Corpse Bride || Haitani Brothers/OC

05 - the arsonist

it took him less than a minute to sweep her off her feet, and seconds more for her to take him to a room. he had asked her to take him somewhere they couldn't be heard.

"why, because you're vocal?"

"not for many women." just one particular woman in fact.

"or you're going to make me scream?"

she was getting annoying, but she was right. he was going to make her scream—for her life—if she doesn't cooperate that is.

some time later, the man left the private room contentedly. Kenji Itto was said to be residing on the west side of the fifth floor. their executives were having a meeting on the eighth floor. firearms room is on the tenth.

he needed to go further down the hall where an elevator exclusive for their executives would be. he walked at a calm pace, the blackness of his clothes as sinister as the massacre he was about to wreak. the girl had been utterly correct, she should've been a fortune teller. tonight, Haitani Ran was a grim reaper.

+++

Hikari woke up to the sound of distant cursing. at first, she ignored it, well deep in slumber. but then glass shattered and she rose up right away. she was sweating and her breaths were short. she had dreamt of drowning and being saved by him. just a dream. but she saw and heard him again.

the room was unfamiliar. it was disorganized for one, and the windows were covered with dark blue curtains like brightness was a crime. the floor had a few share of clothes of each kind, and there were also some on the couch. the only habitable place in the room was the bed.

it smelled familiar though, like Rindou. then the events of last night finally hit her. she swallowed down the rush of emotions she felt as she rushed to get up. I was pathetic, and in front of Rin of all people.

she steps out of his room and walks over to the living room where the TV was on.

"it was a product of great modern architecture. everyone is devastated by the fire that happened last night."

turns out, some building burned. she blinks twice as she takes in the picture of the said building as shown in the screen. her jaw drops. it was one of Red Flower's headquarters, and she recalls that not too long ago, one of their other headquarters were bought off by some company.

"according to the police, this was no accident. apparently, the fire started from an explosion at the topmost part of the building, and the fire escalated as more explosions ensued from top to bottom. the club guests thankfully evacuated early so there were no injuries, but the same cannot be said for the people who lived at the top floors"

"...so much death and burned corpses...we found dead bodies that didn't burn in the eighth floor, and they had slash marks, gun wounds—nasty stuff. this was a planned disaster. the fire wasn't set to kill people, it may have just been set to cause a distraction or to simply burn the establishment down—likely both. it's a work of the devil."

"...witnesses say they didn't hear gunshots. the arsonist, or arsonists, could've used silencers. the police aren't lying."

Hikari shut the TV off, not really feeling sympathetic about the incident. it wasn't like innocent people got hurt or died. those scum had it coming. maybe she was more evil than she thought, but she never thought any of them were human. not Kenji, not their lackeys—everyone of them were her demons.

"Hikari?" Rin's voice calls from the hall.

Hikari walks over to where she could see him standing before his bedroom door.

"oh, you were there."

she can't meet his eyes. he had kissed her. twice. and last night in particular felt different even when her head wasn't in the right space.