Kain POV
The hand that held the phone fell limply to her side, yet her gaze remained fixated on the building.
"Amu."
"Amu!"
"What?" she asked blankly.
"What happened?"
"He- I have to go in."
"Are you crazy?" I shouted.
"No…have you seen my gun?"
She grabbed the small duffle bag she had brought with her, unzipped it, and pulled out her gun. Afterwards, she began to load the gun with more ammunition, before taking out a cross-body bag and sticking more of the bullets in there.
"I'm going in."
I grabbed her by the shoulders and stared hard into her golden eyes.
"Listen, I know you're feeling emotional and that you have a connection to this case. That doesn't mean that you can just waltz into that goddamn building."
"I have to-
"No you don't. Listen to me, once you walk in that building the situation will change, but the fact is you're not obligated to go in there and see what's going on. That's not a negotiator's job."
She grabbed my hands and pushed it off her shoulders, before returning a hard gaze at me.
"Eleven years ago…he didn't have to give me money to go to school after saving me. He didn't have to watch over me to make sure I was doing okay in school. He didn't have to give me a fucking gift every year on my birthday. His job with me ended the minute I was lead out of the building safely, but he wanted to stay with me. He wanted to help me, just like how I want to help those girls."
With that she spun around and walked towards the back entrance.
"I'll come with you!" I shouted.
"You need to negotiate outside!"
I looked around for something she could take with her. I wasn't letting her get into that building alone.
"Take one of the cops!"
"Hell no! I don't need some lazy asses pulling me down. I'll be fine."
Pausing for a moment, I grabbed my own duffle bag and pulled out a medium sized rectangular black box.
"Take this!" I shouted throwing it at her.
Swiftly turned around, she caught it and stared at it oddly. It was mix between a walkie-talkie and a tape recorder.
"What is this? A walkie-talkie?"
"Kind of. Just press the on button and stick it in your bag. It'll allow me to hear everything that is going on inside – you can communicate through it also."
"Cool. Thanks."
"No problem," I said watching her disappear behind the building.
Amu POV
I nestled the gun into its holster and I walked to the back of the building. I'd been down this road before, no need to cautiously make my way to the door checking everything a hundred times. I knew the drill. I wrapped my hand around the knob and slowly twisted it to the right. The door creaked open revealing what seemed to be the back of the storage room.
Good I thought, this way I can go unnoticed a bit longer.
"How's it going in there?" asked Kain through the black device he had given me just moments before.
"Well, I just got in here so I wouldn't know."
"Oh..sorry."
"Yeah."
Shaking my head, I stepped into the eerie room filled with boxes and closed the door behind me. I couldn't move as quickly as I would've liked fearing I'd make too much noise. For all I knew, that man could be in the possession of the gun and the whole situation could've swapped. Karyn and her sister could be hostages now.
I maneuvered my way through the maze like storage room. It was when I saw a little crack of light that I became excited and didn't watch the floor. I tripped over one of the many boxes that were carelessly lying on the floor. I fell to the floor with hard 'thud'. Panicking, I quickly turned off the machine Kain gave me. I waited, still, in the darkness waiting for the sound of footsteps, a gunshot to erupt, or even the door to open but nothing came.
This time, I got up and ran towards the door. Sometimes sneaking towards something isn't always the correct way to go. I peeked through the ajar door and saw nothing but grocery items.
I'll go in I decided and if worst comes to worst I'll have to fight it out with him. After creating the battle plan in my head, I turned on Kain's little device and all of a sudden his urgent voice crackled through.
"WHAT'S GOING ON? ARE YOU OKAY?"
"Yes mother hen, I'm fine…just tripped over a couple boxes, that's all."
"Okay. What's going on?"
"The door I went through was the door the storage room. Now I'm at the back of the convenience store."
"Be careful."
"I will, gosh stop worrying over me. I wasn't the one drugged and stuffed into a cage, now was I?"
"Shut up. Just continue your mission."
Holding back any fits of laughter, I walked into the actual shopping part of the store. Thankfully, I couldn't see the front of the store or the cash register from here. Meaning they couldn't see me. The only flaw about this was the fact that if I made some sort of noise or 'mistake' that would likely be the end of me. There wasn't really a place I could hide.
