A month passed, and Kazutora hadn't come to school in all this time, it was nearing the end of October now. She and Chifuyu had both done what they could and it wasn't good enough, he told her the day was coming soon. Where Valhalla would fight Toman. Rei tried calling Kazutora, so many voicemails he never even replied to. Not even a text. She tried to go to his apartment but he'd moved out, the hollow cavity in her chest only grew. Baji still came to school and they'd talked a handful of times. But he wouldn't tell her where Kazutora was, rather he didn't know where he was staying and wasn't willing to put her in the middle of what was going on to let her see him. Her world was shades of grey but he reminded her of their promise each time they spoke, each time she assured him that she would keep it. So despite her world feeling as though it were falling apart she went to school and did all she could to be happy.
The day finally came when Chifuyu texted her, just a few words, today at the scrap yard. She knew immediately what he meant. The drive there was slow, painfully slow. But time had been at a standstill for her for a long time now.
Eventually she pulled up, she climbed out of her van easily, her feet hitting the cool concrete. She could hear the sounds of fighting, yelling, skin hitting skin. She'd apparently arrived just in time for the fight to be in full swing. Walking to the gates she was hit by the sight in front of her and everything came into sharp contrast. Her eyes zeroed in on Baji, hands wrapped around a knife, bleeding from the mouth. To her horror she watched him plunge it into himself. "You won't be what kills me Kazutora." Her heart sunk to the ground, everything went dead quiet. All she could hear was a loud ringing in her ears. She couldn't even move.
'There's so much blood.' frozen for what felt like an eternity, the sound of Chifuyu screaming hit her ears. A sound of absolute agony, she moved without a second thought. She didn't stop til she'd reached them, Chifuyu was on his knees with Baji in his arms, he was crying. Her eyes burned with tears, they'd said their goodbyes months ago. 'It hurts.' she too was brought to her knees. "He's gone, he's really gone." Chifuyu cried, the tears finally slipped from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Her hands fisted her black sweatpants, he was gone. "Stop! Baji is dead God damn it! What the hell do you think he died for?! For you guys, for Toman! He killed himself because he didn't want Kazutora to blame himself! Because he wanted you to forgive him! He did it because he loved you guys! Why don't you understand?!" Her heart squeezed painfully, Baji was dead, Baji was gone. Her vision blurred with tears that finally fell free. She finally broke down and cried, her heart ached. 'live a good life, take care of Kazutora, be happy. Promise me you will' his words rang through her mind, that crooked smile. She'd never see that smile again. 'Take care of Kazutora' The words ripped straight through her very soul, she needed to find him. Where was he? Was he gone? She could barely see through her tears, couldn't hear anything other than her pulse racing in her ears.
She felt a hand on top of her head. 'Baji?' that was what he'd always done, every time they talked it was ended by a head pat. His way of reassuring her. Looking up, it was Kazutora beaten and bloodied but it was him. He came to his knees beside her, pulling her into him. "You should go." She clung to him, the prospect of leaving him sent panic through her. He was all she had left, and she was going to lose him. "He made me promise. Live a good life, take care of Kazutora, and be happy. That's what he told me to do." Right now Kazutora was the only thing holding her together and he was going to be gone. Keisuke was gone, Kazutora was going to be gone. How was she supposed to keep her promise? "I'm sorry." He was crying, she couldn't see his face but she knew he was crying. Rei didn't know if he was apologizing to her or Baji.
She felt herself get pushed away, she tried to fight it. "You gotta go Rei." Kazutoras voice, thick with emotion. She shook her head violently, she felt something get put over her shoulders. "No, I promised! He made me promise! I can't, I can't go, I can't leave you. Please don't make me leave again." She sobbed, feeling someone grab her but too weak to try and fight it off as she was thrown over a shoulder. A sad little sack of potatoes. Staring at her two best friends side by side. "Rei you can keep your promise later, we gotta go." Chifuyus voice, still thick with emotion and restrained sadness, he was accompanying whoever was dragging her away. "I'm sorry." Kazutoras voice again cut through her mind. Looking up at him he was crying. She'd never seen him cry. But she was carried away, put into the passenger seat of her own van. She could hear sirens going off in the distance. "Can you drive?" Her keys were removed from her pocket, handed by Chifuyu across her. "Yeah." The voice was one she knew but she couldn't remember who it belonged to. Her door was closed and they zipped off, she didn't even know who was driving. The sirens went quiet.
