A/N: Welcome back to the Call For Blood! This chapter, things, for lack of a better word, heat up in the class. Enjoy!
Chapter 9- Fire
"Well, I must admit, Robertson, I wasn't expecting for you to still be kicking, but I guess we can't always get what we want." The voice on the other side of the phone said, before Adam scoffed. "Yeah, sorry to disappoint. But I need to talk to the Mentor." He said, before the voice on the phone said, "Alright, hang on a second.", before Adam heard a shuffling noise. After a couple seconds, he heard a different voice on the other end. What followed was a tense conversation…
"Hello? Robertson, is that you?"
"Yeah it's me Mentor, reporting in from Yomiyama."
"Ahh, yes. I've been meaning to ask about your assignment there for a while."
"That's funny, as I tried to report in before, but my number was blocked."
"What are you talking about?"
"Cut the crap, Mentor. You knew about the Calamity, didn't you?"
*sigh* "Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me before you deployed me here? I would've still accepted the mission, as I believed in the Brotherhood. I could've been killed at any point in the last few months, all because you kept information from me. You betrayed my trust."
"You're the best soldier our Brotherhood ever produced. We were afraid you would decline, and we needed to have an Assassin in Yomiyama."
"We? You mean the Council? They knew about this?"
"Of course."
"Do you have any idea how many good, innocent people have died because of you withholding information from me?"
"Collateral damage. We can explain our reasoning when you return, but for now, complete your mission, Robertson. That's an order."
"Wrong answer. After I'm finished with this Calamity, I'm coming for you."
"Let's make this clear, Robertson. You go down this path, you won't like what you find."
"You wanted me to become a better Assassin, Mentor. You got it."
Hanging up, Adam started to breathe heavily, before he threw the phone against the wall, shattering it. "FUCK!" He yelled, before he stormed back into the dining room. "Angry about something?" Izumi asked, before Adam glared at her. "Bite me." He said, before he growled. "I'll be in my room if you need me." He said, before storming upstairs. After he entered his room, he flung himself onto his bed, and punched his pillow in anger. "Stupid. Fucking. Idiot. Adam!" he said, accentuating each word with a punch. After he had taken his anger out on the pillow, he fell backwards, and stared up at the ceiling. After a couple of minutes, he heard the door knock. "It's open!" he called, before the door opened, and Yumi and Yukari walked in.
"What can I do for you two?" Adam asked, before Yumi scowled at him. "You're a killer?" she asked, before Adam sighed, and flicked his wrist, making the blade spring forth. "Yeah, I am." He said, sheathing the blade, before pushing himself off the bed. "Got a problem with that?" he asked, before Yumi shrugged. "I don't know. Is the Adam we met a separate personality, or something?" she asked, before Adam sighed. "No." he said, before looking between the two girls. "The Adam you've gotten to know is real, always has been." He said, before Yumi glared at him. "But you lied to us, kept your true identity a secret." She said, before Adam shook his head. "It was necessary to keep you all safe, Yumi." He said, before Yumi scoffed. "From what?" she asked, before Adam looked to Yukari. "She deserves to know, Adam." She said, before Adam nodded. "Alright, I'll make it brief." He said, before he sat down on a chair. "The people I used to work for, the Assassins, fight to keep humanity safe from people who wish to control you." He said, before Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Used to? When I found those blade things, you made it out you were still an Assassin." She said, before Adam nodded. "I was, but I only realised tonight that the Assassin Council had lied to me, by withholding the information concerning the Calamity from me. For that, when we stop the Calamity tonight, I'm taking the Assassins in Scotland down, each and every one." He said, before Yumi raised an eyebrow. "You mean kill them?" she said, before Adam nodded. "Only way to deal with treachery in the Brotherhood." He said, before Yukari stepped forward. "What do you mean, stop the Calamity tonight?" she asked, before Adam looked to her. As he went to answer, his door burst open, and Mochizuki ran in.
"What's up?" Adam asked, before Mochizuki ran up to him and whispered in his ear. His eyes widening, he looked at Mochizuki, and nodded. "I'll be right there." He said, before his friend nodded and took his leave. "What's going on?" Yumi asked, before Adam sighed. "Something that could explain how to stop the Calamity." He said, before cracking his shoulder. "I'll catch up with you later." He said, before exiting the room. Quickly walking through the building, he came to Mochizuki's room. Knocking on the door, he was greeted by Teshigawara opening the door. After an akward silence, Adam asked, "Are you going to invite me in, or do I need to persuade you?", flexing his wrist, ready to activate his blade. Standing to the side, Teshigawara allowed him to enter. Inside, he saw Kouichi, Misaki and Mochizuki sitting round a small tape recorder on the table. "Alright, what've we got?" Adam asked, pulling over a chair and sitting down. "Well, let's find out." Mochizuki said, starting the tape.
