Chapter 2; Rescue
Kanami was mopping the floor near the front of the house; Kimishima was leaning up against the door. I was sitting on a bench towards the back of where Kanami was mopping, looking out the doorway as a small gust of cool wind escaped inside.
It had been an entire day and a half since we left Kazuma fighting HOLY, and I was getting more and more worried by the second. I really didn't know what to think; it was possible that he'd won, but it was even more of a possibility that he could have been taken into HOLY custody. I turned my gaze away from the open door; I didn't even want to think of what those monsters were doing to him there.
"Um, is there some problem?" Kanami asked as she mopped. I looked at her, surprised. Kimishima rubbed the back of his head nervously, turning away from the open doorway towards Kanami.
"No; it's just I heard about this job and thought I'd let him know." Kimishima paused and sighed. "He ready does have bad timing huh?"
"He's always like that." Kanami replied in her cute little voice. I watched her silently, sadly, as suddenly Kimishima pushed away from the door frame and turned to leave.
"I'll come back later," he told Kanami, "when he gets home. Let him know I stopped by, will you?"
"No problem." Kanami stopped mopping as she spoke. Kimishima waved and walked out the door, striding towards his car with his hands in his pockets. I looked at the car and then stood back from the bench, thinking about last night's getaway from HOLY. It was more like running away if you ask me.
If I'd just been there with him maybe he'd be home by now. If maybe I'd helped, even if it meant revealing myself; he would be here and we wouldn't be in this mess.
Kanami turned to watch as the car started its way down the road, and I made up my mind. I ran out the door and started behind it; Kimishima noticed and stopped the car. I ran up the back of it and hoisted myself up by the bars, sliding in and seating myself behind Kimishima, forcing him to have to sit a bit more forwards on the single seat. He looked back at me, shocked.
"I'm coming with you; you're planning on busting him out of HOLY, right?" I asked him as he passed me my shades from the glove box. The car started up again. Kimishima nodded as the car jerked forwards into action again. I looked back at the house to see Kanami standing on the steps, holding her mop with a worried expression etched on her adorable little face.
I grit my teeth. Anyone who makes Kanami worried is going down; she doesn't need this. Kazuma always makes her worry, but he's an exception. HOLY was keeping Kazuma from coming home to her. She has enough on her plate as it is without having to worry about something as petty as Kazuma coming home on time.
"So, you think he was captured by HOLD?" Kimishima asked me as we exited the village. I nodded. There was no other explanation. I put my arms around Kimishima's waist as we hit more rough ground. He was used to it though.
"Well, we don't know the strength of the Alters they have in their ranks, but we do know Kazuma's. I think he may have just been overpowered…I mean, they have more than enough firepower to wipe us all out if they wanted to..." I tried to lean around to get a look at him, but I couldn't see his expression.
"If that's the case…" he paused, before shaking his head, "…no, there's no way that's what's going on!" I looked down. I knew what he was thinking; he was thinking about the awful truth; Kazuma had been captured; we both knew it. He was probably being beaten right now; those guys were bad news. I knew what he was thinking because of where Kimishima was driving. He wasn't going to look for Kazuma just any old place.
He was driving towards the city.
_-_S-CRY-ED_-_
"Now listen, your destructive activities have directly caused the death or injury of seven people, damages to the surrounding area are massive and we have a report that you may be connected to the kidnapping of the HOLD chief. You qualify for the death sentence, but you could avoid that. The Alternative is not altogether unattractive, merely register yourself as a regular citizen, be re-educated and swear your allegiance to HOLY. As you know prejudice against Alter Users does exist in society…"
Kazuma was being held in a pitch black room; he could barely see. Three HOLY Alter Users had him immobilized with identical Alters, giant hands holding his arms and his stomach; twisting and turning his body. A man in a blue suit sitting on what looked like a judge's pedestal was addressing him with a very long speech of his crimes and his punishments. Kazuma's mind, however, was somewhere completely different.
I…lost…
He remembered the man with green hair and red eyes. He had the strongest Alter Kazuma had ever seen. It was in the shape of a human with no arms. You could only see one of its gleaming red eyes because half of its face was hidden behind a metal casing. Its two long, purple antenna were flexible enough to move about in any way shape or form the man wanted them to, but strong enough to take down a full grown man with a single hit. That man had seemed to defeat Kazuma so easily; effortlessly.
I was defeated so easily…
The man was still talking; he wasn't listening; he was thinking too hard to be doing that; but the man still talked on.
