Childhood Friends

Chapter 23: The Flame

Sorry that this one took a while guys. This chapter was tougher than I thought to write. I hope that the wait was worth it.

Kaito didn't know how long he had been passed out for. A few seconds? A minute? An hour? Either way, his body felt like it had been completely paralysed. He couldn't move it at all. When he opened his eyes, there were these blurry shapes around him. He could faintly smell something, but he wasn't sure what it was. There was this loud high pitched ringing in his ears. It made him feel more disoriented and he could barely hear anything. His shoulders were being shaken quite vigorously. He felt so heavy and sluggish that he couldn't help but close his eyes. He can't remember what had happened. He must have hit his head quite hard. He was still trying to figure things out when he felt something light but fast pat his face rapidly. He opened his eyes again, his vision cleared a little. He could make out Maki quite clearly. She looked scared. She was looking back and forth between Kaito and something else. She also ducked a few times, avoiding something. When she was looking down at Kaito, she was shouting something at him. However, the ringing in his ears overpowered everything that she was saying. What she trying to say?

Kaito didn't have a chance to voice his question when he was suddenly hauled to his feet. Maki hefted his arm over her shoulders and started to drag him across the room. As he stumbled along, trying to keep up with Maki without crushing her under his weight, he felt something whizz by him several times. Something small and fast. He was trying to figure out what it was, but he didn't have time to. Maki had already dragged him over to a crate, pushing him behind it. She had him sitting down, taking cover behind him. The ringing in Kaito's ears was starting drive him crazy. Not to mention it made him feel like it was causing his head to split in two. He placed his hands over his ears, trying to block out the ringing. It seemed to work as the ringing faded. Instead it was replaced with what now felt like a war zone. Gunshots rang out as bullets whizzed through the air. The projectiles slammed into the crate, causing splinters to fly around or onto him. Kaito couldn't help but glance around the crate. Several assassins stood around the lobby. A lot of them were bodies laying sprawled out, limp on the ground, obviously dead. The ones that remained alive had various types of guns drawn out. Kaito was frozen for what felt like forever. He didn't know why he was frozen. It just happened. It only took Maki yanking him back for cover before a bullet almost hit him to get him to snap out of it.

"Kaito! You okay?!" She yelled over the gunfire. Kaito looked at her, seeing her just reaching over the crate. She had a small handgun, not hesitating as she released her own assault. She must have had the weapon concealed on her should this happen.

"Y-yeah..." Kaito stammered, trying to stop himself from shaking from the adrenaline. As he tried to calm down, he once again sniffed the air. He could smell something burning. He glanced around, almost instantly finding the spot where the small bomb went off. There was a crater, with pieces of the bomb scattered around it. The bomb wasn't big enough to bring down much for the hotel. However, embers had jumped form the explosion. The embers had caught onto curtains and whatever else was farmable. The flames were starting to grow. It was very clear that the old building will start going down in a matter of minutes at this rate if it wasn't put out immediately. Kaito would laugh at how stupid the assassins were to set fire to their own base if he could.

"Holy shit! Maki, we need to go!" Kaito exclaimed as Maki ducked behind the crate. He grabbed her arm just as she was reloading her gun.

"Not yet!" She argued, pulling away from him.

"Maki! If we don't get outta here, we'll die!" Kaito argued back, worried more about being burned alive than the bullets.

"If I don't kill Shi now, he'll just keep hunting us! I can't put you in danger again." Maki shouted, getting ready to start firing again. That's when Kaito started to piece it together quickly. This was why she's doing this?! She just wanted to keep Kaito out of danger? She must not be thinking straight. They need to leave now! Kaito opened his mouth to to come up with a rebuttal. However, he saw a shadow just starting to form behind Maki. As she was too busy on the battlefield in front of her, she didn't even sense it. Without even bothering to shout a warning, Kaito shot to his feet. The assassin had no time to react to him as Kaito suddenly slammed his clenched fist into his throat. The assassin didn't have any time to choke, let alone recover, as Maki suddenly put the barrel of the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Kaito immediately turned away from the sight. He repeated over and over again in his head that he had seen that before. However, no matter how many times he told himself that, he couldn't help but see it differently. He tried to play it as self defence, which in a way it was. However, he wasn't able to stop thinking that he was the one that pulled the trigger as well as Maki.

