[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Left In A Store

Warning: gun usage

WinWin looked up from the game he was playing on his phone behind the cafe counter, trying to think what was missing from Yuta as he set down the groceries.

"Where's Shotaro?"

"Basement maybe? How would I know?"

WinWin shrugged, about to go back to his game until he remembered Yuta was supposed to know.

"Did you forget him again?"

"What?"

"Shotaro. Did you forget him at the store again?"

Yuta froze, then ran to the basement to check if he was there. He came back up looking like he had his tail tucked between his legs.

"Okay, I may have forgotten him."

"I'll get him. I need to go put up flyers places anyways." Taeyong offered, untying his apron and passing it to Yuta. "Where'd you leave him?"

"The electronics section of the store. I told him he could watch the movie playing on the TV."

"Take over for me, I'll be back soon. With Taro." Taeyong grabbed the flyers he had for an event he was volunteering to run, heading out of the cafe.

He speed walked to the store just in case Shotaro was starting to wonder where Yuta went, tucking the flyers under his arm. Just as Yuta had said, Shotaro was still in the electronics section watching the movie playing on the screen.

"You wanna help me hang up some flyers?" Taeyong asked, standing next to him and trying to figure out what movie he was watching.

"Sure." Shotaro started following Taeyong out of the store before he grabbed his arm to stop him. "Don't we have to wait for Yuta?"

"I already ran into him and he said he was fine going back on his own."

"He forgot me again, didn't he."

Taeyong didn't have time to answer as a group dressed completely in black with masks rushed into the store. They started shouting for everyone to get down on the ground put their hands in the air, guns glinting in the artificial light.

Taeyong yanked Shotaro both out of the way and to the ground, sitting so their backs were against a shelf. Taeyong placed his hands on his head, Shotaro doing the same.

"Taeyong-" Shotaro's shaky voice broke, and Taeyong quickly pulled him closer.

"Shh, it's gonna be okay."

"We're not here for you," one of the people in black started announcing, "cooperate, and there'll be no problems. Try to play hero and," they hissed as they clicked the safety off on their gun.

The group started by locking and securing all entrances to the store as another part of them stormed the management office. Both Taeyong and Shotaro jumped when they heard a few shots go off.

"Yuta forgot me, right?" Shotaro whispered as softly as he could.

"Yeah, he's at the cafe."

Shotaro seemed to relax ever so slightly knowing Yuta wasn't somewhere else in the store. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

The fact that this was a siege to meet some sort of demand became clear once the group didn't grab anything from the shelves or the cash office, and it took an hour for police to start surrounding the building with their flashing lights. No one had even thought of moving that entire time.

When the police started trying to negotiate from outside of the building, one of the people in black grabbed a random person sitting on the side and held them at gunpoint, daring the police to come closer.

Because Taeyong and Shotaro were near the exit, they could see everything going on. Shotaro started shaking once more, moving closer to Taeyong.

"Turn off your hearing aid." Taeyong silently instructed, Shotaro not even bothering to question him. The less he could hear at this point, the better.

"Come closer and he dies!" One of the guys in black shouted, stopping the police once again in their tracks.

Taeyong pressed his hand over Shotaro's non-deaf ear, pulling him in to his chest so he couldn't see anything. He still couldn't stop shaking, but Shotaro tried focusing on the rise and fall of Taeyong's chest.

None of that stopped the ringing in his ears- both of them- when the gun did fire, nor did it stop the images coming to mind as he felt blood droplets hit him.

The body fell to the floor as another random civilian was pulled up from the ground.

Shotaro was now crying as Taeyong tried to shush him, not wanting to draw any amount of attention to them. It was another two hours before an agreement was finally reached between the two forces and the civilians were released from the store. By then two others had been shot.

Yuta had been pacing the floor of the cafe, feeling bad he had forgotten Shotaro. Again. WinWin kept trying to tell him he was fine, but as it approached three hours since Taeyong had left to retrieve him, he was starting to get worried.

Taeyong was still holding Shotaro to him when they walked through the back door of the cafe, in shock himself. Yuta rushed forward and cupped Shotaro's face in his hands, wiping at his tears with his thumbs.

"Please tell me that's not your blood." He whispered in Japanese, Shotaro shaking his head as Yuta hugged him tightly.

"What happened?" WinWin asked, standing up from his stool.

Taeyong just shook his head, not wanting to recount anything in front of Shotaro. He left to go wash the blood splatters off him in the shower, breaking down as soon as the water turned on.

For some reason, no matter how hard he scrubbed he still couldn't get the feeling of the dried blood off.

Ten was standing outside of the bathroom with his arms already open for a hug when Taeyong came out in fresh clothes, and Taeyong broke down for a second time. Ten just stood there and hugged Taeyong until he was too exhausted to cry any longer, Shotaro already having reached that point.

Yuta was now wiping off the dried blood from him with a paper towel on the floor of the cafe where Shotaro had passed out.

No one knew what happened until they saw the news articles.