"I'm gonna die after this, aren't I?"
"Hm... Most likely," Izana answers your question.
"Can you... Tell me about Shinichiro?"
Izana's smile fades. He didn't look angry or annoyed. Even though his face showed no sign of expression, you could tell he wasn't expecting to hear that. His smile comes back.
"I've always wanted an older brother," Izana says. "One day, at the orphanage, Sano Shinichiro claimed he was my brother. He taught me everything."
You look at Izana. For once, his smile looked fond. Genuine. "He taught me how to get on a bike. How to fight. Taught me the delinquent ways. Fashion. Hairstyle. Even the way he laughs. I learned it all from him."
"One day, when I asked to take over Black Dragon's in his honour. He mentioned it was his dream to 'unite all of his siblings.' That's when I found out about Manjiro's existence... Shinichiro wasn't my brother."
Izana's fond smile changes into a disgusted expression after saying Mikey's name. "Manjiro took everything from me..."
You already knew Izana had some screws loose. But this took the cake. Blaming Mikey solely because he was also Shinichiro's brother? Why did that matter? You only asked him about Shinichiro because you were curious about the man. Mikey mentions him but never really fully talked about him with you. And you didn't want to pry it out of him in case it was sensitive.
Come to think of it, Izana and Mikey don't look anything alike, you thought. Looking at his face closely. You saw a sort of resemblance when seeing a photo of Shinichiro, the last time you visited Mikey's place. Even Emma and Mikey shared similarities. You couldn't see any with Izana at all.
"Something on my face?" Izana tilts his head. You deny. The white-haired boy looks back at the fight. Hakkai was down and Angry began to cry. You felt bad. The two must've missed having Mitsuya and Smiley around. "He still hasn't shown up," Izana suddenly says and you turn to look at him. "Maybe Mikey doesn't love you enough," he chuckles between his sentence.
His words hurt you. But you weren't convinced. "Maybe there's not enough love left in him," you glare at the boy, "Not after you killed Emma." Izana laughs at your expression, saying he wasn't the one who did it. He turns to Kisaki, "Do we kill her now? She's practically worthless!"
Kisaki shakes his head. "Be patient. I heard Toman tried to contact him already, telling him they 'found' her."
"Found? What? Is she a lost pet?" Izana jokes. He turns back to you, happy to see the displeased look on your face as he degrades you. You continue to watch the battle and wonder if Izana was right. About Tenjiku being the victor. Izana lifts your face up. You watch his eyes trail, almost like he was analyzing you. You felt extremely uncomfortable.
"I suppose you're good-looking," he suddenly compliments. Though it didn't really sound like one. "I think I've grown a liking to you. Your brokenness... Makes you obedient. You'd certainly make for a great pet." You felt he wasn't joking about the pet thing anymore.
My brokenness?
Your eyes widen in realization. You now understand why Mikey has repetitively chosen the path of violence in every timeline. Everyone he loves... He treats them like they're his vital organs. The people he loves are that important to him. Without his 'organs,' his body is empty. Leaving nothing but the darkness in him. That's why it grows. Trying to fill in for his 'organs.' Slowly, his conscience is broken too. His mentality deteriorating. Leaving an opening for that darkness to take over and consume him. Not only that but with that opening, people like Kisaki and Izana can manipulate him. Use him.
Your brokenness was far from comparable to Mikey's. Nor was your will and strength to live. You immediately wanted to die in this situation. While Mikey, despite everything that's happened, continued to live.
Your eyes began to water. "I'm... So weak..." You mumble as Izana still had his hand on your face. He looks at you oddly as your tears start running down your cheek.
Mikey was strong. Stronger than you realized before. You felt like you weren't worthy of his love. You weren't worthy of someone so strong-willed. So charismatic. And accepting as him. You felt you were undeserving of someone so great.
But you missed him. You missed the way he held you back then. When you broke down in tears while on his bike. How he tried to apologize, thinking he was in the wrong. You missed his scent and the way he would caress your head. The way he spoke softly with you and the way he held your hand. You missed him.
