User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 253: Let's Join Hands, Review./@comment-1454981-20111001141403/@comment-3290324-20111001141717

I think they are alive as well, though apparently some idiots people over at Mangastream's forums think they aren't and that Romeo is the new protagonist....yeah. I think it's a time skip, a random one, but a time skip nontheless.