3rd Person's POV (February 22, 2006, back at Yokohama)
After completing his mission of taking out Emma Sano, Tetta Kisaki returned to Yokohama with Shuji Hanma and headed straight back to the Tenjiku's usual meeting spot. He then later went back to the rooftop of the high-rise building and waited there for Izana Kurokawa to return, sitting on top of a water tank.
"Kisaki..."
The said boy looked to the side to see Izana walking up to him with a calming expression.
"I've covered you up with a substitute. Your name is clear." Izana informed as he walked up to the edge of the rooftop and stood a few meters away from the glasses man, while on the other hand, Kisaki's face didn't show any reaction in response.
He then looked away from Tenjiku's Commander and after some passage of time in silence, he decided to speak up.
"I know Mikey the best..." Kisaki stated, causing Izana to look at him with intrigue. "I am certain of that. You don't necessarily need brains to stand above everyone. You need to have the looks, the influence. And for Mikey... His looks are the absolute medium to stand above everyone. He can't hang out with the rest of the current Toman lowlifes. It'll destroy his great potential. Therefore, it is necessary for me to fix this..."
"Hmph. That's selfish of you. Talk about arrogant." Izana commented in amusement, his lips curling up into a small smirk.
"So I came up with a plan to murder that eyesore Draken and for that, I used Kiyomasa who had a grudge against him. I was so close to having him killed but somebody got in my way; Takemichi Hanagaki." Kisaki stated through his gritted teeth, his eyes blazed in pure anger and frustration.
"He didn't seem like such a big deal to me." Izana shrugged, recalling the incident from today's morning where he saw Takemichi with Inui at the cemetery.
"He's the reason my plans to kill Draken fell through..." Kisaki continued. "My next idea was to form the gang Valhalla and install Mikey as the leader. The one who obstructed me then was Keisuke Baji."
"The Bloody Halloween Fatality." Izana hummed with a small smile on his face.
"That's why I used Kazutora Hanemiya and persuaded him to kill Baji. But that plan also failed and this time, it was because of Nana Osaki. She saved Baji from Kazutora and almost died, but unfortunately for me, she later somehow survived. And that was the biggest flaw in my plan. I knew Nana was hella smart, but I didn't take Baji to be the smart one as well. I underestimated their intelligence level and because of that, those two defeated me in my own game..." Kisaki revealed through his gritted teeth while his eyes were cold and deadly; rage and hunger for power flowed within him again through his nerves and veins. "But enough is enough. I'm done waiting. And that's why I'll erase anyone who stands in my way. No matter what I did, nothing could satisfy me... but watching Mikey lose what he loved felt most sublime. Yes... Using him as the medium, I will soon be reborn."
"And snuffing out Emma Sano was the finishing touch...?" Izana asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "There's just one thing I don't get. Why would you risk getting your own hands dirty? You can use other people to kill for you like it's nothing. What inspired the change?"
"Is that all you care to ask of the guy who killed your blood-related little sister?" Kisaki questioned back, giving him a skeptical look.
"Blood-related sister...?" Izana chuckled in a bitter yet mocking tone as he looked down at his feet. "In the 10 years, I spent in that institution... the only one who came to visit me was Shinichiro Sano. The only thing that filled my empty self... was his love..."
Izana then looked back at Kisaki again with a smile and placed a hand on the left side of his chest.
"Kisaki, what I care about is everything Shinichiro Sano loved..." Izana continued. "Your malice is what fulfills me. So, I'll let you use me. Mikey's just like me right now. At the height of emptiness. I'm going to tame Mikey myself. I'll take my time. My sweet, sweet time... Kisaki, Toman is all yours..."
And hearing Izana's words satisfied Kisaki as the latter looked at the horizon, thinking of what his ultimate opponent was about to do now.
So what now... 'Hero'...?
Nana's POV (At the Shibuya General Hospital; 5:10 PM)
I couldn't remember how I reached the hospital with Emma's dead body with the others, but when I did regain consciousness to understand what was going on around me, I found myself sitting on a bench between Manjiro and Keisuke outside the mortuary, all of us looking petrified and lifeless as never before.
