𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐈𝐑! ❀ 𝐊. 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈 [ˢʰᵒʳᵗ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ]

15. 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙮𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢

Kimika had a lot of thoughts running through her head as she sat in that room all alone. Since she'd completed her task, she was released from her individual session early and sent back to her room to wait. She eyed the clock above the door that displayed the time. It was only a few minutes to eight in the evening, when Keigo would be getting back.

She sat comfortably on the edge of her bed, gloved fingers squeezing the mattress. She didn't need the gloves anymore, she knew, but they still made her feel safe. They made her feel sure that she wouldn't hurt anything; and that's all she could ask for.

Kimika stared at the blank white tile beneath her feet.

Could she live a normal life now?

She brought her hands up and dug her palms into her eyes, almost quite literally squashing the thought from her mind. She brought them away, her eyes now red and her hands shaking with nerves.

Of course, she couldn't live a normal life. What sort of spirit possessed her and made her think in such a way? She's been trapped in this building since she was four years old: for twelve years. She was being trained as an elite assassin. She was a sixteen year-old whose exact kill count amounted to 103 in the last three years. Her only purpose in life was to be a killing machine for the HPSC to use at their will. Every action she made was controlled by them-- every slice of a knife, every step she took, every breath she made.

Here, in that silent room, she finally realized something.

She would never escape this place.

There would always be some imaginary shackle on her ankle that would keep her chained to this life. Even thousands of miles away, even in the foreign lands of America, the HPSC would keep her under lock and key. They'd follow her everywhere: every move she'd make would be caught on camera and documented. Even when she and Keigo would be released from the confines of these walls, they would never really escape.

They would never be free.

It was then that Keigo entered their shared bedroom, although the girl hadn't even noticed him. The boy found his best (and only) friend with her hands in her hair, tugging at the white strands, biting her lip so hard he could see a drop of red drip down her chin. Her eyes were squeezed closed so hard it almost hurt him just to see it.

Keigo slowly approached the girl. He made sure that his footsteps were loud as he did this, trying not to scare the girl when he first made contact. Still, his attempt was to no avail. When his hand gently caressed the shoulder of the girl, she reacted quickly.

In a matter of seconds, she had grabbed his hand, twisted his arm behind his back, kicked the back of his knees, and pinned him to the ground. Keigo let out a struggled cry as his face collided harshly with the white tile, his shoulder aching from its twisted position.

"Kimika!" He managed to turn his mouth away from the floor. "It's just me!"

Seeming to come out of her trance, Kimika blinked. Now disconnected from her train of thought, she took in the current situation. Her breathing was heavy as she let go of Keigo's arm and shuffled off of him, falling to her backside and staring at him in horror.

Keigo shot up from the floor and kneeled in front of her, carefully reaching out towards her. He liked to say he was a master at dealing with Kimika's little episodes like this, but let's be honest here, he never really knew quite what she needed to get through them. It happened all the time at different levels. There were nightmares that woke her up countless nights, there were triggering events in training that would cause her to stay silent for days on end without so much as a mutter. He was used to seeing her get lost in her thoughts and slowly go down a spiral in her mind, but he tried to shut off these episodes as quickly as possible, and comfort her when she came out of them. He always hated that terrified look she got in her eyes when she came back to the real world.

Keigo cautiously outreached one of his hands toward her and held it there in the air. After a few seconds, Kimika finally brought her own hand and set it in hers. Immediately, Keigo shuffled closer on his knees.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Kimika's ruby eyes simply stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly retuning back to the present day. She licked the fresh blood from her cracked lips. Her other hand came up to her forehead and massaged her temple. The fires were there, brighter and warmer and worse than ever. She hated the feeling of the flames licking at her skull as they tried to escape and consume everything around her.

"Kimika?"

She remembered he'd asked a question and was quick to answer it. "Oh. Yes. I'm fine. Sorry." She ran a hand through her now messed up hair and clenched her fist when it came back to her side. "Just thinking again."

"About?"

The quirk in Keigo's eyebrow was one of worry, and Kimika's heart sped up. She looked at their attatched hands and she wanted to melt into his arms. She wanted him to make the fires go away like he always did.

Wait.

"I have something to show you."

It was clear that she'd piqued his interest when he sat up straighter and moved closer. Their knees were now touching as they both faced each other. "Something to show me? Do go on! I love surprises."

Kimika peeled her hand away from his, trying to ignore the downward twitch of his lips. Gently, and almost uncertainly, she removed both of her gloves.

Keigo watched with wide eyes, focusing on her every movement. His voice was quiet when he spoke. "What are you..." He trailed off when she outstretched her hands once again.

For a moment, Kimika was worried he was scared. For a moment, she panicked and thought he might be terrified of her, by the very thought of touching her hands. In that moment, she felt so scared and more nervous than she'd ever been in her entire life. In that moment, she wanted to pull away and never talk to him again, just so he wouldn't be afraid anymore.

But then that moment ended.

Keigo slipped his hands into hers without any hesitation, a grin developing on his lips as he intertwined their fingers. He ran his thumbs over her pale skin like she was a fine china he was too afraid to break. He caressed her hands like they might break with the slightest bit more pressure.

Kimika didn't know what to say. It was like she'd forgotten the alphabet. Heck, Kimika felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe. It was silent in the room except for Keigo's breathing as he stared at her hands in his. How could he have done such a thing so instantaneously? Finally, she mustered up the courage to say something.

"What if I zapped you away?"

Her voice was so quiet it was barely above a whisper, but Keigo heard it. Of course, he heard it.

His sharp golden eyes snapped up to her ruby ones and his grin only seemed to brighten. "You would have never offered your hand to me if you thought you would zap me away. Besides, I just wanted to know what your hand felt like. They always looked so soft." He traced a smiley-face into the skin of her palm. "I mean, if you had zapped me away, you could've just brought me back. Curiosity killed the cat, I guess."

Kimika managed a glare, and he snickered. The girl's brow furrowed. "If I had zapped you away, it would have haunted me for the rest of my life."

Keigo lifted a hand up to rest on her cheek. You know, the cheek that was now bright red from her constant blushing. "Well then, I guess I'd just have to give you so many hugs that it the image of it would erase from your mind!"

"I don't think hugs can do that." The corner of her lips lifted into that of a hesitant smile.

"Want to test that theory?"

"Wait-- what--"

Keigo tackled her in a hug, and didn't let go for the rest of the night.