- Color of Tomorrow -
The light that poured from the gaps in the ceiling was the color of dry champagne, collecting filaments of dust that stuck in the smoky air. A young girl fell to the chalky floor inside a shoddy building, her bruised hand smearing blood across the planks. Her gasp was barely heard above the sound of men's chuckling, their voices deep and throaty.
One of the men tapped on the hollow wall of the shack. "These walls ain't soundproof, so don't get too rough, fellas." The victimized girl strained to comment, but the thick air caused her to choke, coughing so hard saliva trailed from her rose-colored lips to the dirty floor. In her dazed mind, she wondered what would become of her...
"Heh heh, don't sweat it," a fair-haired man reassured, flipping a knife around in his hands. "This girl's as good as dead." His hand found her mess of silver hair, pulling her to face the dusky ash light. "But first..." She could feel his finger trail down her neck and collar until it rested against one of her breasts. "Let's see what's under that pretty dress of yours."
She inhaled sharply and pulled back to resist, but he was far stronger than her. "D-don't...touch me," she spat as clearly as she could, but the company just laughed quietly amongst themselves. Another man grabbed her hair and shoulder as the other let go, taking a step back into the light. His face gave him a look of about twenty years of age, a saucy grin plastered across his visage.
He cut a streak across her blood-flushed cheek, creating a red line of warning. "If you get too wild, it'll be your neck." She felt her muscles relax as the man slipped his hand to her already short dress hem. "Nice legs, huh guys?" he asked, tracing his fingers across her upper thigh. They yelled in agreement, grinning in a similar style as their friend. His hand moved with swift agility under her dress.
"Let g-go!" she struggled, pulling an elbow back to strike the man behind her in the nose. He recoiled in pain, but the men were far more numerous and two more got a hold of her. She could hear the sound of faint conversation outside. She had to make a commotion.
"Bitch!" The blonde man cursed, striking her once across the face. She reached out one of her long legs to kick the man, but she was too far. Once he neared her again with the knife, she spat right in his eye, stopping him. The blood from her cheek trailed down her face with her movement, dripping onto her soft black dress.
The man wiped the liquid from his eye, tightening the grip on his knife. "Somebody help m-!" A hand covered the woman's mouth as she attempted to start an uproar. Curses could be heard all around, and she jabbed the heel of her boot into the toe of the man behind her.
He screamed in agony and let her loose, but the other held her tighter. "She's vicious!" He warned as others began picking up objects to hit her with. She heard a chain rattle and fiercely bit a finger of the hand on her mouth. "Yeeowch!" He held his nearly severed finger and backed up from her, but it was too late.
A chain-whip came into contact with her face, knocking her blank for a moment, and then a wooden chair cracked over her head, forcing her to the floor. Someone got her arm behind her back, threatening to break it. She held still, breathing heavily with adreneline-pumping vessels. A dark-haired man approached her, scowling at her with disapproval. "What's your name, whore?"
Her fair bangs shaded her eyes as she focused intently on the dust-powdered floor. "Sh...Shino." Her voice cracked and she watched a steady shower of blood from her temple drip to the wood. "My name is none of your damn business, though!"
"Well, Shino," the dark man began eerily. "If you will just comply, you won't get hurt." She was lifted to her feet suddenly, two muscular arms reaching under her armpits to hold her in a lock from behind. The man stepped forward, heavy footsteps against the floor. His calloused hands ran against her thigh and up her dress.
"Hands off, jackass!" she tried again, resisting to no avail. He lifted the hem of her dress and she could feel her face turn crimson as the man exposed her abdomen down to the crowd. Her skin was pale and soft, nothing tainted with dirt under her dress. The men whistled and oohed at her figure, making faces and motions she had to close her eyes to block out.
"I said stop it!" she exclaimed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She pushed them through the blood on her face, mixing the red with clear.
"Oh? Why don't you say you're sorry?" He twisted the skin of her arms, sending jolts of pain through her body. "And speak up so we can all hear."
In her mind, she knew she wasn't sorry. But if it meant escaping this pain and humiliation, she would do anything. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The guys put their hands to their ears jokingly, trying to hear her. "I'm..."
"Hmm?" The man leaned closer. "I can't hear a word."
More tears fell and Shino could feel herself losing motivation. She drew in another shaky breath. "I'm...sorry."
There was a loud thud as everyone turned around, looking at the fallen front door. Shino was released immediately, the man holding her accidently breaking the strap of her dress. "Who's there?" they demanded. She scooted to the back of the room, hoping to be forgotten, but a man grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her up.
"Get your dirty hands off that girl, now!!" An unfamiliar voice pierced the tension like fire, and a switchblade flew through the air. It made contact with the man beside Shino, stabbing through his left eye and plunging into his cranium and brain. He fell to the floor and Shino backed up; the rest of the group grabbed a nearby weapon.
"Show yourself!" Their commands were granted as the figure stepped from the shadow, dressed in an equally dark outfit. His eyes were like blood, red and deep. His hair was a similar shade of silver as Shino's, spiking out in different directions. He held two more blades, long and sharp, one already red-stained. He had red marks on his face, though not cuts.
With a confident smile, he tilted his head at the group. "Name's Haseo."
Immediately, the crowd buzzed to life with talk of the gangster legend, the Terror of Death. No one had ever seen him in person, only heard rumors. They gripped their weapons tighter, hoping they could hold him off.
"Ha...se...o..." Shino thought. She could feel herself teetering on the edge of oblivion.
"You're dead!" The gang cried, lunging forward to take the stranger out. "Take this!"
Haseo grinned to himself as he dodged to the side of one blow, grabbing their arm and twisting it ruthlessly behind them so it broke. He ducked below a knife stab, plunging one of his own through the offender's middle. His other knife quickly whipped out to his other side, slicing the hand off another man. Once Haseo recovered, everyone was trembling in fear, four of their comrades dead or injured.
