Author stopped working on this, so...

....because I'm insane, I guess I'm going to write a quick-summary (but long! you have been warned) ending for this since it seems the author dropped it, thus it will never be finished, and I like to have at least some closure in the stories I read. (I can't believe it was dropped at such a critical plot moment, but oh well).

Keep in mind this is the most f'd up version of an ending that my brain churned out in the 8 hours since I've finished reading this.

This is a plot summary (possibility) ending, not a fic.
(spoilers)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Chapter 10 - Shows Kei jumping in the first panel. Riku has not had enough time to process all the things really going and acts on an instinctual level, chasing after his brother to join him? Stop him? Even he's not sure why he acts. They both go over the edge. Darkness descends.

From here, the plot unfolds to reveal --

One of the twins wakes up in the hospital. The other twin is nowhere to be found. Bandages are on his face and head, but you can still see one eye. It's unclear from a character design standpoint who this is. Mom is called and comes in to see him. His mother calls him Kei. His mind engages and he has 3rd party perspective flashes of the scene in the house when Riku discovered Kei under two guys. The argument after. The scene on the rooftop. He looks up at his mother and asks what she's talking about, he's Riku, can't she tell her own kids apart? Mother is distraught. He then looks around and asks, "Where is Kei?" Cut to black.

Later, we see "Riku" returning to school from an apartment he lives in by himself, now a year behind. Everyone is calling him Riku. He has the mole under his eye as has been an identifying mark of Riku's character design throughout the manga. Ozu Kousei is shown to be in his grade too. The two don't interact initially.

We find privately that Kousei has noticed Riku and remembers the rumors surrounding Riku's brother Kei (being a slut) and takes an interest in Riku. Later he stops Riku and talks to him. We find out Kousei was hospitalized for a while after being beaten up by some gang, which held him back a year too. He clearly has anger issues but has the brawn to back it up most of the time. But he was jumped by a group, armed with blunt weapons, and couldn't get away.

The two seem to have a silent set of words pass between them as they stare at each other. They go off and screw like rabbits. "Riku" has degrading and self-harming thoughts every time he has sex. Kousei always seems vaguely frustrated and angry when he's with "Riku". After Kousei leaves one night, his messed up thoughts lead him to rip up every picture he has of Kei while both laughing and crying.

We see Kousei train with the basketball team, lifting weights to train, etc. His thoughts drift to Riku, and he gets worked up and furious, and doesn't know why, and storms out of the weight room. Sex that night is a lot rougher and ugly. Riku has A LOT of dark thoughts as his mind thinks about other things than what Kousei is doing to his body.

(back in present day)

We're not sure what Riku has told Shuuji specifically of this story, since it was framed as a flashback in Riku's mind in the comics. We assume he knows the high-level details now but not the nuances nor the state of mind of anyone involved at the time. Shuuji's visibly shaken and runs away again. Riku watches him go, a blank expression on his face.

Shuuji is distraught having heard such a wild story. He stays up all night thinking about it, thinking something isn't quite right, and eventually resolves that he will dig into what really happened. So he skips school the next couple of days, going to gather info. He looks up articles, puts the screws to his teacher to give him more details, he goes to the hospital but doesn't get much.

We see a brief scene of Riku talking to Kousei, mentioning off-handedly that Shuuji is absent, and that he never skips school (being the goody two-shoes he is). Kousei's mood darkens visibly.

Back to Shuuji. Eventually he finds info about: 1) Riku's mom and stepdad have divorced in the intervening years. 2) Ozu Kousei was not a student at the school during the twins' original freshman year.

Shuuji tracks down Riku's mom, they talk, although mom is reticent. Shuuji talks about his father's suicide all emotionally, and Riku's mother eventually breaks down and confesses to Shuuji that both the twins survived. (this would be a good place to end a chapter)

While both were in comas in the hospital, stepdad confessed to what he had done to Kei, feeling guilty, thinking that he had been the cause of what had happened. He agreed to pay for everything in restitution and they got divorced while the twins were both still in comas.

Turns out that Riku had woken up first and had amnesia, so she sent him to live with a different family under a different name, and paid that family to treat him as one of their own. They would play it off like he was the son of a relative that died, and he had been staying with a different aunt but she didn't want to deal with him and his delinquent ways anymore after he was hospitalized, so he had been passed to the current uncle/aunt he was now with and treated like a sibling.

Riku/Kei's mom did this because she felt Kei had dragged Riku along in the suicide attempt, and didn't want that to ever happen again, so she wanted to keep them completely separated. Riku's hair was redyed black, the mole under his eye was gone anyway as a result of injuries from the accident, and he was told that he had played basketball competitively at his previous school, and was encouraged to get back into it to get his mind off things after his hospitalization.

When Kei woke up, he vehemently claimed he was Riku, and after discussing it with the doctors, the mother was instructed to call him whatever he wanted to be called. So she called him Riku, even though she knew it was Kei. She told "Riku" that Kei had died in the suicide attempt to keep him from seeking his brother out. She'd been trying to get him to go to a therapist to help him get back to where he would realize who he was again, but it hadn't worked so far, plus "Riku" had been skipping appointments anyway.

She intentionally doesn't keep up with what Kousei is doing because she doesn't want to have any information to tell in case "Riku" pushes her about anything. Not that Kousei/Riku remembers her anyway (amnesia).

