Metal Flute

Ren received a heavy call from Natsumi. Upon hearing this, Ren trembled, and her knees collapsed. She began to weep as she told Akihiko the details. Akihiko was silent. The two hurriedly went to the hospital to check the situation out.

Meanwhile, as Megumi runs from the abductors, she bumps into Haruki, Yuuji, and Mayumi. Megumi told the dire situation Izumi is currently dealing with. As the group went back in the direction Megumi came from, they encountered the speeding car of Natsumi and the annoying sound of the motorbike of Mitsuru following it. Megumi started to tremble as the worst-case scenario she fears possibly happened. Yuuji immediately called a cab. As soon as the taxi arrived, the four went in, and Haruki told the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

After calling his mother on the way, Natsumi rushes wounded Izumi into ER as soon as he arrives at the hospital. Not only his arms are full of tremors, but also tears continuously come out from his guilty yet handsome eyes. He keeps on blaming himself for what happened to his brother. Minutes later, Mitsuru has arrived. Natsumi has no clue what happened between the two, so he said that he accidentally hit Izumi. Mitsuru went silent as he was frustrated and didn't know what to do. Sadness is seen in his eyes, and guilt is swallowing him. He knew that even though Izumi's family cared and accepted him, he blamed himself for the sufferings Izumi must endure.

Moments later, Haruki and the rest arrived and were surprised to see Mitsuru standing in front of Natsumi. Haruki could no longer contain his disappointment. "What a surprise to see you here, Mikkun. Well, that given, Ikkun told me that you're still friends after confessing to him yet—" Haruki snapped as he remembered that Izumi and Mitsuru slept with the same person. He realizes that if he says anything further, it might cause their friendship to be over. Natsumi heard what Haruki had said, and his eyes dilated. "Wait Haruki-kun, is it true? That Mitsuru-kun confessed to Ikkun?" asked the puzzled Natsumi. "Uhh—" Cat got Haruki's tongue and could not respond to Natsumi. Luckily, Akihiko, Megumi, and Ren arrived.

"What happened, Natsumi? Answer me," said Akihiko with a melancholic voice.

"I was speeding at the highway. The road was clear and suddenly, someone was pushed towards the direction I am heading, thus I hit that person. When I went out of the car, I was horrified when I saw Izumi, laying on the ground. He was unconscious and blood was coming out from his head." said Natsumi with a guilty and trembling tone. Akihiko went silent. His hands began to tremble. Later on, the Tokyo Police visited Narumi at the hospital. Everyone was there to listen to what the police were about to say.

"It seems that Shirogane-san tried to kill the masked men. But before we conclude that he is indeed tried to kill those men, may I ask if there is someone with Shirogane-san before the incident happened?" questioned the police.

"Sir, it was me. I was with him before the accident!" said Megumi.

"May I ask what happened, ma'am?"

"I was walking with him. We were about to go to lunch when the masked men cornered us. He defended me and attacked those masked men. Please, don't make him a criminal! He defended me even if his life was at stake!" said Megumi, and she began to weep.

"Rest assured ma'am, now we have connected the dots, we will now investigate this matter." We will call you after we have gathered some clues and pieces of evidence that will lead us to the mastermind.

"Thank you very much, sir," said Narumi with relief.

Soon as the police left, the doctor in charge informed the family regarding the situation of Izumi.

"I regret to say that Shirogane-kun will be comatose. Rest assured because his life is not in danger anymore. He had several stitches on his head. Let us hope that he will regain consciousness sooner or later as the fragments of bones were removed from the part of his brain that controls arousal and awareness. It is a miracle he survived despite he lost a lot of blood. Well, if you excuse me, I have other matters to attend."

"Thank you, doctor," said Haruki.

