"Maybe it shouldn't have been me... Oya High's leader,"
---
Nozomi opened her eyes as she heard voices calling out her name. When she was fully awake, she was met by Motoaki and Jamuo's faces, frowning in worry.
"Are you okay?" Jamuo questioned. The girl didn't reply as she groaned and tried to stand up. The two males immediately helped her up, holding her arms for support.
"I think you hit your head," Motoaki said as he gently put a hand on the back of the girl's head, earning a pained groan.
"Yeah," she muttered.
Nozomi frowned as she tried to remember what happened a few minutes ago. The parking lot was now empty, only the three of them were there.
Senomon, Kama High, and Ebara students weren't there anymore.
Even Tsukasa was gone.
Nozomi shut her eyes closed, letting out a sigh. She can feel her knuckles shaking in anger and the two males noticed her frustration.
"We should join the others and regroup," Jamuo spoke, already knowing what happened to her and Tsukasa.
The girl pressed her lips into a thin line, shaking her head as she stare at him, "I'm sorry."
"No, no," Jamuo softly said, "You have nothing to apologize for, Nozomi."
—
The trio got to the pool area of Oya High. Yasushi, Nakaoka, and some students were already there. Jamuo helped Nozomi to sit down on the old sofa as the others talked about what happened to them.
They were still waiting for Fujio and Kiko. However, after a minute, the couple appeared.
"Fujio-san!" Jamuo exclaimed as the said male entered the area with Kiko.
Fujio turned to Jamuo, "Oh, you okay?"
The male with punch-permed hair nodded, "Thanks to Motoaki."
Kiko glanced at her sister who was sitting down beside Motoaki with her head hung low and her eyes closed.
"What about Tsukasa?" Fujio questioned.
They all went silent as all eyes turned on Nozomi. The girl looked up, meeting Fujio's gaze. She bit her lower lip and shook her head, groaning inwardly when she could feel the pain in her head.
"Are you okay?" Kiko immediately went to her sister's side, frowning in worry.
"She hit her head," Motoaki replied, looking at the older twin, "We found her unconscious by the parking lot. She was alone."
"I'm fine," Nozomi muttered, her eyes meeting her sister's.
Kiko's lips parted as she made eye contact with the younger twin. She hasn't seen those fire in her eyes for a long time and she knew that Nozomi was frustrated and angry.
The older twin turned to Fujio as he kicked a random wooden box, shouting a curse in frustration.
Kiko shut her eyes closed as she held her sister's hand, rubbing circles for comfort. She glanced at Nakaoka who suddenly spoke, "It wasn't just Senomon. They allied with Kama High and Bara Biz."
"They aren't much on their own but they have a ton of people," Yasushi added. Kiko noticed the absence of both Nakagoshi and Kiyoshi, realizing that they must have been injured pretty badly.
"Not to mention they were fighting with weapons," Kiko muttered.
"Who else?" Fujio asked.
"Nakagoshi sacrificed himself to save me," Nakaoka replied, frowning in frustration.
"Kiyoshi did the same for me," Yasushi said, earning a sympathetic look from Kiko. The male was trembling in anger, "And we can't get a hold of Tsuji and Shiba."
"What about Todoroki?!" Fujio exclaimed, noticing the male with glasses is also not there with them.
Kiko tried to contact Todoroki but to no avail. Fujio sat down on the old sofa with the twins, Kiko being in the middle.
The remaining Oya High students circled as they stared at their leader.
"Fujio-san, what should we do?" Jamuo broke the silence surrounding them.
"Maybe it shouldn't have been me... Oya High's leader," he muttered, causing Kiko to glance at him with wide eyes.
"What're you talking about?" she whispered under her breath.
Kiko knew he was starting to blame himself just as much as Nozomi was blaming herself for not protecting Tsukasa. However, it wasn't the time to go on about it.
"If it had been Sachi... or Tsukasa," Fujio turned to the twins but immediately tear his gaze away, "Maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"Oya High's leader is you!" Nakaoka exclaimed. Fujio glanced at them, thinking about how he let them down as their leader.
He was thinking about all the possibilities if he wasn't the one sitting on the top. If it was Tsukasa, he thought that the situation would be much better.
"Sorry," he spoke, "Give me some time."
He stood up and walked out, leaving the others in confusion and frustration.
"Kiko," the said girl turned to her twin, "Go to him. He needs someone to knock some sense into his head. I'm sure you're the best we got."
The older twin frowned and turned to the other Oya High students, looking lost and don't know what to do. They're losing their morale as their leader walked out of them.
"Are you going to be okay?" Kiko asked and gave her sister a pointed look, "I know what you're thinking, Nozomi. Don't do anything stupid."
"I'm fine," Nozomi whispered, shaking her head, "Though they took my pride away and every second of sitting down here and not doing anything is killing me. So you have to talk to Fujio."
"Alright," Kiko nodded.
She stood up from beside her sister as she turned to leave.
Not even five minutes when she caught up with Fujio.
"Fujio, wait!" Kiko called as the said male stopped in his tracks.
He glanced at the girl, "You and Nozomi should go home. You don't need to get involved with this."
The girl scoffed, shaking her head and letting out a hollow laugh, "Geez, if Nozomi's here, she would deck you for saying that."
Fujio turned his body to face her, frowning at her statement, "What?"
Kiko slowly walked towards him as she huffed, "She couldn't do anything before and she wants some payback, Fujio. You can't take that away from her. They took her pride away."
"You two already did the best–"
"No," the girl interrupted, "You don't understand. They took her pride away and that's everything to Nozomi."
"Her pride?" Fujio frowned. He doesn't have any idea what she was talking about.
Aside from that, he knew Nozomi as a person full of patience. Even earlier, she was too calm for someone that wants to tear down Senomon and get her revenge.
It just didn't occur to him that this girl could get angry, unlike his girlfriend. Kiko shows her emotions and he knew she can easily get angry.
"Tsukasa," Kiko smiled softly, "Tsukasa's her pride, Fujio. They took him away in front of her and she couldn't do anything. She blames herself just as much as you blame yourself."
Fujio went silent. Of course, Nozomi cares for his best friend. Deep down, he knows Tsukasa would do the same thing for her. He would go all out his way to get the girl back.
Hell, he would do the same for Kiko if it was the other way around.
"Look, Fujio," the girl began, her voice sounding so gentle as she stared at him with sincere eyes, "You don't have to carry all the burden by yourself. You have me, Nozomi, Jamuo, and those guys with you. We can figure this out."
"I'm not what they expect them to be," he muttered, letting out a deflating sigh.
"It's okay not to meet their expectations. It doesn't matter as long as you don't give up. They chose you for that reason."
"Tsukasa's–"
"Oh my god! Stop saying Tsukasa would be a better leader than you! Oya High would be nothing without you both by now! You have to believe in yourself just as much as Tsukasa believes in you as his leader and his best friend."
Fujio let out a hollow laugh, running his palm on his face, "What am I supposed to do?"
"If you're desperate to take back someone from people who outnumbered you, what do you think you should do?" Kiko whispered, thinking of a strategy.
They stood there in the middle of the street in silence.
Fujio thought of all the fights he had and all the people he encountered. Todoroki, Sachio, and Murayama; were some people he respected and befriended.
What makes them different from him? What makes them a greater leader than him?
His lips parted a bit as he looked at Kiko who raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"
"Go back, Kiko," he told her.
"Wha–"
"I promise I'll be there later. I just need to do something," he assured, giving her a gentle smile.
"Okay," Kiko nodded, "Be careful."
She walked closer to him and tiptoed, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I will."