A/N: Here's the final battle of the Moebius arc. I intentionally wrote the fight as one long scene to make it feel more immersive, but hopefully it doesn't instead feel dragged out. As always, I'd like to hear your thoughts. T/W for this chapter in particular for violence and cursing. 

"Ugh, this traffic is terrible," Hayato complained as we slowly weaved through the crowded lines of cars on the road, their taillights lighting up the night in a hazy, red glow. The headlight of Hayato's bike illuminated the asphalt in front of us, the painted white line we were riding over shining.

Lane splitting on a motorcycle was legal in Japan, especially with this sluggish traffic caused by some roads being blocked off for the festival. The people walking on the sidewalk were traveling at nearly the same pace as the waiting cars. I'd been trying to read up on the traffic laws here because I might possibly end up riding my own, and unlike the others, I had no intention of breaking the laws. Well, not too badly.

I watched several red and white paper lanterns strung up along the trees lining the road as we passed them, and I could hear festive music and a crowd not too far away over the engines of the cars around us. It seemed we were close to the fairgrounds.

"I'm just gonna take a detour to a different parking lot at the back," he called to me. "It's probably a lot less crowded."

"Sure. Do whatever you think is best." We split off at the next intersection and proceeded down an almost vacant road compared to earlier. No lanterns lined the path and the sounds of the festival quieted a bit, but we eventually arrived at a wide lot surrounded by dense trees, with a stairway at one end that led to the shrine. There were a handful of others who'd had the same idea as us, but it was still quite empty.

Hayato parked his bike near the edge, and we walked together toward the stairs. He suddenly stopped to look at the other side. "Huh? Ain't that Peh-yan's bike? And the others, too." I followed his gaze to see four somewhat-familiar motorcycles lined against the railing that ran around the parking lot, customized in the manner of a biker gang. It was too far to make out the details, but there was probably Toman's symbol emblazoned somewhere on them.

"Seems like it," I replied.

"Lit, he's cooled-off enough to enjoy the festival. Maybe we might catch them." Hayato grinned as he slung his arms behind his head in a carefree manner.

"Yeah...maybe."

We took a shortcut through the trees and headed towards the mellow lights and hubbub of the festival. The roads in front of the shrine had been repurposed with booths, dappled red in the glow of the lanterns hanging from wires splayed over the heads of the festivalgoers. Multiple booths were cooking and selling street food that made my mouth water, but I also spotted several with games and merchandise. There were quite a lot of people, of all varying ages, but it wasn't overly crowded. A fair number wore traditional Japanese outfits, many of them girls in prettily-patterned yukata, but there were also many in casual clothing.

The constantly shifting crowd of faces was hard to keep track of. Avoiding Takemichi, Draken, and their girlfriends would be no easy task. Peh-yan and those three boys from the Third Division could be at the festival too, hunting for Draken. I frowned as I continued scouring the sea of people. I would only watch and not interfere.

"Is something the matter?" Hayato looked back at me, who had stopped at the curb of the street.

"Huh? No, I was just..." Anxious. Apprehensive. "...excited. I've never been to a Japanese festival before."

"Yeah, I thought that might be the case! C'mon, I'll show you around." He grabbed my wrist and cheerfully tugged me into the crowd. I let myself be pulled along by his energy.

"You wanna grab some food first? There's this really good Takoyaki stand that's been here every year. It's a really popular street food, you've probably seen it being sold before. I swear it's amazing," Hayato said as we wandered among the stalls. I kept an eye on the people passing us, but I also took the chance to look at the festival-grounds more closely. Even considering the circumstances, the festival was a completely fresh experience to me, and I couldn't help but glance around in awe.

"Sure. I'll take your word for it." My host parents had given me a little spending money, even though I hadn't asked for it. I was here though; I might as well enjoy it.

He led me to a particular stall, and we paid for a set to share between us after waiting in a short line. Watching them prep and cook it right in front of us added to the experience. Nine browned balls flipped onto a paper tray and garnished with bonito flakes, green onions, and a dark sauce. I delicately picked one up with a toothpick, blew on it slightly, and stuffed it in my mouth. I exhaled around it sharply as the thing was hot, but I could still taste the sweet and salty tang of the sauce brushed atop and the octopus in the moist stuffing. The dash of ginger added depth to the flavor. I eyed the rest of the platter with a longing stare, but I refrained from taking a second until Hayato did. My true thoughts must've been showing, because Hayato was smirking at me.

I held the paper tray between us as we continued on through the crowd. "Anything catch your eye that you wanna check out?" he asked after swallowing another.

"Not particularly." I watched out of the corner of my eye as a girl in a yukata with bobbed, chestnut hair walked by, although she was about five years too young. "The atmosphere's enough for me. Any recommendations?"

"How about the games?" he suggested. "Not to flex, but I'm actually pretty good at the fishing games." That was very humble of you.

"Alright. Let's finish this off, first." I ate one of the remaining takoyaki, and he took the other. I wiped my mouth with a napkin from the stall and scrapped our trash at a conveniently-placed bin.

Hayato scanned the nearby stalls. "Hmm, how about that one." He pointed at a booth where a large pool of water had been set out front, spherical balloons of different patterns and colors floating within. There was a young girl leaning over the edge with her arm outstretched, and a man, probably the booth owner, watching from a chair.

"Okay."

We came up to the stall. Upon closer inspection, I could see a string tied to each balloon in the water. "This is yoyo-fishing / yoyo-tsuri. You see the strip that kid's holding? They're made of paper, and there's a paperclip at the end. You try to pick the balloons out of the water by the string without letting the paper break." The girl smoothly raised her strip, a balloon with a wavy pattern dangling at the end of it. It sounded simple enough.

I paid the cost, and the owner handed me two strips. I played with the paper with my fingers. It wasn't too flimsy, but those balloons looked heavy. I could see through some of the clear ones that they were only partially filled with water, but it still seemed difficult.

I got down on my knees and located a string that was floating close to the top within my range. It was hard to tell exactly which balloon it led to, but I wasn't very picky. I reached over to it and snagged the hook of my strip around the knotted string and raised it, fast enough so the paper wouldn't absorb too much water but not too fast so it would snap from the force—

The paper ripped, and the balloon bobbed in the water with a ripple.

"You need to go a little faster," Hayato advised. I answered him by extending my arm to try again...and getting the same results. This was a bit frustrating.

"That wasn't a good one to go for. Try that one, maybe. Also, faster."

It was after my fourth try that he added some unnecessary commentary. "Dude, you're just as shit at this as Peh-yan is. He's so impatient that he just yanks it out of the water. Let me show you how it's done." He exchanged his money for the strips. "Hey pops, we can twist the paper, right?"

The booth owner turned back to him. "No."

"But that kid from earlier did it." Had she done something special? I hadn't been looking too closely.

The owner graced him with the same deadpan expression. "Only kids below middle school are allowed to."

"Huh? What kind of...whatever," Hayato grumbled. He squatted down beside me and scanned the water. "Frank, you want that one," black with a swirl of gold, "or that one?" half-clear and half-yellow with a streak of silver. Both had strings that were floating close to the top, I noted. "Or I can get both."

I didn't mind too much, but I pointed at the second. "Alright, lemme just get that for you." He leaned over and confidently withdrew the string out of the water, the balloon on the end of it. And then his strip snapped a centimeter off the water. I couldn't help the snort as his pride got kicked down a notch. I was feeling somewhat spiteful after he dissed my earlier attempts.

"That was a mistake," he confided to me. Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. But he tried again with his remaining one and successfully pulled the balloon clean out of the water, despite its string having sunk a bit from his previous attempt. "You see that, Frank? That was a fluke earlier. This is how it's done." Still suspending it from his strip, he plopped the balloon into my hands before unhooking it. "Here. You can tie the string to your finger and bounce it around."

I turned it about and watched the water inside tumble before I tied a knot one-handedly around my middle finger. I tested it by throwing the balloon out, and the elastic string snapped it back into my hand. It was quite resilient. "Thanks, Hayato."

"Yeah, no problem. Huh? Is that Draken?" My head snapped up towards Hayato after having been completely distracted by the game. "Hey, Dr—!"

"Wait, wait." I jumped to my feet and grabbed his shoulder to stop him from calling out. He looked at me in confusion. "He's with his girlfriend, right? Let's not disturb him." Ironically, Hayato had been the one to spot them and not me. I couldn't even see them right now, but I was betting that Emma was with him.

We shouldn't get involved. Not now.

"Oh, good catch. I almost ruined the Vice-President's date." Hayato bought into my excuse. "Anyway, how about goldfish scooping? I saw one back there."

I was about to reply, but a few droplets of moisture fell from above, increasing in number to form a light sheet of rain. My companion stared up in disbelief for a few seconds. "It's actually raining. What the heck." Other festivalgoers scrambled about, not having had the foresight to see the weather.

"Which is why—" I pulled my folding umbrella out of my pocket and deployed it with the push of a button. "—I came prepared." I held it over both of us, and the rain harmlessly fell around us, striking my umbrella in a pleasing rhythm. My jacket wasn't quite waterproof, so I still wanted to stay under cover despite Hayato being the least equipped clothing-wise for the rain. Also, it was my umbrella.

"Thanks. But pink, though?"

"Yeah. So?" My mom, my biological mother, had bought it for me a long time ago. I only remembered because I'd initially complained about the color too, but right now, it was one of those few remaining reminders of them I had in my suitcase. It somehow had many of my old belongings, despite how I'd gotten here still a complete mystery. It really was as if my younger self had come to Japan.

He shrugged and dropped it. "So, should we just leave? We've done plenty. Festivals in the rain aren't as fun." A lot of the stalls seemed to be closing, partly from the rain but also because many of their prospective clientele had left. The rain battered the lanterns, but they remained lit. They were probably electric lights, as real flames would've been a fire hazard.

