Collision of Heaven and Hell ✅

Chapter Twelve

Anjin didn't wait for my reply. He knelt down and I cried out as my body was suddenly flung over his left shoulder. "Stay limp and keep your head down," he told me quickly. He pressed his hand against the small of my back to hold me steady—and suddenly took running.

He was fast; very fast. Everything was a blur. I saw part of the house on fire and people running around. I couldn't distinguish faces or voices.

Anjin sidestepped out the main gate, as though shielding me from potential attacks. His car was parked close by, and he quickly opened the passenger door and folded down the seat. "Climb in the back," he told me as he set me down.

I didn't argue. It was a two-seat car but there was small cargo space behind the two seats. I quickly scrambled into the space behind the seats. Anjin leaned in to look at me, though I couldn't see his face clearly because of his sunglasses. "Get down and cover your head. Do not move from that spot."

I realized that he was holding an Uzi in his right hand. Before I could respond he snapped the seat back into place and slammed the passenger door shut, and my view was completely obstructed. I curled into a ball and covered my head...and seconds later I head the familiar sounds of gunfire.

I screamed; I couldn't help myself. It almost sounded like bullets hit the car, but thankfully didn't penetrate the interior. I didn't stop screaming until I suddenly found my body slamming into the back of the car. "Hold on, Takasoto-kun."

Anjin. He had climbed into the driver's side while I had been screaming, and based on the momentum of the car he was flying down the street in reverse. I screamed again and tried to brace my hands against the back of the driver's seat to keep myself steady. "W-Wait! WAIT, YAMAGISHI-SAN!"

"I can't wait, Takasoto-kun. The house has mobilized and they're shooting at us." Not once did his voice break from calm, or even raise. He was cool as an iceberg. That was almost as frightening as our current situation.

I screamed as the car suddenly started spinning, and the tires screamed, and then I was flung forward into the back of the seats. I realized then that Anjin had spun the car to turn it around, and now it was in drive. From the roaring of the engine I knew that Anjin had the gas pedal pressed all the way to the floor. He was trying to get us out as fast as possible.

I knew then why he was truly called "Kokushibyō". He acted without fear or hesitation. He rushed into the compound of his former boss to rescue me. He set fire to his former boss's house to rescue me. He opened fire on people he used to work with to rescue me. Not once did he act with any emotion other than calm. He was fearless. Completely, utterly fearless.

And he was completely, utterly deadly.

I don't know how long we drove for; I had almost forgotten about the gunfire and was instead concentrating on clinging to the back of Anjin's seat so I didn't roll around. I didn't even notice that we had started to slow down. It was only when Anjin said, "We're here" that I even noticed that we had stopped.

I lifted my head as best as I could. My head hurt and my body was sore. "W—Where are we?" I mumbled.

The passenger door was suddenly forcefully flung open, startling me. But Anjin didn't even stir. Before I could ask what was happening the passenger seat was yanked forward. "Mai!"

I gasped throatily when I saw Chikafusa. I scrambled out reaching for him, and he grabbed me in his arms and crushed me against him. Before either of us realized what was happening our lips were pressed together in a hard kiss. But the kiss quickly broke and the tears came to me again. I clung to his shoulders and sobbed loudly. My eyes were starting to hurt from all of the crying I had done that day alone, but I didn't care.