#i went with tenjiku here but i think with other gangs and in different timelines kisaki would've had more of a use for the reader it's just

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

I've been seeing this reels or tiktok videos about people who are so disarming face-wise or vibe-wise which causes random strangers to tell them all their secrets or trauma dump to them, so imagine a reader like that who's an executive of one of the toxic gangs in Tokrev like Kanto Manji/Tenjiku/Bonten. You're so disarming that your allies or even enemies end up telling you about your recent breakup or trauma when you didn't even do anything. You're just there like: 😀😀😀???

However, I can see your fellow executives encouraging it because of the useful information. Koko likes the idea of spending less money on informants, the Haitanis love the tea, and if you're in a gang with more ambitious people like Izana and Kisaki they'll weaponize you 💀.

Lmao oh the poor reader who ends up in that situation. They just want to hang out and have a good time but instead they keep learning everyone's darkest secrets...

The first time you meet Izana is in the orphanage, he's new but is immediately drawn to you. You feel safe to him, different then how the others feel so of course he declares you as his servant right away. You felt a bit offended by that at first but went along with him anyway.

During the day time when the other kids are around, he's strong, a king. But when it's just the two of you he tells you everything. How alone he is, how much he misses his mum and Emma, how scared he is here. You just listen and hug him through it all, telling him it'll be ok.

He introduces Kakucho to you when he arrives, Kakucho who's just been told to forget his parents. That night, after Izana falls asleep, Kakucho breaks his word to Izana. Telling you all about his parents and what happened, about how he agreed to be Izanas servant too and about how he doesn't know what to do anymore. You soothe his fears and tell him that you'll be here for him too, the three of you together.

Over the next few years the three of you grow up together, following Izana. He founds the 8th gen black dragons but keeps the two of you away from it.

You're there for him when he finds out the truth about Shinichiro, you watch as he throws things around, smashing them and yells. Watch as he runs out of energy and ends up crying into your lap and chest. You're not entirely sure what to say in this situation but comfort him the best you can. He ends up falling asleep on you and you sit there, wondering what will happen next.

He threatens you when he wakes up, he does it often. He'll let you see his emotions then threaten you to never tell anyone about it. Though you both know he's bluffing, he couldn't hurt you.

Shinichiro dies and that terrifies you because Izana shuts down. It's the first time he won't talk or let his feelings out. You and Kakucho do your best to care for him but you can see it's not helping, nothing is changing, not until he arrives...

Kisaki is a strange boy. One minute he looks at you with warmth, like you remind him of someone or something else then the next he's glaring at you like he hates you. He refuses to be left alone with you, it's almost like he's afraid of something.

Izana invites you to join tenjiku, he wants you there and says you can be very helpful for him. Of course yoy say yes, you're just happy to see him like his old self again. But...things are different this time. He's back to opening up to you, emotions spilling out before he can stop them but you can tell he's holding something back.

You get to finally meet the others, the S62 members you've heard so much about. Shion immediately takes a shine to you, introducing himself and bragging about his past achievements, asking you if you want to see him fight. Mochi soon shoves him out of the way to introduce himself, he shakes your hand and says he looks forward to working with you. He seems so genuine in his words that you can't help but smile back. The Haitani brother's approach you from either side, slinging their arms around you and "welcoming you".

You think you've got them all figured out until that night and the next day. All four of them end up seeking you out alone and spending some quiet time with you. Telling out their insecurities and ambitions, letting you see more of them. All of them laugh it off after, saying they were just kidding around but you could tell they meant it.

After that you all fall into a comfortable routine of preparing to attack toman. The Haitani brother's want to know the latest gossip, Kakucho tells you about his worries for Izana, Mochi and Shion work with you, helping you get to people who's secrets tenjiku wants and Izana still confides you but without giving you details.

The day you attack toman, you're paired up with Shion. You have a good and bad cop kinda routine, where Shion beats them then you kindly help them back up and take care of their wounds. They spill all kinds of secrets to you while you help them. Everything from the structure of toman, to it's meeting spot, to it's members.

