Author Notes: I hope everyone is enjoying the end of the Summer of 2020, and you are all staying safe.

As you can see there is an update that happened significantly sooner than a year. Only two months in this case. I'm hoping the final updates for this story will be in greater frequency. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, I'm hoping that 2020 will allow me to mark the end of this story.

The last chapter ended on quite a cliffhanger. This chapter will begin shortly before the events of that cliffhanger, so we can see a few things from Yu's perspective. Personally, I like it when certain events are played from different perspectives. I especially liked it when I saw it happen during the first three episodes of the second season of Lost since it tied things together in that sequence of events.

As usual, I hope you will all enjoy reading this chapter. Be sure to leave a review and happy reading.

/

Past is Prologue

Chapter Ten – One Last Supply Run – Part II

/

Beyond our control

Many things fit that description

Control what you can

/

Trust is beautiful, and it is supposed to be mutual. Trust is something that goes both ways. When one has a genuine bond with another, it is natural for trust between the two to be forged. Not always the case, but it is the likely outcome. Likewise, the opposite would most likely be true as well. When it is lacking, it falls apart. For the case of Azumi and Yu, it was the former. However, for a majority of the other survivors, it was the latter.

Azumi and Yu did not hate their fellow survivors. They had formed genuine friendships with some of them, especially their weapon smith, Minato. However, their relationships with the older generation was strained at best. This was especially true for the past three years. They fought so the group could continue to survive. Any criticism that both sides had for each other ultimately didn't amount to much due to their need of mutual survival. Those days were quickly coming to an end, and there was still some bad blood to this day.

The moment Kouta spoke with Azumi, it set off red flags in both Azumi and Yu's heads. When Azumi and Yu looked to each other, they both knew they were on the same wavelength. It only took a moment of contemplation before a decision was made. After Yu nodded his head, Azumi was willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Azumi knew Yu had her back if things went array. At first, things appeared to proceed smoothly.

When Yu was left behind to continue getting supplies, everything seemed okay. All was quiet, and he managed to gather a fairly large number of items that Minato could use. During that time, his hand was not too far from his knife. Despite that, things seemed to be all right.

For a few moments, Yu thought that maybe, 'just maybe', everything would be fine. After he wrapped things up here, he thought he might be able to check on things. Unfortunately, that cautious optimism was quickly dashed as what happened next was no surprise.

Yu's ears perked when a door opened. He instinctively knew it was too soon for Azumi to have returned. The fact this person didn't say anything upon entering made it crystal clear this was a stranger. Yu grabbed the handle of his knife and pulled it out. However, he adjusted how he was holding it. He held the knife so it would be hidden underneath his sleeve.

As Yu held onto the knife, he took a breath. He decided to approach the newcomer as he stepped out into the open. He asked, "Who are you?"

The man before him was easily two heads taller than him sporting shoulder length hair. He was gruff looking. There was a stubble on his chin, and the frown he wore appeared to be his default facial expression. His voice sounded as deep as Yu expected when he answered, "I appreciate you making this easy. Saves me a lot of trouble."

Yu repeated, "Who are you?"

"Daiki." The man answered, "I think you have an idea of who I'm with."

It only took a few seconds for it to dawn on Yu as his eyes widened, "You're with that group that wants to hunt down Sis."

The gruff man identified as Daiki clapped his hands as he sarcastically praised, "Bravo. You managed to get it right on the first try. If only I had a prize for you."

Understandably, Yu tensed up as he questioned, "What the hell? How many of you are left? Why don't you give up and leave us alone?"

"Sorry, kid." Daiki twisted his neck, and Yu could hear an audible crack as he responded with, "We give up when the boss does, and she doesn't."

"But a lot of you guys already died." Yu pointed out, "Do you really think coming after us is a good idea? Do you really want to pile on them? Just leave us alone already, and you won't have to join them."

"No need." Daiki crossed his arms, "Things are already working out for us."

"What do you …? No …" Yu quickly concluded, "You have Kouta leading my sister into a trap, aren't you?"

Without bothering to deny it, Daiki outright confirmed, "That is correct. You're a lot smarter than I thought." He chuckled as he said, "Should be sprung around now."

"You bastards …" Yu gritted his teeth as he demanded, "Was my father in on it?"

