A/N: @laizaaaaaaaah on Twitter drew some fan art of Blake & Frank! They have a second piece posted on their Twitter, if anyone is interested. Thanks again for the gift.

I decided to split this chapter into two parts after it became clear it would exceed 10K words. I didn't want to delay this chapter any longer, and I may later edit for clarity and flow, but the plot should remain the same. I hate that comments get displaced from the original context when I edit chapters, but there's nothing I can do about it.

To be honest, I've not been very invested in this fandom for some time now. From reviewing previous chapters of this fanfic and my notes of them, I can see the amount of care and time I put into it, so it'd be a waste to just stop in the middle. At the very least, I will finish this arc, even if it takes a while.

Thanks for sticking with me.

My arms creaked as I tugged on the door handle with all my weight, my sneakers squealing across the carpet, and all I was rewarded with was the door jerking open a centimeter before catching on something with a metallic clang. I let go, fingers sweaty and chest heaving, and slammed my fist against the cold wood. "You piece of shit!"

Maybe I was hallucinating hearing Hanma's gleeful laugh, muffled by the door. When we escaped, the first thing I'd do was report him to the police. How could he be so heartless as he trapped kids to their deaths in a burning building?

Then again, I'd always known he was capable of it. I'd just never been on the receiving end.

I'd failed to predict Kisaki's plans; he'd abandoned subtlety for reliable and efficient simplicity. Getting angry would only play to his tune—I needed to calm down and think. My fists trembled as I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. If not only to figure out our escape plan, but to defy Kisaki to the very end. To be above the sociopathic 14-year-old who thought he could manipulate the whole world to do his bidding.

There should be a back door in the church. If the fire had already spread to them from the steeple, however, then the windows lining the main hall's walls were safer. We could either unlatch or smash any window open and then chase after Hanma across the plaza if we wanted. It would be too easy.

If Kisaki wanted to kill us, then surely he wouldn't have overlooked such simple flaws, right...?

Regardless of his grand plan, escaping the fire was our priority. I rolled up the sleeves of my coat and wiped the sweat off my neck. The snow kicked inside from Hanma shoving me only moments ago had already melted away into a crimson splotch on the carpet before the doorway.

"Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck was that?"

I flinched and turned around to face Taiju. Scratches and bruises dotted his skin. His gaze was as cold as ice. I'd been too distracted to hear him approach or pay attention to the others trapped.

We couldn't fight now.

"That's not important right now. There's a fire upstairs, please evacuate." I tried to keep my voice steady and unprovocative, but it wavered. I then looked to Toman. Surprise was mirrored across their weary faces—skepticism and hesitation, which ultimately resulted in inaction. Had they just stood there for the past twenty seconds? I clenched my teeth and stepped past Taiju.

"There's a fire above us!" I yelled. "Can't you feel its heat or smell its smoke?"

Heat that could've just been from fighting, smoke that could've just been from the candles, or whatever excuses they were concocting. It would be too late if I had to wait until the fire licked at the ceiling over the hall for them to listen.

"Frank, calm down," Mitsuya said. He looked the least tired of the Toman members, his breathing steady and tokko-fuku spotless as he walked to my side. I edged back when he reached out, but he matched my step and rubbed my back. His hand was warm and firm through my coat. "I'm listening. Where upstairs is the fire? How big is it?"

Finally, someone sane. "In the steeple—right above us. I can't tell its size, but it's big enough to be visible from the window outside—"

"Was that Hanma?!" Chifuyu exclaimed. "Is Kisaki behind this also?"

I gave him a hard stare. "Yes," I said, "Hanma locked the doors, and Kisaki'll be prancing over our graves if we don't bust our asses out of here in time."

The Vice-Captain meant to ramble on about something unimportant, but Baji interrupted him. "Drop it, Chifuyu. We knew he was up to something more, even something this shitty." He spat to the side but winced at the movement. The white sash tied over his uniform was blotted red at the waist, turned almost black in the dim candlelight. "Let's get out now and continue this later. That good with you, Taiju?!"

"Hah? Your guys set a fire?" Taiju's voice was comparatively calm and his posture relaxed. "As if you bastards would dare burn down my church. I know your kind, at least, are above those kinds of dirty tricks—" Something made him freeze, whether an escaped tongue of flame or fresh gust of smoke, with his eyes wide and mouth ajar in the picture-perfect definition of shock. Had this been any other time, I might've burst into laughter.

Fantastic. Now more people were understanding the magnitude of our situation. Surely Takemichi would've heard from the future if we'd all roast in this stone oven and would've advocated escaping immediately instead of standing in dumbfounded shock with the others.

Wait.

My eyes flickered over the assembled faces. Taiju and his two men, Hakkai and Yuzuha, Baji and Chifuyu, and Kazutora and Mitsuya.

"Where's Takemichi?!" I snapped at Chifuyu. "Didn't he come with you?!"

He flinched, then scowled back. "What? Yeah, he's here. Why do you need to know?"

Did this dense idiot still think I was allied with Kisaki? "Is he hurt?" I tried to tone down my intensity, but my voice dropped into a growl instead. "I haven't seen him. Is he alright?" If the time-leaper died, then our fates were doomed in all timelines.

Chifuyu blinked a few times without words. "Yeah, he's fine...? He took a beating from Taiju, but he went to check the fire."

I sagged forward with a whistling sigh. "Good to hear that, thanks. Leave the building; I'll go fetch him—hey!" Yuzuha led Hakkai by the arm down the central aisle to the front door, but she halted and looked back at me with a frown. "The doors are blocked. Try the windows instead!"

Despite my futile display only minutes ago, Yuzuha marched to the doors and tugged on the handles. They clattered and remained shut.

I could only see Hakkai's back as he watched her struggle with the doors. His dark gakuran resembled Toman's uniform in the dim lighting, but his posture was anything but his usual self, his head drooping and shoulders slumped. I hadn't heard him say a word tonight. The last time we'd met, I'd convinced him to take a walk outside his house and forced the issue too quickly by discussing Taiju. He looked worse since then.

I realized too late that he wasn't ready to speak up to Taiju yet....

I shook my head and swept back a loose lock of hair. That was a mistake to brood over later. Right now, I had to secure and escort Takemichi out. I eyed the balcony above the entrance, its railing glowing dim orange. There should be a stairway accessible from inside the church to it, but the only passageways out of the main hall were hidden behind a pair of doors at the altar and another pair at the front door. The latter were the most likely.

Chifuyu caught my gaze. "I'll check the right door. You take the left. He brought a fire extinguisher, so he should be okay."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, a strangled laugh escaped me. "H-he did? Damn, that's—" I cleared my throat. "Nevermind. Yeah, let's split up."

He gave me a final, judging stare before hurrying down the aisle toward his designated door. I headed for the other. Finally, when all our lives were in danger, did he reconsider his annoying misconceptions that I was plotting Toman's demise alongside Kisaki. Perhaps he and Frank could become good friends one day after he stopped prying into Frank's personal life by nagging his supposed sister.

The only other sane people without overblown senses of morality were Mitsuya and Kokonoi, who'd approached separate windows and opened them wide. My Captain was already halfway out his, squeezing his other leg through the narrow opening.

Kazutora had pulled Baji aside to talk, who was rather compliant despite his previous enthusiasm to escape the building. I caught part of their conversation as I approached the door left of the entrance. The metal knob was warm against my skin.

"What's going on, Baji? Why'd you stop me from hitting Taiju? Takemichi didn't tell me anything, but there's something else going on within the Black Dragons, isn't there? Something to do with Mitsuya's Vice-Captain."

"It's not something you need to worry about."

"That's bullshit! That 'something' has you spewing blood like a sprinkler. Stop trying to hide everything from me!"

