Haruka hit the closest yakuza with a hook and an uppercut and he went down. Yuta grabbed another one around the waist and Haruka launched a roundhouse into the back of his head, he slumped over slightly, and Yuta followed through, throwing his head back and catching his chin with his skullcap.

Haruka hadn't seen her husband in so long, but they still fought in complete synchronicity. When Haruka juked, Yuta followed through. When Yuta stunned one of them, Haruka capitalized. It was a flurry of fists, legs, and elbows that tore through most of the yakuza before they could launch any kind of proper offensive. The last one took a hook from Haruka and then a straight kick to his chest from Yuta and when he stumbled back against the elevator door the both of them slammed their fists into his head so hard his skull left a small crater in the metal.

Haruka pulled her fist back and shook the sting out as Yuta pressed the elevator call button.

Haruto ran over to join them as the elevator gave a soft ding and the doors opened up. Haruka couldn't help but lean down and scoop him up into her arms as they ran in. He clung to her as tightly as he could.

Yuta mashed the ground floor button as fast and hard as he could get away with before breaking the thing. Eventually the doors closed and Haruka, Haruto, and Yuta began their slow decent.

All eyes were glued to the floor number as it began counting down from 60. It was a smooth ride down for most of the trip. Not a bump or a rattle, the elevator was working precisely as it always did. At least until, at around floor 10, the entire cabin lurched. Haruka fell against the back wall, keeping a tight hold on Haruto. Yuta stumbled but rushed forward and began prying the elevator doors apart with his hands. Fortunately, they had stopped right under an exit, and after Yuta pried both sets of doors open he was able to climb out. Unfortunately, the elevator was beginning to sway with an uncomfortable imbalance.

Twisting her legs into the unsteady floor beneath her, Haruka grounded herself and tossed Haruto, sending him sailing right through both sets of doors and into Yuta's arms where he was quickly placed onto safe and solid ground.

Dozens of feet above, something snapped. And the elevator began to fall. Haruka had less than a second to run forward and push off as the ground underneath her gave out.

Haruka flew. She slipped out the elevator's doors as it fell back and plummeted past her, crashing a dozen stories below, nothing beneath her now but an empty elevator shaft. Her hands reached out, searching for purchase, reaching to try and grab any part of the exit door leading into the building.

They missed.

She fell.

And then she grabbed onto something.

Her hand wrapped around Yuta's arm. He was squatting over the lip of the exit door and leaning back as far as he could to stop from falling into the elevator shaft himself.

Slowly and carefully however, Yuta was able to get Haruka close enough to pull herself out onto the 10th floor.

Both Haruka and Yuta sat there, attempting to catch their breaths and nearly laughing when they made eye contact. But within the minute, a door crashed open somewhere on their floor and a dozen more yakuza goons were rushing down the hall towards them. With their break cut short, Haruka and Yuta both got to their feet and took their stances.

The first one to reach them was promptly slammed into the wall by Yuta's elbow. The next three came in a wave that wouldn't be so easily dispersed. Haruka and Yuta took a few steps away from each other, not willing to get surrounded when the flood hit. Haruka handled the guy on the right, a haymaker and an uppercut put him on the ground. Meanwhile, Yuta got the guy on the left, he slammed his head against the banister and then was sent to the ground with a knee to the temple for good measure. They then came back together, and both aimed a roundhouse at the middle guy's head, catching him with a strike from either side. He stood standing for just a moment after both of them retracted their legs, then slumped to the floor.

And yet more came. Yuta took the lead, diving into the crowd with a few lunges that sent the guys staggering back a little. Haruka motioned behind her for Haruto to follow which he did in an instant, scurrying up behind her. One of the yakuza broke from the pack, apparently seeing the kid as an easy target. Haruka grabbed a nearby potted ficus by the trunk, swung it at the yakuza, and shattered the ceramic pot over his head. She grabbed Haruto by his hand and made a run for it.

