𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - [ʜɪᴀᴛᴜs]

𝟎𝟐𝟒: 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐲

"This just in, Tokyo Manji Gang member, Mitsuya Takashi, Found dead. The cause of death was strangulation. The man's neck showed visible signs of-"

You turned the TV off. This is my fault...

"He's still going..." Naoto says frustratedly. You stand up from your seat, "We need to stop him. I can't keep waiting for Takemichi to come back."

"Are you serious? Sano is probably still furious with you, if you meet with him now, you'll get yourself killed!" Naoto scolds.

You've had enough. These past few years were a torment. Ever since you broke up with Mikey, all you've been doing was hiding from him. You rented a suite at the same apartment complex Takemichi resides in. So it would be faster to locate him once Naoto's memory is rewritten.

You felt bad that Naoto had to lie about his health to be granted permission to work from home. But it's the only way Mikey wouldn't find him. You wouldn't be surprised if he's trashed Naoto's old office by now.

You were tired. Hina died. Everyone in Toman gradually dropped dead, at the hands of Mikey's wrath. You felt sad, thinking about how Takemichi would feel coming back to this. All his efforts were wasted.

Envelopes slip through from underneath the door. You walk over to pick them up. There were bills and advertisements, as usual. You threw out the flyers and sorted through the mail at the dinner table, where Naoto was sitting.

"What's this?" Naoto asks, looking at a letter.

"Bills? Nothing out of the ordinary."

Naoto turned the envelope around, reaching his arm out for you to look at it, "This is definitively new." The letter had a postmark from the Philippines. You swipe it out of the man's hands and open it. It contained the photos you took with Mikey at the arcade, almost 12 years ago. You turned it around and it had a message.

"Find me."

You look up at Naoto, "This is a sign..." He takes the photo and examines it himself. "Not all signs are good, you know," he says, "This sounds like a trap."

You yank it out of his hands, "I don't care. I don't wanna sit here and wait anymore. We need answers." Naoto gets up off his seat, "You really think he'd answer you?" You nod.

-

"I still have a bad feeling about this," Naoto says anxiously. His body was tense, sitting in his plane seat. "All you have to do is listen in and stay alive," You say, "In terms of time-leaping, I'm not important. As long as you and Takemichi are alive, you two will be able to change this."

Naoto was always disturbed by how self-aware you've become. You hadn't cared about the possibility of you dying. You hid with Naoto to protect him from Mikey. After Takemichi left Toman, you've tried extra hard in keeping Mikey in line. But you had no idea what you were doing. You realized too late that you've been enabling his behaviour. Feeding into his dependency. All you ever did was distract him, giving him anything he wanted. Clinginess turned into possessiveness in a flash. With that, the darkness in him built up more than diminish. Slowly, he began to choose the path of violence, leading Toman to be corrupt. You knew you were useless at that point. Mitsuya warned you about Mikey's state. That's when it finally clicked and you broke up with him.

You felt guilty. Believing you failed Mikey. You thought you'd just wait for Takemichi to deal with him, but you couldn't wait any longer. Who knew how many people he's killed other than Toman members.

Whatever Mikey has planned must be important. After zero contact and killing everyone off. A confession was the last thing you needed since you already knew.