One afternoon, after school had ended that day, a 2nd-year high schooler Nana was walking past the hallway as she was heading back to her club room when suddenly something came to her notice which surprised her a lot. When she slowly opened the door, she saw no one in the club room, not a single shadow was seen. Her jaw dropped a bit in confusion and she started to wonder what was actually happening until she saw something suspicious; a letter was seen on her desk and right beside that letter was a red rose with the letter "I" stuck on the stem. She nervously opened the letter.
"Follow the trail of rose petals. There you can see me, the guy who is deeply in love with you ever since I laid my eyes on you..."
Nana turned around and saw rose petals trailing outside the door. She wondered if it was there the whole time because she didn't notice the petals trailing by the time she went inside earlier.
"Is this some joke? Hope it's not..." she muttered to herself.
She hesitantly followed the trailing petals that led her upstairs. She climbed through the stairs and then saw another note, plus another red rose with the letter "L" sticking to the stem. She picked up the rose and started reading the letter.
"I can still remember the time when you and I first met. We bumped into each other and your coloring books fell from your hands. I helped you pick them up. That was the first time I saw you and I fell in love..."
Nana furiously blushed at this. She continued following the trail while smelling the flowers. It smelt good. And it was still fresh, obviously. She followed the trail until she stopped by the detention room. She saw another note sticking at the music room's door with another red rose with the letter "O" stuck to it. She then opened the note and read it.
"This is the place where I spend my time and write love poetry for you. Every melody and verse of mine is dedicated to you..."
It was so touching. Someone dedicated their every love poetry to her. Now she had the flowers with alphabetic letters I, L, and O. She then went to follow another trail and this time, the trail was cut off. She looked around and noticed a male student walking towards her. It seemed like he didn't notice Nana's presence so he bumped into her. A handkerchief fell from his pocket so she picked it up, trying to return it to the random boy. But he was already gone. Nana looked at the thing and noticed that it was another red rose with the letter "V" in it. Another note was stuck to the flower.
"Do you remember this scene? Years back when we were in elementary school, I bumped into you again and my handkerchief fell from my hand. You picked it up for me. My heart was racing faster than normal when I saw your beautiful face adorned by your kind smile. I was so happy that I treated my friends with yakisoba after school..."
Nana chuckled while reading that because by now, she already figured out who wrote these letters to her. She was glad that he loved her as much as she loved him. Nana shook her head and continued following the rose petal trails. Now she was really wondering why and when did these trails appear without her noticing. She stopped for a while and looked at the petal trail which led to the rooftop. But right then, she stepped on something which startled her. Her eyes went wide open after seeing the thing; it was her favorite book - Haru No Yuki (Spring Snow) by Yukio Mishima. Nana picked it up and flipped through the pages. A note fell along with a red rose with the letter "E" on it. She picked the flower and read the note.
"Well as I've known you for years, I know a lot of things about you. I was surprised to know that you're the romantic type when I first saw you reading this book. Do you know, this is one of my favorite books as well?"
Reading this, Nana let out another hearty chuckle before quickly climbing up the stairs and following the trail. When she reached the rooftop door, she found another note and a red rose with the letter "U" sticking to it. She carefully removed the rose from the door and slowly read the note.
"Your love is my protector, my defender, my ride-or-die connection that stays with me for always and in all ways. It is raw and it roars for me whenever required. It stays with me in quietness and slowly became my comfort. It celebrates with me and raises me up. Your love feels okay with my sadness and kisses the scars I hide from others. It is rare, so I treasure it. I'll keep it as long as I'll live; for your love is the greatest blessing heaven can give..."
After reading that, Nana carefully read the letters once again and it said -
"I-L-O-V-E-U"
A dark tint of red appeared on her cheeks and she slowly opened the door. There she saw, Keisuke Baji, her childhood best friend since kindergarten, who was also her current boyfriend, holding her favorite red rose with her name on it, a warm smile adorning his pretty face.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Nana..."
"...Nana... Nana?"
Nana snapped out of her daze and looked up to see Kazutora staring down at her with a concerned look on his face. Right now she was sitting on her bed with a book in her hands – Haru No Yuki – her favorite romance genre book. She then came to a realization that while reading the book, she suddenly began to recall back the Valentine's Day surprise that Baji gave her a year back, eventually losing herself in her own daze up until Kazutora called out her name just a moment ago.