Wanting to try to take his mind off of that nauseating thought, Kaito looked around the crate again. More bodies were scattered around, leaving only five alive. Three on the ground floor, two on the first floor balcony, armed with sniper rifles. He tried to spot the leader, but it seems that Shi had decided to cowardly run away with his tail between his legs. Maki must have seen that too, as she was cursing under her breath. She knows that there's no reason to stay here. Kaito looked at the flames, seeing them increase in size. He needs to try getting her out again, otherwise they'll miss the shrinking window of opportunity.

"Maki Roll, we need to get out now!" He shouted, trying to keep his eyes off of the body that was beside the girl.

"Not yet!" Maki growled, firing three bullets in a row. The men on the ground floor didn't see the attack coming. They fell to the ground almost instantly. Maki tried firing again, but she ran out of bullets.

"Maki! If we don't leave, we're gonna go down with this building! We have to go!" Kaito growled, dragging Maki down to duck for cover. This caused her to narrowly avoid bullets from the snipers. Maki cast the gun aside. She knows that the fire was spreading and that they needed to get out as fast as possible. However, if she doesn't get rid of the snipers first, then neither of them will make it.

"Once I take those last two out, I'll be right behind you. I promise." She said, pulling out a knife.

"I can't just-" Kaito tried to argue, grabbing her arm to stop her. He was cut off when Maki suddenly kissed him. He was in so much shock that he couldn't register it. By time he did, Maki had already started taking off up the stairs. Bullets were shot at her but she was too fast to be hit. When the guns stopped firing, Kaito peeked out once more to see what was happening. He could see the remaining assassins reloading their guns. Once they did, they aimed at the doorways that led towards them. They were waiting for Maki to come out of either of them. Maki might be able to avoid them, but it was a risk that she might not. Not wanting to take that risk, Kaito did probably the most stupidest thing he had ever done.

"HEY! OVER HERE! BET YOU CAN'T HIT ME!" He yelled, jumping out of his hiding spot, immediately catching the snipers attention. They didn't hesitate in aiming at him. Just as they started firing, Kaito ran to the other side of the lobby. He found it difficult as flaming debris started to fall around him. He ducked behind a wide pillar. As he was catching his breath, he was shaking badly. However, he tried not to focus on that. He needs to give Maki an opening. He could hear the guns being reloaded. He leaped out again into the open, desperate to give Maki more time. "COME ON! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?! YOU'RE NOT A MAN IF YOU'RE TOO SCARED TO FIGHT A HIGH SCHOOLER!"

"Damn bastard...Boss should've killed him when he had the chance." One of the assassins muttered, reloading his gun one more time. He didn't see a shadow coming towards him at impossible speed. He didn't get a chance to start firing again. A knife was stabbed into his heart, killing him instantly. Hearing the short scuffle, the last assassin looked around. Maki sped towards him so fast, she was nothing but a blur. He couldn't react when Maki kicked him in the back of the knees, causing him to fall. He didn't have a chance to recover. Maki jumped onto his back, jabbing her knife into his neck. She didn't stop there. She dragged it along his neck, digging it further in. Blood sprayed all over as the wound became deeper and wider. Maki let the assassin go as his body had gone limp, keeping her knife firm in her hand. She breathed for a few seconds before looking down at Kaito.

Kaito looked right back up at Maki. While a part of him was horrified, he felt happy that this was over for now. He wiped the sweat that dripped down his pale face from the heat. Smoke started to build up inside the building, starting to make it hard to see the ceiling. He can just make out Maki. She was covered in blood, completely unfazed by her actions. She gave Kaito a look that told him to go on ahead. Trusting that she'll follow as close as she could, Kaito ran to the front doors, ready to leave this all behind and get back into a normal life. However, given everything he has been through, there is no way that things will ever be normal again. Kaito was just a few feet away from the door. Suddenly there was an almighty, echoing bang, followed by a scream. Kaito immediately spun around, horrified by what he's seen.

"MAKI!"