As Seiji walked, he tried to think up what he would say. He needed to say something. The years it had been since the last time he saw her made it difficult for him to know what to say. It wasn’t as though a simple ‘Hey’ was going to work. She left them because she had become fed up with everything. Their grandfather was too rigid and old fashioned and their father too capricious. Seiji knew how she must have felt. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have the same thoughts.

Even having the same thoughts, he wasn’t sure why he never acted on them. He hated dealing with their old man every day. All of the rules and structure weren’t things for him. The man was too dead set on things going only his way. It made Seiji wonder how their grandmother ever could come to love such a man. He was impossible to deal with. Yet maybe, he wasn’t so stubborn anymore. Maybe the new reality changed him as it did the others, just in a different way. Seiji didn’t know. Though he wondered, he didn’t really care about it too much. He had his own problems.

The most immediate one stood in front of him. ‘This is the place…what do I say?’ It was the biggest question he had in front of himself, before even talking. He didn’t even know what he should open with. He had lost track of the years. ‘Will I still remember her? Will she remember me?’ The question built into worry, something that shouldn’t have even been a concern for him.

Seiji had an unusual feeling nestled in his stomach. Everything he was used to doing was impulsive. He acted. He didn’t think about the situation or consequences. It didn’t matter to him. It was better to act and regret the act rather than not act and regret doing nothing. He lived in the moment as a true man should.

At least that was what he believed.

However, a true man wouldn’t just stand in hesitation before the stairs. He should already be walking forward, but his legs were shaking. ‘Why…am I afraid?’ It was a feeling that he couldn’t put clearly into words. It seemed too simple and yet it was all he had. He didn’t know why, but he felt a little afraid for some reason. Mixed in with it were worries and doubts, but he was afraid.

There was an odd certainty about it. None of it made any sense, but he was positive. He just couldn’t explain it even to himself. The fact that he couldn’t understand it himself only multiplied the feeling, as if feeding on his doubts.

“Dammit, man!” Seiji rammed his fist into his cheek with enough force that it made the wood of the apartment groan. “Get it together!” Lowering his hand down, a red mark remained where he knocked some sense into him.

All of the questions just fell out of his mind. It was empty. The way he preferred it. Seiji marched up the stairs to the destination. Though he cleared out the blockage in his mind, it seemed to start returning. And it was growing even stronger the closer he got. ‘Dammit, hold it together.’

Any sort of encouragement had little effect on his tidal wave of emotions. Nearly every part of his body seemed to be shaking as if someone was throttling a tree for an apple to fall. It made one of his steps miss and knocked him on his face. ‘Why am I falling apart like this?! This isn’t me! You’re better than this Seiji! You decided that you were going to do it so stop it!’ Another whack from his reliable fist pushed him forward again.

The spell wouldn’t last for long, but it got him the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the moment that he came to a stop in front of the door the feeling crashed into him like a ten-meter tall tsunami. It wanted to drag him away. His feet almost seemed willing to accept it. Only his stubborn determination to see it through held him in place, a few more punches kept him still. He was going to be black and blue before he even spoke to her.

It seemed to take everything in him just to get his hand to the door to knock. Measuring his strength carefully, he didn’t want to smash it down with his strength. Initially, almost non-existent, the second try was better if not a little too strong.

He waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

Another knock. Nothing once more. Knock a third time and same.

‘Is she at work maybe? It is the afternoon now.’ He tried again, finally having the strength. He couldn’t stop anymore. He committed to it. ‘I can’t have wasted all of this effort on nothing…’ Further attempts failed too. However, he just didn’t want to walk away. “Umm…” Seiji hesitated, trying to figure out his words, “It’s me, Seiji…mom…”

He waited. A distant noise from inside the apartment leaked to his ears. ‘Is that her? She heard me?’ The waiting to see her became almost unbearable for him. He just kept hearing her moving closer. However, the feeling came back the strongest he had felt and worse it seemed to be multiplying with each second that passed.

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It paralyzed him on the spot. Everything came into question. ‘Should I be here? She left us. Did she even want to see me? Is she just going to yell at me?’ Seiji couldn’t think straight. All he felt now was fear. It was no longer anything so peaceful or calming like a wash or a wave, even a tsunami. It was an oppressive depth trapped at the bottom of an ocean.

All he could think about was one thing anymore.

Run.

It didn’t make any sense, but in the next moment he had disappeared from the threshold. His legs took over command. He couldn’t stop running. His heart pounded harder than he had ever known. It was worse than running until his muscles fell apart. He really thought it was going to jump out of his chest. It hurt.

The door opened to the apartment revealing a middle-aged woman with completely disheveled light brown hair and an oversized pale blue shirt with sweatpants. Her eyes looked almost completely bloodshot with heavy lines.

She looked around the hall seeing nothing. A thought seemed to pass through her. She ground her teeth. “…tch…” The door closed quickly with a harsh slam.

