POV (Point of View)

Chapter 70: One Midnight in August

August.

August has come. Exactly the second week has approached and Bonten, that has just come home last week has never been through their one of their worst phases.

Last 11th of June, Rindou Haitani has made a grave mistake—he killed Saburo Samidori accidentally. The only parent of the woman that he has learned to love. His death was the first that comes haunting his mind every night. Something he didn't expect he would experience in this lifetime.

More so while remembering how Sarina looked like when he and his brother delivered the news. To hide the truth, they made it seem like her father was in Namida on the day of the bombing, looking and asking for an antidote for the poison that Sarina consumed. And when the bomb went off, he was sadly one of the pitiful victims of the explosions that marked itself in history.

Namida Memorial Research Institute—the very hospital that helped Saburo Samidori overcome his disease—is the same hospital that he didn't choose to save. Now, all it is, is a charred ruin that will forever haunt the whole country. Over a hundred patients died in this unexpected occurrence, with their families not even counted yet who happened to be in the hospital on that dreadful day; as well as the surrounding establishments. Casualties reached over two hundred. The trauma that it brought is irreparable and unforgettable.

The Police Department investigated this matter which lasted for more than a month. They confirmed that a mysterious bomb was the main cause of the mass deaths of innocent medical practitioners and many more. As for the cause and how, no one could truly answer. All they could blame is a nameless syndicate which they can't yet name until now. Now, the citizens are scared for their lives and their loved ones. Henceforth, the police were ordered to tighten security and to patrol the city every day and night.

But what truly haunted Rindou...was to see Sarina grieve for someone she couldn't even bury. On her own birthday which was on June 13, she asked him and his brother to go see the hospital. She didn't even cry when they told her the cause of her beloved father's death. When they arrived in the hospital, the brothers witnessed the way sadness, pain, and despair ate the woman's eyes. More so when she started crying out loud, together with other families of the victims. She cried so loudly and the two could only do is give her a warm embrace. To conceal their lies.

For days and weeks, she was like a doll—empty, blank, and lifeless. Ran even had to hire a private nurse to look after her since she couldn't function on her own. And seeing her this way, Rindou couldn't take it.

Before they left for China, they asked Nanase's help to look after her. Which the brunette gladly did since they couldn't ask Asami, whom God knows if she ever visited her own best friend. They also tasked few of their men to guard her since nobody knows if an enemy is watching her every move. 

As ordered by Mikey, all of Bonten's top members and some of their elite soldiers flew to China. Their whole trip in search for leads of their enemy, Zodiac, was like searching for coins under the sea. All they found was the underlings who refused to say anything, not even the twelve key members of the gang. Hence, they just piled up the dead members. They also searched their headquarters but there was simply nothing. Every time they think that they have the enemies cornered, they will be faced with a wall—with nothing. It's like they prepared for a war that never happened. All throughout this journey of theirs to the foreign country, Rindou would just stare into nothing and not talk much. If he wasn't asked by his brother to move or do something, he would be like a statue. The reasons? Sarina and his sin.

If it weren't for the sudden news about a certain brown-haired lover of one of their members, they wouldn't come back. Last week, all the members worked to avenge her death. But that wasn't the end. The worst was when they all had to watch their Second-in-Command mourn. Which he continued to do everyday. When all of Toman buried the love of his life and all Sanzu could do was watch from afar...it was like Bonten also saw him die on that day, too. It's like...his heart was also buried with his woman. It was one of the most depressing experiences they all ever had. Everything was a sight they never wish to see again.