Rei hardly remembered anything from the following period of time. There was a guy with blonde hair, a girl with light brown hair, a friendly smile, soft words, and sleeping in a bed that wasn't Kazutoras'. No longer living in her van, she didn't even know where it was.
Then a funeral, Bajis funeral. His mom crying, the picture of him in front of his box of ashes. Smiling like that familiar fang toothed smile, his brown eyes burned through her. 'Be happy.' she cried. She cried until she threw up. 'How can I be happy?'
~November~
~December~
~January~
~February~
~March~
~April~
~May~
~June~
~July~
Graduation, how the hell had she graduated? Being handed a diploma on the stage, she heard clapping. Chifuyu, The girl she'd been staying with Hinata, Takemitchy. Clapping for her. It was hot, when did summer come?
She'd lost so much time. Everything was a blur. "You did good kid!" An arm around her shoulders, Chifuyu smiling at her. For the first time in a long time she smiled back. 'Be happy.' she was going to try.
Eating dinner, a celebration for her graduation. She ate tentatively, she got a few bites in and her stomach was cramping. When was the last time she'd eaten an actual meal? "You never take that jacket off." She looked up at Takemitchy who had addressed her. "I do?" She looked at the white jacket a few sizes too big on her, dirty with a few bloodstains on the collar. "Takemitchy." Chifuyus voice held a warning tone, and suddenly it hit her. This was Kazutoras jacket. 'Take care of Kazutora.' the words rang through her mind clear as a bell, how had she forgotten? "Where's Kazutora?" The table fell silent, Chifuyu glared at Takemitchy, Hinata looked worried. Everything had stopped for a moment. "Rei, we're supposed to be celebrating your big day." Chifuyu said and she shook her head, the jacket didn't even smell like him anymore but it was his. "Where?" She asked again her jade green eyes burned into his greenish blue but it was Takemitchy who answered. "He got a ten year sentence." Her heart plummeted to her feet, ten years. She remembered he had stabbed Baji, she remembered being told by Chifuyu what had happened afterwards. Once the chaos had subsided, she remembered crying and he had cried with her. "I need to see him." Focusing in on Takemitchy, clearly he had the answers she so desperately needed. "I'll have Draken do the paperwork, and add you to his call list too." Rei nodded, she wanted to go now but she knew it wasn't possible. 'Ten years' the number rang through her mind, that was such a long time. "Are you sure you're ready?" Chifuyu asked, such a motherly type. Rei suddenly remembered him trying to feed her ramen, forcing her to take showers. "You helped me a lot didn't you? You all did?" She didn't need an answer to the question, it was as though a deluge of memories was hitting her all at once. Walking to school with Hinata and Takemichi, staying at Hinatas' house. Her mother, how kind she was to her despite Rei barely being able to function. Tears filled her eyes, she'd been gone for so long and all of a sudden she had friends. People who had taken care of her. She wasn't alone.
Takemichi set up a visit for five days from her graduation dinner, Rei learned both he and Chifuyu had been talking to Kazutora for the nine months she'd been out of it. Apparently he'd asked about her, rather frequently according to Takemichi. He and Chifuyu of course had been honest, she was somewhere safe but she wasn't ok. Rei was glad they'd at least told him how she was, so he didn't think she just disappeared again.
Looking at herself in Hinatas' mirror she realized exactly how not ok she had been. She'd lost weight, for having been rather slim to begin with her clothes now hung off of her. The bags under her eyes almost looked like bruises, Hinatas' mother had actually helped her with eye cream. The older woman seemed thrilled that she was finally coming around, so she took the opportunity to teach Rei about different products she could use. Also offered Rei an interview for a work from home Transcriptionists position. It seemed as though things were beginning to come together in her life, even though she'd basically been barely functioning for nine months.