CHAPTER TWO: Team

They were back at the warehouse and all ready to put the School in flames. Shinji hadn't felt this excited in a while. Hauling the goddamn shit up the hill...that will be a problem. Yutaka Seto had uses...but in this case, he won't be much. Kagura Sano was a strong girl, but she and Shinji can only go so far. And with the forty-eight minutes that were left...it was cutting it way to close. There were so many faults in this plan, Shinji was almost ashamed he'd even thought of it. But it was the best he could come up with. It if wasn't this...it wasn't anything. He glanced back at Yutaka who was starting to drift off to sleep and he quickly crossed to him. He took him by the shoulders and shook him awake. He caught Yutaka's eyes in the dark and said, "Yutaka. I need you more than anything right now. Please...don't do this." Yutaka stared at him in disbelief, but he nodded and grabbed the pulley. They had a misfortune when Yutaka had lost the pulley, but after some light, they managed to find it.

Kagura grabbed hold of the extra things that they need and Shinji decided to take the hardest things to haul, the many feet of rope and the bomb itself. He turned to Kagura and said, "Gura...I need you to go ahead of us. Set everything up so we don't waste time getting it ready when it's already done. We will only slow you down." He stared at Kagura, a knowing feeling of what happened earlier into knowledge. She nodded and quickly exited the warehouse, seeming to dart to the forest for cover. He rummaged through the warehouse, making sure that everything was taken and nothing was left behind of their plan. He had to be sure that this plan was foolproof, at least from the warehouse point of view. When he was assured that everything was going according to plan, he turned to Yutaka and said, "Okay, let's go."

They exited the warehouse, only to encounter Keita Iijima (Boy No. 2). There was relief on his face as Shinji stared at him, lowering the gun of which he raised automatically. Yutaka smiled and welcomed him. No...Shinji thought. This is bad. Iijima...he wasn't trustworthy. Over a fucking coke! The flashback took seconds, but he could remember as if it were yesterday. Keita and he were playing a game, and Shinji won. A coke was owed and when Keita went to get it, Shinji was attacked by some big boys. He could take care of the boys himself without any harm to himself, but he also caught a glimpse of Keita dunking down, a smite face upon him. As if he wanted to hurt Shinji. Over a fucking coke, Keita hung him out dry. He sighed and pointed the gun at Keita's forehead, his finger on the trigger.

Yutaka's confused face flashed on him, "Shinji...Mim? What...what are you doing? This is Keita!"'

"Do yourself a favor, Iijima. Take a hike," Shinji said, the serious voice and face plastered in him.

"What...what are you saying? Mim..." Keita said, his face showing of unapproachable fear.

"Back up right now, Iijima, before I pull this trigger. And believe me, I will," Shinji replied.

Keita did nothing, didn't take a step, didn't even speak. Yutaka stared at Shinji, "Mim...think about what you are doing. This is Keita. We've known him too long! He couldn't have killed us! Please! Shinji!"

Shinji's eyes and gun didn't leave Keita as he spoke to Yutaka, "I can't. I can't trust him to do what's right. Too much ridin' on the game. Don't make excuses for him, Yutaka. He's not with us. Come on...we need to get going, or Kagura will worry about us." He saw the look on Keita's face...pure fear. But...it was what he deserved. He pulled the trigger after lowering the gun to the ground and Keita collapsed. He turned to usher Yutaka to leave and turned his back on him. "Trust me on this."

"NOOOOOOOOOO! YYYYYOOOOOUUUUU CAAAAAAAN'T LEEEEEEEEAVVVVVEEEEE MEEEEEE!" Keita shot up and cried as he dashed for Shinji and Yutaka. Shinji twisted around and pointed the gun at him, but the box he was carrying from a string moved his aim and he pulled the trigger, the bullet left the snout...and into Keita's head. Boy No. 2, Keita Iijima. Dead.

What?

Yutaka had his mouth moving, shouting at Shinji, but Shinji couldn't hear him. He was too enveloped in his gun. He slowly stared down and only blinked at the gun. No...no, he thought. No...this isn't what it was supposed to be. Missed the shot, unc. I missed the shot. I can't miss...got the touch, everyone says so. A flashback entered his mind. This time he was talking this his uncle...a lesson of seeing past himself. Being able to do that...and you're invincible. Keita couldn't see past himself, the reason why Mim didn't trust him. Fucked up big time, unc. Didn't see past myself this time. Got it in on my own. Don't come bigger...

"What the fuck, Mim? What the fuck?" Yutaka yelled, his voice entering and registering in his mind again.

Shinji's face was still paralyzed, tears started to stream from his eyes, "Missed...missed the shot, Yutaka.

Now, Yutaka was getting angry, the tears also streaming from his eyes. His fury showed greatly on his face, "Missed? Missed? Come on, Mim. You NEVER miss! He was unarmed, and he was sacred! He just didn't want to be alone! You never miss! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT BY NOW?"

