Your head felt heavy. Finally, you open your eyes. You blink a few times, clearing your vision. You looked down and you were tied to a chair.

Wait... Where am I?

"Someone's awake," you quickly look up. You met with Kisaki Tetta's eyes. He looked down at you. Behind him was Izana as well as other men from Tenjiku. Seeing both Kisaki and Izana made your blood boil. You try your hardest to pull your arms out of the rope. The chair wobbles as your attempts get more aggressive.

"There's no use, [L/N] [F/N]," Kisaki tells you. How does he know your full name? "I know what you are, Kisaki!" You yell, still trying to get yourself out of the rope. "Whatever you're planning won't work!"

He raises a brow at you, "Yeah?" Kisaki walks closer to you. Stepping his foot on one of your thighs, leaning closer to your face. As to threaten you. You raised your head, unfazed.

Kisaki laughs at your face. "Who are you acting tough for? Mikey isn't here to save you," he mocks.

"And what about you?" You question back, "Are you acting tough? Perhaps to make up for the lack of strength you have?"

Kisaki slaps you across the face. He pulls you by the hair, forcing you to look back at him. You could tell your comment made him furious. That's what you wanted. "I don't want to hear that from a girl," Kisaki hisses, "You don't need physical strength to reach the top. You wouldn't know. You wouldn't understand."

You tried your best not to show how mad you were. Your eyes twitch and your mouth shakes. In the position you were put in, you were no match for Kisaki. Even without him, Izana and the rest of Tenjiku were still surrounded by you. "You're nothing but fish bait," Kisaki continues, "After what I plan to do tomorrow, you're being kept so that he shows up."

"Plan? What are you gonna do?" You ask. Kisaki tilts his head at you, "Wouldn't you like to know?" You started to move your arms again, pathetically attempting to get yourself out of the rope while Kisaki was hovering over you. "Desperate? How about we make a deal?" Kisaki grins.

A deal? With Kisaki? That can't be good.

"I'm not telling you anything about Mikey!" You shout. Kisaki seemed amused at your assumption. "Don't worry, nothing about him," he tells you. You stayed silent, waiting for him to speak again.

"I'll let you go," Kisaki says, "If..."

If what? What can he possibly gain from me? If he can see the future, he wouldn't need me for that... Unless he can't. But how would he have known? What can he possibly want from me that isn't related to Mikey?

"If you convince Tachibana Hinata to be with me instead."

Your eyes widened. Hina? He wants Hina?

"Like I'd hand her over to a creep like you!" You insult. Your anger took over, even more aggressively trying to get out of the rope. You wanted nothing but to beat him senseless. He's the one who gets Hina killed in every timeline.

Is this some sick revenge to get back at Takemichi in the past? Do they even know each other?!

Kisaki's eyes stare deep into yours. "It's that or Emma dies tomorrow."

"What kind of sick offer is that?! What's Hina or Emma have to do with any of this?!" You were in complete disbelief at what this boy was saying. "That's the original plan," Kisaki informs. "With Emma dead, Mikey will be weakened. We don't want Toman to forfeit the match though, we want him to show up. That's why you're here, to make sure he does."

Your breathing was rapid. You felt your face strain, your eyebrows daggering at Kisaki. "You sick bastard! You're doing all of this for what? Mikey's acknowledgement?! I hope he fucking kills you," you've never felt more anger in your life. So irrational too. You never thought you'd ever wish death upon someone until now.

Kisaki seemed amused at your reaction. "It's up to you to decide," he says, "Not a hard choice, really. You get to be freed and I get the girl that I love." You were disgusted, "You don't love her! You don't even know her!"

"What makes you think that?" He asks. You fell silent. "She's never mentioned you-"

"You never asked her, did you?" Kisaki interrupts. "Hina and I went to the same cram school in elementary. We even used to live in the same neighbourhood. She was the only one who spoke to me. The only one who cared."

Kisaki's expression switched with distaste, "It was going well 'til he showed up. That hero..."

You felt uneasy listening to him. If anything, this was just some crush. You couldn't think of any kind of chemistry they had. "She wouldn't stop talking about him... He was a loser! If she had only listened to me and not tried to protect that cat, they wouldn't have met...!"

Cat?

~

A friend and I were on our way home when we spotted a cat getting hurt by a bunch of older kids. They then tried to bully me, but Takemichi stopped them. Takemichi's my hero.