As soon as the doctor left, Akihiko began to weep. "I never thought he would do this. Indeed, we have raised a dependable person and a gentleman." with a trembling, proud, and soft voice. "Well, he is your son after all," said Ren as he comforts his husband. "I am sure that he will wake up. Let us not lose hope," she added further. "At least he did something that we could be proud of. I hope that the media could not learn about this incident. We know how Izumi hates the media," said Megumi as she trembles. "I-I really hope that he will wake up soon!" frustrated and scared to lose his brother, Megumi wept while she hugged Natsumi. Then Hiroshi and Arisu cried as they saw that their mother was crying.

"Where's uncle Izumi, dad?" asked the crying Hiroshi. "Will he be able to join us again? Will he be able to play with us again?" asked the anxious Arisu. Ren then hugged the two children and comforted them. "Shh… Yes, he will come back. But for now, he needs to rest. I do hope that he will return to us immediately," said Ren as tears came out from her eyes continuously. The melancholic atmosphere dominated the feelings of everyone. The friends of Izumi were there, speechless, staring at the cold wall of the hospital where Izumi lies beyond, especially Yuuji.

As matters went too busy inside the hospital, the night fell quickly behind their knowledge. Snowstorm slaughtered the peaceful night as if it was the representation raging wrath of Izumi. As of the moment, no one knows what is running inside the cunning head of Izumi. After that, Ren insisted that everyone should go home to rest.

As night falls in the day where Izumi met his unfortunate moment, Haruki stayed at the hospital to look out after him together with Ren. Everyone wanted to stay also, but he told them to go home since worrying about Izumi causes them more stress. Haruki assured them that he would look out for him. Besides, Ren also stayed. When they left, Haruki told Yuuji that he should go and accompany Megumi to Izumi's house. Mayumi also stayed with him.

As the rest was about to leave the room, Mitsuru glanced at the unconscious Izumi. He was surprised by what he saw. Mitsuru's eyes were full of regret. As if he was telling that he is the reason for Izumi's suffering and as if he was endlessly apologizing to him.

Unbeknownst to his knowledge, tears also fell from his eyes. Thousands of images were flashed in front of his subconscious. He asked himself, why would he suddenly go back to Satoshi? Why would he do that to Izumi? He is one of the strongest martial artists, and he can easily shrug Satoshi off. Questions that he finds currently unable to seek answers flooded his mind. Because of these things, he stared at nothingness until Mayumi brought him back to reality. It was getting late, so they also went to sleep.

As he was sleeping, Haruki has dreamed of the past. It's been a long time since he had a decent dream.

He was a shy and silent kid. Back when they were elementary students, he was just sitting silently at the back of the classroom. There was a time when their teacher decided to change their sitting arrangements. He stayed at the back. Then their teacher sent Izumi as his seatmate. During lunch breaks, Haruki just sleeps after having lunch. One day, he was surprised when Izumi talked to him.

"Why are you just sleeping after eating your lunch?" said Izumi with a smiling and angelic face.

"I-I just love sleeping. A-and I don't want to play with the other kids," said Haruki with a trembling voice.

"Eh, so we're the same huh?" he added

"How so?" Haruki asked

"I don't want to play with the other kids also. I just wanted to sleep like what you are doing. They bully me for not participating in their game. So, when I get annoyed, I beat them!" said Izumi with an angry and cute tone. "Wanna be friends with me? We'll be playmates. I don't want to play with other kids anymore." he added.

Haruki's eyes brightened up, filled with joy as someone was willing to be friends with him despite his introverted personality. He agreed; thus, their friendship has started.

Soon, his family decided to move out of the estate. He was thrilled when he found out that Izumi would be their neighbor. There, Haruki met Mitsuru. The three of them began to hang out until now. One day, they saw Izumi crying while being cornered by middle school students. They hurriedly ran to him to defend him. But the worst has happened. The three children were beaten almost to death just because of a petty reason. The middle school students declared the area their headquarters. They will eliminate whoever dares to pass by or enter their premises. Then, some witnesses drove the students off and called the ambulance for help. After recovering entirely, Izumi became aloof and silent to everyone except for them. His drastic change of personality made them uneasy. There was a time when he was too rigid and close-minded, so Haruki lost his patience and punched him. He let out his frustrations and anger to him. And then, he began to cry. He apologized for what he had done.