Shuuji returns to school, but he is obviously upset by what he's heard. He's spaced out, doesn't pay attention like he usually does. "Riku" notices and asks him what's up, where he's been, since Shuuji never skips. Shuuji seems stunned seeing "Riku", and escapes from the classroom before answering. "Riku" watches him run away with a calculating expression.

Kousei runs into Shuuji in the hallway as he's making his escape from "Riku", and makes a beeline for him. He grabs Shuuji by the collar and drags him up to the suicide roof of the school while Shuuji struggles ineffectually. Kousei's just hella much stronger. He tells Shuuji his dad saw him meeting with "Riku's" mom while on a delivery, and that he'd thought he'd told Shuuji to keep his damn nose out of "Riku's" business. He then beats Shuuji up and rapes him.

"Riku" appears in the middle of this since this is where he normally comes to hang out alone and think. He freaks out because he sees Kousei doing this to Shuuji, who is innocent, and Kousei is making a particular angry face... a face "Riku" suddenly remembers. It looks just like, JUST LIKE, the exact same face his brother had made years ago when he discovered Kei having sex with those guys. "Riku" screams "RIKUUUUU STOPPPPPP!!!!!"

Kousei, the real Riku, looks up. His face is distorted in pain and misery. He is looking straight at "Riku"/Kei as he keeps Shuuji pinned to the ground. Electricity darts across a close-in shot of Kousei's eyes, (where you finally see the tiny scar under his eye on his cheek where the mole used to be) indicating he has realized something. A look passes between them. He says quietly, "Kei". He then turns away, tears in his eyes, and sprints for the edge of the roof. "Riku"/Kei screams "RIKUUUUU NOOOOOOO!!!" and darts after him.

But Shuuji moves, leaping from his prone position on the ground to grapple "Riku"/Kei's leg, causing Kei to fall on top of him, and the two of them watch helplessly as "Riku"/Kei screams "RIKUUUUU!!!" and Riku/Kousei jumps from the roof.

They both hear a sickening crunch.

Fade to black.

Kei's memory of the end of the original jump is shown in flashback panels. Riku followed him over the edge, caught Kei in his arms, and cradled Kei protectively as they descended so Kei'd survive.

Fade back in.

"Riku"/Kei cries/howls uncontrollably while Shuuji holds onto him like a vice. The two stay there for what seems like eons before the school administrators come retrieve them.

We find out later that the real Riku (Kousei), has died.

Kei tells his mom, who meets Kei and Shuuji at the hospital, that he is Kei, and then fesses up to intentionally seducing his stepdad because he was in love with Riku and was trying to take his frustrations out on everyone who seemed happy around him. Mother accepts this and does not overreact to it. She thanks Shuuji for saving her son, and apologizes for what Riku did to him. Kei looks angry/frustrated listening to this, and turns to Shuuji, saying it wasn't Shuuji's fault at all; he had told Kousei to leave Shuuji alone, that Shuuji had every right to talk to him (Kei). Shuuji is surprisingly understanding given what happened to him, and expresses regret that he wasn't able to save Riku/Kousei too. Kei hangs his head, and silent tears fall.

Kei transfers to a different school. Shuuji returns to school and graduates.

Years later, it is winter. We see a gravestone that says "Ichinose Riku". Flowers sit on it, next to feet standing in the foreground. Pan up to adult Kei, looking down at his brother's grave marker. "It's been a while," he says. Then you hear from off panel, "yes, it has." Pan to the side. Next to Riku's grave marker is Shuuji's dad's grave. Flowers sit on it as well. Pan out to Shuuji, who stands before his father's grave, looking down as well.

Time passes as they pray silently.

"Sometimes coping is too hard," says Kei, while Riku's gravestone is in frame. It is unclear if he's talking about himself or his brother.

"Sometimes people do inexplicable things for no obvious reason," says Shuuji, with his father's gravestone in frame.

"It should've been me," says Kei, sighing, kicking a stone on the ground to the side of the grave petulantly.

"I'm still not sorry for saving you," says Shuuji. Riku's face overlays with Shuuji in kind of a hallucination when he says this.

"I am," says Kei, but he has an ever so slight smile on his face.

"It's not your fault. There was never anything wrong with you," says Shuuji.

Kei snorts. "Still holding strongly to that belief, are you?"

"Forever," replies Shuuji, reaching across the space and taking Kei's hand, squeezing it.

"For as long as forever is, I guess," replies Kei, squeezing his hand back.

Another moment of silence as the two stare down at the graves, this time holding hands. We are finally treated to a frame of them both together. Shuuji's a lot taller than he used to be, a good 4" above Kei now.

"Time to go, don't'cha think?" asks Shuuji.

"Yeah," replies Kei.

"I'll buy you dinner," says Shuuji, a smile slipping onto his face.

"Mmmm... nabe," says Kei.

"Expensive," mock-grumbles Shuuji.

"So stingy," says Kei, a smile on his face.

"But you're worth it," says Shuuji.

They exchange a meaningful look, then both turn together away from the graves. Kei jams his hands in his coat pockets, looking at the ground, while Shuuji walks normally next to him.

THE END



I swore this wouldn't end up a fic, but I guess the final scene did somehow anyway.

Anyhoo. Implication is that they may or may not be in a relationship; up to the reader to decide.