AN: I write this story because I need a closure. I'm painfully aware that the manga will probably never be finished and I just can't leave the characters hanging in the air like that. Probably everyone has a different idea of what should happen in the end. This is the way the characters lived their lives on in my imagination. Just for you to know, I'm not a native English speaker and I hope you can forgive me if I choose funny words at some points. :) All feedback is very welcome.

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Hey, Nana…

I remember how you always loved the sea. Just like you loved Tamagawa when we lived in the room 707.

I wonder if you're still living by water.

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Hachi stares at the pictures before her. A thick pile of pictures is scattered on the strong wooden table in the room 707. She holds one of the pictures in her shaking hand, her eyes widened with shock. Nana. She recognizes her easily despite the unnatural, long blond hair she has in the pictures. Nana, I never stopped believing you're still alive. Not for a second.

Hachi can feel Shin's presence next to her. They are standing alone in the silent apartment, both staring at the pictures. Shin moves closer and Hachi presses herself tightly to his chest. She shuts her eyes and lets her tears wet Shin's shirt.

"Sh-she's alive," Hachi sobs. "Somewhere in there, she is alive."

#

"At least we now know she's alive. It's progress," Nobu said silently.

"And we can tell she's most likely in England." Yasu looked serious but then again, he always looked serious. "It's a big country though. I don't know how big of a chance we have finding her…"

They had come. They had come as soon as they could when Hachi and Shin had called them. Nobu had been thrilled when he had seen Shin's name blinking on his phone screen. They didn't see so often anymore. It had been a few years already since Nobu left Tokyo to return to his hometown. Maybe some people thought he'd been a failure – his time in Tokyo had ended together with his band and fame – but on some levels, returning home had been a relief to Nobu. He appreciated the simplicity. He appreciated his family close by and he appreciated the routines in their lives. After all, the two years he had spent in Tokyo had taken a toll of ten.

He's life was really okay now. Working in his father's hotel might be boring but it was stable. A small town might lack all the excitement and new people one might meet in Tokyo but it didn't mean one couldn't find any nice girls. He lived a normal life working a day job and dating a nice school teacher. He was happy – happy in a regular, unblissful way. Yet, when Shin had called and said Nana was alive, he hadn't hesitated. It took him two hours and he was in the train to Tokyo.

#

"Takumi was able to locate the pub," Hachi's voice yelled in the phone and Yasu quickly made a safe distance between his ear and the phone in his hand.

"So fast?" he asked, his voice surprised.

"I heard that Naoki put a lot of effort in it," Hachi continued excitedly.

"What are you going to do now?" Yasu asked. There was a pause in the other end. Yasu could only hear the ragged, exited breathing.

"I… I don't know. I was planning to travel to England when Satsuki has her spring break, but now…" Hachi fell silent for a moment. "Now… I don't know. This came really fast."

"Where are you now?"

"Going to 707."

"I'll come there. You call the others."

When Yasu closed the phone and turned around, he met Miu's eyes.

"Something new about Nana?" she asked, her face serious.

"Takumi and Naoki have located the bar."

"They were very fast." Miu was studying Yasu's face in silence and took then a step forward to hug the man. They stood in the hallway, silently embracing each other.

"Yasu… If you have to go after her, I won't oppose."

Yasu sighed and pressed the petite woman against his chest. "I'm very lucky to have you by my side, Miu."

#

Shin walked towards the empty apartment on the banks of Tamagawa. He had left work, the shooting of a low-budget TV-drama, as soon as he could after Hachi had called. He absentmindedly kept kicking a small rock forward while he walked. Would they really find Nana?

Ever since Nana had disappeared five years ago, nothing had been the same. In the beginning, they had tried to search her. Hachi had been devastated, yet preoccupied with her own life and the baby. Yasu had neglected everything else in his life until he was on the brink of losing both his job and Miu. It was Miu who had finally given him the ultimatum to choose between Nana and life. Nobu had done everything he could and more which still wasn't much. It wasn't much because there wasn't much that could be done. Shin himself… He had just wished that Nana would be okay. All of them had searched for their time, but Nana had disappeared without leaving a clue. They had to admit their defeat when months passed and nothing ever came up. Nothing came up until now.

Most of them had really given up for hope. Five years with no sign of her – of course they had feared she was dead. They still went to the room 707 every year for the fireworks festival but as the time had passed, it had become a commemoration. A celebration of their friendship and the time they spent together. Hachi was the only one truly believing that one day Nana would once again join them.

Shin stood silently on the river bank. Losing Nana had been a tremendous shock in his life even though the bond they had shared had never been a particularly strong one. Shin had always felt closer to Hachi, Nobu and even Yasu than Nana. Of course, her disappearance hurt him but somewhere in his mind, he had always known that Nana wouldn't stay forever. The real shock had been the way their relationships crumbled one by one after her disappearance.

Hachi had eventually isolated herself to her apartment with the baby. Shin had tried to visit her often but her increasing depression hadn't made it easy. She had rolled her life around baby Ren and suddenly she had been pregnant again. Shin had never understood the second pregnancy. Why would she get a second child with a man who clearly treated her so badly? Was it so important to her to keep up the act? Could she actually justify her marriage to herself with a second child? Shin had never understood it, but it wasn't his business either. He just knew it had taken Hachi further and further away from all of them.

