Painful Memories

Masaomi narrows his eyes and tightens his grip around his hammer as he and his friends watch Takashi and Saika leave.

"We have to go after them now." The dark blonde-haired man said flatly. As soon as he turned around however, Kasumi swiftly grabs his right upper arm to stop him.

"No. Not yet." Kasumi said firmly to him.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Masaomi cried.

"After the fight we had, we need some rest and planning before going after them." Kasumi said.

"She's right." Shinra said to him as Celty places her hand on Masaomi's left shoulder. "Not to mention, we made quite the mess in this place, didn't we?"

"We should also attend to the people whom we've knocked out." Mikado said while Celty took out her phone to type her response. "It wouldn't be right for them to get arrested for actions they weren't aware of committing while under Saika's control."

"Leave the ones at the upper floor to me. After that, I got to erase every evidence of us breaking into this facility as well." Celty played her message.

"How do we explain the broken windows though?" Anri asked.

"I'll explain to the rest of the board that they were caused by the strong winds. I mean, the weather in Tokyo these days, right?" Shinra shrugged.

"Care to give me a hand?" Celty showed her latest message to Shinra.

"Of course, dear." Shinra smiled blissfully at her. Masaomi sighs in frustration however as he lowers his head.

"Fine, but let's be quick about it." The dark blonde-haired man muttered, gently pulling his arm out of Kasumi's grip before walking off to the corner at the left side of the floor. "I can't believe we're wasting time."

As the others watch him leave, Kasumi lets out a sigh before saying, "Come on. Let's get to work."

Everyone temporarily went their separate ways. Celty and Shinra took the elevator and head back to the fortieth floor where all the unconscious people whom they fought and knocked out earlier are still lying around. With the help of Celty's magic, they both safely bring them down to the bottom and out of the building.

Kasumi, Mikado, Anri and Shirley also help drag the seven formerly possessed men whom they fought moments ago over to the right side of the floor. After carefully placing their backs against the windows, the four friends backed away from the unconscious men.

"I can tell most of these guys we fought are random people Saika and Takashi picked up from the streets, but how do they have welding guns with them?" Kasumi inquired.

"Anri and I took a look at the name tags inside their pockets, and it turns out these two men here worked at a construction site." Mikado said to Kasumi and Shirley while gesturing to the two men with short black hair and dark blue unkempt hair.

"The lengths Takashi would take to conduct his ultimate plan." Shirley frowned as she cups her chin and places her other hand on the side of her hip.

"So, what should we do now?" Anri asked.

"Celty and Shinra should be done taking the ones we fought upstairs out of the building by now. They're probably on their way to the main security room to erase every security footage of us. So, I guess we can leave these guys here until they come back here. They'll know what to do with them." Kasumi said.

"At the meantime, let's rest while we can before going after Saika and Takashi again." Shirley said.

"Hopefully we're not too late." Mikado said grimly.

Kasumi turned around to see her dark blonde-haired friend still sitting against the windows at the other side of the floor with his head lowered and his weapon placed down beside him. The redhead turned her head to her left when she felt Shirley placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Talk to him. He needs you." Shirley said.

"Right." Kasumi nodded to her before walking away.

When his ears felt the presence of her footsteps, Masaomi looked up with a frown to see Kasumi approaching him.

"What is it?" Masaomi asked flatly.

Without saying a word, Kasumi sits beside Masaomi and places her staff down on the floor in front of her. She turned her head to her friend and replied, "I want answers, that's what. When you were fighting Saika one-on-one, you were not right in the head. You nearly killed Haruna in the process. If you went through with that…" She paused to take a deep breath. "I don't know what I'll think of you."

Masaomi turns his head away from her and stares down at the floor again in shame.

"I'm so sorry, Kasumi." He said apologetically. "I never wanted to do that. But I was trying to save you and everyone else."

"But not while you lose your humanity in the process!" Kasumi scolded. "Killing Saika isn't going to make you the better person."

Masaomi groaned. "You think I don't know what I did wrong? And are you about to give another lecture you learnt from your mentor?"

