THE PRESENT

Hanagaki (Y/N).

A detective inspector who used to work for the organized crime department in Tokyo and was the senior of Tachibana Naoto, who is surprisingly the younger brother of her friend, Tachibana Hinata, who used to date her cousin, Hanagaki Takemichi, during high school.

Detective Inspector Hanagaki, or Hanagaki-senpai as Naoto referred to her, was the first person in the department to recognize his potential. She was also the only one at work who treated him with respect and treated him fairly and normally, unlike his other superiors, who treated him as if he were unimportant.

(Y/N) would usually be the one to ask for his help in investigating crimes, and she would usually invite him out for a cup of coffee after a long day of crime scene investigation.

Naoto believed that maybe the reason she was being nice to him was because he's the brother of her friend, but she didn't even know that he's Hinata's brother until he mentioned it. Then it struck him. Haganaki (Y/N) was actually a nice person to begin, even though she looked very intimidating at first. You must have a lot of courage to approach her, as she was well-known across the Tokyo Police Department. Her name was known throughout Japan for solving crimes and saving many lives. Even though Hanagaki (Y/N) was dubbed "the best," there was one case she couldn't handle on her own.

And it was about a certain gang.

"Hey, are you still working?" Her voice echoed around the room since they were the only ones left in their department, and she could be heard clearly and loudly.

Naoto lifted his eyes from his paperwork to meet her (e/c) gaze, which was fixed on him. She was peering down at him with a little smile plastered on her face, her chin resting above her hands that were grasping the edge of the divider. Naoto observed her heavy bags under her eyes and figured his senpai had been sleeping late once again.

"I still need to pass this to the chief tomorrow morning, he told me to—" He was cut short when a hand pulled his right arm up, which he did. He stared down into her eyes, a little taken aback by her sudden action as he was taller than her. She didn't usually do physical touches; she only did them when she had to, like tugging her kohai away from his work so he could take a break, or dragging him to an investigation with her. Despite the fact that he had been working with her for four years, Naoto was still unaccustomed to her behavior.

"You. Need. A. Break." She ordered, emphasizing each word she spoke. When she looked at the seiko wall clock, she discovered it was almost 9 p.m., and her stomach had begun to grumble.

As he gently removed his senpai's hand off his arm, Naoto chuckled. Naoto gets a flutter feeling inside him every time she touches him, even if he won't accept it. Her touch was gentle and warm, something he didn't want to become addicted to because he knew it would be wrong. She was his senpai and his sister's friend, after all.

"You made me h-angry, wait a minute," she said as she began walking towards her office to retrieve something. Naoto had decided to clear up his table and had concluded that he would finish his job the next morning. After three minutes, she reappeared, clutching her handbag and dragging Naoto behind her. "Let's go grab a bite to eat. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Naoto-kun. You're slimming down. You need to eat more."

She was, of course, one of the few people in his life who looks after his health. The only one who scolds him a lot more than his own sister and mother. The one who he looks up to and admires. Naoto also wanted to tell her that she has lost too much weight in recent months as a result of the increased frequency of incidents involving a certain gang. He's not sure why, but he recalls seeing her with a pained expression when they learnt about the suspects of the crime they had previously investigated.

"Let's get our tummies full with food."

"Hai, Hanagaki-senpai." He replied, pushing away the warm sensation on his wrist as he carefully removed her warm hand.

"Come on, call me (Y/N)-nee. I'm your sister's friend after all, and your friend too."

She was absolutely right. She was his sister's friend. His senpai. His friend. Nothing else.

He sighed, a tiny smile on his lips, and said, "Sure, (Y/N)-san."

Everything changed after that night. He had no idea that night would be the last time he saw her. The next morning, he arrived at the department and discovered she was absent from her office. He anticipated that she would be late. He figured she had overworked herself and slept late again, but the morning call turned his stomach inside out.

"Does this belong to Tachinaba Naoto?" He received a call from an unknown number. He had no idea why, but seeing the strange number show on his phone screen suddenly made him feel uneasy. He then answered the phone based on his instincts.

"Yes," he replied coldly.

"Are you perhaps related to Hanagaki (Y/N)? I came across her phone in a parking lot near the Aiba convenience store, and the last number she dialed was yours..."