A few minutes later…
"If you're listening to this, send the dead back to death. That's how to stop the Calamity once it's begun." The tape finished, before Mochizuki stopped the tape. "So, if we find out who the dead person is, and kill them, we end the Calamity, but also forget all about them." Adam surmised, before Kouichi nodded. "The only problem is, we don't know who the dead person is, and even if we did, would you be willing to kill a fellow student?" Sakakibara asked, before the group fell silent. "Of course I could." Adam said, flicking out his Hidden Blade. "If you lot figure out who it is, but can't do it, I'll take care of it." He said, before standing up and leaving the room, not waiting for anyone to answer him. As he walked through the halls, he saw Mr Chibiki helping one of the students, Daisuke Wakui, towards the front door. As he ran up, he asked, "What's wrong with him?", before Mr Chibiki said, "Asthma attack, but he doesn't have an inhaler. I'm taking him to the hospital." Nodding, Adam said, "I'll get my bike and accompany you.", before helping him get Daisuke into the car. "Mr Robertson…" Chibiki went to say, grabbing Adam's arm. Throwing him off, Adam said, "I may be an Assassin, but a classmate needs help, and I'm not about to let him die. Now get going!" he ordered, running off, before Chibiki sighed, entered the car and started driving.
As Adam marched over to the shed he stored his bike in, Yukari ran out of the inn towards him. "What's going on, Adam?" she asked, before Adam sighed. "Mr Chibiki's taking Daisuke to the hospital. He had an asthma attack. And I'm going with them." He said, as he opened the doors to the shed. "Why?" Yukari asked, as he got onto his bike. "Because everyone in that building lost what little trust they had in me." He said, fastening his helmet. "But you're still the best chance we have for survival, Adam." She said, before Adam chuckled. "Forget it, Yukari." He said, turning on the ignition. Stepping in front of the bike, Yukari said, "I'm not going to let you go, Adam." Growling, Adam said, "Move, Yukari, or I'm running you over." As Yukari shook her head, Adam pushed the throttle, speeding forwards, with Yukari ducking to the side, the bike narrowly missing her. Skidding to a halt, Adam spared Yukari a look. "I'm sorry, but I need to do this." He said, lowering his visor, before speeding off, seeing Yumi run up to Yukari. As he disappeared through the gate, Yumi asked Yukari, "Where's Adam going?", before Yukari said, "He's turned his back on us.", and allowed Yumi to help her up, and they both walked back into the inn…
A little while later…
As Adam drove through the mountains, he soon caught up with Mr Chibiki's car, and drove alongside it for a while, before the car came to a halt. Pulling to a stop beside the driver's window, Adam pushed up his visor and asked, "Why'd you stop?" Looking over to him, Chibiki said, "You need to go back to your friends, Robertson. I can take care of Mr Wakui.", before Adam shook his head. "They don't need me." He said, before Chibiki said, "They do. More than you know." Looking down, Adam nodded. "You sure you'll be okay?" he asked, before Chibiki nodded. "I'll be fine. Now go. Go!" He said, before Adam nodded, slammed his visor down, and spun the bike round, before taking off.
At the same time, Kouichi and Misaki were trying to get to Izumi's room, but they had been attacked by Takako, who soon retreated. After Akazawa told them that Takako and her had heard Matsunaga's confession tape, and as a result, Takako seemed to believe that Misaki was the dead person. As Izumi got up to chase after Takako, the inn's PA system blared to life, and Matsunaga's tape played over it. After the tape finished, Takako's voice said, "Now you all know how to stop the Calamity. If we kill the dead person, and send them back to death, the curse will stop. And I have proof that the dead person is Mei Misaki. When we were younger, Misaki went to the same school as Izumi and I, and she had both eyes. Now, she's lost one eye, reportedly due to an accident at the same age as she was at the school. This means, that she was reborn incomplete. So, that means…. We must KILL HER!" After the PA stopped, Kouichi and Miskai turned to see numerous students exiting their rooms, chanting "Send the dead back to death!", some of them wielding weapons, such as a broom. As the students stepped towards them, Miss Mikami's voice called out, "Stop! You can't hurt a fellow student!", as she ran up. "Well, if Misaki's not the dead one, who is?" one student asked, before another yelled, "I don't want to die!" and ran forward, swinging a broom down. Running forward as well, Miss Mikami threw herself into the way of the broom, allowing the student to crack it across her head, causing her to fall to the floor, blood spilling from her head. Thankfully, she was still breathing. Taking advantage of the shock of the other students, Kouichi and Misaki ran past the students, and down the corridor.
