Gah, been binge watching Touken Ranbu for the past few days and its so awesome! Gah! Not to mention season 3 of Free! opening theme song is now available in full length on YouTube! Yay!

I don't own the characters.

Just as Ikuya as those words, shrieks filled the air as Runners came running back from the Maze, their voices screaming, "Grievers!" With that, Seijirou yelled for everyone to flee and the boys fled in all directions. The boy from earlier had dashed somewhere into the forest while Seijirou and the others made their way to the fields, the large corn covering them and hopefully would keep them hidden. A few other Gladers were hidden, one of them being the runner, Nakagawa, who had retorted about Haru being appointed as a Runner. Now he was hiding, fear clear in his eyes as Seijirou moved his finger to his lip.

The boys nodded as they heard sounds of Grievers moving through the plants and Nakagawa let out a little gasp that caused him to be grabbed and snatched out of the field. "Nakagawa!" Rin yelled as he grabbed onto him, trying to pull him back. "Rin, don't let me go! Please! I don't wanna die!" he screamed as Rin had a tug of war with the Griever. "Let him go!" Seijirou yelled as Rin yelled, "Are you crazy?!" just as Nakagawa was snatched out of his hands, his screams filling the air before there were cut off.

"Now you're compromised our position. Shit, everyone, head to the Meeting Area!" he yelled as the boys fled for their lives, not caring to see if the others were being picked along the way. As they fled, Haru heard a small voice hiccupping as he spotted Hayato sobbing amongst the corn. "Hayato! We gotta go!" he hissed as he snatched up the boy in his arms. "I'm scared! I don't want to go like Nakagawa-onichan!" he sobbed as Haru pressed him against his chest, trying to block out the screams of dying Gladers.

Seijirou slammed open the door to allow the group to spill inside. All around, the boys began to grab weapons that had been stashed. Haru was thrown a sword while Hayato got a small dagger, which he held several inches from him. "Come on, you might need it," Rin said as Seijirou shushed them. Outside, the howls of Gladers filled the air, buildings being torn to pieces and set on fire sounding as they hid, Grievers approaching in all directions. "Get out of the back door into the forest," Seijirou hissed as a Griever began climbing the roof. They barely made it an inch from their current spot as the roof caved from above them.

Hayato screamed as he was buried under a mountain of straw. "Hayato!' Rin shouted as he dug for the boy when the Griever snatched him from under the straw. "Oh shit!" he yelled as he was dragged out of the hole, swinging his sword as the others tried to drag him back to solid ground. "Hold on!" "No shit Sherlock!" As the boys tried to save their friend, Seijirou's eyes gleamed as he gripped his sword, charging as he began to hack the Griever to pieces, screaming the whole while. The other Gladers cold only watch as their leader went berserk, the Griever howling as it retracted its tail to drop Rin to the ground.

'Thanks," Rin grunted as Seijirou pulled him to his feet, patting him on the back. "No worries," he grunted, his mouth opening to say something when the Griever reached back into the building to snatch him up. "Seijirou!" Makoto yelled as he slammed his hoe into it with no luck. Haru did his best to hack at it with his sword while Rin grabbed his arms and tried to reel him back in.

"Its no use. We'll die at this rate," Seijirou muttered as Rin snapped, "Don't you dare go talking like that! We're getting out of here alive and you'll see your siblings again, ok!" "Momotarou… that kid needs a good scolding about how he likes to collect his bugs," Seijirou chuckled as he placed a hand on Rin's shoulder. "No. Don't!" Rin yelled as Seijirou whispered, "Tell them I love them and I'm sorry." With that he released his grip from Rin, barely making a sound as the Griever dragged him away. Rin screamed his name, rushing to the door and yanking it open.

"Oi! Come back!" he yelled as he ran after the Griever, jumping over fallen furniture and bodies as the others chased after him. The Griever was making its way into the Maze, Seijirou getting sucked into its abdomen even as Rin hacked at it. "Give him back, you monster! How many of my friends have you killed today?!" Rin yelled as Haru grabbed him back. "Don't! You'll get yourself killed!" he shouted as Rin fought against him, tears pouring from his eyes he refused to let go of the man who taught him how to survive and have hope in a hopeless world.

"Let him go. He sacrificed himself so we could live. Don't let it be in vain," Ikuya said as Rin snarled at him. This kid, he was the reason why everything went up in smoke. If he hadn't shown up… "Gah!" he screamed as he collapsed onto the ground, the Griever sucking Seijirou into its abdomen before skittering into the darkness. Rin wept as he smashed the ground with his fists, cursing at how he failed. Makoto held onto Hayato, trying to sooth the boy but it wasn't working. Haru was too stunned to do anything, even when Ikuya got punched in the jaw by Rin.

"Oi, Rin! Calm down!" Makoto shouted as Rin bellowed, "Seijirou is dead! He's dead! How am I going to explain this to his siblings if I ever saw them?! What if we die tonight?! Then they will never know that their brother loved them!" he yelled as he punched Ikuya one more time, the boy barely flinching as he got hit over and over. His lip split, filling his mouth with blood but he just spat on the grass. "Go on then. Kill me if it makes you better. I'm not worth it anyway," Ikuya whispered as he handed his dagger to Rin, who snatched it and held it over his heart.

"Rin," Haru warned as Rin held the dagger high, his hand quivering as he contemplated on what to do. They had no leader now, leaving only him and Makoto in charge with no idea of what to do. Half of the Gladers were dead and with the walls like that, they won't be able to survive another night. Not if they stayed there. "Ikuya, do you know a way out of here? Hiyori mentioned something about you building this place, any luck remembering?" he growled through gritted teeth.

"My memories are as jumbled as you guys. The only one who might be able to do something about it would be Hiyori, but he made his exit a while back," Ikuya grunted as Rin dropped him and the knife, sobbing as he held his hand to his chest. Makoto set Hayato down and came over, hugging Rin as he cried together over their loss. "Seijirou… that moron… how he dared to go before me," Rin growled as he got up, surveying the scene before turning to Makoto.

"You're the boss now, Makoto. What are your orders?" he asked as Makoto flinched. "I…" he whispered as Rin snapped, "You thought it was your fault Seijirou never became a Runner again after that accident? Well, he's dead so it doesn't matter anymore! Take charge of the situation and fight back!" he snapped as Makoto shakily tried to get to his feet when Haru held out his hand to him. "Makoto, you can do it," he said as Makoto sniffled, letting himself get pulled up before turning to Ikuya.

"I'm sorry, Ikuya-kun, but I have to put you in prison for the night. Until we get this sorted out, you're under arrest," he said as Ikuya nodded silently. He allowed Rin to snatch him by the elbow, who grunted an apology for socking him in the face earlier and escorted him to the slammer. Haru let Makoto sink into him as he sobbed, the bigger boy having to shoulder such a burden on himself. "What do we do? Everything is gone," Makoto whispered as Haru gazed into the sky. Day will come in a long time. Until then, they had to survive the night.