"Who's next?" he taunted, licking the blood from the steel blade of his knife. Shino felt herself blush at the fact that someone had come to save her. But her dreams were cut short when she was lifted up again.
"All he wants is the girl! Get her!" A man tried to pick up a club to hit her, but Haseo shook his head and paced over rapidly, flipping his knife around to comfortably stab the man through the back as he raised the cudgel against her. Shino gasped as Haseo's hand snaked around her waist, pulling her close to him.
The gang surrounded them, Haseo holding one arm against Shino and the other pointing the knife at the crowd. His vision flicked from side to side, waiting for their next move. Something caught his attention, and he took a deep breath. "Kick the chain," Haseo commanded to her lowly, keeping his eyes locked on the targets.
"Excuse me?" Shino glared at him in confusion.
"Kick the damn chain by your feet," he hissed, stepping to the side to hold the gang's interest. Shino looked down with her eyes, keeping her head level, and saw a rusty chain. Her eyes met those of the man before her, and the tip of her boot caught the chain.
The chain rattled as she lifted it, distracting them. Her slim leg swept to the side, whipping the chain across the jaw of three or so guys. Using the distraction, Haseo threw both of his knives, killing another two men. They struggled to regain members as Haseo gave Shino a surprised, somewhat cynical glance. "I didn't mean like that, but hell."
Shino giggled coyly, and Haseo threw back a small smile. However, they were still surrounded, outnumbered, and now they didn't have any weapons. "Dammit, there're still too many of them!" Haseo pushed past a gap in their circle, dragging Shino with him. "Outta my way!"
"Not so fast!" Haseo blocked a blow to his head with his forearm, shoving Shino to the door. She lost her footing as the rogue tried to hold off the army. Her hands hit the fallen door as she nearly faceplanted, and she could hear her savior get hurt.
"Haseo!" she cried trying to turn around from her vantage point on the floor.
"Get the fuck out already!" he screamed, holding the dark-haired man's blade with his bare hands. Shino's eyes widened as she heard a gun load. She opened her mouth to warn Haseo, but he already rolled to the side.
Two successive bullets fired, each hitting their mark as a couple of the thugs fell down, blood spurting from their necks and heads. The girl's eyes first looked at Haseo, who was tending his hands, smiling wryly, and whispering something to himself.
Next, she turned back to the doorway, where her vision fell upon a pair of dark blue boots. "Sorry I'm late," a deep voice said, shifting his feet to a better position. Another bullet struck someone as they screamed in torment, falling dead.
Haseo, having recovered his knives, quickly stood and moved to Shino, standing between her and the mysterious visitor. "It's about damn time," Haseo groused to him, evoking a small, dry laugh from the gunman. Shino took Haseo's offered hand and he lifted her to her feet.
She gasped aloud at the sight of the new man. He was tall and shady, a little creepy, but his entire left arm was consumed by a mass of off-white bandages. His right hand held a long gun, still smoking at the end from its recent use. His hair was dark cobalt, and his eyes shielded behind bright amber sunglasses. When he saw her, his eyebrow raised of its own volition. "Hm, she's cute."
Shino blushed and turned away from him, folding her arms as if insulted. Haseo laughed shortly and shrugged. "Yeah, you should've seen her earlier." The girl cleared her throat.
"Um, hello? Bad guys!" She waved an arm at the rest of the gang impatiently. "Kill them already!" The man and Haseo exchanged amused glances.
"Demanding, too," the stranger pointed out. Haseo nodded and the two walked forward with menacingly patient steps. The harrowing duo forced the offending group to back up, hardly standing with any pride anymore.
An sinister gleam in Haseo's eyes became visible as he raised a blade against a man. "Yep," he agreed with the other, decapitating the victim he'd chosen. "Just the way I like 'em."
Shino cringed in disgust. The gun wielder parried a weak strike and tripped them to the floor, shooting them in the head shortly afterwards. There was a slim blade on the top of his gun, which he then used to slit the throat of another. As they screamed in pain, he shot them, then punched a man behind him in the face, breaking their nose on impact.
"This is more of a beat-up, eh?" Haseo asked, apparently ignoring Shino as he sliced the ear off a living man. "I prefer for them to fight back."
"If I'm not mistaken," the sunglass-wearer began with an easy smile. "You were pretty well cornered when I showed up." Shino stifled her laughter, which quickly turned to a groan of misery when Haseo drove his blade down another man's throat, almost as if it was a game.
Haseo sighed irritably and blew some bangs from his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So you're saying these guys stopped fighting back because you showed up?" Shino decided it was obvious by this point that the two had known each other for a while. His friend laughed curtly again, an agreement with Haseo's comment.
Ten seconds of silence later, the harrassers were all dead. The blade rogue exhaled in exhaustion. "Hope that wasn't too gruesome for you, miss," he said, directing his attention back to her.
She scoffed arrogantly and tried to hold the broken strap up properly. "Please. I wouldn't have been surprised if you and your friend had started eating the corpses," she complained as a figure of pointing out how gross they were. This only caused the two to laugh though.
"It smells like death in here. Let's get out." Haseo took Shino's arm and led her outside, the footfalls of the other man behind her. The sky was darker now, the sun setting. Purple and fuchsia tints streaked across the sky. "Man," Haseo sighed again, running a gloved hand through his hair, staining it with blood.
His crimson eyes turned to the girl and he smiled, for once, without malice. "Haseo."
The bandage guy faced her also, an expression of equal sincerity on his calm face. "Ovan."
She stared at them both, then smiled and closed her eyes. With a small bow of thanks, she opened her eyes and looked at theirs with trust and hope. "Shino."