"Someone's here to see you, Nana..." Kazutora stated in a soft tone and Nana furrowed her eyebrows a bit.
"Who?" she asked.
"Takemitchy..." he responded back.
Several weeks had passed by since Baji's death and the disbandment of the Bahman. Rokuhara Tandai also got disbanded that very night after South Terano was killed off by Mikey himself who blamed the dead gangster for Baji's death. During this time, after recovering from his injuries, Takemichi went up to all the former members of Toman and requested them to assemble together, so that they could form a new gang to take down Mikey and also avenge the death of Baji. Even though a furiously grief-stricken Chifuyu almost blamed Takemichi for Baji's death before all of this, the former 1st Division Vice-Captain soon later came around and decided to fight back Mikey alongside Takemichi because, after all, Baji's last words to the blonde time leaper were only about Nana and Mikey till the very end.
After that, the others also came around and joined forces with Takemichi; from Hakkai to Inui, Mitsuya, and Draken to the Kawata twins, Pah-chin, and Peh-yan to almost everyone they knew who could reach out their helping hand to them. Senju also joined forces with them because she wanted to resolve her issues with her 2nd older brother Haruchiyo Akashi through this battle. Takemichi's old buddies – Akkun, Yamagishi, Takuya, and Makoto – also decided to help out Takemichi and the time leaper couldn't be any more grateful enough towards his friends. Takemichi got almost everyone on his side except for one person and that was Kazutora Hanemiya.
"Nana-chan, we're here to recruit Kazutora-kun." Takemichi stated in a soft tone with a determined look in his eyes. "We have recently formed the 2nd Generation Tokyo Manji Gang to take down Mikey-kun and the Kanto Manji Gang."
As they stood at the doorway of the house, Nana noticed outside behind Takemichi were standing the members of the newly formed Toman in their black uniforms; Vice-Commander Draken, 1st Division Captain Chifuyu, 1st Division members Inui, Akkun, Yamagishi, Makoto, and Takuya, 2nd Division Captain Mitsuya, 2nd Division Vice-Captain Hakkai, 3rd Division Captain Pah-chin, 3rd Division Vice-Captain Peh-yan, 4th Division Captain Smiley, 4th Division Vice-Captain Angry, and the 5th Division Captain Senju.
"We want Kazutora-kun to join us as the 1st Division Vice-Captain, Nana-san..." Chifuyu spoke up from behind Takemichi while Nana simply stared at them with a somber look in her eyes.
Kazutora, on the other hand, was looking back and forth between Nana and the gang in concern, not knowing what to do or say at that moment. Sure, he wanted to join Toman to take down Mikey and defeat the Kanto Manji Gang but he also wanted to stay by Nana's side and take care of her in Baji's place.
The other members of Toman also stared at Nana with anticipation, waiting patiently for her response and while doing so, they noticed how much the young Osaki girl had changed within the past few weeks. The spark in her brownish-amber eyes, the shine of her long raven locks, the glow of her warm ivory skin, the gleam on her pink lips; all of them were gone now. Nana, who had always been a skinny person, seemed as if she had lost even more of her weight within this time. She looked completely dead and pale on the inside but yet somehow, at the same time, she still managed to look effortlessly beautiful and stunning like a living, breathing porcelain doll. Oh, what a lucky man Keisuke Baji was for having such a beauty in his life as his lover, they all thought in unison.
"Nana, it's okay if you don't wanna--" Kazutora was about to say something to her but suddenly got cut off when Nana turned around and went inside the house, leaving everyone at the doorstep, confused.
"Nana lost so many people in her life. Her own parents, Shinichiro-kun, Emma, Izana... and now Baji..." Draken trailed off, his eyes softening a bit out of pity and concern. "When Shinichiro-kun and Emma passed away, she seemed broken but still looked fine. But now, she's a complete mess. Baji's death really affected her that much, huh..."
"Yeah, you're right..." Mitsuya sighed in a melancholic tone.
Nana then returned back within a minute or two and this time she had a jacket over her shoulders and a pair of sneakers on her feet.
"Takemichi, come with me..." Nana ordered in a monotone voice before walking away, heading towards the streets, and the blonde time leaper could do nothing but follow her words while the others stayed behind.
