For Milla, I hope you and your website go from strength to strength. Thanks for your help and support.
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Outside the sun cast bright strands over a wreck-strewn courtyard and the oblivious birds chirped their melodies that fell on deaf ears. Inside however, for Hiroki Sugimura the walls were closing in. It was mid afternoon on the third day of this horrendous, unthinkable game and despite his best efforts Hiroki knew his time had come. Only a half hour before he had been eating stale tinned fruit hunched in the corner of an abandoned office on the second floor of the building he'd stumbled across late last night. Now he was trapped, entwined in a deadly cat and mouse charade with no chance of escape.
From the second he'd laid eyes on the other student he'd understood instinctively he was dangerous. Unlike the transfer known as Kawada this boy held himself with a casual air of boredom and even when addressed by the soldiers he only responded nonchalantly, not a word escaping his lips. Hiroki had avoided his probing gaze, choosing wisely to blend in with the crowd after seeing Nobu's sudden demise on Kitano's whim. Even as he held Shuya back with desperate hands his eyes flickered to the transfer, lingering only long enough to catch his serene expression as he exited the classroom, cradling his pack close.
There was something wrong with that boy, from his physical appearance it was obvious, but a cold glee radiated from him and Hiroki had dreaded an encounter with him in all his hours fleeing the danger zones and searching for the few remaining students he called friends. The last report had spoke of Noriko and Shuya's demise, he was yet to hear Mimura or his comrades names on the lists and had uttered a silent prayer that at least the class rebel would escape alive. Knowing Shinji he was probably holed away plotting the downfall of Kitano right now. A tiny, hopeful smile blessed his weary face at the thought. If he could wish anything to come from this nightmare it would be Mimura's survival.
Another smattering of footsteps roused him from contemplation and he hunkered lower behind the dust-covered desk he'd found in one of the rooms. Already he knew who had come for him. It was the reaper. Kiriyama Kazuo.
His only weapon was a GPS, it had served him well enough for the first two days and even allowed him to locate Chigusa just in time to share her final moments. He'd lain with her lifeless body clutched tightly in his arms for a full hour before quietly arranging her in a peaceful repose and departing the final resting place of his first love. Unfortunately the same was said of Kotohiki his other closest female friend and the one he longed to talk to as much as he craved Mimura's company in their last hours. She smiled weakly up at him, her fingers tracing slick lines of scarlet over one cheek, "Arigato...arigato...Hiro-" As her voice faded to nothing and she slumped limp as a doll to the ground he could only cry bitter tears.
But, the pain would be over soon. From the garbled messages he'd gathered in passing some other students who seemed as unenthusiastic for this bloodbath as he did Kiriyama was unstoppable and utterly focused on his prey, whoever it may be. He was there even now, knocking on the door almost politely. The frame splintered with an almighty crack and sent the door slamming back into the mildewed wall. Sugimura closed his eyes and waited for the harsh sting of bullets to pepper his body.
It seemed like forever in darkness and finally, when he could take the anticipation no longer he cracked open one eye and found a figure squatted down in front of him. From under a wild bracken of reddish brown tangles Kazuo smiled. It was strange, past the insanity in his eyes Kiriyama had a beautiful smile. In the seconds before he was dragged from his hiding place Hiroki mused that Kazuo might--maybe have once been alluring, dangerous in a much more appealing way. It disgusted him, but the faint stir of attraction prodded mockingly at his mind.
Kazuo's slender fingers were closed harshly round his wrist, the nails digging painful crescents into the exposed skin. Hiroki was dragged to his feet and as if snapping out of a day dream he began to struggle, crying out at the top of his ample lungs. With a sharp gasp his cries ground to a halt, the barrel of Kazuo's stolen machine gun was pressing firmly against his stomach.
His eyes slid up the other boy's lanky frame and met that unnerving gaze definatly. Once again in silence he waited for the end. It never came, instead Kiriyama leant over and pressed his lips to Hiroki's in a single, sure movement. For a full minute Hiroki just blinked, unable to move as he let the strange psychopath pillage his mouth, finding himself responding with a mixture of outrage and dull acceptance. Kiriyama had him cornered; only this was prolonging the precarious hold he had on life.
