First Time Leap

The First Time Leap occurred on July 4, 2017 from the present to the past.

Introduction


On the way to the Shinjuku train station back from his full-time job, Takemichi Hanagaki damages an expensive car and curses the rich while doing so. He gets caught by the owner and instantly runs away, then soon arrives at the train station where he miserably reflects on his life while waiting for the train. However, he is eventually pushed onto the railway through unknown means. He expects to die as soon as the train hits, but he only envisions the visage of Hinata Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend in middle school who recently died in a gang dispute rather than his other friends and family. As the train comes close, Takemichi regretfully recalls his failures in life while wistfully remembering his middle school years where he supposedly peaked.

Plot


Takemichi Hanagaki opens his eyes and is stunned to find out that his middle school friends are on a train with him. As he exits the train, he examines his face in a nearby mirror and realizes that he currently dons his appearance when he was in middle school. He checks his phone and sees that the date is July 4th, 2005, and realizes that he is exactly twelve years in the past. Despite the odd occurrence, he thinks these are just extremely realistic flashbacks. After prodding his friends a little, he finds out that they are heading towards Shibuya Middle School to fight some second years because they were looked down upon and if someone gives them trouble, they plan on using Takemichi's cousin's name, Masaru, who is the ruler of the school. Takemichi ponders and recalls something like this indeed happened in the past. As he hasn't fought in 10 years, he gets scared.



As the friends wait for the second years at a local park, Takemichi tries to recall what happens at this time when some Shibuya Middle third years appear. Led by Masataka Kiyomizu, they heard someone was looking for their second years, but as they are on a "school trip," the third years came to beat them. It is implied that the "school trip" was really just the third years beating the second years up. Yamagishi tries to intimidate them by saying they have connections with Masaru, but that just makes the third years laugh as they call out Masaru and order him to go buy them some drinks, revealing him to be merely a gofer. Realization dawns on Takemichi as he realizes that it is the day "hell" comes to them. The third years proceed to beat up Takemichi's group and tell them that they are now soldiers in the Tokyo Manji Gang. Takemichi recalls this is the moment when his days as slave for him and his friends started. As he screams that he is sorry to the third years, he reveals that after he graduated, he escaped, abandoning his friends in the process, and went living on his own. He took on a variety of jobs, but as he was always incompetent, he kept apologizing again and again. He realizes that his life was spent apologizing everywhere he went.



Takemichi then remembers Hinata and that Tokyo Manji Gang killed her in the present. As he can't remember how she looked, he ran to where he lived. As she sees his beat up face, she questions him if she got into another fight. Takemichi starts to cry and attempts to leave, but Hinata stops him and wants to know what happened as she is his girlfriend. They talk a little and Takemichi remembers how precious she was to him. Takemichi leaves to sit on the swings to reminisce, but sees a boy getting mugged by some kids. Getting annoyed that they are ruining the melancholy atmosphere, he knocks out one of them and uses a broken bottle to threaten them. He gives the boy some advice about how to stand his ground with the boy listening attentively. He asks the boy for his name and realizes the boy is Hinata's little brother, Naoto. While talking to Naoto, he confesses how much he loves Hinata. He tells Naoto to protect his sister, and that in 2017, he fell onto the train tracks and ended up here, making Naoto excited that this is a time leap. Takemichi tells Naoto to remember July 1st, 2017, as on that day, both Naoto and Hinata die. As Naoto agrees, he shakes Takemichi's hand and the latter blanks out.