Mika shone her light at the shadows and spotted a black clad figure perched on her pelmet only to be hurled down with a chain. The figure crashed on her wooden floor almost soundlessly and was up in a split second. A full-fledged fight broke out between the two figures; it was like watching something out of a fantasy game. The shadows moved so fast yet they were so subtle that she hardly saw anything. Metal clanged against metal, chains whistled in the air and struck. In terror Mika took the loaded glock Ryan had given her and she began to shoot blindly at the darkness. As the fighting intensified one of the figures swiftly kicked the gun out of her hand and he pushed her out of the way. She slid across the room and banged her head on the hard wall. There was the unmistakable sound of a whistling chain and a blade ripping into flesh followed by a grunt of pain. One figure was kicked and he crushed on her table breaking it into two and sending all her paperwork and books flying around the room. She let out a horrified scream as blood sprayed her on her walls. She was sure someone was now losing the fight; she didn't know whom exactly, her protector or her assailant. More blood spurted out and sprayed across the room, she was sure the person had been struck on the jugular vein. Then she witnessed the final execution, the standing figure drove a sword into the neck of the fallen one and he was no more.
There was a moment of silence in the room as it dawned to Mika she had just witnessed someone being killed brutally.
"Mika! Are you okay?" the standing figure spoke into the darkness, it was Raizo's voice. Mika didn't know if to feel relief or more terror. He took his mask off and was now more visible in the darkness; he crossed over the room to where she was.
"Stay where you are!" she cried hoarsely finding her feet. Raizo stopped, noticing her fear was apparent.
"Who's this guy? Mika demanded shakily.
"His name was Jin" Raizo replied quietly not meeting her eyes.
"He was one of you!" she said accusingly at the same time scanning around for an escape route.
"He was not born an assassin—more are coming, we have to leave" Raizo looked tense like he had just heard something
"Don't—don't come near me, stay where you are!" she picked up a flower vase and aimed it at him.
"Mika, we need to leave now or die" Raizo growled still advancing towards her.
"There's no we Raizo, you're one of then" she said hysterically. Raizo let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed her swiftly before she threw the vase at him. She tried to protest but he closed her mouth and disappeared into the darkness lifting her up with one arm like she was a feather light doll. They stood squashed against a corned outside and Raizo removed his hand to allow her to breathe
"Raiz—"she began but he closed her mouth again.
"I want you to take your shoes off and step where I step do you understand" he commanded in a whisper, Mika looked at him angrily and nodded.
There was knife cutting silence in the car as the car sped down the freeway in full speed. She could see he was upset too just like she was. His jaw was hard and his face almost pale with rage. Mika looked outside the windows and saw the city lights going in a blur past her.
"Dammit Raizo where are you taking me, I need to go to Europol" she burst out cutting the dead silence between them.
"We need to shake them off our trail" he said in a tight voice
"Wait, you thing they are following us?" she said in panic looking backwards.
"I know they are following us, they have our scent"
"You mean like dogs" she frowned,
"No, like wolves" there was no hint of bluff in his tone. Now she understood how he had always found her easily and how they used to bump into each other a lot during their first days. He had always been following her, the thought terrified her.
"So, when exactly where you intending to tell me that you're an assassin?" she noticed he flinched at the word assassin.
"How much do you know about the clans Mika?" he asked instead.
"A lot, considering I have one of them with me" she said bitingly.
"I can explain everything Mika" he said softly.
"What? The fact that you're one of them and you suddenly thought I'm worth saving today or somewhere in the middle? I trusted you, I believed in you, and after everything we've been through you choose to hide this one truth from me" she had angry tears in her eyes.
"I wanted to tell you today" he pointed out.
"Was it after we slept together that you decided "oh maybe I should come clean, this playing house business isn't so bad after all" or when you discovered your buddies where in town and they wanted my ass because you were getting bad at getting the job done?" she yelled.
She noticed they had pulled over into a parking lot with a shopping plaza and he stopped the car.
"You're a size 36, right?" he stated looking her over. He seemed not be affected by her shouting nor did he seem to have heard her.
"What? No, I'm a 34, except certain times of the month' she said self-consciously forgetting her anger for a moment.
"Really, retail therapy at this time of the night? Are you serious? She retorted sarcastically.
"Listen to me very carefully Mika. If you try to run away they will find you and they will kill you. Do you understand me?" there was a pleading look in his eyes yet there was a sense of urgency in his words.
"As if I have a choice" she shrugged, he got out the car and closed the door.
Their next stop was a highway motel tucked into a groove of trees; it was almost easy to pass over if you didn't see the turn off quickly. The receptionist eyed them speculatively with judgemental eyes like they were up to no good. Raizo didn't seem affected by the woman's glance, he remained aloof filling in their fake names and she handed him the keys.
"Ok get undressed and take a shower. Don't use soap or anything just water and you put your clothes in here after you're finished." Raizo ordered her once they got into the dingy looking room and he handed her a refuse bag. Mika folded her arms and remained standing stubbornly in the middle of the room.
"Mika, we have to—"
"No we don't have to do anything, stop it!" she yelled
"Stop ordering me around like I'm some dumb woman Raizo. You lied to me and you've been lying to me all along and now you think you can boss me around and tell me what to do!"
"Okay, you want to know the truth Mika?" he demanded with barely suppressed anger.
"Yes, I'm an assassin. I was raised to be one and I've always been one for as long as I can remember. I know them, I grew up with them, and I ate with them and trained with them. I've killed people without thinking twice, caused harm to some and I didn't feel anything. Are you happy now?" he threw the clothes paper bags on the bed.
"Damn you, stop making it sound like I'm crucifying you here. I had every damn right to know the truth! You owed me that much"
"I am not one of them!" he finished with a defiant look in his eyes.
"And you expect me to believe you" she said incredulously.
"Or you don't want to believe me so you can find it easier to resent me" he challenged.
"How dare you—"she wanted to strike him but he caught her hand mid-air.
"I just didn't want the truth to come between us Mika" he said gently his anger almost gone
"Now it has caught up with us so it has certainly come between us, how could I be so stupid?" she shook her head with tears in her eyes.
"You know what Mika; if you think I'm letting this go then you're mistaken, I'm sorry to kill your hopes" he said determinedly.
"What?"
"Us, you and me" he had a fierce look in his eyes
"I don't even know you Raizo" she said quietly
"This is who I am. I like who I am, when I'm with you. It's who I've always wanted to be" he declared.
"Why did you fight them? Why did you save me?" reason was starting to creep in her head now that she wasn't so clouded by emotions.
"I'm not one of them Mika, I never belonged there. I left them seven years ago" he explained.
"You mean like, you went rogue?"
"Yes, and they are after me too"
"What happened?"
'Let's sit down" he indicated to the bed. Mika sighed and sat down next to him.