Rounding a corner, they saw another group of students standing before them, with Yumi at their head. "I'll avenge my brother!" she yelled, brandishing a knife at them, but Sakakibara ran up and kneed her in the chest, sending her staggering backwards into two other students, before he and Misaki ran past them into one of the bedrooms, locking the door behind them. "Out of the window. We can climb into another room." Kouichi said, climbing up onto the windowsill, and shimmying along the outside wall, Misaki closely following behind him. When Misaki was about halfway across, they heard the door from the room they just exited crash open. Immediately after, Yumi's head popped out the window, and looked to the side, spotting Misaki. "It's you!" she said, adopting a psychotic grin, before climbing up onto the windowsill. "Send the dead…back to death!" she yelled swiping her knife at Misaki, but she missed, only cutting a few strands of the girl's hair. Unbeknownst to Yumi, this action caused her knee to slide off the windowsill, and she lost her balance, falling out of the window to the ground below, her eyes wide open with shock…
As Yumi fell from the window, the roar of a motorcycle echoed through the grounds, and Adam's bike skidded to a halt underneath the window, allowing the driver to catch Yumi in a bridal carry. "Just dropping in?" he asked, before Yumi embraced him. "Thank you, Adam!" she said, before Adam chuckled, and put her down, allowing her to stand. Looking down, he saw Yumi's discarded knife. "I leave for five seconds, and everything goes to shit!" he said, picking up the knife. "Takako found out that Misaki is the dead person." Yumi said, before Adam looked at her. "And you tried to kill her." He said, throwing the knife away. "Only way to finish the Calamity." Yumi said, before Adam nodded. "I know. I heard the tape." He said, before Yumi scowled at him. "Thought you were going to the hospital, anyway." She said, before Adam sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I fucked up." He said, before turning to look at the window, where Kouichi and Misaki had disappeared. "Well, I'm back." He said, before Yumi nodded. "And this time, I'm not fighting as an Assassin, and I'm not fighting for the Brotherhood. I'm fighting as a member of Class 3-3, and I'm fighting for my friends." He said, before Yumi nodded. "Alright, let's go." He said, pushing his bike into the storage shed, before taking Yumi's hand and running through the halls.
After a few corridors, Adam barrelled into a human shape when they rounded a corner, and both of them tumbled to the floor. "Adam?" a voice he recognised as Yukari's asked. Looking down, he saw he had collided with the girl. Standing up, he held a hand out to help her up, but she batted the hand away. "Well, fuck me for being concerned!" Adam said, stepping back. "You abandoned us, Adam." Yukari said, getting to her feet, before Adam nodded. "I did, but the fact that I'm here now shows where my true loyalties are now." He said, before Yukari sighed. "Fair enough. I'll take your word for it. But this doesn't change anything." She said, before Adam smiled. "I'll settle for that." He said, before they heard a scream from a nearby stairwell. Looking at his two companions, Adam nodded towards the stairwell door, before stepping over and opening the door. Inside, the three saw Kouichi and Misaki standing a set of stairs above them. After running up to them, Adam saw they were looking at a pair of legs flailing about. Immediately, Adam looked up, and saw Takako had her neck wrapped in cables, struggling to breathe. Immediately, his hand flew to his side, and withdrew his knife. Holding it by the blade, he aimed for a second, before flinging the blade through the cables, freeing Takako, who started to fall to the ground. Running up, Adam caught Takako, who erupted in a coughing fit, as she struggled to regain her breath. "Will I have to catch all you girls from a fall?" Adam asked, before setting Takako down, just as Izumi ran into the stairwell, and joined them.
"What's wrong with her?" Izumi asked, before Takako growled. "That bitch Misaki almost killed me!" the bespectacled girl said, causing the entirety of the group to look at Kouichi and Misaki. "That's not true. She got wrapped in the cables trying to kill Misaki, due to thinking she's the dead one." Kouichi said, before Adam stood up. "Any way to prove she's not?" he asked, before Takako spoke up. "There's nothing to prove! In elementary school, Izumi and I knew of a person named Misaki, who looked just like her! Now, apparently she lost her eye sometime at that age, but we knew her to have both eyes. So, she was born incomplete, making her the dead one. And I'm going to finish it!" she yelled, picking up her dropped knife, but Adam grabbed her arm, and swiftly disarmed her. "There's one thing you may have overlooked." He said, before walking over to Misaki.