"Huh?" Daiki paused for a moment as he raised an eyebrow before replying, "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer." Yu insisted as he took a step forward.

"Of course not." Daiki crossed his arms as he asked, "Did you actually think he'd sell out his own daughter?"

"…" Yu remained silent.

"Huh …" Daiki remarked in a hint of disgust, "That says a lot." He then waved it off, "It doesn't matter. I think it's about time for us to join the rest. If you come willingly, your punishment will be less severe. You have my word."

Yu did not move as he replied, "I'd rather take none."

Daiki shook his head, "Not an option."

"If that's how you're gonna go about it, this'll be a fair warning." Yu lowered his voice as he warned, "If you don't leave us alone, you are gonna regret it."

"I can't say I don't appreciate that. However …" Daiki then snapped his fingers.

It was at that moment Yu's ears perked once again. A large man he couldn't see curled his arm around his neck and had him in a headlock. His feet were lifted off the ground, and he could not touch it no matter how much he stretched. Yu couldn't get a good look at the man, but he based it on what he felt, this man was well built. He could probably toss Yu like a pebble.

With a grin on his face, Daiki finished his point with, "I'm sure you of all people can appreciate the classic distraction. You got him, Eiji?"

The large man identified as Eiji replied, "Yeah. I got him. He ain't getting out of this one."

"Good." Daiki order, "Let's take him to Etsuko. I'm sure she'll want him to join in."

Eiji complied, "Okay." The man barely made it two steps before he suddenly cried out in pain.

The cries were loud enough to catch the attention of his cohort. Daiki stopped, and he turned around with widened eyes as he asked in horror, "What was that? What happened?"

Eiji let go of Yu's neck as he fell to his knees clenching his stomach. The midsection of his stomach appeared to be covered in red. Daiki turned to Yu to see a knife covered in blood. It didn't take him long to put two and two together."

"You bastard!" Daiki immediately charged at Yu like a raging bull. "I'll kill you!"

Yu did his best to move out of the way like a bull fighter even if his dodge was less than graceful as he rolled to the side. When he was right side up, he planted his feet down on the ground and coasted to a stop. He held his knife in hand ready to go.

The man clearly underestimated Yu as he charged at him again. He left himself vulnerable for Yu's counter offensive. When Daiki kicked his foot out, Yu wasted no time in stabbing him in the leg. Yu tried to stab the man's knee, but he didn't have the luxury of being as precise as he would've wished. Either way, the attack did the job. As soon as the knife dug into Daiki's leg, he knew it was a solid hit. The man cried out as he was down on one knee. Before the man had a chance to react, Yu swung his knife.

It cut into the flesh of the man's neck severing the wind pipe. As the man fell to the ground, he attempted to put pressure on the wound to no avail as the blood poured out.

Yu merely commented, "Guess you aren't used to people who fight back." He then turned his attention to the other man, Eiji. He walked over to him and apologized, "Sorry, but I need to finish this. Sis and my old man need my help."

Without hesitation, Yu finished Eiji off by stabbing his throat. Yu saw the light leave the man's eyes before telling him, "This was wasteful."

Without sparing Daiki or Eiji's bodies another look, Yu rushed to save his sister and father. It wasn't hard to find where they were. There was a guard outside one of the nearby warehouses. However, rather than doing his job and keeping an eye out for unexpected guests, he was looking inside to see what was going on. Yu didn't mind since it made his job easier.

/

Even though the man should have been keeping a watch outside, he couldn't help himself. There was a show going on, and he wasn't going to miss out on it. All he needed was to see a few minutes of it, and he'd be satisfied.

The man was grinning. Their goal, their enemy, was restrained, and they were at Estuko's mercy. Justice would be served against the one who killed half the group. Everything was going according to plan. Then, something poked his skin before he then felt it tear into him.

In a matter of seconds, something sharp and pointy broke through the skin of his back before it quickly traveled into his body. It was sharp and metallic. When his mouth opened, a hand covered it to muffle any sound he could make. The object was then withdrawn before his mind could register what was happening.

The sudden pain in his back caused the man to bend over. He then felt additional weight on his back before he felt the sharp object puncture his neck. Before he could cry out, a hand was covering his mouth again. His screams continued to be muffled as his eyes desperately looked to see who his assailant was.

