After my picture fades
Naoto was startled out of his research when he heard a loud, dramatic sob escape the man who had been fast asleep for the past week.
“Why, God?! Why?!?” Takemichi hid his face under his elbow. “Why must you hurt me in this way?!”
“Uh…. are you…. okay?”
“Does it look like I’m okay?!” He glared up at Naoto through teary eyes. “What were you doing?! Why did you have to hold my hand of all things?!”
Naoto sat down, completely bewildered with the way his…friend? co-worker? brother-figure? was acting.
“Ughhhhh…… I really wanted to….” He finally sat up, as gloomy as he could be.
“...If it makes you feel better, I have leftover chicken broth and coffee in the fridge?”
“....thank you.”
Naoto set to work, carefully removing the IV drip. He knew that while it helped in keeping Takemichi’s nutrition levels up a lot more than whatever he ate after he ran away, it couldn't substitute for the feeling of warm food in your belly.
As Takemichi miserably nibbled on the chunks of meat in his bowl, Naoto decided to interrogate him.
“So, what happened?”
“...Well, I managed to make friends with Mikey-kun.”
“Who now?”
“Sano Manjiro?”
“....Why are you referring to the man who’s responsible for my sister's death in such a familiar way?”
Naoto’s voice was deathly calm, and Takemichi knew that he would probably be signing his death warrant if he continued speaking. But in all honesty, he trusted Naoto to hear him out and make the right decision.
Hopefully that decision did not involve kicking him out to the streets.
“Uhm… he saved my life in the past, and I guess we’re friends now? He was a lot nicer than he is now, and, uh, not a murderer?”
“.... I don't know what lies he’s told you, but he’s an awful person. I even showed you what he's done, and you still allied with him?!”
“Naoto, please understand. He's only sixteen or so. Not even an adult, and he hasn't committed any crimes like that as far as we know. He’s not guilty.”
“He's not exactly innocent, either.” Naoto stood up, and Takemichi shuddered as he glared at the floor. He’d never seen him this mad. “If it were in my hands…. he would have been six feet under twelve years ago.”
Takemichi froze at what Naoto was trying to imply.
“.....I’m sorry, Naoto. But if you want me to kill someone-” Takemichi stood up, and Naoto felt the urge to look at him as he kept his head down. “I can't. I won't.”
“...Why? This could fix everything. All of his victims would still be alive and unharmed, Hinata would still be alive-”
“Have you ever seen anyone die, Naoto?”
Naoto paused to think. Yes, he had seen dead bodies, and yes, he had seen the truck ram into his sister (her blood gushing out of her head, her tears as they both realized she wouldn't make it-), but he hadn't actually witnessed her last moments in the hospital, hadn't seen her take her last breaths (sometimes he’s glad he wasn't there, other times the guilt eats him alive.)
“...No.”
“...I’m glad.”
—--
The next day, the mood between them was still fraught with tension. Takemichi felt like he ought to apologize for the situation, but at the same time couldn’t bring himself to condone Naoto’s plan.
After the duo had a warm breakfast courtesy of himself (Naoto almost burnt down the kitchen the last time he tried cooking-), Takemichi moved to the desk, only to be told that they weren’t doing desk work anymore.
“Today, we’re going outside.”
“Eh? How come?”
“There’s someone I want to investigate. Two people, actually. I need your help to talk to them.”
“Alright, who are they?”
“The first one on the list is an old relative of yours. Your cousin, if I’m not wrong?” Naoto frowned, trying to remember the details. “I believe he used to be a delinquent.”
“Masaru? What do you want with him?” ‘Of all people to interrogate…’
“He used to be part of a gang called Moebius. The Tokyo Manji Gang got into a fight with them, and they started their crime spree from there. It was an event that happened around this time twelve years ago, so I’m hoping we can get more details and you can go and stop the event from happening.”
“Hold up. You said Masaru was a part of this Moebius gang?”
“...Yes?”
“That's impossible.” Takemichi shook his head. “Masaru was a part of Toman, not Moebius.”
