Chapter 4

The fourth chapter of the manga and the first part of Volume 2.

Characters

 * Taku Kamishiro
 * Mika Hanazono
 * Kouki Atsumi
 * Neibu
 * Keito Taruka
 * Jin'no

Synopsis
Taku Kamishiro runs out of the warehouse where Mika Hanazono was apparently murdered, grieving over her death. The warehouse blows up behind him. Kamishiro cries, asking why things had to turn out like this and all he ever did was love Hanazono. A civilian and a policeman in the area witness the explosion. The policeman sees Kamishiro, who flees the scene.

Kamishiro navigates around the side streets he played at when he was a kid, losing the policeman. He slows down and wonders what he'll do next, as neither Hanazono nor his old teacher, Kouki Atsumi, will be at school. He assumes that he'll be suspected by his classmates, teachers, police, neighbors and family for his involvement in the incident. He arrives at a dead-end and mourns over the fact that he couldn't keep his promise to Hanazono to become strong enough to protect her.

Hanazono appears and calls out for Kamishiro, alive and well. Kamishiro touches her face and pulls at her cheeks to see if she's truly alive. He feels his Bloodlust activating once again, and runs away from Hanazono to avoid murdering her. He makes his way to a park, knocking over a trash can with rubbish in it, a broken wine bottle among them. Kamishiro cries tears of joy, happy that Hanazono is still alive.

Hanazono knees Kamishiro from behind, knocking him over, and asks why he ran away. Kamishiro tells her that he was a little suprised and advises her to go home. Hanazono reveals that she has partial amnesia due to the old school building incident and has forgotten everything about her kidnapping. She does, however, remember hearing the words, "I want Hanazono to live," which was what Kamishiro said when he defended her from Yamada.

Hanazono faints slightly and Kamishiro rushes over to catch her. However, his Bloodlust takes over him and he prepares to murder Hanazono with the broken wine bottle from earlier. He remembers his childhood promise to protect Hanazono, regains his senses and throws the bottle into the bushes without Hanazono even noticing.

Atsumi is revealed to alive, indicating that the corpse on the chair Kamishiro saw belonged to Yamada. Injured and his eye blackened, he staggers across a tunnel. A man approaches him. Coming up with an excuse on why he is injured, Atsumi explains that he got into a fight with his drunk friend and tells the man not to pay him any attention. The man touches him without him even noticing. Atsumi dies as blood gushes out of his eyes, ears, mouth and down his scalp. The man tells Atsumi's corpse that the latter had played his part and that he'd do well to quit the scene.

Kamishiro and Hanazono walk home. Kamishiro deduces that Atsumi or Yamada killed the other, laid the corpse on the chair and rigged the warehouse with explosives to destroy any evidence. He wonders why the culprit didn't lay hands on Hanazono and himself. Hanazono gets mad at him for hiding things from her, while Kamishiro defends himself by stating that Hanazono never told him about her partial amnesia. The two bicker for a while and laugh. In his mind, Kamishiro tells Hanazono that he will protect her from her surroundings and from his own Bloodlust.

Kamishiro shows up at school the next day and wonders why the warehouse explosion yesterday hasn't been on the news yet. He is greeted by his friends Jin'no and Keito Taruka. Jin'no tells Kamishiro that Keito is up to date with the news before the television and Internet and that he was told by Keito early in the morning about Atsumi and Yamada dying in a car accident. Stunned, Kamishiro wonders how the warehouse explosion was disposed of as an accident and why the police would want to cover it up. Before he can think further, Kamishiro receives a call from an unknown contact with only zeroes in their phone number.

Trivia

 * This chapter doesn't have a title.