In all his desperation, the man was barely able to catch a glimpse of the young boy who was pushing his knife into his neck. That glimpse would be the last thing the man would see in the world of the living. In those moments, the man's eyes went into the back of his head. There were only whites in his eyes as he knelt.

/

The man was bigger than Yu, but when Yu converted him into being dead weight that no longer mattered. Yu was forced to pull the man's body away, and Yu struggled as he pulled the man's body out of view. He gritted his teeth as he pulled the man away from anyone else's view. Yu knew time was of the essence, so he didn't have time to hide the body. All he could do was pull the body away from the door and leave him outside before entering the warehouse himself. He could only hope there were no other patrolling guards who were supposed to be combing the area outside.

When Yu entered, he saw that both his sister and father had been restrained by two people each. It looked like one person restrained one arm, and another did the same for the other. If that wasn't enough, his sister and father were surrounded by at least a dozen people. There were several men and women around them. The one in the center was a woman who Yu assumed was this Estuko. All eyes were on their captives rather than the entrance. This gave Yu a few moments to strategized, but only a few.

It was only a matter of time before they realized something was wrong. There was also the chance they may do something unspeakable to Azumi if he was too slow. They were rather obsessed with targeting her, and he didn't want to think of how things would end for her if he didn't interfere. The very notion was enough to make his stomach turn.

Yu knew he couldn't afford to panic. Yu also understood he couldn't stealthy take down any of them without giving himself away. Unlike the man he just killed outside the warehouse, they were all within each other's line of sight. If he killed one, the rest would see him, and he'd be taken down in seconds. If he died, there would be no one else left to save his family.

After taking that into consideration, Yu understood his best chance was to pull off an attack that could free his sister and hopefully his father as well. The odds would still probably be against them, but they might have a chance of getting out of this alive.

Charging in was out of the question. They'd take him out, and they'd probably kill Azumi immediately. Yu instinctively knew there had to be another way to pull this off. Yu took a breath and quickly scanned the area to see there was a loft above them.

Yu surmised that if he was quiet, he could position himself above the people holding his sister and father and give them a surprise attack they didn't see coming. If he took down one of the men restraining Azumi, it might be enough for Azumi to break free and fight back. If he had a moment, he would free his father as quickly as he could. If it worked, it could turn the tables instantly. He knew there were a few too many 'ifs' to consider, but he didn't have much of a choice.

As luck would have it, he was 'very' close to the loft staircase, but that was the only bit of luck. The problem was he knew loft areas tended to make some sound when people tread on them due to the pressure of the weight. He would need to take it one step at a time. He also knew after he climbed to the top of the stairs, he'd be on the opposite side to pull off the surprise attack. It would take him time to walk around the loft area to be in a jumping position to take down one of the men restraining Azumi. Unfortunately, he had to accept that he had no choice. He had to proceed.

As Yu began his approach to his position, he kept his ears open to what was going on as best as he could. He could hear some of what Estuko was saying clear enough. Fortunately for him, this allowed him to make his ascension up the stairs easier since her voice masked the sound his feet made when the made contact with the stir.

With each step he ascended, he felt the need to look over his shoulder, but they were none the wiser to his presence. All eyes were on the main show Estuko was putting up. The voices were enough to mask any sound his steps made. He was also able to hear a few things as he played the stealth game.

"You bastard!" The voice unmistakably belonged to his father Haru as he cried out in rage, "What the hell is all of this?"

"The only thing I can do." Another voice Yu recognized responded with, "The two of you have to go." It undoubtedly belonged to Kouta.

It was then Yu heard his father shout, "You … You sold us out! You sold my daughter out!"

Kouta's only had this to say in his defense, "All she does is keep causing trouble for everyone, and all you did was enable her."

Hearing that was more than enough for Yu to confirm that Kouta was indeed a traitor. Pulling a fast one wasn't surprising, but this was another level. He gritted his teeth. Even as his blood began to boil, he knew he had to control himself for his sister's sake. He had to take a breath. He did the best he could to muffle the sound. He was grateful that his father and Kouta were so loud while they spoke.

After a bit of anxiety, he made it to the loft. Unfortunately, he still had to walk around the loft to get to the position. He just needed that show to keep going for a few more minutes until he got to the jump point. He could only hope that he still had time. He did his best to keep his ears open for the developing situation.

