12 Free falling

Ichiro had never been the greatest student of physics. Had that been the case, however, he would have been aware of the principle of acceleration due to gravity not being affected by an object’s weight. But there was nothing like a personal experience from a few stories up to serve as a practical demonstration.

Through the wind rushing in his ears, he could still hear Kobayashi’s panicked chanting.

“I-pa-ma-su…”

The air vibrated differently in his ears as they continued to accelerate, but felt softer, less impactful. He couldn’t tell as much of the magic taking his breath away as before, but only because he struggled to breathe as he approached terminal velocity.

“Oof!” he grunted as landed on his back, Kobayashi still on top of him. The speed was there but the blow felt dampened, weaker, but it still hurt, especially as Kobayashi had the air knocked out of him, his full weight pressing down. “Off…” Ichiro grunted as he pushed Kobayashi off of him, rolling him to the side before getting to his feet as fast as he could, which was not as quick as he desired.

Liam was already standing at a car, Hikari standing beside him. By the time Ichiro and Kobayashi reached him, the door was already open and Hikari was rounding the vehicle to get in the front seat. “In the back,” he told the boys as he unlocked the doors. “Do you know the Japanese song Sakura Sakura?” Liam asked them as soon as they were in.

“Of course,” Ichiro and Kobayashi both replied as Hikari got in.

“Hum it, you two,” he instructed, and the boys did so. Liam tapped his left hand fingers in the dashboard while sticking his right index finger into the ignition.

“Thelo gahetha, rothada sula.”

The song was quick, or incomplete, but the car suddenly started up. He wasted no time in putting the vehicle into drive and peeling out of the driveway. He muttered to himself in English before turning about and grunting “Seatbelts!” while putting the car in drive, hitting the gas before he was looking forward again. Ichiro, Hikari, and Kobayashi scrambled to latch their seatbelts as Liam’s erratic driving shook them, each of them jolting as he bent backwards the bar blocking the exit of the parking lot, hitting the road with spinning tires. Two cars honked as he cut in front of them and he grumbled something in English, but he kept his eyes on the road as he swerved between vehicles as best as he could within the two lanes of the street.

“Slow down!” Kobayashi shrieked from the back seat. Ichiro echo’ed the sentiment in spirit but didn’t dare risk potentially distracting their manic driver. Instead, he glanced over to Hikari, who was gripping her arm rest with pale knuckles, the colour drained from her face.

It took less than ten minutes to arrive at the bureau, and either the agents were not expecting their arrival, or they were waiting inside. The horizontal pole that barred the entrance and exit of the fenced parking area looked thicker and the ends were supported in stands of their own, not loosely dangling. Liam drove right past them.

“Hang on!” he told the other three as he swung around back, tires screeching as he picked up speed. One foot spiked the brakes as he yanked the steering wheel and Ichiro grunted as his whole body suddenly slammed into Koyabashi’s, unable to resist as the rear of the car swung wide until it was perpendicular to the road. It took Ichiro a second to realize that they were directly in front of the hole in the fence.

“You’re gonna crash!” Kobayashi screamed, leaning forwards to try and grab the steering wheel, as Liam again pushed down the gas pedal. Ichiro held his classmate back, not sure if that was the right choice as they hit the fence.

The hole was not nearly wide enough for the car, but it parted for the front. The vehicle slowed slightly but didn’t stop, the fence instead snapping and screaming in protest as cut and torn edges left tight scratches along the length of the vehicle on all sides, the roof not spared. The sound was horrid, like a dozen people scratching nails on chalkboards, and Ichiro covered his ears, only because Kobayashi was no longer pushing against him to stop Liam.

They burst through and for a moment, Ichiro was terrified that Liam was going to attempt a repeat with the wall itself, but he skidded to a stop, tearing grass and dirt behind them. He practically kicked the door open as he got out, not turning the vehicle off, only putting it in park, as there was still no key to remove from the ignition.

