"What's up with the city? It feels… what's the word… hollow?" Harima asked himself as he stood just outside the prison gate.

"If you're talking about how empty and boring it is. That's just how most of the cities in Japan are now." The gate guard beside him answered.

"Really? I know I heard about a pandemic happening while I was inside but it affected everyone to this extent?"

"That's part of it, yes, but mostly times have changed. The internet has improved immensely and that's how most human interactions are done these days. Just take a look at the bar district, almost nobody goes and drinks there anymore, people would rather buy drinks themselves and hang out at home. More convenient, more efficient, everything streamlined to its essence and all the fluff cut out, as they would say." The guard started huffing by the end of his explanation.

"I see."

"Anyway, you have places to go right? Enjoy your freedom. And do me a favor and don't find yourself back here again."

"Uh, thanks. I don't really have anywhere to go but I'll try to stay out of trouble." Harima replied sheepishly as he walked away.

Yagami City seemed like a whole new city to him. Luckily, the layout's the same and he can find his way around, but everywhere he turns there's something different about the area.

'The children's park around here has been stripped of its seesaw and jungle gym. Oh, the bowling alley over there turned into a… what is that? A Vee Arr center? VR?'

For his first order of business, Harima decided to go to Yagami Cemetery and see if he could find the grave of Kentaro Nara. He figured he should pay respects to the man he supposedly murdered.

…

When Harima arrived, he borrowed a washcloth and a bucket of water from the keeper's shed and headed to the direction the keeper pointed at.

The breeze was cool and brisk. Harima looked up to the sky, his bare eyes staring at the few strands of clouds overlooking the earth. It was the same sky he saw while he was in prison. 'Well that's one thing that never changes, whether it rains or shines, it's still the same sky.'

He found the grave, 'Rest In Peace, Kentaro Nara.' it read. It was a modest tombstone, no frills or anything gaudy. Nara was too young, basically still starting his life, when he got killed. Harima immediately got to work, wiping down the marble.

He noticed the bouquet of hyacinth lying on Nara's grave. Judging by the condition of the flowers, it was placed here just yesterday. It's likely from someone that knew Nara, he did have many friends and family back then, unlike Harima.

When he finished cleaning, he looked around the cemetery as he wiped sweat off his brow. There were a couple of people, each visiting their loved one's grave with solemn expression. People might start noticing him, he should go soon, but where to next?

…

Before he knew it, Harima found himself near the Tsukamoto residence. He wishes he didn't.

'I'm just here to check up on them. As soon as I see them, I'll leave.' He reasoned. He wanted to make sure they're alive and well. That nothing happened to them as a result of the absurd charge placed on him. It dawned on him how quickly his living situation can change, one morning he was living with Yakumo and Sarah, the next morning he could no longer see them for over twenty years. But he knew that was how he lived his life before. And even now, he's always moving, always changing, never having a proper home to come back to. 'Heh, I'm acting as if this place was ever my home. I should stop kidding myself.'

He looked through the front gate and noticed his motorcycle with the attached sidecar sitting under a canopy. It looked old, with a few rust and scratches on the sidecar. But there were also signs of it being maintained, like the hydraulics are properly oiled, and it had a new exhaust pipe. That was good, it's being used and maintained like it should.

He walked around the perimeter, peering through the fence until he saw them sitting by the veranda.

They looked relaxed, Yakumo giggled when Sarah seemingly told her a joke he couldn't hear. They're in their 40s now, they still look young but now have an aura of maturity surrounding them. Harima found himself dropping to the pavement, smiling earnestly while leaning his back into the bamboo fence, hiding from their line of sight.

'I am so glad they're alright.'

He heard a meow, thinking it was Iori, he turned back to look at the women. To his surprise, multiple black cats surrounded Yakumo and Sarah. There are 5 of them! Then he remembered it's been twenty years, those are most likely Iori's children, and Iori himself is most likely…

He bit his tongue at such a thought. Maybe he should visit the zoo as soon as possible.

"Mama! Mom! We're home." A boy's voice called out from the front door, followed by two more "Tadaima~!"