I crept through, aisle by aisle. With each step knowing that I'd be closer to them than I would a couple steps back. Before long, I was at the point where I could hear some people. It didn't sound like Karyn or the man from before. Probably the hostages.
Moving a little quicker, I began seeing the heads of people all huddled up by the magazine aisle. I placed my hand on an older woman's shoulder; she responded by jolting around with a terrified look in her gray eyes. I knelt down beside her, dropping my hand off her shoulders.
"I'm with the police," I whispered quickly pulling out my badge.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and grabbed the pair of my hands. Her eyes shined with hope now.
"Please, we need your help."
"I know. But I need you to tell me what happened to those two girls. The ones who grabbed the store in a hostage situation."
"Oh them, they disappeared somewhere in a chase after this man. Poor guy, I hope they don't hurt him too bad."
"Okay, thank you."
Getting up, I felt slightly angry. Why wasn't she on their side? He was the one who provoked the fight in the first place, so why was she rooting for him? Shaking my head in bewilderment, I went in search. But before that, I decided to talk to someone else. I found small girl sitting all by herself near the milk aisle. I took a seat besides her.
"Hi there."
She turned to look at me.
"Hi."
"What's your name?"
"Leena."
"Leena huh? That's a really pretty name."
"I don't like it, and neither do my friends."
"Oh really, why not?"
"They said it's not Japanese."
"Is that why you don't like it?"
"…maybe."
"Well, you're name is universal. Meaning any one at any part of the world can have it."
"Really?"
"Of course, and you can tell your friends that hardly anyone wherever they go in the world will have a Japanese name."
"I like my name!"
"That's good to hear."
She looked up at me with curious blue eyes.
"What's your name?"
"Amu."
"Does anyone have your name?"
"Not that I know of."
"Leena, I need you to help me with something."
"What?"
"Have you seen two girls, the ones who captured the convenience store?"
"Yeah."
"Where'd they go?"
Leena looked to the floor then returned my gaze with hard intensity.
"Are you going to hurt them?"
"No. I'm looking for them and the guy who went after them."
"Okay. They went towards the vegetable section."
"Thank you."
I got up and just as I was about to leave, Leena grabbed my arm.
"Please don't let them get hurt."
"I won't."
With that I turned away and ran to the produce area of the store. How could it be that an aged woman could see Karyn and Anju as the bad guys, and a young girl like Leena could see them as victims? The only possible explanation I had up my sleeve was age.
Brushing that matter aside, I was starting to hear Karyn's voice. I hid myself between the candy aisles and listened to her quiet shouts.
"What the hell is your problem old man? Give me back my stuff."
"Not until you let this store go."
"I'll let it go after I get the food that I need."
"You're just a petty thief!" he accused.
"What is it with all you fucking adults that think everyone's life is so goddamn easy, huh? You think we all have parents or someone to take care of us? No, we don't. We're on our own, and frankly I like it better this way. There's no need to listen to un-kept promises and lies. We can depend on ourselves, and that's all my sister and I need."
"Save your speech for the cops…or better yet, God."
"So you're going to kill me?" she asked in an icy voice.
"No use for useless kids."
"Oh you must've had so much use when you were a kid-
"Karyn!" hissed Anju.
Ignoring her younger sister, Karyn brushed back her black hair and stared at the man before walking up towards him. Every step she took forward, he took back.
"What? You think just because you had parents you're the best type of person out there? Must be nice to have someone who wants you. Us on the other hand, well we weren't really ever needed. Our parents died before we really ever got to know them. Sad that we don't even have a picture. Adoptive parents didn't really ever need us, so we ran. So in the end I guess you're right, useless people aren't needed. Go ahead, try your best and aim wherever."
The man raised the gun shakily, stunned by the over confident behavior Karyn was currently shining out. I pulled out my gun, ready to intercept, when Kain's voice crackled through.
"Amu, are you okay? I don't hear your voice!"
I froze, knowing that they'd heard me. Before I could move or even think about what I would do, a bullet shattered the built up silence.
He killed them?
No, not 'them'…'her'. He only fired a single bullet.