~

It was there. She mentioned Kisaki the very first time you and Hina met. You didn't care about the friend she mentioned being with her when she met Takemichi. It didn't matter before.

All those timelines he's killed Hina... Were probably because she rejected him herself. Kisaki didn't like that. Having some sort of 'if I can't have you, no one can' mentality. And constantly being one of Toman's tops? That must be to spite Takemichi. Everything he's done in the future was out of some sort of 'revenge' in his head. Kisaki's obsessed with both Hina and Takemichi.

"Well? What will it be?" You notice Kisaki calming himself down, asking you to make a choice from his offer. There was no way you could ever pick. That's like choosing who you'd rather save. Hina or Emma. It wasn't fair. And being tied up, you felt useless. You were just a bystander. Like you always were...

"Take me instead..." You say, Kisaki wasn't expecting that answer. You see him open his mouth, but you interrupt before he could try to talk.

"Take my life instead."

Kisaki was confused, "And what good would that do?" You look up at him, "You want Mikey to show up? Kill me. He'll definitely try to get revenge." Kisaki falls silent, thinking about it.

Izana claps, "How noble! Risking your life my little sister." You couldn't tell if you were hearing things or not, but who was Izana referring to? Emma? His little sister?

"How are we supposed to break the news to him when you die then?" Kisaki asked. Based on his wording, he seemed to have taken your offer.

"Use your head..." You answer, "I mean, it's what we're both good at." You started to chuckle.

You notice Kisaki's confusion and discomfort at your comparison between you both. It was exactly what you wanted. Catching him off guard.

Using the heels of your feet, you lift yourself up. Causing the momentum to headbutt Kisaki right in his glasses. The both of you fell. You hurriedly get yourself up. Still tied to the chair. You start booking it to the exit. Kisaki's nose bleeds, and he starts ordering everyone to chase after you.

Your body was in pain. Not just from the fall, but how you were positioned. The chair forces you to be in a constant L shape. You reach the exit of what seems to be an abandoned warehouse. You chuck yourself at the edge of the open door, breaking the chair. As you hit the ground, you took one of the legs from the chair and got up. The rope slowly coming off of you, now that it's been loosened.

You hear a bunch of men behind you, yelling. Threatening you and calling you all sorts of names. You haven't felt a rush like this in months. Someone tackles you from behind. Both of you fall, face forward. You elbow them in the head before getting out of their grip, swinging the chair leg at the man.

The rest of Tenjiku caught up. You were circled by them. You couldn't help but smirk, "All this fuss for one girl?" You didn't know where this sudden cockiness came from. You looked at all of them, suddenly confident you could take them all.

They rush at you and you begin to swing. Since the leg was broken, it had sharp pieces of wood sticking out from one of the ends. You used it to your advantage. Piercing anyone that got close to you. Either in their abdomen or even their faces. You felt no remorse for them. If they were willing to kill innocent people who happen to be involved with Toman, a few specs of wood in their faces couldn't even cover what they deserve.

You weren't the perfect fighter. You were still getting hit left and right. But you swung with full power each time. You were no strategist either. You didn't have any technique or knowledge of how to fight. You sloppily swung and kicked as much as you could.

The men kept multiplying. The more opponents you faced, the more tired you got. The exhaustion weakening you. You started to try and dodge every attack instead. You felt like death. Your mouth was dehydrated. Your body felt limp. You could barely keep your eyes open from the exhaustion. That confidence and adrenaline escape you as fast as it showed up.

You felt someone wrap their arms around you from behind. Locking your arms in place. A man with braids walks closer to you, and the rest of Tenjiku stops approaching you. You finally got to catch your breath. Breathing harder than ever. Practically begging for air.

"I can see why the Invincible Mikey would take an interest in you," the braided man says, he had a baton on his shoulder. He uses the baton to lift your chin up, "It's a shame though... That we have to kill you."

You beat yourself up mentally. How could you carry out this reckless plan and think you could succeed? You only tried to escape, thinking you could outrun them and try to inform someone from Toman. You felt stupid. You let your body sink, arm practically hanging as the other man continues to hold onto you. You dropped your weapon and close your eyes. Taking the defeat.

"Don't."

You felt the baton leave your chin and you opened your eyes. Izana walked in. "Let's keep her," he tells the man with braids.

"Put her to sleep for now."

The last thing you saw was that damn baton, swinging full speed right at you.

Chapter thirty-three, end.