You pathetically cry underneath Izana. Even Kisaki and Hanma were confused about where this burst came from. You were overwhelmed with emotion. Every single thought contradicts the other. You wanted to die, but you wanted to live. You wanted to believe you didn't deserve Mikey, but you loved him so much. You continue to look Izana in the eyes. Trying to search for Mikey in them. As a way to find comfort. But they were still too different.
"Izana!" Kakucho yells. Izana takes his hand away from your sobbing face, pushing it away. He looks over at the crowd. You did as well. Mucho was on the ground. A knife inches away from him. "I'll take the punishment for this later," Kakucho finished. He had apprehended Mucho, who tried to take out a knife and stab members in Toman.
Before you could even react, Kakucho runs through everyone in Toman. Taking down Angry, Inui and Chifuyu in one go, making his way to Takemichi. "Looks like the rest of the Heavenly Kings are useless," Izana comments, "Tenjiku's strongest is Kakucho alone."
You look at Izana in disbelief. How can he call himself a leader? His team falls and he doesn't even try to hide the fact that they're only pawns to him. Such a stark contrast to Mikey.
Kakucho lunges his fist into Takemichi's abdomen. The blonde spits. Before he can grasp for air, Kakucho continues to swing at him. The power in his punches increased. Takemichi continuously tries to stand his ground. Enduring every hit. You watch in horror as your friend's face becomes more beaten and battered. Covered in blood. As Kakucho tries to throw another punch, Chifuyu gets in between the two.
"That's enough, Takemichi! Toman lost!" Chifuyu's voice shakes. "You did your best... But if this goes on, you'll die...!" You can hear the desperation in his voice. You wonder if this was giving him deja vu. From Bloody Halloween.
"He's right, Takemichi!" You shouted as loud as you could. Both Chifuyu and Takemichi look at you. "It's not worth risking your life for! Tenjiku... Tenjiku is far from finished! You can't handle it by yourself!" You plead. There were still 200 members in Tenjiku standing. Toman's 50 was over from the very start. If Takemichi dies, the future will definitely be ruined. Worse, maybe. You had no idea how he wasn't running away.
Takemichi's nose flares. "TOMAN WILL NEVER LOSE!!!" He yells. You can hear the strain in his voice from the physical pain he's enduring. "As long as I'm here... As long as I'm standing... Toman will never lose!" Takemichi pounds his chest with his fist.
"Let's go, take her with you," Kisaki orders. Hanma grabs you from the back of the shirt and drags you with him. Going down the deck boxes. "What are you waiting for, Kakucho?" Izana asked, displeased. "Hurry and finish him, already!"
What's happening? Why am I being taken down? What's Kisaki got up his sleeve?
"Kaku-chan will not win against me..." Takemichi says between pants. It looked like he was trying to get as much air as he can. Like he's charging up his energy for an attack. "He doesn't have enough determination to defeat me," Takemichi said with confidence.
He's gone mad... You thought. Give up, Takemichi. You're no match...
You get dragged closer to the scene. "Move, Kakucho," Kisaki says. Kakucho shifts his body out of his way. You hear Hanma chuckling under his breath. "'I won't lose even if I die,' that kind of determination?" Kisaki asks Takemichi.
The boy pulls out a gun. Everyone wasn't expecting it, shocked to see that he even has one at all. Kisaki points it at Takemichi. "Do you really think Toman will win after I shoot you?"
"KISAKI, YOU-" You stop yourself after looking at Takemichi. His eyes look straight into Kisaki's. You notice Kisaki hesitating as they continue to keep eye contact. Takemichi smirks.
"What's holding you back?"
He condescendingly asks. He's provoking him?! Doing that is what got me in this in the first place! You couldn't tell if Takemichi was suicidal or if he was trying to use reverse psychology.
Kisaki shifts his gun down, shooting his foot instead. Everyone in Toman screams on Takemichi's behalf. But Takemichi remained quiet, kneeling down, pressing on the wound.
"I won't die if you're aiming for my foot!" Takemichi continues to provoke. Kisaki looked indecisive. The gun in his hand shakes. Takemichi begins to ramble. Comparing other delinquents to himself. Sounding slightly belittling and insecure about his own strengths. You feel your tense shoulders slump. Is he gonna die? In front of me? In front of everyone?
