Mabu’s life wouldn’t last long without help. For Reo, holding the other man’s life in his hand was a sweet hell beyond his imagination. Reo lost count of how many times he considered stopping that mechanical heart from beating. He considered leaving as well. He even thought, at one point, that maybe he’d be better off dead.
But each time he did, he remembered the warmth of Mabu’s hand as he lay dying in the rubble. Mabu asked him not to let go of his desires, and said that they were what kept people alive.
The two of us kept wishing for the same thing.
“The one who didn’t understand…was me?” Reo squeaked out at last.
“There’s something I want to say to you, Reo.”
Mabu suddenly appeared in front of him as they slipped down through a column of water in Sarazanmai. His eyes glimmered gently, as if they already understood everything.
You were always telling me what I wanted to hear, Reo thought.
“Wait, don’t say it! If you say it…”
Still, he wanted to hear it from Mabu’s mouth. He wanted to relay his feelings too. It was a thoroughly selfish and yet entirely innocent desire…
“You’re my one and only partner, Reo. You always have been, and you always will be.” Reo spread his arms wide, like an all-forgiving embrace. The rhythm of their heartbeats joined and became one. “I’ve always loved you!”
A massive explosion erupted at the center of Azuma Bridge.
“Desire Absorption!” There were tears in Prince Keppi’s eyes as he swallowed down Mabu’s shirikodama. “Mabu… I promise to carry your desire into the future, ribbit…”
A violent wind sent droplets of water from the Sumida River pelting down like rain. On top of the bridge, Reo returned to his police officer form. He stood with his back facing the others, his shoulders trembling.
“Reo…” Keppi tentatively called his name.
“Heh…heh heh heh, ha ha ha! I bet this whole thing was set up by the otters, wasn’t it?! You’re not going to fool me!” Reo looked pitiful; his hands covered his face as he screeched.
“That leak was the truth, ribbit. You should already be aware of that!”
Ka-blaaaaaam…
Reo whipped around and fired his most powerful blast. Keppi just narrowly managed to transform and block the attack from harming Kazuki and Kappa-Enta.
“Keppi!”
Keppi returned to his original form and crumpled to the ground. “Guh…”
Reo began shooting aimlessly, destroying anything and everything around them. He continued to curse at Mabu as he went. “That bastard, he broke his promise to me again…”
The sign on his gun was switching back and forth at a dizzying speed. One of the shots blew up the Shuto Expressway in the background, causing the whole bridge-like structure to collapse.
“And what am I supposed to do, huh? You went and left me behind! Weren’t you the one who told me not to let go of my desires?!”
He even blew up the neighboring Komagata Bridge.
Kazuki stepped out protectively in front of Keppi.
Reo leveled the barrel of the gun at him and said, “Give me that plate.” Kazuki had a single silver Wishing Plate in his arms.
“No way!”
“Reo! Enough already, ribbit!”
“I’m going to get him back… I won’t let anyone stand in my way!” Overcome with rage, Reo slammed his foot against Kazuki.
“Guh!”
“Kazuki!” Enta gasped out.
Even as he fell to the ground, Kazuki kept a solid grip on the plate. “I’m not going to hand it over! I won’t give up on what’s precious to me!”
“Everyone keeps pissing me off…” growled Reo. I’ve never given up either, he thought.
The sign on Reo’s gun turned to Kill. His finger moved to the trigger, and Kazuki squeezed his eyes shut.
“Kazukiiiiii!” Enta’s cry echoed across Azuma Bridge.
Kazuki peeked his eyes open. He hadn’t been shot yet. Timidly, he lifted his head. He saw Reo standing there, a puzzled look on the man’s face.
Mabu faded from the picture the two had taken together, leaving Reo alone in the photo.
“Who…am I angry at…? Who…are all these passionate feelings for…?” Reo looked like a child who had gotten lost on the way home. “Who?! Who am I forgetting?!” Unable to bear it anymore, he began clawing at his chest. The tips of his fingers grazed something that felt strange. Upon searching his left breast pocket, he produced a silver ring.
This didn’t belong to him.
The letters patterned into its center read Mabu.
“What…?” Reo had no idea what those letters were supposed to represent. Not a single clue, and yet he couldn’t stop his tears from overflowing. “I…I…”
The rage and hatred he felt seconds before slipped away. He had a sense that what he had lost—whatever it was—was irreplaceable.
So lonely…
That was the only emotion he felt.
BANG!
