Chihiro Hanagaki

Chapter 19 part 2

Draken then looked to Chihiro, "Did you forget too?" Chihiro only knew what the anime and manga showed going down. She doesn't know exactly what she does during the Bloody Halloween fight. The only people who would know what she did in the past would be Draken and the others. Chihiro had been staring blankly until Takemichi slammed his fists on the glass. "There's no way. I know Mikey and he'd never kill anyone." Takemichi claimed. Draken raised the question, "Can you say for certain that you have been in Mikey's position that you wouldn't have killed Kazutora? The guy that had murdered your own brother."

Chihiro froze, if she had been in that position and if it were Takemichi Kazutora killed. Her gut already knew what she would do in that situation. She wouldn't hesitate to beat her brother's murderer to death. The mere picture of Takemichi in Keisuke's position when Kazutora stabbed him was too much. "And Baji was killed too right in front of him," he tacked on. Chihiro clicked her tongue, "That's not fair Draken." Draken shrugged, "I know you would do the same thing in Mikey's position, Chi. You've always been overprotective of him. We used to call you Takemichy's Guard Dog." Chihiro glared at the nickname, 'How stupid?!'

"How could Kazutora have killed Baji?" Takemichi asked. Draken vaguely told him, "You saw it with your own eyes, Takemichy." Just then an image flashed in Chihiro's mind. She was standing off to the side close to Mitsuya, staring at a bloody Mikey. He was standing over a dead Kazutora. She was a bit confused as to why she was able to see this. Aside from her knowledge of the story she never had flashes of memories like this before. Sometimes, Chihiro wasn't even sure of what to do. The three left the prison, and Takemichi was staring at the ground, dejected.

They had only walked a few steps away from the prison when Takemichi spoke up, "The Mikey I know, would never have killed anyone. I know this. I believe in him. But when Draken was talking to me, I could see what he was talking about. I kept getting glimpses. I have no idea why I'm seeing these things, but my head is just filling up with memories I shouldn't even have. Baji's body is on the ground, Kazutora's on the ground, and Mikey's covered in blood. I have no idea if all these images are even real. But after seeing the devastated look on Mikey's face, I know, I know I just have to save Mikey." Hearing the desperation in his voice hurt her heart. She placed a hand on her brother's shoulder, "Well do all we can to make sure that doesn't happen." Takemichi grasped her hand tightly, sobbing like the crybaby he was. "Oh Takemichi," Naoto sighs.

When Takemichi calms down they proceed to Naoto's apartment. Hibiki is already waiting since Naoto always had the forethought to call her. Naoto explains the events of Bloody Halloween and how it resulted in Toman's defeat because Mikey ended up murdering Kazutora. They were right to assume that Kisaki was behind it all. The smug bastard was behind most of the things that happened at the beginning of the story towards the middle. Many things shouldn't have happened that did. "So we have to save Baji. And then Mikey won't have to make this huge mistake," Takemichi concluded.

"My past self won't like this one bit," Hibiki sighed. Chihiro gives a small smile, "I'm sure you won't be. Hopefully, it doesn't lead us into butting heads." Hibiki nodded with a frown, "I already didn't like the idea of joining the gang to begin with." Takemichi stood up, placing an arm around Chihiro's shoulder, "I promise I won't let anything happen to Chihiro on my watch." The two girls blink a couple of times before bursting out into laughter. Even Naoto was fighting a grin.

"Hey, what's so funny?!" he demanded. "Take, you can't fight worth a damn," Chihiro laughed. Hibiki was wiping tears, "All you're good at is getting back up again to get your ass kicked again." Takemichi frowned, sighing, "Come on..." After things calm down Naoto left the two with a new goal of protecting Keisuke Baji. With that the two return to the past. When Chihiro returned to her body she was sitting on a park bench with Kakucho sitting beside her. "So what do you think?" he asked.

Chihiro blinked confused, "Huh?" Kakcuho has a small smile on his face, "Spaced out again?" Chihiro turned red, nodding dumbly, "Y-yeah." Kakucho laughed, "I can't begin to imagine what's going on in that head of yours." Chihiro honestly didn't know either. "So, what were you asking about?" she asked. Kakucho leaned back on the bench, "About the movie we just saw. What did you think?"

Chihiro tried to pry some memories from her mind to figure out just what the hell they saw. She took a sip of her soda so she could properly think before responding. As Chihiro tried to pool from her memories she saw a vague flash of a movie theater. She managed to spot a scene from the movie Howl's Moving Castle before the memory slipped away. Chihiro remembered watching this movie in her past life. It was one of her favorite Studio Ghibli movies. "I loved it," she beamed.

Kakucho looked like he was holding in a laugh. Chihiro frowned, "What?" Kakucho shook his head as more images of Chihiro's childlike expression as she watched the movie flashed in his mind. He couldn't help it, 'She looked so cute I can't stand it!' "What's wrong?" she pressed, starting to get annoyed. "It's nothing really," he cleared his throat. Chihiro's cheeks puffed out, "Liar!" Kakucho pushed one of her puffed-out cheeks, "I just loved how much you loved the movie."

Chihiro felt her face get hotter, "Then say that next time." Kakucho chuckled, "I promise." The two left the park and began walking in the direction of her house. What the couple didn't know was that they were being watched. In an alley near the park, the Haitani brothers were present. The two had become curious the longer Kakucho hung around Chihiro. "I think Kakucho might be serious about this girl," Rindou mused. "He has good taste," Ran smirked.

Rindou gives him an incredulous look, "If she's too young for me she'd be too young for too?!" Ran chose to ignore his brother's words, not feeling like beating the shit out of him. It was getting late and he wanted to be back in bed yesterday. "I wonder if Izana knows," Rindou hummed as they went in the direction of their house.

*Elsewhere*

Izana sat on a random bench with a distant look in his eye. His hair was overgrown and his beard was unkempt. He had bags under his eyes and he smelled badly. He rarely went to the small apartment he shared with Kakucho. Kakucho would normally find him to make sure he at least ate a decent amount. With the loss of Shinichiro, he felt like his life was crashing down. No matter what Kakucho said he just couldn't shake this blackness in his heart.

He didn't even notice Kakucho until he knelt in front of him. "Izana, please let's go home," he pleaded with him. Izana noticed something off about his scent. A sweet pea and raspberry scent seemed to be coming off his clothes. He knew that Kakucho would never wear such a scent. "Who were you just with?" Izana muttered. Kakucho is hesitant to answer.

Izana had an inkling of who the scent belonged to. "It's that girl isn't it," he stated. Kakucho doesn't meet his gaze, "I...I was spending some time with Chihiro earlier." Izana felt a pang of jealousy settle in his stomach, "How many times?" Kakucho gave him a confused look, "Huh?" Izana stared coldly at him, "How many times have you seen her?" Kakucho again was hesitant to answer him.

"Tell me," he demanded. Kakucho sighed, "This is the third time." Izana was at a loss for words. In the time he hadn't been with Kakucho he spent time with that girl. 'I still remember that girl's studpid bunny pattern yukata and her dumb braids,' he thought bitterly.

*Hanagaki Residence*

Chihiro sat at her desk undoing her braids leaving her hair wavy. "The fight is going to be soon," she muttered to herself. Chihiro would really be put to the test in this fight.