Chapter 6: Lucky Bullet & Fearless Clover

Criminal A found me.

I am so dead...

He grabbed my my collar and I inhaled, prepared to get beaten. Instead, his attention was directed elsewhere. I slowly opened his eyes and followed his gaze. One of the kidnappers was...

Dancing?

The guy looked like he was tap dancing but with a horrifying expression on his face. It seemed like he was being pulled by some kind of invisible force, like a puppet being controlled by strings.

If I wasn't being held captive by an ugly, threatening idiot, I would have laughed. No, I would have cracked up and laugh my ass off. But currently, it wasn't a very good situation to crack up.

Criminal A raised his brow and stared at the poor dancing guy.

"Help, Boss! Ahhh!" The guy cried. It seemed that he couldn't stop his little performance.

The other criminals stared at the guy and looked from their boss to their comrade.

"What's with you?" Criminal A snarled.

"R-Rocks!" The guy stammered.

"What?" His boss blinked blankly. "What'd ya mean, rocks? What's up with you?"

True, it was quite deceiving, but it didn't escape my eyes. The were tiny pebbles that were coming from all directions, all aimed at the guy. Forcing him to do a series of awkward dance moves.

"B-Boss… What should we do to him? Are we going to help?" One of the kidnappers asked.

"Pfft, let him be. That good for nothing idiot deserves it. He's just probably having hallucinations. His brain isn't that big after all, it's like," he made a crushing gesture, " a size of a little pea!"

Criminal B frowned at his companion.

That guy is seriously drunk.

He never let go of me. I was held like a tiny, life size doll. The big guy picked me up with ease and his breath reeked with alcohol.

"Meh." He burped and I frowned in disgust. My reaction seemed to have caught his attention."You!" He thrust me on the ground. "Where's the others?"

I was still rubbing my arms, injured during the fall, when his dirty boot met my face. The kick left a bruise on my right cheek, and hell, it burned. I glared at the ruthless drunkard.

"Heh, you feel the pain now brat?" He kicked me again, this time it was my stomach. I suddenly remembered that I had also left a bruise on the bastard's face.

I coughed and endured the pain. Surprisingly, I had no tears in my eyes. I didn't even hate those criminals, because hate is an emotion you feel for others. I had nothing left for them, they were worse than animals. They were so lowly that they didn't even deserve my hate.

My silence continued, but I did not let them defeat me. I am not... a loser anymore. I will defend myself.

I slowly got up after Criminal A continued to beat me. The pain was nothing compared to what I had experienced. I grasped a nearby tree trunk and held myself up. Criminal A was about to slap me until I heard a loud screech.

"AHH! MY EYE! ME EYE!" Criminal screamed. He covered his right with his hands and fell to the ground. "AHH GODDAMMIT! WHO IS IT! SHOW YOURSELF! IMMA RIP YOU APART, AND DRINK YOUR BASTARD BLOOD!"

The others stood still, frozen in horror as they watch their leader fall to the ground. They stood still, scared of suffering from the same fate as their leader.

"You called for me?" A voice suddenly said. Everyone turned since it was my turn to freeze in horror.

"Usui! Why did you come out?!" I shouted at the blonde who suddenly appeared from behind the tree trunk.

"You damned bastard!" Criminal A ran towards Usui with a deathly look.

Before he even got closer than two meters, Usui revealed the stones in his hands. He flicked a the stones so fast that I nearly missed the glimpse. Apparently, Usui's aims were all directed to Criminal A pressure points.

"Agh!" Criminal winced in pain. He fell flat on the ground.

My jaw literally dropped. Did I just witness a 10 year old boy defeat a 6'4'' hunky man with just a couple of stones?

Criminal A's comrades immediately rushed towards him. "Boss! Boss! Are you okay?"

Criminal A managed to get up from the help of his men. "You... damn brat." He had a murderous glare towards Usui. He still covered his eye which was currently bleeding. "What are you morons doing? Get him!"

