Hostage (Part 3: This will hurt both of us!)

   Shinji picked Kazuto's shield which was about to break as he took the front line. Slightly behind him, Rintaro stood silently clenching his hands looking straight forward. Shuna was standing next to him holding her machine gun…

I went to stand next to them, but Akira came and blocked the way. A firm look appeared on his face as he pushed me back. “You stay in the back!”

“Eh?!”

“Do what he said Rin” Shuna said with a gentle voice as she petted my head then smiled. “I won’t let them take you away from us!”

She looked at the enemies then continued: “You belong with us! And…”

“And?!”

“My grandpa and Shinji will get really angry if you get abducted!” She approached Shinji suddenly and laughed to lighten up the mood then said: “Isn’t that right, leader?”

“The commander and I have the same wish of keeping you all safe after all” He replied as he charged at the first commander pushing him back a bit using Kazuto’s shield.

Right after him Akira charged toward the second commander to fight him in a one versus one fight as dagger users. Shuna went to fight the third commander while Rintaro stayed in his position waiting for one of the three other men to make a move.

Shinji used his sword once again, but he couldn’t cut through the gauntlets. He knew that his attack wouldn’t have any effect, but he chose to do it just to waste time.

Shuna and Akira, who were in better shape than our leader, were fighting the enemies in a toe-to-toe fight…

As I kept looking at the fight, I realised that things wouldn’t go any better than the previous time. For us I guess it was a fight to buy time until the arrival of the other squads.

“This isn’t going anywhere like that!” Shinji’s father suddenly spoke. He was looking at his son’s fight with a disappointed face the whole time.

“Aoyama-san! I am going to participate!” He declared as he started walking slowly toward us. Shinji got completely distracted by him and as a result he received a direct hit from the enemy.

“It’s been six years now since we first met yet I can’t understand why you call me by my first name like the boss!” Aoyama replied as he looked at his hand watch. “Do whatever you won’t!”

“I serve the boss personally after all, so I have a good reason to act like him!” Mr. Akira replied as took a small umbrella out of his long coat. He glared at the first commander silently then made a sign for him with that umbrella to move away.

The commander looked scared and confused. He looked around him quickly then ran towards me as he replied: “Of course! I have to focus on the mission!”

Rintaro stood in the way with a large smile on his face: “How about a dance with me old man?”

Aoyama smiled as he looked at the scene with interest. “If we’re lucky! Then we may see a great fight between a father and his son!”

Shinji stood again and looked at the man approaching him silently. I didn’t have the slightest idea that Shinji’s father could fight… Up until that moment, I thought that Akira Takahashi was only a scientist. Shinji never mentioned that his father was able to fight.

Rintaro started attacking the big man in front of him with his unnatural brute force forcing the man to defend himself. But even with that huge accomplishment, no one was paying attention to him. Everyone who wasn’t in the middle of a fight was looking at the intense fight that may occur between the father and his son.

“You’re not going to fight me?” Mr. Takahashi asked Shinji as he stood before him. The latter bowed his head silently.

“You’re not going to ask me why I am here?”

“….”

“You gave up?!”

Shinji shook his head quickly right and left like a kid to say no.

“And here I thought I would find a much more mature son… It looks like the opposite happened.”

Shinji elevated his head slowly with tears in his eyes to look at his father.

“How about this, son? If you can win, I will surrender!”

The leader put his shaking hand slowly on his sword preparing himself to attack.

“This will hurt both of us!”

The fight started between them with Shinji using both his sword and Kazuto’s shield while his opponent was using… his umbrella?!

I didn’t know whether he was mocking his son or actually the umbrella was a weapon until he destroyed Kazuto’s Shield with a simple hit.

“So, it is a weapon after all?” I accidentally asked with a loud voice.

“No. Just an umbrella.” Shinji replied as he threw the broken pieces left in his hand away. “My dear father really wants to make fun out of me before utterly defeating me!”

[So, he was watching everything happening around him even in this situation?]

“I am not the one who will make fun of you! You’re going to make a fool out of yourself if you keep doing like that.”

Shinji’s father smiled as he stood without making any move waiting for Shinji to pick another weapon. “I’m just happy to know that at least you still remember that hitting an object from its weak point can destroy it.”

Shinji finally pulled a gun. His guns were looking the same, but I was sure that the gun he pulled was an EMP gun. That thing wouldn’t work on normal humans he knew that very well. I was about to ask him if he made a mistake then realized that this might be a plan, so I kept quiet.

“Are you sure you want to use that weapon?” Mr. Takahashi asked with a surprised expression on his face. Shinji ignored his question and charged at him blindly only for his attack to be dodged with ease.