What now? The rain had started, which meant it wouldn't be too long until the fight between Moebius and Toman, until we approached the critical moment to Draken's survival. I came to the festival even though I had decided to only spectate. Then why had I felt the urge to still be here so strongly, to the point where I'd physically felt ill at the thought of ignoring the event?

"Let's...let's just go back for now." We walked together down the emptying street with some haste. I stowed the balloon from the game in my pocket. I still wanted it, and hopefully it didn't pop. "It might be dangerous to walk through the trees since it's raining. It could be muddy. Let's take the path, even though it's more roundabout," I said.

"Sure."

The pale, stone-paved path had darkened with the rain, and we traveled away from the festival and back towards the parking lot, with only the moon and scattered lamp posts for visibility. The earthly scent of petrichor arose from the forest around us, and the weather didn't seem to be clearing up anytime soon.

Wait. That parking lot, the one with Peh-yan's bike...that was where Mitsuya would arrive while looking for Draken, and Takemichi would stumble across him. I continued walking but intentionally started to drag my pace, and Hayato had no choice but to step into line with me.

No, no, no, we couldn't meet up. We couldn't go to the lot. I'd managed to steer us away from encountering Takemichi earlier, but we would still be getting mixed up in the story at this rate. How could I stop this? What could I say to Hayato to stop us from returning? The rain continued to patter on my umbrella in my silence.

My phone suddenly buzzed in my pants pocket, and judging from how Hayato suddenly took out his phone, it'd been a message sent to all of us in Toman. What terrible timing.

Hayato stopped dead in his tracks. I backtracked a few steps to provide him cover, but he didn't seem to care as the rain drizzled down his bare head in those few seconds it took me to realize. All he did was stare down at his phone, his expression shadowed against the streetlight behind him. I took out mine to see what had shaken him up, having a vague idea what the message was, but my companion suddenly dashed out from underneath my umbrella, his sandals slapping the ground as he made haste.

"Hayato!" I yelled after him. He ignored me, running away in the rain. I looked at my phone while biting my lower lip to confirm my suspicions.

It was a group message from Mitsuya to the entire 2nd Division:

Get to Musashi Shrine ASAP. Peh teamed up with Moebius and is after Draken. Don't hesitate to stop them.

So Peh-yan had ended up betraying Toman. That was the natural result, as I hadn't done anything. I stowed away my phone and chased after Hayato. The wind caught my umbrella as I tried to run, so I pulled it shut, whipped down my hood, and continued on with my umbrella bunched up in my hand.

After a few minutes of running, I came across him panting as he stood over Peh-yan's bike. He didn't do anything; he just stared at it as the rain pelted him. I couldn't process what was going through his mind, but we needed to leave.

"Hayato, we shouldn't stay in one place by ourselves for too long. It might be dangerous with Moebius around. Let's regroup with the gang," I tried to reason.

He didn't acknowledge me.

"Hayato..." I shook his shoulder gently.

He spoke with his face still downcast. "You meet up with Toman. I'm gonna find Peh-yan."

The sound of a muffler-less engine grew louder over the sound of rain hitting the ground, and I more urgently pulled at his shoulder. But I was too late. Mitsuya swerved into the parking lot from the adjacent road, his bike tires skidding to a stop on the wet pavement. He was wearing a vest thrown atop a t-shirt and was quite drenched. There was no escaping this now.

He noticed us instantly, as we were the only ones in the parking lot, and he leaped off his bike and ran to us. "Hayato. Frank. Were you at the festival? Did you see Draken?!" he demanded.

Hayato was unresponsive. "We did see him among the booths, but we're not sure where he is now," I answered.

"I see. So he shouldn't be too far..." Mitsuya trailed off as he noticed a particular someone acting strangely. "Hayato, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, Mitsuya. But I'm going to look for Peh-yan." He made to break off into the trees, but Mitsuya grabbed his wrist before he could go anywhere and pulled him back firmly.

"And what'll you do then? Try to convince him to stop? You know as well as I do that that hot-headed idiot won't listen to reason in this situation." Hayato refused to meet Mitsuya's steady gaze.

He continued with a firm voice. "We might seem angry, and that guy honestly deserves a fist to the face, but we don't truly hate him. We understand that he's doing this for Pah. So help us stop him from doing something stupid that he'll regret later, Hayato. You hear me?"

Mitsuya had a unique sort of charisma to him. While being laid-back and calm, he still carried the air of a Captain, both authoritative and capable of inspiring his subordinates. It was different from Mikey's imposing presence and Draken's fierce aura. The best way I could describe it was a strong and steady flame, bending slightly to nature's whims but refusing to die out. A constant comfort that the 2nd Division likely used to center themselves.

"Yeah," Hayato replied as he made eye contact with his Captain and loosened up his furrowed brows. Mitsuya released his arm, and he didn't escape. "I do."

Even with Hayato now out of his funk, the situation was still bleak. I spotted a flash of movement from the steps at the end of the parking lot. One of the MVPs of the hour and the number two person I didn't want to meet tonight. There was no backing out of this anymore. I tugged my hood down further. Mitsuya noticed him as well. "Takemitchy?!"

"Mitsuya-kun!" The blonde delinquent rushed towards us, his hairdo undone from the rain. His t-shirt was speckled with dirt and his face was littered with bruises. A few, fading bright red lines encircled his forearms. "Draken-kun's going to get attacked! We need to help him!"

"Yeah, we know," Mitsuya replied. "But how'd you find out?"

"I overheard Kiyomasa-kun with some of his friends!" Takemichi hurriedly answered.

"Kiyomasa? Maybe he's trying something." He frowned. "But it's Peh-yan that I'm worried about here. I thought he'd come to understand, but he's really after Draken now." Takemichi was the only one who reacted with shock, as it must have been his first time hearing it.

"Wait, but Mitsuya, how'd you know that?" Hayato interjected. I was admittedly curious, too.

"Some people from his Division told me," he said. "But that's not of concern. Right now, we need to find Draken." He let that sink in for a few seconds. His phone suddenly hummed, and he took it out to check a message while cupping his hand over it to block the rain.

"I'm Sasaki Hayato," my companion took the chance to introduce himself. "Just call me Hayato."

I followed along. "I go by Frank."

"Oh. Uh, I'm Hanagaki Takemichi. I guess you can call me Takemitchy...?"

Hayato gave him a look-over. "Dude, you look like shit. What kind of monster did you fight?"

Takemichi looked away, slightly ashamed. "It was just Kiyomasa-kun and his friends. I lost, though."

"But you're here." Hayato firmly patted his back. "That's what matters!"

Our Captain snapped his phone shut. "The others are bringing reinforcements. Toman'll be here in a few minutes, but the roads are blocked off because of the festival. It might take them longer," he announced.

Hayato took the lead. "What should we do now? Wait for them?"

Mitsuya shook his head. "We don't have that time. We've got four of us here, it'd be more efficient to split up and search."

I'd been staying silent to not alter the flow of events too much nor attract Takemichi's attention, but I couldn't let us all split up. Takemichi couldn't run into Draken fighting Moebius alone.

"Takemichi, you mentioned seeing Kiyomasa earlier," I spoke up, my voice urgent. He turned to me. "You might know something we don't. Is there anything else you can recall? A specific place they were planning on heading to, perhaps?" Kiyomasa was just an excuse. I needed him to remember what he'd learned in the future about this event. Everyone diverted their attention to him.

"I'm...wait, a parking lot! I think they might have mentioned that. Is there another one here?!"

"There's one at the front. But are you sure about that?" Mitsuya demanded.

"Yeah! I think."

Hayato joined in. "We don't have any further leads, so let's check it out."

"Let me quickly update the others, first." Mitsuya took his phone out again and typed up a message. I hastily wrapped up my umbrella after shaking some of the moisture off it and shoved it into my other pocket from the balloon, although the handle stuck out. If I did end up fighting, I had something to defend myself with if necessary. I didn't want to swing around my mom's memento if I had the choice, though. "Alright, let's go!"

We all dashed through the forest, Mitsuya and Hayato taking the lead since they were more familiar with the area. The dirt sunk under my shoes and didn't provide the greatest traction, but luckily no one slipped. The dim light of the moon provided enough visibility to not trip, although the land was fairly flat aside from some of the tree roots that were growing aboveground.

Don't stick out. Don't draw attention. Don't change anything. Those were the only thoughts racing through my head as I ran alongside the boys. A low-hanging branch snagged my hood and threatened to pull it off, but I quickly yanked it free. I was only a 2nd Division member who'd happened to be at the festival and was assisting my Captain. Nothing else.

As the trees started to thin out, I could hear a dull clamor coming from past the forest. The others put on a spurt of speed and burst out of the trees to assess the situation, and I followed behind a few seconds later.

In the middle of the paved parking lot, Draken stood over the unconscious bodies of nearly twenty Moebius members, the rain pooling on the ground soaking their white tokko-fuku. But none of them looked to be in as bad condition as Draken was, with his blood mixing with the rain to stream down his forehead as he panted heavily over his fallen foes. However, there were triple that number remaining, waiting from the sidelines for their turn to attack the wounded boy. And near the forefront of them stood Peh-yan and the three boys of the 3rd Division, standing out in their black gang uniforms. I took a step back as their attention momentarily came on us.

Draken noticed us arrive and sluggishly turned to face us, the pale lock of hair framing his face dyed red. He wiped some blood out of his eyes with the dark sleeve of his patterned jacket. "Good timing, Mitsuya. It's burnable trash collection day and I was just taking it out, but there was more than I thought there'd be. A little help here?"

"That was yesterday," my Captain remarked.

