Chapter 12: Second Playthrough (7)

"Hiro!" Rei Furuya subconsciously ran a few steps forward.

Then, he remembered what happened with the class monitor, and his body stiffened.

The blond youth stood still, his gaze shifting back and forth between the exploded coffee shop and the robbed bank building twice, before finally gritting his teeth and turning to rush into the inferno.

"Hiro! Hiro!! Where are you?!"

"Cough cough cough... Zero?!" Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was about to rush over the fallen fire pile, suddenly turned around and, seeing his childhood friend running towards him, roared in shock and anger, "Why are you in here! Get out! Get out!!!"

When Furuya Rei grabbed his hand, he was burned by the astonishing temperature. He immediately began to drag him out, his eyes darting rapidly forward, searching for a way to break through the inferno and escape: "Let's get out together! It's too dangerous here! Let's get out and then..."

Suddenly, the hand he was holding snapped back and gripped his hand tightly. Before Furuya could react, the other hand grabbed him and threw him away forcefully.

"Varied--"

The field of vision spun rapidly, and time seemed to slow down at this moment, turning everything into a clear slow-motion scene that could be subtly etched into one's bones.

Rei Furuya's eyes widened as he saw a young man with blue, upturned cat-like eyes give him an apologetic smile amidst the scorching red sea of ​​fire that distorted his vision.

"I'm sorry, Zero." After saying that, Morofushi Kagemitsu immediately turned around and ran resolutely into the depths of the sea of ​​fire.

"Hiro!!!" The blond youth, who had been thrown out and rolled several times on the ground, got up and immediately tried to rush back into the sea of ​​fire.

But he had only run a few steps when, right in front of him, the coffee shop engulfed in flames suddenly exploded a second time.

"boom--"

The smoke and heat from the explosion lifted Rei Furuya's blond hair, revealing his wide, purplish-gray eyes.

Even the brightest firelight could not dispel the despair and pain in those eyes at that moment.

He couldn't even make a sound; only his fingers were twitching nervously, and his breathing was rapid and trembling.

[Morokushō Takami is dead.]

[Morokushō Kagemitsu has died.]

The scorching waves of fire struck Rei Furuya, but he only felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, uncontrollably experiencing suffocating palpitations and tinnitus.

[To unlock the side ending: The Butterfly Effect - The Death of Morofushi Takaaki]

[Side ending unlocked: Cherry Blossoms Fall - Death of Morofushi Kagemitsu]

Rei Furuya's vision went black, and he lost all sensation in his limbs for a moment. An overwhelming tide of despair engulfed him.

Matsuda Jinpei is dead.

[Side ending unlocked: Cherry Blossoms Fall - The Death of Matsuda Jinpei]

Rei Furuya's stiff body suddenly trembled violently.

He turned around suddenly, but instead of seeing the crime scene on the next street, he saw the live news broadcast on the big screen across the street.

The reporter's words were enlarged in the captions, which said that the police were on their way, but there seemed to have been some fighting and gunfire inside the bank. Two police academy students then rushed in despite the danger, and their current situation is unknown.

Rei Furuya felt the world before him suddenly darken and distort.

No, it's not unknown; Matsuda is already dead.

Hiro died too.

Even Gao Ming...

Rei Furuya took a deep breath, and his body suddenly stopped trembling. He expressionlessly picked up a motorcycle that had fallen to the side of the road due to the explosion, straddled it, and started the engine at the same time, instantly pulling the throttle to its limit.

The motorcycle roared through the rain like a wild beast, carrying the blond youth on it as it shot forward.

The rain intensified, the torrential downpour completely soaking the blond, dark-skinned youth's body, immersing him in the chill, and stinging his dark, purplish-gray eyes.

The madness in those eyes was spreading rapidly.

The motorcycle roared through the city streets like a mad beast in unbelievable places. Something scratched the blond youth's forehead, but he showed no sign of stopping.

My vision was uncontrollably reddened by the blood, as if the whole world was shrouded in a blood-red shadow.

In this blood-red world, amidst the screams of the onlookers, Rei Furuya drove his motorcycle down from the sky, smashing through the glass and crashing into the bank. With a blank expression, he controlled the scorching hot tires to run over an armed robber.

"Ahhh—"

The scream brought the stunned crowd in the bank back to their senses, and also made the remaining criminals immediately turn their guns on the blond youth, thinking that he was just another hothead who had rushed in blinded by passion and justice.

Rei Furuya flipped off the motorcycle, and as soon as he landed, he drew his gun and pulled the trigger.

"Bang bang bang bang——"

After four shots, the remaining four thugs who were still able to move also fell down.

Even at this point, no one could react; the bound hostages were all stunned.

Rei Furuya had burn marks from the flames, as well as wounds and dust from rolling on the ground. He was soaked from head to toe by the heavy rain, and his forehead was cut, leaving half of his face covered in blood. He looked disheveled and terrifying.

The entire crime scene was deathly silent. Everyone stared at him in fear, even more so than when they had just faced the robbers.

Rei Furuya completely ignored everyone else, his eyes only fixed on his two blood-soaked classmates leaning against the wall.

