Yeah!! Ninth chapter, coming up!!

Kka: I'll help you kill Pit. You got any weapon??

Fiery-ice: You think it's close to reality? What song fits this fic?? You didn't tell me the title!

Fer-chan:  *looks at fer-chan's last sentence* Excuse me??? Ha ha!

Rapt 142:  Darling, you ARE supposed to hate the baddies and love the main characters! Ha ha! It's nothing special. It's the way fics work – though I do admit I find myself hating the good ones and loving the bad ones!!

Patty g: What are they going to do to Kiara? What will YOU do, patty-san?

Tensaispira: He he! Yes, tergamak I stop like that! Ke ke ke! Wait till you read this chap. I think you'll be even madder! Wahahaha!

Joy: This chap should save you from falling off your seat, Joy-san. Or maybe not. *grins mysteriously*

Jo-sen7: hey, I hope you have recovered from the precious chapter. You seemed quite dazed! Ha ha!

sLL: Thanks! Read on!

Twinkle Toes: Thanks! I can actually see you get excited! Ha ha! Hope you'll like this chapter!

Alexia: I dunno. Last time I checked – which was um, three years ago – it was 991. Isn't 911 a name of a pop group?? Never mind. If I'm wrong, forgive me – me not intellectual! I'd hate it if Kiara was a mary-sue. If she becomes one, warn me, okay? So I can corrupt her all over again! BTW, was there something wrong with the previous chapter? I'm sorry if it didn't please you!

Tiran: What do you mean by *IT*??

Jeano: Thank you!

Akane: Me? Solve their little problem? I'll let them solve it themselves. : )

Sakura Rui: What does MOTTO mean? Heh heh, I'm pretty stupid actually. Ha ha!

Eliar Swiftfire: *stares* that line made you laugh?

Tasuki-fan: Sorry about chapter 8. *flashes an apologetic look* I'll try not to repeat the same mistake, okay? * grins* Thanks for reviewing!

Doujin: Hostage? Maybe. Who can say? *wink*

Coolpriss: Thanks! Next chapter up!

            Sergeant Akagi looked up and through the heads of three nurses who were busy attending to his injured leg at his partner, Mitsui, who was stonily seated not far away, glaring at the floor. "You okay, Mitsui?"

            Mitsui looked up briefly. "Just worry about yourself, Akagi."

            Akagi grunted when he felt a sharp pain and accepted the nurse's frantic apology. "You're not exactly the best partner in the world," he started again conversationally, "You have a clever tongue, you're always late for work, you're never serious about anything and you have this tendency to annoy me at the worst possible times."

            Mitsui grunted uncaringly.

            "But that doesn't mean I'll let you rot away unhappy."

            The nurses then wheeled a tray out and left the two police officers alone. Akagi settled himself comfortably on the bed, being very careful not to move his leg too much and leaned back. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

            The first wave of emotion crossed Mitsui's stony face. He gave an inward sigh and looked at his partner right in the eye. "It's nothing," he started. "It's – it's …"

Akagi remained quiet.

            Mitsui sprang up on his feet and started to pace nervously. "This morning," he tried to start, but found it hard. His voice faltered and his tone shook. He wouldn't be surprised if his hands were shaking as well. "When you told me to get to the site, all I could think about was her. Is she all right? Did they harm her? Were they back for her?" he paused. "And then – and then you were shot. I was furious, and I chased them, fully intending to fire back. I had my gun out, finger ready to pull the trigger –"

            Again, the deadly pause.

            "And then I realised I was pointing my gun at her."

            The silence hovered over them hauntingly.

            "I just stopped thinking altogether," Mitsui continued, looking helplessly out the window at the garden outside the hospital. "The blood just drained out of my brain. I mean – jeez, Akagi," he rubbed his face, "I almost killed her."

            Akagi didn't care for the haunted look on Mitsui's face. "It was your duty," he said crisply. "If that's what it takes to keep the society safe and protected, then that's what you're going to have to do."

            "I know," Mitsui sighed. "Even then, I was aware of it. I was telling myself to shoot. Just shoot and slow down the culprits as I was supposed to. As I have always done." He glanced at Akagi. "But I couldn't. Even when I knew she was one of them, I couldn't."

            "You should have."

            Mitsui nodded somberly. "The mission failed because of me," he acknowledged. "And I'm sorry." He stared out the window again. "I promise it won't happen again."

            "How can you be so sure?"

            Who said I was? Mitsui didn't answer.

            "I told you, Mitsui. I told you not to get involved with her. I told you it'd only get you into trouble."

Mitsui's eyes darkened noticeably. "And you were right." He managed a bitter smile. "I'm sure everyone's proud of you."

            "What are you going to do now?" Akagi asked. "Now that you're blindly in love with her, what are you going to do?"

            "I'll deal with it." That was said with fierce determination. "She ran away from me, didn't she? That's an obvious enough rejection, even for someone as arrogant as I am." His fingers bunched together into fists as his anger returned and doubled. "I'll catch her."