"Whatever. Ugh, my head's killing me. I haven't felt like this in a while. Take over for me." The tall boy trudged a few steps towards us, eyeing me with a dismissive glance, and plopped onto the ground behind us. The members of Moebius watched on without interfering, self-assured in their victory. I heard sandals clop from the side as Emma ran up in a dark yukata, her hair elegantly styled up and skin pristine compared to her boyfriend's. Her translucent umbrella kept her dry. I hadn't noticed her earlier, as I'd been caught up with watching the scene play out.

"Emma! Stay back," Draken called between breaths. The girl opened her mouth as if she wanted to protest, but she scowled and went back to the edge of the parking lot.

"Peh-yan!" I brought my attention back to the mob of Moebius members as Hayato suddenly hollered at them. "I'm gonna beat you up, bring you back home, and dump your head in a bucket of ice-cold water to cool off. You hear me?!"

"Hayato, you'll kill him," Mitsuya retorted. "But I'm not too far behind that. You've gone too damn far, Peh!"

"Shut the fuck up and drop dead!" Peh-yan growled at us. "None of you are getting out alive." The white-clothed members of Moebius edged closer and started to fan out around us, their air changing from content to bloodthirsty. I swallowed nervously. Peh-yan and the three 3rd Division members stayed back. Those three had been completely quiet. What was their reason for being here?

Takemichi had stood quietly beside me the entire time, but his shoulders tensed up as the gang approached. His eyes flitted from side-to-side, searching for something or someone.

And I was doing the exact same. Where was Mikey? Toman? Timing was crucial. While I knew Mitsuya was a powerful fighter and Hayato wasn't too shabby (according to himself), I doubted they'd be able to take on nearly a hundred people while defending Draken. It wasn't as if Takemichi and I couldn't fight, but we were pretty much just distractions, and I'd experienced how weak I was not long ago. I nervously swallowed. If we went down before the gang arrived, Draken would die. That was simply it.

A hand slapped my back and I jumped, startled. "Calm down, dude," Hayato said to me as he kept his eyes on the enemies in front of us. "I've got your back. Just take down however many you can, and I'll take care of the rest."

Had I been so notably nervous? I flexed my hands to loosen them up, but I noticed red marks left on my palm from my fingernails. Someone's life was on the line. Of course I was bothered. But if I could distract them by a second and hold them off long enough to set the timeline back on course, then I would. Rather than stay completely uninvolved, I would act in order to set the plot back on track. Yeah, that was it.

"Thanks." It wasn't quite for the reason he thought, but he had helped snap me out of my worrying.

"Hayato, take the left," Mitsuya ordered. "Frank and Takemitchy, assist him. I'll take the right."

"Gotcha." / "Alright." / "Uh, ok."

But before Moebius could take another step forward, a curious, sonorous roar howled out in the distance and gained in volume, coming closer. Our opponents looked around warily, clearly bothered by the sound. Whether they recognized it or it was just their self-preservation instincts kicking in, it had them on edge. Contrastingly, Mitsuya and Draken burst into grins at the sound, which, upon louder sample, could be distinguished as the exhaust sound of an engine.

"Tch, took that slowpoke long enough," Draken complained while smiling.

"But he's always covering our asses when we need him," my Captain replied.

"No shit he does. Toman depends on him, after all."

Takemichi looked between the two, baffled by the subcontext. To be frank (hah!) I couldn't recognize the sound either; all bikes sounded the same to me. But I knew who it was. And if he was here, then there was no need to fear.

A dark blur cut through the parking lot and skidded to a halt in the middle of our standoff, revealing itself to be a boy atop a sleek motorcycle, parts of the frame painted scarlet. The boy, wearing a loose, kimono-like top and short trousers, was only about my height, and yet his presence sent the older boys of Moebius into uneasy muttering.

"Mikey-kun!" Takemichi exclaimed, his relief palpable.

The First-Generation President of Toman casually parked his bike off to the side, and no one from Moebius moved. Emma had a hurried exchange with him, too quiet for me to hear. He then returned and surveyed the situation. I lowered my head slightly as his gaze passed over me.

"I was called elsewhere so Ken-chin could get attacked," he said, abnormally calm. "So then, our argument having been publicly known, the blame would fall on me. Toman would become permanently split into two, and it would be all my fault. This isn't your style, Peh. Rather, you're not capable of planning this. Who tempted you to do this?" Peh-yan looked away. "You three as well," Mikey addressed the three boys of the 3rd Division, who stood at Peh-yan's side. They didn't back away from his stare, but they remained silent.

Then came the sound of a lone person clapping in a slow, pronounced manner. Moebius parted as a lanky boy sauntered to the front, who had black, slicked back hair with a distinctive streak of yellow. His white shirt wasn't soaked from the rain on account of a Moebius member holding an umbrella over his head. A long, golden earring dangled from his left ear, and tattooed on the back of his hands were black characters, although I was too far away to distinguish them. Hanma Shuuji, Kisaki's partner-in-crime.

He flicked aside the cigarette he'd been holding. "Bravo, bravo. I thought Toman was full of only muscle-brained idiots, but I think I'll have to reassess. Though, you're only a primary schooler compared to a certain guy I know," he drawled.

Mikey didn't blink. "And you are?"

"Oh, the great Mikey wants to know my name? I'm just the temporary leader of Moebius, but hey, whaddya know? The name's Ha—"

He suddenly leaned to the side to avoid a fist that came from behind him as the three dark-garbed members of the 3rd Division attacked him. I tensed up in shock, hands rising to my side as if a full-on brawl was about to begin. One of the boys slugged Hanma's umbrella-holding attendant and whipped the umbrella out of his hands as the Moebius member fell. The first one who'd thrown the punch returned for a follow-up, and the remaining boy did the same on Hanma's other side.

But numbers didn't matter to Kisaki's right-hand man. He used his long reach to backhand one of them across the face with a loud crack before pivoting towards the other and swatting his fist aside to deliver a clean punch. Both crumpled onto the ground and didn't move.

"Fucking bastard!" the final of the trio yelled as he swung his appropriated closed umbrella like a bat at the back of Hanma's head. But before he could attain much momentum in his swing, Hanma swiveled around and stepped boldly into his space, effectively putting him at an awkward angle. From there, he plucked the umbrella out of the boy's hands and snagged the hook at the end of the handle on his opponent's throat, essentially choking him. Hanma then wrenched the umbrella roughly to the side, sending the dark-clothed member to the pavement in a coughing fit.

"How rude," Hanma commented, not at all out-of-breath from taking down three people at once. "Let's try this again. My name's H—"

"'Fucking bastard,' amirite?" Mikey intoned.

"Well, that's what some affectionately call me, but my real name is—"

"Hanma, you asshole!" The two boys stopped to look at Peh-yan, who had adopted a dark expression. "You didn't fucking need to do that to them!"

"Woah, chill," the newly-named Hanma chided. "Before we end up trading blows, might I remind you of our prior engagement?" The former 3rd Division Vice-Captain bit off his words angrily. "But now that that's out of the way, I'm here to crush Toman. The easiest way to do that was to make you fight each other, but that's no fun. So thanks for allowing me this chance to take you on, Mikey!" He grinned like a madman. Our President met him with an impassive stare.

"Listen up, y'all!" Hanma directed to the large crowd of Moebius members behind him. "Anyone who chickens out is ending up like them." He jabbed his thumb at the three boys he'd just KO'd. "But also, I'll kick your teeth out and drag you from my bike while I make a little trip down the highway. How's that sound?!" Abso-fucking-lutely terrifying, their wide-eyed expressions and upright posture conveyed. None of them budged an inch. "Are none of you running away? Hmph, what a letdown."

"Are you done yet, 'fucking bastard'?" Mikey called.

"Gimme a moment, honey. Just giving them a few words of encouragement."

I watched the exchange with flat eyes. Hanma was...cockier than I remembered him being. He was extremely provocative and clearly itching for violence, but it appeared to be falling on deaf ears. Well, from what I could tell. I glanced at Mikey, his thoughts locked behind a frown but relatively calm expression. I wasn't certain how he would react. However, with Mikey here, we would definitely be able to hold out long enough for Toman to arrive even if there was a delay. Everything was set.

"Alright, sic 'em. But don't take Mikey. He's mine," Hanma ordered with a sweep of his arm. Takemichi and I stiffened, but the four boys with us remained eerily neutral.

And then I heard it. A swarm of bikes, not unlike the sound of a horde of bugs, steadily approaching us in the rain. I let myself relax with a sigh. There was no need to worry; the cavalry had arrived.

Tens, no, a hundred black tokko-fuku members noisily streamed into the parking lot on their bikes, and they quickly dismounted and marched towards us, forming a dark boundary between our group and Moebius.

"Hold up!" Hanma yelled back to his gang. "Let's let them in. Wouldn't this be more fun?" The general consensus appeared to be no, you sadistic freak, but they silently obeyed him. My view of them was completely blocked off as Toman fully assembled in front of us. The three boys previously with us smoothly slipped into the crowd, leaving Takemichi and I beside a resting Draken. Who was currently struggling to his feet despite his head wound and trudging to the front.

"W-wait!" The 26-year-old time leaper called after Draken. He was ignored. I took the opportunity to enter their ranks as well, having waited for a moment to lose Takemichi. I'd have to fight anyway, as part of Toman. If I even could. I sunk into my jacket to try and comfort myself, but my stomach twisted with the thought of fighting Moebius.

A few members glanced my way as I slipped past them, but none called me out on my casual clothing. They mostly kept their focus to the front, shifting on their feet as they waited for the order from the President.

It didn't come in the way I expected, though. It began with the marching of boots from the front, which quickened into a stride, then a charge. I was forced to run alongside them to not be trampled, and through the crowd I could see the Moebius members similarly charging at us. That was the last moment of anything resembling order, and the two gangs messily collided with one another in a chaotic, full-on brawl.