"Misaki, one question, and I want you to be 100% truthful with me when you answer. Can you do that?" he asked, before Misaki nodded. "Alright. Here's the question: Are you an only sibling?" Adam asked, before Misaki shook her head. "I had a twin sister, also called Misaki, who is the one Takako is talking about." She said, before Adam nodded in understanding. "And is your sister okay?" he asked, before Misaki shook her head. "She died of leukaemia… in April." She said, before Adam sighed. "So that means the Calamity started a month earlier." He said, before Misaki nodded. "You expect us to believe that?" Takako asked, before Adam shot her a look, causing her to fall silent. "Well, if Misaki's not the dead one…who is?" Yumi asked, before Adam groaned. "Not a fucking clue." He said, before Misaki spoke up again. "May I?" she asked, before Adam nodded. "I know that I'll sound crazy, but I'm telling the truth." She said, but Adam smiled. "Trust me, I've been fighting a crazy curse all fucking year, along with all the shit I did as an Assassin. Anything's possible at this point." He said, before Misaki nodded, reached up to her eyepatch and removed it, revealing a bright green pupil.
"What the fuck?" Takako asked in shock, before Adam squirmed slightly. If he was honest, the eye creeped him out slightly. "A glass eye?" he asked, before Misaki nodded. "It was made for me by my adoptive mother after I lost my eye." She said, before Adam nodded in understanding. "Well, no offense, Misaki, but how does this help us find the dead person?" he asked, before Misaki continued explaining. "My eye allows me to see the colour of death on a person." She said, before Adam's eyes brow furrowed in confusion. "And this can help us find the dead one?" he asked, before Misaki nodded. "The only problem is, I see the colour of death on two people, one being the dead person, and the other being… you." She said to Adam, who's eyes widened. "Me?" he asked, before Misaki sighed and nodded. "But I don't think it's because you're dead, I think it's due to you living your life in death. Wherever you tread, someone is always guaranteed to die." She said, before Adam nodded. "That's true. So you know who the dead person is?" he asked, before Misaki nodded.
"Alright. Sakakibara." Adam said, turning to the boy in question. "Go with Misaki, find the dead person, and end this!" he said, before Kouichi nodded, Misaki put her eyepatch back on, and the pair took off. Turning to the rest of the group, Adam said, "We should get everyone else up to date on Misaki not being the dead one.", receiving nods from all the girls except Takako. "Got a problem with that plan, Takako? Misaki's proved she's not the dead one." He asked, before Takako nodded. "Alright, let's go!" he said, before the group exited the stairway.
"Adam, we can't just tell the rest of the class about Misaki not being dead." Izumi said, before Adam turned to her. "Why's that?" he asked, before Izumi jerked her head towards the entrance hall. "There's a fire in the dining room. Kouichi closed the door, but it could spread if we don't get everyone out." She said, before Adam nodded. "Is there anyone else in the entrance hall?" he asked, before Izumi nodded. "Noboru and Ouji." She said, before Adam nodded. "Alright, let's go get them." He said, before leading the group to the entrance hall. As they entered the room, they saw one of their classmates, Makoto Ouji, go to open the door to the dining room. "DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!" Adam yelled, as the door cracked open. Immediately, there was a large gust of air, and the fire launched outwards, completely charring Makoto's body, killing him instantly, and throwing Adam backwards. As Makoto's body fell to the ground, Adam struggled to his feet. Looking to Makoto, he growled, "Son of a bitch!", before he and the group ran over to Noboru, who had been thrown to the side by the explosion. "You alright?" Adam asked, receiving a nod from the boy. "Okay, you are going to do something for me. Go find the rest of the class, and tell them to get out, away from the fire." He said, before Noboru nodded. "Alright, get going." He said, before Noboru ran off, up the left staircase. "Izumi, Takako." He said, turning to the two girls. "Can you go with him?" he asked, before Izumi nodded, and dragged Takako off after Noboru.
"What about Yukari and me, Adam?" Yumi asked, before Adam smiled. "Stay close to me." He said, before the two girls nodded, and followed Adam up the stairs. "While Takako and Izumi clear that side of the building, we'll take the other." He said, at the top of the right staircase. "Sounds good. Let's do it." Yukari said, before Adam smiled. "Alright then. Avante!" Adam said, before leading the girls down the halls.
A/N: And I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you all next time, with Chapter 10- Back to Death. Madman out!