            "What if you have to shoot her?"

Mitsui's lips tightened. "Then I'll shoot her." He gave Akagi a pointed, though slightly defensive look. "Look, I made a mistake of falling in love with her. That's by the by. I'll fix it by falling back out."

            Akagi snorted. "You say it as if it's ABC."

            "Feelings change," Mitsui replied shortly. "Mine will."

            Akagi wasn't so sure about that, but decided to keep his insecurities to himself. "I certainly hope so." He muttered quietly. "I sure as Hell hope so."

            Kiara opened her hazy eyes and stared blankly at the piles and piles of sacked rice neatly stacked for export around her, and then winced. The sounds of heavy and rough waves crashing down onto rocks informed her immediately that she was at a port, most probably an empty one.

            Luna was right at her side, looking as if she had been waiting for the moment Kiara would stir and wake up. "You're finally awake," she snorted, crouching down in front of Kiara and lifting her chin up with one extremely long fingernail. "How do you feel?"

            Her head pounded like crazy, her cheek stung and she felt nauseous. "Fine. Absolutely fine."

            "Luna grunted at the obvious lie. "You were unforgivably foolish today, Kiara," she started, tone undoubtedly unfriendly and harsh – and angry. "You almost got us all killed."

            "Did I?"

            Luna hissed, her face getting red in anger. "Don't act stupid with me! You know very well what could've happened to us if you've kept on gibbering like a fool and slowing us down." Her eyes narrowed. "I wonder if this is some kind of a plan of yours to escape all by yourself while the rest of us go to jail."

            Kiara raised an eyebrow.

            "That's it, isn't it?" Luna asked. "You slept with the officer and persuaded him that you weren't involved. You gave away information about us. You made us sound as if it was all our doing. That's why you were so eager about surrendering, wasn't it? Because you knew he wouldn't arrest you."

            "That's bullshit, Luna."

            "No, that's exactly what your corrupted brain would've come up with."

            "It is, but it slipped past me. I applaud you for thinking about it, though. You're getting more and more broad-minded and creative by the day."

            "I've had enough of that clever mouth of yours, Kiara," Luna raised a hand threateningly. "We might have been friends for a long time, but I wouldn't think twice about sticking a knife through your belly. Especially now when you're betraying us."

            Kiara sighed weakly. The rope that bound her hands together scratched at her skin and she found her posture more than slightly uncomfortable. "Try and look at it from my point of view, Luna," she murmured slowly. "How much longer are we going to go on like this? How many more times are we going to have to rob a bank and flee from police? I'm tired of running. I don't want to live like this anymore."

            "How else is there to live, Kiara?? Can you tell me that??"

            "If we surrender ourselves, it wouldn't be half as hard as it would if we didn't. Jail and rehab – and free food – for several years. But after that, we'd be free to start over – start a new leaf, they call it. There are so many possibilities out there, have you ever noticed that?"

            "It's not as simple as that," Luna told her. "You think jail and rehab is fun? You think it's a playground? A theme park? There are fierce guards, people who'll beat us to death. You can't even begin to imagine what its like in jail. And when you get out, where do you go? What will you do? Get a job? Continue learning?" she scoffed. "People like us don't get jobs and learn, Kiara."

            "And who," Kiara countered, "made that rule up?"

"It's the way of life!" Luna said indignantly.

"And who decides what's a way of life and not a way of life?"

            "You're being very difficult, Kiara. I don't care for it." Luna stood up and threw an empty glass bottle across the room. It broke into several fragments. "You may look at the world through rose-coloured glass, but we know the realities. This is the cycle for us. This is how we were meant to live. We can't break out of it."

            "How would you know? You've never even tried."

            Luna glared at her.

            Kiara looked back shrewdly. "You know what I think, Luna? I think you know that I'm right, and I think you want what I want. But you're afraid to take the first step. You don't have to, you know. Be afraid, I mean. You're not alone. We'll surrender together, and we'll get through it together."

            Luna shook her head. "I won't even listen to this."

        "I remember this one time in kindergarten," Kiara reminisced, a small smile on her face, "I got hold of this blade, God knows how, and cut myself across the arm. I was crying and everything to my teacher, and I babyishly told her that I didn't want an ugly scar on my arm for the rest of my life. You know what she said?" Kiara looked up at Luna. "She said, 'then why did you cut yourself in the first place?'."

            Luna didn't reply.

            "Do you see what I'm saying, Luna?" Kiara pressed. "If we didn't want to go to jail, then why did we rob banks, break into houses in the first place? It's not that life's unfair. Do you realize that we have been asking for this punishment all this while? It's been our fault all along."

            Luna's lips tightened. "We needed money."

            "Everybody needs money. That's no excuse for gaining it the wrong way. What's wrong is wrong. But it doesn't mean we can't right it, does it?"

            Luna dropped herself to the dusty floor, clutching at her face and crying helplessly.

            "I feel the same way you do," Kiara said quietly. "But I think it's time we face the consequences of what we have done."

