Chapter 17

The American old west. In the far southwest,is a small town,barely a century old. A hard rain fell down on the town,dousing it in a much needed shower. All is peaceful,except for outside the town's hotel,where sheriff Naozumi,along with eighteen of his men, have cornered the infamous outlaws,'The Silent Duo',Tsuyoshi Sasaki and Akito Hayama.

Standing with the outlaws are Tsuyoshi's girlfriend Aya,and Akito's friend Sana. The large group of nineteen and the small group of four faced each other in the cold afternoon drizzle.

"Na-Naozumi." Sana said,staring at her childhood friend as he pointed his gun at Akito. "What are you doing?"

"My job,Sana." Naozumi said,keeping his eyes locked onto Akito's. "Now get away from him. He's a dangerous criminal."

"She knows." Akito said.

Naozumi eyes darted to Sana's for a brief second,then went to Akito's. "What do you mean she knows?"

"She knows who Tsuyoshi and I are." Akito said. "I told her."

"You told her?" Naozumi asked.

"Yes." Akito answered.

"Alright then." Naozumi said. "Sana. Aya. Get away from them now. I don't want anyone,apart from Akito,getting hurt when we arrest them."

"Arrest them?" Aya repeated.

"Yes. Now move aside. I doubt that the 'Silent Duo' would come quietly." Naozumi said. He took a couple steps closer to Akito.

"Naozumi." Sana said. She gazed at the young man with the gun. He had the face of her oldest friend. But looking into his eyes,she saw in his eyes nothing but anger and determination.

A smirk formed on Akito's face. The smirk did not go unnoticed by Naozumi. "What's so funny?"

"You were right about one thing,Sheriff." Akito said. "That we won't give up quietly. Tsuyoshi."

At the last word,Akito and Tsuyoshi split up and ran for it,in opposite directions. Tsuyoshi bolted right,taking cover in the alleyway between the hotel and the next building. Akito flew to the left,ducking behind boxes and crates as Naozumi fired his gun at Akito.

At the sound of gunshots,Aya and Sana ran over to the hotel wall,standing under the porch roof which kept the porch dry from the rain. At the same time,Naozumi's officers drew their weapons and aimed for the spots Akito and Tsuyoshi disappeared at.

Crouching behind a wooden barrel riddled with holes,Akito drew his gun from his holster. Checking his ammo,he had six bullets in the chamber,and another twelve in his pocket. He'd have to make this quick. Tsuyoshi,hiding in the alley,also checked his ammo. With just one bullet more then Akito,the thought of making things end fast crossed his mind as well.

Tsuyoshi peeked around the corner,and saw more then half of the officers,including Naozumi,were watching Akito's hiding spot. Apparently,they saw Akito as the bigger target. Tsuyoshi wondered if he should be grateful,or offended.

Tsuyoshi stood up and walked to the back of the hotel building,circling around Naozumi and his small army. "Are you gonna spend all day hiding?" Tsuyoshi heard Naozumi shout. He continued around until he was behind the officers.

He took aim,and Tsuyoshi fired,hitting an officer in the leg. Firing again,another officer dropped to the ground,wounded but alive.

Tsuyoshi ducked behind the corner as the group of now seventeen whirled around and several of them fired at the hotel corner.

Akito took his chance. Leaping up from behind Naozumi,Akito aimed at him. As he pulled the trigger,Naozumi turned and saw Akito. Dashing to the right,Naozumi rolled out of the bullet's line of fire as it was ejected from the barrel. It collided with an officer's shoulder.

"Nice try,Akito!" Naozumi shouted. He took aim at Akito,and fired. The bullet missed Akito by a hair and embedded itself into the wall of a building. A couple officers turned around and fired at Akito as well. Dodging them,Akito rolled to safety in an alley.

Naozumi,who was growing tired of playing cat and mouse,ran to the alley,followed by four officers. Akito was waiting for that. He fired twice, Naozumi ducked out of the way. The bullets hit two of the officers,one in the shoulder,the other in the leg.

Akito climbed up the hotel wall toward the roof. Hanging onto a plumbing pipe,he took aim at Naozumi. As he fired,the pipe creaked and broke under Akito's weight. The two bullets missed there target,instead hitting the ground.

"Akito!" Naozumi yelled as he picked himself off the ground. He and the two standing officers took aim at Akito. Trapped,the only way out was down. As they fired,Akito let go of the broken pipe and fell to the ground. Tucking into a ball, Akito rolled across the wet,muddy ground, then ducked behind a wooden crate.

"Where is he?" Naozumi shouted.

Tsuyoshi appeared from around the corner and fired at the officers. Both went down,with a bullet in their legs. Naozumi turned and fired at Tsuyoshi,who ran into another alley,where he found three guns aimed right at his chest.

Tsuyoshi quickly aimed his gun. Firing twice,he hit one officer in the shoulder,another in the thigh. Tsuyoshi dodged the third one's gun and then aimed on him and fired.

Click.

