Death comes in on silence.
It does not have a roar
Its cry, the hush of that final breath
That shutters to the core
0000
So then, what is that noise you hear?
That hideous, deafening sound
It's the howling void that's left my dear,
and your world crashing down
Crashing Down
The only thing worse than his hatred for Brown, was knowing he was playing Brown's game. Shuichi hated him that badly. At the last second he decided he wasn't going to play the hand he'd just been dealt. He twisted his body so it wasn't the knife, but his shoulder that made the connection. Just like Chris had taught him. He hit Brown low and hard, right below the diaphragm. Shuichi heard Brown's startled grunt and felt the air being pushed out of Brown's lungs, but his satisfaction was short lived, as the bang of a gunshot rang out.
and then another……
and another……
o
o
All Shuichi knew was the stench of gun smoke, blood, and the crushing blackness that closed in.
He felt so tired, he wanted to just sleep forever, but something was calling him. Shaking him gently, urgently pleading him to come back from the wherever he was. He felt something wet hit his cheek and slide away. There was a different smell wrapping around him. A familiar smell that excited and calmed at the same time. He opened his eyes and was back to that dirty little room. Yuki was holding him murmuring his name. "I'm ok Yuki." He whispered. Shuichi stated to look around the room. Was it really over? "What.."
"Fucking idiot. It's not over yet." Brown bellowed. He was sitting on the floor with his hands tied behind his back. He his arm and shoulder were bleeding from where K had shot him. "Do you honestly think there is a way you can get away from me? As long as I breathe this isn't over." He was laughing, it was the frightening laugh of a tormented soul. Chris walked over to him and looked down at Brown with malevolence etched in his face.
Brown looked up, his lips curled into a smile. "I'll say hi to your brother for you."
In a blur of motion, Chris seized Brown by the head and neck, and with a sickening popping noise, Brown went limp.
"Fucking asshole!" Chris muttered as he dropped the body into the dust on the floor. He was in shock as he turned face his friends. He died so easily. It was hard to believe he was actually dead. Chris was stunned at just how simple it was to kill a monster. That man had put him through almost two year's worth of hell and yet was all over so easily, just like that. He somehow felt cheated. He almost wished Brown were alive, just so he could kill him again.
"Chris?" Shuichi's voice jolted him out of his thoughts.
"I-I'm sorry Shu. I am so sorry." He whispered and with that Chris walked out the door. Leaving the other three to watch him go.
Shuichi wanted to say something, but his body wasn't working anymore. His mind had also had problems believing it was actually over. Was he really a monster or just a sick human being after all? A few seconds later, his body completely gave up and he collapsed in his lover's arms.
For the longest time Shuichi felt like he was floating. He could hear singing. It sounded like the singing of a thousand tiny voices just beyond his reach. They were canaries; there were thousands of tiny golden canaries. He watched as they swirled around as one mass of feathers and song. Then they turned up and flew away into the brightness, leaving him behind. He watched as they faded away into an impossible sky. Then they were gone. He was alone now in an empty place he didn't want to be in. He wanted to follow the birds, but his body felt too heavy. That's when he noticed there was a dark reddish spot lumbering towards him. Padding over to him on heavy silent paws, the animal stopped a few feet away and stared at him. It was a huge red tiger. He walked over to meet it and just as he reached out to touch the animal, it leapt at him. Shuichi stumbled back a few feet, but the creature had vanished as well. He noticed his arms were now the same reddish color with dark stripes. He stood there alone again for a minute before he noticed one bright golden spot. One of the birds was coming back for him. His heart filled with warmth at the sight of this golden angel. He could hear it calling him, sharp and determined, just beyond the end of his conscious thoughts. He fought to reach it. The song changed pitch it was calling more desperately now. Wait, Yuki I'm coming I just can't find you. "Yu ki?"
"He's coming around somebody get the Dr."
Shu opened his eyes to a blinding white world just like in his dream; there was a spot of gold like the sun in the corner of his vision. He turned and focused on the face of his…cat? "Meow."
"Oh Ryuichi, what are you doing here?" He said reaching up to scratch the kitten's cheek.
