Chapter 2: Realization

Celia couldn't fall asleep. Her mind was tired, but her body still seemed to have lots of energy. She really regretted eating sweets before bed, now she couldn't even get a wink of sleep. Growling in frustration, she dressed, pulled an oversized hoodie over her head, and grabbed her sneakers.

The streets were dead quiet, you could hear a pin drop. It was like a ghost town. Guess everybody was knocked out at this time of the night. A yawn escaped from her lips, she'll head back after strolling for a while.

Honestly, Celia didn't know where she was walking, but she had her phone with her anyways. If she encountered any danger, she could always alert her "stalker". Well, the person tailing her wasn't a stalker, just someone her mother had arranged for to be her bodyguard. So overprotective. Besides, she won't blindly stumble into some weird shit. And if she screams, perhaps the whole neighborhood would be able to hear her.

Faint whispers caught her attention. As she headed in the direction of the sound, an uneasy feeling welled up in her. It didn't matter, she should probably check on what was the source of the noise, it might be a thief. The whispers seemed to come from "S.S. Motors", which Celia never heard of before since she hasn't really explored this part of Shibuya.

Tiptoeing over, she entered the workshop, where the door was ajar. Raising an eyebrow, she slipped in, cautious to keep silent. Celia entered to hear some shouts, as she formed the sentence "Whose shop do you think you broke into?! Asshole." upon venturing deeper into the dark workshop. A hooded figure and a young man were facing each other, and the irritated expression on his face gave it away that he was the owner of the shop. But, didn't he look familiar? Celia felt like she had seen him somewhere before, confused, she squinted to look at his face.

A motorcycle shop. A hooded figure stealing a bike. Celia zoned out of the conversation they were having until the owner of the shop questioned, "Aren't you Keisuke?" Then, it all clicked together. She was in Tokyo Revengers, an anime that she enjoyed watching and had read its manga. However, if she was at this scene, that meant the guy who was speaking the entire time, Shinichiro Sano, was going to die soon. Where was Kazutora, he should be coming from behind him.

Celia then noticed the figure behind Shinichiro, dashing for him as he raised a weapon above his head. Fuck! The hell, man—She felt the wind blow at her face as she sprinted towards Shinichiro. Shit! I'm not going to make it before he gets whacked on the head! Just a little bit more.

She reached out for Shinichiro's arm and pulled him towards her, but alas, the weapon still reached his head. He collapsed against Celia, who tumbled to the floor from the weight put on her. Blood gushed out from his wound, and Shinichiro squinted at his surroundings, which were turning blurry each second.

"Hey! Stay awake!" Celia slapped his face lightly, gritting her teeth in irritation. How did she get dragged into this shit while all she was trying to do was to take a walk?

"Let's get outta here, Baji!" Kazutora yelled, and Celia turned around, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

She would have to deal with Shinichiro first, or he'll just die from blood loss. Grabbing a clean cloth nearby, she wrapped it around his head tightly. Tuning out the agitated screams of Baji, who revealed to Kazutora that the man he hit was Mikey's older brother, Celia checked his pulse, it was weak but he was still breathing.

"What should we do…?"Baji stared helplessly at the state of Shinichiro. "Is he still breathing?"

"Weak pulse," Celia answered. "We need to get him to the nearest hospital."

Meanwhile, Kazutora was in a daze. Seeing the looks on the two faces of the boys, Celia pondered if she could carry Shinchiro out of there by herself. Then again, didn't she have someone following her?

Celia called out, "Oi. Come out. I can see you, know." A head of fluffy white hair peeked out from the corner. "Call the ambulance. Also, help me check if my mother is still at the hospital." The gold eyes stared back at her for a moment, before nodding and turning to make some calls. As the two boys conversed, they seemed to have forgotten her presence and thought that Shinichiro was already dead.

Kazutora definitely didn't look like he was in the right state of mind, as he muttered to himself. "I've got to kill Mikey. " Yup, he has crossed to the dark side now.

Sighing to herself, Celia beckoned Baji over, who then realized she was still there, "Oi, hold the cloth and press on the wound to put pressure. This guy is still breathing. The ambulance is on the way." Baji nodded as he moved over to hold Shinichiro. Celia stood up, strolling to Kazutora, and slapped him across the face. "If you're a man, be responsible for your own actions. I don't care what you do, but don't you ever dare to let others take the blame for you or push the blame onto them. You reap nothing."

A blank face stared back at Celia.

"Miss Fukuda, the police are already here. I have also made the arrangements, your mother will be the one taking charge of the surgery." Her bodyguard alerted her.

"Carry him out," Celia beckoned the guy over. The police flooded in and held the two boys down. A police officer got a statement from Celia, who answered his questions quickly before leaving. Even if she was an anime fan, there was no way she wanted to get involved in their messes.

A hand grabbed onto the sleeve of her hoodie. Celia whirled around, stopping in her footsteps to see a boy not much taller than her. "What happened inside?" He asked, an uneasy feeling clenching him so tightly he could hardly breathe.

Mikey. Sano Manjiro. Celia realized, his hairstyle made it difficult to recognize him.

"You should ask your friends that question, not me. I'm just a witness. In fact, you should hurry to the nearest hospital, your brother is having emergency surgery right now." His hold on her sleeve tightened. "His head was hit pretty hard. Even if the doctor manages to save him, I think he'll be in a coma." Celia wasn't exactly experienced in the medical field, but there have been similar situations that her mother told her about on her off days. Neither did Celia bother to sugarcoat her words, she had a straightforward and blunt personality.

As doctors say when the patient is in an unstable state, "Prepare yourself for the worst."

—>

Celia was sweating from the awkward atmosphere. It seems her bodyguard was an introverted individual. "Uh, what's your name?" She asked and the 179 cm guy jumped in fright, like a little bunny. A red hue spread across his cheeks as he stuttered, "A-A Xi." It wasn't difficult to say it, she had learned Chinese in her previous life after all.

"You don't have to stay in the shadows all the time. If anybody notices you, they'll probably think you're some stalker." Celia smirked at his embarrassed expression. "Also, call me Celia."

—>

"How did the surgery go, Mom?" Celia asked her mother who had just woken up.

"The young man is in a coma and a more stable condition right now. It would be a pity if he died at such a young age," her mother let out a sigh, "Delinquents are so troublesome. So many people get injured because of them, it's utterly irresponsible. Never get involved with those kinds of people, ok, Celia?"

Celia nodded, though she knew she'll probably forget what her mother said as she waltzed back into her room.