Furuya Rei sat in the driver's seat, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel as the car sped down the highway at a nearly uncontrollable speed. The car radio was still broadcasting news about the police sealing off the Ikebukuro and Shinjuku areas, but he could no longer take in any information. His mind felt completely emptied of thoughts, leaving only the sound of the wind howling past and the low roar of the tires rubbing against the ground.
Thirty minutes ago, he was still investigating a case in the suburbs tens of kilometers away from the city center. However, after receiving the phone call from Matsuda and learning about Kuno Nozomu's death, he could hardly think. He could only hand the case over to other colleagues for the time being, instinctively step on the gas pedal, and speed toward the direction of Ikebukuro.
Matsuda summarized the situation in just a few short sentences, told him where he and Hagiwara were currently located, and hung up the phone without explaining any details. Furuya Rei did not call back, did not press for answers, and did not calmly analyze every possibility like he usually would. The only thing clear was that once he spoke to verify it, that absurd piece of news would become an absolute fact.
"Impossible..." Furuya Rei muttered to himself, his voice so low it was almost swallowed by the engine sound. "That guy... how could he suddenly just..."
Just two weeks ago, they were still sitting around the table at a hot pot restaurant, scrambling for the last few slices of beef in the clear broth pot. How could this make him believe that the youth who always smiled so wildly and uninhibitedly had now become a cold corpse?
What if something went wrong somewhere and caused Matsuda and the others to misunderstand? Maybe when he arrived at the scene, Kuno Nozomu would suddenly jump out from some corner and say in his familiar, annoying tone: "Yo, it was just a joke, little Rei didn't really think I died, right?" Then, Furuya Rei would punch him hard, then hug him tightly, and scold him for being a bastard.
Originally, it should have been like this.
But when Furuya Rei sprinted to the central square, the scene before his eyes was like a heavy blow, ruthlessly shattering the last trace of luck in his heart.
Hagiwara Kenji sat on a plastic chair, his usually neatly styled hair hanging messily over his forehead, staring blankly at the ground. He lowered his head, his hands clasped together, seemingly gripping something tightly in his palms. Matsuda Jinpei leaned against a lamppost not far away, making it impossible to see his expression. The cigarette between his fingers had already burned to the end, burning his fingers, but he was completely unaware. Date Wataru sat silently on the steps, his red-rimmed eyes looking completely unlike his usual rough and tough self. Morofushi Hiromitsu sat beside him, burying his face deeply into his arms, as if trying to shut himself completely into this small corner.
Of the entire Onizuka class, only Kuno Nozomu was not present.
"..."
No one spoke, and the atmosphere was terrifyingly heavy. The blonde youth's gaze swept across everyone, trying to find a trace of hope in their eyes. But it was in vain.
"Everyone... arrived before me." Furuya Rei spoke stiffly. He wanted to ask what exactly happened, if there was a mistake somewhere, but when the words reached his lips, he could not say a single word. A wave of numbness spread from his chest to his entire body, making him feel a helplessness he had never experienced before.
Hagiwara and Matsuda had no reaction to Rei's arrival, seemingly too exhausted to speak. When Morofushi Hiromitsu heard his voice, he slowly raised his head, with unshed tears still lingering on his face, his grayish-blue cat eyes looking dim and blank like they were covered by a layer of mist.
"Zero..."
After receiving the call from Hagiwara on the street, Morofushi Hiromitsu immediately rushed to Ikebukuro, and happened to run into the medical team pushing the stretcher car. After confirming that it was Kuno Nozomu's remains, he never said another word.
Seeing Furuya Rei's helpless look, Date Wataru slowly stood up, deep sorrow welling up in his bloodshot eyes: "No, we... all arrived late." He took a deep breath and slowly told the whole sequence of events from beginning to end.
The serial bomb in Ikebukuro, the sensor in Shinjuku, and Kuno Nozomu's choice at the last moment.
"...To protect Matsuda and the others, Kuno did not choose to dismantle the bomb, but let the bomb detonate naturally." Speaking to this point, he clenched his fist, his voice nearly choking up. "That's why he... died on the spot."
The moment those words fell, Furuya Rei suddenly tasted an indescribable bitterness. It did not come from his taste buds, but was a nearly tangible pain surging up from the depths of his throat, like something invisible was tearing at his internal organs, making it unbearable.
So painful...
His companion, his friend, faced death all alone at the last moment of his life. In such an explosion, it was probably difficult to even leave a complete body. Yet he was thousands of miles away, completely unaware.
Just thinking about how the fire swallowed that black-haired, red-eyed youth, how the high temperature burned his skin, and how the glass fragments pierced into his body, the pain in his throat seemed to flow through his blood vessels to his whole body, even soaking his heart into a shriveled, bitter fruit, making it hard for Furuya Rei to breathe.
"Why... did it turn into this...? He was clearly so strong, clearly he never lost..." Furuya Rei spoke with difficulty, his violet-gray eyes losing focus, already painful to the point of being blank.
According to Date Wataru's words, under the circumstances at that time, it was basically impossible for everyone to survive. If Kuno chose to dismantle the bomb, Matsuda and Hagiwara would not survive either. To Furuya Rei, whether it was the former or the latter, they were all his important friends. If one side had to be chosen to die... he could not do such a cruel thing at all.
