Tears Beading A Night Of Sizzles

Smoke. That was the first thing Akira saw when he woke up, in the middle of the night. However, it didn’t seem like it was night: outside of the windows, a vivid light was illuminating a dark sky, and Akira needed a moment to even understand where he was. Then, he heard noises coming from the hallways: there were a multitude of them, from door smashed open or closed to screams to a little sizzle that Akira couldn’t trace back to a defined image. That sort of chaos in the middle of the night caused him to be wary, as it wasn’t definitely something normal, which meant that something was happening, so he got up and got closer to the door, wanting to eavesdrop on what was really happing in the hallway. However, that was when his eyes were attracted by something brilliant outside, and what Akira saw made his blood freeze in the veins: outside of the villa, various fires could be seen, like the entire city had been lit up in a gigantic fire. All of the buildings in the range of his eyes were wrapped in the terrible embrace of flames, with many people running through the streets near them, desperate for their life. The Natò villa was also affected by that fire, even though not as much as the other buildings around it, like it had a lucky charm to protect itself or flames hadn’t been quick in their diffusion. That fact also explained the smoke that Akira saw when he woke up, and that meant that he had to quickly get out of the house, if he didn’t want to finish like a fried chicken. An ending that surely wasn’t in his plans when he started sleeping the day before and that neither was now a desirable outcome. While he was being hypnotized by what was happening down in the city, a spectacle that made fear grew in him, as he understood the gravity of what was happening, the door of his room was slammed open and a figure entered inside it. The figure was one of a person wrapped in dark clothes that reminded Akira of the assassin he saw burning some days prior, and that feeling became a certainty when the figure showed his eyes to him, which, even though it had a mask, were clearly visible. Its eyes had the same mark that the hitman supposedly had in her iris: a complicated mandala that would have hypnotized anybody that had tried to understand something of it. However, that wasn’t Akira’s intention, because, as soon as he recognized the figure, he knocked it down with a shoulder hit, like those you see in rugby. Then, he hit the figure right on the head, making it lose conscious, and, when the figure didn’t move anymore, curious, Akira took its mask off. That was when the face of a woman showed to Akira’s eyes: this time, she had blonde long hair that were covered by the hood she wore and traits that suggested a Nordic origin: if Akira had seen her in his world, he would have said that she was Scandinavian. However, that didn’t interest him that much: he was more intrigued by the fact that two people had the identical iris layer. That was a sign that the assassin didn’t act alone that time, but that wasn’t the time to think. First, he had to escape alive, and then he could have thought about that. That was when a face appeared in his mind, making him fear for someone else than him: Samai. He needed to make sure that she was alive and well, which meant he would have to go towards the female servants wing, a place not that far from him, but still a detour from salvation that could have cost him his life. However, he didn’t care: still, before departing for that risky mission, he took the knife that the fallen assassin had, as he thought that surely there were other people in that building, ready to kill them. That was when a thought struck him: were they the one that set the city on fire? And did they set all of the city on fire or only their part of the city, so that they could finish their mission? As before, he left those questions in the back of his mind, and only made a thought stay continuously in his mind: surviving. He went out in the hallway and saw what he expected from the presence of that assassin: laid on the ground there were the corpses of some servants, all killed in different way, like that was a training mission in order to master various killing techniques. However, they weren’t the only thing in the corridor: other two assassins were there, this time grouped up, and now they were looking at him with dazed and strange eyes, then, when they saw that he was alone, they understood what happened and prepared to attack. The first of the two threw a knife at him that Akira easily dodged, but, in the meanwhile, the second one had got near him at an impressive speed and tried to hit him with a sword slash, which he succeeded in deviating with his knife, even though that action made his hand hurt for the impact. Then, in that defenceless positon for the both of them, the assassin that threw the knife made the same move: however, Akira's reflexes worked, and, thinking fast, he forcedly grasped the assassin with the sword, who was also defenceless, and put its body in front of his, making it be hit by the threw knife. The other assassin aim was perfect, because the knife hit the other hitman right in the throat, and, as it was right in front of Akira, that would have meant his certain death, if he had been a little slower. Still, with that move, he had to worry about one less assassin, and now only the one with the throwing knives remained. Seeing what it did, the other hitman, which was more well-built than the other one, took out the sword and faced Akira, who, in the meanwhile, had picked up the fallen assassin’s sword. Akira easily dodged the first and the second slash, one horizontal hit followed by a vertical conclusion, and quickly hit the hand of the assassin that held the sword, making it fall on the floor. Then, before the assassin even had the possibility to say or do something, Akira pierced his chest with his sword, leaving it down, gasping for air and on the verge of dying. When that quick battle ended, he turned around, wanting to see if there were other assassins nearby, but, when he saw none, his curiosity moved him to do the same thing he did to the other assassin: he took off their mask to make them show their faces to him. The one that attacked him with the sword was the face of a very young woman, so young that Akira even doubted that she had reached the age of consent, while the other face showed him a surprise: it was the face of a man, with elegant traits that made it seem like a member of the nobility. That anomaly in the process gave other material for his thoughts, but he had no time to stop and think: he was in the middle of a fire, he had to think about escaping, not about that. He had to make his survival instinct prevail on his mind, or he would have probably made more stops like that, if he found more pieces with which to complete the puzzle. He quickly made his way to the woman servant area: he had to do that because going slow and unnoticed was impossible, considering the situation. Plus, it wasn’t simply in his style to do that, even if he could do that. While trying to reach Samai’s room, he encountered other two assassins, this time directed exactly towards the female area: he quickly killed the two of them, taking them by surprise, even though he still had to fight a little to finish the second one, and then went on. By those five encounter he could tell that their level of training wasn’t that high: or, at least, it wasn’t as high as the one of the hitman who raided the Natò’s garden. Well, that was better for him: he hadn’t to spend too much time with them, before being able to go on with his search. Finally, after another encounter with a lonely assassin – probably the one that would have completed the trio that should have examined that area -, he arrived in the female area and started rushing towards Samai’s room. When he arrived near it, the door was opened, and that gave him a bad sensation and made him a bit pale, but, when he put his head inside it, he could see that the bathroom door was closed hermetically. Thinking that Samai was inside it, scared to death because of what was happening, he tried calling for her, and, immediately, the door unlocked and a frightened Samai rushed out of it, immediately searching for Akira and embracing him.

