Fandom: Hana ni Arashi (Flower in a Storm)
A/N: Sigh~ So this is another story from a fandom most people have probable never heard of. Oh well, that's what I get for reading a 'random manga' on One_Manga, plot bunnies and a story that will probably never get more that 2 reviews... But at least it's something, ne?
"We're going to attack the students next."
There are gasps among the classroom, but I can't hear then. My mind is moving a million miles an hour and all I can concentrate on are the memories of Riko in her school uniform. There are many, some of them stemming from a span of time called the present. I blink to clear the images from my conscious, to force them back where they don't foil attempts to stay focused on what is going on, where they don't obstruct my ability to protect Riko-chin.
But it's hard, and takes a moment too long.
"Well, if you want to walk on blood-red-carpet, it's fine with us."
And suddenly the world in the one rushing a million miles an hour and I'm just trying to keep up long enough to order some people around and make the bad guys go away, but I can't seem to catch up.
(It's just like in that one dream where all I could see was her back and I couldn't get any closer no matter how hard I tried and I was running too hard and breathing so fast you'd think I'd at least be able to catch my breath but I couldn't and she was fading and she turns and is crying and all I want to do is hold her so I can kiss her on the forehead like I did when that assassin made her cry and she seemed to like it but I am out of air and time and she's just so far away –That time I woke up panting and clutching my chest and my legs felt like I'd been running and had skinned the knees but I couldn't feel it because all I could do was pant and struggle because over everything else was the overwhelming need to breathe and-)
"Ran-sama, we're going to hold them back. Please save yourself."
All I can think is: You idiot. But all I can see is the bodies lying limply in front of the building that holds my Riko and I know that however devoted O~~~~~-san is, they will eventually make it through the building and they will then systematically put bullets through the student body cowering inside.
"Ran-sama."
And quite suddenly, everything crashes back into the correct speed, in which I'm thinking a million miles an hour and the world is the one who has to keep up, it never does. That's why I'm the best, and why I won't technically be saving 'myself.' Silly people, why would I do that? There are two parts to me, so I could never leave Riko-chin alone. The simple things never are expected…
My eyes swivel briefly to the clock tower. The hands still haven't struck five, they restarted the clock in the morning and it hasn't been a full day yet. I look at Riko, we have time. Judging on how long it took for them to fix it the first time, we've got about a month. It's enough.
"Ran...?"
Riko is looking at me in a desperately, pleading way that makes me think she knows exactly what I'm thinking, and it terrifies her. She won't be happy about what I'm going to do, but it terrifies me that she could become a dead body and that it would be just too easy for the floor to soak up her blood like the Grim Reaper's personal sponge.
I close my eyes and look up at the sky, letting out a long, slow breath that I wish could last forever. But, time is an unnecessary luxury that even I can't afford. It would cost Riko's life, and how many time must I say it is irrevocably irreplaceable before it becomes a given?
Despite what the clock reads, the world continues to turn and I am forced to make a move. Risk it all for Riko? Or, give it all for her life? Strangely she is myself that I am saving, and risks are a big no-no when the white king and queen are surrounded by ebony pawns and the alabaster bishops lay scattered and unusable against the onslaught of the black king's pieces.
I crack my knuckles and grin fiercely. Unlike Romeo, I shall return.