"Draken-kun!" Takemichi who was standing at the doorway of the mortuary called out in a concerned voice and teary eyes, causing me to look over to see Draken standing in front of Emma's dead body which was resting on a long flat table, body covered with a big white sheet except for the face.
"What the hell is this?" Draken muttered out in shock with a horrified look on his face, eyes wide open.
I could only imagine what was going on in his head right now.
Draken loved Emma. Despite always being nonchalant about it and never being the one to showcase his emotions outright, my friends and I were aware of the fact that how much he loved and cared for her. I knew what Draken was going through right now. I knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved. I felt the same when I lost Shinichiro two years ago.
"Mikey... come outside with me..." Draken called out in a firm yet lifeless tone, eyes red and sullen, as he walked out of the mortuary and passed by us, heading towards the main entrance of the hospital.
"Draken..." Keisuke muttered out in concern before a quiet Manjiro stood up from his seat and followed the blonde Vice-Commander outside.
On the other hand, Takemichi, Keisuke, and I also followed them outside out of pure concern and found them standing face-to-face as Draken stared down at Manjiro with dead eyes while the Sano boy stared at the ground, not even meeting the eyes of his best friend.
"What happened?" Draken asked in a monotone voice but Manjiro remained silent. "How could you let this happen?"
But Manjiro still didn't speak a single word; his eyes looked lifeless as if he had lost the light inside them. And that's when Draken finally lost his cool before he threw a punch right across Manjiro's face.
"Hey, Mikey..." Draken called out again through his gritted teeth, eyes blazing in fury while his voice tone and temper rose out of pure anger. "What the fuck were you doing, you piece of shit?!"
And just then, out of desperation, a teary-eyed Takemichi kneeled on the ground and bowed his head low at Draken before speaking up on Manjiro's behalf.
"It was my fault!!" Takemichi cried out. "I was right next to her but I failed to protect her! Mikey-kun did nothing wrong!! It's all my fault!! So please, Draken-kun, if you're gonna take it out on anyone, it should be me!!! There's absolutely no reason for you to hit Mikey-kun!!"
But even after everything that Takemichi had said just now, it seemed as if his words didn't reach Draken's ears before a moment later the tall, blonde boy then started to throw powerful punches at Manjiro right in the face.
"Didn't you start Toman so you could protect all of us?!!" Draken yelled out before Takemichi immediately ran towards him and grabbed him by his waist to stop him from hurting Manjiro any further.
"Stop it, please!! Draken-kun!!" Takemichi cried out but the said boy didn't listen.
"Manjiro!" I gasped out in concern and was about to run toward them but Keisuke quickly grabbed me by the arm and stopped me from moving.
"Don't go..." Keisuke stated in a calming tone with a soft look on his face, causing me to frown at him in annoyance.
"What do you mean 'Don't go', Keisuke?!" I snapped at him. "Can't you see?! Ken-chan's gonna kill Manjiro if we don't stop him! And how come you look so calm and collected right now in such a situation?!"
"I'm not calm, Nana. I'm just as angry and sad as the rest of you guys are. And besides, Draken needs to vent his anger and frustration right now. He lost Emma forever. Just let him take it out on Mikey or anyone else if that means it'd help him to cool down a bit..." Keisuke replied with a frowning face and I immediately went quiet before looking back at the boys in concern.
"Pah-chin got fucking arrested!!" Draken continued as he kept on attacking Manjiro who wasn't fighting back at all, making me wince at the brutality.
"What're you saying, Draken-kun?!" Takemichi cried out again, trying to pull Draken away from the now-injured, bloodied Sano boy.
"Baji almost got killed by Kisaki because of your own stupidity!! Nana got stabbed by Kazutora and that led him to end up in jail again!!" Draken screamed on.
"Mikey-kun!!" Takemichi gasped in panic when Manjiro finally lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
"Fuck off!!" Draken screamed at Takemichi, pushing him away before looking back at an unconscious Manjiro on the ground with a frowning face and gritted teeth. "And now, Emma's...!! Emma's...!"
