How?? OUo I dedicate this update to you. Seriously.

If you're wondering where I've disappeared to and the future of this book, I'll post a note tomorrow.  [X

Mitsuba loved cameras; seeing the world through a lens, and just when someone - or something - he doesn't want to lose has to go, all he needs to do is take a photo. Capture it, freeze it in time, and that moment would be his forever. So when it came to the topic of pictures, he always dived in with a big smile.

But this time was different. These were no nature pictures or happy moment pictures.

These were lovey  pictures.

Here's how it happened: his face was scrunched up in disgust as he clicked away through the gallery. There were images of a pink something blocking what seemed like a tangle of branches and leaves. Whatever this pink thing was, it was trying to take the camera for itself long ago.

"So these are accidental pictures. But isn't this Y/N's camera? She isn't the type to frolick around nature like a Disney princess."  Mitsuba frowned.

He also swore he could pick up a flash of white fur, almost like a fox's, trying to pull away the pink creature, only to be pushed away and fall into the thickets below, opening its mouth in an angry scream.

After a hundred more pictures of arguing, battling, and leaves, he finally came with the conclusion that the photographer and company must have been on a tree. But why  would they be on a tree?

He wished the answer wasn't so stupid.

A dozen other pink creatures - which Mitsuba now realized resembled bunnies - held lanterns in the dim evening glow, framing the silhouette of two people. One a girl, one a boy. He pursed his lips as he hurriedly dashed through the cheek caressing, hand holding, wondering why on earth the photographer cared so much about this sappy couple.

But then he saw Y/N's E/C eyes.

His own eyes were as wide as hers. Mitsuba followed her gaze to what she was looking at. A boy - whom he now recognized as Hanako - leaned in, seemingly about to....

"Glad to see you're back."

Mitsuba yelped, throwing the camera in the air before remembering it had glass lens. He held it tight, buried it under his scarf, and looked up.

Tsukasa stepped unto the square lawn, dark eyes slicing through him like the newly-earned scar he had on his chest (He would hug Y/N later for such a great hit.)

While Kou and Yashiro pushed him to another door back to Sukora, insisting that Hanako needed them on another important errand, he was busy fussing over the camera in the lawns of of the school, enjoying the chilly autumn breeze 5pm brought. He expected the day would pass normally. Not that Tsukasa would come appearing out of the blue.

"Where is Y/N?" Tsukasa asked coolly, as if he had never been slashed at all. Mitsuba slowly got up to walk away, knowing his master was merely hiding his temper.

"She's off to see one of the Wonders. Sewing Girl, maybe?"

"I talked to all Wonders. None of them have seen her."

"Then maybe she's taking a break to clear her mind-"

"She's not running off to Hanako, is she?"

Mitsuba held his breath.

"I have to go."

Suddenly, he felt something cold sink into the back of his neck.

"Maybe if she isn't here," Tsukasa leered, "You can do the explaining."

Mitsuba held unto the camera, heart racing. He could not  let Tsukasa see what he had. It was a picture that made no sense to him, yet did. The reason why Hanako was so close to him... the sad stares of longing Kou and Yashiro kept shooting them... the answer was right there. It had to be.

Fear slowly began to trickle into his determination, like the blood from the knife as Tsukasa sunk it deeper. But as the red flow seeped into his pink scarf, he began to remember someone worth more than just another old wound: Y/N. No matter what Tsukasa did, he would help Y/N.

"I don't know anything, Tsukasa." Mitsuba lashed with the same coldness he had used on Kou.

"'Don't know'?" Tsukasa repeated, considering this for a moment. Mitsuba held his breath.

The ghost allowed a quite cheer of relief within when Tsukasa took away the knife, looking at him darkly. His amber eyes were full of hatred but not defeat. He began to smirk. Mitsuba's blood ran cold, his fingers slowly tracing to something warm pooling at the back of his neck.

He remembered that, no matter what, Tsukasa was always  one step ahead.

He looked at the knife again, glinting under the dying sun. But something was different. A dark substance that didn't belong to a kitchen knife. It was only when he saw how much blood was there that he realized just how far his neck had been cut.

"You'll stay clueless." Tsukasa bared his teeth at Mitsuba as he collapsed on the ground, making gurgling noises in horror as brilliant streaks of crimson oozed its way into his hands.