Harima stared at them with a shocked expression. It was two high school girls and a middle school boy. He shook his head and realized yet again, it's been twenty years, a baby who was born on the day he went to prison would be celebrating their 20th birthday today. He shouldn't be surprised anymore.

Regardless, Yakumo and Sarah are now a thing together? That one didn't surprise Harima, since he always knew that they were very close. If the kids were either adopted or from surrogate birth doesn't matter, as long as they are happy and loved, which he can vouch for Yakumo and Sarah as they're the kindest people he'd ever met, then it's all fine. The kids rushed to the veranda and hugged their parents, the smiles on Yakumo and Sarah radiated so much warmth that it practically melted Harima on the spot.

Come to think of it, maybe those two couldn't get together much earlier because he was in the way, acting like a damn third wheel in the same house. Maybe it was good he left their life then. Seeing them like this was enough confirmation, and he no longer needed to worry.

"Mom, Mama." One of the high schoolers spoke loudly enough that Harima heard it, "I saw a man hanging around the gate earlier…"

Oof, that's his cue to leave immediately. Harima got up and quietly slipped away, not wanting to hear any of their personal business.

Meanwhile on the veranda…

"Huh?" Sarah was surprised at what Maika said. She glanced at Yakumo and at the same time her best friend glanced back. 'Could it be?' They both communicated through eye contact.

"I said there was an old man hanging out in front of the gate earlier, he was staring at the motorbike for a long time and then left." Maika continued.

"Maika, what did the man look like?" Yakumo asked her eldest adopted daughter.

"Umm, he had tanned skin, he had black hair reaching his shoulder, but he was wearing a ball cap so I couldn't see his hairstyle…" Maika Tsukamoto answered, she is a talented guitarist for her group's band and has an amazing attention to detail. "Wait a minute…" she realized why her parents were so interested in the stranger, having been given a description of an important man in their life before.

"Could it be," Jacob Adiemus, the youngest of the three, grew curious and interjected, "could he be that Mr. Kenji that you both kept mentioning sometimes?" Jacob is famous in his middle school for his paintings. He found some manga manuscripts that were left behind by a certain someone, since then he read them often and was inspired to also do art.

"Oh my gosh, really?! Are we finally going to meet him?!" Himiko Tsukamoto bounced with immediate excitement. "Hey mom, mama, how are you going to introduce him to us?" She inquired, among the three, she was probably the most curious about the mysterious man that seemed to be at the center of her adopted parents' stories about high school. Her being an aspiring mechanic that loved working on the antique motorbike he left is probably the biggest reason she's curious.

"Uh, how about you all do your homework first so we can all be free to spend time however we want later." Sarah suggested with a smile, totally trying to avoid the trio's blank stares.

…

Harima's next stop is to the zoo, and since that is on the other side of the city and he lacked a motorcycle, he just had to hoof it. That wasn't a bad idea actually, he's getting to see more of how the city changed on the ground level. He was half-tempted to enter one of the new establishments like this Vee Arr center, but his meager five-thousand yen in his wallet is sweatily refusing. That was the only money he got from prison, and he better save it.

So naturally he entered a convenience store to buy some rice balls. He was impressed with the bigger variety of konbini food on display, but slightly winced at the price of them. He left the store and looked around some more.

Classics like Karaoke and the arcade are still there, but there's noticeably only one each of them. Back then they were basically scattered throughout the city, do kids not like them anymore?

The bowling alley, batting center, mini golf club, pocket circuit arena, and disco club are straight up gone though. He didn't play them much back then but still, to witness the local neon signs that basically defined that generation's hobbies turn into average office signs feels like waking up from a dream and realizing they're adults now. The old cafe, Mercado, is still alive and thriving though, the clientele being full of people his age does explain why.

Harima reached the zoo, paying the admittance fee of 1000 yen (it was only 500 before!) to enter. However, what awaited him wasn't worth 1000 yen at all.

Pyotr… Pyotr is an old giraffe now, he's still alive! Though he's visibly tired, and the worst part is he seemingly no longer remembers Harima. In fact, he can barely even remember to move his long neck, and often forgot to eat his food.

