A Condition Called Love [Tokyo Revengers]

Chapter 12: The Worst Nightmare

Nana's POV (November 2005)

After I got released from the hospital, the first thing that Keisuke and I did was pay a visit to Kazutora at the Tokyo Detention Center where he was held arrested. And funny enough, as we were making our way there, we met Draken and Takemichi on the way who were also going to visit Kazutora to see how he was doing and everything. The four of us then decided to go to the detention center together where we waited for Kazutora's arrival in the waiting room after reaching there. Later the tiger-tattooed boy arrived at the scene and sat down on a chair in our opposite direction while a thick glass wall was dividing us from him, preventing us from reaching and touching him. Kazutora on the other hand stared at us in shock as he didn't expect this many people to come and visit him.

"How have you been, Kazutora?" Keisuke asked in a soft yet deep tone, the first one to speak up.

"Okay, I guess..." Kazutora replied in a mutter before his teary eyes trailed over to me, staring at me with guilt and shame. "N-Nana... Thank God, you're okay. I'm so glad."

"Well, it takes more than just a stab wound to kill me off, dummy... You should've tried harder." I joked with a chuckle and this brought a small smile to everyone's face.

Kazutora's smile then dropped from his face again before he looked down at his intertwined hands on his lap.

"They told me to expect a two-year sentence..." he informed. "It's short for what I did though. I won't run anymore. I have got to face up to this. That's what Baji and Nana taught me..."

Kazutora then looked up and his gaze met with mine and Keisuke's.

"That's why... I'm planning to get proper rehabilitation this time..." he added. "I promise..."

My eyes softened at his words and that's when I decided to speak up.

"Don't die, Kazutora..." I stated in a soft yet firm tone and Kazutora's breath hitched upon hearing my words.

"Why?" he asked as his eyes widened in shock.

"I know exactly what you're thinking. Even Keisuke and Ken-chan know that too... Don't even think about trying to make up for this by killing yourself, okay?" I stated while tears started to form in Kazutora's eyes.

"But why are you saying this, Nana?" he asked, almost in desperation. "I killed Shinichiro-kun. I tried to stab Baji. I almost killed you... But then why...?"

"Don't get me wrong, Kazutota... I still haven't forgiven you completely for what you did to Shin-chan. I had known Shin-chan my entire life, ever since I was a baby. I grew up with him, I grew up loving him... I grew up falling in love with him. And then all of a sudden, Shin-chan was gone from my life for good and it's all because of you, Kazutora. It was all because of your own stupidity. And not only just that, you even got Keisuke involved in your own mess as well... Keisuke's life fucked-up all because of you." I stated before Kazutora broke eye contact, looking down in shame.

At that moment, he looked so pitiful that seeing him like this ached my heart.

"Back then, I didn't know how to feel about you, Kazutora. I knew you were nice and cool enough to hang around with, but then again, I always felt something was off about you. Keisuke and Manjiro started to take a liking to you, so I kept my mouth shut and let it be. After learning about your family life, I began to sympathize with you. Because unlike me, you didn't have a happy family life and your parents always fought with each other. Unlike me, you came from an abusive household, so I started to understand where you were coming from, why you are the way you are... That's when I decided to become your friend. You were nice, you were fun to be around and I started to realize why Manjiro, Keisuke, and even the others liked having you around. You were their friend. You also became my friend, Kazutora... until that day, when you decided to break into Shin-chan's shop to steal a motorbike for Manjiro's birthday and ended up killing Shin-chan... You don't know what we had to go through after Shin-chan died. I couldn't even properly grieve because of the Sano family. Manjiro and Emma lost their dear older brother; their relationship with Shin-chan was even deeper than what I had with him. Emma was always crying throughout the day and night. Manjiro locked himself up in his bedroom and refused to come out for more than a week. Looking at Gramps felt as if he had lost his soul and become lifeless. The whole Sano family was a mess after Shin-chan's death. And to get the Sano family back on track, I was forced to cope and move on from Shin-chan's death. At the age of 13, I had to bear the huge burden of keeping the whole Sano family alive and okay, to make sure they were eating right, they were sleeping properly and the list goes on..."