You and me, against the world [Kaishin/Shinkai] **eng version**

Firework #8

Kaito's view

I shook Shinichi, yelled at him. He didn't respond.
"Well Shinichi? So shocked that it left you speechless?
"The man didn't bother to hide his mockery, on the contrary. He added an extra fat slice.

"Sh-shinichi? What do you mean with Shinichi?!"
Startled, I looked to Ran. Oh great, now we had all the more problems.

"You don't have to worry about that. Better start worrying about other things. After all, it's you who's about to kick the bucket, not your beloved Shinichi."
Even from this distance, I could see every muscle in Ran's body tense up. She was unable to move.

Something in the corner of my eye glowed red. I failed to understand what it was. The color was a rich red. The kind you see when metal is heated to a high temperature. I was even more surprised when I realized that Shinichi was the source of it.

His left eye was glowing brightly. Such a thing was impossible. How could it be that an eye glowed red. We are not in a fantasy movie.

No matter how inviting and warming this light seemed, his facial expression, in contrast to the red glow, was a perfect comparison to a block of ice. Add to that block of ice a human trait called hate and you have the desired end product.

It was by no means hatred that you could see on the outside of someone's face. No. It was more of a feeling. A feeling, which brought one teeth to chattering. And exactly this effect it had on me.

Slowly I tried to approach him with uncertain steps. I swallowed loudly. A bad premonition hit me, making all my hairs stand up on my skin. Before I had even a tiny chance to dodge, red sparks appeared out of nowhere. This was followed by a red shield that knocked me roughly two meters away. I landed on my tailbone and a strangled scream escaped from my throat, which was dry with fear.

Slowly, step by step, Shinichi ran toward the men. The fear and panic were clearly written on their faces. The man with the gun, who had taken Ran in hand, let's call him Gun, released a shot. If it weren't for my dry throat, I would have let out a scream long ago.

If something were to happen to him, I could not forgive myself in return. Even if he would have tried to deny it with all the means in the world, in the end it was me who had dragged him into this.

Before I could even think about my guilt, a miracle happened before my eyes. It was child's play for him to catch the bullet between his thumb and forefinger and flick it back at a speed that would have been unrecognizable even in slow motion. It flew past the man's face with a hair's width. It was a scene, which one only knew from films.

"Hey. W-what's wrong with that guy?" asked the one, let's call him Shot, Gun anxiously.
"I-I don't know. This is the first time I've seen something like this, too. Wait. That blood-red color. That can only be... but of course! Pandora!"

My body stiffened. Pandora? Did Gun just say Pandora? How could that be? Why was there a stone, the stone in Shinichi's eye?

"W-what?! Why is it in the possession of that detective?!"
Shot, along with Gun, seemed to be as shocked as I was. That could only show that neither of them knew about it. Not even the organization that was pulling all the strings in the background.

The person standing in front of me was no longer Shinichi. The true Shinichi would never want to hurt people. No matter whether friend or enemy. He was controlled by Pandora. I could not explain it any other way.

Shinichi was only five steps away from Shot, Gun and Ran. The girl had long since fainted. I saw how the men were too focused on Shinichi. With difficulty, I forced myself to stand up. Slowly, I walked toward the two. I knocked Gun's gun to the ground and seized the moment of confusion to grab Ran. Carefully, I placed her on the ground outside of the dangerous area.