ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺

ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺

[The Ballad of Betrayal]

Your eyes felt heavy as you stared up into the eyes of Takemichi, the blonde male's tear fell down his cheeks, landing against your own. His hands pressed against the wound, trying to block anymore blood from leaving your body, but it did no good as the red liquid spilled between his fingers.

"Hang on, okay?! The ambulance is coming!" Takemichi said, his own tears making him choke over his words, trying to reassure himself that everything was going to be okay, that he wasn't going to watch you die.

Your lips parted as you coughed out blood, oozing down the side of your cheek towards the ground, joining the puddle which had formed under you. Takemichi frantically looked around, seeing the faces of all his friends standing together, watching with wide eyes as he tried to keep you awake for the ambulance's arrival.

Hanma stood frozen in his place, gun still gripped tightly in his hand, his body trembling as his knees gave out of him, body falling to the ground beneath him. Tears formed in his eyes, heart shattering as the sound around him faded out into silence.

His stomach clenched at the sight of blood pooling around your body, at the sight of Takemichi hunched over your body, at the sight of Mikey... Just standing there in silence, doing nothing but watching as Takemichi pulled the top half of your body up onto his lap.

There was a certain amount of guilt bubbling up inside of him. Guilty that he had followed Kisaki instead of you, knowing that if he wouldn't have done that, things would have been different right now. You would be standing next to him, instead of lying on the ground, choking on your own blood as you struggled to breathe.

And while there was a part of him that felt guilty, the unconstrained anger he held inside of him was much stronger. The anger he felt towards you when you left the apartment that day, leaving to go stay with someone you had only known for a few months. Angry that you were so determined to complete your plan, that you were always so focused on destroying your old life, that you wouldn't stop and really appreciate the new life he had been providing you with.

Hanma's gaze zoned in on you, the way your lashes fluttered under the pressure of keeping them open, tears falling down your cheeks as you weakly smiled up at Takemichi.

Your vision was becoming worse, blurring with every passing second, a gargled laugh escaped past your lips, blood sputtering up into the air before falling back onto your face.

"Y-Y/N... Just hang on a little longer, okay?" Takemichi whispered, trying to choke back his tears as one of his hands wiped away the blood that had landed on your face, "You're going to be okay...."

"Y...Y-you're.." Your voice was raspy, coughing as soon as the word left your lips. Takemichi's eyes widened at the sound of your voice, leaning his head closer as you tried to stutter out another word.

"No... No, don't speak, okay? It's all going to be okay, they're on their way." Takemichi's head whipped up, desperation in his eyes, "They're on their way, right?" His teary eyes scanned across the faces of his friends, seeing Chifuyu nod his head, red eyes peering down at your body as he held his phone in his hand.

"Y-you're... Not going..." You paused, coughing violently making your body tremble in pain, your throat felt raw, drawing in the metallic taste of your own blood. "L...L-Leave.. Me too... R-right?" You were able to stutter out your question, slowly blinking before your eyes locked with Takemichi's.

Watching as the blonde haired male hunched over, his head leaning against his hand which pressed against your wound, sobs escaped from his lips as he used the back of his hand to muffle them.

He gently set you back on the ground, the hand he had used to wipe your blood away lightly grabbed yours as he nodded his head.

"I promise, I won't... I won't leave." He said, "I'll stay here with you, okay?"

"H...Heh.." There it was again, the same laugh as before, it was quiet but heard by all, "You... You're a g-good friend, Takemi..." Your voice had quietly trailed off, any source of light in your eyes were now gone, only the shiny sheen of tears as they pooled up. Takemichi's eyes widened in horror, leaning his ear closer to your mouth, listening for the sound of you breathing, anything, but all he could hear was the slow exhale of a quiet sigh.

A sigh that shook Takemichi to the core as he let out the most gut wrenching sob, the eyes of the ones who had known you, the eyes of those nearby, even the ones who could only hear what was happening. They all narrowed, staring at the ground before them, already knowing what had happened without the blonde haired male announcing it.