I craned my neck slowly when a waft of smoke filled my nostrils.
Why was there smoke?
Looking down, I noticed that the lucky bastard had shot the box I had gotten from Kain and he had damaged my bag. The situation was not good at all right now. They know I'm hiding here for sure, so no matter what happens I'll probably be caught. That would be good except for the fact that the box Kain gave was totally trashed meaning the last thing he heard would be the gunshot. If worst comes to worst he'll send in a bunch of those dimwitted police.
I got up, placing the gun back in its holster and approached the man, Karyn and Anju.
"You're the little rat that's snuck in."
"I'm a negotiator."
"Negotiator…rat…they both do the same thing don't they?" stated the man giving me a slanted look. "They get into what's not theirs."
He pointed the gun at me now.
Better it be me than them I thought.
"Who are you anyways? A little too young to be working in this type of field."
"Amu Hinamori."
"You're that girl," mumbled Karyn loud enough for me and her sister to hear. I'm pretty the man was too thick headed to have heard.
"Amu…Hinamori," he said slowly as though savoring the words.
At the same time he brushed the gun down from my temple to my jaw line creating little ripples of shivers within me. Frowning, I pushed it aside. This guy was a creep.
"And who are you?"
"Ryu."
"Ryu, let go of everyone in exchange for me."
How did this turn into a double hostage situation?
He took one good look at me.
"Everyone for you. Does everyone include those two in the back?"
I turned behind me to see little Anju standing slightly behind Karyn's back. Karyn on the other hand had her arms crossed over her chest with a scowl imprinted on her face. I was sure she didn't appreciate me butting in.
"Everyone means them t-
"We're not included," snapped Karyn.
What was this girl doing? My way would be the easiest way for everyone to get out safely and for me to handle Ryu. Why the hell was she interrupting my work?
"I think I know what I'm doing," I remarked back at her.
"This is my problem. Stay out."
"This is my case."
"Temporarily. You, easily, can be replaced. One click with his gun and you're a goner. With you gone, another negotiator can come."
"The same goes for you. Except once you're shot it's over. No one will know and no one will take your place," I said coldly.
She stared at me with large eyes wavering between coldness and raw sensitivity. However, before even one of us could think of a witty remark, Ryu interrupted us.
"This is fantastic, really," he drawled lamely. "But time is ticking, and I'm sure these people can't wait. Now what's it going to be: you for everyone or you plus the girls for everyone?"
"We're staying. Period," said Karyn getting her way in the end.
"Good choice."
"You," he said waving the already pointed at me, "Call your negotiator friend and tell him that you're letting all the hostages out."
"I can't. Remember, you shot my device earlier."
"Fuck it. I'm opening the doors, the three of you had better stay here or one of these pretty little hostages are going to get a pretty little bullet in their heads. Okay?"
With that he stormed off. I exhaled a breath of relief and took a look at the two near me.
"Are you two okay?"
"Yeah," squeaked Anju.
I looked towards Karyn who stared at me coldly. Her sister lightly elbowed her arm, causing her to slightly snap.
"What? I don't have to answer to this girl."
"Karyn!" exclaimed Anju in a disappointed whisper.
"What?"
Anju shot her a look, and although she was younger it worked like a charm.
"Fine. Whatever. I'm okay…there happy."
The little girl nodded her head and began to stare at me again.
In the background we could hear Ryu shouting at the helpless hostages to get out. And I could imagine what kind of confusion and fear they could be feeling. I understood; it was pretty confusing. The situation had completely turned around, and it didn't seem to be in a better position.
"How is it?"
"How is what?" snapped Karyn.
It was like she was waiting for me to say something she thought sounded stupid. And in my guess, that would probably be anything I said.
"Living on the streets?"
"Are you sure you're okay? Think about, the two of us are living on the streets having to scavenge and steal for food. Our lives are on the line each day. We have nothing but each other, and even that is tested as each day transforms into the next. Do you still think it sounds like its easy?"
"I never said it sounded easy. Because, its not."
"Oh really? What do you know? You're just another spoiled kid who thought being a cop sounded like 'fun'".
