He wanted to protect Mitsuru no matter what so he decided he will trade his life for her survival. Kise will die a noble sacrifise if it meant she will break the prison someday. Kise smiled as his life poured out of him; if his death can contribute the greater hope for the future generation, he will die with a smile on his face...
Before he can fall forward, Kise was caught from behind. His body fell back to her smaller body. He can hear her call his name again and again. What was she telling him? He can't hear her...
Mitsuru shouted for him not to die and that she won't let him die a death like this. She will not allow him to die because she doesn't want to see anyone die. She doesn't want any of this. She can't understand why she had to be subjected into something like this without her choice.
If only...
If only I can choose!
Warm light embraced Kise and Mitsuru. Her right hand where the mark of the Queen was glowed brightly. She can hear her own heartbeat as power flowed out of her.
"Wha..." Kasamatsu couldn't believe the power that was in front of him. He quickly created distance between them. "Wind? How can there be wind..." There was no doubt he can feel the wind from where he was standing. He watched Mitsuru gently lay Kise's body onto the concrete floor.
Kise's wound was healing to the point that there was no longer a trace of the fatal cut that Kasamatsu caused.
"That..." He couldn't believe what he was seeing; Kise's death was being rejected!
"Huh...huh?" Kise was regaining consciousness, life returning to him because of an unknown phenomenon. "Mitsucchi?" He slowly sat up to look at her. He can feel the wind around them, she was emitting an unknown power.
Akashi, Aomine, Kuroko, Murasakibara, and Midorima can all feel something. They can feel a very warm feeling flowing through them.
"This..." Akashi's chest suddenly glowed.
"Eh? But the Queen isn't here..." Murasakibara said.
"Chairo, you..."
The Queen was not only capable of pulling Soul Keys out of people and use it to her will, it allowed her to completely synchronize with her Kings and pull their Soul Keys to her even if they're far away. Right now, she's making Akashi's blades materialize in her hands.
"Mitsuru..."
"Senpai, you've changed..." Mitsuru opened her eyes, Perfect Copy visible in her right eye while Aomine's blue zone was in her left.
"What the-?!" Kise couldn't believe she was using two Soul Keys at once.
In a speed that was too fast for Kasamatsu, she clashed swords with him. Kasamatsu managed to block her sudden attack somehow. Unlike before, Mitsuru made him feel cornered. Both their swords clashed again, and again, making the grounds around them break.
Kise watched her fight evenly with Kasamatsu. He wondered where Mitsuru got her strength from because it was as if she wasn't even tired.
"Mitsucchi..." He can see the look in her eyes. Her eyes conveyed strong determination, anger, will of fire, and sadness.
"Anti-Soul material? That sword?" Aomine asked as they flew past everything to get to Mitsuru's side. "Such a thing can exist?!"
"That explains why my blades crossed sword with that guy." Akashi said to him, "My Soul Key can cut anything. If there is something I can't cut, I can only say that it means that sword is made just to counter us. I just hope we can get to her on time. I can feel my Soul Key is missing..." Akashi touched his chest, feeling a little empty.
"I have a feeling she's using mine too. Explains why I can't use it..." Aomine complained.
"Yukio-senpai, why, why are you with them?! Why are you willing to kill to get me?! How can you do such horrible thing?! Why?! Why?!"
Mitsuru broke his sword into two. She threw Akashi's blades away, grabbed Kasamatsu's shoulders and gave him a painful headbutt. Kasamatsu landed on the floor and she sat on his stomach to punch him again and again. She doesn't want this, she doesn't want this kind of senpai. She punched him over and over again, rage taking over her. She allowed the overflowing hate because he deserved it.
"Senpai..." She tapped his bruised cheek and looked down at him. She looked into his steel blue eyes, tears falling onto his face. "You've changed so much..."
"Mitsucchi?!" Kise tried to get up but he couldn't get up. He watched Mitsuru grab Akashi's blade and take it to Kasamatsu. She pointed the blade at Kasamatsu's neck. "Mitsucchi, stop!" Kise called out to her. She may think she's making the right decision but he knew she will regret it in the future. "Mitsucchi, stop!"
