Past

Arriving at Katsura's residence, Hiroto and Katsura had a doctor come over to check on Gin's state to help him recuperate faster.

Outside of the room Gin was resting in, Hiroto and Katsura were talking to each other.

"I guess that girl is the person that we were supposed to find," Hiroto said, looking at the room beside Gins.

"She's the typical case of a spoiled child, going to clubs and using drugs," Katsura said, shaking his head.

In Gin's room, the two could hear him tossing and turning around in his futon.

"A Nightmare?" Katsura muttered. Hiroto didn't comment and stayed silent.

-----

In a dark and bloody world, Gin was knelt next to Katsura, with Hiroto standing behind them, as hordes and hordes of Amanto surrounded them.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Katsura said, gripping his bloody side.

Gin's dead-fish eyes looked around him, as he said, "They just never stop coming. What are these guys, cockroaches?"

"Well, that guy is," Katsura said, pointing to a cockroach looking at Amanto. "We might as well just cut our bellies open at this point and have an honorable death."

Hiroto walked up from behind and squatted in front of the two, flicking their foreheads and saying, "Who gave you permission to die?"

"Ah! My head's bleeding!" Gin cried out, as he clutched his bleeding forehead.

"Just keep fighting. Even if your bones break down on you, keep pushing on." Hiroto stood in front of them and rested his katana on his shoulder, saying, "When you stop fighting, that's death."

Gin and Katsura stood up. From the side, a man cleaved through a column of enemies and joined up with Hiroto and the others. He had short black hair with purple highlights.

"Well, I thought that I had to come and motivate you guys to fight, seems like you're doing fine on your own." The man said, looking around at the enemy surrounding them.

Hiroto shook his head and said, "Where did you run off to this time, Takasugi?"

"I was cut off from everyone else, so I took a detour," Takasugi said.

"A bloody detour, it would seem," Katsura said.

"I already thought he died." Gin said casually.

"I won't die that easily," Takasugi said, smiling at Gin.

Hiroto looked at the three. Everyone, including him, had a long strip of white ribbing wrapped around their head.

Hiroto spoke up, "Well since you three are so spirited, I think it's time we welcome these Amanto, the proper way."

Katsura looked to the side, and to the ground around them, littered with the corpses of their dead allies.

"Zura, don't look back," Hiroto said, brandishing his sword, as the Amanto stared back at the 4, nervous even though they outnumber them significantly.

"It's not Zura. It's Katsura." Katsura said back.

Gin, Katsura, and Takasugi looked at Hiroto's back as he said, "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."

The three looked between each other, before walking to stand next to Hiroto and rushing forward towards the hordes of Amanto.

-----

"Hah!" Gin shouted out as he sprung up from his sleep, sitting up and looking around the unfamiliar environment.

Hiroto and Katsura walked into the room, with Katsura saying, "It's unlike you to be having a nightmare. Dreaming about the past?"

Gin looked up to Kastura and said, "Zura? What the hell are you doing here?" Gin's pupils then widened, as he remembered the events that transpired in the club.

"I remember now!" Gin said, standing up. As he did so, pain coursed through his body, causing him to fall face-first into his futon.

"Don't strain yourself," Hiroto said, as he leaned next to the exit that faced the garden. "You took a pretty nasty fall."

Katsura added, "The other person is even worse. She looks okay on the outside. You broke her fall. But her entire body has been ravaged by drugs."

"How did you manage to save me?" Gin said to Katsura, sitting up. "Apologize for last time, you bastard."

Hiroto spoke up, "I was coming to the club since Shinpachi called me and told me about the job. I didn't expect to find you falling out of the club the moment I arrived."

Katsura reached into his sleeve and pulled out a see-through plastic bag, with a white powder sealed inside it.

"Are you familiar with this?" Katsura asked Gin. "It's an illegal drug called "Paradise" that's been going around lately. It's made from a flower that grows only on a remote planet."

Katsura looked serious and said, "And everyone who uses it without exception, meets a tragic end. The Anti-Amanto party is working on digging out this evil by its roots, so we're gathering information on it."

Gin looked over to Hiroto and said, "You joined Zura on his escapade?"

Hiroto shook his head and said, "Of course not, you think that I would do anything like that anymore? I'm just trying to live an honest life now, one filled with french fries."

"Then what were you doing with him?" Gin asked.

Hiroto then briefly went over the events of Katsura visiting them, giving them treats as a sign of goodwill, up to the moment they found Gin.

"Oi, you had better not eaten all of the sweets, otherwise I'll dump all your french fries down the toilet." Gin said.

"Why would I? He brought over french fries, so your sweets are safe… (I think)" Hiroto said, as he whispered the last part to himself.

"Oi, what did you just say? Don't think I didn't hear what you said, you bastard." Gin quickly said, turning to Katsura, "Besides, who were those guys?"

Katsura then told Gin about the crime syndicate, the Harusame Pirates, and how they deal with drugs to profit from people on Earth.

Gin stood up and grabbed his white yukata from the side, as Katsura said, "Hey! Are you listening?"

Gin stood next to Hiroto and said, "They kidnapped our friends. I can't afford to rest and bide my time, and neither can you, Hiro."

Hiroto nodded and said, "Well duh, but look at your condition. You sure you're up to the task?"

Gin walked out of the room and said, " "A man's life is like traveling a long road with a load on his shoulders." A long time ago, an old man named Nobuhide Tokugawa said that…"

Katsura shouted out, "Learn your history, retard! It was lord Ieyasu. Lord Ieyasu!"

Hiroto thought to himself, 'I totally thought it was Oda Nobunaga that said that…'

"The first time I heard that, I thought, what a lame thing to say, but what do you know, that old guy had a point." Gin said. "Everyone's got both hands full of something that matters. It's only after it slips out of your hands that you realize how heavy it was in the first place."

Hiroto stayed silent, listening to Gin, thinking back to the past.

"So many times, I thought I'd never carry a load like that ever again. That I didn't need anyone else." Gin turned to Hiroto for a moment and said, "And yet, before I realized it, I was carrying it again."

Hiroto gave a small smile, and walked up to Gin, patting his shoulder saying, "You're not the only one carrying a load this time."

Gin chuckled to himself and said, "It would be better to just get rid of it. But I just can't bring myself to do it, the same goes for you as well, am I right?"

Hiroto shrugged and said, "Without those guys, walking around and going about the day isn't as fun anymore. Looks like we picked up something troublesome, huh?"

Katsura walked up from behind them and said, "I still owe you favor from Ikedaya. You can't carry that load with just your two hands. The more that's with you, the easier it is to carry it."

Hiroto smiled and said, "You know, when you say it like that, it sounds we're talking about shit."

"I never meant it like that!" Katsura shouted out, as the three started to walk away from the residence.

Gin then spoke up, "Besides, I remember someone telling us that the greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. "

Hiroto spoke up as though he had no recollection of it, "Who said that? Sounds like a pretty cool guy."

Gin and Katsura glanced at each other for a moment, before Gin kicked Hiroto's leg and said, "Just some idiot with french fries for brains."

"Ow!" Hiroto cried out, "You want me to beat you like I used to back then?"

"Now now, no need for violence. You should calm down, french fry man." Katsura said, trying to calm Hiroto down.

"Oi, you want me to shave your head Zura?" Hiroto said, as they two walked away, bickering with each other.