Tempest here! Schools out finally and the chapters on time for once. I did leave it off on a cliff-hanger so without further ado...
Enjoy!
I stared out of the window of the car, noticing the speed of the car. Gai, Anya and I did not speak as we all had the same thing on our minds. Koutei. The person who held the most kindness and thoughtfulness in the world was suffering at the hands of fear. Plenty of times I have been in that position and each time drove me towards losing my mind. But Koutei saved me and gave me a family and memories I could cherish and I would let that be in vain. The visit from Joseph had shaken my resolve but I kept strong. I was through with hiding in rooms and locking myself away. I would face this head on and make it right. Anya seemed worried, which was understandable but I had grown up being able to read her thoughts. She knew something that bothered her other than Koutei.
"Anya." I said flatly. She blinked several times and spoke.
"Yeah?"
"What did Koutei tell you?" I said, my eyes fixed firmly and steely into hers.
"Um, well, he told me that someone came to visit you the other day and that he was, well..." She trailed off, not sure what to say.
"Ah, my brother Joseph. He came over from England to try and persuade me to come back, only to use me as a bargaining chip for the civil war between our two families but I refused."
"So what you said in class was-"
"Exactly what I meant. All Joseph wanted to do was win a game and I thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie."
"Isn't that rather cruel Blake? He was your brother after all." Gai interjected. He was right but my reasons were just.
"A leopard cannot change his spots Gai. And to think that after all this time, blood runs thick in one river and thin in the next."
"You are right there. What people have done to you during your life should never happen to anyone. It's just...wrong."
"In a nut shell it is. But let's focus on Koutei this time. He needs our help."
"Is his panic attack serious?" Gai asked. That was the question that only I had the answer to. But should I tell them the truth? They needed it.
"Yeah. It is. By the sounds of it, it may be the same as the one that caused me to become...lonely in a sense. We need to get there fast."
I felt the car speed up, knowing that I would have to be able to save Koutei. I just had to find the strength.
ZZZ
We got out the car and rushed towards the massive building in front of us, panic in our eyes. We ran through the automatic doors and the first thing I saw was the large crowd around the elevator. Even the media was here which never helped anything. Not that it would stop me. I pushed my way through the crowd and the cameras, earning myself whining from the crew. I saw two cops by the door, one of which was Miwa's dad. The one person who showed up when needed. Good thing I called Miwa first to check if he could get me in with no hassles and luckily, everything went smoothly. With only a nod, he took the other cop aside and I rushed towards the sealed door.
"Yuri! Can you hear me?!" At first I heard nothing but then:
"Blake! Thank God your here. Koutei...it's getting worse, his claustrophobia," She was frantic. It was a miracle she wasn't having a panic attack.
"Alright, alright just keep calm, you owe that to Koutei. I'm going to find a way to help just bare with me."
"Blake, Koutei keeps whimpering your name. Get the hell up and that's how you help."
"Then tell me how and I'll do it."
"Figure something out!"
Nice. Leave it all up to me. I guess that there's not much she can do anyway. I had to find a way up to the lift. I had to calm Koutei down.
"Sir, can I borrow you for a second?" Called an emergency officer or something, I wasn't paying attention.
"What's up?"
"The officer over there has informed me that you can help the current situation. From what we can tell, one of the people trapped is in distress and that you can help. We were planning of having someone get to the lift and helping and as you have ties with him, would you be willing to help us?" It was obvious what the answer was.
"Yes. I will do what needs to be done." Never in my life did I mean my words. We ran up the stairs with the media trying to interrupt us with a barrage of question. All of which I ignored. As we started to stop, I heard faint groaning and sobbing. Damn it was bad.
"We have had a problem with opening the grate and-" It was opened with a swift kick from me. Time could not be wasted, no matter how unorthodox the methods were. I looked down the access hole and saw the lift very close.