"Don't you dare bring her up." Kasumi points her finger at him with an icy glare.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Masaomi raised his voice as he lifted his head up. "You knew how merciless Saika is. They killed nine people in our world, controlled the minds of hundreds, and if we keep stalling here, they are going to eradicate tens of millions!"

"And you think I'm not concerned about this? We all are." Kasumi replied.

"Then why aren't we chasing them and Takashi now?!" Masaomi yelled, looking back at Kasumi with rage. "Didn't you say you wanted to bring peace and justice to your former schoolmate?!"

"Yes, I did. But not like this."

"Why are you still so soft towards our enemies?!"

"And what are you trying to prove by doing the opposite?!"

"To prove that I can never let anyone down again!"

Soon after Masaomi realized the words he howled, he widens his eyes and gasps in shock as his rage and frustration immediately dissipate without a trace. He would stare blankly at his friend for a few moments before turning away and lowering his head in misery again.

"I can't let anyone down again…" Masaomi muttered. "I just can't…"

Seeing her friend falling into a state of sorrow, Kasumi gently places her hand on his left shoulder in the hopes of comforting him.

"Masaomi…you have been such a good friend to me. You have never let anyone down." Kasumi said reassuringly. Her dark blonde-haired friend however shook his head.

"You're wrong." He said sadly. "There is one person whom I've let down. Her name is Sayako."

"Who is she?"

Masaomi exhaled. "She was my ex. Since junior high, I had trouble making friends and socializing with others in school. So, I acted like a clown to get other people's attention, but that only made them think that I'm a freak and a loser. I did the same thing again when I entered senior high, only this time it made me a favorite target for bullies to pick on. Eventually, I was spotted by a gang who had been watching me being beaten and humiliated in school every day, and they invited me to join them so that I could have my payback. I couldn't stand the relentless bullying, so how could I refuse? Every day after school, they taught me how to be strong, fearless, and merciless towards our enemies. Thanks to them, I got my revenge. And in return, I see them as my friends, and brothers. For the next three years of senior high, I lived a double life. I was a normal and peaceful kid in school. But after the bell rang, I was a member of a gang that terrorized the streets of Ikebukuro without a care in the world. For a while, it didn't matter that I was causing trouble for everyone. I was actually happy being with them, because it felt like I've finally made friends of my own." He paused for a moment. "But everything changed at the start of my senior year when I came across her…Sayako. I knew she had been following me around school for the last three years. But the third year was when she finally had the courage to confess her true feelings for me. At first, I ignored her because I greatly preferred being with my gang at the time. But the more time we spent together, I eventually gave up and started a proper conversation with her. And after learning she had the same interests as I do, that was when we really hit it off. Since then, we hung out more often, both in and after school. And as the months went on, I realized that I've fallen for her as well."

"So, what happened between the two of you?" Kasumi inquired. Masaomi sniffled and rubbed his nose as he managed to fight back his tears.

"On the day of our graduation, I proposed to Sayako to take our relationship to the next level. She agreed. And for a moment I thought we were going to be together for the rest of our lives." Masaomi paused again as his eyes grew cold. "That is until the following night…I got a call from my gang leader, saying that he and the others have kidnapped Sayako. At first, I thought it was a sick joke. But when I heard her screaming in agony after one of those bastards broke her leg, I was immediately blinded with rage and made my way to our hideout. When I got there, they explained to me that they have been watching me and Sayako for a very long time. They knew how close we are, and how our relationship may potentially break the gang apart. They want me to stay and pledge my everlasting loyalty to my former leader." Kasumi noticed her friend's face distorting into a scowl. "But of course, in my mind, my response to them…was 'Screw you'. So, I fought them all by myself. I was badly bruised all over…but I managed to take down every one of those bastards who hurt the love of my life." Masaomi took another deep breath and paused for a moment to allow his anger and contempt to be replaced with sadness once more. "After the fight…I brought Sayako to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. And after that…I've never spoken to her since."

"Why didn't you?" Kasumi asked. "I thought you love her."

