"Is Tachibana-kun alright? That we don't know."
----
"Looks like there's only two left," Yuken stumbled in the middle of the gymnasium after fighting Saboten.
"Don't be an idiot! I still have a lot of soldiers!" Amagai exclaimed as he clutched his broken fingers courtesy of Tsukasa.
The Senomon student turned to the entrance of the gymnasium and smiled, expecting his reinforcements. However, it soon faded when he realized that it was Rao's faction who entered.
"We're finished outside!" Rao said.
"Might have gone a bit overboard. They all ran away," Mercy added, smirking.
"Wow!" Yuken chuckled, "That's impressive."
"Suzuran isn't the only one finished!" Jinkawa exclaimed as the remaining Housen's Ozawahitoshi and Monji entered the gymnasium.
Yasushi, Nakagoshi, Motoaki, and the remaining students from Oya High also entered.
"Jeez, this fight must have burned a lot of calories," Yasushi commented.
"Fights like this are nice, every now and then," Motoaki added, smiling and cracking his neck.
Housen, Suzuran, and Oya High students circled the gymnasium as Suzaki Ryo and Amagai Kohei were the only two left from Senomon and Kamasaka High's alliance.
Amagai fidgeted as he took out his phone and dialed his reinforcements' number.
Meanwhile, the twins were almost at the gymnasium. They saw the others enter before them, causing the two girls to walk faster.
Kiko felt the phone buzz in her jacket pocket and took it. She smirked when she saw the familiar name appearing on the screen.
She answered the phone with a smile as she heard the angry voice on the other line.
"Where the hell are you, Tachibana?!" Amagai exclaimed.
"Wrong, princess," Kiko answered on the phone as they entered the gymnasium, "Is Tachibana-kun alright? That we don't know."
All heads turned to the twins, including Amagai. His eyes widened in shock as he realized he was talking to the older twin.
"How about you, Amagai-kun? You alright?" Kiko grinned widely as she raised the phone and waved it playfully in the air, staring straight at Amagai Kohei.
Yuken smirked proudly at the twins and chuckled. Of course, they would make an entrance like that.
Amagai yelled in frustration as he threw his phone away.
"Hey! You're making yourself pathetic," Magoroku said.
"That's right. You lost!" Yasushi added as Nakaoka laughed.
"Hey! Go fight!" Amagai turned to the remaining Senomon and Kamasaka students who were not moving, "I'm paying you good money! Go earn it!"
Nozomi shook her head and stared straight at the male, "Didn't I tell you? You can't buy everything with your money."
The remaining students ran out of the gymnasium. Amagai kept on calling them and bribing them with money but they didn't listen as they left.
Amagai breathed heavily and met Nozomi's gaze who looked at him dead in the eyes. He gritted his teeth in anger as he glanced at Suzuran, Housen, and Oya High students who were stepping closer to him.
Nozomi then turned to Tsukasa who was already looking at her. Her fist clenched in anger as she saw the male's state but it quickly went away when the blonde smiled at her.
She had no choice but to smile back and nod.
Suzaki Ryo stood in front of Amagai, trying to protect him even though he was having difficulty standing up.
"It's not over yet," he said.
The twins frowned in confusion. They were lost as to why Suzaki Ryo wanted to fight for Amagai Kohei that badly.
The ash-haired male already proved himself to be arrogant. Yet, Suzaki stood there, ready to take them on by himself.
Fujio, who was supporting Tsukasa to stand, gestured for Todoroki to take him. He walked in front of Suzaki, prepared to take him on.
"Fine. Finish it, then," he said.
Both of the males let out a cry as they began to fight, throwing punches at each other.
It was the final fight and all of those who were watching could feel the tension around them. Fujio stopped Suzaki's fist from coming in contact with his face, pushing it away as they both grunted. The two exchanged punches with each other. Some hit them, some don't.
Kiko bit her bottom lip, nervous for her boyfriend. Though she knew Fujio would win. However, Suzaki will still leave him with injuries and she doesn't like it.
"That Senomon guy isn't half bad," Mercy commented, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Suzuran is full of guys like that," Binzo scoffed. He was used to seeing guys like Suzaki's level.
"Why is he still fighting at this point?" Yuken muttered in disbelief, his eyes not leaving the fight.
"Why does he go so far for someone like that?" Todoroki added. Tsukasa's arm was wrapped around his shoulders as Todoroki helped him to stand.
"I'm sure he sees things differently than we do," the blonde said, barely a whisper.
The twins watched the fight between Fujio and Suzaki. The both of them still not giving up as they threw punches at one another.
The two grunted as they both fell on their knees on the ground, coughing. Suzaki turned to Fujio once again as the both of them began to crawl on the ground.
The two stood up, clutching each other. Fujio hit Suzaki square in the jaw, causing him to fall to the ground again. However, no matter how much they fall, they still stood up and Suzaki threw a punch at Fujio.