You meet Mucho and Sanzu later, the meeting itself is very formal but once again they seek you out later. Mucho get's onto the subject of Mikey and let's it slip about his guilt of choosing Izana. You're about to try comforting him when he realises what he just says and quickly leaves. Leaving you alone with Sanzu...

"What are you?" You flinch slightly when he speaks, forgetting he was even there. He tilts his head at you, curious as to why Mucho just told you that, why he let his guard down around you. More importantly he wonders if you could be helpful for other people, a way of being able to read what Mikey's thinking and what he wants. He walks away without another word, instead planning.

You meet Koko the next day, he's still hurt from Mucho and no ones even offered him any first aid. You sigh and fix him up yourself, he watches you intensely the whole time before muttering that someone called Inupi normally does this for him. He practically gives you his life story after you ask who that is, even Akane's name slipping out. You're both horrified after, Koko realising what he just said and you after hearing such a sad story. You're not sure what to say next so you tell him about your own childhood. The two of you end up as friends by the end of the day.

You're in your room one day when Kakucho suddenly barges in, frantically talking about a murder and how sorry he is for not telling you sooner. Your blood runs cold as you ask him to explain. "Kisaki and Izana planned what????"

You run to Izana after that, need to talk him, need him to explain. He must be so lost after that so he needs someone to talk to right?

Someone grabs you before you can climb up the stairs to him. Hanma. He has you by the waist, stopping you from interrupting Kisaki and Izana's conversation. Refusing to let you stop Izana from falling further into darkness and ruining Kisaki's plans.

You next see Izana at the docks, getting ready for the fight. He refuses to even look at you, too focused on the fight and Mikey then his own emotions. Instead you stand next to Kakucho, waiting for all this to be over so you can be alone with Izana.

Kakucho tells you to stay on the shipping containers while the fight goes on, you promise to stay and not move.

You nearly break your promise a few times, when you see each of the S62 fall or when Koko starts getting upset but you listen to Kakucho.

It's not until Izana starts losing it and arguing with Kakucho that you hastily climb down, running to him. But you never reach him.

Instead you see Kakucho get shot, you try to run to him, to get in front of him but someone catches your arm. Turning around, you see Sanzu stopping you from getting closer. Time slows down after that, Izana gets shot, the gun falls to the floor, Sanzu let's you go and you fall to your knees beside Izana and Kakucho.

You frantically try to stop the bleeding but Izana grabs your hands instead, holding them. Telling you his emotions for the last time and letting the rest of his secrets slip out. Kakucho reaching out to do the same.

You're not sure how long you kneel there, they both stopped talking already and you know they're both gone, telling yourself that you're imagining the warmth in Kakucho's fingers.

The Haitani brother's help you up but they don't keep you with them, instead guiding you over to Koko and telling the two of you to run.

The next day you wake up at Koko's apartment, where you hear the news. Running to the hospital you practically launch yourself into Kakucho's arms. This time you both tell your secrets, helping each other to cope with the loss of Izana and talking through it together.

When he's released from the hospital, you go to meet him so you can both pay your last respects to Izana. Then you both head to your apartment, looking after each other....at least until a tall man arrives months later looking for both of you.

[cocktailjjrs]

TR Manga Spoilers!

Be warned, there will be spoilers from Manga chapters (Mostly 200 - 262)

FYI, I have not studied Medicine or any related branch, so what ever i have here is completely based on what is available on google and TR manga. Pardon me if i make any mistakes. I acknowledge the following symptoms can also be associated with any other disorder, but i’m considering only one here.

So i read the manga from ch 200 onwards thrice after ch 262 (yeah, it was one heck of a ride and i lived through the pain thrice) and something just kinda clicked. So Yeah! there are Manga spoilers, read at your own risk.

Coming straight at it, I have a feeling that Mikey most probably has Split Personality Disorder.

For those who dont know (Source Google) -  

Split Personality Disorder or  Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a mental health condition. People with DID have two or more separate identities. These personalities control their behavior at different times. Each identity has its own personal history, traits, likes and dislikes.

People may experience: Behavioural: impulsivity, self-destructive behaviour, or self-harm Mood: anxiety, feeling detached from self, or mood swings Psychological: altered consciousness, depression, or flashback Also common: amnesia or blackout

Why did i reach to this one? Well the most glaring instance was this -

Ch 200

When i first time read this, i didn’t think much of it. But as we go farther in the manga, this line makes so much sense. In the consecutive page he even names it as a “Dark Impulse” - like a person. 