"If that's what you think I am, then you must be like the others. You people who think you know everything. My parents were murdered when I was just 8 and my little sister was 1. Adoption wasn't an option for us but I was pretty sure my relatives thought about it. One of them was supposed to be our guardian; it was in our parents' will. It was horrible; everyday they'd fight about who would care for us. Some flat out refused, others sounded like they couldn't manage us because they didn't want us to grow up poorly. The matter of fact was that neither one of them needed or wanted us. So we escaped."
When I thought I heard Ryu's footsteps, I cut short and turned around. When the coast was clear I continued.
"With some money I 'bought' a gun. We lived on the streets by ourselves for two years. I met some very dear friends just like us, and they became our family. I felt safe with them, even happy. Happiness was an emotion I hadn't felt in a very long time. One night however, just as we had managed to grab ourselves dinner with a few goodies for dessert, a man appeared and shot down my friend Hikaru and raped then killed my other friend Nina right in front of our eyes. The boy who was with me, Renji, he was shot. I buried Nina and Hikaru, and a couple days later Renji died – he wound had infected horrendously. I was alone again. So don't tell me I don't understand. I do, probably more than you."
Between the three of us, a silent wave of air lingered. And then before I knew it, Anju had wandered over towards me and was hugging my legs. I patted her head gently before turning over to look at Karyn. Her eyes were still and raw with sensitivity once more.
"And you're…are you happy now?"
"Yeah."
"Do you think that can happen to us too?"
I gave her a warm smile.
"Once we're out of here, you, and your sister can come stay with me. How does that sound?"
"Thank you."
And for the first time since I had met Karyn, all the hostility around her had broken down.
Ryu was back before long looking a lot more aggravated than he had when he left.
"I don't want any of you pissing me off. I already had my temper blown with some whiny bitch in the back."
His back was to me as he approached Karyn and Anju.
"Which one of you want to go first?"
"No volunteers? Fine, I pick you," he said shooting a smug grin at Anju.
The events following that happened in flash. He pushed Karyn down on to the floor and grabbed Anju by a fistful of her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered as he pulled harder on her brown locks. I pulled out my gun and without hesitation fired a bullet into his calf. He howled in pain as he collapsed onto the floor. At the same time, Anju fell to the floor and balls of tears began to form in her eyes.
"Grab her and run!" I shouted.
Karyn picked up her sister without delay and ran to the front of the store with me chasing after them. I was running alongside them when another gunshot erupted and I felt a sharp pain shoot up from my elbow to my shoulder.
I crumpled to the floor, clutching my bloody arm. Karyn immediately stopped and ran back towards me.
"STOP!" I shouted, "Don't worry about me, just go!"
"We're not leaving without you."
She put Anju down and before even helping me, she held out her hand.
"Give me your gun."
"My gun?"
"Yeah."
Kain would probably scold me over and over. It was a fifty-fifty percent chance that she'd either use the gun to kill me on the spot or injure Ryu.
I handed the gun over and she clasped her hands around it tightly. Aiming the gun, the sound of the bullet deafened my ears and I shut my eyes.
Did she kill me?
My brows furrowed together when I heard off-hand background noises. I opened one eye to see Anju staring at me and then opened the other to see Karyn breathing heavily. I craned my neck to see Ryu in a pool of his own blood.
"Did you kill him?"
"Nah, I just shot him in the shoulder. Here's your gun back."
Just as I put it back into its holster, Karyn and Anju both helped me up.
"Why'd you help me?"
"An eye for an eye kind of thing. Actually, someone promised me the chance to experience happiness, and I want to try it. Just once if that's okay."
I smiled at her.
"Let's go home."
The three of us walked out of the store with happy smiles on our face. Anju humming a pretty tune as she held onto Karyn's hand. And me, strolling behind them. The vanishing ray of sunlight from the sunset hit my eyes, blinding me just for a moment. And just then gunshots erupted. Screams echoed the air, and I felt a cool liquid on my face.
I opened my eyes and immediately they widened in shock. Karyn and Anju were no longer in front of me; instead they were lying on the floor – within a pool of their own blood.
I screamed and fell down to the floor, my body limp. Immediately, I felt a pair of warm hands wrap around me.