I stopped once the mob had finished rushing at the enemy gang, no longer being pushed by those behind me. This...was my actual first gang fight. My bouts with Mitsuya were only playground squabbles. My confrontation with Moebius that night was only a beatdown. Perhaps how it was so close to ending badly was why I felt a partial urge to run into the trees and wait it out.

A few meters away, a white-garbed boy punched a black-garbed boy in the face with a sickening crunch, causing him to crumple onto the ground with blood trickling from his nose, unconscious. But the boy in white had no time to celebrate his victory, as a metal bat rammed into his back, knocking him onto his knees. Another boy in black descended on him, brutally beating him into the ground. Everywhere I looked was the same scene, and even if I closed my eyes, I could still hear the cries of anger, pain, anguish, and other heated emotions, accompanied by the dull sounds of punching, kicking, falling, breaking. I didn't notice myself begin to hyperventilate.

Draken would be stabbed at any moment now. And I wanted that to happen, didn't I? That instead of the countless deaths caused by Toman in the future, including Hina's, although there was no guarantee that they would be saved if I simply followed along the plot. And that was why I was in Toman, wasn't it? To be able to act at the most crucial moment and set the future on a good end. But how would I know when that crossroads came? When would I act?

I couldn't earnestly admit that I wanted Draken to come close to death, in the same way I couldn't watch Pah-chin's friend and his family be brutally attacked. But if there came an event where Hina's life was directly pitted against another's, I would prioritize her's. I'd feel guilt for the rest of my life, but that's what I would do.

Although, what if...it was my life or her's? If I risked my own on this quest to save Hina? I wanted to return to my own world and family and also save her, but I felt more strongly to save myself. Although I came to know her as more than just classmates, she was only a girl I'd met two months ago, after all. My own life had precedence. What would I do then?

A flash of white snapped me out of my muddled thoughts, and I quickly dodged to the side to avoid a punch from a Moebius member. But having been unprepared for it, I failed to regain my balance and stumbled onto the ground, instantly soaking my clothes. I tried to quickly scramble away from their range of attack, but my shoes uselessly slipped off the wet pavement, and my opponent punted me in the chest. I gritted my teeth but let out a small gasp of pain. I subconsciously curled up to protect that area, my head tucked into my arms and knees to my chest. It was cold. Wet. Painful.

I braced myself for another hit to come, but it didn't. I warily peeked up to see Mitsuya thwack my opponent from behind, sending him crashing onto the ground beside me with a splash.

"Don't shy away!" he yelled at me over the sounds of fighting. "Get up!" Another enemy, alerted by his call, spun around and charged at Mitsuya. The 2nd Division Captain clicked his tongue as he was forced to grapple with the taller boy. "Fight back to win!"

I stayed on the ground for a moment and watched as he took his second opponent down before lunging for another. Besides having been caught off-guard and disadvantaged from the start, I hadn't considered fighting back at all. I stood back up and wrung some of the rainwater out of my jacket with trembling hands. My umbrella had fallen out in the scuffle, so I put it back in my pocket.

A guttural roar from several meters away drew my attention. I spotted Draken fighting two boys at once, one of which he sent hurtling away with a heavy fist prior to grabbing the other's head and slamming it into the floor. Despite still bleeding from his head wound, he grinned widely as three newcomers charged at him.

Well, he looked more energetic than ever. I winced as Draken clocked one with his elbow, dodged another's blows before returning his own punch, and clotheslined the final boy. Everyone who faced him was reduced to fodder. It was hard to imagine that he'd get shanked with how ferociously he was fighting.

I was more prepared this time as another enemy reared back to punch me. I wouldn't be able to do anything if I was knocked unconscious, so I just had to focus on the person in front of me and defeat them before worrying about anything else. I avoided his fist and backpedaled to place distance between us. I was still scared of fighting Moebius, but I'd only get hurt if I didn't do anything. So, the solution was obvious.

I reached into my pocket and hurled my balloon at him. It miraculously hadn't popped in the earlier scuffle. Disappointingly, it didn't burst into a watery explosion upon striking his face. However, it did bean him the eye, and he clutched the point of impact in agony while scrunching his eyes shut.

I charged at him while he was distracted and punched the edge of his jaw, trying to knock him out in one blow. I shook my hand out to ease the pain of bone hitting bone, but he definitely got the worse end as his head whipped to the side. However, he remained standing. And now his eyes were wide open and glaring at me. Uh-oh.

I took a step back and held my fists in front of me as he leaped for me, but he woozily stumbled halfway, slipped on the wet pavement, and face-planted on the ground. He didn't move. I blinked. That was...anticlimactic. I cautiously inched towards him and prodded him in the side with a finger. No response. Funnily (or depressingly) enough, that was my first victory in a fight. I managed to flip his unconscious body over so he at least didn't drown himself in the slowly rising water level of the parking lot. Basic courtesy done, I stood back up and patted my hands down. After having finally achieved a win, if it could be considered that, I felt less irrational fear towards Moebius. Although, it wasn't really irrational when they were out to hurt me.

Now marginally calmer, I scanned my surroundings. Draken was nowhere to be seen. I wandered between the individual scuffles, searching for the tall boy. Unexpectedly, my eyes landed on him. And it seemed he'd just noticed me, too.

Peh-yan stood alone in the rain, untouched by the chaos around him. He tensed up as if he expected us to fight, but he appeared distracted, his body facing partly away and his stance sloppy even to my inexperienced eyes.

I simply met his gaze and walked away. I couldn't summon the will to face him, much less fight him. Perhaps it was guilt from letting him betray Toman. The initial anger I had at him at the restaurant was gone, and all that remained was discomfort. I couldn't see his reaction, but he at least didn't chase after me.

"DRAKEN-KUN!!"

My blood turned to ice as Takemichi's scream split through the parking lot. Less than ten meters away from me, I spotted the time traveler crouched over Draken, who lay motionlessly on the ground. The water beneath him was stained red, and it only continued to spread. I hadn't noticed because I was looking up for the top of Draken's head and not down around me. It'd happened so damn close to me, and I hadn't even known.

"What's wrong, Takemitchy?!" Mikey called from further away.

"He's...he's been stabbed! He's not moving!" he cried back. The Toman members closest to him looked back in shock, but they were forced to continue fighting their opponents, who appeared rejuvenated by the news.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, what do I do?! Just watch it happen? My soaked clothing felt even colder on my skin. Takemichi stood over Draken's collapsed form, his eyes wide and breaths unsteady, having his own panic attack. "Wait—he's still alive!" Takemichi gasped, having seen something I didn't. "He's still breathing!"

"Take care of Ken-chin!!" Mikey yelled over the battle. The time traveler stared blankly at the ground for several seconds before coming to a decision and starting to haul the taller boy onto his back. He struggled to properly lift him off the ground, but that was only the first challenge. Takemichi trudged heavily through the fight, heading for the street just outside the parking lot. The Toman members fought harder to clear a path for them, trusting him with their Vice-President.

I spun around upon hearing a dull thunk behind me. A metal bat rolled harmlessly across the pavement as Mitsuya beat down the Moebius member who'd been sneaking up on me. That would've definitely been more painful than anything I'd faced, possibly giving me a fatal injury...I swallowed nervously.

"You're being a hindrance here," my Captain barked at me. "If you won't fight and just stand around, then go help Takemitchy." I hesitated to move. I'd decided to not change this event, right? The most critical moment to Draken's death would occur there. Then why did I feel so conflicted?

"What are you waiting for? Go!" I bit my lip and chased after Takemichi. The temporary path formed by the gang had disappeared, and I had to weave around individual fights. A few steps away from the edge, I made eye contact with a particularly burly enemy delinquent just as he finished taking down his opponent, and he lunged at me, deciding I was next. My momentum wouldn't allow me to change direction, and the slippery ground provided little friction.

"Shi—" I cursed as I braced myself to get hit, locking my arms in front of my face and shrinking my mass as much as possible.

Hayato burst out of nowhere and decked him in the head, knocking him off his feet. I managed to come to a stop a few meters past. "Thanks," I gasped.

He shot me a thumbs-up. "Try not to get yourself killed, yeah? I'm not sure how I'll explain that to your parents." The member he'd socked climbed back onto his feet, not finished yet. "Youko-san's pretty damn terrifying when she's pissed, if you haven't had the misfortune to experience it yet." Hayato leapt back into his fight, leaving me alone on the outskirts of the battle. I looked back one final time before running down the street.

I caught a glimpse of movement as someone rounded the corner at the far end of the street, where the road broke off onto a side street that ran through a neighborhood. The constant rain and dim street lights decreased visibility considerably. My shoes hit the pavement as I followed after them.

Takemichi stared at me wide-eyed as I came across him, but he blinked in recognition. "Frank-kun!" I was still getting used to honorifics being attached to my name and being called Frank, but those two combined was a completely different abomination. However, he had instantly recognized me as Frank, not Blake. We'd met a few times as just classmates, and I knew he knew my name. It would've been hard to suppress the instinct to call me by my actual name. He didn't know I was Blake.

"I'll...I'll help you carry him." As long as I stood at the sidelines when Kiyomasa and the others came, it shouldn't be an issue to help Takemichi lug the boy around.

"Please do. He's too heavy for me to carry alone," he admitted. In the rain, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him and bent down a little. Takemichi awkwardly tried to offload the injured boy off his back, and I helped drag him over so that he was suspended between the both of us, arms over our shoulders. I grunted as I received part of his weight. I was only upholding about half of it, but it felt like I was carrying not one, but two sacks of rice on my back. How the heck had Takemichi dragged him this far? Boys were just built differently, I guessed. We continued walking along, although Draken's boots scraped the road. He was too tall to fully lift off the ground.