In the same chapter, it is stated that - “The ones who held that impulse back were probably my older brother, Emma and Baji” - but to me it seems like Mikey had people for whom he tried to maintain control over his “Other Self”; but as they dwindled in numbers, he gave up trying to control his own body, letting his “Other self” take over more often than not. (This one have its flaws, im not totally convinced myself) So he did what was best, pushed everyone away (Ch 217 where draken has a small falshback explaining to Mitchi how mikey made them hate him) thus we reach the bonten timeline, where if we compared BontenMikey to the Mikey pic pinned on Naoto’s Memo board(or whatever that is called), to me it seems like the future got worse and worse for Mikey himself with every iterative time-skip. Like in the origianal timelike he atleast had some flesh on his bones and was not just a skeleton giraffe.

Even after all this, Mitchi still went to see him (bless our crybaby hero, he is going to need it ch 263 onwards). I think there Mikey snapped.

Idk how much this counts, but i think the sign of Dark Impulse / Mikey’s Other Self is not just mikey’s eyes turning white. Because, in Ch 202 we see him having black eyes throughout, but there is a subtle difference.

Like this panel (ch 202), its when he shot Mitchi. Insted of having horizonal lines like most of the manga (for almost all characters), here we see them to be swirly or circular. And this, after two chapters is followed by (Ch 204) -

Here two things,

“When i came to, i had shot you” - implying someone else (Most likely his ”other self”) had taken over and shot Mitchi. Symptoms say it is common for people with split personality to have blackouts.

His eyes are back to having those horizontal lines, again implying maybe he wasn’t in control of his own action

And then we move to the final arc (which i can’t believe is still going on!!!). We get more characters from here on. Honestly, i was confused about who belongs to which gang for half of these people till the second read, but then i realised it was mostly just Tenjiku ppl joining Rokuhara Tandai, while Brahman basically had all 1st gen Black Dragons lead by Senju (On side note - she is a badass girlboss and deserves utmost respect from every single one!)

By the next time we see Mikey (Which a long ass time) he had stopped caring for whatever is happening, his sorrounding, comrades or the situation as whole (apathetic is the word here)  Symptoms say for people with split personality have a feeling of detachment from self (I’m gonna add and say it also extends to detachment from their surrounding).

I also think that South having “Dark Impulse” was a clickbait; Mikey thought they were “Dark Impulse”, but to me it seemed like South had an extreme bloodlust riding on pure demonic pleasure that cannot be cured until it kills someone (I’m not saying Mikey doesn’t get these, i feel its his “other self” who has the Bloodlust) 

In Ch 231, we see the “Dark Impulse” taking over Mikey, that’s after he fells emply inside - no pain or suffering from Draken’s death or Kakucho’s punches.  (Depression is feeling emptiness; which also contributes as a symptom to split persoality) 

Interestingly, in the same chapter there is this panel, 

It looks like some demon’s POV. That again made me think, its Mikey’s “Other Self” and that is how he views his surrounding, because this other personality only knows darkness, nothing else.

And then we see South vs Mikey, which is then followed by Mikey killing South and almost killing Mitchi (Now this Mikey sure has bloodlust, he asked three different people how they wanna die and told the fourth that he should die, not to ignore the fact that he actually killed one). Mitchi is only alive because Senju stepped in and disbanded Brahman (does that count as an off trigger?), i think its poetic how he saved her just earlier that evening and she returned the favour; equavivalent exchange i guess. (Okay, that was complete off topic and i touched a tanget there)

We then come to the whole Senju blaming herself for Mikey, Baji and Sanzu changing forever. Like most people, even i believe (or hope that atleast) there is a lot more to this story than just a toy-freaking-plane breaking. We don’t see Mikey after senju tells him it was sanzu who broke it (i can never hate her for that - i remember doing the same thing many times in my childhood just to save my skin, its general kids tendency). 