At one point, Yu heard his sister speak, "You … You're their leader, aren't you?" He could tell she was nervous. Given her pediment, he could hardly blame her. However, that isn't what concerned him.

"Bravo. Bravo. Gotta give you points for getting it right on the first try. For that, I'll reward you by telling you my name is Estuko." Something about how this woman spoke caused a chill to run down Yu's spine. He didn't look down and did his best to keep moving.

Yu was almost in position when he heard his sister point out they were defending themselves against Estuko's men. That did little to appease Estuko's fury as he could hear the slap ringing from where he was. Things were escalating.

When Yu was only a few feet from the ideal spot he heard, "I see you have a couple of lovely scars on that face of yours. I'm sure you wouldn't mind a few new ones being added to the collection. I'm sure your brother and father will enjoy watching your punishment!"

That caused Yu's eyes to widen, and he looked over the railing to see Estuko was holding a switchblade. He didn't need to take a guess on what Estuko was going to use it for. It was then that he saw Haru attempting to break free of the people restraining him as he called out, "Let her go! She doesn't deserve this! If you want someone to punish, kill me!"

The pleading fell on deaf ears as Estuko sliced Azumi's face, and she was having fun doing it. Estuko had officially graduated from a grandstanding to torture. If he didn't interfere soon, things were gonna get much worse. He was almost in position to do something. If he didn't get this right, it would be over for all of them.

Yu looked over the loft's railing, and he could see his target. He knew the moment he leapt off this, it'll be do or die. No second chances. He had to make this count for everything it was worth. He had to take a breath.

In the moments before he made the move, Yu felt as if the world had gone silent except for the sound of his heartbeat. He took a breath, looked down, and he took the leap. Gravity did the rest of the job.

/

Everything that happened in the following few seconds simultaneously felt as if it was playing in slow motion and in fast forward in Yu's mind. He felt his knife dig into one of the men holding Azumi. Between the blade and the force of his body pushing down, it felt as if he cut through cheese, and the man's body gave way.

It was then Yu could see that his surprise attack worked. Azumi's arm was free, and she was able to then kill the other man holding her which released her other arm. Azumi was back in action.

In this moment, Yu looked at the men who were still holding his father. He held up the knife and yelled, "You're all gonna pay for this!"

As Yu freed his father, Azumi pulled out her gun. She knew who the first target needed to be. The leader known as Estuko. It was a little personal. Courteously of the fresh cut on her face. Azumi could still feel the blood dripping down. In this case, personal and practical went hand in hand.

Estuko appeared to have foresight of what was about to happen. The moment Azumi was free Estuko made a tactical retreat. As Estuko fled, several of her men were in the path between Azumi's weapon and Estuko's head. It was then that Azumi was forced to change the trajectory of her weapon before she fired.

Azumi was able to pull the trigger twice. She saw the bullets fly straight through the two men's foreheads and the back of their heads exploded as a result. However, the number of men that were charging at her outnumbered the bullets.

A large man managed to kick out his foot and made contact with Azumi's stomach. She felt the sole of his shoe dig into her stomach causing her mouth to go agape before sending her flying a few feet. When she went flying, Azumi felt that she lost grip of her gun. Her mind was spinning at that moment as she tried to keep track of what was going on in the chaos.

While that kick had knocked the wind out of Azumi's sails, she knew the situation forced her to power through this. When the large man was over her, he attempted to smash her face in with his foot as if he was attempting to crush an insect. Azumi's eyes widened before she forced her body to roll to the side. She felt the wind caused by the man's foot hit her head.

Azumi then used the momentum of the roll to get herself back on her feet. She had more than one opponent to deal with, and she didn't have her gun anymore. The leader was nowhere in sight. Based on what Azumi saw, Estuko most likely ran away. She would need to worry about Estuko later and focus on the problem at hand.

Luckily for Azumi, she still had her knife. She took out her knife as she faced her opponents. She saw unlike the previous fights there was a mixture of men and women this time. The first female who attempted to attack Azumi proved to be nothing special. She attempted to slice Azumi with a knife only for Azumi to effortlessly dodge to the side before proceeding to jam a knife into her attacker's throat.

"Gah!" The woman gargled as blood began to pour from both her mouth and throat. When Azumi pulled her knife out, the woman fell to her knees while clenching her throat before falling down entirely.