“Huh. He must have changed sides then.”
“.....I guess. Who's the other person?”
“Ah, you might be a little happier to talk to this one. His name's Atsushi Sendo.”
“Akkun?! How come you’re interrogating him?”
“He's not the same person you were friends with back in school. He’s one of the managers of the Tokyo Manji Gang.”
“...You're pulling my leg now, aren't you?”
“I’d never dream of doing such a thing.”
Takemichi sighed loudly. “How and why?”
“That's for you to figure out.”
“Ugh… you're really mean at times, Naoto.”
“Thank you, I do try.” This time, Naoto wasn't able to hide the half-smile that made its way to his face.
Takemichi scoffed, before grabbing his hoodie and getting ready to leave.
_______
It took a good half-hour to figure out the route. Apparently in every timeline, Google Maps liked to screw over people by making them drive through buildings. But they were here, in one piece, without having demolished any buildings. Takemichi considered that a win.
“Uh… Are you sure that he works here?” Takemichi whispered conspiratorially, as if Masaru was a bird that would fly away the moment he realized he was noticed.
“I didn't become a detective for nothing, you know.” Naoto replied dryly. “He's here, we just need to find him.”
Before Takemichi could respond, the entire site rattled with the shriek of a superintendent who had most probably been scorned. It had sounded awfully demonic.
Naoto and Takemichi looked at each other, wide-eyed with confusion.
“Uhm. What was that.”
“Does it look like I know?”
“I guess not… either way, let's look for Masaru.”
‘This is going to be one hell of a family reunion, huh…’ Takemichi thought to himself, grimacing.
He hadn’t been able to recognise Masaru at all. Naoto had scanned the surroundings and had dragged out the most scruffiest, pitiful looking man he could find. All three of them were now in a cafè, which did not look like a good place for an interrogation, but it wasn’t like they had better options without it looking like a kidnapping.
“Why am I here?” Masaru asked hoarsely. He fidgeted around, and Takemichi couldn’t help but notice how much thinner Masaru looked now than he was twelve years ago.
“We just need you to answer a few questions for us, if that’s alright with you.” Naoto’s voice rang out, calm and authoritative. It helped Takemichi shake off whatever nostalgia he was feeling. Naoto presented his detective badge and let Masaru know that while it wasn’t an official investigation, he was expected to be honest and cooperative.
“Uh, alright…”
“You are Hanagaki Masaru, yes?”
“Yes….”
“And you were a part of a gang in your younger years, were you not? Moebius, if I remember correctly?”
Masaru froze at that. Takemichi fully expected him to refute Naoto and say that he was a part of Toman…
…only for him to nod. “...Yes. A long time ago.”
‘Huh???’
Naoto glanced back at Takemichi. “I’ll get right down to business, Hanagaki-san. We’re trying to reopen the investigation on Haruki Hayashida. You may know him as Pah-chin, a former division leader from the older Tokyo Manji gang.”
“What…? Why? He murdered Osanai in cold blood, we all saw it! Stabbed him till his guts came out, he did!”
Takemichi stiffened. ‘What the hell?’
“We don’t deny that he murdered Moebius’ leader. But we have evidence that he may have done it to exact revenge.”
Masaru opened his mouth to protest, but then slumped forward in his seat.
“It… it was twelve years ago…. Why does it matter now? We’re rotting away either way.”
“This could bring closure to the Hayashida family, for them to know that he did not murder without reason.”
“I….” Masaru mumbled. “I had nothing to do with it!”
Takemichi heard him crack his knuckles under the table in agitation, and knew that he was lying.
‘Some things never change, huh…’
“Cut the bullcrap, Masaru. Just tell us the truth - you’ll be free to go after that.” Takemichi spoke up, his face unreadable.
“Wha- But-”
“My friend is telling the truth, we won’t bother you afterwards.”
“...It was after Toman. I was a new recruit in Moebius, and to prove my worth… They took me to a walkway in the middle of the night.” Masaru whispered. “A girl and her boyfriend were getting to their house… and… and they… and we…”
Takemichi felt his stomach knot up again. He didn’t want to hear what Masaru was going to say.