Just like that…
Kazuma imagined how the Alter had simply flicked him aside after punching him in the stomach with the antenna; it had pushed him around like a ragdoll.
"Good then, now let's change the subject," the man in the blue suit continued, "we couldn't find a registration number anywhere in this city that matched your DNA. HOLD acknowledges that you are a Pure Native Alter, any objections to that?"
"…I watched him let it out…" Kazuma whispered to himself, his eyes still closed as he remembered time and time again his all too simple defeat.
"I'm losing patience, answer now!" The man in the blue suit yelled at Kazuma from his seat above him. Kazuma was still ignoring him, still thinking.
"…I watched him let it out…but still…"
The man in the blue suit stood up, slamming his hand down on the desk in front of him, on Kazuma's file, obviously at the end of his rope. He yelled angrily at Kazuma. "I am asking if you object or not! NP3228!" He called Kazuma by his HOLY captive name.
Kazuma looked up slowly, anger evident in his eyes. The man in the blue suit stepped back as a door slid open in the wall behind him, revealing the silhouette of a man with short hair in a HOLY uniform. When Kazuma saw who it was his anger rose up in his chest and he pushed off the Alters containing him, glaring up at the man with malice and incredible fury.
"Thank you for your good work, perhaps it would be best if I took over now." The young man spoke calmly as he addressed the man in the blue suit, who didn't even try to argue with the man. "Would you all be so good as to leave us alone?" the man asked the other HOLY Alter Users, who immediately lowered their Alters and walked away.
"Ha, it's good to see you." Kazuma laughed.
"Is it really?" the man asked like he was talking to a child. "I didn't think you were enjoying my attention these past few days."
"Oh no, I loved it, but I'd like to pay you back, so what do you say, how about we both continue where we left off?" Kazuma smirked. He slowly closed his fist finger by finger.
"A C-minus level Alter User doing battle with me?" The man was using the same tone as he had before, which only added to the insult.
"Careful what labels you use!" Kazuma yelled as the multi-coloured Alter energy surrounded him. His Alter took shape on his outstretched arm and the pedestal the man was standing on disappeared into the ground. The man summoned his Alter faster than Kazuma could have thought possible, sending it forwards to throw a spinning kick into his undefended knees. He jumped back but both the man and his Alter were just too fast. The man was before him in a second, delivering a kick so hard to his ribs that it sent him flying back a couple more metres.
"Gee, and with his bare hands too." He stated as one of the Alter's antenna wrapped around his Alter arm. He tried to jerk him forwards, but Kazuma held strong.
"NP3228, I don't care what sort of life you live…or what you're going to do with it." The man stated simply as he walked towards Kazuma, stopping next to his shoulder.
"Yeah, so what?"
"However…there is one thing I want to know…do you know anything about the Native Alter with thunder?" the man intoned darkly, his red eyes flashing dangerously.
"What?"
"Have you ever run across an Alter User with a black right arm and a white left one?"
"Wha-what the hell are you-?"
"Answer me!"
Kazuma thought seriously for a moment, before his head jerked up in surprise. "No, it can't be him…he couldn't possibly be the-"
"Then you know him?" The man gasped, turning sharply. Kazuma laughed.
"Psych!"
The man growled and lashed out, socking Kazuma hard in the jaw. Kazuma managed to get his balance back after a few seconds. His body still showed sins of prolonged fatigue from the disciplining procedures they'd put him through. His body shook and he struggled to stay upright as the man struck him on the other cheek with a punch that sent him flying.
A trickle of blood ran down Kazuma's chin. He laughed, licking his split lip.
"Is that the best you can do?" He looked the man square in the face, defiant as ever. The man's eyes widened and he growled. He grabbed Kazuma by the collar and hoisted him up so he was glaring right into Kazuma's eyes.
"You in the mood to try me on now?"
"NP3228! Because of idiots like you, Alter Users are the outcasts of our society!"
"I'm not NP anything!"
"We've got to blend in and not look dangerous! If we want to avoid a Witch Hunt, HOLY is the only place that Alter Users can live!"
"Yeah, I got it, now getting back to our little dance…" Kazuma continued like the man hadn't said anything at all. The man stopped, turned his head away, disgust evident on his face. His eyes snapped open and he open palmed Kazuma in the jaw, knocking him back towards his Alter, which swung him around with the antenna wrapped around his arm. It let go. Kazuma went flying through the wall into the surveillance room.
