Chapter Text
"...Emma-chan is a girl."
Kisaki frowned, and nodded his head, "I am aware."
"Okay, so you're telling me that Mikey's sister Emma is a gang-leader in Kanagawa?"
"No, Mikey's brother is the one that owns Tenjiku."
"Mikey's brother is dead."
Kisaki stared at him and then stressed out again, "his other brother."
"And I'm telling you, his sister, Emma!"
And then slowly, Kisaki turned his exhausted gaze to Hanma, who was too busy laughing to say anything.
"Stop laughing and help me," he hissed out at the older teen who waved back at him.
"You're doing great," he said, mouthful of the chocolate pudding that Kisaki bought. "Oi, Takemitchy, give me a bite if you're not going to eat that," he said, pointing his spoon at Hanagaki's strawberry parfait, also purchased by Kisaki.
"Lay off!" Hanagaki scowled at him, but pushed the dessert towards him. "One bite. Don't eat the-"
Hanma immediately rushed for the strawberry, and Hanagaki gave a scandalized gasp. He stared at it, mourning the loss of the strawberry he was saving for last, and Kisaki tipped his head back with a long sigh. Both were mourning, but for different reasons.
And really, if Kisaki and Hanma really didn't want to be there, they wouldn't be. He wondered when Hanagaki would understand that. Tokyo Manji, for a long time now, was not the only gang that could support him and all of his bad decisions.
So when Kisaki heard that Tenjiku was trying to take Hanagaki, he made his move.
--
Hanagaki slowly looked around the warehouse. It was packed with people in long jacket, red like the sinking sun. Most of them were glaring at him, and the inkling feeling that he was not welcomed here was starting to build inside of him. His stomach churned. Being unwelcomed was not a new feeling for him, but it wasn't something he thrived in.
He knew what it meant when someone like him was at the center of attention.
"...Mucho-kun... this ... place has meatbuns?" he asked.
Mucho did not reply. Hanagaki did not expect him to. Mucho, looking at Hanagaki, wondered if he was so stupid that he didn't realize that someone betrayed him. Or perhaps, this was how he looked when someone betrayed him.
Hanagaki smiled at the ground. It was a small, pitiful thing, that looked strange on the guy that jumped into a losing fight to get back someone's old treasure.
He lifted his chin, and Mucho thought that Hanagaki was powerful.
"... If you're here because you think Mikey cares about me, it's because I happened to help his sister a few days ago," he announced, at once letting Mucho know that he was, in fact, a colossal idiot.
But Hanagaki, who knew something none of them did, was more than aware of his place. He lifted his hands up and gave a shrug. Anyone with eyes could see his his hands trembled.
"You pulled a dupe." And then he looked at Mucho from the corner of his eye. Did Mucho try to pull a fast one on them? Was he also here because he didn't want to be?
Then, Hanagaki wondered if both of them were going to die here together. He supposed things could be worse. He died alone before. It was sort of a blur, and at the time, he was a little grateful for it.
"...Takemichi," Kakucho stepped forward. "We made Mucho bring you here so we can recruit you."
"Huh?"
"Join Tenjiku."
"No," Hanagaki immediately replied, lifting his hand and shaking his head. And then, the words really started to sink in so he then prompted, "And you know, I'm super weak, right? Why would you even want me?"
Kakucho stared at him, shocked and surprised like he wasn't the one called out for meatbuns and then brought to a gang recruitment, and then spluttered out, "You didn't even think about it!"
"What's there to think about?" Hanagaki replied, a frown on his face. "I'm not like you, Kaku-chan. I know how to use my brain."
"Don't lie to me!" Kakucho snapped right back, his face turning an alarming shade of red. "There's not a goddamn braincell between those two ears!"
"And if we're done," Hanagaki turned back to Mucho, tried to ignore how the warning bells in his head rang and tried not to stare at how expressionless Mucho looked, when he was used to seeing a tired grin on his face, "Meatbuns? Like promised?"
"...I'm leaving Manji for Tenjiku," Mucho announced. "I serve one king."
"You promised me meatbuns," Hanagaki replied, the less he knew and understood about gang politics, the better. Meabuts, on the other hand, were a matter of life and death to a teenage boy. "I don't care about your affiliations."
"Fucking shit, Hanagaki, you can't be that stupid!" Mucho shouted out, and Kakucho made a wild motion with his arms like he was happy someone finally agreed with him. "Come with us! Join us! If not, you'll be our first Manji victim."