“We attacked them. We told them to enter the house and dragged her parents out….
And we… we raped her. In front of her parents and her boyfriend.”
Takemichi felt his breakfast dislodge itself from his stomach. “What the fuck?!” He hissed, pushing himself from the table.
Naoto looked a little green, but somehow he maintained his composure.
“And to exact revenge…Hayashida-san murdered Osanai?”
“Yeah. A couple of us ended up getting caught by the police for attacking the girl. I got out seven years ago.”
Takemichi felt something inside him snap when he said that. ‘Only five years in jail!? For ruining a girl’s life?!?’
“They should have let you rot in there!” Takemichi snarled, glaring at the felon he was related to.
“...You don’t have the right to judge me!” Masaru hissed, deciding that he had had enough.
“What did Rin-san think when you did that? The son she raised all by herself, the ‘light of her life’... did you even see her, after you got out?” Takemichi was standing now, looming over Masaru. His eyes glinted eerily. “I bet you didn’t. And I bet you didn’t even regret hurting that poor girl, no, you just regret getting caught!”
“And what do you know?! She’s my mother, she’s obliged to look after me! That’s why she paid the bail after half a decade, she couldn’t bear to see me rot away in that cell! It’s her fault for not getting me out sooner!” Masaru sneered, wrapped up in his own acknowledgement of his innocence.
Takemichi felt as though he had been slapped in the face.
‘All those days at the start of middle school, I kept on begging her for scraps of anything, from food to clothes after she kicked me out of her apartment to my parents’ house, she said she didn’t have anything but she’s able to pay off a rapist’s bail?!’
He felt his eyes water. “Naoto, are we done here?! I’m sick and tired of looking at this pig.”
“Just one more question.”
“I’m not answering anything until you get that bastard to keep his mouth shut!”
“Keep your mouth shut till I ask you the question,” Naoto snarled, his voice laced with venom. “As part of the Hanagaki family, you should be aware of your family’s annual income. Your mother worked as a cashier in a mall - how did she get over 4 million yen in her bank account every month?!”
“Huh?!”
“Ugh- that’s none of your business!”
“It is - we’re investigating your mother as well on possible charges of theft and tax fraud.” Naoto glared.
‘What????? Rin’s a thief???’
“She’s just getting the money she’s owed for looking after a runt on the side.” Masaru sighed, seemingly giving up.
And that’s when it hit Takemichi.
‘Wait… has she been taking the money that was meant for my child support?!’
His head spun, and he got up. “I think I’m done, I don’t want to listen to this anymore.”
“That’s all of my questions.” Naoto got up with him. “I hope you can reflect on your actions one day, Hanagaki.”
—---
Takemichi hadn’t been able to keep it in.
When they had reached Naoto’s house again, Takemichi made a beeline for the restroom and locked himself in. There, he retched over the toilet basin till his breakfast was completely out of his system.
‘God…. He actually…. He actually did that!’ Takemichi sobbed. ‘He actually assaulted a girl! What the fuck?!’
His nails were blunt, but he scratched at his forearms till they stung, as if he could scratch his blood out of his body, so that he was never reminded of the fact that they were related to each other.
‘And he did it to be a part of a stupid gang!’
He heard the door unlock behind him - Naoto must have used the keys - and felt him hold his head up from where it rested against the basin, pulling his hair away from his face so that he could puke more comfortably.
“Th-thank you…” he mumbled, shivering slightly. The bathroom was cold. After he dry-heaved for a few minutes, he moved to the sink on unsteady feet.
Naoto helped him clean up, and the two of them moved back to the main room in quiet solidarity.
______
It was evening by the time both Takemichi and Naoto had the mental fortitude to go for another round of interrogation. Naoto had started the car up again, and the two of them were driving to what looked like the high-class part of Tokyo.
They reached the building Akkun was supposed to be in. Naoto managed to park his car in a relatively inconspicuous place. Takemichi had gotten out of the car and felt himself zone out right outside the door.
