8 A Light In The dark

Regular evening traffic ran through the streets, car lights brightening the way as the dark of night was setting in. Ichiro and Hikari had enough of a head start to lose sight of the agents, but they knew who he was, and his home was likely just as risky to return to as hers.

“We should go back,” he heard Hikari mutter more than once. He could only shake his head as he pedalled, hoping to maintain a lead through winding streets that looked different in the dark, A siren cut through the otherwise calm night air and paled, grunting as he pushed faster toward… he wasn't sure where he was going, but it had to be far from the bureau.

The sound of the sirens spread out, a looming threat that felt to be growing closer with each minute. He kept going, keeping up with a vehicle until it started to over, and he followed suit, bringing their bike right to its bumper and as far to the side of the road as he discretely could just as a dark vehicle with flashing red and blue lights sped past them from the other side. He continued following the vehicle as it drove on. “We gotta get off and hide somewhere,” he told Hikari, not sure if she could hear him or not, but she tightened her grip on his shoulders a bit. “Hold on.” He gently took hold of her wrist and lifted it before ducking his head back, letting her loop her cuffed hands his head and hold on better, just in case it got a little rough. Then, as soon as they crossed a small bridge, he took the side street, veering off to the right and travelling down the path.

A siren kicked up behind them. Ichiro whirled his head, looking for just a second, and couldn't see a vehicle, but its sound was a hunter's roar. “Hold on!” he said again, this time with more urgency, as he slid off the side of the road, taking them diagonally down the river bank. The bike shook as he fought with the front wheel to keep them from careening off the side as they picked up speed. Hikari's grip loosened from the sudden motion, the chain of her cuffs digging into his neck as her foot slipped, dragging on the ground. He let out a pained, strangled grunt as he jerked his head forward, pulling her back on in what was the most uncomfortable way so far in his life. Still, he managed to hit the walkway pavement that ran along the river without losing a rider. And ahead, he spotted potential refuge in the next bridge, recognizing it as the one not too far from their apartment. Foliage grew on the surrounding sides at the top, shielding anything hiding in the cleft of the bridge from prying eyes that didn't step too close.

Ichiro skidded to a stop at the bottom of the bridge, putting his foot down and removing Hikari's grip with one hand while the other tenderly rubbed the chainlink grooves temporarily set into his skin.

“Are you ok?” Hikari asked nervously as she saw him gently massaging his neck.

“Uh, yeah,” he squeaked as he dropped his hand, then cleared his throat. Help me get this up here before they come back,” he said as he started to push the bike up the concrete slope under the bridge to the small flat at the top. She joined him, getting the other side, and tucking the bicycle and themselves under the bridge just as a siren sounded overhead.

They sat there, quiet as the sound faded, catching their breath as they looked down at the meandering current, whose small ripples danced in humble moonlight. Ichiro had never known Hikari to be quiet, but the faraway look was understandable given what just happened. Hikari just stared, breathing slowly, not saying a word.

“Are you… ok?” Ichiro slowly asked. The answer was an obvious 'no', but she kept the word to herself, just shaking her head. But it was a response, and that was all Ichiro was truly looking for. “Here,” he said, looking around under the bridge. “let's see if we can get those cuffs off.” Around them wasn't much that could be used, but he grabbed a couple of pieces of concrete debris, guiding her wrists over it, and held up another piece in his other raised hand.

“Are you going to smash my wrist!?” she blurted out in a panic, yanking her cuffed hands back.

“No no!” he quickly reassured her. “I'm just going to break the chain.”

Her lips tightened anxiously but she slowly gave him back her hands, placing them on the flat rock, before turning away and clenching her eyes. “Ok, hold still,” he told her as he firmly held one of her wrists in place, making her jump in a panic. He lined up the shot carefully, giving two practise swings, with very little room for error.

CLUNK!

The stone made contact with metal, reverberating in a sound that didn't quite match either of the materials hitting themselves. The chain held, but he swung again, and again. Each blow drew a small whimper from Hikari until she slowly opened her eyes, calming down. The middle link took the vast majority of the blows as Ichiro bent it like a forger's hammer, repeatedly hitting it as it deformed, until it finally snapped.

Hikari jerked her hands back, breathing a deep sigh of relief. “Th… thank you,” she slowly said. The hand cuffs remained, but she could move her hands around freely, and used that ability to move easily scoot back into position beside Ichiro, looking down at the river.

“So… Liam knew the Song of Silence,” Ichiro finally said, breaking the small silence before it again settled on them. “It’s actually real.”

Hikari nodded. “I… had thought that Shizu might have taught him, but she never told me.”

“You knew it was real?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed with a nod. “Shizu was worried about having it, which is why she wanted us to move overseas.”

“How does she know it?”

Hikari looked at him in surprise, as if something just didn’t click between them, then turned her gaze back away. “She just… does. She can sing it.”

Ichiro was less than satisfied with that, as it left even more questions unanswered. “How can she sing it? You saw, heard, whatever, nothing from Liam when he sang it. But I heard her. Why did I hear her?”

“It has no effect when she sings it,” Hikari told him.

Ichiro looked at her, confused. That wasn’t what he was asking but it only frustrated him. He pulled understanding from it like he could pull oil from water. “Is she… like you? Unable to sing?” he finally continued, changing the line of questioning to something Hikari might be more receptive to.

She nodded. She did not elaborate why. “The song can be taught by separate melody and lyrics, but only Shizu can sing it complete for others to hear.”

Ichiro sat in silence for a moment. “Were your parents like you two?”

Hikari hesitated, then nodded. “It’s… complicated. But yes.”

Ichiro didn't know what to say to that. She had never told him, and he had never thought to ask. He let the pregnant pause grow and mature into true silence as the two of them sat there in the starless night.

Hikari began to hum. It was small, soft, under her breath as if it was just a habit that she didn't realize she was doing at first. But the familiar tune resonated with Ichiro, and for the first time, he joined in.

Hikari abruptly stopped, turning to him with a look of confusion and fear. Ichiro waited, quiet with her as she seemed to consider what to say. But she only hummed, continuing the tune in, letting him hum with her. Her hesitation slipped away and she reached the regular volume she would hum whenever it was just the two of them. “Do you… want to know the words?” she slowly asked, and he nodded.

“If lathanal ingal-ikonadae…”

The words came with instinctive certainty. It was no language he knew, or anyone knew, but those of a godsong, but she sang each lyric as if it was written on her heart from the day of her birth.

Ichiro did his best to follow along, slipping a bit on the pronunciation and drawing a small giggle from his friend as he tied his tongue to sing Hikari's song. As he did, getting gradually better at the sound of it, a small light grew around them, not from any clear source, but emanating outward from under the bridge, softly staving off the night.