Chapter 59: Akira and Hina

And so, with the sound of the police echoing through the corridors, Kai shouted "Stop... don't do something you might regret..." to the girls before taking a small glance behind him.

The tension in the room was palpable as the echo of Kai's words faded into the silence.

Hina and Akira both stood motionless, their minds processing the unexpected turn of events.

The blood-stained walls, the bodies strewn across the floor, and the faint scent of gunpowder all painted a picture of chaos—a stark contrast to the calm determination now radiating from Kai.

Hina's breath came in ragged gasps, her body trembling as she struggled to regain control over the emotions that had driven her to the edge.

The red in her eyes, a sign of her murderous intent, slowly faded, replaced by the softness of her natural hue.

She looked at Kai, her gaze filled with a mixture of relief and guilt.

Kai's words had reached a part of her that had long been buried beneath layers of pain and anger.

For a brief moment, she had almost forgotten who she was—what she wanted to be.

But now, standing before the boy who had seen through the darkness in her heart, she felt something she hadn't allowed herself to feel in a long time: hope.

Akira, on the other hand, remained silent.

Her one good eye observed Kai with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

She hadn't expected to encounter someone who could influence Hina so deeply, someone who could stop her in her tracks with just a few words.

The knife that had once been a part of her identity, a tool of survival, now lay forgotten on the ground.

Kai took a deep breath, trying to steady himself as the gravity of the situation weighed on him.

The police were closing in, and they had only moments before the building would be swarmed by armed officers.

He knew they couldn't stay here; they had to move, and quickly.

Without any further questions, Akira and Hina looked into each other's eyes with a very strange intensity, like they wanted to say "You're safe until next time." 

Akira could take advantage of the situation to hurt Hina but she didn't.

Kai distracted her and it could've been very dangerous.

They both stopped fight in the exact moment that Kai arrived.

"We need to leave," Kai repeated, his voice firm but laced with urgency. "The police are almost here. If we stay, we'll all be caught."

Hina nodded, her resolve returning as she wiped the tears from her face.

"You're right," she whispered, her voice barely audible. She glanced at Akira, who had also nodded in agreement, albeit more hesitantly.

"There's a small hole in the wall," Kai continued, pointing to the spot he had noticed earlier.

"It looks like it leads outside. We can use it to escape." Kai said, with an anxious but direct tone of voice

Akira followed his gaze and a small smile appeared on her lips, her trained eyes quickly assessing the situation. "It might be tight, but it's our best shot," she said with a normal tone of voice.

It seemed like the trained ex-soldier relaxed herself since she realized that Hina wouldn't have done anything to her.

"Kai... this hole leads outside, yes... but-" Hina tried to speak, but her voice was interrupted by the voice of someone screaming "BE FAST AND FREE THE HOSTAGE!" coming from behind them.

Then, without wasting another second, the three of them moved towards the hole in the wall.

Hina went first, her smaller frame allowing her to slip through with relative ease.

Kai followed, struggling slightly but managing to squeeze through.

Akira decided to go last since she was the one who closed the hole, in order to don't show any kind of hint to the police.

After they were all in the "Tunnel" , they crawled for some minutes through that hidden passage which lead outside.

The sound of sirens blared in the distance, growing louder with each passing second.

"We need to keep moving," Akira said, taking the lead. "There's a safe house nearby once we'll get out. We can regroup there."

Hina and Akira seemed to have stopped fighting each other, as silence was speaking for them.

Kai was actually confused.

"Weren't they about to kill each other one moment ago?" He asked to himself, while crawling towards freedom.

When they finally arrived on the other side of the wall, they found themselves in a narrow alleyway, the dim light of the evening casting long shadows on the ground.

Kai and Hina exchanged a glance before following her.

The weight of everything that had happened hung heavily on them, but there was no time to dwell on it now.

They had to stay focused.

Kai could expect any kind of situation to actually happen.

Hina and Akira could start fighting at any moment.

But for some strange reasons, they didn't.

Or worse, Akira would've led them to another dangerous place.

Kai and Hina were trusting Akira, or , to be more specific, Hina was trusting Kai despite the hate she had for her sister.