"Where exactly are you...trying to go?" I managed to bite out.

"I'm trying to get him to the hospital, before he bleeds out," he replied.

Was he insane? The nearest hospital I was aware of was at minimum a fifteen-minute walk. But barring how fast we'd be able to get there, I doubted we would even be able to arrive, with how much we were already struggling to carry him. There were more logical solutions, such as ringing one of these houses' doorbells and asking for a ride to the hospital. In a dire situation with someone's life on the line, only a stone-cold bastard wouldn't comply. Or perhaps walking to the main road and hiring a taxi. While the streets might be held back with traffic from the festival and the rain, they would still be quicker than this snail's pace we were traveling at, and it'd get Draken out of the rain. Heck, Takemichi had his phone on him. Why didn't he call an ambulance?

But I kept my mouth shut, and we plodded along silently. I could feel something warm trickling down my back, and a quick glance back revealed it was blood. Draken was still bleeding profusely.

Hina and Emma would arrive soon, followed by Kiyomasa and his followers. But what if I'd helped Takemichi travel further along? What if those encounters were missed? The questions continued to pop up one after the other, as they had all night, but with the critical moment rapidly approaching, they'd grown more frantic and excited.

I couldn't let the story change; it'd make everything go haywire. "Takemichi, we won't be able to make it at this rate. He's...too heavy. It'd be better to call an ambulance and wait for them under some shelter."

"Who are you—cough—calling heavy? I built these abs from scratch," a voice from behind me struggled out. We stopped.

"Draken-kun!" Takemichi exclaimed.

"Hey, Takemitchy. Sorry for bleeding out over both of you." He offered a tired grin. "But the newbie's got a point. I doubt you wimps'll be able to get me that far."

"I guess that's true." Takemichi admitted. "Let's quickly find an overhang or something and call an ambulance."

"I think I saw one back there," I said. I wasn't just speaking out of my ass to ensure the encounters happened. He nodded, trusting me, and we turned back.

I could hear small splashes and the sound of shoes running from just beyond the block. Takemichi tensed beside me. I could distinguish no more than two people. I'd made it to one of the encounters.

Hina and Emma burst out from the corner of the building, their clothing drenched, having abandoned comfort in favor of haste. "Takemichi-kun!" Hina yelled upon seeing us.

"How's Draken?!" Emma said at the same time.

Takemichi recovered and spoke. "He's—"

"Still alive," the boy himself bit out from behind me. "Sorry for ruining our date, Emma." The blonde girl teared up in relief. After the two reached us, she gently lay her hand on Draken's cheek. "No touching," he grumbled. But unable to move from our hold on him, he was forced to accept it. I stood there awkwardly, and Emma drew away after a few seconds.

"We called an ambulance," Hina announced. "But it might take longer for them to come, from the traffic and this rain."

"Where exactly are they coming?" I asked without fully thinking. I bit my tongue to shut up as Hina looked at me. Staying at the location of the call was the best thing to do, so less time would be spent searching for the injured. However, heading any further back was the last thing I wanted to do, as I'd finally managed to set events back on track. Furthermore, Hina knew me, Blake, the best of anyone here. I lowered my head to let my hood obscure more of my face. She'd be the one most likely to recognize me. I didn't want to draw her attention.

"I said we were near the main parking lot of the shrine," Hina replied, her worried expression unchanging. And that was it.

"Yeah, we should probably tell them we're here when they get here," Takemichi reasoned. "But I don't think we should move Draken around too much if we don't need to..." He glanced over his shoulder, worried.

I jumped on the opportunity. There was only a very narrow time window until the next encounter. "I could go back and guide them here. Let's first set him down under that rooftop over there." His legs would get wet with how little cover it provided, but it was better than nothing.

"Okay." Emma backed away as Takemichi and I made our final trek to the aforementioned building, and we lowered Draken to the ground. I strained my arms as I tried to steadily set him down, but I dropped him a bit faster than Takemichi did. Draken slapped a hand on the pavement to steady himself, but he didn't comment. I shook out my sore arms.

"I'll just be going, then," I said back to them. Hina and Emma nodded at me. But Takemichi stared at something past me, visible horror on his face. As if he'd just seen the gates of hell creak open to reveal Satan himself. I slowly looked back.

"Oh? Seems he's still alive and kicking. Didn't you say you killed him?" a low voice belonging to none of us mocked.

"Shut your mouth. I aimed for his heart, but he moved out of the way at the last second."

"Your aim is shit. You missed by like, half-a-meter. What are you, blind?"

"Oh? You wanna try sneaking up on him in the middle of a fight while concealing a knife?"

"As he is now, I'll take that challenge, piece of cake."

Five boys in the black tokko-fuku of Toman sauntered down the street towards us, the clear leader of the pack a tall, broad-shouldered boy with dark hair slicked back. But his most notable feature was the small scar across his temple. I didn't remember his real name, but I knew he was Kiyomasa, Takemichi's initial tormentor at the beginning of the series. I shifted uneasily on my feet. If I stayed, I'd be turned into a punching bag. But even knowing that, I was frozen in place.

"Ey, Hanagaki's here! Wow, he sure is resilient."

"I bet he'll go down in less than a minute."

"A minute? How about ten seconds?" Kiyomasa scoffed.

I heard a rattling breath behind me as the injured member of our party struggled to his feet and spoke up. "Takemitchy. Newbie. Take the girls and scram. I've got some unfinished business with these guys."

"Draken! You're in no condition to fight," Emma said, grabbing his wrist. He used his long reach to pry his arm out of her grip.

"I'm fine," he blatantly lied. His wound had stained the white shirt he wore under his jacket red, and blood continued to drip down his forehead.

"You're not. Even I could beat you like this."

"I said I was fine, didn't I? Now leave, all of you." There was a hint of a snarl in his voice as he grew frustrated. But Emma didn't back off, her mouth set in a frown and eyes reddened from her tears.

Neither Takemichi nor I moved. Draken had just provided me an avenue to flee. Yet I still couldn't move. Why? What was I so hesitant over?! The feeling that had prompted me to attend the festival was at its peak.

And then Takemichi suddenly raised his head and screamed in frustration. I jumped at its abruptness. "Takemichi-kun...?" Hina murmured.

"Hina, stay back," the boy said as he walked forward. His expression was firm, his decision made up. His air had completely changed from before. Hina had confided about seeing a 'certain readiness' in him to me when we'd visited him in the hospital, and I could see what she meant as plain as day in the small of his back as he stopped a meter in front of Kiyomasa and his followers. "This is my revenge!" he boldly declared to them.

One of the boys leered at him. "For which time? You mean an hour ago when we tied you up and left you there? Or do you mean when we first kicked you and your friends' asses? I'm sorry, we've beat you up pretty much every time that I'm not even sure which you're referring to."

Takemichi stood strong. "No, not every time. We still haven't settled our fight back at that ring, right, Kiyomasa-kun? I haven't lost yet."

"The fuck are you on?" the addressed delinquent drawled.

Draken suddenly burst out laughing, but it degraded into hacking coughs. "Seems I underestimated you again, Takemitchy," he said once he'd gotten over his fit. "Sorry. You're more than capable of taking these guys on." He plopped back down on the ground.

"Has the blood loss made you lose your mind?" one of them mocked.

"Takemichi-kun will win!" a person I hadn't expected to hear declared aloud. Hina defiantly stared at them, her expression unyielding. Whereas she had previously been against Takemichi fighting, she now openly rooted for him. She'd made her own decision, too.

"Yup!" Emma joined in, less gloomy now that Draken was no longer going to risk his life further. "Because the underdog always wins!"

Takemichi squared his shoulders, finding courage in their belief. He sucked in a deep breath and charged for Kiyomasa, swinging his fist back to deliver a blow—

And recoiled in agony as the knife Kiyomasa suddenly sported sank into his palm, the blade emerging out the other end. I winced. Judging from how his fingers curled up around the wound, it luckily hadn't sliced through any tendons, but it was still undoubtedly unimaginably painful. Hina gasped loudly beside me.

"Woah, not bad. But you're naive. Why would a king have to bother fighting on the level of a peasant?" The others similarly jeered at the boy, who was clutching his wounded hand. "As punishment for insolence, I'll kill you, too."

The time traveler gripped the handle of the knife and ripped it free of his hand with a roar, a thin trail of blood following. It clattered on the pavement beside me. He immediately charged forward to resume his attack, and Kiyomasa easily swatted away the smaller boy. But he got back up and ran in once more. He tried to use his shorter height to his advantage and tackle Kiyomasa, who kneed him in the gut. Regardless, he clung on despite the other boy's attempts.

"Stop hugging—OW!!"

"Hanagaki bit him! Do you have no shame?!"

Takemichi ignored their jibes and scrambled onto Kiyomasa's back as if he were climbing a tree. With his legs tightly secured around the boy's torso, he locked his arms together over Kiyomasa's throat and squeezed tightly.

"I'M HANAGAKI TAKEMICHI!" he screamed from atop the 'king's' shoulders. "AND I'M NOT GONNA FUCKING LOSE!!"

I watched as Kiyomasa's struggles weakened, and eventually he collapsed onto the ground, Takemichi panting heavily beside him. He'd been tied up, beaten, and left on the ground by Kiyomasa's group, but despite that, he was still out to stop them. And with his resolve, he'd beat them. I strongly remembered this scene from the manga because it was the first time I'd actually come to respect him as the protagonist. It was only one foe, yet he'd overcome his lifetime mental roadblock to finally challenge and beat him. But seeing, no, experiencing it happening in front of me was something else.

What was I doing? Nothing. To top it off, I was the one being saved by everyone else. Hina. Mitsuya. Hayato. Draken. Even Takemichi. I'd decided not to act out because I wanted the plot to proceed mostly as normal to provide the optimal chance at saving Hina in the future. Even if it meant people dying or suffering in this 'present.' But it wasn't like I wanted that to happen, either. Just accepting that it was necessary was why I'd felt so damn bothered since the Moebius incident.