‘Akkun always said we’d always be friends…. Does that count now? Even after I ran away? Even after what I’ve done and become?’
“Aren’t you going to go in?”
“I…I want to. I want to see Akkun again after so long but….”
Naoto squeezed his shoulder. “I can’t speak for your friend, but I think he’d be happy to see you again. I know I was.”
“Thank you, Naoto.” Takemichi smiled softly. “I needed that.”
“No problem. Shall we?”
The two of them entered. Takemichi cringed as he stuttered at the reception, explaining that he was one of Atsushi’s old friends, and that he had been a part of Mizo Middle. They were given a few glasses of beer. Takemichi declined politely, while Naoto decided to try it out.
After a while, the receptionist told Takemichi that Akkun was waiting for him in a nearby room. Naoto wasn’t allowed to go in.
“You’ll be alright?” Naoto asked, peering at the door over Takemichi’s shoulder like it would attack the two of them.
“Yeah. Ask about what was in the files, right?”
“Mmhmm. Take care, and be careful.”
“Okay, see you in a while.”
——-
Takemichi walked in, feeling very uncomfortable.
‘Who am I kidding… Akkun and the others probably hate me for running off without them. And I wouldn't blame them one bit for it.’
He braced himself for a confrontation. The whole situation had him running on adrenaline, and the interrogation earlier that day hadn’t made matters better for him.
A man with faded brown hair in a buzzcut gestured at him to sit down. He looked pale and wan, like the world was on his shoulders. Takemichi obeyed stiffly, wondering where his Akkun was.
“It’s been a while, hasn't it, Takemichi?” The man smiled gently, before grinning. “Can’t recognize me without the pompadour, huh?”
“Akkun?!”
____________
Akkun led him to the roof, where he proceeded to quickly wrap an arm over Takemichi’s shoulder and pull him down to ruffle his hair, snickering as Takemichi squirmed and struggled to escape.
“Oi, oi, Akkun! Stop, I used hair gel this afternoon!” Takemichi tried to hide his laughter, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. He’d wanted to look good today to meet his old friend, but it was useless - after all, Akkun didn’t bother about appearances.
“And yet your scalp is as dry as a desert!” Akkun practically dragged Takemichi towards the railing, grinning down at him. “Hehe, I’m just glad to see you again. It’s been far too long, not even a single message!”
Takemichi faltered at that. ‘Right… I abandoned them again, from the looks of it…’
Akkun didn’t seem to notice. “How have you been? All okay?”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Akkun didn’t need to be worried about him. This was supposed to be a happy reunion, and he wasn’t going to ruin it with his own personal troubles.
“We’ve got a lot to catch up on, huh?” Akkun released him. “Let’s not waste time!”
_________
“Do you remember that time with Yamagishi?”
“You mean the time he farted and ruined the entire gig?”
“Yeah, that! Man, he ruined my concentration there!”
“And you fell over laughing from that! I forgot just how lame you were back then, Akkun!” Takemichi teased light-heartedly.
“Eh, as if you weren’t equally lame!” Akkun laughed. “Man, middle school, huh…”
“Mmhmm, I guess it’s been around 12 years from your perspective,” Takemichi smiled sadly, before abruptly changing the topic. “… you really have made it big, huh, Akkun? A good place to live and a well paying job as a club owner… you’re even a Toman manager if I heard correctly.”
“Yeah…” Akkun’s smile fell.
Takemichi didn’t know how to proceed with that response. “I mean, you don’t have to worry about food, health and shelter, and I bet everyone else is also in a good situation…It makes me happy to know that you guys are happy, is what I mean,”
“.... there’s only so much you can get with money.”
A part of Takemichi felt pissed off at that. Akkun had a relatively comfortable life from birth, while he couldn’t take the easy way out, even if he wanted to. He had no right to say he ought to be happy with what he had. “Wish I could be in a position to say that,” he said, loud enough to let his old friend know that he was crossing boundaries worth twelve years of separation.
