Chapter 17: Struggle
In the Misaki Hospital, a comatose girl was lying in her bed, a machine linked to her checking her vitals. Suddenly, the machine began to beep alarmingly, showing abnormal and life-threatening conditions and catching the attention of all the surgeons close by.
"Bring her in the ER!" the doctors said, hurriedly placing her in a mobile bed. They then hurried to the emergency room with it.
"An operation is needed!" one of the surgeons said as he moved the bed and the girl along with everyone else.
"What's the patient's name?" another surgeon asked. The reply was quick.
"Torikawa Chouko."
...
Meanwhile, in that very same night, a man dressed in dark, his face concealed by a cap and a silken scarf wrapped around his neck, was in front of an old, abandoned building. He fished out his phone and sent a message to a previously called number.
"I'm about to enter the building."
After not long, a reply appeared.
"Very well, Shun. Proceed with your assignment." After reading the message, the man entered the building.
...
Two thugs were standing in a room inside the building, guarding a small briefcase which contained something valuable to them.
"Hey." one of them asked the other "Why are we guarding this, again?"
"Because it will gain us a lot of bucks and rep!" the other thug quickly replied.
"But how can this be important?" he continued to object "Isn't it just a piece of cloth?"
"An ancient and precious piece of cloth!" the other thug explained "Apparently, it used to belong to a kingpin. If we manage to sell this back to him, we'll earn a ton of cash and our rep will skyrocket!"
"So we're trading with a big guy?" the questioning man asked, with fear beginning to be audible in his voice.
"Yes." the other man replied "Why do you ask? Getting scared?"
"You know how this song and dance goes, man!" the thug protested "You fuck with a higher-up, you die!" His companion just shrugged off the statement.
"Nah, it's gonna go just fine!" he replied, then he handed to the scared thug the briefcase. "Gotta go do my business, mind watching this for me?"
"Uhhh… Alright." the thug hesitantly obliged and took the briefcase as his companion headed to the restroom.
"Good thing the toilets still function in this hellhole." he mused as he was walking.
Meanwhile, another thug was guarding the entrance of the compound, armed with a metal bat, standing at attention and closely observing his surroundings. Suddenly, he heard consecutive suspicious noises from outside the entrance and quickly got to the source. The only thing he saw there were a bunch of pebbles which had apparently fallen there from a high point.
Unbeknownst to him, the man with the scarf had climbed right above the entrance and was waiting for him. Shun jumped off behind the thug and snapped his neck before he could realize his doom. After hiding the body, the former policeman entered the building and was easily able to elude the other thugs guarding the place.
As he got closer to the stairs leading to the upper floor, he heard the steps of someone descending them and quickly hid himself. The close by wall and the darkness screened him from the thug's sight. As the thug reached the end of the stairs, the man with the scarf swiftly grabbed him and snapped his neck as well, before heading up the stairs.
The first thing the former policeman saw upon reaching the upper floor was a thug holding a small suitcase. He was distracted, looking at the window close by. Shun slowly approached, without making any noise. When the thug turned and saw the intruder right in front of him, it was too late. The former policeman knocked him out with a well placed chop at his neck, then took the suitcase from him and fished out his phone again.
"I've got it. I'm coming." he quickly typed to the number he had previously contacted. He read no reply, but he didn't need one to know that he needed to head to the Misaki Hospital as fast as possible.
...
In the meantime, the doctors had reached the ER and had quickly laid the patient Chouko Torikawa on the bed. Then, they began the operation which could save her life…
...
Shun was about to leave with the suitcase and its content when a thug entered the room, He had most likely been to the restroom before.
"Hey!" he blurted out, alarmed "Who are you?" Shun quickly understood he had no choice but to fight him. The thug attempted to kick him in the face, but the former policeman dropped the suitcase and quickly avoided the blow. The other man did not give up and tried to punch him multiple times, but his second attempt ended up with Shun grabbing his arm, breaking it and kicking him in the stomach, making him back off.
