The next day…
After a not-so-good night's sleep, J woke up and had breakfast. He changed into his usual butler uniform, then went to Café de Wayne.
"I knew you'd be back…" Hayakawa says when they meet.
"Miss me?" J smiles teasingly.
Hayakawa smiles back, "Maybe."
They reached into their cores, their auras blue and green respectively, and then they clash. Punches and kicks fly before they pull apart from each other.
"I thought you didn't want to fight?" Hayakawa asks, their power temporarily not active.
"I don't…but you're keeping too many secrets from me…" J replies, "And I want you to tell me. Everything."
They exchange blows again, J saying, "Tell me, what use is power if you've never had anything to protect in their first place? I didn't have much of a reason to live back then…and I still don't now."
Hayakawa's eyes soften, 'J…you thought that for a long time, huh…even now…'
When they pull apart again, Hayakawa tells J that Tenna had always loved him, not Hayakawa himself, and about his own vow to protect J.
At that, J's shocked, but thought about it. 'Unfortunately… I never loved her as much as she loved me…but if that's the case then…'
"Why do you-" J starts to ask before being interrupted by a gravitational force encasing him both him and Hayakawa.
Then, Mikuni clapped at their performance, appearing before them as he grabbed them both and tossed them out of the force.
They both landed on their feet, glaring at Mikuni.
"Welcome back, J…" Mikuni smiles evilly.
"Mikuni-san…" J replies coldly.
"It's about to start…" Mikuni says as he runs off. J and Hayakawa look at each other and nod, running after him.
The time distortion began, everything was frozen in place, time stopping.
They end up at the Student Council building along with the others…and see Mikuni with his glasses off and hair back, holding Hotaru's sister hostage.
Mikuni tells them about his plan to end the time distortions, and about how he wanted to take J with him. He tries to convince J to go with him, his words a sweet poison.
Unfortunately for him…
J sighs, "While I'm thankful that you took me in…That's not going to work," which surprises everyone before continuing, "In the first place, time distortions are unpredictable. You won't exactly get where and when you want…and even if you did succeed…it wouldn't be enough."
"What do you suggest then?" Mikuni glares.
J laughs, "The one thing everyone in the Bloodline doesn't dare to do… Destroy the Bloodline itself."
Everyone is shocked again, including Mikuni.
"J…" Hayakawa says out of concern for J's sanity at the moment.
"You really never thought about it?" J rants, still completely sane, "Destroying that source of power in the first place would fix things entirely. Although…if you do destroy it, then a butterfly effect happens. Tenna and your family might still live, but… None of us would've ever even met in the first place…but that's fine with me."
Taking a breath, J finishes his rant as he clenches his fists, "I'm sick and tired of it…being a part of the Bloodline… I want nothing to do with it anymore!"
"Then why are you against me now?" Mikuni asks.
"Because I want to stay in this world a bit longer…plus, I'm still looking for it…" J replies.
"Looking for what?" Mikuni blinks.
"A reason to live," J answers as he dashes right in, his blue aura bursting as he separates Mikuni from his hostage, throwing her to the others.
She's caught by Tachibana as J punchers and kicks at Mikuni, who dodges.
Their fight goes over to the roof…
J brought out his knife and tries to stab Mikuni, who narrowly dodges.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Mikuni yells.
J smirks, "Maybe…"
"You little…!" Mikuni rushes J and tries to punch him, but J dodges.
"I'm kidding…It's self-defense," J laughs, enjoying this a bit as he counterattacks…only to be pushed back, the knife falling somewhere.
Hayakawa does come to his rescue, softening the recoil a bit, J in his arms. "You OK?"
"Yeah…" J says, a bit shaken.
"Let me…" Hayakawa says as he hands J the pendant and his broach, fighting in J's place for a bit.
J puts them together, and…he sees Tenna for the last time. A hole opens in the distortion.
Hayakawa tags J back in, patting his hand on J's back as a sign of support. J fights with all he has…until the hole in the distortion started wanting a sacrifice, the sucking force immense.
J hangs onto a vine that was tossed over as Mikuni hangs onto J.
"Since you wanted to go to another world so badly… Let me personally send you out," J glares as he tries to loosen Mikuni's grip, but Mikuni tries his best to hang on.
Just as Mikuni's grip was about to fail, J smiles, "Look at it this way… If you end up in a world where the Bloodline doesn't exist…then, I'd definitely be jealous of you."
Mikuni gets sucked into the distortion as it ends, all their powers releasing into particles of light as the building collapses, and J ends up on the grass.
J lays there, exhausted as Hayakawa comes over to comfort him.
"I only have a week off work… I'm so tired…" J mutters as he cries, realizing that he's never going to see Tenna again.
Hayakawa tries to comfort him, anything to get J to smile, "Sorry J…but it looks like you won't be able to escape the Bloodline anytime soon."
J smiles through the tears, "That's OK…Thank you for being here, Hayakawa-san."
"You'll stay for a while, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then…I can teach you a lesson since you ran away," Hayakawa smiles, 'There's no way I'm letting you run away again.'
"Later…" J mumbles.
"Later," Hayakawa agrees.
J shakily gets up, grabs Hayakawa's tie, and pulls him in, kissing him on the cheek, "Thank you…for everything," then letting him go.
Surprised for a minute, Hayakawa's face turns slightly red before J's words register in his mind, 'Don't say it like that…' he looks at J's smiling face, 'Like you're leaving and never coming back…'
Abruptly, Hayakawa grabs J and pulls him in, kissing him on the forehead before wrapping his arms around him.
"Don't leave… Stay," he pleads as he holds J in his arms.
"You know I can't," J sadly smiles as he turns away from him, Hayakawa still not letting him go.
'There's…nothing tying him down now…except for the Bloodline and…me,' Hayakawa realizes.
J yawns, "Mm…so tired… Carry me?"
Hayakawa tries to hold back a laugh and fails, "OK."
He carries J princess style to his place while J dozed off.
When they arrived at Hayakawa's apartment, Hayakawa kicked the door open, then closed, and carried J to his bed, gently placing him on it and taking off their shoes.
As he watched J sleep for a bit, he thinks to himself, 'No. It can't end like this. I won't let it. I'll tie him down, bind him to me, and make sure he stays put. Even if he ends up resenting and hating me…that's fine. As long as he stays by my side…it'll be fine.'
Checking J's pockets, he finds a key card for a nearby hotel. He calls the hotel, saying that J has decided to cancel his reservation and to send his things to Hayakawa's address.
After hanging up, Hayakawa sighs as he checks the time. He goes to make dinner, knowing J will be hungry when he wakes up.
However, J still didn't wake up after a few hours, so he packed and put J's dinner into the fridge and ate his portion by himself. Then, he undressed J, wiped his body with a wet towel, and put him into some of his clothes.
After that Hayakawa took a shower and changed his clothes before climbing into bed, lying next to J. He pets J's surprisingly soft hair, and J's scent…the smell of the forest and clover, was soothing as he falls asleep.