His men followed their bosses orders and attacked Usui. The first man who reached Usui received a back kick from Usui and cracked his spine. The second and third came at once and smashed into each other like total idiots. Usui did something to the fourth guy, but I couldn't really make out what was happening since he moved so fast. If I wasn't mistaken, Usui punched him in super human speed and left him on the floor, unconscious. The fifth, was a well built fat dude without a shirt. His fat jiggled as he charged at Usui with his top seed. He aimed his shiny bald head at Usui. The guy advanced further than anyone in the group,and was closing to Usui.

"Usui!" I yelled to warn him. The fat dude was just a couple inches from Usui until he suddenly... teleported? Usui was right next to me when the chubby, shirtless guy crashed into the trunk of the tree. I was totally unprepared when Usui suddenly yanked my hand. Before I knew it, we were running away from the criminals. Usui was leading me on as I was still trying to absorb the information.

I felt his grip on my hand harden as we made a sharp turn and jumped over the muddy ground. I ran with him, trying to not get a heart attack, literally.

"We've got to find somewhere to hide since we won't last long like this." He commanded. He meant, I won't last long.

We ran through the forest like desperate maniacs with angry criminals after us. Usui jerked my hand as he pulled me behind a large tree.

"Boss, they disappeared!" One of the criminals reported back to Criminal A whose hand was now bloody.

"UGH! FIND THEM! I HAVE TO TEAR THEIR ORGANS OUT PERSONALLY!" Criminal A screamed furiously at his men.

We watched as the men headed the opposite direction. I tried to pace my breath evenly as I calmed down. I didn't realize that Usui was starring at me.

"What?" I asked. "Is their something on my face?" I touched my face but Uusi caught my hand. I looked up to him.

"Nothing."

I gave him a weird look and looked around the forest. Okay, problem number two. I think we're lost.

We sat in silence as the fire crackled. Night has fallen and Usui and I were forced to make a campfire to avoid beasts. The silence continued until...

GRRRR~

My stomach growled. A rush of embarrassment overwhelmed me. I haven't eaten anything since my breakfast and I was a growing child. Can't help it.

"You hungry?" Usui teased, making me feel even worse.

"Pfft... aren't you?" I responded. At this rate, we're gonna starve to death. My golden eyes automatically scanned the whole area. My eyes stopped on something. Clovers.

"What are you looking at?" Usui asked.

"Clovers."

"Huh?"

I reached out and plucked a couple of clovers from the patch. I hesitated for a moment, and threw them into my mouth. I munched the plant and tasted the spicy tingling feeling.

"What-" Usui started.

"Clovers are edible. I read it in a book." I took a brief glance at him and continued on,"besides, it's the only food source around. Usui, we must survive until we escape out of here."

I took a another handful of clovers and stuck it in front of the guy. At first he was shocked, but his expression changed into a smile. He took the clovers nd munched on the plant without any complaints.

"Who taught you all this?" He asked.

"My mother..." I looked down. "When I was three, she told fairy tales to me and my sister and combined with science, to make learning for my sister more fun. I read about edible herds and plants from her library. She died when I was eight."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I'm used to it now." Silence continued.

"Hey Usui, I wanted to ask you this for a while..." I broke the silence. "How did you make the stones go in multiple directions? You confused everyone and created a scene that there was more than one person in hiding."

"Simple." I narrowed my eyes at his word. "I simply used my environment as a facade. Using the trees, I formed an act that is similar to how a boomerang works. You know, how the stone will hit back to me depending on which angle I throw it at. But, instead of making the stone come back to me when I bounce then on the trees, I changed the angle so it would hit the criminals instead."

"But then... you have to calculate what perfect angle you must aim at and the strength to throw the stone at depending on the distance! That's nearly impossible to do in such a short time!" I exclaimed. I looked at the guy with an admired stare.

"There's no such thing as impossible in my dictionary." He chuckled at my reaction.

"You must be really good at math." I watched him.

"And you must be pretty good with chemistry." We both laughed.

But then, it downed on me. Misaka. I wondered if she had been worried sick about me. I sighed as I looked up at the night sky above me. The night was clear and chilly, but what I wondered the most was the alluring constellations above my head.

"Wow." I gasped.

"Pretty neat huh?" Usui said as he grabbed another bunch of clovers. I followed him and munched up another bunch.

