[previously...]
"Finally... I can get rid of you, you pest." He spat, aiming the gun directly at Ryū, who only stood in front of him with their arms crossed.
"I could say the same for you. Is it only you left?"
"So what if it is?! At least I'll be the one finishing the job, nobody will fucking remember your sorry ass!"
[Ryū's POV]
"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" I hissed, gripping the handle of my knife behind my back, running straight to him.
'He's gonna panic, firing shots recklessly. The katana is the main issue here.'
Just as predicted, he started firing the pistol until it was empty, letting out a few clicks and I almost could laugh when he heard the bullets clink to the ground helplessly.
I deliver a hook to his jaw and elbow his stomach, trying to loosen his grip on the katana. He screamed in my ear and tried to wrestle out of my grip. I groan in discomfort as the metal grew closer, feeling the heat of it as it grew closer to my arm.
"HEY!"
The mans guard went down, giving me an opportunity to knock him down onto the ground.
"Stay down, you prick." I growl at him, landing a punch to his nose and kicked him. I turned around and ran to the group of hostages that were tied up.
"Go, you need to run. Call the police and ambulance for any injured." I order, untying Akane so she could help the others.
"But Ryū-"
"I'll be fi-" I gasped in shock as my mouth fought to stay closed as a weight dropped off my left shoulder, a thud resonating in my ears.
I look at the ground, and all I see is my arm.
'What?'
"DIEE!" He screeched as he swung the katana again, dodging it the last second and elbowing him, hitting a few swift kicks before grabbing his arm and twisting it backward. I let out a scream of agony as the katana falls to the ground and slices through my right shin and I crumble to the ground, dragging him with me.
I throw another punch, knocking him away before he grabbed the damn katana again and swung at my head. I breathe through my teeth as steam releases, splitting my head in half before the katana could cut through and rejoined again.
"You fucker!" I grab my ribbed knife, pressing a button on the side as I stabbed it deep into his abdomen, watching as electricity coursed through his body and shoved it in further to center my body weight.
"S-See you I-in hell... 989-" He cackled before his head fell backwards.
I groan as I hit the floor, maybe the adrenaline was wearing off but man... I feel weightless. I didn't even know it was snowing.
It looks so pretty.
"OH GOD, RYŪ! NO! THAT'S MY SISTER! RYŪJIN!"
I try to turn my head to the voice, but I flinch once I felt someone lift me up.
"Ryū, stay with me! The ambulance is on the way, please... I can't lose anyone else..." A delicate voice made me look up, seeing an all too familiar woman with my face. Tsuki.
"It's... it's okay. I'm glad I got to see you... one last time, Tsuki..." I wheeze out, coughing out blood. I reach my hand to my abdomen and feel several other wounds spill blood but I only smile at her. Her face stared at me in confusion as it blurred into Akane's face.
[3POV]
"S-stop smiling you idiot! Please, they're almost here, RYŪ PLEASE!" Akane bawled, hitting Ryū's chest with their fist.
At this point, they weren't responding. Their face was gasping in shock and pain, wide eyes searching for something, anything. Akane watched them turn their head toward the arm that laid a couple feet away.
She screamed for help as sirens started approaching, but Ryū's face, which was contorting in pain and shallow breaths, as their body jerked before completely going still and silent.
Ryū's black clothing was completely soaked in blood, so much so that injuries weren't easily identifiable, yet the only sign of serious injury from Ryū was half a leg and a disembodied arm that was lying on the ground, completely severed from the host.
Akane's eyes turned to a woman identical to Ryū standing down the street that screamed, watching as she ran in the opposite direction.
The lone arm's fingers twitched for a couple moments, before coming to a dead stop.
Akane could only gasp and choke on her own tears, desperation showing as she grabbed Ryū's face, which was now ice cold and lifeless. And left alone, Akane screamed for help in an empty road, pure white snow falling onto them and hiding the impurities of the unfortunate night.
...
"She's barely stable enough for surgery. I need you to sign here, Mr. Suzuki." The Doctor announced, startling the said man out of his nap and Ilya watched the other man sign the papers, leaving him alone with the man in the halls of the ICU. 'Suzuki' had a mask covering his face, short ash hair and incredibly darkened sunglasses with an eyepatch underneath.
Ilya's drained blue eyes looked back down at his feet, only adorning sickly white slippers and sitting in scrubs that a kind nurse offered him, considering his clothes were drenched in blood, watching 'Suzuki's' sneakers hurry behind a pair of clogs. Akane looked away from the man, fiddling with her wedding ring. Jiro explicitly said to remain a bystander and act as if she didn't know him, so she remained next to the poor university student that was still in shock. All of the hostages were being held both for psych evaluation and physical checks since some were injured.
"Akane?" A low, tired voice called out, bringing her attention back into real life, being hit with the smell of sanitizers and the blood on her clothes.
"Kuromiya-san?"
He looked like he had just woken up. Still in sleepwear and his eyes were bloodshot and he probably only just got the call from his husband who saw the news.