“The summer the year you left.” There was an edge to Akkun’s voice, and Takemichi flinched. Akkun really did blame him then. “The day you rebelled against Kiyomasa. What do you remember about it?”
“Eh? I took Takuya’s place, and Mikey-kun beat Kiyomasa up,” Takemichi answered, confused.
“After that. Do you remember the dialogue we had? About what we’d talk about as adults?”
Takemichi rummaged through his memories. He hadn’t time traveled immediately, but at the same time he couldn’t remember what Akkun was talking about. “... I think I was on painkillers at the time?” A faint memory of rambling nonsense at a hospital while Mizo Middle looked at him with fond exasperation came to mind. It felt rather floaty, like he had been sugar-high.
“... Your exact words were, ‘Now that everyone will survive to be adults, what should we talk about in the future, twelve years from now?’”
Takemichi froze at that. Too specific, he had been far too specific. Just how much had he spilled to his friends about his abilities? “Hey, Akkun, I was loopy from the drugs-”
“You knew. You knew that Takuya would die, didn’t you, Takemichi?” Akkun turned to look at him, a crazed expression in his eyes. “You knew, and you saved him, for all of us,”
“Akkun, you’re scaring me right now,” Takemichi responded softly. “You’re not alright, are you? Even with such a good life… is Toman doing something to you?”
“Toman… those bastards can wait, I’ll get to that later.” Akkun snarled. “But a few days ago, a train was supposed to run you over. And the police officer waiting for you downstairs, Naoto Tachibana, he was the one who saved you! You asked him to save you, twelve years in the past, didn’t you, Takemichi?! There’s no other way he would have known!”
“How…. How did you know I was supposed to die, Akkun?” Takemichi asked hoarsely. His hands felt clammy. “It was an accident, right? A joke by some younger kids….right?”
Akkun didn’t respond.
“No, no, that’s- you’re-” Takemichi swallowed heavily as the back of his eyes prickled with tears. “You’re lying. Akkun- Akkun wouldn’t! You wouldn’t… you wouldn’t have hurt anyone like that….”
“The topic we’ll talk about as adults… I wanted it to be happier but,” Akkun looked away. “I was the one who pushed you over the train tracks.”
“No!” Takemichi shouted vehemently. “No, you didn’t, I’m still here-!”
“You shouldn’t be. Tachibana wasn’t supposed to know about this.” Akkun sighed. “But he did, and I know for a fact that no one in Toman leaked that information. So how did he save you?”
“Toman- Toman wanted me dead?” Takemichi asked, horrified. ‘But why?!’
“You and Tachibana Hinata.” Akkun responded, turmoil evident on his face. “I… I forgot she had a younger brother apart from you.”
Takemichi let out a ragged sob when he realised that Hinata wasn’t just collateral damage. ‘They killed Hina on purpose!’
“Why, Akkun?! Why?” Takemichi shouted past the lump in his throat, grabbing Akkun by the shoulders. “You were never like this! You were our leader! You always wanted to protect us! What would Mizo Middle say?!”
Akkun’s eyes were trained on the floor. “... they’re gone.”
“Eh?!”
“First Makoto disappeared. He was supposed to get a shipment of good booze for the club. He never made it back home,” Akkun murmured. “Yamagishi was killed. Takuya and I didn’t want to get involved in the smuggling business, so they forced Yamagishi to intercept packages for them. The police killed him in a raid on one of Toman’s safe houses. Takuya… he’s hospitalized because of a poison and there’s no cure.”
“What in the…” Takemichi pulled away. “Toman… Toman killed them too?!”
“Kisaki got them killed. He’s got an iron grip on Toman and by extension, Japan itself. Kisaki’s too powerful for any of us to escape!” Akkun turned towards the railing, a harsh laugh escaping him. “Takemichi, I’m scared… just what did we do in our past lives to live such horrid ones now?” He asked despairingly. “What the hell have I become?”