"Tsukasa!" Mitsuba let out a choked cry. "Can't... breathe..."

"Don't move a single inch. You're useless, and you get what you rightfully deserve. To Y/N, which is why she left for a well-deserved ghost. To the Wonders, which is why you visit them and they never visit you. Even to me, when I gave you the chance. You care, but none of us do. Die alone."

Mitsuba never gave in, but with the realization that this might be the last words he'd remember, fear overwhelmed him. His furious tears were just as violent and gushing as the blood from his neck.

"Alone?" His voice cracked with a last strain of defiance. "Too bad for you, I've avoided that all along! I helped Y/N. I helped her friends. Would you really call that being 'alone'?"

"And yet she left again. Her friends keep glancing you sad stares, feeling pity for the ghost who always tries his best, but always receives neglect. At the end of the day, you're always by yourself. Almost like it was meant to be, and rightfully so. Hmm?"

Tsukasa held back a giggle as Mitsuba lashed out with a throaty cry, weakly clawing at his feet in an attempt to throw him off. The ghost marveled in the wondrous sight of Mitsuba crumpling into a heap. He continued on relentlessly, joy in his eyes.

"Thrash, cry like you always do, die into the second life of hell or heaven. I don't care. I have Y/N to deal with, and I don't need another problem," Tsukasa twirled the knife, looking down as he sunk into the grass in an almost disgusted way. He looked at the bloody camera by the ghost's side, smiling pleasantly.

"And if you don't mind, I'm taking this."

With that, the malevolent ghost disappeared in a trail of black smoke, thinking he had left another problem solved and fixed.

But little did he know he made a fatal mistake.

Someone emerged from the gardens a little while later. Clad in her shapeless purple pioneer dress, white frilled pinafore underneath and stumpy clumps, she had gone on a search, wondering why a particular ghost had not come to visit her.

"Mitsuba!" Sewing Girl called out in annoyance, crossing her arms. "Y/N again? I saw her leave with that Hanako guy you ranted about. You act like an overprotective parent! Give the poor girl a break!"

Mitsuba's vision was failing him, but not even hazy eyes made Sewing Girl's long, silky white hair any less distinct. With his waning strength, he tried to call her name, but only made a faint gurgling noise.

"You're not fretting over Y/N wandering off again, are you?" Sewing Girl's shoulders sagged, the barbed words she had shouted slowing to tired concern. "You don't have to talk about it by yourself. I can arrange a talk with one of the edgy kids. I'm sure they feel just the same way! Maybe Stain, or an Orphaned?"

"I need help, not a monologue!" Mitsuba let out a throaty snarl.

Sewing Girl snapped her head at once to his direction. She rushed up to him angrily.

"I'm the idiot?"

"You're the idiot." Mitsuba repeated, cracking a smirk. Would the blood hide his tears from earlier? If possible, he could die with dignity; being a tough fighter, the facade he had worked so hard to build. "I'm going to bleed here, and I bet you're going to talk about clothes."

"That scarf I just finished sewing for you!" Sewing Girl yelped in anguish. "That's made out of the finest material corduroy, why'd you go rolling in paint?!"

Mitsuba feigned a laugh at her assumptions, but in doing so, his neck burnt through his skin. He rolled over in panic, clutching at it again with shallow breaths. The scarf fell off, revealing the open wound.

"YOU'RE BLEEDING!" Sewing Girl screamed.

"Took a decade for you to learn." Mitsuba coughed weakly, trying to force a brash smile.

"It was nice meeting you, Sewing Girl. Go and cry, I guess... that's what idiots do."

The Wonder bit her lip. Then, with a strength Mitsuba never knew she had, the young Wonder plucked a string of her hair, pulled a woolen cloth from inside her dress's many pockets, and weaved it instantly into a stretcher to pull him from the bloodied patch of grass.

"What?!" Mitsuba burbled, surprised to see he was still being escorted. But as soon as he tried to protest, more blood spout out. Sewing Girl pushed him down, frowning.

"I'm not going to let you die." She snapped impatiently.

"Don't you think it's time?" Mitsuba rasped, voice raw with emotion. Sewing Girl did not need to turn back to know he was in great pain. "I'm bleeding to death, all alone in the grass in the dying sun. Sounds like the perfect anime ending...?"