"Amu. Amu, listen to me. Amu!"
Kain's voice didn't comfort me in the slightest. I pushed myself out of his grasp and ran.
They're dead.
They're dead.
They're dead.
Tears blurred my vision to the point where I didn't even know where I was anymore.
Why did they have to die?
Why?
You killed them.
If only you had been more careful.
It is all your fault.
I collapsed onto the grass and began sobbing. I was in my own world, until the honk of car snapped me out. I looked up to see Kain sitting in his car.
"Get in."
x
X
x
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked keeping his concentrated eyes on the road.
I continued staring out the window, watching everything behind lifeless eyes.
"You just ran away from the crime scene."
How didn't he know what happened?
"The hostages got away all safe and sound including those two girls I think. Didn't really see them. And that guy…Ryu, he's going to be arrested."
"D-drop me off here," I whispered.
"You sure?" he said not sounding too convinced.
"My house is nearby…I need some air."
"Alright…if you say so. Amu, just be careful."
I didn't reply, but just stood there and waited for his car to disappear out of sight.
The sky was dark now, street lamps illuminating the street just barely enough for one to see where one was going. Slowly, I looked up at the sky, sighed, and then began the walk home.
Ikuto POV
The TV was still broken and there's nothing to do. I craned my neck a little to see Noelle sitting in the kitchen finishing up the cookies we'd baked together an hour ago. Pulling out my cell phone, I took note of the time – it was 8:14 p.m. Where the hell was Amu?
"Ikuto! Is Amu home yet?" shouted Noelle as if reading my thoughts.
"No."
"Call her!"
"I can't! She could be working right now. It'll disrupt her."
I heard her let out a groan and I smiled in response. Just then, the doorbell chimed.
"Amu's home!" exclaimed Noelle forgetting all about the cookies and running to the door.
"I'll open it," I said as the little girl tried to open the door.
She mumbled what seemed to be incoherent nonsense under her breath as I opened the door. The light of the front door turned on illuminating Amu. But instead of seeing what I was expecting – a tired Amu coming home with a smile so others aren't worried I saw something completely different.
"Noelle, go upstairs."
"Why? I want to see Amu!"
"Go. Now."
"Meanie," she mumbled before running up.
When I was sure she had ascended into her room, I let Amu in.
"Jesus Christ. Amu, what the hell happened to you?"
She didn't respond. Instead she wandered over towards the couch like a ghost and curled up on it like a cat. This was not Amu. It couldn't be her. Her eyes were lifeless and dull and she was covered in blood.
I walked towards her and sat down on the edge of the couch, placing my hand on her shoulder. It was just then I noticed the bullet wound. But before I could even say anything to her, she started crying hysterically.
"I killed them..."
A.N.
Hi everyone! How are you guy? Angry? Disappointed? I know TT . TT
I promised two chapter two weeks ago and I failed to upload. I'm such a lazy author. Don't be mad though…because I kind of made it up with this one. 15 pages long….that's five pages longer that was I normally do. Okay, so homework and laziness had a lot to contribute to the delay of the chapter. But seriously, trying to update every week is getting tougher and tougher.
On the bright side! This story is getting close to finished. I want to say five or six chapters left. But who knows, I have so many ideas it may end up longer than that. But I am honestly really excited to begin another story when Scars Hidden is over. I honestly have a notebook filled with ideas. It's crazy. Oh! And before I forget, I want to know if this sounds like a good idea: after the epilogue, how would it look if there was a chapter devoted just to questions you guys have had for a while but they were never answered in the story? Or just questions about the story in general. I thought of this in the shower…
But yeah, it's okay if you guys don't know yet. I just want to know how you guys feel about this. If it's a horrible idea, then I won't bother with it. But if you guys like it, let me know.
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505 reviews~ I honestly feel like this is a dream. I swear, when I first got on this website I squealed in delight when my story ended with 16 reviews [A Broken Promise]. Yes, 16 reviews made me the happiest person ever. But really, 505…I honestly love you guys. I mean, I do love to write but I also do write for you guys. You guys are the ones who keep me going when I get lazy or uninspired. So thank you.
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