And then slowly Draken's harsh gaze started to soften a bit with tears swelling in his eyes while his whole body began to tremble at the thought of Emma being dead now as he was trying his hardest not to shed even a single drop of tears. After noticing how Draken cooled down a bit, Keisuke and I decided to walk up to him to see if he was okay or not, but much to our dismay Draken quickly walked away from the scene leaving us alone.
"Get ahold of yourself... Draken-kun..." Takemichi cried out softly in a quivering tone who was now laying on the ground as well beside Manjiro, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I know you have it in you... To overcome this and accept what happened..."
"Accept what happened?" Keisuke asked, raising an eyebrow at Takemichi before shaking his head and letting out a heavy sigh in grief. "There's no way he would accept this. There's no way he could accept the death of someone that precious to him."
"I wasn't able to accept Shinichiro's death and that's why even to this day, I still couldn't forgive Kazutora wholeheartedly..." I stated in a soft tone before kneeling and grabbing a still-unconscious Manijro in my arms. "You couldn't accept Hinata's death and that's why you are time-leaping back and forth between the past and the future just to save her life over and over again, Takemichi... Manjiro and Ken-chan... Those two can't return to the past, unlike you. They can't go back to save the people they care about..."
Hearing our words, Takemichi came back to his senses and started to realize what we were trying to convey to him.
"Mikey-kun, you couldn't accept it, could you?" the blonde time-leaper mumbled as his gaze traveled over to Manjiro who was now in my arms, his voice cracking in the end. "You lost everything and couldn't accept any of it. So you couldn't help becoming the worst version of yourself... I can't change that awful future now..."
"Please don't say such an ominous thing, Takemichi... Please just don't..." I muttered in a tired tone, bringing Manjiro's body closer to my embrace even though I knew what the blonde time-leaper said was true.
We wouldn't be able to go back and fix the problem. We won't be able to bring Emma back to life. The past had already changed, so now the future was going to change as well but for the worst.
3rd Person's POV
As soon as Draken left the scene after his fight with Mikey, Baji quietly followed the tall, blonde boy outside on the streets to talk to him and see if he was okay or not, leaving Nana and Takemichi at the hospital with an injured Mikey in their hands. With Emma gone for good, Baji knew Draken wasn't in his right mind now and he was worried that the blonde boy might end up doing something regretful.
"Draken! Wait!" Baji called as he reached out at the Vice-Commander who tried to stomp away from him.
"What do you want, Baji?!" Draken snarled out in anger and frustration, ready to throw hands at the former 1st Division captain.
"Nothing. I'm just trying to make sure that you don't go running and do something stupid." Baji replied, softening his voice a bit as he furrowed his eyebrows in concern.
"I wasn't going to do anything stupid." Draken scoffed in response, shaking off Baji's hold on his shoulder.
"Dude, I know what it feels like to lose someone you love." Baji stated in a calming tone which kind of irritated Draken even more.
"No, you don't, you asshole!" Draken snapped out through his gritted teeth. "You don't know what it feels like losing your loved ones! You never lost any!"
"But I almost did lose someone... Remember what happened to Nana back at Bloody Halloween...?" Baji asked with a sorrowful gaze, his voice sounding cool as ever, and hearing those words made Draken calm down a bit. "I know what it feels like seeing your loved one almost at the step of the death's door... Your hands are covered with their blood while also seeing them coughing out some more blood and not to mention, them getting stabbed by one of your best friends because they were trying to save your life... I know what it was like. I've been there. I saw it. Their breathing swallowing and their pulse rate dropping; I know what it feels like at that moment. To me, it was like the end of the world when Nana got stabbed by Kazutora. Yes, I was indeed mad at Kazutora for stabbing Nana, but more so than that, I was mad at myself for putting Nana in such danger. I formed Toman with you guys with a sworn promise that we would protect each other no matter what. But I wasn't able to do it when it came to Nana. I failed her..."
"You didn't fail Nana..." Draken replied now in a calming tone, his facial expression softened down a bit. "Nana survived in the end, didn't she?"
"Yeah, barely managed to escape the death..." Baji let out a heavy sigh in response, running a hand through his long, raven locks. "You do remember what condition Nana was in, right? She was in a coma for four days straight. She lost a lot of blood too... That time for a moment I thought she was going to bite the dust. But luckily she survived..."
