Chapter Four:

Cyclone

KID POV

Kaito felt the plane jerk again as the wind caught the wings, shifting it down. Around them, the other passengers who had been asleep or unaware of the current danger, were now all wide awake, whispering back and forth between themselves. He knew this could get bad really fast if they weren't careful. Panic was not something to take lightly.

"I didn't see anything on the news about a possible hurricane being in this area", muttered Hakuba as he stared out the window, watching the lightning.

Aoko beside him shifted uncomfortably as she turned in her chair to look back at the others.

"Do you think we will be okay?" she asked.

No one answered her. They couldn't, seeing as how it wasn't often that a plane got caught in such a freak storm like this one.

"Honestly", muttered Kaito with a sigh, "I don't really know Aoko."

She didn't reply, but just nodded as she slipped back into her chair, her knees pulled up as Hakuba wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into him, wanting to feel safe even if it was only superficial at best.

The whispers were finally dying down as the plane seemed to level out. Of course, as the saying goes, the Calm before the storm is never as good as it seems.

The sound of what could only be described as an explosion shook the plane. Kaito looked outside and noticed on the left wing, a fire had broken out.

"Lightning", he whispered realizing what had happened, "Lightning just hit us."

"What!" said Harley jumping up to glance out the window.

Everyone else followed suit, all watching the fire as it grew in size.

"That's where the fuel is", muttered Shinara.

She and Kaito shared a worried frown as a stewardess rushed into the apartment and smiled as calm as she could before the apprehensive passengers.

"Attention please", she said with only a slight shake that Kaito picked up on right away, "It seems the storm has caused a few issues with our flying plan. As of now we are going into Emergency Protocol procedure."

"Are we going to die!" yelled a passenger.

"You're supposed to get us there safely!" another yelled, anger and fear in their voice.

"I have children on here!"

"I know", the woman said, struggling to maintain her own composure. Kaito noticed the small tremors wracking her frame. If that didn't make him nervous, nothing else could have. He knew right then that the things people were yelling out to her was something she had thought about as well. She believed they wouldn't be in the air for much longer.

"We are going to crash", he whispered so only his friends could hear him.

"What makes you say that?" asked Aoko, a tremble in her voice as she clinged to Hakuba's arm beside her.

"The stewardess, she is shaking", he replied nodding in her direction, "she also believes in what the passengers are saying."

"This is going to go bad quick if a panic erupts", muttered Hakuba.

"I agree. We need to keep what order we can when things go south", said Shinara as she buckled her seatbelt as instructed by the stewardess who was now going over emergency rules and instructions.

Kaito had been listening to the stewardess chatter on about how to use the oxygen masks and life preservation belts beneath their seats when he noticed at the back of the apartment, Ami was struggling to get some children calmed down. Four little kids were crying their eyes out, upsetting the adults and other kids around them. He noticed Ami also looked ready to burst into tears any minute.

"I will be right back", he said quickly as he unbuckled his seatbelt and started to the back.

Shinara watched him go. She saw where he was headed and smiled. It was so like him to worry about kids at a time like this.

DCDCDCDCDCDCDC

"Please calm down Aki", she whispered to her little brother. He was crying in her arms, the other three children doing the same. Her parents were nowhere to be seen and she had four little kids on her hands. What was she going to do? The strain of the responsibility, not to mention her own fear whenever the plane lurched, had her ready to cry along with them.

"Now, now my dear", whispered a gentle voice as a hand reached down to help her to her feet and off her knees, "one must not cry in front of the children. It does not suit a girl as pretty as you."

She blushed as she looked into the face of Kaito Kuroba, her upperclassman from her high school who had graduated last school year. She had always had a crush on him and to think he was with her now when they might die…was this a dream? She wondered.

"T-thanks", she whispered.

He smiled at her before kneeling in front of the four children.

"Now my darlings", he said with a large grin and the snap of his fingers on both hands, "shall we see what Big Brother Kaito has for you?"

Two red roses appeared in his hands at the snap and the kids stopped crying, their noses running as they watched in awe as he began to do small magic tricks for them. Kaito smiled, focusing his complete attention on the tricks in order to not make the kids worry about the storm threatening to engulf them and tare the plane from the sky. He noticed to his amusement and relief, that Ami was also watching his tricks with a childlike fascination.

Kaito was just doing a final trick when another explosion occurred, this one much bigger than the first. Fire and smoke rolled by the left windows as the planes lights began to blink on and off.

"Attention all passengers!" yelled the pilots from the cockpit through the intercom, "prepare for crash landing! Prepare for crash landing!"

Everyone rushed to their seats, buckling up as the plane began to descend quikly towards the ocean water below. Too quickly, Kaito noted as he tried to get back to his own chair. The intense pressure from the spiral down was hard to bypass, but he was almost there when he heard a small voice shout behind him.

"Mama!"

He turned in horror to see a small girl of about six standing at the back of the plane near the bathroom, tears running down her face as she searched desperately for her parent. He didn't know what kind of woman would dare leave her child alone at a time like this, but he knew what was coming. He could see the water getting closer the faster the plane dove. He rushed back towards the child and scooped her into his arms just as the nose plunged into the water.

The entire plane buckled and groaned in protest as it began to sink beneath the waves. Water leaked from all around and the occupants, as well as their things were throw to and fro as the rest of the plane soon joined the front of it. Kaito who was still clutching the small girl to him, could only hold onto her as he felt himself being picked up and thrown into the floor and ceiling, as well as the chairs in front of him. He couldn't stop it as the harsh beating continued until finally, everything stopped, the entire plane submerged.

It was then, that the real panic began.