~Hey! I've been quite busy and school work became harder than before! Sorry for the late update, but I hope that you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 4: That Song

Everything around us can be described as an illusion. When a person comes and tries to free us from that deception we often feel confused. 'If this wasn't reality, then what is?' Can you without a doubt believe in someone else's words? We all try, but in the end we create our own perception, our own way of going against this so called 'reality'. Somewhere along the line we end up losing who we are. But some memories still remain…

Kusanagi Izumo, a name to be feared around, the previous Red Kings right hand man and best friend. Of course nobody did know why he kept searching for a dead man, nor why he couldn't sleep at nights. Though he kept that a secret, his pain and his actions were all hidden behind his gentle smile. Comforting and reassuring his friends to keep moving forward was all he did for the past five years. But he could not. Not until he finds his king or his resting place.

Walking from a bar to bar Izumo couldn't quite keep his cool down, he was gathering information all day long without any luck. Sitting in the seventh bar that he visited he couldn't help but sigh to his unbelievable bad luck. All he could do now was somehow make himself think about something else, ordering a couple of drinks he took a closer look at the bars interior. Nothing fancy, it was slightly roomier and had a stage where people could sing and preform for the guests entertainment. A great way to attract new customers and bring business up. Giving it a thought it wasn't a bad idea, but in his bar this idea was impossible. If somebody would even scratch a table or leave footprints Izumo would surely go on a rampage. Something he was well known doing. The bartender served Izumo, giving him the whiskey he had just ordered.
"Thank you…" Izumo spoke up with a somewhat tired voice, he was wearing his trademark black framed sunglasses which hid his tired look pretty well.
"Up to the same usual pattern I see." A female voice could be heard from behind Izumo, he turned around facing no other than the Lieutenant of SCEPTER 4. In her casual attire, Seri Awashima was a dazzling and delicate woman, catching Izumo off guard was something she was best at.
"Not the usual. I do change it a few times though." Izumo spoke with a gentle smile, Seri could see through his disguise, behind that smile was nothing but pain. She sat on the bar stool next to him and ordered red wine with red bean paste, of course the bartender was slightly surprised, but he complied and made the order in a flash.
"How's it been? Did you manage to gather any kind of information?" Seri asked taking a sip of the wine, Izumo looked at her slightly then returned his look at the drink in his hands.
"Apparently it's like I'm chasing a ghost." Discouraged Izumo drank the whiskey in one go, Seri became slightly worried hearing him order another one. "What about you guys? How is SCEPTER 4 handling things around?"
"If you can call the impulsive reactions of our king a good thing." Seri's expression was even worse than Izumo's, he took a look at her regretting the question he had asked. "Ever since that day he did things on his own. Carrying the whole city on his shoulders, luckily the Sword of Damocles hasn't started to deform yet."
"Sooner or later he might go through the same thing as Mikoto…" Was history meant to repeat itself? Anyway you looked at it in a few years Munakata might make the same mistake as Mikoto.
They remained in silence for a few minutes, as the crowd that gathered around the stage started to cheer. A young man walked on the stage with an acoustic guitar and sat on the chair in the middle, bringing the microphone closer to himself. Seri Awashima glanced at the figure on the stage, her eyes widened in shock. Izumo himself noticing the expression on Seri's face also took a look. The glass he was holding in his hand slipped and broke hitting the floor. His mouth opened slowly, hesitating to speak up.
"M-Mikoto..?" Was all he could say noticing the young teen with the acoustic guitar in his hands, his ruffled red hair gave off a youthful look, but his face was still the same.

"Good evening, thank you all for coming this late. The song that I'll be singing tonight isn't my own, but I hope you enjoy it." Mikoto glanced around the room noticing a couple of gazes that were pointed at him, the same look as the girl he met today. He had a gentle smile as he started to play the guitar.
"The song is called 'Circle of Friends'. I hope you enjoy it!" He started to sing gaining the attention of everybody inside of the bar, the guests remained completely silent listening to the young teen on the stage. Izumo couldn't help but break into tears listening to the song, Seri comforted her friend with a hand on his shoulder. Even Mikoto let tears go down his face, this song was something he could never forget. He remembered it all too well, the gentle voice of the person that sang that song. Mikoto gave his all and portrayed the song as best he could which shocked everybody in the bar. As he finished the song the guests remained quiet for a moment, but soon after burst into cheers and screams. Sweat went down Mikoto's face combined with the tears, his look was up at the light that pointed at him. 'Totsuka.'

Izumo stood up and started to walk towards the stage leaving Seri behind, his sights were only at the Red King at this moment. He was younger, but Mikoto sang 'that' song, Totsuka's song! It was without a doubt him!
"Kusanagi-san." A hand on his shoulder stopped Izumo in his tracks, turning around it was no other than Yashiro Isana, the Silver King. "Can I have a word with you?" Lieutenant Awashima followed after Izumo, she was even more surprised seeing the Silver King talking to him. Of course even Izumo was dumbfounded and couldn't keep up with the situation.
"Seri-chan, can I talk to you as well?" Yashiro spoke up, though he didn't take his look off of Izumo he could feel Seri's blue aura.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Izumo asked, but Yashiro smiled back innocently.
"A lot of stuff happened. Can we go somewhere more 'private'?" Both Seri and Izumo couldn't say no to that offer, still captivated by the thought of the Red King Izumo felt more confused and out-of-place than before.

Even if this was a dream, Izumo didn't want to wake up.

To be continued...