A Songbird's love

Chapter 23: oh no

No. No way. What did I just hear?

"What.. did you say?" My brain has stopped working.
Mikuo grabbed my shoulders, "Whoever is behind this isn't after me, or you two. They're after the twins that you were supposed to look after. I told you not to come not because I wanted to keep you safe - although I do- but it's to make sure you stay with the twins."
Teto was shaking her head in denial, "No way. That wouldn't make sense, why would anyone want the twins? They didn't do anything."
Mikuo searched the thugs' leader's pockets, and gripped the car keys he found in his hand. He gestured towards the door, "We need to get back to the twins before they get there."
I was still in shock, Teto had to pull me to her motorcycle. This whole kidnapping was just a distraction, the target was the twins. The twins. Why them? What did they do?

Please let them still be in their rooms when we get back. Their parents should be back by now, they wouldn't let anything happen to their kids, right?

I patted my face. Focus, Miku. Teto waited for me to hop on the bike, before driving off behind the car Mikuo stole. The whole drive I was tensed with anxiety. Should I call? Would they answer?
"Miku, I'm going to vomit if you keep squeezing my waist so hard." Teto pulled me out of my trance. I slowly released a bit of the tension in my hands, "Sorry."
"Look, I know you're worried about them. I am too, but you need to calm down. Your muscles will be aching if you stayed in the same position for so long."
I switched the topic away from me, "Are we there yet?"
She was quiet for a little while, "Almost."
I took in a deep breath, "How much longer?"
"Just a few more minutes."
I want to scream.
Teto seemed to know what I was thinking and said, "Whatever you do, don't scream. The windows of the cars around us breaking isn't going to help us reach the house any faster."
She knew what happened the last time I was this worked up. I didn't like holding everything in when I was younger, so I would usually scream to let every emotion out. I would scream in an open area most of the time, but there was once where I couldn't take it and screamed inside my room instead. My windows had shattered into tiny pieces. That was when I realised exactly how strong my voice was, sometimes even terrifying. How did you think my assassin's name came about?
Thinking back, the reason I was pissed was actually pretty dumb. You wanna know the reason? Mikuo stole my ice cream.
Let's just say when I was younger I had anger issues.

"We're here." Teto's voice made me snap to attention. We were back at the house, daydreaming really does help speed things up. I scrambled off the bike, not looking back to make sure Teto was following. There was something wrong. The gate was wide open.

The gate was never open.
Oh, please no.

I dashed up the driveway and burst through the front door, wasn't the smartest thing to, I'll admit. The front door wasn't locked. Alarm bells were already ringing in my head. They stopped altogether as I took in the scene in the living room.
The always immaculate living room looked as if a hurricane had swept through the building and only left the exterior intact. The couch was on its side, there was shattered glass accompanied with drops of blood on the floor.
Wait. Blood?
I cautiously stepped around the couch, avoiding as much glass as possible. The bodies of the two bodyguards that followed the twins around were strewn in different angles that were impossible to even twist into. I couldn't feel much pain for them, I didn't know them well, oh but the families they left behind. Who's going to tell them?

"Miku."
I looked up and saw Teto's twin drills disappearing further into the house, Mikuo following behind her. I followed them in and wished I didn't. Anka and Fudo were limp on the stairs, bleeding out onto the white marble floors. Teto bent down to check their breathing, her head shot up, "They're still alive! Call an ambulance."
Mikuo already had his phone in his hand and was urgently speaking to the person on the line, while Teto searched for a first-aid kit. She managed to find one and started to bandage up Fudo's bleeding head. I stepped forward to help her when I realised something was off.
Where were the twins? Were they hiding?
I squeezed past Teto and hurried up to the twins' rooms. I tried Rin's room first, it was where I had last seen them. I slammed open the half opened door while shouting, "Rin! Len-"
The room itself was a mess. Books were thrown on the floor, the fish bowl had shattered with the two fish lying still in a puddle of water, and Rin's guitar was broken. It looks like Rin managed to get that guitar smash she wanted. Except it wasn't enough.
"They're gone!" I yelled, knowing Teto would understand.
Boots stomped hurriedly up the stairs as Teto rushed to my side. She surveyed the messy room and her face paled. She stepped into the room and looked around, searching for anything that the twins could have left behind. I leaned against the door frame, hardly having any energy to stand anymore.
Teto focused on the messy floor, then stopped abruptly when she noticed something.
She bent down to pick up something that was glowing pink. She stared at it for a few seconds, then whipped around to show me what she found.
"Do you recognize this?" She held the object up for me to see clearer.
To anyone it would seem like a simple glowing pink bracelet, but I knew what it was. It got my attention immediately and all the mental fatigue disappeared.
I took it from her and said, "It's one of the shields I had passed to the twins the other time, when you first met them at that mall."
The bracelet wasn't only a shield, it was also a tracking device.
I quickly dug around the mess for the other bracelet, while Teto went to fetch a bucket of water. Apparently the fish were still alive. Damn, those were strong fish.
She came back quick and dumped the fish into the pail. "So, did you find anything?" she asked.
I stood up and wiped my hands on my clothes. The other bracelet was nowhere to be found, which meant one of the twins still have their bracelet. As long as they stayed together, it would be easier to find them.

Mikuo appeared at the room door. "Look, I gotta warn you two. The police would definitely be coming down with that ambulance, and someone is going to have to meet them. I made the call so obviously I need to talk to them, you two could stay out of this."
Teto shook her head, "They'll find out eventually, we got guns here."
Mikuo gestured towards the guest room, "Then hurry and pack. Don't worry about me, I'll come up with a story."
I raised an eyebrow, "You have a stolen car."
Now that my energy is back, I'm more focused. That's good to know.
"I have the keys, they wouldn't know it was stolen."
True.
Teto and I went to pack our bags. We stuffed the bigger guns, clothes and other things (my corgi plush, for example) into our luggage, then strapped ourselves with the smaller weapons. Hand guns, daggers, knives, grenades, they're all on us.
Soon, sirens were heard heading this direction. Teto and I put our assassin masks on in case anyone saw us. We wouldn't be able to leave through the front door, the only other option would be the window.

You heard that right. The window.

Teto had a grappling hook which we used to lower ourselves down to the ground. We hid behind the corner of the house, waiting for the police and the medics to enter the house. Lucky for us, Teto hid her bike in a nearby bush in the compound.
We loaded up our bags, and revved out onto the streets. We were going to go back to our base to discuss what we're going to do.

Please let the twins be alright, wherever they are.
They'll be as strong as those two fish, maybe even stronger.
And I will get them back.