A sound Tsuyoshi dreaded. Empty. His gun was empty. The officer smirk and took aim at Tsuyoshi. As he pulled the trigger,Tsuyoshi felt stunned. 'Is this it?' he found himself asking. At the sound of a gunshot,Tsuyoshi looked up and saw the officer go down.

Looking around,Tsuyoshi saw Akito at the other end of the alley. "You alright?" Akito asked as he rushed to Tsuyoshi.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem." Akito said. Him and Tsuyoshi took this time to reload.

"Do you think we're getting out of this,Akito?" Tsuyoshi asked.

"I hope so." Akito answered.

"Akito!" Naozumi's voice rang. "Where are you? I'll find you!"

"Let's go." Akito said.

Tsuyoshi and Akito jogged to the end of the alley,where they found Naozumi with his back to them. Unfortunately,several officers stood facing them. They fired, turning the corner of the building into swiss cheese as Akito and Tsuyoshi bolted out of the way.

"Kinda makes you wonder," Tsuyoshi said,pointing at all the buildings with swiss cheese like bullet holes. "Who's gonna pay to fix all that?"

"Not me." Akito said. With that,Akito and Tsuyoshi split up again. Tsuyoshi ran into the street,firing off all six of his rounds right there. Two missed and hit the buildings,while the other four hit the officers. Four officers went down.

Naozumi,and what was left left of his unwounded men,stood in a group in the middle of the street. The small group of six stretched their necks,looking for a sign of one of the two gunmen bandits. The clock tower rang 1:45 when the overhead clouds parted and the rain stopped.

Akito took aim at Naozumi from behind a barrel. The newly uncovered sun shone brightly down on the battlefield. Naozumi saw a glint of light from Akito's gun and rolled out of the way. Akito's bullet missed and collided with wood. Naozumi emptied his gun at the wooden barrel. Akito ran out from behind it and was shot at by the five remaining officers.

Reloaded,Tsuyoshi shot at three of them and they went down. Akito fired three times at the other two. Only one went down. The other one shot at Akito again,who hid behind a wall. Akito fired at the officer,but completely missed.

With an empty gun,Akito quickly reloaded his gun. As he did,a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. Jumping,he turned and saw Sana standing there.

"Sana?" Akito whispered. "What are you doing here? It's not safe. You need to take cover."

"I know that,Akito." Sana said. "But, I want you to stop this."

"I can't stop this." Akito said. "It's Naozumi. It's him you have to tell to stop. And he won't listen,I can tell you that."

"But he's my friend." Sana said,tears forming in her eyes.

"I know that,Sana." Akito said. "That's why-"

Akito was interrupted by a bullet whizzing past his head. "Take cover!" he told Sana. Running out from behind the alley,Akito fired at the officer who shot at Sana. Three shots and he was down. Which left Naozumi alone,outnumbered two-to-one.

Tusyoshi fired twice at Naozumi, missing both times. Naozumi fired at Tsuyoshi,missing as well. Akito joined Tsuyoshi from the other side of the street,firing two shots at Naozumi. Naozumi dodged and turned,taking aim at Akito. Tsuyoshi ran out from his alley and aimed at Naozumi. But suddenly,Tsuyoshi tripped over a fallen officer and the bullet veered to the left,missing Naozumi.

Recovering from the fall,Tsuyoshi took aim at Naozumi again,but couldn't. Looking at his arm,he saw his shoulder bleeding. Whether it was a new wound,or his old one had opened again,he couldn't tell. But he knew he couldn't move his right arm without it hurting. Using his left arm,Tsuyoshi aimed at Naozumi's arm and pulled the trigger.

Click.

He was out of bullets again. Tsuyoshi had used them all up. It was over.

Naozumi approached Tsuyoshi,a victory smile spread across his face. Taking aim at Tsuyoshi,he called out "Akito! Come out from where ever you're hiding. Your friend here is finished. He's lost. Now it's just you and me."

"You're right." Akito said. He jumped out from behind an alley and aimed his gun at Naozumi. "Drop the gun." Akito told Naozumi.

"Me?" Naozumi asked. He started laughing. "That's funny."

"It wasn't a joke." Akito said. "Drop the gun."

"You drop yours." Naozumi said,pointing his at Tsuyoshi's head. "Or I'll shoot him."

"I'll shoot you before you can shoot him." Akito said,locking eyes with Naozumi.

"I'm one hundred percent sure that my bullet will hit him," Naozumi said. "before yours hits me. Now drop your gun,and I'll take you both in."

Akito was silent for a second,then said "No." He fired his gun at Naozumi. Naozumi,too shocked to keep his word,ducked instead of shooting Tsuyoshi. Gathering himself up,Naozumi took aim at Akito and fired. Akito dodged the bullet and stood himself back up.

Naozumi and Akito both aimed their guns at each other. The both of them staring the other down. Akito had moved and was standing next to Tsuyoshi. With guns drawn,the two rivals met each others gaze and decided to end this,right then and there. They both pulled their triggers.