I turned the knob and was rewarded with a dark spiral staircase, lit by a lightbulb in the distant ceiling. A warm gust of smoke blew past me, and I immediately shut the door while crinkling my nose. Providing the fire with a fresh source of oxygen would not bode well. I instead nudged the door open, a crack of light from the main hall illuminating the bottom of the stairs, and stuck my head inside. "Takemichi!" I yelled. My voice bounced around the narrow stone chamber. Faint voices shouting above answered me. The door Chifuyu took must've also connected to the balcony.

A broad shadow loomed over my own. I peeked back to see Taiju glower down on me, his teeth and eyes glinting against his silhouetted form. "You did this," he seethed. "You set my church on fire."

For fuck's sake.

"I didn't—"

I flinched as he struck the wood behind me with his massive fists, wrenching the door off its hinges and hurling the remaining chunks of the door into the banisters. I risked a glance back at the explosion of splinters dusting the steps, the metallic railing warped inward at an angle I did not remember it being at.

"—s!"

He threw a second punch, which I dodged courtesy of tripping backwards over a remaining wedge of the door. My breath shot out my mouth as my back slammed into the wall, more from surprise than pain, but Taiju's knuckles cracked against the bricks with such force that a deep fissure the length of my arm rippled across the clay. His knuckles were raw and bloody as he drew back his arm, but Taiju's face remained murderous.

"Boss!" Inui yelled, grabbing Taiju's midriff. The Black Dragon's leader paused, but he continued to glare at me. I stepped back onto the first step and clamped a hand on the railing as I regained my breath. I faintly heard glass shatter and a yell from above, but I kept my focus forward.

If you guys broke a window on purpose, I'm going to strangle you until you can see the light while grilling you on fire safety, if we all make it out unhurt.

Inui's face was paler than his uniform, and his eyes were wide and frantic. Sweat glistened on his neck and clawed fingers. "We have to get out. Now's not the time to fight."

"Let go of me!" Taiju growled and tried to push Inui off his back with his injured hand, but the boy held on tight, even as Taiju's blood dripped down his forehead.

"Listen to me, Taiju!" His voice cracked as he shouted the loudest I'd ever heard from him. "We have to get out before it's too late! I'm not fooling around—you will die if you stay here!"

Hurried feet above clambered on the stairs. I looked up to see Chifuyu bolt down. Takemichi was right behind him with a red canister clutched to his chest. Taiju snarled and leapt forward, knocking me aside, but Inui's weight prevented him from surging up the stairs. I steadied myself against the railing as my allies finally arrived.

"Eh? M—Frank-kun? You're...here?"

Takemichi stared at me in dumb shock, his body frozen despite his soot-covered hands and smoky stench from the fire he'd just escaped. His face was bruised red and tokko-fuku stained with dirt, but my presence seemed like the most shocking event for him at the moment. Perhaps it was a good sign: maybe I'd not been present in the previous timeline, too indecisive to rebel against Kisaki, but now I was an extra pair of hands to help Toman escape the fire. Or perhaps it was an ill omen—that Takemichi had misunderstood the future to come and was not aptly prepared.

Either way, that fire extinguisher could be handy. The pressure gauge showed it had a final spray left, but maybe they'd already managed to contain the fire. "What's the situation there?" I asked. Taiju's efforts to dislodge Inui weakened as we all waited for them to reply.

Chifuyu replied in Takemichi's silence. "Takemitchy almost had it," he growled. "He put out the flames around the outlet and the stack of books piled around it, but the plug's clamped in. We can't pull it out or turn it off—it's not huge right now, but there's no way we can stop it from growing."

An electrical fire. I grimaced. I did not have the courage to screw around with live wires. Hopefully this church was not too ancient to not have a functional fuse or breaker box. It probably wouldn't be in the main hall near the congregation, but somewhere accessible to the clergy only. My eyes trailed up the staircase.

"Anyway, let's get out of here." Chifuyu stomped down the rest of the stairs and slipped past me while glaring at the ground.

Something dripped onto my hand. I angled it up to inspect in the light from the hall. A clear drop innocently glittered on the back of my hand.

My breath hitched.

"...Chifuyu, wait. Why...why are your arms wet?"

Takemichi answered this time. "The snow. The window broke, and some snow started blowing in and melting. It helped put out some of the fire."

"Where's the outlet relative to the window? Can the snow reach it?"

"I...guess? It's not a very big room. Is there something wrong—oh." His eyes widened as he regained a fraction of his previous shock. "Oh crap. Will it help the fire spread?"

"If we don't turn the power off in time, then yes! If it doesn't cause a short, it could at least conduct electricity to more flammable materials." I gritted my teeth and pivoted on my heel. "Chifuyu, make everyone evacuate immediately! This blaze could flare up any second." He nodded without hesitation and shouldered past the two Black Dragons members watching from the entrance.

"Taiju!" I jumped down the steps and met the taller boy's eyes. "Where's the breaker box? Does it require a key to open? If you want to keep this building standing, we must shut down the power!"

He said nothing for several precious seconds. His rage remained simmering, his face flushed and jaw taut, but he remained motionless, only blinking occasionally as he stared down at me. Perhaps he now understood that I hadn't set fire to the damn church.

"Boss, please tell him," Inui whined. It did not persuade Taiju.

I clicked my tongue and turned back to Takemichi, who'd fingered the handle of his extinguisher as he waited. "Let's split up to find it—spend no more than a minute before getting out. If it's locked, just leave it and run."

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "No, Frank-kun, let's look together. I...I really need to ask you something. In private."

"Fine, if that's what you want." I brushed past him and took the steps two at a time. I heard him follow behind me, but his heavy boots prevented him from catching up. I leaped to the top of the stairs and dashed across the balcony toward the only room, ignoring the dull clamor from the main hall beneath me.

"D-did you really set the fire?" Takemichi called from the stairwell.

I halted and stared back at him. His expression was dead serious, his eyebrows furrowed and lips tight. The candlelight from the hall lit the underside of his face in orange, and the fire behind the door crackled softly.

"No. Of course I didn't. Why the hell would I?"

What did he see? What did he fail to see?

"Maybe not by choice, but if Kisaki forced you to..."

"Even if Kisaki held me at gunpoint, I would not intentionally kill you all," I snarled and stalked toward him. "Hanma sneaked in to set the fire, and I arrived just now. What really happened, Takemichi? Why exactly did you think I was responsible?"

"I don't know!" he snapped back. "Nothing makes sense now! You even told me that you killed Ba—" He clamped his free hand over his mouth.

What?

"Baji...died? That's..."

No, that can't be right. We can all still escape here; the fire's not spread beyond the steeple. No one here will die tonight.

My mouth was dry.

Amidst the muffled crackling of the fire behind me, something shattered. And then I heard it—a sharp pop, followed by fizzling.

My sneakers tore across the carpet as I shoved Takemichi into the stairwell. He yelped as he slipped from the first step but kept my pace as I ran down the stairs with my hand planted against his back. His canister clanged as it slipped out of his grip and rolled down the steps in front of us. We hit the ground and barreled out the doorway, Taiju and Inui having already left.

Seconds later, the closed door on the balcony exploded in a yellow flash that left spots in my eyes.

And then the wooden beams along the roof supporting the church's facade snapped, with Baji and Kazutora right under it.

---

"Shh! I hear someone."

"Me, I hope?" Kazutora snarked. "If you'll stop dodging my questions."

Baji ignored him and crept along the pew toward the entrance, his footsteps light and eyes narrowed. Kazutora ambled behind him without the same stealth, scraping his shoes against the carpet.

"Inupi!" Taiju's black-haired accomplice yelled as he squeezed back inside through a window on the opposite end of the hall. "Where the hell are you?!"

Baji placed his ear against the tall double doors and remained still. A moth buzzed around the electric lamp over the entrance, drawn to its pale incandescence. The pair of windows leading down to the parking lot were fogged over. Kazutora crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he waited. His bell earring chimed. "Y'know, isn't that fire right above us?"

"What are you two doing?!" Mitsuya stuck his head back inside from halfway down the church as he helped Hakkai's sister climb out the window. She dropped down from the windowsill and disappeared behind the wall. "Get over here!"

