Rainy Weather (Kazurei)

Hurricane on the Horizon

~Kazuki pov~

I'm at the park with Miri, she's upset that the fog had mostly cleared up. She was so excited to play hide and seek in it, but that's fine. She's still happily running around having the time of her life. I wish Rei were here with me. I hope whatever his dad is having him do doesn't trouble him like the last time. I still don't know what he had to do then. I just know he was trying to distance himself after it was done that night. One thing I could only hope for is that some day will come that Rei decides to finally rebel against that guy, he's lived under constant pressure from him all his life. It's hard to watch it happen knowing I can't do anything to help him. "Hi there, is this spot taken?" a female voice grabs my attention. She's pointing at the spot next to me on the bench. "No, go ahead." I answer. "You have kids?" the woman asked "Yes, I have a daughter. Her name is Miri." It isn't uncommon for women to strike up conversations with me, so I usually engage with them for a bit. "I brought my two sons here to play today. My name is Isaka Yuri, nice to meet you." "Likewise. I'm Kazuki." She gave me her full name, but I don't like giving mine to people I just met. "So I'm wondering, would you like to grab a coffee sometime? I think you're quite handsome." Yuri shifts closer to me. "Oh, thank you. I will have to decline respectfully, I am already in a relationship." "You're not married, are you? I don't see a ring." she presses. "I'm not, but I'm happy with who I'm currently dating." Why couldn't this be a nice conversation with a stranger?  Most times when a woman speaks to me it's to discuss our kids. The price I pay for going out with Rei not being here. I also find it odd that she's behaving this way at a park with lots of kids around. "You don't look like someone who wants to be tied down. Let's meet up tonight, huh?" "Look, I won't do anything with you. Please leave me alone." before getting with Rei I would have accepted her offer. I was willing to do just about anything with any woman. But now...I can't see any of them as desirable. The only person I want is Rei. No one will ever get between that. "You're no fun...maybe this will change your tune." something is pressed against my side. it's a small compact handgun. "You wouldn't shoot me. Too many witnesses, no chance of escaping. "Sorry, but I'm in control here. Take a look." Yuri nods her head in a direction and I face that way. "Miri!?" In the corner of an alley I see a man holding her unconscious body. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." How did they do this with no one noticing? What is happening? Does this have anything to do with Rei? "Get up and walk. You're coming with me." out of fear for Miri's safety, I follow her instructions. We leave the park and into the alley where the man was previously. There's a car there with blacked out windows with the back door open. "Hands." The mystery man appears again with a big zip tie. My hands are bound together and I'm shoved into the car. "Miri!" her small body lies limp in the seat. "What did you do to her?" I ask angrily. I'll kill them. "Calm down, as if we'd kill a kid. It's a harmless anaesthetic. It'll wear off in a few hours, we just needed an incentive for you to not cause a scene." Yuri shrugs it off nonchalantly "You're pretty devoted to your boyfriend, aren't you? No one ever refused me before." she giggles. "How do y-" "This." she tosses a picture at me, at closer examination it's a picture of us taken from outside our hotel room when we were... "What do you want from me?" millions of questions circulated my head. What do I even make of this? "Nothing. we're taking you and that kid to a specific location then leaving. All we are is transport." Transport? These two are clearly from the organisation, but what what could this be about? "Can you at least tell me why this is happening?" "I think you already know the answer based on that picture. You both should have known that type of thing you've got going on his Boss's son wouldn't fly." this whole time she's been smiling. That's no genuine smile. It's a smile you give to someone you know is going to die. I've seen it many times before. Near death experiences and being given that same exact smile. Are we really going to be killed over my relationship with Rei? "You can kill me, but please...please don't hurt her. She hasn't done anything wrong." I plead with Yuri hoping she has enough heart to hear me out. "As I said, We're just transport. Whatever happens has nothing to do with either of us." I don't care about what they do to me. I can't stand to think that she'll be killed because of me. "Get ready. The show is about to begin." Yuri's tone sounds like she's taunting me. The driver pulls up to an abandoned warehouse where several men in suits are all lined up waiting. "We got him!" The man speaks for the first time since seeing him. "Alright, get out." Yuri yanks me out of the car leaving Miri inside. "Where's the girl?" one of them asked her. "She ran off, couldn't chase after her without risking blowing cover. We'll find her." I was shocked that Yuri lied to them like that. Maybe she does has a heart. "Report back if you gain visual. I'll be in touch." Yuri and the mystery man were dismissed leaving me to deal with this mess. I'm pushed along the group till we enter the building. Despite the outside looking like a decrepit junk pile, inside shows a completely different setting. It's very fancy. Marble floors, black pained walls that are littered is expensive looking artwork, and intricate designed red velvet furniture. They lead me into an empty start white room with a single chair in the center of the floor. My eyes widen. This is an execution room. I'm shoved down onto that chair with a gun trained at my face to make sure I don't move. I'm going to die. I'm not ready. Not yet. I don't fear death. I'm no stranger to killing. Several years of my life has been spent taking lives for money. Death sounds peaceful...but before I die, I still have things I wanted to do. Rei..................where are you?
