Author's Note: This is the last halo of 2021. I wanted to add more to this, but I was running out of time. I was too focused on getting up the Christmas specials on Christmas. (I work on this fic on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.) I wanted Masaomi to end the world in 2021, but it looks like he's going to have to wreck everything next year. Oh well. I have the next couple of weeks planned out. For now, enjoy the last halo of 2021.

Halo Twenty-Three: Masaomi:

The detectives got a warrant to search Kita's two apartments and childhood home. They came up with nothing in the apartments. (One of them was her boyfriend's.) However, the detectives hit jackpot with her childhood home in Nagoya.

Around ten in the morning, they knocked on the door. A woman in her seventies answered.

"Yes?" she asked. One of the detectives held up the warrant. His partner walked inside. The old lady had a worried look on her face.

"What is all of this?" she asked.

"We have a warrant to search your daughter's room," the detective said.

"Why? What did Kita-chan do?" the old lady asked. She looked like she was ready to cry. The detective had to calm her down.

"It's okay, ma'am," he said. "We'll be out of your hair in a moment." His partner made it back to the apartment. Twenty minutes later, he shouted, "I need a hand with this!"

"Excuse me," the detective said. He pushed past the woman and hurried inside. His partner had found a locked box under Morikawa's old bed. The first detective pulled out the envelope with the keys. He pulled it out and tried one of them. The lock opened with a soft click. The men pushed open the trunk. Their jaws dropped.

Jackpot.

Inside were two large external hard drives. One of the detectives picked it up.

"Think they're any good?" he asked.

"We will have to see," the partner said. The detectives walked out with the hard drives. Kita's mother looked so worried.

Meanwhile, Morikawa still sat in jail. Though, she might be feeling the heat now. If she wasn't, she didn't show it.

How long would that hold up once she learned what the detectives found?

Kitano slid the keycard into the lock for Room 608. Etsuko turned around when he walked through the doorway.

"What is this about?" he asked. The doctor held out a stack of sheets. Kitano took it and looked at the paper.

"What am I looking at?" he asked. Etsuko pressed her lips together and pointed to the graph on the paper.

"Look at peak twenty-right," she said. Kitano looked at where she was pointing. His face twisted into a puzzled expression.

"Where did this spike come from?" he asked.

"We are still trying to figure that out," the doctor said. "The cells have been mutating at an alarming rate. It's happening to all of them too." Kitano looked up at his partner.

"How many days has it been like this?" he asked.

"It will be five today," she said. They looked over at the Heartseed. Spots of black started to form at the roots. Some of the stems looked like they were wilting.

"The interns and I are working on the antidote as we speak," Etsuko said. Kitano thought about this for a second before he put up his hand.

"Hold that thought," he said. "I think I just might have a way to get number four to commit to our game." Etsuko raised her eyebrow.

"You sure this is a good idea?" she asked. "The mutations could end up breaking down their bodies this keeps up."

"Oh don't worry," Kitano said. "Player four will agree to the terms with his life on the line." The doctor now had a curious look on her face. He pulled out his phone.

"Hello?" he asked. "Do you have everything ready? Good. We just need to isolate player four. I will see you there." The therapist hung up his phone. He and Etsuko turned to the Heartseed plant.

The tadpoles started to feel the effects of the mutation in their bodies.

Taishi sat at his desk typing on a keyboard when his right eye started to go blurry. He put his hand up to where the socket was as the pressure started to build. The tadpole suddenly felt lightheaded. He about stumbled out of his chair.

"Sato!" one of his colleagues shouted. A pair of hands ran over and grabbed him by the arms. Taishi's head lulled back. A woman stood over him.

"Naka… mura… -san?" Taishi asked. His words came out slurred. His coworker looked around as she panicked.

"Call an ambulance!" she screamed.

Elsewhere, Naomi staggered into her apartment. Kenji looked up from his drawing.

"Why are you breathing so heavy?" he asked. His girlfriend didn't get a chance to speak. She took one step forward and fell forward. Kenji jumped to his feet and ran over to his girlfriend. He managed to catch her in his arms. The young man caught a look at the busted blood vessels in her eyes. So much red drowned out the white.

"Do you have your phone on you?" Kenji asked. "Where is your phone?!" Naomi tried to speak as her right hand trembled. He reached into her jeans pocket and called for an ambulance.

Taichi had to drag Tetsu to the hospital. His boyfriend could barely walk straight or keep his head up. His tongue lulled to the side. Taichi got him to the front desk.

"Doctor! We need a doctor!" he shouted. The receptionist looked up and saw Tetsu's state.

"Oh my god! What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know!" Taichi said. "He was fine last night. Please hurry!" The receptionist leaped to her feet.

"I will get you help right now!" she said. The woman sprang into action.

It was the same scenario for all of the tadpoles.