“...It’s not too late- Akkun, please, you can come with me and Naoto,” Takemichi begged. His friend was clearly hurting, and he wanted to get him out of this place. “We can still figure things out-”
“Even after I said I killed you… goddamnit, Takemichi!” Akkun snapped, before seemingly calming down just as fast. A few tears escaped the man. “Listen, I don’t know how you can make use of this information, but Mikey changed for the worse after Draken died. He let Kisaki have full control over Toman in his grief, and now he’s taken over Japan,”
“Draken-kun is dead?!” Takemichi shrieked. ‘What the hell is going on?!’
“Draken, he doesn’t deserve to die, but he did. And Kisaki ended up taking advantage of his death.” Akkun got on top of the cemented railing.
“Akkun- Akkun, get down,” Takemichi’s stomach lurched. “Akkun, please, just get down.”
Takemichi himself had tried it ages ago. That was the final straw that had made the landlady realise that he was a danger to himself, and he’d been caught.
And now Akkun was trying to do the same, wasn’t he? He was too calm otherwise. He was trying to escape his life as well.
“I always admired you, you know? Firm, even when crying. Always looking out for everyone,” Akkun’s voice was fond. “That’s why you were our second-in-command. Our Charge Commander, even if your backfist was the shittiest we’d ever seen. Our Crybaby Hero.”
“Akkun! It’s dangerous!” Takemichi shouted, walking towards him. His head felt too fuzzy. He couldn’t breathe-
“Takemichi… if you really can fix the past….” Akkun turned to smile at him tearily. “Please save everyone,”
Akkun took his last step off the railing.
“Akkun!” Takemichi shouted, quickly grabbing onto the man’s arm. His hands were too clammy, and his vision blurred. “Akkun, get a footing somewhere, I can pull you up-”
But Akkun slipped from his grip, and onto the pavement below. A loud, sickening crack could be heard, echoing against the concrete jungle around them.
“No….” Takemichi slumped against the cement, staring at the pool of red - which looked more like Akkun’s hair colour twelve years ago than he’d like to admit - that poured from Akkun’s broken body.
The tears fell, but he just didn’t register them anymore. Not while his friend lay dead.
And that was how Naoto found him. Slumped against the railing, still reaching out for a man long gone.
_______________
Naoto hadn’t really expected anything to go bad, or at least worse than what had happened that morning. His mind still reeled from the fact that Takemichi and Masaru were related to each other. Oh well, nothing that free beer couldn’t fix!
He waited outside the building after finishing his drink. Takemichi had been so antsy about this visit, so hearing the two men laugh from the rooftop was a relief. All he needed to do was wait…. Or so he thought.
Soon enough, shouts could be heard from the very same building, and Naoto tried to see what was happening. He peered up, noticing how a man got onto the roof…
And fell down.
He ran to the person, mentally identifying him as Atsushi Sendo. The fall seemed to have killed him on impact, Naoto couldn’t feel a pulse. He fished out his phone from his pocket, deciding to call both the police and an ambulance in case something could be done.
They reached the place quickly, and Naoto led some of the medics to the roof in case Takemichi was injured. The man was hunched over the concrete railing, unresponsive to the world.
The medics pulled him in a sitting position, and he didn’t even shift away or flinch. His head lolled to the side, eyes unseeing, and for a second Naoto felt a cold terror possess him. ‘What happened?’
Takemichi’s lack of response alarmed the medics, and they swiftly took a reading of his blood pressure. Naoto couldn’t hear the readings they took, but they were clearly concerned. One of them stopped trying to treat him and turned to Naoto instead.
“I’m sorry, sir, but do you have his information? We need to contact his family.”
“I- yes, his name is Hanagaki Takemichi…” Naoto paused when the medic mentioned contacting family. He highly doubted that seeing Masaru would make Takemichi feel better. “I- I’m his next of kin.” he lied.
Apparently, the medic seemed to accept that. “We might have to shift him to a hospital if his condition worsens - it’s unstable enough that we can’t move him down safely…”
“What happened?” he asked tensely.