It was also Hachi's second pregnancy that seemed to be the last straw for Nobu. All his creativity and musical motivation had disappeared with Nana. Without work or motivation to do anything he had become irritable and isolated. When Shin had told him about Hachi's second pregnancy he had just stared the wall with blank eyes. Next week they had heard he would be returning to his hometown. Before Nobu had left, Shin hadn't really realized how close they were. They had practically lived together for years.

Shin wasn't sure which one of them had suffered most when Nana disappeared but if he had to take a guess, he would say Yasu. Yasu had been on the brink of losing everything in his life when he was searching for Nana, and after he finally stopped searching, there hadn't been much left. He was still trying to drown himself to his work. It seemed to be the only way he could cope with his life. Miu was the only thing that kept his head on the surface.

Shin sighed and followed as an abandoned 7-eleven plastic bag slowly floated past him. Someone might look at them and see four young people who were coping rather well with their lives after all the misfortune they had had. A housewife with two beautiful kids, a hotel owner-to-be with a quiet life on the countryside, a successful, hardworking lawyer with beautiful wife, and a fledgling TV-drama actor who had been able to pull off a comeback after his difficult teenage years. From the outside it might look good but Shin knew what was still happening on the inside.

Hachi lived in her denial and delusion – she could be content with her life but the lack of pure happiness in her life broke Shin's heart. Hachi, sweet Hachiko, was supposed to be happy. Nobu might be enjoy the life on the countryside but the sad look in his eyes every time he picked up his guitar told a different story. After disbanding Blast, the passion for music had disappeared from his life. Until that moment, passion for music had been the most important thing in his life. Yasu, successful in work because he couldn't stand a moment of piece in his life, was no different. He and Miu had postponed starting a family for a one simple reason: Yasu was too afraid to have children. He couldn't bear the thought of losing them.

What about me? What about my life? Shin sighed. He got minor roles for his looks. It kept him still in the loop, inside business. He didn't like his roles but acting was enjoyable. Pulling off a comeback after all what had happened really was quite okay. Shin looked back into his life wishing that there would be something else in his life he could so much as classify 'quite okay'. In reality, his life had been really lonely after the group was disbanded.

Shin opened the door to the staircase of the tall red-brick building and loped up the stairs to the seventh floor. When he opened the unlocked door with the numbers 707, he saw three familiar faces.

"Shin-chan!" Hachi screamed and skittered to the door.

Shin smiled and scooped the woman under his arm. After all these years she still had the energy of a puppy.

"Good that you came." Yasu was smiling behind his sunglasses but the atmosphere in the room was serious.

Shin took the fourth place in the table. The pictures where scattered around again and this time they were accompanied with printed emails, maps and notes. He picked up the photo with the bar name in it.

"So Takumi has located this 'Agorad', is it so?" He asked.

"It was Naoki, really," Hachi answered hurriedly. "I called him earlier today. He's put a lot of effort for this."

"I wonder why…" Shin said.

"I think he's just a very friendly person!" Hachi said smiling.

"I guess so." Shin looked at the picture in his hand. "Have you decided something?" He eyed the others curiously.

Nobu glanced at him. "Not yet, we were waiting for you."

"I'm going to London," Hachi sprang her decision suddenly. When the three men stayed quiet, Hachi's eyes filled with challenge. "I've decided it now. Satsuki will stay with her grandparents. I have to go." She stared at them waiting for their reactions. "I understand if you can't just take off to England. You all have your works to do…"

"I will come." Nobu said. "My work can wait."

"Nobu!" Hachi jumped to hug the man next to him.

"I will come too," Yasu said suddenly.

"What about you're work?" Nobu quickly asked.

"I will manage it, somehow."

Shin noticed how Hachi's eyes were tearing up as she leaned over the table to hug Yasu. The three of them were smiling now and Shin felt a surge of warmness in his chest. It was something in the way Yasu patted Hachi's head, the familiarly embarassed expression on Nobu's face when Hachi suddenly hugged him and the way Hachi's laugh filled the room.

"I will come, too," he finally said and immediately received a delighted scream and a hug from Hachi.

"How will you manage with your work, Shin?" There was doubt in Yasu's voice. "You can't break a contract."

"It's a lucky break," Shin said. "The shootings for my part is over after this week."

"Really?" Hachi sang. "How lucky is that!"

"What about the new TV-drama?" Yasu asked.

"I haven't signed the contract yet."

Yasu sighed. "You'll lose a significant opportunity."

"You are putting your career on line just as much," Shin answered calmly and his eyes told Yasu that the discussion was over.

"All of you, all of you are so amazing!" Hachi cried. "I can't believe you're all doing this for Nana!"

Shin smiled with the others. Shin felt the warm feeling in his chest growing. It was just like the old days. The only thing that was missing was the bossy and loud figure in the end of their table. I'm not really doing this for Nana, he thought. I'm doing this for myself. I just want to spend time with the only family I've ever known.