"Is she in surgery? I heard what happened on the news so I came here as fast as I could..."
Akane just nodded looking up at him with red eyes, some small specks of blood littering her face, plump lips pressed together in stress.
"They had to restart their heart 3 times during surgery, Kēi." Her voice broke, nose scrunching at the thought and dry coughs and sobs came out. Kuromiya gently hugged her, stroking her sapphire hair.
"Three times, Kēi!" She sobbed, loud sniffles into his dark shirt.
The death of her sister, and now this?
"Third times the charm." He whispered, hugging her closer, Kēi watching the man that signed the papers just staring blankly in pain, his eye flickering to his wife in worry.
...
*beep* *beep* *beep*
"She's stable. For now. Her body put itself in comatose, as her heart is already at severe risk, at least until she completely stabilises. I'll have a nurse to tend to you once I finish with the papers." The same doctor mentioned, smiling awkwardly to the group and leaving him alone, sitting in the sickly blue hallways with two people he didn't even know.
To say nonetheless, it was a tense atmosphere.
"Hello, you are Ryū Kuromiya's family, correct?" Another doctor suddenly spoke, their tired face popped out of the ICU unit, which would've naturally spooked the timid man, but instead Akane nodded, eyes looking up toward the doctor.
"Please come in, make sure to sanitise and wear the gloves, masks and shoe coverings before you come inside... we don't want to risk infection, and although she is stable, her body is not..."
"You won't be able to stay for longer than a couple minutes, she only has three people listed as emergency contacts and I'm sorry that it isn't either of you." She mentioned, pointing to the direction of the gloves and sanitisation zone, Ilya and Kēi looking at each other in confusion at the last statement. Akane was brought aside and had to fill extra paperwork, staying behind the two men.
Once they had done her instructions, they walked into a large room that echoed in several loud beeps, coinciding with each other, the sound leading to the person who was laying in the bed, hundreds of medical equipment attached to her, just to keep her remotely living.
It was a sight anybody would've been terrified to see.
Let alone a parent.
They were hooked to god knows how many machines, nurses constantly monitoring them, the unanimous sound of several machines leading to an unconscious Ryū in the middle of the room, looking like they were on the verge of their deathbed.
Their face was pale and drowned in sweat, and shallow breaths could barely be seen or picked up on the monitor, her left arm had been completely severed off, and the rest of her body was covered in a blanket.
They weren't allowed to come close to Ryū because of their fragile state, though two men sat in medical gowns and fully protected. They were both sleeping, but one was holding onto their hand as he sobbed, cries drowned out by the medical equipment.
"Oh god..." Kēi's voice broke the dissociation of Ilya's mind, which Ilya had hoped he didn't.
"I-I feel sick-" Ilya panicked, nurses immediately rushing him out with urgency, along with Kēi.
(Inside the room)
"Ibuki-san..." Jiro's voice probed, trying to get the poor mans attention.
Ibuki was gripping Ryū's hand so lightly, afraid he'd break it. On the other hand, Jiro had taken his eyepatch off, though the reason why, Taro was too worried to ask.
"I'll kill them..."
"Taro."
The man looked up with his eye, tears brimming and threatening to fall.
"The man was apprehended. Ryū-san already..." Jiro tried to console the heartbroken man, who just looked back down at Ryū's hand.
"..."
Taro's tears only worsened, the feeling of being on the verge of loosing someone all too familiar to him, and no doubt to Jiro too.
"Fucks sake, Ryū-chan..."
The two sat in silence, only the rushing of nurses and constant beeping being the noise that occupied the tense space.
"What are we gonna do, Jiro?"
"I..." Jiro stopped himself, his voice breaking and Taro decided to step out to calm himself, leaving the other man with Ryū, prompting Akane to walk in and stop in her tracks at the sight.
They had to keep Ryū's body uncovered in case of emergency surgery. A blue blanket covering their legs and abdomen, their right arm being out in the open, showing their full snake and oni sleeve covering their pecs and going down to their thighs. Their left arm was amputated up to the shoulder, and the flower sleeve was covered in stitches and bandages.
It was so painful to watch. The look of torment was strong on their face despite being comatose. Their charcoal hair was messily moved out of their face, deeply furrowed brows sinking into their eyes. They couldn't even relax.
"BPM 29, Blood pressure 100/59. Should we use Atropine?"
"Keep monitoring them, their health records show that's around their average. Page me if it gets lower or higher."
"Yes, Doctor."
The two tried to block out the doctors talking. The only thing they could do was watch Ryū fight for their life.
Until their face completely relaxed and a small smile rose on their face. Alarms blared throughout the whole ward. It was if everything was slowed down completely. Doctors fighting to make their heart beat again, one last time.
The alarms had stopped.
Machines were turned off.
"Time of death: 4:58am, several attempts for revival were made, but deemed unsuccessful...
I officially pronounce Ryū Kuromiya dead."
END OF BOOK 1 OF THE ANOMALY SAGA.
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