Hiding In Plain Sight

The Light of Heaven Approaches

Sighing as he awoke, Shuichi took in the orange sky, the sun starting to peek over the horizon. Something seemed out of place as if he knew what was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it as he searched the room around him. Once his gaze landed on Kokichi and Rantaro, who joined him in awaking from their slumber, he realised the problem. "Where's Akamatsu?"

The hairs on everyone's necks stood on end, the men jumped to their feet with anxiety-fuelled adrenaline. Ready to jump into action, they assumed the worst had happened as they began searching for any hiding places in the room, finding none. "I'll fly up to see if I can see her," Kokichi offered. "Pack the essentials up, just in case." 

Watching Kokichi's body fly into the air, Shuichi and Rantaro hurried to pack any water bottles into their bags. Shuichi scrunched his blanket into a ball instead of neatly folding it, knowing it was his only source of warmth in the cold nights. As Kokichi landed beside them with a thud, Shuichi noticed his naturally pale skin was paper-white. He opened his mouth to speak, but a loud static voice spoke for the purplette.

"This is the police! Come out with your hands in the air! If you comply, no one will get hurt!" 

"Is Akamatsu..." Shuichi's question trailed off as Kokichi nodded. No, no they can't take her, we can't lose her!

"We're surrounded, they're holding guns at us as we speak. I can make a distraction but we don't have much time to come up with a plan," Kokichi whispered.

"No need, I have an idea." Shuichi swung his bag over his back along with Akamatsu's tote she'd used. Tucking his hoodie over the bags, he ensured they wouldn't slip when they performed a plan he'd started to piece together. "How bright can your light get, Rantaro?"

"He-"

"I can make it go blinding if that's what you'll need." Shuichi frowned as Rantaro cut Kokichi off, shooting his boyfriend a glare. It's almost as if Rantaro's daring Kokichi to reveal something... "Just not for too long."

"That's perfect. Okay, here's the plan."

<--o--🩸--o-->

Shuichi raised his hands in the air, carefully stepping out into the street. Two police cars blocked both sides of the street, creating an escape obstacle. Countless police officers stood between them, in a concentrated area of the street as they stood almost shoulder to shoulder. An officer trapped Akamatsu in their grip, holding a gun to her head. "Let her go and take me instead!"

"No!" Akamatsu screamed before having the gun shoved into her head to silence her.

"What do you want from us?!" Shuichi continued shouting, not moving any closer as several guns cocked, aimed at his head and neck. He received no answer, just more shouting at him to turn around and kneel with his hands on his head. Hearing a whistle behind him, Shuichi knew his boyfriends had started their parts of the plan.

Noticing the police officers averting their attention to the whistle's source, Shuichi flicked his hoodie over his head and crouched low to the ground. He noticed Kokichi flash past him, grabbing Akamatsu as a bright light enveloped the street. Running forward, he ignored noisy screams of pain from the police officers, helping Kokichi grab their friend and run past them, into the building across from where they slept.

They jumped out of the other end of the building, running through alleyways and other buildings as they escaped. Shuichi broke from the other two and entered the street, noticing no one had decided to follow them. He searched the street for Rantaro, unable to see him anywhere. Shit, where the fuck are you Rantaro? Noticing a flash of green, Shuichi watched as his boyfriend leapt out from behind a building and raced towards him, both of them running back into the alleyway and meeting with Kokichi and Akamatsu.

Panting, the four stopped running and halted to catch their breaths. The police would've gone permanently blind, or at the very least, have no sight for a day, so none of the criminals needed to worry about being chased. Shuichi watched as Kokichi and Akamatsu walked ahead, the two joking with each other. Hearing a sniffle and shaky inhale, Shuichi turned to notice Rantaro wiping away the tears forming in his eyes. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, don't worry," Rantaro chuckled, smiling to mask the hurt behind his eyes. Shuichi scanned his body to notice the male hiding his hands behind his back with force.

"Show me your hands," Shuichi ordered. Sighing, Rantaro showed his palms to the other male. His skin had blistered, bright red and scorched. This has to be from his power... I guess this is why his hands were scarred when we first met. "Why didn't you tell me this would happen?"

"I didn't want you to worry," Rantaro muttered. Throwing both bags to the ground, Shuichi took out his water bottle and held Rantaro's hands, pouring water on them to help soothe the pain.

"We don't exactly have running water, but this is better than nothing, right?" Shuichi asked.

"It's helping," Rantaro smiled. "Thank you." Continuing to drip water on his boyfriend's hands, Shuichi noticed the rings he usually wore were gone. He must've taken them off beforehand... Why didn't you warn me this would happen? If I'd have known, I would've changed the plan. Shuichi heard footsteps approaching, flicking his head around to see Kokichi and Akamatsu returning.

"We might need to go to a store to get some supplies, we don't have what we need to help," Shuichi mumbled.

"We do," Kokichi chuckled, whipping out a small tube of ointment from his pocket. "Grab some bandages," he ordered, taking Rantaro's hands and applying a small amount of the ointment. This has happened often, hasn't it? Taking some bandages from his backpack, Shuichi handed them to Kokichi, who started wrapping up Rantaro's hands skillfully with ease. "Does that feel alright?"

"Yeah, it does. Thanks, you guys," Rantaro smiled, pulling everyone into a large group hug.

"No, thank you!" Akamatsu frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "You saved me, and everyone else. If they'd captured me, who knows if they'd end up finding everyone else. I'm sorry for getting in that situation, I was ambushed and-"

"It's okay Akamatsu, we understand. Plans never go off without some sort of obstacle," Shuichi smiled. "Let's just keep walking, we need to go before the cops call for backup."