CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Ready or Not
"Kitten! I'm home!" Horo called as he hung up his coat. Silence drifted eerily around.
"Kitten?" More silence answered. Horo stalked into the bedroom, immediately noticing the chest had been messed with.
"Dammit!" Horo kicked the bed angrily.
"I won't say I told you so." He snickered.
"Shut up, Dragon, I'm in no mood!"
"I only spoke up to give you some insight." Horo looked thoughtful, mulling this over.
"Alright then, what's your brilliant advice?"
"Simple. He can't have got out of the city, yet, even if he chose the right path in the caves. Our best bet is to tail the cops. Kitten is a wanted man, and that's sure to attract attention. Someone is bound to call it in. Then we phone in and send them on a wild goose chase to delay them while we swoop in and get to him first." Horo smirked.
"Alright then, you can take over from here, but let me handle things when we get there."
"Fine." An evil smile adorned his face.
"Playing games of hide and seek, Kitten so scared, so very weak. I'll play along with your foolish game. Your stupid plans be put to shame. Countdown's over, you better run. Ready or not, Kitten, here I come!" he cackled and left, snatching his coat on the way.
Ren sighed and walked past a fountain in a park. He'd been all over, slowly but surely erasing all records of his and Horo's existence in Funbari. All that remained was the school and the police. He was going to hit the school first, as it would be easier. He had it all planned out. It would be as if they'd never been here. The two of them would move to his mountain vacation house, where they could live out their lives and forget all about this whole nightmare.
Ren walked up to the huge doors and pushed them open, stepping back in shock. He had almost completely forgotten what Horo had done here while he was in the mental institute. Blood was dried on the walls, obviously Dragon's work. Words were traced about in the crimson stain, hateful words of Horo's pain and Dragon's anger. He gulped back the lump in his throat and entered, stepping through lightly. He walked quickly, recognizing every step he took from his school days here that seemed so long ago.
He paused before going a different direction, going into Silva's class…the detention room. Ren sighed at all the memories rushing at him. This was where it all began. The start of all this mess with Horo. He walked in and ran his hand over a few desks as he passed by, staring out the huge windows into the schoolyard.
"Kitten ran and Kitten hid, but Dragon knows what Kitten did. Horo's in so deep he's blind, but I know what you had in mind. Thought you could just run away. Clever, Kitten, but here you'll stay. He really believed you, he's a fool. Now, my dear Kitten, let's us two minds duel. You've been playing my game and you've gotten quite good, but you forgot something that you never should. I invented this game, Kitten, and I made the rules. I have all the advantages, powers, and tools. You've been cheating, you naughty boy. I'll humble you back into Horo's sex toy. You've tricks up your sleeve but I have more. Just wait til you see what I have in store. The cops are coming, we need to go soon. We'll escape by the light of the rising moon. Hurry up, Kitten, we've no time to wait. Run now and talk later, it sounds like a date." Ren swung around to see Horo stood directly behind him, a twisted grin on his sadistic-looking face.
"Horo…I want us to run away together. To be free from this foolishness." He said softly.
"You said all you wanted was him for one night. One night! You ungrateful, spoilt brat! All you think about is yourself, and what YOU want! What about what Horo wants, huh? Did you think about that? He hates you just as much as I do, you bitch!" the Ainu shouted.
"I'm thinking of both of us! He needs to be away from this city! YOU never think about him! All you care about is killing and you're just hurting Horo because he knows that deep down, their blood is on HIS hands! He needs to be away from the death that surrounds him. In this city, in himself, in his HOME! Horo loves me and he knows I'm doing this for his sake!" Ren yelled back. Footsteps interrupted them both and they turned to the door, finding about a dozen guns trained on them.
"Freeze! Get down on the ground, NOW!" the head officer ordered. Ren was about to follow his demand, but Horo grabbed his wrist.
"I said, GET DOWN!" the man repeated. Blue and gold eyes met in silent understanding: Dragon had a plan.
"GET DOWN, DAMMIT! I don't want to have to hurt anybody, but we WILL shoot if you don't get down!" the officer barked. Horo made a few gestures with his eyes towards the window behind them, and Ren nodded, glancing back one last time to see what the police were doing now.
Suddenly, Ren jerked himself in front of Horo as a shot rang out in the dead silence. Horo's blood ran cold as Ren slumped in his arms, and he sank to the floor.
"Ren!" he called at him. Ren's golden eyes were wide in pain.
"Horo…" he made a painful face and gasped a little.
"Ren, you baka, why did you do that?" the Ainu asked, tears forming in his eyes. Ren ignored the question, cupping Horo's cheek in a hand.