I didn't want Hina to die because of my changes. But I also didn't want to let people get hurt. I had two choices to choose from: follow the story or diverge from it.

'If you don't attack, you'll never win.' If you want something to change, do it yourself. Mitsuya had told me such when he'd defeated me. I'd thought I understood his words, but really, my comprehension had been shallow. I'd stumbled at the first sight of a setback and fallen into a stressed stupor. Actually, I hadn't even really chosen to not change the plot, as evidenced in my conflicting emotions. I'd just tried to convince myself that was what I'd decided, to try and take the edge off of thinking that the casualties along the way were necessary.

I didn't want either choice. I didn't want to just follow the plot and let the casualties happen or ruin canon to save the people in front of me. I wanted to save everyone. Hina, Draken, Baji, Kazutora, Hakkai, Yuzuha, everyone! That was my answer.

Then do it. Change the world with your actions because nothing will change otherwise. Only you can snatch the future that you desire.

I only had one chance at living, and I should take it without regrets. I'd already changed a few things just by existing, anyway. I wasn't going to mindlessly charge into danger and risk my life; I knew how this and future fights ended. And I would take advantage of that to manipulate the future to exactly how I wanted it.

Time resumed. "Takemichi-kun!" Hina exclaimed as she ran past me, heading for her boyfriend.

"Stay back, Hina!" he yelled back as he struggled back up to his feet, coming face-to-face with the remaining five enemies despite his battered state. She slowed to a stop, her hand partly outstretched towards him. "Take Emma-chan and leave. We'll somehow handle it ourselves." He looked back to us over his shoulder, and his gaze was steady with hard determination.

Hina saw it, too. "Okay," she replied in a firm voice. "Emma-chan, let's go." The blonde girl standing beside her injured boyfriend didn't look as faithful in Takemichi's abilities as Hina did, but she nevertheless stepped away from him, and the two hurried away through the rain. Hina was now gone. The knife on the ground beside me glinted in the dim streetlight, faintly red from Takemichi's blood.

"Frank-kun," Takemichi began, "I don't think I'll be able to help much." In his eyes, I was pretty much uninjured, and as a member of Toman, I could definitely fight. Well, I technically should be able to. Draken stood back up, oppositely knowing (or rudely assuming) I wasn't as able as I might have appeared. We couldn't have the most vulnerable member of our party overexerting himself.

"Geez, all of you look like crap," one of Kiyomasa's group commented. "You might've taken Kiyomasa down by a fluke, but you can be sure we won't be going down that easily."

"Fluke?" Draken uttered. "I saw Takemitchy down him with my very eyes. Only losers make excuses."

"You're the losers in this situation." Another boy brandished another knife out of nowhere. "Because you're all going to hell."

"And so will he!" I yelled, moments after I'd snatched up the knife and dropped down to the ground with a splash to hold it to Kiyomasa's throat, his unconscious form conveniently a meter in front of us. Hopefully Takemichi didn't have any bloodborne diseases, because the handle was red with his blood, even if the rain had washed off most of it. "If you want him to live, stop!"

"Frank-kun!" / "Newbie!" Takemichi and Draken gasped.

I was betting that even if they were jerks, they still did care about Kiyomasa, as their leader, to not want him to die. I wouldn't actually follow through with my threat, but its potential consequences should be enough for them to listen.

The boy with the knife guffawed. "You're bluffing. You won't actually kill him and risk getting a stain on your record like all you good little boys in Toman."

"Y'all just stabbed Draken and Takemichi. How about a lil' eye for an eye?" I challenged. "People about to die sometimes do the stupidest things." People high on adrenaline do, too. Including me.

"Aka, I don't think he's joking," one of the boys muttered uneasily to their apparent spokesperson. Aka clicked his tongue.

"Then whaddya want?" He asked, sneer gone.

"Let us go free."

"You wish, bitch." It was worth a try, at least.

"Then at least give us a few minutes. That shouldn't be too much of an issue."

Aka sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Two minutes, tops. After that, we're continuing."

"Deal. Takemichi, take over for a bit," I directed to the time traveler, who had been quiet the entire time. He stiffened as I addressed him but obediently came over.

"Uh, is this really necessary?" I made him sit and folded his numb hands around the handle. He kept it ten full centimeters off of Kiyomasa's neck as if he was scared the knife would just suddenly slip. Eh, good enough.

"It's just in case they don't fulfill their end," I assured him. He did not look a bit assured.

I stood up and headed to Draken, who had gotten up again and was standing unsteadily near the wall of the building he'd been previously leaning against. He stared back down at me, although his hunched form made it so that it was more of at eye-level with me. "This isn't necessary," he grumbled.

I placed my hand against his collarbone, furthest away from his stab wound, and gave a gentle yet solid push. However, I did not expect him to crash back into the wall and fall onto his ass.

"Oh...sorry," I softly said, my adrenaline-fueled smart-assery retracting to give a genuine apology.

"What the fuck was that for?!" he growled back, one hand still clutching his wound but the other now caressing the back of his head.

I regained my composure. "Exactly what I mean. You're fatally injured." I placed my hand against his cheek. His skin felt abnormally cold and clammy. He swatted my hand away. "Show me your wound for a second."

Finally accepting that I was trying to help him, he begrudgingly lifted his hand. I lifted his shirt slightly to get a better look at the raw flesh. It was a disturbing sight, watching blood continue to drip down, but there didn't seem to still be anything lodged in it, as far as I could tell. I slipped a hand behind his back, directly where the knife had been lodged in. It didn't come away bloody. So it hadn't impaled him all the way through. That was good.

"—if, very hypothetically, someone got stabbed in a heavy rain and the ambulance took too long to arrive, what should I do?"

Youko blinked then accepted my question with a chuckle. "That came out of nowhere. Well, first-aid is always key to saving a person's life. There are things you can do even if you're not a medical professional like me. Don't panic and act immediately."

Her voice took on a lecturing tone. "First sit or lay them down. They could go into shock if they lose enough blood, and we don't want them falling over, do we? If it's raining, then it'd be better to have them sit up under some cover. Keep them warm and make sure they don't cool down too much.

"Second, check the wound. Assess the location and extent of the bleeding and see if there's anything lodged in there. But don't remove it! Apply pressure to either side of it to try and control the bleeding. If it's a fatal wound, stopping the bleeding is the most important part until a professional arrives. Does that help?"

"Yeah...thank you." It was all just-in-case, but I doubted I'd need to know, as I'd be fighting Moebius alongside the rest of Toman instead of with Draken and Takemichi. I wouldn't interfere with the plot.

I brought my jacket up and over my head so that I was only in a loose t-shirt. My umbrella fell out of my pocket. I twisted my jacket tightly and was rewarded with a torrent of water being squeezed out of it, slightly tinged red by Draken's blood. Hopefully he didn't have any bloodborne pathogens, either. It probably wasn't too clean, but it was better than nothing. I held it out to him. "Here. Hold this tight over the wound and don't move."

He didn't take it. "I'm not wimping out of this fight." Stubborn.

"Stay down and let me fight instead. You're in bad condition; you'll make people sad if you die. Like the President and your girlfriend. Now sit here and don't do anything." He scowled at my blatant guilt-trip, but he took my jacket and obeyed me.

"And here." I popped open my folded umbrella. "This overhang doesn't provide much shelter." He took it, too.

"Pink?" he grimaced.

"Pink is a fantastic color. Don't diss it."

"Hey, you done flirting yet?" Aka called. "Two minutes are almost over."

I got up from Draken's side and walked over to Takemichi. "They kept their word, so you can stop now." He hurled the knife away from him like it was a poisonous snake and released his hold on Kiyomasa immediately. I offered him a hand and helped pull him up by his non-injured hand. "Takemichi, even if you're high on adrenaline, please don't ever yank a knife out like that."

He uncharacteristically gave a short bark of laughter. "Sorry. Woah." He wobbled a bit, but I held his shoulder to steady him. "Thanks. How many do you think you can take out?"

"Honestly, none. I'm not really much of a fighter."

"Ha. I'm kinda in the same boat. I guess let's just hold out for as long as we can."

"Annnnd...time is up!" the traitors announced. "Which one of you shits wants to die first?"

Takemichi was exactly right when he meant our objective was to last it out. There was one last encounter that I was betting on to get us out of this mess. And while I'd used those two minutes to help Draken, they'd also had another purpose.

"No answer? Let me ask again," he jeered. "It's either you or—"

"You, asshole!!" A boy with burgundy-colored hair styled up in a pompadour suddenly ran out of a sidestreet and slugged Aka across the face, sending him stumbling. Right behind him came three other boys, their clothes drenched. It was Takemichi's previous gang.

"Akkun? Guys?" Takemichi asked in disbelief. I swept my hair back up, as the rain was starting to wash out the gel. They were my schoolmates and knew, or had at least seen, "Blake." I also need to be careful around them, especially now without my hood to hide my face.

Sendou Atsushi looked back with a grin. "Yup, it's me in the flesh. What? You gonna cry now?"

"I called the boys after warning you," Yamagishi Kazushi explained. He'd taken off his signature glasses. "And now we're here to kick some butt!"

"YEAH!!" Suzuki Makoto roared in agreement.

"Just leave this to us, Takemichi!" Yamamoto Takuya cried. "You're injured."

Takemichi closed his gaping mouth. "Okay," he said as he left my side to stand by the wall next to Draken.

"Mind if I help out?" I asked. I knew they wouldn't be able to take the Toman members on by themselves easily. My goals aligned with theirs in stopping them from reaching Draken.