As Kazuo pulled away, his eyes already raking over Hiroki as a starving man would regard food a soft sentence drifted between them, "Migo-to na.." Sugimura's lips curled up in horrified abhorrence and he tugged harder on his captors iron grasp muttering darkly, "Let me go kusoyaro." Kazuo only smiled, pushing the muzzle deeper into the yielding flesh of his abdomen. His struggles did not cease.
With lighting speed Kiriyama pumped a single round into Hiroki's leg, his face melting into utter delight as the younger student cried out, throwing his head back in anguish and collapsed into his waiting arms. Already crimson trickled between them, sliding in wide streaks over the dark fabric of Kiriyama's trousers.
He stilled Hiroki's thrashing with another brutal kiss and murmured, "No more resistance, sweet." The brunette tried to pull away again only to receive a back handed slap that made his head ring, echoing the dull ache in his ravaged thigh. Kazuo smiled again sweetly and pushed him face first against the discarded desk, laying his gun well out of reach. Sugimura could only wait and bleed, the first jagged sounds of clothing being torn attesting to the horrors he was about to face. Already weak from blood loss he shook his head uselessly.
"Iie...iiee.....dozo..."
His pleas went unnoticed and sullied hands played frantically over his body, in the stillness of a peaceful afternoon the reaper had won. Hiroki willed himself to pass out, hammering his thigh against the desk hard enough to blot the edges of his vision with black.
The last thing he heard was Kiriyama's whisper, "Aishiteru.."
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"Hey.....Hiro?...Hiro wake up."
The angels were calling him.
"Please, don't do this to me....open your eyes."
Funny how they sounded so familiar and used as he was to taking orders this afternoon, Hiroki forced his eyes open, emitting a kittenish whimper as the pain in his leg returned, matching that in his battered skull. An exquisite sight lay above him, the kind, gentle features of his best friend, flanked by two other familiar faces.
The angel's lips moved and through a haze of confusion he picked the words apart, "Thank God, I thought I'd lost you." A knowing smile passed between the other figures and he felt strong hands gathering him up into a sitting position. "Hey, we got here just in time, that bastard was gonna--" The angel looked pained and turned his face away, a wash of moisture in his eyes.
"Shinji?" He managed to choke the name almost in reverence as slowly consciousness crept back through his veins. The teen nodded, his face lighting up with a relieved smile. Hiroki raised his hands, tracing trembling fingers over the familiar spiky hair and olive skin of his friend. Lijima and Seto had tactfully excused themselves and stood in the hall patiently out of sight.
"We searched for you all over the place. You're almost as hard to find as a four-leafed clover." Shinji smiled, glad that this experience hadn't dulled Mimura's quirky sense of humour. His reply held a fraction more strength and he looked down to see that a makeshift bandage was bound tightly round his exposed thigh.
"Kiriyama?" Mimura indicated to a crumpled heap in the corner, from the look of the rapidly expanding pool of scarlet surrounding his would be tormentor Mimura and the others had spared no mercy in despatching him. Hiroki paled slightly and turned back to see Shinji studying him with worried eyes. "I'm so glad you're here I-"
He knew words could not express what he felt in that moment only actions. Without hesitation he wiped any memories of Kiriyama from his lips and reached out to curl his fingers round the torn material of Shinji's shirt, drawing him in for a desperate, longing kiss. He fully expected the hacker to push him away, but it was worth it to let his love be known before time ran out. But Shinji's hands slid up into the dark tangle of hair at the back of Hiroki's head, a tender need imbued in his touch.
Finally and most definatly reluctantly they broke apart, sharing a long, understanding look. Shinji got to his feet awkwardly and offered his hand to the other student, sliding an arm supportively round his lean waist.
As they limped out of the dormant office, leaving Kiriyama's corpse in its sunlit tomb they both knew they might lose this battle, but at least they could go down fighting together.
~OWARI~
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