SNAKESKIN (Tangerine) ✓

十三

The Cobra

The thought of having to get off at Kyoto without Tangerine made my heart beat nervously. Lemon and I were always close to a degree. We hadn't been best friends or anything like that. In fact, we had never really made it past the partner's stage.

The train had reached its full speed and I knew I was going to have to go back to my seat soon. Lemon would be wondering where Tangerine and I were and I needed to explain the situation to him.

But I could feel my throat starting to close and my mouth was beginning to dry up. I knew what was coming. I had experienced three panic attacks in my life. The first time was when I was seven and I had to give a presentation in class. The second time I was nineteen and I was on my first job. I was supposed to kill a target and I couldn't bring myself to do it. The third time was after I had met the Twins.

With my hand on my chest, I glanced around the gangway for somewhere to hide and calm myself down. The bathroom door was closed; the occupied placard was exposed to the gangway. With a sigh of annoyance, I stepped backward, turning around as the door opened to the storage room.

I ducked inside, heading all the way to the back room with the large window, but halted when a loud cracking sound echoed from the back room. I dropped the case, pulling my knife from my jacket and gripping it tightly in my hand. I crept quietly towards the door, about to push it open, when a loud crash, followed by the sound of shattering glass reached my ears.

I pushed the door forward, holding my breath as I raised my knife, prepared to strike. I was about to bring the knife down but I stopped myself, recognising the person on the ground in front of me.

"Tang?"

He looked up at me, a small stream of blood trickling from his forehead where the glass had cut him. I glanced up at the shattered window, realisation suddenly hitting me.

"You jumped onto the train?"

"Yeah." Tangerine nodded, sitting up with a grunt of pain. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. I had momentarily forgotten about my racing heart and dry mouth, so I sat beside him, trying to control my ragged breathing. "Hey," he said, leaning towards me. "Hey, are you okay?"

I nodded, unable to speak due to my tight throat. I tried to focus on my breathing, clenching my hands together in an attempt to calm myself down.

Tangerine leaned over me, gently prying my hands apart from their vice-like grip. "Are you having a panic attack?" I nodded quickly. He squeezed my hands with his own, now covered in new cuts."Just breathe, okay?" He breathed in deeply, holding it for a few seconds, before letting it out. "Just copy me."

I turned my head to face him, focusing on the rise and fall of his chest and mimicking his breathing. Slowly but surely, I felt my heart rate begin to slow. Once it got to a manageable speed, I leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes.

"I think I'm okay now."

Tangerine didn't say anything, he just slipped his hands off of mine and patted my knee gently. "Okay." He leaned back against the wall, letting out a prolonged sigh. "What do you think caused it?"

I shrugged, my left shoulder brushing against his. "I don't know." He didn't say anything. "Everything is derailing." I chuckled humourlessly. "No pun intended." Tangerine chuckled slightly, his shaking arms touching mine as well. "I think it's just all too much for me to handle, right now."

"I get it," Tangerine said quietly. "I've never done a job this important." He wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead. "Or with this many people involved."