The car the girls were being held in slowly pulled up outside of Towa’s gang’s hideout. Towa slowly turned around and smiled at the two girls in the back seat. Mio shuddered at his fake smile that was underneath the white half mask he had on his face. Mio stared at his face curiously. For some reason she felt that she knew the person behind the mask. She didn’t get a good look at his face in the beginning but now that the car had stopped, she couldn’t help but notice something. She asked “Do I know you?”

Towa’s smile slightly faded as he replied in a fake voice. “You will find out soon enough. Now get out of the car and play nice. We don’t want to have to hurt you.”

Mio glared at him as he stepped out of the car. She was grabbed on the left arm and pulled out of the car by the boy sitting next to her. Ren was pulled out of the opposite side of the car. Mio was still glaring at the man in the mask. Ren was still crying her eyes out as she was pulled from the car. Mio turned and looked at her friend on the other side of the car and sighed. She thought to herself. “I hope he gets here soon.” Mio and Ren were led into the dark building that seemed to be abandoned just behind the boy in the mask.

As Towa entered the building confidently, he started to feel that something was off. He entered into the dimly lit room and stared at the figure sitting confidently in the dark. Mio, Ren and the other three entered directly after him. They all were staring at the person sitting in the chair. Towa frowned and glared at the person sitting there. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

The mysterious figure before him stood up slowly but stayed where he was. “You know I would have thought you had learned your lesson last time Murata.”

Mio’s eyes widened as she heard Towa’s name. She raised her voice in a questioning manner. “Towa?”

Towa started to laugh. “Well, I guess my cover is blown. It wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyways. But I still don’t know who you are.”

Eizan chuckled coldly. “You should be able to figure it out pretty easily. After all, you just stole something precious from me.”

Towa turned his head and look at Mio. He then turned his head back towards Eizan and frowned. “Hashimoto. You got here faster than I would have imagined. But don’t you think it’s rather foolish to come here alone?”

Eizan laughed as he stepped forward a few steps. “I think I will be fine.”

“Do you think you will be able to take the all four of us?”

Eizan took another few steps forward. Mio could now see his face clearly. She was surprised because she had never seen him make this face before. Eizan’s eyes and face had a cold ruthless look she had never seen before. She muttered to herself. “Eizan.”

As he took a few steps forward and was a few steps away from Towa he turned and smiled softly at Mio. “It’s going to be ok. This will only take a minute and we will be heading home.”

Towa scoffed at his comment. “You think your going to be able to leave this place?”

Eizan face returned back to it’s previous look as he gazed back at Towa. “That’s a nice mask. Do you plan to attend a masquerade ball in prison?”

The four boys all frowned. Towa started to laugh. “Did you call the cops?”

Eizan shook his head. “I really didn’t need to.”

Mio was staring at Eizan. “Eizan. Don’t kill him.” Eizan turned and gave her a fake smile. Mio could tell it was fake, but she hoped he was listening.

“I will try not to. I’m sure you would be upset if I did.” Right as he finished his sentence he burst forward and grabbed Towa by the neck. He slammed him to the ground as hard as he could taking Towa’s breath away as he hit the ground. His mask flew off and skidded across the ground. Towa’s eyes widened because he didn’t know what just happened. All he could see is a fist headed towards his face. His world turned dark in an instant as he lost consciousness. Towa’s goons all stepped forward. The closest one yelled at him. “You bastard. He’s our meal ticket.”

The three them charged at Eizan who was still holding Towa’s neck. Eizan stepped back hurriedly as the approached him. He glared at them. “Did you really think I was alone?”

Their eyes widened as they got closer. All of a sudden, the boy on the left was kicked by the handsome man who was with Eizan and were knocked into the other two. They stumbled into each other and fell. Ome ran over two the two girls as this happened. Eizan stepped towards the three idiots who were laying on the ground and spoke. “It would be smart to stay down.”

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Mio was still in shock and was staring at the scene in front of her. She looked down at her childhood friend who was laying on the floor. She hoped he was still breathing but she couldn’t tell. Eizan slowly approached her and his cold expression changed into a small mischievous smile. “Did you miss me?”

She ran up and embraced him. She buried her head in his chest. She looked up at him with a pouty look. “It took you long enough.”

Eizan’s eyes widened and he started to giggle. “Don’t you think you’re being a little demanding?”

Mio buried her head in his chest and started to shake it back and forth. Eizan glanced at the couple in front of him and smiled. Ome was hugging Ren as she bawled her eyes out. Ome was rubbing her back and whispering comforting words to her. He heard a small groan behind him and turned to see Murata slowly regaining consciousness. He whispered to Mio. “I need you to let go for a minute. There is something I need to take care of.”