"I do." Masaomi said grimly. "But after what she went through, what will she think of me now? Will she ever thank me for saving her life? Forgive me for keeping my double life as a gang member from her? And putting her through that mess in the first place?" As he desperately fought back the urge to cry, he began stroking his fingers across his scarf and shook his head. "No. No way in hell. She had suffered enough. And she is better off without me."

Kasumi observed his hand and asked, "That scarf…she gave it to you, didn't she?"

"Yes." Masaomi nodded. "I wore it every day to remind myself of the people whom I've hurt…and disappointed." He pursed his lips as a few tears managed to escape from his eyes and roll freely down his cheeks. "To remind myself…why I can never make more than a single friend…in my life."

Kasumi stared silently at Masaomi for a moment before moving closer to him. She now wraps her right arm around the back of his shoulders, still hoping to be able to console her friend.

"Masaomi…I am so sorry for what you went through." Kasumi said.

Masaomi shook his head again and responded, "Don't be. I don't deserve sympathy. Someone whom I cared about was hurt because of me."

"But you're not the one who broke her leg. And even before you met her, you were scared…lonely…and hopeless. As someone who was also once part of a gang, I can relate to that." Kasumi said soothingly. Her friend looked back at her with tearstained eyes.

"I don't want to lose you, Kasumi. You are the only friend I ever have left." Masaomi said hoarsely.

"I don't ever want to lose you too." Kasumi replied calmly. "And we will stop Saika and Takashi."

"Together."

Upon hearing Anri's voice, Kasumi and Masaomi both look to their front to see her, Shirley and Mikado now walking over and standing before them.

"We understand what you went through, Masaomi. But you can't let the past keep hurting you." Shirley said calmly to him. "I'm sure if Sayako was here, she wouldn't want you to suffer either."

"You can either stay down and hate yourself forever…" Anri said solemnly before her lips curved up into a warm smile. "Or move on and start anew."

"And honestly, after everything you have done for us, we really want to be your friend too." Mikado smiled as he now extends his hand to Masaomi. "Would you allow us?"

"What do you say?" Kasumi asked her dark blonde-haired friend encouragingly. Masaomi glanced at her before looking back at the others. He stared wordlessly at Mikado's hand for a few seconds before a wan smile took form on his face. After wiping away his tears, he grabs it and allows the Nebula employee to pull him back up on his feet. Kasumi gets up from the floor as well and she smiled too while giving Masaomi a pat on the back.

"Thank you. All of you." Masaomi said to everyone. But he soon averts his eyes from them as his face turned into a solemn frown. "But I wish we knew where Saika and Takashi went off to."

"Not to worry about that." Celty played her message from a distance. Everyone turned to see the headless rider and the doctor walking towards them.

"Celty, Shinra." Kasumi greeted them.

"Celty is done altering the footage in the security room. The way she worked with her phone was amazing! I'm now just as fascinated with her phone as her!" Shinra gushed to Kasumi and her friends with a grin and wide eyes.

Celty types another message on her phone before playing it for everyone around her, "As I was saying, I know exactly where our targets are heading off to. Before they jumped off the building, I managed to fire a tracker at them, and I saw it landing below Takashi's collar."

Masaomi managed to suppress his chuckle. "The same smudge used to track me and Kasumi down."

Celty taps on her phone and shows its screen to everyone. They all see two dots and a red crooked line cutting through three different wards on a map of Eastern Tokyo. One of the dots is white and on an area in Minato ward. The other dot at the other end of the ever-growing line is red, blinking and slowly advancing north.

"It seems they have already left Minato and Chiyoda and are currently travelling through Bunkyo." Shinra said as Kasumi slides her thumb and finger across the screen to zoom in on their targets' current location.

"And they are heading north towards Toshima as we speak." Anri added.

"Judging by their direction of travel, it seems they are making their way towards the center of it." Shirley said.

"The center of Toshima is…Ikebukuro." Masaomi said as everyone turned to Kasumi.

The redhead nods her head to them, and they all did the same in return. She grasped her staff and held it in front of her as she said, "There's no time to lose."

Sovereign: I would like to thank Darth Necron and LayLay lives for reviewing. We are nearing the end of the story. Stay tuned!