"The room is set. send him in." I heard someone behind me say. Everyone in the room leaves, then one person enters. Light footsteps that are likely only audible due to the lack of any other noise sources. I'd recognise these footsteps anywhere. "What's happening, Rei? You never called me like you said you would." I can't be angry with him, I know it's not his fault. "Things are far more complicated than what was initially thought. I received an order to kill you." his tone of voice is monotonous and blunt. He walked in front of me and kneeled down. "We're getting out here. Play along. I loaded blanks into my gun. Act dead till someone comes back in. We have to make it seem real" Rei takes a knife out his pocket and cuts the zip ties that have bound my hands. "Take it." he leaves the knife in my lap. "The show is about to begin." I quoted what Yuri said to me. Rei aims his gun at my head. His face is void of emotion, I can tell why some people are so afraid of him. Even knowing Rei is staging the execution, I find him pretty intimidating and also kinda...hot. Nono. Now definitely isn't the time. "Someone has Miri. We have to find her as soon as we can. Let's do this." Rei nods at me and prepares to take the shot. A loud bang goes off, I had my eyes closed but opened them to see Rei's smoking gun. I play dead as someone else enters the room. "I didn't think you had it in you to take him out. I was fully prepared to do it myself." A voice I haven't heard before said. "Orders are orders." Rei replies. "I'll take the body off your hands. You're to report your mission status to Boss." The guy walks in towards me and stops. "Where's the bullet wound?" he leans towards me to examine me closer. Now or never. When he got close enough, I swung the knife into throat. His eyes widen in shock while blood pours heavily out of his neck and mouth getting all over my hand and hoodie. Knives were never my thing, too messy. I like to take more low-key options with things like poison and what not. The smell of iron fills the air, and the white floors are now dyed with a pool of deep red. I pull the knife out and the man collapses onto the floor completely still. He's dead. Rei immediately takes to check the body for anything he might have been carrying. "He went down easy. Didn't even try to fight for his life. Disappointing." Rei says as he pulls a gun out from the inside of his suit jacket. "Ogino was often assigned to jobs with me. He was merciless; a true version of who my father wanted me to be." he hands me the gun he looted. "What's the plan?" "This building isn't that big. We're lucky to not be in the lower sub-levels. This room is very near to the front entrance if you remember. Just a couple of hallways that we need to get through. Hurry, it won't be long till they wonder what's taking me so long." There's no going back now. We'll be seen as traitors to the organisation. Rei is risking everything to save us. "Rei." I say his name to get his attention. "Yes?" "Incase something bad happens." I grab Rei by the waist and pull him into a kiss. Rei was unprepared and tried to fight it for a moment, but gave in as he relaxed and places his small hands on my shoulders. After a few seconds we break apart with a new sense of conviction. We escape or die trying. Either way, we'll leave a stain on the Suwa family legacy today. "Let's go." Rei changes out the mag in his gun for one with real bullets in it then slowly opens the door to check for anyone nearby. "It's clear." He waves at me to follow. "Aren't there cameras around here?" I ask Rei. "Probably, so we need to be fast. We'll talk once we get to safety." Rei's movements are so light and elegant. So different from his usual self. It's like he becomes a different person. I stay behind him as he continue down the halls avoiding being too loud. Any sudden noise could send them running. "Down. Someone's coming." Rei hears someone that I didn't. We slip into a closet with haste just as we hear another door nearby open. "No one has seen Ogino or Boss's son. I'm going to check what's going on." a guard says on his radio. "We're on borrowed time. They'll be searching for us shortly." I say wondering what we'll do if we're found. "He's gone." The both of us exit the closet and forge ahead. Remaining undetected has been easy so far, almost too easy. "Take a look." Rei stops for a moment to take a small object from his pocket. It's a remote switch. "I already set up a safe place for us to rest. I'm putting an end to this operation." What is this operation? "Too many people have suffered because of the people I share blood connections to. This place is rigged to blow, all it takes is simple switch to make it all go up in flames." He's been very busy in the short time he was away. Must be nice being so fit. I'm not by any means unfit, but Rei is on a whole other level than me. He's trained all his life and became a person with almost unreal strength and speed. Somewhat jealous of him actually...Ah forget it. What am I even doing thinking about that in a moment like this? "Over there!" A man shouts from behind us. Rei wastes no time and opens fire upon him, quickly disposing of the loudmouth. "They'll have heard those shots. Keep going." We break out into a sprint as fast as we could to get away from any possible assailant after us. Despite our best efforts, we were found again "These guys are persistent." I groan. "Quiet!" More shots ring out, but this time it's directed at us. I start shooting back hoping like hell I can manage to shoot. Running at the same time certainly doesn't help... Of course Rei has also mastered the art of running and shooting. How does a shut-in gamer manage to do these things with ease? "I'm hitting the switch." Rei says entirely calm like we're not still in the building being shot at. "What? We're not outside yet!" "None of the bombs are on this end. They're focused on the sub-levels. It will be fine." I'm still not so assured by that. "To hell with it. Do it!" The ground shakes violently as the sounds of explosions go off below us. I nearly trip and fall, but catch myself on the wall. "That should distract them."
We keep running as the fire alarms begin to beep and the sprinkler system turns on spraying water everywhere. "There's the enterance!" I shout gleefully. Rei pressed the switch again causing even more explosions. The building is on the verge of collapsing. It feels like an eternity before we get through the doors. We stop to catch our breath. We made it out. Now we have another problem on our hands. Miri. "We need to find Miri." I say between breaths. "Isaka-san is an ally. She's acquainted with Kyutaro, we can get her tomorrow. She'll be fine until then." "Then why did try to seduce me and have her friend drug Miri?" "She was following her orders from my dad. The rest of it was a plan we agreed upon." he explains. "I don't like what she did either, but does as she pleases just to piss people off....Let's go to the safe house so we can discuss what to do next."

(A/N): so i was kinda right about the events in episode 11. fuck ogino and rei's dad tho 3:<