The silence Hanma had been hearing shattered in that moment.

The moment he picked the gun back up, finger wrapping around the trigger as his hand raised.

Those around him tried to remove the gun from his grasp, yelling and screaming for everyone to run, but time seemed to move slowly at this very moment.

The moment his finger pulled back the trigger, body jerked backwards with the movement of the gun. The bullet flew through the air, taking less than a second before it penetrated the skin, passing through the male's head before piercing out the other side. Mikey's body falling to the ground beside you, dull eyes staring at the side of your face as he felt what little life he had left, instantly leave his body.

"Mikey!!" Takemichi yelled, panic arising as everyone frantically moved around, separating Hanma from the gun as the ambulance finally arrived, making their way towards the center of the circle, expecting to find the one injured, but instead they found the two dead.

In the midst of a war between two gangs, came the long awaited reunion of the betrayer and the betrayed.

A reunion where they were to fight out their problems until one of them came out on top, but sadly they had both fallen together.

Leaving only the impact they had left on others.

ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺

The air was crisp and light as the midday breeze blew through the trees, petals from the flowers fell down from the sky, raining in shades of pink as birds chirped overhead.

The grass beneath you was soft, dry from the morning dew, walking through the park towards the tree where your friend sat. His long raven hair flowed down past his shoulders, he wore a simple long sleeved, light blue button up shirt, paired with a pair of black pants, white belt holding them up onto his hips.

He leaned against the tree trunk, staring off into the distance, watching as the longer bits of grass swayed from side to side. Lips curled up into a small smile, just barely showing off the pointed tips of his canines, eyes dancing with amusement at the sight of two squirrels chasing after one another up a nearby tree.

"How long do you plan on staring at me for?" Baji's spoke, startling you out of your trance, "You gonna just stand there all day? Or are you gonna come sit?" He spoke casually, as if a day hadn't gone by since the last time you met.

You hesitantly nodded your head, letting your feet carry you across the small space, legs crossing as you sat down beside the male. He let out a quiet hum, leaning his head back against the tree humming the tune of some old song he remembered his mom listening to when he was a child.

"I've always wanted to own a pet shop." Baji said, his eyes still closed as he imagined what his future could have been like. "What did you want to do?"

"When I'm older?" You questioned, watching him nod his head before turning his gaze to the wide, open area in front of you both, the squirrels he had been watching earlier now gone, abandoning the tree they had been playing on. "I... I'm not sure." Your voice became a whisper as your eyebrows furrowed in thought, trying to think back to a moment where you had a future dream, but all you could think of was, "I wanted to live." Baji let out a quiet chuckle, understanding what you meant, but he still couldn't help the next phrase from falling from his lips.

"I don't think you can get paid to just live." You rolled your eyes at his words, silently chuckling to yourself, "You could work at my pet shop, no slacking off on the job though."

"You're telling me not to slack off?" You scoffed, "Now that's funny." You leaned your head back, resting your eyes as silence fell upon the both of you. In the back of your head you could hear the sound of faint voices, their words were jumbled together, making it impossible to decipher what was being said.

Baji once again began to hum the song, finger tapping against his leg as he bobbed his head along to the beat he was making. His thoughts were filled with the days he would spend with his mother, studying to make her proud, of the days he would spend with his friends as children, visiting the Sano family dojo.

"So..." Baji paused his humming, turning to look at you, noticing the distressed look which seemed to flash across your face, "Are you finally going to tell me why you did it?" You opened your eyes, raising your eyebrows at the raven haired male, a sad smile appearing on his face as you locked eyes.

"Why I did what?"

"Why did you take the bullet?" His question made you sit up straight, gaze shifting forward, "If you wouldn't have moved, it would have hit Mikey instead. And I've just been trying to wrap my head around the fact that you did it, but I can't figure out why."

"I really did that, huh?" You chuckled quietly, shaking your head in disappointment, "I wish I could tell you why I did it, but I really don't know. My feet just moved on their own. You know... I'm starting to think they might have a mind of their own, always getting me into situations that make things worse."