"I hear Hanma," Baji hissed.

Kazutora gasped. "What?"

In one smooth motion, Baji pushed off the wood, pivoted on the ball of his foot, and slammed his heel into the split between the doors. Metal screeched and wood cracked. Although the doors remained standing, a crack of light from outside shone through the now-askew door frame. Someone's shadow stood in front of the entrance before receding. The Captain clicked his tongue and drew his leg back again, even as a red drop fell from his lips.

"The doors open the other way, dumbass!" Kazutora elbowed him aside and grabbed a handle with both his hands before planting his foot on the opposite door and wrenching back. Metal groaned and warped, and a screw popped loose from the hinges. He shoved the doors back forward with a sharp exhale, and but they remained askew as they clattered in the door frame, a permanent gap between them. "Did he fucking bolt the doors?!"

"Baji-san, Kazutora-kun!" Chifuyu yelled as he dashed out of a side door. "We have to get out now! It's gonna get really dangerous!"

"Give us a second!" Baji snapped as he wound back his foot.

"I'd rather you spend your final seconds sometime else!" The shorter boy grabbed Baji by the arm but was shaken off. He kicked at the door again, and this time, a hinge snapped, leaving the right door teetering by the remaining hinge and the bar shoved through the handles on the other side.

"One more!" Kazutora abandoned his previous strategy and rushed forward with his shoulder angled forward as Baji followed through on his kick, ready to knock it over with brute force.

The light above the entrance winked out.

Baji snagged Kazutora by his jacket and hurled them both away from the door. They struck the carpet. Kazutora hissed as the friction burned his skin and sat up while rubbing his raw forearms. "What the heck, Baji?!"

But Baji's instincts were never wrong.

Bright yellow light enveloped the hall with an explosive crack, as if a flashbang had detonated right above them, but even seconds later, after Kazutora rubbed his eyes, the building was brighter than before. A window beside the door cracked for no apparent reason, the radial pattern glinting orange.

That was their final warning before a wooden beam as thick as a pew crashed down in front of the door and exploded into pieces, several shards ablaze. Two more planks followed, offering kindling to small yet greedy fires, which glowed brighter and hotter the more they consumed. They licked at anything and everything they could reach, driven mad with hunger.

Their greed, however, came with costs.

The stone bricks beneath the steeple sagged, the mortar binding them together softened by the rush of heat in the makeshift furnace that had been burning for the past seven minutes. Without enough beams to support the full weight of the church tower, the spire collapsed on itself and struck the ground floor in a deafening explosion of dust and shrapnel. A sharp rock sliced across Baji's cheek, releasing a trickle of blood, and Kazutora coughed and shut his eyes as a cloud of acrid smoke engulfed them.

Despite the power finally tripping, the vault remained bright. The moon was dimmed by thick fumes rising over the smothering remains of the steeple, a gaping hole in the ceiling left in its absence. The icy wind fanned the flames, and the curtain of snow that dropped from the broken roof onto the wreck hissed and spat as it boiled to steam. A few red pinpricks flickered from the remaining wooden supports, like fiery stars in a hellish sky. One brick teetered at the edge before shattering against the floor.

No one could move as they watched the destruction. Even Takemichi and Blake were captivated by the wreck that could've killed Baji. Neither knew whether it would've been the cause for his death, but he was still alive despite his broken rib from fighting Taiju and the ill prophecy from the future.

Was it a prophecy broken, or a prophecy incomplete?

Neither knew.

But they both knew that anyone who stayed in the remains of the church would die. Kokonoi and Inui were all too familiar with the dangers of fire, but both had failed to escape because they returned to rescue their allies.

None of the cast, however, were as intimately affected by the destruction as Taiju was, who watched with stunned horror as the church he'd grown up with and maintained over the years crumbled to ashes around him. Perhaps his mother would fall from heaven to hell as the price for his sin. Would she curse him not only for taking away her deserved spot beside God, but for the failure Hakkai had become?

For the first time in years, tears fells from his eyes.

---

"O-ok, he's alive. Damn, Takemichi, you scared me." I released a shaky breath and rolled up the sleeves of my jacket as I watched Kazutora and Baji climb to their feet just meters away from the fiery wreckage. Neither looked seriously hurt. The temperature had spiked with the exposed flames, but luckily, the newfound opening in the ceiling provided ventilation for the heat and smoke. The air was as sweltering as a hot summer day, but it would've been even hotter.

A window nearby the smothering remains of the facade shattered. The entrance was no longer accessible amidst the rubble and flames, and even though I could spy a few sections of the wall that were reasonably low and wide enough to climb out of, the risk was incomparable. The dome at the back of the church had remained untouched, a testament to ancient architecture.

I scanned over the rest of assembled members as they began to overcome their shock. Kokonoi dragged an unresponsive Inui toward the left end of the hall, where the window he'd previously climbed through oscillated in the wind. Kazutora and Baji patted themselves down, the latter eyeing Taiju even as Chifuyu ran to them and asked about their condition. Takemichi started after them. The Black Dragon's leader had yet to recover, gaping at the destruction as if hypnotized. The rest of the Shiba siblings stood past a window on the hall's right side with Mitsuya, looking at something outside the church while arguing in raised voices.

I hurried to their window, skipping over a lit splinter. Hakkai snagged Yuzuha's arm before she could walk towards the front of the church and resisted her attempts to shake herself free.

"—not even that narrow! I can get down and find help."

"I know you have a good sense of balance, Yuzuha, but what if you slip on the snow? Or the wind knocks you over? You could die if you fall off!" Hakkai yelled back.

"The railing might collapse," Mitsuya added. He stood on the other side of Yuzuha. "It may be as unstable as the building was."

"What's wrong?" I said as I arrived. I rested my hands on the window frame to lean outside and peer at whatever they were focused on, but from my angle, I could only see the edge of the empty parking lot, the quiet street devoid of people, and some rubble scattered around the plaza. The metal was hot underneath my palms, and the air was fresher outside.

Hakkai went quiet. My Captain sighed and looked past Yuzuha to me. "Big problem, Frank. Luckily no one got hurt when the entrance collapsed, but now the stairs are blocked."

My heart stopped.

"S-surely there's some path through the blockage—"

"The damage looks worse on the outside compared to the inside. It's a giant wall of stone and fire. And it's a steep drop to ground-level. It wouldn't be fatal, but it would break bones." Mitsuya shook his head. "There's no easy way out anymore."

"Are there any backdoors or other escape routes?"

"I've not been in every room, so I don't know," Yuzuha answered. "Some of the doors are jammed." Her eyes narrowed as she scowled at me. "Why'd you have to get us wrapped up in your Toman mess?"

I flinched. I'd only asked Baji to not attack the Black Dragons back when I'd naively thought the siblings would reconcile, and nothing else after I saw Kisaki taunt Baji with Taiju's whereabouts. And that was the issue: I'd done nothing as Kisaki summoned his greatest opponents to this building.

Had only Baji died—or had we all died here?

A bell twinkled behind me, and a hand rested on my shoulder. "Takemichi called me here. This guy just got caught up in it, just like you." I looked back as Kazutora stepped up in my defense. His jacket was stained with soot and blond-streaked hair untidy, but other than his bruised forearms, he appeared uninjured.

"Now's not the time to fight," Mitsuya said. "Frank came to help. Could you guys check the stairs from the other side? They seem to be similarly blocked, but I can't be certain from our angle."

"Alright. Let's do that." He removed his hand from my shoulder and turned away without further word.

Unlike the uncertainties and gambles of tugging the plot in my favor, doing nothing was guaranteed to change nothing, whether that be Baji's death or a future even worse. I could not only rely on Takemichi to fix the mistakes I'd made. He seemed to not know the specifics of what would've happened tonight, but in this environment, everyone was equally likely to get hurt. I eyed the tendrils of fire snaking along the wooden rafters as I jogged after Kazutora.

