Through and Through

Oto was leading the way down a familiar, narrow alley that snaked between the shoppes of Capitana. He raced along cobblestone steps, passing the jutting signs of stores he was familiar with and would have loved to explore with Hayami. But today was not the day for that.

Instead, he listened to the sound of their clacking shoes echoing down the meandering path, only to be occasionally quieted by gunfire.

“Move. Move!” Oto yelled as he rushed towards a man in an oversized peacoat blocking his path. “Get out of the way.”

“OH my!” He gasped, throwing himself against a wall and watching as the pair raced along. “Good heavens.”

“Thank you,” The boy replied, passing with haste. “Have a good day! Your coat is ill-fitted.”

Bullets flew overhead, striking the buildings and showering Oto with dust and splinters as he instinctively ducked his head. Continuing his sprint with hands over his face, the boy was too preoccupied with not getting debris in his eyes to notice the goon who had cut off his path.

Luckily, Hayami was close behind and ready. With a yank of his collar, she pulled him from his feet and backwards to the ground.

“Oww!” Oto gasped as his tailbone connected with the stone before the rest of him followed. “Hayami, why did you—oh!”

Lying flat on the cobble path, Oto was surprised as Hayami stepped over him with her weapon shouldered. Spent casings flew from the side of the gun as she fired at the goon who had nearly gotten him. But Oto hadn’t noticed anything going on around him. Instead, he was staring straight up at the low-rise, semi-sheer Brazilian panties that had become revealed.

In her determined state to protect Oto, the guardian had pulled him too far back and stepped too far ahead. His head and shoulders were completely under the skirt of her dress, giving him a full view of the two-tone black-and-pink lace.

“I—I, oh my…” His face began to burn as mixed emotions battled for control of his body. The gentleman in him wanted to look away, but the young man—

“Oto, bullet thin—HEY!” Hayami yelled out, stepping backwards and revealing his blushing face.

She looked down into his fixed stare, returning it with a furious glare of her own.

“Pervert!” She kicked the top of his head.

“Owww-uh! Not the face, Hayami!”

“Stop looking! Bullet-thingy, now!”

Fumbling with his coat, he withdrew a magazine and handed it up to her. As she pivoted and fired behind them, Oto clambered to his feet.

“Move! Move! Move!” Hayami ordered, pushing him along as she kept her gaze locked behind.

They reached the edge of the shopping alley, emerging onto a similarly busy street as the one they had come from. Similar, but this one had a big difference—the opposite side of this road was not more shops, but instead, a vast open field.

“What the hell?” Hayami barked, looking at the space that gave them no cover. “I thought you said they played polo here, Oto!”

“They do!” He cried back.

“Then where’s the pool?”

“The pool? What pool? Horses hate water, Hayami! Don’t you know the saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you’ll never convince it to swim. I thought a horse girl like you would know that!”

“I-I—I can’t argue this with you right now!” Gunfire erupted around the duo as goons began to flank them along the street. “Move, Oto! Move!”

Hayami pushed the boy between the parked cars as she fired her rifle and, just as they reached cover, the gun clicked once more. Quickly turning to her companion, she was surprised to see that he had already withdrawn the next magazine for her.

“Good boy.” She replied instinctively to him as she reloaded her gun.

“Not a dog!”

Ignoring him, she scanned the space. That was when she noticed the large structure near the edge of the field that would give them the cover they needed.

“There,” Hayami patted Oto’s shoulder and pointed towards the building. “Three hundred feet. That building. Run there on three.”

“There? Are you sure?”

“Yes. One—”

“I’d really rather not!”

“Two—”

“Hayami!”

“Three! Go!”

With a shove, she pushed Oto out from the cover and began firing at the goons nearest to the boy. Hayami watched him out of the corner of her eye and, once he was halfway to the structure, she began her own sprint. Pushing herself past her limits, she bounded over the hood of a car, attempting to catch up with him before he entered the building.

But that was when she felt it. The burning in her right leg as a bullet tore through it.

“GYAH!” She cried out, her forward momentum taking her several more feet as she tumbled to the ground.

Her heart stopped as fear flooded her. This was it—her end.

“Hayami!” Oto’s voice suddenly called out from the open door of the structure.