Two girls looked down at him from his position face down on the floor; a blue haired girl in a skimpy uniform and the lady from the plant Kazuma had shot down the other night.
"Suspect is confirmed guilty in the second degree, three cycles of restraint in a tank then return him to his cell." The man told the girl in the skimpy uniform as she leant through the hole in the wall to see him.
"Roger that, I'll take good care of him." She said in her sickly sweet voice, giggling. Just the sound of it made Kazuma want to puke. Kazuma lay where he was on the floor as his Alter faded away. He felt unbearably weak. How could that guy have beaten him again? Was he really so weak? The only one who heard him speak was the girl with a necklace around her neck, a young scientist by the name of Mimori Kiryu. She looked down on him, her brow furrowed in sadness.
"That guys rude, he ignored my offer completely…"
_-_S-CRY-ED_-_
I stood by the gate to the city, waiting for Kimishima to finish the ID process for his Citizen Qualification. He was using a fake identity; obviously he wasn't using his own name. He was wearing a dorky jacket with fur and a pair of rose coloured glasses (I have no idea where he found those, and I'm not gonna ask…). To top it all off, he had a bus boy hat, of all things. We'd stopped off in one of the outlying villages and Kimishima had gone in and bought the clothes, old vintage stuff I guess. He'd bought me a brown wig and an orange dress that went to my knees. Plus I'd donned Kazuma's sunglasses.
I don't think I'll ever be able to look at the colour orange again.
"Eh, five hundred bucks, for this little thing?" Kimishima sighed, shaking the brand new card in his hands. I shoved mine in the brown bag I had slung over my shoulder before I straightened my sunglasses and smiled at Kimishima. I put my arm through his, looking up at him, tipping my head to the side. He blushed furiously as we walked through the guarded gates. I eyed the guns the guards held and smiled some more.
"Just to make it seem more authentic; we're meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend, you know." I whispered into his ear once we'd passed the guards. As soon as we were out of earshot and out of sight I slid my arm out of his and turned to look at him.
"If you tell anybody about that I shall not hesitate to kill you." I stated simply, my expression serene as I told him. To anybody looking at us it would seem as if I'd just told him something nice, not 'I'm going to kill you.' Kimishima's eyebrow twitched and he scratched the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah, okay."
We looked up at the beautiful city; it was fully intact, not a single ruin or run-down place in sight. On the edge of every spot of pavement there were plants, lush and green, not like the duller, browner ones we have. Everybody seemed so happy here. We stopped in the shopping district to look around.
"Man, behind the wall it's a whole different scene." Kimishima muttered, turning his attention to a pretty girl passing by, "Wow…that's incredible…hey, I could get used to this." I punched him in the arm.
"Look okay, we're just here to rescue Kazuma and then we're out of here. This is only a temporary thing, so how about we pass on the sightseeing and actually get to saving his ass!" I hissed. Kimishima just kept walking; he didn't seem to hear me.
"How come I wasn't born on this side, no reason my Mum shouldn't have come here to have me."
I hit him in the arm again, adding a little more propulsion behind it. He yelped and rubbed his arm, glaring at me. I was about to make a snappy comment at him when I stopped, my mouth falling open in awe as I looked at the massive building over his shoulder. Kimishima noticed my stare and turned. His jaw dropped. We were looking at the massive, fortified, extremely tall HOLD Headquarters.
"Oh man, what are we doing? How are we supposed to rescue him, they're HOLY! We're nobody! What do we do now?" Kimishima whimpered, shaking his head. I had to agree with him there; it was going to be nigh impossible to break him out of there.
"Yeah, where do we go from here; I don't even have a clue!" I replied. Well, isn't that great? We come all the way into the city, get fake ID's, even dress the part, get in only to find that it's near impossible to break our best friend out of prison.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" The gruff voice of a guard called behind us. We spun around to see a helmeted guard standing there, watching us.
"Uh, well…the funny thing is that my boyfriend here went and lost his wallet so we were thinking about filing a report or something, you know?" I smiled charmingly, putting my hand on the arm of my supposed 'boyfriend'.
"Then it's the wrong building, it's that one there." The guard gestured with him chin to a building just to the left.
"Oh, great, yeah, thanks for your help!" I quickly pulled Kimishima away before he could say anything, pushing my arm through his as we walked.
"Wow, now that's what I call smooth!" Kimishima chuckled under his breath as we walked around from the guard. I scowled, pushing my sunglasses back up my nose.