Kiko frowned in concern as no one dared to give up even if they were barely standing now. She hitched a breath when Suzaki hit Fujio hard on the chin, causing the Oya High's leader to fall to the ground unconscious.
The girl watched with wide eyes. She couldn't believe that Fujio just lost.
No...
He can still get back up.
He won't lose.
"I won! I won the fight!" Amagai yelled in triumph as he saw Fujio unconscious, "Hey! Did you see that?! I won the fight!"
"Stand up, idiot," Kiko muttered, gritting her teeth in frustration. Her eyes were only focused on Fujio, trying to see if he'd move.
Nozomi bit her bottom lip as she also watched Fujio's movement. The twins weren't giving up yet, yelling in their minds for Fujio to stand up.
Fujio's eyes twitched, causing Kiko to silently gasp.
"So irritating!" he yelled and Amagai went silent.
Oya High, Suzuran, and Housen smiled as Fujio stood up. Kiko grinned proudly, she knew he would stand up.
It was far from over yet.
"It's time to finish this," Fujio said, facing Suzaki.
"I can't let you win," the Senomon student told him, wiping the blood on the corner of his mouth. He was stumbling as he tried to stand up properly.
The two of them were glaring, determined to win.
"The top..." Suzaki began and yelled, "Belongs to Senomon!"
As he said that, the two raised their fist, hitting each other in the face at the same time. They looked down, their arms linking as they breathed heavily.
No one dared to move as they were silent for a moment until Suzaki Ryo fell to the ground. Fujio, on the other hand, stumbled but still stood on his feet and yelled in triumph.
"Sorry, but I can't let you have the top," Fujio muttered, looking up.
"Me? Lose?" Amagai muttered. He was still in disbelief that Suzaki lost, "There's no way."
He took his knife in his pocket and ran towards Fujio. Kiko noticed the weapon in his hand and her eyes widened but it'd be too late even if she moved.
"Fujio!" she yelled when Amagai stabbed the knife on his side.
Kiko felt her eyes water and her body shaking but she noticed Suzaki kneeling on the ground as he stopped the knife in Amagai's hand from making contact with Fujio's side.
"What are you thinking?!" Suzaki exclaimed, turning to Amagai.
Kiko let out a shaky breath and Nozomi quickly held her arm for support.
"You can't be using a thing like this!" Suzaki said as he pushed Amagai away. He crawled on his knees towards the ash-haired male, "We're going to enjoy the view, right? You don't even remember, do you?"
Nozomi could feel and hear Suzaki's shaky breath as he was almost about to cry. She felt bad for him. She knew, the first time she met him face-to-face, that Suzaki Ryo was fighting for Amagai's sake.
Not because he wanted money, but because he believed that they were friends.
"Sorry... for not being useful," Suzaki bowed down in front of Amagai. The latter was still looking at him in shock, trying to remember what he was saying.
Suzaki lay down on the ground, muttering that they would become Oya High's pawns.
"What are you saying?" Fujio questioned, "You lost one fight."
Amagai glanced at him as he continued, "We aim for the top and we fight. But who's on top or bottom doesn't matter. Just look around and see the friends fighting by your side. Isn't that enough?"
Suzaki looked up, staring at Amagai as he asked him if they could start over and be friends once again.
"Give me a break," Amagai muttered and glanced up at Fujio, "We lost this time. But we're going to crush you."
He bent down in front of Suzaki, "Ryo and I!"
Nozomi smiled as Suzaki let his tears fall upon knowing that Amagai considered him his friend now.
He was just blinded by his arrogance and money, causing him to look down on people.
Fujio and the others started to leave. Kiko patted her sister's back as their brother, Tsukasa, and Todoroki walked towards them.
The older twin went to Fujio's side as she helped him to walk.
Nozomi took off her brother's glasses and handed them to him, "I didn't break it."
"I know you won't," Yuken said and patted the girl's head as he walked ahead.
Tsukasa stood by himself as he took his arm away from Todoroki. The latter smirked and let the couple by themselves, following the others getting out of the gymnasium.
"You're okay," Nozomi muttered. Tsukasa smiled and nodded.
It felt like years since he saw her. During those hours tied up in this very gymnasium, he would think about how she was doing.
He saw how Amagai had hurt her and he was worried to death if she was alright.
Now, she was in front of him, finally, and all he could feel was the heavy weight lifted off his chest. Just like him, Nozomi can feel the weight on her shoulders disappearing.
She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist while the blonde wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, squeezing her gently and breathing into her scent.
"You're okay," Nozomi repeated, letting out a sigh.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Tsukasa smiled, chuckling.
---
I'm almost graduating, like, only more than a year and I'll be marching. So, I've been real busy and don't have the time to write continuously again.
But, I'm hoping on my semestral I can take the time and write again. I have a big plan for Iris' Act 3 and I'm so excited to write it.