A few days later, Hinto was walking in an alley and hearing sounds from multiple directions.
"Who is there!?"
"Where are you!?"
Hinto yelled
"Hinto!" he heard a feminine voice say.
"MOM!?" he yelled.
Hinto started to run and reached the end of the alley, which was engulfed in light. But as soon as he reached it, he saw a dark silhouette right in front of his face, and it screamed, "HINTO!"
As soon as this happened, Hinto woke up, breathing heavily and completely covered in sweat.
He sat on the bed, put his hands to his face, and thought, "What the heck was that dream?"
TV: "BREAKING NEWS! In a chilling development earlier this morning, local authorities confirmed the discovery of a deceased individual."
Meanwhile, Hinto was getting up while listening half-heartedly to what was being said on the news.
TV: "The discovery was made at the long-abandoned fish factory near the Kuroshima shipping dock."
"WHAT!?" Hinto thought, turning to the TV with a shocked expression.
TV: "The body has now been identified as 17-year-old Shiranui Haruto," the news anchor said while showing a picture of Haruto on the screen.
Hinto couldn't believe his eyes, and he immediately grabbed his phone and texted Hiro.
TV: "Detective Koibito will be leading the investigation."
"Koibito!?" Hinto thought, his face in shock.
TV: "Forensics teams have cordoned off the area, and early reports indicate signs of suicide,"
[Texting]
Hinto: "Have you seen the news?"
Hiro: "No, what happened? 😲"
Hinto: "That guy from that gang we fought a few days ago... he's dead..."
Hiro is typing...
Meanwhile, Hinto found the article online, copied it, and sent it to Hiro.
Link: www.AFNews.***/***
Hiro: "Haha, very funny. It's not even the first of April yet. 😝"
Hiro opened the link.
Hiro looked at his phone in shock while scrolling through the article.
Hiro: "No way! 😱"
Hinto: "I can't believe it either..."
Hinto: "The crossing in 45 minutes?"
Hiro: "Yeah, see you there!"
End of conversation
Meanwhile, Hinto was taking a shower.
"I wonder why... Could it be because of us? It can't be, right?"
"Should I tell the others...?"
"No, maybe it's best not to get them involved..."
"Especially..."
Dinner on the day of the Kokuja fight
Nikko's mom brought a plate of penne carbonara for Nikko.
"Buon appetito, bambina," her mom said with a cutesy voice.
"Thanks, mom," Nikko said.
"What's wrong, baby? You don't feel like eating pasta?" her mom asked.
"That's not it... But mom, guess who I saw today?" Nikko said.
"Who, dear?" her mom asked.
"Hinto..." she said.
Asa's heart stopped for a second, and she responded, "Ah, okay, dear. How was he?"
"Mostly mad at first..." Nikko said.
"Hmmm," her mom responded.
"So, where are they, mom?" Nikko asked.
"Where are wha—"
"The letters I never received and the ones you never sent," Nikko said angrily.
"... Dear, I can explain," Asa said.
"I don't really care for excuses. Just flat-out tell me the reasons," Nikko responded.
Asa sighed. "Alright. As you know, Hinto's mother..."
"Auntie Ame, yes," Nikko said.
"When she passed away—"
"Passed away...? PASSED AWAY!? SHE WAS KILLED, MOM. SAY IT HOW IT IS!"
"NIKKO!" HER MOM YELLED.
Nikko stood there in silence...
"I thought it would be safer if we took our distance, as we didn't know what the motive for the murder was..." Asa said.
"What...?" Nikko responded.
"What was the person after? Was it Ame? Money? Her husband, who also mysteriously disappeared? We don't know anything," Asa said.
"So, you thought that was a good reason to completely erase Hinto from our lives!?" she said.
"What if you would've gotten hurt because of your ties with them? I couldn't risk it..." Asa said.
Nikko was furious. She was shaking and had never felt this much anger toward anyone ever.
