Toman's Little Sister

29 | Fault

"Keisuke... Baji?"

"Oi, quit calling me pipsqueak!"

"Simple Kanji, Keisuke. Very, very simple."

"Don't be dumb, of course I'm worried! What kind of person wouldn't be worried for someone important to them?"

You stared down at Baji's body, your mind blocking out everything but him. Mikey and Kazutora's fight, Chifuyu's screams, the chaos swirling around you. Your eyes were just stuck on him.

You wanted Baji to somehow grip your hand again, open his eyes and tell you it was a joke. It'd be an asshole move, but at least he would be alive.

But that never happened.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" Mikey repeated, his fists striking Kazutora's face.

That was until he heard an unfamiliar scream. Well, not unfamiliar, per se, but definitely not a common one. As a matter of fact, no one in that parking lot had ever heard it before.

He stopped punching and looked back at you.

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!" You sobbed, holding Baji close to you. "Why was it you?! Why is it always the dearest people to me?!"

You weren't with them anymore. You were in your own small bubble, alone with your own thoughts as the pain finally broke through you.

"You promised it'd always be the seven of us! YOU PROMISED!! SO GET UP, DAMN IT!!"

Your hands were shaking, a not so subtle panic rising up in your chest as your heart beat faster. "Dear god, please... don't take him from me... not again. Not another one."

Takemichi heard your quiet prayers and jumped to his feet, running in front of Mikey with his arms stretched out. "Stop it!!" He was immediately punched across the face and sent flying, and you lifted your head, seeing a blurred figure through the tears glossed over your eyes.

"This isn't what Baji-kun wanted!"

"Don't you dare speak for Baji..."

"...Don't speak for Baji-kun...?" Takemichi gritted his teeth. "Baji-kun's dead, damn it!" The parking lot's atmosphere got heavy as Takemichi laid down the truth, staggering to his feet and tossing his uniform aside, something plopping to the ground.

"Why don't you get it?! What do you think Baji-kun died for in the first place?! It was for you two... for Toman!! Baji-kun wasn't killed by Kazutora-kun... he decided to kill himself! Because he didn't want Kazutora-kun to feel responsible!! Because he wanted you to forgive Kazutora-kun!"

"HE DID THAT BECAUSE HE LOVED YOU GUYS!!"

You gave Baji to Chifuyu and slowly stepped towards the small item that fell out of Takemichi's uniform, picking it up and holding it in your hands. "...Mikey..."

He knelt down next to you and you passed him the charm. "Takemitchy, where did you get this charm?"

"During that gathering, I found it at the shrine."

"No way..." You patted your pockets, pulling out a charm of your own and putting it side by side with Baji's.

"Baji had this... the whole time?" You looked up at the other founding members. "When we first formed..."

"I didn't form Toman." Mikey said quietly. "Baji did. 'If one of us gets hurt, we'll all protect them. I want a gang that's all for one...'"

"'And one for all.'" You wiped tears from your cheeks. "That was our motto. And he upheld it until his final breath."