"It's good to see you again after so long, buddy..." Harima struggled seeing Pyotr like this. The zookeepers are doing their best in making sure his last moments of life are peaceful, that knowledge is enough to soothe Harima's heart.

Gandhi the elephant and Darwin the tortoise are both healthy and active, they remembered Harima fully and even continued playing with him as if those twenty years of absence weren't a thing at all.

Many of his friends did pass away though, peacefully as the zookeepers informed. Banri showed up, visibly matured compared to the last time they saw each other, and gave him a pair of sunglasses and a small leather jacket.

Rest in peace to Nobunaga the goose, Tchaikovsky the penguin, Caesar the lion, Napoleon the pig, Allan the raven, and Columbus the dog. And many more unnamed animals that followed him during that part of his life. He decided to spend most of his day in the zoo. Just playing with the animals and taking in the reality of his situation.

…

It's almost evening, Harima needs to find a place to stay. His first thought is to go to his cousin, Itoko Osakabe. She was the person that took him in when he first arrived at Yagami City, despite her demanding a lot from Harima, he was still grateful for her help. He does feel ashamed to come back after everything but he felt he had no other choice.

When he reached her apartment, he found out that a different resident was living there now.

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised, she's probably moved on to a better job and home. I wouldn't be shocked if she lived in a mansion at this point. I did feel like she's too good of a character for a show like School Rumble… wait what am I saying?'

Harima left quickly before he started losing his mind.

…

"...What do you mean I don't have a bank account? I for sure had one from 20 years ago! What happened to it?" Harima shouted at the bank clerk.

Harima figured he still had the money he saved up in Yagami Union Bank, so he went there to withdraw everything from the clerk, only to find out his card is invalid.

"I'm sorry sir, the account you're looking for used to be in the system." The clerk continued frantically typing at her computer as she talked in service-speak. Visibly confused at what she's seeing on her monitor.

"So, what the hell happened?"

"I… I don't know, there was no log or anything, the account was just deleted sometime in 2004."

Harima calmed down and thought. He knows for a fact that bank accounts don't just disappear without their owner's confirmation, not even when they're imprisoned for a long time. So someone must have done this, could it be that same organization that forced him to accept his sentence? If that is so… they're a bunch of assholes. Harima grunted in frustration.

"Damnit… No chance of recovery?"

"No… it's been years already, any back-up has been deleted by our periodical database clean-up."

"Then can I atleast create a new account? And get a loan while I'm at it." Harima didn't understand her completely but it's obvious he should just roll with the punches at this point.

"Yes, you can start a new account. As for getting a loan… your criminal record and lack of permanent home address are making it impossible for you."

Harima nodded.

…

It's night, the street lamps turned on automatically as he walked towards the bus station. After everything he'd seen today, it's clear that the world has moved on and that he should too. Yagami City no longer has a place for him, it just reminded him of his youth, both the good and bad. So he decided to move to another city, just like he used to do before he met Tenma-chan.

Where should he go? He heard Yokohama had a large population of homeless people like him, maybe he could get his fresh start there.

Harima walked through an empty street in a suburban residential area, the light of the streetlamps was his only way of seeing. Suddenly, he felt a presence ahead of him. A figure stepped out from behind a concrete post, blocking Harima's way.

"Yo, Harima, nice to see you got out." The figure greeted with a mocking tone. He was short in stature, about two heads shorter than Harima, and had long blonde hair, so long that it drooped all around his head like someone dropped a large banana peel onto him. The man carried a shinai, a bamboo training sword, on his shoulder.

"Huh, what do you want, who are you even?" Harima stood on guard. 'Is this guy part of the organization too? Tch, I'm already getting sick of them.'

"Man… You don't even remember me?!" The man broke his menacing stance in frustration, a frown visible on his face, "Heh, I should've expected that you'd forget, I didn't make much of an impression back in school."

"My bad, uh who are you again?"

Then the man locked in, as if he wasn't just sulking earlier. "Jiro Yoshidayama, your classmate from Yagami High." He slowly rolled his shinai-wielding arm, warming it up for some action. "You have no idea how much I've been wanting to see you after all these years."