It was that time when I understood that Shinji wasn’t using any plan. He was just letting his frustration and despair out as he moved randomly. Anyone who was present there, would’ve defeated him…

“You’re using your sword wrongly!”

The fight stopped immediately after those words.

Mr. Akira pointed his umbrella at his son as he asked: “Have you ever tried hitting the blade with an EMP?”

Shinji started attacking once again but he got completely outplayed by his father who disarmed him of his sword. But that didn’t stop him from attacking with his bare hand.

“You’re not going to use your gun?” Mr. Takahashi asked as he captured our leader. I looked around to realise that we’ve lost all the fights.

Rintaro received the final blow that made him fall unconscious. Shuna and Akira were in very bad shape and about to be defeated. I ran to save Rintaro who was about to get crushed by the enemy. I pulled him away quickly and took his position in fighting the first commander. I didn’t deactivate my special weapon, so I was able to dodge all his attacks with ease.

“Why didn’t you use your gun? I knew you were using an EMP gun!”

I looked at Shinji to see that he was laying on the ground. His EMP gun was in his father’s hand. He threw it away as pointed his umbrella at Shinji’s back.

“I told you this is going to hurt both of us!” A loud sound echoed in the whole area just after those words. It was the sound of a classic gun.

I looked at the source of the sound quickly and…

“No!!” A scream went out of my mouth without my notice as I saw Shinji’s white uniform turning to the red colour slowly.

As I ran toward him and sat on the ground to see his wound, Mr. Takahashi jumped at Shuna and Akira, knocking them out.

“Run for your life Rin!” Asahi started screaming.

I looked around me to realise that I was the only one left. I couldn’t move from my spot. I was watching the battlefield before me with an empty mind and hearing the screams of Asahi. As the three commanders started walking toward me, they were interrupted by the orders of Mr. Akira who told them to retreat immediately.

“What’s the meaning of this Takahashi-san?” Aoyama asked.

“The 1st and 5th squad have just entered the Olympic Park from the south gate. We have to leave immediately! No time to waste to capture your daughter!”

“Are you trying to save them?”

To that question Shinji’s father aimed his gun at Aoyama and said: “If you consider someone who maybe killed his son trying to save him then you’re an idiot! I would be more than happy to dispose of an idiot like you to save the Red Claws.”

“Tsk!” Aoyama walked away immediately followed by the three commanders…

[Were we saved??]

Mr. Takahashi waited for the others to walk to the car then he walked toward Shinji’s body. I jumped to block his way thinking that he was going to make sure that Shinji died but he simply gave the umbrella with a smile as he patted my head: “It’s going to rain!” I looked at him with a surprised face. I didn’t understand the meaning behind his actions.

“Shinji was looking at you the whole time as he kept fighting with me! He was really worried about you!” He walked away as he said: “I told him this is going to hurt both of us!”

I stood without making any movement looking at the car taking a leave.

The moment it disappeared I ran back to Shinji. I pulled a dagger from his sleeves to cut a part of my coat and make some bandages to cover his wound.

I pulled everyone together to the middle of the plaza and returned to sit next to Shinji…

Kazuto and Rintaro have fallen unconscious after fighting the first commander, but they didn’t sustain any life-threatening injury. Shuna and Akira were okay. It seems that they were forced to fall asleep. They won’t probably wake up for the next two hours…

Suddenly, just after I finished pulling everyone together to one spot, it started raining. It was that time of the year after all.

The land that was covered with a dome was exposed to the rain once again after many years. I didn’t feel anything strange at the beginning when it started raining since I lived in the last three years outside the domes. But when I realized that I was in Setagaya I felt uncomfortable and pulled the umbrella quickly to open it just to realise that it had some blood stain on it.

“This is Shinji’s…” I muttered

I put Shinji’s head on my lap gently trying to cover his injury from the rain.

“There is no sign of any squad approaching! I think the enemies were mistaken.” Asahi notified me. “You’re going to wait a bit until help arrive”

“Okay! Please call me when anyone arrive” I replied.

I looked at the umbrella covering us then at Shinji to remember the last words of his father. If I wasn’t the target of the enemies, he would have maybe had a better chance to fight back…

The wind sent the umbrella flying away. I panicked and quickly covered Shinji's wound with my hands…

I took the transmission device that I had in my ear and crushed it in my hand then threw it away.

I looked at Shinji's face who was covered with water drops. I kept staring at him for a few seconds to realise that since I was covering the wound with my hand, my face was too close for his…

This time, I didn’t panic…

Water drops got mixed with tears on my face as I kept getting closer to his face while staring at it.

In the end, my lips touched his lips gently…