Kasamatsu stared into her eyes and he smiled slightly; she managed to beat him in combat after all. As her senpai, he's proud of her.
"Kill me."
"Senpai..."
"If I can't catch you, I might as well die. I'd rather choose to get off this stage. Heh, you allowing me to leave the stage is not such a bad thing." Kasamatsu smiled at a time like this. He did not fear death because he knew it will come to him.
"Okay..."
"Mitsucchi!" Kise ran up to her, trying to stop her...
Their eyes met again...
From the distant, a dart was fired. It was a dart that will paralyze anything it hits. It hit the back of Mitsuru's shoulder and she can feel her body going numb straight away. Kise recognized the dart as the property of Midorima and he grabbed Mitsuru, making his escape. He looked over his shoulder one last time at Kasamatsu Yukio to see something he did not expect to see...
"Kuh...!" Kasamatsu cried. Kise doesn't know the reason for the tears but they were tears from a broken heart.
"Captain!" Hayakawa's shout for Kasamatsu can be heard.
"Kasamatsu, hang in there!" Moriyama was by Kasamatsu's side, "What happened to you?! Kobori, we need to save him!"
"Come on, let's get out of here..." Kobori helped pick up the crying boy, telling him it was okay and it will be fine.
"Yukio-senpai, come back..." As she slept in Kise's hold, she shed her final tears for Kasamatsu Yukio...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone managed to come back. Kise was the last one back and he decided to stay with Mitsuru in his bedroom.
"We managed to control the Angel outbreak." Akashi informed the other Kings, "As of now, Chairo is resting. Until she is well again, we will keep our activities down. Instead, we will focus on recruiting supporters." Akashi's words surprised Midorima.
"I thought you wanted to keep a low profile."
"I do. Seeing how it is now, we need to start working together. want to gather people who are willing to join us and for what cause we are fighting for. Kuroko, you're the only one who can walk out without a trace and you are good at observing people so I want you to find us some suppporters."
"Okay."
"Okay, we have a job-" Aomine was about to throw his arm onto Kuroko but Akashi wasn't finished.
"Aomine, I have a different job for you."
"Hah?! I'm not working with Tetsu?!"
"Midorima, I want you and Aomine to look for these people." Akashi showed them a photograph, "His name is Hanamiya Makoto and Seto Kentarou. They are a year older than us but they have a very high IQ, perfect for science. They work in the science factor of WINGS and I want you to bring them back."
"Kidnapping, huh? Now this is more like it!" Aomine was excited for such a mission!
"I see...getting us to kidnap two smart people as well as using Kuroko to gain comrades..." Midorima worked out Akashi's plan.
"Yes. Murasakibara and I will provide as backups. We will keep an eye on both of you."
"What about Kise? That bastard has been missing." Aomine was the only one clueless why Kise was gone.
"Aomine-kun, you sure are clueless..."
"What's that Tetsu?!"
"He is going to stay with Chairo." Akashi stated, "Kuroko, I'm sure you've noticed. Midorima too."
"Yes. I am worried about her too, psychologically speaking." Kuroko looked down at the floor, feeling sorry for Mitsuru...
In Kise's room, Mitsuru was resting the side of her head on Kise's lap. Her whole body on the bed, she's crying as she recalled what happened. She was holding Kise's hand for reassurance; she doesn't have Kasamatsu anymore and she's forced to accept that reality.
Kise can feel her hand shaking in his hold. He allowed her to cry out her feelings by just being there. Akashi told him to stay with Mitsuru because she needed someone there for her. Then again, even if Akashi didn't tell him to stay with her, he would have requested to be by her side. Compare to the other Kings, he's known her the longest.
"Why does this have to happen to me?"
"Mitsucchi..."
"I saw it, Kise..."
"You saw it?"
"Yukio-senpai. He..."