"Unfortunately for you I'm incredibly stubborn. So I'm not giving up on you, buddy."

She shot him a harsh glare. He weakly turned to face her, incredulous.

"Why?" He croaked.

"Well..." Sewing Girl forced a smile. "That's what idiots do. And since I believe you're one as well, don't you dare  give up on me."

Sewing Girl never got a response. She turned around, white hair sticking out in random angles, sweat pooling at her forehead and hands bloody from heaving Mitsuba unto her silk stretcher.

A weak smile was on her friend's face as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Whatever he was trying to say, it was all she needed to keep dragging the heavy stretcher forward.

~

Y/N stared at Amane in shock, who kept his cool and poise. Where exactly in time had she just dropped off? Multiple thoughts rang through her head; so many that she could not form words to say them all. Her brain had gone blank, words formed by an instinct she could not grasp.

"Drop that knife."

Amane didn't falter a bit. His smile only grew wider.

"Why? So you can let me die a longer, more painful fate?"

"You think I'll hurt you? We met before! Don't be foolish!"

Amane looked down, holding the knife with a sorrowful vigor. "I think... you're Y/N, right? The Y/N who I asked to be my friend?"

"Yes!" Y/N answered instantly. She didn't dare take a step forward - she felt as if she were handling a fragile object, and one wrong move would scar both of them for eternity.

"I'm sorry." Amane turned his back on her. "I don't recognize you."

Y/N's eyes went wide. Her heart raced in panic; for what? For Amane? For the knife? Where was Hanako? He said they would meet! He'd take her out of here! She had to get out of here!

"But the knife." She whispered out loud hoarsely. A voice, small and weak, but nonetheless there, urged her to stay. But when she tried to see who called, it only echoed even more, further from reach.

"What about the knife?" Amane tilted his head, choppy black hair falling on his pale face, twisted in a grin that did not belong. "Do you want it? Sorry, I'm using it first."

Y/N shook her head. She tried not to collapse. Wait, collapse?! She was trembling! Why would she be scared of a knife?!

'I can't do it!' The weak voice whispered like a distant memory. 'Why can't I do it?'

"Please drop it." She weakly stumbled in his direction, but flinched as he gripped the knife tighter. Holding her instinct, Aka Manto paused once more. Something was wrong with the knife. Something was wrong about all of this.

"You're scaring me." Amane backed away, amber eyes reflecting the fear and confusion that welled inside her. Only difference is, Y/N's finally burst as she watched him hold the knife above his chest.

"The whole world scares me." He whispered. "And there's not a single place where I can hide for real."

Something threw itself unto his chest, but it was definitely not the knife.

Amane yelped as Y/N used one of Hanako's taught throws, tackling the bewildered student with her knee.

"The knife!" Amane gasped, looking crazed and deranged without it. "Where is it!"

Y/N gnashed her teeth to contain the anger that boiled in her head... or no. It couldn't be anger. Her head was burning. It ached so much she felt as if her skull would split open. She gripped the cursed kitchenware in her free hand, glaring down at Amane.

"Calm down."

"GIVE IT TO ME!"

"CALM DOWN!"

Amane flinched, looking away.

Y/N, now seeing he was frozen in a silent emotion she couldn't comprehend, shakily let him go. She clutched the knife, spat at it, then gathering all the pain it had cost her, gave a huge swing and tossed it far, far away.

"There!" Y/N let out a sigh of relief, streaking an arm across her sweaty forehead. The Wonder turned to Amane, expecting him to feel the same sense of freedom.

He was still as ever, almost blank-faced. Then she saw his pallid cheeks grow red, glossy eyes welling. He was not expressionless; only good at hiding his emotions for so long.

"Another escape!" He snapped bitterly. "The choice I gathered months of courage to do. A final plan I strategized for so long. And it was taken away from me yet again... this time, by somebody who I thought a "friend."

He began to take the same heavy, shallow breaths he did before he had stabbed himself. Time slowing, he rose his head to the sky, letting out an outlandish, broken scream. 

"I can't do it!" Amane yelled as if all the world had forsaken him, not caring if his voice cracked or his vocal chords stretched to the point of snapping.

And suddenly, the voice inside her wasn't just a memory anymore.

