Chapter 4: The revenge

Chapter characters: Akai Shuichi, Gin, Chianti, Jodie Starling, Kir.

Chapter genre: angst, crime.

It was just another night of the many sleepless nights for Shuichi. Since Akemi's death and every time he puts his head on a pillow, all these thoughts would hunt his mind preventing him from enjoying a peaceful sleep. He hated Gin and Jodie was yet another reason to fuel his hate and another reason to make him lose sleep.

With no sound to permeate the silence, he laid in the dark staring at the ceiling until the peace was interrupted by the sound of chocked cries coming from the room next to his. He jumped from his bed and raced to Jodie's room where she was lying still on her bed. Tens of things being processed in her subconscious and it all came to her awareness in the form of a nightmare.

Shu rested a hand on her arm gently to wake her and it didn't take long for her to shoot up straight in bed covered in sweat.

"it's okay, it's just a dream… it's me, Shuichi" he softly said.

Jodie looked around her relieved to see him. It was a terrible nightmare, Gin's Images flashed through her head all at once and it was frightening.

How will I be able to sleep after that? Will I ever be able to sleep? Why me? What the hell? She thought as she lowered her body back into a laying position looking back at Shu.

"did I wake you? I'm sorr…"

"No, you didn't wake me. You okay now?"

"I'm fine" Jodie answered printing the best smile she could fake on her face. She felt like a nuisance, risking his mission at first and now waking him up in the middle of the night, she knew he had enough problems to deal with and she didn't want to cause him any more troubles.

"okay" Akai gently said pointing towards his room "I'm right next to you, tell me if you need anything"

He stood up examining her with one last glance before he left the room. Jodie turned to face the ceiling with her blue eyes wide open. Despite the nightmare ending, a ghastly feeling prolonged through her.

The door to her room opened again exposing one Shu holding the cover and pillow from his room.

"can I spend the night here?" he asked from his spot next to the door. Jodie's face lit up as she nodded, it was exactly what she needed and it was a testament to their friendship that she didn't need to elaborate to Shu. He placed his cover on the ground next to her bed and curled up with it.

Eventually, they both surrendered to sleep, who knew the floor was the perfect place for him to finally visit dreamland.

One week after that, and after the incident, Jodie's feelings developed to accept what happened. She somehow convinced herself that she shouldn't just sit and cry all day. She had to be strong for her parents and for everyone who was a victim of the organization.

Shuichi helped her a lot through the process. He didn't ask her about the incident fearing that she wasn't ready to talk but whenever she was ready to open up, he was that listening ear encouraging every decision she made, he was her friend, her protector, and her support.

He didn't tell anyone about what happened. All it took is for her to say 'about what happened!' he cut her off by saying 'I'm not telling anyone' and he kept his promise.

Jodie finally decided to get back to her apartment. She was already feeling better and didn't want to bother him more than she already did. Although for Shu, it was no bother at all.

Two weeks after…

"Aniki, you're right about Riku, but Haruto! I highly doubt he'd rat us out" said vodka from his spot on the driver seat inside the black Porsche.

."Highly doubt is not enough" Gin lit up another cigarette as he went on "we need to be certain he won't and this can only be achieved by silencing him forever"

"Also, killing both would be more fun!" Chianti cheered from the back seat "so what exactly is the plan?"

"You with me, we're going to get Riku. Korn and vodka will get Haruto…" Gin explained the plan finally moving his gaze to Kir who was also sitting in the back seat "And you, you're gonna be accompanying vodka and Korn, make sure to clean up the mess"

Akai licked his lips in satisfaction, Green eyes fixed on the phone screen staring at the brief message he's just received from Kir who continued feeding him information ever since she regained her standing in the Organization.

'Assassination, Beika palace, Gin and Chianti, 6 pm'

His face split into a wide smile as he stared at it longer than he needed to.

This was exactly what he's been waiting for, like a message from karma giving him a chance to take revenge from the one who killed his love, and raped his friend –his very, very special friend- and killed a countless number of people.