Chapter 301 – Regretted Outcome

Quickly, earth fell down behind him from the collapse. Everything was closed off. There was no longer a base. No longer a chance to save anyone. They could only move forward. In the wake of the explosions and quakes, silence accompanied everyone. No one had anything to say. Nothing to encourage in the face of more losses.

Hiroshi held the rear position watching everyone ahead of him. His eyes especially focused on Miyako. ‘Those men were more than just friends or gang members for her…they were family…’ Killing friends and familiar faces was something he grew accustomed to doing. Most of them had, but Miyako never had to face it.

He thought back to their first meeting. They had been on patrol in the neighborhood after their successful counterattack. Everyone was feeling more confident. Even he had a bit of a grin on his face feeling good that they could take the city back and end the nightmare. ‘…maybe I can go back to being a student now…’

However, thinking about such hopeful dreams had to wait. Tatsuya dropped into his side, having taken point. “Trouble, Hiroshi.” All of his team came to a halt waiting on orders. Their familiar paranoia pulled in their ranks tightly to protect Hiroshi and monitor all angles.

Hiroshi scanned in the direction that Tatsuya came from. ‘Smoke? A fight…or worse…’ He tilted his head over to Tatsuya. “What’s happening?”

“Looks like the Takako Faction found some non-aligned.”

A chill went up his spine. It only meant one of two things. They had seen it far too often. Hiroshi hated how good he had become at digging graves. “An extermination squad?” Tatsuya nodded in agreement. Everyone looked back at Hiroshi with a conflicted expression baked into their face. The same one he hid from them. ‘I know how they feel. But there’s no choice.’ He stiffened his back and focused on the team. “We’re going to rescue them! I won’t allow innocents to die in my city!”

The conflicted looks disappeared immediately as they filled with Hiroshi’s resolve. They all were ready. Hiroshi nodded pleased to their acceptance. He was hardly anyone to give commands as if they were a military, even though that was how they all saw it. “Tatsuya split off with half the team and flank around to the west. We’ll get them in a pincer attack. Be swift and don’t hesitate.”

“I know, Hiroshi. I won’t this time.” Tatsuya ran off with his group, already knowing to follow. They had all worked together long enough to understand the orders without specifics.

Hiroshi arrived first at the scene, which only made it worse for him. He had to wait on the positioning knowing that people were being injured or killed while they held. It wasn’t easy for any of them, but surprise and swift action was important.

Once he saw the signal from Tatsuya’s group, they charged in together. Distracted with their killing orders, Takako’s squad didn’t see them coming until it was too late. Their first volley killed most of them without even needing to close. It was the best way. Once alerted, they had to close to mop up the rest.

The charge quickly swept through the remaining numbers. It was all over in only a minute. The way he preferred. Unfortunately, one still survived with a grave wound. The chaos left the girl missed by everyone. Hiroshi noticed though. He saw the murder in her eyes. It was the only emotion she had. ‘Okano…Class 2-B…damn…’ Pulling out a dagger from a belt hidden against his back, he quickly stabbed the blade through her heart. He watched the life slowly drain away from her eyes. ‘…this is why I prefer killing them all at a distance…’

Keeping himself together, Hiroshi wiped away the blood and sheathed it back before turning to meet those that they saved. He saw Tatsuya already giving aid to those injured. However, there was one that kept standing, refusing them all. She looked worse than all of them, soaked in her own blood. ‘She’s been holding them back almost entirely alone, protecting all of these people…who is she?’

Hiroshi approached her, but slowed his pace when she noticed them. He could see how tense she looked. She was still caught up in the fight, her mind completely locked up. “Hiroshi Kuroda, we are friends.” Nothing seemed to register with her. He tried to approach and she reflexively launched into an attack.

His power activated quickly to bring her to a stop. It was the safest of the options he had to deal with her. The rest weren’t very well suited to anything but fighting. “The fight’s over. Everyone’s safe.”

“…fight…safe…protect…”

“Yes, you protected everyone. They’re still alive, hurt, but alive.”

“…safe?”

“That’s right.”

“…protect…” The woman collapsed almost immediately. He could see the look of relief on her face before she hit the dirt. It was a wonder she managed to stay standing for so long. Blood quickly started to pool around her.

‘…they’re like family to her, no one more important…and now…’ Hiroshi respected the fierce loyalty that they shared with each other. It made them strong and capable. He could trust them with anything knowing that they could succeed. ‘…how will she handle this…’

* * *

The deep buried remains of the Resistance base had become a crater. The entire underground filled in as the ground fell in. More than a hundred meters of earth buried the entire thing. A whole block was taken out just to deal with Takako’s men.

Smoke rose up from the settling blast site. Nothing moved.

Light suddenly pierced through large chunks of earth. Waves of stone and earth moved, starting to hover. Pushing up more and more debris rose into the air eventually revealing a purple barrier. Once enough rubble was removed the barrier came down.

Inside, Yumi, Saki and Fumiko stared at their surroundings unfazed. Those alive still grouped around Yumi awaiting her orders. “Mission complete, return to the school. The Resistance is shattered, we can now move forward with our next plans.”