Dropping to her knees beside him, almost in a trance, her voice grew soft.

"You can't, because you shouldn't."

It was never her mind that told her what to say; it was something deeper, like a soul guiding a spirit to their final resting place. A path not tread, but so familiar.

"And why should I listen to you?" Amane's voice faltered. "You're the same Y/N who I asked to be my friend. The first one, and the only  one - I had talked to about my brother. I placed down the little hope and trust I had left in people, and you ran away with it. You're wrong to seek my sympathy."

"I'm not asking for your sympathy." Y/N couldn't meet his eyes, remembering the time she had left him. If only she could stay. How different this future would be!

"I'm asking that you think about it again. Are you sure you want to throw it all away?"

"Fate hates me." His eyes turned into slits. "Screw that, actually. The whole world does. And you think I want to live in a place like that?"

"'The whole world.'" Y/N repeated, then shook her head. "Is that what you call only a fraction of what you'll explore?"

Amane looked at her incredulously, but allowed her to continue.

"Amane, the world doesn't care for anybody. But people do. They want  it to change. That's why you've decided to give it up for a better one. You've lost hope. And it's not your fault. Never."

She stared him down, holding his hands. Aka Manto felt the strength returning in her shaky limbs, which had been trembling so terribly from the earlier encounter. She felt the voice in her head disappear, as if she had solved one of many mysteries. Firmness settled in her tone.

"The people around you made you look for hope in the wrong place; the "whole world". But little do you know you don't find it in the universe itself. It's in people, who felt the same suffering you did. They seem impossible to find, but they're out there. Even if it's just one. "

"But how can I find that 'one'?" Amane's voice softened, slow and defeated. "How do I know I have the strength?"

"You don't." Y/N sighed. "But that's the point. What's the use of reading when you already know the story? Just keep looking - look, not expect - for good in the people around you."

"Or," Hanako murmured, leaning closer. "Look a little bit closer at those already there."

Y/N wanted to be comforting, but even she had her limits. She drew away, much to a bemused Amane's surprise.

"Thank you, again." He quietly said. "But this time... don't leave."

Y/N was startled by his clingy request, a bit anxious about where Hanako could possibly be, but then she saw the trust flickering in his eyes - the very same he had when she first met him. She took a deep breath in, deciding to stay.

"I know you can't forgive." She responded meekly. "I'm sorry about that time when... you know, I-"

"I do forgive you." Amane shrugged. "Maybe not because I do, but because I want to forget it and start over."

They stayed in silence for a moment. Y/N turned to look up at the sky, with the sun already dipping into the far horizon. From the corner of her eye, she could see Amane staring at her - almost thoughtfully.

"Y/N. I have a question, sorry if it strikes a fresh wound." He said at last. Y/N looked up, nodding for him to go on.

"But are you sure I'm not alone? What with being abused? Have you ever... you know?"

Y/N, hearing the question about her conflicting past, expected her mind to go wild again, throbbing wildly and burning with a desperate thirst to understand what she never could... but it felt as if a rippling tide had settled inside her. Where there was a thrashing storm, instead she felt an eerie calm.

"I... I don't really want to say it," she said slowly, but secretly took the calm, willing it forward. "But I could describe how it felt. Imagine a girl in an old rickety house, living with an abusive mother in poverty."

Y/N didn't know what she was saying, yet she felt her heart race, as if she had found the lost piece of a puzzle. But just like one, she didn't know where to place it.

"Now, imagine that girl wouldn't be fed. Was forced to do all the chores, her mother gone insane and ill ever since the departing of her father. Imagine..."

"Yes?" Hanako encouraged. "You describe it well."

Y/N was strangely happy to see Hanako so eager to hear her out. She cleared her throat, massaging her temples, willing the calm yet again.

"I-Imagine a... this sounds so silly, but! - the girl was not fed for three days. I think it was not that painful. Nope, that's not a strong enough synonym. Maybe a gash..."

"...to the arm?"

"...to the arm? Oh no, that's nothing without a threat! By her mother." Y/N added fervently, letting words that unveiled more and more, combining without meaning, yet so comforting. She never thought she could brighten up Hanako's mood with a simple, on-the-spot and dumb, fake story, but she couldn't deny the bright smile on his face.