“I thought… we were all… going to die” said Samai, crying on his shoulder, while Akira was doing the same thing on her shoulder.

“Hey… I am not going to die so easily, you know…” replied Akira, trying to lift Samai’s morale, then added, looking at Samai in the eyes, “Plus, as long as you are here with me, neither of us is going to die. At least, not today”.

Samai wholeheartedly agreed, nodding with her head various times, then Akira went to the window to see if it was possible to escape from there, without having to go to the entrance or to a secondary door. However, while he was doing that, Samai said him that they needed to get Priscilla before escaping: Akira wanted to reply that she at least had to escape, but then thought that outside there could have been other assassins and that, if she were to go alone, there was a chance she could have died. He also wanted to save Priscilla, but he wanted to at least make sure that Samai was safe: however, in front of Samai’s determination in saving what she considered to be her sister and most precious friend, he gave up and convinced himself that she was safer by his side rather than all alone outside. That decision meant that they had to travel to the family wing, which was right at the opposite side of the house: however, the servant wing had a secret access to the area, as Samai said him before departing. They would have taken a hidden pair of stairs that would have brought them right near her room and then they would have escaped, together. After having planned that, Samai asked him if he had a weapon for her, at which Akira, surprised, offered her the knife he had picked from the first assassin he took down. When she picked that up, Samai smiled at Akira and said, nonchalantly, “Hey, I know how to defend myself: so don’t worry too much about me, okay? I know you will, but rest assured that I am totally capable of handling things myself”. Then, the two of them departed from her room, only a weapon each and nothing more, the rest left behind, probably to the flames that were starting to propagate throughout the house. They started making their way towards those famous hidden stairs that Akira never saw: however, when they arrived near them after encountering only a pair of assassins that were disoriented and thus easy to take down, the hidden door had already been opened, and, behind it, flames were lively sparkling, quickly eating all what lay behind that door. When Samai saw that spectacle, little tears started coming out from her eyes and she started screaming, as if someone could hear her from the other side.

“Priscilla! Priscilla, are you there?!”

However, no answer came from the other side. After a few seconds, Samai tried again, but, still, no sound came from that door, apart from the lively sizzle of the flames. Then, Akira got near her, and whispered: “Samai, we have no time, the flames are starting to eat everything. We need to go: the only thing we can hope is that she already started moving and that we will encounter her outside of the house, okay?”

