On an evening when Tokyo was enveloped in its radiant embrace by stunning multi-colored fireworks, Tomoyuki tried to think of at least something that could help him hurt Ryo and Akiko. With all his might, he didn't want to accept his affection for these two people, causing him to trot out another plan. When the club members split up unintentionally, he left Ryou and Yumiko alone and headed toward Akiko and Glenn. Crowded in doubt, he was uncompromisingly certain that Akiko was the only one left who had not advanced one step toward accepting her identity. How many more masks did she have left? She remained as deceitful as she was.
"Your sadness, Akiko-chan, is my last hope, and I will not ponder any consequences. I don't care what happens now."
Thus, for the first time, Akiko felt pity for her person for not being able to get close to Ryou in any way. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Yumiko, from whom Akiko was no worse off, was much more important to the guy.
From the side of the Sumida River, the first noise of fireworks sounded and there was a flying blast of lights. Fireworks covered the entire evening sky, and illuminated by their grace, Tomoyuki could not take his eyes off them.
"How beautiful," he muttered.
Comfort descended upon him at once, when he wanted it at just the right moment. He was on the verge of a breakdown then, because all desire to hurt his friends was rapidly disappearing. The only thing that moved him forward was his promise: he still believed that teaching them a lesson was the best way to atone for their sins.
The October days flourished over the city in all their glory, illuminating the streets with cool weather. When Tomoyuki was in his home, he received a personal message from Isshinho. In truth, under this pseudonym was Isshinho, who wished, along with his Kyoto friends, to give Ryou a sharp surprise. By asking for the blue-eyed man's hand, Isshin hoped for his loyalty — he could do no other way than to announce Tomoyuki's imminent arrival in Tokyo.
Tomoyuki, however, hesitating as to what he should do, was in his heart inclined to agree to help them, for in this way he could move forward from the dead point. By this time, he was ready to let his hands fall, completely unaware of his true feelings about his fondness for the members of the literary circle with whom he was helping the organizers of the Cultural Festival.
As November arrived, when the school festival celebration was in full swing, he met with Glenn so that he had someone to discuss his heartbreak with: Tomoyuki was literally torn up inside when he realized the mess he had made of the circle's relationship by indirectly provoking Ryou to hold Yumiko's hand during the parade.
Though he was pleased on one hand with the appearance of hope for the fulfillment of his much-wanted retaliation against Ryou and Akiko, the young man had no conflicting, ambivalent opinions. Finally, what he was clinging to returned the favor.
He hated his grim image behind the mirror, though he couldn't admit to himself which face he would have been better off taking on such occasions.
"I'll do whatever it takes to finish what I start," the confidence in his eyes came down. "It's too late to stop after what was done, for there's nothing more I can fix in myself."
The next day (according to his plan) there was a "accidental meeting" between the club members and Ryo and his girlfriend at the front door of the "Romantic Restaurant." The execution of his plan cost him a lot of nerves, making him tremble with every second, just so long as the outcome was successful.
Soon he went with his friends to Ryou's house, where they ended up listening to the past life of a young man with eyes the color of a dark blue galaxy. After hearing this, Tomoyuki accepted his friend for who he was.
A couple of weeks later, he was informed of Glenn's illness and the danger to his life. At this point, he began to regret his hatred for the members of the literary club, whom he could truly call his true friends. In view of his nervous breakdown, he did not give up. Tomoyuki was horrified to realize how much pain he had caused the four friends in all that time, and was ready to bury himself in a deep hole, just to avoid looking into their innocent eyes.
They began to collect money for the treatment, taking orders from Daisuke, which made Tomoyuki give the impression of being intoxicated, as if his mind had been covered by a shroud of insensibility for a long time and was only now beginning to emerge into freedom.
"Hurrah!" he began talking by the mirror to himself. "We're helping to pay for Glenn-kun's treatment, the way real friends should do!"
"But we have to do the opposite…!" he declared himself, struggling to refuse to accept the new realities of his surroundings.
"You don't seem to understand: we've found people we can count on! And right now we are acting for the good of our dear friend."
"Why would you say such a thing! I h-haven't… given up yet."
"Admit it already, face it. All circumstances go against you — even your consciousness has begun to struggle with the lie. You're contradicting yourself!"
"We were finally able to find people we could rely on. So humble yourself, humble yourself!"
Thoughts flowed from his lips in rivulets, changing intonation in accompaniment to a whole mountain of emotion. Consciousness repeated within him, "Humble yourself! Humble yourself!" which made Tomoyuki's ears ring.
"Humble yourself!" these voices grew thicker and darker, and, unable to withstand the tension coming from who knows where, Tomoyuki finally despaired.
In the days following Glenn's admission to the hospital, Tomoyuki worked his way through the questionnaire. In the middle of the work, he stood still and shock and misunderstanding were also added to his desperate look. "What am I doing? What am I here for?"
One day, practicing his questionnaire, while wearing a dark shirt, he wandered down an unremarkable street. Stopping on the sidewalk, he created an alleged obstacle that caused the crowded pedestrians to shun the young man. It was clear from his eyes: the guy was tormented by ferocious doubts, destroying his spiritual feelings from within.
"What am I doing here…?" his throat gaped open. "Why is this so important to me…?"
Hearing Yumiko say over the phone that Glenn was awake and calling him to meet him, Tomoyuki only replied in a hoarse and tired tone that he was now sick. Turning off the phone, his dim form continued to wander around the gray-covered neighborhood, where not a soul was present. The sunset barely reached the place, but that didn't stop the cold glow from illuminating Tomoyuki's path to licentiousness.
Eventually, with his slow and tired steps, he reached the abandoned four-story building, and, going inside through the entrance, descended to a dark basement, locked by a darkish iron door. Tomoyuki stopped moving and stood directly in front of this filthy door.
Lifting his devastated gaze, he uttered: "This life will never change."
Seized by the weight of the past, he imagined the crotches of the door smoking, emitting a hot light, as if everything inside were ablaze with an invisible flame. From the corners of the door came the dried limbs of intent people, cries for help heard from their mouths through the door. These limbs tried desperately to get out of the basement, rubbing the iron door with their hands and feet, in the impersonal hope that it would open. It was a stigma Tomoyuki could never rid himself of.
"I accept any redemption for my punishment."