Please let her be alright! I begged. Tsubaki was just a little girl; she didn't deserve to suffer in this place! Shiro was right behind me, running to find his sister. For being a kid, he was keeping up a lot better than I would have expected.
A moment later we found her. But she wasn't alone, Kizami was there. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice her. His focus was on someone else with her, and it definitely wasn't Taguchi.
It was a boy wearing the same uniform as Kizami. Were they classmates? Right now it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Kizami had the boy backed up against the wall, with his forearm pinning the defenseless male against the wall.
Tsubaki was just standing nearby, frozen in terror. She could only watch helplessly as Kizami stabbed him while he struggled to push his attacker away.
I had to do something. There was no time for thinking this time. On my belt I had a small bag that held several items that could be useful. Taking it off, I tossed it to Shiro before I rushed into action. Using all the strength I could, I ran into Kizami's side. It caught him off guard and knock both of us to the floor.
Just keep him busy, I told myself. "Shiro! You have to help him! You're the only one who can!" I shouted to the little boy as he rushed to Tsubaki's side. The two of them might have a chance of saving this kid if they acted quickly.
I did know a little bit of martial arts. It wasn't much, just enough to really defend myself. But this did come in handy right now as I gave Kizami a quick kick to his stomach. As long as his attention was on me, the others had a chance.
Shiro stood over the strange boy, but he didn't know how to help him. "What am I supposed to do?" he shouted at me as I struggled with Kizami.
"Put something over the wound and keep pressure on it to slow the bleeding!" Next I knew, I was rolling around on the floor with Kizami's knife just inches away from my face. I was running out of time too soon. "You're going to have to get out right now! Now listen and do exactly as I tell you!"
Kizami then managed to get his hand holding the knife out of my grip, causing it to plunge into my left eye. I let out the loudest scream I'd ever heard in my life. I desperately gave him another kick, this time to the one weak spot I knew he had. Regaining some of my composure, I shouted out the rest of the instructions. "You need to say Sachiko we beg of you once for each of you plus one more! That means four times! Then take the paper scraps from the first time and put them together!"
"What about you?" I heard Shiro shouting at me as I managed to get the knife out of Kizami's hands.
"Forget about me!"
"He doesn't have his paper scrap!" little Tsubaki cried. I assumed she meant the boy we'd found. If had been her twin, she would have called him Shiro. That was an easy fix. It would mean I'd no longer have mine, but I was probably not going to survive this anyway.
"Use mine! It's in the bag I gave Shiro; in my school ID holder," I told them, knowing I wasn't going to make it out of here. I was now kneeling not far from Kizami. The two of us were both breathing heavily. We were putting everything we had into this, and now it was starting to take its toll on us.
Kizami's focus shifted from me to the trio behind me. Maybe the fact that they thought they could get out interested him. Whatever the reason was, I wasn't going to let him get to them. I may only have one eye, but the only way he was going to get to them was over my dead body.
Seconds later, I heard them saying the chant. When they stopped, Kizami tried to get past me. I wasn't going to allow it. Tripping him and making him fall face first, I grabbed him from behind. I may not have as much strength as him, but when I wrapped an arm around his neck, I put as much pressure on him as I could. It was the only option I had and it bought just enough time for the others to be freed from this hell.
Even after they were safe, I refused to let go. He stood up, likely trying to make me let go by falling. Trying to maintain my hold on him, I wrapped my legs around him to use that so my arms didn't have to support my weight. In one last attempt to break loose, he slammed his back into the wall. Being crushed between his back and the wall, I was forced to let go and fall to the floor.