The window Kokonoi exited through was wide open. Kazutora pushed himself onto the windowsill, slipped out sideways, and hopped down. I took a gulp of fresh air before I followed him out. My body was slim enough to pass through head-on, although my shoulders brushed the window frame. My shoes splashed down in a puddle of melting snow, and I caught Kazutora running to the front of the plaza before he disappeared behind a large slab of the broken wall. On initial appearances, this side of the church had fared worse. I bit my lip.

"Snap out of it! This isn't the same fire as back then. Can you hear me, Inupi?!"

I looked back to see Kokonoi shaking Inui's shoulders by the railing. Their white uniforms were mostly pristine aside from some dirt on their pants, although Inui's hair remained matted with blood from Taiju's hand.

Inui panted as he stared at the ground, his chest heaving rapidly with his shallow breaths. "I know!" he yelled back. "But I—I can't control it." His voice cracked, and he closed his eyes. "I can't get it out of my head!"

A panic attack or flashback? I doubted the muffled crash of something new inside the church breaking and the strong stench of smoke was helping any. I scraped my shoes against a patch of bare stone to make my presence obvious as I approached. "Are you alright?"

Kokonoi looked up. "Ah, perfect timing." He reached out and dragged me by my sleeve to his side in front of Inui, and I let him do so. He did not appear aggressive, his attention only on Inui, and he would know best how to help his friend. Having a panic attack now would only make it harder for them to escape. "We're at Udagawa Christian Church right now, Inupi! We heard that Toman would assault our beloved boss during his rites with his siblings. Here's one of those Toman bastards with me!" Using my sleeve, he pulled my arm towards the hyperventilating boy and made my hand bump against his chest. "Don't you want to punch him?!"

"I do!" Inui shouted. I leaned back from him, but Kokonoi's grip was tight. "I wanted the Boss to make up with siblings, but then—but then..." He stopped talking.

"Fuck!" Kokonoi threw my arm back at me and clenched his eyes shut.

Clearly, they had some history with fire. I had only seen their characters over one arc and briefly met them in-person, but they'd never been so panicked. However, despite the perilous situation, they remained protective of each other.

"Let's work together," I said. Kokonoi cracked open an eye to watch me. "Our allegiances are trivial when we're facing the same threat. If we pool together all our strengths to escape, then—"

"There's no way down unless we put out the fire, but I don't think we have the time for that," Kazutora announced. Soot stained his forearms and jacket.

Shit. There was no direct path out, then. I sighed. It was becoming increasingly vital that Toman and the Black Dragons worked with each other.

...or, perhaps the Black Dragons could be our avenue out.

"Hey, the rest of the Black Dragons were here not long ago, right?" Kazutora paused before he could climb back inside, and Kokonoi raised his head. "Perhaps they could procure something for us to climb down with."

Kokonoi's phone was out in a flash. "What the hell am I doing?" he growled to himself as he jabbed someone's number into the keypad and held it to his ear.

"We should call the authorities, too," I continued. I took out my own phone. "It might take longer for them to respond if they haven't noticed yet, but they'll be better prepared to—"

"No, don't," Kazutora said. He stepped back down and met my eyes past his tousled hair. "We'll get in big trouble if we're caught here. We have to escape without them seeing us."

"I've been reading up on the penal code recently. With my track record, I'd better figure out how much deep shit I'm in if I get caught. And hey, it's kinda interesting. So, for adults, if you set fire to a building with people inside, you get either capital punishment or life imprisonment."

I shook my head to clear Hanma's jaunty voice. "That's true. But if there's no one else we can ask for help, then we'll have to, regardless of the consequences." His lips tugged down, but he gave a begrudging nod. "Toman may also be able to help."

If the people I asked to come listened.

I powered on my phone. Four missed calls, including two from Hayato. I must've been too distracted to feel my phone vibrate. They'd been calling to inquire about my message requesting them to come to the church, most likely. Several of them had texted me. I flicked through a few.

22:52—Hayato

I'm coming. stay safe

My closest buddy in Toman was willing to defy Mitsuya and Mikey's orders with me after my announcement that the truce was broken. That level of blind trust could be dangerous if I were scheming against Toman, but that was just how he acted with all of the 2nd Division. Despite the grimness of the situation, I smiled.

22:54—Jo

Sorry bro, but I need to hear it from the cap directly

22:55—03-2724-9533

Im in Sapporo rn, cant help sry

22:57—03-4442-7890

No thanks

That was fine. As long as enough people listened—five to ten perhaps, now that our goal was to escape and not fight the Black Dragons—it did not matter if most of the recipients were hesitant to trust me.

I called back one of the members who'd called and held my breath as the line connected.

"Your call has been forwarded—"

I exhaled and tried Peh-yan's number.

"Pick up, for fuck's sake!" Kokonoi hissed. His phone slipped from his gloved hands and clattered on the ground, but he picked it up and tried anew. I double-checked my screen to see if we had signal. There was no issue with connecting, but they just weren't picking up.

"Your call—"

I tried another member of the 2nd Division, but the results were the same. I didn't bother with another attempt and just stared at my lit screen, my chest tight.

Either they were too busy to respond, or they'd chosen not to respond to the member who'd asked them to fight the Black Dragons despite Mitsuya and Mikey having repeatedly ordered them respect the truce. The probability that they were all occupied at the same time was far lower than them deciding to stay quiet. Only Hayato was willing to come.

"I'm not saying to be perfect and do everything right." Peh-yan's eyes remained locked on mine. "But if you do fuck up, apologize and make reparations. The worst thing you can do is stay silent and do nothing. No one respects a person like that."

And now, my mistake could cost us our lives.

"Let's get back and tell Mitsuya. You come, too." I looked up as Kazutora beckoned at Kokonoi.

The black-haired boy held his hand over his phone. The screen showed he'd managed to call someone. "Why don't your people come here instead? It's dangerous inside."

"If you only care about saving yourself, then you can just die on your own." The former Valhalla member climbed back inside the hall without looking back.

"Hah?" Kokonoi sneered at his back. "Of course I'm prioritizing ourselves. You're the ones who'll die here." He raised his phone back up to his mouth. "Sound good? Well, get here in ten, and I'll double it. 1 million."

I waited for several seconds as Kokonoi negotiated over the phone, but he was disinterested in cooperating with us, as had been Kazutora in helping them. Perhaps Kazutora's dislike stemmed from his history with the previous generation of the Black Dragons. Or perhaps I had a bleeding heart, too concerned with rescuing everybody I knew, friend or foe, even if it diverted my attention from the members who were vital to Toman's stability and the grander scheme.

Regardless, the two boys would be safest here, outside the church, as they waited for their ride. After a final glance, I headed to the window and climbed into the hall.

The fire had spread further down the rafters and burned merrily at the entrance to the dome, but no great structural damage had occurred since the initial show. Even as a tall plume of smoke rose out the gap in the roof, much of it remained inside, gathering at the tall ceiling. I caught up to Kazutora talking to Mitsuya through the window and took deep breaths, relishing the cold, fresh air. Yuzuha had disappeared from his side—I glanced back around the hall to see her standing beside Taiju's still form, trying and failing to pull him away from the central aisle. On the other hand, Hakkai remained outside, peering down from the railing.

"So neither side can get down, huh." Mitsuya frowned. "Geez, I did not expect to be going to church on Christmas, much less one burning down."

"You know anyone nearby you can call?" Kazutora asked.

"...I remember Mikey and Draken said they'd be visiting the meeting spot tonight, when I asked Mikey about rescinding our pact with the Black Dragons. I guess we'll need to rely on them for help, but there are some others who don't live too far away." My Captain sighed, slipped his phone out of his pants pocket, and dialed a number.

"—outside, Baji-san! It's bad to keep breathing in smoke, especially when you're this exhausted." Takemichi and Chifuyu approached us, dragging a disgruntled Baji with them. They seemed unhurt aside from the scratches and bruises from before the entrance collapsed, although their boots were stained with soot.