"Nana-chan, where are we going?" Takemichi asked as they walked down the pathways but Nana remained completely silent.
Takemichi wondered what was going through her mind right now as he couldn't tell anything just by reading her vacant expression. He also didn't get to apologize to her properly for Baji's death and now she was taking him to god knows where. But all of his doubts were pushed to the side when Takemichi found himself and Nana in front of Baji's grave at the Aoyama cemetery in the Minato ward, Shibuya.
"I felt like seeing Keisuke right now so I brought you here. Come and sit with me, Takemichi..." Nana stated, now in a softer tone, as she sat on the ground in front of Baji's tombstone with her legs crossed.
Mimicking her action, Takemichi took a seat beside her on the ground with his eyes locked on the tombstone of Baji's grave.
"Why did you come back from the future, Takemichi?" Nana asked the question finally, getting straight to the point, something that was on her mind ever since the time leaper came back to the past.
Seeing how Nana wasn't beating around the bush at that moment, Takemichi let out a heavy sigh and began to explain the situation.
"I came back because of you and Baji-kun, Nana-chan..." Takemichi replied and his response caused Nana to furrow her eyebrows a bit.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"After saving Baji-kun's life in the Bloody Halloween fight, I went back in time and found out that you and Baji-kun were married to one another and also had kids together..." Takemichi revealed and Nana's eyes went wide open in shock. "It had been like that in every other future timeline as well. But after Mikey-kun disbanded Toman, there was something wrong with that future timeline... You left Baji-kun and joined Mikey-kun's side. You became a member of a criminal organization called Bonten. Baji-kun became a cop in that timeline and was on a mission to track down you and Mikey-kun... You, Baji-kun, Mikey-kun; none of you were happy with that life. All three of you were miserable... So I decided to find Mikey-kun and talk to him. Eventually, I met him but he shot me to death. After shooting me, Mikey-kun tried to commit suicide by jumping off from the rooftop of a building but I got there just in time and somewhat stopped him from falling. And the next thing I know, I was back in the past again but this time, 10 years from the future... I was trying to help Mikey-kun get back to a normal life. I wanted you and Baji-kun to get back together again..."
"But that won't happen again cause Keisuke's dead now..." Nana stated in a displeased tone and Takemichi went quiet out of guilt. "At least he was alive in the future. Unhappy but still alive though..."
"A day or two before that accident, Baji-kun told me about Mikey-kun's dark impulse." Takemichi spoke up, changing the topic as he looked back at Nana again. "Senju confirmed whatever Baji-kun had told me. And they said it started way back when you were all very young. I heard what Mikey-kun did to Sanzu back then."
"I don't know why Manjiro has this dark impulse, to be honest..." Nana replied, letting out a small sigh. "After that incident with Haruchiyo, I started to distance myself from Manjiro which eventually brought me closer to Keisuke even more. Back then, Manjiro scared me and I hated him for what he did to Haru. But Keisuke told me not to push Manjiro away because, after all, Manjiro was my childhood best friend. Also, the promise I made to him when his mother passed away that I'll stay by his side till the very end... Keisuke and I couldn't abandon Manjiro. Because of his dark impulse, we always kept a close eye on him. And even in his last moment, Keisuke was worried about Manjiro... that idiot..."
"Baji-kun told me to help Mikey-kun before passing away... and that's why we need as many people as possible to defeat Mikey-kun and Kanto Manji Gang..." Takemichi stated.
"And you need Kazutora to fight alongside you..." Nana added in a soft tone as she turned her head around to face Takemichi.
"Kazutora-kun will be a great addition to the team. He's a good fighter and I'm sure his help can bring some changes." Takemichi explained and Nana let out a heavy sigh in response.
"But you're also thinking that if Kazutora leaves my side, I won't be able to look after myself." Nana responded and as Takemichi was about to deny it, the Osaki girl quickly cut him off again. "You don't need to say it, Takemichi. It's written all over your face. You're too easy to read, you know..."
Of course, Nana would figure him out, as Takemichi thought to himself.
"But I'm not that pitiful, you know. I can take care of myself." Nana added.
And there she was, coming back to her old self again; the strong, prideful Nana Osaki who hated showing her weak, vulnerable sides to others.