The thug hissed in pain, holding his wounded arm, before charging at the man with the scarf again. He tried to land a kick, but the former policeman grabbed his leg and hit him on the other one, making him lose his balance and tossing him to the ground. With that, he began walking to the room door, thinking that his opponent was knocked out. However, the thug rose back up and attempted to hit him from behind. Shun was able to notice it and quickly avoided the punch, losing his cap in the process, before hitting the man on the head and knocking him away. However, as the former policeman left the room, the thug silently extended his hand to a transmitter, which had fallen from his pocket during the fight, and spoke.
"An intruder has taken the briefcase… Don't let him escape..." he then slipped in unconsciousness and the transmitter fell from his hand.
As Shun reached the end of the stairs, he heard steps from both the ends of the corridor.
"Stop right there!" one of three thugs running towards him from one end shouted.
"There he is!" one of two thugs from the other end shouted. Shun quickly understood. The thugs were trying to surround him and he needed to get out of there fast. He rushed towards the two thugs and slid under them before getting out of the abandoned compound. He ran as fast as he could, but the thugs were more than able to keep up with him.
…
The doctors had begun the operation on Chouko Torikawa. They were managing scalpels, pincers and other medical instruments in order to search for the cause of her critical state.
…
Shun kept running away from the thugs who were chasing him. However, he soon found himself in front of a metal grid, with the thugs right behind him. He was trapped. With no other choice, the former policeman turned to his chasers, put the small briefcase down on the floor and drew his baton out of his jacket. The thugs glared at him, and he glared back as he prepared to charge. Then, he ran at them, with the baton in his hand, letting out a cry which contained many emotions in it.
Rage, determination, desperation…
He began fighting them with all that he had. Some of them went for his legs, almost making him lose his footing, yet the former policeman avoided the incoming strikes and persevered. He grabbed one of the thugs and snapped his neck, then repelled the assault of another one. A third one made an attempt to strike him, but Shun grabbed the arm holding his metal bat and began striking him relentlessly on the back, breaking his spine. Then, he kneed him in the stomach and struck his head, knocking him down.
He was panting heavily. A thug managed to catch him by surprise, landing a kick on his stomach, and then striking his right arm, and breaking it. Shun hissed in pain as he stepped back, holding his broken arm as the baton fell off his grip. The thugs began slowly closing in.
"That all you've got, shithead?" one of them said. However, Shun was far from finished. He picked up the baton with his left hand and, for good measure, he took his scarf and wrapped it around the arm holding his weapon. His arm was hurting, and tears were pricking his eyes, as the memories of the person who had given him that scarf flooded his mind. As soon as he was finished, the former policeman charged at the thugs without a second thought. He fought them ferociously, however he found himself less adept in using the baton with his left arm. It wasn't long before the three thugs eventually struck him down to the ground. Immediately, they tried to hit him with their bats, but he quickly parried the incoming strikes with his baton.
They kicked him, thinking that he was defenseless, yet their relentless attacks were only fueling his rage. He quickly got back on his feet and swung his baton around, prompting the thugs to step back.
In a second's time, the thugs resumed attacking the panting former policeman.
"Give up already!" one of them shouted as he swung his metal bat, going for the young man's head, but Shun dodged the strike and hit the thug in the stomach, repelling him. However, the other two thugs took the chance to rush at him and struck him at the same time, making him crumble on the ground once more, his broken arm falling on the suitcase and opening it, revealing the precious piece of cloth. He could only pant, as he lied there.
…
The operation on Chouko Torikawa continued on, as the girl's conditions quickly worsened with each passing second. The medics made their best efforts to save her life. In her suffering, the girl's thoughts were focused on the person that was waiting for her, the person she was the happiest with.
"Onii-chan..."
A single tear rolled down her cheek, as she trembled faintly, feeling cold enveloping her, and darkness encroaching around her. She could only struggle against it, for him...
"Onii-chan..."