Also, Senju isnt the most reliable source here, she herself mentioned she couldnt remember why she lied, so it’s totally possible this whole matter had POV distortion, also the whole Sanzu getting scar seem to have happened after some time than the plane incidence - Even Sanzu mentioned that was just the trigger, Ch 250 (yeah, im still waiting for the explanation for that line Wakui san). But one thing can be, this maybe the firstime Mikey’s “Other self” made apperance (White irisis and all) - Something traumatic is to heppen for a person to be diagnosed with Split personality - here i debunk my own theory saying that there wasnt anything traumatic at all (unless we get the whole story, its pointless)

When the Final War begins between KMG and Toman 2.0, Mikey says “Is there a need for two “toman”? There’s no need for that right?”; because to him Tokyo Manji and Kanto Manji can be used irreversably, it felt like to him they are one and the same. (does that make sense?)

[Ch 245, when Mitchi punched Kakucho, that was the first emotion of Surprise final arc Mikey had shown contrasting to his apathetic behaviour till this moment]

And then we have savage mikey, sitting on top of container watching the fight unfold like he is having the first row sit for an action thriller (Only popcorn are missing, lol). Everything seems Normal till this point, way too normal to be good. 

And then we have the recent chapter. (I remember laughing when in Ch 247 Mitsuya said he will be dragging mikeys ass down, because i knew once Mikes decends from his perch its over for Toman 2.0 - which is basically Ch 262)

In all this, Sanzu’s role is a bit weird to me, there is Ch. 256 where he assures Mikey “no matter how deeper he fell into shadows”, Sanzu will always be with him because he is his only friend (Baji and Draken won’t approve of this though). But in Ch. 262 we see him clearly declaring he was specifically waiting for Mikey to be consumed by the said darkness, for Mikey’s “Other Self”. Now here’s the thing, for a person with split personality, their each personality has a different history, trait, likes and dislikes. Does that mean Sanzu is after something only Mikey’s “Other self” can give him? Was it about revenge? or something completely different that is yet to released? 

In Ch 261, Sanzu said “Mikey’s fate has been sealed since he was a kid”. When i checked how young can split presonality be diagnosed, the result showed between age 5 - 10; and wasnt this the same age Mikey was inseperable from Baji and Sanzu? Makes me think, the trigger he talked about had lead to something way more than imaginable, like a domino effect - only the succeeding pieces grew larger and larger. Maybe somehow, down the line Sanzu was convinced that if Mikey stays in darkness others wont have to? (Not sure here)

(I’m not going into the whole second time leaper thing, it makes my brain hurt with all the possibilities, theories and what-not’s)

In the latest ch 262, the trigger seemed everyone cheering Toman; it looked like Mikey had flashback’s of all the times they used to cheer for him, but now its against him. I’m gonna go a bit out of the way to say Mikey is currently in chaos himself, confused with two Tomans (KMG and Toman 2.0) and his own two personalities, add to that fact that Mitchi told him BontenMikey reveled his true feelings asked to be saved which might also feel threatening to one - someone knowing your deepest thoughts and thus he snapped. And we know the end results. 

There seems to be no cure for Split personality, the only thing that can Help is various forms of therapy (And we have all been saying to take these kids to a therapist for a long time now!). 

We are almost at the end now, makes me wounder how Wakui is gonna wrap this up; coz a haste work will take the whole manga to waste. I really hope there are legit reasons for the blank spaces that we have, i wish its not the ‘power of friendship’ that saves Mikey but an actual therapy or honest to god fight (which seems like asking for too much after ch 262)

Because this last panel actually scared me, makes me think someone is going to join the party in heaven soon. (Let’s pray that doesn’t happen either)

With this, i rest my case.

Wow! That was long, i touched tangents a few times there. It had been going on in my head for quite some time now so i just had to get it off my chest. 

Anyways, thank you for coming to my ted talk! Toodles! 

PS: in chapter 224 we see “Kamikaze” written on Mikey’s bike, i was curious what it meant. 

‘A Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target’ (also known as “ reckless or potentially self-destructive.”) - objectively something self-sacrificing that takes out the target, like Mikey taking out everyone in his path (like in every freaking timeline!) while also self destructing (Manila Mikey and Bonten Mikey)

Yeah, sounds about right.