She could see the fear in his face as he quickly looked between her and the approaching goons, internally struggling with what to do. Then she witnessed a shift as he looked down into her eyes. The fear vanished as a singular purpose took control over Oto, and he raced back into the gunfire.

Arriving at a full sprint, he slid to a stop beside her. He took her arm and lifted it over his shoulder before kneeling close. And then, as though Hayami weighed nothing, he scooped his hands under her, pulling her to his chest and cradling her in his embrace.

“And up you go,” Oto said under his breath before beginning his sprint back to the building. “I’ve got you, Hayami.”

Bullets whizzed past them, but none found purchase on the boy. As he rushed through the open door, Oto thrust his body back into it, slamming it closed. Sliding down to the ground with his companion in his arms, he exhaled shallow, panicked breaths. He quickly freed a hand from his embrace, extending it up and locking the door behind them. In a single, fluid motion, he lowered it back down to Hayami’s face, gently brushing the hair from her cheek behind her ear.

“Hayami. Hayami, are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” She groaned softly, the shock of the near-death experience passing enough for her to regain her mental faculties.

Reaching down to her leg, she gently touched the blood that steadily flowed out. “It’s through and through—nothing vital. But I need to wrap it.”

With a firm tug on her skirt, she began ripping long strips of fabric free.

“Gyah!” Oto gasped as he watched her tear apart her dress. “There must be another way!”

“Shut up—” Hayami grunted as she packed the cloth around the wound before wrapping the fabric up tightly.

Exhaling, she inspected the patch. And while it wasn’t a great fix, it would do the job long enough for her to figure out her next steps. 

That was when she noticed it—the pounding of Oto’s heart against her body. The last two minutes raced back to her mind as she remembered the look on his face as he rushed in to save her. The concern that washed over him when he shouted her name. The feeling of being in his strong embrace—an embrace that she still rested against.

Sighing, she looked at her wound and then up into Oto’s eyes. She stared at his still concerned gaze for a moment before reaching up and gently touching his cheek.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t—” She paused for a moment. “Thank you, Oto. For coming back for me.”

“I—of course.” He stammered awkwardly, his cheeks flushing red as he looked down at her. “It—it would be awfully ungentlemanly of me to leave you.”

“You deserve a reward for being such a gentleman.”

“Re-reward? Like…what?”

They sat there for a moment, locked in each other’s gaze, their faces inches apart. A moment much like in the rosarium. Though this time, it wasn't Oto who decided to move, but Hayami. And as she leaned up, her lips gently parting to meet his—

NYEEEEH! HMPH!

Hayami froze, turning away from the boy and looking behind her to see a horse peeking out from behind the gate of its stall.

“O-Oto? Where are we?”

The flustered boy, disappointed to have yet another moment stolen from him, looked up at the horse before hissing hatefully.

“Hell.”

The two had found their way into the Capitana Stables, which housed the horses of the local polo players. The smell of trampled hay and horse refuse hung in the air, while the sounds of agitated horses sounded around the couple.

“Look away, you devil equine,” Oto growled, gently holding Hayami tighter. “I would like my reward to be free of your hollow gaze.”

Hayami laughed slightly, resting her head back on Oto’s chest with a sigh.

“What are the chances?” She muttered, defeat in her voice. “Surrounded by gunmen, unable to run, and we’ve got the perfect getaway car that neither of us can drive right before us.”

“Car? What car do you see, Hayami? I know how to drive now, remember?”

She laughed, adjusting her head and looking up at him.

“Oh, Oto. I’m not meaning a car. I mean the horse. If either of us knew how to ride a horse, we could escape the gunmen.”

“Hayami…I can ride horses.”

“You can—what?!” She suddenly shifted, looking up at him with a dumbfounded expression. “What do you mean you can ride horses? You said you weren’t an equestrian.”

“Of course I can ride horses! I’m rich you know! And I’m not an equestrian, I despise the beasts. I’m a polo player.”

Hayami sighed, grabbing the sides of her face before forcefully rubbing at her temples realizing that the boy didn’t know what equestrian meant.

“Goddamn it, Oto,” She mumbled through her hands. “I could strangle you and kiss you.”

“I’d like the second one, please.”

“Later…after we get out of here alive.”

Oto cocked his head to the side, confused. “How are we going to do that?”

But Hayami refused to respond to his question. Instead, she looked towards the curious horses that stared back at them.

She had a plan.