But what he could not imagine even more was that a person who repeatedly said he "hated correct arguments the most" actually chose to bear everything alone, using his own life to trade for the lives of others. In those few seconds when Kuno Nozomu quietly waited for the countdown to return to zero, what kind of mood was he in? Unfortunately, no one could answer his question.
A long time had passed since the explosion occurred, and there were not many police officers left at the scene. As for the other members of the EOD squad, they had all returned to the police station. Only Matsuda, Hagiwara, and the others stubbornly stayed at Kuno Nozomu's place of death, refusing to leave for a long time.
Furuya Rei's somewhat blurred vision slowly moved to the thing Hagiwara was gripping in his hand—that burnt black, incomplete police badge.
"That is...?"
"It's Kuno's." Date Wataru lowered his eyes: "That might be the last thing he left behind..."
Furuya Rei looked blankly at that police badge, and fragments of memory rushed in like a tide. It was something that happened shortly after the graduation ceremony ended.
"By the way..." Kuno Nozomu pinched the police badge, squinting his eyes against the sunlight, "If I take it to a pawnshop, how many boxes of strawberry daifuku can I get for it?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu was both helpless and amused: "Kuno, this is the symbol of honor of being a police officer, you can't mess around with it."
"Then if I starve to death, what use is honor?"
Matsuda complained: "Who would starve to death from not eating sweets!"
"Me." Kuno Nozomu blinked righteously, making everyone laugh.
"Hey, hey, the police badge is very precious, don't always think about selling it!" Date Wataru rubbed his head, "Such a beautiful cherry blossom pattern cannot be found just anywhere."
"Well... then I'll reluctantly cherish it." Kuno Nozomu threw the police badge high up, then reached out to catch it, gently rubbing the delicate texture on it with his fingertips, his ruby-like eyes shining brightly. "After all, this is a 'cherry blossom'."
The unique cherry blossom that represented the bond of the Onizuka class.
...
It turned out that he really had been properly cherishing it all along. The stamen that was supposed to be protected by everyone saved everyone in the most brutal way.
Furuya Rei closed his eyes.
"We clearly agreed, the six of us, not a single one can be missing..."
The more vivid the memory, the more painful the reality. That youth's smiling voice was still by his ears, but he could never hear it again.
Kuno, do you know...
A cherry blossom without its stamen, even if the petals are completely intact, can never be restored again.
Just then, a dream-like voice came from Hagiwara's side.
"It's me... it's all me who harmed him."
Everyone froze upon hearing this.
"If I could have found the bomb earlier... if I hadn't hesitated for those few seconds back then and directly picked up the walkie-talkie... if we weren't near the bomb... in that case, would Kuno not have died?" He repeated "if" over and over again, as if saying it a few more times could change the fact that had already occurred.
"Don't think like that, Hagiwara." Date Wataru couldn't bear to watch and tried to comfort him: "It's not your fault... none of us expected such a thing to happen."
"Squad leader..." Hagiwara slowly raised his head, his voice broken into pieces: "He is only eighteen years old."
"Before he even had time to celebrate his nineteenth birthday, he died all alone on the observation deck."
This sentence was like a sharp knife, ruthlessly stabbing into everyone's heart.
"That child... clearly hasn't even reached the legal drinking age..." Hagiwara's fingers tightly gripped that police badge, his knuckles turning white, "He is still so young, his life has just begun, and there are still many things he hasn't done... hasn't been in a relationship, hasn't had his own family, hasn't made more and better friends...!"
"He should have had boundless prospects, maybe he could have become the youngest Senior Commissioner..."
"But... but...!"
"To protect us, he proactively gave up the chance to live..." Hagiwara raised his trembling hands, covering his face in a breakdown. "And I... can do nothing, I can only watch him die with my own eyes, unable to even see him for the last time..."
Tears poured out wildly from between his fingers, sliding down his wrists and leaving dark marks on his cuffs.
"I killed him, I deprived him of his life..."
Furuya Rei looked at Hagiwara, his vision becoming increasingly blurred. A huge rock seemed to be pressing on his chest, so heavy he could hardly breathe. It wasn't until a trace of wet warmth came from his face that he realized—without knowing when, he was already streaming with tears as well.
Right at this moment, Matsuda suddenly rushed over, grabbed Hagiwara's collar, and gave him a hard punch.
"Bang!"
The force was so large that Hagiwara staggered back a few steps.
"Wake up for me!!"
"Matsuda?!" Date Wataru was startled and instinctively wanted to step forward to stop him, but was shocked by the other's expression.
The curly-haired youth's eyes were red, and his volume raised: "You bastard... what kind of discouraging words are you saying?!"
"Are you the only one who was saved by him?!"
"Kuno died to save us! He gave the hope of living to us!"
"What use is it for you to blame yourself here?! Do you think he would be happy?! He chose to sacrifice himself, not to see us crying and sniffling here!"
"If you say discouraging words like 'sorry' and 'I don't deserve to live' now, then the meaning of his sacrifice will be completely destroyed!!"
Hagiwara was knocked to the ground, looking blankly at Matsuda.
"Let me ask you... if you were Kuno back then, would you also choose death to save other people?" Matsuda spoke out: "Of course you would!"
The other people present also asked themselves in their hearts, if it were changed to them, what would they do? The answer was without a doubt. To protect their friends, they were willing to face death.
"So, you should understand Kuno's feelings now, right?!" Matsuda's tears couldn't stop falling down, yet he shouted loudly at the same time: "Since he chose to let us live... then we must live on!"
"Together with his share... live on well!"