He ran over, his hands trembling as he reached out, yet he dared not touch them.

"Cough cough cough... I'm sorry... Furuya..."

Kenji Hagiwara leaned against Matsuda Jinpei's body and gave the blond youth that...familiar apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry… If I had trusted you more… If I had been more careful… Kojinpei wouldn’t have…”

He was shot in the abdomen, and blood spread rapidly; his voice grew weaker and weaker.

"It's alright, it's alright." Furuya Rei caught his body, which was about to slip and fall, and gently placed it on the shoulder of the curly-haired youth's corpse beside him, so that the two could continue to lean on each other. "I will bring Matsuda back to life again, so it's alright, so Hagi, you..."

【Hagihara Kenji is dead】

[Side ending unlocked: Cherry Blossoms Fall - Kenji Hagiwara's Death]

The young man with medium-length black hair has closed his eyes forever, unable to hear his promise or give a reply.

Ryouya paused for a moment, then clenched his fist tightly.

He remained frozen for several seconds before regaining his composure, his expression returning to calm. He got up and continued walking inside, following Natalie's desperate cries to find Date Hang in the corner.

The tall, dark-haired young man held the bound blonde girl tightly in his arms, seemingly smiling and comforting her as she cried.

But the blood flowing from the gun barrel on his body clearly terrified Natalie, and she couldn't hear what he was saying at all.

“Squad leader…” Furuya Rei squatted down beside the two, gently turned Date Wataru over, and untied Natalie.

“Furuya…” Date Wataru reached out his hand toward the blond youth.

Rei Furuya immediately grabbed the bloodstained hand, but the icy temperature made his hand tremble.

"It's me. I'm sorry, class monitor, I'm late." The blond youth lowered his head deeply.

"No...it's not your fault...Matsuda and the others did it to save me..." Date Wataru shook his head slightly, but he was already having some difficulty breathing as he tried to say something.

"Keep an eye on Natalie for me." He coughed a few times, finally choosing to say the most important thing first, "Don't... let her... commit suicide with me..."

“Okay.” Rei Furuya promised him firmly, “I will absolutely not let Natalie die.”

Ida Kou couldn't help but laugh.

“You are the same,” he said. “Furuya…live on…you must live on…”

Rei Furuya gritted his teeth, and this time his voice finally trembled with barely suppressed emotion as he answered: "Okay, we'll all survive, Sergeant, you..."

But the hand he dared not grip tightly gradually lost its strength and eventually slipped to the ground.

[Ida Aircraft is defunct]

[Side ending unlocked: Cherry Blossoms Fall - The Death of Date Wataru]

Rei Furuya froze completely, all his words and expressions vanishing in that instant.

Amid Natalie's heart-wrenching sobs, the blond youth remained silent for a few seconds before slowly standing up.

He glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the bodies of Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji leaning against each other, before finally landing on Onizuka Hachizo, who stood frozen at the doorway as police sirens blared.

Instructor Onizuka must have rushed over immediately after seeing the news. He was dressed in his regular clothes, probably on vacation and relaxing. He never imagined that he would see his promising young students die one by one on this day.

Rei Furuya subconsciously avoided the instructor's incredulous gaze.

All intelligence has been gathered; it's time to roll back from the death.

Because of his actions, Morofushi Takaaki captured Soto Moriichi ahead of time, brought him to Tokyo to meet his younger brother Kagemitsu, and they both died in the bombing attack.

Because Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji knew everything, they ignored his objections and went off alone to risk their lives, ultimately dying at the hands of the thugs.

Because of his confession, Ida Ko met his girlfriend on a date at the robbed bank. Just like his father, who was once a policeman, he was exposed as a police academy student by the robbers out of fear, which made him a target of the robbers.

Because Matsuda Jinpei had become stronger under his training, he aggravated Date Wataru's knee injury during yesterday's fight in the arrest technique class, which affected Date Wataru's actions today, causing him to fail to defeat the criminal and die at his hands.

All of this is because of his rebirth, because of the butterfly effect caused by his decision, which is why everyone died.

In other words, he was the one who killed everyone.

This isn't self-pity stemming from emotions; it's a fact, and Furuya Rei is well aware of it.

Natalie's sobs gradually subsided. She gritted her teeth, wiped away her tears, and suddenly reached for the gun that Furuya Rei had just dropped, intending to shove it into her temple. However, halfway through, a dark-skinned hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the muzzle, stopping her.

“No, this last bullet is for myself.” Furuya Rei smiled at her and slowly pulled the gun from the blonde woman’s hand. “Besides, I promised the squad leader that I would never let you die.”

“I assure you, I will definitely bring Sergeant Date back to life.” The blond youth spoke in a strange tone of determination that Natalie couldn’t comprehend. “Next time, I will absolutely not let anyone die again.”

Then, under her blank stare, the blond, dark-skinned youth pointed the gun at his own head.

"Wait? Furuya! Stop!!!" Furuya Rei heard Instructor Onizuka's shout, but he didn't stop and pulled the trigger.

"Bang--"

You are dead.

End of second playthrough

[A Bad Ending is Resulted in: The Lesson of the Past is Still Fresh]

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【yes】

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