The man that managed to kick her before was then charging at Azumi in a blind rage. If Azumi had to guess, she just took out his girlfriend. Luckily for her, she was ready for him this time as she jumped out of the way. She then proceeded to kick his back to send him forward, and he crashed on the floor.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one she had to worry about. As soon as she dodged one attacker, there was another one that tried to punch her face in. Azumi had to duck underneath that. She then kicked her foot out to ward off the attacker.

After defensively dodging two attacks in a row, a third male attacker tried to get the drop on Azumi. However, Azumi was able to see him coming much sooner. As a result, the moment the man attempted to punch Azumi, she was able to move her head out of the way, and she proceeded to stab him in the gut.

The man's mouth was left ajar before Azumi proceeded to kick him away. When she saw the man fall, her eyes noticed her gun was next to the man's body. Her eyes became fixated on the gun that she almost didn't notice another attacker coming at her. She had to jump out of the way and roll on the ground.

"Crap …" Azumi said to herself as she put her knife back.

The fourth attacker tried to do a follow-up attack only for Azumi to block him when she held up her arms. She could feel his fist pushing into her arms. It caused her body to move back. Her feet were pushed back an inch from the sudden impact. However, she was able to maintain her footing. She then pushed back on attacker who appeared surprised by Azumi's ability to maintain her guard.

That moment gave Azumi a brief opening. She kicked out her foot, and it hit his chest which caused him to move backward, but it wasn't enough to knock him to the ground. She could also see that the two earlier attackers were by his side, and they were even joined by a couple of more people. Dodging and attacking wasn't going to cut it.

Seeing that it was do or die, Azumi dove for her gun when she saw them all charging at her. In one motion, she was able to grab onto the handle. As soon as she had her gun in hand again, she proceeded to fire several bullets. Not each bullet was an instant kill, but she saw most of the targets had gone down. The ones that weren't dead could be heard groaning and crying in pain. Azumi was certain that most of them would most likely be dead soon enough.

After firing the gun several times, Azumi realized there was only one bullet left. She had been handling this weapon long enough to tell by its weight alone. All the additional ammunition was left with her possessions at camp. Even if she wanted to reload, no one would give her the luxury of time to do so.

At this moment, there was only one man left standing to oppose her. He was the man who managed to kick her down earlier, and he only had a bullet wound to his shoulder. He was ready to finish this.

Azumi grinned at the man. She knew she didn't want to waste a good bullet on him. She holstered her weapon and pulled out a knife that she flipped around as she held the blade pointing downward. The man then charged.

Like a matador, Azumi waited until the last moment as the man charged at her. Azumi side stepped out of the way just before impact. As she avoided the attack, she sprung around and swung her arm around and embedded her knife into the back of her attacker. She could feel the knife's journey as it broke through the skin of the man's back and moved through his insides. She was certain the blade was able to strike through his heart.

Azumi could barely hear the man gasp before she roughly pulled out the knife. The man collapsed on the ground, but Azumi did not have time to pay him any mind. She had to purse the leader, so she could put an end to this.

Luckily for Azumi, Estuko made it easy for her. The leader was rushing at her. After making a retreat, she had paid attention to what was going on in the fight. Following the holstering of the gun, Estuko had made her move.

When Estuko charged at Azumi she held her knife out and attempted to slash at her. Azumi held out her knife and was able to parry to the attack. Azumi was able to stand her ground. The two combatant's knives remained pressed against the other. Their teeth were gritted as they attempted to overpower the other. One of them had to give.

It was then that Azumi decided to let go of her knife. The sudden release of pressure caused Estuko to move forward suddenly which gave Azumi her opening. She proceeded to punch the woman in the face, and she knocked the woman to the ground. Estuko dropped her knife in the process.

As the leader was on the ground, Azumi mocked her, "Too used to having people 'not' fight back? Pathetic." Azumi then spat on the ground.

When Estuko attempted to get up, Azumi kicked her foot out. She made contact and knocked Estuko's head back like it was a football. When Estuko landed flat on her back, she appeared to be rendered unconscious. Azumi then looked down to see that her knife fell only a couple of feet away. When Azumi retrieved her knife, something caught her eye.

Azumi could see her brother was still struggling with his opponents. Her brother was on the ground attempting to fight off the man who looked like he was about to bash his head in. Their father was nowhere in sight, but that was not the priority.