Hanagaki stared at him, then Kakucho, who furrowed his brows. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. Hanagaki's bottom lip trembled, and he gulped. Palms sweaty, he closed his hands into fists and hoped that no one could hear how fast his heart was going. Breath picking up, his eyes locked with Kakucho and gave him a wide grin.
He was an idiot. And idiot omegas always got what was coming for them. When did he forget that? Surrounded and out-numbered, Hanagaki was an idiot but even he knew what this meant.
If there was only one ending, then Hanagaki just wanted the ability to say that he chose when. Between a painful death and a painless one, the choice was probably obvious to everyone but Hanagaki. He was way in over his head, and he knew that, but he wanted it. He wanted it to all end on his terms.
This time, he'd die as Hanagaki Takemichi. Still Manji's, yes, but it wasn't the same as before.
"Kaku-chan," he said, looking at his old friend, and willed himself to keep his voice steady, "Are you still a sore loser?"
The death that he earned, he told himself, would be painful, excruciating, and all his.
--
"You're going to end up bald if you keep worrying like that," Yamagishi said. "Everything's going to be fine! Our Takemichi is stupid, but even he wouldn't just rush in to die!" He gave Sendo a wide grin, "After all, he runs in to save someone, you know?"
Sendo paused for a second, and then sighed.
"I know," he called bac, and then shrugged. "I'm just worried."
"You're worried? I'm more worried."
"Yeah?" Sendo gave him a small smile. "What are you worried about? Your failing grades?"
"Shut up!" Yamagishi scowled at him, "You sound like my mom!"
Sendo rolled his eyes.
"But like, when you and Takemichi present as alphas," he said, "isn't that going to destroy our friend group?"
And at that, Sendo actually laughed. "Have you even met Takemichi?" he asked. "Of course, he'll be my alpha, too."
Yamagishi stared at him with wide eyes, and slowly, his lips curled up into a wide grin.
"Yeah? You think if Takuya and I are omegas, you're going to look after us? Eek, don't fight over me!"
"Shut up," Sendo shoved him playfully, "Takemichi can have you."
"What? I'm a fine catch, I'll have you know!"
And even though Sendo's worries remained strong and heavy in his head, it wasn't the full focus of his mind in the moment. The next time he saw Hanagaki, maybe he'd make him bike them somewhere. They hadn't hung out, just the two of them, in a while.
--
Ran was bored.
Rindo knew because Rindo was just as bored. When Kakucho seemed so certain, so desperate about this Hanagaki Takemichi that had all of Tokyo abuzz, Rindo had thought that it meant that Hanagaki was actually strong. The memory of a guy chasing a truck down and screaming for the driver to wake up before it crashed into the cafe they were eating at was something he couldn't forget. He thought that there was going to be a decent fight, but instead, he got a one-sided beatdown where he watched a guy fight against his pain-tolerance to get up and take another hit from Kakucho.
It was, at best, boring to watch. It was painful too, but mainly in the sense that Rindo really wished they could have just left early. And well, Kakucho was clearly starting to waver. He wasn't pulling his punches, Rindo could tell, and that already spoke measures about Hanagaki.
However, it didn't change the fact that Rindo and his brother were bored. They were so fucking bored.
And then, as though the world heard their complaints, something behind them exploded. It wasn't like a cool explosion that he saw in movies and games, but something that shook the warehouse. It was a small rumble, and hardly anything of note. At the time, they didn't think anything of it.
"Is that all you can do? Bark?" Izana's voice was sharp, apparently, he was just as bored as Ran. The grin on his face was wide as he kicked Hanagaki from the back and sent him flying forward. With a smile, he grabbed the phone that fell and picked it up.
"Augh..." Hanagaki groaned as he slowly pushed himself up on his hands and knees. Blood oozed from his mouth, dripping down and around bruised skin. He didn't look great before he got here, but now he looked even worse.
"Well, well, well," Izana picked his phone up. "What's this?"
Hanagaki's head jerked up, and when he pushed up to his feet, staggered too hard and fell back over without closing the distance between him and Izana. Watching this, Kakucho's entire body jerked forward, but he stopped. Rindo felt like soap operas were less dramatic.
"My, could it be-"
And then the default ringtone, as though to prove to everyone even further what a basic and unstylish guy Hanagaki was, started to blare loudly.
"...What luck!" Izana laughed, a touch higher and more energetic than anything Rindo had ever heard him say. The wild gleam in his eyes was something else.
