As Kichirou had slowly gotten up, he remembered, that on the last night he had seen Jun, he had whispered to Jun's retreating back, I love you. Even then, without his memories, he hadn't known who he had been speaking to. Had it been Ren? Only with the help of his cousin and Ren, disciples Kichirou slowly get his life back together even though it feels like there is a hole in his life. It took almost three months before his body was strong enough for him to walk again. It took another three months before his doctors let him go back to work without any extraneous exercise. Another four months passed before Kichirou felt like he was almost able to do everything he used to do in the past. 

It had been an entire year since Kichirou had been shot.

His physical wounds had healed, but in his heart, he knew it would never be the same without Jun. Almost a year and a half after he was shot, Kichirou was finally able to see Natsuki sentenced to fifty years in prison for attempted murder. Even on the day of the sentencing, Natsuki claimed it wasn't him. 

In the end, since the last day he had seen Jun, three years pass by in a flash. 

Three years meant many things. Kichirou was celebrating his 29th birthday where Jun would be celebrating his 20th birthday. Wherever he was, Kichirou knew Jun had probably gotten into the college of his dreams, because even though he might have been possessive, Jun had always had the top scores when he was in high school. 

What Kichirou did not know was that Jun had been living in the same town as him since he had graduated high school. It might have been a coincidence that they had never met on the streets in the entire year-and-a-half that Jun had been back. However, somehow their red strings of fate had never crossed again.

Throughout his entire rehabilitation, Kichirou had never lost the ability to see the red strings of fate. With the help of his cousin, he had begin to see the intricacies of the strings of fate. His fate string had never been the same again. It was still frayed and burnt at the ends. Kichirou knew that his fate was with Jun so he never looked at his fate for himself. In the beginning, he had believed that Jun would come back, but every time a door opened, no one was ever there. This had disappointed Kichirou but he knew that he needed to hold on because eventually that string would become whole again.

Everytime Jun walk the streets he could feel Kichirou next to him. He was always looking for that person that would stand beside him. It was like a phantom had been following him for the last three years; saying things, whispering things. But they were never there. It was like a ghost. A presence. Something he knew he would never get rid of. 

Ever since his return, he would try to stay away from the places him and Kichirou had visited when they were still together. This meant never going to the same grocery stores or supermarkets or anything. He tried to stay away, but soon he knew that he would have to come back to see if Kichirou was okay.

One bright afternoon Jun was walking through the streets, there was hustle and bustle everywhere. But inside his mind there was a storm. And he knew that storm was the same old one he had felt all those years ago. He had heard of how Natsuki had been sentenced, but he was still afraid to go seek out Kichirou. 

What if he still had not gained his memories back? What if nothing would be the same ever again? Was this the way he would have to live the rest of his life? Questioning everything and anything around him, never trusting anyone. To him, this was his new lifestyle. It was how he'd gone through the last three years. But within those busy streets Jun could still feel Kichirou’s presence next to him. He could feel him within his blood. Then, to his surprise, he could see a familiar figure in the distance. He had never thought he would see this figure again. It was Kichirou.

Next to him was Ren. The two of them were next to each other, chatting happily, smiling, laughing. It looked like they were dating. This shot a surge of jealousy through Jun's veins and he turned around, ready to leave to go back to his home. But across the street Kichirou had frozen into place. He knew that scent that wafted to his nose. It was familiar. It was that scent from three years ago which he had never forgotten.

Jun tried to escape but he Kichirou was faster. He had been practicing his self-defense techniques ever since he was able to get back on his feet. He was now way faster than Jun could ever be. So amidst all of the stares, Kichirou ignored them and ran to the one he had missed for so long.

In seconds, Kichirou’s hand was curled around Jun’s wrist. Jun stared back behind him, a look of horror crossing his features. Kichirou watched the most amazing thing happen within those few seconds. On their fingers, those burnt red strings of fate bloomed like a flower, growing at an incredible rate until they twined together, touching lightly at first until they fused together as one complete entity. It was whole again. Their fates were linked forever. 

Jun was trying to escape, but his wrist was locked in a vice-like grip coming from the innocent Kichirou. He was drawing him closer to him, like he was reeling in a fish. All the while he had a gentle smile on his lips that wasn’t doing Jun’s heart any good. It had been three long years since he had seen that precious smile. It tore his heart up. 

With his pulse thundering in his ears, Jun reached down and tried to pry Kichirou’s fingers off of him. Behind him, Ren stood there with a small knowing smile on his lips. 

“Ki… Kichirou.” Jun stuttered. “You should probably let go. People are staring.”

“Let them stare.”

“Maybe we should go somewhere else for this?”

“No,” Kichirou growled, pulling Jun down to his level, his eyes fierce behind his glasses. “I’ve had enough waiting.” 

He used his strength to pull Jun’s lips to kiss, even as everyone around them stared, Kichirou didn’t care. He had finally, finally caught him. 

And then, their lips touched, it was a hard, possessive kiss that echoed with loneliness, anger and sorrow. It melted Jun’s heart and he gave up resisting, reaching out to pull Kichirou close, his hands weaving through Kichirou’s black hair. 

Finally they were together. Finally they could touch. 

Everything else melted around them.

Nothing else mattered but the feel of each other's heartbeats.