"So you had me abandon him for 9 years... He was the only family I had!" Nikko said as she stormed off to her room.
"YOU HAVE ME, AND I HAVE YOU, SO STOP WITH YOUR NONSENSE. I DID THIS TO PROTECT YOU!" ASA YELLED.
Nikko went into her room, locked the door, and sat in front of it, crying.
Flashback right after the Kokuja fight
"I have only one final suspicion, which I hope isn't the case, but it sure is starting to look like it..." Nikko said.
Hinto stayed quiet.
"If my mom was behind this, I'm going to be so angry!" Nikko said.
While Hinto realized the probability of this scenario, he looked a bit hurt but responded by saying, "I don't want you to get into a fight with your mom over me. She probably had her reasons."
Nikko sighed but admired Hinto.
"You are too nice, Hinto..." she said.
Present time
Hinto walked toward the crossing, and Hiro was there waiting for him.
"This is so messed up..." Hiro said.
"That's an understatement," Hinto said.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Hiro asked.
Hinto said, "What can we do? We're high school kids. The police most likely wouldn't want us involved in anything for our safety."
"You don't think he got killed because of us, do you?" Hiro asked.
"It's a possibility... I have no idea. But one thing I do know is it wasn't suicide," Hinto said.
"Haruto didn't seem like the type that would commit suicide, but then again, I didn't know him," Hiro said.
"By the way, I don't want to switch the subject on you, Hinto, but there is something I've been wondering about," Hiro said.
"Go ahead," Hinto said.
"Since your grandpa only passed away recently, I didn't want to come off as insensitive, but I have to ask: How is it possible they let you live by yourself since you're a minor? Shouldn't you have a guardian? And who's paying for your rent?" Hiro asked.
"Aah, yeah, it makes sense that you'd wonder about that," Hinto said.
"Well, when my grandpa passed away, he made sure I received his pension and the money he had saved up. A good friend of his is paying for it in his own name while also being my legal guardian."
"WHAAT? THAT'S CRAZY! WHAT A NICE GUY!" Hiro said.
"Yeah, apparently he knew my mother as well. He also felt very bad about her passing. I feel grateful for this chance to keep living in this house... my mom's house," Hinto said.
"That's awesome! It would suck not to have my best friend here!" Hiro said as he punched Hinto's arm.
"Ha ha," Hinto laughed as he tanked the punch on his arm.
"You didn't dodge!?" Hiro said, shocked.
"Yeah, why would I? You're my best friend, aren't you?" Hinto said, smiling.
Hiro looked at him, shocked, then started to laugh. "Ha ha, true. But let's not tell Taka and Sho. They might get jealous."
They both started laughing.
Until...
They heard sounds coming from the alley near them and peeked around the corner to see what was happening.
"Hinto, what's happening?" Hiro asked.
Hinto made a gesture with his hands to be quiet.
A blue-haired person appeared in front of Shingo and Jiro.
"Are you two Shingo and Jiro?" the person asked while looking at two pictures of them.
Shingo said, "Who wants to know?!"
Jiro said, "Aaah, look! He's one of those Kokuja guys!"
The person started to smile.
Shingo: "Yeah, our boss is the 4th Division Uroko Commander."
"Is that so!?" the person said, smiling.
Shingo said, "Yeah, so talk with some res—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he got punched in the mouth.
"AAGH!" was the only sound that Shingo made before hitting the ground.
Hinto saw what happened and got angry, about to get involved, but Hiro pulled him back.
"Hinto, wait! We need to hear what he wants," Hiro said.
Jiro looked shocked and startled at what happened.
"Oh?" The person saw blood on his fist and licked it.
"Yuck. Why does weak people's blood taste like that?" he said before spitting.
Shingo looked at him speechless and trembling.
"I don't know who you're talking about, but my BIG BRO would never hire idiots like you!" the person said.
Hiro looked over the small wall they were hiding behind and read the back of the person, which said: "4th Division Uroko Vice Commander".
Chapter End - Blood Fist