SNAKESKIN (Tangerine) ✓

二十一

The Cobra

"Lemon?" I reached forward with shaky hands as Lemon stared up at me in confusion. "Oh my god." I let my hands cup the sides of my best friend's face, not quite believing that he was alive. "You were dead."

"What?" Lemon looked past me, a dubious expression on his face. "What is she talking about, bro?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Tangerine, staring down at his brother in shock. He slowly crouched down beside me, his eyes raking over Lemon in disbelief. "We found you in here about an hour ago," he whispered shakily. "You didn't have a pulse and you're covered in blood..."

"You were dead," I repeated, leaning forward and tapping his chest, where the bulletproof vest was just visible, due to an undone button. "I guess this thing did the job." Lemon just chuckled humourlessly. "Why weren't you breathing?"

"I don't know." Lemon shrugged, gripping the sink and lifting himself to his feet. I grabbed his upper arm, helping to steady him, despite the tension in my shoulder. "How long was I out?"

"At least a couple of hours." I shook my head, guiding Lemon back into the Momomon car. Ladybug was in his seat, his white shirt stained with a large smear of blood. He turned around, a surprised look appearing on his face when he saw us.

"Woah," he said, taking in the scene. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Lemon responded as I lead him down the aisle. "You look like shit."

Lemon sat down at the table opposite Ladybug, leaning back against the seat with a deep sigh. I sat across from him as Tangerine entered the car. "This is yours, right?" He asked, sitting beside his brother and holding up a bottle of Fiji water. It was the half-empty one I had accidentally kicked earlier; the one that alerted Tangerine that Lemon was in trouble.

Lemon nodded. "Yeah." He glanced unsurely between Tangerine and me. "I bought it at Tokyo Station, remember?"

"Oh?" I turned to face Ladybug, who had a sheepish smile on his face. "You drank the water?"

I sent him a glare. "How do you know?"

Ladybug just shrugged, chuckling to himself. "Just a little sleeping powder." I gaped at him in outrage. "I really do need to work on the dosage, don't I?"

"Fuckin' hell!" Tangerine exclaimed jumping up from his seat. He slammed the bottle of water on the table in from of Ladybug, crossing his arms in front of his chest in anger. "You drug my brother and shoot my best friend?" Lemon glanced over at me, his eyes widening when he noticed the bandage. He tilted his head towards it, his eyebrows raised in question. I shot him a tight-lipped smile, nodding in confirmation.

"Alright," Ladybug muttered, his head lowered in shame. "I didn't mean to shoot her."

"No, you meant to shoot me." Tangerine's face was red with undisguised rage. "I should fuckin' kill you!"

"Tang." I leaned forward, gently grabbing the hem of Tangerine's waistcoat. With a small tug, I pulled him down into his seat, beside Lemon."Just drop it. It's not worth it."

"Wise choice." Shigeru entered the car, his son right at his heels. They took the seats across from Ladybug, much to his dismay. "We need to come up with a plan for when we reach Kyoto."

I nodded in agreement. "The White Death brought us all onto this train to compete for the case; hell, he probably wants us all to kill each other for it." I let out a humourless chuckle, before continuing. "He doesn't really care about his son or the case." Everyone was watching me intently, carefully listening to every word I said. "He'll probably just kill us the second we arrive at Kyoto Station."

"The Cobra is right." Shigeru smiled approvingly at me, nodding slightly in praise. "We cannot fight amongst ourselves. We must work together." He sent Tangerine and Ladybug a pointed look. "A plum does not resent the hungry man, but the farmer who planted the tree."

We all stared at Shigeru in confusion. "He resents the farmer?" Ladybug glanced over at the Twins and me, his face etched with confusion.

"So, how do plums have fuckin' resentments?" Lemon demanded, staring at Shigeru like he was mad. "How can it resent."

"Listen," Shigeru interrupted, becoming impatient with our lack of understanding. "The White Death is the farmer."

We all continued to stare blankly at him. "So," Ladybug said, elongating the word. "We're the plums?" He turned to face the Twins and me. "We're the plums."

"It doesn't make sense," I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "Why are you using metaphors? Just talk like a normal person." I rolled my eyes in impatience. "I get enough fruit talk as it is."

"What she said," Lemon agreed, pointing at me. "The first part, at least." He stood up from his seat. "And I think your metaphor is bullshit." He jabbed a finger in Ladybug's direction. "He tried to kill me." He took a step forward. "And he fuckin' shot Bronte!"

Shigeru pushed himself up from his seat, taking a threatening step forward. "You shot my son!"

Everyone in the car fell silent. My eyes flicked between Lemon and Shigeru, both staring each other down with hatred and malice in their eyes. I glanced at Tangerine; he didn't look like he was going to speak up. Neither did the son or Ladybug.

Finally, Shigeru broke the silence. "We prepare together," he explained calmly, his gaze tracking everyone in the group. "Or we die alone."

I rolled my eyes as Ladybug looked up at Lemon innocently. "That's all I was tryna say."

"The White Death waits for you with his army of assassins," Shigeru continued, leaning on his cane. "Killers from all countries." He glanced out the window as the train began to slow. "But, he has no idea that my son and I are on this train." I glanced at Shigeru's son, who stared at his father with determination. "If fate wills, I will get my revenge."

I nodded in agreement, looking around at everyone. "So what's the plan?"

Shigeru's son pointed up at the train with a bony finger. "I'll head to the back and stop as many as I can."

I nodded, turning to the Twins. "I'll go to the driver's car," Lemon said, nodding in the direction of the front of the train. "And get us the fuck out of here."

"Alright," I said determinedly. "I'll try to hold them off long enough for you to work that out." Lemon nodded gratefully and I turned to Tangerine. "What about you, Tang?"

He just sent me a grim smile, his eyes wide with apprehension. "I'll go wherever you go, Bronte," he said with a slight nod. "I'm not leaving you again."

I shot him a grateful smile as Lemon turned to look at Ladybug. "What are you gonna do?" Ladybug stood up, tying back his hair in preparation. "Joburg?"

Ladybug turned to face us, his eyes filled with fierce determination. His gaze raked across all of us as the train came to a complete stop. He stepped out into the aisle, pointing to the case beside me. With a begrudging sigh, I picked it up and handed it to him. He took it, a thankful look on his face as he turned to face the rest of the group.

"I'm gonna buy us some time."

A/N: Alright, shit's about to hit the fan! I'm going to try to spread out this last bit of the movie as I feel there's an opportunity for a lot of character-building, especially with Bronte. I also understand there hasn't been much going on in terms of Bronte and Tangerine's relationship and that's what you're all here for, so I'm going to try and include more of that in upcoming chapters.

Today's question is: do any of you actually like Ladybug? I get that he's the main character of the film and he seems like he's supposed to be likeable, but I honestly find him a bit annoying. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

(*update* he's grown on me and i quite like his character now*)

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