SNAKESKIN // Bullet Train Fanfiction ✔︎

二十四

The Cobra

I was barely back on my feet for two seconds when a loud crash caused the train to shake like a plane in turbulence. I glanced at the Twins. They looked just as confused as I felt. "What was that?"

Tangerine shrugged as he entered the gangway. I followed, hot on his heels, stepping over the three bodies in the next car as Ladybug burst in at the other end.

"We need to stop the train! He said urgently, limping towards us piteously. "Now. We need to stop it now."

"It's in Japanese," I said in exasperation, not even bothering to hide my obvious irritation. "None of us speak fuckin' Japanese!"

"How did you start it, then?" He asked, a confused look on his face.

Lemon rolled his eyes from beside men throwing his hands up in exasperation. "We didn't fuckin' do it," he exclaimed. "The window smashed and knocked the buttons and it started."

"What to take away from this?" I began, humour in my eyes despite the serious situation at hand. "We may not speak Japanese but windows do."

No one laughed at my pathetic attempt at a joke. Ladybug just looked defeated, staring between the three of us as the smell of smoke and burning plastic reached my nose, causing me to gag. Suddenly, he perked up, pointing to Lemon excitedly. "What about a manual?" Lemon stared at him dubiously, but seemed to know what he was getting at. "There must be a manual and it would have translations in other languages."

Lemon suddenly turned tail and sprinted back towards the driver's car. Ladybug followed, slipping past Tangerine and me. I leaned away, not keen on being smeared with dirt and blood as he passed by. He obviously took it as a sign of politeness, shooting me a grateful smile as he disappeared into the gangway.

"So..." I turned to Tangerine as the train continued to pick up speed. I gripped the headrest of the closest seat as the car rocked slightly. "What should we do?"

Tangerine gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, scrunching his nose as the burning smell grew stronger. "What the fuck is that stink?" He demanded, covering his face with a hand. "It's fuckin' rank!"

"Smells like fire," I observed, stepping cautiously towards the next car. "Whatever that crash was earlier..."

The gangway door slid open as I approached and I headed into the next car. I stopped abruptly, my eyes wide with shock. The entire car was on fire; one side of the car was completely gone, exposing the interior to the intense wind caused by the fast-moving train. The fire was quickly spreading; fuelled by the wind and flammable seat covers.

Bur despite the horrific scene, the destruction was not what had immediately caught my eye. In the aisle—or at least what was left of it—was a tall man. He was turned away from me but I didn't need to see his face to know who he was. The unmistakable matted grey locks were a defining factor in recognising the man. It was none other than the White Death himself.

He was standing over something the floor that I couldn't quite see. I took a cautious step forward, but a hand on my wrist held me back. I looked up to see Tangerine right behind me. He was holding my wrist tightly, pulling me back gently, a sceptical expression on his face.

He nodded his head towards the White Death. "Who is that?" His eyes flicked down to me expectantly as the train continued to build speed.

I sighed, knowing exactly how he would react if I answered honestly. He would push me aside, demand that I stay out of the way and try to kill the White Death himself. He was impulsive like that, and it annoyed me deeply that he thought I couldn't handle my own.

"It's the White Death." Just as I presumed, Tangerine tried to push past me, but I braced myself, notting letting him past. "No," I said quietly as he stared at me in confusion. "You cannot fight the White Death, Tang." I placed my hands on the headrests either side of me. "He'll kill you."

"How do you know that?" He demanded, an odd emotion brimming into his eyes. "What are you not telling me?"

I sighed. I knew I would have to tell him eventually. It had all happened after our falling out, so I had never thought about how I would explain it. I had never anticipated seeing him ever again. But there was no escaping it. Tangerine didn't take "no" for answer and I owed it to him to tell him the truth. I didn't want to reconnect, only for our effort to go down the drain the second he found out. It was now or never.

I lowered my gaze to his shoes. I didn't want to have to see his reaction when I spoke. It would only make me feel worse. With a deep breath, I spoke, before I could back out.

"I worked for the White Death."

Tangerine didn't react, just stared at me with a blank expression on his face. I honestly would have preferred any other reaction; at least then I'd know what he was thinking. Right now he could have been terrified or disgusted; I would have no idea.

"That White Death?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I didn't want to go into detail, but I had no other choice. Tangerine was watching me with no intention of speaking up. "After you and Lemon—you know—left me, I was hired by an anonymous employer to do a few jobs." I observed him as I spoke, trying to gauge a reaction, but he remained stoic and emotionless. "I worked for him until last year," I continued. "I was on a job in Beijing. I was supposed to break one of his associates out of prison, but I didn't realise he sent other contractors to do the same. I killed all of them when they tried to get to the target and it turns out one of them was his brother." I took a shaky breath, my heartbeat increasing with the stress of reliving the experience. "He promised to kill me if he ever saw me again and if he sees me here he will kill all of us, you and Lemon included."

"Oh my god." The shock on Tangerine's face was plain as day. He looked over my shoulder and I turned to do the same. The White Death was cocking his gun, raising it to his temple and pulling the trigger. Nothing happened. Then he aimed it at the person in front of him. I could see who it was now; it was Shigeru.

I watched with bated breath as the White Death's index finger stroked the trigger. Time seemed to move in slow motion as a small object flew at the crime boss's head, flying through the air like a torpedo. The White Death looked up but the object was moving too fast for him to react. It hit him square in the forehead, causing his head to snap back and the gun to fall from his hand.

The White Death turned to see who had thrown what I now saw to be a water bottle. It was exactly like the one Lemon had bought in Tokyo. Standing beside Shigeru was his son, his face determined as he bravely stared the White Death down.

Suddenly, Shigeru jumped to his feet, drawing a sword from its holster at his belt. He roared in fury as he lunged forward, striking the White Death in the chest. He dragged the sword down, widening the gash as blood spurted up, soaking the White Death's shirt.

I was about to jump into the fray, to finish him off myself, but just as I bent my legs, the train bucked, its wheels screeching painfully against the tracks. I reached out desperately for something to hold onto but it was no use. The seats were aflame and there was nothing else around me.

I felt almost weightless. The sound of wheels against tracks was gone, instead replaced by the destructive sound of the train crashing through trees. As hard as I tried to maintain my balance, it was impossible. I stumbled forward, unable to keep my footing and fell to the floor, sliding down the aisle, accompanied by debris and unidentifiable burning objects.

I kept moving until the sickening thud of the train colliding with something caused the whole car to jump. I frantically tried to grab onto the gangway door as I passed but I couldn't get a firm handhold. I didn't stop until the train crash-landed at the bottom of the hill.

A/N: I'm not very good at writing action, so I hope that was okay. Three more chapters to go. It's getting close and I'm really sad, but I hope you're enjoying this book. We're almost at 10k reads, which is insane, as I started this book less than a month ago.

Today's question is: What is your favourite Japanese snack? Mine is Pocky or the little triangle sushi rolls that you can buy at 7/11s.

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