He clicked it, and after a few clicks, he lifted it up.
"Takemitchy! What are you doing? I'm fucking bored, and Mikey's driving me crazy. Mitsuya and I are going to meet up for a ride and some grub. You wanna come?"
Draken.
"Takemitchy? What's up? I swear to god if you picked up while sleeping again... Well, I'm like five minutes out so just be awake, okay?"
There was some silence.
"Fucking shit, Takemitchy!" Draken's annoyance could be heard through the line. "Wake up and answer me!"
"Flip phones have a speaker setting?" Hanagaki asked, confusion coloring his face.
"Huh? What did you say?" Draken yelled even louder in return.
"Hush now, Takemitchy," Izana called out, "I wouldn't want to break your jaw, too."
There was a tense silence before, "...Who the fuck is this?"
Realization sparked on Hanagaki's face, his eyes wide as he looked at Izana's smiling face.
And then, someone quietly whispered, "Hey, do you smell that?" but Rindo was too focused on the drama unfolding in front of him.
"Come now, Takemitchy, introduce us," Izana said, stepping forward. "Let's see how fast Manji will move for their First Division Captain."
"Hey, who the hell-"
Izana stomped down on Hanagaki's ankle. Something cracked and Hanagaki gave a sharp inhale. He did not, however, scream. Izana seemed delighted by the turn of events, and Ran shifted next to him. If they play their cards right, maybe they could have some fun after all. Rindo looked to Ran next to him, how his brother sat up a little, and then resigned himself to another day of watching Ran have the fun.
"Wow! You have a good pain tolerance, don't you?" Izana asked, delight caressing the manic gleam on his face. "Amazing! What about this?"
One foot stepped on his hand, pinning him where he was despite how much Hanagaki was wiggling and trying to escape. With a grin and skilled precision, Izana brought his foot up and smashed down again.
Hanagaki hissed, all the muscles and veins in his neck jumping, and he gave several coughs when Izana nodded his head in understanding.
"Tough guy, are all of Manji like you? Will you still be that tough if we got rid of all your fingernails and break all your limbs?"
Hanagaki looked up at him, and his lips twisted up, "Ha..." he panted hard, "Haa... I guess... there's only one way to find out." And then, he took a deep breath, "Draken-kun!" he shouted out, "I'm uh-busy right now! I-I'll catch up with you tomorrow!"
Ballsy guy, Rindo thought. Or perhaps extremely stupid.
"Takemitchy, shut the fuck up and tell me where you are!" the roar of a bike could be heard, just barely with the sound of Draken's yelling.
"This is perfect, isn't it? We're about an hour from where you guys are! And who knows, maybe he'll even be alive when you guys get here!" Izana shouted back, "Come quick!" He looked down at Hanagaki, "I'm going to take everything from Mikey, starting with you!"
He hung up, dropping the phone and breaking it with his foot before bringing it back down on his hand.
"Hm," he looked around to the executives around him. "How should we do this?"
And as he said that, the roof caved in. As it turned out, the warehouse that they were in was actually on fire.
--
Kokonoi squinted at the doorbell. He turned to Inui, who frowned back at him.
"He's not picking up," the blond said.
Kokonoi frowned, because he could see Hanagaki's bike. It was parked where it normally was, in his lawn, and the tarp wasn't even over it. He scowled, and hoped that the bike would quickly break down into nothing so Kokonoi could give him the motorbike he bought for him two weeks ago so that he would match Inui and him. Instead, they were standing in front of his house like idiots. No Hanagaki, but his bike was fine.
"Damn," Kokonoi replied, and even worse was the slump that overtook Inui's shoulders. He winced, he hated it when Inui got like this. "Well, uh, we can harass him tomorrow."
"...Okay," Inui said quietly, when his phone started to buzz like mad. He placed the phone to his ear. "Matsuno."
Kokonoi frowned. Concerning how things last ended between Inui and Hanemiya, he was shocked that the two didn't block each other's numbers. It made the worry deepen in his gut.
"He's not home. I'm in front of his house right now. I see his bike, but his mail is still here."
Inui turned to Kokonoi as he hung up.
"Tenjiku sent a letter of challenge to Manji," Inui told him, "They have Hanagaki."
Kokonoi covered his face with one hand, and slowly brought it down his face. "It would... literally kill him to stay out of trouble."
--
Panic was a strange thing.
It could completely take over the mind in an instant. Like fire. It spread faster than the eye could keep up, quick like it was racing against time, and left them with a bunch of teenagers in a mess of panic and fear.