"Well, at least I said something, moron! You just stood there like a stunned mullet!"
"Okay, okay, I get it! Stop hounding me!" He looked around. "But seriously, nobody's ever escaped HOLY's captivity before. I don't know if we can get him out, really. I mean, what can we do?"
"Hmmm, I don't know yet, but we'll think of something, Kimishima." I smiled. "After all, you know what they say; there's a first time for everything. I've met a lot of people in my life, and if anyone can break out of HOLY, he can."
We rented a car from a nearby rental shop and hopped in. I can't drive for the life of me, so Kimishima drove around the city until we found a spot where you could see the entrance to the HOLD headquarters perfectly. We were up on a sort of highway kind of thing; I couldn't help but admire the view for a moment. I shook my head, looking up at the building. I lifted a hand to shield my eyes before I noticed Kimishima had brought a small telescope. He passed it to me.
"What should we do now?" he asked me.
I didn't know how to answer.
_-_S-CRY-ED_-_
Kazuma lay on the floor in his cell where the guards had thrown him, face down on the cold cement. Above him, red heat lasers criss-crossed each other, limiting his movement; he couldn't even get to his feet without setting something off. Not that he would be doing that anyway; he was too tired to even attempt an escape. Or so he thought. Distantly, he heard the light clack of the door of his cell sliding open. He opened his eyes to see a girl standing over him. The lasers were gone.
"Kanami?" he asked in a whisper.
"No, I'm one of the workers here." The girl had a purple stone necklace hanging around her neck and long dark hair. She stood over him, looking concerned.
"What do you want?"
"Well, listen carefully, HOLY has decided your fate, your life's going to depend on what we do now." The girl stopped talking as Kazuma slowly but surely got to his feet. He pushed past the girl.
"…Ah, that's not good…must've made him really mad…I'd better go home now…"
"Um, excuse me!" The girl called after him as he stumbled out of the cell and into the empty hallway. He leant against the opposite wall of the corridor for support.
Dammit, I'm so ragged…but I… he thought, looking down the empty hallway with determination in his eyes.
He started walking.
_-_S-CRY-ED_-_
The guards ran into the locker rooms after they heard a loud banging noise. When they got there they found that most of the locker doors had been ripped off their hinges and all of the belongings within had been thrown about the room.
Meanwhile, on the main floor, an elevator opened to reveal a guard. He walked out from the elevator and walked straight towards the upraised area that was part of the HOLY lounge. Next to the stairs there was a sign etched into a large stone that stated clearly; HOLY AREA.
As the guard ascended the few stairs towards the restricted area an Alter user who sat in one of the lounge chairs looked up from his coffee, seeing the guard who looked rather out of place in their area.
"Ah, excuse me but this area is for HOLY members only." The young man stood up, walking over to stand behind the guard. The guard stopped, watching as a man with green hair and red eyes, and an older man with long brown hair as they exited the hallway. The brown haired man was Commander Martin Jigmarl, leader of HOLY. The young man behind the guard stepped closer to him and kept on talking.
"Are you listening; you can't be here without-AH!"
Suddenly the guard's helmet came up halfway, revealing the bottom half of his face as he abruptly jerked his arm back and socked the man in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. He jumped into the air, Alter energy surrounding his body. The guards suit disintegrated around him, revealing the prisoner that had been unintentionally let out of his cell by a worker; Kazuma.
The Commander and the man Kazuma was after looked up in shock as Kazuma's Alter took shape. He smirked, his fist clenched as he yelled at the top of his lungs;
"SHOCKING FIRST BULLET!"
The power from the burst of fury was enough to blast a cloud of concrete dust all the way down the corridor behind them and bust a jagged hole in the side of the huge building.
Meanwhile, Kimishima had rid himself of his disguise. Akira was just about to go and get changed in the car. They were waiting for some kind of idea to pop into their heads about how they could rescue Kazuma. It was either that, or wait for Kazuma to make a move himself. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long, because Kazuma didn't like being locked up. Akira ran to the passenger's side as Kimishima jumped off the boot of the car, sliding into the driver's seat beside her.
"Looks like he's on the move!"
"Yeah, let's go rescue ourselves a Kazuma!" Akira replied as the car jerked forwards. She gripped the doorhandle to stop her from slamming back into the seat. The white haired girl took a moment to glare at Kimishima for his rough driving. Kimishima only grinned. They sped down the street and turned the corner sharply, speeding down the overpass above the main city streets.