"You can take Kazutora with you guys." Nana stated and Takemichi gave her a surprised look.
"You sure about this, Nana-chan?" Takemichi asked in concern, furrowing his eyebrows a bit.
"Keisuke told you to help Manjiro, right? So do it as Keisuke asked you, Takemichi..." Nana replied and for the first time after Baji's death, a small genuine smile curled up on her lips. "I also have things to say and ask Manjiro. I wanna know his feelings regarding Keisuke's death... Was it all worth it? Why is he being like this? Why he left after Gramps passed away? I wanna know everything... I just wanna see Manjiro again..."
She then reached out and gently rested her hand on his shoulder.
"Takemichi... please bring Manjiro back to me... please..." she begged him in a pleading tone and this ached his heart.
Takemichi understood how Nana was feeling at that moment. Not only she lost her lover (Keisuke Baji), but she also lost her best friend (Manjiro Sano). And now she wanted her best friend to come back home because enough is enough. Baji was now dead and he was never coming back. Too many lives had been sacrificed at this point in order to change the future for the betterment. But this was enough.
Manjiro Sano had to be defeated one way or another and there was no turning back at that point.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the top administration of the Kanto Manji Gang gathered in their headquarters where Koko informed Mikey that the 2nd Generation Tokyo Manji Gang had declared war against Kanto Manji in addition to Takemichi now assuming the leader position. Hearing this, Mikey verified his intuitions of Takemichi's retaliation while in that room other Kanto Manji members were also present who happened to be Shuji Hanma, Wakasa Imaushi, Keizo Arashi, and the former leaders of Rokuhara Tandai. Afterward, Mikey announced that the battle against Toman would commence on the 9th of September at a freight yard.
September 9th, 2008 (The day of the final battle)
At the Tachibana family's apartment complex, Takemichi and Hina stood side by side on the rooftop of the building just before he was about to head out to the battlefield, staring off at the horizon.
"The first time I jumped through time, I thought... "I'm watching my life pass before my eyes. Why am I having visions of my worst day? I can't do this anymore. I want this to end"... but in the end, I came here because I wanted to see you. Back then, I was a total cowardly guy. I wanted to run away from reality, from my life." Takemichi revealed with a small smile on his face while Hina quietly listened to his words. "Now, I'm different. Because I carry everyone's feelings on my back..."
Even though Takemichi was saying such encouraging words to Hina, his shaky hands on the side didn't go unnoticed by her. Hina then held his face in her hands and turned his head around to face her.
"Don't you think that's wrong?!" Hina asked, furrowing her eyebrows a bit while disagreeing with this heroic facade and Takemichi gave her a confused look. "You should say what you actually feel. If you keep it to yourself, it'll only grow heavier in your heart..."
Takemichi's eyes widened at her words and Hina gave him a warm smile.
"Tell me, 'I'm scared'..." Hina added, urging him to articulate his true feelings.
After a little persuasion, Takemichi yelled out at the top of his lungs about being afraid to die and wanting to run away. Then after calming down a bit and letting out a heavy sigh, he looked back at Hina with a smile.
"Do you feel better now?" Hina asked, smiling back.
"Yes..." Takemichi replied. "I'll be back."
"Very well. I'll be waiting for you." Hina agreed, nodding his head.
"And also, please take care of Nana-chan for us." Takemichi added in a serious tone and Hina's face softened at his words.
If Hina said that she knew how Nana was feeling right now, then that would be a complete lie and Hina was fully aware of it. She didn't know what pain Nana was going through and the agony that was filling her heart. Hina knew she would never understand that feeling. She never lost her parents, her friends, or her lover; she would never understand Nana and her feelings. But yet she still wanted to stay by Nana's side and wanted to help her grow and heal. Because Nana was one of her dear friends and she cared about the Osaki girl to no extent.
"I understand, Takemichi-kun... I'll look after her till you all come back home." Hina reassured him with a kind, warm smile, and her reassurance was enough for Takemichi to calm his concerned heart for Nana.
Later after saying his farewell to his lover, Takemichi led the 2nd Generation Toman gang to the battlefield as they all sped down the highway on their motorcycles while simultaneously Mikey commanded Kanto Manji to march forward towards the old cargo bay. Speaking rhetorically to himself, Takemichi began to tell Mikey to settle their predicament as he led the motorcade to Tokyo Bay in the southern Kanto region.