The moment their eyes met, Mitsuru was able to see into Kasamatsu's memories...
"Do you believe in equivalent exchange, Kasamatsu Yukio?" A man with flowing blonde hair was sitting on a chair in Kasamatsu's home. The clean living room was a mess, it no longer looked like a home.
The huge bodyguards grabbed hold of Kasamatsu and didn't allow him to move from the floor. Kasamatsu looked really angry as he's forced down.
"I know Chairo Mitsuru is the Queen. How about a trade? Your childhood friend for your parents."
"I won't give Mitsuru to you-"
"Oh, you will...otherwise I will give them the virus. Is that what you want, Kasamatsu Yukio? To see your beloved mom and dad eat people and destroy others?"
The look on Kasamatsu face was a mixture of pure hatred for the angelic-looking man and of shock; he always believed that WINGS were the real saviour and that Kise was just one of those kids who wanted to play freedom fighter for the attention. Everything he believed in was a lie, a lie fabricated by the cunning.
What was he going to do?
"...if I can bring her to you, what will you do to her?"
"You do not need to know. That shouldn't matter, right? You're in any position to do anything."
"Why me?"
"Because people are affected the most when the people they care about is on the other side. I want her to see you join WINGS so she will come by herself. After all, she is attached to you."
"You..."
"Heh, even if the Kiseki no Sedai gets to her first, as long as I have you on my side, I will always have her tied around my little finger." The nameless man smiled innocently.
"Why are you doing this to humanity?"
"Hahaha, come on, who doesn't want to have power? Only those at the very top can hold power. Once I have perfected the ultimate weapon, I will lift the glass away and rule this world."
"I see...Angels are made to perfect your dream..."
"Now you have caught on~! You see, so far they are all madly in love with eating humans. I can't have that happening now, can I? Until I can make them hold their sanity, I can't rule the world knowing my own weapon may turn its fangs on me."
"Bastard..."
"Well, it will be a long while before my virus is perfected for real. I have to create many 'cures' to make people willingly come to the hospital for help."
Kasamatsu then realized everything was secretly done in the shadows. He realized the man in front of him was responsible for everything. Kasamatsu wanted to put a bullet through this man's head but he needed to stay rational.
"If I bring Mitsuru to you, will you really let my parents go?"
"Of course."
"Fine. I'll join you."
"Good to know you are joining us officially. I'll let you meet with your new comrades soon."
"What's your name?" Kasamatsu asked as the man told his bodyguards to let him go.
"Call me 'Nameless'.'"
Kise listened to everything Mitsuru needed to say. He can see why Kasamatsu was desperate to get Mitsuru no matter what; his parent's survival were on his shoulders. He's got a heavy burden to carry...
"Yukio-senpai's parents are really nice people. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them either..."
"Mitsucchi..."
"But I don't want to go to WINGS either!"
From Kise's point of view, this was exactly what Nameless wanted; to have emotionally break her. He shook his head; he will not allow this to go on further!
"Kise...?" Mitsuru was sat up by Kise.
She was then kissed by Kise. Unlike the time when he drugged her. The kiss was gentle and loving, a genuine kiss that a lover would do.
"Mitsucchi..." She didn't kiss him back but he was fine with that, "No matter what happens, I'm always by your side." He hugged her to him, keeping her safe from the horrible world.
"You're only saying that because you are a King."
"A Queen is nothing without a real King. I will be your King all the way through this!" He kissed her again, trying to seize her heart for himself. He then felt a light push from Mitsuru. He pulled back, expecting her to reject him. However, the look on her face was a face he had never saw before. She's blushing...
"Kise..."
"I know."
"You know?"
"I know your heart is not with me...but can you give me a chance?"
"I-I don't know. I really don't know...everyone is slowly leaving me. I can't go back to Kaijou anymore..."
"Then I'll stay by your side no matter where you want to go."
With that, he kissed her again. This time, Mitsuru slowly kissed him back...
Somehow, Kise was her only comfort to forget about everything else...