One of the yakuza stepped forward, blocking the way to the stairs. Haruka instinctually urged Haruto to move back, but before she could even take her stance, Yuta charged out of the crowd and tackled the guy off of his feet. Haruka didn't have a moment to lose, she and Haruto burst through the door and into the stairwell. Yuta came in a moment later and slammed the door shut behind him. With his back to the door, already holding back a pounding from the other side that juttered him forward every second, he reached over to grab a fire extinguisher kept on the wall by the door and jammed the door with it, tying the hose around the handle.

After taking a step back to ensure that it would hold, for now, the three of them rushed down the stairs.

Set after set, Haruka wasn't really in a headspace to actually count. All she could do was madly pull her family down this tower as fast as possible.

She was moving too fast. She didn't realize there was a guard hanging out by the door until they were coming on it. He moved forward to intercept them, pulling a walkie-talkie out of his back pocket. He managed to get out "They-" before Haruka vaulted over the guardrail and slammed her heel into the side of his face.

She wasn't fast enough, however. She could hear doors slamming open on the floors below and heavy footfalls rushing up to meet them. Haruka lunged for the closest door, yanking it open and urging Yuta and Haruto through there. She noticed upon leaving the plaque on the side, inscribed with the number 3. The exit was on floor 2. They were so close.

Exiting onto the third floor, Haruka was met with a tiled hallway of sorts stretching before her, a wall to her right and a guardrail protecting from open air that led all the way down to the first floor on her left. The bottom five floors all had a massive square cut out of them, only being walkable along the perimeter with small offices scattered about.

Men in black were already converging over the floor. Haruka ran forward, only one pathway out in her mind. She charged at the open-air space, vaulted over the guardrail, and kept her grip tight on it to swing back around and land on the second floor just below. As soon as she landed, she backed right back up against the guardrail and leaned against it, holding her arms open.

"I'll catch Haruto," she called up. "Drop him to me."

Both Yuta and Haruto mirrored worried expressions.

"Please," Haruka insisted. "Trust me. I will catch you Haruto. Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

Haruto chewed on his lip, but quickly lifted his arms to allow Yuta to pick him up. He did, after taking stock of the yakuza rushing towards him at that exact moment, and as gingerly as he could, dangled Haruto over the guardrail. He got him as low down as he could before letting go. Haruto let out a scream as he fell those last several feet, just hearing it hurt, but she couldn't let herself lose focus for even a second. She caught Haruto with her chest, took him into her arms, and then immediately let him down onto solid ground.

And then she noticed the bald man rushing her with a crowbar. Haruka shifted, moved her shoulders to prepare to block a strike from hitting Haruto and mount at least some kind of counter.

But then Yuta swung in from above, smashing his boot into the man's nose and sending him stumbling backwards. Haruka wasted no time, letting go of Haruto and dashing forward to drive an elbow into his throat. His grip loosened enough that she was able to wrench the crowbar from his grasp and swing it at the back of his head, sending the guy forward where he near immediately met Yuta's knee and collapsed to the ground.

Haruka looked around. The floor was empty. The path out was clear. As soon as her legs could be brought back under control she grabbed Haruto by the wrist and ran for the exit. Yuta pulled ahead of them and took the extra time to wrench the automatic doors open.

Haruka, Yuta, and Haruto burst out into cold night air. In the clear, at least for now, or at least that's what Haruka felt like.

An odd scent hit Haruka's nose. Blunt. Metallic. Horrifying. She scanned the environment and saw two bodies lying on the ground in front of the tower. The closest one was Aikawa in his navy blue suit, unstaring eyes pointed straight up, mouth lolling open with blood streaming out from between his lips.

The other body, just past it, shirtless and face down, was unmistakably… "Uncle Ma?"

Haruka let go of Haruto's hand, felt it slip from her grasp, as she ran forward.

"Uncle Ma!"

"Mommy!"

"Haruka!"

It all happened so fast. Something hit her midsection. Her feet left the ground. She flew through the air, but something kept a hold on her. She hit the window wall of the Millennium Tower and glass shattered around her. She kept going, falling through the empty space and down through to the first floor a story below.