"Okay, Yoshidayama… Right, I remember now. How did you even know to wait for me here?" Harima questioned.

"That's simple really. I have some friends that told me they saw someone cleaning Nara-kun's grave. And then I asked them what he looked like… I just knew it had to be you. And I figured you might want to go to the bus station to move on."

Harima kept quiet; the person in front of him was a far cry from what he remembered of the long blonde-haired shortie. The Yoshidayama he knew was a pushover of a delinquent who kept suggesting perverted activities to the class events. He's usually part of a trio with Nara and the video store kid Nishimoto, so Harima has a distinct feeling of why he showed up here. So he kept quiet, letting Yoshidayama say his piece.

"He was a good guy, Nara-kun. Back then I was brash and horny as hell, I was all about showing off and leering at girls, I even dragged Nara into all of it. He was just an ordinary guy and he complained along the way, but he still tagged along with us…" He paused, taking in the silence of the street, with nothing but a single lamppost illuminating the two of them, "Heh, but it's only until he was gone that I realized how much of a buddy he actually was. Even in college, when he's giving his all in research, finding ways to make life easier for his folks back in their farm, he still took the time to hang out with us that didn't go for a damn higher education… But then I found out that he died… murdered by you of all people. I'm here to give him peace."

Yoshidayama whipped out his sword, his intention to fight loud and clear. Harima responded accordingly, taking up his fighting stance that he hasn't used for a long time. If this is how the man wants to avenge his friend, then so be it.

"Prepare to die! Harima!"

Former Class 2-C Classmate

Jiro Yoshidayama

Yoshidayama was the first to move, using both hands to thrust his shinai directly towards Harima's abdomen. Harima immediately sidestepped the piercing move and attempted to counter with a right hook to Yoshidayama's face. But Yoshidayama prevented the attack by headbutting Harima, knocking him down to the floor.

"Ugh!"

"I've trained my body for the last twenty years just for this moment!" With all his might, Yoshidayama swung his shinai down to Harima's head. Harima was so dazed for a bit that he almost didn't react in time; he threw up both of his arms to protect his head. The force of the strike left Harima grunting from the sting, but he eventually deflected the sword to his side and stood up, kicking Yoshidayama in the process. Yoshidayama staggered back, but his death glare towards Harima never left. The two men picked themselves up, the circular area of light from the lamppost acting as their arena.

Harima dashes in for a running knee, his preferred style of fighting is to rush down the enemy and never let them take action at any point, this means he'll attack them so much that they can't find any chance to fight back. He began hitting Yoshidayama with every combo pattern that he remembered, but the enemy proved formidable as he kept standing up after every knock down and even sidestepping to deliver his own clean strikes. The more the fight went on, the more inspiration he gained from fighting and getting hit. When Harima knocked down Yoshidayama yet again, he found a chance to perform a Heat Action.

Essence of Lightning Strike

He focused his entire might into his left arm that it actually glowed with a blue aura. He then swung that fist down onto Yoshidayama's face as he was down on the ground. The attack was so fast and sudden that it resembled a lighting striking down from the sky, the roar of thunder ringing out to their ears. Harima saw Yoshidayama wince and thought the fight's over, but to his surprise, Yoshidayama got up and flexed, seemingly rejuvenated with a permanent red aura flowing out of him. If this was a game and he was a boss, this would be his half-health form.

"I'm not done yet. Harima!" Yoshidayama growled as he unleashed his Desperation Move. He swiftly ran towards Harima and with all the power he could muster, thrusted his shinai multiple times, each strike staggering a guarding Harima. Harima couldn't completely block every hit and he was knocked down on the ground. He intended to get up quickly but before he knew it…

Essence of Goal Shooter

Yoshidayama's right leg glowed red, "Let's fucking go!" He yelled as he ran towards a downed Harima, and with the strength of a horse's hind legs, he launched Harima with a spectacular kicking form. Harima flew right into a concrete wall, badly hurt but still conscious. He wasn't expecting Yoshidayama to have Heat Actions too, he should be careful to not let the enemy have more opportunities to unleash such heat. Harima stood up and ate a tuna rice ball that was in his pocket, this should be enough to finish the fight.