Back in the Headquarters, a large thick cloud of concrete dust swirled around the building, rendering everyone blinded until it started to clear. The first thing Kazuma saw was the man with green hair keeled over, holding his left side.
"Looks like I missed a bit." He muttered as he noticed the man's Alter using it's antenna to surround the Commander to protect him from the blast. When the dust cleared, even though the man was still in a great deal of pain, the man's Alter unwrapped it's antenna from the Commander who thanked the man. He pulled himself into an upright position.
"Just doing my duty…" he was gruff as he spoke, obviously in pain, "…hey, you don't really think you're getting out of here, do you?"
"What?" Kazuma blinked as he noticed that all around him were HOLY Alter Users, ready to attack him at any moment. Kazuma looked at the Alter that was standing in front of Commander Jigmarl. His eyes narrowed, "I don't really care!"
"That's just the way you Native Alters think, isn't it?" The Commander asked Kazuma.
"Well it's my way of thinking! Let's go, I've got something for you." He directed his words at the man with green hair.
"You sure talk a lot, ha, I didn't think anyone was dumb enough to pull this kind of stunt!" a fat man in a HOLY uniform with black hair and holding a water melon laughed from beside Kazuma.
"It doesn't show very much respect." The blue haired girl with a skimpy outfit, Scheris, continued, sounding like she was wining more than trying to intimidate him.
"Hitting me like that with a sucker punch? I can't let that one slide! So Commander, is it okay if I don't forgive him?" The one that Kazuma had struck was now on his feet watching Kazuma from behind.
"Go right ahead, but if you're going to do it then do it completely. Make sure he knows what happens to criminals who cause trouble here." The Commander instructed, still standing behind the man's Alter.
"You got it Sir!"
Out of the corner of Kazuma's eye he saw the elevator open and Mimori Kiryu, the girl who had accidentally let him out, stepped out. She caught sight of Kazuma, her eyes widening in shock. Kazuma smirked and pulled back his arm to deliver a heavy punch to the floor, giving him the boost he needed to flip himself through the air all the way to the elevator doors. He flew over the crowd of Alter users and guards and landed behind Mimori, putting an arm around her neck so she couldn't get away.
"Mimori!" the man with green hair called across the room in alarm. Scheris blinked in surprise. She didn't know he even knew her name.
"Hey you!" Kazuma called. "So, what's your name anyway?"
The young man who had volunteered to take Kazuma out stepped forwards. "Well, for your information-"
"Not you! That idiot trying to be cool!" Kazuma interrupted, motioning with his chin to the man with green hair and red eyes.
The man took a couple of steps forwards, his expression serious. "Why is it you want to know, NP3228?" he queried.
"You'd better tell me!" Kazuma yelled, tightening his grip on Mimori's neck. The poor girl looked terrified.
"Stop!" he paused, straightening. "Since you want my name; it's Ryuhou."
"Ryuhou, is it? Okay, I won't forget; now, open up your memory banks and make sure you remember mine, because my name is Kazuma!"
"Kazuma…" Ryuhou's eyes narrowed.
"Remember it!" Kazuma yelled. He picked up Mimori and leapt back into the elevator. Mimori screamed as Kazuma punched through the floor of the elevator. Cracks spider-webbed up the walls of the machine. Most of the Alter users stepped forwards in shock. "See you round!" That was when the flood busted, and both Kazuma and Mimori fell down the shaft, Mimori screaming as Kazuma made sure he wouldn't drop her.
"Damn fool!" Ryuhou ran towards the elevator, through the dust cloud, "Kazuma!" he yelled down the shaft after them. He could hear Mimori's screams of panic.
"Hey, don't worry, we'll be okay." Kazuma told her lightly, smiling as his fist scraped the side of the shaft, scraping along it and making a scratching indent in it as it slowed their descend.
"Attention all personnel; the second degree criminal NP3228 has escaped from his cell, I repeat, he has escaped from his cell."
"So, how are you at driving?" Kazuma asked the girl as he pulled her out of the elevator. She coughed through the dust, nodding her head. So, Mimori Kiryu drove Kazuma out of the building and along the lower high roads in a designer car.
"Where are we headed?" Mimori asked as she drove. Kazuma sat in the seat next to her, his arms crossed as she drove way faster than the legal speed limit.