A good majority of them ran off first. Somewhere in their head, the fight/flight reflex kicked in hard, and they scattered faster than the fire could catch up. The others who were closer to the back of the warehouse where the fire broke out had a harder time getting out. If that wasn't bad enough, one of the center support beams came crashing down.
At the end of the incident, the police report would neatly pen that the cause of the fire was a cigarette. Someone must have tossed their cigarette away without properly stubbing the end out, and a fire broke out when it caught the trash on fire. From there, it climbed through the abandoned warehouse, and the fire grew exponentially. Eventually, it hit some long forgotten gas tank in the back of storage, and the entire thing blew up.
The insignificant three paragraphs dedicated to this fire, on the back of the second page in the newspaper and dwarfed by all the other articles, would be easily forgotten to all but the people who were stuck between the gates of hell and.
A few were knocked out on impact, leaving several people laying limp as the fire grew around them. Flames smoked their lungs, and still, Hanagaki rolled over. He groaned and coughed miserably, fresh injuries eating into his flesh, but his eyes were bright as he focused. Opposite of the flames, he moved sluggishly onto his knees, and before he was even on his feet, shot off into the direction he was focused on.
Tackling a mess of metal beams, he grabbed the edges. He gritted his teeth harder as his fingers hissed and burned on contact, but he didn't let it go. Blood, from where Izana's foot mercilessly stomped on his hands until the fingernails tore off, ran sluggishly across his hands fingers before burning where they were.
And underneath the metal piece that used to support the ceiling, was Izana and Kakucho.
Kakucho was knocked unconscious, and Izana was over him. It was clear that Izana rushed to try and shield Kakucho from taking the brunt of the metal piece. A pool of blood was forming underneath the two, and Izana's arms trembled with the effort to keep himself and the metal beam up.
"G-get Kakucho out," he hissed out.
Hanagaki tried to lift the metal piece. It didn't budge. The nauseating stench of burning flesh packed his nose.
"G-Get Kakucho out!" Izana yelled it this time, wasting precious oxygen like it would make Hanagaki listen. "You-"
"We're getting out together!" Hanagaki shouted out.
"Listen to me!" Izana shouted back.
"No!"
It looked like Izana regretted not killing Hanagaki earlier.
"Why are you like this!?" he shouted out.
He couldn't lift his head, when his back was burning. The encroachment of death was a sensation that was so hot, it felt cold. In the face of it, his eyes flickered down to Kakucho, unconscious and useless. Anyone else, he reasoned, and he would have abandoned him.
Useless thoughts and old memories played in Izana's mind, like the first moments where he met Kakucho, and he felt like they were melting away from the heat of the fire.
All Hanagaki needed to do was drag Kakucho out. It was clear he didn't have any strength, but he was stupid enough to try and save them. Then, shouldn't he just grab the guy he knew and abandon Izana? It wasn't like Izana was anything special. It wasn't like Izana had ever done him a favor.
"Is it because I'm Mikey's brother?!" And his chest heaving, he desperately found the words he thought for certain would drive Hanagaki away, would teach Hanagaki that only Kakucho was worth saving here. "I'm not!" he shouted out, "I'm from-"
"Shut up!" Hanagaki shouted out. "If you got energy to yell, help me!" He briefly turned around. "Fucking, help me!" he shouted out.
And the other Tenjiku kids took a second to look at him, look at Izana, and then ran off without another word. Something cold flushed through Hanagaki's figure, and feeling the metal dig against his bones and flesh brought a sharp pain to force him back to focus.
"Shit, shit, shit!" he grunted out, but his arms and legs were trembling. He wasn't going to last at this rate. His eyes fell to Kakucho and Izana, and found it impossible to relax his hands.
"Just go!" Izana shouted again. He brought his fist up and punched Hanagaki on the foot. The younger teen flinched, but he didn't move. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Hanagaki and his burning body, however, did not leave the position where he was. His eyes were clenched shut, tears flooding his eyes as smoke and fear gripped his heart. Further behind, he could see that the windows of the warehouse had shattered open. The brief reprieve of night air stoked the flames higher. The sound of other metal beams creaking and bending accompanied the crackling of fire, like they were all having a good laugh at their misfortune.
Izana's eyes trailed down to Kakucho, who was finally starting to wake up. He needed to get out. Desperation was a strange thing for Izana to feel, when he was someone on his way to building his own empire. It made him feel young, like he was back there, small and abandoned in the care of an orphanage by a woman that wore too much make-up.