"I love you, Horo." He said softly. Horo hugged him close as the cops looked on. Horo lifted up the Chinese's shirt, pulling it off of him and inspecting the wound, which was bleeding steadily. The bullet had gone straight through the other side, lodging itself eventually in a wall.
"Horo, I don't think any vital organs got hit, but we need to stop the blood flow." Dragon said. Horo nodded solemnly and ripped off strips of his own t-shirt, using it as make-shift bandages, trying to stop the bleeding.
"I'm a doctor, let me help." A kind-looking woman said from the door, but Horo pulled Ren protectively into his arms.
"You will not touch him." He hissed with a glare, and she stopped.
"Sir, if he doesn't receive professional medical assistance, he will bleed to death." She insisted from her place. Horo just kept glaring.
"I know you doctors. You act like you're all kind and loving and out to save people, but you're really just fakes. You act sweet and innocent to the public, a real life saver, but your patients are treated without dignity and threatened with drugs that will destroy them. You choose that job to control or gain respect from common persons. It makes you feel big that you are the deciding factor as to whether someone lives or dies, and you abuse that power for your own personal amusement. Don't preach at me about doctors. No one is getting near my Kitten." He said spitefully. Ren clutched at Horo's arm, interrupting him, his breathing heavy. Horo's attention immediately fell downwards. Ren swallowed a few times, struggling to find breath to speak.
"H-Horo…I'm d-dying, aren't I?" he choked out.
"No, Ren! No, you're not going to die. I won't let you!" he said, tears forming a second time as he held his lover closer in his lap, applying more pressure in attempt to stop the precious life-blood. Ren smiled with a far-off look.
"This is where we first met, remember?" he said in a whimsical tone.
"Ah. I remember." The Ainu replied, flashes of the scenes passing before his eyes. Ren was having obvious difficulty breathing and swallowing, his grip on Horo's arm weakening steadily.
"I-I just want you to know how much I l-love you, Horo-koi." He sputtered as some blood began to foam around the edges of his mouth.
"No, Ren, no. Don't talk like that. You can't leave me alone with him." Horo said quietly, the tears trailing down his cheeks. Ren's eyes followed their path and his hand moved up with effort to wipe the tears away, even though fresh ones soon replaced them.
"Ho…ro…k-k-kiss me one last t-time." He coughed up some blood onto the floor.
"No, Ren. If I kiss you, you won't be able to breath." The killer protested.
"O-Onegai, koi. I-I'm dying. Give me…one last…kiss." Ren pleaded. Horo swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, leaning down and kissing the younger softly, lovingly. Ren sighed into the kiss and Horo felt him smile as he watched the golden eyes close in content for the last time. He pulled away and hugged his lover to his chest, sobbing as his heart was shattered.
"I'm so sorry, sir…I suppose it's best to get him to the morgue…" the doctor spoke up calmly. Horo suddenly glared up at them all.
"You will not touch him." He repeated what he had said earlier.
"Sir, he's dead." An officer pointed out.
"NO! He's NOT dead! He's sleeping. He's sick. He needs me to look after him. He's going to get better. Sleep is good for him. He'll be well soon. See how he sleeps like an angel? He's going to be better in no time." He said, looking lovingly at Ren's face and brushing away the bangs in his face.
"Sir." The doctor attempted once again, taking a step closer. Horo pulled away, backing into the wall behind him, cradling Ren protectively. "Stay away from him!" he hissed with rage. The woman ignored him and took another step. He hopped up quickly and kicked the window, breaking the glass, then jumped out, rushing behind some trees with Ren carried bridal style. He ducked down low as bullets rained down on the area, hitting trees and the ground around him. His hands fumbled around, but he found the hidden entrance to the caves and lowered the Chinese boy's body in first before getting in himself and closing it up again. Horo snatched Ren up and slunk through the caves and back to the house, setting Ren gently onto the bed and cleaning him up with a sponge and water. He dressed the bullet wound properly and stared at Ren from across the room.
"He's gone, Horo." The Ainu said in a humbled and regretful tone.
"No, he's not, Dragon. You've been against him all along, so I don't want to hear another word from you." The poor boy said bitterly.
"…I know what he meant to you. I…have trouble trusting people. I don't need other people. You know that. That's why you wanted me around to begin with. I didn't realize Kitten was telling the truth until now. He took a bullet for you. I should have been better to him. I know that now. The most I can do is this. Offer you my sympathy, regret his death and my own actions, and avenge him."
"He's not dead, dammit! God, fuck it all! Go to HELL, Dragon! I'm sick of you bullshitting me!" Horo yelled.
"You still want to get his revenge, don't you?"
"…yes."
"Then listen up. I have a plan…"