            Luna whirled onto Kiara, her eyes flashing, though her trembling lips revealed her vulnerability. "What's wrong with you, Kiara?" she demanded, tears coming to life. "You're a champion bank robber. Why are you suddenly thinking like this??"

            Kiara lowered her head as images of Mitsui flashed in her mind. Of him laughing, smirking, grinning. Of him reaching out for her. Of his face when he looked at her this afternoon. "I- I don't know." She laughed lightly, though it came out sounding like a sea lion's cough. "I think people call it paradigm shift."

            "It's all a mess," Luna muttered brokenly. "We're all a mess. I don't want to go to jail, Kiara. I don't want to go to jail. I can't go to jail, Kiara! I can't!" she howled. "It scares the Hell out of me. And I'm pregnant!"

            Kiara's eyes bulged. "You're WHAT??"

Luna was sobbing uncontrollably. "Pit wanted me to abort it."

            Kiara's reeling head reeled even more. Too much shock, she thought dizzily, too much shock in one day. "I'm getting too rusty for this," she muttered weakly. Then, loud police sirens blasted. Kiara closed her eyes. "Oh, God."

             Luna wailed hysterically. "They found us! They always find us!"

            Kiara looked at her friend, contemplated on joining in to wail the night away. But she decided that wouldn't get them anywhere. "Luna, untie me," she ordered crisply.

            Luna stared at her fearfully. "Are you going to turn me in?"

            "No, idiot. You're pregnant. This changes everything. Jail is hardly a place for a baby. I'll get you out of here." Kiara blew a breath. "I doubt the police will be understanding enough."

            Luna untied Kiara with shaking hands, just as a shot was released, followed by frantic screams. Luna paled. "Pit and the others!" she gasped. "They're being chased!"

            Kiara hastily threw the ropes away and pulled Luna to her feet. "Come on," she urged nervously as they rushed for the door and stepped into the dark night. "Let's get you out of here in one piece."

            Luna sniffled, still shaking terribly. "Everything's going downhill, isn't it, Kiara? We thought we were invincible. We thought we'd go on forever."

            "We need to rethink." Kiara said shortly. "Come on." She noticed that Luna's belly was slightly protruding out. It made her feel all sorts of things. She was shocked, that was sure, and yet there was pride there, somewhere. Her friend was having a baby. Then there was also fear. What if she couldn't get Luna out fast enough? What if Luna got shot?

            They sneaked out under the dark night and slipped in between other stores and piles of metal boxes, pausing every once in a while as more shots were released somewhere on the other side of the port. They reached the rusted jetty. There was a tiny boat docked, looking ancient, but useable enough.

            "Pit got us that boat," Luna muttered shakily.

            "We'll thank him some other time," Kiara muttered and then prepared to make a run for the jetty when a police officer emerged out of nowhere.

            "Stop! Police! Put your hands up!" the officer stammered, obviously still new at the business, holding up a gun and keeping his distance.

            Luna screamed and started wailing all over again, gibbering nonsense in the process and clutching on to Kiara's arms and squeezing the blood vessels out of it.

            In quick reflex action, engineered by years of experience, Kiara grabbed the gun strapped to Luna's waist and pointed it back at the officer.

            He paled slightly but firmly stood his ground.

            Both threatened each other with slight movements towards the trigger.

            "You shoot my friend," she said warningly, "and I'll shoot your head. And you can be damn sure I'm a terrific shooter."

            "I won't shoot your friend if you surrender!" The officer stammered. "Put your gun down!"

            Luna wailed.

            "I don't trust you!" Kiara yelled above the sound of Luna's crying. "You put your gun down first!"

            The police thrust his jaw. "I don't trust you either!"

            Kiara gritted her teeth. Her finger started to push the trigger in, fully intending to shoot him where it would distract him long enough for them to make their getaway when –

            "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

            Kiara's breath hitched. "Mitsui."

            He too, had a gun directed at her, standing a few yards away with his coat flying around him in the wind. His stance was casual, yet there was danger hovering above him, a threat that he could move from casual mode to destruction mode at any time. The earlier officer sighed in obvious relief, but he did not move since Kiara's gun was still facing him.

            "Take the crying girl away, Aida," Mitsui told the officer. "Bring her to the police car to join the others."

            Aida started forward for Luna.

            "I wouldn't," Kiara warned him, taking a fresh hold on the trigger. Aida paused immediately, looking back at Mitsui for further instructions in panic.

            "Your fight's with me, Aikawa," Mitsui murmured. "It always has been."

            Helplessly, Kiara watched as the officer took Luna away gently. Luna still wailed, but followed willingly, much too scared to do otherwise. When they disappeared from view, Kiara turned back to Mitsui, and unceremoniously lifted her gun to him.

            He didn't even blink at the move.   

            Guns at ready and well aimed at each other, they stared at one another warily.

I aplogise for the long chapter! I can't seem to get it to the right, acceptable length!!