Ryu woke up screaming and hoping everything was a dream. When he calmed down to check his surroundings he realized he was in a bed in a room he did not recognized. "Okay, easy to explain! I feel asleep at that girl's house and had a nightmare. It happens!" he said and then chuckled. Then a throbbing pain hit him coming from his stomach and sides. "NO! No, no, no, nonono- it was dream!" he was hyperventilating and he clutched the covers. Then he saw his white gloves stained with red. With his shaking hand, he slowly pulled back the cover and saw what the aftermath was. The sheets were a bloody mess and it smelled overwhelmingly of iron. His battle outfit was streaked with red. There were towels under his lower back to support him and a rosary was next to him covered in his blood- no, their blood. He started screaming again but soon after he started the door opened and a girl walked in. Ryu recognized the girl, the reason he was even there in the first place. The girl that stood him up in a gay neighborhood. "Kotoko Inaba… What happened?" She then explained the situation.
"I found you outside in an alleyway. I brought you to my house. I live with my uncle who runs a bar downstairs. He had to go get supplies so we both were out. He sent me ahead of him and he won't be back until after 10 so he can open the bar". Ryu listened blankly to what she had to say. "Did you get my things from the alley?" he asked. She then left to get the things she brought from the alley. She handed him his pants and jacket. Then she looked under the bed and pulled out Blazing Ignit. "What is going to happen now, Ryu?" Ryu was startled that she would know his name. "How do you know it's me?" "I can't see your face clearly and your voice sounds weird, but I can tell. I met you yesterday and you were wearing the same jacket. Not many people have long pink hair like you either". She said with a deadpan expression. Ryu winced but then thought about what he really was going to do. He killed three people. Usually, the Battle Lovers would fight use their signature team move and everyone would be happy and unhurt. Where was Yumoto when you needed…
"That's it! Yumoto could help". He riffled through his pockets for his phone and selected his number from the contact list. Yumoto picked up on the third ring. "Hello Ryu how was your date today. I spent the day at the bath with Wombat and my brother!" Ryu winced at the sheer volume and intensity of his voice. "Uh. listen I'm in trouble and I need you to come here- What's the address? Oh! Do not tell anyone, I really need you to keep this a secret okay." Ryu tried to sound stern on the phone but his fear creeped in at the end and his voice cracked. Yumoto agreed to come to the specified address. After he hung up he tried to get out of bed but he crashed back down. Kotoko asked if he needed help and he nodded his head yes. "Normally, I would make a joke about you saving me like a hero, but today…" he trailed off. Kotoko grabbed his arms and helped him out of bed. "I need to put these in the wash, like yesterday, so can I leave you alone or do you want to come with me." she gestured to the sheets and towels. Ryu was okay to be by himself but he really did not want to be alone. So he followed quietly behind her as she did laundry.
She offered to make him something to eat but he didn't feel like eating anything. "It's okay, you did what you had to. No one is going to blame you. It will work out." she said after a period of silence. "Really no one will care I killed three people today!?" he scoffed. "How did you kill them, with- your magic powers? No one in their right mind will ever believe that, no one ever saw what happened, and I'll give you an alibi and your friends will back it up. You're fine." "Why do you want to help me?" he asked her after five minutes of watching her make sandwiches for her lunch. "That's easy! I wanted to see-" the bell rang and interrupted what she was going to say.