"I'm fine!" Baji snapped back and pried his arms out of their grips. He stomped to the cracked window beside us and leaned against the wall, but I doubt Takemichi and Chifuyu missed his small stumble as his leg jerked beneath him.

Unlike mine, Mitsuya's call finally connected.

Wind blew over the call in a rush of static. "What?!" Draken yelled over the din, despite Mikey's name displayed as the recipient. Baji's eyes narrowed as he turned to Mitsuya, and we all paused to listen in. "We're driving now! Is this urgent?"

"Quite. You know where Udagawa Christian Church is?"

"Never heard of it!"

"It's near Shibuya Station. Google it. I'm trapped inside with Taiju, Baji, and Kazutora, and it's burning down around us. Can you come?"

"Are you fucking—Mikey! Take this exit! We gotta get to this 'Udagawa Church' to save Mitsuya!" His voice grew distant. Someone yelled something back, indistinct over the howling wind, followed by the screeching of tires and a blaring honk. "Hell if I know where! We'll figure it out along the way!"

Draken then spoke directly into the mic. "We're on our way! I'll call others to come help—stay safe until then!" The line disconnected.

Mitsuya shut his phone. "Alright. Let's look for safe ways to climb down in the meanwhile."

I scanned the hall. In the steady light of the fire burning at the entrance, the stone columns and pews cast long shadows across the carpet and bare walls. Candles and a tall cross decorated the altar, but the church was otherwise devoid of moveable furniture. Perhaps the rooms on either side of the altar would contain something useful for our escape.

"Can we lower a bench outside to break our fall?" I looked back as Kazutora rapped his knuckles against the wooden pew beside us. "It's not bolted to the ground. If we place it on the long end, it'll cut the drop in at least half."

"Hm..." Mitsuya hummed as he peered at it through the window. "It's a good idea, and it's safer than scouring the church for other items, but—"

"Will it fit through the window?" I said. Mitsuya nodded.

"It'll be a tight fit," Kazutora admitted. "But unless we find a ladder or something, nothing else will be as long or narrow, anyway. And we have plenty of them to spare." He gestured at the rows of pews behind us.

Takemichi spoke up. "We have to try it! We have to get out as soon as possible." I observed his furrowed brows and taut shoulders. Baji had survived, but the ordeal was not yet over. Had his death not been averted, or was someone else fated to die, too?

"Alright. Let's try it, then." My captain rolled up his sleeves. "Hakkai, can you help us carry the bench out?" He called back.

The summoned boy turned away from the railing, nodded, and hurried to us. His lips were set in a grim line. Ironically enough, he seemed calmer than when the fire had initially started, even though he avoided meeting my gaze by staring at the pew as he stood across from Mitsuya beside the window. Kazutora and I stepped forward to the end of the bench closer to window, and Takemichi and Chifuyu stepped back to the other end. I bent down and placed my arms underneath the seat. The varnished wood was slippery against my sweaty palms.

"Lift on three," Kazutora said. "One, two three!"

I clenched my teeth and kept my arms locked as I pushed up with my legs. The bench creaked as it rose off the ground. Split between the four of us, the solid two-and-a-half meters of wood felt no more than three-quarters my weight—heavy, but manageable. It wobbled as we tried to match each other's pace. I slowly rose to full height, but Kazutora's side kept rising, as if he'd forgotten I was shorter.

I grunted and slid a leg back as the pew tipped in my direction, its center of gravity shifting to my side, and it dipped as my arms strained to support the nearly doubled weight—

Baji's shoulder bumped into mine as he appeared beside me and raised my side back up with laughable ease despite his injuries. His hold jerked as he gave a shallow cough.

"Sorry," Kazutora called over the bench.

I released the breath I'd subconsciously held and shuffled back to support the middle of the bench, but I stumbled on nothing as the world wavered around me, the fire crackling in the background monetarily cut out by a high-pitched ring. My breaths were short. In addition to the smoke, we must've been losing oxygen to the fire. Surely, with their larger body masses, the others were faring worse than me.

Perhaps that's why they're so calm against an enemy that they can't fight with their fists.

"It's fine," I said. "Let's carry it out."

We headed for the window a step at a time. Mitsuya and Hakkai extended their arms to accept the weight from us.

The armrest bumped into the window frame.

"Move out on your side more," Baji said and nudged the pew in Kazutora's direction.

"No, you move." It swayed towards us as Kazutora pushed back. "The backrest got stuck against the frame."

"It's neither of you," Mitsuya interrupted. I heard him sigh past the pew. "It's too wide to fit through by several centimeters."

I flinched and looked back after a sizeable chunk of the wall across from us fell outward and tumbled outside, the stone crashing against the ground in a prolonged clangor. The ground rumbled with its force, and several loose bricks by the entrance shattered against the remains of the steeple. Either of the Black Dragons members waiting outside yelled, but the two boys seemed unhurt as they scrambled in through the window, Kokonoi climbing through first before pulling Inui in, and hurried to our side. The culprit licked at the beams above the exposed portion of the wall but shied back from the winter wind.

The fire would not wait for us.

Baji cursed and someone behind me growled. We awkwardly let go of the bench, and the wood cracked as it struck the carpet.

The church was collapsing with each second. The smoke, rubble, and heat aggravated each other in some twisted feedback loop: the heaps of rubble provided easy kindling to the fire, fanned by the fresh oxygen that displaced the smoke rushing out the ceiling, which melted the mortar gluing the stone bricks together, dropping more broken stone and wood to restart the cycle. It was luckily not hot enough to reignite the smoke. The dust settling from the wreck could be just as toxic, but with the limited materials on hand, there was little we could do to prevent breathing it in. The plaza was elevated four-and-a-half meters off the concrete, and the stairs down were blocked. How else could we escape to ground-level safely?

A few locks of my hair had come loose without a hair clip to secure it. I ran a hand back through it, but it remained dangling at the top of my vision, and my fingers came away with streaks of watery gel. Was it melting in the heat?

Not now, I begged it. I turned away from the boys as I slipped the bottle of gel Kisaki had given me and reapplied it to my hair. I can't afford to drop everything and hide to keep my position in Toman safe. I searched through my coat pockets for a clip, but I could only feel my phone and glasses.

Wait...Yuzuha recognizes who I am. I've only met her before in the girlish disguise Emma crafted for me. A bead of sweat dripped down my cheek. She knew I visited their house and set up this meeting. How come I didn't realize earlier?

"Maybe the back rooms have something useful!" I kept a hand to my forehead as I glanced at Takemichi. "I saw they had a lot of old clothes. If we don't find anything else, then maybe we could make a rope or something out of them, or use them to cushion the fall."

"Let's do that." Mitsuya didn't hesitate, and no one disagreed. He climbed in through the window, Hakkai behind him, and we all headed toward the back of the church, Takemichi jogging ahead.

"Baji-san, I still think you should wait outside." Chifuyu blocked Baji from following, and the latter boy halted with a frown. "You're the most hurt out of all of us—Takemitchy told me that Taiju whacked you with a bench. We have enough people here to search, so you don't—"

"For the last time, I'm—" He coughed twice, his chest spasming, but continued. "I'm fine. I'm not going to sit around and do jack shit."

Takemichi said Baji may die.

"I agree with Chifuyu," I said. I swept my bangs back a final time as the pair looked at me. "You're the most exhausted of us here and are likely inhaling the largest volume of toxic fumes. Despite your good intentions, you will become a liability if you pass out. If you want to help, then you'd best stay outside. We also need someone to spot if any safe paths clear up over the rubble."

"You've done enough for tonight!" Chifuyu added. "You fought Taiju—you deserve a break."

"Then I'll throw the same back at you—you've done enough. You go search outside. And you—" Baji faced me, and his dark eyes glinted in the light of the fire. "Why are you here?"

