"Let go of me!" I screeched, in vain.

I was caught up in one large mass of rippling muscle. I squirmed and tried to escape his thick grasp, but nothing was working. He had at least a foot and a half on me, and he was holding me with my hands behind my back, and had me bending forwards. I was looking down at the grimy green carpet that covered the trailer's floor, and I tried not to scream. Really, Shiiro had been right.

But I wasn't going down just yet.

"Thought you could get away with my keys, girl??" He was no longer the tired, exhausted mess I'd seen him as earlier. Suddenly, he dropped me to the floor, grabbed my hands behind my back again, and pushed down on my head with his foot. I coughed in the cloud of dust that arose when I hit the floor. My eyes were starting to water, probably for more than one reason. I had some fleeting hope that he wouldn't know who I was. Maybe, just maybe…since Shiiro wasn't with me he wouldn't notice.

"I don't have them!" I protested, praying they'd stay nestled in my front pocket.

"I heard the jingling. Don't lie!" He screamed.

"My…car…keys." I choked out, as part of the carpet got into my mouth.

He loosened his grip for just a moment, before I assumed he looked over his shoulder. "Then tell me. Where. Are. They?"

I really hoped that he was tired enough to believe me. "I-I gave them back to you, remember? You got up and put them back where you got them from." Pleasepleasepleaseplease work…

He grunted, but his grip remained loose. And I began to wonder if…

The door was less then a foot in front of me. If I could just get free and get outside…I knew if I tried to struggle free he'd just tighten his grip again. So I suddenly, with all of my strength, pulled my hands apart and free. And it worked! I hadn't been sure if it would. I scrambled upwards, and pulled open the door, all in a swift moment before he could realize what was happening. I knew that this moment would be brief, and if he'd woken up entirely, it wouldn't even have been a second. I tripped down the metal stairs that led up to the door, and almost fell over to my knees at the bottom. I kept my balance though, and started to run.

The things you can do when your life possibly hangs in the balance are quite amazing, actually. He was easily catching up though, and I knew that running wasn't going to be good enough, here. But did I really want to risk him seeing my wings? There was always the chance that he had no clue who I was yet, and if that was so, I didn't want to ruin it now. If he did know, however, would it even matter either way? I ran around the line of cages, keeping distance from Shiiro. If I made it out of here, I'd just have to come back for him, later. But something told me, a very bad thing told me, that even if I did escape, I would not be permitted back so easily. Even sneaking in, may present a problem.

It was raining, now. Pouring rain. How had I not noticed that it was raining? Because I was scared. I was running. I was running, and my surroundings were not important.

Then, a horrid thing, a horrid thing that made me remember my past in full detail, happened. He jumped on me, knocking me clean off of my feet, and I crashed to the ground, scraping my cheek against a tree. There was a burning pain, and I winced. He pushed my face into the ground, and I struggled to catch my breath. Keep in mind Niji Kokuro was not a skinny man. I wondered if he was armed.

"Get off!" I gasped, trying to find air.

"Where are the damn keys, woman?" He persisted, forcing all of his weight onto me.

"I can't breathe!" I choked out, forgetting for a moment that I was soaked to the bone, clothes clinging to my skin, and hair plastered to my face. "I don't have them!"

"Don't lie to me!" He growled, loosening a little bit, providing me with little, but appreciated air.

"I'm not lying!" I screamed.

Then I remembered my weapon. I'd brought it with me. Sure, unless this guy was a vampire, it wouldn't do me much good…but with luck I'd never have to shoot. With luck, it would just be enough to frighten him. To convince him to leave me alone…with luck. Which was not something that was often on my side. My hands were free, free enough to slide my hand down to my pants, and pull the gun from my pocket. It was not a fast process, it was in fact done over maybe five, long minutes. While, of course, Niji was causing immense pressure that quite literally made my eyes want to pop from their sockets. When my hand made contact with my gun, I could not describe to you what I felt. Relief. Immense relief. I began to pull it out and I brought it to his cheek. My arm was twisted in a strange way, to have the gun pointed to him, as he was behind me. He let out a surprised grunt, before backing off of me, allowing me to stand my ground and face him. I had my gun pointed at him, even standing up, although my hands were shaking.

"Leave me alone." I growled, legs trembling.

He began to back off, holding his hands up. Because he was a coward. He was big, and strong, and burly, but he was afraid still. Afraid of death. "Alright, alright…" He was glaring at me though, clearly upset.

"You will allow me to release someone here. You will not speak of this to anyone. Once you have allowed me to release my friend, I will return your keys, and I won't shoot you." I didn't know where this courage was coming from. I didn't know, but it was there.

His eyes narrowed. "Why should I let you do that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll shoot."

He sighed, defeated.

I was quite smug, enjoying having him under my control. He led me back to the camp ground, walking in front of me as I held the gun to the back of his head. I knew that if he did actually, stupidly try to run for help, I wouldn't know what to do. I couldn't shoot him, for it would have little effect. And then he would know that I had him under a fake threat. One that I couldn't carry out. And without that security of the threat, I was nothing. He pointed down the line of cages, and grunted for me to show him who it was that I wanted released. I had ideas that he would not be pleased it was his star attraction.

When Shiiro saw me with Niji Kokuro, he looked horrified, before he realized that I had Niji under my control.

"That's a girl, Aiki." He smiled, as I unlocked the strange lock on his cage. I knew that Niji was pissed, but I didn't care. Because no feeling in the world could compare to feeling Shiiro hugging me again. And that feeling was mine because I wasn't a coward.

Not a coward.

Now, Aiki, isn't that a good feeling?

Aside from the fact that we were both standing in the pouring rain, in one of the most melancholy places on earth.

I'm not a coward.

The End

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Epilogue coming soon, as well as probably a sequel in a while.