"Do as you like, but I won't say no to some assistance," Atsushi replied.

Aka steadied himself and picked back up his knife. "What's all this screaming? It's giving me a headache." Kiyomasa's other followers edged forward, ready to fight.

"HOW'S THIS, THEN?!!" Makoto bellowed at them.

Takuya dope-slapped him. "You're starting to give me one, too."

They were all remarkably chipper despite facing their past tormentors. Well, it was better than the opposite, I supposed. With no warning, Kiyomasa's gang charged at us, and four of the Mizo Middle Five met them head-on.

It was obvious from the first few seconds of combat that Takemichi's group was no match for them, but they continued fighting with vigor. Who should I help? Takuya had been knocked to the ground and was being kicked in the gut, Kazushi was being lifted by the neck of his t-shirt and repeatedly punched in the face, Atsushi had stumbled back to avoid Aka's brandished knife—-that was really dangerous.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Alright, let's take it from the top.

1

I rushed toward Aka and tried to knock the knife out of his grip. He drew his hand back last second and grinned as we made eye contact. Atsushi took the chance to scramble to his feet.

2

I stepped to his side and into his guard, trying to get into an unexpected angle where it'd be awkward for him to use his knife, but—

2.9

Atsushi wrenched me back by the scruff of my shirt, saving me from a shining blade by a centimeter.

"What the fuck are you doing?" my savior hissed at me. Charging in might have not been the best decision against someone with a knife. That was an important lesson learned.

"Thanks."

"'Thanks' my ass! Just let me handle him."

"You can't," I said simply. All he'd done beforehand was defend against Aka's attacks. He couldn't fight him alone. But neither could I. "Let's position him between us. I'll be the distraction, and you go for the hit."

"Are you crazy? Your sense of self-preservation is nonexistent!" But he didn't deny my first statement, I noticed.

"Hey, you two done yet?" Aka called as he played with his knife, using it to scrape dirt from under his fingernails.

"I promise I'll be more careful," I whispered back. "Just trust me." He shot a worried glance but slowly broke away from me, positioning himself at our opponent's side.

3

I charged in again, this time more wary of the knife, and stopped just out of his range. He swiped it wildly at me, but I managed to backstep in time to dodge it. I grabbed on his now outstretched wrist and crushed it with all I had, trying to make him loosen his grip on the knife. I felt it score a thin cut on my wrist. The knife was too dangerous. It had to go.

4

But I was now bound to him. He yanked his arm back, dragging me along, and struck me in the gut with his other fist. I coughed painfully as it knocked the wind out of me, and my grip loosened. In my peripheral vision, I saw Atsushi circling behind him.

5

Aka pummeled me again, and my fingers let go entirely. But then his smirk widened marginally, and his eyes looked to the side as he ripped his knife arm out of my hands and started to turn behind him. My eyes widened as I realized his intent. There was no time to yell a warning.

6

He fully turned to slash at the unassuming boy behind him, but at the last second, I reached for his wrist. It slipped out of my grip. Shit, shit, shit! In a desperate burst of strength, I leapt at him, arm outstretched to stop him, and my body crashed into his. At the same time, my fingers closed around the naked blade.

7

He wrenched the knife down to try and free the blade, but my grip remained firm. I cried out in pain as I could feel it slice my fingers as he tried to yank it out of my hands with his long reach, but I similarly tried to tug it back. We struggled over the knife, but with the blade now slick with my blood and the rain, he managed to wrestle control over it. But he was too late.

8

Atsushi delivered a clean punch straight at our opponent's jaw, sending his head snapping to the side. Aka's legs crumpled beneath him as he fell to the ground, unconscious for good.

We stood panting over him. "Thanks for the save. Are you good?" Atsushi pointed at my bleeding hands. Luckily or not, they were bleeding enough to obscure the actual flesh wound itself. I tried flexing them gently. Tendons weren't severed, and it surprisingly didn't hurt as much as I expected. For the moment, at least.

"Good enough. Let's help the others."

Just as we returned, a distinct siren wailed over the rain. Those remaining of Kiyomasa's gang stopped beating up their opponents and looked around. "Tch, it's the police!" one of them yelled. "Aka, what do we—!" he cut off upon seeing the boy lying on the street.

"Fuck, let's leave! There's no time for this!" a different person yelled. He dashed away into the rain, and the other two boys spared a last glance at their fallen allies before following him. Takemichi's friends triumphantly watched them flee, although just from their injuries, it was hard to tell who the real victors were. But they'd outlasted them. It was their victory.

I immediately headed back for Draken, who had obediently stayed sitting at his spot. Takemichi had ended up holding the umbrella for him at some point. He backed away for me. "Frank-kun!"

I ignored him and snapped my fingers in front of Draken's face, whose eyes had closed. "Hey. Are you still conscious?"

He cracked an eye open. "Yeah, I'm—" he yawned mid-sentence. "I'm still alive." I noted his breathing was shallow and rapid, too. I frowned. That was not good.

He continued to speak. "You're not half-bad. You might've...been double-teaming that guy, but that was a good moment at the end, Frank."

"Shut up and save your breath," I said.

"Is there anything we can do?!" Takemichi asked hurriedly. Don't panic. You're an adult too, aren't you? But I guessed it was understandable in this situation. He probably thought Draken was still going to die.

I took charge. "Someone help carry this guy to the ambulance. Actually, more than one person. He's heavy."

"Makoto, get his other side," Atsushi ordered. The two strongest of us tried to gently lift the injured boy up.

"What about us?" Takuya said.

"You can run ahead and—" tell the ambulance where we are was what I was about to say until I realized Hina and Emma were on that. And they'd be coming back very soon. Crap, I need to leave as soon as possible.

"Turn over that Aka boy so that he doesn't drown himself," I corrected. They hesitated, uncertain if they'd heard me right. I got up and walked over to our fallen opponent to do it myself. The rain had been continuing for over an hour, and the water level was rising slightly. I didn't particularly hate him as the others probably did, and I didn't want him to accidentally drown. For good measure, I dragged him to one of the buildings lining the street and leaned him against the wall. I did the same with Kiyomasa.

I looked back to see that they'd finally lifted Draken onto their backs. "Alright, you guys get going—"

"Takemichi-kun!" Hina yelled as she ran down the street with Emma in tow.

I spun around and bolted away in the opposite direction, shoes splashing on the ground. My hair was falling back from the rain and the fight, and I no longer had my hood to hide behind. There were things I now had to do in Toman, and I couldn't get my identity exposed. I'd done everything I could. Draken had barely survived in the original story, but I'd at least given him some rudimentary first-aid. He should be fine despite his current condition.

"Frank-kun!" Takemichi called after me.

I continued to run, running far, far away until my legs wobbled underneath me and I felt as if I couldn't take another step. It hurt to breathe, partly from being hit in the gut multiple times in the past hour. I didn't recognize my surroundings; the buildings had become a hazy blur. But I trudged on. I tried to work out my location on my phone, but it wouldn't light up. It'd gotten too wet.

It felt as if I lost track of time as I plodded on, trying to find a landmark I recognized. I didn't come across anyone walking by in this late-night rain. Whether I was lucky or not, I felt too drained to think. I tried to keep my cut hand up to my chest to reduce the amount of blood that dripped from it. My shirt clung tight to my skin, completely drenched. Luckily, the climate was mild with it being summer. Otherwise, I'd probably catch hypothermia from being soaked in the rain for a prolonged period of time.

Where was I even trying to go? Going home in this state would only bring up difficult questions. I stopped at a street light and leaned against it for a moment, breathing heavily.

Wait...I recognized this spot. A street mirror stood beside the lamp post, and a white house with solar panels on its roof and a brick wall running around it sat across the street. This was where Hayato had parked his bike earlier today. The fact I'd managed to travel this far rose the question of exactly how long I'd been running. I was close to home. But did I want to go back?

The question was taken out of my hands entirely when I suddenly slipped off the lamp post, having rested more of my weight on it than I thought, and collapsed on the street. I splashed down into a small puddle, and it took the last of my energy to drag myself out of it before the world faded to black and everything stopped.

---

Water. Just water in all directions the eye could see, as if I'd been plopped into an ocean and told to survive. But it'd been hours already. I was hungry and ironically thirsty, and there were no signs of rescue.

What if I just gave up? The situation was hopeless; I'd probably die to a shark or something if hunger and exhaustion didn't kill me first. That sounded...like a pretty damn painful way to die, actually. I laughed half-heartedly to try and keep up morale, but it died.

But honestly, I couldn't see myself getting saved in this situation. I'd luckily found a large enough piece of buoyant debris to sit on, but my clothes were drenched, and I was shivering. Night was on the horizon, and I doubted I'd last through it, either. Humans were pretty pathetic. There were so many assorted ways for them to die.

I stared down at the water, lapping at the edge of my makeshift float. I couldn't see my reflection in it. I rubbed my bare arms as a breeze blew, having lost my jacket to the sea.

But I suddenly slipped off from the motion and plunged into the water, bubbles spewing out of my mouth in shock. The water was freezing, and it instantly sapped away my body heat. My eyes stung from the seawater. I reached up for the edge of my raft, but my fingers missed, my hand-eye-coordination thrown off without my glasses. I tried to churn my numbening legs to swim back up, but they strained against the water, having been paddling for hours before finding that piece of debris to rest on.

Give up? Hell no, I wanted to live! I forced my legs to move as sudden energy flowed through me, and I chased after my raft, which had bobbed away in the current.

And then I saw it. A large, gray blur weaving through the water, steadily creeping closer.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I swam more frantically as I realized what it was. But a thought occurred to me that it wouldn't matter even if I did get out of the ocean in time. I gritted my teeth and continued on.