At those words, Samai slightly nodded, her eyes still beaded with tears, then the two of them started moving towards the hall, which was the nearest exit from where they were. And also the most dangerous one, as probably it was guarded by assassins, wanting to apparently kill everyone in that house, like now their objective was the entirety of the Natò family, not only Priscilla or Akira. Still, unless they wanted to risk being killed by the fire in order to exit from another door, that was the only possibility they had to leave alive that house. Because of that, the started making their way towards the stairs that would have led them from the first floor on which they were to the ground floor and the hall, where they could have gone out in what, at that moment, from the windows they surpassed while escaping, seemed like a living hell, a burning city surrounded by screams and flames. When they got near the stairs, they stayed quiet behind the wall for a moment, trying to see if there was someone in the hall: that proved to be a good move, because, right in the centre of the hall, stationed five assassins, with a sixth that in that moment was in an angle, looking around. That wasn’t good: they needed either to exit unnoticed or to go out and beat them all. It was totally possible, but, in those conditions, with the heat that the fire was giving and the possibility of things falling from around them in any moment, it wasn’t sure the easiest feat ever done. Still, they needed to get out in a way or another, and, after confirming that they couldn’t have gone out of the house unnoticed, Akira and Samai decided to face the six enemies, even though Akira wanted Samai to stay back, a thing which she refused categorically to do. Still, they needed to create a distraction so that they could enter the hall unnoticed and start the fight. Near them there was a vase, and Akira thought about the simplest idea that could have come to his mind: threw it to the other side of the room and so create a bit of confusion which could have made them at least have a bit of advantage when they engaged them. With all of his strength, he threw the vase right near the doors and, when it reached the ground, the poor object exploded in a thousands pieces, which made all the six assassin jump and look around, confused, probably fearing for their life and thinking that it was the fire that did that. That was when Akira and Samai quietly descended the stairs and entered the hall: however, not all the six assassins had really turned in the vase direction, as the one near the wall noticed them and whistled, a signal that probably indicated the enemy presence in the room. Then, all of the others turned around and frustrated their plan, making it useless. Well, at least they still had reached the hall, that was something positive. Then, the chaos started: the assassins attacked at the same time, three aiming at Akira and three at Samai. Akira easily hit the first with a slash that totally ignored the other one’s sword, which fell on the ground; then, a second one immediately attacked him after that, but he dodged his attack and then retreated laterally when the third assassin tried to throw a knife at him, which totally missed him. Then, he attacked the nearest hitman and, with a quickly slash, cut its head off the body, with a precise movement that surprised both the hit assassin and the last one remaining, who looked at him with eyes full of fear, like he wasn’t believing at what it was seeing. However, those eyes didn’t look at him that much, because a throwing knife landed right on his face, taking him down in a shot. Akira was surprised by who threw it, and that was when he saw Priscilla, on the stairs, with another throwing knife in her hand. When she saw that Akira was looking at her, she blushed a bit, but then she started coming nearer, descending the stairs, while Akira, now free from his enemies, was preparing to help Samai. However, when he turned to see how was she doing, he took a moment to admire her fighting style: it was like she was dancing an imaginary dance on an invisible music, her movements were perfectly coordinated and she always succeeded in avoiding every hit the assassins tried to land on her. Near her laid a corpse, which meant that she already took one down, and he had no doubt that she would have easily killed also the other two. In fact, right when he was thinking that, after a little pirouette, Samai landed an hit with her sword, which she probably stole to the laying corpse near her, right at the shoulder of the unlucky assassin that was attacking her in that moment, before she, after coming close to him, took it down and pierced his chest with it, making another body fall in that hall. The last assassin in the room was then taken down by Priscilla, who, in the meanwhile, had come right behind Priscilla and threw another knife, which landed right in its throat, making the last assassin collapse. That also marked the ending of that skirmish, so Akira and the others could take a moment to breathe and look at each other. When Samai saw Priscilla, she broke down in tears and embraced her, saying that she was dead worried about her, and Priscilla replied the same. That scene really made them seem more like sisters rather than master and servant: however, that was not the time for that, they needed to escape. The fire was expanding quickly, so they needed to go away, before the building crumbled upon them. Because of that, they quickly tried reaching the door and open it, while Samai was clinging on Akira.

However, a strong noise made them stay all still.