“The blood flow to his brain is too high, probably from the way his head was hanging over the barrier,” The medic pointed to the concrete Takemichi was supported against. “He must have gotten dizzy from that - his BP is high enough for us to be worried about intracranial pressure and/or stroke,”
“God…” Naoto rasped. Takemichi hadn’t been in good health even before all this. How much worse would he get? “How- how do we get him down?”
“We’ve asked the team downstairs to bring us a stretcher-” The medic was interrupted by a teammate who wanted them to run some other test. She apologised and continued working on Takemichi.
Naoto sat down heavily on a cardboard box nearby, feeling useless as he watched the medics try to keep Takemichi alive. His phone buzzed and he excused himself, practically flying down the stairs to greet his co-workers.
He explained the situation to them - they were in a Toman hideout, and the area had to be examined thoroughly. His team brought attention to Sendo’s body and decided to split into two - one to investigate the club and another for Sendo. Naoto was off-duty at the moment, so he wasn’t fully involved, instead choosing to wait for Takemichi.
Around five minutes later, Takemichi was brought down on a stretcher. The medics weren’t as tense this time, and Naoto went to them.
“Is he alright?” Naoto asked.
“BP has fallen into normal range - his breathing’s fine too. From what we can tell, he just needed to be repositioned to prevent too much blood flow to the brain. His blood sugar is extremely low, however, and he’s still unresponsive. We’ll be shifting him to the hospital for a CT scan soon, once we’re sure he’s somewhat stable,”
“Thank you - would it be alright if I followed in the car once you’re done?”
“Of course,”
“Thank you - thank you so much,” Naoto let out a shaky sigh of relief. He’d been so scared that Takemichi would also die… thankfully he might just pull through.
One of his teammates pulled him aside. “Sir, about Sendo… eyewitness reports say that the man in the ambulance was also on the roof.”
“Yes? I also mentioned this,” Naoto frowned.
“Shouldn’t we hold him back? He could be a suspect.”
Naoto almost didn’t register the rage that bubbled in the back of his throat. “Excuse me? He’s on death’s door, and you want me to stop him from getting treated?!”
“Well, there’s no other way to know what happened…”
Naoto let out a ragged, frustrated sigh. “There were cameras on the roof. Look through the security footage. If you’ll excuse me.”
Naoto walked briskly towards the ambulance. ‘As if Takemichi-kun would hurt someone who was his friend.’
The medics let him go to the stretcher. “He’s regained consciousness, sir.”
“He did?” Naoto wasn’t able to mask the relief in his voice. “Thank goodness.”
“...Naoto?” Takemichi’s voice was too hoarse, too brittle. His eyes were swollen and squinting from the ambulance lights. “Is- is that you?”
“Yeah. Are you alright? Did Sendo attack you?”
“No- Akkun-” Takemichi’s breath hitched, and his heart rate elevated. “Naoto, Akkun- he- he jumped-”
“Shhh. I know, I know.” Naoto tried to soothe him. “It’s okay, it’s going to be alright.”
“The police- They might wanna question me-”
“Please don’t push yourself too much, Takemichi-kun. The police can wait, I can hold them off till you’re better.”
“Naoto…” Takemichi sobbed. “Naoto, please- Look into Ryu-Ryuguji Ken’s death, please-”
Naoto tensed at that. ‘Even after all that, he’s still thinking about leads?’
“Kisaki- Kisaki’s the real brains behind it all- Naoto, they killed Hi-Hina on pur-pose-! They ki-lled her for some-something-” Takemichi’s breathing was strangled, but he still fought to speak. “With Dra-ken-kun dead, Ki-Kisaki took over and twi-twisted Toman t-to crime!”
Naoto felt the blood drain from his face as Takemichi continued, voice garbled and broken with his hiccups and sobs. “Th-ey killed- my fri-ends- everyone- I-!” He couldn’t take it anymore, his cries seemingly becoming more hysterical by the second. Naoto carefully squeezed Takemichi’s hand, using a bedcloth as a barrier so that he didn’t accidentally send him back in time in the state he was in.
Takemichi took in a gasping breath, his chest heaving with the effort as he tried to quell his sobs.
“Naoto- I- I want to save everyone!”