And then she hit the ground with her back. The wind knocked out of her, all she could do was look up. Look up and see the insane grin of Daisaku Minami.

Pure rage lit within Haruka, driving her strength, balling her fist, and sending it crashing into Minami's face. He was sent sprawling off of her and onto the ground several feet away, but already pushing himself to his feet. Haruka pushed herself up as well.

"You killed him!" she spat.

"That's right!" he yelled back. "I killed Majima! And I'll kill your boy toy too! And your little brat and that bitch at the bar and you and everyone you care about, unless you stop me right fucking here! Give me your all Sawamura! It's the only chance you'll get!"

Haruka roared and tore her jacket away. Her ponytail fell, twisting and writhing down to the small of her back, like a dragon in flight.

Minami beckoned her to him, and Haruka didn't have any thoughts left in her head to be skeptical. She rushed forward. Slammed a fist into his gut. He buckled. She grabbed him by the collarbone so he couldn't get away and laid blow after blow after blow into his face.

She was getting a hateful, furious rhythm going when Minami's hand finally shot up, catching Haruka's fist in his palm.

"Come on Sawamura," he said through all the blood in his mouth. "I said your all. You're not gonna stop me like this."

He grabbed Haruka's arm and twisted, spinning her around. He kicked at her far leg, forcing it down to the knee, then pulled the arm back, bringing her body taut. He kicked at her other leg, but there was no room for it to bend so it just took the brunt of the hit. With a mad cackle, Minami kicked at her again.

Before he could go for three, Haruka had enough. The pain pushed her forward. She pulled with her twisted arm, driving the force through her hips and drawing from every ounce of energy in her body. She pulled at him until his footing gave way and she threw him to the ground.

Haruka wasted no time, she straddled Minami's chest and laid into his face again. He wanted her all, she'd give him all she had. Her muscles strained under the force of each swing, the blows sending spittle and blood flying feet away from the two of them. At some point Haruka couldn't tell if it was from his mouth or her knuckles. One hit nearly knocked his head sideways on his neck, and she thought that would be enough to put him down, but in the next instant he looked back up at her with a smile, his hand shooting up and latching onto her face.

With a single shove, Haruka was the one on the ground with Minami kneeling over her. With a hand still wrapped around her face, he lifted her up and slammed her head back into the tiling over and over and over. She could feel the floor cracking beneath her.

Her arm shot up, limply attempting to mirror how he'd managed to reverse the situation before, but Minami slapped the arm down, grabbed Haruka by the shoulders, and slammed his head into hers. Haruka's world went black for just a moment. Without sight she struggled, desperate to give Minami even a second of pause. She lashed out, blindly, with the only thing she had.

Haruka's mouth snapped open, her head jut forward, and she bit down. There she found flesh.

As Haruka's vision returned she saw a bewildered Minami staring back down at her while her teeth clamped around his nose. He tried to pull back, but she found solid purchase on the metal studs along the sides.

He had a second to flash a look of fear, and then Haruka pulled. Blood filled her mouth as she dragged the studs down and away from him. Minami retracted, sitting up straight, and that was the opportunity Haruka needed. She rocked his cheek with a hook, no real leverage but enough force to get him off of her.

He stumbled back, not losing his footing fully but thrown off balance. He touched at his nose, felt the torn flesh of his nostril, and then laughed in disbelief.

Haruka pushed herself to her face, glaring daggers into him, wiped the blood off her mouth and spit. The little ball of silver hit the ground and clattered against the linoleum.

"That's more like it." Minami rushed in again. He was soaking up Haruka's hits, she couldn't hope to overpower him. All she could do was wear him down. Exploit weaknesses. Not get trapped.

Haruka put her hands up and bounced on her toes.

Minami came in with a straight right to her face, she weaved to the side and landed two quick gutshots then pulled back out of range. He threw out a hook, Haruka ducked it, hooked a finger into one of his earrings, gave it a yank and pulled his face right into her punch. He staggered back, she kept her stance up.

