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WHEN AKUJI RETURNED TO her friends, she was met with stares of shock and worry.
"It's not mine," Akuji told Usagi and Arisu, gesturing to the blood on her. "It's Niragi's."
Chishiya, who had been placed sat up against a car, smirked. Akuji would be seriously worried for him if he didn't seem to be the most unbothered person ever after being shot.
Arisu took a stumbling step toward her, too surprised to function. Yes, she had told him about the sacrifices she had made...but this was a whole other level. She had killed somebody with her own hands.
"Why would you do that?" He asked.
Akuji frowned at him, almost taking offence, "You think I'd let him hurt me and get away with it? No fucking way."
Usagi stared at her, no emotions readable on her face. Akuji thought that maybe, because Usagi had also been hurt by Niragi, she would be joyous or triumphant or excited like Akuji was, but maybe they were different in that respect. Still, although Akuji would not support what she had done in any other context, she would happily excuse her own actions this one time.
Niragi deserved it.
Suddenly, the wind whistled as its speed picked up. Leave skittered across the ground as a dark cloud overshadowed Shibuya. When the group looked up, they realised the cause of this was the King of Spades blimp flying overhead.
"We have to hide him under a car so the King can't hurt him!" Arisu shouted, gesturing to Chishiya. He could barely be heard over the loud rumbling of the blimp.
"We need to run!" Akuji replied, although she stuck around until Chishiya was safely hidden. Her eyes were darting from side to side, searching for the King.
A round of gunfire was heard and a group of men who had run into Shibuya centre fell to the ground, dead and covered in blood.
Grabbing both of her friends' wrists, Akuji pulled them along with her as she took off running. The three ducked behind a car, using it to stay unseen as the they searched for the King of Spades — and most importantly, their friends.
"Arisu, take this." Akuji said, handing him the shotgun in her hands. He silently nodded at her to show his thanks. She peered over the top of a car, frowning, "Where the hell is he?"
"We can't go further until we take down the King of Spades." Arisu regretfully informed his friends in case they were thinking of running away.
"Look!" Usagi exclaimed suddenly.
All of them turned to look at where she was pointing. At first, it seemed like it was just a large crowd of people sprinting for their lives but under further inspection, they realised two familiar faces were with the people fleeing.
"Kuina! Ann!" Akuji screamed their names at the top of their lungs, jumping up and down and waving her hands above her head to get their attention.
The two spotted her easily and rushed over. They ducked behind the car they were using for cover, panting as they tried to catch their breath.
Eventually, Kuina turned to Akuji with wide, concerned eyes, "What happened to you?"
Akuji quickly shook her head and reassured her, "It's not my blood. It's Niragi's. I killed him."
Kuina looked troubled -- Akuji was barely an adult and she had committed an atrocious act. She seemed nothing like the Akuji she had first met. But she had never really seen the true Akuji, had she? Either way, she pulled Akuji into a hug, unbothered that the blood was transferring onto her.
"Me too," Usagi agreed as she watched the interaction in endearment, "I'm glad that both of you are fine."
Pulling away from Akuji, Kuina glanced between the original trio hurriedly, "Did Chishiya make it?"
After a few moments of hesitation and of nobody doing anything, Arisu slowly nodded. He avoided eye contact as he stated, "Yeah. Knowing him, he'll be fine."
Yes, it was a cruel thing to do, lying to someone about such a serious thing. But what if Kuina was told the truth and she was distracted, subsequently being killed over a possible mistake she could make? Or what if she tried to find Chishiya, leaving the group on their own even though they clearly needed as much power as possible to defeat the King?
"It looks like the King of Spades wants to settle things here." Ann noted, "We'll have to take him down together."
Akuji nodded, almost in a solemn way, "I'm ready to give it my all."
Before a plan could be made, a bullet hit the hood of the car they were hid behind. The entire group flinched. Without even realising, Arisu had shoved Akuji to the floor and covered her body with his, using himself as a shield for any potential bullets. Once he realised she was not in any immediate danger, he awkwardly got off of her, avoiding eye contact. It was clear he was having a battle with himself; an internal conflict. He cared for her so much that protecting her was instinctive but he could not bring himself to trust her fully, nor forgive her.
"C'mon!" Usagi ordered the group, leaving cover and dashing away from the King as soon as the coast was clear.
The gunfire was hot on their heels. Without realising, the group split up and hid behind two opposing cars -- Usagi and Arisu with one, Kuina, Akuji and Ann with another.
Except Ann wasn't with them.
The King was directly on top of her. With one hand, he snatched her up by the hair and held the gun under her chin. Certainly, she was going to die...Except, at the last moment, she pulled out a revolver and managed to shoot the King once in the stomach.
The King knocked the weapon out of her hand and it went flying across the street toward Akuji. She grabbed it and without even thinking, aimed and shot at the King's legs. She did this at the exact same time Kuina kicked a side view mirror from a car at the King's head, which made him fall to the ground thus letting Ann go and allowing her to escape. Ann rushed to the two girls and they all managed to dive behind a car as their assailant began to spray them with gunfire again.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash!
Peeking out from behind her hiding spot, Akuji realised a car had crashed into the King. The whole thing had been set alight. Luckily, the brave geniuses driving had managed to escape the wreck. It seemed that the King had been defeated and they had won.
Or was it too good to be true?
AUTHOR NOTES omfg i love arisu and akuji sm and like sorry for the angst between them but it had to happen!! i fucking love the duo of kuina & akuji too theyre my badass girls ❤️❤️ if kuina had more scenes in s2, akuji wouldve been in every single one LMFAO also chishiya + akuji crumbs :,) i could talk for days and days about how good their friendship would be if akuji was in s1 LIKE GUYS SHE LITERALLY LOVES BIOLOGY & HES A MED STUDENT. AKUJI LOVES STUDYING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR/PSYCHOLOGY & CHISHIYA IS GREAT AT READING PEOPLE AND HE'S TRYING TO FIND A HEART AND CARE FOR PPL. IM JUST ADKSKDJKS 🥰 I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK FOR AGES LMAO I LOVE IT SM!!! but anyway! sorry for the few smaller chapters that i previously posted, hopefully the rest will go back to 1k bc the others were dreadful at like 700-800 💀