10:00 a.m.

Masaomi sat in a police interrogation room. He didn't get how this happened. One minute he's staring at the horseman of war and the next the police were hooking shiny silver cuffs on his wrists. They were accusing him of his girlfriend's murder. Masaomi was too shocked to respond. When he came to his senses, he realized how deep in trouble he was in.

The boy looked up when the door opened. A detective walked into the room and sat down in front of the table.

"Hello Kida," the detective said. The boy gave him a blank stare. The detective threw down the crime scene photos. Masaomi looked away.

"Look at her!" the detective shouted. "Look at her! This is your handy work!"

"I didn't do this!" Masaomi shouted.

"Don't lie!" the detective yelled. "We caught you at the crime scene! A witness saw you stab the victim!"

"Then why aren't I covered in her blood? Huh?!" the boy asked.

"You could've changed clothes," the man said. "I don't know." Masaomi frowned. The detective tried to show him the pictures again.

"Why would you do this? What did she do to deserve this?" he asked in a calmer tone. "What? Did she burn your shirt when she was ironing? Did she cheat on you or something?"

"No!" Masaomi shouted. "It wasn't like that! I love Saki!"

"That's a funny way of showing it."

"I didn't do this!"

"A witness saw you in there!"

"That wasn't me!"

"So what? You're saying a doppelganger did this?"

"I don't know!" He slammed his hand down on the table. The detective sat down. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Look kid," he said. "I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this. Why did you kill Mikajima Saki?"

"I didn't, Masaomi said. "It wasn't me!" The forty-something detective rolled his eyes. They weren't going anywhere, were they?

More tadpoles were getting sick. Their loved ones didn't know what to do. Nebula was rushing around with the tests.

"How are you feeling?" Shinra asked. Chie winced as she rubbed her throat.

"Look up at me," he said. The tadpole woman lifted her head. Shinra flashed a small light in her eyes. There was so much blood in them. Chie struggled to breathe.

"Are you okay?" the doctor asked.

"No!" she whizzed out. Chie broke down in a couching fit. Shinra was about to react when his phone rang.

"Hang on," he said. The doctor reached into his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked. "Dad? Where are you? Yes, it's hit Chie here too. Just come here now. I won't panic." Shinra hung up.

Elsewhere, Erina and Hifumi had to call in sick. Their boss insisted that they do so.

"You don't look so good," he said. "You need to see a doctor." The girls couldn't argue with him. Especially after Hifumi ran to the bathroom to throw up one too many times. They weren't the only ones in their group to feel the mutations either.

"I feel like I'm going to die," Shuichi said.

"No, you're not," Yamato said back on the couch. His fellow tadpole looked over at him.

"You sure about that?" he asked. Yamato swallowed a mouthful of air in response. Sur was laid out on the floor, panting.

"Fuck," she said, stretching out the "k" into a long syllable.

"How long is this going to last?" Reo asked, clutching her stomach.

"Who knows?" Yamato asked in a choked-up voice. He fought down the urge to vomit.

Still, they weren't the only ones either.

Kitano looked at his pocket watch. Three days, huh? Could the tadpoles last that long? He looked up when he heard a knock on his door.

"Enter," he said. Aya opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Excuse me for coming in," she said. The therapist slipped inside.

"What is his status?" Kitano asked.

"He's going to be there for seventy-two hours," Aya said.

"Good," the other therapist said.

"What shall we do now?" she asked. Kitano looked at his pocket watch.

"Do what we always do in situations like this," he said. "We wait."

"Right," Aya said. Neither one liked the sound of that, but that's how they managed to stay ahead in this game. They weren't going to let impatience ruin that now. Suddenly, Kitano's phone rang.

"Excuse me," he said. He picked up his phone.

"Hello?" the therapist asked. "Oh, you have the antidote ready? Good. I will be right there." Aya turned and walked out of the office before Kitano hung up.

Day One

Masaomi sat alone in a padded cell. In the early morning hours, he confessed what he saw. The detective gave him a strange look.

"What? You expect me to believe that?" he asked. "Are you on drugs or something?"

"No," Masaomi said. By now, he lost all fight in him. The boy just wanted to go home. He tried not to tell the truth in fear of them not believing him. The detective leaned back in his chair.

"You expect me to believe that shit?" he asked.

"But it's true!" Masaomi said.

"Do you hear how crazy it sounds?"

"I know, I know. But it's the truth."

"So you're telling me that some girl tortured and killed your girlfriend, pretended to be her when she called you, told you that she killed the victim, and then introduced herself as the horseman of war?"

"Yes."

The detective threw up his hands. "This is bullshit."