And under the crackle of fire, Izana's voice was so quiet that it felt like a dream. From chapped lips, he spoke like he didn't want this to be his last words, but he also didn't want this to be his last words.
"I don't deserve to live," he whispered.
"Well fuck," Hanagaki looked down at him and had the audacity to actually grin back at him. Izana craned his neck up, as best as he could to look at Hanagaki. He looked exhausted, blood running down his neck and fresh bruises and burns decorating his features. In the moments closest to death, he looked like life itself. "We do have something in common."
"You're wasting your life!" Izana shouted out. Where did Mikey even find a guy like this? "I-I'm nothing! I have nothing! No one ever wanted me! So just go! You're just trying to-"
"It's not a waste!" Hanagaki screamed out, despite how quickly oxygen was burning away. He gritted his teeth, hands burning and aching but he didn't dare let go of the metal piece on top of Izana. Unable to see Izana's face, he wasn't even sure if his words were getting to him. Still, there were words that he lodged off his heart and belted them out, like he was competing with the fire on what could really roar. "We don't choose to be born! Our lives aren't a waste! We aren't born to be used! We-" and he coughed but managed to stick his leg underneath the thing. The smell of burning flesh and the hissing touch burst out, but Hanagaki would not stop.
Hanagaki wasn't done yet. If he had to earn his death, if he had to earn their lives, he'd bleed and burn for it. It meant that much to him.
Something to their left, where Hanagaki didn't even have the strength to turn his head, crashed down and he could hear someone scream. He hoped, that of all the people who had phones, someone would call the fire department. And an ambulance. Maybe six.
"We have the rest of our lives to prove that it wasn't a waste!"
Blood ran down from his temple, but the bruised-swollen face of Hanagaki looked like the furthest thing from death.
"I'm going to save you!" he yelled out. "So shut up and be saved!"
Under roaring flames and an oppressive heat, Izana felt something he didn't realize he could still feel.
"Takemitchy!"
Hanagaki picked his head up for a brief second, "Mucho-kun!" he shouted back, "Help me!"
"Fuck," Mucho took his jacket off, wrapping his hands before coming to grab the metal piece. He hissed, but didn't complain when the pain settled in. He pushed and strained, and the metal piece picked up a little. He coughed hard, probably from how he was running around and looking for them, but still, he came running here. "Izana, you alive?"
The support of a single person lifted the burden off of Izana's back.
"Somehow," Izana's voice was small, weak, un-Izana-like.
"C-Can you hold it?" Hanagaki yelled over the fire to Mucho, and trying not to cough even as the smoke ticked his lungs and throat. "We gotta pull them out."
"F-for a little bit-" Mucho stuttered. The metal piece groaned, leaning further against them, and they all groaned.
They weren't going to last. The fire encroached closer.
"Mucho! Izana! Kakucho!"
And to Hanagaki's other side, Mochi came running.
"Fuck, it's hot!" he rasped out, but he didn't shy from bracing his shoulder against the metal and pushing upwards as best he could. His eyes fell to Hanagaki's bare hands on the metal piece before he gritted his teeth tightly shut.
"Lift!" Mucho shouted back.
"Lift!" Hanagaki yelled out. He stuffed his shoulder underneath the metal thing, uncaring how it burned right through his shirt and he tried to figure out how he was going to drag out two guys heavier than him when he couldn't even feel his fingers.
"We got them!" Rindo came next, slightly behind Ran as they grabbed Izana and Kakucho each.
Tears sprang up to Hanagaki's eyes.
"Hello, Captain," Ran said, his smile looking more like a grimace as he grabbed Izana and dragged him out. "Lovely day for a fire."
Izana stared at them for a moment longer, not even caring that Ran was hefting him on his back, and Rindo complaining that Kakucho really needed to lay off the burgers. At once, Mucho, Mochi, and Hanagaki dropped the metal piece, and when Hanagaki stumbled backwards, Shion came to grab him.
"This doesn't mean anything," Shion told him, steadying him on his feet, but Hanagaki was having a hard time keeping his consciousness.
"We need to move!" Mucho shouted out.
Unable to tell left from right and up from down, Hanagaki could barely move on foot in front of the other. He couldn't, and when he tripped, he laid there. Smoke packed his lungs. His entire body felt numb. The sound of the laughing fire, as it crackled and popped, sounded much further away.
Closing his eyes, Hanagaki felt like his life wasn't a waste.