"Do you regret it?" Baji asked, "I mean, you hate Mikey, yet you still took a bullet for him." You turned your attention towards the male, silently inspecting every little detail about his face, there was a certain glow to his skin from the sun shining down.

Another gust of wind hit you both in the face, your lips parting to answer his question, but you couldn't think of an answer.

Did you regret saving the one who had first betrayed you?

Did you really save him though?

"No."

"No?" Baji raised his eyebrows at your answer, "Really?" His voice had raised slightly, sounding in disbelief with what you had said.

"Yeah, I don't regret it."

"Why?"

"Because I can be free." You said, but the moment those words left your lips you heard the sound of a gunshot.

Loud and exploding to the ears, a shocked gasp escaped your mouth as you glanced around the area for the source, only to find it empty.

"Let's go somewhere." Baji said, pushing himself up off the soft grass, standing in front of you as he held his hand out, softly smiling down at you.

"What... Did you hear that?" You asked, eyebrows knitted together in question, your cold hand finding its place in Baji's as he helped you up, hand falling back to your side as you were steadied. Feeling an instant wave of nausea wash over you, the world around you spinning as you take your first step.

"Yeah... I heard it." Baji frowned, head lowering as he let out a quiet sigh, "Come on, they won't wait forever!" His mood completely flipped upside down when he looked back up, turning his head to the side as he glanced back at you.

"Who won't-" You were cut off by Baji grabbing hold of your hand, pulling you across the grass and towards a more civilized area, feet walking along the sidewalk of the familiar parts of town as you followed behind the raven haired male.

You had kept silent during the walk, listening to Baji talk, pointing out different buildings, laughing whenever he brought up a time where he had to run from the police, frowning whenever he mentioned how his mom scolded him the moment he walked through the door.

He talked.

And talked.

And talked.

He talked all the way up to the moment where he had finally stopped walking, arriving at the destination he was taking you too. Now standing at the entrance of the Musashi Shrine, you could see all of those who were waiting for you, smiling brightly at your arrival.

The young faces of your old friends, the ones who you had forgotten long ago, instead, replacing them with the ones who had left you, betrayed you.

"You coming?" Baji asked, stepping through the entrance, the long hair he had just had now short, bangs hanging just above his ears. Large smile spread across his face as he stood on the other side of the entrance, "Let's go back." He held his hand out for you to take, waiting for the moment when you would step through the entrance, and all your problems would fade away, a new start.

A new beginning.

Just for you.

"Baji... I... I don't deser-"

"What's stopping you?" A new voice stepped into the scene, standing behind the younger version of Mikey stood Shinichiro, one hand placed on his younger brother's shoulder while the other waved you over.

"Shin..." You took a step forward, one foot stepping past the entrance of the shrine, your lips curling up into a smile, tears of joy gathering in your eyes as you broke past the barrier standing between you and the past you had missed dearly.

Right as your foot set put on the other side, a bright light flashing through your vision, hearing the voices of people screaming, feet pounding against the ground as they ran.

Hands.

Hands grabbing hold of your body, stopping you from making that final step.

Stopping you from moving on, from escaping your trauma.

Stopping you from escaping the person you had become.

Pulling you to the other side. Images of their faces flashed through your head, hearing their voices whisper in your ears, telling you that you deserved to be there with them.

But all movement seemed to stop the moment one hand shot out, grabbing hold of your hand and pulling you into the warm clutches of their embrace.

"You're okay... It's all going to be okay now." Shinichiro cooed in your ear, smoothing his hand down the back of your head, attempting to calm down your crying. You pulled away from his hug, staring up into his eyes, seeing the reflection of your younger self staring right back at you.

The others gathered around the older male, watching the emotional interaction with sad smiles before enveloping into one giant hug while trying to hold back their own tears.

"Let's start over, Y/N."

ㄒ卄乇 ㄒㄖ爪卂几 ㄒ尺卂丨ㄒㄖ尺

~~~~~

this is the official ending of the book, but there are other alternative's after this chapter