-1A/N: Sorry I haven't done anything with this story in a long time. But hey! I'm back! Thank you all for your reviews, they make me very happy. Anyway, here ya go.

Chapter 4: The First Shot

Shuichi woke up to something warm and tight wrapped around his small body. He didn't exactly want to open his eyes, but he had to find the source of this comfort enveloping him. Slowly, he looked up slightly and saw muscles in a certain man's neck sticking out in tension. A clenched jaw, a gulp of the throat, and a single sweat drop fall from his nose. It landed on Shuichi's face and he flinched. The figure above him moved and looked down at the boy.

"Yuki? Why are you-"

"Shhh!" He hushed him quickly.

"Huh? But everyone's awake." He glanced at the others.

"Because of them." Mr. K pointed with his gun beyond the brush. The pop star squinted in the darkness to make out what he was gesturing to. After a second, two bright lights whirled around in their direction. The group lay still, staring straight into the two white eyes that glowed so intensely back at them. They shined in another direction once to everyone's relief.

"Phew. Close call."

"Yeah. Luckily they didn't spot us." Tatsuha sighed.

"Yuki…?" Shuichi caught his attention once more.

"Oh. Sorry. But some of the guys after us are close."

Very close." K noted.

"Wha-!" Then we need to find a different place to hide!" He whispered loudly.

"We can't. At least not now. Not until they leave from this area for good."

"So we're just gonna sit here until God knows when?" Mika asked aggravatingly.

"Yup. Looks like it." Tatsuha sighed again, but in despair this time.

The group tensed again as the lights came near for a second time.

"Crap! Why won't those guys just give up!" The younger Uesugi brother growled to himself.

"Believe me. They never give up. Not until they search the place a hundred times over." Yuki said in a low voice.

'He acts likes he knows these guys…' Shuichi shifted his eyes upward at the novelist's chin. 'How are we gonna get out of here?'

"I can see it."

"See what K?" Tohma asked.

"The car. It's pretty big, but very silent. I can hardly hear the purr of the engine with this hearing device." The blonde American smirked and aimed his large "toy" at their pursuers vehicle. "Say goodbye to your wheels boys." With one shot, the gunman was able to take out a tire on the right side of their automobile. "Bingo." He did is three more times, blowing all of them out with his gun on silent.

"Great job K!"

"You nailed them!" A few exuberant cheers were heard from the group.

"I'm surprised they didn't have more people watching the car…" He rubbed his chin in suspicion.

"Ha! They really are idiots!" The monk-in-training snickered.

Shuichi was jubilant too, but his small smile faltered when he looked up at Yuki's concentrated face. And was that… a hint of worry in his features? But they hadn't been spotted yet right? And they took out a car of theirs! Or… was there something wrong with the situation altogether?

"K." The author said sternly in a harsh tone.

"I know. They've found us."

The group gasped.

"What! How do you know!" Mika clenched her fists, gathering up some leaves into her palms.

"I can hear them. They're everywhere. Damn! I knew I should have shot from a different angle."

"It's not your fault K-san. How close are they?" Tohma spoke up.

"About a few yards away. But they know we're here." His grip tightened on the gun he held.

"At least two of them are advancing on us." Yuki noted.

"Good. So it's not a complete ambush. They probably don't know how many of us there are and are being cautious by only sending out two men." The American switched his heat activated goggles on and searched the area surrounding them.

"Yuki, what're we gonna do?" Honestly, Shuichi couldn't see a way out of this one.

"Relax. We got K handling it okay?" The blonde rubbed the boy's arms lightly.

"But didn't you guys say that there's more than one of them?"

"Don't worry. We'll get out of here as soon as possible. Then you will be safe."

The vocalist gazed up at him sadly and shook his head. 'It's not me I'm worried about, Yuki…'

The manager of BAD LUCK was intent on his job. Finding the enemy, and infiltrating their units. Maybe if they captured one of the guys they could get some answers out of why they were chasing their favorite grumpy novelist.

'Hm. No movement yet. It seems they have stopped in their tracks. What for?' His heat vision lenses weren't picking up any body heat, but he kept looking all the while. 'Impossible. I sense them. They're so near. But where are they!' He grunted to himself.

Yuki was having the same trouble. 'I guess K can't find them. I know they're here. But where?' His eyes narrowed.

"Hey! It's a squirrel! How cute!"

'Ugh…' Yuki rolled his eyes.

Shuichi batted his eyelashes at it until the oversized rodent up in the tree came to a lower branch. "Wow, that's a pretty big squirrel…" He said in amazement. And it looks like it has… pants?" He said dumbfounded.

Yuki and K's eyes widened considerably as they both jerked their heads around to look up at the tree Yuki and Shuichi were sitting under. The heat vision goggles showed a large blob of red on the lens.

"Shit!" Mr. K exclaimed and aimed his rocket launcher upward at their stalker.

Yuki rolled to the front with his lover in tow as the blast hit the target supposedly head on.

"Target hit. Now confirming bodies." The taller blonde whispered into his headset.

'Uh, who is he talking to!' Tatsuha's hair was dishevelled from the sudden act of war.

Tohma brought Mika farther away from the wreckage and held onto her shoulders while the novelist sat upright, the boy still attached to his arms. Once the woodland dust cleared, Mr. K growled to himself and mumbled, "Negative hit. The bird has missed the bullet." The group looked at him like he was crazy… which was mainly true anyway.