"You remember." He whispered hoarsely, sounding almost wistful. "You're still there."

"I'm here?" Y/N smiled awkwardly, unclasping their hands in confusion.

"Ah!" Amane suddenly clapped a hand to his mouth, as if he had said too much. Shaking his head, he wiped what suspiciously looked like new tears, then tackled her in a hug.

"Woah!" Y/N yelped, caught off guard by how eager and tight his embrace was. More awkwardly, she hugged him too, mustering a smile.

"Uhm... a bit too close? You just saw me for the first time after..."

Y/N's nervous voice trailed off when she noticed Amane was not at all listening. She didn't know why, but she felt as if he were embracing a different person; his eyes were faraway, longing for something she somehow knew she could not give. The thought made her squirm uncomfortably.

"Amane?" Y/N peeped.

He ignored her confusion, eyes glazed. Y/N could not describe the astonishment on his face. She would compare it to the look of a person winning the jackpot for a thousand tickets in a game; but Y/N did not know what that jackpot was. She squirmed as he finally spoke, even stranger than his look.

"I knew you're there. You always were. So please, stay. Don't forget your memor- me - anymore."

And then, as if he were drained of all tension and fear, his grip began fading. Y/N could hug him more easily now, wondering if she could still keep the boy happy even if she was very, very confused - until Amane pulled away, leaving her even more stumped.

"Thank you." For the first time, he managed a goofy smile. Y/N was amazed to see how bright and cheery he was out of the blue. "I keep saying that."

"It gets tiring." Y/N nudged him, still trying to study him. Amane grinned, Y/N catching a hint of mischief.

"I don't thank you enough?"

"Let me stay here awhile and give you some more pep talk." She said, half for her own confusion and half for his good. "That's a good enough 'thank you.'"

Amane leaned forward provokingly. "Is that it?"

Y/N did another instinctive throw, tackling him down just as he closed his eyes. Once they shot open and saw what happened, Amane let out a burst of laughter.

"I expected more, really." He looked up wickedly. "Since you didn't speak up so fast.... that last time."

Y/N chose to get off rather than retort to his smirking face.

After a few moments of patting herself down with dignity, Y/N  turned around, feeling relieved to see the sultry expression wiped away from his face. It was replaced by a look of annoyance as he awkwardly picked out leaves from his hair. Breathing more steadily and acting so... relaxed. He suddenly seemed less distressed and more calm; self-assuring, almost. Like he reclaimed his confidence in something - hopefully himself - back.

"You changed so quickly." Y/N said almost bluntly, the words rolling from her tongue. Amane cleared his throat, as if he were changing character.

"No thank you gift?" He tried to change the topic.

"No thank you gift." Y/N tried to bring up the topic again.

"And you're saying I'm the one acting different." Amane's tone was accusing, but the bright smile on his face made it sound almost fond. "What are you trying to press from me?"

Aka Manto tugged at her red coat. Was she overthinking again? Shaking her head, she decided it must be so.

"It's nothing, really..."

"You're just as bad as me. I don't know how to spark a conversation with friends a lot too.."

"Friends?"

Amane looked as if he were punched in the gut.

"Acquaintances. Sorry, Y/N."

Y/N looked double pained. She didn't mean to sound so cold. No matter how little or different, she brought help to someone, and Amane was no different... but he had something in him she had been seeking for. Someone who could help her in return, Give her all the answers she needed! Even Hanako acted so distant... but Amane, this Amane in this world, was so open and warm. Maybe together, they could...

"Can I say something?" Amane cut through her overwhelming thoughts. Y/N glanced at him; he suddenly looked very tentative.

"Go on." Y/N nodded, seeing the sun going down. She had never seen night before in Kamome's grounds when she traveled back in time.

"Will you come back?" He mumbled at last. "Do you want to talk more with me?"

"Yes." Y/N nodded eagerly, eyes shining. This was it - not Hanako, not Kou, not Yashiro. How could she have left past Amane? Gentle, kind, and understanding... she could help him.

So that maybe, in the future, Hanako would not act so cold, and treat her as if she were a stranger. She wouldn't have to feel unease about her past for the rest of her life, knowing they were friends. But for now...

