Marked (BokuAka)

72. Giggles

Akaashi's POV (Day 41, Continued):

"What are you doing?" Akaashi tamped down on the chill spreading through his veins, keeping his voice calm and apathetic. "Let them go, you're caught." Yanking out the gun, Akaashi kept it held at his hip, trying not to escalate the situation just yet.

His mother glanced at the sudden movement of his hand, lips twitching into a pensive frown. Finally, she spoke in a high pitch. "What are you doing, Keiji? Don't you care at all about the safety of your poor. Little. Soulmate?" She paused after each word, face breaking into yet another nerve-wracking grin with a giggle, covering her mouth with her hand. Jostling the gun against Bokuto's head once again, she finally turned her head to look at the police officer. "Ooooh. You brought company! You didn't tell me you were bringing friends, Keiji!" With a cackle, she looked at the police officer. "Keiji is very rude, isn't he? What're you doing here, darling? What's your name?"

"I think—" The woman cleared her throat, and Akaashi noticed the tremble of her hands, the shake of her voice. No doubt his mother did too. No. Stop. She isn't 'mother' anymore. Stop calling her that. She doesn't deserve the title. I don't bear her name anymore. She is a stranger. Finally, Akaashi thought of something that would really irk her. "Uh, I think that the real question is what you are doing on the roof, armed." Her finger was tight on a button on the walkie-talkie. She was talking to the others. Maybe I underestimated her. "Officer Suzuki, by the way. Now, why don't we put down the weapons and we can figure out an agreement, right?"

Akaashi's mother... no. What do I call her? Not mother, certainly. I am Keiji. I am not hers anymore. I am Akaashi Keiji. She, she is nothing. What's her full name again? Oh, yes, Ahmya. That's who she is. Ahmya—no longer mother—spoke, and Keiji—no longer Akaashi—narrowed his eyes. "Darling, I'm not here for you. Let me speak to my son." She continued with the sickeningly high-pitched voice.

"I'm not your son anymore, Ahmya." Keiji smiled at the slack-jawed look on her face, which was suddenly replaced by anger at the disrespect. "Not while you kill people and say it's for the good of the world, but we know you enjoy it. Not while in your room, there is a glass case that has souvenirs that you pillaged from corpses, all meticulously labelled so that you never forget. Not while my friends, the first people to show me what it really means to be loved, are being held at gun- and knife-point." Akaashi Ahmya opened her mouth as if to protest, but Keiji held up the gun, pointing it at her, to silence the protests. "Let me finish. You are going to do what I want now. Put the gun down, or the most important person in your life will die. That person is you, by the way."

"Keiji, you think you can stop me?" She spoke quietly, before throwing her head back and gasping. She then returned to look at him with a crazed grin, eyes wild and full of rage. "Well," She poked Bokuto's head with the tip of the gun, poking him again and again, while Bokuto looked at Keiji with fear, not even flinching as she stopped to stroke his cheek. "I have something you like!" She sang the words, then pointed the gun in order, from Konoha to Sarukui, to Washio. "Somethings!" The word was spoken in a joyous manner, with yet another giggle, and Keiji could feel anger smouldering in his stomach.

Steps could be heard through the door, and Akaashi Ahmya gestured at Konoha's guard. The guard rushed over, and locked the door just in time, stopping the rest of the officers from entering.

"We outnumber you, and we have hostages. What's your next move, Keiji? This isn't a movie, you know? You need a plan! Or else, the bad guys will win." She kneeled and caressed Bokuto's face, then yanked down Bokuto's mouth, as if to mimic him speaking. "Oh no! What will you do, my darling Keiji?" She spoke in a deep tone, before giggling and looking at Keiji's face again with a manic grin and sighing. At this point, even her guards started glancing at each other, her cheerful insanity turning even them nervous.

"C'mon, Ahmya. Are you going to hide behind a teen boy to protect yourself? From me, 'darling Keiji'?"

"Mother." She dropped the smile. "Mo-ther. I'm your mom, not your acquaintance."

"Hmph." Keiji smiled right back at her, attempting a smug grin. "I don't know. I have my friends, my soulmate—" He winked at Bokuto, who returned with a small, relieved smile. "Oof, I think I had a dad but..." Keiji dropped the smile and glared at her, seething gaze meeting her rage-filled one. "No mom."

Ahmya stood up, glaring at him. "Keiji. You know what happens when you're bad. Why don't you see the nice officer out, and then we can put this all behind us? What do you say, darling? You and me, against the world again."

Officer Suzuki looked mildly offended, opening her mouth to speak, but Keiji shushed her. This was a family quarrel. She wouldn't shoot Keiji, but anyone else? She wouldn't hesitate. Unfortunately, Bokuto spoke up.

"And what?" Bokuto asked, looking at the woman looming over him with a gun. "You force him to become a killing machine? You? The one who can't control your own son? You're own hostages? You couldn't even stop him from falling in love. You're useless, powerless, and soon to be imprisoned. So what? You kill me? The 'nice officer'? Our friends? You force Akaashi to love you? It won't work. Ever. You'll end up either: a) on the floor with a bullet in your head, b) rotting on death row or c) arranging a prison stay instead of a death sentence. It's the end of the line, whistle."

At these words, her face flamed up, the smile fading and unleashing a look of ferocity and rage.

Oh no.

A/N: Well, we're nearing the end. What do you guys think? Excited for the final stretch?