Shinji's back was facing Yutaka as he stared at the stars of the night and the moon, the tears kept flowing...he'd never cry before except at his uncle's funeral. The feeling...it was awkward. The feeling...would it do him good like he told Kagura? "Another warning shot...in case...in case he had another...another weapon...or...or something."

Yutaka shakingly ran to Iijima's bag and started going through it. His body was shaking miserably as he hastily threw things out of the bag. He stopped abruptly and kept from seeing Shinij's face, "Find...find another reason, Mim." Mimura turned to him as Yutaka also turned, showing the empty bag in front of him, "Do you see a weapon, Mim? Do you see a goddamn weapon?"

Stay frosty, Mim. His uncle's image flashed in Shinij's mind. The famous sane that his uncle lived by...stay frosty. Shinji trembled, stay frosty, "Missed the clutch shot..." he dug into his pocket and pulled out a watch. Stay frosty. Frosty. Frosty. Stay frosty. He turned to Yutaka and showed him the watch, "Stay frosty. Look, times'a'wastin'. Best be going now."

Yutaka didn't budge, "Tell me. Tell me what happened between you and Keita. Tell me." The tears still streaming from his face.

Shinij's river of salt had stopped when he heard the request. He began to get angry, but the sane of 'stay frosty' entered his mind again. He was shaking and closed his eyes, "Iijima hung me out dry. Over a coke, Yutaka. Over a fuckin' coke!" he paused, "Don't you see, Yutaka. He would have hung us out to dry. He would have..." he held out his hand, the tears flowing again, "Come on...we gotta...gotta go. Kagura is waiting for us."

Again, Yutaka didn't budge, only thing that moved was his tears, "No, Mim. No. How do I know? How do I know I won't be the one with the bullet in my head from your gun? How do I know? You always were so full of yourself, so confident. You can't see pass what's important. Couldn't give anyone else a chance. It had to be you, it always had to be you, Mim. Who do you trust? Who do you trust with your life? Keita 'n' me, couldn't even trust us with basketball. Always had to be you. Whenever it counted, it had to be you. You couldn't trust anyone but yourself to make the clutch shot. So full of yourself, there wasn't any room for another...like we were accessories or something. What happens next, Mim? What happens if we couldn't find the pulley. What happens if I fuck up again...what happens if I fuck up so much we can't make it better? What then, Mim? If I messed up this time. Would that have justified the death of me?"

"N...no...I...I d-didn't mean...mean..." Shinji began, but he couldn't find the words. Stay frosty, his uncle's voice entering his mind again, stay frosty. Stay frosty, Mim. You can do this, I can do this. I know I can. I can trust Yutaka...because...because...I can see past myself! "You can do right by me, Yutaka." He closed his eyes and threw the gun he held in his hand in front of him toward Yutaka. "I can trust that you'll do right by me. You take the gun. I couldn't anymore turn that gun on you than I could on myself. I just...I needed him to leave...for all the wrong reasons. You take the gun, Yutaka." He turned and put his back towards Yutaka, staring at the ground, "You do what you gotta do. Just...just make sure...what you do...what you do is the right thing to do. If you can't trust me to do right by you...then...it's over. Game over," his gaze rose to the sky, his eyes focusing on the stars and the moon again as the tears rivered again, "This is what it's like, huh? This is what it's like...to fuck up...knowing you fucked up...and...needed...needing someone to say...someone to say it's okay." Someone to say it's okay.

Yutaka's eyes also watered with the salt as he stared at Shinji, picking up the gun... "No...I can't...I can't..." He paused a moment, thoughts going through his mind as Shinji waited... "I can't...I can't...do this. But..." he sighed, as if dawning on something, "I can trust you. Here. I don't need this," he handed the gun to him, the tears starting to reside. "Hello? It's me. I'd more likely shoot myself before I can even get up the hill. I know...I know I lost it. I lost it...but, I'm back now. I'm back, betcher ass! And still a fuck up, no doubt 'bout that. Still a fuck up." He began to gather the things on the ground as Shinji stared at him, the gun in his hand. "Let's go," he said, a smile on his face now, "Times'a'wastin' now, right? Got us something to set on fire, right? Fumiyo's Revenge, I like. Hell, I'm probably going to do something...you know...unbelievably stupid...with the fuck up I am...but you'll be there, right? You'll be there to say it's okay. Just like always."

Shinji smiled. A different smile that most people witnessed...this smile was relief, happiness and the feeling of...knowing that you're needed. Shinji nodded, "Just like always." He and Yutaka walked towards each other, "Oh and Mim?" Yutaka said, "It was an accident, okay?"

"Okay...okay...if you say so...I'm glad it was you, I'm glad it was you, Yutaka," Shinji said as they pulled each other in an embrace.

RAT-A-TAT! RAT-A-TAT! RAT-A-TAT! RAT-A-TAT!