Soon they all arrived at the old cargo bay and Takemichi was now facing off against Mikey and the Kanto Manji Gang.
"500 of Kanto Manji VS 50 of Tokyo Manji... When you look at it that way the difference is overwhelming." Chifuyu stated with a nervous smile.
"Hmph. Aren't we all used to this?" Takemichi asked with a determined smile on his face as he stared down at his opponents.
"Takemitchy, I'll beat up 10 guys and then I'll deal with Mocchi." Chifuyu stated, furrowing his eyebrows at the former Tenjiku and Rokuhara Tandai member.
"I also got someone that I have to kill... Ran Haitani." Hakkai noted as he looked over at the older Haitani brother with a murderous scowl. "The guy who crushed Taka-chan's head!!"
"Hey man, that should be my resentment, shouldn't it?" Mitsuya deadpanned at his vice-captain.
"What about you, Senju? Why are those two on the other side?" Draken asked in a calm yet monotone voice with hands in his pockets as he nudged his head towards the former members of the Black Dragons.
"Waka, Benkei... What happened?" Senju mumbled to herself in concern as she locked her gaze on those two older men.
"Hanma's here too." Smiley pointed out while Angry stared at the opponent team with a concerned face.
"They were already strong, to begin with, but now they have reinforced their strength. Do we have any chance of winning?" Peh-yan asked, looking concerned as well.
"Hey, you guys... is there any need for two Toman?" Mikey suddenly spoke up to his team members. "There is no need for that, right?"
Hearing his words caused Takemichi and Draken to form scowls on their faces in annoyance.
"Got it, boss." Haruchiyo chuckled with a cocky smirk before stepping forwards and looking back at the Tokyo Manji Gang with a mocking expression, provoking them. "Hey, you idiots!! Didn't the three deities battle decide who is the champion? Don't drag up the old team at this point. We're over with these kid fights. Plus, you're a team made out of losers. You guys are obviously no match for us. If you want to make memories go somewhere else!"
The underlings of the Kanto Manji gang started to laugh in a mocking tone and this didn't sit well with Takemichi.
"You guys aren't Toman..." Takemichi muttered in a low tone with a frowning face, clenching his fists to the sides in fury.
"Huh? Your voice is too quiet! We can't hear you!" Haruchiyo mocked him again with a smirking face.
"It's just wrong... Toman isn't supposed to be like this!" Takemichi then yelled out in frustration and anger, throwing daggers at his enemy team through his glare. "Baji-kun didn't create Toman for this! Baji-kun never wanted Toman to turn out like this!!"
"All for one and one for all; we'll all give our lives for each other... Do you remember it, Mikey?" Kazutora asked in a soft yet strong tone. "This was the motto Baji came up with when we formed Toman for the first time years ago... Do you remember any of it? You might have forgotten it, but Baji was the one who formed the Toman gang, not you, Mikey..."
"Oi, Mikey!!" Draken finally spoke up as he yelled out to his former best friend, a firm scowl adorning his face. "It's been two months since Baji died. You didn't come to his funeral. You didn't even check up on Nana to know how she's been doing these days. What the fuck is wrong with you, fucking asshole?! Why are you doing this? Aren't Baji and Nana your childhood best friends? So why are you acting as if Baji and Nana have no significance in your life, huh?!"
But Mikey didn't respond back to any of Draken's questions and simply stared at him with a straight, frowning face which pissed off Takemichi even more.
"Today we will defeat Kanto Manji and succeed to the Tokyo Manji name!!" Takemichi proclaimed with confidence. "Come and kill us if you can, Kanto Manji gang. No matter what happens we will never give in. We will defeat you no matter what!!"
And just like that, Takemichi and the rest of the Toman charged toward Mikey and the Kanto Manji gang.
"Let's go, Manjiro Sano!!!" Takemichi roared out in challenge and Mikey wasn't planning to back down either way as well.
"Come on!!" Mikey commanded and hearing his words, his underlings also began to charge forward to their opponent team while Mikey stayed behind.
And this was the beginning of the battle between the Tokyo Manji Gang and the Kanto Manji Gang.