Baji and Draken who were now standing on the sidewalk outside of the hospital domain then took a seat on the pavement and let out another heavy sigh in unison.
"I knew Emma longer than you did, Draken..." Baji spoke up again as his eyes softened a bit at the thought of the Sano girl. "I met Emma for the first time when I was four and she was three. I remember noticing her standing outside the Sano dojo every single day. In the beginning, she was very shy and hardly talked to anyone. She even cried for her mother one day, saying her mother promised her that she would come back for her soon... Nana and Shinichiro-kun were the ones who helped Emma to open up a bit, made her feel safe around us, made her feel at home... I wasn't that close to Emma like how Nana and the others were, but she was still a friend of mine and it hurts knowing that I won't be able to see her again."
Draken on the other hand remained quiet as he sat beside Baji on the pavement, his lifeless eyes glued on the ground beneath him as he began to reminisce his memories with Emma.
"To be honest, the one I'm most worried about is Mikey..." Baji spoke up again, his eyebrows furrowing a bit in concern while his gaze was on the road as he watched a few vehicles zooming down the road in front of him before he started to recall that one time when Mikey attacked Sanzu and ripped out his mouth years ago. "First his Mom and Dad, then Shinichiro-kun, and now Emma... He's losing every family member one after another... I just hope he doesn't end up like that again..."
Being friends with Mikey longer than Draken and the others, Baji knew the blonde Sano boy better than anyone else, especially about his dark impulses. And being the well-wisher he always was, the one thing Baji never wanted for Mikey was that the latter would lead a life full of sorrow and remorse.
"I just hope Mikey doesn't go and blame himself for what happened to Emma till the very end..."
Nana's POV (Back in the hospital)
After patching up Manjiro's wounds and leaving him at the visitor's corner, I went back to the mortuary only to find Hinata inside the room, standing beside Emma's dead body, bawling her eyes out in grief and pain and the sight alone made my eyes soft and teary again.
"Nana-chan..."
Someone called out in a low tone from behind me and I turned around to see Takemichi standing there with a concerned look on his face.
"What is it, Takemichi?" I asked, letting out a small sigh.
"T-This might seem like a real thoughtless thing to say right now but, today is our showdown with Tenjiku..." Takemichi responded, causing me to furrow my eyebrows a bit. "Without Mikey-kun's orders, we can't make our move. Nana-chan... The one who killed Emma-chan was Kisaki. Knowing him, he probably did some crafty shit, to make sure he would never get caught by the cops. Nana-chan, I'll fight Tenjiku alone if I have to..."
"You don't have to do it alone, Takemichi..." I sighed and shook my head. "Keisuke and I will go there too and-"
"But what about Emma-chan? What about Mikey-kun and Draken-kun?" Takemichi intervened and I gave him a confused look. "Mikey-kun and Draken-kun need you and Baji-kun right now... and sorry to say this but you're not in a fighting mood right now, Nana-chan. And Baji-kun also won't come with me to the battlefield while leaving you here all alone like this..."
Takemichi's right... Both Manjiro and Ken-chan need me right now... I need to be there for them as support... Keisuke also won't leave because of the same reason... So it's up to Takemichi and the whole gang to carry on the war...
I then put my hands on Takemichi's shoulders and made him look into my eyes.
"Avenge Emma's death for me, Takemichi." I stated in a firm tone with a frowning face. "Avenge Emma even if it means killing Kisaki..."
And hearing my words made Takemichi put on a serious look on his face as well.
"I'm a 26-year-old man in this teenage body..." Takemichi stated with a small smile while I moved my hands away from his shoulders. "Just a flaky, hopeless moron. I went through my days in a haze. Even though something this bad was happening, I was totally clueless. I didn't know anything. Because I ran from everything that hurt me... I ran and ran... I spent my whole life running. So that's why I'm going out there, Nana-chan! Cause this is still something I can do. Cause I want to see everyone smile."
And with that Takemichi turned around and started to walk away from the scene, leaving me feeling proud and happy inside. Once again, his words and actions reminded me of Shinichiro Sano.
Best of luck, Takemichi... I know you can do it... Go out there and win for us and Toman...