"You can just jump if you're confident enough." And I did. I landed with a thud on the metal and I instantly regretted it. A large jolt of pain ran up my knee, reminding me of the damage. I let out a groan but opened the hatch. I jumped again, causing another wave of pain. It caused me to scream in agony, scaring Koutei and Yuri. As soon as I looked at Koutei, I was shocked to say the least. He was huddled in the corner, pale and shivering, letting out short sobs. He had his head buried in his knees.
"Koutei?" I said lightly. He looked up and I gasped. His eyes were sunken into his head, red and puffy from crying. Tears flowed fast down his face and his top half of his shirt was soaked and stained. I crawled forward next to him and leaned against the wall, clutching my knee.
"You alright Koutei?" Silly question but still. He only let out a small squeak and went back to sobbing. Yuri came over and sat next to me. I started to draw circles on his back with my palm, keeping to whispering calming words.
"Everything will be ok Koutei, I swear. Just hang on. We're all here for you, especially me. I was in a dark, dark place when you adopted me and I didn't wholly trust you but you helped me, I just thought I didn't say thank you enough. You know the war in England started but in a way that's a good thing. It shows me that people choose to live on and move on from the past and others do not. They keep blaming each other but the history isn't the problem. It's the people who use it. I learnt that in History a while back studying Ireland. I've moved on thanks to you." I then took off my family ring and placed it on Koutei's hand.
"A thank you gift, for everything." Soon, the sobs grew quitter and was interrupted by coughs and his body went limp. I looked at my watch. Thirty minutes. Not nearly as long as mine. I hoped nothing bad came from this ultimately. A long time passed and finally the metal box began to move. The next events passed quickly. The media and fans of Team Caesar shouted at me, bombarding me with questions and abuse as I was so close to them. Ironic. I remember carrying him to the car with Gai and Yuri finally bursting into tears blaming herself. It took the entire trip back to their house to calm her down and convincing her it was not her fault. I remember Koutei waking up briefly, muttering a thank you and then falling asleep again. We arrived at Yuri and Gai's house at last and Gai proceeded to carry Koutei to a spare bedroom. We walked into the living room and we all collapsed onto the couches. An hour later, Koutei walked in, looking a thousand times better than he did. He sat down next to me as I handed him two pills.
"What are these?" He asked, his eyes dull and half open. That panic attack had really taken it out of him.
"A painkiller for the headache which you most undoubtedly have and an antidepressant for anxiousness and anything else. Just to be safe." I looked around and saw five people in one room. I was just being paranoid but I needed to get us out.
"Hey Yuri?"
"What's up Blake?
"Do you mind walking with me to the pizza place across the road. We need quick food honestly and no one here really wants to cook. Up to you."
"Sure, I need some fresh air anyway." Soon, we was walking down the pavement to get the food.
"Good idea to clear the place Blake. We did need to keep it quiet and there was too many people."
"I just want to help Koutei. I love him as a brother more than anyone else in my life. I just want to keep my new family safe."
"I hear ya. I would do the same for any of you and we both know Koutei and Anya would. Too bad my half-wit brother is scared of everything" We both chuckled, happy that we could have a normal conversation. It was quiet and I was peaceful. How it changed...
We continued to walk and the takeaway place came into view. Soon, I noticed someone walking up to us from a distance and stopped abruptly. As did we. I noticed salt-and-pepper hair, and lanky stature and.. and orange jumpsuit. Fear gripped me and I was paralyzed. He looked up with a malicious grin. His eyes were not green. The glowed ethereally, colours of blue,white and green. It was strange but I realised who it was. I saw sirens of blue and red in the distance. The pieces clicked. Jenji had escaped. He had parole as I read in the papers and went missing. He was crazed. And he pulled something out, pointed it at Yuri and with a malicious smile...
BANG!
And I smiled as I collapsed to the floor, Yuri pushed out of the way at the right time. Not me, as a pool of red started to spread from my shoulder.
PLOT TWIST! My God people must hate me for all of this shizzle right now, The next chapter will be up very, very soon like, Tuesday soon and it will be good. Until then, review and this is Tempest signing off!