Minami let out another short laugh, a spittle of free-flowing blood spattered from his lips. He didn't seem to care about the stream running directly into his mouth.

Minami threw out a lunge, long and strong, she had all the time in the world to counter, throwing a jab into his nose. Minami took the hit, not flinching to the crunching bone underneath Haruka's knuckles, and grabbed at her wrist. With a flick he spun her around and slammed her face into a stone pillar. With a swift kick, his knee dug into her back, sending a crackling up her spine. Haruka kicked back, her foot hit his kneecap and he howled from behind her. With just a little bit more maneuverable space, she kicked back again, this time planting her foot square in his gut.

He was back out, she had room to breathe. Haruka spun around, building momentum and landing it in a haymaker across his face. He barely staggered, countering with a hook that sent Haruka to the floor.

She could feel herself running ragged. There wasn't much left in her. She inched forward on her elbows. Idly she noticed her jacket laying on the floor, not too far away. It'd be nice to have that now. She was starting to feel very cold.

"Pathetic." Minami punctuated his insult with flecks of blood across her back and a kick to her ribs. She winced. "You can use every dirty trick in the book, but you're still not stronger than me. I'm goddamn disappointed Sawamura, you were supposed to be strong. Strong like your daddy. But this, shit's just pathetic."

Another kick rolled Haruka onto her back. She stared up, breathing heavily. His form silhouetted against the blaring artificial lights above them. She could already see him tensing up, rearing back.

He was right. She wasn't stronger than him. This guy was crazy. But she couldn't let him win, she had to beat him. There had to be a way for both these things to be true, right? If she couldn't, then she would… Yuta and Haruto and all of them would-

Minami brought his leg up and swung it down towards Haruka's face.

She rolled to the side, letting it hit the floor, and then slammed into it with all the weight she could muster. He fell and the two of them rolled. When they came to a stop, he was on top of her, both of them face up. Haruka reached her hand out and grabbed at her jacket. She flung it towards her, slinging it around Minami's neck, and then grabbed either end and pulled as hard as she could. Minami sputtered in surprise, gagging on what air he had left. His bloodied fingers scrambled to pull at the cloth around his throat, but as Haruka put her full weight behind it, they didn't find purchase, and each movement was less coordinated than the last. Minami thrashed and struggled, tried to pull the both of them up, but doing so only tightened the pressure on his neck and forced him back down.

Haruka sat under him, refusing to buckle under his wild elbows and kicks. Took the brunt of his haphazardly swinging shoulders and hips. For a full minute she endured the last of his struggles, before his body eventually went still, and then limp.

Haruka gave it another few seconds before she let the jacket go taut again. He was still breathing. She stood up. He didn't. No fake outs. Not yet at least.

She gave his head a kick for good measure. He didn't move.

Good enough. Haruka slung her jacket over her shoulder and trudged away from his still body. The escalators leading back up were turned off. She shifted the small caution signs blocking them and walked up. Up the escalator like they were stairs.

She exited onto the second floor, where ground level was for the front entrance. She went towards it. The yakuza from earlier was still there, still unconscious. She went past him. Past him and out the door.

"Haruka? Haruka!" Yuta immediately rushed to her, pulling her into a tight embrace. She gave him a brief hug back but continued to walk. His grip loosened, confused, and he just watched her go.

Down the stairs to where he lay. Goro Majima in a pool of blood. She sank to her knees in front of him and turned him over. Tears started forming at her eyes. Jolts of emotion rocked her shoulders as she tried to hold it all back.

"…Hey Harry…" Majima croaked out.

Haruka's breath caught in her chest. She immediately went to him, holding his head up. "Uncle Ma? Uncle Ma!" She turned to Yuta. "Call an ambulance, we can still save him."

"I already did," he said back.

"Harry, please." Majima seemed to be having trouble speaking any louder. "I got some important shit to tell you."

Haruka turned back to him. "You're going to be fine. Uncle Ma, you're going to be fine."