"Other side of the wall." Kazuma replied simply, looking out the window. "I'm going home." The two sat in silence as they drove along the deserted overpass, until Mimori looked over at Kazuma's Alter.
"So that's it, it's a harmonizing Alter?" Mimori asked as she noticed that it was indeed attached to his body. Kazuma laughed, but didn't look at her.
"Guess they aren't as tough as they thought…"
"You know, you're probably going to regret this later." Mimori told him angrily as she rounded a corner. Kazuma turned to look at her.
"There's no time for regrets."
Mimori sighed in exasperation, looking in the rear view mirror. She blinked as she noticing a black car from HOLY that was much like the one she'd been picked up in earlier this morning. Her eyes widened as it moved and churned and switched out most of its parts, only to be replaced by a very familiar Alter. It was Stray Cougar.
"Look, that car behind us…" Mimori told Kazuma.
"Let me tell you something, first of all you're not piloting that thing very well and now you're trying to drive faster than me! To tell you the truth that's what really ticks me off!" Stray Cougar laughed as the car transformed into his Alter. His ability was to make anything go faster, and change it likewise; this meant that the ordinary car changed completely.
"That guy's an Alter User with HOLY!" Kazuma noticed, turned around to poke his head out the window. The car came up alongside theirs and Kazuma's eyes widened.
"Who are you anyway?" Kazuma asked, feeling the wind whipping through his hair.
"Hey, you're Kazuya!"
"Kazuma!" he struck out at him with his fist, making him pull the car away and fall back to driving behind the two. They continued driving as Kazuma smirked to himself, before he heard two voices calling his name. He looked up at the overpass above them.
"KAZUMA!"
The said person looked up to see a man holding a flare and a megaphone and a girl with brown hair that looked familiar calling to him. He realised who was as he recognized the man.
"HEY! UP HERE! YO!"
"Sorry about leaving you in a lurch like this, but I'm pretty sure that HOLY guy will take care of you." Kazuma undid his seat belt and stood up on the seat. Mimori took eyes off the road as he spoke again, "This is where I get off, bye!" Kazuma punched the dashboard of the car; it swerved and spun into a burn out as he was propelled out of it.
"He's crazier than I am!" Stray Cougar yelled as Mimori's car fell back to be next to his, even with the large hole in the passenger's side, he looked at her with concern, "Are you okay, Miss Minori?"
"It's Mimori!"
"Sorry!"
Kazuma flew through the air and nearly missed the side of the high road, but he was grabbed my the girl with short brown hair. He noticed a white strand sticking out behind her ear as she held his hand tightly, hoisting him up over the side.
"Come on, quick, in the car!" Kimishima told him as he ran towards the driver's seat. Akira pulled Kazuma towards the car and shoved him towards the passenger's side while she dived through the open window of the back seat, not even bothering to open the door. Kimishima turned the key in the ignition and speed down the road as soon as Kazuma was in.
The brown haired boy climbed into the back seat as Akira ripped off her sunglasses and wig, shoving the sunglasses at Kazuma, who shoved them into his pocket. She grabbed his face between her hands and looked him in the eyes.
"Kazuma, don't you dare make me that worried ever again, do you hear me?" Akira sighed, biting her lip as he looked at her. Her white hair blew over her face in the wind coming through the windows. She wrapped her arms around his back and put her head into the base of his neck. "Do you know how much you had me worried? Both me and Kanami were worried sick about you, idiot!"
Kazuma felt his face redden as he put his hands on her waist. Akira pulled back and then realised what she was doing, pushing herself away from him and turning her head towards the window. She grabbed the brown bag she was carrying from the floor and pulled out a container of onigiri. She shoved it at Kazuma who was still in a daze from the hug and the smell of her hair.
"Eat it, I made it myself." She muttered. Kazuma opened the lid to reveal the rice balls. He smiled and picked one up to eat, leaning back against the right hand door.
"Ah, that's not good!" Kimishima blanched as he called back to the two of them. The two in the back looked out the windshield, their eyes wide. The gate that they were going to escape out of was closing quickly, and they were still driving at full speed towards it!
"Faster Kimishima, we're going for it!" Kazuma put his Alter equipped hand on the back of Kimishima's seat. Kimishima shook his head in alarm.
"Oh, tell me we're not!"
"Yes we are!"
Kazuma punched through the roof of the car, sending it crashing back into the highway. He stood up and moved to the passenger seat so he could get better aim at the gate. He raised his arm as Akira fell forwards between Kimishima and Kazuma and held onto the seats beside her with all her might.