"But there's one thing I'm good at..." Takemichi stands back up, "I don't give up! Even if I die I won't give up!"
Kisaki puts the gun back up to Takemichi's forehead. "Yeah?! We'll see about that! I'll kill you."
What is he doing? What am I doing? I can't even bring myself to speak. What if whatever I say convinces him more to pull the trigger? What do I do...?
What would Mikey do?
"It should be easy, right?" You hear a hint of rage in Takemichi's voice, "You killed Emma, so it should be easy for you!"
You shut your eyes. Not wanting to watch this any further. Not wanting to listen either. You look back after hearing flesh get hit. Kisaki punched Takemichi, the blonde hits the ground.
He didn't pull the trigger?
Akkun picks Takemichi up, lifting his arm over himself. The rest of Toman starts standing up. Chifuyu spits the remaining blood out of his mouth before walking closer to Kisaki. "This is just a mere kids fight. Not a killing spree," Chifuyu says sternly. "We fight head-on to push our limits. Test how strong we really are. That's why we fight with our fists!" Chifuyu yells.
"Knives...? Guns...?" You mutter. "Kisaki! Even without those, you're weak! You have no pride! No respect!" You shout.
"We fight for the things we believe in! We fight for our burdens! That's what Toman's about!" You see Kisaki's eyes twitch at Chifuyu's words. You began to try to break away from Hanma's grip and the rope restraining your wrists. "Toman is one for all and all for one! If Takemichi doesn't give up, I won't either! We all won't!" You yell as loud as you could, straining your voice.
Kisaki turns to look at you in disgust. A vein ready to pop from his head. "AND?!" He shouts with anger, he looks back at Toman, "Look at all of you! Ragged, dusty and beat! How can you talk so proud?! It doesn't change the fact that you're losing!"
You continue to move your body. Hanma starts to stretch your arms further back, stopping you from resisting any further. Your arms shake, not only in pain but with trying to put them back down. But with you still attempting to break from Hanma's grip on you. "Where'd all this come from~?" He asks you, "Weren't you just moping pathetically?"
"How about we end this, hm? Let's make a deal," You turn back to Kisaki. Curious about what bullshit deal he'll offer to Takemichi. "Tenjiku and Toman will merge! So it wouldn't matter which one of us is on top. It'll be under 'Tokyo Manji Gang,' making Mikey still the commander," Kisaki sounded almost desperate. Even after sounding confident about winning, he definitely knew he was losing.
"How's that? Sounds good, doesn't it?"
Takemichi punches Kisaki across the face. "Get up, Kisaki," he tells him, looking down at him as Kisaki was on the ground. "There's no use in trying to make peace now. How can you make someone like Draken a murderer?" Kisaki was visibly confused.
What is he doing?!
"If I could redo my life, there's only one thing I'd do differently. That is to kill Kisaki!" Takemichi quotes, "He said that in the future."
Is he really going to out himself like that?! If people know he's a timeleaper, enemies he makes will certainly kill him!
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Kisaki stands up. Takemichi charges at him again. Izana pushes Kisaki aside, blocking Takemichi's punch.
I didn't hear him come near! How is he so fast?!
"Don't interfere, Izana!" Takemichi yells. Izana turns to Kisaki, "Move away, Kisaki," he tells him, "Let me kill everyone here."
Both Takemichi and Izana fight. It looked one-sided though. Takemichi taking hit-by-hit. Unable to land a punch on Izana at all. Izana's reflexes were fast, the momentum of each kick give it more power. Takemichi continues to charge at him, but he suddenly stops.
"Do you... Hear that?" You mumble. You feel Hanma loosen his grip, confused about what you were on about. "What took you so long...?" Takemichi says quietly. He raises his fist up, "I told you, I won't lose." You finally witness Izana show more than a grin. His face looked annoyed, "What are you talking about?"
The roaring of his motorcycle stops. You hear footsteps approaching.
"Thank you, Takemitchy."
Chapter thirty-six, end.