"Come with me—!"
Tsumuri had barely announced the end of the second wave of the Zombie round when Na-go dragged him away without explaining anything. For some reason, she had a look of alarm on her face as she pulled on his arm.
"What is it?" exclaimed Michinaga after a while as he pulled his arm from his friend's grasp. Na-go kept casting frantic glances around the busy shopping area as if she were looking for someone in a hurry.
"I need you to see something—I hoped the kid hadn't left yet!"
Michinaga frowned at her as he pulled her back towards him.
"What're you talking about, now? What kid—?"
Neon immediately gave him a serious look as she held his hand firmly. "Micchi, don't be too shocked when you hear this... but earlier I think I saw Keiwa!"
Michinaga let go of her hand right away. "W-what—Tycoon...? What did you mean, he died a long time ago—" He blinked for a moment before turning back towards Neon. "Wait... what did you mean you saw Tycoon earlier, Na-go? Earlier the two of us were still—"
"That's why! Since the last wave had just ended earlier, I needed to check if I could find the kid again after that. Because it'll be harder to find him if we delay it a bit longer..."
What's that supposed to mean, he wanted to ask her. It's already fifteen years! Shouldn't Na-go have already given up on those two and forget about them? Even if there were any lookalikes living around this place, it's not like those lookalikes are the same person as their lost friends! Unless those two were reborn again, it's unlikely for—Michinaga blinked as the most ridiculous thought suddenly popped into his head. He turned his attention towards Na-go in surprise.
"It can't be—!"
"Over there!"
Michinaga immediately turned his intention towards the direction of the youth Na-go was pointing at and he was absolutely gutted.
The young boy may look skinnier and shorter than he last remembered them, but the youth was almost an exact carbon copy of Sakurai Keiwa!
If there was any other time for him to believe in miracles... this was one of those moments!
.
What happened just now? What was he doing earlier? He couldn't remember anything!
Keisuke scratched his head slightly as he tried to recall what happened earlier. He was out with Eisuke for some grocery errand... and then he thought that he wanted to get something for their mother. But after that—he couldn't seem to remember anything! And it didn't look like he did get the calming tea for their mother and he seemed to have wandered a bit too far from the grocery shop he and Eisuke had gone to. He needed to get back. His brother would've been worried about him now—
"Big brother!"
"Eisuke!"
Keisuke turned around in a hurry as his twin brother started running up to him with their grocery...
xxx
Both Michinaga and Neon froze as they saw the two boys running up towards each other. The two of them quickly glance at each other.
"Na-go... did you know about this?"
She shakily shook her head. "N-no... I didn't expect—I mean, the boy who looked like Keiwa was one of the civilians I found during the second wave earlier so I wanted to show you—"
"—well, we might as well ask them directly to be sure...!"
.
"Are you all right?"
Eisuke frowned at his brother as Keisuke kept fussing all over him like how they used to be younger.
"What are you talking about, Kei-nii—? I'm not the one who disappeared suddenly for almost an hour, you are! I should be the one to worry about you, not the other way around!"
"I did?" His big brother Kei blinked at him absent-mindedly as Eisuke continued to frown at his brother. His big brother was usually so sharp and alert (aside from being quite studious) that whenever they acted as if their minds were not quite here or there, Eisuke couldn't help feeling worried for his brother. As if there was some inherent danger lurking behind his brother, and it scared him to think that something could've happened to his brother if he wasn't careful enough—
"Um, hello..."
And then without warning, there was a pair of adults coming to approach them. Something about the pair made Eisuke very wary (especially that rough-looking guy) as he held an arm protectively, in front of his older brother...
.
For some reason, it amused him to no end to see these 'kids' being so protective of each other. The two kids may look younger and scrawnier than he last remembered them, but there's no doubt that these two were really Keiwa and Ace. How else could they describe this strange coincidence then—?
"Who are you—?" snapped the younger-looking 'Ace' as the younger-looking 'Keiwa' held the other back from pouncing towards Michinaga.
"Eisuke—don't be rude!"
"But Kei-nii—!"
Even the names of the two were similar, this can't be a simple coincidence! And with the start of the new DGP right now, the timing couldn't be any more right! This could've been a sign—!
.
"Umm..."
Neon frantically wracked her brain to figure out what to say to the boys. She needed to confirm something about them, but she didn't want to scare the boys for no reason...
"Err... Big sis..." She turned her attention towards the shorter boy.
"Have we met before?"