Shu placed the phone on the nightstand before pressing his cheek to the pillow. The warmth and darkness enveloped him but sleep failed to visit him that night, causing him to wake up in the morning to deeper, darker circles underneath his eyes that strangely made him even more handsome.

The first rays of the early morning sun fell slanting through the window. Sleepless green eyes kept its gaze fixed on the clock which read 5:59 am. Soon as the minute passed moving to 6:00, he sat up stretching every muscle of his body.

He made himself a cup of coffee then rushed to the shower.

Finishing his morning shower, Shuichi looked at his phone for the sixth time in ten minutes. Time slowly passed as he waited for 9 am to come making it an appropriate time to call James without seeming suspicious. He was planning to act independently of the FBI which is not really that unusual to him. He had to take that bastard out by himself, with his bare hands.

"…I need a car" Akai said after greeting the old man.

"I thought you have a car"

"Not that, a practical car"

"What for?" James asked carefully, he found it strange for Shuichi to ask for a car all of the sudden.

"For a just in case scenario, I'm having a bad feeling about the upcoming days"

"But what about your disguise?"

"I see no harm in owning a good car while disguised. Besides, I'm not gonna keep it in the Kudos garage" Shuichi reassured.

"Okay, would the red mustang be good?"

"It'd be perfect" his lips twisted into a smile "at 4 pm, in the parking lot of Danny's"

"What! You mean you want it today? That's impossible"

"I'm sure you can handle it, James, I'll be waiting there"

Shuichi inhaled deeply letting the smoke seep into his cells, cramming as much nicotine into his system as he could before the mission starts. It was his love, his comfort, his companion, and consistency as well as being his nineteenth cigarette for the day with three canned coffees as lunch.

Putting on his Subaru mask, he headed to Danny's… and there was the mustang waiting for him, keys on one of the tiers. It felt satisfying but was too early to celebrate seeing that he had to lose the two foreigners who happened to be FBI agents James had sent to watch him. Shuichi expected that. He felt himself being suspicious and while James trusts him, he was smart enough to know something was wrong.

Eventually, he lost them.

Gin stopped his car in a park at the end of the street with a fair distance away from Beika palace, the park was empty and with a clear view of the whole street which made it a perfect spot to survey the development of the mission.

"Fifteen minutes till the target shows up, but keep your eyes open he might show up at any moment" he said through the earphone.

"my eyes are always open they don't call me Chianti for nothing" Chianti let out a short chuckle before she continued "I miss that so much, I didn't get to kill anyone for like three months"

"Just keep your eyes peeled" Gin ordered reaching for his field glasses. He looked towards Beika palace, then at the building across where Chianti had already sat up her sniping equipment, and then at the window to his right where was a man with a ski mask holding a pistol at his head, all he could distinguish from him was his squinted eyes and some of his strawberry blonde hair.

"Put your hands where I can see them"

"What!" Gin said calmly wearing his usual grin.

"I don't like to repeat myself"

"Well, that makes two of us"

A bullet left a sniper rifle shattering the air for 300 yards and resting on the head of Subaru causing him to totter to the left. But he soon regained his balance pointing his pistol on Gin again.

"Who are you?" Gin slowly asked as his grin disappeared.

"I knew she'd go for the head" Subaru smiled, he was wearing the bulletproof knit cap underneath the ski mask that Dr. Agasa made for him back when he had to fake his death "so that's where she is" he muttered, pulling out another pistol from his pocket, pointing it with his left hand at Chianti.

Boom, he shot.

A loud yell of Chianti reached Gin through the earpiece. She was shot straight into her right wrist.

"Guess she's not gonna be sniping for a while" said Subaru, sliding one gun back into his pocket.

"That's impossible, at 300 yards it's impossible to shoot with a handgun"

Subaru smiled again at the confused look on Gin's face, that freak who never displays emotions is actually looking pretty startled right now. He opened the Porsche door with his gun pointed still on his opponent's head.