"Because I was worried Taiju would—" I paused. Should Frank know that Taiju would have a proper conversation with his siblings...? Yes, Frank had visited them, not Blake, so it was safe to mention. "I was worried Taiju would continue to harm Hakkai and Yuzuha."

"But how'd you know we'd be here—nevermind. Fucking Kisaki," Baji muttered and shook his head.

I flinched before I could suppress my reaction. Had I not read the series, I wouldn't have known beforehand about the showdown that would occur at the church, but how did Baji know that Kisaki had told me about the location? Perhaps it was just his suspicion, or perhaps he'd actually recognized me outside the meeting yesterday where they'd discussed attacking the Black Dragons with the other Captains, where I came in the short dress and cardigan I'd used to visit Hakkai. Furthermore, he'd seen me beforehand in the same exact clothes when he ran into Hakkai, Yuzuha, and I in front of the Shibas' house. Yuzuha recognized me tonight despite having only seen me in those clothes prior, and perhaps Baji had drawn the same connection in the reverse direction.

Who did he see then—a member of his gang, or his tutor?

"Taiju! Stop!"

Yuzuha's shout was our only warning before the Black Dragons' President rushed at us, the ground trembling under his heavy boots. His face was as red as his coat, and a pew along the central aisle was knocked over by his hurtling mass. "Toman! This is all your fault!" he howled. "You ruined everything!"

Chifuyu and I stepped back, our fists rising. I steadied my breathing and latched onto my pounding heartbeat to find my tempo. I hadn't fought anyone since the Valhalla battle, and never an opponent as strong as Taiju. This was the worst timing for a fight, but I'd failed to reason with him before the building collapsed, and I doubted he'd be any more willing to listen now, if he was prioritizing the immediate cause of his fury over his wellbeing. If we could distract him while Takemichi and the others found our escape route, then we could settle this conflict afterwards.

Baji's ponytail flicked my cheek as he dashed forward.

"Wha—"

"Baji-san!"

The Captain lunged to the side to avoid the punch Taiju placed his momentum behind, and the unfortunate bench in the path of his fist snapped into pieces, the backrest flying off and clattering against the carpet several meters away. Baji stooped down to snatch a long board from the wreck as Taiju regained his balance and whack it against the back of Taiju's head, but the taller boy seemed unfazed as he returned to full height and ripped the plank out of Baji's hands. Baji stumbled back with a hiss, his skin no doubt punctured with splinters.

Chifuyu rushed in at that moment to slam his heel into Taiju's midriff, which distracted him long enough for Baji to shake off the pain and wind his fist back. Taiju stumbled back a step after Baji punched him across the cheek, but he backhanded Chifuyu in the face before the Vice-Captain could land a follow-up blow.

"Taiju!" Kokonoi yelled from a window several rows behind ours, where he stood beside a seated Inui. "There's no point in fighting anymore!"

His leader swatted Chifuyu aside and snatched Baji by his collar.

Kazutora ran past me, his earring jingling, and barreled into Taiju's side, knocking him off his feet and breaking his grip on Baji. The newcomer was unrelenting, pummeling the downed boy repeatedly with his fists, but Taiju managed to throw him off into a bench, which creaked as his back struck the seat.

I can't fight in that. I swallowed and inched forward, waiting for an opportunity to join, but for each chance I spied, one of the others would rush in and land a hit, only to be knocked back by a heavy blow. Taiju didn't care at all about getting hurt—he only wanted to hurt us, and his monstrous endurance let him.

Is this the kind of hopelessness that Hakkai experiences?

"There's no point trying to talk to him when he's like this." Yuzuha stopped beside me as she walked down the aisle. "I gave him a second chance because you asked, and now I'm regretting it. Just leave him. You're more useful searching for ways out. Let's check the other room."

She could see through my disguise, but she wasn't trying to expose my identity to the others. But this wasn't the time to worry about that. I shook my head.

If all three of them had died fighting Taiju, then Takemichi surely would've interfered in this fight. I glanced back at the altar, where Takemichi had stopped to watch their tussle before hurrying into a room, Mitsuya close behind him. Hakkai hesitated several meters away, unable to look away from the fight. I nodded and swept back my loose bangs. While they were searching one room, we could search the other. I kept my focus forward as we hurried to the back of the church despite the sounds of the ongoing battle behind me.

Kokonoi had left Inui's side to examine the altar. He'd calmed down since I'd talked with him, muttering to himself as he sifted through the few items present. Soot dusted the stained-glass window behind him. The altar was as barren as the rest of the hall; the back rooms held more promise. I turned the handle and pulled outward.

The door did not budge. I pushed inward instead, but to the same results. The door clattered in the frame as I shook it, but it would not open. I stepped to the side and squinted at the door jamb in the light of the fire. I could make out the latch withdrawing as I turned the handle.

Yuzuha clicked her tongue. "It's still jammed, huh. That's annoying."

"You knew?" I grunted as I pulled on the handle with my weight. My legs wobbled as I stepped back, and I took deep breaths through my shirt.

"I tried a year ago. I thought they would've fixed it by now."

"Great. Over a year ago, so it's not just the—" I planted my foot against the door frame and yanked back. "—extreme conditions! We could try to remove the hinge pins—"

A low-pitched snap echoed above me, like a house settling. I released the door and looked up, but I could not distinguish anything noteworthy in the shadowy rafters. Yuzuha was similarly cautious, her knees bent and ready to bolt. We waited for several seconds, but nothing else happened. Perhaps the building's foundation had shifted and remained unstable after its years of sloppy maintenance. Forcing the door open could aggravate the consequential internal stresses.

"Hey, little lady and foreign kid. C'mere," Kokonoi called. He was still standing behind the altar.

With a final glance at the jammed door, I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants and stepped up onto the dais to join Kokonoi's side. "Did you find anything useful?"

"Yep." He patted the chest-high table the tall cross sat on, his gloves leaving soot on the pale tablecloth, before kicking the base of the table with the instep of his foot. It jerked a centimeter to the side with a metallic clang. An unlit candle toppled over and rolled into the gilded base of the cross. "It's not bolted to the ground. We can move it. It'll cut the drop outside by a third, so it won't cripple unless you land on your head. We can also use the tablecloth as a rope."

I pulled up the cloth on my end. Yuzuha came over and also bent down to look. Unlike the solid stone altar behind us, this table stood on metal legs. Diagonal beams extended from the thick wooden tabletop to each leg for extra reinforcement. It seemed durable enough to survive the four-and-a-half meter drop to the concrete, more so than a pew because of its larger surface area, but each of its three dimensions were larger than that pew we'd failed to carry out the window.

"How will we get it outside?" I said. "I doubt it'll fit through a window."

Yuzuha pointed at the two-meter-wide stained-glass depiction of Mary right in front of us, who peered down from the ceiling, her arms invitingly outstretched and smile peaceful despite the fire crackling behind us. "It'll fit through this one." Kokonoi nodded.

I blinked. "...yeah, I guess so."

Technically we hadn't set the fire, but this would be indisputable vandalism.

"What about these joints, though?" I rapped my knuckle against one of the thick, dark borders holding the glass pieces together. It gave a metallic clang. "I'm not sure we'll be able to break them."

"I'm hoping it's lead solder." Kokonoi shrugged. "They should bend if we strike them with enough force. Else, we're sitting ducks until outside help arrives, unless your guys find anything."

Lead, huh. It should be sufficiently hot to pry apart if it were fully enclosed within the church, but the other side of the window was exposed to the winter climate. I again held my hand against the metal. It felt cool, but it was difficult to gauge its exact temperature in this sweltering environment. Would it be enough?

Kokonoi began clearing the table, moving the lit candles to the stone altar. After a short prayer with her hands clasped before her, Yuzuha joined him, blowing out hers and shoving them off the tabletop. I stepped back to give them more space and kicked away the rolling candles on the floor. A candle that hadn't be extinguished toppled over and began to ignite the tablecloth, but Kokonoi swatted it away before it could grow. He reached for the gilded box at the base of the tall cross and grunted as he tugged it back. Yuzuha grasped the cross itself, and they managed to drag it off the table. It banged against the stone platform, and the racket echoed throughout the hall.