"I'll be your friend, Amane." Aka Manto held out her pinkie. Amane's brows raised at her sudden enthusiasm. Y/N knew she didn't show much emotion anymore, but she was bursting. "Let's help each other."

Amane regarded her, before shrugging with a curious smile. He held out his own finger.

"To more talks." He demanded playfully.

"To more understanding." Y/N hooked her finger with his.

"To the Confession Tree! Did you know it can talk, Y/N? Or Hanako-chan of the Bathroom? Did you know that-"

"To Aka Manto." An unwelcomed voice boomed though their ears.

Amane's smile turned into a gape of terror. Y/N dropped her finger, standing in front of her new friend in the same horrifed manner.

"Oh, dear. No more promises?" Striking amber eyes slashed deep into the shaken pair.

"No... impossible... how did you..." Amane spluttered. Y/N looked back and forth between the twins. Amane from the past? Tsukasa from the future?

"Get away!" Y/N drawled, drawing her knife. How had Tsukasa ripped through the halls into this specific door? There were thousands!

As if on cue, Tsukasa held out a camera triumphantly. Y/N snorted at first, then felt her heart drop as she saw a streak of dried blood on the side of the metal.

There was only one caretaker of the camera... and that could be...

"MITSUBA!" Y/N and Amane yowled at the same time. Again she stared at Amane, but this time, the boy looked more braver, now. With surprising confidence, he stepped from behind to stand by Y/N's side.

"What have you done to him, Tsukasa?" Amane? Future Amane? Hanako? spoke. Y/N's head was dizzy from confusion and loss. She just wanted to make a friend. She just wanted to protect everyone. Now Tsukasa was here, and her friend's blood was marked on something...

Amane? Future Amane? Hanako? Tsukasa? The memories began to flood to her brain again. Soon enough, the grass below her felt like an endless void, and her insides felt as if they were being torn. In front of her, a voice shifted from amusement to pleasure.

"Dear brother! I came to pick up Y/N, of course. What's with this quaint dating scenario? Are you possibly trying to achieve the impossible?"

"Y/N!" The voice was right beside her this time, identical, but with a different emotion; overwhelming worry and anger.  Although it was closer, she felt it was more distant. "Y/N! Don't have a white out on me! Not now!"

"Y/N is gone-"

"She remembers-"

Remembers? Story? Amane? Mom? Unfed? Rain? Rain..

The words rang in her head as her legs grew weak beneath her. Her hand shook on the knife, trembling with self-control. Her skull felt like it was splitting from inside, the inside of her head a thousand ringing bells in a cacophony of unknown melodies and chants.

Rainrainunfedabusedmotherabandonedleftoldhouseabandoned...

"....TAKE HER!"  A voice suddenly broke through the silence, loud and clear, as sharp as the claw of a talon. "TAKE HER, SHIJIMA! GET HER AWAY!"

"But 7th Wonder-"

"SHIJIMA!"

A girl's hand grasped Y/N's wrist just as she let out a bloodcurdling scream, raising her knife to slash at the sounds around her and end the tormenting noise of the unknown. Amane? Tsukasa? Hanako? Yugi Twins? Past or Present? Fading... fading...

Y/N's vision, too, was hindering. Something was lulling her to sleep. Aka Manto tried to fight it, clenching her teeth. But her energy, too, was fading.

Fading...  fading...

~

Amane stood his ground on the grassy field. His secret was revealed.

"You tried to make her remember." Tsukasa's blade was sharp against his chest, but his words were even more scathing. Amane was not scared of both. "You foolish, impudent..."

"Whatever you try is more incompetent." Amane spat. "Stealing her away for what? Your tool? Your servant? Her past is not a memory, but what made her who she is - the strongest, bravest girl I've got to see. You can never take that away from Y/N.  And then you'll see... she'll use that all to defeat you."

"Me?" Tsukasa's voice bitterly cracked. "This was never about me, Hanako-kun!"

Hanako flinched at the use of the name. Although he wavered, he kept his chin high, amber glare matching his twin's.

"As long as I've got those spirits like me," Tsukasa circled him like a prowling cat, knife bared. "Those who deserve the freedom to do whatever they please - those who refuse to bow down to meager, useless, worthless leaders like yourself -  I win. So who cares if I manipulate? Who cares if I steal? I'm giving all of ghost kind freedom, and I'll rise above it all. We have power over who we are and humans! We don't need control!"