The other three followed right behind. As Ichiro rounded beside Liam, he saw the man grunting. He was pounding his chest with his right fist, wincing with the impact. The bandage just beside it, on his left shoulder, was already a bright red, the stitches clearly torn at some point in their escape that Ichiro did not have time to critically guess. Somehow, their hope for information had turned into an extra man instead, but the effort was clearly wearing on him. Ichiro was about to ask Liam what the plan was, having given up control a decent while ago, when Liam began to chant.

“Har! Dra! Gra! Po! Lesh! Nun! Grun! Ya! Doh!”

Ichiro didn’t interrupt the gibberish of the godsong, instead watching. On his other side, Hikari slowly caught up, looking shocked as Liam chanted. “...Father?” she muttered quietly. Ichiro looked at her confused, but she just shook her head and pulled him back as Liam started running.

He was only a dozen metres from the wall, but he broke into a dead sprint. Ichiro had no idea what the song was and from the mixed expression of confusion and panic on Kobayashi, he was not alone. Liam charged at the wall, not slowing, getting faster as he chanted. A small part of Ichiro watched with sick fascination while the rest of him hoped that Liam knew something he didn’t.

“Ka! Wo! Tah! Noth! DRA! GRUN!! YA!! RAAAAHH!!”

Ichiro wasn't sure if that last sound was part of the song as Liam gave a guttural cry, leaning in with his good shoulder leading, and burst through the wall. Dust erupted and bricks shattered inward, fragments flying all around, pelting the remaining trio.

A hand against the fragmented wall, Liam steadied himself as he faced back outside. “Come on, I’m sure she’s—”

Alarms blared, a red light flashing deeper inside. Ichiro realized it was foolhardy to think that they could just run right in, even unconventionally. “You guys go, I’ll take care of that!” he heard from beside him, and he turned to see Kobayashi already running.

“You go, Japanese boy!” Liam cheered before waving the other two to follow him. “Hikari, which way?”

Hikari took a second, a touch slow to keep up, a hand on the side of her head as if the siren was giving her a headache. “Uh… they had me in this direction,” she said loudly so as to be heard over the blaring noise.

The three ran down the hall, Liam leading the way right in front of Hikari, who directed their movement from memory. There were a few false turns until they found the way that Hikari exclaimed was the hall.

Ichiro looked around anxiously, unsure if they had simply avoided the guards and agents or if there was some trap waiting for them like before. “Liam, can you sing the song of silence again? Just in case?”

The man shook his head. “No can do, it won’t work right now, as—”

He suddenly stopped his explanation as the red lights that dotted the halls stopped flashing, as did every light. The siren turned off, as did every digital clock on the various walls. Every light and instance of power in the building appeared to die all at once.

There was no silence though. Through the sparse window light the trio saw a pair of agents in full body armour. “Hey, there they are!” one shouted, drawing a baton and pointing it at Liam. The other something smaller and more lethal.

“Har! Dra! Gra! Po! Lesh! Nun! Grun! Ya! Doh!”

Liam wasted no time in starting the chant, charging at the pair, aiming for the one holding a gun. Fortunately, that agent hesitated, lowering their weapon and squaring their shoulders before the large foreigner reached them.

Liam bowled through them, an unstoppable juggernaut that slammed them to the sides. The once directly in front was sent into a wall beside, spinning chaotically before their helmet made contact. The other was only hit shoulder to shoulder, but not in the way one bumps shoulders while staggered through a busy crowd, but in the way one hits their shoulder as a vehicle drives too close past them, the motion still sending him hitting the other wall. Regardless of how much contact they made with Liam, they both collapsed, groaning, slumped over on the ground as Liam slowed, admiring or simply evaluating his handiwork for just a second until Ichiro and Hikari caught up.

“Here, one of these,” Hikari said as she ran down the hallway. Doors with small, skinny windows were evenly spaced out, all of them empty as Ichiro followed behind, still doing due diligence to check. “Ugh,” Hikari gasped as he bumped into her from behind, not realizing she had stopped in front of a door. He could see just past her, the woman sitting, handcuffed to the table.