But before they walked Kai asked Akira where they were.

"Oh... we're on the hidden side of the building, where most hostages were usually taken... by gangsters... but now it's nothing more than an useless place..." Akira said.

Hina didn't speak any words.

Instead, she was clinging to Kai, as if she wanted some comfort and reassurance since her body was trembling a little.

It seemed like that place actually made her recall some kind of dark memories from her past.

Kai noticed Hina's behavior and he tried his best to reassure her by patting her head.

"H-Hostages...?" Kai said while swallowing some saliva.

Akira looked at both him and Hina and an gritted her teeth and clenched her fists for some instants before speaking.

"Yeah... Hostages. The Kobayashi Dragon Gang used to kidnap people and...-" Akira said but her voice was stopped by Kai.

"And... you're one of them, right...?" Kai said, with an aggressive tone of voice.

Hina grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, signaling her discomfort.

Akira looked at Kai with a guilty expression on her face.

"Yes. I had to... I had to survive... after I was fired from the army." Akira said while looking down on the floor. "I'm not proud of who I am or what I've done but..." She then looked at Hina, who was hiding behind Kai.

"I met my aquired little sister there... and I found out that I still had a human side..." She said with a broken smile.

Kai felt a wave of sadness all over his soul, signaling that Akira was being sincere.

Her scars, her expression, her face... every fiber of her was telling a story.

She had the perfect chance to hurt Hina and Kai but she was helping them instead, like a way to reedeem herself.

Kai then showed Akira a reassuring smile and spoke to her.

"I know... I know you're not a bad person, you're a human. And the fact that you're helping us is speaking more than 1000 words... I can see that you're being sincere." Kai said with a friendly smile.

His words seemed to have caught Akira off guard sinca she was not expecting someone to say something like that.

Her answer was an unwanted tear falling from her eye.

"This boy... he... he has something special inside him... he literally sees through everyone's heart..." Akira tought, while a small blush appeared on her face.

It was her first time being called "Human" and not "Monster" by somebody and in that moment, she understood why Hina fell for that young man beside her.

She was being understood for the first time.

Hina was still clinging on Kai's arm, not speaking any words until she said something "funny".

"If Kai said that you're a good person... Then I will not kill you." Hina whispered.

Akira smiled at her words and said "Okay... I-I think that we need to go out now..." She said, while beginning to walk.

"Follow me." She said.

Kai nodded and started to follow her, holding Hina's hand.

As they ran through the labyrinth of back alleys, Kai couldn't help but steal glances at Hina.

Despite everything, he felt a strange sense of peace.

He had made a choice—a choice to stand by her side, no matter what.

And now, as they fled into the unknown, he knew that whatever happened next, they would face it together.

The police were closing in, but for the first time in what felt like forever, Kai wasn't running away from something.

He was running towards something—towards a future, however uncertain, with the person he cared about most.

He knew that his normal life was gone and that the only thing that he could do was nothing more than live.

Then, steps after steps, Akira guided Kai and Hina outside, in a safe place.

They arrived outside the building and a small wooden shack was the first thing that they saw in the distance.

"We need to arrive inside that shack." Akira said with a firm tone.

Kai and Hina kept following her until they finally arrived.

When they arrived, Akira opened the door with a key from her pocket and said "Get inside, now." She said.

Kai and Hina nodded and went inside.

Akira then closed and locked the small wooden door.

She then lifted up a small and old rug from the floor , revealing a hidden passage.

"We have to go there." She said, before getting in for first.

Kai and Hina followed her and then found themselves inside of a bunker, similiar to Sakura's house.

Once they were inside, Akira greeted them and said "Welcome to my safe place." with a smile.

But her voice was interrupted by another one.

"Oh... look at who we have here." A feminine voice said.

Everyone's attention moved to the source of the sound and, suddenly, a woman releaved herself and shocked Kai, Hina and Akira.

Their eyes widened.

"Hello~" It was... Sakura Ishikawa.

Then, another girly figure revealed herself, and this time was Yuna.

"H-Hey..." She said, with a low voice while looking at the ground.

"What the..." Kai said.