"Wow… I can't comprehend that a human being was able to avoid one of K's assaults… these guys must be really good." Tatsuha blinked in disbelief.

"These men are more specially trained than you well know, Tatsuha." Tohma stated lowly.

"How would you know? You weren't the one that faced them long ago." He crossed his arms.

The short blonde smiled, "Yes, that may be true, but I had always listened to Eiri describe his adventures so much that I always feel like I'm there."

"And that's something to be smiling about, Tohma?" Mika asked sceptically.

"Everyone, move out!" K stood up and swiftly weaved in and out of trees, the group following raggedly behind him.

After a few damaging shots of K's gun (mostly at the expense of the forest), they finally came to a wider area with less trees than before. It was good so that they could actually see, but bad at the same time because the enemy could clearly see them now, yet they couldn't see the enemy. Still, the manager of BAD LUCK lead the group on through the brush and leaves, determined to reach their goal of a safe haven… wherever that may be…

"Yukiii… my legs are getting scratches all over them from the thorns!" Shuichi whined while running hand in hand with his lover.

"Well too bad! We've got more important things to worry about, so stop complaining. Everyone else here is enduring it, so you should be able to as well." He answered harshly back. Shuichi remained quiet for a moment as to let Yuki cool his jets. It was a pretty selfish thing to say though… for all he knew everyone's lives could be in danger! What if they were merciless fiends and planned to kill the lot of them without even a last request? It would be his fault because all he wanted to do was slow down and pick the thorns out of his skin! A small bout of pain could have cost everyone a great deal of pain! It would be his fault, his fault, his fault…

"Shuichi?" A voice said softly beside him.

The boy looked up, startled. "Mm? Oh, Tatsuha?"

"You okay? You don't look so good. Does your stomach hurt from running so much? I know mine does." The younger man made a scrunched up face and stuck his tongue out at the aching feeling welling up within his tummy.

"Oh, uh, no. Just thinking…" The pop star said reassuringly.

"Hm. It must be something pretty scary then, cause you looked like you were about to puke." He shrugged and ran ahead. "Even if my stomach does ache, I can't just stop now. What's this compared to possible capture and torture from those guys."

Shuichi pondered over what the teenager said and agreed to himself, 'Yeah. He's right. I shouldn't be so caught up in just a few scrapes. I'll keep running if my life depends on it! And it… kind of does…' Shuichi glanced behind him for a second or two and saw a few shadowy figures chasing after them. "Eek!" He whirled back around and picked up the pace.

After what seemed like twenty minutes of full-fledged running and sprinting, the group came to a halt once K put up the signal. Through the remaining trees and bushes, a road could be seen, indicating a neighborhood nearby.

"We're… huff… almost to… huff… a house!" Tatsuha wheezed, obviously tired out.

"So what are we waiting for?" Mika had to catch her breath as well.

"We can't go. They're everywhere." Mr. K informed.

"Every… where?" Shuichi stood stone still. "Like they're surrounding us!"

"Yup. That's what he said." Yuki responded for him.

"What'll we do?" Tohma panicked for a split second before bringing his voice back from wavering too much. Even this was a little too much for him to take in.

"We only have one option." Mr. K cocked his gun. "We fight back."

"What! Um, hello? Some of us weren't exactly trained in the martial art you know!" Mika interrupted.

"No. But a few of us do." He winked at her, leaving the woman puzzled.

"Ready, Yuki-san?"

"…" It took a moment for him to reply. "… Sure." He said quietly.

"What? That's all you gotta say? Man, you've really gotten old in this business, haven't you?" The American teased.

"Shut-up." The novelist whispered menacingly.

Shuichi slung tighter to his lover's shirt. "Yuki…" He couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't know what to say. He hadn't even planned on saying anything at all.

"Shuichi. Just stay with Tohma. I don't want them getting to you."

"What? But what about-"

"Don't worry about me! I can handle this." He pushed the brat off of him and toward Tohma.

"Tohma…"

"I understand." The shorter blonde nodded and made a firm grip on the boy's shoulders.

"Tatsuha." The blonde American addressed the younger Uesugi brother. "Please guard Tohma, Mika, and Shuichi."

"Huh!" The monk-in-training exclaimed. "You want ME to do that!"

"Come on. You've been trained in this kind of stuff, right? I'm sure it'll be no problem for you." The manager looked back and grinned.

"B-but it's been too long since my father has taught me anything about the martial arts! I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

"Don't think of this as a matter of training Tatsuha! Think of it as protecting the people close to you."

The dark-haired version of Yuki blinked and then looked over at the three helpless people standing on the side lines. His eyes hardened and a newfound strength overtook his body.

"And you don't even have to use martial arts. Use any kind of method for fighting you want, as long as it keeps them safe."

"… Right." The teenager nodded defiantly and stood in front of the threesome, shielding them from any possible attacks.

Yuki silently whispered inaudibly. "Thank you Tatsuha."

That's when a string of black figures came swishing out from the top of trees, their aim at Yuki and Mr. K.

"Alright! Let's get this party on!" The happy-go-lucky gaijin laughed and aimed his rocket launcher at one of the advancing stalkers. The trigger was pulled and a mind-shattering blast resounded throughout the usually still forest.

A/N: Woo! I got this chapter done. It'll get better in the near future, promise! I am alos currently putting up more chapters of my other stories, so be checking for them! See you later people, and please review! Flames, bring it on! I can handle anything spicy you guys dish up!