"Ryuichi snuck him in to see you." Came the all to familiar baritone voice. Yuki had been sitting in a chair next to the bed. Shuichi noticed he looked like he had been caught by a pack of rampaging fangirls. Yuki seemed to be moving with restraint as he got up and approached the hospital bed, but it was no use, he couldn't help from grabbing up his tiny lover and holding him close. "Shu, you're going to be ok."
"What happened?"
"You passed out from blood loss. You were out for almost a day. Do you remember what happened?"
Shuichi did remember his eyes grew wide with fright, "Yuki, is Hiro ok?"
"Yes, Hiro is fine. You can see him later when you are feeling better." Yuki assured him, "Brown was no match for him and it looks like you were not doing too badly yourself." Yuki said still holding his lover, speaking into a head full of pink hair. He didn't want to ever let go again. If there were only a way they could just stay in that moment forever he would be completely happy. "Don't ever scare me like that again." Yuki whispered.
Shindou caught sight of something in the reflection in the chrome trim of the bed. "Want to see something. Can you help me Yuki?"
Yuki didn't think he wanted to let his lover see just yet, but he knew there was no point in arguing about it. It wasn't an easy task seeing that Shuichi had one knee fractured and the brace used on it was cumbersome to say the least. He helped Shuichi over to the bathroom. Shu lifted the bandage on his forehead to see several small cuts there. They looked like the mark of a tabby cat. It was then he assessed the rest of his damage. His back and arms were bandaged His knee was fractured luckily it wasn't broken as he thought it had been. There were bruises and lumps and he had a hard time finding a spot on his body that didn't hurt, but nothing that would prevent a full recovery.
"Yuki how bad is it?" he asked craning his head in an attempt to look at his back.
"It's bad enough." Yuki tried to sound as nonchalant as he could "The Dr thinks that with some plastic surgery…" Shu cut him off with a finger to his lips as he looked craned his neck to get a look at the bandages in the mirror.
Yuki wondered why Shuichi didn't seem upset. "Come on, you need to get back in bed. If the nurses find you up they'll be hell to pay." he helped the singer back to his bed.
"Where did Chris go?"
"Nobody's seen him since he left. K has been trying to find him, but we think he left to go back home."
"He left? Just like that?"
"Looks like it."
"I can't believe he just left like that. After all we had been through. I guess he didn't care about us as much as I thought" Shuichi admitted sadly as he returned under the covers of the bed. The kitten promptly hopped onto Shuichi's lap and started to beg for attention.
"Maybe, or maybe he cared too much. He got what he wanted, but I saw the look on his face. It seemed like once he finally fulfilled his wish, it wasn't how he thought it was going to be."
"Yuki, did you take pain medication? You're not making any sense."
"No, are you offering any of yours?"
He would carry the tiger scars for the rest of his life, but somehow it didn't seem so bad. Everyone else seemed to take it much harder than he felt. The scars marked a change in who he was. He was able to face his nightmare and fight. That night a new tiger was born from the ashes of anger, hate, and fear.
Besides it was better than getting stuck in some sick fan girl's fan fiction story. Those people are real maniacs.
A few months later….
Back in America one Detective Chris Porte reported for duty at the head of violent crime investigations. He was the newest detective on the force and he had already made a name for himself. Everyone marveled at the talent he displayed for catching the sickest killers on the top 10 most wanted list. He had breezed through the academy with flying colors, it was almost too easy for him. It was as if he had done this all before.
There were only two strange things that stuck out when people met him. One was his habit of crunching strawberry pocky whenever he needed to think. The other was a picture on the wall of the Detective and a small pink hired Japanese boy. People asked about the picture, but as always only a short reply was given in Japanese.
Sore wa ototo de Nihon desu.
Translation: That's my little brother in Japan.
Sheesh! What kind of a dumb ass ending is that? Christ, can you tell I was raised in the Scooby doo era? Oh well, that's what you get when you spend the better part of your day watching Dora the Explorer.
To everybody who read this story, I hope you found that it was time well spent.
Well kids, that's it for this fic. I hope I have inspired others to write a better one. I hope I can count on you to put my in my place when I suck.
I want to give a big thank you to everybody who took time out to review this story. I consider it an honor that you spent time on me. I hope to improve with more stories in the future. So I guess I'll see ya soon!