Our plan did not go unnoticed.

"Get out of the sanctuary!"

I swiveled back to see Taiju knock Kazutora into a stone column before hurtling at us. He'd suffered new injuries after fighting the three boys, his right eye swollen and blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth, but his rage remained hot as he flew up the stairs to the altar.

Yuzuha grabbed my sleeve and wrenched me to the side. I tumbled off my feet as Taiju landed where we were seconds ago. Kokonoi remained at the steps, less wary of the barreling boy, but his annoyed expression morphed into fear as Taiju spun towards him. His hasty block saved him from injury, but he grunted as he slipped off the dais and hit the carpet with his back.

Then Taiju's attention turned to me, his gaze chilling despite the conflagration burning behind him. I gritted my teeth and kicked off the altar to knock myself away from the heel of his boot. His stomp shook the ground like an earthquake, sending the remaining candles on the altar clattering to the floor, and he stumbled on one as he stepped towards me. I shoved myself onto my feet to dash away from the altar, but—

The edges of my vision went dark, and I grabbed onto the altar to keep myself steady as a wave of vertigo crashed into me. My sense of orientation span in endless cycles as it was caught in the current, and my strength drained out of my body. I clawed at the tabletop to stay upright, but my knees struck the ground. The sensation was minimal compared to the flash of pain that stabbed the back of my brain.

Get up! I roared at myself. This isn't the time to stop—not until we've escaped here!

I took deep breaths, each filled with acrid smoke that dried out my lungs, before pushing down with my legs, and my body wobbled as I slowly rose back up. Too slowly. My vision cleared up to show Taiju a meter in front of me, his fist zooming towards my face. My arms felt sluggish as I raised them to block, but that, too, was too slow.

Finally suffering the consequences of my action, I suppose. Despite my interference having led to this situation, I haven't received any injuries, whereas Takemichi and Baji are both bruised and bloody. This is all my fault.

I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw.

A firm hand shoved me back. "Your fucking opponent is me, bastard!"

My eyes shot open to see the 1st Division Captain's back as he tackled Taiju into the altar. I stumbled over a step but regained my balance. Baji, too, had gained new injuries since I'd left him and grown more exhausted, his breathing heavy as he whacked Taiju across the jaw and paused for a moment to rest against the table, but he kept on fighting, coughing blood after Taiju's elbow stabbed his gut yet leaning back on a leg to slam his boot into Taiju's chest and knock him off the dais.

I'd burned minimal energy here, yet I felt I could pass out at any second. Chifuyu panted on his knees as he caught up to the fight, the sweat on his neck glistening. He leaned forward to dive into the brawl, but his leg wobbled underneath him, and he was forced to catch his breath for longer. Taiju and Baji were both monsters.

However, now that the battle had left the altar, we could resume our escape. I spied Kokonoi climbing back up the other end of the altar, and Yuzuha's hair brushed my shoulder as she also hurried to the table before the stained-glass window. I followed her.

Kokonoi reached the table first and yanked the cloth off it. He folded it sloppily, the tablecloth almost twice his arm span, and tossed it onto the altar. Yuzuha pushed back the sleeves of her school uniform before bending down to grab onto the legs at one end of the table. I stepped over the fallen cross we'd shoved off it and kneeled to hold the diagonal beams running along the long end of the table, while Kokonoi returned to latch onto the legs of the remaining side.

The Black Dragons' treasurer wasted no time in lifting his end, and Yuzuha followed suit. I rose to my feet with them, this time careful to remain slow and gradual, and the table wavered as we raised it above our heads. It was much lighter than the pew, but we'd have to hold it at this awkward height to ram it into the window.

Chifuyu cried out. I glanced back to see Taiju punt the smaller boy down the aisle, but Kazutora slugged Taiju in the face before he could give chase. Past them, another section of the ceiling crumbled.

The bars tried to spin counterclockwise in my hands. "Move the short end towards the window!" Kokonoi yelled and pulled his end closer to the window. "Let's ram it out!"

No time to waste. The table teetered when we rotated according to his directions and took several steps back, and with a quick countdown, we rushed at the window, the short end of the table poised to crash through the glass. Kokonoi dug his shoes into the ground as we neared the wall and twisted his body back for a final burst of force, and I followed his lead, albeit less gracefully, my soles losing purchase.

The tabletop smashed into the window with high-pitched cracking but jolted back out of our hands. Kokonoi grunted as the table leg struck his forehead, and the table crashed down onto the stone floor in a shower of broken glass. I tumbled into him with my excess momentum, and his shoulder hit the wall. Yuzuha's legs bumped into mine, but she was able to control her follow-through.

My bangs swung loose as I pushed myself off him. "Sorry," I gasped.

He didn't move, his eyes wide as he stared down at the fallen table, littered with colorful glass shards that glinted in the pale streetlight of the newly exposed opening in the wall. Fresh air blew through the missing pieces of the glasswork. The joints the table had struck were stretched half-a-meter outwards, but still intact.

Yuzuha cursed. "This isn't going to work," she said. "The wood will break before those bars do."

"It's not hot enough to bend them easily. But even at room temperature, lead should've bent much more than that. I reckon it's about 120 Faren—50 degrees Celsius here, even if it's a bit below freezing outside." I sighed. "Regardless, it's cooled down now, without the glass for insulation."

"So we fucked up?"

"Yeah. But we didn't have enough manpower to try anything heavier—"

Kazutora's back slammed into the wall beside the door we'd tried to open. He stumbled forward when he pushed himself off to rejoin the fight happening in between the altar and the front row of pews. Taiju bulldozed into Baji and Chifuyu, knocking them off their feet, and kneeled down to pummel them with his fists.

I closed my eyes and tried to filter out their cries and the quiet crackling of the fire. The stench of the smoke, the stickiness of my sweat, the tightness in my chest—I took a deep breath of the cool winter air and released the tension in my body with it. Mitsuya and Takemichi had yet to finish searching, and the other room with the jammed door held items that could also be promising. This window was only a single option for our escape plan—our survival did not hinge solely on it. The most important thing to do right now was to calm down and think.

"If we can reheat the metal—no, make even hotter than before—and try again against the same spot, then we should be able to force an opening."

"Yeah, but how?"

"We can..."

But what if they couldn't find anything? The clothes Takemichi mentioned could be too short or worn to be practical, and prying open the jammed door could cause the roof to further collapse. Only Takemichi, Mitsuya, Yuzuha, and I were left actively hunting for ways out while the 1st Division trio risked their lives to stall Taiju, and the former two were hoping to make some clothes rope straight out of a cartoon while we were standing dumbstruck in front of the window we'd tried to hurl a table out of. There were no other avenues out.

The Blake of the previous timeline had failed, and there was zero guarantee that I would succeed.

"I...I d-don't know," I whispered.

---

"Argh!" Chifuyu covered his face with his arms to stop Taiju from continuing to strike his head, but a meaty fist dug into his stomach instead, driving the wind out of him. He coughed and rolled onto his side after inhaling a mouthful of smoke, but Taiju ripped his arm away with monstrous strength and socked his jaw.

Had Chifuyu not clenched his teeth, it would've surely broken.

Baji announced his interference with a roar. Chifuyu blinked away the stars in his vision and sat up to watch his Captain knock Taiju away with a powerful back kick to the kneeling boy's temples, slamming his head into a nearby bench. Taiju grunted but pushed himself back up, even as blood trickled from the new cut below his bruised eye.

Baji was as awesome as ever. Chifuyu hated how he couldn't do more to help his Captain fight against this behemoth of a man and had to rely on Baji to score the big hits, even though Baji was more injured than him, but at least they had Kazutora to help, and Kazutora was no slouch.

