The yesterdays that were mine

The Only Way Out Is Through

3 months later

Death is a funny phenomenon. It's funny to see it happen, before your eyes. How the world lives on after someone dies, it really puts into perspective the individuality of life and how fleeting it is.

Nana had seen it first hand at her own school, after Baji had died. He killed himself. That kind of thing, however, isn't fleeting. That kind of feeling, that kind of day stays, etched into your mind.

She remembers watching him fall through the air, as if it were in slow motion. She was watching the battle from above, from a standpoint far away enough from the fight. They didn't want to risk Kazutora seeing Nana. But Nana saw him, every movement and step. After it was settled, after Baji had died and the dispute had been stamped out, she watched him be arrested for the second time in her life.

Keisuke Baji didn't have a funeral, or a memorial, just a grave. She and Chifuyu visited him every Friday after school. There came a point where tears turned into sharing stories - from two people who had loved and lost someone, into friendship.

The pair sat at Baji's grave one afternoon, basking in the fleeting afternoon sun.

"Do you think you'll go to the dance?" Nana asked, flicking the buttons of her school cardigan. Chifuyu took a swig of his canned coffee and smiled.

"Nah, I've never liked school dances," He taps the can and places it down. "I don't want to spend time with anyone from school on a weekend; that is my sacred time."

"And what about me, huh? What is this?" Nana smiles at him.

"This?" he gestures between them. "This is purely charity work." They both laughed into the air, then silence fell between them. He took another sip, and spoke again.

"What about you? You gonna go?"

"I don't know," She picks up her shoelace and tangles it around her fingers. "I've never been to one... I just think it'd be fun...dressing up and stuff"

"You know what I reckon?"

"What?"

"I reckon that you could convince some Toman people to go with you." He smiled, as if he knew how ridiculous that idea was.

"You know that's bullshit." Nana laughed airly as she spoke.

He smiled smugly at her and took another drink. Nana stared at him for a second then laughed out another phrase.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you are so oblivious. Those guys would do anything- just ask them. If i'm wrong, I'll go to the dance with you" Chifuyu begins to stand up, and Nana follows suit, both of them instinctively putting on their Toman jackets.

-

"You want us to go to a school dance with you?" Manjiro, Draken and Mistuya sat around her at Musashi shrine after a meeting. They had settled on the side street furniture they had nicked over the years. She looks at them with a smile, hoping to soften her request.

"Yes?" Her response sounded more like a question itself. The three boys glanced at each other.

"Why would you even want to go?" Draken asked, and Nana leant back.