"I still don't understand..."
Oliver slowly stirred his hot chocolate, frowning at the creamy brown liquid. Kai sat across from him, sipping his coffee. Setting the mug down, Kai leaned forward.
"Listen. For now, we can't do much until more evidence is found. Until then, let's be thankful that we got out alive and no one was hurt."
Oliver looked up at Kai, a little surprised but not unpleasantly. Kai still surprised him when he says things like what he had just said. Kai caught the look and sat back, shaking his head.
"What? I'm not gung-ho about things like this all the time. My main concern is that we're unhurt."
Oliver nodded and continued to sip his rapidly cooling drink, thinking. How long will the investigation last? When can they get the decorators in? Is there anything salvageable in the front room or kitchen? Oliver's foot tapped against the table leg as he thought. Kai shook his head and finished his coffee before standing.
"I'll pay the bill. Wait here."
Oliver nodded and smiled at Kai. Setting down the empty cup, the Unicorn gazed outside the window. A niggling feeling bothered the beyblader, like something was amiss. Oliver frowned. This feeling came from years of assassin training, and so only kicked in when danger was near.
"Oliver? Let's go."
Oliver shook his head clear and smiled, looking up at Kai who was a few feet away. Oliver's face fell, from the smile to horror. A laser light jumped around a point on Kai's chest. Instantly, Oliver jumped out of his chair and pushed Kai down. Oliver winced as his right wrist stung a little, a reminder of his accident only yesterday. The glass window behind them shattered with a loud crash and a bullet embedded itself into a waiter's arm, an area that would have been Kai's heart. The man fell to his knees, shouting in pain. Around them, punters screamed and havoc ensued. Oliver sat up, worry etched on his face.
"Kai, you okay?"
"I'm fine... what's going on?"
"A shooting... Stay down." Oliver stood and went to the waiter, pulling off his scarf and attempting to tie the bullet wound to stop any more blood flowing out of the wound.
" S'il vous plaît mettre'le mouvement de t. Je'll appelle une ambulance."Oliver said.
"Merci. Merci, monsieur..." the waiter said shakily.
Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile. Whilst waiting for an operator to answer, Oliver bit his lip, meeting eyes with Kai. Kai seemed to understand the situation; the bullet in the waiter was meant for him. But why? A glacier seemed to slide down slowly on Oliver's back as a thought grabbed him. Please... not again. Not now...
******
Max slammed the door behind him as Tala went straight to one of the chairs in the room. Max stretched and pouted.
"I'm bored. What d'you wanna do?"
"Well, the Twister mat was in the living room, so I guess that's out of the question."
"Too bad. I wanted to try a new version."
"Oh?"
"Grease Twister." Max said with a grin.
Tala couldn't help but smile and snigger a little. "Sounds interesting. But I think I'd have passed."
"What do you want to do then? I'm still bored."
Tala shrugged and just sat on the chair. Pouting, Max flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Bored, bored.... B-O-R-E-D..."
"You think repeating it over and over again will solve it?"
"Well... it might stimulate you to think of something else..."
"But what? All there is in this room is the TV, chairs, the bed and a couple of tables."
Max sighed and sat up, looking around. True, there wasn't a lot in the room to do, but there had to be.... Max grinned, an idea hitting him. Tala let out a muffled yell when a pillow ploughed its way to his face and knocked him backwards.
"What was that for!?" Tala half yelled, half laughed.
Max simply grinned and picked up another pillow, poised. "I said I was bored."
Max yelped and laughed as he hopped about the room, avoiding Tala's aim. However, Tala's aim was impeccable, so Max never got the opportunity to actually get a long distance shot in. Finally, the blonde knelt on the bed and stuck his tongue out at Tala.
"Too scared to go hand to hand!?"
Tala jumped over the sofa he was hiding behind and grinning, went on with the pillow fight. Max giggled whilst Tala laughed as pillows made contact. Finally, both lowered their pillows, tired. Max rubbed his nose where Tala delivered a particularly heavy blow (or as heavy as you can get with a pillow). Max faked a pout.
"That hurt. You sure that pillow of yours isn't made out of concrete?"
Tala leaned in close. "Want me to kiss it better?"
Max smiled and leaned in closer. Their lips met, sealing whatever space they had between them. Tala sat next to Max on the bed, cupping the Tortoise's cheek with his hand. Max put a hand on the Wolf's lower back, pulling him closer. Slowly, they broke the embrace and looked into each other's blue eyes. Max smiled.
"I should get hurt more often, if that's how you're going to kiss me better."
Tala smiled, half smirked. Before either could repeat the moment, the wall behind Max exploded into gunfire. Instinctively, Tala grabbed Max and pulled him onto the floor, Max yelping at falling off the bed. Both spread out flat on the floor, covering their heads from the falling chips flying off the wall and the glass that was raining around them from the windows. The bullets stopped flying through the window after there was no glass left in the windows and every inch of the wall was covered with holes. Tala looked up, stray glass sliding off his head. He helped Max up, careful to tell him not to disturb the glass on his head.