As Yu struggled, Azumi could hear her brother call out, "Azumi!"

When Azumi heard her brother, she acted on pure instinct. There was no thought process behind what she was about to do next. In order to save her brother, Azumi was forced to break her concentration off of Estuko. Her eyes were no longer focused on the woman by her feet.

Azumi tossed the knife up and caught it by blade in midair. In a split second, she wound up her arm as if she was throwing a pitch and flung it towards the man. She saw the knife spin around before it made contact with its target.

The intended target seemed to notice something was coming at him as he looked up. The man barely had a chance to react as the tip broke through his right eye and entered his skull. The man may have lost one eye, but his world went completely dark before he had a chance to hit the ground.

What was left of the attackers were stunned by this as all their eyes glazed towards their falling friend. This gave Azumi enough time to pull out the spear Minato made for her. She extended it, and it was ready for a fight.

Before they had a chance to react, Azumi launched herself towards the next closest one. She thrusted her spear upward and the tip pierced through the tender flesh of her neck and out the other side. The woman could feel her windpipe had been severed before Azumi roughly withdrew her spear and the woman fell to the ground.

/

After Yu had been rescued from certain death, he proceeded to push the man off him, and he withdrew his sister's knife from the man's skull while also pulling out a part of his eye along with it. Yu cringed at the sight of this as he quickly attempted to clean it off in a rush job.

Yu looked to see that his sister was doing most of the work in terms of taking care of the remaining people. Yu knew he couldn't let his sister do all the work. As someone looked like they were focused on his sister, he stabbed the would-be attacker. That was one less attacker his sister needed to worry about. Unfortunately, Yu neglected to pay attention to his back.

/

As the man was about to lift his knife at Yu, the man suddenly came to a stop as the tip of a blade broke through his forehead. The man was killed instantly as his body became lip and the knife fell from his hands with a loud clang as it hit the floor.

Yu then saw his sister was standing behind him. While Yu was attempting to do his part, Azumi had her eyes on her brother's back. She then shoved her spear through the back of that man's skull. Azumi then placed her foot on the back of this new corpse back while holding onto the spear with both hands. She gripped the weapon tightly with both hands and pressed her foot down before pulling back and kicking the man forward. The man unsurprisingly fell face first and the ground underneath his head became covered in a pool of blood.

Yu could even see the hole Azumi made when she impaled the man. It was moments like this that made Yu grateful Azumi was his sister. He never would have made it this far without her.

When Yu stood up, he could see the fight was over. Azumi had defeated her opponents and she had helped him defeat his. Their father laid unconscious, but he still drew breath. What mattered was that they were alive. However, the moment he looked upon his sister, he felt as if the air in his lungs had left him.

/

It happened in a matter of seconds, but Azumi felt it play in her head in slow motion. By the time her eyes could look down again, she already felt something that caused her mouth to go agape. Something sharp cut into her lower back. She felt the metal traveled through her since before remerging from her front to the left of her naval.

Azumi looked down to see it was knife. A long one. The one holding said knife was none other than the leader. Estuko was grinning with pride as she pulled the knife out as roughly as she could.

"Ah!?" Azumi couldn't stop herself from crying out in pain as she felt the edge of the knife cut her from the inside. She couldn't be sure, but that knife might've physically cut into one of her organs.

Azumi clenched her stomach area as she fell to her knees. Even as she attempted to put pressure on the wound, she felt herself bleeding from the back. Unfortunately, her bleeding stomach was not her only concern.

She could feel the eyes staring back at her. She glanced over her shoulder to see the leader standing up straight. She raised her knife up. Azumi knew what was about to happen next. She remained kneeling. She then took a deep breath. She did not make a sound. She did not cry for help nor did she plead for her life. There was only silence as she pressed her lips together.

Before Estuko could swing her arm down, something obscured Azumi's sight. It was only a brief moment, but she could see that an obscurity was managed to knock the leader off her feet. They both brawled down on the ground. It took Azumi a moment to realize the obscurity was her brother, and he was struggling with the leader on the ground.

Azumi whispered, "Yu …"

Yu was struggling against Estuko as he declared, "Leave my sister along you cowardly bitch!"

As the confrontation began, Estuko merely said, "Don't think I'm gonna let you off easy because you're a kid!"