I grabbed hold of my raft and popped my head out of the water with a heaving breath, but I quickly wasted no time in hauling myself up. I took off one of my shoes to serve as a weapon because I literally had nothing else. I could see the water beneath me darken as that creature swam up towards me, the jagged teeth on its gaping maw wide open—

I opened my eyes, my heart pounding loudly. The ceiling of my room greeted me, and warm sunlight filtered in through my balcony window. My skin felt sweaty under my blanket. That was a bizarre nightmare to have. But surely the events of the night before weren't just a dream.

I tried to sit up in bed and was made immediately aware of how sore I felt when every single muscle in my body begged for mercy. I slowly sank back down into my pillow. Perhaps staying down was the better choice. A tub of water was on my nightstand. I could feel bandages wrapped around my cut hand. Compared to the time I'd grabbed that knife, it now stung as if a bajillion needles were probing my hand. I tried to avoid moving it.

So, I'd somehow made it home and been treated. I was in my night clothes, a loose t-shirt and shorts. I had no idea how much time had passed since I'd trudged through the rain. Dealing with my host parents was going to be troublesome...I sighed.

"—But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" came a faint voice from outside my window. What? I turned my head on my pillow to look. I could see the silhouette of someone past the curtains.

"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon—" I ripped off the covers and painfully stumbled to my balcony, where some idiot had somehow gotten there and was currently quoting Shakespeare of all things—

"Who is already sick and pale with grief..." I yanked aside the curtains and unlatched the door.

Sano Manjirou sat on the railing of my balcony with a book in his hands, his legs dangling off the edge and long hair flowing in the breeze. He looked back as I opened the door. "Oh hey, you're awake. Here." He pushed a large paper bag into my chest. I was very tempted to slam my balcony door shut on his hands and go back to sleep to try and wake up from this double-layered nightmare, but I resisted the urge.

"W-what?" I spluttered as I took it, absolutely bamboozled.

"Mitsuya told me your address, but your dad didn't let me in, even though I parked my bike a block over. Don't worry, I didn't show them you were in Toman." He shot me a reassuring smile.

"But how...here?" I gestured wildly at my balcony, lost for words.

"Hm?" Mikey looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean, 'how'? I climbed here, of course. How else could I get here?" He continued through my stunned silence. "I'm not just here to return your jacket and umbrella—" I peeked into the bag he'd given me to see that indeed was the case, "—I also want to thank you for helping to save Ken-chin."

He got off the railing and properly stood on the ground, facing me with his hands to his sides. "Thank you," he said with a shallow bow. I stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to reciprocate his thanks and still dazed by his unexpected appearance.

"Uh, your welcome," came my stock reply. But there was one last thing I was confused about, the final of the 5 W's.

"...why Shakespeare?"

He cocked his head, his expression neutral. "Isn't this how people greet each other overseas? That's what my sister told me."

I blinked. I knew he had enough common sense to know that Emma was messing with him, and he was now messing with me in turn. It must've run in the family. Even though I knew he normally acted with this carefree and playful attitude around his friends, it was so far removed from what I'd seen of him from the Toman meetings, where he'd command the gang with an imposing aura.

"I'll just be going now. See you sometime." He started to climb back over my balcony. That snapped me out of my trance.

"Wait, that's dangerous—" I dropped the bag and hurried to the edge of the railing. He waved up at me from the street, completely unharmed. I returned it, defeated.

After watching him walk away, I closed my balcony door and sat on my bed. I hadn't expected Mikey to personally come and thank me...wait. He'd seen me with my hair down, as "Blake." I frantically patted down my hair to check, despite my arms screaming in protest. Yup.

Hopefully he was as dense as Hayato. This was Mikey, though. Well, I couldn't do anything about it now.

The door to my room suddenly opened, and Youko stuck her head in. "Oh, you're awake, Blake." She fully entered. I looked at her a bit warily, knowing she would undoubtedly ask what had happened. And I hadn't come up with a good excuse yet. Hopefully, she hadn't heard Mikey.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about." Her voice was kind, but she had a tired smile. I shifted on the bed, uncertain of how to act. She didn't seem outright angry. Was it the disappointment speech? That always hit harder.

"Yes...?" I nervously prompted.

"Shigeru and I have never had children, so we were overjoyed when we received you for the host family program." Huh?

"We didn't want to lose you after one of the neighbors found you, injured, and called us over. So we didn't take you to a hospital. We didn't inform the program you were injured, either. It was highly likely you'd be sent back if they knew. So I treated your injuries myself." She drew in a breath. "I'm sorry. We were...selfish. We wanted to keep you here, even if it was against your wellbeing. If you want to leave, we won't stop you."

"I..." I was speechless for a second time since I'd woken up. They weren't angry at me; they were apologizing to me. All I felt was disappointment with myself. Guilt that I made them worry for me. "I don't want to leave either. I'm sorry, but...I can't tell you what happened."

"We won't pry for what happened, but if it's something we can help with, please know you can ask us for help." She grasped my uninjured hand and looked into my eyes. I flinched back from the sudden action and she loosened her grip, but I forced myself to stare back and gently squeezed her hand.

"I will." And it was a promise I intended to keep for real this time. "I'm really sorry I can't tell you."

"Everyone has their secrets they can't share. Now, you need to rest so that you can recover." She lightly pushed me down onto the bed and tucked me in. With the towel draped over the edge of the small tub of water on my nightstand, she wiped some sweat off my forehead. I silently accepted the treatment.

Youko stood up from my bedside. "I'll wake you later so you can join dinner. But for now, sleep." She peered back at me before slipping out of my room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

I blankly stared at the ceiling for a full minute. I'd resolved to do things my way in the future and take greater action. But I couldn't let myself be injured again. I didn't want to make my host parents worry about me.

Saying I was going to save everyone had been an in-the-moment thing, but thinking about it now with a more logical head, what exactly would I do? Should I confess my omnipotent knowledge to Takemichi and join forces with him? Certainly, I could see the benefits. Knowing what role I took in the future, for one. In a way, I'd be given a 'second chance' myself. But telling him wasn't something I could undo. I had to think about it more deeply before coming to a decision.

And then there was that mess coming up. I would try my best to ensure Baji lived. I'd have to work out a more specific plan of order later.

But I also wanted to look into Kisaki. Kisaki was the whole reason behind this mess, with his odd fixation on Hina in the future. Was it a grudge? I honestly didn't know why. He'd seemed to share a past with Takemichi, from his unusual manner of address before nearly killing him in the future after the Valhalla arc, but the backstory Hina had recounted in the series, where Takemichi saved Hina from a squad of school boys while Kisaki watched, didn't quite seem to explain much. What exactly drove him to become a delinquent? If I could uncover his motives, I could possibly neutralize him and permanently end this. Kisaki was the only reason that Toman and Mikey had grown corrupted, as far as I knew.

Not now, though. I yawned and snuggled into my pillow. Draken had lived. And that was something to be damn satisfied about.

---

One day prior:

Shigeru glowered down at the prostrating boy in front of him. The boy who was supposed to have been taking care of Blake at the festival. He'd been downright terrified when one of the neighbors rang his doorbell, frantically telling him about how they'd found her unconscious on the street. After the initial fear and once Youko had treated her, he'd been furious. The boy at least had the decency to show his face and apologize, and Shigeru controlled himself from acting out harshly.

"I'm sorry," the boy repeated. "I take full responsibility for what happened to your son."

And there it was again. What exactly had Blake been doing? But it wasn't his business to nose into hers. If she didn't want him to know, then as long as it wasn't anything dangerous, he'd respect her boundaries. He would just pretend he'd never heard it until she decided to tell him. Or 'he,' if it ended up being something like that. But if it resulted in something bad happening again, he wouldn't be so lenient.

"Raise your head." Sasaki Hayato slowly obeyed, staring up at him.

Shigeru doubted it was entirely his fault for her condition, despite his emotions wanting to simply pick an easy target and uphold all the blame on them. The way her hand had been cut wasn't from defending herself from overhead or blocking a blade. It'd seemed as if she'd willingly grabbed a blade with her fingers and tried to forcefully wrench it away. But even if he'd misread that, the number of different injuries she'd had implied she'd actively engaged in a fight rather than escaped.

He still well remembered the run-in she had with a gang only a few weeks ago. He'd heard all the details from the police that night, to his and Youko's surprise. Blake had witnessed an attack and stepped in to stop it. Her intentions were noble, Shigeru had to admit, but he guiltily wished she didn't have that trait. He cared about her more than some random bystander on the street, and if she hadn't been so fortunate....he didn't want to consider it.

"I'm not too mad at you," Shigeru lied. "But don't let that happen to 'him' again."

"I'll try my best, Ito-san."

"That's enough," he replied. If Blake really was charging into danger on her own, it wasn't fair to entirely blame the boy for it. But that was something for later, if it ever happened again. And chances were, it probably would.

A/N: And there we go. Long, isn't it? The chapter wraps up with some look into her host parents' perspective, who are understandably concerned. They're not just going to overlook and simply accept it when Blake returns home injured. They will be recurring characters, but their role will remain minor for now. Hayato's involvement will slowly diminish, too; I just needed a character who wasn't an admin for the beginning. Having her interact constantly with "unnamed Toman member" would be jarring in a different way, so I took the chance to characterize him.

Hope you like what I did with Hanma and Mikey. As you might have noticed in previous chapters, I am tweaking their personalities slightly.

After an eye-opening realization and period of rumination, Blake finally finds an answer to her query. If I were to divide this story into thirds, this is the end of part one. The tone of the story will begin to shift (to events and interactions that are hopefully more exciting to you).

Next chapter is an interlude and drops in one week. There will be an important announcement in it about a hiatus, with further details in it. I don't plan on dropping this story, but I just need some time, kinda of like how I took a month off before posting the Moebius arc. However, this hiatus will be considerably longer.