"Get out of the car"

Gin had his handgun inside the glove compartment which was impossible to access with a gun tip to his head. He got out and was dragged all the way to the mustang parked behind some trees.

Subaru opened the door to the passenger seat pushing Gin inside. He placed handcuffs on his hands tying him to the car before he moved to the driver seat starting the engine.

"You're Akai Shuichi aren't you?"

"Who's that?" Subaru asked with his eyes on the road.

"Only one person can make that shot, you are Akai"

"Since you are about to die, I guess you have the right to know who's going to kill you"

Akai finally took off the ski mask exposing his Subaru face. Gin didn't say a word since and neither did Shu as a long silence prolonged the long ride they took to the warehouse where Jodie was raped.

Once in there, Subaru dragged Gin inside the abandoned place with the cuffs on his hands still. He stopped for a while looking around for the stairs Jodie described to him.

"I know where you're taking me" Gin finally broke the silence jerking off his upper arm from Subaru's grip, he moved towards a staircase. Subaru walked behind him keeping his gun tip on the silver-haired man's back.

They finally reached the room. Gin walked to the ripped couch taking a seat as Subaru stood still next to the door blocking the entrance. He took off his mask exposing his real face, green eyes met those of the man he hates the most in life, now they are alone, now is the time he's been waiting for, for a long time.

"It was Kir. That bitch, I knew she was a traitor" Gin said calmly not really surprised with what he saw.

Shu didn't hear what Gin said. He looked at him sitting comfortably on the couch as if he was waiting for the bus as his green eyes started to become red from rage.

"when you stand there, you remind me of someone" Gin added with a grin.

Every muscle in Akai was willing to walk to him, to punch him in the face, and he didn't spend much time visualizing as he approached him grabbing his coat collar. In that frozen second, both their faces were unreadable, no fear, no emotion.

A sudden gush of pain jolted throughout Gin's body. Shuichi dragged him down to the ground bruising every inch on his face until he ran out of breath. He stopped for a while catching his breath with his eyes fixed still on Gin's. God, it felt satisfying.

"This is for Akemi" Shu said in-between his short breaths.

Gin's tongue was soaked in the taste of blood. He exposed his red teeth in a wide grin. So that's what it feels like to have no escape from death, he thought. but for him to die is better than interrogation that's why he grinned to provoke Shu more.

At that moment, Shuichi lost his mind forgetting everything about his bigger goals and the organization, right now he has a man that must be extinguished from the earth.

The silver-haired man felt cold fingers crawling up his throat, squeezing his neck with all the strength they had.

"And this is for Jodie you sick motherfucker"

Gin showed no resistance, if he were to have a gun he would've just suicided anyway.

Akai tightened his grip on Gin's neck, dark circled eyes kept getting redder. Gin's eyes on the hand took a trip upwards as they rolled up and stayed in that possession. The tightness in his throat hurt, but it was the least of his concerns now that his lungs were sagging instead of contracting as he gasped for the next breath.

His lungs ached, his arms lost tension and his legs began to weaken until he lost consciousness, or maybe died. Shuichi couldn't tell but he kept on doing it anyway, it was as if an evil spirit took over him.

"Shuichi, stop it" a voice came from the door that Akai heard but paid no attention to.

"I said stop" it became closer. Nonetheless, he kept his hands on Gin's neck ignoring it.

He felt two hands being wrapped around his chest pulling him back and away as two men showed from the side trying to take his hands off from Gin's neck. It was so firm that even four hands had a hard time to take it off.

Once they did, the man holding him from behind pulled him and laid him backward on the ground.

Shuichi kept on breathing heavily. he just laid there retrieving his breaths as if he was the one being strangled. He was white as chalk, eyes and mouth frozen wide open looking right at the man who pulled him back, but not really.

The man was obviously concerned about him, it was James black.

Next chapter: Exposed

See you next time when something will be exposed :)