Hanako's eyes flitted to Y/N's cowering form, curled up and hapless. His pulse hiked - if he could not get Y/N to safety, all of them were doomed. (At least if Tsukasa was gone, he would be hacked to pieces by Y/N from her tantrum instead, which was oddly more preferable to Tsukasa's.)

"I see no winning streak from you." Hanako taunted him. Tsukasa roared, leaping at him. He rolled over uselessly to the side as the older twin dodged him easily, and in the process, his cape swept over him, stripping him of his disguise and revealing his true self; military uniform, infamous hat, and Hakujoudai.

"No winning streak, hmm?" Tsukasa snarled. "How about that Osane Miku? Didn't she fall to my plans?"

"She was a powerful ally. Now, your powerful enemy."

"Oho~ have you forgotten about the other Wonders of Sakura High, brother?"

"I'd never." Hanako spat, back hitting against the thick trunk of the Confession Tree. "And neither will Y/N. Once she's got her memory restored, she'll lead them better than you."

The younger twin's eyes darkened from a displeased yellow to a furious empty black. Hanako swiftly dodged Tsukasa's aim as it hit the bark of the Confession Tree's trunk with a sickening crack.

"HOLY-" The Confession Tree screamed in anger, the fall of a branch cutting off its yell.

"THAT'S THE SIGNAL!" Another familiar voice boomed. Hanako grinned as Tsukasa scowled. He had never been more relieved to hear that male voice.

Silhouettes crashing through the far bushes to the right, Kou and Yashiro made their entrance. Osane Miku was with them, brandishing her own kitchen knives from when she was Aka Manto.

"The plan failed?!" Yashiro yelped at Hanako, who tried to fight a caterwauling brother with his Hakujoudai.

"No! Y/N remembers! But she's having another white-out!"

"White-out." Yashiro repeated, pink eyes growing wide. Clenching her fist determinedly, she raced to find Y/N through the fray of fighting.

"WHERE IS MITSUBA!" Kou instantly leapt for Tsukasa, who dodged him with disgruntled ease. Hanako cleared his throat, trapped in Tsukasa's kakujoudai's power.

"I mean- back off! You're cornered, now!"

"Y/N!" Osane called desperately, spotting the cowering Wonder. Yashiro raced to join her,  but Tsukasa was quicker. Catching Miku's broken cry, he flew over his brother.

"Amane?" Y/N whispered hoarsely, as if she had not drunk for years. "Mom? Abandoned? Rain? Pitter... patter..."

"Pitter patter we're gonna die here if you don't get a move on!" Osane groaned, trying to pull her from her tight knit of a ball, but Y/N wouldn't budge. Yashiro tried to join in, then yelped as somebody tackled her down.

"GIVE ME THE GIRL!" Tsukasa screamed, kicking the horrified girl and reaching grappling arms to the cowering Sakura Wonder.

"TAKE HER!"  Hanako's desperate voice overpowered all the sounds of battling and clashing.

"TAKE HER, SHIJIMA! GET HER AWAY!"

"But 7th Wonder-" A petite, noticeably beautiful girl stepped out from the bushes. Her wild brown hair and glasses were no stranger to Hanako, but to everyone,  she was new. Tsukasa skittered to a stop.

Suddenly, as if the eye of the hurricane had passed, Y/N screamed to the sky, raising the hand that trembled with her knife. Tsukasa leapt. Yashiro and Osane reached to parry him. Kou broke the kakujoudai's grip-

"SHIJIMA!"

At Hanako's plea, the girl took hold of Y/N, pulling her with surprising strength.

Relieved gasps. A whisper of thanks. A cry of victory.

The two girls were gone.

"Shijima did it!" Yashiro breathed a sigh of relief, nearly bursting into tears. However, Hanako was not so easy yet.

"Where is Tsukasa? We have to confont him before-"

Hanako's voice broke. Everyone had the same astonished expression, tense and anxious.

A single shred of Tsukasa's coat, torn by Osane's many knives, fluttered to the grass.

The enemy was still loose.

~

I see people saying they are confused, so here's what happened: Hanako disguised himself as his past self, Yugi Amane, in order to help Y/N regain her memories!