The warehouse was now heavy with silence, the previous cacophony of noise that had ringed loudly throughout now a distant din in memory alone. Bullet holes could be seen on some of the crates, on the walls, on spare material. Blood coated the floor like splattered paint, heavy on some places. Surely, someone had fallen on the puddle near the entrance, although small footsteps lead away from it and towards further in. Some footsteps lead outside of the warehouse, bigger and wider, although it was clear whoever had left all the footprints behind were injured.

The small footsteps, in particular, seemed to tell of a staggered struggle to get /somewhere/, the destination clear if one bothered to look further into the warehouse. There laid two bodies, a pair of large glasses scattered nearby. A child and a young woman lay together, on a puddle of their own blood. They were the only ones still alive, but it would not remain so for long. Heavy breathing was the only thing that broke the silence, uneven and of unpredictable pace.
At peace, the pair seemed to be, as if relieved of some sort of age old burden.

Holding the small child close to her, somewhat, with whatever strength she could muster, Ran spoke softly after debating on what to say. "You are as reckless as ever, Shinichi…" She spoke, sounding out of breath, although that was an understatement.

Clearly, they would not last long.

The small, seven year old boy stirred slightly, as if roused from a semi-sleeping state. It was probably difficult for Shinichi to stay conscious, considering how long they had been there. How much blood he had already lost. He wouldn't last much longer.

"… I really am sorry. For everything." He said, quietly, a choked laughter coming out of him a few moments later, interrupted by flakes of blood sputtering from his mouth. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from… this." This mess, the whole ordeal, this encounter. Everything. Even if she could look after herself, he would have rathed she had never encountered these men.
"Hah… protecting you is my job." The young woman joked quietly, although she was probably also being honest. "You dumb detective… we're friends. Eventually you'd have to… share this problem with me. Especially since you were living with me."

"… I guess you're right." He answered after a few moments, relaxing his posture slightly after he tried to move a little closer. He felt exhausted, dazed and it was hard to focus. He was going to… "Ran?" He spoke up, quietly, weakly, and he felt her stiffen.
"…Yeah?"

He hesitated, shuddering a little as he felt the need to regurgitate more blood. They were already covered in it, he was already a gonner, but he still didn't want to… "I think I'm going… to rest here… for a while…" He said, quietly, and then gave her a sad smile. "Thank you. For everything. You really are.. my closest… friend…"
She let out a choked sob, not trusting herself to speak but having to anyway. She doubted he could even see straight anymore. "I'll be here when you wake up… I promise." She said, as if speaking to a child, even if they both knew the truth.
Once he closed his eyes, he would not open them again.
"And then I will berate you for the stupid stunt you pulled." She finalized, forcing herself to grin as he himself tried to mirror the gesture, only to falter halfway, his body giving a slight jerk before he stopped moving completely.

One set of breaths stopped in that moment, and soon the warehouse was filled with the sound of mournful sobs.
And even then, she was happy.
Because even if she was to lose her life here, when there was so much more she wanted to do…
At least she would leave with a friend.

As footsteps hurried to where she lay, she found it in herself unable to care. Screams carried over to where she was, calling her name, but she did not answer, her breathing short, until it finally stopped.
Even as she wept before the end, a smile found its way to her face.

'We'll meet again.'

Written to the song AdLib from the Kill la Kill OST. Crossposted from my writing blog.