That noise was totally out of the place: it remembered Akira the sound of a shot, but how could something like that happen there? Maybe the fire had something to do with that? While he was thinking that, the three of them looked at each other, especially Akira and Samai. However, when his eyes wandered down, he saw something he didn’t want to see, something that made fear grow in him. Then, Samai fell on the ground.

“SAMAI!!!”

Akira quickly got near her and looked at her chest: her clothes there were painted red, like blood was coming out of it. Akira quickly got rid of the upper torso clothes and saw with extreme surprise what laid under them: blood was quickly coming out from a wound that seemed to haven’t been that big, but that still seemed deep. Too deep. Then, he found something that bewildered him, something that should not have been possible for that world: inside the wound, he found a bullet. That world didn’t even know what gunpowder was, how could there be a bullet inside her wound? However, all of that was secondary in that moment: he ripped a piece of cloth out of her clothes and tried to make the blood stop coming out, while she was looking at him, visible pain in her eyes. Then, she tried to speak, making an extreme effort.

“A…kira… What…. Was… that…?”

Akira was unable to answer her: copious tears were coming out of his eyes. No… How could that happen again? No… it was impossible…

Looking at him, in that desperate state, Samai tried to smile, but, instead, a painful expression appeared on her face: still, at the end, something akin to a smile made its way on her lips, and then she started talking to Akira.

“A…kira… if… I don’t… make it out… alive… please, live… for me… for everyone…”

“You are not going to die here, Samai, you hear me?!” said Akira to what seemed like a last will or a memento. He didn’t want to lose her: they wanted to go on holiday, they had all planned out. They had to go to a hot spring, get in there together, seeing the stars during a clean night, and then… and then they would have passed time together. It couldn’t end like that, not now. Not again. He was continuing to speak to her and to say that she needed to stay awake: however, her eyes were slowly starting to have difficulties staying open. He even though about cauterizing the wound with fire, as they were in the middle of a fire, but he didn’t know how much she had to live and if, for a wound like that, it could have served to something. Still it was worth a try: he needed to save her, no matter what.

“Priscilla! Go pick a torch, or something! I need fire, NOW!” shouted Akira to Priscilla, who immediately tried to find something nearby that could have served to that objective. However, Samai’s expression now was giving off not an idea of pain, but one of peace, like she had accepted her sort, something that Akira still hadn’t. Then, she turned towards him and tried to speak again, this time with more ease, but surely that effort was making her lose the few moments of life she still had.

“Akira… Thank you, for falling in love with me… you made me happier than I have ever been in my life… I really hoped that we could have gone to our holiday: it would have been the perfect occasion for us… for us to love even more than we love us now. It’s sad… that… that moment is never going to happen”.

“Don’t say that, Samai, please… please… You can’t say that, like we are not going to do that…” replied Akira, tears in his eyes, a veil of sadness totally over him. Then, Samai asked him to come closer and, when he did, she whispered to him.

“Please, Akira… kiss me… embrace me… love me one more time…”

As she said those words, Akira looked into her eyes, filled with peace, love, but also with a bit of void that showed how she was slowly being drained of her life energy. Then, with all of his energies, he kissed her passionately, while embracing her with his entire corpse. Samai responded to that gesture with the same passion first, but then her actions started becoming more and more bland, like she was losing all of her strength, and, then, when he felt like her lips were starting to become cold, she got away from his lips and whispered to his ear.

“Thank you… Akira… for making me… the happiest woman alive… during our time together…”

Then, with her last strength, she moved her hand and posed it on Akria’s cheek, where an enormous quantity of tears was sliding down. Then, while looking at him with a sweet smile, her eyes slowly started dropping, until her iris weren’t visible anymore. Akira tried to kiss her one last time: she had no reactions, she made no movements to that loving action of his. He then slowly took her hand off his cheek, hold it for an eternity and then checked her heartbeat: there was none. Samai was officially dead. Akira looked at her, his eyes empty, full of nothing, and stayed against her chest, releasing all the tears he had in corpse and even those he hadn’t, screaming, not caring about what happened around him anymore: the entire building could have fallen on him, he would have not cared. 

However, while he was in that state of complete despair for the loss of a loved one, a familiar yet at the same time new voice spoke to him.

“Akira, Akira… you never learn: this is what happens when you have a strong relationship with someone, and you made the same mistake again. Get up: it’s time we talk”.

After hearing those words, Akira lifted up his head, with a mixture of emptiness, sadness, coldness and rage in his eyes. And what he saw made him even more bewildered and glacial than he already was.