When they entered middle school, he applied for a special program in literature. In contrast, Haruki applied for a special music program. He was a koto player. Izumi and Haruki decided to join their school's concert band. Haruki's instructor in music was also their club adviser. No one entered the flute section in that school year, so their instructor recruited the koto players to play the flute. As for Izumi, he joined the euphonium section. Mitsuru joined the martial arts club. His reason for joining the club is to learn martial arts to protect the two of them- no, the four of them. If Megumi was here.

Years later, he became the president of their concert band. Izumi was our vice president. During break time, we play musical pieces from the anime we have watched.

"Hey, let's play The Lullaby of Valentine."

"Is that from the anime, The Land that was Promised?" he asked.

"Yeah. I love the melody. It has a slow tempo as if it was telling a tragic story."

"Well, it is tragic. As a manga reader, want me to spoil you?" he added and smiled like a demon.

"Hell, no! Don't you dare!"

"Yeah, yeah. So, where is the piece?"

"Here."

As Haruki played the melody, Izumi delivered the background part, making it more sorrowful yet beautiful. As they played at the top of the building, he saw Mitsuru at a corner, kissing a guy. He was surprised. Haruki continued playing without pause. After they played, he acted normally in front of Izumi since he feels that he has had feelings for Mitsuru ever since they were kids. The subtle habits of Izumi really make it obvious. He wondered if Mitsuru also noticed that.

In high school, they quit being at a concert band and learned martial arts together with Mitsuru. There, he met Mayumi. She was his first crush. He didn't tell the two since he was embarrassed to do so. One day, Mayumi was about to fall from the top of our building. Haruki rushed to her side to save her. When he successfully grabbed her hand, he immediately pulled her towards him and accidentally hugged her. His heart was about to explode, but then, she started crying and hugged him tighter. Since that day, Mayumi began to act like my girlfriend. He was kind of annoyed at first, but he let it slide as he found her cute. Haruki just got to keep this pace up, so no one will suspect that he has feelings for her. He was surprised when she suddenly stopped acting like that when they reached college. He thought she grew tired of him. But he was wrong. Outside the campus, Mayumi still clings to him.

When they started college, they joined the Martial Arts Club again. To his surprise, he saw the guy with Mitsuru during our middle school days. His name was Iwamoto Satoshi. But something was odd; he felt no tension between the two. He cannot hypothesize what happened between them. Dating different girls became his habit. He constantly reprimands him, but he doesn't listen. Years later, Haruki caught him caressing Izumi's hair and kissing his forehead. He warned him that if Izumi accepts him as a lover and he will hurt him, he will never forgive him. Still, it turns out that Izumi was the one who turned Mitsuru down. Haruki just laughed at how complicated their relationship is. On the other hand, he feels guilty since his life is going well, and his first love is now right beside him. What can he do to make his best friends happier?

As he dreams about the past, another dream interfered. He saw Mitsuru, covered in blood, crying for help. Haruki was there, standing, holding a bloody baseball bat. He was horrified and dropped the baseball bat, and suddenly, he heard a whisper saying:

"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU" he doesn't know for who that phrase is referring to. It sounded agonizing, full of hatred, and wanted to seek revenge.

Mayumi woke Haruki up and said that he was having a nightmare. He asked her where Ren went. She said she went to buy breakfast. When Ren has arrived, they ate breakfast. She wondered how Izumi was living his life now. He said he became a stockholder of an animation studio and a manga distributing company. She was shocked when she heard this since Izumi never told them he had become a stockholder. The thought that his bank book is still with him. She became even more proud of his son. Haruki was relieved that Izumi's family isn't the type who cares about their reputation. Still, they care about each other's well-being. But why do these terrible things always happen to him? Haruki hopes that a ray of hope and forgiveness will shine after this disaster. He is tired of seeing his best friend cry. Haruki wants to see him live his life and laugh with his loved ones.