(August 13, 2003)

Trigger Warning: Murder

It was three in the morning when two middle schoolers decided to sneak around. "Let's do this, Baji." One of them says with a grin as he was holding a bolt cutter. "Here's the plan. First, we'll break the rear entrance window and get inside. It'll take about ten minutes for security to show up."

Baji was a bit disturbed to how his friend would know this.

"In that time, we'll break the chain lock on the CB25OT. I checked to make sure the key was already there. Then, we'll open the shutters leading outside..." His friend smiled. "And ride on out. Piece of cake, right?"

Baji was both disturbed and horrified. "That's not the problem, dammit! I'm saying that stealing is a bad idea, Kazutora."

Kazutora had a closed-eyed smile. "You might complain... but you always go along with whatever I'm doing." He says as he puts his face mask on.

Baji was silent, but he puts on his face mask as well.

They both reached the motorcycle shop. With duct tape in hand, Kazutora was taping a small part of the glass window. Baji knew this as a technique that burglars would do if they knew there was a glass door, and he was disturbed to know that Kazutora knew this.

Kazutora punched the area where he taped the glass, and only a small sound was let out. A soft click was heard at the end of the door, opening it. "It's open! Huh, the alarm... it didn't come off." Kazutora wondered, but he wasn't complaining. "Well, whatever. Come on!"

"Are you really going to do this, Kazutora?!" Baji whisper-shouted. "If we go any further, we can't turn back!"

"Ah, shut up." Kazutora says, annoyed. "We're inside the shop now."

Baji could've just left him. He really could've. But he didn't. He just sighs, opening the flashlight so that they wouldn't trip onto the rows of motorcycles.

"Look, that's it!" Kazutora pulls Baji along, and there at the center of the room was the CB25OT. They walked closer to it, and Baji was in awe by just looking at it. "So cool..."

"Looking at it up close, it's not a new one." Kazutora said as he was looking at the motorcycle. Baji agreed. "Yeah... this CB25OT's been maintained. It's even customized." He added. "This bike..."

A small vision appeared in Baji's mind as he was still staring in awe. "If Mikey rides this... he'll look so fuckin' cool..."

"And here you were, telling me to back off." Kazutora says with a small smirk.

Baji just rolled his eyes at the comment. "Gimme the bolt cutter and hold the chain for me."

Kazutora handed the bolt cutter as he knelt down. Baji was struggling a little, sweat dripping down his forehead as he realized that the chain wasn't showing any signs of breaking. "This chain's solid, it won't cut through!"

"Hurry! Our ten minutes are almost up!" Kazutora was complaining now as nervousness was starting to creep over.

"I'm trying, dammit!" Baji kept on trying, until the chain finally broke. "Got it, now let's get out of here!"

"I'll open the shutters, don't start the engine until we're outside!" Kazutora was already hurrying over to the back. "Looks like we're gonna pull this off after all! I can already imagine how happy Mikey's gonna be!" He exclaimed before heading off.

Baji was carefully moving the motorcycle out on to the back. 'Mikey... you're gonna have the most badass birthday ever.' He thought to himself, already seeing the vision of him, Kazutora, and the rest of the gang riding right beside Mikey.

"Hey!" Baji flinched when he heard a voice, and he stopped moving. He looked over in panic, seeing that the person had a weapon in hand. "Whose shop do you think you broke into, asshole?!"

'Shit! He's got a weapon, what now?!' Baji's face was filled with terror as adrenaline started pumping in his veins. A flight system was starting to go on autopilot.

"Wait... Keisuke?"

Once there was a little bit of light in the room, Baji's heart dropped.

The person that was standing in front of him was Mikey's older brother.

"Shi... Shinichiro-kun...?" Baji was frozen in fear. "Why are... why are you here...?"

"Huh? This is my shop." Shinichiro lowers down his weapon, and he was looking very concerned for the boy. "What are you even doing here? And why are you..." He trails off, looking at him and the motorcycle. "Listen, I don't know what sort of prank you decided to pull off but stealing isn't a laughing matter. You should..."

Loud footsteps were heard now. Baji averted his gaze to the side as he sees a familiar figure running to them...

...and he was holding a bolt cutter.

"KAZUTORA, STOP!"

"Who...?" Shinichiro turned around to see who Baji was shouting at, but something hard had hit the back of his head. He falls down onto the ground with a loud thud. Baji was more than horrified. Kazutora was panting heavily, then he looked up at Baji with a grin. "Let's get out of here, Baji!"

Baji abandoned the CB25OT as he ran to the unconscious older boy on the ground. He was on his knees, tears starting to well up in his eyes. "What the hell did you do, Kazutora?!" He fumed, looking up at Kazutora. Kazutora's grin turned into a look of anger. "What else could I do?! He saw your face!" He retaliated.

"NO! That's not what I mean, dumbass!" Baji barked, his voice breaking now. "Shinichiro-kun is Mikey's older brother!!!"

Kazutora was in disbelief. "What...?"

"Shinichiro-kun! Shinichiro-kun!!!" Baji was shaking him and there was blood starting to seep out from his head.

Kazutora dropped the bolt cutter in his hands.

They screwed up, big time.

The Fate of Souls was watching as the two were being taken in the police and the older man in an ambulance. She faces the Fate of Dimensions with a look of disgust. "You and Reaper are sick in the head, Yuuko."

The Fate of Dimensions, Yuuko, only smirks as she twirls her kiseru in hand. "You can't expect me to break a curse, Mitama. Besides, Memory and Ryutai already did their job. It's up to them if they can break the curse or not. Right, Reaper?" She asks, facing the man behind her.

The Fate of Time looked completely different, but his aura remained the same. He just shrugs, sitting down on the edge of the roof. "I have a feeling this timeline won't be as boring as the last one." He says with a smirk.

Mitama shakes her head, watching the ambulance drive off. She scoffs, shaking her head. "I'm heading back inside, tell me when you're twisted games are over."

Mitama disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving Reaper and Yuuko alone. "She was always the type to leave in a rush."

Reaper just lets out a chuckle. "When she's a handler of souls, it's no wonder. If the souls suddenly went out, it'd be horror."

Yuuko laughs. "Oh, I always forget that! But it's always fun to forget sometimes!"

Yuuko and Reaper's laughter echoed throughout the night, accompanied by the empty and starless sky. Even the sounds of the ambulance and police sirens weren't enough to drown it out.

Unless of course... if you heard it. But if not, maybe you were just hearing the wind.