Kisaki was dead. If he managed to weasel his way out of being punished this time, too, then Chifuyu would murder him himself. Kisaki had tried to murder Baji a second time, this time with Chifuyu and Takemitchy, and if they died, then there would be no one left in Toman to stop him.

Baji would've realized this, but he listened to Kisaki's taunts and came anyway, despite Chifuyu and Takemitchy pleading against it. But now Chifuyu understood why Baji had risked everything to fight Taiju:

Because Toman's members were the heart of Toman. Helping Hakkai fight his abusive brother was just as important as expelling Kisaki from Toman. Failing to protect all its members meant failing to protect Toman, and Baji, with his keen eyes, would act on his own to ensure that no one else got hurt.

His Captain was awesome. Chifuyu had always known that, but he could never get over how awesome Baji was.

"You alright?" Kazutora extended an arm down to him and helped pull Chifuyu up.

"...I should be asking you that, after you flew back like, four meters." Chifuyu wiped away something wet dripping into his eyes—apparently blood—and felt his jaw for injuries. Smarting, like the rest of his body, but no unusual lumps.

"You say that, but you almost look as bad as Taiju. Let us handle the rest."

"Hah?" He scowled. "Did that hit give you a concussion? No. No way."

"Then try not to get the shit kicked out of you!" Kazutora dashed back into the fight in front of the altar, and Chifuyu panted for several more seconds before pursuing—

"T-Taiju! Stop it!"

Chifuyu halted as Hakkai yelled up from behind, his arm resting on the door to the right of the altar. His face was pale, even in the warm glow of the fire at the front of the hall. In front of the now-broken stained-glass window, Hakkai's sister turned to watch beside the dazed Black Dragon's Elite Guard Captain, who stared blankly at nothing, and Frank, who...who more than usual looked like the girl who tutored Baji, with his bangs hanging down his forehead.

"Please don't fight! We have to escape!" Hakkai continued.

Taiju heard him, pausing and turning his way, but instead of stepping back and lowering his fists, he snarled and stalked towards his brother. "You're part of this as well!" he growled. "You plotted with them to do all this, didn't you? To hurt the dear brother who's looking after you!"

Hakkai flinched, and his back rattled the door.

Baji blocked Taiju's way. "Even now, you're being selfish? Your own men and family are telling you you're wrong. You'd place your ego over their and your lives?" He spat to the side. "You're a real piece of shit." From Chifuyu's position, he could only see the back of his Captain's head, but he could hear the sneer in his voice.

"This is different!" Taiju roared, the veins on his forehead bulging. "This is God's holy sanctuary!"

Baji stood strong in front of Taiju's spitting anger. "Is it different?" he scoffed. "I don't know anything about your religion, but if any god—hell, Mikey—thought he could boss me around and order me to kill myself, I'd rather shove his head up through his conceited ass. No fucker has the right to treat other people like shit."

Taiju's eyes flashed, and his voice dropped almost an octave. "You dare disrespect Him? He loves and forgives those who follow his teachings—you wouldn't understand. If He has decided that we must be punished for our sins, then we must listen to attain salvation."

Taiju was mad. They really should've been able to talk this out and agree that escaping the burning church was more important than beating each other up. Chifuyu readied his fists and stepped toward them. Why did the strong guys always have to be batshit insane?

Except Mikey, of course.

"What the fuck?" Baji jeered. "Then go kill yourself and let us live in peace. There's your salvation."

Taiju glowered down at the probably-leering boy—Chifuyu wished he'd stop doing that because of all the fights it'd roped him into, but Baji just wouldn't be himself without it—and threw one of his killer punches, but Baji blocked it with his arms, although he slid back from the sheer force.

"Taiju!" Hakkai shouted a second time. His voice was firmer. He took a tiny step forward, then another and another until he was halfway between Taiju and the door, and raised his arms into a shaky but distinguishable fighting position. "We have to get out, but you're making it harder!"

Chifuyu caught Baji's smirk as he glanced back at Hakkai. He seemed pleased by the turn of events, in contrast to Taiju's boiling rage. Chifuyu was genuinely curious about Taiju's blood pressure after his face had just kept turning redder and redder, but that rage became his fuel in this fiery wreck.

Well, they needed all the help they could get in fending off Taiju. Four versus one wasn't a really fair fight, but screw fairness when their lives were on the line.

With a short cry, Chifuyu charged into the fray.

---

"Don't you start panicking too!" Yuzuha grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "Hakkai and the others are buying us time! Just reheat the metal, you said? Will the candles be enough?!"

"Hakkai's—what?" I blinked. My eyes shot to the fight, and sure enough, Hakkai faced off against his brother, albeit several steps behind Baji, Chifuyu, and Kazutora. His nervousness was palpable, his eyes wide and his skin covered in sweat, but he did not back away as Taiju advanced.

What prompted this courage from him? Was the situation just so dire that he considered the fire to be the greater threat than his brother?

"When'd he get there?" I asked. My voice was hoarse. "Will he be alright?"

"I hope!" she hissed. "So stop wasting time!"

"Y-yeah." I shook my head. "Candles, you said?" I glanced at the broken window. Water dripped down the remaining panels, the snow blowing in rapidly melting. "The wind may extinguish them. We need something that'll burn hotter. Maybe a snapped brand?" I scanned the wreckage around the hall. There'd surely be some merrily burning pieces of wood short enough to pick up.

"We need more fire?" She snorted. "How ironic. Let's split up to—" She cut off and yelled past me at the fight continuing in the transept. "Be careful above!"

I looked back. Baji, Kazutora, Chifuyu, and Hakkai also looked in the aforementioned direction to see the tongues of fire licking at the rafters above them, illuminating the stone ceiling in flickering orange. A thin tendril connected it to the main blaze burning at the collapsed roof at the entrance. The fire had already reached the back of the church.

We're out of time...

They cursed and shuffled back, spreading out in the process, but there was not much further they could escape to. Chifuyu stumbled over the steps to the dais, Kazutora's back hit a stone column, and Hakkai backed into the closed door. Baji remained at the forefront, having instead stepped towards Taiju to avoid the fire above. We'd all seen the damage that it could wreck, and standing underneath it could become a death sentence.

Taiju didn't care.

He chased after Hakkai, who gasped but clenched his teeth and raised his fists. With his back to the jammed door, the only way out was forwards, through the seemingly indomitable wall that was his brother. All it took was being trapped in a fiery building and no pesky friend pushing him to fight back.

Hakkai took a hesitant step forward, then squared his shoulders and rushed in to meet Taiju head-on with an arm wound back. His fist slammed into Taiju's chest with a hefty thwack that pushed him back a few centimeters.

And Taiju returned the favor tenfold.

His fist crashed in Hakkai's cheek and sent him flying back into the wall. Something cracked on impact, whether it was the wall, a support beam, or Hakkai himself, but Hakkai did not seem too injured as he pushed himself back onto his feet, albeit his body quivering.

"Hakkai!" Yuzuha knocked me aside as she dashed to Hakkai.

Taiju barreled past Baji as he chased after Hakkai.

But Taiju failed to notice the burning plank that snapped off the rafters and whistled down toward him and Hakkai.

Yuzuha and I were too far away to stop it. I knew that, even as I dove after her. I was too slow. Too slow, again. Each step lasted eons, and eons more would pass before I reached Hakkai.

Could I have known this would happen?

No.

But could I have stopped this?

Yes.

And I failed to stop it.

Chifuyu made to yell a warning as he noticed the unfolding situation, and Kazutora looked up after seeing the panic on Chifuyu's face, but the boys at the fight noticed too late to intervene.

Except Baji.

Baji's feet left the floor as he tackled Taiju and Hakkai from behind, knocking them out of the path of the falling rubble. He caught himself on the ground with his arms and shoved himself away with his lightning-fast reflexes, and his body slipped out from underneath the plank with at most a meter of leeway, but his arm remained outstretched at his original position.

The burning beam slammed into him with an impact that trembled the ground, and he cried out as the fire spread to his clothes and engulfed him.