"Hey, Ayuzawa" Usui called.

"What?"

"If you want to cry, you don't have to hold it in." He stared right into my golden eyes. He locked his piercing gaze with me and made me mesmerized.

"Usui-"

"It's okay, you know. To show your weaknesses once in a while..." I fell silent after his words. Before I had noticed his hand touched my cheek. He wiped away my tears. I was crying.

Usui held me and I cried silently in his arms. "Misaka..." I sobbed. Usui just patted my back.

After I calmed down a bit, he glanced up in the sky. I followed his gaze while wiping my last tears.

I watched him star into space.

"Ayuzawa."

"Yes?"

"Do you want to become strong?"

I nodded.

"Me too." I stared at him surprisingly. Usui wants to become strong?

"Just remember, Ayuzawa," He pointed up at the starry sky, "In this world, there are about sixty billion people. Besides the person who hurt you, there must me another person who loves you. Therefore, you are never lonely. Time may change people, but people will never change time. The sky is an example. Just remember that the person who loves you is looking up at the same sky as the one you are looking up to right now." His eyes were intense as I gazed back. The sparks of fires reflected in his perfect green orbs. They were so interesting, so full of mysteries.

I smiled. "Thank you, Usui."

"To become stronger, we must become fearless. Tonight, Ayuzawa and Usui is going to become fearless," he announced.

I gave him an awkward glance. "How?"

Usui took off something and threw it at me. I caught it and looked down. It was an old bullet with a string tied to it.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"A sign that you are now fearless, Ayuzawa."

"Then what about you?" I inspected the bullet even more.

"I already have," he smirked. He picked up a bunch of clovers and motioned towards me, "See?"

I laughed. "Clovers? Are you serious?"

"It's a sign that I should be more daring to explore outside. Without your knowledge of science, we would have starved to death."

I smiled and held the bullet with both of my hands.

"That's the only thing my father left for my mother."

I stared at him in shock. "Then... why did you give such an important item to me?"

He shrugged. "I felt like this was dragging me back. When I gave it to you, those painful memories won't burden me anymore."

I didn't ask him anymore questions. I wore the necklace and felt the cold metal touch my bare skin under my clothes. Tonight, Usui and Ayuzawa has become fearless...

It was dawn when a sound was heard. A sound that terrified both Usui and me. The sound of a gunshot. Usui's eyes automatically shot opened. He held my hand.

"We have to go." He whispered.

I nodded as we slowly got up to see the same ugly faces of the criminals from yesterday. They were close to our hideout. In fact, they were too close.

"They're there!" One of the men spotted us.

Crap. Usui held my hands and we both ran. The criminals returned, and they were prepared to capture us. Or in the worst case scenario, kill us. We ran like nomads again, but it wasn't long until my heart was beating like it was going to burst again. Dammit! I haven't taken my medication last night!

My condition began to worsen as they the men neared us. Please, I pleaded, just a little longer...

Usui seemed to be aware of my expression. I was sweating and my face was pale like a ghost.

A root of a tree caught my foot and I stumbled down, and before I knew it, Usui was already beating the other guys up into a pulps.

Only the last couple men came and the real fight began, it was four against one. But the guys had weapons this time. The guy with a metal baseball bat tried to whack Usui but failed. Instead, Usui elbowed his neck and he fell unconscious. Oh gosh...

Now, it was two against one. I saw Criminal A in the rear, with his handgun directly pointed at Usui. Oh. My. Gosh.

"Usui! Watch out!" At that time, I didn't even realize what I was doing. Time suddenly slowed down, like in slow-motion as I pushed Usui away from the bullet. Everything slowed into a pace of a snail, it seemed. I actually watched as the bullet soar through the air and hitting my chest.

Then, suddenly, I heard Usui call to me.

"Ayuzawa!"

So... People. Here's the exciting 6th chapter! Please review! I put in extra effort in this chappy there (hehe... not really good at writing action...)

What? *Dodges flying eggs and veggies* I know, I know. I left you guys on a cliffy again.

Please Review! Reviews make me wanna update!

TEEHEE...

Thanx,

CC