He heard a dry crash, and when he looked down, he found a hole in the middle of his chest. Unable to stand anymore, he crumpled to his knees. “Ha ha… My chest hurts…”
Behind Reo stood Toi, a gun held in his hands.
Reo’s lifeless body fell facedown. Keppi stared at it, blinking several times. Almost immediately, the man’s body emitted a light. It disappeared, leaving only the four silver plates and two rings in its wake. The two silver rings were tightly connected, never to be pulled apart, each with the two men’s names engraved into them.
“Reo, Mabu. Sleep for now, ribbit…”
It was still night at the Kappa Plaza, where Haruka sat in his wheelchair. Nyantaro was beside him, grooming herself.
“I had that dream again,” said Haruka. “The dream where I ride an enormous Nyantaro and meet the Little Prince. The prince told me to choose between love or desire, but I was scared. It felt like if I picked one or the other, then the great big circle connecting us would be shattered…” He glanced up at the sky, eyes filled with unease.
Azuma Sara stood next to him. “The world is undergoing another trial. Is it connected or is it not?”
The sky above grew increasingly more menacing.
Suddenly, the plate headdress in Haruka’s lap fell to the ground.
Ka-shiiiink!
“Oh no…”
The round, circular plate shattered into two halves.
Scene 5
ONCE THE FIVE SILVER Wishing Plates were stacked together, they transformed into a glowing golden Wishing Plate. Kazuki held it in his hands, relief in his voice as he called over to his friend, “So you came back, Toi…!”
Kappa-Enta tried to convey his appreciation as well, even as he swayed in place. “Thanks for helping out Kazu…guh…” Before he could finish, he collapsed.
“Enta!”
The timer ticking down on his life was about to run out.
“Enta: forty seconds remaining until death,” an emotionless announcer informed them.
“Hurry up and make your wish, ribbit!”
Kazuki nodded and help up the plate, but before he could do anything else, Toi interrupted, “Give me that plate.”
Kazuki glanced back to find himself staring down the barrel of Toi’s gun. “Toi?”
“My brother died. I’m going to use that to bring him back.”
Dark clouds gathered above, and soon droplets began to fall.
“Enta: fifteen seconds remaining until death,” the robotic voice droned.
A curtain of rain poured around them, filling the space that separated Toi and Kazuki. Neither said a word. In the interim, the countdown continued.
“Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…”
Kazuki squeezed the plate tightly in his arms.
“Three…two…one.”
Once the golden plate granted the wish made upon it, it shattered into tiny pieces.
The rain grew stronger. Enta could feel it pelting against his skin as he cracked open his eyes. “Mm… Was I…saved?” He looked at his hand—a human’s hand now, no longer green and webbed.
Immediately, Keppi said, “Kazuki used the plate to grant his wish, ribbit.”
Oh, so Kazuki really did use the plate for me…
Enta remembered pieces of the conversation between Kazuki and Toi moments ago, when he’d still been wracked with pain.
That means Toi’s wish…
“Toi!” The sudden sound of Kazuki’s voice broke Enta out of his reverie.
Toi and Kazuki were still separated, no closer to one another than they had been moments ago. The former lowered his gun. “I know. I’d have done the same thing in your place.” His voice was so low that it was barely audible beneath the pounding rain. He tilted his head up and gazed at the sky, sighing out his next words. “I’m so tired of all of this.”
“Toi…” Kazuki tried to approach, but thunder roared through the sky.
“Odd-er… In that case, let’s sever all the connections in this world!”
Despair: Unleash.
Black Keppi was released from his transparent taiko-shaped cage. He roared as he slammed down onto Azuma Bridge.
“D-d-d-d-d-d-darkness!” Wrapped in ominous flames of despair, the creature opened its mouth wide, spitting out numerous tentacles.
“Guh!” Toi immediately tried to run for it, but he was unfortunately snatched up by the dark tendrils.
“Toi!” Kazuki grabbed his outstretched hand. The other boy looked back at him with surprise.
Suddenly, Toi heard Chikai whisper into his ear, “Come with me. Come outside the circle that binds everyone together. Cut off all those boring ties you have to other people.”
His suffering was caused by his attachments to other people.
The tentacles suddenly released him, meekly drawing back. Now that his arm was free, Toi shook Kazuki off. He heard his friend suck in a breath. His brother was waiting for him inside of Black Keppi. He didn’t even bother looking back as he started in that direction.
“Tooooooi!” Kazuki shrieked.
Toi disappeared, swallowed up by the despair.