Chapter Thirty-Two
"Never chase a lie. Let it alone, and it will run itself into death."
-Lyman Beecher
Natsuki, Shinichi, and Heiji crouched down underneath a window at the abandoned building.
It seemed to have been once used as an office building, but the years hadn't been kind to it. Paint was flaking and the building itself was falling apart at the seams.
"So what're we supposed to do with the extra brats we got?" a voice growled.
"Just shut up an' guard them. We still haven't gotten any instructions from the boss," another voice hissed.
"Oh, an' I suppose you even know what instructions are, considering you were the one who botched our last job," the first voice snarled.
"What was I supposed to do? Let the bastard run an' alert the police? We all know I did the right thing, killin' 'im. Or would you rather spend the rest o' yer life sittin' in jail?"
Natsuki held a hand over his mouth. These people were murderers.
"We need a plan," Shinichi mumbled.
"A way to get inside..." Natsuki thought out loud.
"Right now they have two guards posted in front of the door and two guarding the kids. We need a distraction," Shinichi told Natsuki and Heiji.
For a distraction to work, someone needs to be caught, Natsuki thought.
"I-"
"I'll get captured," Heiji volunteered.
"What?" Shinichi asked.
"We need someone ta cause a distraction, right? So, I'll get captured."
"Well, yes, but-"
"So I'll do it," Heiji said, staring directly at his friend.
"You're too valuable," Natsuki heard himself say. "I'll do it. I don't have anything in the way of brawn or much training besides awkward flailing. I'm much less important to getting the kids than you. And besides, I can do something worthwhile rather than sit here and wait."
Shinichi turned to Natsuki. "Are you sure?"
Natsuki nodded.
A few minutes later, Natsuki was tied up, gagged, and sitting with the kids.
Ayumi looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Natsuki tried to smile reassuringly through the gag.
"Hmph. You sure this kid is male?" a man with a pig mask asked.
He seemed to be the owner of the first voice.
"Thas' what he said," a man with a skull mask replied.
That one was one of the guards posted outside who caught Natsuki "snooping".
"I dun' believe it," the pig said, inching closer.
He pulled out a knife and dragged it through Natsuki's shirt, cutting it open.
Natsuki flinched as the knife cut through skin.
"Huh. It is a guy," the pig retracted the knife.
"Told ya. What were you gonna do if it wasn't?"
"Have me some fun, that's what. We haven't gotten any time to relax ever since we took on this job. I need m' booze and women!" the pig huffed and sat balk onto the folding chair.
"In front of kids? Yer messed up."
"What? It'd be more of an' education that what they'd get at school, so they'd be thanking me."
A snort came from the skull.
"I'm going back outside. The boss posted me out there for a reason."
"I did," a voice heavy with accent said.
The skull whipped around. "Boss!"
"I believe I told you wait outside, no?" a blonde woman walked into the room.
She was wearing a purple butterfly mask and a red cocktail dress. "It seems incompetents can't even follow simple orders."
"I'm terribly sorry Boss!" the skull flew to the floor, kneeling in front of her.
"I have one more job for you, so I won't kill you. Yet," she stepped over the man and made her way to Natsuki and the kids.
"You're not bad looking," she purred, stroking Natsuki's cut.
Natsuki tried to look away.
"Are you afraid?" she questioned. "How about you tell me all about yourself?"
The woman pulled off the gag and waited.
"Fuck off," Natsuki spat in English, not in control of his mouth.
"You know English?" the woman grinned. "You are becoming more and more interesting..."
"Then maybe you'll find this interesting," Natsuki told her, slamming his head into her chin.
With that, the two men inside fell to the ground with a soft groan and a thud.
"What?!" the woman hissed, holding her bruised chin.
Soon, she was laying on the ground with her 4 henchmen.
"Finally," Natsuki sighed as Heiji untied the rope on him.
Natsuki stretched and cracked his back.
"Are you kids ok?" Shinichi asked, already done with the kids.
Genta and Mitsuhiko seemed a bit woozy but the girls were wiping away dried tears.
"Thank you, Shinichi-niisan!" Ayumi smiled.
"Thank you," Genta and Mitsuhiko managed.
"Try not to talk. You may have a concussion," Shinchi warned.
Heiji was already on the phone with the police, telling them to bring an ambulance and handcuffs.
Heiji watched Natsuki move around, seemingly unaware of his ripped shirt.
The Osakan was quite aware of it, however, finding himself staring at the exposed chest and wrenching his head away.
Something about seeing the smaller boy's chest made his face flush.
He wasn't gay.
Right?
As Natsuki watched the little boys being checked by the paramedics, he noticed the old man handcuffed being taken away in a squad car.
"So I guess you found the culprit, huh?" he asked Shinichi.
"Yes. It wasn't hard, with the paper and the phone call, which recorded, thankfully."
"Wow. Bad planning," Natsuki commented.
Shinichi laughed. "Yeah, really. It was probably because the old man wanted to make sure he got a way to hold them to their end of the deal."
"Sir, would you like us to treat your cut?" one paramedic asked Natsuki.
Natsuki looked down, seeing his exposed chest for the first time.
"Oh. Yes, thank you."
He was guided to a chair where the paramedic disinfected and bandaged the cut. It wasn't deep, but it was long.
The unmasked butterfly woman winked at Natsuki as she was forced into a squad car.
I'll be back, darling, she mouthed.
Natsuki shuddered involuntarily.
He then remembered how he had volunteered himself for bait. And when he stood up to the woman. He hadn't been in control of his body both of those times.
What's going on? he wondered.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH WE'RE DONE! FINALLY, I MAKE A 3 PART ARC! ABOUT TIME! This is also the first chapter where Natsuki/ Ruri swears. I don't like swearing out loud or even writing it, but I thought it would be appropriate here. THE NEXT ARC WILL BE A NATSUKI CHANGES BACK INTO RURI FOR A SHORT WHILE! XD sohappytoseemygirlagain *cough* what. Also, something seems to be going on with Natsuki? What could it be? (Hint: It's not the B.O.)
NEXT CHAPTER: RURI IS BACK?!
DFTBA EVERYONE! :)