"Listen to me, Harry. Dying speeches, they're a load of horseshit. All of them. Some poor sap who ain't ready to go yet, he wants to feel important, wants to have one last impact on the world cause that's all he gets. Doesn't actually mean anything cause it's someone rushing to say something insightful. Never is though… Except for this one. This one is something you really gotta hear."

"You're not dying Uncle Ma."

"Harry please. It's important." He coughed. Flecks of blood shot from his mouth. "You are the most tenacious, most headstrong, most unstoppable person I've met since the big guy himself. You're your father's daughter, I see him in you in a lot of ways. But you don't need to inherit his battles too. Use that bottomless well of determination to be with the ones you love. If you stay here, if you decide to stay in their world, you'll find yourself pushing them all away. For their own good you'll say. To keep them safe you'll say. It's what I did. It's what he did too."

"I-" Haruka choked on her words. She blinked some tears out of her eyes. "I don't understand."

"Your Uncle Kaz… your Kazuma Kiryu was a great man Haruka. But he made mistakes, a lot of 'em. Did a lot of thinking with his heart instead of his head. He pushed you out. He thought it was for your own good. He wanted to fight his war alone and that's how he went out. Don't make yourself be like him, Haruka. Don't feel like you have to."

Haruka had no words left in her chest. Her hands were shaking violently, try as they might to keep steady under Majima.

He held a hand towards Haruka. In it was his dagger, held by the blade.

Haruka looked between Majima's face and the knife.

"Take it," he said.

"I- I can't. You need this. Majima you need this you're not going to die."

"Take it."

"Uncle Ma please."

"Harry. If I go before you take this knife…"

Haruka swallowed. A trembling hand rose up and gripped the digger by its hilt. Majima smiled.

"I can't wait to find him on the other side," he said. "I bet ol' Kazzy's gone soft while he's been away."

With that, his head fell back, and his eye went distant.

"Uncle Ma?"

Haruka shook him by the shoulders. His neck offered no resistance. Not a single muscle tensed.

"Uncle Ma! Majima!"

She shook his body harder. Looked for any reaction she could find and found none.

"Majima!" Haruka's yell echoed around the dead, uncaring streets of Kamurocho.

The whole world sat in destitute silence, absolute stillness, for that one moment. Then, very slowly, an arm moved around Haruka's shoulders. She looked up. Yuta looked back at her, looking as pained as she felt.

Not a word was exchanged, but the two of them in that moment stood up. Yuta took Haruto's hand. The three of them left, down the steps, away from the Millennium Tower.

In the distance, Haruka heard sirens.

In the distance, Haruka heard a phone ring.

Out of sheer instinct she checked her pockets, but it wasn't her phone. It was too far away.

She looked back. A small light shone from one of the jackets laying across the concrete. A vest, charcoal gray in the front, jet black in the back. Someone was calling Minami.

Haruka's brow furrowed. She swallowed hard. And she broke from Yuta, moving back towards the Tower.

When she got to the jacket on the floor she immediately knelt down and began rummaging through the pockets until her fingers found the smooth shell of a smartphone. She pulled it out. The caller was one Ichiro Touma. Haruka answered it.

"Boss? Boss! Boss are you there? It was a trap? That Sawamura, she must've set us up, he's here. At HQ, he's-" A loud, sharp bang filled the phone's receiver. After that, Ichiro didn't say anything. Haruka hung up with shaking hands.

"Haruka?" Yuta asked. "What's going on?"

She looked up at them. Saw Yuta, concern plastered across his face, and Haruto, on the verge of tears. The both of them stared at her, waiting for an answer.

She took a deep breath.

"I'll explain later. Meet me at New Serena."

And she ran. Past Yuta and Haruto, out into the streets of Kamurocho. Her eyes scanned the streets for every sign of yellow. Breaking onto one of the main roads, she spotted a parked taxi, and immediately ran to it.

Without even waiting for the driver's acknowledgement she flung the door open and jumped into the backseat.

"Woah woah woah," the driver said. "What the hell lady?"

"I need you to take me to the Tojo Clan's headquarters, as fast as you can."

