"

He looked up at me shyly and slowly nodded before he began to gather his things from the ground. I frowned, kneeling down to grab the things that had fallen the farthest from him. He collected them quietly before standing up, easily towering over me. Bowing his head, he softly thanked me. I rubbed the back of my neck with a frown. "Sorry… we couldn't really do much to help. It seems me and my… friend are both a bit useless."

He nodded, silently agreeing before he approached the unconscious blonde, shaking his shoulder. "Hanagaki-san, wake up."

"Wait… you know this guy?"

He paused what he was doing and slowly nodded. "He's dating my sister."

Ah, so this Tachibana person he mentioned must be this guy's sister. But he didn't seem too sure it was him when we first noticed the group… maybe they didn't keep in contact in the present. I held back a sigh as I kneeled on the other side of Hanagaki, shaking his shoulder. "Oi~ They're gone, so you can wake up now."

His body twitched, eyes fluttering open and a groan passing his lips. "What happened?" His speech was a bit slurred and he grabbed at the back of his head, wincing when he did so.

"You lost a fight to a swing." I deadpanned, making him groan again.

"Seriously? So lame."

"Very lame," I agreed with a nod.

He tried to stand but stumbled. Both me and the tall one caught his arms, helping him over to the swing so he could sit down. The tall one fished around in his bag before pulling out a small, white cloth, folding it before handing it to the blonde. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Hanagaki held it against the back of his neck, watching the younger boy settle down on the swing beside him. I leaned back against the pole, rubbing at my temples. "Don't tell this to Tachibana, okay? It's lame of me and all."

"Understood," he replied softly, holding his bag tightly on his lap. "I won't tell it to my sister."

"You're such a big guy," Hanagaki complained. "You have to be able to protect yourself…"

"I don't really like fights…"

The blonde suddenly had a look of something akin to horror and realization, earning a worried look from both of us.

"What's wrong?" The younger boy questioned.

"I see…"

"See what?" My brow furrowed at him. Had he figured out something about our situation?

"That's right!" He shot off the swing, standing in front of the younger boy who gave him a wide-eyed look. "You have to protect her! You have to protect Tachibana!"

"What do you mean -"

He fell to his knees, grabbing onto the boy's upper arms. "This might sound crazy but just listen!"

Is he about to tell this kid the truth?! Ain't rule number one of time travel not to talk about time travel?! No wait, I think that's fight club… but the rule still applies here! Interacting with people in the past is bad enough but letting them know what happens in the future? I'm getting a really bad feeling. "O-Oi, blondie, I don't think that's -"

"I died in ten years from now. And the next thing I know, I'm back in high school. Believe it or not, ten years from now on July 1st, your sister will die, and so will you."

A chill went down my spine, goosebumps erupting across my skin. There has GOT to be a rule against warning someone of their own death… Pretty sure old grim doesn't like to be cheated! More importantly… I looked at the young boy, but his face remained impassive. I can't imagine how I would feel if someone came up to me and said they knew how and when I was going to die. I'd feel so paranoid and scared. Though, I guess in a way, I kind of do know about my own demise.

The boy's confused gaze flickered to me for a second. "What?"

"It was a truck accident. You got caught up in a war between a crime group called Tokyo Manji Gang."

"Crime group?"

"Listen! You must protect Tachibana!" A moment of silence passed between them. When he spoke again, his voice was calmer, twinged with sadness. "I'm sorry but… I was only able to watch that on the news. I'm useless like that." He pulled himself back up to his feet and I frowned.

And here I thought I was the only one with self-esteem issues.

"I don't know what I'm talking about when I'm in the middle of a flashback, though," he mused to himself, smiling sadly as he looked up at the sky.

Oh, he's still in denial. Surely he has to realize this isn't a flashback. I mean, I've never met him before and yet I'm still here. I thought about mentioning that to him, but he already seemed so stressed and sad, I didn't want to make it worse so I just remained silent, looking away and stuffing my hands into my hoodie.

"You know, I really like your sister a whole lot that I can't help it. I remember that now. I don't know, it's like she's really paying attention to me. Even though I'm such a useless piece of crap…"

You and me both, brother.

"What are you talking about?" the young boy frowned.

"Anyway, remember!" Hanagaki spun around, pointing his finger in the boy's face. "It's ten years from now, on July 1st! Then, I'm off to my next flashback. I'm counting on you." He smiled, holding his hand out.

He hesitated before slowly lifting his own to shake hands. As soon as they did so, both of them were engulfed in pale blue light. I jumped in surprise, eyes wide as Hanagaki's body started to flicker, like bad reception on the TV before he just… vanished.

"O-Oi…" I breathed out in disbelief. Did he just… return to the future? I moved forward without thinking, ignoring the wide-eyed stare of the boy as I grabbed his hand tightly in my own, waiting for the blue light to engulf me.

"U-Um…"

Fuck, why isn't it working?! "You bastard! How could you leave me here?!" Tears stung at my eyes, my shoulders shaking and my lip held between my teeth.

I had never felt more alone than I did in that moment.