"But it's true!" Masaomi trembled. He knew this would happen. Now, they were going to think that he was crazy. The detective tried to come up with another argument but came up with nothing. Just one look at Masaomi's face made his nostrils flare. Finally, he stood up and walked out of the room. The former Yellow Scarf shogun's stomach dropped. How was he going to prove his innocence and avenge Saki on his own like this?

Right now, he was going to have to stick out these next three days and prove that he was sane. Maybe he could pass off his confession as stress and shock. He was going to have to try.

Kitano stood outside of the psychiatric ward. All that he would need with him for the ritual was Aya, Etsuko, Yuuko, and Kaori. However, he knew this part never went smoothly. Especially since number two was talking to number four. The therapist clicked his tongue. He was going to have to deal with her later.

For now, there was another shit show unfolding in the news. That was still going to happen after the rewind. The city was still going to feel the effects. Politicians were freaking out. Surely that bastard from the Asahara felt it too. The yakuza would feel the heat too. Kitano's lips twitched into a small smirk. This was going to be an interesting three days.

Day Two

Michiko raced up to Mikado's apartment and pounded on the door.

"Mikado-kun! Get out here!" she screamed. "Masaomi is big trouble!" Her small fist pounded on the door as hard as they could. She backed up as the door opened. The girl covered her mouth as she gasped. Mikado looked like death. His skin looked so pale except for the black spots on his neck. His eyes looked so red. Mikado clung to the door as tightly as he could.

"What happened to you?" she asked. Mikado didn't answer.

"It's Kida-kun, isn't it?" he asked. His voice was so hoarse. His right eye twitched as he spoke.

"Yes!" Michiko said. "Tandeki's about to make him commit a horrible mistake!" Mikado froze.

"No…" he said. He tried to walk outside but nearly stumbled over.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" Michiko shouted. She feared that he wouldn't be much help.

"No, I want to help him," the tadpole croaked out. Mikado looked like he was about to throw up.

"You really need to sit down," she said. The boy was trembling in the doorway.

"You really need to take a rest," Michiko insisted.

"Please!" Mikado pleaded. "I want to help." It was then she noticed his phone in his hand. It didn't take her long to put the pieces together.

"How many people have you sent the message?" she asked.

"I just posted the message in chat," Mikado said. The girl sighed and dropped her shoulders.

"Fine," she said. "You can help." Mikado bowed his head.

"Thank you," he said. He moved aside to let Michiko in. Even through his illness, Mikado could tell that Michiko was just as worried as he was.

The detectives went through both external hard drives. Most of the folders were hidden and password protected. This didn't bother the cops. If Kita wasn't going to talk, let the hard drives talk for you. What kind of information were they going to find? It had to be something really juicy that she would keep her mouth shut about. Cyber forensics was going to enjoy this challenge. The detectives could already hear the chatter around the station.

Meanwhile, Kitano sat at his desk and looked at his pocket watch.

"One more day," he said. The girls were just as excited as he was. Speaking of which, he had just the thing to deal with Michiko when she comes to interfere. He could use it to their advantage.

Day Three

At seven in the morning, Masaomi had a feeling that something wasn't right. The boy sat up in his cell. He took a look around.

"Huh?" he asked.

Masaomi-kun. Masaomi-kun!

Masaomi whipped his head around.

"Huh? Michiko?" he asked. The boy looked around. As far as he could see, he was alone in his padded cell. An uneasy thought crossed his mind. Was he really going crazy?

No. You aren't going crazy. This is really me talking to you.

Masaomi opened his mouth to speak.

Don't ask me how. There isn't much time. Listen to me. Tandeki is going to force you to become a player in the game. Don't take the deal.

"What are you talking about?" Masaomi asked. "What game?"

I will explain when I come and get you. You have to hang on. I can't let this same fate to you as it happened to us.

"Wait, what?" the boy asked. He turned his head when heard the door lock clicking. The door flew wide open. Masaomi's eyes widened.

You have to get moving. Just run out the door and go out the back. Don't worry about getting caught. I have frozen time for now. Just run!

"Uh… thanks?" Masaomi asked. He turned and ran out the door.

Kitano looked at this pocket watch as he stood near the garden. He glanced behind him.

"Everything set?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Aya and Etsuko said.

"Perfect," Kitano said. If his calculations were correct, he would have both two and four in that spot in the next forty-five minutes. Sure, she will try to cheat fate and probably take a different path. Maybe use the little magic that she's managed to recover in this timeline. Lucky for him, Tandeki had their own magic to counter hers.

Aya pulled out a stack of fuda and threw them in the air. Kitano threw the needles that he kept between his fingers at the scraps of paper. Each one hit their target before the fuda could flutter to the ground. The needles started to glow a hot white. The three humans, the deity, and the horsemen stood still as they felt the dark waves floating around them. After twenty seconds, the atmosphere became still. Kitano smirked to himself.

"This should get interesting," he said under his breath.