He looked at her in the rearview mirror. She could see herself there too, covered in bruises and bloodstains.

"300% tip if you can make it there without any questions."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but within the next second, he was fastening his seatbelt, flicking off the sign on top of the cab, and pulling out onto the street.

The drive to Tojo HQ was the longest 20 minutes of Haruka's life. She sat in utter silence, the driver fulfilling his part of the bargain and refusing to ask any questions. She watched the lights of the city flash by in a blur, and quietly wondered what was going on.

When they finally reached their destination, the cab couldn't even come to a complete stop before Haruka burst from it and charged at the building.

"Wait here," she quickly shouted to the driver as she crossed through the front gates.

The scene was that of a massacre. Black-suited bodies were strewn across the courtyard, some had visible injuries, others just sat with dark stains in their suits. A few unlucky ones had bullet holes in less inconspicuous places. Haruka pushed them out of her mind and ran.

The inside of the HQ wasn't fairing much better. Patches of the red carpet were stained darker than usual with dozens of bodies thrown everywhere, lying across the floor, draped across banisters, slumped against the wall. Despite this, the decorations didn't seem to be disturbed in the slightest, sat prettily around the space like nothing was wrong. This hadn't been a brawl, this had been a slaughter.

Up the stairs, through hallways of knocked out, dead, and dying soldiers, Haruka made her way to the big oak double doors of the chairman's meeting room. The doors themselves had been flung wide open, so even before entering, Haruka saw what was inside. The room was empty save for one man. At the far end, in his leather armchair, sunglasses dangling just slightly down the bridge of his nose, a hole drilled cleanly through the center of his forehead, was Kazuhiro Kuroda, Seventh Chairman of the Tojo Clan.

Haruka crept closer to the body, like she needed to inspect it any further. He was clearly dead. A stream of blood trickled down his face, between his eyes. No other injuries, just a single bullet to the head.

Haruka heard a ruffle of something behind her. She spun on her heels just in time to see the tail end of someone running out of the room. She immediately gave chase.

"Stop!" she yelled at him fruitlessly. At every corner she just barely saw the last of this stranger disappearing, only giving her a guide of where to go next. Back through empty corridors, through the building's inner workings and moving towards the front exit. By the time Haruka entered the foyer he was already at the bottom of the stairs.

No time to waste then, Haruka leaped from the banister and landed painfully just behind him. He was taller than her, much taller, and bulky as all hell, wearing a suit as simple and black as the assorted bodies scattered around the building. She thought she recognized his figure and his wavy brown hair, but she couldn't be sure, she didn't want to be sure, until she grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face her and saw his broad features.

"…Hey Haruka," Taro Kitamura said.

"T- Taro? What… What the hell?"

He sighed. "I really wanted you to not get involved with this part."

"What does that mean? Taro!"

He brushed past her and went out the door. She ran to keep pace with him.

The courtyard looked very different than it had a minute ago. What had once been filled with nothing by unmoving bodies now held a crowd of very much alive individuals. Standing at the far end, in front of a swarm of black cars, each wearing a black suit with a noticeable golden pin.

Haruka put a hand out to stop Taro. He brushed it aside without issue and walked towards the crowd.

It was then that Haruka noticed, the car in the center of the swarm had two flags on its front. She recognized the insignia. It wasn't the Tojo Clan's symbol, it was the Omi Alliance's.

"No…" she whispered to herself.

As Taro approached the crowd, they, in perfect unison, split down the middle to grant him access to the car with the flags. As he walked past, each man bowed their head low, hands on their knees. A single word came from each pair of lips, unmistakable even from a distance.

"Chairman."

"Chairman."

"Chairman."

Taro entered into the backseat of the car with the flags. The crowd of men straightened back up and dispersed, each going to one of the other cars in the swarm. Each sputtering to life and then driving away.

The car with the flags was all that was left now. From the window, Haruka saw Taro look directly towards her. His expression impossible to read. He shrugged and rolled the window up.

And the last car drove off into the night.