"It's time for the ANNIHILATING SECOND BULLET!"
Kazuma's strength doubled once again as the car sped towards the heavily bolted gate. The second spike on his back disintegrated and a bolt of energy shot towards the gate. The entire gate exploded in front of them, which would have seemed impossible, as the bolt hit. Akira screamed in shock, but covered her mouth, shaking her head.
"Alright, let's fly!" Kazuma yelled.
"No!" Kimishima objected as he was still driving the car.
"You idiot!" Akira screamed as Kimishima drove the car right up the road bridge that was being raised towards the city gate again. The driver joined Akira in her scream as the cab flew off the bridge and into the air. The car nosedived towards the river.
"And finally the EXTERMINATING LAST BULLET!"
The final spike on Kazuma's back was gone as he punched the car to propel himself upwards. He pulled Akira quickly into his chest, she tucked herself into his chest and closed her eyes, holding her back with his Alter arm. Kimishima grabbed Kazuma's waist as he jumped out of the exploding car, his jacket smoking.
Akira screamed into Kazuma's chest as Kimishima yelled at the top of his lungs as they were launched over the river. Kazuma swapped the arms holding Akira as he crashed down to the ground, pushing himself upwards as sparks flew from his Alter arm colliding with the rock hard road, throwing them towards the roadside.
They landed roughly. Kazuma turned his front away from the ground, landing on his back next to a large bush, groaning in pain as he released his Alter and his arm turned back to normal. Akira untucked herself and took a deep breath, smiling down at Kazuma. He still hadn't moved his arm from around he, now that it'd slipped to her waist. Kimishima let go of Kazuma and quickly stood up; he was breathing heavily from his excessive screaming. In a split second decision he turned around right before he puked up his lunch in a nearby bush.
Akira and Kazuma sat up, Akira standing, almost completely unharmed from the fall. She managed to haul Kazuma to his feet after a few good pulls he leant against her so she could help keep him upright. Kimishima came back, looking green.
"Alright, I think we should get going, we should get you guys home." Akira laughed as Kimishima took up the other side of Kazuma to help him walk back in the direction of the car, which was a fair way away.
"Aw man; I'm ruined; toast! You have no idea how much we spent on fake ID's and car rental for you!" Kimishima told Kazuma sometime later as we walked off into the afternoon sunset. Kazuma really was tired out from his HOLY journey, and he still wasn't fine walking on his own. He needed to sit down but he couldn't until they'd reached the car.
"Hey, what about the money from helping Hideki and those guys?" Kazuma asked.
"Yeah, come on, that was a good paying job!" Akira added.
"Compared to my bills that's just a drop in the bucket."
"Well then, how about this?" Kazuma rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a handful of jewelled rings, necklaces, gold and chains that glinted in the rich afternoon sunlight. Kimishima looked at them in both shock and awe and Akira looked at them with admiration. Whoever had owned these were most defiantly could replace them if they could afford them.
"Yeah, I found them in the locker room at HOLY," Kazuma pushed them back into his pocket as Kimishima laughed and Akira started to pull the boys along, "they should help pay the expenses."
Kazuma joined him in his laughter and soon after Akira contributed her own chime-like laugh as they walked towards the gleaming sunset.
_-_S-CRY-ED_-_
At the house, Kanami dreamt about the man she didn't know. She wished she did know him, as she had many, many times before. She didn't know why she was having these dreams or who they were about, or how she was having them, but she was.
The man was strong and he was reckless and yet he was able to laugh with such serenity that he seemed not to notice the emotions inside of him, a fiery fury and a bursting sadness. Kanami wished she could have the same strength; to be able to laugh like that and to be as strong as the man in her dreams. She wished…
Kanami moved her head on her pillow, and cracked open her eyes to see a familiar man standing above her. She'd been waiting two days for him to come home again. He was standing there with a smile on his face, as if he'd been standing there for a while, just waiting for her to wake up to greet him. He put a hand to his forehead in a salute. Kanami giggled.
"Hi," Kazuma smiled simply.
_-_S-CRY-ED_-_
AN: Alright, second chapter done… R&R&R~!
AN (Tuesday 3rd April- date of completion): I never thought that my second chapter was 13 pages long! OMG! This took me ages, two DAYS because I was being lazy and because I was working on some other things and watching Baccano! Yeah, but mainly I was just being lazy…but now it's edited and rewritten! Yay~
R&R!