After a long fight, Yoshidayama was finally on the ground and could no longer get up. Harima was holding his knees, panting after the battle.

"Damnit!" Yoshidayama yelled in frustration. He couldn't feel his limbs, now he's pissed that Harima can just get away.

"I'm just going to tell you right now. I didn't kill Nara." Harima confesses between his panting.

"...What?!"

"I figured I might as well tell you; It's been 20 years so maybe they won't hunt me down anymore." Harima clarified before continuing on, "I only found his body at the empty lot. Then someone came and threatened me that I will take the fall or else me and the people I care about would have a hard time living."

"You're saying that some kind of group was behind the murder, and that they have the influence to force you into accepting a guilty verdict. You expect me to believe that?!"

"No, but I'm sick of always perpetuating so many misunderstandings back then just because I kept withholding truths. I want to change that now by coming clean." Harima then felt so exhausted that he let himself sit on the street cement. "Some kind of organization is behind this and I let myself be under their thumbs, that much I can admit to being guilty of."

A long period of silence enveloped the sight of two bruised old men on the street.

"Heh. Hehehehehehe…" Yoshidayama laughed dryly. Still lying on the concrete, his face looking up into the moonless sky, the only source of light being the streetlamp.

"What's up? You're freaking me out man." Harima questioned with a worried expression.

"Nah, it's just that… What kind of murderer goes and cleans the grave of their victim on their first day of getting out of prison? I should've realized that you're being used by the organization." Yoshidayama then moved his head to look at Harima. "I thought you were a member of the organization myself."

"So you're believing me, and wait, you know about the organization?!" Harima was dumbstruck.

"I'm believing you because you're an idiot, everyone back in our class knows that. You couldn't be part of an evil secret organization making plans even if you tried." Yoshidayama finally got enough energy to sit himself on the street. "And I haven't been sitting on my ass for 20 years, I did look into the case as much as I could. Though I'm not a detective so it wasn't much."

Yoshidayama continued, "I know that Nara was targeted by a secret organization, maybe a gang, possibly an underground group or even the yakuza. But for the life of me, I couldn't find a way to identify them. Even snooping around with my fellow homeless acquaintances couldn't give me an answer. So you ended up becoming the only lead. The guy that admitted guilt to killing Nara should have some information right? So I waited… waited for a loooong time." Yoshidayama drew out his last sentence.

"Well, I don't got much, actually. When I found Nara in the empty lot, there was a man in a black raincoat there. I couldn't see his face but he had a really deep voice. Then in the police station a man in green clothes and hat approached me with a raspy voice, he was the one that threatened me. Oh and he was in with the police and everything!"

"No way."

"That motherfucker just walked in and out of the holding cell with the guard watching casually!"

"So this organization even has the police and the justice system in its pocket? That's fucked, man."

"Yeah…" In a way, Harima felt relieved, he was justified in hating what happened to him, for the past 20 years he just took the blame and kept quiet because he was scared for his friends and family. But talking with Yoshidayama put into perspective just how screwed over he was.

Yoshidayama sighed, "Well I learned something but I'm not sure we can even do anything with this information." He sighed, then stood up. "It's getting late, follow me."

"Huh? To where?" Harima also stood up, watching Yoshidayama who was already walking away, shinai stowed under his dirty jacket.

"You're basically homeless now right? I can get you a place where I live…" Yoshidayama turned to look at Harima with a grin, "at the self-proclaimed Yagami Homeless Camp."

Author's Corner: Thank you for the comment, kingq2a08, I'm basically a novice in both comedy and drama so seeing a reaction is much appreciated. Writing substories is where I can let loose and let the crack ideas flow out.

I'm sure many of you read fanfics with bgm on right? I do recommend listening to School Rumble osts while reading this story, it adds to that Yakuza vibe of listening to substory music while going through dialog boxes. I also recommend Yakuza/Like A Dragon combat osts when fight scenes start. They all slap so mix it up however you want. Till next time then!