/

Azumi was on her knees as she attempted to prevent herself from bleeding out. She was breathing heavily as she attempted to put pressure on the wound. Unfortunately, she wasn't equipped to actually close the wound. She needed to get back to camp as quickly as possible, but with Estuko alive that wasn't happening.

As Azumi continued to breathe heavily, she looked up to see that Yu was still struggling with Estuko. She was more than a head taller than him and had years of experience over him. It wouldn't be easy. It was then that Azumi remembered she still had her gun. It was in her holster, and it was time to use it.

When Azumi held up her gun, she reminded herself that there was only one bullet left. However, that was all Azumi would need. She did her best to keep pressure on her wound with her right hand while she held the gun with her left. She saw that her brother was still struggling against her opponent. They were close together, so it wouldn't be an easy shot. She knew she would need to make the shot count.

As Azumi held up the gun, it felt heavier even though there was only one bullet. She could not hold it straight enough to be sure of herself. She took her hand off her stomach and held onto the gun. When the gun was steadier, it was still a little shaky. In a moment, it became clear it wasn't going to be an easy target either.

Azumi knew she only had a few moments to do something, so she cried out, "Yu, kick her!"

Yu did as Azumi instructed. Yu kicked his foot out, and he was able to create a separation between himself and the bandit leader. A moment later, Azumi pulled the trigger and the loud 'bang' could be heard echoing, Azumi immediately saw she did not miss her target as the blood painted the area. Azumi saw the bullet enter one side of Estuko's neck, and she was certain it exited through the other.

After it happened, Azumi could tell Estuko was having difficulty coming to terms on what happened. Both Azumi and Yu were looking at her as she slowly began to realize her situation as her hand slowly made its way to the hole that was gushing out blood. Estuko briefly touched the bloody area of her neck only to move her hand in front of her eyes to see it covered in blood. Her eyes widened, her body shook, and her mouth was agape before she began to cough. Blood began to trickling down her mouth followed by a little more.

A moment later, Azumi witnessed all the signs of life leave Estuko's body as she slowly bent over and fell face down on the stomach. Azumi and Yu's enemy had been defeated. Neither of them would pay her any more mind as she slowly succumbed to her wounds. They wanted her to suffer alone.

With their opponent down, Azumi place a hand on her wound again while she holstered her weapon with the other. Yu ran over to his sister and knelt beside her.

"Sis!" Yu's eyes widened as he saw the pool of blood around his sister continuing to expand.

When Yu was about reach out, Azumi grabbed his hand as she ordered him, "Don't touch it! I'll be fine!"

"But Sis …" Yu was only able to say this much.

"Get help! I got this!" Azumi placed her other hand on the wound as she repeated, "I got this."

"Right!" Yu nodded as he reassured her, "Don't worry, Sis … It's going to be all right …" Yu was off like a shot.

Azumi continued to press down on her stomach wound as her brother helped her. She did her best to remain as calm as he slowly breathed in and out. It was difficult for her to do so when she could hear her brother call out at the top of his lungs, "Help! I need some help over here!"

While biting her lip, Azumi laid on her back clutching her wound as she felt the warm liquid continuing to spread underneath her. She kept repeating, "I got this …" She repeated softly to herself, "I got this … I got this …" She took another breath as she slowly repeated, "I got this …"

/

Author Notes: For this chapter, I originally planned on having things go slightly different. This battle would happen, but it would also involve other members of the camp. I considered having some of Estuko's gang kill a few people in Azumi and Yu's camp, including their mother. I had actually written some rough draft scenes to reflect that turn of events including Azumi and Yu grieving over their mother's death.

When it came to writing this chapter, I decided against it. Ultimately, I decided to have it concentrated a distance from the camp. Due to Estuko's cowardice, I figured it would make sense that she would want to kill/torture someone further away from potential reinforcements. Additionally, Kouta would not have wanted to pull this off too close to the camp since even he would've been suspicious and/or less willing to go along with the plan.

The fight against Estuko more or less remained the same. I wrote the scene with Yu kicking Estuko away and having Azumi shoot her long before I even wrote Chapter Nine of this story. It is something that had been in the vault, and I was happy to bring it to life in this chapter.

We are getting closer to the end of this story, and I look forward to bringing it to a close as soon as possible. I hope you will all enjoy the remaining chapters. Be sure to provide a review after reading. Your feedback is always appreciated.