She looked up at him with a weird expression on her face. “Please don’t do anything.”

He sighed. “Don’t worry it will take him a minute to figure out what happened. I’m just going to make a phone call.” She nodded as she separated herself from him. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and called someone. “It’s ok to come inside now.” Right after he said this, six large men burst through the door and the lights flipped on slightly blinding everyone in the room for a few seconds.

Mio gazed around the room taking in the scene around her and was stunned when she saw them. She then turned back towards Eizan and frowned. “If they were here, why did you put yourself in danger?”

Eizan smiled as he pulled her back into his embrace. “How could I play the hero if I just sat on the sidelines?”

She started to hit him in the chest as she blushed. “Dummy.” She was upset about him taking the risk but she couldn’t help but be a little happy. “You could have gotten hurt.”

Eizan shook his head. “I don’t think I could have been hurt with the other two here. Believe it or not Ome is a great fighter.” He then looked over at the man guarding the three boys. “And that guy over there is someone my grandfather hired to follow me. I’m sure he has the proper training for this situation. Besides…” He patted the top of her head softly. “I would like to think I could have handled them all myself.”

She hit him in the chest again. “For someone so smart you sure do stupid things sometimes.”

“Ehem.” Eizan turned his head to look at the man behind him holding an angry looking Murta. Murata was glaring at the couple in front of him hatefully. “What do you want us to do with them?”

Eizan looked down at Mio and then back at Murata. “Take them to the police. I’m sure at least one of you is law enforcement.”

The man nodded and was about to take Murata away. From his chest Eizan heard Mio’s small voice. “Wait.” The man holding him stopped and stared at her. She separated herself from Eizan.

He looked down at her with a small frown. “What do you want us to do.”

Mio shook her head. “I agree to your decision. They should have to deal with the consequences of their actions. I just have something to say to him.”

Mio walked towards her old childhood friend. She was glaring at him as she approached with a frown on her face. She was surprised as she looked at him how unrecognizable he was to her in his current state. She just couldn’t wrap her head around his actions at all. “Towa, what the hell are you doing? You could have had a good life. You’re smart, funny, and attractive. I know you fell in love with me but don’t you think you could have moved on? How could you do such a thing? You’re going to break your mother’s heart. She’s barely recovering in the hospital. Doing this is going to break her mentally. At least explain it to me.”

Towa’s eyes widened as he heard her speak. He looked down at the floor without saying a word for a few seconds. He looked up at Mio and was surprised by the look on her face. It was a look of disappointment more than anger. “I just couldn’t move on after that bastard took you away from me. The hell with anything else. All I ever wanted was you. I have loved you for years. Why won’t you love me?” Tears started to stream down his face. Mio frowned and took a step forward. SMACK. The sound of Mio slapping a surprised Murata across the face echoed through the mostly empty room. Murata tears stopped as he looked surprised. “Y-y-you smacked me.” He stuttered.

Mio frowned. “You kidnapped me with who knows what kind of intentions. It certainly didn’t seem like you had a pleasant time arranged for us. It sounded like you were bringing us back her to have your way with us. I thought l was going to be raped by some delinquent thugs. I would have never been able to deal with the mental blow.” Mio swiftly kicked him in his family jewels dropping Towa to his knees as he gasped for air. “Towa, I hate you. I never want to see you again. I hope you rot in prison for a few years and think about what you have really done here today.” She immediately turned. As she turned around the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She was having a hard time dealing with this situation. Originally, she thought that she had only gotten caught up in random gang activity. But after realizing that this whole incident was because of her childhood friend she started to break down. She felt like she had just lost a dear friend. Yes, she hated him now. But it was still a huge blow to her mental fortitude.

Eizan sighed as he gazed at her crying face. He realized the trauma she had just had was catching up to her. He had experienced this before. He opened his arms and embraced her as she started to cry. She basically went limp in his arms. He slowly lifted her up and as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He started to walk towards the door and gazed at Ren and Ome who were staring wide eyed at the whole scene in front of them. Eizan looked over at the pair that was still on the ground. “Let’s go. We need to get them out of here.”

Ome looked at him and nodded. He helped Ren off the ground. She looked up at him expectantly. Ome smiled. “Would you like me to carry you?” Ren nodded and blushed. “As you wish.” She gasped as he lifted her into a princess carry and she buried her head into his chest.