Collision of Heaven and Hell ✅

Chapter Fourteen

Uncle Fumitaka took us to my new apartment, where Mama was waiting for us. As were the police. My reunion was Mama was very short, as the police took Chikafusa and I aside to question us about what happened. Papa and Uncle Fumitaka told me what to say to them, which I ended up repeating ad nauseam several times.

"I was taken by Nobuto Awaosamu. Anjin Yamagishi rescued me. Chikafusa Yamagishi got me out of his apartment. I don't know what else happened."

Chikafusa barely responded to the police officers, who unfortunately were not as kind or as patient with him as they were with me. He stared straight ahead, his eyes glossy and unseeing, and whenever he spoke he only said the same thing.

"My parents are dead."

I wanted to scream at the police for their lack of compassion towards Chikafusa. He had just witnessed his father's death! But I had already told them that I had seen nothing, so I had to keep quiet.

The police ended their interrogations by telling me that they would contact me again later...but telling Chikafusa that he needed to come with them. I couldn't hold my tongue any longer and hurried to his side. "Can't this wait until later?! I had a terrible time of it, but so did Chikafusa!"

The lead detective looked at me with an impatient expression. "Mai Takasoto, this boy is the son of—"

"He told you his parents are dead," I retorted sharply, sliding an arm around him. "Can't you give him a moment to breathe?! To grieve?!"

It took some prodding, but they finally let us alone. Mama wanted to take us to the hospital but I just wanted to sleep. It was then that Mama burst into tears and hugged me for dear life. "I'm so sorry, Mai! I'm sorry I didn't protect you!"

Seeing Mama cry made me cry and I clung to her. We say together on the couch holding each other. But when I lifted my head, I saw Chikafusa sitting on the floor against the wall. He was cradling Tako and had his head bent forward hiding his face. He didn't say another word.

~*~

It didn't seem possible for everything to settle down, but slowly...they did so. Chikafusa didn't stay with me despite my insistence that he do so. Uncle Fumitaka took Chikafusa with him when he left, and Chikafusa had left without protest. I was heartbroken to see how detached he was, but I knew that it was understandable given everything he had been through.

Though the Diet had called for the JSDF to break up the war, the two syndicates handled it themselves. From what little I had heard, Fujimasa Awaosamu had been there at Anjin and Chikafusa's home to greet the police who had arrived. As far as I knew he was not arrested, but I overheard Papa tell Mama that Fujimasa had shown the police Nobuto's body and that had seem to pacify the situation. In the days that followed, dozens of arrests were made and the faces of the Yakuza from both syndicates who were arrested was splashed all over the news reports. It was abundantly clear that they were not going to be shown mercy in the court of law. Fujimasa was somehow able to broker peace with their rival with whom Nobuto started war with.

There was one person's arrest who shocked me, though. Watching one of the reports, I was stunned to see video footage of Jigen being led to a police car in handcuffs. I realized that I hadn't seen Jigen amongst the bodies at Chikafusa's house, and after our conversation I was honestly surprised to still see him alive. He had been loyal to Nobuto to an extent that Jigen followed him after he killed his own father and kidnapped me. He didn't bat an eye when I accused him of terrible things.