"Wha... what was that all about!?" Max asked, eyes wide at the destruction.
******
"Monsieur, s'il vous plaît. Se calme. Nous're faisant tout ce que nous pouvant."
"Pas assez par les regards d'il! Comment faire vous expliquez le fait que quelqu'un a essayé assassiner mon partenaire!?"
"Êtes-vous sûr la balle vidée dans le café a été signifiée pour votre... le partenaire?"
I sighed, exasperated. We were in the police station for an hour already and still weren't satisfied. The officer questioning us doesn't seem to believe our story. Kai held my hand in comfort. Even though he could not completely follow the rapid conversation, I'm sure he got the gist.
"Commençons dès le début..." the officer started.
We never got the chance. My pocket vibrated, the mobile phone inside telling me someone was trying to call. I was permitted to answer.
"Hello?"
"Oliver; it's Tala."
"Tala? What's wrong?"
"Max and I are in hospital. There's been a shooting."
"What?!"
"At our hotel. Someone tried to take us and the whole hotel wall out."
"Are you alright!? Is Max okay!?"
"Calm down, Oliver. We're fine. I just got checked up; the doctor is just about finishing with Max, I think. Enrique's here with us."
I heard the unmistakable Italian accent in the background. The phone changed hands and my best friend's voice filtered through the phone line.
"Hey, Ol."
"Enrique, do you know what's happened?"
"Only from what Tala's told me and hearing all Hell break loose. I was in my room when it happened."
"Tell Tala I'm on my way to the hospital."
"No need, Max was just discharged, too. He's fine. We're going back to the hotel. Meet you there?"
Kai and I left the police station after explaining the situation to the officer. We went straight to the hotel. In the car, I curled up close to Kai, suddenly feeling cold.
"What's a matter?" Kai asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"A bad feeling... I think... I don't know..." I struggled to find the words; maybe I didn't want to admit to myself what was happening. Nearly being run over, the explosion in the kitchen. They didn't seem like accidents anymore. I buried my face in Kai's chest fighting the fear.
Please let it be a coincidence... please...
___________________________________________________________
Anime: ¬_¬ Why do I ever take your advice?
Duo: ^__^ What? That pillow fight scene was cute.
Anime: True, but at least Heero pitched in before you could take it further.
Heero: ...
Oliver slowly stirred his hot chocolate, frowning at the creamy brown liquid. Kai sat across from him, sipping his coffee. Setting the mug down, Kai leaned forward.
"Listen. For now, we can't do much until more evidence is found. Until then, let's be thankful that we got out alive and no one was hurt."
Oliver looked up at Kai, a little surprised but not unpleasantly. Kai still surprised him when he says things like what he had just said. Kai caught the look and sat back, shaking his head.
"What? I'm not gung-ho about things like this all the time. My main concern is that we're unhurt."
Oliver nodded and continued to sip his rapidly cooling drink, thinking. How long will the investigation last? When can they get the decorators in? Is there anything salvageable in the front room or kitchen? Oliver's foot tapped against the table leg as he thought. Kai shook his head and finished his coffee before standing.
"I'll pay the bill. Wait here."
Oliver nodded and smiled at Kai. Setting down the empty cup, the Unicorn gazed outside the window. A niggling feeling bothered the beyblader, like something was amiss. Oliver frowned. This feeling came from years of assassin training, and so only kicked in when danger was near.
"Oliver? Let's go."
Oliver shook his head clear and smiled, looking up at Kai who was a few feet away. Oliver's face fell, from the smile to horror. A laser light jumped around a point on Kai's chest. Instantly, Oliver jumped out of his chair and pushed Kai down. Oliver winced as his right wrist stung a little, a reminder of his accident only yesterday. The glass window behind them shattered with a loud crash and a bullet embedded itself into a waiter's arm, an area that would have been Kai's heart. The man fell to his knees, shouting in pain. Around them, punters screamed and havoc ensued. Oliver sat up, worry etched on his face.
"Kai, you okay?"
"I'm fine... what's going on?"
"A shooting... Stay down." Oliver stood and went to the waiter, pulling off his scarf and attempting to tie the bullet wound to stop any more blood flowing out of the wound.
" S'il vous plaît mettre'le mouvement de t. Je'll appelle une ambulance."Oliver said.
"Merci. Merci, monsieur..." the waiter said shakily.
Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile. Whilst waiting for an operator to answer, Oliver bit his lip, meeting eyes with Kai. Kai seemed to understand the situation; the bullet in the waiter was meant for him. But why? A glacier seemed to slide down slowly on Oliver's back as a thought grabbed him. Please... not again. Not now...
******
Max slammed the door behind him as Tala went straight to one of the chairs in the room. Max stretched and pouted.
