𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐝𝐞

CHAPTER 13 (1/2): Entr'acte Symposia (PART II)

〖 Chapter Thirteen 〗

Entr'acte Symposia

(PART II)

(1/2)

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JULY 15, 2017

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When Takemichi first heard about Reiya, the first time he saw her was through a photograph.

It was in the week right after he met Mikey, an explosion of deafening colors and a lightning strike coalescing in the dark being the last thing he saw before he lurched out of the sheets, yelling and crying as if he'd emerged from a nightmare without the slightest idea that he'd woken up to a reality heavily steeped in one.

A bloodbath. That was the state Tokyo was in when Takemichi returned to his time. And, unsurprisingly, it was all because of the Tokyo Manji Gang.

But the modern-day warfare hadn't been a simple fight born out of greed and Toman's proclivity to dominate, and it wasn't even a simple gang versus gang conflict.

It was a purge turned inward—a crusade. Headed by none other than Sano Manjiro himself who left mark after mark after mark upon his former allies' bodies; stringing them up, cutting them down limb by limb. Whatever state they were found in there was always a message, a warning, a tomb...all of them the same, all of them styled in the shape of a double cherry. The average citizen didn't know what it meant and many found it unconventional, even comical. One thing for sure, however, was that it was bizarre, horrifying, and red.

Always red.

It became the symbol from which the name of this particular case was derived. A rather sweet and innocent title for the most vicious strife Toman had ever faced in their reign as the country's most wanted gang, put simply by the higher-ups in Naoto's office as...

The Toman Cherry Incident.

"That...sounds like some lame porn film," Takemichi pointed out. He couldn't help it. He was pretty sure he'd heard something similar in one of the Not Safe for Work DVDs he had to put away in his day job back at the rental store.

Standing across from him was a sleep-deprived Naoto, who didn't look the slightest bit amused at his attempt to lighten the mood. The young policeman had been irritable ever since Takemichi came back, doing a straight one-eighty from how he initially reacted when the older male finally woke up from his time-traveling-induced coma. Naoto had been relieved—even hopeful—and for a moment he had been as cheerful as a lab student whose hypothesis was proven true.

"You came back because something changed, right!?" he asked, looking like a crazed scholar at the end of his wits.

Suffice to say, Naoto was not the biggest fan of the little accident. They went over the specifics of Takemichi's newfound ability afterwards, leading the latter to reveal how he'd already made contact with Mikey, and Naoto had become increasingly heated at Takemichi's seemingly lack of caution around the notorious blond, prompting him to divulge the current state of affairs and just how the future became even worse after he left. He was shown photos, videos, and articles of Toman's recent exploits, each one bringing him closer and closer to the edge of throwing up. And then Naoto doled out this man-made disaster's name, which brings us to the present.