When Naoto looked through his recent missed calls, he found thirty-six missed calls from the woman in question. He examined his text messages and found only one from her, and it appeared that she couldn't continue her sentence and sent it to him right away. The text says; "Hinata's in da"

"I'll send this phone over to your department."

Naoto's uneasiness started to grow bigger. "Thank you."

An hour after that call with the stranger ended, he received Hanagaki (Y/N)'s phone which was almost damaged and looked like it fell hard on the ground. The unease grew more with each passing hour as he kept glancing at the wall clock and the door from time to time, expecting to see a (h/c) haired woman walk into the room with an apologetic expression on her face, as she always did when she arrived late at work. However, he hadn't seen her or heard from her after nearly a day at work. He knew that if she had an emergency phone with her, she would have just called the office and told him that she wouldn't be coming to work— that was what she does too every time she doesn't feel well coming to work. She would always notify him.

And that makes him more troubled.

She hadn't called him nor texted him. He tried calling her at her emergency number, but it was unavailable.

Naoto received an assignment from their chief later that night. An investigation into the death of someone dear to him, someone he cares for passionately, even though he knew it was wrong.

Hanagaki (Y/N), 28, dies after being shot multiple times at Odaiba Seaside Park last night.

•••

Takemichi bursted out crying in his small apartment upon hearing the news of the death of his cousin and no one was there for him to comfort him. As he bawled out his eyes weeping, his head was glued to the filthy floor. He couldn't ignore the anguish in his heart because it was too heavy. He had recently lost someone who had never left his side. He had just lost the person who had been watching out for him all these years, even after he had ignored and left her. He has recently lost the only person who actually cares about him.

They had only recently repaired their friendship after years of not seeing each other. They had intended to celebrate her forthcoming birthday in two weeks, but this news shattered their plan.

The next day, Tachibana Naoto and Hinata's deaths were broadcast on television.

Takemichi was lost in words. His cousin just died. The first girlfriend he ever had in high school had also died. His life was a complete and utter mess. He didn't know where to go. He didn't know where he should run. The only person who he could run into every time when he was feeling down was his cousin and she was gone.

(Y/N) and Tachibana were dead.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for himself for being unable to do anything but mourn.

Takemichi attended his cousin's funeral, where he was reunited with his parents, who were both teary-eyed. He bowed so low that he was on the verge of losing his balance.

"Takemichi-kun, your cousin left you something in her apartment. You can go there anytime you like, after all, she stated that you are the brother she never had and will always be the one for whom she would do anything

Takemichi felt his heart tightened upon hearing those words coming from his mother. He felt all the regrets he had been feeling these years had come to rise up. He cried again. Again. And again. It was the only thing he could do. All he could do was only cry because he knew he couldn't bring you back alive.

If only he had the power to go back in time.

If only he had a chance to save your life.

If only he had attempted to be nicer to you when you were in high school.

If only he hadn't suddenly stopped speaking to you.

Will things be different if he does those?

"I promise to save you in the next life (Y/N). I promise to never leave you again."

•••

Takemichi couldn't believe what he was hearing from Naoto. He was standing in Naoto's room, a shocked expression on his face as Naoto revealed to him that his cousin used to be part of the now deadliest gang in Japan. And the only case she wasn't able to solve, Tokyo Manji Gang.

"(Y/N) must have found out about their whereabouts and tracked them down, but she ends up..." Naoto couldn't complete his sentence since he couldn't bear to pronounce the next words as if something was stuck in his throat. Takemichi observed Naoto's clenched hands and realized something that made the younger male realize it as well.

"You like her," Takemichi stated, his voice tinged with sadness as he couldn't imagine how devastated Naoto must have been when he learned of her death, knowing that they had worked together for four years and had a great relationship. Takemichi was aware because she had previously told him stories about a cute kohai, but he had no idea it was Naoto.

Naoto's heart was clenched. "That's not the time for that, Takemichi-kun," he said as he turned around to face the board in front of him, which was filled in photos and information on toman members that he had acquired. "We should devise a strategy for preventing the deaths of my sister and your cousin."

Takemichi nodded, agreeing to him.

"First, you need to kill Kisaki Tetta. Since he's the main reason for their deaths."