"I'm bored. What d'you wanna do?"
"Well, the Twister mat was in the living room, so I guess that's out of the question."
"Too bad. I wanted to try a new version."
"Oh?"
"Grease Twister." Max said with a grin.
Tala couldn't help but smile and snigger a little. "Sounds interesting. But I think I'd have passed."
"What do you want to do then? I'm still bored."
Tala shrugged and just sat on the chair. Pouting, Max flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Bored, bored.... B-O-R-E-D..."
"You think repeating it over and over again will solve it?"
"Well... it might stimulate you to think of something else..."
"But what? All there is in this room is the TV, chairs, the bed and a couple of tables."
Max sighed and sat up, looking around. True, there wasn't a lot in the room to do, but there had to be.... Max grinned, an idea hitting him. Tala let out a muffled yell when a pillow ploughed its way to his face and knocked him backwards.
"What was that for!?" Tala half yelled, half laughed.
Max simply grinned and picked up another pillow, poised. "I said I was bored."
Max yelped and laughed as he hopped about the room, avoiding Tala's aim. However, Tala's aim was impeccable, so Max never got the opportunity to actually get a long distance shot in. Finally, the blonde knelt on the bed and stuck his tongue out at Tala.
"Too scared to go hand to hand!?"
Tala jumped over the sofa he was hiding behind and grinning, went on with the pillow fight. Max giggled whilst Tala laughed as pillows made contact. Finally, both lowered their pillows, tired. Max rubbed his nose where Tala delivered a particularly heavy blow (or as heavy as you can get with a pillow). Max faked a pout.
"That hurt. You sure that pillow of yours isn't made out of concrete?"
Tala leaned in close. "Want me to kiss it better?"
Max smiled and leaned in closer. Their lips met, sealing whatever space they had between them. Tala sat next to Max on the bed, cupping the Tortoise's cheek with his hand. Max put a hand on the Wolf's lower back, pulling him closer. Slowly, they broke the embrace and looked into each other's blue eyes. Max smiled.
"I should get hurt more often, if that's how you're going to kiss me better."
Tala smiled, half smirked. Before either could repeat the moment, the wall behind Max exploded into gunfire. Instinctively, Tala grabbed Max and pulled him onto the floor, Max yelping at falling off the bed. Both spread out flat on the floor, covering their heads from the falling chips flying off the wall and the glass that was raining around them from the windows. The bullets stopped flying through the window after there was no glass left in the windows and every inch of the wall was covered with holes. Tala looked up, stray glass sliding off his head. He helped Max up, careful to tell him not to disturb the glass on his head.
"Wha... what was that all about!?" Max asked, eyes wide at the destruction.
******
"Monsieur, s'il vous plaît. Se calme. Nous're faisant tout ce que nous pouvant."
"Pas assez par les regards d'il! Comment faire vous expliquez le fait que quelqu'un a essayé assassiner mon partenaire!?"
"Êtes-vous sûr la balle vidée dans le café a été signifiée pour votre... le partenaire?"
I sighed, exasperated. We were in the police station for an hour already and still weren't satisfied. The officer questioning us doesn't seem to believe our story. Kai held my hand in comfort. Even though he could not completely follow the rapid conversation, I'm sure he got the gist.
"Commençons dès le début..." the officer started.
We never got the chance. My pocket vibrated, the mobile phone inside telling me someone was trying to call. I was permitted to answer.
"Hello?"
"Oliver; it's Tala."
"Tala? What's wrong?"
"Max and I are in hospital. There's been a shooting."
"What?!"
"At our hotel. Someone tried to take us and the whole hotel wall out."
"Are you alright!? Is Max okay!?"
"Calm down, Oliver. We're fine. I just got checked up; the doctor is just about finishing with Max, I think. Enrique's here with us."
I heard the unmistakable Italian accent in the background. The phone changed hands and my best friend's voice filtered through the phone line.
"Hey, Ol."
"Enrique, do you know what's happened?"
"Only from what Tala's told me and hearing all Hell break loose. I was in my room when it happened."
"Tell Tala I'm on my way to the hospital."
"No need, Max was just discharged, too. He's fine. We're going back to the hotel. Meet you there?"
Kai and I left the police station after explaining the situation to the officer. We went straight to the hotel. In the car, I curled up close to Kai, suddenly feeling cold.
"What's a matter?" Kai asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"A bad feeling... I think... I don't know..." I struggled to find the words; maybe I didn't want to admit to myself what was happening. Nearly being run over, the explosion in the kitchen. They didn't seem like accidents anymore. I buried my face in Kai's chest fighting the fear.
Please let it be a coincidence... please...
___________________________________________________________
Anime: ¬_¬ Why do I ever take your advice?
Duo: ^__^ What? That pillow fight scene was cute.
Anime: True, but at least Heero pitched in before you could take it further.
Heero: ...